My Genealogy Hound

Rudolph Kessler, proprietor of the Mammoth Livery and Feed Stable at Salem, was born in the Kingdom of Prussia, Germany, August 19, 1844, and is the son of Rudolph and Mary Elizabeth (Miller) Kessler. Rudolph Kessler, Sr., was born in the Kingdom of Prussia, Germany, in 1818, and was a miller and distiller in his native country. He came to America in 1857, locating in Pilot Knob, Mo., and soon went to Madison County, where he purchased a farm and tilled the soil the remainder of his days. He died in 1883. His wife was also a native of the Kingdom of Prussia, Germany, born in 1825, and is yet living on the old home place. She is the mother of six children: Rudolph, Emily D., wife of Jacob Kessler; Charles, in Mine La Motte, Mo.; Joannah, Lena and John. The last three are at home. Rudolph was thirteen years of age when he came to America with his parents, and remained with them until they moved to the farm, when he commenced working at Pilot Knob. At the opening of the war he was employed in the Government stables at Pilot Knob. In 1863 he enlisted in Company M, Eighth Missouri Mounted Infantry, and served about six months, when he was discharged. He then enlisted in Company F, Fiftieth Regiment Mounted Infantry, and served about four months. He was in the battle of Pilot Knob. He was wagon-master while in the Eighth Regiment, and was quarter master-sergeant in the Fiftieth Regiment. After the war he lived in Wayne County for a year, and from 1866 to 1872 he was at home in Madison County. In the last named year he came to Salem, and bought an interest in the livery and feed stable with Richard Pohlman, the firm being Pohlman & Kessler for over two years. Mr. Kessler then bought Mr. Pohlman’s interest, and from that time until the present he has been sole owner. He keeps an average of twelve horses, seven buggies, five spring wagons, one lumber wagon and a hack to all trains. In 1881 he erected his present stable, which is 30x80 feet, with a thirty-foot shed on one side and a 130-foot shed on the rear, twenty-two feet wide. Mr. Kessler keeps a first-class stable— the best and most complete stable in Salem or in Dent County. By his long experience in the business he knows the needs of the traveling public, and keeps his stable and traveling apparatus in first-class order. He is courteous, obliging, and a true gentleman. In 1872 he married Miss Rosa Weaver, daughter of John C. Weaver. She was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1850, and by her marriage became the mother of four children: Rudolph, John, Lizzie and Rosa. Mr. Kessler is a Republican in politics, and was a member of the city council two years. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. and Select Knights. He and wife are members of the German Lutheran Church.