Biography - S. EUGENE QUINDRY
Among the younger set of steadily advancing business men of Edwards
county, S. Eugene Quindry, states attorney for his county and one time
editor of one of the popular publications in Albion, takes a prominent
place, and is eminently deserving of mention in a history dedicated to
Southern Illinois and its leading citizens. From the beginning of his career
Mr. Quindry has displayed qualities of tact, integrity and business sagacity
which have been guarantees of a successful future to all who have noted his
daily life, and since he turned his attention to the law, his progress has
been most pleasing.
Born on January 12, 1880, on a farm in White county, Illinois, S. Eugene
Quindry is the son of Alphonse Quindry and his wife, Augusta (Hunsinger)
Quindry. The father was a native of France, born in Paris in 1849, and was
the son of Joseph and Josephine Quindry. Joseph Quindry was a brickmaker and
manufacturer and was the owner of a factory in Paris. He had two sons,
Alphonse and John, who emigrated to America in about 1870 when they were
still in their early manhood. The brothers settled first in Indiana, and
there John Quindry remained, but Alphonse, after a brief stay there, moved
into White county, Illinois. When at home in Paris the young man had been
employed in a telescope factory in that city, but on settling in Illinois he
secured a piece of land and gave himself up to the business of farming, to
which he devoted the remainder of his life, and in which business he was
extraordinarily successful. Although he possessed practically nothing when
he began life on his farm, he prospered with the advancing years, and when
he died in 1889 he was the owner of two hundred and ninety acres of valuable
Illinois farm land, with all the appurtenances thereto. His wife, who was a
native of White county, was a member of one of the largest and best known
families in that section of the country. She was the daughter of Jacob and
Mary Hunsinger, and she was born in 1848. She is still living on the old
homestead in White county, where their seven children were reared, and where
some of them still live. The daughter, Josephine, died at the age of
eighteen years; John, married and is living in Arkansas; S. Eugene, is the
third born; Flora is the wife of George Simpson, of Wayne, a supervisor of
Wayne county; Charles remains on the old home place, and looks after the
farm and home and cares for the mother; Ella died in childhood. Thus five of
the seven born to her still remain to brighten the closing years of the life
of this worthy mother, and all are leading lives of usefulness and reflect
naught but honor upon the good old name they bear.
All received good school advantages, and S. Eugene, after finishing his work
in the common schools of his home town, entered the Southern Collegiate
Institute of Albion, and later attended the University of Missouri at
Columbia, Missouri. For some little time thereafter he was engaged in
bookkeeping and mercantile pursuits in various places, and it- was not until
1904 that he decided on a different field of activity and purchased the
Carmi Times, which he owned and edited for two years. At the end of that
time he sold out the paper and bought an interest in the Albion Journal, of
which he was the editor for one year. During the three years of his
newspaper work, Mr. Quindry had been making good use of his time by studying
law under able preceptorship, and in 1907, when he severed his connection
with the Journal, he was admitted to the bar and immediately took up the
practice of his profession in Albion. He began practice in October of 1907,
and in November, 1908, had so far advanced professionally and with the
public that he was elected to the office of states attorney. Mr. Quindry is
a member of a number of fraternal organizations, chief among them being the
Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. He
is a member of the Christian church.
In 1905 Mr. Quindry was married to Miss Constance Coles, a daughter of Frank
Coles, Sr. Two children have been born to them, Frank and Leland.
Extracted 11 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, volume 3, pages 1588-1589.
