John G. Bloomer, vice president and superintendent of the United
Monument & Construction Co., was born in Springfield, Illinois, on the
7th of July, 1871, a son of William J. and Sophia (Witkopp) Bloomer. The
parents are both natives of Germany, the father having emigrated to the
United States when a lad of five years with his people, who settled in
Springfield. There William T. Bloomer was reared to manhood and
educated, after which he learned the stone cutter’s trade under Captain
Adam Johnston. He continued to be identified with this vocation until
his demise on the 20th of January, 1909. The mother passed away on the
18th of April, 1907. The boyhood and youth of John G. Bloomer were
passed in the Capital city, to whose public schools he is largely
indebted for his education. The course pursued there having been
supplemented by study in the Springfield Business College. Having
decided to adopt his father’s trade at the age of fourteen he entered
the shop of Captain Adam Johnston, where the father had spent the period
of his apprenticeship. After the expiration of his service he traveled
from place to place, not only gaining experience in his trade but
acquiring a fuller knowledge of the world and a better understanding of
human nature generally. In April, 1909, he became associated with
Charles M. Miller of Springfield, and together they bought out Royal
Hayes, who had been engaged in the monument business in Carlinville for
forty-seven years, having the only establishment of the kind in the
town. On the 8th of February, 1910, they incorporated under the name of
the United Monument & Construction Co., with Mr. Bloomer as vice
president and superintendent. He has practically the entire charge of
the business, being the only active resident member of the company.
In Springfield on the 22d of August, 1906, was solemnized the
marriage of Mr. Bloomer and Miss Mary Maude Whipple, a daughter of
Asbury and Ada (Jones) Whipple, natives of Indiana. Asbury Whipple, who
is a wood turner, learned his trade in the furniture factory of his
father at Madison, Indiana, in which state he continued to follow this
occupation until 1882. He then removed to Springfield, having accepted a
position with The Vredenburgh Lumber Co., by whom he is still employed.
The mother, however, passed away in 1886. To Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer three
children have been born: John G., who is four years of age; Ada Sophia,
who is two and a half; and Catharine, who is a babe of five weeks.
Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer are affiliated with the German Lutheran church,
while fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and Knights of Pythias. He is a democrat but has never sought any
political preferment.
Extracted 15 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 511-512.
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