Mr. Hoef is one of those citizens who have come to our shores, leaving their native country, and seeking a new home in a new world. In early times all of our people crossed the seas, “but their hardihood and enterprise has all but been forgotten. Those who emigrated in more recent times serve to …
John Shea, farmer, of Red Bud, Illinois, Rural Route #3, was born June 20, 1858, in Randolph County, near Prairie du Rocher. He attended the public school and then worked for his father, Michael Shea, until 1880, when he rented a farm near Prairie du Rocher, and in 1885, he moved to the present location, …
De Soto and his band gave to the Choctaws at Moma Binah and the Chickasaws at Chikasahha their first lesson in the white man’s modus operandi to civilize and Christianize North American Indians; so has the same lesson been continued to be given to that unfortunate people by his white successors from that day to this, …
It has been difficult to trace the line of descendants of this founder of Prairie du Rocher. In a document of December 30, 1740, we learn that the late Ettienne Langlois married Catherine Beaudrau, a widow, and had the following children; Marie Louise, who married Pierre Messenger; Marie Josefine, m. Louis Populus sieur de St. …
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One of our literary geniuses has remarked that the history of any locality is but the history of its great men. The destinies of splendid empires are shaped by the personalities of their rulers, and a whole people sometimes owes its prosperity to the energies of one man, who stands at the head of the …
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Among the more prominent farmers inhabiting the region of Prairie du Rocher is Mr. John Peter Ellner of Rural Route #2. He is a native of the State of Missouri, where he was born in the town of Herman on August 18, 1872. However, his parents were of an adventurous disposition and not satisfied with …
Henry O’Hara and his family, consisting of his wife, Margaret Brown O’Hara, and ten children, left Fredrick County, Maryland, in the latter part of 1811 and moved to Nelson County, Kentucky. His children, born in order here named, were: Mary, Amellia, Catherine, James, Thomas, Samuel, Henry, Sarah, John, and Charles. The family lived on a …
There are few citizens of American blood, native born in Randolph County, who date their birth back as far as does Mr. W. S. Conner, a resident of the southern part of Township five — eight. He was born within a quarter of a mile of his present residence, in the year of 1815. He …
A very beloved inhabitant of Prairie du Rocher is Mr. Maurice Frawley. He was born in beautiful Ireland, in County Limerick, in the year 1833. Here he spent his childhood, went through the parish school, and was married to Miss Mary Crimmins on February 4, 1859. Of their children only a daughter is still alive. …
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By the time the early French arrived, the Mississippi had laid layer upon layer of rich silt on the land for decades. They copied the Indian way of planting corn in the spring, forgetting about it, and harvesting it in the fall. Since there was no need to till the soil, the populace had leisure …
Two years prior to Missouri’s admission into the Union, October 16, 1819, Franklin W. Brickey saw the light of day in Potosi, Missouri. He attended the public schools and at the age of 19 he came to Illinois. In 1838 he started in business at Fort Chartres, supplying steam-boats with wood and general merchandise. Enterprising …
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The father of Henry Ker, a leading farmer in the neighborhood of Prairie du Rocher, was a man than whom few have seen more varied vicissitudes or left lives of more remarkable adventure. His name, like that of the subject of our biography, was Henry Ker, and he was born at Boston, Massachusetts, the son …
Mr. John Grassinger of Prairie du Rocher, was born July 6, 1836, in Bavaria, Germany, and came to America in 1850. Coming first to St. Louis, he remained there until his father died, in the same year, and left him an orphan. He worked as a gardener until 1865, when he bought the farm which …
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St. Joseph Church Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, was established in 1722 as a chapel dependent upon the royally endowed church of Ste. Anne at Fort Chartres. King Louis XIV of France had dreamed of a great French empire in Mid America, but died before he could bring his dream to reality. Following his death in …
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The celebration of La Gui-annee had been a social custom in France 500 years before these people brought it to Illinois, and in that early day was an answer to certain social conditions of the time. The performers were the poor who sang with sacks in their hands and hopes in their heart of a gift of food for their New Year’s feast.
Among the prominent inhabitants of Prairie du Rocher who are natives of the locality is Mr. W. A. Blow. He was born September 9, 1860, on a farm near the town. He finished the public school and then became the right-hand man of his father, a place which he occupied for twenty-seven years. Finally, in …
George J. Seitz, the well-known liquor dealer, was born August 11, 1870, in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. After attending the public and parochial schools, learned the trade of butcher and at the age of 20 went to St. Louis, working at his trade for some time; then he returned to Ste. Genevieve, and in 1894 he …
Every community contains a few men of remarkable business ability, men who have risen to enviable success in some branch of trade. They deserve the public gratitude for their contribution to its prosperity no less than they win general admiration for the manner in which they have risen into eminence and won the hard struggle …
Our country, which has been called the melting-pot of nations, has received citizens from every quarter of the known world. All races and peoples have sent their representatives to swell the numbers of our population. And of all these nations none has done more for America than France. Who can ever forget that it was …
Charles Hauck, the well-known dealer in horses, mules and cattle, was born May 31, 1864, in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. He attended the parochial and public schools, and after leaving school became an apprentice of Louis Naumann, learning the butcher trade. He followed this trade in Ste. Genevieve until 1889, when he came to Prairie du …
