Montgomery County IL Archives Biographies......Altevogt, William ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Barb Clayton bscaodc@cillnet.com February 1998 Biography of William Altevogt - Montgomery County, Illinois The following is the biography of William Altevogt, the maternal 3rd great grandfather of Barbara (Hays) Clayton of Raymond. Biography of William Altevogt William Altevogt, a German born immigrant, born approximately 1830, is listed as the father of Louis Altevogt, who was also born in Germany on August 17, 1850. The whereabouts of William Altevogt's grave is unknown as of 1998. William did come to the United States approx 1860, as his name is listed in immigration, as arriving in St. Louis, Missouri. Louis Altevogt, son of William and (?) Altevogt, was born August 17, 1850 in Germany, city unknown. Louis Altevogt married Anna Heidemann on September 7, 1879, probably in St. Louis, Missouri. Anna Heidemann, daughter of John and Anna (?) Heidemann, was born March 17, 1860 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents were German born natives. Anna (Heidemann) Altevogt's mother, Anna (?) Heidemann, was born in Oldendorf, Germany on October 30, 1828 and married John Heidemann September 20, 1857 in Germany. Anna's obit states that she and her husband John, came to this country in November of 1859. Anna Heidemann died on June 22, 1912 in Raymond, Il and her husband John was born in 1817 in Germany and died on July 13, 1891 in Montgomery County, Il. John and Anna (?)Heidemann are both buried in McCord Cemetery in rural Irving, Il. John and Anna (?) Heidemann Altevogt were parents of Fredericka, who died at 15 years of age and is also buried in McCord Cemetery. The other children were Hannah, wife of Louis Altevogt, Lizzie, wife of John Altevogt, Augusta, wife of Fred Yeska and Reake (also named Fredericka, but nicknamed "Reake") wife of Henry Fricke. All John and Anna Heidemann's children married children of German born immigrants, who all lived and died in Montgomery County, Il, excepting John and Lizzie (Heidemann) Altevogt, who died in Colorado. John and Anna (?) Heidemann's daughter, Augusta Heidemann, married Fred Yeska, and they had two sons named Walter L. and Frank F. Yeska, who both served in WW I. Walter was a Pvt in the US Army. Walter was born in 1891 and died in 1979 in Montgomery County, Il. Frank was a Pvt in Company L 165th Infantry. Frank was born June 19, 1890 and died December 21, 1967. Their military records are on file at the Historic Hillsboro Court House. Louis and Anna (Heidemann) Altevogt were parents of Louis, William, John, Edward, Henry, Fred, two other sons and one daughter, whose names are unknown to this writer at this time in 1998. Louis Altevogt died on November 15, 1927 in Witt, Il and Anna (Heidemann) Altevogt died January 17, 1939 in Witt, Il. Both are buried in McCord Cemetery. Their death records and land records are on file at the Historic Hillsboro Court House in Hillsboro, Il. Fred H. Altevogt, son of Louis and Anna (Heidemann) Altevogt, was born December 3, 1890 in Montgomery County, Il and died December 20, 1937. On June 27, 1918 he joined the colors and went overseas in October of 1918. During WW I, he served as a Private in the 336th Supply Company, located at Brest, France. His military records are on file at the Historic Montgomery County Courthouse in Hillsboro, Il. He is buried in St. John's Cemetery in Witt, Il. Fred married Verna May Root on September 22, 1912 and their children were: Ernest, Robert, Edna and Homer. John Altevogt, son of Louis and Anna (Heidemann) Altevogt, was born January 30, 1889 in Montgomery County, Il. He married Lettie Bell Sammons, daughter of Charles and Effie (Davis) Sammons, on June 1, 1912. Effie was born August 17, 1890 in Nokomis, Il. John and Lettie were parents of, Mary, Esther, Dorothy, Gus, Henry, Frank, Kathleen, Ethel, Pauline, Hazel and Bertha. John Altevogt died November 6, 1949 and Lettie Altevogt died October 20, 1958, both in Montgomery County, Il. They are both buried in McCord Cemetery in Irving, Il. Their marriage license and death certificates are on file at the Historic Hillsboro Courthouse. Gus Altevogt, son of John and Lettie Bell (Sammons) Altevogt was born August 26, 1919 in Witt, Il and he married Vera Elizabeth Stark, daughter of Timothy and Bertha (Stout) Stark on August 15, 1938 in St. Charles County, Missouri. Vera Stark was born July 8, 1922 in Decatur, Il. They were divorced many years later after the birth of five children, those being Kenneth Altevogt, Florence Hays Stevenson, Keith Altevogt, Gus Altevogt (Nook)and Martha Wiker. Both Gus and Vera presently reside in Montgomery County, Il. Vera married a Haden Coffey after her divorce from Gus, but no children were born to that union. Gus never remarried. Florence Altevogt, daughter of Gus and Vera (Stark) Altevogt, was born June 29, 1940 in Irving, Il. She was first married to Dewey C. Hays, who was born December 14, 1927 in Decatur, Il, son of Otis and May (Thomas) Hays. Dewey and Florence were married December 20, 1957 by a Rev. Kenneth Tabor, but they would later find out that he wasn't an ordained minister and were remarried on January 24, 1959 in Springfield, Il. They were parents of seven children, Barbara Clayton, born June 23, 1958, Vera Durstine, born August 1, 1960, Carol Bernardini, born April 11, 1962, Jimmy Hayes, born March 3, 1963, Sandra Emerson, born May 18, 1965, David Hayes, born June 7, 1966 and Brenda Mehlburg, born July 14, 1973. Florence and Dewey Hayes would divorce in 1976 and Florence later married Joseph Stevenson of Coalton, Il on June 29, 1977 and no children were born from that union. Dewey Hayes, whose last name is really spelled Hays, died on January 14, 1994 in Walnut Ridge Nursing Home in Springfield, Il. He was cremated, not by family consent, but by the Funeral Director at W.W. White & Pettiford Funeral Home in Springfield, Il. There was never an announcement of his death put in the paper, and his children didn't find out about his death until August of 1994. There had been a separation in the family after the divorce, due to his past physical abuse. When I was only 3 months old, my father slammed me against a wall because I was crying, when I fell back into my crib, the crib rails fell and shattered both of my femur's. My father even had the gaul to sue the company that made the crib for faulty rails, when the real reason for the accident was due to child abuse. That abuse would continue until I was 17 years of age, his anger was almost continually vented towards me, although sometimes, other siblings would suffer some of the abuse. Despite my fathers horrible past, we found it appauling that the Funeral Home Director took it upon himself, to cremate him and to make matters worse, give us ashes to bury, that were not our father's, but instead an elderly woman who had died, with no found next of kin. Oak Ridge Cemetery notified us of the incident, when two burial dates showed up on their computer for the same man and Mr. Paul Brookshire of W.W. White & Pettiford Funeral Home stated, I thought "what you didn't know, wouldn't hurt you." I would never have believed that such a thing could have happened in this day and age, even our Attorney stated that the Funeral Home Director was disgusting for doing such a thing, but in the end he couldn't be prosecuted, as the laws of the state protect Funeral Home's from almost "anything." My father wasn't a good person by society's standards, but I believe every human being is entitled to a measure of dignity. Barbara Clayton, daughter of Dewey and Florence (Altevogt) Hayes, was born June 23, 1958 in Springfield, Il. The summer of 1976, my mother relocated to Witt, in Montgomery County, Il. On August 3, 1976, my "knight in shining armor" appeared. His name was Olin Clayton, the son of Dale and Lavonne (Armentrout) Clayton. Olin was born March 20, 1951 in Hillsboro, Il. We went for a romantic drive that evening in Ramsey, Il and on August 6, 1976, we were married at the Witt United Methodist Church in Witt, Il. We honeymooned in Niagra Fall, NY and Canada and lived for a short while at my husband's apartment in Chicago, Il. Olin at that time was Bank Supervisor, heading the Remittance Banking Division at Continental Bank of Chicago. Olin was employed with Continental Bank of Chicago from 1969-1976. Late in the fall of that year, we both decided to relocate to Montgomery County, Il, renting the Compton Farm in rural Witt. In the summer of 1997, we purchased the old Ellis place in Irving and raised our two children there, Belinda Suzanne Clayton, born June 27, 1979 and Andrew Olin Dale Clayton, born August 8, 1980. Olin was employed with Hillsboro Glass from 1977-1997, when the factory would close. Olin was President of USWA Local 4369 from 1986-1997 at Hillsboro Glass. On October 1, 1997, he became employed with Bridgestone/Firestone Tire in Decatur, Il. Olin is now a member of USWA Local 713. Barbara ran the Swirl N' Curl Beauty Shop in Irving in her home, from 1977-1987, when Barb attended Springfield College in Illinois and St. John's School of Nursing, graduating in 1990 Phi Theta Kappa, as an RN. Olin and Barbara purchased a new home in Raymond, Il in 1990 and have lived in Raymond happily ever since. Belinda graduated from Raymond Lincolnwood High School on May 30, 1997 and Andrew is presently a Junior there in 1998. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/montgomery/bios/altevogt.txt File size: 10 Kb