This week we continue our history of the house at 920 Broadway, and will go through the old Pekin city directories to find out who the house’s first residents were.
As we saw last time, the Tazewell County Assessor indicates that the house was built in 1907 in the Acme Subdivision of the Haines Addition of Pekin — the former location of the Acme Hay Harvester Co. The house at 920 Broadway first appears in the 1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Pekin, but that address does not appear in Pekin city directories until 1911. At that time, the directory listed the house’s residents as “Charles D. Eldredge, wife Mary, foreman feed dept. Corn Products Refining Co.“
Charles D. Eldredge was born 20 May 1865 in Chenango County, New York, and died in Peoria on 4 May 1951, buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin. Charles arrived in Pekin before the time of the 1880s census. He married in 1888 to Pekin native Mary Amelia Vogelsang (1864-1940), his first wife, who died in Chicago and is buried with him in Lakeside. Charles’ second wife, Ella M. (Dennis) (Coon) Eldredge (1876-1951) is also buried with him. Charles and his first wife Mary later moved to a house on Market Street.
The next residents of 920 Broadway are listed in Pekin city directories from 1912 to 1916 as follows:
- 1912 – John C. Corbit, wife Ida, machinist Santa Fe round house,
- 1913 – Ditto
- 1914 – Ditto
- 1915 – John C. Corbit, wife Ida, works for Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.
- 1916 – Ditto
“John C. Corbit” and his wife Ida were John Calvin Corbett (1877-1953) and his wife Ida (Gore) Corbett (1879-1968), natives of Vienna in Johnson County, Illinois. John and Ida lived at 920 Broadway until about 1917. They later moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where John died. They are buried together back in their hometown, in Vienna Fraternal Cemetery.
The third family known to have lived at 920 Broadway were the Schembers. Pekin city directories show them living at that address as follows:
- 1921 – H. J. Schember, wife Bertha, collarmaker H. S. Wks
- 1922 – Henry J. Schember, wife Bertha, emp Hummer Saddlery Works
The World War I draft registration card of Henry Jacob Schember (1875-1949), dated 12 Sept. 1918, identifies his occupation as a marker at Langton Lumber Co. The 1920 U.S. Census shows Henry as a yeast maker, and lists him with his wife Bertha Louise (Schulz) Schember (1883-1969) and their daughter Lyla Lou (1904-1996), all three living that year at 920 Broadway. The Schembers later settled in the St. Louis, Mo., area. Henry, Bertha, and Lyla are buried in Sunset Memorial Park & Mausoleum, Affton, Mo.
Next week we will cover the history of 920 Broadway from about 1923 until 1961, when the house was continually owned and occupied by just one family.
