Champaign County, Illinois - The whole text, 1918 (part 16 of 23)

Mrs. Downs had an interesting childhood and girlhood in Champaign County. The first school she attended was a more or less exact copy of the primitive schoolhouse which has become so celebrated in song and story of the early times. The slab benches had no backs and she can testify to the fact that it was exceedingly tiresome to sit upon one of these benches for any length of time. The first book put in her hands was a little green primer. She has never forgotten her first lessons in school. Her first instruction was to memorize a stanza of poetry and the words of that little poem have never escaped her. They are as follows : "Oh mother may I go to school with brother Charles today? The air is very soft and cool, do, mother, say I may. Well, little Mary, you may go if you will keep quite still, 'Tis wrong to make a noise, you know, I do not think you will."

Woodrow Downs. Mr. and Mrs. Downs became the parents of fifteen children, ten sons and five daughters. Thirteen of them are. still living. It is a splendid family record. Dwight, the oldest, was educated in the common schools and is a practical agriculturist at Clyde, North Dakota. He married Miss Maud Lott and their four children are Eollo, Mary, Elsie and Josephine. Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Downs helped build the first Methodist Episcopal Church at Clyde, North Dakota. Mettie, the second child, was educated in the Fisher High School, with the class of 1904, and is still living with her mother, and she has taught school successfully in this county. Elizabeth was graduated from the Fisher High School in 1905 and is still at home. She is a member of the Domestic Science Club of Mahomet. Woodrow was educated in the common schools and is now following agriculture near Baker, Montana. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and married Miss Anna Becker. Pearl had a common school education and is now doing much of the work of the home farm for his mother. Bernice graduated from the Mahomet High School with the class of 1913, taught two years in this county, and is still at home. John Isaac had a common school education and two years in the high school at Mahomet and is now connected with a large automobile firm at Alma, Michigan. Nannie had two years in the Mahomet High School and is now the wife of E. J. Hammell, an agriculturist of Newcomb Township. They have a daughter, Mary Louise. Jesse Glenn, still at home, is attending high school at Fisher. Don Edmund has finished the common school course and in 1917 received his diploma from the Rakes Automobile and Tractor School at Kansas City, Missouri, and is now a very expert mechanic and thoroughly competent to handle all kinds of automobile and tractor machinery. Melvin is in the seventh grade of the common schools; Leslie S. is also in the seventh grade of the Fisher school and Carrol Newton, the 3'oungest, is in the third grade.

Great credit is due Mrs. Downs for the way she has reared her children and the unusual advantages she has afforded them both at home and in school.

The late Mr. Downs was born in Logan County, near North Lewisburg, Ohio, February 27, 1852. He grew up there until he was fifteen and then came to Champaign County. He had the advantages of the common schools and early took up agriculture as his vocation. With the aid of his good wife, who stood constantly by him in practical assistance and in counsel and advice, he was highly prospered and stood high in community esteem. This esteem was well manifested at the time of his death on December 17, 1912, when it was generally felt throughout Newcomb Township that one of its ablest and best men had passed away. He is now at rest in the Shiloh cemeter/, where Mrs. Downs has erected a monument to his memory. Mr. Downs was a Republican, and in a public way served as a justice of the peace and town clerk and for twentyfive years was a director of the public schools. He had the. good of his community at heart and was always willing to work for the raising of standards and improvement of the locality. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served as superintendent of the Sunday school. His parents and grandparents were Quakers.

For years Mrs. Downs has been foremost in all the good work of her township and particularly in her church, with which she is officially identified. She is also one of the teachers of the Sunday school. Mrs. Downs has given liberally of her means to the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church, of which her father was one of the founders. This church stands just across the road from Mrs. Downs' residence. The handsome and modern edifice was dedicated May 13, 1917, at a cost of $9,000. There was still a deficit of $1,850 at the time of dedication and the members of the church at once subscribed $2,700, nearly $1,000 more than enough to pay off all indebtedness.

Mrs. Downs still lives on her farm of 270 acres in Newcomb Township. It is a splendid place, and for a number of years has been known as the home of some very fine Shire horses. It bears the title of Willow Brook Farm, but has long been known as the Pancake Point Farm, due to the fact that members of the Pancake family entered the land from the government.

Mrs. Downs has taken pleasure, recreation and additional means of culture from travel. She has visited many of the states in the Union, including the Dakotas, and has been through Canada. She has a fine home, many friends, and her high place in the community is not difficult to understand.

DAVID MADDOCK, who died in 1909, was a citizen of the type and virtues who should long be remembered not only among his descendants but by all who find encouragement and inspiration in a life of practical utility and a devotion to the best interests of mankind.

Mr. Maddock lived in Champaign County for nearly half a century. He was born near West Elkton, Ohio, a son of Eli and Absillit (Woodward) Maddock. His father was a native of Ohio and his mother of North Carolina. When David was a young man, after he had obtained his education in the district schools, the family moved to Illinois and went through the experiences of pioneers on a farm in Vermilion County and later in Champaign County.

On February 21, 1861, David Maddock married Jane H. Mills. Mrs. Maddock, who is now living in the village of St. Joseph, gave him the inspiration of her presence and her companionship for nearly half a century. She is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Mendenhall) Mills, both of whom were born in Tennessee. They first moved to Ohio and later to Vermilion County, Illinois. Mrs. Maddock completed her education in the old Vermilion Seminary near Vermilion Grove.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Maddock located five miles north of St. Joseph, where they bought 160 acres at $10 an acre. It was all virgin prairie, not a tree in sight, and it was possible to see over the prairies as far as Rantoul. They bought this home in 1865 and went through all the hardships and inconveniences devolved in making a good farm there. Later, in order to educate their children, Mr. and Mrs. Maddock moved to Indiana, and lived in that state for fifteen years.

Their six children were Oliver W., John M., Cora Ellen, William E., Anna E. and Emma J. They received their first advantages in the Stanton District School No. 4 and afterwards attended the Quaker school known as Bloomingdale Academy in Indiana. From the first Mr. and Mrs. Maddock endeavored to give their children every possible advantage. The three younger children completed their education in the famous old Quaker school, Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana.

The oldest of the children, Oliver W., is a farmer three and a half miles north of St. Joseph. He married Lutora Thompkins, and their children are Edward W., Clifton, Earl, Lowell and Russell. Of these Edward and Clifton were educated in the St. Joseph High School, while Earl spent two years in the special study of agriculture in the University of Illinois. Earl is a successful farmer, and has been honored with the position of deacon in the New Light Church.

National Army as a soldier. The daughter Cora Ellen is the wife of Charles Digby, and their home is at Charleston, Illinois. Their four children are Loren, Clara E., Paul and Charles. William E. is a school superintendent at Butte, Montana. He married Lida Shobe and has two daughters, Margaret and Helen. Anna E. is the wife of Dr. W. W. Pretts of Platteville, Wisconsin. Their three children are Elizabeth, Mary and William. The youngest of the children, Emma J., is the wife of Eev. Clarence Burkholder of Alpena, Michigan. They have a family of five children : Evelyn, Irene, Clarence E., Lucile and Henry.

After the education of their children was finished in Indiana, Mr. and Mrs. Maddock returned to Champaign County, lived in the village of St. Joseph eighteen months, and then went back to their old farm. They erected a fine new home and surrounded themselves with every comfort that goes with modern rural life. Mr. Maddock always took an active interest in his church, served it as overseer and Sunday school superintendent, and was a man of public spirit in every sense of the word. He was school director, township treasurer, town clerk and commissioner, and the last work of his life was in connection with the schools. He and his wife had driven to St. Joseph to look after some school matters, and after they returned home that evening he was stricken with a pain about his heart and died of neuralgia before 1 o'clock the next morning. Mrs. Maddock after the death of her beloved companion remained on the home farm until 1916, when she bought an attractive home on Main Street in the village of St. Joseph, where she now lives surrounded with good neighbors and with many friends, and with an unclouded retrospect over the past she looks forward to the future with anticipation and a hope born of a true Christian life.

ROY YOUNGBLOOD, present assessor of Sidney Township, is a progressive young business man of that village. He began his career with limited capital and from employment by others has worked into a profitable business of his own.

He was born at Sidney, Illinois, December 23, 1880, and is a son of William H. and Savilla (Lucas) Youngblood. His father was born in Logansport, Indiana, and his mother in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His father, who is still living at Sidney, is an honored veteran of the Civil War. He served almost throughout that great conflict, part of the time in the Thirty-fifth and part of the time in the Twenty-fifth Illinois Infantry. As a result of the explosion of a caisson he became totally blind. He and his wife had six children: James, of Normal, Illinois; Anna, wife of William Eaton, of Sidney ; Elizabeth, wife of T. L. Dalton, of Sidney; Howard, of Sidney; Grace, deceased; and Roy.

Roy Youngblood grew up in his native village, attended the local schools, and after finishing a course in the Indianapolis Business College in 1900 he returned to his home town and became assistant cashier and bookkeeper in the State Bank. He served faithfully in that capacity four years and then made an opportunity for a'business of his own as a restaurant proprietor. He conducts a model establishment and has a fine trade.

On September 26, 1906, Mr. Youngblood married Leslie Yeazel, a native of St. Joseph Township of Champaign County. Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood have three children: Mary, Milton and Mildred, the latter two twins. Politically Mr. Youngblood has always acted in the Republican party and is influential in its councils. Besides his present office BS township assessor, in which he is serving his second term, he is an alderman of the village, and was formerly village treasurer. In fraternal matters he is a Mason.

J. W. BENSTL, whose home is an attractive place just east of Urbana, enjoys the honor and respect of all the people of Champaign County, particularly for the valiant service he rendered as a soldier of the Civil War. Mr. Bensyl was in the army for over four years, and his subsequent life and activities have been of a piece with the loyalty and devotion he showed his country in time of stress.

Mr. Bensyl was born at Danville, Illinois, November 23, 1839, a son of John and Elizabeth (Corray) Bensyl. Both parents were natives of Ohio. Elizabeth Corray, a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Corray, was born in that state January 29, 1820. John Bensyl was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, December 5, 1808, a son of John and Mary Bensyl. John and Elizabeth Bensyl were married December 27, 1838, before a justice of the peace, Walter Eoads. John Bensyl died January 23, 1844. J. W. Bensyl was one of two children. His sister, Mary Matilda, was born January 27, 1842, and died in Nevada.

The Bensyl family were pioneer settlers in eastern Illinois and the parents were married at Danville. John Bensyl took part as a soldier in the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832, a brief campaign in which many men had their first experience in military affairs. It will be recalled that Abraham Lincoln was captain of a company in that war. John Bensyl enlisted twice during the war. He was first under Captain James Farmer and afterwards under Captain Jesse B. Brown. Mr. Bensyl has in his possession the discharge papers of his father, dated June 23, 1832. This discharge states that John Bensyl carried the thanks and gratitude of his commanding officer, which is high evidence of his soldierly qualities. John Bensyl was a very active man, was of medium height, five feet ten inches, had a fair complexion, gray eyes and dark hair.

After the death of his father J. W. Bensyl's mother married James Springer and removed to northeastern Missouri. The half brothers of Mr. Bensyl are: J. E. Springer of Urbana Township; William I. Springer, deceased; and Thomas Springer of Salt Lake, Utah. J. W. Bensyl lived in Missouri from the age of ten until he was nineteen. He had obtained his first school advantages in the old Bromley School, where his first teacher was George Hoyt. Later he attended the St. Joseph School, where his teacher was Armstrong Rankin.

J. W. Bensyl was not twenty-one years of age when the Civil War broke out. He soon caught the enthusiasm and desired to enlist with the first call for three months' troops. However, he deferred on account of his mother's objection. His mother at that time was in poor health, and on October 16, 1861, she passed away. After she was laid to rest the young man felt that his duty had been done by granting her wish, and that nothing stood in the way' of his service to his country, which was so sorely in need of brave men. On the 25th of October, 1861, he enlisted in Somer Township in Company I of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, a gallant organization in which he did his full share of hardships and duty. The regiment was first ordered to Cairo, then was sent back to Camp Butler at Springfield, thence to Quincy, Illinois, to Benton Barracks at St. Louis, and from there sent into southwestern Missouri, being quartered during the summer at Sand Springs on guard duty, twenty miles from Springfield. During the next winter the regiment was at Brownsville, Arkansas, and in the spring was sent on to New Orleans, to Little Rock, and about that time the term of enlistment having expired, Mr. Bensyl re-enlisted. He and his comrades were granted a thirty days' furlough, which they spent at home and at Springfield, Illinois, where the ladies of the town entertained the soldier boys most royally, giving them a reception which they appreciated the more because of their long experience in camp life.

From Springfield, Illinois, the regiment was again sent South to Nashville, Tennessee, and to Little Rock, Arkansas, where their arms and horses were restored for duty. On first entering the service the members of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry had furnished their own horses, but at the second enlistment the Government furnished their mounts.

The Tenth Illinois Cavalry of which Mr. Bensyl was a member was recruited in the fall of 1861, was mustered into service at Camp Butler, and was discharged from service at the same place January 6, 1866, after four years, two months and seventeen days. It participated in the following notable engagements : Cane Hill, Clark's Mills, Niauqua Creek, Prairie Grove, Van Buren, Cotton Plant, Arkansas Post, Little Rock, Bayou Des Arc, Vicksburg and Mobile.

Mr. Bensyl was first discharged from service January 2, 1864, at Little Rock. At that time his captain was the gallant George L. Snelling. During his first enlistment he served as corporal. His second discharge was dated November 22, 1865, at San Antonio, Texas. He came out of the army with the rank of sergeant. His second captain had been William H. Coffman. Thus Mr. Bensyl was in the army four years, two months and ten days. Not long after he returned to Illinois he went to farming, and on September 25, 1870, married Armilda Brownfield. Mrs. Bensyl was born in Somer Township of Champaign County, a daughter of Benjamin and Lavina (Hayes) Brownfield. The Brownfield family consisted of four children and with her brothers and sisters Mrs. Bensyl attended the district schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl went to Martin County, Minnesota, where they remained two years engaged in fanning. Returning to Illinois, they settled in Somer Township on land which had been part of Mrs. Bensyl's father's estate and a portion of which she had inherited. Here they began building their permanent home, and in time they bought the interests of the other heirs and had a well improved farm of eighty acres.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl, two of whom died in infancy. The only daughter, Kathryn, was educated in the home district schools and the Urbana High School, and after reaching young womanhood married Charles U. Ross. Mr. Ross had formerly been a resident of Urbana, but at that time was engaged in business at Oklahoma City. The wedded life of these two young people was brief. At the end of sixteen months Mr. Ross passed away. Thus left alone in her widowhood, Kathryn returned to the home of her parents at Urbana and has lived with them ever since.

Eighteen years ago Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl left their farm and moved to Urbana, residing there six years. They then sought a home near Urbana, where they acquired a small tract of ground just east of the city and built themselves a most commodious and modern home. The home is located close to the interurban line, and they thus enjoy the conveniences of the city and the comfort and quiet of the country. Uncle Sam delivers their mail every day, and with telephone and electric light they are able to enjoy the scriptural injunction to eat and drink and enjoy the work of their hands.

The family are active members of the Christian Church at Urbana. Mr. Bensyl has served his community as school director and school trustee, and politically has always voted in line with the principles that led him to serve his country in the dark days of the '60s. The Republican party has meant to him the greatest political organization in the world and the source of the best laws America has ever had.

Mr. And Mrs. A. C. Mcelwee And Children

garden spot of the world. He recalls a time when the town of Urbana consisted of only a few buildings and the country around was a scene of waving prairie grass and sloughs. The original log jail was standing in Urbana when Mr. Bensyl first came to the county. On a farm that afterwards belonged to Mrs. Bensyl a man named Weaver, while under the influence of liquor, shot and killed a Mr. Hildebrand. Weaver was arrested and confined in the old jail at Urbana, and after trial was sentenced to be hanged. The night before the morning set for the execution he broke out of jail and was never apprehended. It was said that he went to Wisconsin, where his family joined him, and he spent his last years there.

Thus the main facts have been recited in the career of a worthy Champaign County citizen who as a youth marched away with the boys in blue to save the Union from disintegration and after more than four years of fighting returned home to enjoy the fruits of peace and take his place among those who were fighting for the victories of civilization. More than ever today the world realizes how much the victorious boys of the '60s contributed by their brave efforts to the well being of not only this nation but of the world, since it was the results of their sacrifices that made it possible for the allies to appeal for help to the United States and thus preserve the rights and liberties of freedom everywhere from the encroachment of monarchy and despotism.

A. C. McELWEE. The township of St. Joseph has some of the best farms in Champaign County, and one that at once attracts attention by its well tilled fields and splendid improvements is the Elder Eow Grain and Stock Farm, the proprietor of which is A. C. McElwee.

Back in 1856, more than sixty years ago, his grandfather, C. J. McElwee, acquired 120 acres. It was raw and unimproved and largely became a farm under his efforts. That was the foundation and nucleus of the Elder Eow Grain and Stock Farm. Oddly enough, the land has not been retained in the family possession by the usual method of inheritance, but always by purchase from one member or one generation of the family from another. Thus what one generation developed has been taken by the next succeeding and every year has witnessed increasing value and care and management.

Mr. A. C. McElwee, the present proprietor of this fine farm, was born in Fountain County, Indiana, December 27, 1864, a son of Leonard C. and Anna M. (Simmons) McElwee. Leonard C. McElwee was born in Lancaster County, Permsylvania, November 3, 1837. His wife was born in Ohio, and they were married in Fountain County, Indiana. Leonard C. McElwee for many years combined the vocation of school teacher with that of farmer, teaching country schools in winter terms. He and his wife had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, A. C. being the youngest son. The latter was educated largely in the Bowers District School in St. Joseph Township, his parents having moved to that township in 1874. The mother died there in 1899, and the father survived until 1915.

On May 13, 1890, A. C. McElwee married Miss Julia A. Green, who was born three miles east of Danville, Illinois, a daughter of William and Sarah (Davidson) Green. Both her parents were natives of Illinois, the Green family having come from Ohio and the Davidsons from Virginia. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. McElwee settled on the J. S. Kilbury farm not far from Burr Oak Grove. They lived there eight years, leasing land and farming. At the end of that time Mr. McElwee bought the old home place from his father. His mother in the meantime had died, and his father desired to leave the farm. Here the young couple have made their permanent home, and with industry and intelligence have done much to improve their lot in life and better the circumstances of the family in general. The Elder Row Grain and Stock Farm now comprises 248 acres. Mr. McElwee has constructed a fine and commodious home, a large assortment of fruit trees has been set out, and the place indicates even to the casual observer the evidence of intelligent farming. Mr. McElwee has found mixed farming the most profitable plan and combines the raising of grain crops with good stock. He keeps graded Shorthorn cattle, Belgian horses, and his chief field crops are oats, corn and some wheat and clover. Some years he threshed as much as 6,000 bushels of oats and gathered 8,000 bushels of corn.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McElwee: Floyd L., Florence Ruby (deceased), Harry G. and Albert C. The education of these children was carefully looked after both at home and in the local district schools. The son Floyd L. is a successful young farmer and lives on part of his father's estate. He married Lucile Warnick of Bloomfield, Indiana, and they have two children, Rowena Laverne and Dorothy Florence. Mr. McElwee very wisely provided location and opportunity for his son, and their interests are mutual and each is assisting the other in the work. Thus Mr. McElwee not only has the satisfaction of having his son near him, but also in seeing his grandchildren grow up around him. Mr. and Mrs. McElwee are active members of the United Brethren Church of Union in Ogden Township, and Mr. McElwee is one of its trustees. In politics he is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, and it is his firm belief that this party has done more for the welfare of the country than any other organization. Mr. McElwee is interested in the local schools, has served as school director for fourteen years, and has also been ditch commissioner. He and his wife have contributed not a little to the upbuilding and growth of Champaign County during the many years of their residence here.

CLARENCE A. RICE. Some highly developed farms lie along rural route No. 56 in Philo Township, and one of them is the place of Clarence A. Rice, which is in section 24. Mr. Rice has given a good account of his energies and ability and deserves to rank well to the front among the farming men of one of the richest agricultural sections of the Middle West.

He was born in Bureau County, Illinois, April 7, 1861, a son of Samuel D. and Kate (Bergstra) Rice. His father was born in Massachusetts and his mother in New York State. It was in 1856 that Samuel D. Rice came West, first locating in Iowa and about two years later moving to Bureau County, Illinois. In 1881 he came from Bureau County to Champaign County and established his home in section 24 of Philo Township. He was successfully identified with farming in that locality until his death on December 23, 1914. His good wife and the mother of his only child died in 1863.

Clarence A. Rice grew up in his father's home, attended both the common and high schools, and for many years was associated with his father in the management of the fine farm in Philo Township. He is now individually the owner of 185 acres in section 24 and devotes it to general farming and stock raising.

On March 4, 1886, Mr. Rice married Carrie Hazen. Their two children, Katherine G. and Nathan L., have been afforded every advantage at home and in school and are now students in the State University at Urbana. Mr. Rice is a Republican in politics and is now serving as treasurer of his township school. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.

MATISON F. DUNN has spent a long and productive career as an agriculturist in St. Joseph Township, and for the last two years has lived retired from farming in the village of St. Joseph, and has conducted a very successful real estate enterprise.

Mr. Dunn is a native of Champaign County, having been born on a farm in St. Joseph Township, February 9, 1868, a son of Zephaniah M. and Elizabeth (Mapes) Dunn. His father was a native of Kentucky and his mother of Maryland. Zephaniah Dunn, who was born in 1831, was only two years of age when his parents migrated to Illinois and settled near Urbana among the 'few families then resident there in 1833. Thus the Dunns shared in the experiences typical of the country and described as pertaining to the early decade of the '30s. Zephaniah grew up in these pioneer conditions, and during his youth he worked for Mr, Busey, one of the prominent farmers of the day, for wages of only 25 cents per day. Zephaniah Dunn had a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters, all of whom were educated in the district school known as the Patterson School.

Matison Dunn after reaching his majority married Laura M. Berkshire, daughter of Jesse B. and Ida (Hawley) Berkshire. His marriage was the signal for the beginning of an industrious and active career as a farmer. For some years he rented eighty acres of land, but was not destined to remain long in that condition of semi-dependence. Prosperity has continued to smile upon him and his labors as an agriculturist had their due reward. A number of years ago Mr. Dunn bought 120 acres in Paulding County, Ohio, 240 acres in Minnesota, and at the death of his father became heir to 100 acres in St. Joseph Township.

By his first marriage Mr. Dunn had three children, Grace E., Ida M. and Arley 0. These children, except Ida, who died at the age of three years and eight months, were educated in the St. Joseph High School. Grace married Carl E. Murphy, who lives at Richmond, Indiana, and is employed as interlocking tower man with the Pennsylvania Railway Company. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have four daughters, Mildred, Gertrude, Louise and Esther. Arley 0. Dunn is a locomotive fireman with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, living at Danville. He married Hazel Davidson, and they have a daughter, Lavone, aged four years.

This little family household endured a heavy loss in the death of the good wife and mother on January 6, 1896. Later Mr. Dunn married Nora (Stewart) McCormick, widow of John McCormick. By her first marriage she had two children, Ollie M. and Mabel F. McCormick. Ollie is the wife of Banks Lambdin of Fisher, Illinois, and has, a son and daughter named Fred and Marie. Mabel married Paul M. Freeman, an employe in the Big Four Railway shops at Urbana, and their family consists of two small boys, Donald M. and Stanley F.

By their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dunn have a son and daughter, Lowell M. and Thelma Lavone. These children have been educated in the St. Joseph High School.

Throughout all these years Mr. Dunn has been successfully engaged in farming and stock growing, but in 1913 he left the active supervision of ILe farm and moved to the village of St. Joseph, where he erected a fine residence on Sixth Street and has done much to improve and beautify the home and grounds. While living in the country Mr. Dunn was noted as one of the men who could get the most out of a given acreage and with a given capital, and the same success has followed him to St. Joseph as a real estate man. He is engaged in that business as partner of his cousin, John B. Dunn.

members and liberal supporters of the St. Joseph Christian Church. He is one of the trustees of the church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen order, and Mrs. Dunn is a Pythian Sister.

Such are the principal facts in the history of one of the fine families of Champaign County. Mrs. Dunn is a most excellent wife and home maker and has encouraged her husband and performed a worthy part by her children.

OEIE A. COOK, D. V. M. The important responsibilities of carrying on the world's work are devolving upon younger men in every generation. It is the young men who furnish the enthusiasm and energy to industry and business and also to the professions. One of the young professional men of Fisher is Dr. 0. A. Cook, a young veterinarian who has quickly gained the confidence and esteem of his patrons in veterinary surgery and is well deserving of that confidence.

He is a native of Ford County, Illinois, born April 11, 1894. His parents are Carvosso W. and Elma (Arnold) Cook. There were seven children, five, sons and two daughters, in the family, and four are still living. Carvosso Cook was born in Indiana, was educated in the common schools, and his life has been successfully spent as an agriculturist, though for a short time he was a dealer in drugs. From Indiana he removed to Livingston County, Illinois, and later to Ford County, which has been his home for many years. His first purchase of land was eighty acres and after disposing of that he bought forty acres and still later 160 acres, and having accumulated a fine property of 200 acres of fine land in Ford County is now well deserving of the comforts which surround his retirement. In politics he is a Eepublican and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife own a good property in Roberts, where they now reside. Doctor Cook's mother is a native of New York State and was educated in the public schools. She worships in the Congregational Church.

Doctor Cook was reared in Ford County and had a common school education. As a boy his inclinations were plainly manifest for the profession of veterinary surgery and in 1913 he entered the Chicago Veterinary College, where he was graduated with high standing in a class of ninety-two in 1917. Prior to his graduation he had selected his future location in the great agricultural belt of the world, Champaign County, and has already acquired a good practice at Fisher and over the county at large. He located there in April, 1917. This part of the country has the best class of draft and work horses in the state.

Doctor Cook's office is located in the center of the business district and is thoroughly equipped with the most modern surgical instruments, while his laboratory has a stock of the purest of drugs and medicines. His equine sanitarium is as well equipped as any in the largest cities. Doctor Cook is an affable, cordial and genial gentleman and has those qualities which make him socially popular as well as the thorough ability which merits the confidence shown in his judgment and skill as a professional man. His practice has already extended over the northwestern part of Champaign County' and even to Rantoul. His equipment of instruments and drugs represent an investment of fully seven hundred dollars. He is always prompt and ready to answer calls for service and has his own automobile to take him quickly to any farm in this part of the county.

Doctor Cook keeps in touch with all the latest points of his profession and has his library well stocked with medical journals as well as a complete collection of the best authors on the science of veterinary surgery. He is extremely well fortified to pursue his chosen work in Champaign County and the prosperous and promising beginning he has made of his professional career well justifies placing his record in a conspicuous place in this publication.

WILLIAM L. YANCEY. The various items in the career of William L. Yancey show that he is one of Champaign County's farmers who have made more than an ordinary success, and that while acquiring material prosperity he has not neglected those public interests which claim his attention in common with all good citizens. Though he started life comparatively a poor man, he now has a farm in Mahomet Township which is easily among the best in that section. He is a native son of Champaign County and his record is such that everywhere his word is considered as good as his bond.

His birth occurred June 19, 1864. He was the younger of two children, his only sister being now deceased. His parents were Laten and Margaret (Everett) Yancey. His father was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, was reared and educated there, and was an early day arrival in Champaign County. He made settlement near the old Middletown postoffice, now Mahomet, and industriously pursued the career of farmer there the rest of his days. His remains now rest in the Eiverside Cemetery, and his wife is also deceased. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, a member of the Masonic order and both he and his wife were active in the Baptist Church. The Yancey family has long been identified with American history, and some of the earlier members served with credit as soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

William L. Yancey grew up on his father's farm in Champaign County and attended the Mahomet schools. When about nineteen years of age he started out to achieve his own success in life, and being without cash capital he made his start as a renter. Later he married, and with the aid of a competent wife has made a complete success. His first purchase of land was 153 acres, thirty-five acres in Newcomb Township and the rest in Mahomet. Mr. Yancey has managed his farming activities in a way to bring prosperity and to serve as a stimulating example in the handling of a farm. He has always taken just pride in his blooded sheep, and that is one of the chief features of his farm. The various improvements on his farm have been made by his own efforts.

Mr. Yancey married Miss Kate Scott. Of their three children, one son and two daughters, two are living. Harlow, the only son, was educated in the Mahomet High School and is a practical agriculturist now in charge of his father's farm. He is independent in politics and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Mahomet. Wilma, the only surviving daughter, is a graduate of the Mahomet public schools and was successfully engaged in teaching in this county before her marriage to Mr. Guy Jones. Mr. Jones is an expert automobile mechanic and lives in Mahomet Township. Mrs. Jones is a member of the Baptist Church.

Mrs. Yancey was born in Mahomet Township and she has a twin sister, Sarah, now living in St. Louis. Mrs. Yancey was educated in the common schools and is an active member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Yancey is a Democrat in national affairs, but has very frequently exercised his choice of candidate according to the dictates of his personal judgment. The local schools have always received a generous share of his time and attention, and for a number of years he acted as director of the school in Newcomb Township. He has passed all the chairs in the lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Mahomet and is a member of the Court of Honor. He has long held the position of deacon in the Baptist

JAMES Louis EDWARDS. One of the comfortable country homes of Philo Township, a place adding to the distinctive character of prosperity and well ordered enterprise in that section, is the Edwards place, now occupied by James Louis Edwards, who acquired it from his father, George Edwards. The Edwards family has been identified with Champaign County for over half a century. James Louis Edwards is unmarried and with his sister Anna looks after the management of the farm and they keep house together.

Mr. Edwards was born on the old homestead in section 18 of Philo Township in 1867, a son of George and Susan C. (Andrews) Edwards. His father was born in England and his mother in Baltimore, Maryland. The family came to Champaign County in 1865, locating in that year in section 18 of Philo Township. Land that was then only raw prairie was converted by the united efforts of the family into a fine and prosperous homestead. The father died July 3, 1916, and the mother in February, 1914. They had a large family of children: William, deceased; Anna, at home; John, of Urbana; Ruth, wife of Ora Lindley, of TTrbana; Frank, of Warsaw, Indiana; Nellie, wife of John Elliott, of Cass County, Nebraska; James Louis; Minnie, wife of Irvin Maxwell; and Albert and Edward, both deceased.

James L. Edwards has farmed on the old homestead all his life and is now owner of 160 acres of the old place and besides has eighty acres not included in the original domain of his father. Mr. -Edwards is a fine type of the Champaign County agriculturist and has proved the right man in the right place. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church at -Philo.

JASON EUGENE CHURCHILL. One of the good farm homes in Philo Township is found in section 25, where Mr. J. E. Churchill shows his ability as a farmer and stockman and by dint of hard work and good management has acquired the ownership of a tract of land which he first farmed as a renter.

Mr. Churchill is a native of Champaign County, having been born in Crittenden Township April 3, 1892. His parents were Jason M. and Jennie E. (French) Churchill. His father was born in New York State and his mother in the State of Kansas. His father came to Champaign County when twenty-five years of age and lived an active life as a farmer until his death on July 16, 1911. The mother died in September, 1916. They had three children: Lottie J., Agnes E. and Jason Eugene, and all are living in Philo Township.

At the age of nineteen, in 1911, J. E. Churchill graduated from the Philo High School and almost at once began farming on the home place. A little later he transferred his operations to a rented farm of 160 acres in section 25. Each year brought him added capital as well as experience, and he is now the owner of eighty acres of land in section 25, and his accomplishments promise still greater achievements before he comes to the full maturity of his career. He is both a farmer and stock raiser.

Mr. Churchill was married January 1, 1913, to Fern Spencer, of Crittenden Township. Their three young children are: Jason Spencer, born June 1, 1914; Esther Marie, born July 7, 1915; and Mildred Jean, born September 12, 1916. Like many of the young men of modern times, Mr. Churchill chooses independently in matters of politics. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Philo and also of the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

M. FENWICK. Among the families of more than fifty years' residence in Champaign County, one which is well and favorably known is that represented by M. Fenwick, a prosperous business citizen of St. Joseph, who has made his home in this community since 1868. Mr. Fenwick was born in Indiana, June 14, 1842, a son of William and Mary (Gilbert) Fenwick. His maternal grandfather was an early frontiersman of Ohio, and in that state, in Ross County, Mr. Fenwick's parents were married. William Fenwick was born in Highland County, Ohio, and his father's birthplace was Fenwick's Island, Delaware.

The Fenwick family can be directly traced back to the days of bow-andarrow warfare in Scotland, when members of the family, loyal Scots all, were among the best archers, there being at one time 500 of the name so armed fighting for the rights and liberties of the land of heather. Sir John Fenwick, one of Mr. Fenwick's ancestors, was beheaded in England for his patriotic activities, and it is thought that the original Fenwick in America, Thomas, who arrived in Virginia in 1630, came to this country to escape a like fate. In the Encyclopedia Et Heraldica it is found that the armorials of the family are deposited at the Lion office of Edinburgh, Scotland. The original orthography of the name Fenwick was given in 1567 as Fynwyk, this being changed in 1723 to Finwick and in 1793 to Fenwick. The first record given of the family in this country was in a reference made in the work, entitled "Southern Quakers and Slavery," by Stephen D. Weeks, Ph. D., published by Ballentyne, 1896. In the court records of Norfolk County, Virginia, the name of Thomas Fenwick is frequently found, either as a prosecutor or a defendant, and while his record shows that he surely led a stormy life, some of the penalties, fines and causes for proceedings were both laughable and absurd. He was granted at different' times several thousand acres of land by the Virginia governors as recompense for bringing settlers into the county, and at one time transported sixty persons, for which service he was given 3,000 acres, a part of which was subsequently called Fenwick Island, lying off the coast of Delaware. The court record of May 21, 1679, shows that one Malachi Thruston received judgment against Thomas Fenwick for 365 pounds of tobacco; on September 5, 1679, Thomas Fenwick received a judgment against Nathaniel Brangwing for 400 pounds of tobacco; on February 15, 1680, Thomas Fenwick obtained judgment against Edward Wilder for 337 pounds of pork, and in another case Henry Creek obtained judgment against Thomas Fenwick for 130 pounds of tobacco and 108 pounds of pork. On October 15, 1684, William Porter obtained judgment against Thomas Fenwick for 1,000 pipe stems, to be paid at "Fenwick's Landing." In the land office at Richmond, Virginia, Liber. VII, folio 423, Francis Lord Howard, governor, is shown to issue to Thomas Fenwick a grant of 350 acres for the transportation of seven persons, and later it is shown where Thomas Fenwick traded a negro slave woman for 200 acres of land. On November *17, 1685, "Whereas, Philip Howard did detain a servant of Thomas Fenwick (named Humphry Dorman, who had three years to serve) for the loss of a bull hired to said Fenwick - in which hire the servant ran away, and if Howard do not return said servant within six months to Fenwick, he pay Fenwick 600 pounds of tobacco and costs." Later in 1700, he was made a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature and with other members was appointed at different times to call upon the governor and to present bills for consideration. In the Pennsylvania archives it is shown that Thomas

Fenwick was appointed justice of the peace for Sussex County, and that on May 4, 1703, one Edward Page was fined five shillings for swearing in his (Fen wick's) presence. Fenwick's Island is referred to in the celebrated case between William Penn and Lord Baltimore. The will of Thomas Fenwick is recorded at Georgetown, Delaware, Liber. A, folio 77, as follows : He first willed his soul to God and to his heirs his real estate, slaves and chattels; his daughter, Margaret Stretcher, and heirs his spinning wheels, cards and utensils, her choice of beds and his youngest negro girl ; to Anna Clifton, his sea bed ; to Margaret Hepburn, his old horse "Lodge" and four barrels of Indian corn; to Sarah Clifton, his silver baker; and to Thomas Clifton, half of his mares and an increase on Fenwick's Island.

From his native state of Ohio William Fenwick removed to Indiana and subsequently to Illinois, but after seven years in this state returned to Indiana and there passed the rest of his life. His son, M. Fenwick, was twenty-six years of age when he came to Illinois, being at that time the possessor of a common school education and the trade of carpenter, and settled in St. Joseph Township, Champaign County. He subsequently built the first house at St. Joseph, as well as the first ticket office at this point; likewise built the first house and ticket office at Ogden, Illinois, and scored and hewed the first ties used on the Union Pacific Eailroad at Omaha, Nebraska, but after several years in the trade turned his attention to farming, a field in which he won enviable success through industry and good management, backed up by sound integrity in all transactions.

In 1871 Mr. Fenwick was married to Martha E. Johnson, who was born near Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana, daughter of William and Catherine (Ladd) Johnson, a member of a notable family which traces its ancestry back many generations in this country, and a granddaughter of a cousin of President John Quincy Adams. To Mr. and Mrs. Fenwick there were born the following children : Gary C., W. J., Inez C. and Zula B., all graduates of the St. Joseph High School, where they made exceptional records, and all now worthy and honorable citizens of their communities. Gary C. Fenwick married Juniata Graham, who was born at Vevay in southern Indiana, daughter of Robert and Martha (Lester) Graham, a family which owned and operated the ferry at Vevay. She has been granted a Government license as pilot on the Ohio River, dated August 9, 1915. Gary C. Fenwick is one of the foremost carpenters and contractors of St. Joseph Township, having built some of the finest structures in this part of the county, including the brick Christian Church at St. Joseph, of which he and his family are members and liberal supporters, he having served as superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Fenwick is one of his locality's honored citizens and the possessor of a refined wife and attractive home. W. J. Fenwick married Irma Martin of Louisa, and has one child, Louise. He resides at home and is engaged in assisting his father with the work of the homestead. Inez C. Fenwick married Alexander Penny and resides at Skykomish, Washington, where Mr. Fenwick is connected with railroad shops. Mrs. Penny was formerly for one year worthy matron of the Order of the Eastern Star at Urbana, Illinois. Zula B. Fenwick married Charles Davis, a farmer of St. Louis, Michigan, and has one child, Martha.

In various ways M. Fenwick has been a factor in bringing about the development of Champaign County, and his assistance has been constant in support of worthy measures. He has served as road commissioner and school director, and when the first drainage system was installed was elected drainage commissioner, and with his helpers dug and completed forty miles of open and tile ditches within three years in one township, a feat which is one that stands out as a great accomplishment in the history of this section. In political matters he holds to broad views on various subjects and refuses to allow himself to be confined to party lines, his support being given to the men whom he believes best qualified for the office and to the policies that he feels are best for the general welfare. He has been a generous donator to the Christian Church, of which he and his family are members. For fifty years he has been identified with Masonry, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree, and his son has also been a member of this order for some years. In every respect Mr. Fenwick is a representative citizen of his community, a man whose excellent reputation has been built upon a long period of straightforward dealing and clean living, and a worthy bearer of this honorable family name.

EGBERT J. MYEES. For forty-one years Eobert J. Myers has lived in Champaign County. Those have been years of productive labor, of public spirited enterprise, and few men have left a stronger impress upon their home locality than he. He was not a wealthy man when he came to this county and his prosperity has been the fruit of long continued work, good management and an unselfish interest in the life and affairs of his community.

He is a native of the old Blue Grass State and was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, March 23, 1853. He is the oldest of four children, three sons and one daughter, born to John Means and Isabel (Markland) Myers. Three children are still living: Eobert, Henry and Nannie. Henry, still living in Lewis County, Kentucky, is both a farmer and manager of a large tobacco warehouse. He is married and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church. Nannie is the wife of A. G. Wilson, a farmer and breeder of blooded horses in Lewis County, Kentucky.

John M. Myers was born in Lewis County November 2, 1812. His death occurred in 1896, at the age of eighty-four. He improved his limited advantages in the common schools so as to be able to teach for a number of terms. In politics he was an old line Whig and an admirer and supporter of Henry Clay. From that party he went into the Bepublican ranks upon the organization and cast his vote for Fremont in 1856. Besides the ownership of 572 acres in Lewis County he acquired 1104 acres of land in Newcomb Township of Champaign County, Illinois. Part of his Champaign County possessions he entered direct from the government. Land that he paid a dollar and a quarter an acre for could not now be bought for less than three hundred dollars an acre. He and his son Eobert walked all the way from Kentucky to Illinois to enter the land in Champaign County. Combined with his ability and success in material affairs John M. Myers possessed the qualifications of the true Kentucky gentleman. He lived liberally and hospitably and was a man looked up to wherever he was known. His death occurred in the old home where he was born and reared. His wife was a native of Adams County, Ohio, born there September 20, 1818, and died a number of years ago. She grew to young womanhood in her native state, was educated in Ohio, and then accompanied her parents to Lewis County, Kentucky. Her father was William Markland. John M. Myers and wife were both members of the Christian Church.

Mr. Robert J. Myers grew up in his native state. The advantages he acquired in the local schools were supplemented by a rigid course of self training and study. At one time he attended school kept in a log cabin. He even used and made the old-fashioned goose quill pen as the implement of writing. For thirteen terms Mr. Myers was a school teacher, teaching twelve terms in his native state and one in Illinois. Some of his Ken- tucky schools were supported on the subscription plan. His home was with his parents until he was twenty-three and part of his earnings always went into the family exchequer.

At the age of thirteen Mr. Myers met with an accident which made his left leg permanently crippled. In spite of that handicap his indomitable energy and ambition has made him a very successful man. Coming to Illinois, he took up a life of agriculture, and that has been his chief calling and the source of his best success. With the aid of his good wife he has accumulated 200 acres of the rich land in Newcomb Township and they also have a beautiful residence in Fisher.

On December 21, 1886, Mr. Myers married Miss Anna Belle Gilmore. Two children have been born to their union, a son and a daughter. John G., the son, has for the past seven years been a resident of Mansfield, Illinois, and is assistant cashier and bookkeeper in the State Bank of that town He was educated in the Fisher High School, and before entering the bank took a business course in the Bloomingtoa Business College. He is a Republican, and in Masonry has advanced from the Blue Lodge to the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite. He is a live and enterprising young citizen and besides his connection with the bank is associated with Alva James in the automobile business. John G. Myers was married in December, 1916, to Miss Phoebe James.

Lela M., the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Myers, married W. B. Scott. A resident of Fisher, he spends his time in travel as an employe in the United States mail service. Mrs. Scott was educated in the Fisher schools, is an active member of the Domestic Science Club and was its secretary four years. She and her husband are members of the Christian Church at Fisher. Mr. Scott was educated in the common schools and the Danville High School and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. The delight of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Scott and the grandparents, where Mrs. Scott resides, is the little daughter, Virginia Erretine.

Mrs. Myers was born in Licking County, Ohio, October 9, 1865, a daughter of George- W. and Hannah J. (Holland) Gilmore. She was one of four sons and two daughters, five of whom are living and all residents of Illinois. Her father was a native of Virginia, where he grew to manhood and received his education. He and his wife were married about the time of the war and removed to Licking County, Ohio. He followed agriculture as his vocation and had seventy-five acres in Licking County. During the war he fought as a soldier and at the end of his term was granted an honorable discharge. His death occurred June 2, 1898. Politically he was a Democrat and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. Mrs. Gilmore, also a native of Virginia, where she was reared and married, attended the common schools and she died in Champaign County in 1901. Both of them are now at rest in the Mahomet Cemetery, where a monument marks their resting place. Mrs. Myers was educated in the common schools and has proved a most capable helpmate and counselor to her husband in the rearing of their children and the establishment of their home.

In politics Mr. Myers is a Republican and cast his first presidential vote for James G. Elaine in 1884. . For nine years he served as assessor of Newcomb Township. He and his wife are active members of the Court of Honor at Mahomet and belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fisher.

MARTIN ORLANDO STOVER. Farmers are the uncrowned kings of America today, and if they do not hold the political destiny of the country in their hands they are at least the custodians of the resources which are the most vital and necessary to the welfare and existence of the millions who live in the great cities and industrial centers. Champaign County has a wealth of men who are doing their part in the development of American agriculture, and it is no disparagement of what others are doing and have done to name Martin Orlando Stover as a recognized leader among them all.

Mr. Stover has been identified with this county since 1883. His beautiful country home, known as Evergreen View, is located two and a half miles northwest of Mahomet on the Bloomington Road and it is one of the farms which might be selected as an example of what scientific and systematic management can accomplish.

Mr. Stover was born in Edgar County, Illinois, March 31, 1861. His parents were Ptollman and Mary E. (Earhart) Stover. He was the second of their three children, and his two sisters are both deceased. His father was born in West Alexandria, Preble County, Ohio, in 1833, and is still living at the venerable age of eighty-four, his home being in California. He was reared and educated in his native state and was for years a successful farmer and horticulturist. After his marriage in Ohio he moved to Wayne County, Indiana, lived there three years, and about 1860 settled in Edgar County, Illinois. A short time after the birth of his son Martin 0. he went to Charleston, Illinois, and his first wife died there. He afterwards married Mrs. Mary Harris Billing, and of the five children of that union three are living. Some time prior to the Civil War P. Stover invented a corn planter, and it was one of the first successful devices of the kind ever introduced. From Illinois he returned to Wayne County, Indiana, where he married his second wife and where he bought eighty acres of land. In 1871 he removed to Missouri, lived about twenty-five years there as a farmer and fruit grower, and about 1896 went west to California, where he is still living. He began voting as a Whig and for sixty years has supported the Republican candidates and principles. He is a Master Mason and in religion is liberal. His first wife was a native of Ohio, was reared and educated there, and was a member of the German Reformed Church.

Martin Orlando Stover lived with his father in Missouri from 1871 until 1883, but otherwise his experience has been chiefly in Illinois. After the common school course he entered the Versailles High School in Morgan County, Missouri, graduated in 1880, and also took a normal training summer school course at Versailles. From 1879 to 1889 he was successfully engaged in teaching. Four years of that work were done in Missouri and six years in Champaign County, partly near his present home and partly near Fisher.

In 1885 he and his wife located on the eighty acres in Newcomb Township which Mrs. Stover inherited. Their present home farm is 209 acres in Mahomet Township, and they still own forty acres in Newcomb Township. Some years ago Mr. Stover remodeled a beautiful residence and has made it one of the most attractive country homes in the county. Since giving up school teaching he has devoted his life to farming and on the scientific plan. He has judiciously combined experience and the theories taught in books and by professors of agriculture, and has reduced farming to a strict business principle. He keeps books on his farm and at any time he knows exactly where he stands in matters of assets and liabilities. For years he has practiced the principle of crop rotation, and all his fields in his farms in Newcomb and Mahomet townships are numbered and strict count is kept of each field. He has adopted the system advocated by the United States Department of Agriculture and the State University Agricultural Department, known as the Farmers Account Book. Mr. Stover is authority for the statement that about 125 farmers in Champaign County follow the same plan.

On December 24, 1885, Mr. Stover married Miss Laura B. Lyons. They are the parents of a son and daughter. Nellie E., the older, was educated in the common schools and for a short time attended the University of Illinois. She is now the wife of Ernest Mitchell, and they live on a farm in Newcomb Township. They have one daughter, Louise, now eight years of age and a student in the second grade. Nellie is a member of the Baptist Church. Orville 0., the son, is still at home and is active manager of his father's farming enterprise. He was educated in the common schools, graduated from the Mahomet High School, and spent one year in the agricultural course of the University of Illinois. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Mahomet.

Mrs. Stover was born in Champaign County February 13, 1861, a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Newell) Lyons. She is the second of three living children. Her older brother, William B., has shown gi-eat ability as a business farmer and stock raiser and in Michigan is handling a farm for the breeding and raising of Hereford cattle. Her younger brother, Dwight, is a farmer in Condit Township of Champaign County.

Samuel Lyons was a native of Kentucky, and came to Champaign County in 1856, when a young man. He made his start here with little capital, though he was a member of a well to do family in Kentucky, and at the time of his death, which occurred about 1888, he left his children a goodly estate and also an untarnished name and a reputation for square dealing. Mrs. Stover was educated in the common schools and for years has been an active member of the Baptist Church at Mahomet.

The Stover home possesses one of the best private libraries found in that part of Champaign County. The 500 volumes range from the Encyclopedia Britannica to the classic works of literature, and all the books show wise and careful 'handling and study. Mr. Stover has always been a student, has kept in close touch with life and affairs and there is hardly a doubt that his well trained mind has had a great deal to do with his success as a farmer.

In past years he figured somewhat prominently in local politics as a member of the Democratic party. He represented his party in various county and state conventions and served six years as supervisor of Mahomet Township, as clerk of Newcomb Township, as a director of the schools and being an old teacher he has performed his greatest pleasure in sustaining and keeping up good educational institutions in his community. He has steadily advocated the hiring of the best talent and the securing of modern equipment for school use. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Mahomet Lodge of Masons, with Chapter No. 50, E. A. M., and Commandery No. 68, Knights Templar, at Champaign, and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Mahomet.

ISAAC HIXENBAUGH is an old time resident of Champaign County, was for many years identified not only with farming but also the civic affairs of Ogden Township, and is now enjoying the comforts of material prosperity and the rewards of his earlier strenuous efforts in a pleasant home at Homer.

Mr. Hixenbaugh was born near West Warren in Marion County, West Virginia, May 4, 1846, a son of Isaac and Martha (Ogden) Hixenbaugh. His mother's brother, John Ogden, was the man after whom Ogden town and Ogden Township in this county were named. Isaac Hixenbaugh was one of eight children, next to the youngest, and grew up and received his education in a backwood district of West Virginia, where he attended a log school conducted on the subscription plan. He sat on a rough board bench without a back, learned the lessons of the few text books, chiefly an arithmetic, speller and reader, and had limited comforts and conveniences both in school and at home. When he was fourteen years of age his parents moved to Green County, Pennsylvania, locating seventeen miles west of Waynesburg. After three years they moved to Morrow County, Ohio, settling half a mile south of Sparta, on a farm.

Isaac Hixenbaugh was in Morrow County, Ohio, four years, and in 1868, at the age of twenty-two, came to Illinois, spending one year a mile east of Mount Vernon, Ohio. On August 19, 1869, he married Miss Mary M. Freeman. Mrs. Hixenbaugh was born in Homer Township of Champaign County, three miles southwest of Ogden, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy Freeman. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hixenbaugh located three-quarters of a mile north of where the town of Ogden now stands. At that time there was no Ogden, no railroad, and everything was new and primitive. Mr. Hixenbaugh paid $10.50 per acre for a tract of forty acres. Three years later he moved three and a half miles southwest of Ogden and bought fifty-one acres, which was one of the first improved farms in that section of the county. He paid $42.50 an acre for the land and forthwith began the task of making a permanent home there. His industry was rewarded and he became able to buy other land until he acquired 236 'acres. Mrs. Hixenbaugh also inherited 170 acres. Mr. Hixenbaugh built two good barns, a commodious house, surrounded the home with fruit and shade trees, and in that pleasant environment his children grew up. Instead of buying more land for himself he wisely assisted his children in acquiring their homes.

Mr. and Mrs. Hixenbaugh had six children, Louie Margaret, Newton, Clara, Grace, Thomas and Ava. Grace and Thomas died in infancy and Clara died at the age of twenty-two. The children were educated in the Clark School in District No. 1. The daughter Louie M. married Thomas W. Richards, a retired farmer at Homer, and they have two children, Amanda and Bessie. Amanda is the wife of Frederick Umbenhour and has two children, Dorothy and Edward, while Bessie is the wife of Thurl Schaumburg, and has one child, Earl Richards.

Newton Hixenbaugh first married Eva Curry, who was burned to death thirty days after her wedding, and he subsequently married Mattie Nonemaker and by that union has two children, Dolly and Maud.

Ava Hixenbaugh is the wife of Charles Boyd, a farmer living on the old Hixenbaugh homestead. They have one child, Byrl. In the summer of 1917 a part of the cyclone which did such devastation in central Illinois tore the Boyd home to pieces. Mrs. Boyd was asleep in the house, while her little daughter, four years old, was playing outdoors. The daughter ran into the house and waked her mother just in time for them to escape into the cellar. The brick chimney tumbled down, a total ruin, striking the bed where Mrs. Boyd had been lying. Fortunately the floor fell with one edge resting on the bank cellar, and thus the mother and daughter were protected from harm.

On April 8, 1914, the good wife and mother, Mrs. Hixenbaugh, passed away, after having reared her children, and with their benedictions and the kindly memories of many friends following her. On August 31, 1914, Mr. Hixenbaugh married Mrs. Priscilla E. Richards. Her first husband was R. H. Trout, and before her marriage to Mr. Hixenbaugh she was the widow of Cyrus Richards. By her first marriage she had children named Charles, Boyd, Grace, Boyce and Lacy Trout. Charles Trout is a physician practicing in Missouri and by his marriage to Miss Lottie Maynard has two daughters, Thelma and Evelyn. Boyd Trout is a farmer near Fairmount, Indiana, and married Grace Bowers, their two children being Cecil and Irene. Grace Trout is the wife of William Jones of Shreveport,

Louisiana, and has two children, Eugene and Meredith. Boyce Trout is a barber at Muncie, Indiana, and married Gladys Hamilton, their four children being Mary, Oma, Virgil and Carl. Lacy Trout resides near Mathews, Indiana, married Quincy Tapman, and has two children, Evelyn and Paul.

In addition to rearing their own children Mr. and Mrs. Hixenbaugh have had in their home his granddaughter, Bessie Peters, who is now Mrs. Wakefield of Homer, Illinois.

Mr. Hixenbaugh is one of the men who has liv.ed to see the low ground drained, the prairies cultivated and Champaign County blossom like a rose. In the early days of low prices he sold corn at 16 cents a bushel, oats at 11 cents and hogs at 2~y% cents a pound. He had his share of the trials and adversities of pioneer days. He has not gone through life without giving his share to the public welfare. He served as school director seven years and was the first assessor to be elected in Ogden Township and also assisted in making the first poll book of that township. He and his wife are attendants at the Christian Church in Ogden and in politics he is a Democrat. In August, 1917, Mr. Hixenbaugh left his farm and bought a comfortable residence at 304 Fourth Street in the town of Homer. He felt that the time had come for his retirement from the active responsibilities of farming, and his material prosperity well" justified such a move. He was not sure that he would be contented away from the farm and his accustomed work, but to his surprise he has found good friends and neighbors, and has thoroughly enjoyed his new life in this sociable and cultured community.

JOHN WESLEY STIPES. In the spring of 1917, after the declaration of war was made and preparations were hurried to convert and organize this nation for war, the United States Government made known its purpose for the selection of a location for an aviation field in Illinois and preferably convenient to the State University. A committee of half a dozen men were called together by President James of the University, and of this committee J. W. Stipes, of Champaign, was elected chairman. This committee gave careful study to the problems involved and after looking over many locations selected four possible sites, each a mile square, containing 640 acres. That was the work of the committee and after that the government had to choose among these four locations. The presence of the State University was a big factor in deciding the problem, since the university would undoubtedly furnish a large number of men for the aviation corps. The Champaign Chamber of Commerce, together with the committee, began an energetic canvass to convince the government that the Eantoul field would be the best suited for the purpose. Mr. J. W. Stipes went to Washington and for several weeks used his untiring efforts, as a result of which it was decided to acquire and develop the site at Rantoul.

In line with what seems a general policy of the Federal Government during the war, the improvement of this site was turned over to the civil authorities, and in this case largely to local men. Mr. Stipes, at the head of these local citizens, together with the English Brothers, secured the contract for improving and erecting the buildings on the ground, the contract to be completed in sixty days. Four days after the contract was signed 800 men were busily engaged, and at the end of ten days a force of 1,500 men and 225 teams were at work. By the end of June every building was under way and fifty per cent of the improvement was completed, and before the end of the summer the grounds were in use for the training of an aviation corps. The buildings consist of barracks, store buildings, hospital, school, and twelve hangars for the flying machines, one capable of holding six machines, and altogether these buildings constitute a small city in itself. It was a heroic undertaking to develop the grounds. Nine miles of drain tile were laid, three miles of sewer, a septic tank was constructed, two and a half miles of water mains were put under ground, electric power was brought a distance of eighteen miles, a spur of a railway track was built, three and a quarter million feet of lumber was used, a hundred thousand cubic yards of earth were shifted for grading and filling, and a fine crop of four hundred acres of corn was destroyed to make way for this colossal government enterprise. All was done and finished satisfactorily within the sixty days allowed by the contract.

People who are in a position to know, give much of the credit of this achievement to John W. Stipes. That is only one of the big undertakings he has successfully carried out during a lifetime.

A well written book of fiction frequently pleases because the imaginary characters overcome handicaps and reach their various goals sometimes through almost unbelievable hardships. In looking about among real people it is possible, more often than one may think, without trying to find quiet men whose handicaps have not been imaginary and whose achievements prove that they have lived bravely outside the page of the story book. Many of the elements found in the pages of fiction have been exemplified in the career of Mr. Stipes, who is a self made, self educated man, and for years has been a factor in the life and affairs of Champaign County.

John Wesley Stipes was born in Montgomery County, Iowa, September 14, 1860. His parents were John and Harriet (Bean) Stipes, both of whom were born in Virginia. The family resided in Iowa when the Civil War broke out, the father being a supporter of the Union cause. In all times of public stress there is more or less excitement and sectional feeling is apt to be aroused, and it was through an outbreak of this kind, incident to the attempted arrest of an outspoken sympathizer with the secession movement, that John Stipes lost his life. He left his widow with five children, John Wesley being the youngest. The others also suryive, as follows: Sarah, who is the widow of George Peterson, of Henderson, Iowa ; George, a resident of Urbana, Illinois ; Louise, wife of Edward Good, of Paxico, Kansas; Thomas, who is a resident, of Wabash, Indiana. The mother migrated to Champaign, Illinois, when John Wesley was yet an infant.

By the time he was ten years of age John Wesley Stipes had made some progress in the district schools but after that age had little opportunity for study, as he then became a boy of all work on a farm, the proprietor of which, Mr. Barley, had quite a family of young children to be looked after as well as horses to be cared for and fields to be cultivated. No doubt it often required a stout bit of courage, especially on cold winter mornings, to be the first up on the farm, to make the fires and then do the farm chores and then to amiably take care of the children while the family ate breakfast. His own breakfast followed and then his day's work was supposed to start. Mr. Stipes remembers that his earliest attempts at handling a three-horse plow were not very successful, as he encountered much trouble in turning the plow at the end of the furrow. His plowing had to be kept up until noon, when he was permitted to return to the house and take care of the children while the other workers ate dinner, his meal following afterward. With changing seasons his work varied but never slackened, his wages being $5 a month. Mr. Stipes displayed even then a proper business sense, spending his first twenty dollars for a heifer. He continued on the farm under

In 1872 Mr. Button placed John W. Stipes and Homer Stillwell in his brickyard at Urbana, and this was a fortunate change for John Wesley and he soon developed an interest in this line of work and willingly and faithfully labored there for eight years, during this time mastering the details of the brick business and incidentally of the manufacturing of tile. He began to make plans for ernharking in business for himself, and just here came in an element that some workers might have overlooked. This was that while working steadily with his hands he had also built up a reputation for fidelity to his employer, for honest effort and persevering industry, and this brought him the respect and confidence of the late Judge J. 0. Cunningham. Judge Cunningham testified to his sterling character and readily recommended him to the farming community in need of tile, whereby he had no difficulty in contracting with them for their tile requirements on the basis of an advance of twenty-five per cent of the price of their contract. This would enable him to start the manufacturing and after the plant started the farmers were to have their pro rata of the manufacture as the work proceeded. It is not necessary to add that every contract was faithfully and honestly completed.

Mr. Stipes was thus soon on the highway of success. In the course of time Judge Smith, of Champaign, and L. L. Hayworth, of Decatur, engaged him to go over to Decatur, Illinois, and build a tile plant there for them, which work required a year of his time, after which he returned to Champaign and became associated with George F. Beardsley in organizing a company to build a tile factory in Champaign. He subsequently bought the Sheldon Tile Company of Urbana, the Madero Tile Company and also the stock and plant of the Urbana Brick Company, which had failed after operating three years.

In April, 1881, Mr. Stipes was married to Miss Eliza Garrison, who was born at Urbana, Illinois, and they have the following children: Royal A., of Champaign ; Opal, wife of E. S. Pilcher, of Champaign ; Bessie, wife of M. L. Hecker; Helen J., wife of Robert Eisner; and John W., of Texas. In politics Mr. Stipes is a Republican and has been a member of the school board for years. He is a member of the Methodist Church and fraternally is an Elk and Knight of Pythias.

T. F. BERKLEY, who for a number of years has been the leading flour merchant in the village of Ogden, is a miller by training and experience, as was his father before him.

Mr. Berkley was born at Maxburg in Muskingum County, Ohio, a son of C. F. and C. M. (Richardson) Berkley. This branch of the Richardson family were prominent both in Ohio and Kentucky. C. F. Berkley in the early days conducted a mill on the Muskingum River, but in 1851 removed to Charleston, Illinois, when his son T. F. was only three years of age. C. F. Berkley while at Charleston became a friend of Abraham Lincoln, then a prominent Illinois lawyer, and he often met this great statesman after that and was a warm and stanch admirer of him both personally and in politics. T. F. Berkley was the youngest of five sons.

On September 29, 1869, when T. F. Berkley was twenty-one years of age, he married Lydia A. Howver. She was born at West Middleburg, Ohio. After their marriage they lived for a time at Homer, Illinois, and then for twenty-seven years Mr. Berkley conducted a flour mill in Vermilion County. He also lived at Charleston, Illinois, ten years. He has conducted an extensive business as a flour and grain miller and is still active at Ogden.

Roy F. Herbert married Marie Dugan. Her father was a Baptist minister and her home was near Louisville, Kentucky, but while visiting in Illinois she met Herbert Berkley and they were soon afterwards married. Their children are Irene and Charles F., who assists his father in the business at Ogden. Roy Berkley is now a ticket agent in the Union Depot at St. Louis, Missouri. He married Edith Molmon, of Ohio, and has two children, Merle and Fred. The daughter Tina M. was taken away by death in beautiful young womanhood.

Mr. Berkley was deprived of the companionship of his wife on April 18, 1917, after they had been happily married for nearly fifty years. She was a most lovable woman and had endeared herself to a large circle of friends by her goodness of heart. Mr. and Mrs. Berkley usually attended the New Light and Methodist Episcopal churches. In politics he has always been a Republican. His sons are members of the Woodmen and Knights of Pythias orders. For eighteen years Mr. Berkley has lived at Ogden and has followed the business of miller and has enjoyed much success.

The Berkley family were natural musicians and possessed also many genial and sociable qualities. When the country was new and social opportunities and places of amusement were limited T. F. Berkley and other young men of kindred tastes organized a string band. He was one of the violinists, and should be mentioned as one of the old time fiddlers of Champaign County. For years their organization furnished music for dances all over the country. There was no gathering of young people considered complete without these young men to add to the cheer of the occasion, and for years they gave music for the entertainment of many communities. These public dances were noted for their splendid order and the fine class of people who patronized them. Many of the participants in those public dances have grown gray, but they often refer with pleasure to the old time dances. Through all the years of his life Mr. Berkley has retained the friendships made in his youth as well as many formed in later years, and the confidence and esteem given him then have followed him through all his years. He has been peculiarly blessed with a spirit of sociability and cheerfulness, and these taken in connection with his good business judgment have brought him a more than ordinary place of esteem and success.

MICHAEL LOWET. One of the prominent and substantial families of Champaign County bears the name of Lowry and this name for half a century has represented here good citizenship, honest industry and faithful membership in the Roman Catholic Church. While not an unusually prolific family, it is a long-lived one and at present there are three generations residing at Philo, Illinois.

Michael Lowry was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, June 9, 1850. His parents were John and Margaret (Nolan) Lowry, natives of the same county, and from there they came to America and to Illinois in 1865. John Lowry settled on a farm in Will County, near Joliet, and remained there for six years and then removed to Crittenden Township in Champaign County, where he bought 160 acres of land. He cultivated and improved his property and died there in November, 1874. His wife survived him for thirteen years, her death taking place February 24, 1887. They were the parents of five children, namely : William, who is a resident of Peoria, Illinois; Michael; James, who is a farmer in Crittenden Township; and Thomas and John, both of whom are farmers in Champaign Township.

When the family removed from Will to Champaign County Michael Lowry went to Chicago and there for four years he was engaged in railroad work. He then returned home and assisted in the farm work on the homestead until 1877 and then returned to Chicago. After his marriage in that city he returned to Crittenden Townhip and engaged in farming until 1881, when he moved to Philo and has resided here ever since, one of the most respected residents of the place.

Michael Lowry was married February 8, 1877, to Miss Catherine Bowling, who was born at Cascade, Wisconsin, February 14, 1857, and died at Philo, Illinois, October 14, 1896. Six children were born to them, all of whom survive, as follows : John F., who is a resident of Philo ; Margaret, who is the wife of A. C. Paris, of Champaign; Martin J., who lives at Becatur; Charles E., who is postmaster at Philo; Walter A., who lives with his father; and Howard W., who is a resident of Champaign. While residing in Philo Township Mr. Lowry served for six years on the school board and for eight years was township supervisor, and he was postmaster at Philo for four years, his good judgment making him an excellent public official which his honest performance of duty made effective. He is a member of St. Thomas Eoman Catholic Church, as was his wife, and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus.

Charles E. Lowry, postmaster at Philo, Illinois, and a well known business man of this place, was born at Philo, December 30, 1885, and is the fourth child and the third son born to Michael and Catherine (Bowling) Lowry. He was educated in the public schools and after his graduation from the Philo High School in 1903 he went to Becatur and for six months remained in that city as a clerk in a mercantile house. After returning to Philo he accepted a clerical position with the Wabash Railroad at the Philo depot, and remained discharging his duties for three years and then left the railroad and became associated as a clerk with his father in the restaurant business. After an experience of eighteen months, in partnership with his brother Walter he bought his father's interest and they conduct the business together. On February 11, 1914, Mr. Lowry was appointed postmaster at Philo, having taken the civil service examination in 1913. Philo is a growing town and the postoffice business here is heavy. Although appointed to office under a Bemocratic administration, Mr. Lowry has always been independent in his political views. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church and belong to the Knights of Columbus.

M. H. ARGO is one of the men who have spent their lives in Champaign County, have witnessed its growth and development from almost wilderness days, and their own share in the transformation of the country is such that no work of this character could afford omission of the names and deeds.

Mr. Argo was born on Salt Fork in St. Joseph Township of Champaign County, his birthplace being three miles northwest of the village of St. Joseph. His birth occurred there August 14, 1853, and he is a son of true pioneer people, Moses and Ellen (Shepard) Argo. His parents were natives of Ohio. Moses Argo was one of the notable men in his community. He came to Champaign county when the country was a vast stretch of prairie and swamp lands, abounding in sloughs, virgin meadows and with many wild animals abounding. Moses Argo was a botanical or herb doctor and very skillful in concoeting healing remedies from roots and herbs and was the choice of physician to a large number of people in the early days. He was also a school teacher, and one of the first to teach school in his section of Champaign County. Thus he was a man of more than ordinary mental attainments and was a high class citizen in every respect. Some of the schools he taught were held in private buildings, frequently log houses. There are some evidences yet extant of his scholarship. One of these is a book of records, now among the prized possessions of M. H. Argo. The date of this book is February 4, 1825, and it shows the fine penmanship and mathematical skill of the father. M. H. Argo also has his father's leather pocketbook, which is now over 100 years old.

Many of those incidents which are related on other pages of this publication as descriptive of pioneer things in Champaign County were part of the individual experiences of Moses Argo. In the early days he hauled grain threshed from his fields all the way to Chicago, where it brought a very small price. One of the necessary commodities hard to get in Champaign County was salt, and Moses Argo frequently brought a load of salt back from Chicago. In the matter of low prices M. H. Argo has had some experiences not unlike those of his father, since he has hauled corn to Urbana and sold it as low as 10 cents a bushel.

When Moses Argo came to Champaign County he entered his homestead from the Government. He and his neighbor, James Couden, went to the land office at Danville, each filing on a tract of land of their choice. On reaching home and having the land surveyed it turned out that each man had twenty acres which was most desired by the other, and thus there was mutual disappointment. To settle the matter they simply traded the two tracts, and according to the honest pioneer spirit that prevailed in those times neither was disposed to take advantage of the other in such a transaction.

M. H. Argo was only six months old when his good father died and he has therefore no personal recollections of that good old pioneer. The widowed mother was thus left with five children and she passed away when M. H. Argo was nine years of age. Thus he spent his boyhood as an orphan and acquired his education in the subscription district school.

At the age of twenty-two he married Miss Manda Worl, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Cox) Worl. Her mother came from Ohio. Mrs. Argo was one of ten children, and she too obtained her education in the subscription school.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Argo located on his father's farm on Salt Fork, comprising 240 acres, most of which had been bought direct from the Government. They lived there three years, made a beginning of prosperity, and later Mr. Argo bought eighty acres a mile and a half south of St. Joseph village, where he founded his permanent home. To his first marriage were born four children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are William H. and James Edward Argo. They grew up on their father's farm, went to school in the local district school, and are now married and both prosperously settled in life. William married Effie Brown, of Mount Vernon, and is engaged in farming on his father's place. James Edward lives at Mackinaw, Illinois, and married Miss Nettie Dixon.

When the youngest child was three years of age death entered the home and took away the beloved mother. Later Mr. Argo married Mary Worl, a sister of his first wife. Thus she came into her dead sister's home as an angel of mercy to the orphan children and filled the place of mother to them, rearing them and schooling them for life's duties. By the second marriage there was one child, who died in infancy. By a former marriage, to Harrison Argo, Mrs. Argo had three children, Bertha, John T. and Hezekiah. They were educated at St. Joseph and are already established independently. Bertha is the wife of W. W. Woody, a farmer three miles south of St. Joseph. Their four children are Loyde, Mae, Ruth and Paul, bright energetic young children, and in mentioning the family the usual phrase runs, "Lodye and Mae and Ruth and Paul and that's all." They are now students in the high school at St. Joseph and Lodye is preparing for the University of Illinois.

his marriage to Essie Gordon has four children, named Bernice, Royce, Clyde and Dorothy. Of these children Bernice is the wife of Earl Winser, and they live in Odebolt, Iowa. They have a child, Dwight, the only greatgrandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Argo, and of whom they are properly proud.

Hezekiah Argo, the youngest of the children, is a telegraph operator at Danvers, Illinois, and by his marriage to Emma Trickle has a son, Donald H. Argo.