Right
up to the time of his death of Feb. 1, 1929, Joseph Jacob
Touve, continued to practice his chosen field of barbering,
despite the fact that he passed his ninetieth birthday and
trimmed his first head of hair sixty six years ealier. A
front page story in the Centralia Sentinel the next day
stated, “Centralia's oldest active barber and one who is
entitled to the distinction of being the oldest active
barber in America has passed on. He. has looked after the
tonsorial needs of this community for more than six decades.”
Jacob
Touve was, according to the Sentinel, “admired by his
fellow workers. He had watched barbering in America grow
from the time when the tonsorial artists heated their water
in coffee pots and tea kettles until the day of luxury when
all that was necessary was to turn on the faucet.”
“Early
in his career as a barber, he has seen the need for
cooperation and organization among the men who were engaged
in the work that he had followed since he was old enough to
earn a livelihood. Setting up a barber shop in Centralia in
1863, more than threescore years ago, Mr. Touve has “daily
taken his place behind his chair at his shop at 112 East
Broadway until he was taken ill.”
Brinkerhoff
described the shop in 1909 as being “equipped throughout
with first class tonsorial appliances. In his shop there are
four chairs of the improved type, and the attached lavatory
contained two porcelain baths. He has been thirty three
years in that location.”
During
his lengthy life, Mr. Touve was active and energetic. He was
elected city collector in 1875 and city treasurer in 1900.
He was active in Masonic work having been a member 58 years.
He was also a member fo the Tuner Society. The Sentinel
stated, “His acquaintance in and near Centralia was very
extended, and few could be found among the older folk who
had not heard of him while most of them had submitted their
thatches, or beards to be removed by him.”
J.
Jacob Touve was born on Oct. 14, 1838, in Martinshoehe,
Reihnbayern, (Rhinish Bavaria) Germany to Jacob and Louise (Sattaner)
Touve. His father, a wood turner by trade, followed his son
to America, settling in Centralia in 1867.
Young
Jacob came to the United States in 1856 settling first near
Milwaukee where he worked as a wagon maker for three years.
He moved to St. Louis in 1860 where he improved his use of
the English language and entered the barbering trade. He
arrived in Centralia Nov. 3, 1863 and opened a small shop.
He found a small village struggling to get a firm footing.
The Sentinel stated that Mr. Touve, “often narrated his
experiences during and following the Civil War, taking
immense pride in having sheared Gen. Phil Sheridan, the
famous Union leader, in his shop. It was shortly after the
close of the Civil War when several Army officers visited
Mr. Touve's shop. He told over and over again how the
distinguished general sat so that his remarkable arch of
chest made it difficult for the barber to wield his razor
under the general's chin.”
“The
meeting between Mr. Touve and the girl who became his wife,”
according to the Sentinel, “was seemingly ordained by
fate. Her name was Magdalena Muerley and was born in Baden,
Germany, coming to America in 1855 when she was ten. It
happened that the young lady's sister lived in Centralia and
three days after Touve arrived from St. Louis, Magdalena
visited her sister. The two met and were married on Sept.
27,1865, at Salem by Rev. John A. Williams, following an
exciting buggy ride.” The couple celebrated their sixtieth
anniversary in 1925.
The
Touves, who lived at 110 North Cherry, were the parents of
nine children: Louise (Harris), Sophie (Owen), Clara (Derleth),
Bertha (Blasberg), Lessetta (McNally), Anna (died infancy),
Oscar, Jacob, Joseph and Walter B.
All
the members of the family were gifted musicians and their
accomplishments made them popular in the life of the
community.
Mrs.
Magdalena Touve died a few weeks after Jacob on March 28,
and she and her husband, the venerable barber, sleep in
Elmwood Cemetery.