Published October 6, 2019
By Linda Mayfield
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.
