John Bernard Eising Family

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. 

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.

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.