ALBERT N. SAUER. The milling interests of Southern Illinois are
naturally large, as this section of the state is a prosperous grain country,
and in this field a number of the prosperous business men of Jackson county
have expended their best efforts. Murphysboro is well represented in this
line by Albert N. Sauer, a business man of the younger generation, whose
whole experience has been in this line, the Reliance Milling Company, of
which he is the president, being one of the leading business establishments
of the city. Mr. Sauer was born at Evansville, Randolph county, Illinois,
February 20, 1884, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Grob) Sauer, one
of the highly esteemed couples of Randolph county.
William Sauer was
born in Randolph county, in 1845, and was reared on the farm of his father,
who was an early settler of that section. At the age of twenty years he
embarked in the milling business at Evansville, and there he has continued
to follow the same line ever since. Mrs. Sauer was a daughter of George
Grob, also a farmer and an early settler of Randolph county, and she and Mr.
Sauer have five children: Barbara, who is the wife of the Rev. William
Morton, of Quincy, Illinois; and Henry, Albert, Edward and Anna. Mr. Sauer
has been identified with Republican politics at Evansville. and both he and
his wife are active in the work of the German Evangelical church.
Albert N. Sauer's early life was spent at Evansville, where he received his
early education in the public schools, later attending the Sparta High
School, McKendree College and the Barnes Business College, at St. Louis. On
completing his course at the latter institution he came to Murphysboro to
engage in the milling business, in which he had gained experience as a youth
in his father's mill, and at first acted as bookkeeper and assistant
manager. He is now president of the Reliance Milling Company, in which his
brother, Edward G. Sauer, is also interested, a plant with a capacity of six
hundred barrels per day, which employs a force of twenty-five men. This mill
has an extensive trade throughout this territory, and bears a high
reputation in the business world.
In 1905 Mr. Sauer was married to
Miss May Thorpe, of Murphysboro, daughter of the late Joshua Thorpe, and two
children have been born to this union, namely: May Louise and William. Mr.
Sauer has been known as an active worker in the ranks of the Republican
party in Murphysboro, and for a time was a member of the city council. He
belongs to the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and attends the German
Evangelical' church, while Mrs. Sauer is a Presbyterian. Since locating in
Murphysboro Mr. Sauer 's business interests have demanded a great deal of
his attention, but he has always managed to find time to lend his aid to
movements of a progressive nature, and he can be relied upon to support
anything that promises the betterment of Murphysboro in any way. He is
widely acquainted through this section of Southern Illinois, and his
friendships are many.
Extracted 15 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 714-715.