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PAST AND PRESENT OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD AND SANGAMON COUNTY ILLINOIS
By Joseph Wallace, M. A.
of the Springfield Bar
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, IL
1904



Page 1324

CHARLES H. P. HAHN, whose well-directed energy in business affairs gained him the prosperity that now enables him to live retired, was for many years the proprietor of a meat market in Springfield. He was born in West Baden, Germany, May 10, 1825, a son of Louis and Christiana (Walder) Hahn. The father, who had been engaged in handling mineral water, lived and died in West Baden. In the family were four children, but only two are now living, the brother of our subject being Henry Hahn, who resides at No. 1009 East Edwards street, in Springfield. In the public schools of his native country Mr. Hahn, of this review, pursued his education, and he also learned the butcher's trade there. He was a young man of twenty-three years when, in 1848, he severed the business ties that bound him to Germany and crossed the Atlantic to New York city, hoping that he might find better business opportunities in the United States. Making his way westward to Springfield, he was here employed in a meat market for a few years, when, with the capital he had acquired through his own labor and economy, he was enabled to open a shop of his own, which he conducted until the '50s. He then went south to Arkansas, and all through the period of the Civil war he was engaged in the butchering business, killing as high as from thirty to forty head of cattle each day for the use of the federal soldiers. He often performed this work at the risk of his own life, being continually menaced by the bushwhackers. In 1864 he came to Sangamon county and continued his trade in Springfield, opening a stall in the old market where the Odd Fellows building now stands. He entered into a partnership under the firm style of Hahn, Jones & Lloyd. They contracted to supply the soldiers at Camp Butler, Camp Yates and the Soldiers' Home and all the other troops that were here. When Mr. Hahn gave up his stall in the old market he took one in the new market, where he remained for about a year, after which he sold out. He then engaged in buying stock until 1876, when he built the shop now occupied by his son, Otto Hahn. He continued an active factor in the business until about 1900, since which time he has lived retired. His life has been characterized by unflagging industry, and as he has advanced step by step in his business career he has found that each forward movement has given him greater opportunity for the exercise of his business talents and his unflagging industry. He owes his prosperity entirely to his own labor and well merits the success that has come to him.

Mr. Hahn has been a stalwart Republican in his political views since the organization of the party. He cast his first presidential vote for Franklin Pierce and in the early days of his residence in Illinois he became acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, little thinking at that time that he was to become the president of the United States and the central figure in American history of the nineteenth century. At that time Springfield was but a village and it was often termed a mud hole. In the years that have come and gone Mr. Hahn has never wavered in his allegiance to the Republican party, and in matters of citizenship he has taken an active interest, being the supporter of many measures that have proven of material benefit to the capital of Illinois. He holds membership in the Grace Lutheran church.

Mr. Hahn was married, in New York city, in 1848, to Miss Elizabeth Hammarth, a native of Hessen, Germany. She died on the 15th of April, 1895. In the family were nine children, one of whom died in childhood, while eight are still living, as follows: Louis, who married Caroline Erickson, and with his family numbering three children, resides in Springfield; Marie, wife of John A. Smith, proprietor of a jewelry store in Leavenworth, Kansas, by whom she has two children; Charles; George, who is married and has one child and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah; William, a butcher, who is married and lives in Springfield; Otto; August, who is engaged in the jewelry business in Kansas City, Missouri; and Frederick, who is a widower and is employed as a railroad agent in Urbana, Illinois.

Otto Hahn, the sixth in order of birth in this family, was born in Springfield on the 22d of February, 1871, the anniversary of Washington's birthday. He acquired his education in the public schools and entered his father's shop, where he learned the butcher's trade, which he has made his lifework. Continuously following this pursuit, he is now the owner of the old-established, meat market at No. 629 North Klein street, where he is doing an excellent business. He possesses enterprise and industry and his reliable methods and earnest desire to please his customers have brought to him a constantly growing patronage.

On the 21st of July, 1897, Otto Hahn was married to Miss Elizabeth Flory, a daughter of Adam and Louise (Vogle) Flory, both of whom were natives of Germany. In their family were nine children, seven of whom are yet living. Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hahn now have an interesting little daughter, Marie Helena, who is the life and light of the household. The parents hold membership in the Grace Lutheran Church and are widely and favorably known in Springfield, having many friends here. Mr. Hahn, like his father, gives his political support to the Republican party, and in his business career he has sustained the excellent reputation which has always been connected with the name in business circles in this city.



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