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Below is a family biography included in The Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois published by Biographical Publishing Co. in 1894.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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FRANK W. CASE, the popular agent of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company, has charge of the office at Du Quoin. A native of Momence, Ill., he was born February 10, 1853. His father, William Case, was a native of the Empire State, and came to the west before the city of Chicago was founded, making the trip on foot from Cleveland. The grandfather, William Case, Sr., visited Chicago when Ft. Dearborn was the only building at the place. He entered land in Will County, Ill, and it was to look after this property that his son William came to the west.

The latter followed carpentering as well as farming. During the late war he served as a soldier of the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry with the rank of Lieutenant, and was afterwards Army Postmaster in Savannah, Ga. He is now living retired in Cook County. He married Ellen B. Roberts, of Niagara Falls, N. Y., who with her parents came to the west in an early day, the family settling in Momence, Ill., where her brother became a prominent merchant. Her father was Sheriff of Will County in the early ‘50s. William Case, in company with H. M. Singer, opened up the first stone quarry in Lemont, Ill., and Mr. Singer, who was an uncle of our subject, was Superintendent of the Illinois Canal, Mr. Case serving as foreman under him. In the Case family were three sons and a daughter, of whom Frank W. is the eldest. H. S., of Chicago, is in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. Charles H. is with the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, and for seven years has been stationed in St. Louis. Florence is the wife of A. H. Sommuns, a wholesale furniture dealer of Kansas City.

Mr. Case of this sketch has throughout life been connected with railroad work. At the age of eight he became a messenger boy on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, and little by little he has mastered every branch of the business. On the close of the late war he went on the train as brakeman, and before he was eighteen years of age had charge of a train on the Chicago & Alton, with which he continued seven years, after which he spent two years with the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad. Later he was with different roads in Missouri and the southwest, including the Iron Mountain Road. He spent some time in Texas in other business, with headquarters at Houston, and subsequently took charge of the yards of the Chicago & Alton Road at the Chicago Stock Yards. He was next in charge of the yards of the Grand Trunk, with several assistants under him, and thus served for a year and a-half, after which he was with the Atchison, Union Pacific and Northern Pacific Roads With the last named he had charge of the yards in Duluth, Minn.

Later Mr. Case returned to the employ of the Chicago & Alton, and subsequently was connected with the Travelers’ Insurance Company for three years. He then had charge of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Yards in Chicago until the time of the big strike, after which he was for a short time with the Atchison Road at Streator, Ill., and then served as station agent in Huntington, Oregon. He was also made Deputy Sheriff, as at that time there was much burglary on the roads of the far west. His fight against this class of citizens made it dangerous for him to retain his position, and he was warned to leave the place, but instead of doing so, he waged war more desperately than ever, and captured and sent to the penitentiary fifty-two of the robbers, including a Justice of the Peace and Constable, which shows that he not only had the thieves to contend against, but also officers of the law, who were linked with them in their villainy.

Mr. Case was later sent to Portland, where he filled the same position. Afterward he served in the same capacity in other places, and in the spring of 1893 came to Du Quoin to take charge of the yards. Soon afterward he was made agent for both the Illinois Central and St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroads. The position he now fills is a responsible one. He is a most thoroughgoing railroad man, having mastered every branch of the business, and is capable of filling any place on the road.

In the year 1879 Mr. Case was united in marriage with Miss Maggie E., daughter of Dr. J. C. Thorp, an army surgeon. Mrs. Case was with her father all through the war and was with him on many of the bloody battlefields. She is a graduate of the sisters’ school of Warsaw, and is a lady of culture and refinement. They have had two children, Fred, who died at the age of twenty-two months, and Gertrude, a bright maiden of eleven summers. Mr. Case is a Knight Templar Mason, holding membership with a blue lodge and chapter in Chicago. While in Slater, Mo., he served as Master of the lodge, and for four years was District Deputy. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party.

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This family biography is one of 679 biographies included in The Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois published in 1894.  View the complete description here: The Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois

View additional Perry County, Illinois family biographies here: Perry County, Illinois Biographies

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