John Bernard Eising Family
John Bernard Eising Family (1887-1920)
Generation #7
Charles John EISING, son - born 19 Sep 1910
Helen Marie EISING, daughter - born 30 Oct 1911
Virginia E EISING, daughter - born 25 Jun 1914
Earl Francis EISING, son - born 8 Oct 1916
Roy Henry EISING, son - born 10 Nov 1918
John Norbert EISING, son - born 17 Oct 1920 <<<
John Bernard EISING and Agnes Margaret THIEMANN
On 25 Sep 1910, John Bernard EISING married Agnes Margaret THIEMANN, daughter of Gerhard Christopher and Mary Margaret Pleymann THIEMANN.
Agnes’ father, Gerhard Christopher THIEMANN, was born on 9 Apr 1849 in Sudlohn, Prussia [Footnote E4-1] (roughly 5 miles west of Gescher – the city in which John’s parents had lived). He immigrated to America in March 1866 to avoid being drafted into the German army. He, his two brothers, and a sister all settled in Quincy. Working as a cabinet and chair maker, his exposure to wood dust resulted in a severe case of chronic bronchitis, which eventually killed him on 8 Apr 1912. Agnes’ mother, Mary Margaret PLEYMANN, was born in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri on 6 Jan 1855 and moved to Quincy with her sister, Elizabeth Francis, after they were orphaned. They lived with relatives at 7th and Maine. Gerhard and Mary were married in Quincy on 27 May 1879 and had five children. They lived on Oak Street between 6th and 7th Streets. Mary was nearly 59 when she died of intestinal cancer on 31 Dec 1914. Agnes was born 5 Apr 1888 in Quincy. She left school after the 5th grade. Before she was married, Agnes worked with her older sisters, Anna and Lizzie, in an umbrella shop called the Quincy Umbrella Factory, located at 607 Maine Street in Quincy.
Pictures to the right are of John Bernard EISING and Agnes Margaret THIEMANN before they were married.
The 1912 Quincy City Directory indicates that John B EISING and his family lived at 1706 Lind and that he was working for Otis Elevator Company. His interest in the railroad began as a boy and he went to work for the C, B, & Q Railroad as a locomotive fireman. He seized the opportunity to work toward the position of engineer. At that time the family lived at 1029 North 11th Street. The picture below is of John and many of his friends standing before locomotives in the Quincy rail yard. By the summer of 1920, John had qualified for the engineer position with the railroad, but he contracted pneumonia and unexpectedly died at St. Mary’s Hospital at 9:35 PM on 10 Jul 1920 at the age of 33. At the time of his death, Agnes was pregnant with their sixth child.
John Bernard EISING and Agnes Margaret THIEMANN before they were married
John B EISING (circled) and many of his friends standing before locomotives in the Quincy rail yard
At this point in her life, Agnes must have been devastated. She had lost her husband of 10 years; she had 5 children that were under 10 years of age and was pregnant with a sixth; her parents were both dead; and she had no visible means to support her family. However, through sheer determination and the support of family members and the community, she was able to keep her family together and watch 5 of her 6 children reach adulthood.
Agnes’ older sister, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Anna Maria THIEMANN had been living with their sister, Anna STALLMANN, and her family at 1219 North 11th. Shortly after John Eising’s death, Anna and Joseph STALLMANN were going to take an extended trip, so Lizzie moved in with Agnes and the children. Lizzie, born on 20 Aug 1881, was never married. She worked at Noxall’s and at Pierson’s, a clothing factory. With Lizzie’s help, Agnes did laundry for people in Quincy and her children would deliver the finished goods on a wagon. During the winter, family members remember a spider-web of clothes lines strung around the house so that the laundry could dry. Agnes would also sew for people when she could find the time. She made all the girls’ clothing. The children would get odd jobs and the girls dropped out of St. John’s School after the sixth grade to work full time. Much of the money earned would be brought home for the common good. Other family members would contribute money when they could and the church would drop off a Christmas basket each year. Clearly this was a home with few luxuries during the years after John’s sudden death, but the children grew up knowing the love and comradeship of a tightly knit extended family. Interestingly, none of the children ever voiced the thought that they were poor as they had grown up.
In 1926, the family moved to 805 North 8th Street. This house was bigger (2 large bedrooms upstairs, a dining room, a front room, a large kitchen) it had a nice yard, and had electricity. Lizzie began to work as a seamstress at Ely Walker Dry Goods Company. Just before her death in 1945, Anna Johnson brought her daughter Janice, to live with Agnes’ family. So, at the age of 57, Agnes began to take care of a very active 6-year-old. Agnes and her youngest son, Norbert, were the ones who broke the news to Janice that her mother had “gone to be with the angels”. Lizzie had a history of sleepwalking and Janice remembers bringing her back to bed when she would get “stuck in a corner”. Lizzie suffered a stroke and was taken to St. Mary’s hospital. She died there at 10:00 AM on 6 May 1951 at the age of 69. Agnes lived to the age of 72, passing at 8:25 AM on 23 Nov 1960 in St. Mary’s Hospital in Quincy. She was buried next to her husband in Calvary Cemetery in Quincy. She was survived by her five adult children and six grandchildren.
Agnes in the early 1950s at her home (822 Spring Street)
JOHN AND AGNES' CHILDREN
Charles John Eising was born on 19 Sep 1910. The pictures below and to the right are of Charles as he was growing up. At the age of 12, Charles began to work as a delivery boy for the Quincy Herald newspaper.
He continued to work for the Herald and then the Herald-Whig for 42 years, moving into the circulation department and finally serving as mail room foreman.
Charles never married and lived with his family until his death. Playing pinochle and listening to baseball games on the radio were his favorite hobbies. His personal favorite baseball team was the New York Yankees and often he would pick up a little extra money betting on them at work. Occasionally he would visit Aileen OTTO in Chicago and go to see the Cubs and White Socks play.
Every year Charles would play Santa Claus and set up the Christmas tree while Agnes and Lizzie took Janice to play bingo.
At 10:15 PM on 21 Oct 1976, Charles John EISING passed away at St. Mary’s Hospital in Quincy following a heart attack.
He was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
Charles John Eising as an adult
Helen and Charles EISING
Charles John Eising growing up
Helen Marie EISING was born on 30 Oct 1911 in Quincy, barely a year younger than Charles. The two were always together in family pictures.
Helen and Virginia’s responsibility after family meals was to clean up and wash the dishes, a job that eventually fell to Norbert when they were both gone. Helen often would help fold the laundry before it was taken back to the customers. She lived at home with her family until she married Wilfred (Bill) Borghorst on 29 Jul 1950. They lived in a series of apartments downtown. They then bought a house on 11th Street and later moved to 913 North Chestnut, near Lund. Eventually, they lived at 2031 Ohio Street. Helen and Bill loved the outdoors and made many fishing trips to the Lake of the Ozarks.
After Bill’s death on 10 Oct 1970, Helen spent many hours working on creative needlework and craft projects and loved to listen to country & western records and videos. She worked part-time for several years for the Michael family, driving Mr. Michael around town and helping him with his bookwork. Helen enjoyed working around her home and was most pleased when her sister, Virginia, returned to Quincy after retirement. After breaking her hip in a fall, she moved to Maple Lawn Nursing Home in Palmyra, Missouri, where she spent the last few years of her life. Helen suffered from diabetes and eventually had a leg amputated because of poor circulation. She died in Maple Lawn at 8:15 AM on 3 Apr 2003 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
The picture on the right is of Helen and Virginia in later life.
Helen and Virginia Eising
Helen EISING Circa 1930 -- Helen and Bill -- Virginia, Charles, Helen, and Bill.
Virginia E EISING was born on 25 Jun 1914. Virginia always had a great fear of animals in general and cats in particular. As a result, she often ended up being the recipient of her siblings’ practical jokes. She always maintained a positive attitude and had an outgoing personality.
She married Harold ELLIS on 22 Jun 1940, but the marriage soon ended in divorce.
During World War II Virginia moved to Chicago and worked in a factory to support the war effort.
She later became involved in retail marketing of women’s clothing. Eventually she relocated to Ohio and managed a series of exclusive women’s clothing shops in Shaker Heights, Bellefontaine and Zanesville.
Harold ELLIS on 22 Jun 1940
When Virginia retired, she moved back to Quincy and maintained an apartment for several years. Eventually Alzheimer’s disease took its toll and she was forced to move to Maple Lawn Nursing Home in Palmyra, Missouri.
Earl Francis EISING was born on 8 Oct 1916 in Quincy. Earl began delivering newspapers when he was in grade school. When a route closer to home opened up in 1930, Earl took that route and let Norbert take over his old route. When Earl was in High School, he also worked in the mailing room at night. After graduating from High School, Earl worked in a shoe factory in Quincy. When World War II was starting, Earl wanted a choice of services rather than waiting for the draft. He volunteered for a one-year assignment and was stationed at Camp Grant in Illinois, along with Paul BLAESING. After being released from the service, he was sure the draft would catch him. He then went back into the service as a medic and served much of his time in China.
Before the War, Earl had met Virginia Elizabeth BECKMEYER, a friend of one of the ladies he worked with at the shoe factory. Virginia had been born in Quincy on 28 Jun 1918 and worked at the Kresge Dime Store. After the War, Earl married Virginia Elizabeth BECKMEYER on 1 Dec 1945 in Quincy. Their wedding picture is to the right.
Earl returned to the shoe factory for 2 months and then the newly married couple decided to move to California. One of Virginia’s friends worked in a title insurance company in California and was able to get Earl a job in the same office. When they left Quincy, Earl promised his mother that he would return to Quincy for a visit at least every other year – a promise that he always kept. Earl was very successful at the title insurance business and eventually ended up managing two of the California offices. It was in California that he took up golf as a “business hobby”. As a young man in Quincy he had always scoffed at the game as “men chasing a little white ball around the course”.
Earl and Virginia had two sons, Thomas Wayne born on 23 Sep 1946 and Roy Francis on 10 Jun 1948.
When Earl retired in 1981, he drove with his wife and his two sisters (Helen and Virginia) from Roseville, California across the country to Florida, north to Canada, and back through Illinois to California. Several years later, Earl suffered a major stroke and, after a number of months, died on 8 Jul 1993 in Roseville, California. Virginia died on 2 Feb 1997 in Roseville.
Both Earl and Virginia are buried in the Roseville Cemetery.
Earl & Virginia Eising Wedding 1945
Helen, Earl, & Virginia (1992)
Tom, Earl, Virginia, & Roy (1951) & Virginia & Earl (1978)
Tom, Helen, Roy 1965 -- Tom, Roy, Virginia 1982 -- Lynne & Tom EISING 2002
Roy Henry EISING was born on 10 Nov 1918.
As a child he was sick a great deal, missing a lot of school. He contracted pneumonia four times and died on 23 Feb 1927 in St. Mary’s Hospital. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
When Roy died, Sister Anthony at St. John’s School presented the family with the plaque pictured above, which always hung in the front room on 11th Street – the room where the coffin lay before his burial.
John Norbert EISING was born on 17 Oct 1920, three months after the death of his father. Norbert grew up being the perennial “baby of the family”. As a young child his siblings and his cousins were his primary playmates.
Norbert went to St. John’s School, as did all his brothers and sisters. Norbert started delivering papers in the 4th grade. His route covered 10th to 14th Streets and Hampshire to Vermont. This amounted to 110 papers, which he could normally deliver in about a half hour. His pay for this job was $2.30 per week and $2.00 went to the family’s expenses. To the right is a photo of Norbert in 5th Grade.
Norbert kept this job until he was 16. High School was taken at Quincy College Academy, where he received his diploma. During his senior year he managed to arrange his classes so that he could leave at 2PM each day. This permitted him to work in the newspaper mailing room until 1AM each day. For this job he received $1.00 per night.
When Norbert graduated from Quincy College Academy, the priest told him that if he was interested in college then they could find the funds to support him. He indicated he would rather go to work.
Norbert in 5th Grade
Joseph STALLMAN, Norbert EISING, Robert STALLMAN with pet “Rabbit” (1930)
Charles, Earl, and John Circa 1930 -- Earl EISING in military uniform
The photo below taken sometime in the late 1920s.
Flo Freels (who is now in her late 90s) identified this photo of the many relatives of John Norbort Eising:
First row:
Flo Stallman Freels , Bob Stallman, Norbert Eising, Bob Thieman, Jim Stallman( Little. Guy)
Second and third rows:
Hilda Stallman, Alvira Stallman, Aunt Lizzie Thieman (lady with goiter) (Shari Borlin's "grams" sister), Virginia Eising, Margaret Thieman, Agnes Eising ( Shari Borlin's grandmother), Mrs. Menke ( Aunt Elizabeth ‘s Mother), Uncle Herman Thieman, Aunt Elizabeth Thieman, Uncle Henry Thieman, Earl Eising (faded with a hat maybe,unknown?), Aunt Alice Thieman, Luella Thieman, Helen Eising, far right faded person probably Lloyd Thieman
OPINIONS AND FOOTNOTES
E4-1 Gerhard Thiemann Obituary, Quincy Harold, 8 April 1912.