Champaign County, Illinois - The whole text, 1918 (part 19 of 23)

Mrs. Baker is a daughter of John and Caroline (Peters) Demien, both natives of Germany. Her father came to America about 1858 and was one of the pioneers at Champaign, Illinois. He assisted in building the Mark Carley home, the first house in Champaign, and he also helped set out the trees in the city park there. He was an employe of the Illinois Central Eailway until injured, and then took up farming on eighty acres in Hensley Township. That was the stage of his active efforts and enterprise for seventeen years, after which he sold and bought 160 acres east of Thomasboro. He farmed that land for twenty-two years, and then retired and removed to Gifford, where his wife died March 19, 1911, and he - himself passed away March 7, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Demien had the following children : Otelia, deceased ; Caroline, wife of Adam Heardt, of Burt, Iowa ; Fred, of Pomeroy, Iowa ; Martha, wife of Richard Altman, of Penfield, Illinois ; Matilda, twin sister of Martha, wife of R. L. Washer, of Urbana; Charlotte, wife of Mr. Edward C. Baker; Verona, wife of C. F. Manke, of Thomasboro; Renatha, twin sister of Verona and living in Chicago; Lucy, wife of Henry Langhoff, of Somers Township; and Louie, of Rantoul Township.

Louis DENHAET. If true success consists in a steady betterment of one's material circumstances, a growing enlargement of views and increasing influence as a member of the community, the life of Louis Denhart has been exceptionally successful by all the standards that might be applied to it.

Mr. Denhart, who though looking after the cultivation of a large amount of farming land, resides in the town of St. Joseph, was born in Harrison County, Indiana. His parents were John and Elizabeth Zimmerman Denhart, both natives of Germany. They came to America when still single, and were married in this country and located on a farm in Indiana. They had eleven children, Louis being the sixth. All these children grew up and received their education in district schools of Indiana.

Louis Denhart came when a youth to visit his brother George in Champaign County, and after being here four years was so favorably impressed with the country that he determined to make it his own home. The part of Indiana where he grew up was a rough and rocky region and he liked the contrast afforded by the fertile and level lands of old Champaign. Mr. Denhart has been a resident of Champaign County since 1884.

In 1888 he married Miss Sophia Keehn. She is also a native of Indiana, a daughter of Henry and Emma Keehn, and she grew up there and received her education in the public schools. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Denhart located on a forty-acre tract of land southeast of Mayview in St. Joseph Township. From the thrifty saving and accumulation of his work as a wage earner he bought this land on time, at a contract price of $40 an acre. Forty acres was hardly enough for his individual enterprise as a farmer and he rented the adjoining sixty acres, and with his team began the task of acquiring a substantial position in the community. There were trials and vicissitudes, setbacks as well as advances, and some years there was a partial crop failure, then again the market for grain went down to the bottom, and countless other discouragements had to be met. But he and his wife possessed courage and energy, and were willing to toil early and late in order to get the objects upon which their ambition centered. During the working season Mr. Denhart would spend practically the entire day, from sun up to sun down, away from home,, while his young wife remained diligently at work in the home. They possessed few of the facilities for enjoying life. There were few buggies, and the old wagon answered the purposes of a Ford car in those strenuous times. But the sequel of this period of hard work is a pleasing story. In course of time Mr. and Mrs. Denhart had accumulated an estate of 620 acres and in many ways improved and beautified their farm. They set up a modern residence, planted fruit and shade trees, and all of it now stands as a -monument to their persevering toil. Mr. Denhart has done a great deal in the line of fruit growing, and long ago made it a, rule to set out each year some fruit trees either as an extension to his orchard or to fill in vacancies.

Into their home were born successively eight children : Clarence, Cora, Prank, Ollie, Floyd, Lawrence, Howard and Wilma. These children attended the high school at St. Joseph, and Clarence and Prank attended Brown's Business College at Champaign and also specialized in the study of agriculture. While four of the children still remain at home, the others have married and are successful people of the younger generation.

Clarence, who lives on one of his father's farms, married Luella Bridgewater and has two children, Beryl and Dorothy. The daughter Cora married Walter Manges and they live on her father's farm west of St. Joseph. Their three children are Louis, Preda and Eobert. Prank Denhart, a successful farmer in St. Joseph Township, cultivating some of his father's broad acres, married Grace Stiner of Mayview. Ollie Denhart is the wife of William Hartman, and they have one small daughter, Helen Verdena.

Mr. Denhart through many years has been an extensive stock and grain raiser and has sold an immense volume of agricultural produce to the local traders and shippers. He is one of the most progressive farmers of the county. His business judgment has brought him to the attention of his fellow citizens, who have entrusted him with public responsibilities. Por twelve years he has served as a member of the town council at St. Joseph. He and. his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that village, and their children attend Sunday school. Fraternally Mr. Denhart is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics he is a Democrat.

For the past eighteen years his home has been in St. Joseph and during . that time he has actively supervised the cultivation of a fine tract of 330 acres of farm land adjoining the town. ' His home at the end of Shejman Street is an attractive one. The grounds are amply shaded, and the home has a restful and comfortable atmosphere that is of itself a token of the substantial character of its occupants.

BERT LEEOY CHAPMAN. Aggressive methods, keen insight into commercial conditions, a thorough and far-reaching appreciation of the needs of the trade, are characteristics which develop a man into a successful factor in the business life of any community and result in the founding and development of concerns that give that community prestige. Conditions today are so complex, competition is so keen, and the needs of the world are increasing so rapidly that every' branch of commercial and industrial life feels the impetus of the times. The day of slow and sure business policies is gone; the business enterprises of today are conducted along entirely different lines than those of our forefathers, and the men who attain success are those who are possessed of power of initiative, resource and aggression. One of the most enterprising of the merchants of Fisher is Bert Leroy Chapman, senior member of the hardware firm of Chapman & Wade. This young business man has achieved success and reputation at a time when many men are merely starting upon their careers, and the characteristics above noted have been important concomitants in the working out of his career.

Bert'Leroy Chapman was born in Vermilion County, Indiana, September 18, 1878, the third in a family of three sons born to Nelson and Eosanna (Sims) Chapman. He has one brother living, Pearl Albert Chapman, who was educated in the common schools and is now editor and manager of the Bellflower News at Bellflower, McLean County, Illinois. He married Miss Laura McGowan, and has four children. Nelson Chapman was born in Indiana of English ancestry, and spent his career as an agriculturist. He did not live to see his ambitions for success realized, as his death occurred when his son Bert was three years old, in 1882. His political belief was that of the Republican party. The mother of Bert L. Chapman was also born in Indiana, where she received a public school education, and after the death of her first husband she married a Mr. Baysinger, who is also deceased. For her third husband she married George Browne, an agriculturist, and they now reside on a valuable property in Champaign County.

The educational training of Bert L. Chapman was secured in the public schools, and when he was still a lad he gained experience in the line of selfsupport, working long hours in a tile factory at a wage of 50 cents per day. This discipline, while hard, was to prove valuable to him in after years and to make him place a just value upon the worth of money. When he left that vocation he began work as a wage earner on a farm, being thus occupied for ten years, at the end of which time he had accumulated sufficient capital to set himself up as a renter of land in Champaign County. His tastes, however, as well as his abilities, seemed to lie along mercantile lines, and after seven years of struggle with the soil he gave up agricultural operations and came to Fisher, where he established himself in business as the proprietor of a cafe. Less than one year of experience in this direction sufficed to show him that he had not yet found his proper groove, and he disposed of his cafe to embark, in a modest way, in the hardware business. Like all enterprises that grow to be anything wocth while, the first several years were lean and hard ones, but Mr. Chapman was possessed of the necessary business acumen, had the courage of his convictions, and was determined to succeed, and through aggressive tactics and progressive and persistent methods won his way through, and the venture that started in a small and inconspicuous way has grown to be one of the foremost business establishments of the town of Fisher. On March 7, 1916, Mr. Chapman entered into partnership with Luther Wade, and at the present time the house of Chapman & Wade carries a full and up-to-date line of shelf and heavy hardware and furniture, and in addition conduct an undertaking department. The volume of the yearly trade is now from $25,000 to $30,000, this having been built up through honest policies, fair representation and honorable methods of procedure. Mr. Chapman is the owner of a handsome residence and is accounted one of the substantial residents of the community.

On January 14, 1903. Mr, Chapman was married to Miss Elizabeth R. Wade, and of the four children born to this union three are living: Mabel R., who is attending school as a member of the fourth grade; and Lucille and Russell L., who are at home. Mrs. Chapman was born in Adams County, Ohio, July 31, 1878, and was educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Edmund and Susannah (Potts) Wade, her father being a native of Adams County, Ohio. Mr. Wade has been engaged in agricultural pursuits all his life, and at the present time is the owner of 160 acres of land in Brown Township, Champaign County. He is a Prohibitionist and is a member of the United Brethren Church, as was also Mrs. Wade. Mr. Wade has always been a friend of public improvements, one of the public-spirited men who have supported movements making for the general welfare, and a believer in education who has served as a member of the board of school directors. Mrs. Wade, who was born in Ohio, died in Champaign County, January 23, 1897.

Mr. Chapman is a Republican. He cast his first presidential vote for William H. Taft, but has not been active in political affairs. However, he has always been ready to serve his community, and as an official is a member of the school board and of the town council. His fraternal connection is with Sangamon Lodge No. 801, A. F. & A. M., at Fisher, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which has a strong lodge at this place. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are members of the United Brethren Church at Fisher, and Mr. Chapman serves as superintendent of the Sunday school, which has an attendance every Sunday of about fifty. A further fraternal connection of Mr. Chapman is with Camp No. 2534 of the Modern Woodmen of America, of which he has been clerk four years and of which he is at present banker.

Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are young people who enjoy life and who are eager to help others enjoy it also. While they are greatly attached to their home, they are also enthusiastic about other parts of the great central agricultural country of Illinois, which they frequently visit on sight-seeing trips in their automobile.

JAMES BARBEK. Of the fine homesteads scattered about Champaign County one that betrays to the casual observer every evidence of thrifty and careful management and successful operation is that of James Barber, located in Champaign Township, on Rural Route No. 1 out of the city of Champaign.

Mr. Barber has been a practical farmer in Champaign County since early youth, is a young man, vigorous and far sighted and keen in handling every detail of agricultural management. He was born in Colfax Township of Champaign County April 1, 1886, a son of Alfred C. and Louisa (Peters) Barber. His father was born in England and his mother in Kentucky. Alfred C. Barber came to the United States in 1856 with his parents, who located in Champaign County on a farm. Alfred Barber lived a long and productive life, and at his death his estate comprised 320 acres. He died in Champaign in February, 1909, and his widow is still living in that city. They were the parents of fourteen children: Mollie, Cora and Laura, all deceased ; Oscar, of Hamilton County, Illinois ; Josie, wife of Layton Snyder, of Lebanon, Indiana ; Benjamin, of Scott Township, Champaign County; Emma, wife of Cerrola Foster, of. Scott Township; Nellie, wife of John Leach, of Champaign; James and John, twins ; Bertha, deceased ; Fannie, who lives in Champaign with her mother; Ethel, also in Champaign; and William, deceased.

Mr. James Barber has lived on his present farm since he was two years of age. He grew up here, acquired an education in the local schools, and at the age of twenty he and his brother John rented two hundred acres of the old homestead and they have jointly managed its affairs ever since. Their business is general farming, growing the staple crops of the fields and handling sufficient live stock to convert the raw materials and to keep up and preserve the fertility of the soil. Mr. Barber is a Republican in politics and is a member of the Methodist Church.

He was married December 12, 1906, to Nellie May Miller, a native of Mahomet, Illinois. Her father was George Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Barber have one daughter, Oleta May, born July 12, 1912.

HOWARD F. LOVE. One of the best managed farms in Sidney Township is that of the Love family in section 19. The active managers of this estate are Howard F. Love and his brother, Clifford S. Howard F. Love gave up his course in agriculture at the University of Illinois to take active charge of the business following the death of his father.

His parents were John and Mary E. (Adams) Love, both natives of Ohio. John 'Love came to Champaign County in 1852 and at that time located in section 19 of Sidney Township, where he took land in the raw state and developed its many possibilities as a farm. He was a member of the Masonic order, of the Presbyterian Church and in politics a Republican. His death occurred June 2, 1910. There were five children, the oldest, a son, dying in infancy. The second is Clara, still at home; Mildred, the third child, was born in 1887; Howard F., the older son now living, was born January 25, 1889, on the home farm; and Clifford, the youngest, entered the University of Illinois in 1911 and graduated in the scientific agricultural course in 1916. He is also at home.

Howard F. Love has put in practice a combination of thorough experience with a liberal education. He attended the Champaign High School, of which he is a graduate, and spent two years in the agricultural course at the university. Since then he has had active charge of the home place and is now working 317 acres. He is specializing in live stock and has some fine registered Duroc Jersey hogs and is also a fancier of a pedigreed strain of Plymouth Rock fowls. Politically he is a Republican and is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

GEORGE C. GORDON. From farm renter George C. Gordon has progressed on the road of prosperity until 'he now owns one of the best farms in Urbana Township, located in section 13. He has a model country home and has all the facilities and conveniences of country life in Champaign County, including the daily delivery of mail over Rural Route No. 12.

Mr. Gordon was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1872, a son of Cljnton and Mary (Henneberger) Gordon. His parents were both born in Pennsylvania and are still living there, his father being retired from active business, and during the Civil War he was a Union soldier. They had seven children : Addie, wife of Jacob Stine, of Pennsylvania; Celia, deceased; Ross, of Pennsylvania; Isaac H., who lives in St. Joseph Township of Champaign County ; George C. ; Susan Virginia, wife of George P. Gray, of Berkeley, California; and Charles Clinton, of Urbana Township.

George C. Gordon spent his early youth in Pennsylvania, attending the common schools, and finished his education in the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana. He came to Champaign County in 1892, at the age of twenty, and for several years rented farm lands in St. Joseph Township. In 1896 he was able to buy his first land, sixty-three acres in section 24 of Urbana Township. 'He subsequently bought the fine farm he now lives on in section 13, comprising 132 acres. Here he has built a modern two-story home and has surrounded himself with many comforts such as his industry has well justified.

Mr. Gordon married Clara McClain, a native of Champaign County. Her parents, James H. and Nancy (Truman) McClain, were early settlers in this county, both being now deceased. There were five children in the McClain family, two of whom died early. Those still living are: Hattie, wife of William Albertson, of Warsaw, Indiana; Martha, wife of Alfred Frankenberg, of St. Joseph, Illinois ; and Mrs. Gordon.

Glenn H., Mary Fannie, Herbert McClain and Hilda Lavone. Mr. Gordon is a member of the school board of his district and for years was a director of the Champaign County Fair Association. He is a Republican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

DAVID H. LLOYDE is one of Champaign's oldest and most widely known business men. In fact, his business is practically as old as the University of Illinois, which, as is generally known, is one of the greatest educational institutions of its kind in the entire world. The Lloyde business was originally established for and has always been distinctively supported by the student body of the state university. Mr. Lloyde is also president of the recently organized First University Bank, located at 606 East Green Street, in the very heart of the student district. The chief business with which his many years of industrial activity have been identified are two extensive music, book and stationery stores, one at 7 Main Street and the other at 606 East Green Street, in the same brick structure which houses the Lloyde bank.

As a merchant he has for forty-three years supplied the needs of the students and others in the way of books and supplies, music, stationery, toys, photographic supplies, drawing instruments, pianos, organs, violins and small musical instruments, sewing machines, typewriters, talking machines and sporting goods, and is headquarters for novelties for holiday and other season's events. Mr. Lloyde has been a continuous resident of Champaign since 1874. His name and his stores are landmarks, institutions familiar to every resident of Champaign County, the Twin Cities, and those formerly here as students. His success has not only been the means of his own prosperity but has also contributed to the prosperity and substantial upbuilding of the entire community.

David H. Lloyde was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, June 11, 1835, but has lived in Illinois nearly all his life, enjoying his experiences from the period of the wild prairies to these days of live modern conditions. His father, Captain David Lloyde, also a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, was a mechanic, and at twenty-two years of age, after completing his three years' term of service required as a mechanic, received a gold medal as a reward, and for his temperance principles during the learning of his trade, given by the Hamden Mechanical Association of Springfield, Massachusetts, with the inscription, "Omnia Laboribus Sustinenda," but he afterward took up contracting and building. He married Eliza Seaver of Somerset, Massachusetts. They were the parents of five children : David H. ; Mrs. Jennie Lees of Attica, Kansas ; James H., who as a Union soldier participated among other engagements in the battle of Shiloh, and subsequently became a merchant and station agent at Milo, Missouri, where he died ; Lucy, who married Frank Herrick, is living at Princeton, Illinois, where her husband is city editor of the Bureau County Republican and an ex-soldier of the Civil War; and George 0., who was in the Civil War, is a contractor and builder at Bloomington, Illinois.

In 1838 Captain David Lloyde, Sr., brought his family to Illinois and established a home in what was then an unsettled and unplatted district of northern Illinois, Clarion Township in Bureau County, and was instrumental in establishing the Lloyde schoolhouse, the first one on the prairie. Because of his priority of settlement and the strength of his personal character, he was long recognized as a leader. For a number of years he taught school at LaMoille, one of the principal towns of Bureau County, and served as supervisor and justice of the peace. He established and conducted the first 'hotel at LaMoille. That was in the days when LaMoille was on one of the principal overland thoroughfares from Chicago to south- western points, and the stages regularly stopped at his old wayside tavern. He did much to promote public improvement. He helped to bring about the construction of the present courthouse, jail and several business blocks and residences, one for William Cullen Bryant, the noted poet, also John Bryant, resident in Princeton. As he was a leader in civic affairs, so he became a rallying force for the volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War. He organized Company K of the Ninety-third Illinois Infantry, was commissioned captain, and his life was given as a sacrifice to the Union. Congressman Owen Lovejoy gave him valuable assistance in organizing Company K of the Ninety-third Regiment. During the siege of Vicksburg, on May 16, 1863, he was shot through the heart. The old veterans of Bureau County have frequently recalled and testified to the esteem in which they held their gallant leader and comrade. His widow survived him until a ripe old age and was ninety-three when she died at Attica, Missouri, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Jennie Lees.

David H. Lloyde remained in the pioneer home of his parents in Bureau County until the age of twenty-two. His education was acquired in the district schools and he later attended Judson College at La Salle and Illinois College at Jacksonville. During his early youth he took up contracting and building, the same business followed by his father, also conducting grain and stock raising farms. In the year 1874 he moved to Champaign and engaged in conducting the present music, stationery and book store, which was established in 1867, at the opening of the University of Illinois. That was the beginning of his long and active business associations with the university of the state. His store has kept pace with the development of the university, and his place on Main Street was enlarged to a threestory building with concrete basement and more recently he erected a two-story brick building at 606 East Green, near the corner of Green and Sixth streets, at the center of the university section. The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the opening 6f the Lloyde Book and Music Stores is now being celebrated (June 21, 1917). The First University Bank was organized in September, 1915, in order to furnish banking facilities for this special district and for the accommodation of students who keep their accounts there. Mr. Lloyde is a stockholder in the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank and owner of farm land in Nebraska. He also owns some residences and other real estate and investments, mostly in Champaign.

He married, February 26, 1857, Miss Ellen P. Angier. Her father was a Baptist minister and brought his family from Vermont in 1855 and located at LaMoille in Bureau County. In Vermont he had married Eliza Luther, and in that state Mrs. Lloyde was born. She had a brother, Frank L. Angier, who died at Beardstown, Illinois, in 1908. He was also a veteran of the Civil War and three of his sons, active railroad men, are still living at Beardstown.

Mr. and Mrs. Lloyde have three sons. F. H. Lloyde was actively associated with his father for twenty years in the store, as D. H. Lloyde & Son, on Main Street. He moved in 1904 to Venice, California, engaging in the real estate business. Clarence A. is auditor, manager of photograph, mimeograph, camera, typewriter and advertising departments of the stores, while Clifford L. is book and stock buyer, manager of the university store and vice president of the First University Bank. The various departments employ thirty or more salespeople. Through the professors, students and alumni of the state university the influence and reputation of the Lloyde stores are world wide. They have been helpful to the blessing of mental training and educational work for humanity at all times. The Lloyde slogan, "Books and Music," means the foundation of all usefulness in the world.

All of Mr. Lloyde's children were students of the University of Illinois. Robert K. Lloyde, son of C. A. Lloyde and grandson of David H. Lloyde, was a student at the University of Illinois and is a graduate of Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. He is now assistant horticulturist at the Mississippi State Agricultural A. M. College, Starkville, Mississippi.

Mr. Lloyde is a member of the Baptist Church. He has become widely known for his benevolences and has given liberally of his means to all worthy institutions, regardless of denomination. The activities of the family in Christian work have been continuous since his marriage in 1857, and the three sons and wives are equally earnest in the training of young people in church and Bible school influences. The Lloyde family gave several hundred dollars to the Baptist Church at LaMoille in Bureau County when the present church edifice was erected in 1858, and the present family contributed several thousands toward the First Baptist Church of Champaign in 1899. Both money and individual effort have proceeded from the Lloyde family in behalf of such organizations as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League, a cause in which they are especially interested, and for the establishment and upkeep of home and foreign missions. Among individual institutions or movements the Lloydes have donated to the Aged Ministers' Home and the Old People's Home. They were among the first to support the organization of the University of Chicago, Shurtleff College, and the academy for colored young people at Jacksonville, Florida, and for over twenty years contributed regularly to the boys' home on the Glenwood farm near Chicago. They helped organize the Y. M. C. A. at Champaign in 1889, and aided the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. at the university by liberal donations. The University Students' Baptist Church, the Wesley Foundation Building, the Irvington and other orphanages in Illinois, also Liberty Bond and Red Cross work, are some of the worthy objects of their interest and Christian zeal - a notable record of practical Christianity .for one family.

Mr. Lloyde was a member of the Union League, organized during the Civil War, the only secret organization to help save the United States of America. He became one of the charter members of the present Sons of Veterans camp when it was organized in Champaign, encouraging the boys in many ways.

Mr. D. H. Lloyde has also quite an interesting musical career, given in the history of Baptist hymn and song writers, and other sources, and this has been a valuable asset and help to him in the sale of all kinds of musical instruments.

As a boy he evinced decided musical talent and early received instruction from his father, who was a music teacher. When eleven years old he sang alto in the old-time gallery church choir and later became a leader of singing in church and Sunday school, teaching music during winters in the schoolhouses near his home in Bureau County, using his violin as a handy instrument to carry. As he became more interested in music he made the acquaintance of P. P. Bliss, H. R. Palmer, H. S. Perkins and others, from whom he received instruction, inspiration and encouragement, and for several years devoted himself to the study and teaching of vocal music. Later he enjoyed conducting institutes, conventions and classes. Among his musical activities he was engaged in Sunday school work, was also in touch with Ira D. Sankey, D. L. Moody and K. A. Burnell in Y. M. C. A. work as singer and leader of Christian song services at state and other mass meetings.

At this time he gave special thought and attention to writing words and music of his own composition, published in "River of Life," "Royal Sons," "Songs of Faith," "Shining River" and other Sunday school song books.

His love for music made the family at home musical, Mrs. Lloyde teaching the boys piano, the three sons and father forming a male quartet and an orchestra, playing violin, cornet, flute and clarinet, making use of the same in Sunday school and church work and citizens' orchestra for several years.

Mr. Lloyde has also had large juvenile and advanced classes in the Twin Cities, having introduced teaching of music in the schools, through Professors J. W. Hays and Lansing, then superintendent of the schools, always insisting that music be taught the same as any other branch of education, which practice has now come to stay.

Mr. Lloyde in 1874-75 filled a vacancy in the vocal music department at the University of Illinois, training the choir and individuals in preparation for commencement, anniversary and other events. He won success as a conductor, inspired others and gave suitable instruction with pleasing results in conventions and large mass meetings of singing people.

These facts state briefly some of the things that have made the life of the subject of this sketch a busy and useful one, and the variety of vocations has given him interesting and enjoyable occasions in the different realms of the world's activities.

JAMES OSCAR SAYEES of Fisher, one of the advisory board of editors of the Champaign County History, has- had an active experience in this section of the county covering a period of forty-two years. He came here as a young man possessed of no financial resources, and by hard work and constant attention to his duties has built up a mercantile business whose volume is second to none in the village. Mr. Sayers is wideawake to all things that concern this locality and is generally recognized as one of the most capable men of Champaign County.

He was born in Morrow County, Ohio, April 29, 1862, the eldest of three children, a son and two daughters, of John Francis and Caroline (Banner) Sayers. The two daughters are: Eose, wife of John Priest of Ashland, Ohio ; and Frances B., wife of Oscar Braderick of Fredericktown, Ohio. John F. Sayers, his father, also a native of Morrow County, Ohio, had a common school education and was a farmer by vocation. In 1865 he took his family out to Poweshiek County, Iowa, where he lived until his death in August, 1869, at the very early age of thirty-three. His widow, who was a native of Newark, New Jersey, was a young girl when taken to Ohio, afterwards returned to that state and died in Fredericktown. She was a member of the United Brethren Church. She was of Holland-Dutch stock, her father being unable to speak the English language until after the age of ten.

James Oscar Sayers was about three years old when his parents moved from Ohio to Iowa, and was only eight years old when his father died. At the age of eleven years he came to Champaign County, Illinois, which has been his residence ever since. His early education was acquired in the common schools. Later he took a course in the university at Valparaiso, Indiana. He early learned to depend upon his own exertions to put himself ahead in the world, and for two years he farmed as a renter in the northern part of the county. Later he took a position as clerk in the store of S. B. Sale at Fisher, and after two years he had advanced to a point where he was able to purchase an interest in the business. That was in 1887, and from that beginning has come the present firm of James 0. Sayers. During the disastrous fire at Fisher in 1902 his store building was burned, but he at once rebuilt and now has one of the most commodious business structures in the village. Mr. Sayers carries a splendid line of staple groceries, hardware and paints, and his trade has yearly been attaining a larger scope and volume.

On February 19, 1885, he married Miss Fannie M. Sale, who was born in Champaign County in 1863. Both her parents are now deceased. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sayers, the only one now living is Frank E. Sayers, who, after graduating from the Fisher schools, entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1911 and the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1913 from this institution. After completing his medical course he served one year as an interne in a hospital at Youngstown, Ohio. From August 1, 1914, to August 15, 1917, he engaged in the private practice of medicine at Normal, Illinois, at which latter date he entered the Medical Corps of the United States Navy with the commission of a first lieutenant. Doctor Sayers is married and has a son, Eichard. In politics he is a Republican, is a member of the Masonic order, and belongs to the Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Beta Pi (medical) college fraternities. He is also a member of the McLean County and Illinois State Medical societies.

Mr. J. 0. Sayers is a Republican, and has frequently been honored with political responsibilities. He has been a delegate to county and State conventions, was township supervisor of Brown Township eleven years and chairman of the county board of supervisors for four years. For several years he was a director of the local schools and did much to advance and improve the educational facilities. He is a member of the Masonic order, and with his wife a member of the Methodist Church.

JAMES CLARK MCCULLOUGH. One of the prominent agricultural families of Champaign County bears the name of McCullough, and from the time it was established here in 1854 until the present its members have been representative of the county's best citizenship. They have been identified with the upbuilding of this section in every way, not only as industrious and successful farmers using methods that teach others to make agriculture profitable, but they have given hearty support to public movements and to educational and religious organizations. It may well be deemed an honor to belong to such a family, and one of its younger members may be found in James Clark McCullough, who is a general farmer in section 29, Urbana Township, Champaign County.

James Clark McCullough was born on the farm on which he lives, March 31, 1891, and is a son of John -and Annie (Clark) McCullough. John McCullough was born in Champaign County, December 5, 1862. His parents were Alexander W. and Elizabeth (Siler) McCullough, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania and came to Champaign County, Illinois, in 1854. Alexander W. McCullough rented what was known as the Carrol farm for two years and then located in Urbana Township, in section 29, and here carried on general farming until the close of his life. He married Elizabeth Siler and the following children were born to them : James S., who is deceased ; Adeline, who is the wife of W. N. Raymey, and they live in southwestern Missouri; Anna E., who is the widow of John Bond, of Tolono, Illinois; Frank, who lives at Dunnigan, California ; Margaret, who is the wife of S. L. Burwash ; Albert, who is a farmer in Urbana Township; Benjamin, who is deceased; John; and Sarah, who died in infancy.

John McCullough grew to manhood in Urbana Township and has been a farmer and stockraiser ever since his schooldays. He has acquired a large acreage here and is one of the county's big tax payers. He devotes his 560 acres to grain growing and stockraising. On January 22, 1890, he was married to Miss Annie Clark, who was born in Ohio but has spent almost her entire life in Champaign County. Six children were born to this marriage: James Clark, who is a successful farmer in this township;

Helen, Mary, Fred and Margaret, all of whom are at home; and Joseph, who died at the age of three years. Mr. McCullough and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a Republican and is serving as supervisor of Urbana Township. For many years he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity. He is one of the township's best known and most highly respected citizens.

James Clark McCullough was reared in the comfortable home that it was his good fortune to be born into and was given the best of public school advantages and after leaving the high school took a business course. In embarking in farming he followed his natural inclination and has devoted himself diligently to the cultivation and improvement of his 160 acres, a part of the old homestead. Mr. McCullough is an intelligent young man and has made himself acquainted with the underlying principles of his business, and it is to such men that the people not only in our own but in other lands ultimately will look for food for many years to come.

Mr. McCullough was married June 29, 1915, to Miss Edna Myers, who is a daughter of Grant and Rose (Brennan) Myers. The father of Mrs. McCullough came to Champaign County in the spring of 1899. He was born in Ohio and the mother of Mrs. McCullough was born at Gilman, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Myers have had four children: Edna Louise, who is the wife of James C. McCullough; Frances, who lives with her parents; a son who died in infancy ; and Howard.

JOHN W. MUMM. Now living retired at Sidney, John W. Mumm for years controlled and directed the operations of some of the best farming lands in Champaign County. His career has been productive in the best sense of the term and has been significant of his sturdy character, upright manhood and long continued industry.

Mr. Mumm was born at Sidney in Champaign County, November 24, 1864, and represents a family of early settlers. His parents were John J. and Magdalena (Witt) Mumm, both natives of Germany. His father was a native of the old Danish province of Holstein. When a young man John J. Mumm came to America and located in Champaign County, and lived here to acquire a large holding of fertile farm land. He and his wife had eight children : Annie, wife of Henry Witt of Sidney ; Emma, deceased ; Mary, still at home ; John W. ; Peter, deceased ; Henry of Sidney ; Reimer, deceased ; and a son that died in infancy.

John W. Mumm grew up on the home farm, attended the local schools, and at the age of twenty-one began his independent career as renter of wxty acres. Soon afterwards his father gave him eighty acres. He showed justifiable enterprise in handling this land and with the results of his labors was able to buy twenty acres. Later his father gave him another place of 120 acres and eventually eighty acres more. He worked the land, improved the buildings and other equipment and made for himself and family one of the most substantial rural homes in the county. A number of years ago he erected a handsome two-story veneer brick home.

On October 20, 1886, Mr. Mumm married Mame Malone, daughter of Christopher and Minnie (Gruel) Malone. Her parents were natives of Germany. Her father came to America as a young man and located in Champaign County, where he followed farming many years, but is now living at Pomeroy, Iowa. He and his wife had the following children: William of Rush Hill, Missouri; Elizabeth, wife of Harmon Passow of Jolly, Iowa; Mrs. John W. Mumm; Frederick, deceased; Christ W. of Pomeroy, Iowa; Caroline, deceased; Mollie, wife of Elmer Wells of Pomeroy, Iowa; Phillip, deceased; Mary, wife of Lewis Rost of Pomeroy,

The efforts put forth hy Mr. Mumm as a farmer were always stimulated by the presence of wife and a family of growing children. The children born to their union were ten in number. DeEtta is the wife of Chester Place, a farmer; Frederick is deceased; Luther is still on the home farm; Otis of Tipton, Illinois, resides on an eighty-acre farm owned by his father; Myrtle is the wife of Eudolph Kiewitt, of Tipton, Illinois; the other children, all at home, are Vera, Luella, Hazel, Cordelia and Wilson.

In political matters Mr. Mumm has followed an independent course as a rule. He has served as school director and as school trustee, and in fraternal matters is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Masonic order. He and his family worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Sidney.

THOMAS J. EAELY. The Early family has been identified with Champaign County for over a half a century. The name is one around which many interests center. They have been industrious and capable farmers, good home makers and upright and honorable citizens in all the relations of life.

One of the younger members of the family is Mr. Thomas J. Early, who is now active manager and farmer of the old homestead in Champaign Township. He was born in Colfax Township of this county December 19, 1882, a son of John W. and Bridget (Lyman) Early. His mother was a member of the well known Lyman family of Champaign County. John W. Early, who was born in Ohio, came to Champaign County in 1861, lived for a time in the city of Champaign, and subsequently bought a farm of 160 acres in section 19 of Champaign Township. For upwards of half a century he gave diligent attention to its cultivation and improvement and he died there October 28, 1911. His wife passed away May 4, 1909. They had a large family of thirteen children, Thomas being the oldest. The others are: Mary A., at home; Margaret, wife of James Mooney, of North Dakota; Julia F., wife of Bernard Flaharty, of Bismarck, Illinois ; John P., of Eankin, Illinois ; William S., whose home is at Bondville in this county; Peter, of North Dakota; Catherine, who died in August, 1916; Walter, still at home; Ignatius, of Gerald, Illinois; Lucinda, a teacher at Ivesdale, this county; Arthur at home; Marcella B., attending the Longwood Academy in Chicago.

Thomas J. Early grew up on the farm where he still resides, attended the public schools, and is now renting the farm from the other heirs and is devoting it to the general crops and to the live stock industry. His father was a member of the school board in this district for twenty years. Mr. Early is affiliated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Catholic Knights of America, and his church affiliation is with the Holy Cross Catholic Church of Champaign.

A. A. ARMS, now living retired at Thomasboro, has truly lived the strenuous life. He has entered heartily into all the experiences that come to the farmer in a new country and after subduing his own acres and acquiring the fatness of the land he was not content to settle down into a life of studied ease, but has sought adventure and knowledge far afield. Mr. Arms is without doubt the best known hunter in Champaign County. He has the riches of trophies gained from the chase sufficient to stock a museum. He has traveled to many remote fastnesses of the wild game and knows the haunts and character of wild animals from the standpoint of the naturalist as well as the hunter.

Mr. Arms comes of pioneer stock. He is a son of Orrin and Cynthia A. (Hubbard) Arms. His grandfather Hubbard spent his early life at Sheffield, Massachusetts, and soon after Indiana was admitted to statehood, which occurred in the year 1818, he migrated to this far western country and settled at the highest point then occupied by a white resident on the Wabash Eiver at the mouth of the Vermilion. He arrived in the spring and his nearest neighbor, excepting Indians, was a white family ten miles below who arrived in the following November. In that frontier district he began making a home, and he went three miles from his cabin to break up land for his first corn crop in what was known as Meed Prairie.

Orrin Arms was born near Montpelier, Vermont, son of Jesse Arms. Orrin Arms moved to Attica, Indiana, and his first deed to land there was dated 1828. He died June 5, 1885, on the same place where he had located in 1828. While a cabinetmaker by trade, he spent most of his active career as a farmer. Orrin Arms and wife had the following children:' Mrs. Lucetta Paine, living at Wabash, Indiana; Solon H., who was born in 1833 and lived at Attica, Indiana; Azro A.; Laura A., who married John Dungan and died at Boswell, Indiana; and Ira. Cynthia Arms died at Attica,- Indiana, and Orrin Arms married for his second wife Elizabeth Stephens. Their children were named Amanda, Cynthia and Charles. All these children received their preliminary advantages in one of the log cabin district schools of Indiana.

On January 18, 1856, A. A. Arms and his brother Solon arrived in Champaign County, Illinois. Mr. Arms has been a resident of Eantoul Township since April 5, 1866. The two brothers bought 320 'acres, comprising the west half of section 13, township 21, range 9, in the third principal meridian. The brothers were in partnership in this land deal and their deed to the land was signed by President Franklin Pierce. The purchase price was $2.50 an acre. The same land is now worth $250 an acre, an increase fully a hundredfold. Mr. Arms lived there sixteen years.

He married Elizabeth Stockdale, a daughter of Hugh and Harriet Stockdale, the former a native of England and the latter of Castlemahone, Ireland. In the Stockdale family 'were the following children: Mary J., Harriet, William, Eugena, Joseph, Elizabeth, Arabella, Grace, Jessie and Mabel. Hugh Stockdale was a boot and shoe dealer. In March, 1861, he bi ought his family to America, lived a time in Pennsylvania and from there came to Illinois.

After their marriage Mr. A. A. Arms and wife started out to build a home and fortune for themselves. They bought land and by application of the principles of industry and economy their labors have met with pleasing success. Mr. Arms has proved a vigorous farmer and has exercised great wisdom in his investments. At the present time his holdings as a real estate man include 5,409 acres, scattered over the states of Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas and Texas, and peopled by an industrious, contented tenantry, all working harmoniously for mutual interests, and who unanimously pronounce him the prince of landlords.

Mr. Arms believes that his success in life has been1 due to the rigid adherence to three cardinal principles. The first is that the primary law of nature is self-preservation ; the second is care of health ; and the third is an admonition to take care of wealth, including home and possessions, liberty and family. Some years ago Mr. Arms removed to Thomasboro, and established himself in one of the most beautiful and commodious homes of that village.

Mr. Arms has a truly mechanical genius. In many ways he has sought to lighten the burden of farm management and farm labor. On his place he has installed an electric motor which serves to pump the water for house and barn, shell the corn in one hopper and grind in another, runs the washing machine, and the power thus derived is in fact employed for nearly everything except milking the cows. Mr. Arms has also used concrete to advantage in many ways, including the building of walks, cement floors and large drinking troughs for his cattle. He is one of the farmers in Champaign County who have cement floors in the barns.

At his Thomasboro home Mr. Arms has almost innumerable trophies, and among other things a sportsman's cabinet which contains almost an arsenal of firearms. He has some examples of the old flintlock guns and from that the collection ranges to the most modern repeating rifles and shotguns, including the Winchester and Savage makes. Some years ago he won in a shooting match a fine double-barreled Parker Brothers Meredith gun valued at $80, and has used it frequently in his sporting expeditions. For twenty-two winters out of the past twenty-five Mr. Arms has been in Texas, Louisiana and Florida, in the remote and wild districts of those states on big hunting expeditions. One of the trophies in his home is a mounted deer head which he secured in LaSalle County, Texas. His hunting companion in Texas is J. W. Buckow and together they have killed over 200 deer. The favorite gun with which he hunts big game is a Marlin rifle. Mr. Arms is not content with the ordinary sights found on the best of guns, and he makes his own, and they are better and truer than any found on the market. A hunter of no mean reputation himself, Mr. Arms has always been an admirer of the great Americans who have been similarly famed. In his library he possesses and has read through from cover to cover the lives of such American hunters and frontiersmen as Wild Bill, Kit Carson, William Drannan, Texas Jack, California Joe, Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) and Theodore Eoosevelt.

In his hunter's museum Mr. Arms has a beautiful seven-foot diamond rattler skin. The snake was shot by his brother Ira in the latter's dooryard in Florida. Another curio is a rich brown necktie made from a brown rattler skin, with the rattlers for pins. Other specimens include an armadillo, a sawfish killed in Texas, a number of articles from the noted San Pedro Park at San Antonio, a Texas leopard cat, an ant-eater, civet cat and many other rare animals. In 1874 Mr. Arms participated in a buffalo hunt. That was only a few years before those vast herds of bison were practically exterminated from the American prairies. In that hunt he killed four buffalo and has the horns and robes in his home. There is an alligator skin from an animal seven feet long, numerous beards of wild turkey, the tusks of the wild hog known as the peccary, the tusks of wild boars, sea beans from the Gulf of Mexico, any -number of Indian arrowheads and samples of Mexican onyx. There is a cane made of Texas ebony. Two of the firearms are the old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles with which the early American hunters killed the antelope and buffalo.

Mr. and Mrs. Arms are connoisseurs of Japanese art. In their parlor stands a vase 3!/o feet tall with a pictured illustration of Japan's bravest generals and their wives, and containing the history of that country dating back for 500 years. The parlor is completely furnished in costly Japanese wares. Much of it is made of the famous Anoka, richly carved with dragons, the emblems of Japan. The1 chairs contain carvings of dragonheads, each holding between its jaws an apple, this being a symbolic representation of the old story of the temptation of Eve. On the wall of the parlor hangs a piece of Japanese royal tapestry. Worked in the design are two large white swans, a body of water surrounded with a grove of evergreens. The tapestry is made of the finest of silk, and it is a rich and handsome piece of artistic embroidery.

souvenirs and trophies as is possessed and cherished by Mr. and Mrs. Arms. It requires a long examination to really understand how widely Mr. Arms has sought wild game and how well justified his fame as a Nimrod is. Mr. Arms has spent many happy vacations on Texas ranches, especially the ranch of his friend and comrade, Jim Dougherty. He has in his collection a photograph of a real Texas longhorn, once owned by Dougherty. From tip to tip these horns measured 9 feet 2 inches.

In politics Mr. Arms has been first and always a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln and has been voting the ticket regularly ever since. He has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for the last fortyeight years, having joined that order before he was married. Mr. and Mrs. Arms have lived in close affiliation with the best interests of Champaign County. This county they have witnessed transformed under their very eyes from a rude and little productive community into what is now one of the richest farming sections in the entire world. Mr. Arms voted for and did all he could to secure the University of Illinois for this county and has lent a similar support to every other progressive movement. His wife is an active member of the Episcopal Church at Rantoul.

Mrs. Arms has enjoyed frequent trips with her husband and is a congenial comrade and completely in sympathy with his outdoor sports and recreations. She received her education in the Rantoul High School, finishing at Champaign, and prior to her marriage was a successful teacher in this county. Mrs. Arms is a cultured woman, of striking appearance, broad minded, an entertaining conversationalist and is a splendid type of the true American woman.

CHARLES F. WENDLING'S farm enterprise is identified with the southeastern part of Champaign County, in Raymond Township. His fine farm home is situated in section 10, on Rural Route No. 36 out of the town of Broadlands.

Mr. Wendling has been a man of affairs in this community for the greater part of his life. He was born in Sangamon County, Illinois, December 15, 1874, a son of John and Margaret (Monigan) Wendling. His father was a native of Alsace, France, and his mother of Ireland. The father was born in 1842, came to America in 1854, at the age of twelve, lived first in Macon County, Illinois, and later in Sangamon County, and in his early years, a young man with no capital, he did cattle feeding and farming. In 1876 he came to Champaign County, locating in Raymond Township, where he was successfully identified with the business of farming until his death in October, 1916. His wife also passed away on the old homestead in that township. They were the parents of six children, three of whom died in infancy. Annie is still at the home place and the mother of two children, named Roy and Ethel. The second in age is Charles F. The daughter Mary is also at home.

Charles F. Wendling acquired his education in the district schools of Champaign County and at the age of nineteen went to work on a farm, hiring out his labor for three years. He then rented a place of eighty acres, and subsequently one of 160 acres, and at his father's death he took charge of the 180 acres comprising the fine farm in section 10 of Raymond Township. Here he followed general farming and stock raising and his work is marked by distinctive success.

Vaden. Her father was born in North Carolina and her mother in Virginia. The Vaden family came to Champaign County in 1865. Mrs. Wendling's father is an attorney by profession and is now living at Pensacola, Florida, at the age of eighty-one. Her mother died in December, 1901. Mrs. Wendling was the youngest in a family of three children. Her sister Laura is the widow of Isaac Palmer. Her sister Mary is the wife of Thomas Peake of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Wendling have two children : Eoy Vaden, born July 7, 1910 ; and Mary Virginia, born March 22, 1914. In his political support Mr. Wendling is a Democrat.

LEWIS PRATHER has been a resident of Champaign County for many years. He has been one of the live and energetic business men and farmers of the community, though he was well educated for the law. Successful in business, he has not neglected the public welfare and is a man who can be depended upon for helpful support wherever the best interests of his home community are concerned.

Mr. Prather was born in Cumberland County, Illinois, April 20, 1862. His parents were James and Delilah (White) Prather, his father a native of Indiana and his mother of Illinois. The mother died in May, 1901, and the last five years of his life the father spent with his son Lewis and died March 10, 1906. He was an active farmer and developed and improved a good estate in Cumberland County. There were nine children in the family: Nettie, wife of William McGinnis, of Kansas; Lewis; Mamie and John, both deceased; Bartholomew, of Ludlow, Illinois; Josephine, deceased; Dollie, wife of Benjamin Neal, of Toledo, Illinois; Adolphus, of Champaign; and the youngest, a son, died in infancy.

Lewis Prather was educated in the district schools of Cumberland County and spent three years in Valparaiso University in Indiana. He was graduated in the law course in 1893. Instead of taking up the legal profession he taught school twelve years, three years in Cumberland County and nine years in Champaign County. In 1897 he married and soon afterwards bought the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead. Mr. Prather lias under his management a farm of 177 acres in section 23 of Urbana Township. This he has profitably devoted to grain and stock farming, and he is making the place pay good dividends both on the capital invested and for labor and management.

Mr. Prather married Lula Werts, a daughter of Jesse and Mary (Schlosser) Werts, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Prather have two children: Dewey and Jesse, both at home. Mr. Prather is now serving as school director, has been drainage commissioner and was the only township assessor elected in his home township on the Democratic ticket since the Civil War. He and his family are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their home receives daily mail delivery over Rural Route No. 12 out of Urbana.

BERT E. LYNCH has made his career one of fruitful endeavor amid the scenes and associations of his early childhood and youth. He is leading a very active and enterprising life as a farmer in Sidney Township, and has a well-ordered farm and good country home on Rural Route No. 57.

Mr. Lynch was born in section 14 of Sidney Township, March 17, 1870, a son of William F. and Cynthia E. (Lunger) Lynch, both of whom were natives of Indiana. His father came to Champaign County in the fall of 1862 and located his cabin home on section 14 of Sidney Township. In the course of years he converted a large section of prairie land into fertile fields, and spent his last years with ample comforts after making a generous provision for those dependent upon his labors. He and his wife are now deceased, his death occurring September 3, 1902. They had five children: Greeley I., living in southwest Missouri; Ida M., wife of Camuel Stewart of Philo, Champaign County; Emma of Sidney; Bert E. ; and Etta of Sullivan, Illinois.

Bert E. Lynch remained a factor at the homestead until he was twentyone and in the meantime secured a substantial education from the district schools. He had become a farmer on his own account before reaching his majority and has gone steadily ahead in this vocation until he now controls the operation of 180 acres and is individual owner of 125 acres.

December 24, 1891, Mr. Lynch married Ida Belle Brown of Homer, Illinois. Three children were born to them : William Ealph, who died at the age of eighteen months ; Opal J. and Arthur Dean, both at home. Mr. Lynch is a Eepublican, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his family worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

HOWABD WISEGARVER. Profitable farming depends upon a number of essential things. First, perhaps, there must be good soil, incidentally the climate has much to do with it, and transportation facilities have to be considered, but last and by no means least, is the farmer himself. In modern days the farmer is a man not only of industry but also of a great deal of knowledge and the more experience he can call to his aid the more chance has he of being able to make every inch of his domain return him a profit. Judging by the success that has attended his agricultural efforts, Howard Wisegarver, one of Champaign Township's most respected citizens, is also one of her best farmers.

Howard Wisegarver was born August 31, 1873, in Champaign Township, Champaign County, Illinois, and is a son of William H. and Myra (Hetrick) Wisegarver. They were both born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and were reared, educated and married there. The father came to Illinois in 1869 and his wife came in 1872. He settled first in DeWitt County but afterward purchased 160 acres in Section 35, Champaign Township, Champaign County. Here he carried c/n general farming and stock-raising and this continued his home until the time of his death, May 30, 1913. He left a fine, well improved property. To his marriage with Myra Hetrick, who survives and lives with her eldest son, there were three children born, namely: Howard, Mary and William H. Mary died in infancy.

Howard Wisegarver attended the public schools in Champaign Township, thereby securing a good, solid common school education, which is an admirable foundation upon which to build in carrying on any business. He remained at home and helped his father until 1901, after which he farmed for himself on a rented tract of eighty-five acres and for three years more carried on farming operations on a still larger tract, having 100 acres to manage. In the meanwhile his attention had been called to the great opportunities offered settlers in San Luis Valley, Colorado, and becoming interested he decided to go out there and prospect a little, which resulted in his purchasing eighty acres in San Luis Valley and Conejos County, Colorado, and he spent the next four years there. Mr. Wisegarver . returned then to Champaign County, his father having died in the meanwhile, and took charge of the home farm and has remained here ever since. He carries on general farming and stockraising and has the reputation of being one of the most successful agriculturists in the county.

born in the State of Ohio and died in Conejos County, Colorado, in February, 1908. In January, 1914, Mr. Wisegarver was married to Miss Minnie Emig, who was born in Piatt County, Illinois. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and are not only attendants, but active workers and dependable contributors. In politics Mr. Wisegarver has never been unduly active and maintains an independent attitude, casting his vote according to his own excellent judgment.

HENRY J. F. EDENS. One of the younger men carrying the response bilities of agricultural management in Raymond Township is Henry J. F. Edens, son of parents who were pioneers in this county, and he is now cultivating one of the best farms of Raymond Township.

Mr. Edens was born on the old farm in section 10 of Raymond Township, February 22, 1885. His parents, Peter and Mary (Kant) Edens, were both natives of Germany. His father on coming to America located in Champaign County, near Sidney, and from there moved to the homestead in Raymond Township. Though he began life with comparatively nothing, he prospered by his steady industry and is now owner of 400 acres of the rich and fertile acres of Champaign County. He and his wife are living retired in Urbana. They had only two children, Alvina and Henry. Alvina is the wife of Fred J. Mohr of Raymond Township.

Henry J. F. Edens grew up on his father's farm, gained his instruction in the local district schools, and from an early youth was disciplined to handle the plow and do the other work of the farm. For several years he managed his father's entire place, and then took charge of 240 acres, which he cultivates as a general farming and stock raising proposition.

On February 5, 1913, Mr. Edens married Mary A. Etter, who was born in Champaign County, daughter of Conrad and Anna (Mumm) Etter. Her parents are now living at Philo. Mr. and Mrs. Edens are members of the Lutheran Church at Philo, and their home is on Rural Route No. 36 out of Broadlands.

HERMAN H. BUHS. Urbana Township, Champaign County, offers many examples of successful farming and no one could overlook, in this connection, the many richly cultivated acres that belong to the old Buhs homestead, 160 of which are under the direct care of Herman H. Buhs, one of the township's most highly respected citizens.

Herman H. Buhs was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, August 25, 1872. His parents are John. C. and Fredricka (Albright) Buhs. The father, who is now one of Champaign County's men of wealth and the owner of 480 acres of valuable land, was born in 1847, in Germany, and came to America at the age of nineteen years with his widowed mother. He has been a very industrious man wherever he has lived, and also a dependable man, so that now his advice on agricultural matters is often sought by his neighbors, who have found it sensible and worth taking. He was married in Ohio to Fredericka Albright, and they have three sons and one daughter : Frank C., Herman H., Edward E. and Anna Fredericka, who is the wife of John Krumm, and they have a daughter.

Herman H. Buhs was brought up on a farm and his knowledge of agricultural affairs is solid and practical. He obtained his education in the public schools and has always lived on the home farm, a part of which, as noted above, he is now working. He keeps well posted on all matters relating to general farming and stockraising and is numbered with the best informed and most successful agriculturists in Urbana Township. He owns some first-class agricultural machinery.

who was a popular young lady of this neighborhood but a native of Indiana, and they have had six children, two of whom, Clarence, the second born, and Mildred, the fifth in order of birth, are deceased. The others are: Edward W., Herman H., Charles J. and Vilma Katherine. They will all have public school advantages, as their father believes in public education and at present is serving as a member of the township school board. He belongs to the German Lutheran Church, in which faith he was reared by devout parents. In his political views he is a Democrat and gives a hearty support to the candidates of that party.

JOHN C. BUHS. One of the sound, substantial men and successful general farmers and stockraisers of Champaign County is found in John C. Buhs, who is located in section 33, Urbana Township. Mr. Buhs is one of the heavy landowners of this section and his finely improved farm extends also into sections 34 and 21, all in Urbana Township.

John C. Buhs was born in the village of Baritz, in the province of Mecklenburg, Germany, September 11, 1847. His parents were Carl and Fredricka (Eaforth) Buhs. His father died in Germany and the mother continued to live there until John C., her only child, was nineteen years of age. She was a wise and far-seeing woman and not only consented when he proposed seeking better opportunities in America, but agreed to accompany him. They reached the United States safely and found a home to please them in Fairfiekl County, Ohio. There John C. Buhs engaged in farming and continued until the spring of 1876. In the meanwhile, on September 23, 1870, Mr. Buhs was married to Fredricka Albright, and on March 10, 1876, they came to Champaign County, Illinois, and lived at Philo until the fall of 1887, Mr. Buhs all the time keeping himself employed in agricultural pursuits.

In 1893 Mr. Buhs bought 240 acres of land in Urbana Township and since then has kept adding to his possessions until he now has 480 acres, all finely cultivated and well improved. Mr. Buhs devotes this large body of land to crop raising and to stockraising, finding a ready market for all his land can be made to yield. He has always set an example of industry and his large amount of property has been acquired in the way of hard work.

Mr. and Mrs. Buhs have four children, namely: Frank C., who is his father's right hand man on the home farm ; Herman H., who is a farmer in Urbana Township ; Edward E., who resides at home ; and Anna Fredricka, who is the wife of John Krumm, and they have a little four-year old daughter named Marie. Mr. Buhs and his family belong to the German Lutheran Church. He belongs to no political party but, nevertheless, always casts his vote, and it is for a candidate who has won his approval because of his honesty and his fearlessless in doing the will of the people. As for himself, Mr. Buhs has never accepted any public office, finding his time sufficiently occupied in looking after his own affairs. He is known all over the county and is everywhere respected.

PARK T. IRWIN. Ever since the early '70s the name of Irwin has stood for agricultural and commercial integrity and good citizenship in Champaign County, for faithful performance of duty in peace or war, and for helpful support of progressive measures. Particularly is this true in the community of Longview, a town which was laid out by James W. Irwin, father of Park T. Irwin, the latter one of the representative young business men of this place. Park T. Irwin was born at Longview, July 13, 1881. his parents being James W. and Margaret (Fisher) Irwin.

Champaign County. At that time he was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in his native state in the Seventeenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at the outbreak of hostilities, and subsequently being connected with the heavy artillery. He served three years and three months in the Union army, taking part in numerous important battles, and on one occasion being captured by the enemy but subsequently paroled, - and had a fine record as a soldier. On coming to Champaign County he secured land and engaged in farming, accumulating 200 acres, on which was later laid out the present town of Longview, the founders of which were Mr. Irwin and J. W. Churchill. Mr. Irwin was a man of excellent judgment, and his foresight enabled him to choose for his location a property which would later be in a position to attract settlement and business enterprises. He is now retired from active pursuits and makes his home at Longview. He has never lost his interest in his old army comrades, and is still a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and one of the most popular comrades of his post. In Masonry he has attained a high position, having reached the thirty-second degree. Mrs. Irwin, who was a native of Pennsylvania, died in 1899, having been the mother of the following children : Corda, who is deceased ; Paul F., a resident of Chicago ; Blanche B., the wife of Charles H. Watts of Urbana, county superintendent of schools ; Claude G., a resident of Omaha, Nebraska ; Park T. ; and Daisy D., the wife of George E. Bronson, a division city engineer of Chicago.

After attending the country schools of Champaign County and the public schools of Longview, Park T. Irwin spent three years at Westfield College, and at the age of twenty-one years entered upon his commercial career as proprietor of a grocery business at Westfield. He was successful in this venture, but after two years was compelled to dispose of his interests because of failing health, and for the next year traveled to various points. Returning to Longview, he embarked in the grain business, and to this enterprise has since given his attention, having built up an excellent trade at Longview and in the surrounding territory. Mr. Irwin is a young man of push and enterprise and has inherited much of his father's business acumen, while the integrity which he has shown in his business operations has gained him a name for probity in commercial circles. He is a Republican, although not active in politics, and his fraternal connection is with the Modern Woodmen of America, in which order he has numerous friends.

Mr. Irwin was married May 26, 1907, to Miss Emma White of Westfield, Illinois, and they have three children : Frances, born July 20, 1911 ; Margaret, born August 29, 1913; and Elizabeth, born January 15, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin are members of the Presbyterian Church.

RUFUS B. HOY. A resident of Champaign County almost forty years, Rufus B. Hoy after a brief visit determined that this county should be his permanent home, and here his industry has borne fruit and his name is one that is spoken with honor and respect.

Mr. Hoy was born in Hancock County, Ohio, November 6, 1850, son of Abraham and Mary (Fellers) Hoy. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio and both their ancestors several generations back came from Germany. Abraham Hoy and wife had twelve children, six sons and six daughters, Rufus being the youngest son. These children were educated in a district school known as the Hoy School, situated on a corner of their father's farm back in Ohio.

Rufus B. Hoy when twenty-eight years of age came to Illinois for the purpose of working one summer on the farm of his brother Abraham, located east of Urbana and known as the old Cook farm. The country and its people had a special charm for the young man and he prolonged his visit indefinitely. He worked on various farms in the county, and at the age of thirty he laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Miss Martha J. Arlington.

Mrs. Hoy, who has stood beside her husband in all his work and in the ordering of her home and the training of her children for the past thirtyfive years, was born in Hancock County, Indiana, daughter of Samuel and Matilda (McDuffey) Arrington. Her parents were natives of North Carolina and were early settlers in Indiana, whither they went with their only child. Their other children were all born in Indiana. The McDuffey ancestry originated in the land of hills and heather, Scotland. The six children of the Arringtons comprised four daughters and two sons, both sons dying in infancy. Martha was the youngest daughter and the only one still living. She was educated with her sisters in the Wright district school. In 1860 the Arrington family moved to Champaign County and settled near Mayview.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoy after their marriage began farming on rented land a mile and a half south of Mayview. Possessing youth, enthusiasm, energy and ambition, they made each year count for something definite in their scheme of life and in the matter of progress, and in the course of time were able to buy out the other heirs of the Arrington estate, and while they lived there they added many improvements to that beautiful farm. They now have 340 acres in Illinois and 640 in Missouri.

Two sons and three daughters were born to their marriage, named Jesse F., Bertha M., Gertrude May, Fred and Lucy F. These children were well educated both at home and in the district school known as the Willard School. Bertha graduated from Brown's Business College at Champaign, fitted herself for work as a teacher and taught in the College Corner School and the Kirkpatrick School. She is now the wife of A. N. Duvall, and they live in Rantoul, where Mr. L(uvall is a postal employe. Their one child is named Gladys Bernice. Gertrude, the second daughter, was educated in the University of Illinois at Champaign and was a teacher of public schools in Champaign County. She taught the Allen and York schools, spending two years at each place. She married Earl Swartz, and they live at Matthews, in New Madrid County, Missouri, where he is a grain dealer. Fred is a farmer on his father's place at Mayview. He married Opal Lockwood, and of their two children one died in infancy, the one still living being Marjorie. Jesse, also a farmer on one of his father's places south of Mayview, married Mary Brooks and has a daughter, Lavinia. Lucy F. graduated from the Urbana High School and took the full college course in the University of Illinois. She is a cultured and capable young woman, still at home with her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoy have always been interested in every work for the upbuilding of the social and religious community in which they have lived. Early in life he accepted the doctrines and principles of the great Republican party and has found that organization most expressive of his mature convictions and experience in the regulation of political affairs. He is an ardent Mason, having joined that order back in Ohio when a young man and is a charter member of the Court of Honor.

Thirteen years ago, having seen their efforts duly rewarded, Mr. and Mrs. Hoy left their farm and came to Urbana, where he bought a pleasant and attractive residence on Elm Street. Here this worthy couple have surrounded themselves with the comforts of life and live in the enjoyment of their family and their numerous friends.

Such people as Mr. and Mrs. Hoy are counted among the builders of a county, always interested in every good work for the promotion of the good of the community socially and religiously. Converted in early life, in 1891, they both took their place in the home church at Mayview, the Methodist Episcopal, as earnest, conscientious members, and have found their deepest source of joy in working in the interests of the Man of Galilee. The day of their conversion was a milestone in their lives and they always pleasantly refer to that time which with devout Christians is the day of all days. This decision came early in their lives, and has influenced and regulated all their subsequent actions and has proved fruitful in deeds of kindness so that the name Hoy is wreathed with pleasing memories. On moving to Urbana Mr. and Mrs. Hoy united with the Methodist Church there and have been liberal supporters of its every cause, and Mr. Hoy is now serving as a church steward.

JAMES A. WILSON. Some of the finest and best cultivated farms of Champaign County are located in the southern townships and among these it is no disparagement of the efforts of others to mention the fine place of James A. Wilson in Raymond Township. Mr. Wilson is a practical and progressive farmer and owns and occupies a part of the land which the Wilson family have cultivated for fully half a century.

Mr. Wilson was born near Ridge Farm in Vermilion County, Illinois, April 29, 1859, but has lived in Champaign County since early childhood. His parents, William and Martha (Fulton) Wilson, were both natives of Ireland. His father on coming to America followed teaching in the schools of Ohio and a similar occupation after locating in Vermilion County, Illinois. In 1866 he came to Champaign County and began life as a farmer on section 9 of Raymond Township, where as a result of his welltimed industry he built up an estate of 240 acres. On that old farm he passed away October 18, 1874, leaving ample material possessions and an honored name to his descendants. His wife died there February 3, 1894. They had nine children : George of Long View ; Maria, deceased ; William of Mount Vernon, Illinois; Thomas of Raymond Township; John and Henry, twins, both deceased ; Martha Jane, who died in 1883 ; Sarah Mary, deceased; and James A.

Nearly all the experiences of James A. Wilson, whether as a child or as a mature man, center around section 9 of Raymond Township. He grew up there and besides the district schools he attended the Champaign High School, from which he was graduated in 1883: For two terms he taught in his home township, and after his marriage he took charge of the home place. When the estate was divided he received 160 acres, and has gradually enlarged this as his farming business has grown, first buying eighty acres in section 10 and later buying another eighty acres of the homestead. Thus he has under his control a full half section, and the bountiful crops of his fields and the splendid improvements and equipment testify to his efficiency as a farmer without recourse to other descriptions.

On January 22, 1887, Mr. Wilson married Rachel Catherine Hughes of Bates County, Missouri. They had a happy married life of a little less than five years, until her death on February 3, 1892. She was the mother of three children : Harriet, who died in infancy ; Frances Gertrude, wife of Richard Davis of Raymond Township; and William Walter of Hensley Township. On March 22, 1894, Mr. Wilson married for his second wife Mary Graham, a native of Hamblen County in East Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are the parents of six children: Frederick Roscoe of Edgar County, Illinois; Ruth Ellen, wife of Alfred Toppie; Grace Edith, who graduated from the Champaign High School in 1917 and is now attending the Teachers' Institute in that city ; Ernest, Thomas Graham, and Blanche Olive, all at home and attending the local schools.

two years as assessor and two years as collector. He is a Democrat, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and with his family worships in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His fine home is on Rural Route No. 58 from Sidney.

HERMAN M. SMOOT has had a very determined and energetic business career at Homer and at the age of forty his prosperity is now assured as well as his position as a man of affairs and influence in his community.

Mr. Smoot was born on a farm in Vermilion County, Illinois, June 19, 1877. His parents were John and Sarah C. (Lewis) Smoot, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were brought to Illinois when children, and grew up in Vermilion County, where after their marriage they lived on a farm in Vance Township. In 1895 John Smoot moved to Homer and with Mr. J. Stingle opened a lumber business. He remained in that business until 1898, when he was succeeded by his son Herman, and he then retired. His death occurred January 4, 1917, but his widow is still living in Homer. John Smoot was a member of the Masonic Order and of the Episcopal Church. There were five children, the two oldest, both sons, dying in infancy. William S. is a carpenter by trade and lives in Kansas City, Missouri. The fourth in age is Herman M. Bertha E., the only daughter, is the wife of J. Charles Franz, of Homer.

Herman M. Smoot was eighteen years of age when the family left the farm and removed to Homer. Up to that time he had attended country schools and he then put in a fall and one winter in the high school, working out by the day during the rest of the year. The next winter he returned to high school and that term was followed by other work on the farm at monthly wages. During those two years he saved enough to enable him to take the course in Brown's Business College at Decatur. Having proved himself a young man of considerable ability and active resolution, his father then loaned him his half interest in the lumber business, and in a short time he had made good in these responsibilities and in 1904 bought out Mr. Stingle and has since bought out two other local competitors and now has practically a monopoly of the local lumber trade.

Mr. Smoot married Miss Elizabeth Shaw, who was born at Homer, daughter of Dr. Homer C. and Eliza V. (White) Shaw. Mr. and Mrs. Smoot have two children: John I., born July 3, 1900; and Catherine E., born January 22, 1903.

Mr. Smoot has done more than carry on a very successful business at Homer. He served two terms as mayor, and is now vice president of the Champaign County Highway Improvement Association, is president of the Community Improvement Association of Homer, and president of the local Chautauqua Association. He is a Republican, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and in Masonry is affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter and Knight Templar Commandery. He and his family worship in the Presbyterian Church.

PATRICK T. MADIGAK In the erection of a substantial business structure in the field of insurance Patrick T. Madigan of Longview, Illinois, was able to build upon a foundation formed by a good business education, a worth-while and practical training and an inherent ambition. These have formed the real concomitants of his success, although combined with them have been the accompanying desirable factors of perseverance and natural ability. Mr. Madigan was born on a farm in Raymond Township, Cham-

John F. Madigan came to Champaign County in 1874 and took up his residence on a farm on section 27, Raymond Township, where for many years he carried on successful agricultural operations, developing a good property and winning prosperity by industry and good management of his investments. He has now retired from active pursuits and is residing at Philo, where Mrs. Madigan died September 30, 1911. Mr. Madigan is one of the well known citizens of his locality who has the confidence and esteem of his fellow men, and while residing on the farm held township offices on various occasions. He and his wife were the parents of three children : Patrick T. ; Dennis F., born November 21, 1879, and died May 15, 1899 ; and Josi'e, born in 1882, who is now the wife of Edward O'Neill of Philo.

Patrick T. Madigan was reared on the home farm and received his early education in the rural schools. He was prepared for a commercial career by a course at the Quincy Business College, and in 1907 left the farm and came to Longview, where he has since made his home. On his arrival here he accepted a position in the employ of the Indianapolis Grain Company, with which he has been identified to the present time. After having been at Longview several years, Mr. Madigan began to be interested in the insurance business, and subsequently devoted more and more of his attention to this line of work, until he is now one of the well known men in this field in Champaign County. He represents the Aetna, Phoenix and Hartford, all excellent old-line companies, and has built up a large business, having sold some appreciably large policies. He is accounted one of the energetic and progressive men of this thriving community and has made numerous stanch friends both in and outside of business circles.

Mr. Madigan was married January 15, 1908, to Miss Helena E. Smith, who was born in Edgar County, Illinois, and to this union there have been born two children: Paul J., born July 18, 1911; and Katherine Marie, born November 21, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Madigan are members of the Catholic Church. In politics he is a Democrat, but his connection with public affairs is only that of a good citizen who performs his civic duties and has no desire for public preferment.

JAMES H. UMBANHOWAR. It may be cited as proof of the stable character of the people of Champaign County that many of the finest farms here are owned by direct descendants of the original settlers, and the land has never been out of the family since it was secured from the government a half century or more ago. The Umbanhowar farm is a case in point. Its owner is James H. Umbanhowar, who was born on this place, situated in section 17, Homer Township, September 25, 1853.

The parents of James H. Umbanhowar were Samuel and Julia Anna (Spencer) Umbanhowar, the former of whom was born in either Virginia or Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. They came to Champaign County in 1840 and settled on this farm in 1852, a wild tract at that time, but favorably situated and well watered. Its choice illustrated the good judgment of Samuel Umbanhowar, which has been a characteristic of his descendants. During his subsequent nine years of life he worked hard to clear and improve his land but he died April 15, 1861, hence much of the laborious work fell to his sons. He was survived by his wife until August 20, 1876. They were the parents of eight children, as follows : a son who died in infancy; Margaret Anna and Mary, both of whom are deceased ; Matthew, who is deceased ; Samuel, who is a resident of Hoopston, Illinois; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Z. T. Moran, of Hartford, Nebraska; James H.; and Abigail, who is deceased.

James H. Umbanhowar attended the district schools in boyhood when he had the chance, but the early death of his father made it necessary for him to assume responsibilities while still young, and as soon as possible he took over the management of the farm and continued to operate it for his mother until her death in 1876. He continued to work the farm and his sister Mary kept house for him until her death in 1883. Mr. Umbanhowar received twenty-four acres as his part of the estate. He now owns 172 acres of finely improved land, it being the fruits of years of toil and self denial, combined with good judgment. The time has come when he can rest and for some years he has been retired, his second son being a capable and practical farmer and carrying on all the farm industries very profitably.

Mr. Umbanhowar was married February 16, 1888, to Miss Elizabeth Hall, who is a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Yeazell) Hall, and they have four children, three sons and one daughter: Charles E., a railroad man with the Big Four, lives at Indianapolis, Indiana ; Fred S., who rents and operates the home farm; Audry 0., who is a member of Battery F, Tenth Artillery, United States Army, now stationed at Douglas, Arizona; and Julia Anna, who is with her parents. Mr. Umbanhowar and family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a sound Eepublican, believing firmly in the principles upon which this organization was founded. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, attending lodge at Homer, and for many years has belonged to the Masonic fraternity.

JOHN E. RAYMOND, one of the best known and most active figures in the general farming and live stock industry of southern Champaign County, is a grandson of the man for whom Raymond Township was named.

This grandfather was Nathaniel Raymond, a native of Milford, New Hampshire. He came to Champaign County in pioneer times, became a large land owner, and after taking the lead in having a separate township set off from the original Sidney was elected the first supervisor of Raymond Township. Nathaniel Raymond married Melissa Stuart, a native of New York State, and both of them died in Champaign County and they had five children : Josephine, widow of W. S. Maxwell of Bayside, Long Island ; Sarah, widow of J. B. Green of Sioux City, Iowa, both Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Green having been pioneer merchants of Champaign; John, who lives in Girard, Kansas ; Isaac S. ; and Jane, who died in 1884.