Champaign County, Illinois - The whole text, 1918 (part 5 of 23)

Albert C. Burnham was born at Deerfield, Michigan, February 20, 1839, and died at Champaign, September 13, 1897. He had the training of a Michigan farm boy. His early education was from the public schools. During the years 1860-61 he taught school during the winter months in Iroquois County, Illinois. He possessed a studious, thoughtful nature, and he began life with a solid foundation of practical knowledge and integrity of character. After completing his studies with Mr. McKinley at Champaign he was admitted to the bar and became junior member of the law firm of McKinley & Burnham. From the first this firm had influential financial connections. Through its instrumentality a large amount of eastern capital was brought west to invest in farm securities in and around Champaign. The Middle West was not then overflowing with wealth as it is today, and the money brought in by this firm was greatly needed and was wisely expended in the improving and upbuilding of many farm properties. Mr. Burnham continued to be actively associated with the law firm until 1876.

From the law he then transferred his energies to the banking house of Burnham, McKinley and Company. In 1876 J. R. Trevett and R. R. Mattis were taken in the firm, Mr. McKinley retiring, and the business continued under the title Burnham, Trevett & Mattis. Mr. Burnham was senior member of this widely known financial house until the time of his death.

It was Mr. Burnham's fortune and privilege to witness a marvelous development in Champaign County in the course of his active career. That development was primarily based upon the increasing agricultural resources. While not a tiller of the soil himself he wisely employed the forces of capital in agricultural development, and his banking house was always justly considered an integral part of the business and industrial structure of his home community. He was public spirited in every sense and was equally interested in the educational and moral development of his county.

It was his long cherished plan to add something to the cultural elements in his community that led him two years before his death in 1897, to give to the city of Champaign a magnificent lot in the heart of the business district, accompanied by the gift of fifty thousand dollars to be expended for the erection and maintenance of a library building. This gift has taken practical form in the Burnham Athenaeum. It is a library, and one of the real civic centers of the town. It is a monument to the memory of this sturdy banker and noble citizen, and thousands have benefited from the service it affords and will continue to so benefit for years yet to come.

In 1866 Albert C. Burnham married Miss Julia F. Davison, who was born in New York City, April 16, 1839. Mrs. Burnham died in New York City October 25, 1894. She was reared and educated in the public schools at Newark, New Jersey, and lived in the east until she came as the bride of Mr. Burnham to Champaign. Mrs. Burnham, while ever devoted to her home, had many other interests through which she expressed her character and culture. She was devoted to her church, was charitable, and throughout her life was a prominent figure in local society. For years she served as secretary of the State Board of Charities, and held that position at the time of her death. She was one of the first women to serve on the public school board at Champaign and was also a member of the Champaign Art Club. It was a memorial to her good works as well as a testimonial of his own appreciation of her companionship and character that Mr. Burnham after her death erected the Julia F. Burnham Hospital, which was formally opened March 5, 1895. The hospital has been in existence more than twenty years. As a public institution it is one of the most important in Champaign County. While its annual revenues come largely from the pay patients, it is also a practical charity, inasmuch as a large part of its service is rendered free. During the year 1916 nearly fifteen hundred patients were admitted, with a daily average of thirty-four. A number of cases are treated free, especially children's cases. It is a noble institution, and stands as a memorial to a noble woman.

EGBERT DAVISON BURNHAM is the only surviving son of the late Albert C. Burnham, long prominent as a pioneer lawyer and banker at Champaign and whose career is more fully noted on other pages. Robert Davison Burnham learned banking with his father, but for many years has been actively engaged in the farm loan business, with offices in the First National Bank Building.

He was born in Champaign, February 19, 1872, one of the five children of the late A. C. Burnham and wife. Three of these children died in infancy. Mr. Burnham was the oldest and the second in age was Mary Bruce, now wife of Newton M. Harris.

Mr. Burnham was liberally educated, though he did not complete a university course. He attended the University of Illinois and also the famous college preparatory school at Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He left school to take a position in his father's office in the Burnham, Trevett & Mattis Banking Company. He was well trained in the details of banking, but in a short time left his father's office to form a partnership with his brother-in-law, Newton M. Harris, in the farm loan business.

Mr. Burnham has the public spirit of his honored father, has been a member of the Park Commission of Champaign, and is now serving on the Public Library Board. He is a member of the Episcopal church. December 4, 1895, he married Miss May Wilcox, a native of Champaign. Their three children are Robert D., Jr., Sidney Wilcox and Albert C.

ELNA A. ROBINSON. During a long and active career Mr. Robinson has been prominently identified with Champaign County both in a professional and in a business way. His success in business has enabled him to retire and enjoy a financial competence and he is now a resident of the city of Champaign.

Mr. Robinson was born in South Reading, Vermont, December 15, 1839, a son of Ebenezer, Jr., and Adeline (Williams) Robinson. His father was born at South Reading, Vermont, September 30, 1809, and died July 5, 1849. He was married January 4, 1837, to Miss Williams, who was born

Stillman Eobinson is well rememb'ered at Champaign and in University circles and was one of the leading engineers of the country. He was graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Michigan, and from the age of twenty-five to twenty-eight was assistant on a United States lake survey and from twenty-eight to thirty-two years of age was assistant engineer with the faculty of the University of Michigan. From the age of thirty-two to forty he was professor of mechanical engineering and physics in the University of Illinois. He then accepted the chair of mechanical engineering with the Ohio State University, where he remained until he resigned in 1895. In 1896 he was given the degree D. Sc. and in 1899 was made professor emeritus in mechanical engineering at the Ohio State University. During, the years 1880-84 he was inspector of railroads and bridges for the State of Ohio. He was also engineer supervising the construction of the famous Lick telescope in California. His death occurred at Columbus, Ohio, in 1910.

Albert A. Eobinson was born October 21, 1844, and became a civil engineer. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and followed railroading all of his active life. He was vice-president and general manager of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Eailway, president of the Mexican Central Railway for nine years, and he is now living retired at Topeka, Kansas.

Elna A. Robinson secured a substantial groundwork of literary training, and from seventeen until he was twenty-one was a machinist apprentice. In 1870 he entered the University of Illinois and was graduated in 1875 with the degree Mechanical Engineer. For the next four years he remained as an assistant in the mechanical engineering department of the University. Mr. Robinson in 1878 formed a partnership with E. M. Burr in the general machine construction business. This partnership continued until dissolved in 1899, when Mr. Eobinson took the plumbing end of the business and continued it successfully until he sold out in 1915 and has since lived retired. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Baptist Church.

On April 27, 1861, Mr. Robinson married Miss Melora M. Smith, who died August 16, 1885. They were the parents of five children : Sarah Ann, Addie Eva and Gertrude Minnie are all now deceased. Gertrude M. became the wife of William L. Troyer and she left two children, Fannie F. and Mabel. Inez Mary is the wife of A. Boyd of Urbana and their children are Bert B., George A., Wilber A., Neil D., John R., Jay, Blanche, deceased, and Ruth. Fannie Nettie is the wife of Thomas Inskip, of Champaign, and has had three children, Thomas, deceased, Francis R. and Clarence E. Mr. Robinson married for his second wife Mrs. Semphronia E. (Stage) Jenks, who was born in Iowa.

FRANCIS M. AVEY. Of the men whose ability, industry and forethought have added to the character, wealth and progress of Champaign County none stands higher than Francis M. Avey, now living retired at Rantoul, which has been his home for over forty-five years. Among other enviable distinctions Mr. Avey is one of the honored survivors of the great war of the rebellion, and he was a member of the first regiment that marched away from Illinois to fight in the South. His entire career has been in keeping with the high standards of patriotism which caused him to enter the army as a youth.

former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. Francis M. was the third of five children. His father was a farmer, and F. M. Avey grew up and obtained his early education in Butler County, Ohio.

As a boy he heard much of the country of Illinois and Indiana, and at the age of sixteen his ambitions prompted him to go out to Fountain County, Indiana, where he had a brother. There he began an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade. Having learned the trade, he took his accomplishments into western Missouri. At that time western Missouri was a scene of the terrible border ruffian warfare which went on with more or less regularity until after the close of the Civil War. It was not a safe territory for a man who came from a free state and had the convictions of Mr. Avey. The first time he applied for work he found a big black slave working in a shop. This slave had been hired out by his master. In competition with such labor Mr. Avey could make no progress, and he soon left the country which had disgusted his ideas of liberty and freedom, and came to Illinois. In the vicinity of Decatur he hired out to a man, and for five months drove four yoke of cattle to a breaking plow. From there he went to Vermilion county and for two years was employed in a blacksmith shop at Georgetown. Then occurred in 1860 the election of Lincoln as president. In the disturbed condition that followed Mr. Avey went to Indiana and there became acquainted with a business man who had recently returned from Mattoon, Illinois. He reported that a company of soldiers were being raised at Mattoon, and the two boys hurried to that point and enlisted at Lincoln's first call for 75,000 troops. F. M. Avey enlisted in the first regiment organized in Illinois, the Seventh Illinois Infantry, in Company B. He was in camp at Springfield, went from there to Alton, Illinois, and thence down the Mississippi to Cairo. The first time Mr. Avey saw the Eebel flag was at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on the banks of the Mississippi. For three weeks he and his comrades were at Cairo, and then were returned up the Ohio River to Mound City, where at the expiration of his three months' service he was mustered out on August 25, 1861.

Later Mr. Avey helped recruit some men, and in February, 1862, enlisted at St. Louis. For three months he was on duty as a patrol in St. Louis. In April, 1862, he and his comrades were organized into a company, and he was elected its second lieutenant. Three months later he was promoted to first lieutenant, and for one year he served as post adjutant of a military post. He was then made ordnance officer, in charge of the ordnance department, and filled that position with efficiency and fidelity until his term of enlistment expired. He was mustered out at Benton Barracks in St. Louis April 15, 1865.

While on duty in the ordnance department he was under the command of Major Colendar, a major in the regular army. Their associations were very pleasant and were the basis of a lasting friendship. On being relieved from duty and while waiting for transportation Mr. Avey started to spend the day in camp, and on arriving saw the flag at half mast. That was the first intimation he had of the assassination of the beloved President Lincoln. Mr. Avey was stationed at Rolla, Missouri, when Lincoln was re-elected in 1864. At that time Illinois soldiers were not allowed to vote in Missouri, but Mr. Avey's regiment was the Fifth Missouri Cavalry, and all of them marched in a body and voted for Lincoln amid the cheers of the multitude. The women, he reports, were especially bitter. They called them Lincolnites, black Republicans and other appropriate names. But the brave boys in blue did not hesitate to express their sentiments and convictions.

After being mustered out of the army with this honorable record Mr. Avey came to Champaign County, and in February, 1868, he married Miss Alice Bryan. Mrs. Avey was born near Mahomet, Illinois, a daughter of John and Melinda (Busey) Bryan. Melinda Busey enjoyed the distinction of being the first bride in Champaign County. Her wedding was celebrated in a log cabin in Urbana. She and her husband became the parents of ten children, but the three who grew up were Alice, Lillis and Edward. Alice Bryan obtained her education in Urbana, and while her people lived in the country she boarded at the home of Colonel Busey's mother. Later the Bryan family removed to Urbana and were prominent people themselves and numbered among their friends the best people of the city, including the late Judge Cunningham. Alice Bryan's grandfather, Isaac Busey, and Mr. Webber donated the land for the county seat at Urbana, Mr. Busey giving thirty acres and Mr. Webber twenty acres. This gift still stands as a memorial to their public spirit.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Avey lived in Champaign, where he worked at his trade, but in March, 1871, they removed to Eantoul. He then built the house on Sangamon Avenue where he has continuously resided for over forty-five years. For many years Mr. Avey conducted his blacksmith shop, and to furnish employment during his later years of retirement and leisure he kept the news stand at Rantoul.

Mr. Avey's only son and child is Arthur Avey, who was born December 7, 1868. He attended the Rantoul High School and at the age of sixteen entered the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Chicago. For the past twenty-six years Arthur Avey has been associated with the P. V. Palmer Wholesale Cloak House at Chicago. The only interruption to this regular service was while he was in the Spanish-American War. When he enlisted for that service his employer said : "Mr. Avey, if you are gone ten years remember your position awaits your return." Arthur Avey enlisted for that war in the first Illinois regiment that started from Chicago. He went to Santiago, Cuba, and was in the several engagements around that city until the Spanish commander surrendered. Mr. Arthur Avey thinks that Colonel Roosevelt was the finest officer in the war. He commends him especially for his interest in the soldiers. When the boys were in the trenches Roosevelt was always looking after their welfare, and his kindness and thoughtfulness, as well as his bravery, endeared him to the heart of every American trooper. Mr. Arthur Avey married Miss Mamie Flood of Chicago. Three children were born to them : Francis Marion, who was named for his grandfather and is now deceased ; Anna Dorothy and Howard Francis. These two children take a great deal of pleasure in their periodical visits to Rantoul to their grandfather and grandmother.

Mr. F. M. Avey has lived to vote for every presidential candidate of the Republican party since it was organized, beginning with John C. Fremont. In many ways besides the part he performed as a gallant soldier he has given 'evidence of his public spirit and his usefulness in the community. For twenty-seven years he served as treasurer of the Village of Rantoul, for four years was a justice of the peace, and has also been village clerk and a member of the town council. For thirty years he was secretary of the Masonic Lodge, and as proof of their esteem his fellow members of the fraternity presented him with a beautiful gold headed cane, on which are engraved the words : "F. M. Avey from Rantoul Lodge No. 470, A. F. & A. M., Secretary, 1885 to 1915." Mrs. Avey possesses as a valued souvenir a fine white bedspread, which was purchased by her grandfather, Isaac Busey, in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1807.

HOWARD Ross, has built up a large business as a retail meat dealer in Champaign, learned his trade in that city, and by good management and by making it a point to offer the best of service and goods he is now one of the leaders in his line in the county.

Mr. Eoss was born near Savoy, Illinois, August 29, 1874, a son of David I. and Mary Elizabeth (Bowers) Eoss. His father was bom in Newburgh, New York, and his mother in Indiana. David Eoss came to Champaign County about 1869. He was an active farmer here until 1882, when he moved west to Topeka, Kansas, and followed the drug business, in that city four years. After returning to Champaign County he lived retired until his death on January 21, 1890. His wife died in Topeka, - Kansas, in 1888. There were five children: A son who died in infancy; Howard; Grace, wife of Bert Thrasher, of Berryton, Kansas; Ella, wife of Ralph Yingling, of Kansas; and the fifth, a son, died in infancy.

Howard Eoss spent part of his early boyhood in the State of Kansas. He was educated in local schools, and when fourteen years of age he got a job driving a grocery wagon at Champaign. A year later. he found work with a meat market driving a wagon, and after about two years he went in the shop to learn the trade. Altogether he put in twelve years with this firm, Dallenbach & Boyle. He became an expert at the block, was a valuable man to his firm, and at the same time acquired a thorough knowledge of the financial end of the meat business. With this experience, and with such capital as he had been able to accumulate, he opened a small shop for himself in 1901. Later he removed to his present location at 105 South Neil Street, and besides tlie business he owns a half interest in the building.

Mr. Eoss married June 9, 1897, Miss Minnie Sinz, a native of Champaign County. Mr. Ross is a Republican in politics, and served as fire and police, commissioner under Mayor Coughlin. In Masonry he is affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter, Council and Knight Templar Commandery at Champaign and is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

CHESTER GARFIELD REYNOLDS is one of the enterprising young farmers of Harwood Township, his well cultivated and managed farm being in section 11 of that township, not far from the Village of Gifford.

Mr. Reynolds was born in that township in 1881, the next to the youngest of the fifteen children of Hanford and Antoinette (Roberts) Reynolds. Two of the children died in infancy.

A conspicuous factor in the early days of Illinois was Father Hanford Reynolds, who was born in Westchester County, New York. He was a surveyor by profession and followed that calling in the early days, laying out the City of Geneseo, Illinois. Before the war he also sold fruit trees in Missouri. He had a varied and active experience throughout the Middle West and came to Champaign County about 1866. In his early travels in Missouri he would come upon what was called a grocery store at every cross roads. Whiskey was one of the chief commodities sold in such stores. When he came to Champaign County the nearest railroad to his home was Ludlow. The land was all prairie, and deer and wild game of all kinds abounded. He hauled lumber from Ludlow to build a small house and moved in before the roof was completed. There were so many ducks, geese and brant in the country that he had to hire men to shoot them in order to keep the birds from eating his crops.

Chester G. Reynolds attended the Pleasant Vale Schoolhouse, also sometimes called the Reynolds School. The name Pleasant Vale was given to the school by his mother.

Success attended the industrious labors of 'Hanford Reynolds and wife, and they built a fine two-story brick house to replace the humble home in which they had first lived. They also planted many shade trees and in course of time had one of the most attractive places in the county. Hanford

Reynolds was in this county early enough to buy an entire section of land at $10 an acre. This land did not have a tree or bush, and it was his planting, continued over a course of many years, that gave the land its present pleasant aspect.

Hanford Reynolds also bought 1,400 acres in Sunflower County, Mississippi, about 1905, at $12 an acre. One of the conspicuous features of this land was a grand cypress tree twenty-seven feet in circumference. There were many oaks six feet in diameter. One large tree had all the bark peeled off by bears. Mr. Reynolds conducted a sawmill, and the logs were so large that a groove had to be cut in some of them in order to make them pass the saw six feet in diameter. It was in the same territory where Roosevelt did his bear hunting. The canebrakes were twenty feet high and so thick that a man could hardly get through them. Hanford Reynolds took his wife and son Chester to that locality and remained nearly two years. The climate did not agree with the family and they were finally obliged to leave. Mr. Chester Reynolds says that he did not enjoy living where chill tonics were sitting around on the shelves in every house. On that southern plantation they tried raising cotton and cleared up considerable land, burning timber that would be exceedingly valuable today. While there Hanford Reynolds organized the Christian Church, and some of the hardest characters in the neighborhood were converted, and the church stands as a monument to his high character and public spirit.

Mrs. Hanford Reynolds died at Rantoul in 1910, on her return from Mississippi. She was a noble woman, and exemplified the best virtues of the home maker and the kindly neighbor.

For a number of years Chester G. Reynolds has looked after the management of the old home estate known as Cloverdale. He has a tenant on the farm and this family keeps house for him. He gives active supervision to the 120 acres, and the well tilled fields show the care bestowed upon them. Mr. Reynolds has also taken great pains to keep up the home place, and has cultivated and cared for the flowers which his mother so much loved. He has also carried out many of the ideas published in the bulletins of the Illinois State University on beautifying country homes. His home is surrounded by generous plantings of such ornamental shrubs as witch hazel, golden elder, sumacs, butterfly bush, snowberry, etc.

Mr. Reynolds is a man of broad views, was reared a Republican, and in the main gives his support to the candidates and principles of that party. His parents were active members of the Christian Church known as Mount Olivet in Ford County.

F. C. AMSBARY, superintendent and manager of the Champaign Waterworks, has been superintending waterworks plants in different parts of the country for upwards of thirty years. It has in fact been his regular profession, though some of his younger years were devoted to railroading. Mr. Amsbary has numerous connections that identify him with the substantial interests of his home city.

A native of Illinois, he was born at Pekin, January 24, 1863, a son of William Wallace and Harriet E. (Harlow) Amsbary, both of whom are natives of New York State. William W. Amsbary moved to Champaign in 1907, and for several years was connected with the waterworks here. He died in 1911, and his widow is still living at Champaign. Their five children are: George E., of Urbana; F. C. ; Wallace Bruce, of Chicago; Don H., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Cordelia, still at home with her mother.

and at the age of fifteen he left home and worked as clerk in a store at Tremont in the same county for two years. He then went to Peoria and acquired his initial experience in railroad offices, where he remained about three years. He was next at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the Chicago Northwestern Eailway offices a year and a half, then for two years a railroad clerk at Burlington, Iowa, and returning to Pekin, Illinois, engaged in the grocery business for two years.

Mr. Amsbary began his career as a waterworks superintendent at Pekin, Illinois, in 1888. After two years he went to Wichita, Kansas, and had active charge of the waterworks in that city for three years. For nine years he was superintendent of waterworks at Little Rock, Arkansas, and in 1899 came to Champaign, where he has since been active manager and superintendent of this public utility.

Mr. Amsbary was married at Pekin, Illinois, April 16, 1890, to Addie A. Aydelott, a native of Pekin. They have five children : Helen A., Harlow A., Harriet E., Addie E. and Frank C.

Mr. Amsbary served as president of the Champaign Chamber of Commerce in 1912, is now president of the Champaign Club, and of the Rotary Club and is a director in the Loan and Investment Association, js a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Champaign Country Club and the Rotary Club. His church is the Presbyterian. Politically he is a Republican. For three terms he served as president of the Champaign Board of Education, and has always taken a keen interest in all local institutions.

WILLIAM KEUSINK was for many years actively engaged in business in Champaign, but is now living retired in that city. His family came to Champaign County before the Civil War.

Mr. Keusink was born in Schenectady, New York, August 19, 1856, a son of Benardus and Wilhelmina (Hall) Keusink. His parents were both natives of Holland, where they were married, and soon after their marriage they immigrated to America. About 1860 they came' to Champaign, where the senior Keusink followed his trade as a machinist in the employ of the Illinois Central Railway Company. His death occurred in April, 1869. His widow survived him until July, 1913. Of their twelve children, six survived the father, and William Keusink was the third in age.

William Keusink grew up in Champaign, attended the local schools, and in 1872, at the age of sixteen, began to learn the cabinet maker's trade. He followed that as an occupation until 1884, and then entered the laundry business. For twenty years Mr. Keusink conducted the leading laundry of this city, known as the Champaign Steam Laundry Company. He sold out in May, 1914, and has since retired and has merely looked after his private interests.

On June 28, 1879, he married Elizabeth Lynch, who was born in Cooperstown, New York, a daughter of William and Catherine (Lennon) Lynch. Her parents were both natives of Ireland, were brought to the United States as children, and lived first in New York City and afterwards in Utica, New York. The Lynch family removed to Champaign in 1875, but after three years returned to New York State, where Mrs. Keusink's father died in September, 1911, and her mother on May 5, 1913. Mrs. Keusink was the oldest of six children.

Mr. and Mrs. Keusink have two children: William B., a druggist; and Wilhelmina M., wife of H. C. Johnson, of Champaign. Mr. Keusink is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He served about twenty-five years in the Champaign volunteer fire department.

LELAND S. FOWLER, of the Penfield community of Champaign County, is one of the young and progressive agriculturists of this section. He has the management of his father's fine farm and he took hold of the business with such vigor as to bring results that are surprising even to himself.

Mr. Fowler was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, and is a son of U. G. and Etta (Wolf) Fowler. His parents were also born in Illinois. There were two sons of the parents, Wylie M. and Leland S. Both of them were educated in the high school at Urbana and the state university.

On October 22, 1914, Leland S.* Fowler married Miss Atha Wood. She was born at Gifford in Champaign County, daughter of E. A. and Laura (Rowland) Wood. \Vhile the Fowler family had two sons there were two daughters in the Wood family, Edythe and Atha. Miss Atha graduated from the Gifford High School, from the Champaign High School, took up the study of domestic science in the University of Illinois, and also received much musical instruction.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fowler started life on his father's farm and he now has under his direct management 740 acres. The Fowler residence is one of the finest in the country district of Champaign County, a country home that does credit and is a monument to the industry of Mr. U. G. Fowler. His father built up an estate of approximately 1,450 acres in this part of Illinois.

Mr. and Mrs. Fowler have a bright and attractive young daughter, Beth Louise, now two years of age, also a son, Harold Wood, born July 29, 1917. Mr. Fowler enjoys the complete confidence of his community and has been elected and has served three years as township assessor. He and his wife are active members and supporters of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Penfield, and in politics he is a Republican and a member of the Masonic Order. He and his wife are among the cultured and successful younger families of Champaign County and have already gone far to the attainment of that success which is the object of every worthy ambition.

THOMAS A. LITTLE. One of the most interesting homes of Rantoul is that of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Little in the extreme northeast quarter of the town. They live there enjoying a happy combination of both the rural and the urban facilities. They have sufficient ground to afford Mr. Little an opportunity to indulge his favorite pastimes of agriculture, not without considerable profit, and they also have sufficient means to live comfortably without fear of the future and enjoy their many friends.

Mr. Little was born in Licking County, Ohio, in 1851, a son of John and Charlotte (Coon) Little. His parents were natives of Ohio, and his 7nother was of an old and prominent family of that state. In 1916 Mr. and Mrs. Little attended the annual reunion in Ohio of the Coon family and spent two weeks in and around Newark renewing old acquaintances.

Thomas A. Little was educated in the district schools of Vermilion and Champaign counties, Illinois, and became a practical farmer. He was also engaged in a mercantile business in Rantoul, from the spring of 1872 to 1905. At the age of thirty-five he married Lizzie Cole. Three children were born to their union, two of whom died in infancy. Lewis C., the only one to grow up, proved a boy of fine capacity and of studious ability. He was graduated with honors from the Rantoul High School in 1905, having done his last two years of work in one, in addition to clerking in a store both morning and evening. From there he went into a law office to study law, and was well on the way to a professional career when he died. He was only nine years of age when his mother passed away.

Lindsey. Mrs. Little was only a child when her mother died. She was educated in the Collispn district school and also at Danville. After Mr. and Mrs. Little married they took up their home in Rantoul, where he engaged in a mercantile business until 1905. Since then he has been handling insurance and also has a collection agency.

A few years ago Mr. Little determined to establish a home for himself combining the country with the town, and with that end in view bought five and a half acres in the northeast part of Rantoul. He has a large white house as his home, and has planted shade and spruce trees, which in time will make the place a perfect bower. One feature of his farm is a strawberry patch with over 4,000 plants. Mr. Little raises poultry successfully, and has used the Philo system. His land occupies high ground and commands a fine view in all directions.

Mr. and Mrs. Little attend worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church, though Mrs. Little is a member of the Christian denomination. Politically he is a stanch and progressive Republican, and was a loyal supporter of Roosevelt. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and served as recorder of the Court of Honor for ten years. Mrs. Little is a member of the Rebekahs.

JOHN I. GROVES, M. D., was born in Cass County, Illinois, May 2, 1854, a son of Isaac and Mary E. (Coal) Groves. His father was born in England and his mother in the State of Maryland. Isaac Groves was for many years an active minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1878 he removed to Champaign, and died there December 12, 1906. By his first marriage he had two children, Elizabeth J., wife of Hugh Mitchell, of Fisher, Illinois; and Harriet A., wife of Thomas M. Foster, of Dickens, Iowa. Rev. Mr. Groves' second wife died March 22, 1905. She was the mother of two sons: Dr. John Groves; and Charles W.

Doctor Groves remained at home with his father until he was twenty years of age. In the meantime he had acquired a substantial education, and he then took up teaching and followed that profession for four years in country districts. For three years he was a teacher in Vermilion County, Illinois. He then entered the Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago, from which he was graduated M. D. in 1880, and spent seven years. in the practice of medicine in Indiana and Illinois. His first practice was done in Indiana, and after two years he removed to Gibson City, where he practiced for four years before coming to Champaign, and since locating here he has devoted his time to real estate interests. Doctor Groves has membership in the Homeopathic Medical Society, and was a charter member of Hesperon Lodge No. 123 of the Knights of Pythias of which he is a Past Chancellor Commander. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he has served as Venerable Consul, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Doctor Groves was married in ' September, 1883, to Grace F. Groves, who died October 4, 1885. On February 17, 1887, he married Miss E. Lynne Burton. They have one child, Evangeline Eunice, who graduated from the University of Illinois with the class of 1912.

JOHN J. REA. A member of the Champaign County bar for thirtyseven years, John J. Rea has during this period risen to be one of the most forceful attorneys of his native community, and at this time occupies a recognized position of eminence among the legists of Urbana, where his entire professional career has been passed. While his later years have been crowned with success, Mr. Rea is fully acquainted with the rough and stony paths which the young aspirant so often finds it necessary to trod, for in his own youth he found no royal road to success, but forced to carve out his own destiny and to make his own opportunities. Determination and persistency triumphed in the end, and the reward has been commensurate with the labor.

John J. Rea is a product of the farming district of Mahomet Township, Champaign County, where he was born on his father's .farm October 11, 1852. His father, John J. Rea, was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, and first came to Champaign County as early as 1836, in which year he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of government land in what later became Mahomet Township. He did not remain here at that time, but returned to his Kentucky home, where he lived during the next thirteen years, and while there was united in marriage with Miss Sarah P. Hender-. son, also a native of Lewis County, Kentucky. She was a daughter of the late Judge Henderson. In 1849 they came to Champaign County and located on the farm which Mr. Rea had bought years before, and there the father passed the rest of his life, his death occurring March 5, 1863. He had by that time put a large part of his land under cultivation and was on the high-road to success, but death came to him when he was still in middle life, with his work unfinished. Mrs. Rea survived her husband for many years, dying at Ludlow, Champaign County, in November, 1909, when ninety years of age. She was one of the best known and most highly respected ladies of her part of the county. There were eight children in the family, as follows : Mary E., who died in 1907 ; Robert, whose death occurred in 1860; Sarah E. and Louisa A., who are both deceased; Thomas H., of Mahomet ; Alice A., deceased ; John J. ; and William T., also deceased.

John J. Rea remained on the home farm until he was fifteen years of age, and during this time attended the country schools during the winter terms, his summers being spent in assisting on the farm. He then began attending school at Mahomet, and spent one year at Mount Pleasant, now Farmer City, when, being compelled to contribute to his own support as well as to that of the family, he secured a position as clerk in the general store of P. H. Scott at Mahomet. Mr. Rea remained in Mr. Scott's employ for three years, but by that time, having given it a thorough trial, found merchandising distasteful to him, and began teaching in the country schools, where he advised the youthful mind for three or four years. In the meantime he had become interested in the subject of law, and after about eighteen months of study, during hours that could be spared from his school work, on March 16, 1879, he located at Urbana and entered the law offices of Somers & Wright. He was duly admitted to the bar of Illinois in June, 1880, and soon thereafter formed a law partnership with Judge Sim, of Urbana, but after two and one-half years this association was mutually dissolved, and since then Mr. Rea has been engaged in practice alone. He now has one of the best law clienteles in the county and is acknowledged to be a shrewd and capable attorney, the elasticity of whose mind, combined with keen faculties of perception and analysis and a mastery of the principles of the common law, have made him a striking and successful advocate. If there is a close legal point involved in any issue his examination of the authorities bearing upon it is exhaustive. From the time he accepts a case until he has carried it to the highest tribunal, his client's interest comes before all else, and perhaps this quality of fidelity has done as much as anything else to win him confidence and patronage. During the administration of President Cleveland, Mr. Rea was offered several important positions, one being that of chief clerk of the auditor's office in the Treasury Department at Washington, D. C., and another that of federal attorney looking after the claims of the Indians made for services of their ancestors during the Civil War, but both of these offers he refused, preferring to devote himself to the responsibilities of his constantly growing private practice. Mr. Eea is a staunch Democrat. He has served five years as supervisor of Urbana Township and three years as city attorney of Urbana, and has always shown marked executive and official ability. His fraternal connections include membership in the Masons, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On April 5, 1882, Mr. Eea was married to Miss Minnie H. Fugate, who was born in Illinois, and to this union there have been born two children : Thurston Wayne, now managing editor of the Urbana Courier, who married Alydia Conkwright and has three children, John J. Ill, Myrtle Ellenor and Robert Wayne; and John Carlysle, whose death occured January 5, 1901.

FEED HESS. On the roster of the energetic men who are discharging the duties connected with public positions in Champaign County is found the name of Fred Hess, whose incumbency of the office of county clerk goes back over a period of more than six and one-half years. The county clerkship is an office which carries with it some of the heaviest responsibilities and most onerous duties, the important character of which demand the presence and labor of a man of strong intellect, who can combine accuracy with industry and fidelity. The fact that Mr. Hess has retained the office during the long period that he has should be sufficient proof that he is possessed of the qualities mentioned, or at least that he has satisfied the people in this respect. He is one of the native sons of the county who have made excellent records in public life.

Fred Hess was born in the city of Champaign, Illinois, May 19, 1871, and is a son of Isaiah H. and Sarah A. (Hardin) Hess, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania. His father was still a young man when, in 1857, he left his native state and came to Illinois. As a youth he had learned the trade of plasterer, and after following this occupation as a journeyman for a number of years developed into a contractor in the same line, and for a long period carried on a large and successful business at Champaign. His death occurred October 12, 1875, when he had reached only a little past middle age. Among the older residents of Champaign are a number who remember him as a man of his word, an excellent workman and a good citizen. Mrs. Hess survived her husband until August 16, 1889, and also passed away at Champaign. They were the parents of nine children, of whom five passed away before the birth of Fred, the others being : William H., deceased ; Amelia M., who is a resident of Champaign; Jessie A., who is deceased; and Fred.

Fred Hess was only a little more than four years of age at the time his father died, but the mother managed to give her children satisfactory educational advantages, and lived long enough to see her youngest son graduate from the Champaign High School, with the class of 1888. He was an ambitious and enterprising youth, and as soon as he had completed his education started in search of employment. His first business experience was with a grocery at Champaign, but after one year he decided his talents and tastes did not lie in this direction, and he transferred his services to the office of the Wilcox Abstract Company, where he remained some eight years. Here he gained valuable experience that fitted him for the next position that opened for him, that of deputy clerk in the Champaign County clerk's office, a position which he retained during two administrations. His advancement up to this time had been sure and -steady, and he was now ready to take a further step, which he made when, in

November, 1910, he was the successful candidate for the office of county clerk. He accordingly took Tip the reins of office in December of the same year, and since that time has continued as the incumbent of the office. The work of this department in the county administration entails a comprehensive amount of detail labor, including the issuance of marriage licenses, the keeping of records of births and deaths, assisting at tax sales, and making redemptions from same ; receiving all tax levies and computing county, state and all city, village, district and other municipal taxes. As clerk of the County Court, the county clerk keeps a record of insane, pauper support, feeble-minded, inheritance tax and other cases. Nearly all special assessment cases are recorded in this office. The foregoing by no means entirely covers the duties of the clerk in full, but is sufficient to show that the incumbent needs to be a man of ability, and that when he is retained in office for six years that he has carried on his duties in a capable manner.

Mr. Hess was married June 11, 1904, to Miss Maud Lloyd, a native of Ohio. They have no children. Mr. Hess is a Eepublican in his political views. He is fraternally connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Masons, and in the latter belongs to the Blue Lodge and Chapter and to Danville Consistory. He has numerous friends in all these orders, as well as in political and official life.

WILLIAM L. STURDYVIN. A resident for more than forty-five years in Champaign County has made William L. Sturdyvin one of his community's best known citizens, and the honorable and industrious life he has led has given him a substantial place among his people. The years have dealt kindly with him and with his efforts, and he and his good wife now reside in a comfortable and hospitable home in Eantoul. Theirs is one of the fine residences facing the park in Eantoul, and stands on a street corner about two blocks from the interurban station.

Mr. Sturdyvin is a native of Illinois and was born in Tazewell County, twenty-two miles south of Peoria. He is a son of Obadiah and Cynthia (Musick) Sturdyvin. His parents were born in Ohio and in pioneer times migrated to Illinois, locating south of what was then an Indian trading post consisting of a single log cabin on the site of the present vigorous City of Peoria. In the Sturdyvin family there were the following children besides William L. : Grant, Abraham and James, deceased ; Steven, Allen and Eobert; and two deceased daughters. The children were able to attend school in their pioneer district of Illinois only about three months a year. The Sturdyvins lived forty-five miles from Springfield, and in the early days there were only two houses on the entire road. Besides farming the father kept a tavern and one of its guests at different times was Abraham Lincoln, then an obscure Illinois lawyer. William Sturdyvin has boyhood recollections of the great emancipator. One time he heard him plead a case in law court, and has a distinct recollection of the shrewd and effective arguments used by the Illinois statesman.

Mr. Sturdyvin married Catherine Wallace. She was born in the land of the shamrock, Ireland, a daughter of Edward and Anna Wallace. When she was two years of age her parents immigrated to America. There were no steamships crossing the Atlantic at that time and the family spent two months on the water. Mr. and Mrs. Sturdyvin began their married life in Tazewell County on a rented farm. They had hope, courage and enthusiasm, and hardships and difficulties were not sufficient to daunt their buoyant energy. From Tazewell County they removed to Bureau County, Illinois, but after a short time returned to their former home and in 1871, the year of the great Chicago fire, came to Champaign County. Here Mr. Sturdyvin bought 160 acres of land, for which he paid $15 an acre. It was raw prairie and in time was converted into a fertile and productive farm under his individual labors. He afterwards bought other land, at a much higher price, and still owns a farm estate of 200 acres.

In the meantime children came into their home. Their family, named in order of birth, are : Anna, James, George, Mamie, Edward, Joseph and Carrie. Two children died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Sturdyvin had a keen appreciation of their responsibilities to their children and in order to fit them for life's' responsibilities sent them to the district schools and later to the high school at Eantoul. Joseph and Carrie both graduated from the Eantoul High School and taught school several years. Anna finished her education in Champaign, and also became a successful teacher. She married Edward O'Donnell, now deceased, and her children are Frank and Joseph. James Sturdyvin married Catherine Delaney of Bellflower, and has children named Evylin, Earl and Agnes. George, a real estate man at Champaign, married Kate Harney. Mamie is the wife of James E. Leonard. Edward, a piano dealer at Champaign, married Nellie Gunning, and their children are Leonard, Marie and Loretta. Joseph is in the undertaking business at Champaign and married Agnes Fitzgerald. Carrie is the wife of Thomas Callahan and lives in Rensselaer, Indiana.

Throughout his long and industrious career Mr. Sturdyvin devoted his best energies to farming. About Seventeen years ago he retired from his country place and bought his present home in Rantoul. He and his wife are active members and regular attendants of worship at St. Malachi's Catholic Church, and their children were baptized in the same faith. To their children they have given the best of educational advantages and home training and have endeavored to make them true and loyal American citizens. Mr. Sturdyvin has always appreciated the glory and dignity of America and has told his children many times that every one coming to this country ought to appreciate the nation and the flag which waves over it.

Mr. Sturdyvin has served as school director and also as road commissioner, and in addition to his work as a farmer he has taken contracts for grading and building thirty-six miles of improved highway in the county. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Sturdyvin is characterized by hospitality and an atmosphere of cheer and comfort. They have lived long and worthily and have witnessed the transformation of Champaign County from a vast prairie district into one of the garden spots of the world.

THEODORE L. BLOCK. To accomplish as much as Theodore L. Block accomplished in Champaign County demands not only phenomenal energy but a ruggedness and integrity of character that in no small degree accounts for the esteem in which he is held as a citizen as well as a business man.

Mr. Block was born in Poland, October 3, 1850. He is a son of William and Minnie (Cornelius) Block. Several generations before he was born the ancestor of the family moved from the district bordering on the Baltic Sea into Poland, and thereafter the family was identified with the agricultural interests of that unhappy country until William Block sold his possessions there and immigrated with his family to America in 1857. On the 18th of May in that year they landed in New York City and proceeded directly West until they arrived in Champaign County. Here William Block bought a farm three miles south of Sidney, and though a stranger in a strange land he was successfully identified with farm management and local affairs. He spent the last fifteen years of his life retired at Champaign, where both he and his wife died. Theodore L. Block was the only child of his mother, and his father by a previous marriage had a son August, who is still living at Sidney in Champaign County.

Theodore L. Block was six years old when the family came to America, and he practically grew up in Champaign County and profited by attendance at the local schools. At the age of twenty-one he showed his energy and ambition by renting a farm ijrom his father and entering actively into the ranks of agriculturists. One success led to another, and by years of toil, accompanied by shrewd business management, Mr. Block was in a position where he might have retired with a liberal competence a number of years ago. He did in fact retire from active farming in 1901. However, his business interests have been wonderfully prospered, and at the present time he owns 760 acres of the fertile soil of Champaign County, while in Vermilion County in this state he owns 390 acres and 1,440 acres in the State of Arkansas. He is also half owner in a bank and elevator at Indianola in Vermilion County. In 19023Ir. Block built his fine home at 301 East Park Avenue in Champaign and he lives there with his family and has every material comfort and every congenial association which he could desire.

Mr. Block married Mary P. Block, a native of Germany. They are the parents of five children : Clara D., wife of L. E. Hartzig, of Lafayette, Indiana ; Richard A., of Indianola, Illinois ; Rosa A., wife of Rev. George S. Gerhold, of Hamilton, Ohio ; Edgar W., of Indianola, Illinois ; and Nora A., wife of Roy Zenke, of Indianola. Mr. Block is independent in his political affiliations. While living in the country in Champaign County he was a school director for over thirty years. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his church is the German Evangelical.

J. H. BLUE. Many years have passed since Mr. and Mrs. Blue took up their residence in Champaign County and began their careers as progressive farmers, and at the present time they live in the comforts of a good town home at Rantoul. In the meantime their children have grown up, most of them have married and have homes of their own, and Mr. and Mrs. Blue are able to take the greatest satisfaction out of the large family circle that surround them.

Both of them are natives of Germany. J. H. Blue was born in the little Town of Leer on the River Ems near Hanover, Germany, one of the seven children of Henry A. and Alma J. (Buscher) Blue. His father was a sailor and lost his life at sea. At the age of thirteen J. H. Blue asked permission of his school teacher to leave school and begin an apprenticeship as a sailor. The family lived on the sea coast and the activities of the sea naturally appealed to all the boys of that district. Some time later he and a young Scotchman came to America for the purp'ose of entering the United States Navy. The North was then engaged in the struggle with the South over slavery. They landed at Boston from the sailing vessel Kensington, and the first news they heard was that peace had been declared, General Lee having surrendered his sword to General Grant. The boys then shipped as ordinary seamen on a full rigged schooner from Boston to Philadelphia, carrying a load of coal. On returning to Boston the captain was so pleased with their services that he offered to ship them as able seamen. The Scotch boy left for other work, bu| Mr. Blue remained and sailed with his captain for eight months up and down the coast from Philadelphia to Baltimore. His last voyage was made from Baltimore to Rio de Janeiro, South America. He carried on his out voyage a load of flour, which was exchanged for coffee on the Brazil plantations.

In the meantime his brother Anton Blue had come to America and located at Thomasboro in Champaign County. He wrote to J. H. Blue describing the fine country of eastern Illinois and requesting the pleasure of a visit. J. H. Blue then came to Champaign County, but his preferences were for the eastern states.

In the meantime, in 1876, Mr. Blue had married in Germany Miss Lena 0. Saathoff, who was born in Germany in 1850, a daughter of Oltman and Luecka B. (Ammerman) Saathoff. In that year Mr. and Mrs. Blue came to America and went direct to Champaign County. For twenty years Mr. Blue and his wife lived as renters but prospered greatly owing to the possession of habits of thrift and industry characteristic of their countrymen. Later they bought eighty acres of land four miles south of Eantoul, paying $70 an acre. Mr. Blue had onry $200 to make his first payment, but in a few years had his home paid for and finally, in order to provide greater scope for the efforts of his growing sons, traded the eighty acres for 173 acres.

Mrs. Blue is the mother of eleven children, named Oltman, Henry, Louis, Alma, Jane, John, Ben, Herman, Anthony, Fritz and Dee. They were all educated in the district schools of Champaign County. Oltman married Angel Thompson, and they live on a farm in Champaign County. Their four children are John, Anna, Lena and Bertha. Henry married Katie Hineberger, and their family consists of Alma, Mabel, Lee and Clarence. Louis married Bertha Cook, and her two children are Elden and Glenn. Alma is the wife of William Meuser and is the mother of three children, Minnie, Herman and Gertrude. Jane married Gustave Meuser, and their children are Augusta, Albert, Eosa and John. John Blue married Alma Hanson. Ben Blue married Lucy Brucker and has two children, Chester and Opal. Herman married Rosa McClelland and has one child, William. Anthony took for his wife Ola McClelland, and their two children are Ruby and Kenneth. Fritz Blue married Anna Nelson. Dee, the youngest of the family, is the wife of Herman Nylen, a barber at Rantoul, and they have one son, Johnnie Morton Nylen.

Mr. and Mrs. Blue are active members of the German Evangelical Church at Flattville and their children were baptized in the same church. Politically they are active supporters of the Republican principles and vote the Republican ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Blue have known the usual trials and hardships of people who must struggle to gain a living and establish a home, but their energy has brought them ample success. In 1913 they wisely started to retire from the farm and bought a beautiful and attractive little home in the northwest quarter of Rantoul. They have lived to see many changes occur in Champaign County and have themselves contributed something to the wonderful transformation that has occurred on these Illinois prairies in the past forty years. Both of them are fine types of the American citizens, appreciative of the greatness of this country and extremely loyal to the flag. In 1900 Mrs. Blue and her son Louis went back to Germany to visit the old home, and later Mr. and Mrs. Blue enjoyed a similar trip. They crossed the ocean both times on the liner Barbarossa. Inevitably they compared the scenes of their youth and their native country with America and they came home with loyalty to their adopted land increased and strengthened.

JOSEPH E. McGuRTY is one of the successful business men of Champaign, where in the past seventeen years he has built up a large livery enterprise and also a well conducted automobile business. He comes from the country district and was a farmer prior to his business career.

Mr. McGurty was born at Colfax, Illinois, December 11, 1869, a son of Hugh and Sarah (Reagan) McGurty. Both parents were natives of Ireland. His father when six years of age went with his parents to Canada, locating near Montreal, where he grew up, and about 1859 he came to Illinois and soon afterward located on a farm in Champaign County. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army, in Company E, Ninety-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served three years and six months. He lived a long, useful and honorable life and died at Champaign, June 2, 1897. The widowed mother is still living in Champaign. There were six children : Anna, of Champaign; Catherine, at home; John, deceased; Joseph E. ; Agnes, at home; and James, deceased.

Joseph E. McGurty grew up on the farm, was educated in the local schools, and was a practical farmer on the old homestead until he was twenty-five years of age. For three years he had some mercantile experience in the department store of F. K. Robeson, and then engaged in the livery business at Champaign. In 1909 Mr. McGurty put up a large barn, 60x130 feet, and two stories. It contains a complete equipment of horses and he has gradually perfected a first class automobile service.

Mr. McGurty is a Republican in politics and was for two years street commissioner of Champaign under 0. B. Dobbins. He and his wife are members of the Church of the Holy Cross, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Arcanum, the Sons of Veterans and the Mystic Workers. He was married August 12, 1902, to Miss Anna McGraw, a native of Champaign County. Her parents, James and Ann (McGraw) McGraw, were both born in Ireland and are both now deceased. Her father was for many years employed as a machinist and boiler maker in the Big Four Railway shops.

THOMAS GORDON. As a farmer and farm manager Thomas Gordon is easily one of the 'leading figures in Champaign County. He has acquired and developed and superintends through his tenants and managers an estate of 975 acres in Compromise Township. For a number o"f years Mr. Gordon has lived in the Town of Penfield, and goes out from there almost daily to look after his business affairs.

Mr. Gordon is a native of Aurora, Illinois, a son of John and Mary (Whalen) Gordon. Both of them were natives of Ireland and came to America in early life. When Thomas was about ten years of age they settled in Champaign County, where their family of five sons and three daughters were educated in the local schools.

In 1906 Thomas Gordon gained a capable companion and helpmate for himself in the person of Miss Blanche Hobbins. She was born at London, Canada, daughter of Daniel and Julia (Farmer) Hobbins. Her father was a Canadian farmer and there were just two daughters in the family, namely, Mary and Blanche. Mary is the wife of Mr. Crunican of London, Ontario. Mrs. Gordon has a cousin, Sergeant R. J. Farmer, who is a graduate of the London Medical College, and is now in the English Navy on the Salmon. Mrs. Gordon was eleven months old when her father died and her mother, desiring to give her daughters the best of advantage, sold the farm and moved to the City of London, Canada. Her daughters were pupils in St. Peter's separate school and from there entered high school and later were students in the London Collegiate Institute while Mr. F. W. Merchant was principal. Mrs. Gordon graduated with honors in 1899, and having taken special training with a view to becoming a teacher went to North Dakota and taught at Elm Point, Freement and Crystal. At Crystal she was assistant principal in the high school under W. R. Decker, the principal. She had the satisfaction of seeing the entire class successfully pass their examinations, a fact she was congratulated upon by the board. Aftpr completing her last term there and before returning to her home in Canada she stopped in Champaign County, Illinois, to visit her uncle, Cornelius Clifford. While there she met the young man Thomas Gordon, and their acquaintance ripened into matrimony. They were married in St. Lawrence Church at Penfield in September, 1906. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Father Quirk, a warm personal friend of Mr. Gordon, both young men

Mr. and Mrs. Gordon then located in Penfield, a location that allows Mr. Gordon to superintend his several farms with the greatest convenience, at the same time allowing his family the advantages of town life.

Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter, John Anthony, Daniel Nicholas, Thomas Cornelius, Lawrence Ignatius and Mary Angela. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are active members and liberal supporters of the Catholic Church. In politics Mr. Gordon is a Democrat and a great admirer of President Wilson, believing him to be the man of the hour and the American best fitted to guide the nation through the strenuous and critical times of the present. Mr. Gordon has served a number of years as school director and has done everything in his power to make the schools what they should be as institutions for the education of the future generation. It was his good fortune to secure for his wife a woman of thorough education, culture and refinement, and she has been a big factor in his success and standing in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have a home of noted hospitality, and they enter heartily into all social and community affairs. Mr. Gordon's parents have long since passed away, but the name remains today, as always, one entitled to the complete respect of the community with which it has been identified for so many years.

AECHIE ERNEST STRODE. One of the important industries of Champaign is the tent and awning business which for a number of years has been carried on by the Strode family. The owner and proprietor of the business at present is Archie Ernest Strode, who gave up his active trade as a boiler maker to take charge of this business at the time of his fathers death.

Mr. Strode was born in 'Bristol, England, May 11, 1879, but was brought to this country when a child of about four years. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Frank) Strode, were both natives of England. His father died March 4, 1915, and his mother in 1901. The family came to Champaign in 1883, and George Strode established the present tent and awning business in 1905. There were five children in the family : Frank, of Champaign; Cclia, widow of Thomas Dodsworth of Champaign; William, who died in 1892; Bessie, wife of W. E. Lott, of Flint, Michigan; and A. E. Strode.

In 1895, at the age of sixteen, and after completing his education in the local schools, Archie E. Strode began learning the boilermaker's trade. He still has his card of active membership in the Boilermaker's Union. He spent about four and a half years in the shops of the Illinois Central, one year with the Santa Fe, and two years with the Big Four Railway Company. He was not only a successful and able workman, but also gained a thorough knowledge of the business end of the work. He finally entered the service of the Kennicott Company, construction engineers, and traveled over thirty-eight different states for that firm, representing them even in old Mexico. After giving up traveling, Mr. Strode returned to the service of the Big Four Railway Company, and was in their shops from 1907 until November, 1911. He then went into business with his father and at the time of the latter's death took active charge of the tent and awning business, which he developed to one of the considerable industries of the city.

On January 29, 1908, Mr. Strode married Laura Gundlock, a native of Champaign. They have one son, Orvil George, born March 5, 1910. Mr. Strode is independent in his political actions. He is a member of the Foresters, the Federation of Labor, the Labor Day Association, belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and his church home is the Episcopalian.

ABBAHAM GRAHAM. The quiet life and substantial accomplishments of the farmer have been the lot of Abraham Graham, who is now living in the town of Penfield, retired from the strenuous labors which marked his early youth. Mr. Graham has been identified with Champaign County almost half a century, and his life record is one that will be read with pleasure by his many friends and acquaintances as well as by his family. He long ago accumulated sufficient to protect him against the days that are to come, and the respect in which he is held is no less than his material accomplishment.

Mr. Graham is a native of the Emerald Isle, born in County Monaghan, December 27, 1838, a son of Hugh and Sarah (McMahon) Graham. He was the third of nine children, six sons and three daughters. He acquired an education in his native country and at the age of nineteen determined to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities of America. Accompanied by a cousin, Miss Eosa Martin, he sailed on the ship Aurora and five -weeks and three days later arrived at Castle Garden, New York. From there he went to Providence, Ehode Island, and for nine months during the panic of 1857 worked in lumber yards. He then became a farmer at Glencove in Queen's County on Long Island, but three years later came west to Illinois, stopping first at Buffalo. Later he joined a cousin at Illiopolis and worked on a farm there for several years.

On February 26, 1867, Mr. Graham married Miss Anna E. Welsh. She was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Adam and Mary (Craten) Welsh. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Graham began life near Illiopolis, and two years later, in 1869, came to Champaign County and located in that part of the original Kerr Township that is now Compromise Township. Here with the characteristics of industry and perseverance which he inherited from his Irish forefathers, Mr. Graham' began work and energetically developed a permanent home. His first purchase was eighty acres of raw prairie land costing $10 an acre. At that time the entire township had only one schoolhouse. With the passing of years there came many notable improvements, including commodious buildings. Mr. Graham set out 107 apple trees and numerous native forest trees. The latter are now lofty trees and stand as a monument to his long and prosperous life in this section.

Eight children were born to their marriage : Sarah A., Mary E., Ella, Catherine, Francis, Celia, Gertrude and Nora E. The daughter Gertrude died at the age of twenty-two. Sarah A. married Thomas Buck, a farmer of Compromise Township, and their nine children, seven sons and two daughters, are named Francis, Joseph, Arthur, Edward, Harold, Mary, James, Charles and Helen. Mary E. Graham became the wife of James McKeon, and they live near Eantoul. Their children are Ellen, Anna, Marie, James, Loretta and Gertrude. Ella "Graham is the wife of James Kelley, and is the mother of Michael, now a United States soldier, William, Anna, Cletus, John, James, Paul and Joseph. Catherine Graham married John Harney, and their children are Thomas, Wilfred, Margaret, Edward, Emmett. Francis Graham married Emma Buck, and their children are Agnes, Gertrude, Maude, Francis, Thomas, Raymond and Gilbert. Nora E. Graham is the wife of Bannis Mahew. Her children are Floyd, Idell, Ruth, Russell, Arthur and Charles. Celia Graham has never married and since her mother's death in 1884 has remained at home and is now her father's capable executive in the management of the home. Mr. Graham is the patriarchal head of a large household, including forty grandchildren. During all these years since his wife's death Mr. Graham has lived among his children and friends and has so lived as to make his influence a factor in the community without which things would not have been as they are today. Having reared a family of capable children and seeing his grandchildren growing up true types of American boys and girls, he can properly feel that his life has been a success. In politics he renders support to the Democratic party and it is his belief, shared in by so many other thousands of Americans, that President Wilson is the man for the position and will safely bring the ship of state through troubled waters. Mr. Graham has always been a Catholic and is a liberal supporter of the church at Penfield. Having come to Champaign County a young man with little capital and having made a success here, he is attached to the county by the strongest ties of loyalty and affection.

J. S. MASON, M. D., who was graduated in medicine over twenty years ago, has found his time and abilities more and more taxed as a. competent physician and surgeon, and in that field he ranks among the foremost in his section of the state. Doctor Mason is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, an honor conferred only upon surgeons of distinctive rank and attainment.

He was born at Newark, Ohio, May 22, 1868, a son of Jacob W. and Elizabeth (Smith) Mason, both natives of Ohio. His father came to Vermilion County, Illinois, in 1881 and followed farming all his active career. There were six children : J. Smith, a lumber dealer and hardware merchant at Oakwood, Illinois; Frank M., a physician practicing at Rossville, Illinois; Dr. J. S. Mason; Leora, living at home and a school teacher ; Archie R. ; and Etta Florence, at home with her parents.

Doctor Mason grew up on a farm, attended country schools, and when about eighteen years of age began teaching in the country. This vocation he followed five years and in the meantime took special courses in a Normal school and acquired a first grade teacher's certificate. It was through his individual earnings that he paid his way until graduation from medfcal school. He took up the study of medicine privately, and afterwards entered the Northwestern University School of Medicine at Chicago, where he was graduated M. D. in April, 1894. Doctor Mason practiced five years at Penfield, Illinois, and about six years at Rantoul, but since 1906 has been located with residence and office in Urbana.

Doctor Mason formerly served as Champaign County Medical Society's president and is now president of the Twin City Clinical Medical Society. He is a Mason, Knight of Pythias, Elk, a Democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist Church.

February 16, 1897, he married Lena 0. Warner, daughter of Ed. B. Warner. They have four children : James Bryant, Edward William, Elizabeth and Robert Stephen.

SAMUEL HENSON LITTLE. Among those substantial people of Champaign County with whom industry has been the keynote of their lives and successes a family of special interest is that of Samuel H. Little. Mr. and Mrs. Little are now retired from the active responsibilities of farming and reside in a comfortable brown cement block home on Sangamon Avenue in Rantoul.

Mr. Little was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, a son of John and Charlotte (Coon) Little. His parents were natives of Ohio, and after coming to Illinois they spent their lives as farmers. Samuel H. Little was educated in the district schools of Champaign County.

At the age of twenty-six he married Miss Jessie Babb. Mrs. Little was born in Staffordshire, England, a daughter of Charles and Eleanor Babb, of a well known family represented in Champaign County. Mrs. Little was educated in the district schools of this county and attended high school at

Rantoul. After their marriage they moved to Vermilion County and for three years were farmers on rented land. They then returned to Champaign County and continued renting for five years, and by the exercise of their native thrift and good judgment had by the end of that time sufficient capital to buy a farm of 120 acres. For this land they paid $71 an acre. Then followed other years of industry and with increasing prosperity until they had accumulated an estate of 243 acres five miles southwest of Rantoul.

This large farm was acquired at the same time that children and other responsibilities were absorbing much of their energy. Six children were born into their home, three of whom died in infancy. Those still living are Nellie, Arthur and Roscoe. These children were educated in the Gray district school. Nellie married Earl Fletcher, a farmer nine miles south of Rantoul. They have three young daughters, Alice, Edna and Louise. Arthur Little is a practical young farmer and manages his Grandfather Charles Babb's place two and a half miles east of Rantoul. Arthur Little married Edith Putnam of Condit Township, and their two sons are named Charles and Ray. Roscoe lives on and is manager of his father's homestead. By his marriage to Mabel Johnson of Rantoul he has two children, Ruth and Paul Henson.

Mr. and Mrs. Little took great pains with the education and early training of their children and instilled into their minds the principles of integrity and industry and fitted them for good citizenship.

Mr. and Mrs. Little are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Rantoul, and their children are of the same faith. They have always done all they could to promote and support church affairs, especially at Beulah Chapel. Earl Fletcher, their son-in-law, was chosen superintendent of the Sunday school there, and altogether they have aroused a spirit of Sunday school work which now gives a membership of 110 and is one of the best Sunday schools in the county.

Mr. Little has served as school director, and has worked for the benefit of good education in his community. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World. In 1914 Mr. and Mrs. Little decided to remove from their farm to Rantoul, and they are now taking life somewhat at leisure in their comfortable residence on Sangamon Avenue. Mrs. Little is a pleasant, cultured woman, has distinguished herself as an excellent home maker, and is especially fond of flowers. She inherits this love from her English grandmother, whom she remembers as a dignified white haired English matron owning a fine estate in England and with gardens of fine cultivated flowers.

CHARLES BABB, while for many years a resident of Champaign County, is a cosmopolitan citizen, has traveled extensively over the New and Old World, and has not only earned hut has learned the wise use of financial independence. He is now living retired in a commodious and beautiful home at Rantoul and is one of the large land owners of Champaign County.

Mr. Babb was born in Staffordshire, England, son of John and Margaret (Whyte) Babb. He grew up in his native country and in the year of the Chicago fire, 1871, came to this country with his wife and three children and located in Champaign County, six miles north of the city of Champaign. His three children were named Arthur, Jessie and Margaret. In Champaign County he engaged in farming, and possessing character and energy, he was soon on the high road to prosperity. At the present time Mr. Babb owns 535 acres of splendid soil in the vicinity of Rantoul.

Bunting, and she was also a native of England. Mr. Babb saw to it that his children had the best of educational advantages, and they attended the school at Thomasboro and also at Rantoul. The son Arthur, who died twelve years ago, married Alice Merchant, and he left two children, Jessie and Florence. The second child, Jessie, married Samuel Little, and their children are Nellie, Arthur and Roscoe. The daughter Margaret married Charles Merchant, and they live in Walnut, Bureau County, Illinois. Their two children are Bessie and Ira.

In 1897 Mr. Babb married Mary Taylor. Mrs. Babb was born in Kincardine, Scotland, daughter of John and Helen (Gordon) Taylor. At the age of thirty-four Mrs. Babb came to America, but she is a world traveler and has always been delighted with ocean voyages. She enjoys the distinction of having crossed the Atlantic thirteen times. Mr. Babb is also a thorough sailor and in 1917 he and his wife had planned another pleasant trip to Europe, but were hindered by the war.

Mr. Babb is a born sportsman. When he goes to England he takes the greatest delight in participating in hunting trips and spends the seasons with some of his friends who own fine estates in the old country. Mr. and Mrs. Babb are active members of the Episcopal Church, liberally support the church causes, and Mr. Babb in politics is a Republican. He believes in supporting the principle rather than the party strictly as a party organization. Mrs. Babb also gives her support to the party which has produced Lincoln, McKinley and Garfield.

Eleven years ago Mr. and Mrs. Babb removed from their farm to Rantoul and have a commodious home a block south of the Illinois Central Depot. Mr. Babb's former extensive operations as a stock buyer made him widely known over this section of Illinois, and much of his business was transacted through Rantoul. Having worked hard in the prime of his career he is now able to enjoy with satisfaction his pleasant home on Kentucky Street and has hosts of friends in Illinois as well as in his native land. On the walls of their home at Rantoul are hung many fine views of Scotland and England, including representations of some of the large estates which they have visited. One of these is "Lumber Grange," owned by Mr. Babb's nephew, Alfred Wood. It is one of the stately old homes of England, has rustic fences covered with rambling roses, and is a place which would delight the eye of the sportsman and the landscape painter. Other views show the estates known as "The Croft" and "Littleover." Mr. Babb has collected many articles of interest both to themselves and their friends, and they have the parlor of their home furnished with finely carved Japanese furniture.

PETER STEWART CAMPBELL came to Champaign County when he was a small boy, learned the trade in one of the shops of the county and for many years has been identified either with a newspaper establishment or with a printing shop of his own. He now has one of the principal job printing houses of Urbana.

Mr. Campbell was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, April 18, 1868, a son of Archibald B. and Christina (Stewart) Campbell. He was one of seven children, named as follows : Alexander, deceased ; Jennie, wife of G. L. Baker, of Champaign; Mary, widow of Robert Leslie, living at Pittsfield, Illinois; John and William, both deceased; Peter Stewart; and Archibald, of Tolono.

The father of these children was a drainage contractor and died in Scotland in 1872. The following year the widowed mother brought her family to America, and soon located near Tolono, where she lived until her death in 1916. Peter S. Campbell received his education at Tolono and in 1881 began learning the printing trade. He served his apprenticeship in Champaign County and in 1887 went to Wichita, Kansas, where he spent about a year as a printer. On returning to Champaign County he became connected with the Urbana Herald, and was with that journal nine years. For a short time he was with the Champaign News, and then opened a shop of his own but sold out after six months. Then followed a relationship for nine years with the Urbana Daily Courier. On leaving the Courier Mr. Campbell opened a shop of his own and now has all the facilities as well as the experience for first class work in general commercial printing.

He was married May 20, 1891, to Elizabeth Brown, of Eantoul. They have three children : Raymond B., William V., and Eleanor Pauline. Mr. Campbell is a Republican, a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men, and he and his family worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

GEORGE DRISKELL. One of the farms that lend distinction and dignity to Champaign County as a center of the great Illinois corn belt is that of Mr. George Driskell in section 33 of Kerr Township. Mr. Driskell has been a farmer all his life, and he knows the business as only one can know it through years of practical experience and common sense application of his energies to the task at hand.

Mr. Driskell was born in Warren County, Indiana, a son of Hiram and Anna (Black) Driskell. There were six children in the family, four sons and two daughters, Roland, George, William, one that died in infancy, Julia Ann and Hannah. Hiram Driskell was also a farmer, and brought his family to Champaign County when George was nine years of age. The family located on a farm at Sugar Grove in Kerr Township and the children attended the Sugar Grove school. Hiram Driskell and wife lived in this locality the rest of their lives.

On February 12, 1871, Mr. George Driskell married Miss Samantha Mercer. They had been sweethearts for some time, but their parents opposed their attention and planned a different future for them. The young people thought they knew best, and determined to take the issue in their own hands. In the early winter of 1871 they attended a party at the home of a neighbor named Pattens. All the young people of that district were present. On the following day, instead of returning home, George and Samantha drove to Champaign and were married at the hotel. On returning home they received the blessing of their parents, and their long and prosperous married life shows that they made no mistake in this vital decision.

Mrs. Driskell was born in eastern Ohio, a daughter of Aaron and Polly (Cecil) Mercer, her father a native of Virginia. Their ancestors were formerly from Scotland. Her parents were married in Ohio and there were five sons and three daughters: Solomon, William, James,' Joseph, Henry, Martha, Nancy and Samantha, who was the youngest. When Samantha was a small child the Mercer family came to Illinois and located in the Partlow settlement of Vermilion County. The children attended the Sugar Grove school and the Flagg school. Samantha finished her education in a school for young ladies at Paxton, Illinois, when Mrs. Buckley was principal.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Driskell started out for themselves on eighty acres which he inherited from his father. They located in their new home in the month of June, the month for brides, and they went at their task as home makers with youth, enthusiasm, courage and ambition. They lived there ten years and then removed to a part of Mr. Driskell's father's estate, and also bought adjoining land. At the present time the Driskell farm comprises 240 acres, and through his care and management many notable improvements have been made. The house has been remodeled, a large barn has been built, and there is ample equipment for carrying on such a farm as a business. Mr. and Mrs. Driskell have planted many trees, flowers and shrubs and their home stands out as one of the picturesque spots in Kerr Township. Mr. Driskell's work has chiefly been as a grain grower and stock raiser. He has raised hogs on a large scale, some years as high as 150 head. One year the cholera struck this region and he lost over 100 hogs through this disease.

A high degree of public spirit has characterized all of Mr. Driskell's activities in the community. He is widely known all over Champaign County, which he served fifteen years on the board of county commissioners. During that long public service he had a part in the building of nearly all the bridges along Middle Fork Creek, the largest being the Mercer bridge, and also the one east of his home. These bridges are a credit to the entire county. Mr. Driskell has also served on the school board and has helped make his district one of the best in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Driskell attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, but is a man of broad views and believes that the special national executive is entitled to the support and confidence of every true American. Mrs. Driskell has done all she could to forward the prohibition movement in the county and state, and it is one of her most ardent hopes that nation-wide prohibition will be an accomplished fact in her lifetime. From such facts as have been here related it is possible to understand Mr. and Mrs. Driskell's high position in Champaign County, and it is not without good reason that they take pride in their country home, their family and the worthy influences that they have been able to set in motion for the benefit of the community.

GEORGE SKINNER is one of the prosperous farm owners and well known citizens of Champaign County, now living retired at Urbana, and for his success the credit is due almost entirely to his individual efforts and his steadfast honesty and integrity.

Mr. Skinner was born in Somersetshire, England, January 29, 1850, and was about four years of age when he accompanied his parents, Robert and Anna (Rich) Skinner, to America. The family first located near Elk Grove, northwest of Chicago, and in 1873 they moved to the vicinity of Homer in Champaign County, where Robert Skinner spent his last years and died in 1883. Robert Skinner and wife had four children: Amelia, who died in 1888; Rhoda, who died in 1913; George; and Henry, now a resident of Los Angeles, California.

When George Skinner was fourteen years of age the family removed to Shelby County, Illinois, renting a farm there three years and after another year at Arcola they went to a rented farm south of Homer, where George Skinner remained five years. In the meantime his father had suffered a severe accident by a fall on the ice and he and his brother assumed many of the responsibilities connected with the management of the farm and the domestic upkeep. Mr. George Skinner eventually acquired land of his own and by systematic improvement and development continued his land holding interests until he is now owner of 204 acres, constituting one of the best farms in Champaign County. Mr. Skinner has made his success by raising corn and oats, cattle and hogs. In 1893 he bought a fine home at 921 West Green Street in Urbana, where he is now living retired. In 1900 he bought another farm of 124 acres in St. Joseph Township.

Mr. Skinner was married December 29, 1887, to Mary Havard, a native of Illinois, whose parents came from Wales. Mr. and Mrs. Skinner have one son, John E. Skinner, who is now attending the Camp Ground School at Biloxi, Mississippi. Mr. Skinner is a Republican, has served on the Board of Supervisors of Ayres Township, and has filled other minor township offices. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

HUGH A. KIRK. While it cannot be claimed for all Champaign County farmers that they live up to the opportunities afforded them, there are some of them whose progress and prosperity are well worth noting and whose modern methods have in the last few years almost revolutionized the industry. One of these wide-awake and progressive agriculturists is Hugh A. Kirk, whose finely cultivated fields are a credit to Harwood Township and whose thoroughbred stock have made his name known all over the county.

Hugh A. Kirk was born in Champaign County, Illinois, and belongs to an old pioneer family of this section. His parents, James and Alice Kirk, were born in Ireland. The mother passed away some years ago, but the father survives, although the weight of years is heavy upon him. He is surrounded by loving descendants who tenderly minister to his wants. He was one of the early members of the Catholic Church at.Ludlow, reared his children in that faith and they have always followed its teachings.

Hugh A. Kirk attended the parochial schools at Philo and St. Joseph, and the Paxton High School, and still later took a course in Brown's Business College. He has made a special study of scientific agriculture and has proved the value of such a course on his farm of 240 acres. His land has been made to produce abundantly through intelligent cultivation and he has been equally successful in other farm industries. He owns the magnificent black imported stallion Keota General, and raises Aberdeen cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. Additionally he gives a great deal of attention to his valuable full blood Orpington chickens. For the proper accommodation of this exceedingly valuable stock, Mr. Kirk has made wise provision. On his farm a certain system is followed, the old haphazard way of carrying on agricultural operations being obsolete here. Aside from all this the farm is well situated and well watered and drained, and through the introduction of modern comforts much of the old-time drudgery is a thing of the past. Fine shade trees are a part of the landscape and Father Kirk can remember when he set them out as saplings.

Mr. Kirk was married in the Catholic Church at Ludlow on June 7, 1916, Father Drumming officiating, to Miss Marie Deany, who was born in La Salle County, Illinois, and is a daughter of Daniel and Mary Deany, the former of whom was born in New Jersey and the latter in Illinois. They have one son, Harold Hugh Kirk.

In politics Mr. Kirk is a Democrat and fraternally belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters. The family is one that has always been held in high esteem in this section, its members being solid, representative people.

U. G. NORMAN has found his work in life and has rendered his chief service during his residence at Champaign as a building contractor. Some of the principal buildings of the city have been erected by him.

A resident of Champaign County most of his life, he was born in Wayne County, Indiana, April 14, 1867, a son of John Scott and Eunice A. (Stover) Xorman. His father was a farmer, and in 1869 removed to Champaign County, locating on a farm ten miles from Urbana, where he was engaged in general farming and in looking after the responsibilities