Adolph Hoss, who for the past eight years has been connected with the
Peru State Bank and is now serving in the responsible position of cashier of
that well and favorably known institution of LaSalle county, is one of the
native sons of Peru, his birth having occurred October 17, 1861.
His
parents, Adolph and Margaret (Wunder) Hoss. were natives of Bonn, Prussia,
and the kingdom of Bavaria, respectively, and their marriage took place in
the United States. The paternal grandfather of our subject died in Germany,
at an advanced age, and the maternal grandfather, Michael Wunder, who
followed the trade of shoemaker in his native land, came to this country in
1840. Locating in LaSalle county at first, he later bought land in Bureau
county, Illinois, and there was successfully occupied in agricultural
pursuits for a long time. He reached the extreme age of ninety-one years.
Mrs. Margaret Hoss, who was one of the three children of this patriarch, was
married, in her early womanhood, to a Mr. Teichmann, and they became the
parents of three children, all of whom have passed away. Adolph Hoss, Sr.,
born in the year 1818, was one of five children, and spent his early years
in Prussia, whence he sailed for the United States in 1845. The succeeding
year found him located in Peru, where he worked at his trade as a tailor,
and for a period carried on a boarding-house and saloon. At the time of the
great excitement over the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast, he walked
the entire distance across the plains, and after passing a couple of years
in the west returned home. When the war of the Rebellion broke out, he
enlisted as a private in Company A, Forty-fourth Illinois Volunteer
Infantry, and took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Murfreesboro and many
other important engagements. At the end of almost two years of gallant
service on behalf of his adopted country, he was honorably discharged, owing
to physical disability, his papers being dated in April, 1863. He died in
1882, and his widow in 1885 married John Weber, of Leonore, Illinois, where
her death occurred in 1892, in her seventy-first year.
The subject
of this article. Adolph Hoss, only child of Adolph and Margaret Hoss, has
lived in Peru nearly the whole of his life. After completing his
common-school education here he entered the LaSalle Business College, and
there learned the principles of commerce. For several years thereafter he
was employed as a clerk in the dry-goods house of A. D. Murray, and later
assumed the management of his father's business. Having been made a justice
of the peace, he conducted the duties of that office and carried on a
general insurance business. In 1891 he became assistant cashier of the Peru
State Bank, and upon the 21st of January, 1899, was promoted to the
cashiership. He is a member of the firm of Hoss & Loekle, insurance agents,
and is secretary of the board of education. Politically he is independent,
and fraternally he belongs to the Sons of Veterans. Gifted with an unusual
talent for music, Mr. Hoss was the leader of the famous Northwestern Light
Guard Band of Peru for a number of years.
The attractive home of
Adolph Hoss is situated at the corner of First and Putnam streets. His first
marriage took place October 25, 1882, at Mendota, Illinois, Miss Anna M.,
daughter of John Huelzer, becoming his bride. She died in 1885, aged
twenty-four years, a member of the Catholic church. Two sons were born to
this marriage — Gustav Adolph and William Henry, the latter dying in
infancy. September 9, 1890, Mr. Hoss married at Secor, Illinois, Miss Emma
M. Harseim, a daughter of Rudolph Harseim, and one child blesses their
union, Alberta Mildred. Mrs. Hoss is identified with the German Evangelical
church and is a well educated, cultured lady, who has many friends in this
community. Mr. Hoss also is very popular, and possesses marked talent as a
financier and as a musician.
Extracted 22 Dec 2017 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 533-535.
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