BIOGRAPHY - ALBERT BUCHHOLZ
Albert
Buchholz is the village president of Melvin and a citizen whose devotion to
the general good is above question. He is well known here and the public
regard in which he is held results from a long acquaintance with him and
familiarity with the creditable principles which have governed his life in
its various relations. He was formerly extensively engaged in the grain
trade, owning a large elevator at Melvin, and his success enables him to now
enjoy well earned rest from further labor.
Illinois may be proud to number such a man among her native sons. His birth occurred near Magnolia, Marshall county, March 3, 1860, his parents being August and Caroline (Funte) Buchholz, the former born in Berlin, Germany, August 14, 1821, and the latter in Westphalia in November, 1834. They came to the United States about 1849 and were married in Chicago. The father worked first on the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad and afterward followed shoemaking in Magnolia, having learned that trade in the old country. During the remainder of his active life he was identified with farming interests and he is still the owner of seven hundred and twenty acres of rich and valuable land around the town. He also owns several sections of land in Iowa and Minnesota, which he gave to his children. He has been very prosperous and this is due entirely to his unremitting diligence and labor intelligently applied. As the years have passed he has made the most of his opportunities and certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished. He now resides at Oakland, California, with his oldest son, Charles, having there made his home for three years. His wife died upon a farm south of Melvin, August 11, 1890. Their eldest child, Charles Buchholz, is a graduate of the Des Moines School of Osteopathy, as is his wife, and both are practicing in Oakland. Albert is the second of the family, William, of Melvin, is interested with his brother Frank in a cotton plantation of about eighteen hundred acres in Mississippi. Amandus follows general merchandising in Melvin. Frank has resided upon the home farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Peach Orchard township since the father removed to California and, as stated, is a partner of his brother William in their cotton interests in the south. Emma is with her father at Oakland, California. Laura is a teacher of physical culture in Boston, Massachusetts. Mabel is the wife of George T. Hersch, a general merchant of Melvin.
Albert Buchholz spent the first eight years of his life in his native county and in December, 1868, came with his parents to Ford county, the family home being established on a farm adjoining the village of Melvin. He continued with his parents up to the time of his marriage and acquired his education in the public schools. During the periods of vacation he worked in the fields and thus gained practical knowledge of the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. When he attained his majority he began farming near the town and for nine years continued to cultivate land belonging to his father. In November, 1890, he entered the grain trade, in which he continued for seventeen years or until July, 1907, when he sold out. He not only dealt in grain but also in seeds, coal and building materials and built up a very extensive business. He wrought along modern lines of business activity, made good use of his opportunities and as the years passed became recognized as one of the foremost representatives of the grain trade in Ford county. He built in Melvin an elevator with a capacity of eighty thousand bushels and later sold that and bought another elevator in Melvin with a capacity of ninety thousand bushels. At first he was associated with his brother in the ownership of the latter but at the end of three years he purchased his brother's interest and continued the business alone for two years or until he sold out. The annual trade reached a very extensive figure and throughout this part of the state the name of Buchholz is recognized as a synonym for commercial integrity and honor.
On the 1st of April, 1885, occurred the marriage of Albert Buchholz and Miss Elizabeth Schueneman, who was born near Magnolia, Illinois, December 11, 1860, and when five years of age went to Randolph county, Missouri, with her parents, August and Dorothy Eliza (Spellmyer) Schueneman, there residing until her marriage. Both her father and mother were natives of Westphalia, Germany, the former born January 16, 1834, and the latter December 5, 1837. They were married at the home of Mr. and Mrs. August Buchholz in Magnolia, and the father died in Missouri, March 3, 1899, while the mother is still living upon the old homestead in that state. Throughout his life he followed the occupation of farming and thus provided for his family. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Schueneman were born eight children: Mrs. Buchholz; Kate, the wife of John Legendre, of Salisbury, Missouri; Emma, the wife of Louis Penn, of Los Angeles, California; John of Moberly, Missouri; Ida, the wife of John Thomas, a farmer of Randolph county, Missouri; Charles, a mason of Melvin; Henry, who is living on the old homestead in Randolph county; and Dora, the wife of Rev. George Turner, a Methodist Episcopal preacher of Day, Missouri. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Buchholz have been born six children: Roscoe C., now a student in the Champaign University; Arthur L., who is attending the National School of Telegraphy at Danville, Illinois; Ada Lorana, a student in the Woman's College at Jacksonville, Illinois; Ida Beryl, also attending that school; and Ruth and Ralph, twins, who are students in the schools of Melvin.
Mr. Buchholz is a stalwart republican and has been called to several public offices. lie has been school director for three or four terms and is now president of the village of Melvin. He has likewise been assessor of the township for three or four terms and is serving on the school board in connection with his duties as assessor and village president. No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree. On the contrary he is most loyal to the interests of town and county and his labors have been a farreaching and effective force in promoting general progress. Socially he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Modern Woodmen of America. He belongs to one of the old and representative families of this part of the state and has done much to sustain the reputation which has always been associated with the name of Buchholz. In the community where he lives he stands as a man among men, unostentatious and unassuming and yet respected by all for his genuine worth.
Extracted 19 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 1, pages 376-381.
