BIOGRAPHIES
Cape Girardeau
County Missouri Genealogy Trails
J.
ALFRED
ABERNATHY, a farmer of Byrd Township, was born in Cape Girardeau
County, Mo., on November 29,1845. He is the son of Hamilton
and
Belle J. Abernathy, who immigrated to Missouri from North Carolina.
The father died in Cape Girardeau County about 1848.
The
mother married again and reared her family at home. J. Alfred
was
the third of four children. He received a limited education
in
the common schools. On December 11, 1870 he was united in
marriage with Miss Emily Harris, daughter of Rev. R. P. Harris, a
minister of some note in the Universalist Church. Mr.
Abernathy
rented a farm for about eleven years, when he bought a place three
miles north of Jackson, which he cultivated three years. He
then
sold it to S. W. Brown, and in June 1837, bought the farm where he now
resides, consisting of 105 acres, all fenced with about eighty-seven
acres in cultivation. He has a good house and outbuildings,
and
an orchard of about 200 trees. They have three children,
viz.:
Albena, Harry and Sammy. Mrs. Abernathy is a member
of the
Baptist Church.
Source: Goodspeed's
History of
Southeast Missouri, c1888, p 740.
BENJAMIN H. ADAMS, editor
of the Cape Girardeau Democrat,
was born in Scott County, Mo., on December 2, 1847. He is the
ninth of twelve children born to Jefferson and Susan (Ollar) Adams,
both natives of Kentucky, from which State they came to Missouri in
1844, and located on a farm in Scott County, where they remained until
their deaths, the former in 1865, the latter in 1857.
Benjamin
was reared at home on the farm, receiving his education in the schools
of his native county and at Cape Girardeau. In 1867 he
entered
the office of the Dispatch,
at Commerce, where he remained about two years. He then,
after
working a short time in St. Louis, came to Cape Girardeau and worked on
the Argus
until 1871, when he established the Democrat,
which he has since conducted. May 16, 1869 he was united in
marriage with Mattie Casebolt, daughter of S. M. Casebolt, then editor
of the News.
They have six childen living and one dead.
Source: Goodspeed's
History of
Southeast Missouri, c1888, p 740-741.
HON. LEON J. ALBERT, cashier of
Sturdivant Bank and mayor of Cape Girardeau, was born in Jefferson
County, Ky., in 1840. He is the son of Nicolas Albert, a native
of France, who immigrated to America while a young man and located near
Louisville, Ky, where he was united in marriage with Anna Hoin, also a
native of France. They removed to Cape Girardeau in 1852.
The father at the time of his death in 1876 was a United States
gauger. The mother died in 1875. Leon J., being twelve
years old when his parents removed to Cape Girardeau, was educated at
St. Vincent's College. He afterward returned to his native
country and engaged in merchandising until the beginning of the war,
when he returned to Cape Girardeau and became connected with the
commission firm of Hunt & Albert. He was also, during the
war, in the employ of the St. Louis & Memphis Packet Company (now
Anchor Line) about two years. At the close of the war he became a
member of the firm of J. & S. Albert, from which he severed his
connection in 1871 to accept his present position as cashier in
Sturdivant Bank. In 1864 he was united in marriage with Clara
Haydock, a native of Marshall County, Ky. They have had three
sons and six daughters, of whom two daughters are dead. Mr.
Albert is a member of the A. O. U. W., and the Select Knights.
--Source: Goodspeed's
History of
Southeast Missouri, c1888, p 741.
Albert, Leon Joseph, banker was born, November 6, 1840, in Jefferson
County, Kentucky, son of Nicholas and Anna (Hoin) Albert. Nicholas
Albert removed from Kentucky to Cape Girardeau, in 1852, and died there
in 1876. The elder Albert was a merchant and a thoroughly
public-spirited citizen, who spent much of his time and money to make
the "Cape City" a commercial center. He established there a shipyard,
and built at Cape Girardeau the "Alfred T. Lacy," the only steamboat
ever built there. For a number of years he was United States gauger at
Cape Girardeau. Speaking both the French and German languages fluently,
he had the confidence of the French and German citizens of that place,
and was their counselor and adviser on all occasions. He himself was
French, and his father, John Albert, the grandfather of Leon J. Albert,
served in the Napoleonic wars on the staff of the great leader of the
French Army.
In his early boyhood, Leon J. Albert lived in Portland—now
a part of Louisville, Kentucky—and there he began his education,
with Honorable Norman J. Colman, now of St. Louis, as his teacher.
Coming with his parents to Missouri, his further education was such as
to fit him for business pursuits, and when he was seventeen years of
age he returned to Louisville, where he clerked in a dry goods store
until 1861. He then came back to Cape Girardeau and became connected
with the J. & S. Albert Grocery Company. This connection continued
until 1871, except during two years of the Civil War, when he was
employed as clerk on a Mississippi River steamboat, then under
management of the Memphis & St. Louis Packet Company.
In the fall of 1871 he embarked in the commission business in
St. Louis on his own account. At the end of a few months he was
prevailed upon by Colonel Robert Sturdivant to return to Cape Girardeau
and accept the position of cashier in what was then known as the Bank
of R. Sturdivant. In 1881 this bank was incorporated under the State
banking laws o£ Missouri, as the Sturdivant Bank, and Mr. Albert
was made cashier of the reorganized institution. He has since continued
to hold that position, and a service of nearly thirty years in this
capacity has caused him to be regarded, in the banking circles of the
State, as one of its most thoroughly efficient, capable and honest bank
managers. During the period since 1882 there has been but one change in
the board of directors of the Sturdivant Bank, and this was occasioned
by the death of Judge Jacob H. Burrough. Mr. Albert was a director and
treasurer of the St. Louis, Cape Girardeau & Fort Smith Railroad
Company from the time of the organization of that corporation until the
road was sold to the South Missouri & Arkansas Railroad Company, in
1899, and he is now a director of the last named company.
From 1875 to 1880 he was secretary of the Southeast District
Agricultural Society, and in that capacity did much to benefit the
farming interests of that region. In politics he is a Democrat, but has
only taken the interest -which every good citizen should take in
political movements and campaigns. During the year 1874-5 he was a
member of the Board of Aldermen of Cape Girardeau, and from 1877 to
1878 he was mayor of the city, and from 1885 to 1890 he again filled
the mayoralty. During his first administration he, with others,
formulated and secured the passage of an ordinance, under which the
railroad subscription of Cape Girardeau to the building1 of a railroad
into the city was compromised and refunded. The ordinance was unpopular
at the time, but the wisdom of the action has since been made apparent
to all.
He has been treasurer of the State Normal School, at Cape
Girardeau, and in 1889 Governor Francis appointed him a member of the
board of regents of that institution, to serve for a term of six years.
Governor Stone appointed him to a second term, which he is now serving.
June 2, 1864, Mr. Albert married Miss Clara Given Haydock, daughter of
Gideon A. and Harriet (Conway) Haydock, of Smithlamd, Kentucky, and of
Scotch-English descent. Their children are Hattie Conway Albert, now
the widow of Ralph W. Morton, of Cape Girardeau; Leon Joseph Albert,
Jr., assistant cashier of the Sturdivant Bank; Harry Lee Albert,
professor of biology at the State Normal School of Cape Girardeau; Alma
Edith, Clara Given, Leland Stanford, and Helen Roseborough Albert.
[Source: Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri Volume 5: Edited by
Howard Louis Conard; Publ. 1901; Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
SEBASTIAN ALBERT, wholesale grocer and
commission merchant, was born in France in 1828, and with his parents,
John and Mary Albert, immigrated to America in 1829. They located
at Louisville, Ky. The mother died in 1830 and the father in
1836. Sebastian remained at Louisville until 1846, when, with a
brother, he located at Jackson, Mo., and engaged in general
merchandising until 1850; he, however, spent the time between 1850 and
1853 in California. They then located at Cape Girardeau, and
engaged in the dry goods business under the firm name of Albert &
Bro., for several years. In 1857 the brother succeeded R.
Sturdivant and formed the firm of Hunt & Albert in the commission
business. Soon after the death of Mr. Hunt, in January, 1860,
Sebastian purchased his interest, and the firm became J. & S.
Albert, which existed until 1877, since which time S. Albert has
conducted the business alone. In 1885 he and Mr. Klostermann
purchased the foundry from the stock company, which business they have
since managed. He and Mr. Madison own the celebrated Richard's
Cape Lime Kiln. In all of his business he employs about eighteen
laborers. In 1865 he was united in marriage with Rosa L. Miles, a
native of Cape Girardeau. Their marriage has been blessed by
seven children, three sons and four daughters. Mr. Albert is a
Freemason. He and wife are members of the Catholic Church.
Mr. Albert had two brothers, who died at Cape Girardeau, John and
Nicolas; the former was mayor of the city for awhile, and sheriff of
the county for two terms. Source: Goodspeed's
History of
Southeast Missouri, c1888, p 741.
WILLIAM E. ALEXANDER, a prominent farmer
and stock raiser of Randol Township, Cape Girardeau Co., Mo., is a
native of Cabarrus County, N. C., born on December 4, 1818. He is
the only living member of a family of seven children born to the union
of Ambrose Alexander and Eleanor Query, both natives of North Carolina.
They resided in their native State a number of years after their
marriage, and removed to Missouri in 1929. They pre-empted the
land upon which the subject of this sketch now resides. The
parents lived there until their deaths. The father died February
1, 1843. His wife survived him a number of years, and died about
1866. William E. came to his majority in Cape Girardeau County,
and when land was thrown upon the ma4rket he entered that which his
father had homesteaded. On January 20, 1842 he was united in
marriage with Ann H. Short, daughter of John and Jane Short. She
was born in Rowan County, N. C., but removed to Cape Girardeau County,
Mo, when eleven years of age. Mr. Alexander served as justice of
the peace, and in 1870 was appointed public administrator, and two
years after was elected to the same office. He was re-elected
several times, serving in all ten consecutive years.
Source: Goodspeed's
History of
Southeast Missouri, c1888, p 741.
JOHN H. ALTENTHAL, a
farmer and stock raiser residing one and a half mile west from Jackson,
was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, January 29, 1830. He
is the son of Anton and Mary (Brous) Altenthal, both natives of
Hanover, Germany. They immigrated to the United States in
December, 1845, landing at New Orleans. They located in Cape
Girardeau County in 1846. Here the father bought land, upon which
he resided until his death. John H. received a fair education in
his native country. He learned the carpenter's trade with his
father, and engaged in that business until 1865. On March 3, 1853
in Cape Girardeau County, he was united in marriage with Caroline
Klemme, a native of Brunswick. After marriage they located near
Jackson, and engaged in farming. In the spring of 1869 he removed
to the farm where he now resides. He has 200 acres of land, all
in a good state of cultivation, and upon which is a good residence and
other buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Altenthal have reared a family of
six children, viz.: Matilda (Mrs. William Wessal, of Jackson),
Caroline (Mrs. William Wagoner), Wilhelmina (Mrs. Robert Kneibert of
Jackson), Henry (married and residing on the home farm, Anna (now
married to George Bieulein) and Louisa (who died August 4, 1887, in her
twenty-first year). Mr. and Mrs. Altenthal are members of the
Lutheran Church. Mr. Altenthal is independent in politics, and is
in favor of local option.
Source: Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri, c1888, p. 742.
HENRY A. ASTHOLZ,
marshal and collector of Cape Girardeau, was born in Hanover, Germany,
October 24, 1840. He is the son of Christian and Sophia Astholz,
both of whom died in Germany in 1857. The year after his parents'
death Henry A., immigrated to America, locating at first in Louisiana,
where he served a few months as overseer on a plantation. He then
went to St. Louis, joining Company B, Fifth Missouri Cavalry, and at
the time of its consolidation with the Fourth Missouri Cavalry was
color bearer. After this he filled various private positions, and
at the close of the war was quartermaster-sergeant of Company D, Fourth
Missouri. After the war he located at Cape Girardeau and engaged
in the tanning business until about 1869, after which he traveled
a few years, and filled various clerkships until 1881. From 1881
until 1882 he was deputy clerk of the common pleas court, and in 1883
was elected to his present position. In 1867 he was united in
marriage with Augusta Brandes, a native of Germany. They have had
fourteen children, of whom five are dead. Mr. Astholz is a member
of the A. F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F. and has been commander of
Justi Post No. 173, G. A. R., since its re-organization, and was
re-elected for four consecutive years. On account of wounds
received during the war he receives a pension from the Government.
Source: Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri, c1888, p. 742.
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