LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAICN 
 
 977.344 
 F46d 
 
 I.H.S. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/doyourememberOOfife 
 
DO YOU 
 REMEMBER 
 
 by 
 
 C. ARTHUR FIFER 
 
 Quincy, Illinois 
 
Acknowledgments 
 
 My grateful acknowledgments to the "Old Timers" 
 who spent many hours telling me of their experi- 
 ences. Also to interested persons who sent me 
 clippings, programs, etc. To the men who wrote 
 and published former histories and directories of 
 Quincy, and finally to the columns of the Quincy 
 Herald-Whig and Journal. 
 
 If Book No. 1 Proves of Interest, I have many more 
 Stories to include in Book No. 2. 
 
 C. ARTHUR FIFER 
 
 Quincy, Illinois 
 
 1951 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 (I) Brief History of Quincy 1 
 
 ( 2 ) Actors 10 
 
 (3) Authors 14 
 
 ( U) Automobiles 19 
 
 ( 5) Bands 22 
 
 ( 6 ) Baseball „ „ 25 
 
 (7 ) Basketball 29 
 
 ( 8 ) Bicycles 30 
 
 ( 9 ) Bridges 33 
 
 (10) Buildings 37 
 
 (II) Business 42 
 
 (12) Cemeteries 50 
 
 (13) Churches 52 
 
 (U) County Seat 55 
 
 (15) Court House 57 
 
 (16) Crime 59 
 
 (17) Duel _. 69 
 
 (18) Elections 71 
 
 (19) Fire Department 73 
 
 (20) Gangs 76 
 
 (21) General 78 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 (22) Homes and Hospitals 81 
 
 (23) Hotels 83 
 
 (24) Lincoln 85 
 
 (25) Livery Stable 90 
 
 (26) Mayors 92 
 
 (27) Monument 94 
 
 (28) Mormons 96 
 
 (29) Movies 98 
 
 (30) Orchestras 102 
 
 (31) Organizations 104 
 
 (32) Personages 106 
 
 (33) Road— Taylor.... 123 
 
 (34) Railroads .126 
 
 (35) Scandal 128 
 
 (36) Schools 130 
 
 (37) Street Cars 133 
 
 (38) Streets 135 
 
 (39) South Quincy ...137 
 
 (40) Swimming 139 
 
 (41) Theater 142 
 
 Index 147 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 
 
 (l) 
 
 Do you remember any of the history of Quincy? Per- 
 haps it might be well to go back and skim over the begin- 
 ning and development of Quincy. In 1821, John Wood, a 
 native of New York, selected the spot where the Gem City 
 is now located. In those days the western pioneers followed 
 the water courses aa the natural highways, for, of course, 
 there were no roads and only here and there a trail, and 
 these trails known to only the Indians. Like other ex- 
 plorers, John Wood ascended the great river in search of 
 a place of settlement. There were many points of beauty 
 and promise which attracted his attention as he pursued 
 his course. He journeyed northward until he landed 
 on the site of what is now the City of Quincy. He saw 
 at a glance the incomparable natural beauty which the place 
 presented. From the lofty bluffs his eye took in the un- 
 rivaled beauty of the Mississippi, while at the same time 
 the rich bottom and timber lands of the opposite shore 
 stretched away to the sun kissed bluffs some seven miles 
 distant. Then, too, at his feet, he saw a placid bay, which 
 at that time was capable of floating the Navy of the nation. 
 There was also a natural levee which lay ready for the 
 commerce of the future. The bluffs reared high above 
 the river, extending north and south for many miles, and 
 of course, he saw the undulating table land still rising by 
 gentle grades with open reaches of prairie and park-like 
 forests of native trees. 
 
 1 
 
2 BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 
 
 He must have had the eye of an artist to realize the 
 beauty of the scene around him and his far reaching in- 
 telligence told him that here was a spot intended by na- 
 ture as a sight of a great city. Here he envisioned the 
 gateway to the great west. The vision that he saw was 
 happily on its way before he passed on. For the little log 
 cabin which he erected without nails and without saws 
 and lumber became the nucleus of the beautiful city which 
 is now Quincy. 
 
 Yes, it was the fall of 1821 when Governor Wood first 
 visited this spot and made his choice and determined (in 
 his own words) "Here is the place where I will settle for 
 life." He returned in 1822, when he built his cabin. The 
 Indians were his only neighbors. They remained his neigh- 
 bors for many years and never occasioned any serious 
 trouble. 
 
 The nearest white neighbors were 50 miles south. 
 There was a garrison of United States soldiers which oc- 
 cupied Fort Edward which was 40 miles north, a place now 
 known as Warsaw. They were there for the express pur- 
 pose of keeping in order the Indians on the border. Then 
 the following year, Mr. Rose, also a native of New York, 
 came with his family and joined the settlement. Mrs. Rose 
 was the first white woman to reside in Quincy. Shortly 
 afterward they were joined by Mr. Willard T. Keyes who 
 was a native of New York, and by John Droullard, a 
 Frenchman. Mr. Keyes built the second house in the set- 
 tlement. 
 
 Along about 1825, in January, the legislature passed 
 the bill for the organization of the county of Adams fix- 
 ing the boundaries. Seymour Kellogg of Morgan county, 
 Joel Wright of Montgomery county and David Dutton of 
 Pike county were the commissioners. They selected the 
 county seat and named it "Quincy" in honor of our then 
 president. It boasted of but three houses. The first elec- 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 3 
 
 tion was held on July 2, 1825, when 40 votes were cast in 
 the county. Mr. Henry Snow was first clerk and he was in- 
 structed to lay out the plat of the city. He layed out 
 Maine Street, the principal thoroughfare and made it 82 y^ 
 feet wide and all the other streets 66 feet in width. The 
 streets from the center of town to the southern limits were 
 named after presidents or states and those on the north- 
 ern boundary bore the names of trees. College avenue was 
 formerly known as Vine street. 
 
 In the original survey of Quincy, a block of ground 400 
 feet square was set apart as a public park and you know 
 it now as Washington Park. Another block of ground was 
 set aside and was called Jefferson Square. It was used as 
 a public cemetery for many years until it was found too 
 small for the requirements of the growing city. Then the 
 remains were moved to Woodland cemetery and a public 
 school building was erected in the center of this plot. This 
 in turn was removed and on it now is being erected the 
 combination city hall and court house. It is interesting to 
 note that the original lay-out or plat of Quincy is being 
 used today except for some minor changes. 
 
 It was a subject of regret at the first public sale of 
 lots, December, 1825, that there was no outside competi- 
 tion. The lots were mainly purchased by the commission- 
 ers and other officials. But what was then thought a mis- 
 fortune, proved a blessing, as it saved the place from the 
 fate of so many western towns, in having the property 
 bought by non-resident speculators. 
 
 The men who bought, made improvements as fast as 
 circumstances would permit, and this is the principal rea- 
 son that the growth of the city has been a legitimate and 
 healthy one. The resident owners were personally inter- 
 ested in its advancement and the evidences of the wisdom 
 and enterprise with which they fostered the city's growth 
 are seen on every hand. 
 
4 BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 
 
 The Black Hawk War broke out in 1832, but it had 
 little effect on the young city except that it aroused the 
 military ardor of its people, many of whom took part in 
 the campaign. In 1833 the first regular church was or- 
 ganized and it had but 15 members. The First Congre- 
 gational Church erected in the city was called "God's 
 Barn," on account of its design. That barn was the pred- 
 ecessor of what is known now as the Union Congregational 
 Church at 12th and Maine Streets. 
 
 For the first decade, the growth of the town was nat- 
 urally slow. The distance from the nearest settlement, 
 the almost total want of what are now considered the 
 necessities of life, all served to retard its growth. There 
 was no mill. The nearest blacksmith shop was nearly 40 
 miles away, at Atlas in Pike County. Early in 1826 the 
 first store was opened by Mr. Anderson who arrived from 
 Maryland and brought his stock of goods with him. That 
 same fall the first court house was built at the corner 
 of Fifth and Maine Streets. It was of log construction and 
 here also was organized the first public school. Happy 
 pupils enjoyed periodic vacations, that is whenever court 
 was in session. 
 
 In 1828 Charles Holmes and Robert Tillson erected the 
 first frame building which was occupied as a store and 
 the following year the first steam flour mill was built by 
 Mr. J. T. Holmes who layed the foundation of what was 
 to become one of Quincy's greatest industries. By 1889 
 Quincy had a number of flour mills, some of them turn- 
 ing out many hundreds of barrels of flour a day. They 
 shipped this flour to all parts of the country and to Europe. 
 
 The ice business of Quincy in the 90's was a thriving 
 business, too. There were a number of mammoth ice 
 houses, many of them solid stone structures and during 
 the winters when most other outdoor employments were 
 at a standstill, the ice harvest demanded the services of 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 5 
 
 hundreds of men and teams. So great was the quantity 
 harvested and stored that a great deal of the ice was 
 shipped to distant points, especially to the south. The 
 bay, land locked save at its mouth, and extending several 
 miles north of the city, not only afforded an unrivaled 
 harbor, but was the means of greatly extending the lum- 
 ber business. Along its eastern shore were miles of lum- 
 ber yards, the supply being rafted from the forests of the 
 north. Millions of feet of lumber of all kinds were han- 
 dled each year and the saw and planing mills employed an 
 army of workmen. 
 
 On the west shore of the bay were the marine ways 
 for the dockage of river craft, which, with the boat build- 
 ing establishments, gave employment to a number of 
 workmen. There were many other factories going in the 
 80's and the 90's such as metal wheels, steam elevators, 
 show cases, hay presses, corn planters, files, tools, etc. 
 
 With all this going on and with long lines of railroads 
 reaching out into eight different directions and connect- 
 ing Quincy with the great systems and, with a great river 
 at our feet, giving transportation for miles, Quincy at that 
 time had unexcelled facilities for transportation of pas- 
 sengers and freight. 
 
 Quincy was to become a great city. It had a water 
 supply that was the purest and best in the country, a wa- 
 ter supply that included a substantial pumping works at 
 the foot of Maine Street. The water was conducted by 
 sunken mains from the middle of the river from which it 
 was pumped to a large reservoir some two miles distance 
 and located at the highest point in the vicinity and then 
 distributed by mains to all owners of the city. Quincy 
 had everything at that time that was considered up to the 
 minute, including gas and electric lights, a fine telephone 
 system, three lines of street railways, a paving system, a 
 school system, and a park system that was second to none. 
 
6 BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 
 
 Churches, residences and other buildings were the finest 
 that could be designed and built. Hotels were ample and 
 luxurious. Our Opera house was then the largest and 
 handsomest one for many many miles. 
 
 The C, B. & Q. Railroad Company erected a handsome 
 station. Two public hospitals were built and were the last 
 word in hospitals. Truly, Quincy was at that time coming 
 right to the front and was rightfully called the Gem City. 
 But the railroad projects which were started in Quincy 
 seemed to fall into hands of those interested, not in Quin- 
 cy, but in other spots, and, so Quincy, which was destined 
 to become a city of two, three or 400,000 had to be con- 
 tent with a population of 40,000. 
 
 Perhaps it's all for the best. To look at Quincy now, 
 you will realize that its citizens are fully conscious of the 
 beauty so lavishly bestowed upon their city by mother na- 
 ture and are doing all that care and wealth can do to en- 
 hance this beauty. Their business houses are varitable 
 palaces in size and adornment and each year adds to their 
 number and extent. Our residence quarters and the fine 
 mansions in their beautiful enclosures can hardly be ex- 
 celled and so the predictions are that Quincy can still be 
 a thriving metropolis, two, three or four more times 
 larger than it is now. We can look forward year by year 
 to increasing thousands that will swell the ranks of our 
 people and that material prosperity, wealth and import- 
 ance will be our reward. 
 
 Do you remember why Quincy was named Quincy and 
 why our county was called Adams County? First of all, 
 Adams County was physically born and christened on 
 May 1, 1825. On that same date the town of Quincy be- 
 came into being. The county had been cut off from old 
 Pike County by an act of the State Legislature. 
 
 History records the fact that the county owes its name 
 to the result of the presidential election of the previous 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 7 
 
 year when Jackson, Clay, Crawford and John Quincy 
 Adams were the prominent figures. The settlers living in 
 and around this section determined to cast their ballots 
 on the home ground, otherwise they would be obliged to 
 make the long trip to Atlas, the county seat of Pike Coun- 
 ty. John Wood had come up from that place a day before 
 the election was held and he brought with him a list of 
 the Adams electors. 
 
 It was said that nobody knew the name of Clay or 
 Crawford but everybody wanted to vote. An election pre- 
 cinct was organized with judges and clerks and the 20 or 
 more votes cast were unanimous for John Quincy Adams. 
 With evidence of such overwhelming sentiment of the man 
 from Massachusetts, it was decided to name the county 
 Adams and it was so recorded. It was also further record- 
 ed that Washington Park was originally named John's 
 Square thus honoring the full name of John Quincy Adams. 
 
 Why did John Wood, the founder of Quincy, who came 
 here first in 1821, build his cabin at the foot of Dela- 
 ware and why did Willard Keyes build his cabin at the 
 foot of Vermont Street? Well, the reason for selecting 
 these two locations is simple. They were flat places. The 
 land between was very hilly and uneven. In fact Dela- 
 ware offered the only opportunity for reaching the top of 
 the bluff with a team. Keyes could only walk through a 
 narrow ravine from the front of Vermont Street to get 
 to the top of the bluff. At that time Hampshire was not 
 cut through to the river. In fact not until between 1838 
 and 1840 was this accomplished. A great deal of it had 
 to be blasted through solid rock. Maine Street was graded 
 several years later. There was a gully across Maine Street 
 at Sixth and also at Sixth and Jersey. This gully was 
 crossed on a bridge because it was so deep. 
 
 There was another creek across Maine and Jersey at 
 Ninth Street and still another which started near Four- 
 
8 BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 
 
 teenth and Maine and ran over to Jersey and wound its 
 way to the river at the foot of the Delaware. It was called 
 Milner's Creek and also Droullard's Creek. It was called 
 Droullard's after a Frenchman by that name who came 
 here shortly after Wood and Keyes arrived and bought up 
 a great deal of property. The creek was later used as a 
 storm water sewer. 
 
 The first fashionable resident district in Quincy was 
 Jersey, York, Kentucky and State streets, west of Fifth to 
 Third. Then it went to North Fourth and Fifth and finally 
 found its way east of Fourtenth and Maine. Early in the 
 history of Quincy, an eastern bank loaned a considerable 
 sum of money on the land from State to Broadway. Some 
 Quincyans bought it in and then boomed it as a residence 
 section. The reason some of our streets are named after 
 states such as Vermont, Hampshire, Maine, Jersey, York 
 and Kentucky was because early pioneers came from these 
 states. 
 
 Fourth and Maine Streets has always been a site of a 
 hotel. Rufus Brown opened the first tavern there. It was 
 a large building having a large public room and two small 
 ones. In this large room, Asher Anderson opened the first 
 store in Quincy. Then in 1835 and 1836, John Tillson, Sr., 
 built the Quincy House on this site. It was almost com- 
 pletely destroyed by fire in January, 1883, and in that 
 year the Newcomb Hotel was built. 
 
 The first Post Office in Quincy occupied the present 
 site of the Lincoln-Douglas Hotel and where the library 
 now stands, the Herald-Whig office held forth for many 
 years. The first Congregational Church stood where the 
 Herald-Whig is now located and the Fifth Street entrance 
 is still a part of the original building. Going over on 
 Hampshire Street, the site of Hotel Quincy has been oc- 
 cupied for hotel purposes for over 100 years. The first ho- 
 tel there was the Cather House and next came the Tre- 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF QUINCY 9 
 
 mont. At Sixth and Hampshire there was a hotel called 
 the Gem City. Then the Occidental was between Sixth and 
 Seventh across from where the Orpheum now stands. It 
 was originally known as the Hess Hotel. 
 
 Comparing the present day taxes with those of the 
 old days, it might be of interest to the state that Levi 
 Hadley, the first sheriff of Adams County, made the first 
 tax collection in 1826. It amounted to the magnificent 
 sum of $48.25 to which was added $1.00 license fee from 
 Rufus Brown's tavern and $6.00 for two fines, making a 
 grand total in taxes for the year of $55.25. 
 
 One more word about Governor Wood. He came from 
 New York and first settled in Edwardsville, Illinois. Then 
 he went to St. Louis and in 1819 crossed the Mississippi 
 River in a canoe. When he came north he first located in 
 what is now Pike County and later came to the spot which 
 is now Quincy. He bought his first 80 acres of land at 
 37 y 2 c per acre. His last home was a palace between Elev- 
 enth and Twelfth on State. He was elected Lieutenant 
 Governor in 1856 and on the death of Governor Bissell, 
 he became governor for the balance of the term. In June, 
 1864, he was elected Colonel of the 137th Regiment. There 
 were few men in our country who enjoyed the confidence, 
 love and esteem of so large a circle of friends as Governor 
 Wood. 
 
ACTORS 
 (2) 
 
 Quincy has furnished the entertainment world with a 
 number of stars. It started way back when W. W. Cole 
 came to Quincy and organized his circus. He spent his win- 
 ters here with training and animal quarters at the fair- 
 grounds which was owned by General Singleton. The fair- 
 grounds today you know as Baldwin Park. The rehearsals 
 for the show stirred in the breasts of the youths of Quin- 
 cy an ambition. An ambition that perhaps every boy and 
 girl has. And this ambition did not cease when Cole left 
 Quincy. The seed had been planted and brought forth 
 genuine results. Many of the boys and girls who wanted 
 to enter the show business did so and gained world-wide 
 fame in one line or another. 
 
 Along in the late 70's, the Laird brothers, Hank and 
 Scott, opened the Theatre Comique on Hampshire Street 
 between Third and Fourth and most of their actors and 
 actresses were from local talent. This again stimulated 
 the professional spirit in Quincy and the result brought 
 forth a number of men who rose to the very pinnacle of 
 success in show business. 
 
 Among them was Patsy Nolan who lived on Kentucky 
 Street near Fourth. Patsy had an ambition to become a 
 clog dancer as dancing was apparently natural to him. Aft- 
 er an appearance or two he went to St. Louis where Fulton 
 Lichteberger, who was also a Quincyan and manager of 
 the old Palace Vaudeville House, secured an engagement 
 
 10 
 
ACTORS 11 
 
 for him. The papers there took note of his singing and 
 dancing and when a world championship was held at Gal- 
 veston, Texas, he entered and carried off the honors which 
 consisted of a gold medal. Then he joined with a partner 
 by the name of Walters. 
 
 As champion of the world, it gave him bookings in all 
 the large cities. Nolan and Walters became famous. Later 
 they joined the Robinson Ministrels. After a few years 
 the team split and Nolan adopted the name of Nolan Kelly. 
 He made a tour of Europe where he became a headliner 
 in the big theaters. He was there accorded the signal honor 
 of being commanded to dance before King Edward who 
 presented him with a gold medal, struck for the purpose. 
 This royal recognition made him in the British Isles. He 
 became so popular and his bookings so extensive he did not 
 find time to return home. At the height of his career he 
 was taken ill and died. He was buried in London. 
 
 Do you remember Mary Astor? Of course you do. But 
 do you remember in 1931 when she was given her first lead 
 in a picture and that she came to the Orpheum, back to 
 her home town? There was scarcely a handful of people 
 in the theatre. It has been written, "A prophet is not with- 
 out honor, save in his own country." True, for in 1931 
 Mary Astor, after a strenuous try-out with the movies, 
 came to Quincy as a star of her first picture and, out of 
 loyalty to this girl and her achievement, it did seem as 
 though the house should have been packed with an ap- 
 proving crowd. 
 
 It was only a few years before that she was little red- 
 haired Lucille Langhanke, attending Quincy public schools, 
 while her father and mother were teaching at the Quincy 
 High School. Then, along came a beauty contest and even 
 though she was not the winner, those who conducted it 
 gave her a chance in the movies. 
 
 She grew up in an environment of culture and intel- 
 
12 ACTORS 
 
 ligence and she earned her stardom, a place not so easily 
 achieved with the keen competition in Hollywood. Her 
 producer started her with a good play and surrounded her 
 with an excellent cast and so it would seem out of all fair- 
 ness, or, as a question of loyalty that Quincy people could 
 have done better than they did in 1931, when she came to 
 the Orpheum. 
 
 But this is not the first time this has happened to 
 Quincyans and perhaps to celebrities in other towns. There 
 are numerous occasions when Quincyans who have gained 
 fame and fortune have been snubbed when they came back 
 to their home town. I wonder if you remember Harry 
 Vokes. His real name was Laughlin. He had a partner 
 named Happy Ward. They started out in vaudeville and 
 then with their own company of 40 people in a musical 
 comedy. 
 
 Harry Laughlin, or Vokes, was born here and went to 
 Quincy schools. His father was a post office inspector and 
 one of the best known men in Quincy. Harry was trained 
 by Johnny Ahern who you will remember was a circus 
 actor and for many years later, Chief of Police in Quincy. 
 Ahern gained nation-wide reputation as a funny acrobat 
 and was acclaimed the greatest in his line. 
 
 Harry Laughlin learned from him. And after achieving 
 success he thought it would be nice to come back and show 
 the home folks what he could do. The Empire Theatre 
 was hardly half filled. He said he would never show here 
 again and he didn't, although he rose to stardom on the 
 stage. It is one of those strange freaks of human nature 
 that has been aptly explained in that saying, "A prophet 
 is not without honor save in his own country." 
 
 Do you remember the old time minstrel men — Billy 
 Beard, Lasses White, Bert Swor, Al Fields, Lew Dock- 
 stader, Honey Boy Evans, Primrose and West? I could 
 go on and on. The last appearance of Billy Beard and Las- 
 
ACTORS 13 
 
 ses White in Quincy was with the Al G. Fields Minstrels. 
 I think many of you will remember the old minstrel troups. 
 And by the way, a Quincy man was interested in the big- 
 gest minstrel show of its day, the Haverly Minstrels. There 
 never was a bigger or better troup. 
 
 The man who was interested in Haverly's Minstrels 
 was John B. Carson who was manager of the Hannibal and 
 St. Joe Railroad and lived in Quincy. He built the house 
 that E. N. Monroe occupies today on Maine Street. Mr. 
 Carson was a wealthy man and owner of considerable real 
 estate in Chicago. One of his assets was the Columbia 
 Theater which was situated on Monroe near Dearborn. 
 When Haverly started his minstrel troup, Carson backed 
 him. There were 40 to 50 men in that troup and it was 
 one of the biggest organizations in those days. 
 
 Many who were members of Haverly's minstrels be- 
 came stars in later days. For example, there was Barlow, 
 Wilson, Primrose and West, and many others. Afterwards 
 Primrose and West had a minstrel troup of their own, and 
 Primrose, you will remember, was the star soft shoe dancer. 
 Barlow and Wilson were members of the troup to begin 
 with but later they split and formed two companies. Then 
 of course some of you will remember Billy Emerson whose 
 song, "Happy as a Big Sun Flower," made him much fame. 
 
 There was Billy Rice who was a member of the original 
 Haverly Troup. Later Billy Cleveland acquired the title 
 to the Haverly Minstrels on the death of Haverly and 
 played in Quincy. Yes, the minstrel show was the big show 
 of the year. They came to town, had their parade at noon 
 time, and very often a matinee as well as the evening per- 
 formance. There were the ballad singers, and how they 
 used to sing "Silver Threads Among the Gold," "When 
 the Robins Nest Again," and "After the Ball Is Over." 
 That was music. 
 
AUTHORS 
 
 (3) 
 
 Do you remember the show "In Old Kentucky"? It 
 was in 1928 when the top producers of musical shows, the 
 Shuberts bought Charles T. Dazey's "In Old Kentucky." 
 By 1928, "In Old Kentucky," an original play by Mr. 
 Dazey, was 35 years old. It had made a fortune by that 
 time. Now it was to be set to music by an eminent com- 
 poser and to be staged with all the splendor and elaborate 
 settings which characterized a Shubert production. 
 
 Mr. Dazey, like many playwrights who are very par- 
 ticular about their scripts, was assured that nothing of the 
 original merit of the production would be lost in the mu- 
 sical setting. One of the side lights in connection with 
 the Shubert's buying the play was a settlement of the law- 
 suit which Mr. Dazey brought against the Shuberts. They 
 had produced a musical comedy called "Bigboy," in which 
 Al Jolson starred and it was so nearly like "In Old Ken- 
 tucky" that Mr. Dazey considered it an infringment of 
 his copyright and brought suit for $100,000 against not 
 only the Shuberts, but also Mr. Al Jolson. 
 
 "In Old Kentucky" was written by Mr. Dazey when he 
 was making his home in Quincy at the Newcomb Hotel 
 during the winter of 1892-93. It was originally intended 
 for Katie Putnam, one of the popular actresses of the day. 
 (In those days they were called Soubrettes). However, 
 there is a scene in the play in which Madge, the heroine, 
 puts on jockey breeches and rides in the race. Miss Put- 
 
 14 
 
AUTHORS 15 
 
 nam objected to this scene. Mr. Dazey took the play to 
 Jacob Litt who produced it in Minneapolis and at once 
 realized that with the elaboration of the race scene, the 
 addition of a pickaninny band and some grand scenery, it 
 would prove a smash hit. 
 
 He was right. A strong company was engaged, the play 
 whipped into shape and it opened in the Academy of Mu- 
 sic, New York City, in the fall of 1893. It ran for over a 
 year. Its success was so pronounced that a number of com- 
 panies were sent out through the country. It was received 
 everywhere with acclaim and Mr. Dazey's royalties netted 
 him a fortune. It continued to be popular for 27 years. 
 The show was twice filmed in the movies. The first time 
 about 1921 and the second time, 1927. This was a record 
 that few if any plays ever enjoyed. With the exception of 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin it probably enjoyed a greater record 
 for continuous presentation than any other play ever writ- 
 ten. Charles T. Dazey brought fame to Quincy. 
 
 On the 24th of December, the day before Christmas, in 
 1928, the mayor of Orlando, Florida, presented a Miss 
 Brown with a twenty-five thousand dollar check and acted 
 as host to a large reception in her honor. Do you remem- 
 ber Katherine Holland Brown? All of this hullabalu ex- 
 cited her not one bit. She said she was pleased to receive 
 the award, but having received it — well, "that was that." 
 One of the first checks she drew against the reward was 
 for one thousand dollars which she contributed to the Au- 
 thors League of America. 
 
 Katherine Holland Brown attended school in Quincy, 
 and after graduating from high school went to the Uni- 
 versity of Michigan. One of her friends and schoolmates 
 in Quincy was Sue McDavitt, now Mrs. Ira Calkins. She 
 returned to Quincy, taught in the Quincy High School and 
 in the meantime was writing for newspapers and maga- 
 zines. She sold her first story in 1900 to the Woman's 
 
16 AUTHORS 
 
 Home Companion, and it is well worth noting that the 
 "Woman's Home Companion'' collaborated with John Day 
 Company in presenting her with the twenty-five thousand 
 dollar prize for the novel entitled, "The Father." She re- 
 ceived hundreds of congratulatory messages and many 
 telephone calls, and, when interviewed, she said, "Every- 
 one seems to think that I just stuck my thumb in and 
 pulled out a plum. There really was a little more work to 
 it than that, but on the other hand, I do feel like a Jack 
 Horner." 
 
 Later, she confessed that writing "The Father" in- 
 cluded material which she had been gathering ever since 
 she was a child. It was the story of Abraham Lincoln. She 
 began to write this novel in 1917, principally to please her 
 father who was then in ill health. But on his death, she 
 laid the work aside and kept busy writing other books and 
 short stories. Still, the story of "The Father" never left 
 her mind, and after a while she brought out the unfin- 
 ished manuscript and completed the first draft about 1926. 
 It's the same old story of success . . . she wrote about peo- 
 ple and incidents with which she was familiar. It was true 
 to type and related one of the most fascinating periods in 
 American and Illinois history. Yes, the famous Katherine 
 Holland Brown was a Quincy girl and true to Quincy all 
 her life. 
 
 Do you remember Walter Marquiss? Walter Marquiss 
 wrote the novel entitled "Brutus Was an Honorable Man." 
 Many who read the book feel that its locale is Quincy, Illi- 
 nois and that the characters were chosen from men and 
 women in this city. Walter Marquiss was former manag- 
 ing editor of the Whig Journal and in October of 1929, he 
 succeeded in obtaining production of a play which was 
 based on a novel written while he lived in Quincy. The 
 play has as its setting an Illinois city of 50 or 60,000 
 which might have been Quincy. It's protagonist was the 
 
AUTHORS 17 
 
 Rev. James Gregg who was a Pastor of one of the cities 
 protestant churches. 
 
 There was no doubt that the midwest atmosphere of 
 the play with its true American flavor came direct from 
 the experience of Walter Marquiss in his many years in 
 Illinois, and the development of the leading character, a 
 young minister, was suggested to him by his friendship 
 with the Rev. Earl Cook whom many of you will remem- 
 ber as Pastor of the Unitarian Church of Quincy. When 
 this play was submitted to the American Playright The- 
 ater, they at once accepted it and put it into rehearsal. As 
 I remember him way back, he was a slender man of rather 
 serious and even solemn expression. 
 
 He was born in Monticello, Illinois and graduated from 
 the High School there in 1910. He worked for awhile on 
 the Monticello Bulletin. After spending about 10 years as 
 managing Editor on Quincy Newspapers, he went to New 
 York and joined the Associated Press, writing their finan- 
 cial news. He arrived in New York around 1926. After 
 about a year in New York, he devoted himself exclusively 
 to the writing of fiction and his wife who was his private 
 secretary and did most of his typing, was a very busy 
 woman. 
 
 It was through an introductory letter from Floyd Dell, 
 a former Barry boy that Mr. Marquiss met William Jour- 
 dan Rapp who happened to be Editor of True Story Mag- 
 azine and co-author of the Broadway Production, "Har- 
 lem." They became fast friends immediately and collab- 
 orated on the writing of "War Within." This play was 
 based on the unpublished novel that Mr. Marquiss had 
 brought with him from Quincy. 
 
 Mr. Marquiss was Managing Editor of the Quincy 
 Journal from 1916 to 1920 and of the Quincy Whig Journal 
 from 1920 to 1926 and it was while he was with the Jour- 
 nal in 1920 that he sold his first piece of fiction, a short 
 
18 AUTHORS 
 
 story entitled 'The Coppers Bride." Many of you will re- 
 member that while he was with the Whig Journal, he 
 wrote a daily column of comment called "The Observer". 
 He has written several novels and perhaps 50 short stories, 
 several for the old Smart Set magazine. 
 
AUTOMOBILES 
 
 Do you remember the first automobiles in Quincy? 
 There may be some dispute as to just who did have the 
 first, but I think it is generally acknowledged that George 
 H. Stahl brought the first steam driven machine into 
 Quincy and of course it was a wonder. I suppose when 
 the Phaeton was introduced to supersede the ox-cart, the 
 Phaeton was undoubtedly a wonder too. But those of you 
 who remember George StahPs steam driven machine and 
 then, when you look at the streamlined models we are 
 driving today, it is probably difficult to realize how won- 
 derful was this steam driven machine. 
 
 Milton K. Weems in 1905, brought to Quincy the last 
 word in automobiles, a Stevens-Duryea. This was a de- 
 cided improvement over the White Steamer but you still 
 entered the car from the rear through what was almost 
 a trap door, rather than from the side as you do today. 
 The year that Mr. Weems brought his Stevens-Duryea to 
 Quincy, a project was proposed for a trip from Chicago 
 to St. Paul on a trail that had been mapped out by the 
 Chicago Automobile Pioneers. Mr. Weems decided to make 
 the trip. With him and his wife, were Mrs. Ben Bartlett 
 and Dr. Thomas Gardner. 
 
 Another car which entered the contest was that of Mr. 
 and Mrs. C. Henry Fosgate with their chauffeur. The 
 party started on a certain Friday, but the Fosgate party 
 dropped out at Dubuque. Mr. Weems completed the trip 
 
 19 
 
20 AUTOMOBILES 
 
 and had the distinction of having been the only car to 
 reach St. Paul in which ladies were passengers. Several 
 hundred started from Chicago but only a few reached St. 
 Paul. Mr. Weems , car was number 9. 
 
 Cars were stretched all the way from Chicago to St. 
 Paul in ditches, some mired in mud and others with me- 
 chanical trouble. The party started on Friday and reached 
 St. Paul the following Thursday. The trip was so stren- 
 uous that Mr. Weems and his passengers came home by 
 train. The car was shipped via the river route. The 
 manufacturers were so pleased with his trip that they 
 asked for the engine, which was sent back to the factory 
 and Mr. Weems received a brand new one. Yes, in the old 
 days, not so awfully long ago either, motoring was not 
 quite as pleasant as it is today. 
 
 Do you remember the terms, horseless carriage and 
 speed demon? Those were descriptive nomenclature given 
 to what was in the old days the first automobiles. They 
 were a curiosity, but as the machines increased in number, 
 owners and drivers were filled with an ambition to prove 
 that the newest invention was primarily intended for joy 
 riding and speeding. Horse drawn vehicles predominated, 
 of course, and finally in self-protection the owners and 
 drivers appealed to the Council for an ordinance restricting 
 the speed of the motor cars and placing safeguards 
 around their operation on the highways. 
 
 The appeal was granted and on the evening of Monday, 
 April 4, 1904 the first ordinance concerning automobiles, 
 auto cars and other similar vehicles was presented to the 
 Quincy Council with recommendations to pass the laws 
 as they were drawn up. It was unanimously adopted and 
 to become effective immediately upon publication. The 
 aldermen who put this historic document in the code of 
 city laws were Wm. Mills, Harvey Coffield, Louis Ebert, 
 Geo. Koehler, J. F. Tellbuescher, Gottlieb Schanz, W. W. 
 
AUTOMOBILES 21 
 
 Richardson, Charles Achelpohl, John Moriarty, A. C. Hor- 
 belt, Will McMein and William Channon. John Steinback 
 was mayor and John Berlin was city clerk. 
 
 As drafted, the ordinance required every auto to be 
 equipped with an alarm bell or gong to sound a warning 
 of its approach. Alderman McMein called attention to the 
 fact that nearly all of the Quincy machines were equipped 
 with horns which served the same purpose and he asked 
 for the insertion of the word "horn" after the words 
 "gong" and "bell". Alderman Holtman considered a bell 
 or gong preferable to a horn for the reason that the people 
 were accustomed to hearing a gong sounded for the right of 
 way by the operators of the fire and police apparatus and 
 instinctively sought safety on their approach. 
 
 Alderman Bickhaus did not think it made much dif- 
 ference, a horn was pretty much like a gong anyway. To 
 this Alderman Achelpohl rejoined that it depended some- 
 what on how full the horn had to be to make it sound like 
 a gong. Were they kidding, or were they serious ? Never- 
 theless that's the argument that prevailed at the time. 
 
BANDS 
 (5) 
 
 Do you remember George Gauweiler? It was George 
 Gauweiler of Quincy who raised the standard of circus 
 bands and music to its highest point. The Gauweiler fam- 
 ily consisted of the father and two sons. The father came 
 from New York where he was a clarinet player in the thea- 
 ter orchestra; and by the way, he played for the first 
 performance of the "Black Crook." This was the show 
 that caused such a furor all over the country because it 
 was the first time girls appeared in tights. 
 
 George Gauweiler started as a member of the band 
 and orchestra of the Arnold Brothers Minstrels and that 
 was about 1876. Later on he became connected with Fore- 
 paugh of Circus fame. It was his work with the Fore- 
 paugh Circus that made him stand out as one of the na- 
 tion's great bandsmen. Some of the leading Journals of the 
 country made mention of the fact that George Gauweiler 
 who took over the Forepaugh Circus band, did more than 
 anyone else to improve the playing of circus bands. 
 
 Later on he went with Ringling and with such a show- 
 man as Al Ringling and a musician and a bandleader such 
 as George Gauweiler, circus programming reached its 
 height. George Gauweiler died at the height of his career. 
 He had in mind and had planned big things for the 
 Ringling Circus as they gave him a free hand. 
 
 Do you remember Ellis Brooks? Ellis Brooks was a 
 musician. He lived in the days of traveling bands. When 
 
 22 
 
BANDS 23 
 
 John Philip Sousa, the great march king, was at his peak 
 Ellis Brooks was traveling the country /with his United 
 States Military and Cornet Band. He perhaps did not 
 make the fortune that Sousa made but wherever he went 
 he was greeted with enthusiasm — except in one spot — and 
 that spot was Quincy. 
 
 One year, during the Christmas Season, Sousa played 
 here at the Opera House and was greeted by a capacity 
 audience. A few weeks later Ellis Brooks and his United 
 Military and Cornet Band came to Quincy. The night be- 
 fore, Brooks was booked in Keokuk, Iowa where he was 
 greeted by one of the largest audiences that ever turned 
 out to popular concerts. Not only Keokuk turned out to 
 greet him but delegations from Carthage, Montrose, Bur- 
 lington and other points in Iowa and Missouri came to hear 
 a man who seemed to sense the modern touch. It was 
 just about this time that ragtime was being promoted and 
 Ellis Brooks, especially in his encores, gave the audience 
 what it wanted. 
 
 The next day he was booked in Quincy and here he 
 was greeted by fewer than 200 people. From the way Ellis 
 Brooks conducted the orchestra and the number of encores 
 given to a wild shouting handful of people, there was no 
 indication that he was concerned by the small audience 
 and the empty seats. He made his concert just as complete 
 as if the theater had been crowded from boiler room to 
 gallery. The music was just as good as Sousa's band had 
 produced and in some respects appealed more to the 
 popular taste. Yes, the numbers ranged from a cake walk 
 to Grand Opera and the audience made up in enthusiasm 
 what it lacked in number. 
 
 Charity Martin was with the band and there never was 
 a more glamorous and beautiful singer to look upon and 
 she could also sing. So Ellis Brooks left Quincy and con- 
 tinued his tour to the West Coast. Later he organized 
 
24 BANDS 
 
 another band of youthful musicians and he called it 
 Ellis Brooks Ragtime Band and again he was successful. 
 
 But the shadows began to lengthen. Ellis Brooks 
 looked around for a place where he could spend the re- 
 mainder of his days and, where do you think he came? 
 He came to Quincy, the place that had literally snubbed 
 him when he first appeared here. He told the few people 
 whom he had met that he liked the town the minute he 
 saw it and he was quite sure the people here were friendly 
 and neighborly and so he took up his home in Quincy. He 
 was given charge of the Illinois State Band and made a 
 success of it. 
 
 (It was about 34 years ago that Ellis Brooks made a 
 fine band arrangement of my 1st World War song 
 "We're Going Over".) 
 
 When he appeared with his musicians in Washington 
 Park or at the Empire Theater, great audiences congre- 
 gated. The music lovers of the city congratulated them- 
 selves over having at the head of the band a director of 
 the quality of Ellis Brooks. Personally affable and in his 
 profession, one of the best in the country, Quincy was 
 proud of Ellis Brooks. Yes, it was Ellis Brooks by his 
 gracious manner and musical ability who melted cold 
 shoulders into warm hearts. 
 
BASEBALL 
 
 (6) 
 
 Perhaps you will be interested in old-time baseball play- 
 ers. I wonder if any of you have heard the name of Burns, 
 who was in center-field for Kansas City and played in the 
 famous game between the Kansas City Blues and a team 
 from Jersey City. It was played June 7, 1889 — The Burns 
 in the lineup was Jim Burns, a Quincy boy, who before 
 that had been a member of the famous Quincy non-pro- 
 fessional club, called the "Quick-Steps". The Quick-Steps 
 held undisputed sway here 'way back in the '80's. — Most 
 of their members went into the professional game in 1884 
 and a little later. 
 
 Burns played in several cities and at one time was with 
 Charles Comiskey when he owned the St. Paul team. The 
 Quick-Steps played out at the fair grounds. At least, that 
 is what it was called before it was known as Baldwin 
 Park, or even Singleton Park, which it was called 
 before it was called Baldwin Park. The team had its rival, 
 as may be expected, and they were called the <J Gem Cities". 
 Some great games were played between the two. The Quick 
 Steps gained a big reputation outside of Quincy, making 
 trips to St. Joseph and other cities. There were compar- 
 atively few teams in the country at that time outside of 
 the National League. Jim Burns played in several of the 
 Major League clubs. 
 
 Then there was Judy Harter — a catcher who played 
 with Louisville when it was in the National League. Kid 
 
 25 
 
26 BASEBALL 
 
 Baldwin also played with Cincinnati and Charlie Luten- 
 berg, pitcher and first baseman went to Louisville. Many 
 of you will still remember Charlie Lutenberg. Some of 
 these players stayed in the big show for a long time, Bald- 
 win perhaps the longest. 
 
 Do you remember Art Fromme ? He was another Quin- 
 cy amateur who went into big time, but that was a little 
 later. Then there was Sammy Works, a Payson boy who 
 came here and played with "Hofer's Reserves". He was 
 with Detroit the year that city won the World's Champion- 
 ship. The Quick-Steps were almost wholly disorganized 
 with the formation of the Northwestern League in 1883. 
 In about a year, however, that League went into the dis- 
 card. All of these players played a long time ago, when 
 Quincy was one of the pioneer baseball cities of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 Quincy has had many a glorous day in baseball, even 
 though some of our teams have not come up to expecta- 
 tions. But do you remember the most glorious day of all 
 in Quincy baseball? The date was Sept. 16, 1907 and so 
 perhaps there are some of you who remember and there 
 are others perhaps who would like to read the story. It 
 was in a year when Quincy had an independent club and 
 it bore the name the "Buds." Harry Hofer, and I'm sure 
 you remember Harry, was the manager. In subsequent 
 years, Harry forsook the diamond to become a showman 
 and piloted carnival companies around the country. 
 
 When he quit he came home and settled down to writ- 
 ing life insurance as a pastime and selling real estate as 
 a side line. Harry was a man who led many a team to vic- 
 tory. The proudest day of his career was on Sept. 16, 1907. 
 In that year the Chicago Cubs had won the pennant of 
 the National League under the generalship of McCloskey 
 and won the World Series from Detroit. With a lot of 
 good weather for outdoor sports still due before winter, 
 
BASEBALL 27 
 
 the Cubs conceived the idea of playing a post season sched- 
 ule throughout the middle west. Partly to add more laurels 
 and partly to give themselves pin money to spend in their 
 home town while waiting for the arrival of the spring sea- 
 son. 
 
 Quincy was given a place on their itinerary and re- 
 sponded to the compliment of sending almost 2,400 fans 
 to the game. The visitors received 50% of the receipts. 
 The two clubs divided $1,460 dollars between them. The 
 attendance was the largest at a ball game in Quincy in 
 many years. The fans witnessed a good game, although it 
 proved rather a one-sided one. The Cubs made two runs 
 in the first inning and then quit reaching the home plate. 
 Harry Hofer's "Buds" tied them in the first inning and 
 added two to give themselves a margin and went on to 
 win easily. Yes, Hofer's "Buds" beat the Cubs after they 
 had won the World Series and the fame of the "Buds" was 
 spread by the press throughout the land. 
 
 The club that thus brought fame and glory to this city 
 was made up of the following: Hofer, Dang, Linderbeck, 
 Rouse, Jameson, Johnson, Rudd, Dalton, Walsh, McGuire, 
 Bennett, Plummer, Harrell, Mason, and Keyes. Yes, it was 
 Harry Hofer's "Buds" who beat the champion Cubs in 1907. 
 
 Do you remember the old Northwestern League? Well, 
 back in 1883 and 1884, Quincy was a member of this league 
 and the games were a little bit longer then than they are 
 today. There is an old account of one game between the 
 Quincy Occidentals and the Cincinnati Red Stockings but 
 that was even further back. I wonder if the fans today 
 would be content to sit at a ball game for three hours 
 and a half while they piled up scores of 51 to 7 and that, by 
 the way was a small score in those days. Not much like 
 the 1 to or 5 to 1 games that the fans seem to like today. 
 
 But to get back to the Northwestern League in '83 and 
 '84. The reason the games were necessarily longer than 
 
28 BASEBALL 
 
 they are today was because of the prevailing rules. In 
 those days the pitcher really had to do some work. He 
 had to pitch seven balls instead of four before the batters 
 got a walk and what is more the batter had the right to 
 call for a low or high ball. Wouldn't the big hitters of 
 today have a picnic with the pitchers if they could call 
 for just the kind of a ball they wanted? 
 
BASKETBALL 
 
 (7) 
 
 Do you remember when Quincy won the State Basket- 
 ball Championship? When Barclift and his twenty-two 
 points against the 1933 Champions set a new all time 
 State Tourney mark? Yes, it was in 1934 when Quincy had 
 the best High School Basketball Team in all Illinois, per- 
 haps in the Nation. It was grim determination on the part 
 of the team and Coach S. 0. Storby that won the title for 
 Quincy. This was one of the greatest tournaments ever 
 held in Champaign. The total attendance was over thirty- 
 three thousand, the high scorer for a single game was 
 twenty-two which was an all time record. Rineberg, of 
 Quincy, along with three other boys, scored seventeen. All 
 the other players were right on the job too. 
 
 If it had not been for the grand playing of the whole 
 team even though Barclift was hot, he could not have 
 made twenty-two points. Take for example Bobby Reeves 
 and Harry Hall who kept that great player Louis Boudreau 
 absolutely helpless. John Bingaman with a swollen jaw 
 from an infected tooth played a superb game. And did 
 they get a welcome when the champs returned? They 
 were greeted by crowds as the city turned out to welcome 
 its heroes. Thousands applauded them and many joined 
 in a triumphal procession to the High School where the 
 boys were given a Royal Welcome, one they had so justly 
 earned. 
 
 29 
 
BICYCLES 
 
 (8) 
 
 Just as the first automobiles were jeered, the first bi- 
 cycles to appear on the streets of Quincy were ridiculed and 
 booed. It was necessary for the bicyclers to organize for 
 their own protection. They were often attacked on coun- 
 try roads by farmers who attempted to ride them down 
 and push them off the highway. Many people thought 
 that cycling was a sport of the wealthy and were opposed 
 to it for that reason. The average cost of a bicycle in the 
 early days of the sport was 160 dollars. 
 
 The opposition was so great that the city council passed 
 an ordinance barring bicycles, tricycles and velocipedes 
 from the streets, but this ordinance was never enforced. 
 The state organization of the league of the American 
 Wheelers advised Quincy Cyclists to go right ahead in de- 
 fiance of the ordinance and promised that they would send 
 legal aid if they got into trouble. 
 
 The Quincy Bicycle Club was organized in 1885. At 
 that time there were two types of bicycles. The Ordinaries 
 and the Saf ties. Do you remember the Ordinaries ? They 
 consisted of one large wheel usually about 52 inches in 
 diameter with a smaller wheel behind. The seat was locat- 
 ed on a bar almost directly above the big wheel. The 
 Safties were much like our present day bicycles with the 
 exception they were not so well built and had solid rubber 
 tires. Pneumatic tires were unheard of at that time. Saf- 
 ties were so called because the rider seldom took a 
 
 30 
 
BICYCLES 31 
 
 header from them as they did from the Ordinaries which 
 were much more difficult to ride. 
 
 In the Quincy Bicycle Club there were Robert B. and 
 Tom White, Lige Young, George Koch, Frank Osborn, 
 Louis Trapp, Hal Osborn, Tom Burrows, Thomas E. Thomp- 
 son and others. One of their particular stunts was to take 
 a train to Louisiana, Missouri and then ride around the 
 turnpike from Louisiana to Dover and to Clarksville. That 
 road was in excellent condition at that time and was a toll 
 road. The reasons the farmer in many sections of the 
 country were not friendly to the cyclists was because the 
 bicycles frightened the horses. 
 
 Later on a number of the members withdrew from the 
 Quincy bicycle club and formed the Ramblers Bicycle Club. 
 In addition to enjoying the sport of cycling, the Adams 
 County Wheelman was a live organization and sponsored 
 many activities, social or otherwise. They were the first 
 advocates of good roads. On one occasion Dr. Roy Brown 
 and Frank Osborn took a trip to Peoria by bicycle. It 
 took them three days. Dr. Brown rode the Saftie and with 
 them was Joe Conn who rode an Ordinary while Frank Os- 
 born rode an Eagle which was much like the Ordinaries 
 except that it had a little wheel in front. 
 
 The official colors of the Quincy Bicycle Club were 
 black and yellow and the club rooms of that organization 
 were on the second floor of the building at the Northeast 
 corner of 6th and Hampshire Streets. It presented a gay 
 scene when the members gathered ready for a ride. There 
 was a women's bicycle club too. This was formed in 1894 
 and among its members were Mrs. Frank Osborn, Bessie 
 Gilmer, the Brockman Sisters, Esther Baker, Sadie Hill, 
 Misses Hyatt and Kittie Dean. Crinoline was popular in 
 those days but it went its way with bustles when the bi- 
 cycles met the favor of the women of Quincy. 
 
 Do you remember when people started talking about 
 
32 BICYCLES 
 
 the last days of the bicycle? Well about 1925, 6 or 7 or 
 along there, everybody thought the bicycle was out. On 
 the east side of the Wells Building at Fifth and Maine 
 Streets, one could see one or two, whereas several years 
 before that there were hundreds. Most of the buildings 
 had one or more of these racks which were made of half 
 inch pipe and so built they stood out only a few inches and 
 thereby caused little obstruction to the sidewalk, but about 
 1926, those at the Wells Building seemed to be the only 
 ones left in the down town section. And it was only several 
 years before that these racks were filled with wheels and 
 in fact it was difficult to find a place to park. 
 
 In the old days the bicycle club held much the same 
 place that the automobile club does today. Adams County 
 Bicycle Club had a beautiful club house in the former 
 Janes home on Broadway. The ground was in after years, 
 purchased by the County and then the building raised 
 to give more space for the Detention home. There was a 
 large membership and the organization flourished. But 
 along about 1925, bicycles were supposed to be out. The 
 organization applied for an annulment of the charter. But 
 bicycles are not out. If in 1926, a bicycle was a rarity, 
 certainly today, bicycles play their part in our scheme of 
 transportation. If you don't believe it, just pass the high 
 school or any other school and see the bicycles in use. Yes, 
 we are taking things easy with the automobile but the 
 bicycles I think, are still here. 
 
BRIDGES 
 
 (9) 
 
 Do you remember when the Quincy Railroad Bridge 
 was built? It was started early in 1867 and was more 
 than a year in building. And do you know that at the time 
 it was built, it was the longest railroad bridge in the entire 
 world? The length of the main structure was three thou- 
 sand, two hundred feet, which consisted of seventeen 
 spans, two of them, two hundred and fifty feet in length. 
 The cost was about a million and a half. It was built before 
 the Eads bridge in St. Louis. 
 
 In 1898, when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Rail- 
 road erected a new passenger station on Second and Oak 
 Streets they made some changes in the bridge. The com- 
 pany secured permission from the Government to fill in 
 several of the spans on the Illinois side and the entire 
 bridge was made heavier and stronger. This shortened the 
 bridge somewhat, but when it was built, the Quincy Rail- 
 road Bridge was one of the notable structures of the coun- 
 try, because of its length. Newspapers and magazines in 
 the year of 1870 were filled with stories and descriptions of 
 the Quincy Bridge. 
 
 The building of this bridge gave a number of Quincy- 
 ans the idea of promoting the Quincy Missouri and Pacific 
 Railroad. Many private fortunes were sunk, even though 
 it proved profitable for Quincy. The original plan was to 
 connect with the Union Pacific at Omaha and secure a 
 direct route to the Pacific Coast. The Quincy Memorial 
 
 33 
 
34 BRIDGES 
 
 Bridge is an illustration of a change in transportation. It's 
 a FREE bridge spanning "Old Man River". 
 
 Do you remember when Quincy began talking about 
 a second bridge across the Mississippi? I am referring 
 of course to the Quincy Memorial Bridge. And I make 
 that statement because many years before there was talk 
 of a second bridge across the Mississippi. But the building 
 of the Quincy Memorial Bridge as it now stands was first 
 being agitated back in 1924. Yet it is a fact that a second 
 bridge was proposed way back only five years after the 
 railroad bridge was completed. It was back in 1873 when 
 the public became interested in a second bridge project 
 and mass meetings were held to encourage popular sub- 
 scriptions, even though the railroad bridge as it was com- 
 pleted in 1868, had cost about one and one-half million 
 dollars. At that time, the railroad bridge was controlled by 
 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Toledo, Wabash 
 and Western and the Hannibal and St. Joe. 
 
 Five years later, on Dec. 15, 1873 there was a meeting 
 of the citizens which was held in the Court House for the 
 purpose of discussing the proposition of the erection of a 
 second bridge. The object being to better serve the inter- 
 est of the city and its business relations with its Trans- 
 Mississippi neighbors. Of course this was prior to the 
 invention of the touring car and motor truck and there- 
 fore in all the discussions there was no talk of state aid 
 and federal aid hard roads, nor tourist trails between the 
 Atlantic and Pacific seaports. Nor did they talk of the 
 Mississippi Valley Scenic Highway. 
 
 At this mass meeting the honorable, W. A. Richard- 
 son was elected chairman and he explained the advantages 
 of the bridge. They even went into construction costs as 
 estimates had already been received from builders. It 
 looked like a steam roller meeting as all the citizens had 
 to do was say they wanted to go ahead and everything 
 
BRIDGES 35 
 
 was ready. It was to be a bridge built by the entire citi- 
 zenship and the promoters pledged that they would not 
 sell the bridge to any of the railroad companies. It was to 
 remain a Quincy Institution. The dream in 1873 did not 
 materialize but the one in 1924, the Quincy Memorial 
 Bridge did. 
 
 Do you remember the old covered bridges? Back in 
 1934 the covered bridge four miles north of Camp Point 
 was doomed to be razed. It was one of the last links 
 that connected the generation of that time with Adams 
 County Pioneers. It was one of the last of a series of 
 wooden bridges that of course now have become extinct. 
 The covered bridge dates back to an era before the use of 
 steel and iron construction. As a matter of fact when cov- 
 ered bridges were first put up they did not even use nails, 
 bolts or screws to hold them together. Wood was plentiful 
 but metals were rare when our forebears came here to the 
 banks of the Mississippi from far off New England, as 
 well as from the bluetop mountains of Virginia, the Alle- 
 ghenies of Pennsylvania and the Blue Grass region of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 Trees were tall and yielded excellent building materials. 
 In fact it was the only available material with the excep- 
 tion of limestone. Why were the old bridges covered 
 bridges ? The answer I think is to protect the timbers from 
 the elements. Yes, the enclosure of the sides and the 
 roof kept off the rain and the snow and permitted the 
 wood to season thoroughly and once in that condition it 
 was able to withstand the ravages of time. 
 
 This particular bridge North of Camp Point was not the 
 oldest built in Adams County. As a matter of fact it was 
 one of the last. There was another bridge, it's companion, 
 a little more than a mile southwest. It was built a little 
 later but crossed the same creek. Perhaps the first cov- 
 ered bridge to be constructed was over Mill Creek which 
 
36 BRIDGES 
 
 was a quarter of a mile south, about four miles east of 
 30th and Broadway on what was known then as the Broad- 
 way road. This was approximately 1850 or 1851. Then 
 probably the second covered bridge was over Bear Creek 
 several miles from Lima. This bridge was destroyed by 
 fire about 1932. It was in disuse at the time as a new 
 steel bridge had taken its place a mile east. 
 
 The first official action looking toward a bridge across 
 Bear Creek north of Camp Point was taken before a special 
 meeting of the Board of Supervisors which was held in May 
 in 1870. A resolution was adopted that a bridge be built 
 and a Mr. Smith and Mr. Downing were named as the 
 committee to determine the kind of bridge, where it was 
 to be located and to receive bids and to award the contract. 
 The bridge was built and was in constant use for 62 or 
 more years. A search of the records failed to disclose that 
 any money was spent on repairs. Perhaps the sides and 
 roof and floor needed some replacement from time to time 
 but the expenditures for this purpose were almost nil. The 
 structure was 80 feet in length. It was mounted on lime- 
 stone abutments and it cost, according to the resolution, 
 about $3,500. Those were the days when Adams County 
 was still in swaddling clothes. 
 
BUILDINGS 
 (10) 
 
 Do you remember the old Opera House, later called the 
 Doerr Opera House? It was never entirely torn down, al- 
 though it has been remodeled several times. It's the Penney 
 Store on Sixth and Maine and was erected jointly by the 
 Independent order of Odd Fellows and the Quincy Opera 
 House Company. The Odd Fellows subscribed one-fifth of 
 the amount necessary and the Opera House Company the 
 balance. For this one-fifth, the Odd Fellows had a life time 
 lease on the floor above the Opera House which occupied 
 the second and third floors. It was erected during that pe- 
 riod immediately after the Civil War when Quincy's enter- 
 prise was at its height. It was one of two projects which 
 required capitalization of more than a million dollars and 
 that was a likely sum in those days. 
 
 Its first manager was James Langdon who was a 
 brother of Addison Langdon who published the Saturday 
 Review. James Langdon was publisher of the Whig. A 
 grand opera company was brought here from New York 
 for the opening and it cost several thousand dollars. As 
 an opening attraction it was an artistic success but finan- 
 cially, a failure. The auditorium was so arranged that a 
 false floor might be spread over the chairs of the parquet 
 and here the fashionable balls were given as well as other 
 big social events. It was quite a trick to place this floor 
 and take it up again. 
 
 After Langdon relinquished the management of the 
 
 37 
 
38 BUILDINGS 
 
 theater it was taken over by Cy Hilborn and W. H. Moore 
 who conducted it until 1880 and then Dr. P. A. Marks 
 became the manager. He remained so until 1889 when the 
 house was taken over by John M. Schoeneman who you 
 will remember was with the Herald for quite some time 
 later. He kept it until 1891 when Andrew Doerr who had 
 bought the building managed it himself and then turned 
 the theater into his "Mammoth Bargain House." It was 
 most substantially built for in its remodeling, the founda- 
 tions encountered were from 8 to 10 feet thick and went 
 down at least 30 feet, there being a sub cellar under the 
 basement. There was little excavating necessary for this 
 was the site of a deep ravine. Yes, a million dollars right 
 after the Civil War was quite an expenditure for Quincy. 
 
 Do you remember when Villa Katherine was built? 
 You've read of Castles on the River Nile, the Rhine and 
 other rivers, but do you know that Villa Katherine is the 
 only Castle on the Mississippi River and in Quincy? Villa 
 Katherine was the dream creation of George Metz. It was 
 built about 1900 and it was, because of its location, perhaps 
 the most talked of and written about building in America. 
 The Scientific American devoted two pages to it, and news- 
 papers from all over the country sent special correspond- 
 ents here to write romantic stories about Villa Katherine. 
 
 It was of Moorish design. It was a place of mystery. 
 Later, about 1932 when it was abandoned, when walls were 
 crumbling, when weeds were growing high, there were 
 many strange stories told about this weird and mysterious 
 Villa Katherine. Mr. Metz was a world traveler. He went 
 to the land of Harun-al-Rashed and there he found what 
 he wanted to build on the Mississippi bluff at Quincy. A 
 home that would recall those happy days in an oriental 
 land. 
 
 He approached one architect after another, but they 
 all seemed to think that his ideas were too fantastic. Fi- 
 
BUILDINGS 39 
 
 nally, George Behrensmeyer, decided to take on the job 
 and drew up the plans. It was finally built. On the ground 
 floor there was an open court. There was also a harem 
 room, a harem where no women ever entered for George 
 Metz lived and died a bachelor. 
 
 All of the rooms were decorated with rugs, tapestries 
 and other objects of art and trophies which Mr. Metz had 
 collected in his many years of world travels. One partic- 
 ular chandelier in the dining room, once was in the cabin 
 of a palatial steamer and it was this chandelier (which 
 burned twenty-five candles) that was lit when George 
 Metz entertained. His floors were covered with soft, rare 
 and expensive rugs. 
 
 George Metz was small in stature, but he had a huge 
 dog named Bingo. A Great Dane, his guardian. It was 
 said to be the largest dog in the United States, weighing 
 over two hundred pounds, much more than his master. 
 After living in Villa Katherine for a number of years, Metz 
 sold it when the land it occupied was wanted for an inter- 
 urban railroad project. But this project did not go through. 
 In 1932, it was in utter ruin and decay and remained in 
 this condition for a number of years. Then John J. Fisher 
 bought and remodeled the "Old Castle" and it was restored 
 to its former splendor and now is again occupied. Villa 
 Katherine was quite a sensation in its day and so were 
 the stories about it. The Great Dane, as well as another 
 large dog, have their burial grounds near the Castle. Quin- 
 cy, then, is the only town on the Mississippi River that can 
 boast of a Castle and a Moorish Castle at that. 
 
 Do you remember the Rogers Building? Perhaps you 
 are thinking of one or more buildings, because "Rogers" 
 Buildings in Quincy occupied several spots. But there was 
 one Rogers Building on the Northwest Corner of Fourth 
 and Oak Streets which was a land mark that stood for 
 more than half a century. It was a birthplace of several 
 
40 BUILDINGS 
 
 of Quincy's leading industries. Several years before it was 
 razed, 1933, the building was vacant. However it was built 
 by Timothy Rogers. The Rogers Wagon factory was lo- 
 cated there and was operated by William T. and Edward 
 A. Rogers. William T. was at one time the Mayor of Quin- 
 cy. 
 
 Then the McMurray Wire factory which was operated 
 by James McMurray occupied the building for many years. 
 Later on the J. D. Warren Manufacturing Company who 
 later moved to Walton Heights got its start there, that is 
 as a manufacturing company in its own name. Formerly 
 the J. D. Warren Manufacturing Company's product was 
 made by the Quincy Showcase Company at Second and 
 Maine. The J. D. Warren Manufacturing Company made a 
 specialty of Hardware Fixtures. As the business expanded, 
 it moved to the Walton Heights District and occupied the 
 buildings there which now house the Huck Manufactur- 
 ing Company. 
 
 The original Rogers Building was also the birthplace 
 of a North Star Egg Case Works and later on was the 
 home of the Monroe Drug Company now known as the 
 Monroe Chemical Company. That is the story of one of 
 the "Rogers" Buildings of Quincy. 
 
 Do you remember that old building on a State High- 
 way back in 1931? That building was used as an under- 
 ground station. This house was in a good state of preserva- 
 tion in 1931 in spite of its age but it had not been used for 
 several years. The old house had an interesting history 
 and dates back to the time when the site of Mendon was 
 just a prairie. The house was used in the early days as 
 an underground station, a place where runaway slaves were 
 hidden on their flight to Canada. 
 
 Do you remember J. B. Frisbee ? He was the father of 
 Joseph B. Frisbee and it was the elder Frisbee who was 
 a conductor of the underground. Men who helped Negroes 
 
BUILDINGS 41 
 
 escape were called "conductors". The house was built in 
 the early 30's so that it was just about 100 years old when 
 it was razed. When the house was constructed by Deacon 
 Piatt he constructed a secret room in which the slaves 
 were hidden until their flight could be resumed. There 
 were four rooms on the first floor of the old house and 
 four on the second and an attic. In the center of the build- 
 ing was a huge square rock chimney with the great oven 
 opening into a kitchen and two dutch ovens beside it. A 
 section of the kitchen wall had fallen away revealing a 
 space back of the chimney that well may have been a 
 hiding place for an escaped slave. 
 
 The house was square and built of native lumber, wal- 
 nut and oak. The studding was fastened to the beams with 
 spikes. The heavy timbers were still sound in 1931 and 
 although the sides of the building were weather beaten, the 
 timbers used were still strong. Yes, in 1931 another old 
 landmark of Adams County was gone. 
 
BUSINESS 
 
 (11) 
 
 Do you remember when the Quincy Bay and part of 
 the river itself furnished most of the ice that was used, 
 not only in Quincy, but for many miles around? Do you 
 remember back in 1925 when 14,000 tons of ice were har- 
 vested from the Quincy Bay by one firm ? The Hutmacher 
 family started in the business back in 1849. In the winter 
 of 1849, Rudolph Hutmacher cut the first ice off the bay 
 and since that year he and his two sons up to 1925 had 
 cut an average of 10,000 tons of ice a year. 
 
 On a noon, Saturday, Jan. 3, 1925, they had completely 
 filled the big ice house on the upper bay. The harvest in 
 that year cost in the neighborhood of $1,000 a day. They 
 employed more than 200 men and paid them at the rate of 
 $4.00 per day. They had to wait on favorable time, of 
 course, and usually this came right after the first of the 
 year. In 1925, the weather was ideal. They had 12 inches 
 of ice to cut. They completed their harvest before the 
 usual "January thaw." It just so happened that Quincy 
 and Hannibal were the only two points where ice was har- 
 vested in 1925. 
 
 Do you remember the innumerable ice plants up and 
 down the river? There were many. The work of ice har- 
 vesting was an arduous task. It necessitated steady work 
 from 6:00 in the morning until late every evening. The 
 Hutmachers were delighted with their record crop of 14,- 
 000 tons in five and one-half days. Rudolph Hutmacher, 
 
 42 
 
BUSINESS 43 
 
 father of the Hutmacher brothers was the first man to 
 transport ice in barges from Quincy all the way down to 
 New Orleans. This was in 1878. He was greatly honored 
 when he arrived in the city with his barges, for it just so 
 happened that the yellow fever was raging and ice was 
 greatly needed. 
 
 From 1849, the Hutmachers cut ice every year, when it 
 was possible. Some winters they could not cut at all and 
 there were times when as much as 30 and 40,000 tons were 
 harvested by the different cutters. That's where we got 
 the ice in the old days and not so awfully long ago at that. 
 
 Do you remember when Quincy was the center of the 
 tobacco industry in this country? This was proved by the 
 fact that the Federal Government established the head- 
 quarters of the Fourth Internal Revenue District in the 
 city of Quincy. There were several distilleries and a cou- 
 ple of breweries, but the tobacco business, was the out- 
 standing industry which was turning its big revenue to 
 Uncle Sam at a time when he needed it. 
 
 In 1929, when William F. Bader, the well known cigar 
 manufacturer died, it was perhaps the breaking of the 
 last link that connected that year with, what 40 years be- 
 fore, was one of Quincy's most enterprising industries and 
 that was the wholesale manufacture of cigars. Mr. Bader 
 learned the business from his father who had a shop on 
 Fifth Street just south of Maine. When the firm of Bad- 
 er, Hartung and Humkey was organized and began to 
 manufacture cigars on a large scale, he went with them. 
 At that time the new firm occupied the second and third 
 floors of 521 Maine Street. The lower floor was occupied 
 by Jonathan Parkhurst who, you will remember, was in 
 the clothing business. 
 
 This was in the early '80s and the Ricker Bank was 
 then at 508 Hampshire Street. But the bank moved to its 
 new building on the north side of Washington Park and 
 
44 BUSINESS 
 
 the cigar factory took its location. Mr. Bader opened a re- 
 tail store. In those days, Quincy's industries were among 
 the largest consumers of leaf tobacco in the entire west. 
 One factory was said to have the largest output in the 
 world. There were several cigar factories and they bought 
 thousands of dollars worth of revenue stamps and that 
 was the big reason why the Fourth Internal Revenue Dis- 
 trict was located in Quincy. The two largest factories 
 were Bader, Hartung & Humkey and the Kingsbaker Bros. 
 They employed several hundred people. Their territory 
 included the entire west to the Pacific coast and south- 
 west through Texas. Quincy's cigars were known through- 
 out the country. "Quincy" was a trademark. 
 
 Do you remember the tobacco roller? Yes, the tobacco 
 roller flourished in Quincy when we were the center of the 
 industry. There were probably three or four hundred of 
 them. There were a number of factories such as Harris 
 and Beebe. This Harris and Beebe plant on the sight 
 where the Channon-Emery Stove Company was later, was 
 the largest in the world. They had a contract with the 
 government one time to furnish the tobacco for the Union 
 Army during the Civil War. Thousands of tons of plug 
 tobacco were manufactured and shipped to the front. That 
 was before the advent of machinery and that was in the 
 days when the tobacco roller flourished. 
 
 An expert workman would employ two or three help- 
 ers who were known as strippers. They used to strip or 
 stem the leaves for the roller and the roller stood on a 
 bench with a scale adjusted to one pound. He would throw 
 the loose tobacco on this scale until it balanced and then 
 he would roll this into larger leaves in cylinder form. As 
 a rule he paid his strippers or helpers out of his own 
 wages. Some of the fast rollers of the old days would 
 make as high as five and six dollars a day and that in 
 those days was an enormous wage. After the roller's 
 
BUSINESS 45 
 
 stack was counted and checked by the foreman, it was 
 sent to the press room, the rolls were placed between 
 sheets of zinc or some other metal. Now, early in the in- 
 dustry, the presses were worked by hand and this required 
 a man at each press. It was quite a job to press these 
 rolls into flat squares but later hydraulic presses came 
 into use and the work not only was simplified but was 
 done with greater rapidity and perhaps more accurately. 
 
 Then one day Henry Brinkhoff who had been a tobac- 
 co roller conceived the idea of a machine that would roll 
 the tobacco as it had been done by hand heretofore and 
 then shoot it into a press. From that day the vocation of 
 the tobacco roller went aglimmering. The invention did 
 not at once revolutionize the business but later on it was 
 gradually adopted and proved to be a great labor saver. 
 Henry Brinkhoff is said to have built up a modest for- 
 tune on his invention although all the profits did not ac- 
 crue to him as he was without means to push it. Martin 
 Heidriech and Morris Goodman both engaged in the manu- 
 facture of plug tobacco at the time, purchased an interest 
 in the machine and all are said to have made modest for- 
 tunes. That was a long time ago. The patent on the ma- 
 chine expired and undoubtedly there are many machines 
 today that would do the job even better but way back 
 when Quincy was the center of the tobacco rollers these 
 machines earned big money. 
 
 But, the centralization of this business and that of 
 smoking and chewing tobacco gradually began to absorb 
 the smaller factories. In some instances they quit busi- 
 ness and in others they were gobbled up. The local plants 
 closed and the manufacture continued at some central 
 point. They went into the hands of big business just like 
 the Wellman & Dwire Co. of this city was swallowed up 
 by Liggett & Meyers of St. Louis. Yes, Quincy was once 
 the center of the tobacco business of the country. 
 
46 BUSINESS 
 
 Do you remember when J. Stern & Sons celebrated 
 their 60th anniversary? That was back in 1928. The busi- 
 ness became established in Quincy in January and as a 
 matter of fact on January 1, 1868, and played a great 
 part in the development and progress of Quincy. Their 
 60th anniversary, which was celebrated in 1928, attracted 
 wide attention. For many years it was controlled by one 
 family. Grandfathers, fathers and sons have known the 
 men who ran the business. 
 
 The building that Sterns first occupied was razed 
 many years ago. The big building now occupied by the 
 Moose was the result of careful planning and generous 
 business policies. This large building was built, occupied 
 and opened in 1896. When it was built it was the largest 
 and finest mercantile building in Quincy. The opening was 
 made memorable by a daring idea, a novelty in business 
 that attracted the attention of all the dealers in the state 
 and brought one of the largest crowds into the Washing- 
 ton Park as well as in the streets that the city has ever 
 seen. 
 
 This was the novel idea which consisted of a free dis- 
 tribution of 100 overcoats that were thrown from the 
 roof of the building to the crowd below. The streets were 
 blocked. Washington Park was a mass of humanity and 
 the hilarious crowd made merry as its members strug- 
 gled for the gifts. The building was so pretentious when 
 it was put up and the firm was so well known that 
 "Sterns" at Fifth and Hampshire was looked upon as one 
 would look upon a court house or a beautiful park. It was 
 a landmark in Quincy. 
 
 But to go back when Sig Rosenheim, father of Charlie 
 Rosenheim, entered the clothing business, it was in the 
 what was then called the John Grant Building, a little 
 structure that occupied part of the site of the present Il- 
 linois National Bank Building. The fever of the Civil War 
 
BUSINESS 47 
 
 burned in the nation's veins. Practically every man who 
 came in the store had seen service in the Civil War. Men 
 who had followed Sherman to the sea met men there who 
 rode with Forrest or fought with Price. 
 
 In those days, the wagons had tilted hoods and some 
 of them were drawn by oxen. Many of them were part 
 of the great caravans that were bound for the West. They 
 stopped at Sterns for their equipment. These men were 
 going West, to Kansas and Nebraska and for gold in Colo- 
 rado and they outfitted themselves in Quincy. They then 
 headed for the Mississippi river to cross on the ferry and 
 onward to the great wide open plains of the West. 
 
 About 1871, Mr. Rosenheim, Sr's., health failed and he 
 was ordered to a mountainous country. His interest was 
 purchased by Joseph Stern who then brought his son 
 Charles into the business and a few years later admitted 
 him into partnership. Just a few years after that Dave 
 Stern, a younger brother, joined the organization and the 
 name of the business was changed to J. Stern & Sons. 
 After a few years in the building at Sixth and Hampshire 
 Street, it was decided to move into a building immediately 
 west of the building now on Fifth and Hampshire. This 
 was a spot which is now occupied by the Washington The- 
 ater. Later, the business was moved to a building occupy- 
 ing the west half site where the Moose Building now 
 stands and which was known as the Konantz Building. 
 
 But it wasn't long before they needed more room, and, 
 so they took in the Aldrich Grocery Building on the north- 
 west corner of Fifth and Hampshire Streets. Soon the 
 idea of building a new structure was under way and so 
 they vacated these two buildings. While the new building 
 was under construction their business was then conducted 
 in a store at Fourth and Maine Streets. The entire stock 
 of goods was moved in one night and when the Stern 
 
48 BUSINESS 
 
 building was completed they moved back in one night, so 
 they could truthfully boast that their doors had never 
 been closed. 
 
 In the old days when Mr. Rosenheim, Sr., and Mr. 
 Stern, Sr., first welcomed trade, buffalo overcoats and buf- 
 falo robes were as common as slacks are today. Hundreds 
 of warm coats made from shaggy hides were supplied to 
 farmers, teamsters and all who braved the wintry winds. 
 The business hours in those days would amaze the clerks 
 of today. The store opened at 6:00 every morning and 
 kept opened until 9:30 every night. On Saturdays, the 
 clerks seldom got home before 1 :00 the next morning and 
 even on Sunday the store was open from 8:30 until 12:00 
 noon, as it was on holidays. 
 
 Do you remember where Halbach-Schroeder's store was 
 first located? It was at 508 Maine Street. It consisted 
 of two floors. Their original capital was $1,000 and the 
 number of employes 14. In 1898, they removed to Sixth 
 and Maine Streets. Then they were incorporated in 1911 
 and purchased the site at Fifth and Maine Streets. They 
 occupied their new building at Fifth and Maine Streets on 
 August 8, 1918. Frederic Halbach and Henry Schroeder 
 were the founders of the company. In those days the store 
 was open from 6:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night. 
 In the beginning both Mr. Halbach and Mr. Schroeder re- 
 ceived the large sum of $1.00 each week for their labor. 
 It was back in 1873 when Mr. Halbach and Mr. Schroeder 
 opened a store at 508 Maine Street. 
 
 At first, two floors were occupied but in a short time 
 two adjacent rooms on the east were added. Back in the 
 70s, there still were ox-carts and the girls wore calico 
 dresses. In 1898, it was found necessary to move into 
 new and larger quarters so the building on the southeast 
 corner of Sixth and Maine Streets was occupied. It was 
 while they were in business in this location that Mr. Hal- 
 
BUSINESS 49 
 
 bach died and a reorganization was effected. Henry 
 Schroeder was chosen president, Robert Halbach, vice 
 president and Emil Halbach, secretary. 
 
 The Halbach-Schroeder Company was incorporated in 
 1899. But soon the store's quarters were outgrown again 
 and it was realized that a new building was necessary. 
 After analyzing the different sites in Quincy, Fifth and 
 Maine Streets was chosen as the most logical and this 
 building was occupied when it was completed in 1918. 
 Then in 1921, the Halbach-Schroeder Company gave a big 
 banquet to their employes as a token of their apprecia- 
 tion for the increase in business since they occupied the 
 new building. George Gabriel was manager and the num- 
 ber of employes was 150. Then Halbach-Schroeder Com- 
 pany sold their store to the Ely Walker Company of St. 
 Louis. 
 
CEMETERIES 
 (W 
 
 Do you remember when Jefferson Square was a ceme- 
 tery? When the town of Quincy was platted in 1825, the 
 south half which was afterwards Jefferson Square, now 
 the site of the new County-City building, was reserved as 
 a burial ground for the people of Adams county. The lo- 
 cation was then on the outskirts of the city. The few 
 houses in the settlement at that time being under the 
 bluff along the river, most of them south of Vermont 
 Street. This small tract served the purpose for which it 
 was intended for 10 years. Then in 1836, the town pur- 
 chased 8*4 acres of the southeast corner of Maine and 
 Twenty-fourth Streets, later known as Madison Park, for 
 cemetery purposes. They paid $642 for the property. 
 There had been about 300 interments in the main ceme- 
 tery up to the time of its discontinuance. Many of the 
 bodies were removed to the new ground. Some of the 
 graves, those of early travelers and prospectors who died 
 in this vicinity could not be identified and were left un- 
 disturbed. 
 
 Among the identified graves in the old cemetery was 
 that of A. F. Hubbard, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 
 from 1822 to 1826. His public career was brief. It was 
 marked chiefly by his effort to supplant Governor Cole 
 when he was temporarily out of the state. Then later, Mr. 
 Hubbard was a candidate for nomination for governor in 
 
 50 
 
CEMETERIES 51 
 
 1826, but his campaign was a failure. His residence in 
 Quincy was of short duration. 
 
 In 1846, John Wood established the present Woodland 
 Cemetery. This was a patch embracing over 40 acres of 
 his own estate and he provided in his will that after his 
 death the title should revert to the city. His beautiful 
 park cemetery, occupying a commanding sight overlooking 
 the Mississippi, has become one of the most beautiful in 
 the entire West. In 1879, its care and maintenance was 
 taken over by an association of lot owners who organized 
 the Woodland Cemetery Association and under the care 
 and direction of this organization permanent driveways 
 have been built and many notable improvements have been 
 made. 
 
CHURCHES 
 (13) 
 
 Do you remember some of the Quincy church history ? 
 There's romance of religion in the Mississippi Valley with 
 data going back to the memorable trip of Father Mar- 
 quette and Joliet when they traveled down the river in 
 the 17th century. There are many who believe that it was 
 on this expedition that the voyagers stopped at the site 
 of what is now Meyer in the northwest corner of Adams 
 county. It was at this spot that they buried one of their 
 party. Quite a number of years ago, human bones were 
 found there buried under a huge flat rock, and with the 
 remains were the remnants of a black ivory rosary and a 
 cross of gold on one side of which was engraved the motto 
 of the monastery from which Father Marquette came. 
 And it is on record that the Rev. Peter Paul LeFevre was 
 the first priest to visit Quincy. This was 'way back in 
 1833. He made regular trips here. 
 
 Michael Mast is recorded as the first German Catholic 
 to settle here after which a number of others arrived. It 
 was in 1834 that the Rev. Peter Paul LeFevre celebrated 
 his first mass in Quincy. This was at the home of Adam 
 Schmidt, located at 127 S. Fourth, just north of the Hotel 
 Elkton. This event so stimulated the local Catholics they 
 decided to ask for a priest; however, their request was 
 not granted — not because of any disinclination on the part 
 of the bishop, but for the very good reason there were 
 
 52 
 
CHURCHES 53 
 
 not enough priests to go around. A few years later in 
 1836 the Catholic population numbered a half a hundred 
 families and they raised sufficient funds for the erection 
 of a small church. 
 
 Money was raised to begin the actual construction of 
 a church, 18 by 25 feet in dimensions on Seventh Street 
 near Kentucky. The ground was donated by John Wood. 
 The following April, 1839, they acquired a lot 100 feet 
 square at Eighth and Maine Streets. In 1839 St. Boniface 
 church was started and completed and in its day was the 
 largest church edifice in this section of the country. More 
 ground was acquired at Eighth and Maine, but it was not 
 until 1866 that he built the school in which he also con- 
 ducted services. Naturally, there are many details omit- 
 ted that would make interesting reading but this outline 
 will give you some idea of the growth of the Roman 
 Catholic Church in Quincy. 
 
 Do you remember when the Vermont Street Methodist 
 church was dedicated? This took place in November in 
 1888. It was one of the outstanding and historical events 
 of that denomination in Quincy. The first church occupied 
 by this congregation was erected in 1833 and was located 
 on the east side of the alley midway in the block on Ver- 
 mont Street between Fifth and Sixth, a brick structure 
 that covered a ground area of 50 by 70 feet. It was known 
 as the Fort. How it came to be known as the Fort I do 
 not know. What is known, however, is that each winter 
 revival services were held that created an interest in re- 
 ligious matters from one end of the town to the other. 
 
 It was the custom in those days to hold revival serv- 
 ices in all the Protestant churches. Yes, for years the 
 church was called the Fort and if you remember a church 
 of another denomination on Fourth Street was called the 
 Lord's Barn. Along in the middle of the '60s, the building 
 
54 CHURCHES 
 
 was sold to Isaac Lesem who intended to use it as a col- 
 lege but he changed his mind and leased it to a man who 
 converted it into a theater. 
 
 From there the congregation moved from Broadway 
 between Sixth and Seventh where stood a small church 
 that had been previously occupied. It was a frame build- 
 ing and not exactly what the growing ambitious congrega- 
 tion desired. After about a year, another move was made 
 and this time to Kendall Hall on Maine Street and Sixth 
 but they had to move again in less than a year as this 
 building was destroyed by fire. A college building on 
 Spring Street was then used as a church. 
 
 In the meantime the little church on Broadway had 
 moved to the southeast corner of Eighth and Vermont and 
 the congregation moved in and occupied it for two or three 
 years. Then in 1874, the matter of erecting a desirable 
 place of worship was agitated and by 1888 under the pas- 
 torage of the Rev. A. C. Byerly, the church was built at 
 a cost of $30,000. 
 
COUNTY SEAT 
 
 (U) 
 
 Do you remember when there was a concerted effort 
 to change the county seat of Adams from Quincy to Co- 
 lumbus and later to Coatsburg? Before the present lo- 
 cation of the county court house was finally determined, 
 there were several notable legal elections and legislature 
 contests. Twice the location was fought out in the state 
 legislature and twice Adams county was divided, but it 
 was not until 1875 that the location was fully settled and 
 old Adams county again firmly united. 
 
 The first election in opposition to Quincy as the county 
 seat was held in August in 1835. This opposition was 
 based on the claim that the court house should be located 
 in the geographical center of the county and they desig- 
 nated Columbus as that center. At that time the center 
 of the county's population was nearer Quincy and the vote 
 was 618 for Quincy and 492 for Columbus. So the follow- 
 ing year the county commissioners decided to build a court 
 house on the east side of the public park. This court house 
 was destroyed by fire in 1875. 
 
 Then there was another contest to make Columbus the 
 county seat and it terminated in another election. On the 
 face of the returns Columbus won by a vote of 1,636 to 
 1,545 for Quincy. But a committee of Quincy citizens was 
 appointed to contest the vote on a claim of fraud, stating 
 that more than 100 illegal votes were cast for Columbus 
 
 55 
 
56 COUNTY SEAT 
 
 and the majority decided for Quincy. An appeal was taken 
 to the circuit court. Judge Stephen A. Douglas ordered 
 the removal of all county records to Columbus. But the 
 commissioners failed to obey this writ. In March, 1842, 
 Quincy citizens appealed to the state supreme court and 
 the decision was ordered to be deferred until December. 
 
 The supporters of Quincy decided to ask the state leg- 
 islature to divide the county by cutting off the eastern 
 townships, cutting the village of Columbus in two. This 
 started 10 or more other plans for dividing the county, 
 all of them calculated to divide the opposition against 
 Quincy. Out of these grew the movement for creating 
 Marquette and Highland county but later on they were 
 both united with Adams county. Then peace reigned until 
 the burning of the court house in 1875 when Coatsburg 
 decided it wanted to be the county seat. In the election 
 of this question, Quincy won by over 300 votes. 
 
COURT HOUSE 
 (15) 
 
 The first court was held in the cabin of Willard Keyes 
 which was at the foot of Vermont Street. The first pre- 
 siding jurist was Judge York Sawyer who measured more 
 than 6 feet in height and more than that in circumference. 
 According to early reports he had a difficult time in get- 
 ting his huge bulk through the doorway of the Keyes 
 cabin. When he presided, there was little room for the 
 other officers and at one or two of the first trials it was 
 necessary to hold court on the outside. 
 
 The first court house stood near the corner of Fifth 
 and Maine Streets just north of Maine. It was a story 
 and a half log structure. The jail was also a log cabin 
 and the prisoners were let in from the top. There was no 
 door for them to break out of as the prisoners were let 
 down through the roof and then the ladder was withdrawn 
 and the prisoners were secure. This court house and jail 
 was destroyed by fire. The second court house was built 
 in 1835 in the middle of the block on Fifth between Maine 
 and Hampshire, just opposite where the Larado Taft 
 Plaque is now. It was a two-story brick structure with 
 huge columns in front supporting the gabled porch ex- 
 tending across the entire facade. 
 
 It is well to mention that this building was the scene 
 of several famous trials and it developed some of the 
 greatest lawyers in the country. For example, Browning, 
 
 57 
 
58 COURT HOUSE 
 
 Richardson, Williams, Warren, Stephen Douglas and others 
 of equal fame. But like the first court house this was de- 
 stroyed by fire on January 9, 1875. After the fire, sev- 
 eral of the rooms were repaired to transact the county's 
 business until a new court house was completed. The 
 structure now demolished was begun in 1876 and the cor- 
 ner stone was laid on July 4th of that year with cere- 
 monies. 
 
CRIME 
 
 (W 
 
 Do you remember some of Quincy's exciting times with 
 bank robbers and killers? In 1919 when a dangerous 
 killer named Lankford robbed Emil Licht, a pawnbroker 
 at 333 Hampshire Street, and left him lying dead on the 
 floor of his shop. It caused quite a stir. Later he was cap- 
 tured and was being brought back to Quincy on a train 
 by Sheriff Jim Simmons and Detective Bob Bumster. When 
 the train got to Clarence, Mo., Lankford's brother and an 
 accomplice boarded the train, unknown to Simmons and 
 Bumster, and immediately began shooting. Both Simmons 
 and Bumster were shot and Lankford, who was hand- 
 cuffed, jumped off the train and escaped. In the shooting 
 an innocent bystander, an actor, was killed. 
 
 Jim Simmons and Bob Bumster were seriously wound- 
 ed. As a matter of fact, Bumster died a few days later 
 while Jim Simmons lived for a time but finally died as a 
 result of his wounds. Lankford was again captured and 
 spent some time in Jail. He was a very peculiar fellow. 
 At the time he was in jail in Quincy he was desperately 
 wounded. It was a question each day whether or not he 
 would pull through and yet he bragged and boasted of his 
 many unlawful acts and was forever pointing to the 
 notches on his gun which was evidence of his number of 
 killings. The fact that he was seriously wounded did not 
 seem to worry him. He was a desperate criminal. 
 
 59 
 
60 CRIME 
 
 No one seemed to be able to get under his skin with 
 the exception of one man and that man was Ed Pratt, 
 head of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy System of Se- 
 cret Service. Do you remember Ed Pratt of Palmyra? 
 Well, Ed Pratt knew Lankford when Lankf ord was a boy 
 and could always get him to talk and tell the truth. Ed 
 Pratt was sheriff of Marion county about the time Lank- 
 ford lived on the outskirts of Palmyra. Pratt visited him 
 in jail here and in a few minutes he had the boy in tears. 
 Pratt had a way of bringing up stories of his childhood that 
 Lankford just could not take and he would plead with him 
 to stop. 
 
 There was another gang called the "Prince-Goode 
 Gang" which included a man named McMullen. A gang 
 of safe-blowers. Both Prince and Goode were wiped out 
 by Quincy officers. Tom Goode by George Koch in front 
 of the Newcomb Hotel and Chuck Prince by John Ahern 
 down at the Moecker Hotel, now the Virginia Hotel. Chuck 
 Prince was said to be the inventor of nitro glycerine — used 
 by bank robbers. His wife was a silk thief. 
 
 McMullen, the third member, was shot in the leg by De- 
 tective Scharnhorst at the hotel and captured. McMullen 
 was a well educated man and came from a good family. 
 His language was pure English and there was no doubt 
 that he was of good breeding but he was a happy-go- 
 lucky fellow and did not seem to realize or care what dan- 
 ger he was in. After his escapade in Quincy he was in an 
 Ohio state prison from which he tried to escape and was 
 shot down. Lankford was tough, yet he seemed to have a 
 conscience especially when Ed Pratt got hold of him. Mc- 
 Mullen evidently once a gentleman, showed no sign of 
 emotion. 
 
 Do you remember when Indian doctors flooded the 
 Middle-West? Practically every town of any size had one 
 
CRIME 61 
 
 or more so-called "Indian" doctor. More often than not, 
 they were not Indians. In the early '80s, on Twelfth Street 
 between Vermont and Broadway, Dr. Joseph Rogers and 
 his wife held forth. He claimed to be a full blooded Indian 
 of the Sioux tribe. He had high cheek bones and a square 
 jaw resembling an Indian, but many doubted him. His 
 wife also claimed to be an Indian. They occupied a two- 
 story brick house and for a time Rogers numbered among 
 his patients some of the prominent people of Quincy. He 
 was uncouth and forbidding in appearance and it is diffi- 
 cult to understand how he attracted patronage. 
 
 Then one day in October of 1883, the community was 
 shocked when it learned that Doctor Rogers had shot his 
 wife through the head, and, after seeing she was dead 
 finished the job by shooting himself. For years the house 
 stood empty. It had the reputation of being haunted. 
 Finally it fell into complete decay. 
 
 Then eight to ten years later another so-called Indian 
 doctor arrived in Quincy. His name was Doctor William 
 Jamison. He too claimed to be a genuine redman, but 
 this was proved false. He began the treatment of Mrs. 
 John Aaron. He was to receive a stipulated sum for per- 
 forming a cure for cancer. After the treatment had gone 
 on for several weeks, he went to the farm one day and de- 
 manded his money. Charles Aaron, a son, was in the 
 house at the time and resented the language used by Jami- 
 son and ordered him out of the house. Jamison drew a 
 gun and shot Aaron down. Aaron was one of the most 
 popular men of the county. That was in April, 1892, and 
 it proved to be a most exciting day in the annals of Adams 
 county. The news soon spread and practically everyone 
 in the vicinity started in pursuit of Jamison. 
 
 Charles Long, a neighbor, finally brought him down 
 with a shot through the leg and his hand. He was brought 
 
62 CRIME 
 
 to Quincy, placed on trial and found guilty and sentenced 
 to be hung. He appealed the case but the supreme court 
 affirmed the finding of the lower court and more than a 
 year afterwards he paid the extreme penalty of the law. 
 
 Do you remember when Allan Pinkerton died? That 
 was in 1930. He was the grandson and namesake of the 
 founder of the detective agency which caused terror to 
 the underworld. The agency made its greatest strike when 
 it uncovered a plot to assassinate President Lincoln in 
 Baltimore in 1861 and it then became a part of the gov- 
 ernment secret service during the Civil War. 
 
 Quincy's interest in the Pinkertons, aside from the 
 Baltimore incident because Lincoln was so well known 
 here, was when they hunted down and sent to prison the 
 Scott-Dunlap gang, a gang of burglars who robbed the 
 First National Bank in February, 1874, and got away with 
 a quarter of a million of dollars in cash, bonds and securi- 
 ties. The cash alone amounted to $85,000. The First Na- 
 tional Bank was in Quincy and was located on Fourth and 
 Hampshire Streets. It was a United States Depository 
 and the headquarters for the 8th Internal Revenue Dis- 
 trict. It was a bank where government funds were kept 
 on deposit for the payment of pensions. 
 
 As shrewd as the Pinkertons were, it required several 
 years to run down these robbers and it was also said that 
 some of the Pinkerton men who were on the trail disap- 
 peared and were never heard of again. The natural sus- 
 picion was they were put out of the way by the gang, al- 
 though this was never proved. 
 
 Scott and Dunlap, the leaders of the gang, were shrewd 
 and without fear. The Pinkertons finally learned that 
 Scott was a native of Warsaw. He was once a mate 
 on a seaboat and which in itself was a guarantee that he 
 was hard-boiled. Dunlap was from New York. He organ- 
 
CRIME 63 
 
 ized a band of robbers in Chicago. The Pinkertons had 
 offices in Chicago at that time and when the news of the 
 Quincy robbery went out they made an examination of the 
 job and at once began a search for Scott and Dunlap. Up 
 to this time, this was the largest bank robbery in the 
 country. After a few years' search it was supposed the 
 gang had scattered. 
 
 Then a bank in Northhampton, Mass., was robbed and 
 again the Pinkertons were on the job. It was another 
 Scott-Dunlap job. They determined this time to get them. 
 Operatives were scattered all over New York with the re- 
 sult that eventually all of the leaders were gathered in 
 and sent to prison. Scott died in prison. His widow spent 
 years in securing a pardon for Dunlap. When he got out 
 he went straight for awhile but then returned to his old 
 tricks and was sent back. Yes, the Pinkertons, famous 
 detective agents, had one of their biggest jobs in Quincy, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Do you remember Orrin Skinner? He it was who 
 wrecked the life of Quincy's statesman, 0. H. Browning. 
 Browning was a senator in 1863 and Secretary of the In- 
 terior under President Johnson. To go into detail and tell 
 of the machinations of Orrin Skinner would take many 
 pages. Here's just one item. . .Skinner, true to his name, 
 had many ways of fleecing people out of their money, but 
 his principal forte was forgery. To begin with, the Brown- 
 ings adopted a girl whom they reared as their own daugh- 
 ter. Mr. Browning and his family were in Washington 
 and it was there that the daughter met a polished suave 
 man, an immaculate dresser, by the name of Skinner. It 
 was at a state function. It was love at first sight but O.H. 
 Browning was a careful man and he demanded that Skin- 
 ner produce some credentials as to his social and financial 
 status. These were immediately forthcoming. 
 
64 CRIME 
 
 Mr. Browning received a flood of recommendations, in- 
 cluding letters of credit and everything that go to prove 
 that a man is upright, honest and wealthy. All these were 
 forgeries so cleverly done that it deceived the shrewd bril- 
 liant lawyer, 0. H. Browning. He consented to the wedding 
 which was a brilliant affair. It was attended by diplomats 
 and statesmen and notables in the world of industry and 
 finance. 
 
 Soon after, Skinner and his bride left on a honeymoon 
 trip to Europe. They were to return to New York where 
 Skinner had purchased a mansion on Fifth Avenue. They 
 had been in Europe but a short time when it was neces- 
 sary for Skinner to practice his art of forgery and he got 
 away with it for quite some time. But when he got to Lon- 
 don there was a slip-up and he was arrested. He assured 
 everyone that it was a great error and in the meantime 
 his wife cabled her father for funds. The amount of the 
 forgery was made good. They came back to the United 
 States before the Paris forgeries came to light. 
 
 Even here Skinner continued his forgeries. At one 
 time he bought a mine out west purely by forgery and 
 Mr. Browning continued to make good until his entire for- 
 tune was swept away. Mr. Browning and his daughter 
 kept up a good front but both died of broken hearts. 
 
 Skinner was so clever that at one time he even forged 
 himself out of prison. In Buffalo he purchased a span of 
 horses with a forged check. Naturally, he needed a car- 
 riage and this was purchased in the same way. He im- 
 mediately mortgaged the outfit and then sold it. He was 
 arrested and put in jail and placed under heavy bond. He 
 put up some kind of a bluff stating that he was waiting 
 to hear from New York, that he had funds coming in which 
 would cover everything and sure enough a check did ar- 
 rive for $10,000.00 by mail which he offered as security 
 
CRIME 65 
 
 and he was let out on bail. Well, that very check was a 
 forgery. How he did it no one knows. 
 
 Do you remember the strange case of John C. Loomil- 
 ler? Loomiller was a native of Cincinnati. While he was 
 still in his early boyhood his parents located in the south- 
 ern part of this county. He was 14 years old when he met 
 with an accident that changed his life. It was an ex- 
 plosion of an old gun while hunting which destroyed for- 
 ever his sense of vision. On recovering from the shock 
 he enrolled as a pupil in an institution for the teaching of 
 the blind. Being studious and ambitious he there acquired 
 an excellent education. Literary pursuit and music attract- 
 ed him and sightless though he was, he became an expert 
 performer on the violin. On literature and subjects of cur- 
 rent interest he became an authority. 
 
 Taking his violin and a supply of sensational books, he 
 made a tour of this country and Canada, selling the books 
 and playing his violin. He invested his money in loans on 
 farms and in cashing school warrants at a discount. He 
 accumulated a comfortable fortune. When he finally set- 
 tled down, it was in Liberty township on the Henry farm, 
 a mile south of the Bernard Post Office. The house that 
 became his home was a small one but it became the scene 
 of one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the coun- 
 ty. 
 
 On the night of Tuesday, October 9, 1894, Loomiller ac- 
 companied a party of coon hunters on a trip through the 
 woods. After midnight he appeared at the home of Rich- 
 ard Pierce and inquired if his wife and niece were there, 
 explaining he could not gain admission to his home. 
 He told Mr. Pierce that he was under the impression that 
 they might have gone to visit him. Upon learning that 
 the wife and girl had not been there Loomiller accepted 
 an invitation to remain until morning. In the morning he 
 
66 CRIME 
 
 and several other men went to his home and it was then 
 that they discovered the awful crime of the night before. 
 The wife and niece were found dead on either side of the 
 bed, beaten about the head and upper parts of the body 
 until scarcely recognizable. Not all the blows had reached 
 the targets. Some had fallen on the head board of the 
 bed, seemingly struck with uncertainty and indirection 
 that might have been taken as characteristic of a blind 
 person. 
 
 Suspicion fell on Loomiller but the authorities pro- 
 ceeded first on the theory that the double crime was that 
 of robbers. No weapon was found on the premises such 
 as would have produced the wounds used on the victims, 
 with the exception of a hatchet and not even the micro- 
 scope could uncover any blood. Robbery seemed reasonable 
 because $6.00 in cash and a watch belonging to Mrs. Loo- 
 miller were missing. The bureau drawers had been ran- 
 sacked but nevertheless suspicion fell on Loomiller as 
 neighbors argued that he could of taken the cash and 
 watch and turned the contents of the bureau drawers up- 
 side down to throw suspicion off himself. 
 
 Three successive grand juries investigated the case 
 and over 100 persons were called upon to testify as to their 
 knowledge of the case but no evidence was found upon 
 which to base a conviction. Later on, after Loomiller left 
 Quincy he was found murdered on a highway between the 
 city of Princeton and the town of Hazelton, Indiana. This 
 crime also remained a mystery. Loomiller had been in 
 Princeton and started to walk to Hazelton. In his posses- 
 sion was $800 in cash and $2,000 in negotiable bonds. They 
 were sewed in the pockets of his vest. He also had $50.00 
 in a purse. He did not reach Hazelton. He was found next 
 morning with a bullet wound in his head and there were 
 signs of a struggle. The gun was found in a near-by straw- 
 stack. One theory was that Loomiller hired an ex-convict 
 
CRIME 67 
 
 to murder his wife and niece and that he had not come 
 through and they followed him and had gotten revenge. 
 
 Do you remember the story of the kidnapping of Fred- 
 die Leib who was born and reared in the neighborhood of 
 Sixth and Jersey? This kidnapping took place in June, 
 1872. The home that stood at 601 Jersey in the old days 
 was the home of Professor William H. Leib who was a 
 teacher of music. You will remember that a few years be- 
 fore this there was a kidnapping in Germantown, Penn., 
 the kidnapping of Charlie Ross. This created a national 
 stir and because of the fact that Freddie Leib was kid- 
 napped just two years later, his case was also followed by 
 all the country. Both cases remained more or less mys- 
 teries, especially that of Charlie Ross. 
 
 There was a claimant to the name of Freddie Leib. 
 Professor Leib occupied a prominent place in musical cir- 
 cles of Quincy and his pupils were among the best fam- 
 ilies. Therefore when the fire bells rang that evening to 
 sound a general alarm that something unusual had oc- 
 cured (a custom in the early days) and it became known 
 that Freddie Leib was missing, there was universal sor- 
 row. George Koch, who was Quincy's former Chief of Po- 
 lice, lived just across the street from Professor Leib and 
 was a boon companion of this boy. As a matter of fact 
 he was playing with the Leib boy that afternoon. Mrs. W. 
 B. Hauworth, mother of Sy Hauworth, lived just south of 
 Jersey on the west side of Sixth and she saw the Leib child 
 about five that afternoon. It is believed that she was the 
 last one of the neighbors and friends to have seen the boy. 
 
 The boy was playing on the corner at the time. The 
 town divided into searching parties. Wells, cisterns and 
 even the Mississippi were dragged on the theory that he 
 might have disappeared in this way. Every nook and cor- 
 ner of the city was ransacked but without results. It was 
 a sad city that went to bed that night with little sleep 
 
68 CRIME 
 
 for anybody. As for Professor Leib, he continued not only 
 through the night but for days and days and then for 
 years when he eventually gave up after spending a for- 
 tune in his search which included trips throughout the 
 country where he thought there was a shadow of a clue. 
 
 Later, a man appeared in Quincy by the name of Rob- 
 ert T. Clark who claimed that he was the missing Freddie 
 Leib. He was raised by foster parents in Philadelphia and 
 this family had a picture which they said was his when 
 he was five years old. One day while standing on the cor- 
 ner of Ninth and Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, a gust 
 of wind swept to his feet a copy of the Quincy Whig Jour- 
 nal containing a story of the kidnapping with a picture of 
 the missing boy. He picked this up to see a copy of the 
 very picture he had been told was his. It certainly was a 
 strange prank of fate. 
 
 After that Clark started a desperate search of the 
 country to establish his identity. He almost succeeded 
 but the probate court of Joplin said there was a flaw in his 
 claim of evidence and refused to recognize him as Fred- 
 die Leib. It nearly broke his heart but he had done all that 
 he could do. Nevertheless, this kidnapping from Quincy, 
 Illinois, and Mr. Clark's claim that he was the boy who 
 had been lost were two stories that were in the headlines 
 throughout the country. 
 
DUEL 
 (17) 
 
 Perhaps you do not remember but did you ever hear 
 that Quincy at one time was the scene of a real French 
 duel? It was the only one ever staged in Quincy. It hap- 
 pened about 1866 and while efforts at that time were 
 made to keep the facts from the public, they leaked out 
 and the meeting on the "field of honor" was the talk of 
 the town. However, no one was killed and no arrests were 
 made. 
 
 The surgeons took up positions of safety close to the 
 principals, knowing that danger was minimized. Not that 
 the duel was a burlesque. On the contrary, it was all in 
 earnest from the word "go." The principals had a misun- 
 derstanding over something and words flew thick and 
 fast. Finally the short ugly word of "Her" was used by one 
 of them and right there the argument stopped. The gen- 
 tlemen who had been stigmatized would not lower himself 
 by talking to the low-brow that had no more self respect 
 than to make such an exhibition of moral depravity as to 
 use such a vulgar and engrossing word. Nothing but blood 
 would wipe out the word. Nothing but a duel would satisfy 
 the one insulted. 
 
 And so a challenge was issued in approved form. In a 
 gentlemenly way, through a friend, it was promptly ac- 
 cepted. To the person challenged was left the choice of 
 weapons. Revolvers were named. The meeting took place, 
 according to traditional form, on the following day at sun- 
 
 69 
 
70 DUEL 
 
 rise. Seconds were chosen, surgeons were notified to be 
 up with their sharpest instruments and soft bandages. Of 
 course it was not known before hand whether they needed 
 surgeons or an undertaker but they had to comply with 
 the form and the duelists knew that in France, surgeons 
 were invaribly present when such affairs were staged. 
 
 It was at the break of dawn when the carriages left 
 the downtown section of Quincy with Singleton Park, now 
 Baldwin Park as their objective. 20 paces were measured 
 off and the principals took position. At the given word 
 both duelists fired. Bullets sped wild of their human tar- 
 get. Again the word was given and again without results. 
 The third round was exchanged and once more neither 
 man was hit. The seconds held a consultation with their 
 respective principals and learned that the challenger was 
 satisfied. Yes, his wrath had subsided and the man who 
 had roused it was willing to acknowledge that he had 
 been wrong in giving insult through the use of the short 
 ugly word "lier." Principals came together, shook hands 
 and each member was pledged to secrecy. 
 
 Perhaps you know one of the principals. As late as 
 1920, one of them was still living in Quincy. The other left 
 the city shortly after the duel and settled in Seattle. His 
 name was Will Flazig and about the time the Civil War 
 was fought he was in partnership with Sam Charles in 
 the management of the famous Old Quincy House at 
 Fourth and Maine Streets. He left Quincy but returned 
 on a business trip and looked up his old rival to shake 
 hands. 
 
ELECTIONS 
 (W 
 
 Do you remember when Quincy had its first election of 
 members of the Board of Education? The change to the 
 general law and the surrender of the special charter was 
 accomplished quietly. The Quincy Public School Manage- 
 ment passed from under the special charter by the legis- 
 lature in 1861 and became incorporated under the Illinois 
 General School Law of 1903. The special law remained in 
 force for 43 years and one of the principal reasons for the 
 change was the parsimonious treatment the public school 
 received from the council. Under the charter the members 
 were elected by the aldermen and the council had the last 
 say in determining the amount to be appropriated for 
 maintenance. The education of the children of the city 
 was considered of no more importance than the other items 
 that went up to make the budget and when ninety thou- 
 sand dollars a year was finally allowed, the council felt 
 that at the same time the limit had been reached. 
 
 There were some opponents to the change in the gen- 
 eral law. They claimed it had been done illegally in as 
 much as the proposition had not been submitted for ap- 
 proval to the vote of the people and it is recalled that in 
 the first meeting of the new board two of the old mem- 
 bers presented themselves and demanded their seats. They 
 were informed that they were welcome to remain as citi- 
 zens but that as they had been defeated for election they 
 Could not be considered as being members of the board. 
 
 71 
 
72 ELECTIONS 
 
 There was talk of taking the case into the higher court 
 to test the validity of the course that had been pursued. 
 Lawyers differed on the point but as an election had been 
 held and a capable board had been returned, other matters 
 soon engrossed public attention and the talk of testing the 
 validity of the change was forgotten. 
 
FIRE DEPARTMENT 
 (W 
 
 Do you remember when there was romance in the art 
 of fire fighting? It has been said that motorized fire de- 
 partments have taken all the romance out of the fire fight- 
 ing business. Well, be that as it may, the romantic era 
 was that of the volunteer department. Later the steamers 
 came along and while they did not quite take away the 
 romance, they hastened the end. 
 
 Way back when, the most successful unit of a depart- 
 ment was the one with the crew of men most fleet of foot 
 and with tough muscles. Yes, that was the age of romance 
 when man fought for supremacy rather than for gold. 
 They even fought for brooms and pennants and champion- 
 ship cups rather than holding their jobs simply by per- 
 forming their duties to the best of their ability while un- 
 der fire. Well, times have changed as times usually do and 
 in no direction more remarkably than in the profession of 
 fire fighting. 
 
 Perhaps some of you have heard that way back, Quin- 
 cy had a State Firemen's Tournament and Quincy was 
 about as full of hand engines and hook and ladder trucks 
 as it is today of automobiles. It was a time well worth 
 remembering and possibly the most interesting event of 
 the program was the hand engine contest between Phoe- 
 nix Company No. 5 of Quincy and the New Peoria Com- 
 pany No. 4 of Peoria. The water was pumped from a cis- 
 
 73 
 
74 FIRE DEPARTMENT 
 
 tern located near Fourth and Maine, the Quincy crew giv- 
 ing the first exhibition of distance throwing, sending a 
 solid stream 204 feet from the end of the nozzle, amid the 
 cheers of the multitude. Then it was Peoria's turn and an 
 excellently drilled team wearing fine uniforms and urged 
 to supreme effort by lively music from a band brought 
 from Pekin, dashed up to the cistern and began pumping. 
 But the team could not muster strength enough to 
 throw a stream farther than 192 feet. The prizes, $200 for 
 throwing and $100 for sweeping, were awarded the Phoe- 
 nix Company and Peoria was supposed to be the best 
 drilled hand engine outfit in the state. Never before 
 were the members denied the distinction of win- 
 ning and so victory was glory enough to turn the heads of 
 even the well balanced and young men who composed the 
 Phoenix crew of Quincy. But that's only the beginning of 
 the story. The Peoria outfit was sore, peeved. Yes, Pe- 
 oria was mad. They were mad all through. They cried 
 "unfair" and "unjust" and demanded that another trial 
 be given on mutual grounds which they claimed would 
 prove conclusively that Peoria was superior to the Phoenix 
 outfit at any stage of the game. Well, challenges were 
 hurled back and forth by mail and by telegram, couched 
 in language more forceful and picturesque than diplomatic 
 and refined. Peoria wanted the test made either at Jack- 
 sonville or Galesburg. Quincy insisted on having it pulled 
 off at Springfield. Quincy wanted it on Thanksgiving Day 
 but it seemed that Peoria was shocked at this suggestion 
 and declared the President of the United States and the 
 Governor of Illinois had set Thanksgiving Day apart for 
 Thanksgiving services. This agitation was maintained 
 through the latter part of September, through October 
 and into November. Then, the end of the controversy was 
 carried on by a committee composed of Henry Steinkamp, 
 
FIRE DEPARTMENT 75 
 
 Henry Pix, Louis Zander, John Zander and Louis Lage- 
 man. 
 
 The contest was finally staged at Springfield and the 
 day was Thanksgiving Day. Peoria won on one point. Its 
 New Peoria Company threw water from a cistern a dis- 
 tance of 203 feet whereas the Phoenix Company of Quin- 
 cy could not do better than 196 feet. New Peoria carried 
 off the honors and the $500 cash prize. When the Quincy 
 train of three excursion cars left for the return trip it was 
 filled with a crestfallen crowd. Before Jacksonville was 
 leached the spirits had begun to revive and by the time 
 Mt. Sterling was reached everybody was hilarious. A tele- 
 gram was sent to have the Gem City Band at the station 
 to welcome home the defeated but happy crowd. The mes- 
 sage arrived too late to mobilize the Gem City Band but 
 the train was met by three musicians. One with a base 
 drum, another with a snare drum and the third, a horn 
 soloist. 
 
 A procession was formed and there was a parade up 
 town. The evening air was filled with hurrahs and groans 
 and cheers. It was the end of an imperfect day. The Phoe- 
 nix boys gracefully acknowledged defeat but referred to the 
 fact that time and again they had thrown water a distance 
 of 200 and even 206 feet and they could not understand 
 why they could not throw a stream better than 196 feet, 
 especially when $500 depended on their effort. They ulti- 
 mately came to the conclusion that Springfield water was 
 unfiltered and that was responsible. Yes, Peoria won, but 
 as we say, times have changed. There could not be such 
 a contest today, because romance has gone out of the fire 
 department. 
 
GANGS 
 
 (20) 
 
 When Paul Weber of Ursa was a young man he lived 
 in Quincy and went to Irving school and was a member of 
 the Eleventh Street Gang. These boys were up to mischief 
 as were other gangs but they were not quite as tough as 
 the so-called Tenth Street Gang or the famous Vine Street 
 Gang on the north side. There was one rather amusing in- 
 cident which occured about 1888. It happened at Irving 
 school. Irving school at that time was just one of the old 
 buildings and the entire school yard was surrounded by a 
 six foot high wooden fence. The only entrance to the 
 school yard was by the front gate which was perhaps four 
 or five steps off the sidewalk. One morning when Paul 
 came to school he found the entrance to the school yard 
 surrounded by a crowd of kids. This entrance was on Pay- 
 son Avenue. Then at the top of the stairs there were two 
 fellows who were holding a rope stretched across the en- 
 trance and would not permit any of the boys or girls to 
 enter the school yard. 
 
 When he asked what the trouble was they yelled in 
 unison, "This is a strike." Yes, this was a strike by the 
 pupils of Irving school and here's what they were striking 
 for. One hour recess and two hours at noon. Next door 
 to the school lived Mr. Klusmeier who was janitor and 
 Mr. Klusmeier was want to hang hams on a large six foot 
 hickory stick. 
 
 76 
 
GANGS 77 
 
 When the strike was going fine, as the boys thought, 
 there appeared a Mrs. Wakeman. Mrs. Wakeman was a 
 fine white haired old lady, very soft in speech and not in 
 any way aggressive, except when it was necessary. So 
 about five minutes til 9:00 down the walk came the prin- 
 cipal of the school, Mrs. Wakeman, her white hair waving 
 in the breeze and a six foot hickory stick on her shoulder. 
 She had borrowed it from Mr. Klusmeier. "What's going 
 on?" she inquired. And again the response from the kids 
 was, "A strike." Then Mrs. Wakeman got busy. She 
 started waving the six foot hickory stick around in the 
 air and cried out sharply, "If there's any striking to do, 
 I'll do it and I'll do it right now and with this hickory 
 stick." The kids looked at each other and called off the 
 strike. 
 
GENERAL 
 (21) 
 
 This is a story about a desk and a book which are 
 the property of Mr. Finlay Carrott, the attorney. The 
 desk was once the property of 0. H. Browning and his 
 partner, Mr. Bushnell, who was the first president of the 
 C, B. & Q. railroad. 
 
 I think it is interesting to know that the original char- 
 ter of the C, B. & Q. was signed on this desk. Mr. Brown- 
 ing was secretary of the Interior during the administra- 
 tion of President Johnson. When Mr. Carrott first be- 
 came in possession of this desk he found, among other 
 things, a letter press and in this press was an invitation 
 to attend a dinner in honor of William M. Evarts. Mr. 
 Evarts was Attorney General during the administration 
 of President Johnson. The invitation was signed by a 
 number of prominent members of the New York bar, in- 
 cluding Samuel J. Tilden who eight years later was the 
 Democratic candidate for the presidency. 
 
 The desk is a huge affair about six feet long and per- 
 haps four feet wide, one of these so-called "double desks" 
 with the drawer pedestals on both sides. And along side 
 the desk are two chairs which certainly Mr. Carrott be- 
 lieves are over a hundred years old. The desk is that old 
 or older and without a doubt, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, who 
 was a great friend of Mr. Browning's, used the desk and 
 the chairs many times on his visits to Quincy. 
 
 After the deaths of Mr. Browning and Mr. Bushnell 
 
 78 
 
GENERAL 79 
 
 the desk became the property of Jackson Grimshaw, who 
 was a prominent lawyer in Quincy and who died about 
 1875. The desk then became the property of James F. 
 Carrott who was the father of Finlay Carrott and the 
 grandfather of Montgomery and James Carrott. Mr. James 
 F. Carrott, of course, handed it down to his son, Finlay. 
 It is interesting to note, too, that James F. Carrott occu- 
 pied the same offices with Browning and Bushnell after 
 he graduated from Harvard in 1872 up to and including 
 1881. 
 
 Mr. Carrott opened one of the drawers of this famous 
 desk and showed me a book which is an original printed 
 edition of the Lincoln and Douglas debates. There were 
 seven in all, one each in Ottawa, Shreveport, Jonesboro, 
 Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy and Alton. This book was 
 originally the property of Jackson Grimshaw who had a 
 sale of law books on the second floor of the Rogers Build- 
 ing. That's the building which is now occupied by the Be- 
 lasco Theater on the ground floor, although Mr. Brown- 
 ing's office was on the second floor. 
 
 Mr. J. F. Carrott obtained this book which he handed 
 down to his son and on the first page of this book, there 
 is in Lincoln's own handwriting the following — "To Hon- 
 orable Jackson Grimshaw, with respects from A. Lincoln." 
 Mr. Carrott believes that this is the only original printed 
 edition of the Lincoln-Douglas debates which is auto- 
 graphed by old Honest Abe himself. In thumbing through 
 the book I ran across some faded and pressed goldenrod 
 blossoms. Mr. Carrott tells me they were in the book when 
 he received it from his father and a little farther on there 
 are two verses written out in longhand on faded paper and 
 dedicated to "Old Grimes." The verses are as follows: 
 
80 GENERAL 
 
 OLD GRIMES 
 Old Grimes is dead. That good old man 
 We ne'er shall see him more 
 He wore a single breasted coat 
 That buttoned down before 
 His heart was open as the day 
 His feelings all were true 
 His hair, it was inclined to grey- 
 He wore it in a queue 
 He lived at peace with all mankind 
 In friendship he was true 
 His coat had pocket holes behind 
 His pantaloons were blue 
 But poor old Grimes is now at rest 
 Nor fears misfortunes frown 
 He had a double breasted vest 
 The stripes ran up and down 
 
 These verses were written in 1822 by Albert Gaston 
 Greene and were sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne." 
 Just a part of the story of the famous Browning-Bushnell- 
 Lincoln-Grimshaw^Carrott desk. 
 
HOMES AND HOSPITALS 
 
 (22) 
 
 Quincy is a city of homes and hospitals. From the 
 beginning, the people of Quincy have made liberal pro- 
 visions for the care of the needy and destitute. As the 
 city increased its population relief organizations multi- 
 plied. Hospitals and homes have been added. The St. 
 Aloysius Orphan Society organized in 1852 was the first 
 to take up organized work among children. This grew out 
 of the cholera epidemic that deprived so many little ones 
 of their parents. 
 
 In 1865 the first orphanage was constructed at 20th and 
 Vine Streets. Woodland Orphan Home had its beginning 
 in 1853 when 15 pioneer residents of the city contributed 
 $100 each to this charity and the association was incor- 
 porated two years later. For a few years they operated 
 on Tenth Street between Maine and Jersey. 
 
 In 1867 the property on Fifth and Washington was 
 purchased and was occupied until 1893 and then they 
 moved to Maine at Twenty-seventh Street. St. Vincent's 
 Home for the Aged was established in 1885 by a little 
 band who came here from Fort Wayne, Indiana. They first 
 occupied the old Cox homestead at Tenth and Sycamore 
 Streets. The Anna Brown Home for the Aged was estab- 
 lished by Charles Brown, a pioneer resident of Quincy 
 who provided for its building and its maintenance. The 
 old people's home on Washington Street was founded in 
 
 81 
 
82 HOMES AND HOSPITALS 
 
 1890. The original building was donated by Charles Pfeif- 
 fer. 
 
 St. Marys Hospital was established in 1867 soon after 
 the close of the Civil War by the Sisters of the Poor of St. 
 Francis. Blessing Hospital is the outgrowth of the Char- 
 itable Aid and Hospital Association formed in 1869. Of 
 course many additions have been added since the first 
 buildings were put up and all of these institutions are do- 
 ing bigger and better work. 
 
HOTELS 
 
 (23) 
 
 Do you remember the early hotels in Quincy? There 
 were many, but the most famous one was called the Quin- 
 cy House and it was built by John Tillson who was at that 
 time reputed to be the wealthiest man in the state. It 
 was he who purchased the site at Fourth and Maine 
 Streets where he built the Quincy House, a large four- 
 story hotel that was for many years the finest hotel west 
 of Pittsburgh. When it was completed in 1838 it had cost 
 him a hundred and six thousand dollars and was by far 
 the largest building investment undertaken here and for 
 many miles around. 
 
 But the venture proved too much for him and the prop- 
 erty was soon transferred to a corporation which was 
 called the Quincy House Company. Even in those days 
 there must have been some profiteering for the county 
 commissioners established the following scale of prices, 
 calling on all concerns to say that they were to be strictly 
 observed. For one meal, 25c; lodging for the night, 12y^c; 
 one-half pint of whiskey, 12V2C; one-half pint of brandy, 
 37V2c; one pint of rum, 18 % c one-half pint of wine, 
 Siy 2 c; horse feed per night (fodder and grain), 25c, sin- 
 gle horse feed 12j^c. 
 
 In 1826 the first hotel license in Quincy was granted 
 to Rufus Brown. The license cost him $1.00. It was a 
 cabin hotel and this is the one that Mr. Tillson bought and 
 
 83 
 
84 HOTELS 
 
 where he erected the Quincy House and where now stands 
 the Hotel Newcomb. Ruf us Brown paid $27.00 for the cor- 
 ner at the first sale of town lots. In the early days the 
 Quincy House, perhaps more than any other single factor, 
 brought fame to Quincy. It was in those days when there 
 were few hotels in this far western section and most of 
 these afforded indifferent accommodations. Here was a 
 large spacious brick building, plenty of good rooms and ex- 
 cellent meals. Travelers made long journeys to enjoy its 
 hospitality. Lincoln and Douglas were among its famous 
 guests, both of them stopping at the Quincy House on 
 numerous occasions. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 
 1883. 
 
LINCOLN 
 
 (2U) 
 
 February 12 is Lincoln's birthday and then it is that 
 many Quincyans will remember the stories of the martyr 
 who gave his life for his country. There will be remi- 
 niscences and anecdotes without end. Some new and some 
 old, all more or less interesting. Naturally, we in Quincy 
 think more of his activities in this vicinity. Lincoln's one 
 outstanding visit to Quincy was when he had the joint de- 
 bate with Stephen A. Douglas and, regardless of how 
 things turned out later, I think we must all admit that 
 Douglas was the favorite. This was true for two reasons. 
 
 Douglas had been a resident of Quincy and he was a 
 Democrat and Quincy was Democratic politically. Yet that 
 visit to Quincy had remained indelibly impressed on the 
 minds of those who saw Lincoln. Many of you will remem- 
 ber Ed H. Sohm who sometime before he died said he 
 would never forget his glance of Lincoln as he walked up 
 Hampshire Street. He remarked that Lincoln was pain- 
 fully thin which made him look even taller than he was. 
 His clothes were old-fashioned. He carried a huge umbrel- 
 la that looked unusually bulky. He took long strides but 
 with slow motion. His face was one to attract attention. 
 His cheeks were sunken. He had a large mole on his face. 
 He had high cheek bones, a prominent nose and deep set 
 eyes. 
 
 Mr. Sohm was a good-sized boy at the time of the 
 Lincoln-Douglas debate and like all lads he followed Lin- 
 
 85 
 
86 LINCOLN 
 
 coin up Hampshire Street. It had been a gala day for 
 Quincy with two parades, one gotten up by the Republi- 
 cans in honor of Lincoln, and the other by the Democrats 
 for Douglas. Mr. Sohm recalled the vast throng in the 
 park to hear the debate which he did not understand, but 
 nevertheless when it broke up he followed Lincoln. 
 
 Many of you will remember Ben Miller who was in the 
 drug business for years. He, too, was fond of telling of 
 the debate. He was just a young boy at the time and he 
 saw a chance to make a little pocket money so he got a 
 box of cigars from one of the factories on the west side 
 of Washington Park, clambered up on the stand where the 
 debators and reception committees sat and peddled the 
 cigars. His first box was sold out in a hurry. Douglas, 
 himself, took three of them, but Lincoln only one. Then 
 Miller disposed of a second box in the crowd. Miller said 
 he knew Douglas and that everybody called him Judge, 
 but nevertheless Lincoln overawed him because of his tre- 
 mendous height and his general appearance. 
 
 Ben was too busy selling cigars to pay much attention 
 to the debate except that he did remark that it was the 
 greatest crowd he had ever seen up to that time and won- 
 dered where they had come from. 
 
 Perhaps there are some of you who will remember 
 Henry Bornman who for years was editor of the Germania. 
 He was a boy of 14 at the time and like all boys he want- 
 ed to see and hear all that was going on. He climbed one 
 of the trees that stood on the edge of the speakers' stand 
 and remained there during the entire debate. He was so 
 impressed with Lincoln's sincerity that when a little more 
 than three years later Lincoln called for volunteers on the 
 outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted, although he was 
 only 17. In Quincy on that occasion Lincoln was the guest 
 of 0. H. Browning who had his home on Seventh and 
 
LINCOLN 87 
 
 Hampshire. There was a reception given him by the wom- 
 en which was quite a social affair. 
 
 To the people of Quincy and Central Illinois where 
 Abraham Lincoln was known so well, his memory is hal- 
 lowed. The spot where the Lincoln-Douglas debate took 
 place is marked in Washington Park by a plaque. The rec- 
 ord of the circuit court shows that he practiced law here. 
 0. H. Browning, Quincyan, was one of his closest advisors 
 in the dark days of the Civil War. James W. Singleton, a 
 Quincyan, although a native of Virginia and politically op- 
 posed to Lincoln, was one of his staunch friends and was 
 commissioned by Lincoln to go to Richmond in 1863 and 
 use his best efforts to bring about a cessation of hostili- 
 ties. 
 
 There are many, many reasons why Quincy is loyal to 
 the memory of Lincoln. While Quincy, as a city, did not 
 look with much favor to the settlement of slavery with 
 arms, yet when Lincoln sent out his first call for volun- 
 teers, there was recognition of that fact that he would not 
 do this unless it was absolutely necessary and from that 
 period forward every call was answered to the limit of the 
 manpower of this city. 
 
 There's another bit of history which closely associates 
 the name of Lincoln and Quincy and perhaps it is not gen- 
 erally known. After the race between Lincoln and Douglas 
 for the senate, in which Lincoln was defeated, his power 
 as a leader was recognized. His speeches during the joint 
 debate were widely quoted throughout the East. He was 
 called to New York where Cooper Union was packed to 
 hear him expound his views. In Boston, Faneuil Hall was 
 crowded to the doors. His stand was clear on the great 
 question which was agitating the people and they discov- 
 ered in him a man to be trusted. 
 
 The name of Lincoln as a presidential possibility was 
 
88 LINCOLN 
 
 taken up here and there. A meeting was held in Chicago 
 during the winter of 1859. There were a number of edi- 
 tors from downstate including Paul Selby of the Quincy 
 Whig. After a long discussion, it was decided they would 
 back Lincoln for the presidency. Many of the politicians 
 were opposed to him, including Browning, but without the 
 newspapers they were beaten before they started their 
 campaign for someone to oppose him. The decision was ar- 
 rived at that Lincoln's campaign should be started down- 
 state and the Quincy Whig was selected as the paper to 
 fire the opening gun, which it did, placing his name at the 
 head of the editorial column. 
 
 There are a lot of stories about Lincoln. Many of them 
 are fiction. His name has always been more or less con- 
 nected with Quincy because of the Lincoln-Douglas debate 
 in 1858. Lincoln, as you know, was located in Springfield 
 and it was quite a different proposition to reach Quincy 
 from the central portion of the state before 1850 than it 
 is at the present time. Today a motor car makes the dis- 
 tance in a few hours, but in his day it was a horseback 
 journey that required days instead of hours. 
 
 It was generally supposed that 0. H. Browning was an 
 intimate friend of Lincoln's, but history shatters that pos- 
 sible theory that they were intimate before Lincoln's elec- 
 tion to the presidency. Of course, it is true that Browning 
 was host to Lincoln during the great debate, throwing 
 open his mansion which stood at Seventh and Hampshire 
 Streets for the public reception and General John Tillson 
 was master of ceremonies. This was only natural because 
 Browning was the leading citizen of the state and this de- 
 bate being one of the first of the important battles of the 
 new political party. 
 
 There is one incident in connection with Lincoln's visit 
 which perhaps has not been told. It was not in General 
 
LINCOLN 89 
 
 Tillson's history for the very good reason it was not gen- 
 erally known to those in the Browning home. After the 
 debate, Lincoln walked to the Browning residence two 
 blocks east where he was greeted by many women who 
 presented him with a bouquet. Tillson made a short speech, 
 and there was much hand shaking. When it was over, 
 Lincoln is said to have told his host that he wanted to 
 take a short walk by himself. He left the Browning place 
 and went to Ninth and Hampshire and entered a hotel 
 which was called the Farmers Home and asked for a bed 
 for an hour, stating that he was weary and wanted a 
 short rest. He was accommodated, being given the room 
 in the northeast corner of the second story. In a little 
 less than two hours he came downstairs, mingled with 
 the guests there for a short time and then went back to 
 the Browning home. Neither the Farmers Home nor the 
 Browning's residence is in existence today. The Farmers 
 Home on that day was crowded by those who had come 
 to hear the debate, and it was said that Lincoln met many 
 who treasured that brief word and handshake to the end 
 of their lives. 
 
LIVERY STABLE 
 
 (25) 
 
 Do you remember the horse and buggy days? The 
 days when we used to hire a rig for a dollar and a half 
 or Itwo dollars, depending on whether it was afternoon, 
 evening or Sunday. There were several livery barns in 
 Quincy, but do you remember the one operated by Henry 
 Wiskirchen, Jr.? Henry Wiskirchen was in the livery 
 business before he moved up to 812 Maine Street. As a 
 matter of fact, he started in business with E. K. Sweet 
 and they operated at 314 to 316 Hampshire Street. This 
 was in the old burlesque theater building, known as the 
 Theater Comique. It was quite an old building when they 
 moved into it, and shortly afterward it was condemned. 
 
 So Henry Wiskirchen had to move. He bought a lot 
 from E. H. Best Plumbing Company and erected a livery 
 barn with a 45 foot front and 80 feet deep. He prided 
 himself on his horses and his equipment. For example, 
 at one time he had 44 livery horses and 35 borders. His 
 funeral turnout was second to none. He had one team of 
 white horses that were beauties. The harness cost $200 
 each, a pretty penny in those days. His driver was always 
 in uniform — stovepipe hat, leather gloves and laprobe and 
 of course, his livery was always adorned with brass but- 
 tons. 
 
 Each of his nine carriages cost over a thousand dollars. 
 This livery barn building still stands, but is now, as you 
 
 90 
 
LIVERY STABLE 91 
 
 know, a garage. Before Mr. Wiskirchen went into the liv- 
 ery business he was in the dairy business and several years 
 ago told me about the John Woods pasture from Twelfth 
 to 24th Streets and from State to Jefferson Streets 
 with not a single building on it. You could graze your 
 cows there at 5c a day. 
 
 Here's another interesting sidelight — When Mr. Wis- 
 kirchen was in business with Mr. E. K. Sweet on Hamp- 
 shire Street about 1891, the Quincy Street Railway System 
 decided to sell their mules and install electric cars. They 
 had 108 mules on hand, so Mr. Wiskirchen and Mr. Sweet 
 bought the entire lot. There were good, bad and indif- 
 ferent mules and were sold at retail, some of them being 
 shipped as far east as Connecticut. With the advent of 
 of the automobile the livery barns started to fade from 
 the picture, but some of you will remember, I am sure, 
 those good old horse and buggy days. 
 
MAYORS 
 (26) 
 
 Do you remember when John A. Steinbach finished 
 his 10th year in the office of Mayor and when the popular 
 William E. Kendall, (Billy Kendall) ran against him on 
 the Republican ticket? There was a citizens party too. 
 Their candidate was W. T. Dwire. The Independent Party 
 ran Henry Meisser and still another party was the Social- 
 ist Party whose candidate was Ben Knuf but as usual 
 the 3,000 voters Steinbach could always count on were 
 for him again and he was returned to office. 
 
 Two years later, Col. John H. Best was elected Mayor 
 on the Republican [ticket and then Steinbach came back 
 for another period and at the expiration at his 14th year 
 in the chair of the city's Chief Executive, he retired to 
 private life. John Steinbach was known as "Honest John". 
 
 Do you remember when Mrs. Philip O'Brien, widow of 
 Philip J. O'Brien, former Mayor had a thrilling experience 
 when she was trapped by a fire in the stairway leading 
 to the second floor of her home at 313 Chestnut Street? 
 She was with her son Junior who was sick and when 
 smoke was detected, she found herself cut off from exit 
 by dense smoke on the stairway. She wrapped Junior in 
 a blanket to prevent exposure to the weather and made 
 her way to the roof of the North Side of the building and 
 remained there until the No. 7 crew arrived. George 
 Kuhlman of the crew assisted her to the ground on a 
 
 92 
 
MAYORS 93 
 
 ladder. From there she hurried to a neighbors with her 
 son. The child suffered no ill effects from the exposure 
 to the outer air even though this was in the cold of Feb- 
 ruary of 1925. 
 
MONUMENT 
 
 (27) 
 
 This is a story of an unusual Monument. Monuments 
 have been built for men in many different activities. In 
 fact, in Paris, France, there is a Monument erected to a 
 famous chef. His name? M. Escoffier. He was the great- 
 est of them all. And such chefs as M. Charpentier and 
 others who came to New York were pupils of the great 
 Escoffier. But this is not a story about a monument to 
 a great chef nor to a great statesman nor to any human 
 being. As a matter of fact, it is a story of a monument to 
 a hog. 
 
 Do you remember seeing a slender, white marble 
 shaft on top of a little knoll near a couple of old hickory 
 trees about five miles from Mt. Sterling? Well, there 
 was a monument built there, then Rte. 31. In the old days 
 before the hard roads, when one made square turns, one 
 passed immediately next to it. It surmounted the grave, a 
 large grave, for the monument was to the memory of "Tip 
 Top Notcher" Which was none other than a Duroc Jersey 
 boar which had gained international fame by winning the 
 grand championship in 1904 at the St. Louis fair. 
 
 Mr. G. W. Seckman who raised this big boar moved 
 to Oklahoma, but "Tip Top Notcher" may be remembered 
 in the vicinity as many were the tales told about him. 
 One is that he was the biggest boar ever raised in Brown 
 County, and that he weighed eleven hundred and twenty 
 
 94 
 
MONUMENT 95 
 
 pounds when he was twenty-four months old. Mr. Seckman 
 sold him to Thomas & Hoggsett of Golden and to Brown- 
 ing, Fagan & McCabe of Hersman who formed a pool to 
 buy the famous boar. The price was five thousand dollars. 
 There were some, of course, who chuckled over seeing a 
 monument built to a hog, but a good hog man sees nothing 
 funny in it at all. 
 
MORMONS 
 
 (28) 
 
 Do you remember the story of the Mormon War? The 
 Mormons were driven out of New York State and first 
 took refuge in Missouri. They thrived and profited in the 
 neighborhood of Independence. They were farmers and 
 acquired considerable land and other properties. They 
 built a large temple and other Churches and prepared to 
 make their permanent home in the new west. But the 
 early settlers objected to their practices which they 
 claimed as part of their faith and the feeling became so 
 bitter that in 1837 their properties were burned. Many 
 of them were killed and they were driven from the State. 
 
 In the winter of 1837 and '38, Joseph Smith, Sidney 
 Rigdon and Hyrum Smith who were presidents of the 
 church came to Quincy with many of their followers with 
 a view to acquiring a large tract of land and locating in 
 the county of Adams. Many of the Mormons were desti- 
 tute having lost all they had and the good people of this 
 city won their gratitude by supplying all their needs. Soon 
 after the Mormons came here, land owners and promoters 
 at Commerce, Illinois, which is now known as the town 
 of Nauvoo came to Quincy and induced them to locate 
 there. They layed out the city, built the temple at the 
 cost of $1,000,000 and in a few years dominated political 
 and civil affairs. The city council adopted ordinances set- 
 ting aside the laws of the State. 
 
 96 
 
MORMONS 97 
 
 Before they left Missouri, warrants had been issued 
 for the arrest of Joseph Smith and his brother charging 
 them with serious crimes. So, when duly qualified officers 
 of the State went to Nauvoo to serve the warrant, they 
 were driven from the town. The Mormon city council had 
 passed a law which provided for the arrest and life im- 
 prisonment of any officer who attempted to take them 
 in custody. Then the people of Hancock County protested 
 against this assumption of authority. There were only two 
 parties, the Mormons and the anti-Mormons in 1843, and 
 during that year, there were two or three clashes in which 
 several were killed. 
 
 Joseph and Hyrum Smith were arrested in June 1844 
 and lodged in the county jail at Carthage Illinois where 
 they were killed on the 27th of that month. In the summer 
 of 1843, when conditions looked threatening, a military 
 Company of 190 men was organized. James D. Morgan of 
 Quincy, who in after years made so brilliant a record in 
 the Mexican and Civil Wars, where he reached the grade 
 of Major General, was elected Captain of the Company. 
 The Company was called the Quincy Rifle Men. On June 
 28, this company with the guards, an Irish Company and 
 a company of volunteers enrolled as the Quincy Batallion 
 and went to Nauvoo under the command of Colonel Flood. 
 They remained there for several days until all the danger 
 of an immediate uprising had passed. 
 
 Brigham Young had become the head of the Mormon 
 church soon after the death of Joseph Smith and during 
 the following two years, Quincy's troops made other ex- 
 peditions .to Nauvoo when called on by the Governor. Be- 
 cause of the preparedness and prompt action of these sol- 
 diers, open warfare was avoided. Committees of civilians 
 of Quincy convinced Brigham Young that he should leave 
 the County and by 1846, he had gone to Salt Lake City, 
 Utah with his followers. 
 
MOVIES 
 
 (29) 
 
 Do you remember when the first movie was shown in 
 Quincy? It was in 1902. The projection machine was 
 placed on a dry goods box to show a one-reel comedy. 
 These pioneer motion picture houses had a hard time in 
 meeting expenses. Yes, a two-pin Edison machine was 
 placed on a dry goods box and served as the projection 
 machine. The picture was a one-reel slapstick comedy 
 made by Pathe, a French producer. The admission price 
 was but five cents, and in spite of that low admission, 
 the place closed in a few weeks for lack of patronage. 
 
 After a lapse of about two years, a nickelodeon was 
 opened at 420 Maine Street by a picture operator who came 
 from Virginia. He named it the Odeon. The equipment 
 comprised a one pin Edison Machine with two magazines. 
 In the first equipment, the run film went into the box 
 on which the machine stood. A two-reel slap stick com- 
 edy with a twice-a-week change program. It also failed 
 to attract enough patronage to continue, and in a short 
 time the Odeon was closed. 
 
 Then on January the 16th, 1905, Patrick and McConnell 
 opened the Bijou at 642 Hampshire Street. They had five 
 acts of vaudeville, an illustrated screen song and Edison 
 moving pictures were presented. Captain Hugh King op- 
 erated the projection machine. There were three short 
 reels. The Bijou continued until December 23, 1914 with 
 
 98 
 
MOVIES 99 
 
 a tabloid show called "The Squaw Man". About 1905 
 Lyman Howe's Travel Logs were shown at the Empire by 
 the traveling companies that brought their own projec- 
 tion booths and equipment. 
 
 In 1913 the Empire was equipped with its own picture 
 booth and machine. On December 28 of that year the 
 noted actor, James O'Neill, was shown on the screen in an 
 artistic presentation of the Count of Monte Cristo. This 
 was followed by other high class productions featuring 
 noted stars. In the building at 616 Hampshire Street, just 
 west of the Orpheum Theater, William McMahon opened 
 a nickelodeon in 1906 which closed after a short time. 
 Then the Reese Brothers engaged in the picture business 
 in this same location. They had illustrated songs sung by 
 Orville Reese with a piano and drum accompaniment. 
 They changed their films twice a week. A four-reel pic- 
 ture, "The Passion Play" was shown just previous to 
 a change of management, but before long the theater 
 was again closed. 
 
 In 1909 movies were shown at the Nickellette, 117 
 North Sixth Street. This place was purchased in May, 
 1910 by the Colonial Theaters, Inc., of Joliet, Illinois. The 
 name was changed from Nickellette to Colonial. Herman 
 Nelson was placed in charge as Manager. The Colonade 
 was opened about this time at 520 Hampshire Street, 
 and in 1911 Mr. Nelson and William Schwindeler bought 
 it and changed the name to the Star. One of the high- 
 lights of Mr. Nelson's management was a week's engage- 
 ment of "The Miracle Man", the picture that made Lon 
 Chaney and Thomas Meighan famous. This engagement 
 cost $1500, probably the most expensive film shown up 
 to that time in Quincy. 
 
 About 1909 Peter Jacobs, a former Chief of Police of 
 Springfield, came to Quincy, and in the building at 522 
 
100 MOVIES 
 
 and 524 Hampshire Street, opened the Savoy and Gem 
 Theaters showing Western plays and slapstick comedies. 
 This was the first theater in Quincy to use sound effects 
 for the film. LeRoy Bates, known as the one-man band, 
 played the drums, the cymbals, and other sound effect 
 instruments to give realism to the pictures. He was a big 
 attraction at the Gem. 
 
 Another of the early movie theater owners was Billy 
 Evans, who came from Springfield and who named his 
 movie house "The Quincy". It was just across the street 
 from the Gem. The first five-reel picture shown in Quincy 
 was presented at his house. 
 
 Next in the picture game came Peter Pinkelman. He 
 purchased the Gem and the Savoy from Mr. Jacobs and 
 also acquired the one-man band, LeRoy Bates, in the 
 transaction. Mr. Pinkelman also conducted the Family 
 Theater at 1717 Broadway for a long time. He sold it to 
 the Crooks Brothers. Later Mr. Pinkelman sold the Gem 
 and Savoy. Pinkelman left the picture business when he 
 with Mr. Cory built the beautiful Washington Square the- 
 ater as it was called when it opened on June 16, 1924. The 
 late Ned Picerno was the orchestra leader when the 
 Washington Theater opened. 
 
 The Belasco Theater began business at 602 Hampshire 
 in 1913. Will Sohm was the manager and many high 
 class features were screened. In 1922 Mr. Sohm pur- 
 chased the theater and after five years sold it to the 
 Great States Theatres. He was retained as manager and 
 was also placed in charge of the Orpheum. He severed 
 his connections with the theaters November 2, 1929 to 
 go into radio work. The Quincy Theater at 521 Hamp- 
 shire Street was for many years owned by John O'Neill. 
 The Orpheum Theater opened at 618-622 Hampshire 
 
MOVIES 101 
 
 Street after it was built by Jack Hoeffler and Wily Mc- 
 Connell. 
 
 The Orpheum Theater, opened by Jack Hoeffler and 
 Wily McConnell, was at first a vaudeville house and it was 
 opened on December 24, 1914. But at that time it did 
 not show motion pictures in connection with their shows. 
 On July 7, 1929 the first talking film was presented. The 
 Orpheum became a Great States Theater on April 1, 1926 
 with Mr. McConnell as manager. 
 
 The Washington Theater had its initial film "The 
 Temple of Venis" on January 16, 1926. It, too, became 
 the property of the Great States Theaters, Inc. with Jack 
 Hoeffler as manager. The first talkie, "The Lion and the 
 Mouse", with Lionel Barrymore and May McAvoy was 
 presented on November 4, 1928. 
 
 The Quincy Theaters Operating Company, which con- 
 ducted the Great States Theaters in this city, was formed, 
 with Jack Hoeffler as managing director and his son, Per- 
 ry Hoeffler, as city manager. Tom Robey was appointed 
 manager of the Washington Theater. Another valued em- 
 ploye of the organization was Frank Jansen who became 
 identified with the theater work approximately thirty- 
 five years ago when they took charge of the stage at the 
 Bijou February 1, 1913. At the present time, as you 
 know, Jack Hoeffler and Perry Hoeffler, his son, 
 are still operating the Washington and Orpheum theaters. 
 
ORCHESTRAS 
 
 (30) 
 
 Do you remember some of the famous orchestras and 
 orchestra leaders we had in Quincy? I have mentioned 
 their names in connection with other stories but it might 
 be of interest to summarize. To begin with I'll mention 
 A. F. Frankenstein. Mr. Frankenstein died in Los An- 
 geles in November of 1934. He came to Quincy from New 
 York to conduct the orchestra for the new Empire The- 
 ater when it was first opened. He was a genius. He 
 brought with him nine or 10 fine musicians and a great 
 orchestra it was. Frankly it was just a little too good be- 
 cause of the expense involved. 
 
 To prove to you how good Mr. Frankenstein was let 
 me recall the appearance here of Corrine, a musical com- 
 edy star, one of the best in her days. When she played 
 in Quincy, Frankenstein played the entire performance 
 without a note of music. The man in charge of the music 
 had mis-sent the trunk and when the company arrived 
 here the error was discovered. Of course it was at first 
 thought that the show would have to be called off but 
 Frankenstein asked the company to rehearse the songs 
 with him and he would attempt to accompany them with- 
 out music. They went over these songs all afternoon and 
 that evening -the whole performance was given without 
 a single slip. Corrine was so delighted she gave the or- 
 chestra a supper after the show. The feat was so unusual 
 
 102 
 
ORCHESTRAS 103 
 
 it created a sensation in the world of the theater. It made 
 Frankenstein and his orchestra in Quincy famous. 
 
 Frankenstein left Quincy and first directed a musical 
 comedy for about a year and then went to Los Angeles 
 where he became leader of the Orpheum Theater Orches- 
 tra. He was also a substantial citizen of that city. 
 
 Then there was Professor Andrew Rosenbusch. He was 
 leader of the orchestra at the Old Doerr Opera House, 
 now the Penney Store. Everybody called him Rosy. He 
 was a mighty good orchestra and band leader but he had 
 his peculiarities. One time when the show, Old Jed 
 Prouty, played at Doerr's, Richard Golden was the star. 
 The company arrived at 5 in the evening after an all day 
 journey from St. Joseph, Missouri. Golden was tired and 
 perhaps a little irritable. He was trying to tell Rosen- 
 busch how the music should be played but Rosy had his 
 own ideas and the result was that the music was always 
 a bar or two behind the singers and dancers. The result? 
 Well, you can imagine for yourself. 
 
 Quincy had another famous band leader under the 
 name of Louis Kuhen. A fine musician he was and the 
 Gem City Military Band flourished under his direction. 
 Dan Thompson was his business manager. They moved 
 to St. Louis where the eldest son became an orchestra 
 leader in one of the theaters there. Andrew Rosenbusch 
 was in that band and so was Valentine Shilling and Ber- 
 nard Krebber. Perhaps you will remember about 1889 
 when the Young Men's Business Association undertook the 
 organization of a Military Band. They brought James 
 Boyer here as director. He had been a teacher of music 
 at the Kirksville Teachers College. He conducted a band 
 of about 30 pieces and it flourished for several years. 
 
ORGANIZATIONS 
 
 (SI) 
 
 Turner Hall today is one of the finest social organi- 
 zations in Quincy. Its particular activity is that of bowl- 
 ing. It has many members, all of whom take every op- 
 portunity to extol the versatility and the ability of its 
 president, A. H. Mohn, who has directed its activities 
 for several years. But the Turners in the old days was 
 a little different. Perhaps the teaching of athletics in the 
 schools has in a large measure supplanted the usefulness 
 of the practical activities of this once-famed organization, 
 which is over 100 years old. It was one of the pioneer 
 organizations of the country. 
 
 Perhaps some of you will remember Fred W. Roesch. 
 He was a decorator, and for years took an active interest 
 in matters pertaining to the Turners. He had in his 
 possession at one time a copy of the American Monthly 
 which contained some interesting data relating to the 
 origin of the Turners in this country and in Europe. Ac- 
 cording to this magazine, it was when the iron heel of 
 Napoleon was pressing down on Europe. It was in this 
 year that Father Jahn, a vigorous, patriotic priest, found 
 a system of physical training for the youth in the old 
 country. It became very popular and fitted them for duty 
 in the field. 
 
 This training was continued after the fall of Napoleon, 
 and many other societies were formed. Three of the lead- 
 
 104 
 
ORGANIZATIONS 105 
 
 ers of these physical culture organizations came to the 
 United States. One of them, Francis Lieber, was engaged 
 by Harvard University to introduce a course of athletics. 
 This, it is claimed, is the foundation of the present ath- 
 letic activities now to be found in every university and 
 in the public and private schools of the country. There 
 were two other men who came here about the same time 
 and did much to encourage this sort of training. The first 
 Turner society is claimed by both Boston and Cincinnati, 
 with a shade the better of the argument in favor of Bos- 
 ton. Because of the interest evinced in Lieber's work at 
 Harvard, another man by the name of Hecker landed in 
 Cincinnati where it is said he organized the first Turner 
 Society. 
 
 The growth of the Turners in Quincy was substantial 
 for many years, the peak being reached in 1885 when a 
 building was erected. Before that it had occupied a room 
 in the top floors of several buildings on the north side 
 of Maine Street between 6th and 7th. Then it secured the 
 old Westminster Church property which occupied the site 
 of the present building. This old church building was used 
 for a number of years when the new building was proj- 
 ected. In days gone by Quincy was the scene of state and 
 district contests which brought thousands of visitors and 
 produced a number of championships. But with the 
 growth of athletics in the schools, the practical side of 
 the work gradually disappeared until today the Turners 
 is a social organization, and its only strenuous activity 
 is bowling. 
 
PERSONAGES 
 
 (32) 
 
 Do you remember Henry C. Sprick? Henry was one 
 of the strongest characters of this community. He was a 
 genial soul. He held the esteem and admiration of the 
 citizens of Quincy and of many, many of the communities 
 in this section of the State of Illinois. 
 
 Henry Sprick was born in Nebraska about 1864. His 
 parents were Nebraska pioneers. When he was a young 
 man, he entered business in Fremont and in about 1890, 
 came to Quincy. It was in this year that Mr. Herman 
 Heidbreder decided to start a bank on Eighth and State 
 Streets. His associates were William Go vert, William 
 Collins, Charles Becker and Martin Heidbreder. 
 
 Mr. Heidbreder remembered a young man who made 
 a fine impression on him; in fact, he was to become his 
 son-in-law, and that young man was Mr. Sprick. So he 
 asked Mr. Sprick to become the first teller of his bank. 
 Later, Henry purchased an equal one-third interest with 
 Herman Heidbreder and W. H. Govert and became presi- 
 dent of the bank. He was also president of the State 
 Street Bank of Payson and the Coatsburg State Bank. He 
 was interested and a director of the Quincy Stove Com- 
 pany and President of the State Street Store. 
 
 To all of these businesses, he gave his energy and 
 ability. He had civic interest, too. He was one of the 
 founders of the old Quincy YMCA and for years was treas- 
 
 106 
 
PERSONAGES 107 
 
 urer of the Adams County Chapter of the Red Cross. 
 One of his favorite interests was the Quincy Water Works 
 System. He was a member of the board and later when 
 the city took over the plant, he became one of the three 
 commissioners. With all of his business and civic interests, 
 Henry Sprick was a prince of companions. He made 
 friends everywhere and was loved by all who knew him. 
 
 The State Street Bank and Trust Company, the oldest 
 bank in Quincy and which Mr. Heidbreder and Mr. Sprick 
 made possible, is still serving the people of Quincy and 
 vicinity. At present Walter Heidbreder is Chairman of 
 the Board. Harvey H. Sprick is President. Albert P. 
 Niemeyer serves as Vice-President with Lambert 0. 
 Christ, J. L. Hase and Gerhard Sander as Directors. Mr. 
 Carl H. Stoermer is Cashier and Arthur W. Brackensieck 
 Assistant Cashier. 
 
 Do you remember Johnny Ahern? We have men- 
 tioned him once or twice in other stories and his 
 activity in Quincy as Chief of Police as well as his 
 first love, which was the circus. Back in 1930, E. F. 
 Albee who, you will remember was a partner of Mr. Keith 
 and who perhaps was responsible more than anyone else 
 for the forming of the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit died 
 and filed his will for probate in the court in White Plains, 
 New York. His estate was valued at over two million 
 dollars. Albee was one of those rare characters whose suc- 
 cess in life did not alter his friendship. He never forgot 
 those with whom he associated on the circus lot. When 
 Johnny Ahern was doing ground and lofty tumbling in 
 the Cole Bros. Circus, Albee was a clown. Here's where 
 Johnny Ahern and E. F. Albee became friends. 
 
 Albee had the knack of picking friendships and he 
 never forgot them. Those who knew Johnny Ahern will 
 testify that Mr. Albee made no mistake in selecting him as 
 
108 PERSONAGES 
 
 one of his friends. In all the years he was in the Quincy 
 Police Department as Chief, he was respected by every- 
 one. He spent his young manhood with various circuses. 
 
 Mr. Albee kept his contact with Johnny Ahern, by 
 correspondence even after he had gotten into the million 
 dollar class. Their friendship began way back when Mr. 
 Albee was only a second rate clown with the W. W. Cole 
 Circus while Johnny Ahern was tumbling somersaults over 
 the backs of elephants, camels and horses. Later on they 
 were associated with the John B. Doris shows. By that 
 time, Albee had gained considerable fame and he was 
 laying aside the major portion of his salary which had 
 grown quite a bit with the view of accomplishing the 
 very thing he succeeded in doing and which made him a 
 power in the vaudeville world. 
 
 Another one of Johnny Ahern's friends was George 
 H. Adams who came all the way from Drury Lane Theater 
 in London to join the Cole Circus when it was organized 
 in Quincy and he was at one time known as the leading 
 clown of the world. He married Rosina Cook, a niece of 
 Mr. Cole and they had two lovely children, Tonina and 
 Lily. Tonina was named for Tony Dinier, another great 
 clown and Lily was named after Lily Singleton, the 
 daughter of General James W. Singleton who was the 
 owner of the fair grounds where the circus was organ- 
 ized and where it wintered, Baldwin Park. 
 
 Mr. Cole died wealthy and left each of these children 
 over a million dollars. There have been many clowns since 
 but none who seem to stand out as did some of the old 
 clowns such as E. F. Albee, and so it must be assumed 
 that Johnny Ahern's friends learned that clowning was 
 a real art. It is the basis of pantomime and of course 
 pantomime is the foundation of all acting. Yes, Johnny 
 
PERSONAGES 109 
 
 Ahern who made the grade as did E. F. Albee remained 
 friends even after they both left the circus. 
 
 Do you remember Charles Comstock, Jr.? He was the 
 son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Comstock and was born 
 in Quincy. He died in California in 1930. He attended the 
 public schools in Quincy. When the Smith-Hill Company 
 of Quincy sold out to the Otis Elevator Company, the 
 family moved to Chicago. He remained there for a num- 
 ber of years and then moved to New York where he occu- 
 pied a prominent place with that company. Later he 
 entered the brokerage business in Wall Street and was 
 quite successful. He was a member of a number of clubs. 
 
 In 1921 he moved to California. There he became in- 
 terested in real estate and real estate investments. This 
 gave him the opportunity for outdoor employment which 
 he sought. Mr. Comstock's forbears were pioneers in the 
 stove business in the West and the firm which they or- 
 ganized almost a hundred years ago, the Comstock-Castle 
 Stove Company, is still in existence. It was originally 
 known as Collins, Comstock and Company. 
 
 Charles Comstock's father was for years connected 
 with this firm but later purchased the Hayner interest in 
 the Smith-Hayner Machine Company. Then Thomas Hill 
 also became identified with the firm. This industry was 
 very successful and had gone into the manufacture of ele- 
 vators when it was absorbed by the Otis Company. Mr. 
 Comstock went to Chicago as the western manager of the 
 Otis Elevator Co. 
 
 After some years, Mr. Comstock was made a director 
 of the Otis Company and the family moved to New York. 
 Then later they went to Cleveland where Mr. Comstock, 
 the father, died. Several years before his death he was 
 responsible for the establishment of a branch of the Otis 
 Elevator Co. in Quincy. Later this plant was abandoned 
 
110 PERSONAGES 
 
 and they moved to New York. Many of you will remem- 
 ber Charles Comstock, Jr., and perhaps some will remem- 
 ber his father. 
 
 Do you remember Doe Burlingame? Doe Burlingame 
 died in 1934. There was perhaps no man in Quincy who 
 was better known than Doe. Among other things, he was 
 a great sportsman. He was handicapped physically, but 
 he had a busy and eventful life. In the days when we had 
 horse racing at Baldwin Park, Doe could always be found 
 in the judges' stand. He was always in the first row at 
 the prize fights. For years he operated the switch con- 
 trols of the scoreboards of League Park. And he also had 
 a concession stand and cushion sale. For years he sold 
 tickets. 
 
 He was interested in major league ball, too, and made 
 many trips to see the big leagues play. He had a remark- 
 able memory, not only for ball players, but for race horses 
 and races. He had two other hobbies. He was very much 
 interested in the fire department and in hunting. His 
 father was a fireman and his brother, Ed, was a former 
 chief. Doe missed very few fires. Much of his time he 
 spent in the Number Three fire engine house which was 
 then on Eighth Street and also at the old Number Two 
 house. Frequently you saw him on the apparatus, calmly 
 parked there while the fire was in progress. There were 
 times when Doe would take his little red chair and sit 
 down and watch the fire and fire fighters. 
 
 He was quite a hunter and spent weeks at a time in 
 the blinds on the islands north of the city. Someone 
 dubbed him fthe watch tower at Seventh and Maine. Doe 
 lived at Seventh and Maine in back of what was then 
 Rettig Drug Store. Day after day you would see Doe out 
 on the corner right next to the curbing seated on his little 
 red chair. Everybody knew Doe. There was always a 
 
PERSONAGES 111 
 
 friendly wave of his hand and a cheery salute. Children 
 especially loved him. To many of them he was their big 
 little man. 
 
 Do you remember when Quincy was the home of a her- 
 mit who was a soldier, a jurist and a linguist as well as 
 a courtier? Back in 1888 an old man was found dead in 
 his home in the alley between Kentucky and State Streets, 
 and Ninth and Tenth Streets. He was an exile from Hun- 
 gary. His name was Michael Knikosomoke. Back when 
 Hungary and Austria were fighting, Michael Knikosomoke 
 became an exile and, fleeing his native land, came to 
 America and located in St. Louis. 
 
 A short time afterwards he came to Quincy as he had 
 a friend here by the name of Frank Tobias. He worked 
 here for a short time and then retired and took posses- 
 sion of a hovel in the alley. He seldom left it except to 
 make small purchases on State Street. He refused admis- 
 sion to anyone. His only companion was a Newfoundland 
 dog. When the dog died he was alone. He became quite 
 ill at one time and his friend Frank Tobias visited him and 
 persuaded him to go to the hospital. Here, treatment and 
 sanitary living had the desired results. He left the hos- 
 pital very much improved but he went back to his hovel, 
 back from a clean bed in a hospital to a filthy cot in his 
 little shack. He went from cleanliness and comfort to 
 take up again the life in an environment calculated to en- 
 courage disease. Messengers bearing food would be turned 
 back, their offerings refused. He declined all friendships. 
 Association with fellow beings was absolutely refused and 
 so one day the old man's body was found crumpled upon 
 the floor of his hovel. 
 
 When the coroner made an examination they found in 
 every pocket of the dead man's clothing piles of gold coins 
 wrapped in worn paper as well as rolls of paper currency. 
 
112 PERSONAGES 
 
 He had government bonds and in his trunks, which were 
 old fashioned brass bound and silver bound chests, were 
 found court and judicial robes of silk, satin and velvet 
 trimmed in gold braid including sashes of a most costly 
 fabric. He had many pipes, ornamental ones, gold and sil- 
 ver mounted, given to him by the nobility of Hungary. 
 But gold became his God and he worshipped totally at the 
 shrine of gold. Death found him alone, in the companion- 
 ship of his hoarded wealth. This was one of the strangest 
 characters that ever visited Quincy. A nobleman who be- 
 came a hermit, living almost in the center of the city and 
 yet having no companion save his faithful Newfoundland 
 dog. 
 
 Do you remember the H. A. Williamson Oil Co. of 
 Quincy ? Many of you will I'm sure and we venture to as- 
 sert that practically everyone of you have heard many in- 
 teresting stories about John D. Rockefeller, Sr., and his 
 rise to fame and fortune, with his Standard Oil Company. 
 But before the Standard Oil Company combined its dis- 
 tributing plants there was in Quincy the H. A. Williamson 
 Oil Company. Before Mr. Williamson engaged in the oil 
 business he was a commission merchant. But, with the 
 discovery of oil in Pennsylvania and its conversion into 
 an oil for lighting, Mr. Williamson, then a young man, 
 added oil to his line of merchandise. 
 
 His first place of business was in a barn in the rear of 
 his home which was the west half of a double brick house 
 at 933 Hampshire Street. About that time John D. Rocke- 
 feller, Sr., and a man named Clark started in business in 
 Cleveland, Ohio, refining crude oils and then producing pe- 
 troleum, which was first being used for lighting purposes. 
 And just about that time a young traveling salesman came 
 to call on Mr. Williamson of Quincy for the purpose of sell- 
 ing him the standard line of oils and having him take 
 over the agency for this territory. 
 
PERSONAGES 113 
 
 This young salesman was frank and very enthusiastic 
 about the future of the oil business. He so impressed Mr. 
 Williamson with his open way of doing business that he 
 then and there signed a contract to take over the agency. 
 Their meeting resulted in more than a mere commercial 
 transaction. It was the beginning of a substantial friend- 
 ship. 
 
 In later years during the formative period of the Stand- 
 ard Oil Company when that corporation began to assume 
 an attitude toward competitors which was menacing, the 
 Quincy man continued without interruption. The Standard 
 Oil Company assured Mr. Williamson that he could operate 
 his business exactly as he wanted. He could sell the busi- 
 ness to the Standard Oil Company or he could continue 
 independently and he was assured again and again that he 
 would receive every consideration and concession which 
 the Standard Oil would tender its own affiliated units. As 
 a result he was the only independent oil dealer in the coun- 
 try associated with Standard Oil. You see it all happened 
 like this. The young man who came to sell Mr. William- 
 son the first contract for the agency of this territory was 
 none other than John D. Rockefeller himself. 
 
 Do you remember Fred Haskins? He is an example of 
 one who obtained fame by going after it. Fred Haskins 
 was born in Shelbina, and he, with Fred Naeter, published 
 a weekly newspaper in that city. They were quite ambi- 
 tious and felt that they needed further opportunity. They 
 came to Quincy and after a short while whey began the 
 publication of a weekly here, along with Grant Curtis, who 
 was before that time city editor of the Quincy Journal. 
 They worked hard and were successful. Still they felt that 
 the field was too narrow. 
 
 Fred Naeter went to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to establish 
 a paper there and Fred Haskins decided to see the world 
 
114 PERSONAGES 
 
 and he had the big idea of making the public pay his ex- 
 penses. The first thing he did was to go to Washington 
 to establish himself as a correspondent. Then he began 
 traveling. While traveling he wrote a syndicated letter 
 which he sold to many papers in this country. He circled 
 the globe several times. He made a point of looking up 
 out of the way places, places that were off the beaten 
 path. He wrote stories about the strange people and the 
 strange customs he encountered. 
 
 Fred then went back to Washington and settled down. 
 He soon became very well known in Washington. When 
 the National Press Club was organized he became its pres- 
 ident. Later he started his "Question and Answer" bureau 
 and today many papers throughout the country publish 
 this column. You read it in your Quincy Herald. 
 
 Do you remember Morris Bagby? Morris Bagby was 
 born in Rushville, Illinois. His father was a member of 
 the judiciary. Morris Bagby came to Quincy and went to 
 the old Chaddock College which occupied the Governor 
 Wood mansion, later owned by the St. Peter Catholic Con- 
 gregation, on State Street between Eleventh and Twelfth. 
 He took part in many social affairs and usually the mu- 
 sical portion of the program as he had a passion for music. 
 He was not the long haired type at all. He was a small 
 man, always fastidiously attired. He commanded attention. 
 In Quincy's social circles he was popular, a favorite. 
 
 He was a real lover of music so his family sent him to 
 Weimar, Germany, where he became a pupil, on the piano 
 of the great master, Liszt. Many of you will remember 
 that Liszt only accepted a limited number of pupils and 
 these had to be of marked ability. Liszt of course gave 
 him a standing which was of tremendous advantage. 
 Later Mr. Bagby started what was called "Musical Morn- 
 ings" at the old Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. 
 
PERSONAGES 115 
 
 Only the elite were invited. When the old Waldorf was 
 torn down (the site of the now Empire State Building), 
 the "Musical Mornings" ceased until the new Waldorf was 
 ready for occupation. In 1931 Morris Bagby started his 
 Monday musical mornings in the new Waldorf Hotel. 
 
 Judging from the list of names of those in attendance, 
 the prestige of this former Quincyan had not slackened 
 even though it was 40 years before when he began his 
 career in New York City. Mr. Bagby's social status and 
 the prestige of the former Quincyan had not slackened 
 country of Liszt attracted the attention of several social 
 leaders in New York. One of them was Mrs. Paron Ste- 
 vens who was of the ultra set not only of New York but 
 of London and Paris. She was a highly cultivated woman 
 and Mr. Bagby had the good fortune to attract her atten- 
 tion at one of his recitals. 
 
 Mrs. Paron Stevens was rich enough to indulge her 
 whim and she induced Mr. Bagby to give a series of Mon- 
 day morning recitals at the Waldorf Hotel which was the 
 fashion center of the city. Admission to these recitals was 
 by invitation only. This Monday morning musical idea ap- 
 pealed to the social set and soon there was a scramble for 
 invitations. The big ballroom where the recitals were held 
 was filled with the elite. 
 
 In 1931, in December, Mr. Bagby gave his 450th morn- 
 ing musical at the New Waldorf Hotel on Park Avenue 
 where he was assisted by several stars from the Metro- 
 politan Opera Company. In the Waldorf Hotel there now 
 hangs a painting of Mr. Bagby done by a famous artist. 
 Yes, Morris Bagby had the faculty of commanding not 
 only society leaders but foreign diplomats, ambassadors 
 and their wives and other celebrities to his musical morn- 
 ings. 
 
 Do you remember Tom Baldwin, for whom Baldwin 
 
116 PERSONAGES 
 
 Park was named? Tom started out as a tight rope walk- 
 er. In 1887, in San Francisco, he amazed thousands by- 
 walking a rope stretched high over the water between 
 Seal Rocks and Cliff House and to top that off descended 
 from a balloon in his own designed safety flexible para- 
 chute, the first one to accomplish that feat. 
 
 Soon after this Tom headed back for his home town, 
 Quincy, Illinois, and on July 4, 1887, he arranged for his 
 first jump at Quincy. He went up 4,000 feet, and by the 
 way he charged $1.00 per foot. His parachute opened 
 beautifully and he descended slowly and gracefully. But 
 the wind was high and it carried him far south of the 
 park. Buggies, surreys, horseback riders, people on foot 
 hurried to meet him. His landing was a little rough but 
 he jumped up, turned a couple of back flip-flops just to 
 show his admirers that he was unhurt and then started to 
 gather up his chute. Soon after this he started touring 
 this country. 
 
 Then he went to England where a member of parlia- 
 ment tried to introduce a bill to prohibit "a certain Thomas 
 Baldwin, an American", from jumping from a balloon. He 
 maintained it was too dangerous. But before anything 
 happened Tom Baldwin received a request from the Prince 
 of Wales to make a private jump before the Royal Family. 
 That Prince of Wales later became King Edward VII of 
 England. From England Tom went to France, Italy, Siam, 
 Japan, Turkey, India, and many other places. Still, many 
 doubted his success. 
 
 But successful he was and then back again to his home 
 town, Quincy, and with his brother, Sam, he started work- 
 ing on dirigibles and airplanes. At one time he received 
 an order from the U. S. government for two Tom Baldwin 
 dirigibles at Ten thousand dollars apiece. Tom was always 
 known as "Cap'n Tom". About 1916, he was engaged by 
 
PERSONAGES 117 
 
 the war department in Washington and made a major in 
 the U. S. army. All government airplanes and dirigibles 
 were under his control. He and his brother, Sam, took 
 over the work of teaching flying and jumping for the U. S. 
 government in World War 1 and so it was that our own 
 Quincy's "Cap'n" Tom Baldwin, the first man to jump 
 from a folded parachute and the inventor of a parachute 
 stabilizer, can well be pointed out as the man who as 
 much as anyone else was responsible for the safe jumps 
 of our bailers-out and paratroopers in World War II. 
 
 Do you remember Robert W. Gardner? Mr. Gardner 
 was a native of England, born in London in 1832. At the 
 age of seven, he moved to Scotland. In 1849, he arrived 
 in New York, remained there for a short time and then 
 came to Illinois, locating in Rushville. He was employed 
 as a farm hand. He also taught school during the winter 
 months. Then he went back to Scotland, intending to re- 
 main there, but for some reason he came back to the 
 United States, back to Rushville as a school teacher, and 
 soon after came to Quincy. 
 
 He learned the trade of machinist with Mr. Turner. 
 Then he went to Alton, Illinois, and was foreman of a ma- 
 chine shop. Back to Quincy he came and associated him- 
 self with Emery Mitchell. They bought out the Turner 
 Machine shop and started to manufacture steam engines 
 and general machinery under the firm name of Gardner 
 and Mitchell. They acquired another machine shop called 
 the Union Machine Shop on Fifth Street and took in a 
 third partner, who was Mr. Mitchell's brother. 
 
 About 1860, Mr. Gardner became associated with Mr. 
 John Robertson and they organized the firm of Gardner 
 and Robertson. This firm started the manufacture of 
 what was called Gardner's improved compensation gover- 
 nor. This was Mr. Gardner's famous invention and it was 
 used wherever steam was employed as a motive power. 
 
118 PERSONAGES 
 
 He had it patented in 1860. A number of improvements 
 were made which of course entailed additional patents. 
 This invention by Mr. Gardner served as a nucleus for the 
 Gardner Governor Company, which as you know, expand- 
 ed to great proportions and finally merged with the Denver 
 Drill Company and is now known as the Gardner-Denver 
 Company. The success of this great company dates back 
 to that little acorn so to speak, the governor, which was 
 invented by R. W. Gardner of Quincy. 
 
 The present officers of the Gardner-Denver Company 
 are, Ralph G. Gardner, Chairman of the Board; E. F. 
 Schaefer, President; G. B. Leece, B. C. Essig and R. H. 
 Pearson, Vice-Presidents; A. G. Lindquist, Secretary; 
 R. G. Gardner, Treasurer; H. G. Myers, Director. 
 
 Do you remember Billy Cunnane? Of course you do. 
 Billy was interested in a number of civic activities and 
 particularly the Hillcrest Sanitorium. Billy was an Irish- 
 man. He had a native Irish wit and he cast a gleam of 
 sunshine wherever he went and so his interest in the anti- 
 tuberculosis league made him especially valuable. He 
 was a member of the Board of Trustees at Hillcrest Sani- 
 torium for five years and there never was a more faithful 
 and conscientious worker for its best interests. Every 
 day he could be found there shaking hands with the pa- 
 tients, inquiring after their welfare, wanting to know if 
 they were being treated with consideration, departing with 
 a word of cheer and his familiar expression was, "Well, 
 I'll see you subsequently." 
 
 It was regretted that the law interposed and prevented 
 a member of the Board of Supervisors — he was a veteran 
 supervisor — from acting as a Trustee. The public re- 
 gretted it and the patients felt a distinct loss, until he as- 
 sured them his official status would make no difference, 
 he would be back just the same. 
 
PERSONAGES 119 
 
 In 1922 Billy Cunnane was made chairman of the 
 Christmas Seal distribution and sale. With his characteris- 
 tic energy he went about his task in a manner that brought 
 substantial results. His interest in the work of the anti- 
 tuberculosis society and its object, that of preventing the 
 spread of the disease, was genuine and backed up with 
 an intelligent understanding of what it meant for the pub- 
 lic good. Of course, you remember Billy Cunnane. 
 
 Do you remember Wilton E. White? Wilton White 
 died in 1935. He was prominent in Quincy's educational 
 and business circles for many years and was one of Quin- 
 cy's most widely known citizens. He came here in 1891. 
 His activities were centered in educational work until 1912. 
 Then he sold his interest in the Gem City Business Col- 
 lege with which he had been connected for 20 years. He 
 purchased the interest with F. W. Osborn in the Quincy 
 Coal Company and served as president of that firm until 
 1920 when he retired. 
 
 Then he entered on a period of activity that brought 
 to him his greatest satisfaction and prominence, the pub- 
 lic life of Quincy. This was 12 years of service for Quinc- 
 cy's public school system. He was first elected to the 
 Board of Education in 1922 and he served as a member 
 continuously until 1934. During this period, Quincy's 
 school system, largely under the sponsorship of Mr. White, 
 went thru its greatest building era, culminating with the 
 completion of the splendid new Quincy Senior High School 
 building in 1933. Mr. White was determined that Quincy's 
 schools should rank with the best of the nation. His ef- 
 forts were untiring and the result was the completion of 
 the modern new Washington Grade School in 1923, the 
 Jackson school addition in 1925, the Madison school addi- 
 tion in 1925, the Emerson school addition in 1927, the 
 Franklin school addition in 1930, and the Quincy High 
 School in 1933. 
 
120 PERSONAGES 
 
 He took a great interest in all of these structures. 
 Many said he literally knew every brick and stone that 
 went into a Quincy school during this great period of im- 
 provement and particularly was this true of the last and 
 the greatest of these buildings, the Quincy Senior High 
 School where he actually became superintendent of con- 
 struction. His colleagues declared that the perfection of 
 the finished structure was in no small measure due to his 
 watchful activities as superintendent. 
 
 He was born in Marion, Iowa, then moved to Kansas. 
 His school privileges were limited but Wilton made the 
 most of them and when 17 years of age, inspired by a 
 friend who had become a printer, he learned the printer's 
 trade. He recognized the need for better education. He 
 saved his earnings and attended the Kansas State Agricul- 
 tural College at Manhattan, Kansas, still working at his 
 craft to provide funds for his schooling. Later he attend- 
 ed Kansas Wesleyan University at Salina, Kansas, earning 
 his way there by again following his printer's trade and 
 by publishing a conference paper for the Methodist 
 Church. He studied commercial subjects and when he 
 came to Quincy, he joined the famous Gem City Business 
 College where he soon qualified as an expert in commer- 
 cial subjects and joined the faculty of the college, after 
 two years experience as expert bookkeeper and auditor for 
 a Quincy bank. 
 
 He was a member of the faculty and a large stockhold- 
 er in the school and was its Vice President for several 
 years. He was the author of several text books on com- 
 mercial subjects. Mr. White was also an ardent Mason. 
 Quincy and vicinity will remember Wilton E. White for 
 his work in the behalf of the schools of Quincy and in the 
 Masonic Order. 
 
 Do you remember John M. Stahl ? Or, do you remem- 
 
PERSONAGES 121 
 
 ber when Post Office Agents were in Quincy making a 
 survey of Adams County for the purpose of inaugurating 
 a new plan for the delivery of mail in rural districts? The 
 matter of rural route free delivery had been discussed for 
 many years but it was such a far reach in advance of any- 
 thing ever undertaken by the Post Office Department that 
 its development was undertaken with extreme care and 
 caution. 
 
 Quincy was selected as one of the spots to try out this 
 new fangled idea but there is one other point. John M. 
 Stahl of Quincy claimed and was accorded the honor of 
 suggesting the rural route free delivery of mail although 
 it was a number of years later, after he made the first 
 effort, that he saw it actually come to pass. 
 
 He was persistent. He wrote letters to the leading men 
 of the country and pushed the proposition in his weekly 
 farm paper. One of his first aids was Wm. H. Taft who 
 was a former President and also Chief Justice of the Su- 
 preme Court. He saw the wisdom and practicability of 
 such a delivery and gave much substantial aid. When the 
 agents came here from Washington to look over the 
 ground, a great many questions were asked by them and 
 also by Postmaster David Wilcox. Naturally the agents 
 wanted to know a lot about the county, which roads were 
 the most thickly settled and which were traversable in all 
 kinds of weather. On the other hand Mr. Wilcox and the 
 reporters wanted to know all about the new schemes for 
 delivery of mail in the county. There was a long interview 
 and at the end it was decided that several routes would be 
 established in the county and more were to be added as 
 the system developed. 
 
 It was some months before anything of a definite na- 
 ture was heard from Washington but the good news finally 
 reached here that Adams county was selected as one of 
 the first counties in the country for the establishment of 
 
122 PERSONAGES 
 
 the rural free delivery. This, as they explained, was in 
 compliment to Mr. Stahl, the originator of the idea. The 
 first rural free delivery route was State Street to Burton 
 and thence north to Broadway and back to Quincy, a dis- 
 tance of about 23 miles for the round trip. Charley Beil- 
 stein of Quincy was the first to receive the appointment 
 as carrier having Route Number 1 which he carried faith- 
 fully up to about 1928 when his health failed him. Yes, 
 rural free delivery was first suggested by a Quincyan, Mr. 
 John M. Stahl. 
 
ROAD-TAYLOR 
 
 (33) 
 
 About 35 to 40 years ago, 25 Quincy businessmen 
 agreed to take a walk over the Taylor road to get first- 
 hand information as to what could be done to make the 
 road passable. When we look at it today, a wide concrete 
 slab, maintained by the state of Missouri and federal ap- 
 propriations, it is difficult to understand the trials and 
 tribulations Quincy businessmen had with this road. Thou- 
 sands of dollars had been poured into the upkeep by Quin- 
 cyans. 
 
 Originally it was a toll road with a corduroy surface. 
 Then later, they attempted to grade and gravel it, but 
 because it was on bottom land, it was full of seeps. The 
 gravel disappeared almost as fast as it was placed there. 
 Larger stones were used as a foundation and covered with 
 finer material but the small sand and gravel had a habit 
 of sinking below the surface leaving the huge rocks stick- 
 ing up and making travel rough, not to say dangerous. 
 Quincy merchants kept teams and a force of men on the 
 road constantly. In fact, they had billboard signs which 
 read, "The merchants of Quincy have a force of men work- 
 ing on this road eight hours a day." They were scattered 
 all the way from the old railroad bridge and the ferry 
 landing out to Taylor. 
 
 This kept the road in fair shape, but it cost a mint of 
 money. Some say that this stretch of road cost the busi- 
 
 123 
 
124 ROAD — TAYLOR 
 
 nessmen of Quincy a hundred thousand dollars during the 
 years they attempted to keep this Missouri entrance to 
 the city in passable condition. Then about 1919 or '20 
 there was a move toward making this a part of the Fed- 
 eral Road System. This happened after Missouri had 
 adopted its plan of a road system and it was discovered 
 it did not contemplate connection at West Quincy, but con- 
 tinued south through Taylor. It looked bad indeed with 
 the Federal system of roads in Illinois planning a road 
 that would end abruptly at the Mississippi with no connec- 
 tion on the other side of the river, and the nearest Fed- 
 eral road about five miles away. 
 
 The attention of Thomas B. McDonald, chief of the 
 Federal Road Bureau, was called to this gap. Blueprints 
 of the Illinois and Missouri Federal Roads were forwarded 
 to Senator William McKinley and Representative Edward 
 J. King. They, along with Mr. McDonald, agreed to see 
 that this was to be remedied. But it was not so easily ac- 
 complished. Missouri had adopted its highway system and 
 did not want to amend it by adding this strip, as any at- 
 tempt to offer a single amendment would bring a flood of 
 other amendments seeking changes and additions. So, 
 there it stood for a long time. 
 
 There were many visits to Washington and Chicago to 
 stress the importance of making this connection, for even 
 then there were plans to build a new bridge over the Mis- 
 sissippi, and without a connection in Missouri, it would 
 never be a success. Finally the District Federal Engineer 
 in Chicago enlisted the services of the District Engineer at 
 Omaha who worked out a plan with the result that the 
 gap was filled. 
 
 In connection with the Taylor Road story, I want you 
 to read a letter which I received from W. S. White, known 
 as Waller White, 2016 Hope Street, Hannibal, Missouri. 
 
ROAD — TAYLOR 125 
 
 It reads — "Nothing could thrill me more than the Do You 
 Remember program. It brought vividly to my memory so 
 many sights of interest when as a boy we drove into Quin- 
 cy over the old Taylor Road in 1877. The road, during 
 muddy season, many times almost impassable, was covered 
 by lumber slabs from the saw mill; so imagine yourself 
 bumping over it for six miles — and I can safely say the 
 rig was neither a Pord nor a Chevrolet, but rather Jim 
 and Doll, hitched to the old lumber wagon. I have heard 
 my mother remark she did not think she would live till 
 she reached the end. 
 
 Well do I remember when they removed the iron fence 
 from around Washington Park — and only a few years later 
 — about 1883, Robert Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son, 
 made a political speech right in the northwest corner of 
 the park. In the program, a quartet sang a comical song, 
 'If You Want to Keep Fat — a Good Democrat, Just Give 
 Him American Crow/ Quincy well remembers Dr. Otis 
 Johnson and the family to which he belonged. He often 
 visited his uncle and aunt living at Nelsonville, Missouri, 
 in the early eighties. 
 
 I now hold the two-foot carpenter square which Wil- 
 liam Blackwood, my grandfather, a stone mason, used in 
 the construction of the C, B. & Q. railroad bridge, and in 
 1929 I was one of the carpenters in the construction of 
 the new Quincy bridge. Am still going strong in carpenter 
 work in Hannibal and thank God for good health! You 
 may use your own pleasure about mentioning my name 
 but I will not blush in case you see it in your heart to do 
 
RAILROADS 
 (U) 
 
 When the C, B. & Q. Railroad Company proposed to 
 move their station across the river it was probably the 
 first time in many years since there was any railroad ac- 
 tivity or railroad talk in Quincy. And yet, ever since the 
 town was old enough to wear knee britches, and, until the 
 coming of the hardroads, there was much activity in pro- 
 moting railroads with Quincy's capital and Quincy's en- 
 ergy. One of the projects that did not go through was 
 promoted back in 1928. It was proposed to build a rail- 
 road from Quincy south through Calhoun County, the only 
 county in the State of Illinois without a railroad. Yes, the 
 history of Quincy is filled with railroad projects. 
 
 The first of these in Quincy and in the State of Illi- 
 nois for that matter was the construction of the Northern 
 Cross Railroad. The state took up this project under an 
 enactment of the legislature and a road was to run from 
 Quincy to Meredosia, then to Jacksonville, Springfield, De- 
 catur and finally to Danville. The Northern Cross was to 
 go to Camp Point, Clayton, Mt. Sterling and then over to 
 Meredosia and from the east side of the river to Jackson- 
 ville. The first part of the road was constructed between 
 Springfield and Meredosia but the state soon got tired of 
 the job. Work was also started out of Quincy. 
 
 It was found impractical and very expensive for the 
 state and so it sold its interest at a great sacrifice. But, 
 Quincy wanted a railroad badly. Its only avenue of trans- 
 
 126 
 
RAILROADS 127 
 
 portation was the Mississippi, except such merchandise as 
 came overland. There were many mass meetings that 
 were held in the old Court House at which the completion 
 of this road was urged by Mr. Browning and also by Mr. 
 Bushnell, both of them prominent citizens at that time. 
 Finally a company was organized early in the '50s and the 
 road was completed. It has been stated that over a half 
 hundred railroad promotions started in Quincy and while 
 a few materialized, most of them ended in a puff of smoke. 
 
SCANDAL 
 
 (35) 
 
 Do you remember when two Quincy women played a 
 prominent part in a scandal which rocked the nation, 
 broke up several homes and besmirched the characters of 
 people of national fame? This was the notorious Beecher- 
 Tilton scandal in which the noted Brooklyn preacher, the 
 Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, brother of Harriet Beecher 
 Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, was one of the prin- 
 cipals and Mrs. Tilton, wife of a prominent Brooklyn citi- 
 zen, the other. 
 
 It startled the country, but, do you know that all 
 through the sordid tale appeared the names of two former 
 Quincy women? These names were Virginia Woodhull and 
 Tennessee Claflin. These two sisters lived here in the late 
 sixty's and were prominently engaged in spiritualistic 
 seances. They claimed to be mediums who were able to 
 bring back the spirits of the departed. They gained much 
 local notoriety. At one time they collaborated in Missouri 
 with a Dr. Moll but he was exposed in one of his shows 
 when one of his spectators threw a hand full of aniline 
 dye over his head and followed it with a shower of water. 
 
 This exposure cast Dr. Moll into oblivion but not the 
 sisters. They came to Quincy and resided at Fourth and 
 Elm Streets. Their home became the rendezvous of many 
 who for a time they beguiled and worked for cash. After 
 they had finished pumping their victims dry, they left 
 Quincy as suddenly as they came. The next heard of them 
 
 128 
 
SCANDAL 129 
 
 was in New York and it was not long before they were 
 holding seances and giving tips on the stock market which 
 they claimed they received from the spirit world. It just 
 so happened that one or two of the early tips were good 
 and of course they caused a sensation. 
 
 Next they appeared as publishers of a small sheet de- 
 voted to the market which had a ready sale to many and 
 they prospered. Virginia Woodhull made the acquaintance 
 of an Englishman of the nobility and she went with him 
 to London. Their romance was of short duration and soon 
 she was back in New York. Even the directors of the 
 stock exchange began to take notice of them as they made 
 complaints of the sheet that was giving out tips from the 
 spirit world and they made it pretty hot for the sisters. 
 
 But these girls were not to be outdone. They lacked 
 no courage. So it was not long until they made their ap- 
 pearance in Brooklyn among the people in which the 
 Beechers and the Tiltons and others moved. There is no 
 proof of the fact but it does seem as though these sisters 
 who held spiritualistic meetings in Quincy at Fourth and 
 Elm were directly responsible, or, at least partly so, for 
 the Beecher-Tilton scandal. These sisters stopped at noth- 
 ing. They wrecked people financially, they wrecked the 
 homes and reputations of anyone with whom they came in 
 contact, provided they could get cash. Quincy is not proud 
 that they once lived here. 
 
SCHOOLS 
 
 (S6) 
 
 Do you remember some of the first schools of Quincy? 
 Quincy's first school house was erected on the east side 
 of Fifth Street btween York and Kentucky and it was 
 named the Franklin. A two roomed building covered the 
 ground area of about 40 by 60 feet and was built in 1843. 
 This was used for public school purposes for 37 years. 
 Then it was torn down and a second frame one was built, 
 a building of magnificent proportion and containing what 
 was considered in 1870, with all modern improvements and 
 conveniences. The cost was about $40,000. 
 
 It was regarded as architectually beautiful and was the 
 pride of the citizens. Three years after its erection, it be- 
 came necessary to provide additional housing facilities for 
 the younger children and the problem was solved by leas- 
 ing a part of the Thomas White building at the northwest 
 corner of Fifth and York. It was called the York Street 
 Primary School. The building stood until the morning of 
 Feb. 16, 1905, when it was destroyed by fire. In the fol- 
 lowing months the city exchanged Franklin Square for the 
 lot on which the school had stood and at a special election 
 of the people voted favorably on the proposition to issue 
 $120,000 in bonds for the erection of a new school and at 
 the same time to build a new Berrian school and an addi- 
 tion to the High School. 
 
 In 1844, a building in all respects corresponding to the 
 
 130 
 
SCHOOLS 131 
 
 Franklin, was erected on what was known as Jefferson 
 Square. That is where the county and city building is now 
 being erected. It was given the name of Jefferson School. 
 This structure although prominently located had long be- 
 fore its removal become an eyesore to the citizens. For 
 years before its disappearance, it was decidedly delapidat- 
 ed. In 1864, the school was closed for a time because the 
 military under command of Colonel Dean took position 
 at Jefferson School. 
 
 The county made application in 1875 for the site for a 
 court house and thereupon the Board of Education sold 
 the property to the county and purchased what was known 
 as Johnson College and the block on which it stood. The 
 building was remodeled and took its place next to Franklin 
 as the most handsome school building in the city. 
 
 Berrian School was erected in 1868. In 1906 the people 
 voted for an issue of bonds to pay for the erection of a new 
 building and the old one at Eighth and Van Buren, to be 
 razed. Washington School was erected in 1869 about on 
 the same plan as Berrian. Webster was the first school 
 organized in the city and built in 1855. It continued until 
 1873 when it was remodeled. In 1904 it was razed and a 
 new building was erected in 1864. In 1873 a large addi- 
 tion of two rooms were built and again rebuilt in 1895. 
 The original Jackson School was erected as a private edu- 
 cational institution and for a number of years was con- 
 ducted as such under the name of Quincy Academy. 
 
 In the fall of 1866 the Board of Education bought it 
 from Mr. Keyes and the board changed the name to that 
 of Quincy High School. The price paid was $12,000. Sub- 
 sequently the High School was transferred to Franklin 
 School on South Fifth Street and then the building at 
 Eighth and Vine became Jackson School. The original 
 Madison School stood on the location of the present build- 
 
132 SCHOOLS 
 
 ing at Twenty-fifth and Maine but was very different from 
 what it is today. Part of the present building was erected 
 in 1890. Ever since the 50s there has been a Negro school 
 on Tenth Street between Spring and Oak. In 1872 the orig- 
 inal building was superseded by another and again in 1910, 
 still another school building. 
 
 The first High School housed its pupils in the Center 
 School at Sixth and Jersey. From there it was transferred 
 to Eighth and Vine and to South Fifth Streets, then in 
 1891 the High School was built at Twelfth and Maine 
 Streets which was geographically the center of the city. 
 An addition was erected in 1903. The Board of Education 
 is located there now and has been ever since the erection 
 of the new High School at Fourteenth and Maine. Dewey 
 School was called Highland for many years until the orig- 
 inal building was razed. 
 
 The Board of Education decided to call the new build- 
 ing (in 1889) the Garfield but reconsidered the action and 
 it was named after Admiral Dewey, hero of Manila Bay. 
 Ten years after this an addition was erected and in 1917 
 the structure was razed and a new building was erected 
 in its place. The Emerson School at Thirteenth and Wash- 
 ington was erected in 1900. The Adams School at 12th 
 and Jefferson in 1891. All of the schools have gone 
 through many changes in buildings and equipment and to- 
 day Quincy has schools that undoubtedly compare very fa- 
 vorably with cities of Quincy's size throughout the coun- 
 try. 
 
STREET CARS 
 
 (37) 
 
 Back in 1930 you heard the expression, "it won't be 
 long now" from a number of citizens and particularly from 
 the motormen whose occupation was to drive electric cars. 
 For at that time, street cars were slowly moving out and 
 the busses were fast moving in. Even at that date there 
 was no longer a street car to Baldwin Park, to South 
 Eighth or to State Street. The South Fourth Street line 
 had gone into the discard and next in order was the North 
 10th Street line. There were only two left, one to High- 
 land and one to the depot. 
 
 The history of street car traffic in Quincy is an inter- 
 esting one and dates back many years. The first company 
 was known as the Quincy Horse Railway and Carrier Com- 
 pany. It was organized by Elbridge K. Stone, Sr., who 
 came here from New England and embarked in the retail 
 boot and shoe business some years before, and Lorenzo 
 Bull. Their charter was a special one granted by the legis- 
 lature. Its life was 50 years. 
 
 The cars were very small affairs and the barn was at 
 the northeast corner of Fifth and Locust. The line ex- 
 tended down Fifth Street to Maine. From there it was 
 later extended to the fairgrounds, or Baldwin Park, and 
 later the car barns were removed to Twentieth and Maine. 
 Now came a branch on No. 20th Street to Highland Park. 
 These extensions were made during the first 10 years of 
 
 133 
 
134 STREET CARS 
 
 the life of the company. All of the others came consider- 
 ably later. 
 
 Then the company was sold to a syndicate, some of the 
 members of which were Quincyans headed by W. S. War- 
 field. They proposed to transform the equipment into a 
 trolley system which they did. The efforts of some of the 
 members of the city council who attempted to block the 
 proposition proved futile. However the obstructionists 
 were partly successful as they gave the company only a 
 limited number of days in which to change from mules to 
 electricity. 
 
 The company went to work with a will, brought in the 
 necessary material and equipment but it was a day or two 
 beyond the time limit in running the first trolley car on 
 the line. The opposing members of the city council at- 
 tempted to put through a resolution declaring the fran- 
 chise forfeited because of the company's failure to comply 
 with the conditions set forth. Of course they were again 
 unsuccessful and some of the aldermen were buried deep 
 in their political graves as a result. Graft prosecution was 
 talked of but never materialized and then as early as 1930, 
 the electric lines were giving way to the more modern 
 busses. Yes, in 1930, they were saying, "It won't be long 
 
STREETS 
 
 (38) 
 
 Do you remember Slab Hollow? About 1908 Mayor 
 John H. Best and one of Quincy's leading lawyers, John E. 
 Wall, Corporation Council, had a conference with the Wa- 
 bash Railroad Company with reference to widening Cedar 
 Street. That section of the town was known as Slab Hol- 
 low and it was picturesque. It was a mingling of squat- 
 ters' shacks and was confined to a small area. The in- 
 habitants of this section (known as Slab Hollow) were 
 quite prominent in police circles. The hollow was a gap 
 tween two hills, just a ravine, at some places not wider 
 than a cow path. It was as you know near Riverview Park. 
 
 In those days, 1908, the Wabash Railroad was casting 
 longing eyes on Quincy and was desirious of entering the 
 town over its own tracks, so they quietly secured titles 
 to this outlet between these hills. There were not very 
 many people who knew that this property belonged to the 
 Wabash. Everyone thought it was the property of the 
 city. But when it was determined to open Cedar Street, 
 then the railroad title became public property. 
 
 For sometime before that one little shack after another 
 had been erected along the side of this cow path or near 
 the bottom of the ravine. 
 
 It was quite a picture in that most of the shacks were 
 built of anything and everything available. Parts of pack- 
 ing cases, pieces of tin roofs, blankets and granery sacks, 
 
 135 
 
136 STREETS 
 
 planks here and there that probably had been stolen from 
 one of the several saw mills which lined the upper bay. 
 They were all make-shift homes and perhaps the settle- 
 ment got its name Slab Hollow from the shacks that were 
 built of slabs of everything. 
 
 These people were a shiftless lot. The public paid for 
 their living which wasn't much but it suited their mode 
 of life which was to get along without work. There were 
 petty thieves, horse traders, fishermen and professed junk 
 dealers. 
 
 Hobos came here occasionally and lived in Slab Hollow. 
 They had a little government of their own. Their leader 
 was called the Mayor of Slab Hollow. But when Cedar 
 Street was to be opened, the inhabitants were given orders 
 to evacuate. There was a revolution, small as it could only 
 be, and the last of the colony was forcibly evicted by the 
 police. No one knows what became of them. They were 
 just absorbed in other spots. Today Slab Hollow is a paved 
 street running between Quincy parks. The shacks made of 
 tin roofs, pieces of planks, and other materials, are but a 
 memory. 
 
SOUTH QUINCY 
 (39) 
 
 Do you remember in 1926 when the South Side Com- 
 mercial Club gave a big party which celebrated the com- 
 pletion of the paving of South Eighth Street? Not only 
 did the south side turn out but residents from every sec- 
 tion of the city joined hands to extend congratulations. 
 If the men who laid the foundations for south side 50 to 
 60 years prior to that could have come back and gazed up- 
 on the thousands who gathered in that. neighborhood, they 
 would have been filled with a just pride. There were those 
 present who could go back far enough to remember Eighth 
 and State when only a few business houses and small ones 
 at that, existed. There was the time when Frank N. 
 Kehelnbrink conducted a little grocery at the southeast 
 corner of Eighth and State Streets with Herman Heid- 
 breder and of course you know that Herman Heidbreder 
 was one of the most successful businessmen and bankers 
 in Quincy. 
 
 Henry Germann had a drug store in a one story frame 
 on the north side of State about midway between Eighth 
 and Ninth and later moved to where the State Street Bank 
 and Trust Company now stands. Mr. Lageman and his 
 two sons, Henry and Louis, had a hardware store at the 
 corner of Ninth and State Streets. Then there was Charles 
 Becker and his butcher shop, a small butcher shop, that 
 did a large business. Henry Steinkamp built a one story 
 frame harness shop. The Salem Church was a modest brick 
 
 137 
 
138 SOUTH QUINCY 
 
 edifice facing State at Ninth. Herman E. Knapheide had 
 a small wagon shop down near Seventh and State Streets, 
 which was the foundation of the present large industry. 
 And William Schaefer employed 20 to 25 workmen who 
 were busy making barrels for the pork packers and the 
 distilleries as well as the flour mills. 
 
 Then, there was Henry G. Garrelts, the elder who was 
 a house painter with a shop back in the alley. If you can 
 remember way back when, then will come to you the true 
 realization, the wonderful transformation that has come to 
 pass in the vicinity of Eighth and State Streets. Those 
 south side pioneers were giants. There were others, such 
 as Frederick W. Menke, Henry Bastert, the Heidbreder 
 brothers, John B. Schott, the Behrensmeyers, the Achel- 
 pohls, etc. They were men of brains and of action. They 
 were solid, substantial citizens, everyone of them. 
 
 In those days there was not a single house to be found 
 beyond 12th Street and not many business houses on the 
 south side. There were a few scattered along Eighth and 
 bordering that thoroughfare down to Watson Springs, now 
 South Park. Kaiser's Garden was on the west side of 
 Eighth Street at the edge of the city which spot today 
 is the entrance to Indian Mounds Park. This was one of 
 the great recreation centers not only for the south side 
 merchants and their families but for downtown Quincy 
 and North siders, too. No wonder the south side merchants 
 and residents, when they held their jubilee in 1926, were 
 swelled with pride just as the south side merchants of to- 
 day can be proud of the strides that have since been made. 
 
SWIMMING POOL 
 
 (W 
 
 Do you remember when the Indian Mounds Plunge was 
 opened? The opening day was Thursday, June 12, 1924. 
 The whole project started when Mr. J. W. Gardner sug- 
 gested k) the Rotary Club that if the city would donate the 
 site, he would start the subscription with $5,000. The idea 
 sounded fine because there had been many drownings in 
 the Mississippi year after year. And so the Rotary Club 
 went after the project in earnest. The idea was to raise 
 $25,000 which was estimated would pay the cost. Every- 
 one received the idea with enthusiasm but $25,000 was a 
 lot of money and near the end of the campaign the men in 
 charge felt that they were going to have a tough time. 
 
 Nevertheless, the $25,000 was raised and then a series 
 of meetings and trips to other towns to find out just what 
 was the latest idea in up-to-date swimming pools. Finally 
 an oval was decided upon and the work started. There 
 were many headaches but the biggest one was near the 
 completion of the pool when it was found that other equip- 
 ment such as an adequate bathing house was necessary. 
 The total fund was still $6,000 short. It was a tough propo- 
 sition to ask the club to raise an additional amount but it 
 had to be done and even though a certain fellow I know 
 was raked over the coals now and then, nevertheless, most 
 of the men worked unselfishly and even under the most 
 discouraging conditions, the dream came true. 
 
 139 
 
140 SWIMMING 
 
 On July 12, 1924, the sight which was presented at the 
 pool opening was ample compensation. Nowhere in the 
 world could a more beautiful spot for a pool be found. 
 Perched as it is on the historical mounds overlooking the 
 river with the Missouri hills in the distance, the glorious 
 setting of trees, the colorful clouds surrounding the pool 
 and a flaming crimson sunset, it made a sight never to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 The opening program of the Indian Mounds plunge was 
 a wide diversity of water sports. The Rev. I. W. Binga- 
 man made an informal address from the top of the bleach- 
 ers which were on the outside of the pool. The Quincy 
 High School Band was seated on an especially made plat- 
 form southeast of the pool and playing a stirring march 
 as three of Quincy's best swimmers and one from Chicago 
 stepped out from the east end of the cascade and plunged 
 into the pool to demonstrate the four principal strokes 
 used in swimming. These aquatic artists were Rome Boe- 
 kenhoff, Jr., Mrs. Bertha Ellermier, Mrs. Hoffman and 
 Ernest Hurdle. They demonstrated the breast stroke, the 
 back stroke, the crawl and finally the side stroke. 
 
 Then Jack Reilly entered the deep water circle with 
 eight Boy Scouts who executed a military drill in water, 
 swimming with the precision of marching soldiers. These 
 boys were Virgil Berblinger, Bob Stees, Ray Canfield and 
 Russell Blickhan of Troop 16. Paul Brenner, Dayton Ful- 
 ghum and George Gardner of Troop 8 and Francis Buntz 
 of Troop 4. 
 
 Next, there was the water polo match. Two teams. One 
 team was headed by Rome Boekenhoff, Jr., and the other 
 by Newcomb Still well. Boekenhoff's team was made up of 
 Mike Carleton, 0. Hill, Ernest Hurdle, Oscar Wick, Henry 
 Aschemann and R. Clarke. Stillwell's team had the fol- 
 lowing swimmers: Donald Best, Ridgley Pierson, John 
 
SWIMMING 141 
 
 Greer, Victor Winters, Jack Rielly and Neal Monroe. And 
 then there was a raft bearing two miniature pugilists, El- 
 mer Canfield and Guffy Hughes. 
 
 Frances Ann Bonfoey who was described as a slim gold 
 fish in flaming red suit and cap led the "follow the leader" 
 contest. There was a baseball stunt by Boy Scouts led by 
 Jack Reilly, deep and fancy diving, and the program came 
 to a close with a bevy of bathing beauties who had acted 
 as ushers and who had perched themselves on top of the 
 cascade beneath colorful parasols during the program. 
 They promenaded around the pool. Yes, it was a grand 
 opening and, as if to rival this flashing circle of color, 
 the sun shinning through the four sprays in the center 
 of the pool formed a scintillating rainbow of its own while 
 "Old Man River" below looked on forlornly, beaten at his 
 own game. 
 
THEATER 
 (W 
 
 Do you remember William E. Pringle? He was editor 
 of the Quincy Whig 1 for several years. He moved to Colo- 
 rado but even the high altitude and purified atmosphere 
 of the Rockies failed to restore his health. His wife was 
 Jessie Pringle. And do you remember that Jessie Pringle 
 was a very successful actress? Jessie Pringle it was who 
 played opposite Frank Bacon in the show, "LightninV 
 that heart interest story. In "Lightnin' ", Mrs. Pringle or 
 Jessie Pringle, as she was known on the stage, played the 
 role of the wife of that shiftless character called "Light- 
 nhV ". Jessie Pringle shared honors with Bacon. She 
 drew a fancy salary in those days of $300 a week. 
 
 But Mr. Pringle, who was handling the editorial col- 
 umn of the Quincy Whig, decided that he could no longer 
 carry on. He had a letter from his wife who was filling 
 an engagement in New York, stating that as soon as the 
 engagement was ended she would come West and together 
 they would go to Colorado, purchase a ranch and live the 
 simple life. This they did but Mr. Pringle died somewhere 
 around 1928 or 1929 and after his death Jessie Pringle 
 disposed of the ranch and went to Los Angeles where she 
 bought an apartment house. 
 
 Everything was going lovely until the slump came and 
 she lost everything so she thought she would once more 
 turn to her former profession. But she had been absent 
 
 142 
 
THEATER 143 
 
 from the stage for several years and was a stranger to 
 most of the producers. She decided to try the movies. 
 Here, too, she was a stranger. There were plenty of elder- 
 ly women who had established reputations and the best 
 she could do was to secure an occasional engagement as 
 an extra, which was just a bare existence. 
 
 Yes, it was quite a shock for a star who had been in 
 many successful plays and who played on Broadway for 
 more than three consecutive years and more than six 
 months in Chicago in one role. From the salary of $300 a 
 week she had to take the part of an extra at from $3 to 
 $5 a day and then only when and if she worked. 
 
 One day when she was in the office of a casting direc- 
 tor on the Fox lot in Hollywood along with several hun- 
 dred others, patiently waiting and hoping for just a small 
 part, she was recognized by a friend, a younger man who 
 knew her in the New York days. In fact, he had been in 
 the same cast with her. This friend immediately took her 
 to James Ryan who was in the casting department and 
 after an explanation of her past successes and abilities she 
 was immediately placed and signed a contract with the 
 Fox organization. The old friend who came along at the 
 right time was none other than Frank Morgan. 
 
 It is true that Joseph Jefferson, the great actor, per- 
 sonally conducted a theater here in Quincy. Here are 
 some facts. The famous Joseph Jefferson, actor, came here 
 with his father who was also named Joseph, in 1840 and 
 for two years they held forth in a small theater on Third 
 Street which had formerly been conducted by the first 
 theatrical organization of local people and which was called 
 the "Thespis Club". The Jefferson family at that time 
 traveled by boat. They played the principal cities along the 
 Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In the family were father, 
 mother and two sons of which Joseph, Jr., was the young- 
 
144 THEATER 
 
 er. Naturally they carried several other people with them 
 to make up their cast. 
 
 For a long time they had never ventured farther north 
 than St. Louis. That is previous to 1840. There were some 
 rapids at Keokuk which made the river impassable ex- 
 cept for canoes, rafts and flat boats. But about this time, 
 Quincy was experiencing a mild boom and evidently its 
 fame was spreading. It was this, it is supposed, that 
 tempted the Jefferson family to venture as far north of 
 St. Louis to the town of Quincy. There is not much on 
 record about the troop. However, occasional notices ap- 
 peared in the newspapers. 
 
 In the Jefferson biography there is mention of this 
 prolonged stop in Quincy and also a conversation with the 
 famous comedian in which he says that some 40 years 
 later he appeared in the opera house in Quincy in "Rip 
 Van Winkle." At that time he was severely criticized by 
 one of the local papers which determined him not to come 
 back and he never did. He was quite a young lad when 
 he came here with his father and so it might be stated 
 that his theatrical career really started in Quincy. 
 
 As to the first dramatic club, it was organized in 1830 
 to 1835 with the leading young men at that time as its 
 sponsors and they also enlisted the services of the best 
 known young women. They had a store room which was 
 fitted out on Third Street between Maine and Hampshire 
 with scenery painted by a local artist and costumes by lo- 
 cal tailors. They used tallow candles for their foot lights 
 as well for lighting the auditorium. This was the Thespis 
 Club. Lorenzo Bull was its first President and Manager. 
 That all happened about 1832. 
 
 Do you remember Charlie Winninger ? Charlie wasn't a 
 Quincy boy but he spent many a day here when repertoire 
 companies were booming. I have no doubt that many of 
 
THEATER 145 
 
 you saw him on the stage or on the screen as he has done 
 a lot of work in pictures, too. Charlie Winninger's big hit 
 was as Captain Andy in "Showboat," the stage production 
 as well as the picture. Charlie was the star of the ten- 
 twenty-thirty-cent loop, as they called it, or a stock show 
 which made Quincy every year, sometimes twice a year. 
 When they came to town they had a tallyho driven by 
 four horses and paraded the streets at noon time with the 
 five Winninger Brothers playing different instruments, 
 making up a small combo band. 
 
 Charlie was the comedian and the youngest of the 
 group. One particular visit to Quincy was on a snowy 
 March day. It was back in 1906 and Charlie and his band 
 came out Maine Street in one of Kendall's buses. They 
 were tooting away when they got to Twelfth and Maine 
 and Charlie Winninger, always the comedy man, blew an 
 especially mean trombone. He stuck the bell of the trom- 
 bone out toward the boys and girls who were just com- 
 ing out from classrooms at the Quincy High School. He 
 had no more than tooted once or twice than a big slushy 
 snowball went right down Charlie's sliphorn and then im- 
 mediately followed a volley of snowballs which struck 
 every member of the band one or more times. 
 
 There were a number of sour notes, the bus stopped and 
 out jumped the five Winninger Brothers and a small sized 
 riot was on between the five Winninger boys and a num- 
 ber of High School lads. I know you will remember such 
 names as Emil Halbach, Jim Irwin, Carrick Castle, Pom 
 Sinnock, Wells Trowbridge, Harry and Roy Grieser, Happy 
 Harrison, George Schroder among others. It was quite a 
 battle and for the record let me state that there was no 
 show that night and in all fairness to the Winninger 
 brothers, let me say that several classes were missed that 
 afternoon as well as the next day. 
 
146 THEATER 
 
 There were plenty of black eyes and sore upper lips. 
 There was a lot of excitement for a week or more and 
 there were threats of taking the matter before the School 
 Board, but nothing was done. It seems that the parents 
 took care of what was necessary. I know many of you 
 will remember Charlie Winninger's great success in the 
 legitimate theater, both in drama and in musical comedies 
 and later this gentleman, with a heart as young as of old, 
 still doing a corking good job in pictures. He was the hus- 
 band of Blanche Ring. 
 
INDEX 
 
 147 
 
 — A— 
 
 Aaron, John and Chas. 61 
 Achelpohl, Chas. 21 
 Adams, John Quincy 7 
 Ahem, John 12-107 
 Anderson, Asher 8 
 Ascheman, Hy. 140 
 
 — B— 
 
 Bader, Wm. F. 43 
 Bagby, Morris 114 
 Baker, Esther 31 
 Baldwin, Kid 26 
 Baldwin, Sam 117 
 Baldwin, Tom 115 
 Bates, Leroy 100 
 Barclift 29 
 Bartlett, Ben 19 
 Bastert, Hy 138 
 Becker, Chas. 106 
 Behrensmeyer, Geo. 39 
 Behrensmeyers 138 
 BeiZstein, Chas. 122 
 Berhlinger, Virgil 140 
 Berlin, John 21 
 Best, Donald 140 
 Best, Coi. J. H. 92, 135 
 Bingaman, Rev. I. W. 140 
 Bingaman, John 29 
 BisseZZ, Gov. 9 
 Blickhan, Russell 140 
 Boekenhoff, Rome, Jr. 140 
 Bonfoey, Frances Ann 141 
 Bornman, Hy 86 
 Boudreau, Louis 29 
 Brackensieck, A. W. 107 
 Brenner, PanZ 140 
 Brinkhoff, Hy 45 
 Brockmann Sisters 31 
 Brooks, Ellis 22 
 Brown, Charles 81 
 Brown, Katherin Holland 15 
 Brown, Dr. Roy 31 
 Brown, Rufus 8-83 
 Browning, O. H. 57-63-127 
 BuZZ, Alonzo 133-144 
 Bumster, Robt, 59-78 
 Buntz, Francis 140 
 Burlingame, Doe 110 
 Burns, Jim 12 
 Burrows, Tom 31 
 BushneZZ 127 
 
 — C— 
 
 Calkins, Mrs. Ira 15 
 Canfield, Elmer 141 
 CanfieZd, Raw 140 
 Carleton, Mike 140 
 Carrott, Finlay 78 
 Carrott, Montgomery and 
 
 James 79 
 Carson, John B. 13 
 Castle, Carrick 145 
 Channon, Wm. 21 
 Christ, Lambert 107 
 CZarZc, R. 140 
 Cof field, Harvey 20 
 CoZe, W. W. 10-108 
 CoZZins, Wm. 106 
 Comstock, Chas., Jr. 109 
 Conn, Joe 31 
 Cook, Rev. EarZ 17 
 Crooks Bros. 100 
 Cunnane, Billy 118 
 Ciirtis, Grant 113 
 
 — D— 
 
 Dang, Frank 27 
 
 Dazey, Chas. T. 14 
 
 Dean, Kittie 31 
 
 DeZZ, FZowd 17 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A. 56-84-87 
 
 Droullard, John 2 
 
 Dwire, W. T. 92 
 
 — E— 
 
 Ebert, Louis 20 
 Ellermeier, Mrs. Bertha 140 
 Essig, B. C. 118 
 
 — F— 
 
 Fisher, John J. 39 
 Forepaugh (Circus) 22 
 Fosgate, C. Henry 19 
 Fromme, Art 26 
 Fuhlgum, Dayton 140 
 
 _G— 
 
 GabrieZ, Geo. 49 
 Gardner, Geo. 140 
 Gardner, J. W. 139 
 Gardner, Ralph G. 118 
 
148 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Gardner, Robt. W. 117 
 Gardner, Dr. Tom 19 
 Garrelts, Hy. G. 138 
 Gauweiler, Geo. 22 
 Germann, Hy 137 
 Gilmer, Bessie 31 
 Govert, Wm. 106 
 Greer, John 141 
 Gregg, Rev. James 17 
 Grieser Bros. 145 
 
 — H— 
 
 Hadley, Levi 9 
 Halbach, Frederic 48 
 Halbach, Bob & Emil, 49-195 
 Hall, Harry 29 
 Horbelt, Al 21 
 Harrison, Happy 145 
 Harter Judy 25 
 Hase, J. L. 107 
 Haskins, Fred 113 
 Hauworth, Sy 67 
 Heidbreder, Herman 106-137 
 Heidbreder, Martin 106 
 Heidbreder, Walter 107 
 Hill, O. 140 
 Hill, Sadie 31 
 Hill, Thomas 109 
 Hoeffler, Jack & Pern/ 101 
 Hofer, Harry 26 
 Hoffman, Mrs. 140 
 Holmes, Chas. & J. T. 4 
 Hughes, Guffy 141 
 Hurdle, Ernest 140 
 Hutmacher Bros. 43 
 
 Irwin, James 145 
 
 Jansen, Frank 101 
 Jefferson, Jos. J. 143 
 Jolson, Al 14 
 
 — K— 
 
 Kehelnbrink, Frank 137 
 Kellogg, Seymour 2 
 Kendall, Wm. E. 92 
 Keyes, Willard 2-57 
 
 Knapheide, Herman 138 
 Knnf, Ben 92 
 Koch, Geo. 31-60-67 
 Koehler, Geo. 20 
 Kuhlman, Geo. 92 
 
 — L— 
 
 Lageman, Louis 75 
 Lageman & Sons 137 
 Laird Bros. 10 
 Langdon, J. & A. 37 
 Langhanke, Lucille 11 
 Laughlin, Harry 12 
 Leece G. B. 118 
 Lichteberger 10 
 Lincoln, A. 16-62-78-84-125 
 Linquist, A. G. 118 
 Long, Chas. 61 
 Lutenberg, Chas. 26 
 
 — M— 
 
 Marquiss, Walter 16 
 McConnell, W% 98-101 
 McMein, Wm. 21 
 Menke, F. W. 138 
 Metz, Geo. 38 
 Miller, Ben 86 
 Mills, Wm. 20 
 Mitchell, Emery 117 
 Mohn, A. H. 104 
 Monroe, Neal 141 
 Moriarty, J. 21 
 Myers, H. G. 118 
 
 — N— 
 
 Naeter, Fred 143 
 Niemeyer, Al. P. 107 
 Nolan, Patsy 10 
 
 O'Brien, P. J. 92 
 Osborn, Hal 31 
 Osborn, Frank 31 
 Osborn, F. W. 119 
 
 Parkhurst, J. 43 
 Patrick 98 
 
INDEX 
 
 149 
 
 Pearson, R. H. 118 
 Ffeiffer, Chas. 82 
 Picerno, Ned 100 
 Pierson, R. B. 140 
 Pinkelman, Peter 100 
 Pinkerton, Allan 62 
 Pix, Hy 75 
 Pratt, Ed 60 
 Pringle, Wm. & Jessie 142 
 
 — R— 
 
 Reeves, Robt. 29 
 Richardson, W. A. 34 
 Reill;i/ 140 
 Ringland, Al 22 
 Rineberg 29 
 Tobey, Tom 101 
 Robertson, John 117 
 Rockerfeller, John D. 112 
 Roesch, Fred 104 
 Rogers Bros 40 
 Rosenheim, Chas. 46 
 
 — S— 
 
 Sander, Gerhard 107 
 Schaefer, E. F. 118 
 Schaefer, Wm. 138 
 Schanz, Gottlieb 20 
 Schoeneman, John 38 
 Schott, John B. 138 
 Schroeder, Geo. 145 
 Schroeder, Hy 48 
 Selbt/, Paul 88 
 Simmons, Jim 59 
 Singleton, Gen. James 108 
 Sinnock, Pom 145 
 Skinner, Orin 63 
 Sofrm, Ed H. 85 
 Sohm, Will, 100 
 Sousa, John Phillip 33 
 Sprick, Hy C. 106 
 Svrick, Hy C. 106 
 StahZ, Geo. 19 
 Sta/il, John M. 120 
 ,Stees. Bob 140 
 Steinback, Joh n 21-92 
 Steinkamp, Hy 74-137 
 
 Stern Bros. 47 
 Stillwell, Newcomb 140 
 Stoermer Carl H. 107 
 Stone, E. K. 133 
 Storey, 5. O. 29 
 Sweet, E. K. 91 
 
 — T— 
 
 Taft, Larado 57 
 Tellbuescher, J. F. 20 
 Thompson, Dan 103 
 Thompson, T. E. 31 
 Tillson, John, Jr. 8-83 
 Trapp, Louis 31 
 Trowbridge, Wells 145 
 
 — V— ■ 
 Voices, Harry 12 
 
 — W— 
 
 WaJceman, Mrs. 77 
 Wall, John E. 135 
 Warfield, W. S. 134 
 Weber, Paul 76 
 Weems, Milton K. 19 
 White, Robt. & Tom 31 
 White, Waller 124 
 White, Wilton E. 119 
 Wiclc, Oscar 140 
 Wilcox, David 121 
 Williamson, H. A. 112 
 Winningrer, Chas. 144 
 Winters, Victor 141 
 Wislcirchen, Hy 90 
 Wood, John 1-51 
 Works. Sammy 26 
 Wright, Joel 2 
 
 — Y— - 
 
 Young, Lige 31 
 
 — Z— 
 Zander, John 75 
 
'200-173 -SB 
 
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22-£u 
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 977.344F460 
 
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 DO YOU REMEMBER? QUINCY, ILL 
 
 3 0112 025391266