PAUL GUSTAVE SCHUH might appropriately be termed the father of the
wholesale drug business of Cairo and Southern Illinois, if his long
association with that industry can give any claim to the distinction. He
came to Cairo during the first year of the Civil war as a soldier of the
Union, and his residence began with his discharge from the army, continuing
without interruption during the years which have followed. So closely has
his life been interwoven with that of Cairo that it would indeed be
difficult to speak extendedly of the one without mention of the other. A
drug merchant from an early day and ever an active and helpful participant
in commercial affairs, the Schuh Drug Company, to whose nurturing and
upbuilding he has given the best energies of his vigorous mind and robust
body, is a most fitting monument to the success of his career.
Mr.
Schuh came to the United States happily unembarrassed by any lack of
preparation for a career involving industry and intellectual training. He
had the advantages of higher education, had studied the classics, and had in
his youth been encouraged by the atmosphere of an intellectual home. His
father was a Lutheran minister in the Black Forest of Wurtemberg, where Paul
Schuh was born on January 8, 1830. The father, Christian Michael Schuh, was
born in 1790, and was properly educated for his high calling. He passed away
in 1858, after a long and useful career as an expounder and exponent of the
Lutheran faith. The mother of Paul Gustave Schuh was Augusta Geysel, and he
is the youngest of their eleven children. Those of the family who came to
America were Carl Alexander, who spent his life at Easton and other
Pennsylvania points, settling in Cairo just prior to his death. He left four
sons: Harry W., Samuel H., Hermann C. and Franklin, who died in Charleston,
Missouri. Hermann died in Columbia, Illinois, leaving two children.
Charlotte, a sister, was twice married, and died at Runge, Texas, the mother
of three children. Paul Gustave was the fourth and last of this
German-American group.
The year 1853 is memorable with Paul Schuh as
being the year of his advent in the United States. He joined his brother
Hermann in St. Louis, and the two engaged in the drug business in that city,
and later in Alton, Illinois. It was there that Paul Schuh was enlisted in
the "Yeager" Company in April, 1861, being among the first to answer the
call to arms. His company was ordered to Springfield and mustered in with
the Ninth Illinois Infantry, with Colonel Payne in command. The regiment was
sent to Cairo, where Mr. Schuh's enlistment period expired, and he
immediately re-enlisted on July 21st and served in the medical purveyor's
office until his detail to the post hospital. He was discharged in January,
1863, on account of a myopic affection of the eyes. Taking up civil pursuits
once more, Mr. Schuh put in a small stock of drugs three doors below Sixth
street, where he was located for eight years. He then moved one block north
on Commercial street, at which place he subsequently erected a business
block, and there he has since been located, associated now, however, with
his sons, the firm name having been changed to Paul G. Schuh & Sons. In 1880
Mr. Schuh began a small jobbing business in drugs and in 1893 he formed the
Schuh Drug Company, erecting a three-story brick building at Tenth and
Commercial streets. The new company was incorporated with a capital stock of
$50,000 and Paul Schuh was chosen president, Walter Denzel is its secretary
and treasurer, and Harry W. Schuh is vice president and general manager. The
institution has come to be one of the most important wholesale houses of
Cairoi and is the only wholesale drug house in Southern Illinois; a unique
feature, as well as one that is highly conducive to the future prosperity of
the concern. The business has grown apace since its inception, and it is
recognized as one of the solid and representative corporations of that
section.
In addition to his connection with the drug business, Mr.
Schuh has found leisure to become identified with various other
organizations, among them being the Greater Cairo Building & Loan
Association, of which he is president, and the First State Bank & Trust
Company, he having been a member of the directorate of that institution
since its organization. Mr. Schuh is also prominent as a fraternalist. He is
a past master in Masonry and has belonged to the craft of the "square and
compass" for more than forty years. He has taken the Royal Arch degree in
Masonry and holds membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Schuh has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Julia
Horsmeyer, born at Lippe-Detmold, Germany. She died after three years of
wedded life, leaving one son, Julius P., now engaged in the manufacture of
lumber in Louisiana. In 1871, Mr. Schuh was again married, and the children
of Mr. and Mrs. Schuh are: Carl H., who is a member of the firm of Paul G.
Schuh and Sons, and Alma, the youngest of the family, who is the wife of
Frank Murray, of the Schuh Drug Company.
Extracted 06 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 History of Southern Illinois, Volume 3, pages 1703-1704.
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