Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Schager, Anton 
************************************************
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:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 2:47 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

ANTON SCHAGER was born in Chicago, August 22,1858, a son of Anton and 
Elizabeth (Hagemann) Schager. He was the eldest of twelve children, of whom 
five beside himself are now living. Rose M. resides with her mother at 
Ravenswood, Chicago. Julia F., who also makes her home in Ravenswood, is the 
widow of George L. Schintz, who was the youngest man ever elected to the 
office of district attorney in Langlade County, Wis., and was also prominent 
in the public life of his home town (Appleton, Wis). Hattie M. is the wife of 
M. S. Sanders, who is chief clerk and financial manager for Crerar, Clinch & 
Co., with office in the Rookery building, Chicago, and who previously held the 
position of chief clerk with the Illinois Steel Company in Joliet. Lillie F. 
married George E. Stevens, a commercial salesman for the McLaughlin Coffee 
Company of Chicago; they reside in Janesville, Wis. Edward J., who was for 
some time a collector for the Joliet National Bank, is now with the Kirk Soap 
Company in Chicago, and resides with his mother. The father of our subject was 
born in Austria in 1832, and came to America in 1850. It was customary for 
youths who preferred business enterprise to army service to secure permission 
to do a traveling mercantile business, and thus, by traveling from one country 
to another, to finally reach their destination without the use of a passport. 
In this way he reached the United States. Here he resumed his work as a 
traveling merchant, and sold in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and 
Illinois, finally settling in Chicago. October 15, 1857, he married Miss 
Hagemann. Soon afterward he opened a dry-goods store in partnership with his 
father-in-law on South Canal street, where he remained until the year before 
the great Chicago fire. By previous experience as a clerk with leading 
mercantile firms he had gained a thorough knowledge of the business and a wide 
acquaintance with merchants. In 1870 he built a business house on the corner 
of Halsted and Forquer streets, and in connection with the sale of dry goods 
also operated a large knitting factory. After the fire his was the largest dry-
goods house, wholesale or retail, in the city. The close attention given to 
his knitting factory interests undermined his health through the inhaling of 
dust that constantly filled the knitting rooms. A change of business was thus 
rendered necessary. He associated himself with the Kraker Stone Company of 
Joliet, and in this way he was induced to establish his home here. He also 
engaged in the dry-goods business, though on a smaller scale than when in 
Chicago. However, his health continued to fail and he died in January, 1894. 
In politics he was an ardent Democrat. While in Chicago he was a very 
prominent member of St. Francis' Catholic Church on West Twelfth street, in 
which he served as president of various societies. For some years he was a 
director of the German Catholic orphans' home, the property of which he 
assisted in purchasing. He was a director of the Home Insurance Company, the 
Germania Bank, and the Teutonia Life Insurance Company of Chicago. The mother 
of our subject was born in one of the ancient fortresses near Koblentz on the 
Rhine, February 2, 1839. She was a daughter of Anton and Gertrude Hagemann, 
who came to America in 1846 and settled in Chicago, where for years Mr. 
Hagemann was a mill watchman. One of the sons of the family, Hubert A. 
Hagemann, recently deceased, was treasurer of the seventh ward Democratic 
club, and a leading Democrat of that part of Chicago. Another son, Joseph A. 
Hagemann, volunteered in the Civil war, and served under Hecker, Siegel and 
Rosecrans. At Gettysburg he was wounded and taken prisoner, but afterward 
exchanged. He now lives at Hanceville, Ala., on a farm, but has never 
recovered from the effects of his wounds, and is in very poor health. Mrs. 
Schager survives her husband and now makes her home in Ravenswood. The primary 
education of our subject was obtained in St. Francis German Catholic school. 
At the age of twelve he entered St. Ignatius College, from which he graduated 
in 1876. One of his classmates and particular friends was the well-known Judge 
Prendergast, now deceased. After his graduation he devoted his time to his 
father's business until 1887, when he was appointed store keeper of the 
Illinois state penitentiary at Joliet, taking charge of the office January 1, 
1888. Notwithstanding the fact that he was Democratic in politics, and was the 
only representative of that party holding office in this institution, he 
retained the position for three years and seven months. Shortly before he 
resigned he was married, October 22, 1890, to Miss Celia M. Stanton, daughter 
of Nicholas Stanton, a well-known business man of Joliet. They have three 
children, Leo A., Anton J. and Cecilia M. Mrs. Schager has been prominent in 
musical societies. She is leading soprano and assistant organist in St. Mary's 
Church, and at one time was organist in the old church. She was the first 
organist at Sacred Heart Church of Joliet, and filled the position for six 
years, Mr. Schager, our subject, being director of her choir the greater part 
of the time. In 1891 Mr. Schager embarked in the insurance business. He also 
gave considerable attention to expert accounting, in which he gained a 
reputation. May 19, 1894, he was appointed assistant postmaster, which 
position he held until September, 1898, and then resumed his insurance 
business, being general agent for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company 
of Philadelphia, and the health department of the Security Trust and Life 
Insurance Company of the same city. He also settled up the affairs of the 
Rauft soda factory and bottling works after the death of the proprietor, 
putting the business in a profitable condition. When twelve years of age Mr. 
Schager became a member of St. Aloysius Young Men's Society of St. Francis 
Church, Chicago. Later he was secretary of the Acolythical Society of the Holy 
Family Church, better known as the Jesuit Church. At college he was secretary 
of the Chrysostomian debating society and college athletic club, also 
assistant prefect of the college sodality. He was a charter member and one of 
the first trustees of St. Stanislaus Young Men's Benevolent Society, organized 
in St. Francis parish in 1873, and which is now the largest, oldest and most 
influential young men's benevolent society in the United States. During eight 
of the twelve years he was connected with this organization he served as its 
president, and for a short time also held the secretary's office. He was for 
five years director of the dramatic section in connection with the 
association, and was for fifteen years a prominent member of the Catholic 
Casino of Chicago, through which he obtained his well-earned reputation as one 
of the best and most prominent tenors of Chicago. He made his debut as choir 
director at the church of the Sacred Heart in Chicago, having been appointed 
to that position by the great Jesuit missioner, Father Damen, and his worthy 
successor, Rev. Bronsgeest, S. J. On his removal to Joliet in 1885 he resigned 
the presidency of the society. When he came to Joliet Mr. Schager joined the 
Joliet Saengerbund and the St. Alois branch of the Western Catholic Union. A 
year later he was elected vice-president of the Saengerbund, and in December, 
1889, was made president, which office he held until September, 1892. He is 
now secretary, and for three years has been the musical director of the 
society. At a local gathering of singing associations in Lincoln, Ill., in 
1890, he offered a resolution that a state society be formed. It was acted 
upon, and the Central Illinois Saengerbund sprang into existence, with him as 
its president. He continued to hold the office during the existence of the 
society, but was obliged by official duties to withdraw from active management 
when he entered the post-office, to the detriment of the society, its members 
refusing to elect another man to the presidency. He was a charter menjber of 
the Orpheus Glee Club, organized July 1, 1886, by our subject, Charles H. 
Talcott, Gallus Mueller, William Dingley, Joseph B. Hudson, Edward Demond, W. 
J. Carter and Louis H. Hyde. A permanent organization was effected six days 
later, with the additional names of John B. Richmond, George F. Knapp, Dr. O. 
H. Staehle and R. W. Grinton. From 1887 to 1890 Mr. Schager was secretary of 
the club. In 1897 the Joliet Glee Club was organized, which later was 
consolidated with the Joliet Banjo Club, and is now known as the Joliet Glee 
and Banjo Club. At the organization he was made director, a position he has 
since held. For one year he was musical director of St. Patrick's Church 
choir. In August, 1898, he accepted the charge of St. Mary's Church choir. 
November 21, 1899, he assisted in organizing the Steel Works Choral Society, 
at the request of the superintendent, F. M. Savage, and was made its director. 
For ten successive years he has been a Joliet representative in the 
conventions of the Western Catholic Onion. In 1893 he was elected supreme vice-
president at Mount Sterling, Ill., and the next year was re-elected at Aurora, 
also at Springfield in 1895. In 1896, at Quincy, Ill., he was nominated by 
acclamation for a fourth term in the same office, but declined in favor of 
Joseph Braun, Jr., of Joliet. At the Aurora convention in 1894 he proposed the 
reserve fund plan, submitted by the Joliet delegation, which has since proved 
the strongest feature of the Western Catholic Union. For three years he was 
president of St. Alois Society, and immediately afterwards was made chairman 
of the board of trustees of said society, an office which he has since held. 
As a musical director it is the testimony of the men in Joliet who are most 
familiar with his work that he has few equals. He throws his whole soul into 
his work, and has the faculty of arousing the enthusiasm of those whom he 
leads, while at the same time he develops to the fullest extent their native 
powers of song. He tolerates no half-hearted efforts, but is satisfied only 
with the best, either in himself or in others; and it is this very quality of 
his,—the demanding of the highest and best from every one—that has made him so 
prominent and successful a figure in the musical and social circles of 
northeastern and central Illinois. In politics he is a quiet, conservative 
Democrat, and always in favor of the best obtainable form of government, being 
a firm believer in the almost vanished maxim that the office shall seek the 
man, rather than the contrary.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/schager1186gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/

File size: 11.4 Kb