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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. Saner 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

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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.