MC 16

Part I: Historical Sketch

    Albert Booth (1813-1873), a wagon maker by trade, and his wife, Hannah Stevens Booth (1804-1860), brought their family from their native state of Maine in 1840 and settled on a farm seven miles north of Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, the family moved to Springfield, and Albert established a carriage and wagon manufacturing business with his son, Amasa Stevens (1835-1924), at Eighth and Washington Streets. They remained in the carriage business together until Albert retired shortly before his death in 1873. About that time Amasa established a partnership with his brother-in-law. Alexander McCosker (1835-1918), who was married to Mary Esther Booth (1840-1909). The business prospered, and Amasa was able to purchase considerable farm land and city property, including a large house at 500 South Sixth Street. The house, said to be a classic example of French Imperial or Second Empire style, was built in the late 1850s and purchased by the Booths in 1881.

By 1887 the firm of Booth and McCosker Carriage and Spring Wagon Manufacturers had been sold, and Amasa, retired from manufacturing, was taking care of his investments and property. At the time of his death in 1924, he had acquired a sizeable estate consisting of properties in Springfield and in Buffalo, Cartwright, and Lanesville Townships. He also left his heirs at least $130,000 in notes secured by mortgages and Liberty Bonds.

Amasa married Harriot Richardson, a native of England, in 1862. The Booths had seven children, six of whom reached adulthood: Mary Elizabeth (1865-1967), John Richardson (1867-1916), William David (1869-1928), Alexander McCosker (1872-1937), Amasa S. Jr. (1875-1927), and Jacob Frederick (1877-1941).

Mary E., the only daughter of Amasa and Harriot, was a socially active woman. Among other organizations, she was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Daughters of the American Revolution, Eastern Star, and an original member of the Women's Club in Decatur. She was also an amateur photographer. One of her photographs, a picture of the Wabash Railroad Bridge at Hannibal, Missouri, was published in Leslie's Magazine in 1916. In 1945, she supplied historical photographs of Springfield sites for a series in the Illinois State Register entitled "a family album."

In 1887, Mary married Edward Howell Grunendike (1856-1934), a resident of Decatur, Illinois, and a train dispatcher for the Wabash Railroad, 1875-1913. Edward's sister, Mary E. Haworth (1845-1927), was the first president of the Decatur's Women's Club, and is credited with founding that organization in 1887. Her husband, George D. Haworth (1833-1903), also of Decatur, was instrumental in the invention of the corn planter and, in 1869, revolutionized corn cultivation by inventing the check rower. Edward and Mary had one child, Edward Booth Grunendike (1891-1956). He managed a large farm on the present site of Capitol Airport and was involved with real estate and insurance businesses. He was appointed to a position in the War Risk Insurance Bureau in Washington D.C. by Secretary of Treasury McAdoo during the Wilson Administration.

E. Booth Grunendike and his wife Rose H. had one child, Rose M. Grunendike. She sold the family home at 500 S. Sixth in 1976. It has recently been renovated for use as office space.

Part II: Scope and Content
Part III: Boxlist
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10/28/98