Champaign County, Illinois - The whole text, 1918 (part 13 of 23)

Mr. Cherry was born in Boone County, Indiana, and is the adopted son of William Cherry. That family were pioneers in Indiana and at an early day came to Illinois and settled on a farm in Ogden Township. Henry Cherry received his education in the old Brindle district school of Ogden Township.

When he was twenty-seven years of age he married Emma R. Smith. She was born in Vigo County, near Terre Haute, Indiana, daughter of Marshall and Evelyn (Bogard) Smith. Her father was for many years a railroad engineer and also owned and operated a sawmill. Mrs. Cherry was only three years of age when her mother died.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cherry located on eighty acres of land in section 6 of Ogden Township. Mr. Cherry had worked industriously as a farm hand for a number of years, and from his careful savings was able to buy this first farm at $30 an acre. The land had no improvements, and their first home was a small two-room structure, but confident of the future and with a determination to better their lot they began in this humble environment with complete happiness and accord. The passing years brought them abundance of success, and they did much to improve and beautify their land, clearing it, planting trees, and erecting commodious buildings. Mr. Cherry is a natural mechanic and besides cultivating his fields has erected most of his buildings and has done the work of painting and decoration. While he began farming with very meager assets, he has kept increasing his property until his estate now comprises 205 acres.

Mr. and Mrs. Cherry became the parents of three children, Mervyn, Nellie and Yelma, Realizing the advantage of education, Mr. and Mrs. Cherry sent their children to the Hickory Grove School, and all of them grew up as splendid auxiliaries in the home. The only son, Mervyn, married Grace LaHue, a native of Indiana. Mr. Cherry wisely decided that he would keep his son at home and erected a new dwelling for them on the farm. The son grew up as a practical farmer and has applied his knowledge to the successful management of the homestead.

The daughters, Nellie and Velma, are still in the family circle, and Nellie is a very fine musician both by nature and by training. She is also an artist, and for ten years has been a very successful music teacher and has clone much to advance the cause of this art in Champaign County. Both the (laughters are accomplished musicians, and music has always meant a great deal in the Cherry home.

Mr. and Mrs. Cherry are active members of the Prospect Christian Church, and by their means and influence have done much to advance the cause of this institution in the community. Mr. Cherry was a promoter of the University of Olivet, Illinois, and gave $1,000 toward its erection. Politically they are ardent supporters of the prohibition cause, and have never neglected an opportunity to advance the day when prohibition will be state wide, nation wide and world wide. Mr. Cherry's efforts have met with deserved success, and it should be mentioned also that through all the years he has had a good wife to stand side by side with him and share in these achievements. Mrs. Cherry when she began housekeeping had among other articles of furniture a modest little dresser made of a dry goods box with a calico curtain in front. She says that she took as much pride in this home made piece of furnishing as in any more substantial and costlier article which has since entered into her home.

Many years ago Mr. and Mrs. Cherry planted a number of walnut trees on the north and west of their house, and these, to the number of about 250, have since grown so as to constitute a beautiful grove that is one of the many attractive features of the Cherry farm. Mr. Cherry is a very successful stock farmer, has handled Holstein, Jersey and Guernsey cows of thoroughbred strain, has a few Shropshire sheep, and keeps an abundance of poultry. For a number of years he has been a very successful bee man. Mr. and Mrs. Cherry and their daughters see much of the country and of their friends by means of the fine five passenger automobile which is one of the evidences of family prosperity and of their willingness and readiness to enjoy life as they go along.

JOSEPH C. JOHNSON. Hale and hearty, with firm step and unclouded mind, Joseph C. Johnson at the age of eighty years is one of Champaign County's oldest living native sons. It has been his privilege to witness with his own eyes and bear a not unimportant part in the development of this rich and prosperous section of Illinois from a period when it was wild prairie and even wilder swamps. Mr. Johnson is now enjoying the comforts of a retired home in the town of St. Joseph.

He was born in Urbana Township of Champaign County, December 25, Christmas Day, 1837. He was one of the six children, three sons and three daughters, of Amos and Sarah (Moss) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Ohio. The birth of Mr. Johnson indicates that they were among the earliest pioneers of Champaign County. When they came the land was all new and it was possible to shoot deer on the prairies, while around the lonely cabins of the early settlers the wolves howled every night and inspired fear in the children and frequently devastated the poultry and sheep yards of the farmers.

Joseph C. Johnson attended school with other children of that neighborhood, the schoolhouse being built of logs with the curriculum as limited as the furnishings. Many of the people of that day in Champaign County lived in log buildings without floors.

At the age of twenty-eight Joseph C. Johnson laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Susan Ann Cloyd. She was born in Indiana, a daughter of William and Hannah Cloyd. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Johnson settled in St. Joseph Township and began farming 011 a rented place. They had youth, enthusiasm and industry, and out of their careful earnings and savings they bought their first farm of eighty acres in section 16. This was school land and the price they paid was sixteen dollars an acre. There were no improvements, and it was necessary to convert the wild prairie into productive fields. In the course of time this land was producing crops, buildings arose from time to time with increased comfort and facilities, they planted fruit and shade trees, and to this day a fine grove of walnut trees stands as a monument to their early efforts at forestation.

Two children were born to this happy couple, William A. and Henrietta. The children were given the advantages of the district schools in Stanton Township and enjoyed the happy and care-free life of childhood. When they were still young their beloved mother was called by death, and Mr. Johnson for some years had the responsibilities of the farm and the care and training of his children. Later he married Celia A. (Prugh) Harris. Mrs. Johnson was born in Ohio, daughter of Aquilla T. and Eebecca (Dickinson) Prugh. Her parents were also natives of Ohio.

For a great many years Mr. Johnson continued to reside on his homestead, which he had increased to 120 acres. In 1911 he decided to leave the farm, his children having married and started homes of their own, and since that date he has lived in St. Joseph with a comfortable home on Lincoln Street.

His son, William Johnson, married Effie Radebogh. He is a successful farmer in Indiana, living five miles northeast of Winchester. His family of children consists of Mabel, Gladys, Cloyd, Leah, Willard and Euth. Just recently the sad death of Mr. Johnson's little granddaughter, Euth Elien Johnson, occurred at his home at St. Joseph, on August 23, 1917, when she was but two years, nine months and twenty-one days old. Her mother had come on a visit from Indiana, and the little child was taken sick and died here. The daughter, Henrietta Johnson, is the wife of George Phenicie. He is a farmer in Stanton Township, and they have children named Joseph Merle, Abner, Eoy, Harold and Chester.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are active members and liberal supporters of the Christian Church. In matters of politics he is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in local affairs and the welfare of his community. He was elected school trustee, also road commissioner, and served the public faithfully and well for seven years, finally resigning office because of poor health.

Mr. Johnson well remembers the time when Urbana consisted of a hamlet of a few houses, while not a single building stood on the present site of Champaign. He recalls the site of the present city buildings of Champaign as a pond or swamp with five or six feet of water even in dry weather. A great deal of credit is due a man like Mr. Johnson, since he was one of the individuals who performed that great aggregate undertaking of making Champaign County one of the garden spots of the world. As a. boy in his excursions about the country he frequently saw the fiats covered with wild ducks and geese, and as they rose from the water the numbers were so great that in their flight they darkened the sun. Much of this swamp land now so productive and valuable could have been bought in Mr. Johnson's time for twelve and a half cents an acre.

LEWIS W. MARTIN. A district such as Champaign County, noted for its fine live stock, has special need for the services of a competent and trained veterinarian. In many ways the leader in this profession is Dr. Lewis W. Martin, who has had about twenty-seven years of active practice in and around Fisher. His skill is widely recognized, and he has frequently been called beyond the boundaries of the county to render professional service on some of the large stock farms of central Illinois, and

Doctor Martin was born in Woodford County, Illinois, on January 20, 1858. He was the oldest child and only son of James T. and Jane (Arrow-- smith) Martin. He has two sisters. Minnie, who was educated in the common schools and is a member of the Methodist Church, is the wife of Edward Ballinger, an agriculturist at Beebe, Arkansas. They are the parents of five children. Anna H., who lives at Pontiac, Illinois, is the widow of Jefferson Shrout, who was formerly an engineer, but at the time of his death was engaged in farming. Mrs. Shrout has five children.

James T. Martin was born in Ohio in 1830 and died in November, 1916. In earlier years he was a carpenter and contractor, but finally took up farming. He grew to manhood in his native State, acquired a good education and was well qualified for teaching, which he followed in Illinois, chiefly in Woodford County. At one time he owned about eighty acres of land in Woodford County, but sold that and removed to Livingston County, Illinois, where he acquired a place of 175 acres, which he still owned at the time of his death. He began voting as a Whig and gravitated naturally into the Eepublican party. At one time he served as township collector. Early in the Civil War he enlisted in Company F of the Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry and was in active and continuous service for four years, participating in the grand review at Washington at the close of the war, and soon afterward receiving his honorable discharge, making a record of which his descendants will always be proud. Though he was exposed to shot and shell at Gettysburg, Bull Eun and many other battles, he was never wounded nor taken prisoner. For years he was an active member of the Grand Army of the Eepublic and he and his wife were Methodists. His wife, Miss Arrowsmith, was born in old England about 1835, and came when a small girl with her parents to Illinois. In that State she attended the common schools. Though now eighty-two, she is still bright and active, has an excellent memory and is devoted to her home and church.

Doctor Martin attended common schools and through inclination and early experience was led into the business and profession which he has followed with so much success at Fisher for the past twenty-seven years. Doctor Martin has a splendid library devoted to veterinary science, medicine and surgery, and keeps a full supply of the best drugs and all the implements and appliances needed in his work. There is not a farmer or stockman in a radius of twenty miles around Fisher who does not know the capable attainments of Doctor Martin and most of them have employed his services at one time or other. He has a personal acquaintance with all the prominent horsemen and farmers in this part of Illinois and his practice extends into Ford and McLean counties. Like other successful professional men, he has found the automobile a great aid to his work and he drives a fine Chevrolet.

In 1878 Doctor Martin married Miss Susan Jane Cline. They are the parents of three children, one son and two daughters. George E., who was educated in the Fisher schools, is a successful young man in his profession as an electrician at Champaign. He is a Eepublican and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. The maiden name of his wife was Carrie Compton, and their three children are named Eussell, Cloyd and Loas. Grace E., the older daughter, was educated in the common schools and is now the wife of Charles Farmer, foreman of a general store at Bakersfield, California. Mr. and Mrs. Farmer have a small son. Nora Lucile, the youngest, is the wife of Walter Einehart, an agriculturist of East Bend Township, near Fisher. These children have all received good home advantages and the practical training afforded by the local schools.

Mrs. Martin was born in Livingston County, Illinois, was educated in the common schools and is an active member of the Christian Church. Doctor Martin is a Eepublican voter, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Fisher and was appointed as a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has actively supported various churches and is a liberal contributor to the erection of the present beautiful Christian Church at Fisher. Besides their residence at Fisher, Doctor and Mrs. Martin have property in Chicago. They have made the interests of their community their own interests, and are people of the highest standing in this part of Champaign County.

ELIAS FBEEMAN. For sixty years a resident of Champaign County, Elias Freeman is one of the citizens whose name and a brief record of whose career should be permanently recorded. He represents a family which had its start in the early development of the county, and his own life of substantial industry brought a generous reward in material circumstances and civic honor, and he is now properly enjoying the fruits of well directed toil in a comfortable home at the village of Ogden.

Mr. Freeman was born in what is now Ogden Township of Champaign County, June 22, 1857, a son of Edmond and Jemimah (Rush) Freeman. His parents, natives of Ohio, came to Illinois at an early day. James Freeman, the grandfather of Elias, came to this state when Edmond was two years of age. At that time there was not a house between Salt Fork and Burr Oak. It was all one stretch of raw prairie. The Freeman family settled at Salt Fork and some of the good land in that section was developed through their energies and purposeful activities. Edmond Freeman had a family of eleven children, Elias being the third in age.

The latter attended the local district schools with his brothers and sisters, grew up as a farmer on the home farm, and at the age of twenty-five, in 1883, married Miss Jennie Fisher. Mrs. Freeman was born in Randolph County, Indiana, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Fisher, being the second in order of age among their seven children. When she was a small girl her parents removed to Vermilion County, Illinois, and she was educated in the district schools there.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Freeman located on 150 acres belonging to his father four miles northwest of the town of Ogden. He capably managed this place for seven years, and while there he laid the foundation of his permanent prosperity. On leaving his father's land he moved to a farm of Mrs. Freeman's father south of Ogden, and here he continued his agricultural operations for ten years. At the end of that time he bought a farm of his own of 165 acres south of the village of Ogden and that he made his permanent home. The land had few improvements when he bought it, but it is now a splendid farm, with good buildings, with plenty of fruit and shade trees, and its value as a farm and a residence is greatly enhanced by its position on the interurban railway.

Mr. and Mrs. Freeman had two children, one son and one daughter, E. E. Freeman and Ella May. The son is proprietor of a large business as a hardware and furniture merchant at Fithian, Illinois. He married Ilattie Yeoman and has a son, Carl Richard. The daughter, Ella May Freeman, is the wife of Frank Fenders, and they live next door to her parents in Ogden. Mr. Fenders is a grain buyer for the Zorn Grain Company. They also have one child, Ralph Freeman Fenders. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman take a great deal of pride and joy in their bright little grandson.

In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Freeman left their farm and removing to Ogden bought a pleasant and attractive home, which in subsequent years they have done much to improve by remodeling and other changes.

Politically Mr. Freeman is an active Republican. He has served his community and his fellow citizens as road commissioner, school director, school trustee, and member of the highway commission. He and his good wife have found all that reasonable ambition could desire, sufficient of this world's goods for all their needs, the esteem and kindness of friends and neighbors, and have themselves lived so as to deserve all that their industry and good character have won.

JULIUS A. HEINZ, while one of the younger men of Champaign County, has acquired many sucessful interests since coming to Pesotum and is a real leader in the life and affairs of that town.

Mr. Heinz was born in Kickapoo Township of Peoria County, Illinois, September 29, 1880. His parents Frank and Mary (Heitter) Heinz, were also natives of the same county. His paternal grandfather was a native of Germany, while the maternal ancestry came from Prance. Frank Heinz followed farming during his active career and he and his wife are now living retired in Peoria. They were the parents of these children : Ida and William, both deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of Frank Bienemann, of Peoria ; Mary, deceased ; Julius A. ; a daughter that died in infancy; Emil, of Peoria; Sylvester, deceased; Etta and Clarence, twins, the latter now deceased, while Etta is the wife of Henry Speck, Jr., of Peoria.

Julius A. Heinz attended the parochial schools in Peoria County until he was sixteen years of age. After that he lived on his father's farm and worked there until the age of twenty-two. Then, fifteen years ago, he arrived at Pesotum and began the active business career which has brought him such generous rewards. For two weeks he worked in an implement business and then bought out Mr. Kleiss and with his cousin, L. T. Heinz, continued the trade, handling implements, buggies, lumber, hardware and other supplies. In 1904 an undertaking department was added and the cousins remained in partnership until 1909, when the business was reorganized and divided.

At that time Mr. Heinz took the undertaking line and also the real estate and insurance department. He still continues the undertaking business, and has a splendid equipment for a small town, including a motor hearse. He is also senior partner in the firm of Heinz & Creamer at Tolono, and is head of the Heinz-Riemke agency of automobiles, at Pesotum. They make a specialty, as sales agents of the Haynes and Reo cars.

In 1913 Mr. Heinz accepted the position of cashier of the Bank of Pesotum and now gives much of his time to the administration of the bank's business and is one of its directors.

His name is also associated with the public affairs of Pesotum. He was the first village treasurer and was tax collector one year. Politically he is a Democrat, is a member of the Catholic Church, and is affiliated with Champaign Lodge of Elks, has taken the fourth degree in the Knights of Columbus and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. November 22, 1916, Mr. Heinz married Kathryn Kerwin, a native of Marion County, Illinois.

ABRAHAM PAULUS. It is a distinction such as pertains to few living Champaign County residents that Mr. Paulus enjoys by reason of his continuous residence in the county since 1856. That was an early year in the pioneer history of this county and was a notable one in national affairs, since it saw the first entrance of the Republican party into national politics. Mr. Paulus has witnessed a remarkable development going on under his eyes during the past sixty years, and he and his good wife have borne their shares of labor and responsibilities in this community. Champaign County in 1856 was a broad stretch of prairie land, open only here and there by the industry of the early settlers.

Mr. Paulus was born in Darke County, Ohio, September 9, 1843. He was one of a family of thirteen children, four sons and nine daughters, whose parents were Daniel and Louisiana (Treon) Paulus. Five of this large family are still living. Lydia, the oldest, resides in Indianapolis and is the widow of Jacob Ware. Lucy Ann lives at Mansfield, Illinois, the widow of John Hollihand. Sarah, a resident of Billings, Montana, is the widow of Levi Brooks. The next in the family is Abraham Paulus. Jonathan Francis, who served in an Illinois regiment in the Union army during the Civil War and was granted an honorable discharge, is now living at Marion, Indiana.

Daniel Paulus, father of this large family, was born in Maryland, January 12, 1807. He lived a long and useful life and passed away in 1902 in Indiana, at the age of ninety-five. When he was one year old his parents removed to Ohio, crossing over the mountain barriers and journeying westward in true pioneer style. They lived for some years in Preble County. Grandfather Paulus had the offer of ten acres of land gratis provided he would locate in Cincinnati, then a raw and unpromising community. This offer was given him because he was a blacksmith and men of that trade were sorely needed in Cincinnati. However, he chose Preble County instead. Daniel Pauhis was a self-educated man and made farming his chief vocation. He owned 120 acres of land in Darke County in western Ohio. In 1856 he gave up his land there and came farther west into Champaign County and bought 160 acres in Newcomb Township. For this land he paid $25 an acre. At that price it had more improvements than many other of the newer farms of the township. It was located on the east side of Newcomb Township. Later Daniel Paulus sold this land and returned to Ohio about 1864, and remained in that State until the death of his wife. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church.

His good wife was born in Pennsylvania, February 9, 1810, and died December 1, 1877. She was a young woman when her parents removed to Ohio. Both she and her husband were interred in the Union City Cemetery in Ohio, where a monument marks their last resting place.

Mr. Abraham Paulus was only thirteen years of age when his parents came to Champaign County. While living in western Ohio he attended a log schoolhouse. Its seats were made of slabs held up from the floor by wooden pins, and he had all the experiences of a pioneer school boy, including the writing of a copy set by the master and with the old goosequill pen, which was fashioned with a real "pen knife" by the schoolmaster himself. Mr. Paulus more than most people in Champaign County is able to appreciate the vast contrast between modern schools, their fine equipment and furniture and their course of instruction, and the temples of learning where he gained his first instruction. After getting his education Mr. Paulus took up farming as a practical pursuit and he was not yet twenty-one years of age when he married and set up housekeeping for himself. His marriage occurred in Champaign County, April 7, 1864. Miss Mary Jane Lane was the bride. They have been married now over half a century. Ten children have been born into their home, six sons and four daughters. Eight are still living. William was educated in the common schools, has been a Democrat in politics, and was formerly engaged in agricultural vocations, but is now a resident of Champaign City and pursuing his favorite work as a mechanic. Oliver is a successful agriculturist in East Bend Township. He married Miss Alice Eobinett, and they have a little daughter, Ruby. Oliver is a Democrat and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are Christian Scientists. Cora lives in Pontiac, Illinois, the widow of Morris Haines. She has two children, Orville and Verla. She and her daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Louisiana married William Sheppard, a resident of Champaign. Mr. Sheppard is a Democrat. They have three children, Vern, Ray and Mary. Clara is the wife of Lee Mulvane, who lives near Saunemin, Illinois, where he is engaged in farming. Mrs. Mulvane is a member of the Methodist Church. Joseph is an agriculturist at Breckenridge, Michigan. He married Miss Ida Taylor, and they have a young son, Richard. They belong to the Methodist Church. Stella was educated in the common schools and married Walter Fielder. Mr. Fielder died in April, 1917. He left one son, Virgil, who was educated in the common schools and is now taking the second year of work in the Fisher High School and is one of the brightest students in his class. Mrs. Fielder now lives with her parents. She is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church. Frank, living near Proctor, Illinois, on a farm, married Miss Emma Adams, and they have three children, Evelyn, Harriet and Wilbur. They are members of the Lutheran Church.

Mr. and Mrs. Paulus also reared in their home their grandson Jesse, educating him in the common schools, and he is now a practical farmer. He married Miss Marie Adams and they have two small daughters, Helen and Bernice, who afford the greatest delight to their great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Paulus.

Mrs. Paulus was born in Clinton County, Indiana, December 1, 1845, a daughter of William and Catherine (Blacker) Lane. She was one of six children, three sons and three daughters. She is the oldest of the three now living. Her sister Cynthia is the wife of Abram Ater, a resident of Urbana. Her brother John was formerly in the sales and livery business and is now living at San Diego, California, and is married.

Mrs. Paulus' father was born in Ohio and when young moved to Indiana and was married in that State. In 1857 he came to Champaign County and spent the rest of his life here. He was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Church. Mother Lane was also a native of Ohio, but grew up in Indiana. Mrs. Paulus' parents are both now deceased, and they were laid to rest in the City Cemetery at Mahomet, Illinois, where appropriate stones mark their last resting place. Mrs. Paulus was educated in the common schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Paulus started out to make their own destiny in the world without special help from anyone and relying almost entirely upon their own efforts and industry, inspired by their ambition. For a number of years they were farm renters. Their first purchase was eighty acres, and later they bought 160 acres in Xewcomb Township. Half of this has since been sold, and they retain the rest of it as their attractive country home. Mr. and Mrs. Paulus began heavily in debt. They were able to make their first payment on their land only $100. By industry and rigid economy they pulled out of debt and at the present time they owe no one a dollar and have in addition to their farm a good town home in Fisher. They have enjoyed the highest esteem of their community throughout their residence in this county.

Mr.. Paulus is a Democrat. He has passed all the chairs in Fisher Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are active in the Methodist Protestant Church of Xewcomb Township. He has been one of the trustees since the church was built and for years was superintendent of its Sunday school. He is also president of the Township Sunday School Convention, and year in and year out has worked earnestly for the upbuilding of church. Sunday school and every worthy movement in the community. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Paulus is known as the Maple Lawn Farm. It is the abode of hospitality, and their many friends find a hospitable welcome within its bounds. In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Paulus made a delightful tour of the far West, including Montana, San Diego and Portland, Oregon. It was a journey that brought them to some of the greatest natural wonders of America, and they returned home all the better satisfied with Champaign County and with the place which their own earnest efforts had given them to own and to possess in this rich garden spot of the world.

JACOB SWICK. A resident of Champaign County during a period of sixty-five years and still interested in the pursuit of agriculture here, Jacob Swick is one of the best known among the citizens of Broadlands and the vicinity. During his long career it has been his fortune to have gained many of the rewards of industry and integrity, and in addition to material remuneration to have attained a position of substantial prominence in his community and a place in the respect and confidence of those among whom his long life has been spent.

Mr. Swick was born in Germany, June 27, 1837, a son of Jacob and Christine (Oberly) Swick, both born in that country. The family came to the United States in 1852, first settling in Pennsylvania, from which state they moved to Ohio, and there the parents passed the remaining years of their lives engaged in farming. They were honest, industrious, God-fearing people who reared their ohildren to lives of usefulness and honor and gave them all the advantages that they could afford. The children were as follows : Jacob, of this notice ; Christina, who is the wife of John Vedder and a resident of Urbana; Christopher, who also resides at that place; and Mary, the wife of Joseph Marsh, of North Dakota.

Jacob Swick was about fifteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States, and here in the public schools of Pennsylvania and Ohio completed the education which he had started in Germany. When he left the parental roof to engage in life's activities on his own account he went to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he worked on a farm for five years, after which the Civil War came on and he enlisted in Company F, First Ohio Heavy Artillery, with which he served for two and one-half years. He had an excellent record as a soldier, and upon receiving his honorable discharge returned to Ohio, but soon located in Morgan County, where he worked on a farm for five years, after which he came to Champaign County and took up his residence in Raymond Township, where he engaged in operations on a farm of eighty acres. Later he bought forty acres more, and to this added an additional tract of like size, and finally purchased 240 acres in Ayers Township, where his subsequent activities were carried on. Mr. Swick won success by reason of his constant industry, his fidelity to engagements and the honorable manner in which he carried on his transactions, and the record of his business life presents a clean and unblemished page.

Mr. Swick was married first to Katherine Kirchner, who died in Champaign County, leaving one child, who died in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Swick married Elizabeth Thady, and they became the parents of four children : Lillian May, Charles E., Ella Irene and Harry C. Mr.- Swick is a Republican, but not a politician, although active in good civic movements in the community. His religious faith is that of the United Brethren Church. Since his practical retirement from active agricultural affairs Mr. Swick has resided at Broadlands, where he has a comfortable, modern home.

CHARLES FAIRFIELD. One of the most valuable and best cultivated agricultural estates in northern Champaign County is that owned by Charles Fairfield, a modern farm lying in Brown Township, not far from Fisher. For a number of years devoted to general farming, it has recently taken on the added department of blooded stock raising, and under the progressive and able management of its owner is developing into a farm that is extending its reputation beyond the limits of its immediate community. Mr. Fairfield is known in Brown Township as one of the agriculturists who has not allowed his extensive personal interests to blind him to the needs of the locality in which he lives. He has helped his community to grow and has supported good movements. His title as a representative citizen has been secured not only by individual gaining of material things, but by co-operation with other public-spirited men in forwarding Champaign County's general welfare.

Charles Fairfield was born in Livingston County, Illinois, January 20, 1866, and is the eldest of a family of four -sons and two daughters born to John W. and Priscilla (Shirery) Fairfield. All are living and all are residents of Illinois with the exception of one daughter, who lives in Iowa. John W. Fairfield was born in Ohio in 1838, was married in his native State, and in 1865 came to Illinois, settling in Livingston County. He followed agricultural pursuits there until 1871, when he moved to Mahomet Township, Champaign County, where he rounded out his career, his death occurring in 1879. Originally an old line Whig, with the birth of the Republican party he joined that organization and supported its interests thereafter loyally. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and Mrs. Fairfield were faithful members of the Christian Church. When he first came to Champaign County the church services were held in the Allison schoolhouse, situated two miles west of Fisher. Mr. Fairfield was laid to rest in the Naylor Cemetery. Mrs. Fairfield was born in 1840, also in Ohio, and still survives.

Charles Fairfield was about six years of age when he was brought by his parents to Champaign County, and here his education was secured in the public schools. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and when he was twenty-six years of age, having less than $500 capital at the time, felt enough confidence in his own abilities to embark upon an independent career. At that time, August 24, 1892, he was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Schenk. To them three children have been born. Roy J., educated in the public schools and at Brown's Business College, is one of the progressive and energetic young farmers of Champaign County, residing in Brown Township. He married Miss Augusta Heyer, a graduate of the Fisher High School. Floyd A. was educated in the public schools, and is training himself to become a first-class farmer and stockman. Emmet C. is attending the public schools. The children belong to the Christian Church.

Mrs. Fairfield was born in Champaign County, Illinois, and was reared on the farm on which she now resides, her education being secured in the public schools and the high school. For two years prior to her marriage she taught in the county schools. Her birth date was March 23, 1873, and she is a daughter of Anthony and Mary (Frichauf) Schenk, being one of a family of five sons and nine daughters, of whom seven children are living, although besides herself there is only one living in Champaign County, this being her sister Ella, who is the wife of J. A. Fairfield, a contractor and builder of Fisher. Anthony Schenk was born near the Rhine River in Prussia, October 28, 1832, and as a youth displayed remarkable talents in mathematics, being a teacher when he was only twelve years of age. Subsequently he learned the trade of molder, but when he was sixteen years of age came with his parents to the United States, via Havre, France, the sailing vessel on which they made the trip taking eight weeks for the passage. For a short time the family resided near Albany, New York, then going to St. Louis, Missouri, where they lived for five years. Mr. Schenk and his brother John then purchased 400 acres of land in Champaign County, a part of which is now included in the home farm of Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield. Mr. Schenk, who died in .1900, became not only one of the substantial farmers of his community, but also stood high in the esteem of his fellow citizens, who chose him as township treasurer for fourteen years and as supervisor of Brown Township two terms. Although a Democrat, he cast his vote for Benjamin Harrison for president. Always a religious man and a faithful member of the Christian faith, he assisted in the erection of three churches in his locality, and now lies at rest in Mount Hope Cemetery, c where the first monument placed in that burial place marks the grave of one of his brothers. Mrs. Schenk was born near the city of Berlin, Germany, March 16, 1841, and was eight years of age when brought to the United States by her parents in a sailing vessel which took seven weeks to cross the. Atlantic Ocean. She was educated in German and English, has always been a devout member of the Christian Church, and now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield, being one of the best and most affectionately known ladies of the community.

When they started married life Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield were renters. They were energetic and industrious, worked hard to make themselves a home, and eventually came into possession of enough land to give them a start. From that time to the present they have added to their holdings and to their 'comforts, and now are in possession of 360 acres of finely cultivated and productive land, on which are located substantial buildings and all modern improvements. Their large and commodious residence and three fine barns have been erected and remodeled by them, and other indications of good management and prosperity abound. Mr. Fairfield has just started in to raise blooded Percheron horses and Shorthorn Durham cattle, and has already made a success of his venture. In addition to the 360 acres included in his own-farm, he is also operating 160 acres, and is making each acre of land pay in full for the labor expended upon it.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Fairfield cast his first vote for Benjamin Harrison for president. He has been selected as a delegate to the county conventions, and the confidence in which he is held by his fellow townsmen is shown in the fact that he has been township treasurer of schools for seventeen years, school director for seven years and highway commissioner for twenty years. In addition to bein'g deacon and trustee of the First Christian Church, he is chairman of the building committee in charge of the fine new church which will be completed during the autumn of 1917, at a cost of from $15,000 to $20,000. Throughout his career he has allowed his name to be connected only with honorable dealings, and as a result his record as business man, agriculturist and official is free from any manner of blemish.

L. P. GBIMES. Many of the best homes in Champaign County have been won as a result of long and toilsome process, involving the clearing of the land, the draining of the swamps, the construction of ditches and fences, and every improvement has meant an expenditure of labor and care that only the very successful or those who have been through the experience can appreciate.

Grimes of St. Joseph Township. Mr. Grimes was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, August 12, 1852, a son of John and Hannah (Snyder) Grimes. His parents were also natives of Illinois. Grandfather Grimes came from Ohio and in the early days settled four miles north of Danville, when Danville was only a trading post. For a number of years there were hardly any families in that neighborhood except the Grimeses and their relatives. It is said that for two miles in every direction nearly every house contained a Grimes. John and Hannah Grimes had nine children, four sons and five daughters. These children were all educated in the district schools. In 1865 John Grimes took his family to Kansas and spent the rest of his days there.

In 1875, at the age of twenty-three, L. P. Grimes returned from Kansas to Illinois, for the purpose of visiting, and he found so many interests to claim his time and attention that the visit has been continued indefinitely to the present time. At the age of twenty-nine he married Miss Annie E. Eidinger. She was born in St. Joseph Township, daughter of Milburn and Margaret (Moore) Eidinger. The Eidinger family also came from Ohio, and Mrs. Grimes was third in a family of ten children. She was well educated in the local district school.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Grimes rented twenty-nine acres adjoining the Eidinger homestead. The outlook was not very encouraging. They had a small house, a log barn and a few rods of rail fence. In front of the house and shutting off the view of the road were trees and brush, while about the farm were sloughs in which the water was so deep in places that it came up to a horse's side. In spite of this fact the young people possessed the energy and determination to make their work count, and at the end of two years they had saved enough to make the first payment upon their land. It was a happy day in their lives when they secured a deed to this small tract, but their industry did not stop there and they have gone ahead with their work and improvements until they now have eighty acres of good farm land, well drained and cultivated, improved with fruit and shade trees, a commodious house, barns, and altogether constituting one of the valuable farms of Champaign County.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Grimes, one of whom died in infancy. The other is A. M. Grimes, who was educated in the local district school and finished in the St. Joseph High School, and he is now a careful and successful farmer on a place just across the road from his father's farm. A. M. Grimes married Cora Parks, and they have a bright young son, Claude L., who was born January 5, 1894. This boy has proved his ability in different ways, is an expert in handling a horse and has qualified as a chauffeur, being able to handle an automobile with skill and the expertness of a veteran.

Mr. L. P. Grimes has made his success as a grain and stock farmer. He now raises chiefly the Eed Duroc hogs and has about seventy-five full blood animals, besides Jersey cows. He separates the cream on his farm and ships it to market.

Mr. and Mrs. Grimes are active members of the Christian Church at St. Joseph and worship in the beautiful brown stone and brick edifice that is one of the most attractive religious centers of the county. In politics Mr. Grimes is first, last and always a Eepublican, and fraternally is affiliated with the Eoyal Americans. His fellow citizens have shown their confidence in his ability and public spirit and have elected him to the office of road commissioner. Thus Mr. and Mrs. Grimes have attained the fullness of success out of their humble early efforts, and the credit for what they have accomplished and the influences that have emanated from their characters are due to them equally, since Mrs. Grimes has been a factor in the making of the home and has always stood beside her husband in counsel and advice.

JOHN F. TROTTER. In early days the superiority of soil and climate attracted to Champaign County as permanent settlers many eastern thoughtful and observing pioneer home-seekers, and one of the families firmly established here bore the name of Trotter, a name that has been an honored one in the county ever since. A worthy representative is found in John Franklin Trotter, one of Newcomb Township's most respected citizens. He was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, April 7, 1852. His parents were Hiram and Lydia A. (Alamang) Trotter. To them were born ten children and five of these survive, John Franklin, the fifth in order of birth, being the only son living. His four sisters are : Elizabeth, who is the widow of J. B. Lester and resides at Fisher, Illinois; Jennie, who is the widow of David Inskeep, resides at Cedar Eapids, Iowa; Barbara, who is the wife of George Teats of White Heath, .Illinois ; and Jane, who is the widow of Oscar Mullvain, lives at Thomasboro, Illinois.

Hiram Trotter, father of the above family, was born near Wheeling, West Virginia, and there grew to manhood and engaged in farming. After the death of his first wife he married Lydia E. AJamang and she it was who accompanied him first to Indiana and later to Illinois and died here in 1880. After reaching Indiana Hiram Trotter rented eighty acres of land and operated it for six years. The rent was high and Mr. Trotter often remarked that the money spent in rent during that time would have purchased a good farm in another section. Finally he decided to move with his family into an adjacent State and locate in Champaign County, of which he had had many favorable reports. Once more the prairie schooner was brought into use and in 1856 the family was comfortably settled in a log cabin standing on a tract of eighty acres in Newcomb Township. He had borrowed the money to purchase this first land, but through his industry it was soon paid for and he continued to add to his holdings until he owned 240 acres, all in the same township. Pioneer conditions prevailed when the Trotters came first to Newcomb Township and John Franklin remembers when he could count as many as fifteen deer in a drove passing the little cabin. Hiram. Trotter was a man far beyond the ordinary in many ways. He was much more progressive than many of his neighbors and many improvements both in farming methods and in public matters were brought about through his influence. He was a JefEersonian Democrat and at one time served as road commissioner, that being before the founding of the present flourishing towns of Fisher, Dewey, Foosland and Mahomet. He was one of the original members of the first church built in this section, which was named the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church, and in his home and in the schoolhouse near by the first church meetings were held. He served in church offices during the rest of his life. The death of this fine old pioneer occurred in 1900 and a beautiful memorial stone in Shiloh Cemetery marks the last resting place of Mr. Trotter and wife.

John Franklin Trotter has been a resident of Newcomb Township almost his entire life. He attended the country schools and for a short time was a pupil in the Mahomet High School, and the public schools have always claimed his interest. He has always engaged in farming, renting land in Newcomb Township for the first two years after his marriage and then buying eighty acres. Later he purchased 160 acres near .Rising City, Nebraska, but remained on that place but one year, returning then to Illinois because the western climate had a bad effect on his wife's health. He now has seventy-one acres all in one tract, located at Shiloh Center, in the middle of the township. At one time the house he occupies was a postoffice.

they have had four children, as follows: Ira, who is a practical and successful farmer in Newcomb Township, married Emma Eicks and they have five children, Edna, Roy, Elsie, Wayne and Lyle; Maude is the wife of Hartley M. Suttle, who owns a fine farm of 160 acres in this township, and they have five children, Oliver, Archie, Nellie, Mary and Lola; Grace is the wife of Herbert L. Hinton, a railroad brakeman, and they live in Chicago; and Daisy, who resides with her parents. She is highly educated, having had advantages in the State Normal University and taught school for three years in Champaign County. She is a member of the Domestic Science Club at Mahomet, Illinois. She is one of the active and useful members of Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church and under her management as Sunday school superintendent the school is in a highly prosperous condition, interest being stimulated and maintained and much practical good accomplished. Miss Trotter spent a part of the summer of 1905 at Denver, Colorado. She is a lady of engaging personality and is a welcome visitor everywhere.

Mrs. Trotter was born in Piatt County, Illinois, December 7, 1854. She completed her education in the Mahomet High School and taught school for three terms in Newcomb Township and now teaches a class in Sunday school. Extended mention of her family appears in this work in the sketch of her sister, Mrs. Nancy Downs, who is a highly esteemed resident of Newcomb Township. Both Mr. and Mrs. Trotter are willing workers in the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church, are liberal contributors to its various benevolent movements and by precept and example show the sincerity of their Christian belief.

Mr. Trotter has not bound himself to any political party, like many other intelligent men preferring to stand by the principles he believes to be right and give support to such candidates as best represent them, irrespective of party affiliation. He has been active and useful in township matters as a man of fine judgment and unblemished integrity and has served in responsible offices, having been tax collector, town clerk and for six years was a justice of the peace. Perhaps there is no more hospitable home in Newcomb Township than the Trotters, and their many friends are always sure of a hearty and sincere welcome.

WILLIAM MORRISON. Along the Interurban as it passes through Ogden Township are found some beautiful farms, all of them representing the toil, self-sacrifice and industry of either their owners or of those worthy people who first claimed the land from the wilderness. One of these homes that stands for a most estimable personal career is that of William Morrison in section 8 of Ogden Township.

Mr. Morrison was born in New York City in 1851. When he was ten years of age he was left an orphan by the death of his parents, and somewhat later a man named George H. Allen became interested in him and brought him out to Illinois, and he soon found a home in the family of Eleazar Freeman, with whom he was a bound boy and with whom he remained twelve years. He had very limited opportunities to obtain an education, never more than three months a year. He had to work early and late, herding and feeding cattle, plowing in the fields, and only now and then came a few weeks when he could attend school.

Thus as a boy he became inured to and disciplined in hard work, and he found it no special hardship when he went to earning his own way as a farm hand and worked in the fields from four o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock at night. His industry and good character commended him to the attention of Miss Callie Swearingen, and on January 24, 1878, they were married. She was a native of St. Joseph Township, a daughter of

Thomas and Elizabeth Swearingen. Their married life was brief, since Mrs. Morrison passed away July 11, 1880. They had lived on the Swearingen farm in the meantime. Subsequently Mr. Morrison married Lizetta Hixenbaugh. She was born in Virginia, daughter of Morgan and Sarah A. Hixenbaugh.

In the meantime Mr. Morrison had worked steadily with the end in view that some day he would become proprietor of a farm of his own. This eventful day arrived in 1885, when he contracted for the purchase of ninetyeight and a half acres in section 8 of Ogden Township. The land had few improvements and was of limited value as compared with its value today. Even at that Mr. Morrison had to go in debt to buy it, and some years passed before he had it free from incumbrance. In the meantime he drained the land, cut out trees, built a commodious home, and thus his personal efforts and management are responsible for this attractive bit of landscape that may be viewed from the windows of the interurban cars as they go by.

Mr. Morrison has two children, Charles J. and Cora E. They were educated in the Ogden High School. Charles is now connected with the city street railway system at Champaign.

In politics Mr. Morrison has always stanchly supported the principles and candidates of the Eepublican party. His achievements and position in the county mean a great deal. Beginning life a poor orphan boy, he has found success by strict application to industry and honorable principles. He has reared his children to honor the same principles which have been his own guide in life. He now enjoys a pleasant home, with his capable daughter, Cora, acting as his housekeeper. Mr. Morrison is a hospitable, kind neighbor, and out of his experience has always had a deep sympathy for the friendless and oppressed. He richly deserves praise for his industry and energy and his good citizenship.

CHESTER A. WILLIAMS. In calling attention to the men of worth in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, Chester A. Williams should hold a foremost place. He is one of the substantial men of his section, a firstclass farmer and an intelligent, stable and useful citizen. He was born in Champaign County, Illinois, November 17, 1880, and is a son of Lucius and Mary C. (Shafer) Williams. He has one older brother, James A. Williams, who resides just east of his brother Chester A. He married Maggie Shafer, and they have four children.

Lucius Williams was born in 1835 in Licking County, Ohio, and died on his farm in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, April 6, 1916. He came from Ohio to Champaign County about 1868 and spent the rest of his life here, following farming as his occupation and acquiring eighty acres of land in Newcomb Township as a result of his industry. In politics he was a Republican, but took no active part in political campaigns and never aspired to public office. He was well known and highly respected. His burial was in Shiloh Cemetery and a stone marks his last resting place. He is survived by his widow, who was born in Ohio seventy-five years ago. She resides with her children and has a wide circle of personal friends.

Chester A. Williams was educated in the public schools and from early manhood has been successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. With his brother James A. he owns 100 acres of fine land very favorably situated in Newcomb Township, which, under intelligent management, has become some of the most productive land in this section.

Mr. Williams married on March 22, 1915, Miss Sadie Wright, who was born in Newcomb Township, August 28, 1886, and is a daughter of Charles and Nancy (Hannah) Wright. Mrs. Williams is one of a family of fourteen children and the youngest of the three who live in Champaign County, the other two being : Hiram, who is a farmer in Newcomb Township, married Effie Lester and they have six children; and Arthur, who is also a farmer in this township, married Minnie McCay and they have six children. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have one son, Arthur Williams.

Charles Wright, father of Mrs. Williams, was born in Licking County, Ohio, September 30, 1840, and died in Champaign County in 1892. During the Civil War he served as a member of the Ohio State Militia. He was married in Ohio to Nancy Hannah, who was born in that State and died in Newcomb Township July 20, 1911, and both rest in Shiloh Cemetery. They were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and were highly respected by all who knew them. They came to Champaign County when Mrs. Williams was a child of six years and she grew up on her father's farm, under the watchful care of a wise and loving mother.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Williams began housekeeping on the old Williams homestead and here have remained in the enjoyment of the plenty and comfort that good management and frugality are apt to bring to the modern farmer's household. Mr. Williams is an intelligent, practical agriculturist, keeping thoroughly abreast of the times in all that pertains to farm industries and has reason to be proud of a property that every year is increasing in value because of his excellent methods. Mr. and Mrs. Williams attend the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church, of which they are liberal supporters, and took part in the dedication of the new church edifice in May, 1917. In politics he is a Eepublican and follows party policy closely in national campaigns, but he is somewhat independent in township elections and very often casts his vote for candidates who, in his opinion, will serve the people most efficiently and economically. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have a wide circle of friends, to whom their hospitable home is ever open.

JAMES QUINCY THOMAS of Mahomet is now in his eighty-ninth year. It is a remarkable span of life which his years cover. He was born when Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. Not a permanent settlement had been fixed in Champaign County at the time of his birth. There were no railroads in America, no telegraph lines, very few canals, and none of the labor-saving devices which have transformed industry and social life. As a young man he swung the flail and the scythe in cutting and threshing grain, and not only actively experienced all the hardships of that primitive time, but has lived on until he has witnessed flying machines and other wonders of the electrical twentieth century.

Mr. Thomas has lived in Champaign County for more than half a century. He is certainly one of the oldest citizens of the county and is perhaps the only survivor of the Mexican War living in this county. He was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, November 26, 1828, the only son and only surviving child of William E. and Mary (Thomas) Thomas. He had four sisters. His father was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, and as a boy he saw General George Washington. He grew up in his native state and moved to Kentucky, where he married. He died in Kentucky in 1863. As a young man he voted the Whig ticket and afterwards became a Eepublican. His wife was a native of Kentucky and died there in 1841.

James Quincy Thomas received his education through four terms of attendance at subscription schools. He paid $2.50 for each term. He wrote with the old goose quill pen, studied the Webster's blueback spelling book, sat on the slab seats supported from the floor by wooden pins, and played all the tricks to which school 'boys of that time were accustomed.

He was possessed of a vigorous constitution. He was thirteen years of age when his mother died and his father then told him that if he desired to earn money he could have all he earned. Accepting this invitation, he hired out to his Uncle William at $5 a month. He put in three months of hard labor, but never received a dollar for his time and effort. In the same year he changed his employment to a neighbor, with whom he worked for nineteen months at $7 a month and at the end of the time had $50 in cash.

Mr. Thomas was not quite eighteen years of age when, on July 6, 1846, he enlisted in the United States army for service in the war with Mexico. He first went to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, went down the river to New Orleans, and there crossed the Gulf with his comrades to Vera Cruz, Mexico. He was in the army of General Winfield Scott and many times was assigned to stand guard at the tent of that great leader. He served throughout the campaign, one of the most brilliant in the annals of the American army, from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. He participated in the battles of Cerro Gordo, where the Mexican commander Santa Ana lost his wooden leg, at the battles of Contreros and Cherubusco, both fought on the same day, and on September 13, 1847, was in the storming of the gates of Mexico after capturing the heights of Chepultepec. A number of his comrades were killed on that day and. their bodies lay along the aqueduct. On the following day the American forces entered the City of Mexico, going in at one gate while Santa Ana led his troops out another. It fell to the lot of the regiment in which Mr. Thomas was a member to first hoist the stars and stripes over the halls of Montezuma. Mr. Thomas reiterates what has been affirmed by many other Mexican soldiers that no battle was fought at Pueblo, as many school histories have stated. The capture of the City of Mexico practically ended the Mexican War. During the storming of Mexico Mr. Thomas received two bullets through his clothes and was hit in the shoulder by a spent ball. Otherwise he escaped casualties, though he had many close calls.

On June 15, 1848, he was released from the army and returned to Kentucky, where he took a job at $9 a month as tollgate keeper, boarding himself. For seven months he clerked in a store and not long afterward he took upon himself the responsibilities of a home of his own.

December 23, 1851, he married Miss Mary A. West. Six children, two sons and four daughters, were born to their marriage and three are still living. The son John C. was educated in the common schools and is now a hardware merchant at Urbana, Illinois. He is a Democrat, and he and his wife belong to the Baptist Church. He married Miss Betty Williamson, and they have a son, Clyde M. Russell W., the second son, had a common school education and is now a retired farmer living at Mansfield, Illinois, owning a place of 180 acres in Champaign County. He married Miss Mary J. Spratt, and their son is James 0. Susan M., the youngest of the three living children, is a member of the Baptist Church and is living in Mahomet Township, widow of George C. Parrett, and is the mother of one son, Fred R.

The mother of these children was born in Virginia, but was reared in Kentucky. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and she passed away in August, 1899.

On October 1, 1902, Mr. Thomas married Mrs. Mary A. Dale. She was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, June 7, 1830, a daughter of John S. Robinson. There were nine children in the Robinson family, three sons and six daughters, and her three brothers, Xoah L., William H. and

John G., were all Civil War soldiers, the oldest brother veteranizing after three years of service. Her father was born in Kentucky, grew up there and subsequently removed to Illinois, having a small farm in Champaign County. He died at Mahomet in 1861 and was laid to rest in the Bryant Cemetery. He was a Whig in politics. His wife was a native of Kentucky and was a great-granddaughter of the celebrated Daniel Boone. She was a member of the Baptist Church and her death occurred in 1862.

Mrs. Thomas was educated in the subscription schools of Sangamon County. Both she and her husband can relate many experiences of pioneer times. When she was a girl postage stamps were not in existence, and it frequently cost 25 cents to send a letter any distance. There were no matches, and the flint and steel was still used to light fires. Mrs. Thomas grew up in Sangamon County and her recollections here go back more than sixty years. She married for her first husband Isaac B. Wright. There were three children, one son and two daughters, but only the son is now living, Mr. F. 0. Wright, who is a real estate man at Mahomet. Mr. Wright had one son, Paul, who has recently entered the United States navy. Mr. Wright was a Democrat and was formerly engaged in farming, with a farm in Mahomet Township. His death occurred in 1880. For her second husband Mrs. Thomas married Thomas Dale.

Mrs. Thomas is an active member of the Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are one of the happy old couples of Mahomet and are honored by all who know them. They have a cosy and comfortable home and have all that their declining years need to be comfortable and happy.

Mr. Thomas bought his first land in Mahomet Township, 120 acres, at $10 an acre. It did not have a sign of improvement, and his own labors developed a good farm. At one time he owned over 400 acres in the township and his hard work brought him abundant success. In earlier times he frequently spent the entire winter herding cattle over the corn fields. Politically he has been a Democrat and is a member of the Masonic order at Mahomet. He is a Christian gentleman, and has always done his part in charitable movements. For many years he has been the recipient of a pension of $1 a day and when the Liberty Bonds were on sale he exchanged his pension voucher for a Liberty Bond, which he considers a good investment for the benefit of coming generations.

HUGH JACKSON ROBINSON. Going about the streets with firm step, attending to his affairs with unclouded mind, Hugh Jackson Robinson has attained the dignity and distinction of eight-three years of useful and honorable life. He is one of the oldest residents of Champaign County and has known this section of Illinois for over sixty years.

He was born near Belfast, Ireland, March 28, 1833, a son of Robert and Maria Margaret (Jackson) Robinson. His mother, it is said, was a first cousin of President Andrew Jackson. The Robinsons are of Scotch stock. The mother died in Ireland and the father subsequently came to the United States and first located in Dutchess County, New York. He lived there until 1848, and in that year moved west to Wisconsin, which had just become a state. He took up a claim in Fond du Lac County and cleared up a farm. This was his home until his death on June 15, 1852. They had six children, Mary, Jane, Eleanor, John, Hugh J. and William, Hugh being the only one now living. The sister Mary died when nearly ninety years of age.

Hugh J. Robinson acquired his early education in New York State, and at the age of nineteen, in the fall of 1852, came to Urbana, Illinois, with the Gere Brothers, tie and timber contractors. He spent four years with this firm getting out tie and bridge timbers.

In 1857 Mr. Robinson acquired his first interests in Champaign County as a farmer, buying a quarter section in Section 33, Sadorus Township. This is now known as the Pioneer Grove Farm. In 1860 he brought his family to Champaign County and in 1866 acquired the other half of the north half of Section 33, and has made that the scene of an extensive business as a stock raiser, cattle feeder and horse breeder.

Mr. Robinson married October 8, 1858, Jane Thrasher. She passed away in 1874, the mother of three children: Robert T., living in Minnesota; William C., on the old homestead; and Martha Jane, who married William Miller and has two daughters, Edith and Jessie Miller. In 1875 Mr. Robinson married Susan Jane Hutchinson. She was his faithful and trusted companion for over forty years and passed away only recently, in January, 1917. One son was born to their marriage, John Winfield, but he died at the early age of four years.

Mr. Robinson has been a prominent factor in Champaign County's public affairs and for thirty years, from 1866 to 1896, was a member of the county board. He was elected a member of the Legislature and served in the Forty-first and Forty-second General Assemblies, and carefully looked after the interests of his constituents and also impressed his ability upon the legislation affecting statewide interests. He also served as township school treasurer and director, as township collector and trustee, and has long been recognized as one of the leading Democrats of Champaign County.

Mr. Robinson was one of the five original directors of the First National Bank at Ivesdale when that bank took out a national charter, and he has continued a director to the present time. Quite recently he was elected vice president of the bank. Mr. Robinson has been a Mason for over half a century, and has attained the Knight Templar Commandery degrees. His church sentiments are expressed by the Universalist denomination. Mr. Robinson continues to reside at the old homestead, and his fine country residence is on Rural Route No. 51 out of Sadorus.

FRED L. LOWMAN. One of the most capable educators of Champaign County is the present superintendent of the Fisher public schools, Fred L. Lowman. He is a man of varied and versatile gifts and accomplishments, and well fitted for his place in the educational system of this leading Illinois County. He has come in close touch with the facts and problems of life, is a man of broad sympathies and enthusiasm and is in every way qualified to direct and administer a school and have charge of the training of the men and women of the next generation.

Mr. Lowman was born in Champaign County, February 8, 1885. He is the oldest of the seven children, five sons and two daughters, of John Lewis and Minerva (O'Bryan) Lowman. Five children are still living. His father was born in Douglas County, Illinois, October 20, 1858, was educated in the common schools, and is still living. His people came out of Ohio and settled near Cook's Mill in Douglas County in early days. John L. Lowman is a Republican and cast his first presidential vote for James A. Garfield, the president who began life on the towpath of a canal in Ohio. Mrs. John L. Lowman was born in Champaign County, February 8, 1855. She is still living, as is her aged mother, now eighty-five. A coincidence is the fact that Mr. Lowman, his mother and grandmother were all born on February 8th.

Mr. Fred L. Lowman, as the oldest in a large family, and his parents being people of moderate circumstances, he had to take the responsibilities of life at an early age and in his ambition to secure an education and make the best of his native talents had to go out and secure the means and opportunities as best he could. He attended the common schools and in 1902 completed the course of the Parkville High School. After taking a review normal training course at Urbana, he took charge of the grade school work in the Parkville schools in the fall of 1902. While that was the beginning of his career as an educator, Mr. Lowman has never stopped in adding to his individual accomplishments. Much of his higher education was secured through correspondence courses with a correspondence school at Peoria, Illinois. He also took up the study of law and science at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana. He carried a very heavy amount of work in that institution and in 1907 received a well merited diploma as a graduate of the law department with the degree LL. B, having also received 98 of the 120 units necessary for the B. S. degree. He lacked only two weeks of work necessary to receive his degree Bachelor of Oratory. Through all this course of study he worked to pay his way. He taught school in his home district and boarded at home, where he did not have to pay board, and in this manner was able to save the means whereby he might attend college.

After graduating at Valparaiso Mr. Lowman went to Hammond, Indiana, in July, 1907, and entered the practice of law under the name White & Lowman. This partnership was continued until February, 1908, when Mr. Lowman sold his interests and then for a brief time practiced with a Mr. Eiley. Giving up law practice, he returned to Champaign County and in the 'fall of 1908 became principal of the Penfield public schools. He remained there four years and made an enviable record as a teacher. In 1913 he resumed the superintendency of the Fisher schools, and has been in active charge there for the past four years. His work in these schools has contributed materially to his prestige as a successful educator.

The Fisher school building is thoroughly modern in every detail of construction and equipment. It is most healthily situated, standing on an eminence commanding a beautiful view of the town and surrounding country. Mr. Lowman has six teachers under his supervision. The commencement exercises for the class of 1917 occurred May 18, 1917.

Mr. Lowman married Miss Katharine Curzon of Champaign, Illinois, directly related with the family of English nobility of which Lord Curzon is a conspicuous member. Mr. and Mrs. Lowman were married March 18, 1906. They have one daughter, June, aged four years.

Mrs. Lowman was born at Darrien, Connecticut, October 30, 1885. She was educated in the Champaign High School, from which she graduated with the class of 1904. She also took musical studies in Valparaiso University and for two years was a popular teacher in Parkville, Champaign County. She is one of the active workers of the Domestic Science Club at Fisher. She is also an honored member of the Eastern Star Chapter. Mr. Lowman is a member of the Episcopal Church, while Mrs. Lowman is a member of the Scientist CIvurch. He is a Eepublican politically and in the course of his voting he supported Mr. Taft for president. Fraternally he is affiliated with J. R. Gorrin Lodge No. 537, A. F. & A. M., of Sadorus, Illinois.

Mr. Lowman has also taken instruction in the Carnegie School of Correspondence at Pittsburgh and at the American University of Chicago. There are few men in Champaign County who have a better balanced and altogether more liberal education. For this he enjoys special respect and admiration because at the outset he was a boy without means and has struggled along, led by a strong ambition, until he has fitted himself for a place of thorough usefulness in the world.

OTHO PATTEHSOX, a native of Champaign County and representing a pioneer family, has for years been numbered among the progressive farmers and citizens, while as a horseman his reputation has extended pretty well over the state and throughout the country. He has bred and owned at his fine farm some of the fastest and finest horses ever produced in Illinois. Mr. Patterson is an expert in the raising and training of horses and for some years that has been his chief business occupation.

He was born in St. Joseph Township, December 16, 1851, son of J. K. and Catherine (Swearingen) Patterson. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Kentucky, the latter coming to Illinois with her parents. J. K. Patterson and wife were married in this county. Of the events and experiences that make up the bulk of Champaign County's history during the past seventy-five years the Patterson family has had its full share. J. K. Patterson showed himself a man of spirit and enterprise even when young. In 1839 he rode horseback all the way from Columbus, Ohio, to Champaign County for the purpose of looking over the country. Though the land was a vast virgin prairie, abounding with sloughs, he recognized its fertility and the prospect of future development, and accordingly filed on 160 acres. At that time the land office was at Danville, and 'he went there to secure the papers and pay the regulation price of $1.25 per acre. On returning home to Ohio he told his uncle, Thomas Kilgore, of what he had done and also spoke of an adjoining forty acres which he greatly desired, but lack of money prevented his taking it up. His uncle, who admired the pluck of the young man, said, "If that is all that is lacking I will furnish the money," which he promptly did. Again J. K. Patterson made the long trip to Illinois and filed on the coveted forty acres at Danville. He took possession of this land and a year or so later he married the daughter of a neighbor, Catherine Swearingen. During the first year spent by the Patterson family in Champaign County they took their grist to mill at Covington, Indiana. The roads were little more than trails and often impassable on account of the mud. While a team could not drag a wagon over the highways of that time, it was possible by uncoupling the running gear and loading the grain in a box on the two front wheels to -accomplish the journey to Covington, though not without a great deal of difficulty at that.

In the family of J. K. and Catherine Patterson were eight children, four sons and four daughters. By a singular coincidence six of these children were born in the month of December. They were educated in some of those old-time log schoolhouses which have been made familiar by many pictures of old-time conditions. This schoolhouse which the Patterson children attended had rough plank seats, supported by legs from the floor and a broad desk or board was fastened to the wall by pins and furnished space for writing. Otho Patterson has an interesting recollection of an incident of his boyhood, when he carried a dozen eggs to market. These eggs were sold at the little grocery store of Uncle Joe Kelley, proprietor of the famous old Kelley Tavern, the most historic landmark of early Champaign County.

J. K. Patterson proved equal to the burdens and responsibilities of making good as a pioneer. He was an industrious worker and farmer and enjoyed a large degree of prosperity. In the early days he hauled wheat to market at Chicago, and bought and sold stock on a large scale. After collecting a large number of hogs they were driven overland to market at Cincinnati. He and his wife were devoted members of the Church of Christ and they did a great deal of good in the community where they settled and where they left names associated with complete honesty and integrity of character.

Otho Patterson grew up in the midst of such pioneer conditions. When a young man he sought a wife and companion, and going to Economy in Wayne County, Indiana, married Miss Sarah E. Wood. Mrs. Patterson was born in Henry County, Indiana, daughter of Joseph and Mary A. (Davis) Wood. When their daughter Sarah was five months old her parents moved back to Ohio. Her father was a native of Virginia and was an early settler in Ohio. When Mrs. Patterson was thirteen years of age her parents returned to Indiana. She had in the meantime attended school at Wilmington, the county seat of Clinton County. She grew to young womanhood in old Wayne County, Indiana, and her home was close by the famous national road, recently called the "Gateway of the West." This is one of the most famous highways in America's history, and as a girl Mrs. Patterson daily witnessed long trains of emigrant wagons, frequently thirty covered wagons in a line, wending their way to the great West.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Patterson located on land belonging to his father. Four years later, in October, 1875, Mr. Patterson's father died. The next year the estate was divided and Otho inherited fifty-one and a half 'acres. Moving to that land he began its development and improvement, and that has been the scene of his splendid success as a farmer and stockman. He has increased his holdings, and has made improvements of the most substantial character, including a large home, surrounded with groves of fruit and shade trees, and the entire place stands as a monument to his industry. For years Mr. Patterson has been one of the liberal users of cement as a durable and practical construction material, and his home is surrounded with cement walks, the stock watering troughs are constructed of the same material and the character of this material is in line with the substantial nature of Mr. Patterson's industry and accomplishment in other lines.

For years he has given much of his attention to the raising and training of thoroughbred running horses. These horses have a national reputation. One of them, Doctor Murray, made a record of half a mile in forty-nine seconds, five-eighths of a mile in a minute and two seconds, and at the St. Louis races beat Bob Wade, holder of the first world's record for a quarter mile. In that race Bob Wade ran second in a race of three-eighths of a mile, the time of the winner being thirty-six seconds. In the blue grass regions of Kentucky it would not be possible to find a more enthusiastic horseman than Mr. Patterson. Some of the splendid animals that have been kept in his stables should be mentioned. They are : Sally Kelly, by Jim Kelly, dam Euby D'Or, by Robert D'Or; Pearl Lewis, from Jim Kelly and Dolly Bell; Wild Cherry, by Wilford and Cerise; Ruby D'Or, out of Robert D'Or and Nannie B ; May Cherry, sired by Robert D'Or, dam Wild Cherry Blossom by Wild Cherry; Oonoomoo, by Robert D'Or and Dolly Bell, Oonoomoo having been a great favorite in New Orleans and in one season winning twenty-two straight races. At the present writing the Patterson stables contain the following horses: Oonie, sired "by Jim Kelly, dam Dolly Bell ; Kitty Muldoon, by Hans Vanderbum and May Cherry II; Nellie Rawlings, by Jim Kelly and Tenny Miller: Billy Siders, by Hokobokee and Dolly Bell ; Doctor Murray, from Hokobokee and May Cherry II ; Tobias, by Hans Vanderbum and Ruby D'Or : Hans Vanderbum, by Jim Kelly and Dolly Bell ; Hokobokee, by Jim Kelly and Ruby D'Or; Little Johnnie, by Jim Kelly and Sadie D'Or.

Breeding and raising and training of fine grades of stock has been Mr. Patterson's occupation and diversion for forty years. He is everywhere known among horsemen and his enterprise has added another laurel to Champaign County's crown of greatness as an agricultural and stock-raising

While his business has required his constant care and management Mr. Patterson has not neglected the public welfare. For thirteen years he was road commissioner of St. Joseph Township, and some of the best roads in the county are to be credited to his work in that direction. During all those thirteen years he missed only two meetings of the board of commissioners. He has also served as school director, has been first and last an enthusiastic advocate of a good drainage system both on individual farms and by districts. Politically Republican, he was reared in the atmosphere of that party, and since casting his first vote has never missed a presi-' dential election. The Patterson home is noted for its hospitality, and not a little for the success which he has achieved Mr. Patterson credits to his good wife, who joined him on the road of life when their capital was exceedingly limited and has been by his side steadily through all the years that have followed. It was Mrs. Patterson who selected many of the distinctive and appropriate names for his race horses.

FRANK DELANEY. For forty years Champaign County has been the home of Frank Delaney, and his name, especially in Newcomb Township, is spoken with every degree of respect attaching to a man whose achievements have been commendable and whose influence has been in every degree salutary and beneficial in the community. Mr. Delaney is now serving as township supervisor.

He was born in McLean County, Illinois, September 13, 1868, one of the ten children of James and Bridget (Trainer) Delaney. Of the six sons and four daughters eight are still living. James Delaney was a native of the Emerald Isle, grew up in Ireland, and when he came to America he was truly a stranger in a strange land and almost penniless. He had to cross the ocean on a sailing vessel and it was eleven weeks before the vessel landed its passengers in New York. After a brief residence in New York State he came West to Bloomington, Illinois. He was not in financial circumstances that would permit him an independent career at the start, and as a wage earner he worked on farms until he could accumulate enough to become an independent farmer. Agriculture was his lifelong vocation. After strict economy for a number of years he was able to buy eighty acres of land, which original tract is in the fine farm now owned and occupied by his son Frank. That the subsequent years brought him ample prosperity and reward for his good judgment and industry is indicated by the fact that during his lifetime he acquired an estate of 860 acres, 540 acres in Champaign County and 320 acres in Hancock County, Iowa. The death of this hard working farmer occurred in Champaign County in 1892. He was a Democrat, and an active member of St. Malachi Catholic Church at Rantoul. His wife was also a native of Ireland and a devout Catholic. She died in 1912.

In the years of early boyhood Frank Delaney learned the lesson taught by experience that there is no excellence without labor and that the best rewards of life are paid to due diligence and an earnest pursuit of definite ends. By the same principle he obtained most of his early education. When he left home it was to become a wage earner and farm hand, and the first year he worked at $20 a month. He then started as a renter, and while he has long owned a share in the agricultural lands of Champaign County he continued as a tenant farmer until about five years ago. With three of his brothers he had bought 150 acres of land, and he and his brother Henry subsequently bought the other shares. With this as a nucleus Frank Delaney has increased his possessions until his estate now comprises 396 acres situated in Newcomb and Brown townships. In these modern days such a farm spells independence and success. His home place is thoroughly improved and it has a comfortable residence. Besides his farm Mr. Delaney is a stockholder in the Lotus Coal and Grain Elevator Company at Lotus, Illinois.

The chief impetus to his efforts during all these years has been his good wife and their growing family. On April 5, 1893, he married Miss Anna L. McGuire. They have four living children, two sons and two daughters. Leonard F. was educated in the common schools and is now a practical young agriculturist. He is a Democrat and a member of the Catholic Church at Bellflower, Illinois. Wayne H., the younger son, has completed the common school course and is now in the second year of the Fisher High School. Catherine F. is a student in St. Joseph's Academy at Bloomington, Illinois, and along with literary studies has taken musical instruction. Hazel, the youngest, is in the Walker School. The children have all been carefully reared and the older ones have been confirmed in the Catholic Church.

Mrs. Delaney was born in DeWitt County, Illinois. She had a common school education. Her parents, Michael and Catherine McGuire, are still living and have their home in Fisher. They are members of the Catholic parish at Eantoul. Mrs. Delaney has her membership in the Catholic Church at Bellflower and both she and her husband did much to aid the parish in the erection of the church. Mrs. Delaney is strictly a home woman and finds her greatest delight in the duties of home making and her children.

Politically Mr. Delaney has always been a Democrat. His fellow citizens have sought his co-operation through public office and he served as road commissioner three years, and for eighteen years was a director of his home school district. In 1917 he was unanimously elected to the office of supervisor of Newcomb Township. This is the highest and most important township office. Mr. Delaney has always shown himself a ready advocate and supporter of the good roads movement. He is a member of the Catholic Church at Bellflower. Like many other prosperous Champaign County farmers, he has an automobile both for business and pleasure and his Buick touring car places his country home in close touch with church, school and the village and city centers.

A. J. KIRKPATBICK. By many activities and associations the name Kirkpatrick is identified with the best traditions of Champaign County. Of this family A. J. Kirkpatrick is widely known as one of the most capable agriculturists and his success consists not only in the thorough management of the resources of the soil but also in his contributions to the improvement and beautifying of the rural landscape. Mr. Kirkpatrick is proprietor of the Blue Mound Farm in Stanton Township.

He was born at Champaign, February 17, 1854, a son of John C. and Mary C. (Busey) Kirkpatrick. His parents represented two of the noted pioneer families in this county. A. J. Kirkpatrick was the second among eight children, and during his boyhood days he attended the public schools of Champaign with his brothers and sisters. He can remember a time when Champaign consisted of a hamlet of only seven houses.

In the Mayview Methodist Episcopal Church, on September 5, 1875, with Rev. B. Bartholow officiating, Mr. Kirkpatrick married Miss Alice Barricklow. She was born at Urbana, daughter of John T. and Phoebe Jane (Hudson) Barricklow. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick continued to live in St. Joseph Township and started farming on the property of his father. Later he bought 120 acres in Stanton Township adjoining the 120 acres which his father had given him. This new land had no improvements, and in the course of years he developed its virgin prairies into productive fields, put up commodious houses, planted fruit and shade trees, and the fruits of his industry there are in themselves an important contribution to the welfare and attractiveness of Champaign County.

To Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick were born four children, two sons and two daughters: Myrtle, Maude and Claude, the last two being twins. The children were educated in the Hunt and Blue Mound district schools, while Earl and Maude attended the Urbana High School. They are now . comfortably settled in life. Myrtle married William Woolever, a farmer at Auburn, Indiana, and her four children are Clare, Leal, Merle and Hazel. The son Earl is active manager of a fine farm of 280 acres owned by his father near Mayview. He married Miss Maymie Polter and has three children : Lysle, Raymond and Wilma. The daughter Maude Kirkpatrick is the wife of Wiley Johnson, a farmer in Stanton Township, and has two children, Nolan and Glen. Claude Kirkpatrick has accepted an opportunity offered him by his father in the management of the home estate, and with his family occupies a house specially built for them by his father. Claude married Miss Hazel Shaw, a native of Urbana, who was educated in the high school of that city.

The mother of these children saw them grow up and carefully supervised their early training, and her death on June 16, 1908, was a heavy bereavement to the family and the community. On September 11, 1913, Mr. Kirkpatrick married Mrs. Idabel (Fisher) Yerger. She was the widow of S. 0. Yerger. Mrs. Kirkpatrick was born in Indiana, two miles from the famous Tippecanoe battleground. Her paternal grandparents, Daniel and Mary (Chapman) Fisher, were the first people married in Washington Township of Tippecanoe County.

The Kirkpatrick homestead of 297 acres is a splendid picture of comfort and rural adornment. A fine grove of trees near the home furnishes a cool and leafy retreat and a traveler may ride far and wide over Champaign County without witnessing a more complete picture of ruial adequacy and agricultural efficiency. Besides being a practical and natural farmer, Mr. Kirkpatrick is an expert mechanic. His fine country home was built by himself as contractor and architect, and he also installed the acetylene light system, and the gasoline engine which furnishes power for pumping water through the house and about the grounds.

The Kirkpatrick family are active members of the Mayview Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Kirkpatrick has for many years held a membership. Mrs. Kirkpatrick was reared a Congregationalist. Mr. Kirkpatrick has served the church in official capacities and has been superintendent of the Sunday school. Politically he is a loyal supporter of the temperance cause, and wherever possible directs his influence and help in that direction. In 1916 he supported President Wilson for another term. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a man of public spirit and also interested in community welfare. For a number of years he served as director of the local schools and as township assessor.