Chicago Illinois

Biography of Thomas Nessler

Thomas Nessler is one of Rock Island’s well and favorably known German-American citizens, where he occupies the position of brew master for the Rock Island Brewing Company. He was born December 18, 1869, at Obernhibeim, Germany, his parents being Donatus and Barbina Nessler. After completing a common school course in his native land he entered a brewing academy at Versuchs Statum, Germany, and there received instruction in the trade which he expected to follow throughout his life, having previously served two years apprenticeship in Aldvisebach, Germany. After being employed for several years in breweries of Germany, he came to the … Read more

Slave Narrative of J. H. Beckwith

Interviewer: Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: J. H. Beckwith Age: 68 Location: 619 North Spruce Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas “No ma’m I was not born in the time of slavery. I was sixty-eight last Friday. I was born November 18, 1870 in Johnson County, North Carolina. “My mother was born in Georgia and her name was Gracie Barum. Father was born in North Carolina. His name was Rufus Beckwith. He belonged to Doctor Beckwith and mother, I think, belonged to Tom Barum. Barum was just an ordinary farmer. He was just a second or third class farmer—just poor white folks. I … Read more

Biography of Henry Stelck

Henry Stelck, a promising young member of the Rock Island County bar, is a native of the City of Rock Island, having been born there February 12, 1878. His father was Peter Stelck and his mother Caroline (Koester) Stelck. Both the parents immigrated to America from Germany. Mr. Stelck, the elder, was born in 1833 in Wisch, Propstei, Schleswig-Holstein. The mother was born in Lensah in the same state in 1845. The father located in Rock Island in 1867, after having for ten years immediately following his removal to America, been a resident of Davenport, Iowa. The parents of the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. L. Marks

A. L. Marks, general merchant, was born in Prussia August 7, 1842. He came to America in June 1855, and located in Chicago, Ill. In 1861 he enlisted in Company K, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted May 22, 1861, and was discharged June 24, 1865. Was taken prisoner May 17, 1864; was in prison at Cahaba, Ala., and Meridian, Miss., and was held until April, 1865. Returned to Chicago, then went to Lee County, Iowa, the same year; thence to Missouri; thence to Nebraska; thence to Jewell City, Kan., where he went into the merchandise business, and went in … Read more

Biography of John Levi Hunt, Hon.

Hon. John Levi Hunt. It may be said that Hon. John Levi Hunt, assistant attorney-general of Kansas, and member of the leading law firm of Wheeler, Switzer & Hunt, is one of the fortunate men of Topeka. He was fortunate in having a good parentage, a fair endowment of intellect and feeling, a liberal education, in attaching himself to one of the learned professions, and in casting in his lot with the people of Topeka when her enterprises were probably at their fullest tide of development, and under circumstances which enabled him to co-operate in her material growth. While he … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Grant Smith

Smith, William Grant; railway express business; born, Fox Lake, Wis., Aug. 24, 1861; son of Lewis and Fannie A. Stevens Smith; educated, public schools and Ripon College, Wisconsin; married, Medford, Mass., June 25, 1902, Martha Chapin Wilcox; one daughter, Josephine Wilcox Smith; in 1879, entered the employment of The American Express Co.; appointed supt. Wisconsin Division, 1892; same position for Michigan in 1895; asst. gen. agt. at Omaha, Neb. 1902; 2nd asst. to gen. manager, Chicago, Ill., 1903; asst. to vice pres. and gen. mgr., Chicago, Ill., 1906; mgr. Central Dept., Cleveland, 1910; member of Illinois Society, Sons of American … Read more

Biography of Bertha Louise Ahrens

Bertha Louise Ahrens (B. Feb. 26, 1857), missionary teacher among the Choctaw Freedmen of Indian Territory since 1885, and principal teacher at Oak Hill Academy, 1905-1911, is a native of Berlin, Prussia. Her parents, Otto and Augusta Ahrens, in 1865, when she was 8, and a brother Otto 5, came to America and located on a farm near Sigourney, Iowa, after one year at Bellville, Illinois; and four, at Harper, Iowa. The schools and Churches first attended used the German language. Her first studies in English were in the graded schools at Sigourney and here at seventeen, she became a … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Frank A. Gates

Frank A. Gates general farmer and fruit-raiser near Anaheim, was born in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1836, a son of Loring Gates, a well-known merchant in Groton, Massachusetts, and Boston. Mr. Gates attended the University at Hartford, Pennsylvania, and at the age of eighteen years he went to Chicago, where he was engaged in the wholesale clothing business with his brother, James L. Gates, until 1859. He then went to Lawrence, Kansas, but, finding all vegetation dried up and the prospects of business consequently poor, he returned to Chicago and engaged with his cousin, Charles A. Eaton, in trade in guns … Read more

Biography of Dumont D. Howell, M. D.

For sixteen years Dr. Dumont D. Howell was numbered among the capable, prominent and successful physicians of Nowata, where he passed away on the 6th of December, 1919. He was born in Murphy, North Carolina, January 14,1874, and was a son of D. M. and Margaret (Sudderth) Howell. The Howell family was long connected with the history of North Carolina and of Georgia and the Sudderths were also of an old family of the former state. In the acquirement of his education Dumont D. Howell supplemented his public school course by study at the Young Harris College of Georgia and … Read more

Biography of Edwin W. Shearburn, M. D.

Edwin W. Shearburn, M. D. A resident of Haddam, Kansas, since 1902, Doctor Shearburn is one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Washington County, and in surgery he takes rank among the ablest men of his profession in the state. Doctor Shearburn is of English lineage. His father, George Lionel Shearburn, was born in Yorkshire County, England, in 1818, and grew up and married in his native country, where he followed the business of farming, stock raising and was also a skilled veterinarian. On coming to the United States in 1848 he located on a farm in Macoupin County, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Henry Kuechenmeister

John Henry Kuechenmeister, president of the St. Louis Paper Can and Tube Company, was born in Chicago, Illinois, March 10, 1875. His father was John Kuechenmeister, a native of Mecklenburg, Germany, who came to Chicago in 1868 and engaged in the brick contracting business, dying here in March, 1919. His mother was Bertha Schwartz, who was also born in Germany, and who married John Kuechenmeister in Chicago in 1872. Four sons and two daughters were born to them, all but one of whom survive, a daughter having passed away. John Henry Kuechenmeister received his education in the public schools of … Read more

Biography of Eugene L. Dimick

Eugene L. Dimick. The vocation of writing and selling insurance had grown to enormous proportions during recent years, not entirely because the people have come to a realization of the necessity for protection, but also because of the men who are engaged in this line of endeavor, who are educating the general public in realizing the benefits accruing from insurance. To succeed in this line of business a man must possess certain qualities not found necessary in other avenues of business, including a thorough knowledge of all the angles of his vocation, a keen insight into human nature, have the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George N. Ifft

George N. Ifft, of the firm of Ifft & Wallin, proprietors and managers of the Pocatello Tribune, is a native of Butler County, Pennsylvania, born January 27, 1865. He began newspaper work, as a reporter, in Pittsburg, that state, and continued in that capacity and in various editorial relations in other cities, as Washington, D. C, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, until January 1, 1893, when he came to Idaho, locating at Pocatello, and since that time he has been connected with the Pocatello Tribune, as more fully described in our sketch of that paper. Mr. Ifft … Read more

Biography of Pearl M. Hollingsworth

Pearl M. Hollingsworth. A newspaper which has had a fine and vitalizing influence in its community is the Fisher News, of which Mr. Hollingsworth is editor and proprietor. This publisher and editor is a journalist from the ground up, had his first acquaintance with the printing trade when a boy and has done much to develop the power of the press in this section of Champaign County and has made his paper indispensable to business men, farmers and citizens generally. Mr. Hollingsworth is a native of Vermilion County, Illinois, where he was born December 20, 1890. He is the youngest … Read more

Biography of George W. Osburn, M. D.

GEORGE W. OSBURN, M. D. The life of the popular, successful physician is one of incessant toil, self-denial and care, yet all true followers of the “healing art” strive to attain prominence in their profession, regardless of added burdens which will rest upon their shoulders. Such a man is George W. Osburn, who was born in Gwinnett County, Ga., November 15, 1841, a son of Ectyl and Cynthia (Nelson) Osburn (see sketch of Dr. M. H. Osburn). George W. attended the common schools of Georgia, was brought up to the healthy and useful life of the farmer, and when the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James D. Sullivan

James D. Sullivan is proprietor of the Art Store at 122-124 West Eighth Street and 728-730 Jackson Street in Topeka. During his residence in Topeka he has developed a large business, and this is due to his thorough training in the profession and his own sense of artistic values which have enabled him to render a valuable service to his large patronage. James D. Sullivan was born in Norwich, Connecticut, January 11, 1861, a son of James and Mary (Bridgeman) Sullivan. He received a public school education, and also took a business course in a business college at Chicago. His … Read more

Biography of Walter George Gibbons

Walter George Gibbons, vice president and cashier of the Chestnut-Gibbons Grocery Company, a wholesale concern, doing business in Muskogee, has since 1908 been in charge of this establishment. The business was founded here in 1902 and since Mr. Gibbons took charge material advance has been made in the trade connections of the firm. This results from his close study of every phase of the business, his persistency of purpose and his thorough application. Mr. Gibbons was born in Tiskilwa, Illinois, October 1, 1868, and is a son of George and Mary (Cook) Gibbons, the former a harness manufacturer, devoting his … Read more

Biography of Carl O. Bernhardi, M. D.

It is seldom that a young physician entering upon the practice of his profession achieves instantaneous and striking success. The path that leads to a large and lucrative practice is in nearly every case a weary and a tortuous one. But to all rules there are exceptions. The young physician whose life we are to discuss in this sketch, Doctor Carl O. Bernhardi, although one of the younger of Rock Island County’s physicians, has, nevertheless, in the few brief years that he has practiced his calling, attained an eminence that places him well in the van as a prominent and … Read more

Slave Narrative of John Cameron

Person Interviewed: John Cameron Location: Jackson, Mississippi Date of Birth: 1842 John Cameron, ex-slave, lives in Jackson. He was born in 1842 and was owned by Howell Magee. He is five feet six inches tall, and weighs about 150 pounds. His general coloring is blackish-brown with white kinky hair. He is in fairly good health. “I’se always lived right here in Hinds County. I’s seen Jackson grow from de groun’ up. “My old Marster was de bes’ man in de worl’. I jus’ wish I could tell, an’ make it plain, jus’ how good him an’ old Mistis was. Marster … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Herrman

Charles H. Herrman. Among the many worthy farmers of Republic County whose agricultural and personal careers have reflected lasting credit upon the communities in which their lives have been spent is Charles H. Herrman, for nearly half a century a prominent and much respected citizen of Scandia Township. Mr. Herrman’s career is an exemplification of the fact that industry and fidelity, if backed by good management and earnest purpose, will win substantial rewards, no matter how modest the start, for he came to Kansas as a poor young man, without means or influential friends, the only prospect before him that … Read more