Early Nameoki History
Nameoki Newspaper Articles
The Founding of Nameoki
The word Nameoki (nama-ohke) is of Indian origin and means “fishing
place.” The name was first given to a railroad station by Conductor
A. A. Talmadge of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, and
afterward to the township, due to the many nearby lakes. The village
Nameoki lies within the American Bottom, and is now part of Granite
City.
After the building of the railroad in 1858, a station was located on
the boundary lines between section 5 and 6. A post office was
established there in 1876, with Dr. Tyler J. Irish as postmaster.
Nameoki was a small village, and in 1882 had the following
businesses:
Hotel – B. F. Squires
Blacksmith Shop – Henry Pretzel
Drugstore – Dr. T. J. Irish
Physicians – Dr. Tyler J. and E. T. Irish
Drs. Benjamin and Tyler J. Irish
Dr. Tyler J. Irish was a native of Livingston County, New York. He
was born July 28, 1823, and was the first child of Benjamin and
Sarah (Tyler) Irish. His father, Benjamin Irish, was born about
1798, and graduated in the field of medicine. He immigrated to
Illinois in 1840, settling at Equality, near Shawneetown. After two
years, he moved to the American Bottom, Madison County, where he
engaged in the practice of medicine with great success. In 1848, the
Pope Medical College of St. Louis conferred upon him the ad
cundem
degree. He continued to practice medicine until July 1851, when he
fell victim to cholera. His son, Dr. Tyler J. Irish, received his
education in New York. In 1842 he came West, stopping for a short
time at Equality, Illinois, where he engaged in teaching school. In
1844 he went to St. Louis and engaged in the study of medicine with
his father. He graduated in 1848 from the Missouri State University.
That same year he settled in the American Bottom, where he engaged
in the practice of medicine. After the death of his father in 1848,
Dr. Tyler J. Irish became heir to his father’s extensive medical
practice. Those who knew him best said he was “a chip off the old
block.” Dr. Irish married on October 26, 1848 to Miss Lucinda
Elliott, daughter of Thomas Elliott. They had eleven children. Dr.
Irish rapidly accumulated a comfortable competence. He later owned
upwards of nine hundred acres in the American Bottoms, and built a
fine home near Nameoki Station. He died in 1893, and is buried in
the nearby Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Early Churches in Nameoki
About a mile south of Nameoki the German Lutheran Church was erected
in 1881. A cemetery joined the church grounds.
Organizations in Nameoki
The Sons of Hermon built a substantial two-story building, erected
at a cost of $4,400, which they occupied for their lodge purposes.
The name, Sons of Hermon, was bestowed in honor of the fact that
Hermon freed Germany from Roman Catholic rule. Moltke Lodge No. 15
was organized September 6, 1872, by Robert Krueger. The name was
bestowed upon the lodge by Krueger, as a compliment to General
Moltke, under whose command he had been a soldier. The lodge, in
1882, had 74 members, exclusively German. It was benevolent in
character.
The Six Mile Lodge No. 87, I. O. O. F. was organized January 2,
1851. Charter members included S. A. Corman, E. P. Pettingill, T. J.
Irish, James S. Smith, Amos Atkins, and Joseph Squires. The Six Mile
Lodge owned their own cemetery, a hall, and about 63 acres of land.