A. C. JAYNES, farmer, P. O. East Cape Girardeau.  One of the most prosperous young farmers of Alexander County is the gentleman whose name heads this brief sketch.  Valentine Jaynes, his father, was born in Madison, Ind., and came to Massac County, Ill., when a young man.  He there married Hester Parker, the result of which marriage was five children.  Of this number, subject was the oldest, and was born December 3, 1853.  His education was but limited, and he only attended a public school about four months.  His father died when he was about fourteen, and he was sent to Decatur, Ill., where he remained for seven years, working around at different farms.  From there he returned to his native county, but only remained ayear.  He came to Alexander County in 1878, and first farmed on a tract that he rented from the widow Shrieber.  There he remained for one year, and then came to his present location.  He now owns 160 acres in Section 30, Town 14, Range 3 west, of which about 130 acres are cultivated.  Subject was married, September 17, 1877 to Allie Rice, daughter of John and Nancy Rice, of Metropolis, Massac County.  She is the mother of three children, two of whom are living--Mahala J., born March 6, 1879, and Alvin, born October 24, 1882.  In politics, he is a Republican.  
--Source: History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois. Edited by William Henry Perrin, ©1883 Chicago: O. L. Baskin and Company, Historical Publisher, Part V, East Cape Girardeau Precinct, p. 237-238.

Arthur John Kessler, a native of Cairo, was born on July 1893 to Joseph and Louise Kobler Kessler.  He attended the Public Schools and Browns Business College in Cairo and worked in the office of several manufacturing concerns before marriage.
He joined his brothers William and Peter Kessler in 1924 in running their family farm.  That fall, Joseph’s widow and daughters Louise and Kate moved from the farm to 225-18th Street in Cairo.  The brothers dissolved their partnership and began their own farms.
Arthur John Kessler and Mena Harriet Deimund were married July 3, 1924 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cairo, Ill. by Dr. Charles R. Dunlap.
Mena was born Feb. 24, 1902 in Cape Girardeau County near Pocahontas, MO, the daughter of Charley Peter and Nora Belle Foster Deimund.  The Deimund family moved to Illinois in 1914, first living in the Willard-Miller City area, then moving to Cairo.  She attended Brown’s Business College in Cairo and two terms at the Normal University at Carbondale, Ill.  Before her marriage she worked at Gunther’s Bakery and the Menomenee Company.
Arthur and Mena Kessler began their married life at #13 Edgewood Park in Cairo.  In the fall of 1924, they moved to the farm.
Arthur began truck gardening the acreage near the home, putting the back acres in corn, alfalfa, wheat and later soybeans.  As with small farms then, they raised chickens, pigs and kept a cow or two and a pair of mules.  He enjoyed truck gardening and took pride in his beautiful well-cared-for garden and the vegetables it produced.  These he delivered to stores and customers in Cairo for nearly 35 years.
Mena became adept in her chores as a farmer’s wife.  She took the responsibilities of the chickens, milking and making butter, canning, preserving, and often helped her husband with the farm produce doing that in addition to her household duties.  She particularly enjoyed raising flowers and caring for her yard.  For several years, she shipped tulips to the Chicago market.  She entered her flowers in flower shows and was pleased winning awards.  In 1940, she, with others in Illinois, was a special guest at the Illinois State Fair and was presented a bronze plaque inscribed, “This Farm Home and Grounds was judged the most attractive of those entitled from the county in the 1940 Governor Henry Horner Farm Floral Contest.”
Arthur and Mena Kessler became the parents of two daughters, Martha Ann, born Jan.10, 1927 and Sharon Kay.  All are baptized and confirmed members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cairo. Martha Ann died June 2, 1995 and is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery.  Sharon lives in Villa Ridge, Illinois with her son Jeffrey Crowell.
Arthur passed away March 21, 1960 and is buried at Green Lawn Cemetery in Villa Ridge, Ill.  Mena died Dec. 2, 1994 and is buried at Green Lawn

Martha Ann Kessler Smith was born Jan. 10, 1927 to Arthur and Mena Kessler in Cairo, Illinois.  She grew up on the small family farm north of Cairo on “Kessler’s Curve” as it was known.  She attended the old Woodside School  and then attended the Cairo Public Schools graduating in 1943.
After graduation, she attended Draughon’s Business College in Paducah and then worked in the offices of Thomas A.Edison, Inc., National Biscuit Company, McKesson & Robbins, Inc., W.L. Vernon, CPA, Tracy Cunningham, CPA and was City Clerk of Cairo.  She was a member of the Cairo Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Municipal Clerks of Illinois and the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.
She met Bobbie Vernon Smith and they were married June 15, 1947 in the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cairo.  Bobbie V.Smith was the son of John and Olive Flossine Maple Smith from DuQuoin, Ill.  Bob served in WWII, attended St. Louis University before coming to Cairo in 1947. He worked for Banks Grocery Company. Then in 1955 he joined Washington National Insurance Company and then worked for Kroger Company until it closed in 1960.  In Nov. 1960 he opened Bob’s Café on Washington Avenue until 1970.  In 1970 he joined Red Cross Macaroni Products as a pasta sales merchandiser and also Borden Company in pasta sales traveling Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana.
Bob and Martha Ann had three daughters.  Bob and Martha Ann were members of Immanuel Lutheran Church with Bob serving on the church council and being active in the Men’s Brotherhood group.  She was a member of the Lutherann’s.  They were members of the Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois, St. Louis Genealogical Society and the Illinois State Genealogy Society.  They enjoyed gardening and grandchildren.
Martha Ann died June 2, 1995.  Bob died May 13, 2009.  They are buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Villa Ridge, Ill.
--Contributed by Kathy Wilson.

Joseph “Joe” Kessler was born January 22,1846 to Anthony “Anton” and Mary Anna Courdat Kessler in Loramie, Shelby County, Ohio.  Mary Anna Courdat was from France.  Anthony and Mary Anna Kessler had six children:  William, Helena (married Philip Lehning of Cairo), Catherine, Frank, Peter and Joseph.  Anthony and Mary Anna Kessler are buried in Ohio.
Joe  moved to Cairo around 1864 at the age of eighteen.  He met and married Louisa Kobler, daughter of Peter and Salome “Selma” Lehning Kobler.  She was born June 15, 1858 in New York City, NY. They were married Feb. 23, 1876 in Cairo, Ill.
Joseph and Louisa had six children:  William Frank, b. 2/14/1877; Peter Joseph, b. 2/5/1979; Clara Lena, b. 4/5/1881; Louisa Selma, b. 1/21/1884; Katie Alma, b. 9/24/1886 and Arthur Joseph, b. 7/11/1893.
Joseph died March 29, 1914 of pneumonia in Cairo, Ill.  Louisa died Nov. 5, 1936 of pneumonia.  They are buried at the Cairo Cemetery in Villa Ridge, Ill.  

Louisa Selma Kessler was born Jan. 21, 1884 to Joseph and Louisa Kobler Kessler in Cairo, Illinois.  She attended the Cairo Schools.  She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.  She died March 6, 1964 with burial at the Cairo City Cemetery, Villa Ridge, Ill.

Katie Alma Kessler was born Sept. 24, 1886 to Jospeh and Louisa Kobler Kessler in Cairo, Illinois.  She attended the Cairo Schools graduating in 1904 from high school.  She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.  For many years she was a stenographer for State’s Attorney, J. J. O’Shea.   She had no children nor never married.  Katie died of complications from a broken hip at St. Mary’s Hospital June 19, 1946.  Burial was at Cairo City Cemetery, Villa Ridge, Ill. 
--Contributed by Kathy Wilson.