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EDWARD A. SCHROEDER.
It is a fact patent to all that the United States can boast of no better or more law-abiding class of citizens than the great number of Germans who have found homes within her borders, and the immediate descendants of these staunch, liberty-loving citizens. Of the latter designation is that excellent young citizen, Edward A. Schroeder, attorney-at-law. He has entered upon a career as a legist which bids fair to be successful and it is his aim carefully and consistently to observe 'and enforce its ethics and best traditions. Mr. Schroeder is one of Edwards county's native sons, his birth having occurred on a farm in French Creek prej~inct on January 27, 1883, he being a son of Frederick A. Schroeder. The father was a native of Germany and emigrated from that country in boyhood with his parents, John G. Schroeder and his wife. Frederick A. Schroeder was for many years a useful and public spirited citizen of this section. His birth occurred November 13, 1835, in the Fatherland, and his death in this locality on December 4, 1910, but his memory as one who was aligned with all good causes and held the public welfare above personal interest, will long remain green. He was one of the most successful farmers of the county and at his demise owned some four hundred acres of valuable land. His wife, previous to her marriage, Louisa Negley, was likewise of German parentage and their union was blessed by the birth of the following ten children: Mary R.; J. George, residing in Wabash county; Frank W.,; David F., deceased; Frederick A.; Charles G.; one who died in infancy; Edward A.; Laura F.; and Alma L.

Young Edward received his early educational discipline in the public schools and desiring to obtain a more thorough academic training he became a student in the Southern Collegiate Institute, from which he was graduated in June, 1907. He then matriculated in the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington where he took a course preparatory to law and received a well earned degree in June, 1910, being admitted to the bar in that same month. Thus thoroughly reinforced in a theoretical way, he proceeded to Albion, where he proudly displayed his professional shingle and entered upon an active practice of the law. In politics he is

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a stanch Republican and is one of the most prominent of the younger men in political affairs. In evidence of his prominence in the community is the fact that he was a candidate for states attorney of Edwards county in the spring of 1912, and in many ways he has gained the confidence of the people. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Phi Alpha Delta, a law fraternity. One item in an interesting ancestral history is the fact that his grandfather was a soldier in the Prussian army in the wars against Napoleon and participated in many notable engagements. Mr. Schroeder has not yet joined the ranks of the Benedicts.