Taken from a 1901 Supplement to The (Illiopolis) State Center Record
GEORGE W. HESSER Hardware and Implements.
With
that thorough knowledge acquired in the school of practical experience as a
carpenter and farmer Mr. G. W. Hesser is most excellently equipped to supply the
public with their needs in hardware, farm implements and buggies. The stock
carried contains a complete line to shelf hardware, cutlery. articles for
household use, farm supplies, farm implements in
all kinds in standard makes,
and honest values in both carriages and buggies. Mr. Geo. W. Hesser, the owner
of this business, enjoys the distinction of having resided in Sangamon Co. for
sixty four years. He has watched its gradual development from the Wild and
uncultivated prairie dotted here and there with the primitive log cabin of the
pioneer days to the present day, when its fields of unsurpassed fertility and
its handsome architectural creations in village and on the farm tell to a
certainty the great progress made during a single lifetime. Himself a pioneer,
Mr. Hesser’s labors have contributed to these marked improvements both as a
mechanic and farmer. Born at Berryville, Frederick Co., Va., Mr. Hesser migrated
to Illinois with his parents, when a child five years old, and settled at
Springfield, then an unpretentious village, He lived there until he became of
age when he moved to Mechanicsburg where he resided for seven years during which
time he learned the carpenter trade and followed it
successfully. From 1869
until 1880 he farmed in Mechanicsburg Township and at Lanesville, and during the
latter year came to Illiopolis Township and continued at agricultural pursuits
up until a few years ago when he embarked in the hardware business. During his
residence in this locality Mr. Hesser served as township assessor six years and
as Supervisor four years and discharged the duties of both offices with
characteristic ability and fidelity. He is among the honored citizens of this
community, carries his years lightly, as is evidenced from his active life, and
possesses a vigor and vitality which bespeak years of health and usefulness,
GEORGE W. HESSER