In 2019, when information is needed to make a purchase or repair, people turn to the internet. In 1918, Illinois citizens turned to specialized reference books. In 1917 and 1918 the Prairie Farmer Publishing Company of Chicago published directories of many Illinois counties. Some were directories for two-to-four counties, but Adams County had its own book.
The Prairie Farmer’s Reliable Directory of Farmers and Breeders Adams County, Illinois, shortened to Prairie Farmer’s Directory of Adams County Illinois on the title page, had a specific mission, stated on page 7: “In this directory we have endeavored to give Adams county farmers a complete and reliable directory of the farmers, breeders and merchants of the county, with such other information as will make the directory a valuable reference book.”
The Directory included a range of information various member of rural families might require: Binder Troubles and Adjustments (p. 10), Corn Planter Adjustments (p. 16), Livestock Farmer’s Medicine Chest (p. 20), Soldering (p. 28), and How to Judge Tractor Horsepower (p. 29).
Women were not forgotten: on pp. 283-4 was a description of the services of The Home Improvement Association, with a photo of Miss Helen Comstock, formerly of Cornell College, the newly appointed advisor. She wrote: “The Home Improvement Association is the first organization of its kind in the county, and is especially unique in that it comprises in its membership both country and city members, all interested primarily in the improvement of methods of housekeeping and homemaking and the advancement of the educational and social welfare of the people in the county in every legitimate and practical manner.”
Merchants bought advertising in the book, beginning with third-, half-, and full-page ads on six pages before the title page. On the inside cover was an ad for Collins Plow Company: A Home Factory. Inside a frame was a beautifully executed line drawing of an iron-wheeled tractor, with the following text: “Manufacturing a full line of Cultivators, Peg-Tooth and Disk Harrows, Walking Sulky, Gang, and Tractor Plows, and a full line of Eli Presses.”
Below that, in the same ad, was an elegant line drawing of an automobile: a white 1918 Ford convertible, with the top down. The claim in the text stated: Agents for the World Renowned FORD Car, Deering Harvesting Machinery and Avery Tractors. The address was 227-231 Sixth Ave., North. The next introductory page ads were for life insurance, “Gents’ Furnishings,” and The State Street Bank, which boasted “Responsibility over $1,000,000.00.”
Page 4 promised that “A German Heater Furnace made in Quincy, Adams County, can be installed in your home by Johannes-Meyer & Sons, 1029 Broadway, without any damage to WOOD WORK or WALLS.” The half-page ad on the bottom of page 5 boasted, “A Knapheide on Practically Every Farm in Adams Co. Seventy Years of Honest Efforts Made This Possible.” Dealers in Liberty, Camp Point, Clayton, Golden, La Prairie, Loraine, and Canton, MO, were listed. The last full-page ad before the Introduction was for the F. W. Brinkoetter Monument Company at 1019 South Fifth, “Opp. Woodland Cemetery.”
Did you need a place to stay? The Hotel Quincy ad on p. 209 claimed it was “The only fireproof and modern hotel in the city.” The rates were $1 to $3. It boasted a “New Coffee Shop in connection, most popular restaurant in the city, opened January first, with popular prices.” But no address or phone number was given!
Did you need to know where a particular farmer lived? From p. 35 to p.163 was an alphabetical list of every farmer in the county. Each entry included the wife’s maiden name, the names of the children, the postal route, the township and section, an indicator if the farmer was a tenant instead of an owner, the name of the owner of the farm if farmed by a tenant, and the year in which the farmer came to Adams County. A few female farmers were included, too, such as Mrs. Anna Taylor of Mendon.
Were you interested in finding a particular breed of livestock, fowl, bees, dogs, seed corn, oats or wheat? The Adams County Breeders’ Directory could be found on pp. 165 to 180.
Perhaps you required the services of a professional--an attorney, dentist, or doctor (even eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist). On pp. 184-190 were “business card” ads, eight to a page. Dr. Kirk Shawgo’s home phone number was 4. Dr. Grant Irwin’s was 24. Dr. W. A. Trader’s office phone was 801, his home’s was 4542-M.
Then all the businesses in the county were listed by town, in alphabetical order by the proprietor’s name. Big Neck had two listed: J. H. Dawson, Blacksmith, and G. Decker, General Store. Towns named Bloomfield and Hazelwood each had a general store. Burton, Chestline, and Marcelline just had a general store or two and a blacksmith. Geisel Bros. were tractor dealers in Adams. Plainville had two blacksmiths, two general stores, a notary, two undertakers, a restaurant & grocery, a barber, two cement works, an auto and implements store, two newspapers, and Henry Wegge & Sons Live Stock Breeders.
And near the end of the book was one of the listings that might seem most strange today: the Adams County Automobile Directory, with the caveat “This List Includes Farm Automobile Owners Only.” County automobile owners were then listed alphabetically, with the make of their car, their post office and route number. Makes included Buick, Buick 4, Buick 6, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Lozier, Maxwell, Mitchell, Overland, Reo, Reo 6, Saxon, Studebaker, and Willys-Knight. Roy T. Becket of Camp Point Route 2 owned both a Buick and a Lozier. George Bergman of Quincy Route 6 owned both a Buick and a Ford. Two women of the county were listed as automobile owners: Mrs. Sarah N. Banton, of Camp Point Route 2 and Mrs. Frances Bauer of Liberty Route 2. The full page ad following the list offered the Oakland Sensible Six Touring Car for $1050 at the Otto J. Bergmann dealership at 609 Jefferson and 719 Maine.
Sources
Prairie Farmer’s Directory of Adams County Illinois . Chicago, IL: Prairie Farmer Publishing, 1918.
Prairie Farmer’s Reliable Directory of Farmers and Breeders, Marshall, Putnam, and Stark Counties, Illinois . Chicago, IL: Prairie Farmer Publishing, 1917.
The farmers’ review farm directory of Coles and Douglas Counties, Illinois: a complete directory of all farmers, pure bred livestock breeders and business houses together with valuable statistics and information of Coles and Douglas Counties, Illinois, classified and arranged for handy reference . Chicago, IL: Prairie Farmer Publishing, 1917.
The farmers’ review farm directory of Cass, Mason, Menard and Sangamon Counties, Illinois: a complete directory of all farmers, pure bred livestock breeders and business houses together with valuable statistics and information of Cass, Mason, Menard and Sangamon Counties, Illinois, classified and arranged for handy reference . Chicago, IL: Prairie Farmer Publishing, 1917.