Jefferson County Online A part of the IAGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects Who's Who in Jefferson County, 1931 Gus C. Unkrich

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Wednesday, September 2, 1931
Front Page

Who's Who In Jefferson County
By Herbert F. McDougal

Gus C. Unkrich

Gus C. Unkrich during an afternoon can cut a precious stone and mount it in a ring of his own making, and that night appear as a Dutch comedian and entertain a crowd at a dinner or lodge meeting. If it's music that's wanted, he can play any one of a half-dozen instruments, including a tuba, guitar and accordian. And he gets a tremendous thrill out of everything he does, from finding out why a watch doesn't run to leading the Billygoat band.

He was born just across the road from the Stever school house, west of the city, November 14, 1877, but the family moved to Glasgow when he was four years old. His father bought a store there, which he owned until his death in 1901. Gus went to the Glasgow school. In one of his trades with another boy, he acquired an old Manhattan watch. The watch excited the envy of still another boy, who offered Gus an old "pepperbox" revolver for it, if Gus would get it to run. Right there a watch-maker was born, for the watch finally did run. Gus bought some powder, ,moulded (sic) some bullets and loaded all five barrels of the "pepperbox". He and another boy went down the road past the cemetery and Gus had the first shot. When he pulled the trigger, all five barrels went off, the partitions having burned through. That was the loudest noise Gus ever remembers.

When he was thirteen, his father bought a store at Lockridge and the family moved there. Gus opened up a watchmaker's shop in the rear of the store and has been in business ever since. When he was about eighteen he came to Fairfield and worked for F. H. Gillette, a skilled watch-maker, for a year and polished up his technic (sic). A year later he advanced upon Ottumwa and for twelve years worked for various jewelers there, among them being a fery fine Swiss workman, who taught him much. About 1908, he went to Burlington where he worked for a year, making his last move--to Fairfield--in 1909. Somewhere in the course of this career, he attended the Bradley Polytechnical Institute in Peoria, a school that grew out of the old J. R. Parsons Horological Institute, credited with being one of the pioneer vocational schools in the west.

He moved to 113½ East Broadway thirteen years ago and has accumulated there an amazing array of watchmaking and jeweler machinery. He dotes on hard jobs and goes at them with all the zest of a cross word puzzle fan, finding adventure in each.

He made a name for himself with his Billygoat Band, which could attract a crowd at any gathering, and his comedy is in demand at school houses and club meetings. He is a devoted member of the Knights of Pythias lodge, is an officer in that order and a past Chancellor.

He married Miss Hulda Newburg of Rome, October 16, 1901. They have two children, Clyde and Glenn, both of Fairfield.