On Monday, November 6, 1882, a new business opened in Teutopolis, Illinois. Hope Roller Mills, Uptmor & Siemer, Proprietors, began milling wheat and selling flour. The owners were Clemens Uptmor, Sr., his son Clemens Uptmor, Jr., and his young cousin and son-in-law, Joseph Siemer.
Clemens Sr. had been involved in founding the village back in 1838-39; since then he’d become a successful merchant, whiskey distiller, and meat packer. In the 1850s, he and his brother John had built a windmill for grinding wheat, but it blew down. By 1880, new technology was making milling a more efficient process, and Clemens Sr. had the capital to invest in a modern mill.
Joseph invested “sweat equity” in the enterprise. A few years before, he had walked to Teutopolis from his home in Cincinnati to work for Uptmor, with no particular skills or resources. At age 28, married to Uptmor’s daughter Angela, what he had to contribute was family loyalty and youthful energy.
Joseph and Angela had five children, four daughters and a son. The son, Clemens Joseph, born in 1884, left town after school to learn the trade of millwright – involving intricate carpentry and complex metalworking skills. He returned to Teutopolis about 1906. Joseph bought out the Uptmor family interest in the flour mill after Clemens Uptmor Jr. died. They spent six months refurbishing the mill, reopening it on October 15, 1906 as Siemer Milling Company.
Then Clem J. got married, to Estelle Rau of Red Bud, Illinois, niece of Fr. August Brumleve, born in Teutopolis. Clem J. and Estelle had five children, three sons and two daughters. After Joseph’s death in 1928, Clem J. bought out his sisters’ interests. Sons Quintin, born in 1914, and Clemens R., born in 1920, eventually joined the business. Quint married Marie Schottman of Montrose, and they had four children, two sons and two daughters.
Siemer Milling Co. developed as a feed mill and farm supply distributor, while the flour business declined. About 1960, once again, new technology revived interest in flour. Gradually all the equipment was replaced. In 1975, Quint’s son, Richard, came to work at age 25, and the company committed to building a new, larger flour mill, completed in 1979. Rick married Diane Niemerg of Bishop Creek in 1977; they had three children, two daughters and one son. The feed and distribution businesses were split off in 1986, under the ownership of Clem R.’s family.
Another new flour mill was built in Hopkinsville, KY in 1995. An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), created in 2000, bought out several of Rick’s siblings and cousins. A consumer products business was split off in 2006, with Cathy (Rick’s sister) & Bob Goldstein as owners. Siemer Milling built one more new mill in West Harrison, IN in 2015.
Now the company is owned by Rick & Diane, their three children and spouses – Martha & Kenneth Stice, Henry Siemer, and Katie & Aaron Summers are all active in ownership and management – and several cousins, children of Luella (Rick’s aunt) & J.H. Griffin. Also, a significant share is owned by the ESOP for the benefit of all employees.
This is the evolution of a multi-generation “Family- and Employee-owned Business.” Many other employees have also been members of successive generations of their families. Siemer Milling Co. has prospered and grown as a result of this long dedication to a business important to its communities and to the millions of people who eat its products.
(Pictured are Joseph & Angela Siemer, Clem J & Estelle Siemer, Quint & Marie Siemer, and Rick & Diane Siemer)
November 6, 2024