Champaign County, Illinois - The whole text, 1918 (part 22 of 23)

The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl: Lulu, Amanda, Otis, Ora, Verna and Nora. From the first Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl appreciated the value of training and of education and sent their children to the Central School and so far as possible helped them to acquire a liberal education and fit themselves for positions of usefulness in the world. Amanda and Verna and Nora all became successful teachers and did their work in that vocation in Champaign County and also in Vermilion County. The good. they accomplished as teachers during all the years they spent in that vocation can hardly be estimated. Nora Bensyl received her first . certificate in 1916 and is engaged to teach the Cottonwood School in Urbana Township for the year 1917-18. Eighteen years ago the daughter Amanda attended the teachers examination at Danville and was awarded her first certificate. Then after teaching one year she was given a first grade certificate. The daughter Verna took the entire course of Brown's Business College at Urbana, becoming an efficient shorthand operator and also a typist and bookkeeper. The daughter Nora attended the high school at Ogden and later Mrs. Brown's Normal Training School for Teachers at Homer. She taught the Danforth School in Eaymond Township, near Sidney. In addition to her literary studies Miss Nora has been an interested student of music under the direction of Professor C. L. Foster in his musical studio at Champaign. The daughter Amanda married Abner Silkey. Mr. Silkey was principal of the St. Joseph High School two years, and principal of the high school at Ogden two years. He is now a well known business man of Urbana, being cashier of the First Trust & Savings Bank. Mr and Mrs. Silkey have two children, Harriet and Mary.

The Bensyl family have not been spared the visitations of death, and on December 2, 1916, the beloved son Otis passed away. He was a young man of much ability and had acquired a large circle of devoted friends. He married Ruth Hool.

The son Ora is successfully managing his father's farm. By his marriage to Bessie Bradley he has three children, Mary Elizabeth, Vance Leroy and Ora.

The daughter Verna is now the wife of Ora Hall, who is connected with the Standard Oil Company living at Ogden. The other two daughters, Lulu and Nora, are still at home with their parents.

For the last two years Mr. Bensyl has been engaged in the operation of a livery business at Ogden. His methods of doing business have brought him a large patronage and he is a thorough business man. Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl are active members of the Prospect Christian Church at Ogden and in politics he is a Democrat. Progress has always been the keynote of Mr. Bensyl's career, and his industry has brought him success, while during many years he has had a good wife to establish the home and train their children and add to the many pleasant things for which the name Bensyl is noteworthy in Champaign County.

Louis V. JXJEGENSMETER. In the community of Homer one of the names most significant of large business activities is that of Jurgensmeyer. Mr. Louis V. Jurgensmeyer has spent his life in that town and surrounding community and it would be difficult to say in what one field his accomplishments are best known. He has been a merchant, has done much to develop Homer as a business town, but he is also an extensive farmer and stock breeder, and has some of the finest hogs found in this section of Illinois.

He was born at Homer May 3, 1876, a son of William and Mary Elizabeth (Hengst) Jurgensmeyer. His father was born at Logan and his mother at Lancaster, Ohio, and in 1869 they settled on a farm in Vermilion County, Illinois. His father was also a successful stock raiser and farmer. In 1900 the parents removed to Homer, where they spent their last days retired and where the father died January 13, 1907 and the mother January 27, 1905. There were only two children, the older being Elizabeth, wife of C. A. M. Smith of Danville.

Louis V. Jurgensmeyer had in addition to a common school education the two years course of Bryant & Stratton College at Chicago. He early showed business ability, and is one of the few men who can handle various interests capably and profitable. In 1902 he established a general department store in the Opera House Block at Homer, and conducted a large business in that location for six years. He has also built a garage in Homer, was formerly active in the automobile business and is the owner of several buildings in the town, including his handsome brick residence, the best of the village, which he erected in 1910.

For a number of years Mr. Jurgensmeyer's time has been well taken up with his farming and stock raising. He makes a specialty of the 0. I. C. hogs and has over two hundred head of this registered strajn. His farming interests are operated on 525 acres in Vermilion County, and he also owns 160 acres in the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Mr. Jurgensmeyer is a Eepublican, was formerly a member of the town board and is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Miss Dollie May Palmer, a native of Homer, daughter of J. T. Palmer of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Jurgensmeyer have two daughters: Hazel Margaret and Marjorie Ellen.

CHARLES W. DALE. Among the citizens of Champaign County who are carrying exceptionally heavy burdens and responsibilities is Charles W. Dale, editor of the St. Joseph Record, the Ogden Courier and the Pythian Herald. Mr. Dale is a newspaper man of long experience and splendid ability and has the valued services and counsel of his capable wife in the management of these papers.

Mr. Dale was born at Mahomet, Illinois, a son of Thomas and Mary (Mead) Dale. His maternal grandfather Mead was the first superintendent of schools in Champaign County.

Mr. Dale was educated at Mahomet, and on August 8, 1900, he married Miss Myrta Morehouse. She was also born at Mahomet, a daughter of Heber Judson and Laura (Abbott) Morehouse, her father a native of Michigan and her mother of Illinois. Mrs. Dale was educated in the

Mahomet High School and before her marriage was a popular teacher, being connected with the Mahomet schools four years and also with the high school at Eantoul.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dale located at St. Joseph, where he was associated with his brother as editor of the local paper. Later, in 1904, he bought his brother's interest and has since conducted and managed the entire business with the assistance in recent years, of Mrs. Dale.

Three bright young children constitute their family circle: Ralph Emerson, Virginia and Kent Morehonse. These children are all now attending the local schools of St. Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Dale are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the Loyal Americans, the Pythian Sisters and the Eastern Star, while Mrs. Dale is active in both the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters, being past worthy matron and at present secretary of the Eastern Star.

Mr. Dale has filled several offices which are indicative of the esteem in which he is held in the community. For two terms he was township supervisor and for thirteen years held the office of town and village clerk. He is known as a man among men and has built up a very successful journalistic enterprise. The three papers published at the St. Joseph office cover a large territory and have a combined circulation of 2,000 copies. St. Joseph is fortunate in having these energetic people among its citizens.

Mrs. Dale is a highly cultured woman and of most attractive personality. She is president of the Woman's Club at St. Joseph, an organization for both literary study and general social and public improvement. Mr. and Mrs. Dale are greatly interested in music. For a number of years he was instructor of bands at different places, while Mrs. Dale comes of a family of musicians. They have as a matter of course made music a feature of their home and in the training and education of their children, who take much interest in that study. Mr. Dale is also a composer of some popular airs. One especially worthy of note is a two-step march, dedicated to Company M, Fourth Illinois, which is pronounced by critics a fine piece of music. On the back of the copies is contained the names of members of Company M in Cuba.

VAN B. SWEARIXGEN was at once one of the most successful business men and most honored citizens of Champaign County. His name is especially associated with the community of St. Joseph, where the best years of his life were spent.

Mr. Van Swearingen was born in Adams County, Ohio, June 2, 1837, and died January 21, 1901. His father, Andrew J. Swearingen, was a native of Pennsylvania who early migrated to Ohio, where he married Mary Brady. From Ohio he brought his family to Illinois, first locating near Homer and afterwards a mile south of the village of St. Joseph.

Van B. Swearingen was ten years of age when he accompanied his father to Illinois in 1847. He completed his education in the common schools of St. Joseph Township. He was fourteen when his father died and after that he lived with Benjamin Bartley until reaching his majority. Though he had little capital, he possessed that independence which made him willing to venture on his own account and success followed his efforts from the beginning. He first farmed as a renter, and also made an early beginning of buying and selling stock. He possessed natural gifts as a shrewd business man, and two years after he started out for himself he had enough capital to take his place in the ranks of business men.

number of years followed the business of trading in stock, a pursuit which he made remunerative and profitable. In 1870, with William Shreve as a partner, he engaged in merchandising and established the first store of the village of St. Joseph. That store was conducted on very successful business principles and soon became a popular and favorite trading place for all that section of the country. Though a merchant for many years, his natural inclination was for outdoor life and he always kept in close touch with the farming interests and grew stock and grain on a large scale. He was also an extensive grain buyer, and he made this feature his main business for many years.

In 1861 he married Lydia Bartley, daughter of Benjamin Hartley. She died April 18, 1867, leaving one son, Mr. U. G. Swearingen, whose career is sketched on other pages of this publication. In March, 1871, Van B. Swearingen married Amanda Patterson, daughter of John K. Patterson, of St. Joseph. The only surviving child of that union is Mrs. Doctor Henry E. Davis of St. Joseph, the other daughter, Mattie, being deceased.

The late Mr. Swearingen was an ardent Republican and gave a steady allegiance to that party from the time he cast his first vote for Lincoln in 1861. He was a recognized leader in his township and his influence was instrumental in accomplishing many things that had a direct and vital relationship with the welfare of the community. In 1866 he was elected supervisor of the township. In his private business affairs his success was measured by the accumulation of over a thousand acres of farm land and much valuable property besides, but best of all he left behind a record of unimpeachable integrity and a large circle of friends among the best people of the county, all of them grateful for his associations and glad of the enviable record that clings to his name.

A family that stands for the best in social life as well as representative of the industrial and business affairs of St. Joseph Township is that of Doctor and Mrs. Davis of St. Joseph village. Doctor Davis was for many years actively engaged in the practive of dentistry but gave up that work on account of ill health and is now looking after other business affairs in this locality.

Doctor Davis was born in Mackinaw, Illinois, a son of Henry and Clara (Hittle) Davis. When he was a child his parents moved to Eureka, Illinois, where he spent his early years. He received his literary education in Eureka College, completing it in Ohio College at Cincinnati, where he took up the study of dentistry. He graduated in dentistry and also had practical experience in the office of Doctor Hoover of Washington, Illinois. In January, 1902, Doctor Davis married Miss Maud Swearingen, a native of St. Joseph Township and a daughter of Van B. and Amanda M. (Patterson) Swearingen. The Swearingens are prominent among the pioneer names of Champaign County. The Pattersons were among the very earliest settlers of Champaign County and did much through their aggregate efforts to make this one of the garden spots of the world. Mattie, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Swearingen, died at the age of four years. Doctor Davis and Miss Maud Swearingen were both students in Eureka College. She was taking special instruction in music there. They became acquainted as college mates and this acquaintanceship ended in a happy marriage.

After their marriage they removed to Bloomington, Illinois, where Doctor Davis was in successful practice for nearly a year. On the request of Mrs. Davis' mother they located at St. Joseph, since the mother was lonely and desired her children with her. Doctor Davis then opened an office at the village of St. Joseph and conducted a large practice for some years.

They were splendid people and their lives were intimately associated with the good and welfare of Champaign County. They maintained a most hospitable home, and there are many kindly memories that follow them.

Doctor Davis and wife still remain in the old Swearingen homestead. After giving up his active practice Doctor Davis changed his business and for the past three years has been an automobile dealer in St. Joseph and conducts a first class garage, with all the accessories for supplying automobiles and with a skilled mechanic to make repairs.

Doctor and Mrs. Davis have used their means to enjoy life. They are active members of the Christian Church and very liberal supporters, thus following the example of Mr. and Mrs. Swearingen, who did much to build up that institution in St. Joseph. Mrs. Davis has been a worshiper in the local church since early girlhood. Politically they are ardent Republicans, though Doctor Davis, like many other thinking men, espoused the progressive principles and followed Roosevelt during the campaign of 1912. Fraternally they are active members of the Eastern Star and in 1915 Doctor Davis served as Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge in St. Joseph. He has taken thirty-two degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry. Doctor and Mrs. Davis enjoy a beautiful home at the corner of Sherman and Main streets in St. Joseph, and this community is especially endeared to Mrs. Davis by associations from early girlhood to the present.

IRA H. DODSON. Among the families that have been identified with Champaign County for more than half a century are the Dodsons, represented by Mr. Ira H. Dodson, who still has a portion of the old homestead in Urbana Township.

Mr. Dodson was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, August 10, 1855, . a son of John and Elizabeth (McGee) Dodson. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Indiana. In 1865 the Dodsons came to Illinois, locating in Urbana Township, where the father bought 192 acres of land. John and Elizabeth Dodson had two sons, Edward and Ira, and there was also a half brother, Henry Dodson, who served as a soldier in the Civil War. John Dodson was a notable character in Champaign County, where he lived for a great many years and where he died at the venerable age of ninety-two in 1908. He was one of the greatest wheat raisers in the county. His wife passed away January 16, 1917, aged eighty-two.

Ten years of age when the family came to Champaign County, Ira Dodson grew up here and attended district school No. 4 in Urbana Township. He remained with his parents, taking a helpful part in the management of the farm, and was a prosperous agriculturist before he married and set up a home of his own.

March 13, 1889, Mr. Dodson married Miss Carrie Bell Slayback. She was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, daughter of Wilson and Mary Ellen (Vance) Slayback. Her father was a native of Ohio and her mother of Illinois, and Mrs. Dodson was one of five children. She was educated in the public schools of Indiana, at Dayton School No. 4.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dodson settled down and began their wedded life on his father's homestead where he had spent his boyhood days. This homestead has received many pleasing improvements at the hands of Mr. Dodson. It is located on the Interurban Railroad, and while a country home it is accessible to all the advantages and conveniences of the city.

Mr. and Mrs. Dodson are the parents of one daughter, Martha. She was educated in the home district school, where she spent eleven years, and then completed her literary training in the Urbana High School and also took musical instruction.

The lives of Mr. and Mrs. Dodson have been closely identified with Champaign County for many years, and their efforts have contributed to the fulfillment of the old scriptural phrase of making a former desert blossom as a rose. Mr. Dodson has many memories of the time when Champaign County was a region of raw prairie and swamp, and the present condition of the county has been accomplished largely through the miracle of drainage.

The Dodson family located in Champaign County before the Big Four Eailway was constructed, and their first home was on the original farm. The old district school was near by, and subsequently the district was divided and a new schoolhouse built on Mr. Knox's land. Mr. Ira Dodson attended both of these schools. Among his early teachers the one best remembered by all the students was a Mr. Cunningham, who was distinguished by the peculiarity of his costume, consisting of a calico gown and slippers. Mr. Dodson attended his last school in the high school at Urbana, under J. W. Hayes.

Mrs. Dodson and her daughter are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Dodson has given his undivided support to the Eepublican party since he was able to cast his first vote. He has done more than merely vote and has used his public spirited efforts to forward the good things of the community. For six years he served as a director of the public schools and has always sought to make the local schools the best possible. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, and his wife is a member of the Royal Neighbors and the Pythian Sisters. Miss Martha Dodson has for years shown special interest in church affairs, her membership being with the Urbana Methodist Episcopal Church. Her working membership is just what is needed for every progressive church in the country.

The industry of Mr. Dodson has brought him abundant success and he now enjoys a large and complete farm of 108 acres. Progress has been the keynote of his life and his well tilled fields are ample evidence of that quality. He is also a very systematic and orderly man in regard to his farm work, and everything is done just at the proper time and in the manner best fitted to accomplish results.

His father, Mr. John Dodson, was for thirty years a successful mechanic in Indiana, being a blacksmith and wagon maker. He worked at his trade before the Civil War. Among other useful things which were made in his shop were the old-fashioned grain cradles. Mr. Ira Dodson has as one of his most prized possessions one of these old fashioned cradles made by his father. John Dodson also employed several hands in conducting his blacksmith shop in Indiana. His home was near a Dunkard settlement, and he made the old-fashioned buggies for the Dunkard people to ride in. It was many years before the Dodson family acquired their first self-binder for harvesting grain. Mr. Ira Dodson always associates the purchase of that modern farming implement with the year that General Coxey's army marched to Washington, D. C. The army marched past the Dodson home. One other notable procession went by the Dodson place. At the time of McKinley's inauguration a great horn, six feet across the bell, was made at Decatur, Illinois, and was carried past the Dodson place on the shoulders of six men. It was used in the great inaugural parade at Washington.

After coming to Champaign County John Dodson gave his principal time and attention to farming. He was an excellent manager and at the time of his death possessed 214 acres. He had drained this land, had improved it with good buildings and with trees, and today it stands as a monument to his industry. When he made his will he directed that his two sons, Edward and Ira, his sole heirs, should each choose a man, who in turn should choose a third, and this arbitration committee should divide the property equally between the sons. But wisely enough the two sons, working in complete amity and agreement, did the work of division for themselves and thus kept the entire matter out of court, avoiding any litigation or delay and much expense.

CHARLES H. WALLACE. Among the ambitious young men who came to Champaign County some forty years ago with the intention of making it his future home and has proved his foresight and good judgment in making his selection was Charles H. Wallace, who needs little introduction to the people of Homer, which has always been his place of residence. His present position in the financial field places him among the capitalists of the state, his large possessions make him one of the great landowners. Mr. Wallace is a graduate of the agricultural department of the University of Illinois, and his vast agricultural operations are based on sound scientific knowledge.

4, 1856, and is the second born son of William S. and Helen (Bryant) Wallace. The father was a farmer, later a manufacturer, and still later became identified with banking interests, being a man of great business enterprise. His death occurred at Trinidad, Las Animas County, Colorado. The mother died at Elyria, Ohio. They were the parents of seven children, namely : James E., who is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio ; Charles H. ; Frances A., who is deceased; Nellie J., who is the wife of the Hon. F. R. Wood, of Trinidad, Colorado; and Lewis D., Margaret and Rosaltha, all of whom are deceased.

When Charles H. Wallace reached Champaign County, Illinois, on March 26, 1878, he located at Homer and as farming was his object, he rented a tract of land and there put into practice the knowledge he had gained during his university course. As time passed he began to acquire land and still more land until now Mr. Wallace has sixteen hundred acres and these, under his intelligent methods, yield so abundantly that he is looked upon as an authority on all things agricultural. Mr. Wallace for many years has been interested in a number of banking institutions, and is an official in the Elyria Savings and Banking Company, of Elyria, Ohio; the Allerton State Bank," at Allerton, Illinois; and is vice president and a director in the First State Trust & Savings Bank at Urbana, Illinois, which he assisted to organize.

The First State Trust & Savings Bank is one of the soundest financial institutions in the state. According to its statement at the beginning of business May 2, 1917, its resources are as follows: Loans and Discounts, $137,760.82; Overdrafts, $2,338.22; Banking House, Furniture and Fixtures, $40,000.98; Other Real Estate, $7,800.00; Due from Banks, $61,928.80; Cash on Hand, $7,281.94. Total, $257,110.76. The liabilities are as follows : Capital Stock, $60,000.00 ; Undivided profits, $3,566.62; Deposits, $176.000.38; Certified Checks, $43.76; Bills Payable, $17,500.00. Total, $257,110.76. The officers of this bank are: S. E. Huff, president; C. H. Wallace, vice president; Harry Gardner, vice president; Abner Silkey, cashier; S. H. Busey, cashier; H. L. Ascher, assistant cashier. The board of directors is made up of the following capitalists:

5. E. Huff, C. H. Wallace, Harry Gardner, Abner Silkey, S. H. Busey, F. E. Williamson, John Vedder, Joseph W. .Vedder, H. V. Cardiff, J. 6. Goodmann, L. F. Wingard. This bank was - authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to receive subscriptions to the first

Anthony Coyle And His Famous War Horse

Mr. Wallace was married to Miss Effie 0. Core, the only daughter of Dr. James Core. She had one brother, Charles P., who is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have had seven children, as follows : A son who died in infancy; Ealph C. J., who is cashier for the manufacturing firm of Lynn & Bowler at Stuttgart, Arkansas; Helen J., who is the wife of Howard Smith, of Sidney, Illinois; Lewis B., who is a teacher in the high school at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; and Ruth, Julian and Irene, all of whom reside with their parents.

In politics Mr. Wallace has always been a supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He has never accepted public office, as his many private interests have closely engrossed him, but he is a wideawake citizen and when necessary lends helpful influence in the right direction unofficially. For twenty-five years he has been on the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church and its secretary during this time. The only fraternal organization with which he is identified is the order of Ben Hur.

ANTHONY COYLE. With the lengthening perspective of years more and more honor is paid the participants in that struggle by which the Union was preserved and the liberty of all men assured in the United States. Only a handful of the survivors of this great struggle remain as a reminder to patriotism in Champaign County. Tihose who are familiar with his career say that Anthony Coyle was one of the bravest men Champaign County sent into the war. Mr. Coyle, after a life of honorable effort and service, is now enjoying the comforts of a pleasant country home a half mile north of Pennfield in Kerr Township.

Mr. Coyle was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but has lived in Champaign County since 1854. He is a son of Martin and Mary Coyle, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Maryland. The names of their children were Mary, Ellen, Martin and Anthony.

Anthony Coyle was fifteen years of age when he came with his parents to Illinois, and soon afterwards he found employment on Charles McHenry's farm near Urbana. He was twenty-one when the war broke out and he soon enlisted and marched to the sound of the fife and drum to defend his country's flag. He enlisted July 10, 1861, in Company I, Second Regiment of Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel John J. Mudd, for three years, or during the war.

In the year before the outbreak of the war Mr. Coyle had gone to New Orleans on a business trip. While in that city he was at the St. Charles Hotel. He became a witness to an altercation between John J. Mudd, who was then a St. Louis commission merchant, and a group of hot-headed Southerners. Mudd expressed himself as loyal to the elected President Lincoln, declared that Lincoln had been elected by a majority of the people and not only ought to be President but the people ought to abide by the decision of the majority. For all this Mudd was derided as an Abolitionist and his life was threatened. This scene occurred on the last day of December, 1860. It was the bold and fearless young Northerner, Anthony Coyle, who probably saved Mr. Mudd from the fury of the mob. He stepped in and showed such determination and vigor that the ardor and expressed intention of the mob to hang Mudd was somewhat cooled. By a strange coincidence when Mr. Coyle went into the army the colonel of his regiment was John J. Mudd. There always existed a warm friendship between the two men, and after the death of Colonel Mudd his grateful family wrote a special letter to Mr. Coyle, thanking him for the bold manner in which 'he had expressed his bravery in New Orleans. It was also while he was in New Orleans that Mr. Coyle first became acquainted with General Sherman, who was then serving as military instructor at a school at Alexander, Louisiana.

Impressed by all he had seen and heard in the Southern city, and recognizing that secession was an imminent danger and that the Union was seriously imperiled, Mr. Coyle, hastily closing up his business affairs, came North and rode through Illinois on horseback to Chicago and over many of the counties, warning and arousing the people. In those early days he raised more men for enlistment than any other person. Some laughed at his fears, but he said, "Boys, this is no little play before breakfast; our country is imperiled." Eiding up to the home of Russell Kerr, who was stacking ihay with six men, he said : "Russell, our country is in danger, and every man is needed." He then gave him further facts as he knew them by personal experience. Mr. Kerr stuck his fork in the halffinished hay rick, remarking, "Boys, there will be no more haying until our Union is saved," and with all his men he enlisted and went to the front.

The Second Illinois Cavalry went first to Fort Massac on the Ohio River, a month later to Paducah, Kentucky, and from there to Columbus, Kentucky, and the Second Regiment was among the first of the troops to enter and capture that town in March, 1862. At the time General Sherman was at Cairo, Illinois, and did not arrive on the scene until the dashing Northerners had taken the city. The Second Illinois was soon ordered back to Paducaih, later returned to Columbus, and from there moved to Jackson, Tennessee. In the two severe engagements at Bolivar, Tennessee, on August 30, 1862, the Second Regiment lost all its officers. Mr. Coyle was one of the men who saved Grant's supplies at Bolivar on that day. He possesses a copy of the complimentary special field order issued by General Grant complimenting the Second Illinois Cavalry on its gallantry. It is said that this was the only time a general order ever paid special complimentary praise to an individual regiment.

At Bolivar, when Colonel Leggett was ordered to charge the Rebel front, expecting to find 600, he found instead he had a force against him of 6,000. His men engaged in a hand-to-ihand conflict, fighting* six times their own number. Realizing the importance of reinforcements, the colonel detailed five of the cavalry to go meet General McPherson, who was slowly coming with artillery and infantry from Jackson, Tennessee. Anthony Coyle and his noted cavalry horse, Crusher, was one of these five men. Their orders were to ride for their lives as they valued the lives of their imperiled comrades. From the time they started they were constantly harassed by guerrillas and bushwhackers. Four of the horses tired out in that mad ride and their riders had to return to camp. Anthony Coyle was the only man who got through, delivering his orders to General McPherson. He then returned, his brave horse carrying him on the round trip, three days and nights. All the world knows the result of the battle by which McPherson's troops saved the day. When Anthony Coyle rode back into camp a wild cheer went up from the boys in blue for- the horse and this brave rider.

During the campaigns that followed the Second Regiment was continually on the firing line and did much notable service in the campaigns around Vicksburg. Mr. Coyle was wounded five times and after the fall of Vicksburg was honorably discharged. In his last engagement he was shot through the body and remained for two days and a night on the battlefield while the other wounded were gathered into the hospitals. His comrades thought him past all human aid and therefore turned their attention to others less severely wounded. He was finally put in a box car with the dead and dying and by that time the wound had festered and was filled with maggots. After being removed to hospital the wound was dressed, a silk handkerchief was drawn entirely through the body, and General Grant detailed two special nurses to watch over this brave and gallant soldier. Anthony Coyle has frequently been called the "minute man" of Champaign County. He was ever alert to warn the people of danger. At one time he was completely surrounded by Rebels who determined to close in on him and put an end to his dashing career. To their surprise he headed his faithful charger, Crusher, down a steep embankment where it was supposed no man could walk. At the foot was a high fence, but Crusher never stopped at anything he could see over, and vaulting the fence he carried his rider to safety. There is in the home of Mr. Coyle an enlarged photograph, framed, showing him and his splendid cavalry horse Crusher. After his discharge from the army he bought his horse which had carried him through so many engagements, and Crusher spent his last years in comfort and ease in Champaign County.

Mr. Coyle has as another souvenir of his war service a certificate of membership in the Lincoln Memorial Association. He was very active in the movement and had charge of raising funds for Lincoln's monument. Among other souvenirs Mr. Coyle possesses some Rebel envelopes and literature and also the Rebel flag which he captured at Columbus, Kentucky, March 7, 1862. This is the noted "Bonnie Blue" flag, the theme of Southern song and story. The flag carries on the blue field a white star for every seceding state. The flag when it was captured was riddled with bullets.

There is perhaps no man living today who was better acquainted with Abraham Lincoln than Anthony Coyle. During Lincoln's travels as an Illinois lawyer, following the movement of court from county to county, Mr. Coyle was frequently employed to convey the railsplitter from one point to another. At the time of the Lincoln and Douglas debate Mr. Coyle became so interested that he followed them around and heard several of the debates. Lincoln's earnestness and keen wit and knowledge of law made such a deep impression on his mind that today, after nearly sixty years, he can quote Lincoln's sayings almost verbatim.

At the age of twenty-six Mr. Coyle laid the foundation for his own home by his marriage to Manda J. Cooder, daughter of John and Permelia (Edison) Cooder, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of North Carolina. When Manda Cooder was eight years of age her people came to Illinois and located in Champaign County. All the children except Manda and her brother William died in infancy.

After his marriage Mr. Anthony Coyle rented land the first year and in time he was able to buy a place of forty acres, paying only $8 an acre, whereas the same land today is worth $250. His industry had its reward and later he acquired another tract of forty acres and has gradually developed a farm sufficient for the needs and comforts of himself and his growing family. Mr. and Mrs. Coyle had one son and one daughter, Frank and Clara. These children they educated in the Penfield school. Frank also attended the University of Illinois, taking the mechanical engineering course, and he worked at his profession at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, three years and afterwards was in the employ of the National Cash Register Company of Dayton, Ohio, being located at Cleveland, in Michigan and various parts of the West. He is a very successful man, and his active career has covered a number of years. At present he is at home assisting his father on the farm. The sister, Clara, is also still living with her parents.

cast his first vote for Lincoln. A public spirited man and always enjoying the confidence of his fellow citizens, he was elected supervisor of Kerr Township, and has also served as a trustee of the local schools. Mr. Coyle is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Grand Army of the Republic, and he was instrumental in instituting the first Union League in this section of Illinois. For a number of years Mr. Coyle was entrusted with the management of the large Parsons estate farm and also the farm belonging to the Battles estate.

Mr. and Mrs. Coyle have seen Champaign County develop from a primitive condition into one of the garden spots of Illinois. They have clone their part in life, have been attentive to the duties that lay nearest them, and besides the honor and credit that belong to his record as a valiant soldier Mr. Coyle has the esteem paid to the worthy and upright citizen at all times.

HUGH GRAHAM. Coming to Illinois over half a century ago, a young and ambitious Irishman but with little capital except that contained in the resources of his individual character, Hugh Graham is living today in one of the most complete country homes of Champaign County, located in section 22 of Harwood Township. His wealth consists not alone in many broad acres, well- tilled fields and sleek stock, but in the riches of esteem paid him by a large community of friends and acquaintances, and even more in the capable and trustworthy sons and daughters who are still part of the family circle.

Mr. Graham was born in County Monaghan in the Province of Ulster, May 22, 1844. He was the seventh of nine children born to Hugh and Sarah (McMahon) Graham. Mr. Graham obtained his early education in the National Schools of Ireland. This was a very satisfactory system and he attended throughout the year except for two weeks at Christmas, two weeks at Easter and the month of August. The school hours when he was a boy ran from 10 to 3 in the afternoon.

He was about twenty years of age when, having heard of the wonderful opportunities of America and not being satisfied to live in a country burdened with British rule, he expressed his spirit of adventure by immigrating with relatives and landed at New York on October 25, 1864. A sister was already living in New York and a brother in Sangamon County, Illinois.

On the 12th of December, 1864, Mr. Graham reached Macon County, Illinois. At that time most of central Illinois was a raw prairie and looked like a complete wilderness to the young Irishman who was accustomed to the fertile and closely tilled estates of Ireland. In Macon County he found work as a farm hand and remained there until 1869, and afterward, as a result of well directed industry, bought some land in Champaign County, where at the age of forty he established a home of his own.

Mr. Graham married in 1885, at Rantoul, Miss Johanna Murphy. She was born in Morgan County, Illinois, a daughter of William and Mary Murphy, natives of southern Ireland. Mr. Graham took his bride to the farm of eighty acres in section 22 of Harwood Township which he had previously purchased. For this land, the nucleus of his present handsome estate, he paid $37.50 an acre, and that was considered a very high price for land at the time. Mr. and Mrs. Graham had the requisite qualifications of industry and thrift, and they made these qualities count until at the present time their possessions embrace 520 acres of as fine land as can be found in the State of Illinois. They have been satisfied not with crops alone but have expressed their energies in numerous improvements that add to the attractiveness and value of their possessions.

The best part of the entire record is that pertaining to the children. Eight sons and two daughters have come into the home, the names of these sturdy young people being William A., Hugh D., Sarah, John J., Arthur, Margaret, Tom C., Edward, Francis Paul and Joseph Leo. From the first Mr. and Mrs. Graham have furnished the young people every incentive at home and every advantage in the local schools. The children all attended the Harwood Center district school. William completed his education in Brown's Business College, while Hugh and Tom were students of St. Viator's College at Kankakee. John and Arthur were also students at St. Viator's. Sarah completed her education in St. Mary's school at Champaign, Margaret studied at the Sacred Heart Academy in Springfield, Francis attended the Donovan Memorial School at Rantoul, and Joseph is still in the Harwood Center school. Not only did the older children wisely improve the advantages of schooling given them by their parents, but they have put their education to good use and have ably assisted the father in the management of the farm. The son William A., who married Catherine Kirk, is a practical farmer living on some of his father's land in section 12 of Harwood Township. Mr. Graham has been liberal in extending opportunities to his sons and has done all he could to get them located near by and as sharers in the prosperity which his capable efforts have won.

The family are all active members of the Catholic Church at Ludlow. Mr. Graham is a stanch Democrat in politics and has served in such positions as town clerk, collector and school trustee. As a farmer his place is known not only for the quantity but for the quality of its products. Last year his land produced 8,800 bushels of oats and 6,400 bushels of corn. In the way of stock he raises Polled Durham and Shorthorn cattle and fine horses of the Percheron and Shire breeds. His progressiveness as a farmer is well attested by his fields and the systematic management of the farm in every detail. Mr. Graham through his experience is in a position to appreciate the wonderful changes that have come over the country. He recognizes the value of improved machinery, and he also knows that the character and industry of 'the man is the chief factor in any worthy success. There was no thought in the early days of germs or danger lurking in drinking water. Today, as he enjoys the pure water that comes from deep wells, he looks back and wonders how the people lived and prospered. All the many other inconveniences he endured without murmur, such as lack of roads, which at certain seasons of the year were almost bottomless, and lack of drainage also made some of the most fertile lands of Champaign County useless for agricultural purposes. The history of the Graham family is a real factor in the development of Champaign County. Mr. and Mrs. Graham have successfully exerted their efforts to make their farm and home attractive for their children, and the young people have found their permanent interests here rather than in the more superficial life of the large cities.

MRS. MABT A. TAYLOR has for many years had her home in Champaign County, and is now living on the old homestead farm at Penfield in section 30 of Kerr Township, where with the aid of her son she is carrying on the farm management left in her hands after the death of her husband.

Mrs. Taylor is a native of Dundee, Scotland, and a daughter of John and Jean (Davidson) Rennie. She grew up in Scotland and received an education in the schools of that country. After reaching young womanhood she married Mr. C. B. Taylor, also a native Scotchman and a son of. John and Helen (Gordon) Taylor. While they lived in Scotland Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had four children : Jennie, John, Mary and Helen.

At different times they thought and talked much of the land of America and Mrs. Taylor was especially influential in urging her husband to leave

Scotland and seek the opportunities of the New World. Thus the little family embarked on a vessel, the Venetian, a ship which later went down in South American waters. They landed from this boat at Boston, and went from there to Chicago, where Mr. Taylor, a butcher by trade, found employment in the great Armour packing plant which was presided over by that genius of the packing industry, the late P. D. Armour. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor lived for many years at Chicago. While there other children were born, named Annie, Charles E., Jennie, Alexzina, Gordon and Rennie, the last being twin sons. Of these Annie, Jennie and Rennie are deceased. From Chicago Mr. and Mrs. Taylor moved to Gifford in Champaign County, where he engaged in the butcher business until his death in 1894. Mr. Taylor was a fine business man, an industrious worker, and his citizenship meant much to any community where lie lived. After coming to Champaign County he had bought eighty acres of land and he also bought fifty acres at Penfield.

After the death of her husband Mrs. Taylor bravely faced the duties of life, her twin boys being then only four months old. Her daughter Mary married Elmer F. Henry and they live on a farm in Iowa. Helen Taylor married S. A. Smith, a railroad contractor living at Chicago, and her three sons are named Walter, Edward and Samuel. Alexzina is the wife of Albert Mauser and they live on a farm near Rantoul and have two children, Fern and John. Charles R. Taylor is a railway employe and married Maud Schultz.

In addition to rearing her own children Mrs. Taylor has carefully looked after the training of her grandson, James R. Croger, a son of Mrs. Helen Smith. Her life has been devoted to the welfare and training of her children and they have in many ways repaid the debt they owe such a brave and conscientious woman. Mrs. Taylor is an active member of the Episcopal Church at Rantoul and in politics she is a stanch Republican and has reared her children in the same faith. Her motto has always been America for Americans, and while thoroughly patriotic she is not convinced of the wisdom of having American sons serving in foreign countries under a foreign flag.

Her son Gordon is one of the able younger citizens of Champaign County and is the successful manager of the home farm. He is an admirer of good horses and other live stock, and his well kept fields are a splendid proof of his ability in agriculture.

EDWARD BUTZOW, a resident of St. Joseph Township for a long period of years, has had a career that challenges admiration and respect. It has the solid basis of industry and is crowned by a success of his own achieving, won by the strictest regards to honest principles and integrity of character.

Mr. Butzow is one of the sturdy sons of the fatherland who in such numbers came to America in early years, poor in cash but with ambition and energy. He was born October 23, 1839, at Walkendorf in Mecklenburg Schwerin, son of Ernest and Sabina (Brosaman) Butzow. Ernest Butzow lived on a farm owned by a German nobleman, and about eighty families altogether had their home there. Ernest Butzow was employed as teacher of the community school, and at one time had 120 students, being their only instructor. Edward was one of four children, three sons and one daughter. He first attended school under his father and later at the town of Tessin, and finally completed his education by private instruction.

While in Germany he served an apprenticeship at agriculture, but in that vocation he could see no future except as a tenant or farm manager, and therefore at the age of twenty-five, in the fall of 1864, he set his face for the land of America, where his two brothers had already preceded him. He had been encouraged to make the journey by enthusiastic letters from these brothers. He took ship at the city of Hamburg, and after a number of days of voyage landed at New York. The following winter he spent at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was employed on construction of Government gunboats for use in the Civil War. He next went to Oil City, Pennsylvania, and was employed as an oil driller. In 1865 Mr. Butzow arrived in Iroquois County, Illinois, where he worked at making railway ties. In the fall of 1865 he joined his brother Louis at Urbana. Louis was engaged in the brewery business at Urbana as partner of some other parties who were not distinguished for scrupulous honesty and were rapidly getting the better of Mr. Butzow's brother. He finally lost nearly all his capital and was compelled to take the $300 that remained to his credit in notes of the brewery with the understanding that he should buy enough beer to cancel the account. In this dilemma he set up as a retail liquor dealer, and employed his brother Edward as salesman. Edward Butzow saw so many unpleasant things connected with the business that he soon became disgusted, and though very poor and without extended opportunity he refused to have anything to do with the liquor trade. Early experiences make strong impressions, and it is noteworthy that from that day to this Edward Butzow has been one of the strongest and most determined opponents of the liquor traffic and there is no truer friend of the temperance cause anywhere in the country. It should be remembered that fifty years ago, when he became aligned with the temperance people, liquor manufacture and liquor selling were accepted as a matter of course and there was no general public opinion against the traffic. Thus through all these years Mr. Butzow has been a nucleus in that gradually enlarging movement which now happily promises to destroy the liquor evil for all time to come.

After this early adventure at Urbana Mr. Butzow bought a half interest in a shingle mill. The mill turned out a fine grade of shingles. These were cut in blocks, boiled in water and cut into shingles, but the business was not profitable. He then turned over his share to his partner, and after that bought forty acres in section 27 of St. Joseph Township. Here he established a brick yard, making brick for one year and the following year engaged in the manufacture of tile. He was really in advance of his time as a tile manufacturer, since land owners had not yet learned to appreciate the value of subsurface drainage by means of tile, and in a short time he found himself bankrupt and burdened with a large debt of $1,150 after selling all his land. When he had solicited a local merchant for financial aid in the tile business, Mr. Butzow assured his creditor that he would see that he incurred no loss by the venture. He made good his word, though it took five years of hard, steady and heavy manual toil at ditching to pay off his note of $1,150 and its accumulating 10 per cent interest. It was an honest debt, and Mr. Butzow could not rest until it was paid, and he has always looked back upon that transaction as one of the most satisfactory in his entire career and furnishing him more pleasure than even the abundant possessions which he now enjoys.

One incident occurred in the life of Mr. Butzow which he always called "Two seconds from death." While in Germany, he was working with another man in a "marl pit," a mixture of clay and lime. They were working under a great undermined embankment of earth. Observing a boy driving up to it with a blind horse, he stepped out from under it to caution him, when the props gave way and the entire embankment fell, burying his companion.

In 1874 Mr. Butzow was elected town clerk of St. Joseph. While looking after the duties of that office he took up the study of law in a practical fashion. He was possessed of a good education, was a good talker and man of experience, and there being no lawyer in the community, he carried on a considerable practice, especially in drawing up legal documents and performing such other services as have popularly been denominated as pettifogging-

In the meantime Mr. Butzow bought 120 acres of land in section 2 north of the village of St. Joseph at a price of $20 an acre. He went to work clearing it up and cultivating it, saved every dollar he earned, and gradually was in a fair way to the success which later years and labors assured him.

In 1880 Mr. Butzow married Miss Lenna E. Cross. She was a native of Ohio. Mr. Butzow took his bride to his farm of 120 acres, and together Ihey laid the foundation of a good home. It was improved with substantial buildings, with the planting of trees and other improvements, and in 1892 Mr. Butzow sold to advantage and subsequently bought the magnificent place of 440 acres which he still owns in section 34 of St. Joseph Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Butzow have four children', one of whom died in infancy. The other three are Louis James, Edward Charles and Clara Bertha. Mr. Butzdw saw to it that they had the advantages of the local district schools and also the high school at Sidney. Louis subsequently graduated from the University of Illinois in the technical course and is now an electrical engineer in Chicago. He has made a splendid record for himself, and enjoys a good position and has an ideal family life. He married Louisa Hermison, and their two children are named Mary and John. The son Edward C. is a practical farmer and manages his father's estate in section 34. He married Zora Rudisell, and their family consists of three sons, Harold, Gleason and Darnel. The daughter Clara, after graduating from the Urbana High School, took a bookkeeping course in a business college at Chicago, and is now the wife of Oliver Plummer, a successful teacher of Champaign. Mr. Butzow has given each of these three children eighty acres of land, and Mrs. Clara Plummer is now preparing to move to her farm.

In 1900 the death angel visited the Butzow home and took away the good wife and mother, leaving Mr. Butzow with his three young children. In 1905 he married for his present wife Mrs. Jennie Eeese, who was born in St. Joseph Township, a daughter of Henry and Catherine (Argo) Reese. Her people were pioneers in Champaign County. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Butzow was educated in the district schools, and was left fatherless and motherless at an early age. For several years she Was employed as a housekeeper in the family of Mr. Butzow until their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Butzow have five young children, Grace, Waldo, Ruth, Marshall and Gladys.

Politically Mr. Butzow is an ardent Republican and has supported that party first and last ever since casting his first vote in America. He and his wife are regular members of the Christian Church at Tipton. It is certainly with pardonable pride that he may look back upon his career in Champaign County. He overcame much in his early experiences, as already noted, and having paid every obligation and every honest debt, it is with unusual satisfaction that he enjoys the fine estate which has grown and accumulated under his enterprise and which furnishes a splendid home for his later years.

A. F. MEUSER has been a resident of Illinois and the greater part of Champaign County for fully fifty years, and his labors long since became so productive as to enable him to live in retirement. He and his wife now have a large and comfortable home in Rantoul, on Grove Avenue. In earlier years they worked hard, were content with simple comforts and necessities, and were willing to sacrifice many things in order to secure a home, rear their children properly, and have a competence for their later years. In

Mr. Meuser was born at Garz on the River Oder, Germany, one of the seven children of John D. and Minnie (Bishof) Meuser. When he was three years of age his mother died, and his father subsequently married again and came to America.

Mr. A. F. Meuser was twenty years old when he came to this country in 1867, in company with his brother Frederick. They landed at New York, went west to Chicago, and from there A. F. Meuser journeyed to Minonk, Illinois, where his married sister, Fredericka Westermann, lived. He found employment with his brother at the carpenter trade, and subsequently engaged in farming.

In 1875 Mr. Meuser laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Fredericka Bermaum. She was born in the village of Voigstdorf, Germany, a daughter of Gustave and Sophia (Casdorf) Bermaum. The Bermaum family and also the parents of Gustave and Sophia came to America, and Grandfather and Grandmother Casdorf died and were buried in Champaign County.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Meuser started farming on a place three miles northwest of Rantoul. It was prairie land, eighty acres, which Mr. Meuser's father had bought from the Illinois Central Railway Company in 1868. They paid $12 an acre for it, though now it is worth many times that sum. Mr. Meuser knows full well the condition of Champaign County fifty years ago. Much of the land was raw prairie, there were numerous sloughs filled with water a large part of the year, and in the swampy section wild game abounded, especially water birds, geese, ducks and cranes being counted by the thousands. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser began housekeeping in a small place fourteen by twenty feet. One compensation for such small quarters in the estimation of Mrs. Meuser is that in those days she was not troubled with extensive house-cleaning operations. This couple possessed the qualities of German progressiveness, energy and economy, they worked diligently, and were always buoyed up with hope of the future and by the widening opportunities of life in the New World.

Into their, home there came in time three children, William, Gustave and Rosa. The daughter died at the age of twelve years. The children were educated in the Ludlow Center school. This school was three miles away, and frequently the roads were very bad, but the children went back and forth every day.

In the meantime Mr. Meuser found opportunity to add to his possessions, bought small tracts of land from time to time, and finally found himself possessed of a full half section, which he still owns.

Both of his sturdy sons married sisters, daughters of 'John and Lena Blue, a well known Champaign County family. William Meuser married Alma Blue, and their three children are Minnie, Herman and Gertrude. Gustave Meuser married Jane Blue and has four children, Augusta, Albert, Rosa and John. William Meuser is a successful farmer in Ludlow Township, a mile and a half from Rantoul, and Gustave does his farming in the same township.

Mr. and Mrs. Meuser- are active members of the German Lutheran Church, and their sons were confirmed in the same faith. In a public way Mr. Meuser has always done what he could to promote the public welfare. He served three terms as drainage commissioner, was a member of the town council at Rantoul three years, and one year was mayor. He takes a broad-minded view of politics and government, and believes that the man rather than the party is chiefly entitled to support. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser are loyal Americans, and have reared their sons with the same sturdy principles which have guided their own lives so prosperously. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser have lived in the town of Rantoul for the past eighteen years.

Among their old family possessions is a book which for age is probably the oldest in Champaign County. It was published 400 years ago, and is a collection of sermons of German Lutheran Evangelical preachers. This book was the property of Mr. Meuser's stepmother. She so prized it that she requested it to be buried with her. At the time of her death the family hunted diligently but were unable to find the volume. Later, when it was found, the pastor of the church told them not to worry since the book was of more value above ground than in the grave. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser also have a book of hymns which was published fully 100 years ago.

NORMAN C. HOYT has spent the best years of his life in one of the rich agricultural districts of Champaign County, has become prosperous from his handling of the soil and its crops, has reared a capable family, and has many reasons to be well satisfied with the retrospect that he can now contemplate while living at his beautiful old home at the north end of Main Street in the village of St. Joseph.

Mr. Hoyt was born in St. Joseph Township, June 6, 1863, son of James N. and Sarah (Hoss) Hoyt. His father was born at Moreau, Saratoga, New York, May 20, 1824, of Scotch ancestry. His parents were Nathan and Lucretia (Stevenson) Hoyt. Her father was pressed into service on the British side in the Revolutionary War, but was captured and fought on the American side. Sarah Hoss was born in Brown County, Ohio, January 1, 1825. Her paternal grandfather came from Germany and was a soldier in Washington's army. James and Sarah Hoyt were quite early settlers in Illinois. Sarah Hoyt came to this state in 1836 with her mother and two brothers and sister. The mother entered forty acres of Government land on Salt Fork Creek in Champaign County and that land has continued in the family possession to the present day. James N. Hoyt and wife had two sons, George and Norman. George is also a resident of St. Joseph, but spent thirty-seven years of his life in the West.

Norman Hoyt acquired his education in the district schools of St. Joseph Township and at the age of twenty-two he married Miss Mary E. Walker. She was born in Indiana, a daughter of Joseph R. and Catherine (Young) Walker. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt began housekeeping in his father's old home, and the place where he was born and reared. Later his parents removed to the village of St. Joseph, and Norman and wife continued to live on the old homestead for twenty years. To their marriage were born nine children: Dolly E., Anson J., Minnie E., Ralph W., Ealy N. and Nealy G. (twins), Mildred C., Sarah L. and Zella E. Mr. Hoyt was very much concerned with the education of his children, and sent them to the public schools of the township and also to the high school at St. Joseph village. The son Anson J. is a farmer on the old homestead and by his marriage to Rosa Sinks has four children, Rolla, Robert, Leon and Charles. The daughter Dolly married Fred Roney, and at her death she left one child, Forest, and there was one that died in infancy. Ralph W. Hoyt lives in Minnesota. Minnie E. is the wife of Frank M. Jones, a resident of Champaign County. The son Ealy Hoyt is one of the young volunteers from Champaign County for the liberty war, and has enlisted in the artillery service, in Battery B, Third Infantry, and is at present located at Houston, Texas. Mr. Norman Hoyt has an interesting relic of Civil War times in the form of a bond issued July 11, 1864, drawing 6 per cent interest for three years. His brother George has a similar bond for $100, a 5 per cent issue for five years.

A number of years ago Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt moved with their family to the state of Kansas, where he bought land and was engaged in farming. While living in that state the death angel visited the home and on Decem- ber 21, 1909, Mrs. Hoyt passed away. Left with the care of his young children Mr. Hoyt then returned to Champaign County and on the old homestead adjacent to St. Joseph village built the fine residence which he still occupies. In 1910 he married Mrs. Julia Etta (Clements) Appling. She was the widow of John H. Appling, and by that marriage was the mother of three children, William J., Grace C. and George E. Appling. William Appling was educated in the high school at Urbana, graduating in 1917 at the age of seventeen, while the other two children are still pursuing their studies in the local high school. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt have one child, James C., now six years of age, and just beginning his educational preparation. Mrs. Hoyt's mother, Mrs. Julia (Kirby) Clements, was born where the Blackberry Schoolhouse now stands in Champaign County. At the age of eight years she went with her parents to Wisconsin in a covered wagon. She now lives in Urbana, at the age of eighty-two years, with faculties well preserved.

For many years Mr. Hoyt has been a successful grain and stock farmer. His industry has met with pleasing success and one of the best fruits of it all besides his fine family is the beautiful and attractive home in North St. Joseph. As a background to his residence there is a dense wood of large elms and oaks which has stood there for generations, and Mr. Hoyt wisely held on to his inheritance of Champaign County soil and has always honored and appreciated the county where he was born and where his efforts have been most productive in the world's work.

Mr. Hoyt's mother passed away March 26, 1905, and his father joined her on August 8, 1911. They were among the highly respected residents of Champaign County. The father died in Kansas.

Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hoyt are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Hoyt is a member. In politics he is a man of broad views and principles and interested in the man rather than the party. In many ways he has exemplified his public spirited interest in the local welfare and has been especially concerned with the maintenance of good schools. He served as director of District No. 1 for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt have endeavored to rear their children with utmost care and with a training that would make them loyal to their country and fitted for all the duties of citizenship.

Mr. Hoyt has always taken special interest in the breeding of good stock, and his farm contains some as fine Belgian horses as are to be found in the country. One fine imported mare is Lisa Baron (98467) 3788, imported by Finch Brothers, November 16, 1913, sired by Fleurin (14928), he by La Fleur (8616) dam Olga Baron (14605). Other noted animals are: Gravenelle, 3785 (98475), was imported in 1913; sire, Certain (31606), by Bienvenu (13292), out of Vitesse (42675); dam, Louise De Reves (76871). Gavenejle has taken first premium in a two and four horse team and in a six-horse team in the International show at Chicago. Mr. Hoyt also owns some fine Hereford stock, among them Flora Donald IV (348400), Miss Gipsy Maid II (496972), and he has recently added fifteen more fine registered Herefords. These animals are a fine acquisition and a valuable asset to the county.

JESSE NEWTON DICK. The communities which do not have the proportion of intelligent retired farmers, many of whom are capitalists, as residents lack an element that may be one of great importance. The farmer's life leads to thought and contemplation and a man who through his own toilsome efforts can acquire a competency and retire to enjoy it while yet in middle life must be possessed of excellent judgment, which should be a valuable addition to community life. He should be a man with clearer views concerning many things and more able to give sensible advice and offer practical suggestions in regard to the everyday problems that have to be settled when interests clash, as they do in congested sections contrasted with the larger freedom of country life. In the pleasant town of Philo may be found fine examples of the retired farmer who have become exceedingly useful members of this community, and one who was held in general esteem was Jesse Newton Dick, who was called from this life on the 10th of August, 1917. He lies buried in the Maharry Cemetery near Wingate, Indiana.

Jesse N. Dick was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, December 7, 1857. His parents were Eli H. and Jane P. (Maharry) Dick, the former of whom was born at Baltimore, Maryland, August 15, 1822, and the latter in Indiana, February 10, 1829. They came to Champaign County in 1878 and settled on a farm in Philo Township which Mr. Dick had purchased in 1876. He carried on the usual agricultural industries here during the rest of his active life, and died at Philo January 30, 1897. His widow survived for many years afterward, her death occurring at Philo September 15, 1915. Of their three children, one son and two daughters, all are now deceased. The daughters were Ellen and Emma.

Jesse N. Dick attended the public schools in Indiana and was a student of De Pauw University for two years. In 1878 he accompanied his parents to Champaign County. In 1879 he began his farming operations on the homestead and continued to reside in Philo Township, where he owned 320 acres of fine land. He moved then to the village and in 1910 built his handsome modern residence, one of the finest in the place and a model of comfort and convenience.

Mr. Dick was married April 15, 1879, to Miss Harriet Emily Luse, who was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, and is a daughter of Jacob and Charlotte (Martin) Luse. The father of Mrs. Dick was born in Pennsylvania and the mother in Ohio. They had the following children: Rhoda A.,- who is deceased ; Belinda, who is the wife of J. Bottenburg, a farmer; Amos M., who lives at Waynetown, Indiana; Harriet Emily, who is Mrs. Dick ; Albert, who is a resident of Lebanon, Indiana ; and Estella, George W. and William, all of whom are deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Dick had two daughters: Pearl, who is the wife of Mark Maddux, of Wingate, Indiana ; and Elma Jane, who is the wife of W. H. Hickman, of Paris, Illinois. Mr. Dick was quite prominent in Democratic politics.

HENRY ROSCOE SHADE is a graduate of the agricultural department of the University of Illinois, and since that time has applied his efforts successfully to farming in Champaign County. He has mixed the correct proportions of science, brains and practical experience in his work, and as to his success his fine farm in Somer Township, his standing and position in the business and civic community, can testify better than words.

Mr. Shade was born in Dale Township of McLean County, Illinois, November 1, 1880. He is a son of John K. and Anna (Bower) Shade, both of whom were Pennsylvanians. His father came out to Illinois about 1874, locating on a farm in McLean County, and living there until his death on June 2, 1896. His mother passed away on the 18th of March, 1898. Henry R. Shade was their only son. He has one sister, Imogene, wife of Charles A. Shoults, of Detroit, Michigan.

Henry R. Shade was sixteen years of age when his father died. He had in the meantime attended the country schools, and had acquired considerable knowledge of farming on the home place. Subsequently for four years he worked on the farm and at the same time attended the Blooming- ton High School, from which he was graduated in 1900. Mr. Shade has had considerable business experience as well as association with farming. For three years after leaving high school he traveled, handling household specialties. Largely with such money as he was able to acquire by his own efforts he entered the University of Illinois and pursued the agricultural course from the fall of 1903 until his graduation in 1907. The vacations he had utilized as an employe of the International Harvester Company. He traveled for this company as salesman and collector in the states of Iowa and Illinois and also in Canada.

On December 24, 1906, Mr. Shade married Mary Thornburn, a native of Urbana. After graduation from the University of Illinois in 1907 Mr. Shade and wife went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and resided there until January 1, 1908. While there Mr. Shade was employed by the International Harvester Company. In the spring of 1908 the young couple located on Mr. T. B. Thornburn's farm six miles north of Urbana, where Mr. Shade had ample opportunity to demonstrate his ability as a farmer and the value of his university course. They remained there until the spring of 1914, when they removed to Mr. Shade's own farm of 100 acres in Somer Township. His farm lies in sections 16, 15 and 20. Mr. Shade made considerable profit by raising seed corn, and he also specializes in the Duroc hogs and Holstein cattle. Besides his Illinois farm, which is a model place, Mr. Shade owns 320 acres in the Province of Alberta, Canada, and also 170 acres in Owen County, Indiana.

He is secretary of the Somer Township Telephone Company, has been township supervisor two years, being chairman of the printing and stationery committee and a member of the buildings and grounds committee of the board, and for a number of years he has been director and president of the local school board. He is a Eepublican, a member of the Presbyterian Church and affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

PATRICK BRENNON was for many years identified with the community of Ogden as a stanch and reliable merchant, a citizen who was never negligent of his responsibilities and duties, and altogether completed a well rounded life of activity and service.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, where he was born in 1844, he came to America at the age of fourteen. He had limited advantages in his youth, and by sheer force of will and determination gained a substantial position in the world. He lived in New York State for a time and then came west and located in Vermilion County, Illinois. He went from that county into the ranks of the Union army and three years after his honorable discharge in 1868 he laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Miss Cornelia Terrell.

Mrs. Brennon, who is still living at the old home in Ogden, was born at Georgetown, Illinois, and grew up and married there. Her parents were .William and Artemesia (Douglas) Terrell, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. Artemesia Douglas' family was related to that which gave Illinois and the nation the great figure of Stephen A. Douglas.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brennon came to Ogden, which was then a small hamlet consisting only of a postoffice and a general store. Mr. Brennon taught school for several years here and also in the Fairmount school. The young people bought a home at Ogden and, possessing youth, industry and energy, they were not long in establishing themselves permanently. For some time Mr. Brennon was passenger agent for the I. B. & W. Eailroad, and at the same time extended his activities to the buying and shipping of grain. He did that on a commission basis, but in course of time his success enabled him to branch out as a buyer for J. W. Leney. He had splendid native business ability. His first independent effort was the establishment of a grocery store at Ogden, and as his trade increased he added other departments until he supplied all the general merchandise required by that community. Merchandising was the business to which he gave all his later years,

He was very young when he responded to the call of patriotism and enlisted with other boys from Vermilion County at Georgetown in Company C of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois Infantry. He took part in a number of notable engagements, and for three years followed the flag as a gallant soldier. After his discharge and in later years his sympathies were always with his army comrades, and it gave him the keenest pleasure to gather with them at reunions. He continued to attend those assemblages of the old soldiers as long as his health and strength permitted.

Mr. and Mrs. Brennon were the parents of two children, a son and daughter, William and Wintress. The name of the daughter was selected by her father. Eealizing the advantages of a good education, Mr. and Mrs. Brennon supplied their children with the best facilities of the home schools and of outside institutions. William took his preparatory work in the Methodist Academy at Danville, a branch of the Illinois Wesleyan College, and afterwards completed the regular course of the Wesleyan University at Bloomington, where he graduated in law. He made a splendid record as a student and for a time after his graduation was associated with Judge Benjamin in his office at Bloomington. Later he joined Mr. J. B. Mann, one of the prominent attorneys of Danville, and Mr. Mann desired that the young man should accompany him to Chicago. At that time young Brennon realized .that his father needed him to assist in the local business, and an arrangement was made whereby the son assumed many of the responsibilities connected with the conduct of the store at Ogden and entered a partnership with his father. William Brennon married Miss Mary Louise Whitzell, of St. Joseph village. Four children have been born to them, Jessica, Virginia Terrell, named for her grandmother, Mary Elizabeth and Dorothea Patricia. These constitute a fine group of young people, the joy and comfort of Mrs. Brennon.

The daughter Wintress Brennon after finishing the course of the public schools at Ogden entered the famous St. Mary of the Woods school near Terre Haute, Indiana, and then for six years was a student of the University of Illinois. She graduated in the literary and art department in 1914 and in 1917 completed the course of the Library School. She is a thoroughly trained and graduate librarian and has recently accepted the post of branch librarian at Gary, Indiana, where her duties began September 1, 1917.

In the fullness of years and in the fullness of accomplishment as a business man and citizen Patrick Brennon passed away August 19, 1913. He was long regarded as one of the most reliable business men of Champaign County, and possessed many other excellent traits of character, so that his memory is secure. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Brennon has continued to live in the old homestead at Ogden, with her daughter as her chief companion. The Brennon family have long been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ogden. In politics the late Patrick Brennon was a Republican and was affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Order of Palm and Shell, and was an honorary member of the

Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Brennon is an active member. Long before his death Mr. Brennon was made happy in the realization that his son would continue the business, and today that fine old establishment is continued at Ogden under the capable management of William Brennon.

ALONZO 0. MORRISON. One of the families that was established in Vermilion County, Illinois, in the early '40s and has ever since been a representative agricultural one in east central Illinois bore the name of Morrison. This branch of the family was of pioneer stock in Ohio and doubtless can trace its far back ancestry to Scotland. The leading representative in Champaign County is Alonzo 0. Morrison, a highly respected resident of Homer, Illinois.

Alonzo 0. Morrison was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, November 17, 1859. His parents were James Perry and Harriet A. (Sterns) Morrison. The father was born in Ohio and the mother in Virginia. When they came to Illinois James Perry Morrison secured land from the government, and this land he developed and his subsequent life was devoted to general farming and stock-raising. He was a man of sterling character, just in all his dealings with his neighbors and generous to his children. His death occurred in 1888. His widow survived until 1894. They were the parents of the following children : Elijah, who is a resident of Homer, Illinois; James, who died in infancy; Alonzo 0.; Jasper, who died in childhood; Florence, who is the wife of J. M. Boggess, of Homer; and Harland P., who resides at Homer.

Alonzo 0. Morrison attended the public schools and remained at home assisting his father. When he was twenty-seven years old he took charge of a farm of 120 acres that his father had given him in Vermilion County, on which he carried on farming for two years and then sold advantageously and bought1 a part of the old homestead and still owns eighty acres of the original land that his father secured from the government some seventy years ago. To the above purchase he added others, and continued his agricultural operations in Vermilion County for eleven years. In 1907 Mr. Morrison came to Homer and since then has been dealing in Belgian and Percheron horses.

Mr. Morrison was married March 24, 1886, to Miss Elizabeth Clutter, who was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, and they have one son, Howard Monroe, who is associated with his father in the horse business. The family home is a fine, modern structure of brick which stands in a pleasant part of the town. Mr. Morrison and family are members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a stanch Republican. For many years he has been a member of the order of Knights of Pythias. Mr.. Morrison is numbered with the solid, substantial and dependable citizens of Homer.

GEORGE W. FENIMORE. After half a century of almost uninterrupted peace and prosperity America is again at war, and in this condition the people appreciate more than ever the splendid services and devotion of those brave boys in blue who defended the Union at the time of the Civil War. That war made America a great and united nation, unexampled in resources and material achievement, and there is a direct logical connection between the victories of the Union troops on Southern battlefields fifty years ago and the present great world struggle, when America, by lending its resources and soldiers to war-stricken Europe occupies the dominant position in the world's affairs and can practically dictate the terms on which national life everywhere shall be reorganized on a basis of permanent democracy.

Hence there is every reason to refer gratefully to the soldiers of our own Civil War, and pay tribute to the guardians of the nation in those critical times. One of them in Champaign County was George W. Fenimore, proprietor of the Fenimore House of Sidney. After a long life of arduous labor and industry he spent his declining years with the tender devotion and care of his wife and daughters, and answered the final summons of death on October 29, 1917.

George W. Fenimore was born in Randolph County, Indiana, February 22, 1842, a son of Pierson and Eliza Fenimore, both natives of New Jersey, of English descent. His parents came to Indiana at an early day, and were married in that state. Pierson Fenimore was a well known road contractor and spent a useful, industrious career.

Second in a family of five sons, George W. Fenimore, at the age of twenty-one, volunteered at Indianapolis in Battery A of the Fourth Indiana Light Artillery. This battery was sent south, first to Nashville, Tennessee, where it participated in one of the struggles of the war, afterwards did guard duty at Murfreesboro, and was in service in that part of Tennessee until the close of the struggle. Only by change of plans was Mr. Fenimore deprived of the privilege of accompanying Sherman on the great campaign from Atlanta to the sea, and he has always regretted that he could not have taken part in that glorious campaign. He was mustered out of service and given his honorable discharge at Indianapolis on August 1, 1865.

He then went back to his old home in Indiana, but in the fall of the same year came to Champaign County, Illinois, and joined friends at the town of Sidney. September 18, 1866, he married Miss Catherine Morgan, who has been his faithful companion and sharer of joys and sorrows over half a century. Mrs. Fenimore is of German and Irish descent and a daughter of Job and Susan (Shrigley) Morgan, both natives of Virginia. From Virginia they moved to Ohio, locating near Zanesville, where her father became a farmer. Mrs. Fenimore was fifth in a family of five sons and three daughters, all of whom were educated in the public schools of Ohio. The Morgan family finally came to Sidney, Illinois.

At the time of their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Fenimore located on a farm eight miles southwest of Sidney, near Linn Grove, and began the cultivation and improvement of an almost raw tract of 160 acres out on the broad prairie. They had the courage and enthusiasm of young people and made some additions to their prosperity during the five years they spent in that district. Later they bought eighty acres and remained on and cultivated that farm for seven years. On selling it they bought a place near Fithian in Vermilion County, and after making that their home for nine years removed to Sidney and bought the property then known as the Black Hotel. For thirty years Mr. and Mrs. Fenimore conducted this as a model country hotel, under the name Fenimore House, and they enjoyed a prosperous business and rendered a splendid service to all who were entertained within their gates.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Fenimore, three sons and five daughters, Alice, William, Otis, May and Minnie, twins, Elizabeth, Anna and Charles. The oldest son William was taken away from the family circle at the age of eleven years. From the first the training and education of these children were matters close to the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Fenimore, and they sent the children regularly to the public schools of Fithian and Sidney. Anna became a student of the Normal School at Danville, Indiana, and for several years was a successful teacher in Champaign County. She then married Frank Freeman, and was the mother of two children, Lucile and Carl. Mrs. Freeman died when these children were still young, and both of them were then taken into the home

Otis Fenimore married Pearl Mansfield and they reside in Oklahoma City, where he is successfully engaged in the automobile business. They have two children, Alma and Robert. Otis Fenimore made a splendid record when a young man for his industry. He began his career as a telegraph operator at Sidney, and possessing good and thrifty habits somewhat later removed to Oklahoma and invested his capital in land. He became cashier in a bank at Lambert, Oklahoma, where he remained six years, and then removed to the capital of the state and engaged in the automobile business. May Fenimore married Arthur Busey, who is in the brokerage business in Oklahoma City. Their three children are Elsie, George and Roy. Charles Fenimore is engaged in farming near Salt Lake City, Utah, where he and his wife, whose maiden name was Florence Towne, reside. Their one child is named George.

The three remaining daughters, Alice, Elizabeth and Minnie, remain at home with their mother and their presence is a constant source of comfort to her. By their loving and tinselfish devotion they have done much to smooth out life's pathway, and have repaid in a generous measure some of the parental love and watchful care bestowed upon them as children.

The Fenimore family are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically they give their allegiance to the Republican party. Mr. Fenimore was one of the charter members of the Grand Army Post at Sidney, was active in its organization and for years served as commander of the post.

In addition to the above, compiled from .material while he was living, it is fortunate that an estimate of this valued old citizen of Sidney can be published as written in the words of a friend. With some repetition, it will serve to complete a well rounded account of his life.

Again the Lord of battle has given command, taps have sounded and another "boy in blue" has been "mustered out." George Washington, son of Pierson and Eliza Fenimore, was born February 22, 1842, near Huntsville, Randolph County, Indiana, and died at his home in Sidney, October 29, 1917, aged seventy-five years, eight months and seven days. He was the second of five sons, three of whom grew to manhood. His early life was spent in the Indiana home and not unlike the boyhood of other boys. Facilities for school were meager in those days, and he attended a subscription school that was opened in the vicinity. When the Civil War broke out it was his intention to enter the army. Twice he applied for admission, but not having the required chest expansion was rejected. He was determined to overcome this disability and did. He enlisted in Company A, Fourth Indiana Light Artillery at Indianapolis early in 1864 and served until the close of the war. He started with Sherman on his famous march to the sea, but was cut off by General Hood at Murfreesboro. Mr. Fenimore was not in the thick of this battle, but did valiant and commendable service in caring for the dead and wounded. It was always with enthusiasm that he recalled these war experiences, and great was his pride that he had given service to his country in its time of need. He received his honorable discharge at Indianapolis, August 1, 1865.

In October of that year he came to Illinois and made his home with relatives - the family of Richard Bloxsom - near Sidney. On September 18, 1866, he was married to Miss Catherine Morgan. The early years of their married life were spent on a farm near Lynn Grove. In 1879 they disposed of this farm and purchased land near Fithian, where they lived until 1887 when they removed to the present home. The "Fenimore House" has become a landmark in and about Sidney, and its genial host will be sadly missed, not only by the residents of this community, but by a large traveling public. Mr. and Mrs. Fenimore were accorded a happy privilege in the celebration of their fiftieth wedding anniversary on September 18, 1916. Mr. Fenimore is survived by the widow and the following children : Otis and Mrs. Mae Busey of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Charles of Salt Lake City, Utah; and Alice, Minnie and Elizabeth at home. Two grandchildren, Lucile and Carl Freeman, have lived in the home since infancy, and one of Mr. Fenimore's great desires was to be spared to see this girl and boy able to care for themselves. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Other grandchildren left are : Elsie, George and Boy Busey, and Alma, Robert and George Fenimore. Two brothers, Edward and Samuel, live at Rockville, Missouri. One son, Willie, died in 1880 while the family lived near Fithian, and a daughter, Anna, died at home October 1, 1907.

Sidney Post G. A. R. has lost a stanch and loyal member. This comrade, who has gone, was very proud to wear the little brown army button, to give service to the soldier living and to do honor to the soldier dead. Memorial Sunday and Decoration Day in Sidney will not be the same with Mr. Fenimore away. He was converted and united with the Methodist Church in Fithian. His chief thought was always for others, and he enjoyed having his family and friends about him and he did gladly for them all that he could. All during his long and painful illness he was patient and grateful for everything that was done for him. He had a firm belief in an all-wise God and a life eternal, and repeatedly gave assurance that "all is well." For -

WILLIAM J. QUINLAN. Any list of the big farmers and land owners of Crittenden Township would include the name of William J. Quinlan. Mr. Quinlan has been a resident of Champaign County for nearly half a century, and he used the generous rewards of his agricultural labors here to extend his investments to several states.

Mr. Quinlan was born near Covington, Kentucky, March 15, 1856, a son of Daniel and Margaret (Harty) Quinlan. Both parents were born in Ireland. His father came to America in 1847, locating in Kentucky. In June, 1856, a few weeks after the birth of William J., the family moved to Illinois, locating in Peoria county, and in 1868 they came to Champaign County, locating in section 20 of Crittenden Township. Daniel Quinlan was a man of marked prosperity and industry. He died at Tolono, Illinois, in 1899. His widow is still living in Ohio, at the advanced age of ninety-two. They have six children : Margaret, who died in infancy ; William J. ; John, who died in childhood ; Bridget, wife of Frank Hesler, of Ohio ; Mary, who died in 1891 ; and Ellen, wife of W. J. Reinhart, of Ohio.