Champaign County, Illinois - The whole text, 1918 (part 1 of 23)

Chicago And New York

JUDGE J. 0. CUNNINGHAM. The publishers and editors of this work feel that only a meager tribute can be paid to the memory of Champaign County's most beloved citizen in the following brief review of his life. Judge Cunningham was a great historian. He contributed liberally to historical literature, was himself the author of a History of Champaign County, and in the closing months of his life he gave generously from the riches of his great collection and from his experience and memory in an advisory capacity to the compilation of the present work.

Joseph Oscar Cunningham was born at Lancaster in Erie County, New York, December 12, 1830, and died at his home, 922 West Green Street, Urbana, on April 30, 1917, when in his eighty-seventh year. He was a son of Hiram Way and Eunice (Brown) Cunningham. Some of his early life was spent in northern Ohio, where he attended Baldwin Institute at Berea and also Oberlin College. In June, 1853, at the age of twenty-two, he came to Champaign County, and from that time forward his home was at Urbana. He had previously taught in the village school at Eugene, Indiana, but a month after his arrival at Urbana became associated as one of the proprietors and editors of the Urbana Union. He was -a member of this firm of Cunningham & Flynn until 1858, and in August of that year became associated with J. W. Scroggs in the publication of the Central Illinois Gazette at Champaign, a village then known as Western Urbana.

In April, 1855, Mr. Cunningham was admitted to the bar. In 1859 he received his law degree from the Union Law School of Cleveland, Ohio. After his admission to practice it is said he never missed a single term in court for forty-seven years. He was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1880. He was a member successively of the law firms of Sim & Cunningham, Cunningham & Weber and Cunningham & Boggs. He finally retired from active practice in 1905.

The title by which he was so long known in Champaign County was a mark of respect, though it was based actually upon official service as judge of the Champaign County courts. He was elected to that office on an independent ticket in 1861 and served four years. At the time of his death he was the only surviving member of the original Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. He was first appointed a trustee by Governor Oglesby in 1867, and was reappointed by Governor Palmer in 1871. For six years he served as a member of its executive committee. The university always claimed much of his time and interest, and for fifty years he was its devoted friend. Another institution which claimed some of his services was McKendree College at Lebanon, Illinois, which he served as trustee during 1897-98.

Judge Cunningham was a member of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1896 and 1900. He was a member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society. He distinguished himself by his ability as a collector and writer on historical subjects and delivered many addresses before the State Historical Society and before Masonic and legal associations. On June 27, 1900, he delivered an address at Norwalk, Ohio, before the Firelands Historical Society on the occasion of its forty-fourth annual meeting. He was one of the founders and was vice president of the Illinois State Historical Society, and two of his most notable addresses were read before that society in 1902 and 1905. In collaboration with William C. Jones he prepared Jones & Cunningham's Practice, a volume on County and Probate Court Practice, the first edition of which was printed in 1883. Second and third editions were issued in 1892 and 1903. His History of Champaign County was published in 1905. After the publication of that work he continued to gather many new matters and data bearing upon the local and general history of Champaign County.

Judge Cunningham had been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1866. A permanent monument to his memory is the result of his donation in 1894 to the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Illinois Conference of the home in which he and his wife had resided for twenty-five years. This is a large place on Cunningham Avenue, north of Urbana, and was donated to the church to be used as a home for homeless children. The building, with a tract of fifteen acres, valued at $15,000, now has the name of the Cunningham Orphanage. The missionary society instructs and trains the children of the home.

When the Urbana Park Commission began its work of preserving beauty spots in Urbana, Judge Cunningham made the city a present of fifteen acres of land adjoining Crystal Park Lake and now comprising that portion at the north end of the park which is distinguished by a beautiful winding drive and boulevard.

Judge Cunningham was married at Bainbridge, Ohio, October 13, 1853, to Miss Mary M. McConoughey. Judge Cunningham was for a number of years master of Urbana Lodge of Masons and also a member of the Urbana Knights Templar Commandery. He began voting as a Whig, subsequently was a Eepublican, but from 1873 was an independent, though a pronounced advocate of the principles of the Prohibition party.

It would be impossible within the scope of this article to describe all the interests and associations that made Judge Cunningham a part of Champaign County. In conclusion should be quoted the words of one of the local papers used at the time of his death :

"The end of a long and fruitful life, the life of a friend of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, came at 11 :30 o'clock Monday night when a two weeks' illness resulted in the death of Judge J. 0. Cunningham, one of the oldest and best known citizens of Champaign County.

"As Judge Cunningham had lived, so did he die, surrounded by his beloved books, a library such as none other in the State and probably in the United States, containing as it does some of the rarest old historical works obtainable, collected during a long life of research along historical lines. Some of the rarest volumes in the collection have to do with the life of Mr. Lincoln, who was a close friend of Mr. Cunningham in the pioneer days of Champaign County when Mr. Lincoln came to Urbana to attend the court.

"A number of years ago Judge Cunningham had a large room added to the rear of his residence as his library, and during his last illness he had his bed in this room, and at his request the last obsequies over his body were observed there.

"In the death of Judge Cunningham one of the greatest minds of the State is sealed forever. During his life scholars from many places of learning, sat at the feet of Judge Cunningham to draw -from the immense storehouse of his memory details of local and State history forgotten by other minds as old as Judge Cunningham's but more feeble. Not only was he familiar with intimate bits of information regarding the life of the greatest American statesman, but he made it a part of his life to remember details of history of his home city and was able to tell many Urbana people things that they did not know about their own forebears, details that would have been lost had it not been for Judge Cunningham's interest in preserving them. Many of his recollections of days long gone are preserved in historical works compiled by Judge Cunningham."

WILLIAM W. EARNEST. Firmly intrenched in the American heart is the public school system, which, while not perfect perhaps, is continually being improved, largely as the result of the efforts of conscientious, intellectual leaders. The city of Champaign in its superintendent of schools has a well qualified, constructive man, a graduate of the University of Illinois and a thorough teacher as well as executive. He is William W. Earnest, who has occupied this responsible office for the past nine years.

William W. Earnest was born in Mississippi, October 1, 1863, one of a family of three children born to his parents, who were John W. and Julia J. (Woolley) Earnest. Both parents were natives of Illinois, the father born in Sangamon and the mother in Greene County. Both are now deceased, the death of the father occurring in 1902. He was one of the argonauts who, in 1850, went to California in search of gold, of which he found enough to pay for his time, and he had many interesting experiences and adventures. From California he returned to Illinois, but afterward went to Mississippi and was engaged in managing sawmills there at the outbreak of the war between the states and found it impossible to escape from a situation embarrassing to a northern man until the opening of the Mississippi and Yazoo mines in the spring of 1864. Later on he followed the peaceful pursuits of- agriculture in Macoupin County, Illinois.

William W. Earnest attended the public schools of Greenfield, and after completing the high school course and a college course in the Valparaiso University he was engaged for a number of years in teaching in country and village schools and in the management of the Western Normal College of Bushnell, Illinois, as well as in the superintendency of the city schools of Macomb. Afterward he entered the University of Illinois, from which institution he was graduated in 1908, shortly afterward accepting the superintendency of the city public schools of Champaign.

In many ways Mr. Earnest has proved his superior qualifications, not the least of these being his record for constructive service, he being in the lead in all hopeful and vitally important movements in relation to the efficiency of the schools. He is not only a man educationally trained but one of broad mind, social understanding and civic responsibility. He is popular with the teachers under his management and enjoys the confidence of parents and pupils. In his political affiliation Mr. Earnest has always been a Republican but practically takes little part in advancing the interests of any office seeker. Fraternally, he is a Mason and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In meeting Mr. Earnest the visitor receives an impression of strong individuality, conscientious acceptance of responsibility and unusual modesty as to his achievements.

EDWIN S. SWIGAKT, a former mayor of the city of Champaign, is a thorough business man, and his reputation as a successful manager of large and important interests was one of the chief reasons why the people of Champaign desired him as their mayor.

A native of Illinois, he was born near Farmer City in DeWitt County, December 11, 1861. His parents, Jacob and Eebecca (Davis) Swigart, were both born in Ohio. Jacob Swigart, who was born in 1827 and died in 1907, removed to DeWitt County, Illinois, in 1847. Rebecca Davis was taken to DeWitt County in 1837, when a small child, and she is still living, being now one of the oldest settlers of that county. Jacob Swigart followed farming during his active career, and became well known in politics and business affairs. In 1868 he was elected a member of the State Legislature.

In a family of nine children, Edwin S. Swigart was the sixth in order of birth. His early advantages were those of the common schools of DeWitt County and for three years he was a student in Lombard College at Galesburg. He had considerable experience as a farmer, and after his marriage in 1885 he remained on the home place for a year.

Mr. Swigart was one of the organizers of the Creamery Package Company, then located at Morrison, Illinois, and for a time he gave this business his entire time and energies. The company has since grown to very large proportions, and now has its main offices in Chicago. For six years Mr. Swigart was associated with his father in the management of a private bank at De Land, Piatt County. In May, 1896, with J. W. Armstrong and J. W. Orr, Mr.' Swigart bought an interest in the Citizens Bank of Champaign. This is now the Citizens State Bank. He was actively associated as one of the bank's managers for three years. Mr. Swigart now has numerous business interests, especially in farm lands, and owns some of the best and most profitable acreage in Champaign and Piatt counties.

In 1900 he was supervisor of the census in this congressional district. He was first elected to the office of mayor of Champaign in 1903, and his creditable work in that office was fresh in the minds of the people when in 1915 he was again chosen to the same position. He served until May 1, 1917, when the commission form of government was adopted by the city.

On September 3, 1885, Mr. Swigart married Miss Nellie Lapham, a native of Whiteside County, Illinois. They are the parents of two children : Alta C., wife of D. T. Hoskins, Jr., of Lincoln, Nebraska; and Faith, still at home. Mr. Swigart is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. -

Louis ARTHUR BUSCH. The legal profession of Champaign County and the civic government of Urbana have a worthy representative in the person of Louis Arthur Busch, state's attorney. A native of the city of TIrbana, he has passed his entire life here, and his career among its citizens is looked upon as particularly worthy, as he has trod the hard self-made road to success and has triumphed over a number of discouraging obstacles which have arisen in his path. A member of the legal brotherhood since 1908, he has made rapid advancement in his calling, and since 1912 has been the incumbent of the official position which he now occupies.

Louis Arthur Busch was born June 4, 1886, at Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois, and is a son of Carl T. and Carolina S. (Hank) Busch. His father was born in Prussia, Germany, and was a child when brought to America in 1868, the family originally locating at Champaign, where ike was reared and received his education in the public schools. Upon his removal to Urbana, in young manhood, he embarked in the furniture business, and continued tp be identified with that enterprise during the remaining years of his life, his death occuring June 8, 1896. Mr. Busch was a Democrat in his political views, but not an active participant in politics. He religious faith was that of the Lutheran Church, in which his children were carefully reared. Mrs. Busch, who survives her husband and resides at No. 411 West Main Street, Urbana, was born in Germany, July 3, 1861, and was brought to the United States by her parents in 1868. She has been the mother of seven children, as follows: Carl C., William L., Mrs. Emma (Busch) Lange, Mrs. Minnie (Busch) Baker, Louis Arthur and Mrs. Bertha (Busch) Foesterling, and Henry, who died as an infant.

After completing the curriculum of the graded schools and spending one year in high school, Louis Arthur Busch, then a lad of fifteen years, became identified with the furniture business, to which he had been given an introduction some years before in his father's store. He had lost his father by death when he was ten years of age, and he therefore had not enjoyed the privileges in an educational way which would have otherwise been his. However, he was desirous of obtaining a good education, having set his ambitions upon a professional career, and through his industry and continued effort managed, in 1905, to enter the University of Illinois, as a special student. For three years he took law and preparatory studies, and in 1908 duly completed his course and was graduated, whereupon he entered upon the practice of his profession at Champaign. Being earnest and industrious, he not only gained for himself a good clientele, but attracted to himself the attention of a number of representative men, who saw in him good official timber and eventually persuaded him to allow his name to be used as a candidate for the office of state's attorney. To this office he was duly elected December 2, 1912, and in the same position he has continued to serve to the present time. He has proven a most excellent official, his value to the community being enhanced by his comprehensive knowledge of his calling, his conscientious performance of his responsibilities and the fearless manner in which he attacks the duties of his office. Among" his professional associates, Mr. Busch bears a good reputation as an adherent of the best ethics of the law, as a valuable fellow counsel and as a worthy opponent.

On February 2, 1910, Mr. Busch was united in marriage in Shelby County, Illinois, with Miss Laura Wascher, who was born at Champaign, Illinois, August 5, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Busch are the parents of two sons and one daughter, namely: Arthur, who was born November 1, 1912; Robert, born March 6, 1914; and Barbara, born December 24, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Busch are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Busch belongs to the church council and is active in its work. His political support is given to the candidates and policies of the Democratic party. During Governor Richard Yates' administration he was appointed law clerk of the House of Representatives for two terms. As a fraternalist he holds membership in the local lodges of the Masons, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.

G. W. HARTSOCK. The record of a true and upright Christian gentleman, a man of more than ordinary business acumen fortified by years of industry, is that of G. W. Hartsock, who with his noble wife is now spending years of retirement at their home on Belle Avenue in the City of Rantoul.

Mr. Hartsock was born in Greene County, Ohio, son of David and Sarah J. (Cornell) Hartsock, both natives of Ohio. His grandfather, Sylvanus Cornell, was a soldier of the War of 1812 under General Harrison, and for many years he drew a pension until his death. G. W. Hartsock had a district school education. He was one of the following family of sons and daughters : Jessie L., Sylvanus, Ruth A., Elizabeth, Flora, Eli and G. W. Flora and Eli are both deceased.

As a young man G. W. Hartsock, hoping to obtain better conditions in the region of cheaper lands, made a visit to his uncle at Clinton in DeWitt

County, Illinois. His investigations extended as far as Rantoul, where he was particularly impressed with the outlook, and he bought eighty acres of land at $13.50 an acre. Having made this purchase he went back to Ohio and then came on with a covered wagon and his only companion was "Dash," an English terrier dog. This dog was a most faithful animal and in a way was the foundation of Mr. Hartsock's fortune. Mr. Hartsock had a French neighbor who possessed a large store of grain, but much of it was being destroyed by the rats. He succeeded in persuading young Hartsock to exchange the English terrier for twenty bushels of rye, and thus the ownership of the dog changed hands and the rye was put to, good use by Mr. Hartsock.

Soon after starting from his Ohio home Mr. Hartsock met the man who had made his wagon. This wagonmaker volunteered the information that within three months the youth would be back at home asking for bread and butter from his parents. To this the young pioneer rejoined: "Jake, sink or swim, survive or perish, I'll never do that. I'm going to stay." While a boy at home Mr. Hartsock was very much attached to his mother and had to bear considerable ridicule on that account. Some of his companions also called him "General," and said they wondered at his willingness to leave home, though they admired his pluck.

On June 5, 1871, Mr. Hartsock laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Miss Emogene Soper. She was born in Lake County, Illinois, a daughter of Orange P. and Jerusha I. (Abell) Soper. Her grandfather, Remember E. Soper, was also a soldier of the War of 1812. After a very determined courtship Mr. Hartsock had won the consent of this young lady to become his wife and they started away from the vicinity of Gifford for Urbana, the county seat, to obtain a license and get married. After making the trip they learned that the only minister in town was away at the conference. Finally, after hunting around some time, they discovered MT. McElroy, a minister of the Methodist Church, who solemnized their bonds.

The young couple began housekeeping in the northwest quarter of section 26 of Harwood Township. They had hope and faith, unlimited industry, and the years have fully justified them in all their plans and ambitions. Their means enabled them to buy another eighty acres, then forty acres, and they finally bought six acres adjoining the town of Rantoul. Mr. Hartsock's landed estate now comprises 240 acres of as fine land as can be found in the State of Illinois and worth $250 an acre.

Sylvanus L. Hartsock, the first child, is now deceased. He married Anna Lapham of Indiana and she survived with two children, Charles Walter and Esther Ruth,

Olive M., the oldest of those living, is now Mrs. Reynolds and the mother of the following children: Lula L., Hurley, Emogene, Volney, Gladys, George, Flossie, Teddy, Orange, Lucy May, Belzoria, Velma Doris, and Floy Myrul and Loy Bural, twins, but Loy Bural is deceased. Orange and Lucy May are both now deceased. Lula is married and has a child named Marvin, and Emogene is also married. Gladys is now Mrs. Leon Conley and Hurley E. is a soldier in the United States army in the First Cavalry, Troop D, and stationed with his troop at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming.

The next child, Asa, died in infancy. David 0. lives in Pocahontas County, Iowa, and by his marriage to Tillie Gehrt of Peoria has two children, Raymond and Hazel.

Amos S. Hartsock, the youngest child, is a farmer in Pocahoixtas County, Iowa. He married Sadie Shaveland and has a bright little son named Harlan, now four years of age.

Mr. G. W. Hartsock has been a sturdy supporter of the Republican party for fully half a century. His first presidential vote was given to Stephen A. Douglas. He has reared his sons to support the principles which he has believed right and just and to respect and honor all those things which are the essential elements of good citizenship and good character. Mr. Hartsock has been public spirited in all his community actions, has served as road commissioner and school director and his liberal prosperity has not been for himself alone, but for the benefit of the community in general. Since retiring from the farm he and his good wife have enjoyed the comforts of a pleasant home in Rantoul.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of their long and worthy lives has been their devotion to church and Christianity. Mrs. Hartsock was the first to join the Christian Church at Gifford, while Mr. Hartsock and their two children followed her into the church the next fall. At that time the people of the Christian denomination worshiped in a schoolhouse. Mr. Hartsock soon took the lead in circulating a petition for the building of a church at Gifford. This petition met with hearty response and in a few years they were able to dedicate a fine church and the little organization has been growing in all the years. Mr. Hartsock has served as an elder and trustee and has ordered his entire life to conform to the principles of true Christian manhood. After coming to Rantoul he encouraged the building of an addition to the local church, and gave $300 for that purpose. He has filled the office of elder and trustee in the Rantoul church and is now one of the elders. For many years Mr. Hartsock and wife have made it a rule to pay out one-tenth of their income for church purposes, and the payment of this tithe has constituted one of the most enduring satisfactions of their lives. Along with active work in the church Mr. Hartsock has given equally ardent advocacy of the cause of temperance, and he has never neglected an opportunity to work for the fulfillment of that cause. The record of such a man is above all value and estimate as an example and a source of good to Jiis community and particularly to his children and descendants.

JAMES A. TALBOTT has not only achieved that success represented by large land holdings and rich and prosperous farms, but also the riches of friendship and community esteem. All this is well indicated by the title affectionately bestowed upon him and most people know him as "Uncle Jimmie" Talbott. Mr. Talbott and his family reside in Harwood Township, in section 36, near Gifford, but his farm possessions spread over a large area and include 1,600 acres of choice Illinois soil.

Mr. Talbott is a native of West Virginia, and was the fourth of eight children born to J. V. and Sarah (Parsons) Talbott. He is of English stock on both sides and the families have been in America for many generations. Mr. James A. Talbott grew up in West Virginia and attended a school known as the Wise school, from the name of the land owner there. He was still young when his parents, in April, 1865, left West Virginia, soon after the surrender of Lee's army, and migrated to Illinois. They heard the news of Lincoln's assassination on arriving at Danville. J. V. Talbott bought ninety acres of land in Middle Fork Township in Vermilion County, paying $25 an acre. The family encountered many hardships and privations. J. V. Talbott had always suffered somewhat delicate health and the change of climate not agreeing with him he died in 1866, after about a year of residence in Illinois. He was a man of fine character, and in the brief time spent in Illinois had acquired a large circle of friends. His widow afterwards visited relatives in California and was taken ill and died in that state. When James A. Talbott was thirty years of age he married Ruthie LeFever. Mrs. Talbott at her death left four young children, named Charles V., Lucy A., Frank W. and Earl P. These children were educated in the Corliss district schools of Champaign County. Mr. Corliss had leased the ground for the school for a period of twenty-five years, and after the lease expired the name was changed to the Talbott school, in honor of this Talbott family.

For his second wife Mr. Talbott married Mrs. Eliza J. LeFever. She was born in Marion County, Ohio, seven miles from the city of Marion, daughter of Charles L. and Mary (Duckweiler) LeFever. Her father was a native of Germany and her mother of Pennsylvania.

After his marriage Mr. Talbott began housekeeping on a farm of eighty acres, for which he paid $20 an acre. It was prairie land in the midst of sloughs and without improvements. He bought the land from J. C. Sheldon. Here he began the sturdy work of improvement, erecting a small house, planting trees, and in the course of time has developed one of the attractive farm homes which stands as a monument to his industry.

Mrs. Talbott first married Isaac LeFever. They lived at Sugar Grove in Champaign County. By her first husband Mrs. Talbott has two children : Minnie A. and Ross W. LeFever. Minnie is the wife of Louis Schmitt, a farmer in Iowa, and their three children are named Florence, Ray and Loren. Ross LeFever is a farmer in Harwood Township and by his marriage to Effie George has a daughter, Beula May.

Of Mr. Talbott's children by his first marriage Charles V. is a farmer in Vermilion County. He married Laura Smith and has two children, Asher and Hattie. Lucy A. is the wife of Emanuel Rowe, a Harwood Township farmer, and has a son, Orene. Frank W. Talbott also lives in Vermilion County and married Ollie Shellenbarger. Their children were Ethel, Grace, Walter, Ray, Carl, Roy and Ruth. Mrs. Ollie Talbott died at the birth of her daughter Ruth. Earl P. Talbott is a resident of Champaign County on a farm. He married Bertha Harper and has a daughter, Viola.

Mr. and Mrs. Talbott give their active support to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Gifford. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and believes that President Wilson is the man of the hour and entitled to the full confidence and support of a united country. Mr. Talbott served fourteen years as school director, two years as road commissioner, and at one time was elected justice of the peace, but on account of his business duties was obliged to decline the honor.

Mr. and Mrs. Talbott have co-operated in their efforts to rear their children to useful lives and instill in them the principles of loyal American citizenship. They have a most hospitable home and are well known throughout the county. One of Mr. Talbott's close friends was the late Judge Cunningham, who, he says, was one of the finest judges and citizens Champaign County ever had.

Mr. Talbott's success as a farmer needs no special demonstration. He has shown consummate ability in getting the most out of the soil without destroying its fertility and has built up a large estate of 1,600 acres.- In 1872 he located a half section of land near Wichita, Kansas, and he has traveled widely over the different states and is thoroughly acquainted with agricultural conditions elsewhere as well as in Champaign County.

fine home a mile and a half north of Gifford. They look back upon days well and profitably spent. Mrs. Talbott was for nine years a widow after the death of her first husband and after her marriage to Mr. Talbott she took care of his orphan children, kept them in school, and her own children and her husband's grew up in congenial companionship. Mrs. Talbott was a close friend of Mr. Talbott's first wife and she and Mr. LeFever stood up with the couple when they married.

HEBEE JUDSON MOREHOUSE. In acknowledging the valuable services of Mr. Morehouse as a member of the advisory board of editors in this publication, the publishers are but doing justice in presenting an appropriate sketch of his career. Mr. Morehouse has been a resident of Champaign County for over forty years, has always taken a keen interest in the county's affairs and can speak with authority on the many varied developments of his time, especially in and around Mahomet.

Mr. Morehouse was born in Ionia County, Michigan, May 18, 1856, a son of Albert F. and Sarah C. (Freeman) Morehouse. He was next to the youngest in a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, five of whom are still living. He is the only member of the family in Champaign County.

His father was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1818 and died in 1901. He had limited education and as a youth was apprenticed to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner. He became an expert carpenter and he also possessed that judgment and energy which ^made for a successful business career. He married at Troy, New York, and afterwards moved west to Portland, Michigan, where he did a large business as carpenter and contractor. Many houses in that section of the state still stand to testify to his skill and ability. He acquired considerable farm and town property and was also a popular citizen. For forty years he filled the office of justice of the peace and at the time of his death he was secretary of his Masonic lodge and had filled that office for many years. He was also chairman of the Michigan State Historical Society, and his son Heber now has the gavel presented his father by the society. He was one of the leading members of the Baptist Church and a deacon. His death occurred in Portland, Michigan, and he and his wife both rest in the local cemetery there. His wife was a native of New York, but finished her education in the Female Academy at Bennington, Vermont. She was born in 1818 and died in 1900.

Heber J. Morehouse spent his early youth in Ionia County, Michigan, and while there had the advantages of the common and high schools of Portland. It was in 1875 that he came to Champaign County and took up the vocation of agriculture. For sixteen years he was one of the successful teachers of the county.

On October 17, 1876, he married Miss Laura E- Abbott. They are the parents of five children, one son and four daughters, all living. Myrta E., the oldest, was educated in the Mahomet High School and for six years was a teacher in the country and city schools of that county. She is now the wife of Charles W. Dale, editor of the St. Joseph Record in Champaign County. Their three children are Ralph E., Virginia and Kent. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Sylva W., the second child, is a graduate of the Mahomet High School and is the wife of Frank 0. Benson, cashier of the lola State Bank at lola, Kansas. Their children are named Jesse C., Laura E. and Frank M. Nelle R., who graduated from the Mahomet High School and from Brown's Business College at Champaign, was an able assistant to her father in his business for some years, but is now the wife of E. W. Morrison, a farmer in Mahomet Town- ship. They have a youthful son, Heber J. The only son of Mr. Morehouse is Chester A., fourth in order of birth. Further reference to his career is made in the following paragraphs. Mary, the youngest child and daughter, pursued her studies in the Mahomet High School and is the wife of Clark I. Pfiester, a farmer at Mahomet. Their two children are Paul M. and Charles W. Mrs. Pfiester is a member of the Baptist Church.

Chester A. Morehouse has for some years been actively associated with his father in business. He received a good educational training in the local high school and is also a graduate of Brown's Business College. He is a young man of more than ordinary business ability and also takes an active part in the affairs of his home town. He is superintendent of the Baptist Sunday school and an active member of that church, and is also scout master of the local organization of Boy Scouts, numbering about thirty. In July, 1916, he took the military training at the Plattsburg camp at Lake Champlain, New York, and on November 16, 1916, he stood a successful examination at Chicago for a commission in the Reserve Corps. He was the seventieth man commissioned in the Central Department and now enjoys the rank and title of captain in the Quartermaster's Corps of the United States Army. Fraternally he is affiliated with Mahomet Lodge No. 529, I. 0. O..F., Camp No. 2247, Modern Woodmen of America, which he is serving as consul, and is a member of Sioux Tribe No. 313 of the Improved Order of Red Men at Urbana. He is a Republican, and cast his first vote for William H. Taft. He married a popular Urbana girl, Miss Roma Renner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Renner of Urbana. Mrs. Morehouse was born in Champaign and is a liberally educated and cultured young woman. She graduated from the Thornburn High School with the class of 1906, and afterwards specialized in vocal and instrumental music, studying a year under Professor Beresford in Chicago. She is one of the most finished contralto singers in Champaign County.

Mrs. H. J. Morehouse was born in Champaign County, October 2, 1858, a daughter of Stephen C. and Mary E. (Rea) Abbott. She was reared and educated in this county and had a high school training. Mrs. Morehouse is an active member of the Baptist Church and was formerly director of its choir.

In 1892 Mr. Morehouse engaged for a short time in the manufacture of tile and brick, but from that entered the real estate, loan and insurance business, and for years his office at Mahomet has been the medium for many large transactions in those lines. For twenty years he has held a commission as notary public. Mr. and Mrs. Morehouse own about 300 acres of rich land in Champaign County and also have their comfortable home and other properties in Mahomet. When Mr. Morehouse came to Mahomet forty-two years ago his cash capital was very limited, but by strict economy and good business management, and with the aid of his capable wife, he has been blessed with a goodly competence. In 1898 he engaged in the undertaking business, buying the interests of J. C. Pittman at Mahomet. In the same year he was given a diploma in a school of embalming and he and his son Chester have since conducted the leading business of this kind at Mahomet.

In politics Mr. Morehouse is a stanch Republican and for years has filled official places in the town and village. He is a member and clerk of the local camp of Modern Woodmen of America and is a member and director of the Court of Honor at Mahomet. He has always been one of the leaders of the Baptist Church, has served as deacon and treasurer, and takes especial pride in the fact that he has had one class in the Sunday school for thirty-six consecutive years.

A. P. JOHNSON. Among the learned professions there are, probably, none that demand so much tact, judgment, patience, natural executive ability and specialized knowledge as that of the educator. The individual who enters into this field, selecting it as his chosen life work and calling, must be prepared to make many sacrifices, to endure numerous disappointments, to often spend himself for others without apparent return of gratitude, and to give the best years of his life often without the emoluments that equal efforts would in all probability bring in any other profession. It is a vocation for which there are no weights and measures. The material with which it deals is the youth of our land upon which impressions are often eternal and which affords the man who would serve the race an opportunity than which there are none greater. Of the men of Champaign County who have dedicated their lives to this work, one of the best known is A. P. Johnson, superintendent of the public schools of the city of Urbana.

Born December 16, 1863, in Sussex County, Delaware, A. P. Johnson, is a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Smith) Johnson. On both sides of the family he is descended from English ancestors, and his ancestors lived for many years in Delaware, where both his parents were born. Benjamin Johnson was a fanner by vocation and in 1873, feeling that the fertile fields of Illinois would yield him a fortune, he came to this state and settled on a farm in Mahomet Township, Champaign County, where the remainder of his life was passed in the tilling of the soil and the raising of crops and cattle. He was a good farmer and expert judge of cattle, an honorable man of business and public-spirited citizen, and a man who had the confidence and respect of his fellows. His death occurred in 1907. In his political affiliation he was a Republican, and he and Mrs. Johnson, who died in 1880, were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were six children in the family, namely: Charles, who is engaged in farming in Michigan; Mary, Stewart and Eliza, who are all deceased; A. P., of this notice; and Willard, who is a railroad locomotive engineer and makes his home at Decatur, Illinois.

A. P. Johnson was ten years of age when brought to Illinois by his parents, and here his education was commenced in the public schools. When he was seventeen years of age he began to do a man's work in the fields, at a monthly wage, although he continued his studies during the winter terms, and when he was nineteen years of age had so far progressed that he entered upon his career as an educator. While he was engaged in teaching in the country schools of Champaign County, during the winter months, when he could spare the time, and during vacations, he furthered his own education by attendance at the Illinois State Normal University, the Indiana Normal School, the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, although at no time did he give up his teaching. Thus he was enabled to pay his own way through for a comprehensive education, while at the same time he was enlightening the minds of the youths of his community. In 1900 Mr. Johnson .was made superintendent of the schools of Gibson City, a position which he retained for six years, and in 1906 was called to Urbana to act in the same capacity. He has retained this position ever since, a matter now of eleven years, and from the start has sought to better conditions in every way and advance the educational standard. A thorough student of the science of education, and possessed of a natural instinct for child psychology, Mr. Johnson has made his schools a living, growing organism responsive to the best in both the teacher and the pupil. Mr. Johnson is a Republican, but not a politician. He is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, and an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he joined in his youth.

Mr. Johnson was married August 20, 1890, to Miss Effie J. Obenchain, of Compromise Township, Champaign County, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Mary Pern, a graduate of the University of Illinois, class of 1916, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and a graduate of the School of Music, University of Illinois, class of 1917. The Obenchain family has resided in Champaign County since 1854, when Edward S. Obenchain brought his wife overland in a wagon from Indiana. Here they passed their entire lives, Mrs. Johnson's father dying February 17, 1914, and her mother following him to the grave March 15 of the same year. For a number of years they lived in Compromise Township, where Mr. Obenchain was a successful farmer, but in later years went to Penfield, where he was in the grain business. In his declining years he returned to Urbana, and here passed away. During his day he was one of the prominent men of his locality, and served for some years in the capacity of supervisor of Compromise Township.

LEWIS D. OLIVER. Bankers and financiers have been happily compared to pendulums of commerce and progress, and it is very true that they furnish the stability and the steadiness chiefly required for the business world. Every financial institution acquires estimation and influence in its community largely through the character and reputation of the men whose names are most intimately associated with the undertaking.

One of Champaign County's most prosperous banks is the First State Bank of Fisher and the success and prosperity of that institution are in no small degree a reflection of the personal integrity and business standing of its vice president, Lewis D. Oliver. Mr. Oliver has been identified with Champaign County many years, and his activities have been of such character as to merit the confidence reposed in him by a large community.

He was born in McLean County, Illinois, January 20, 1857. He is the fifth in a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, born to Jackson and Clarissa (Courtright) Oliver. Four of these children are still living. Henry is a retired agriculturist living at Hennessey, Oklahoma, is a Democrat in politics and is married. Leroy P. is a resident of Morristown, Indiana. John W. is an agriculturist, live stock breeder and dealer living at Ottawa, Kansas.

Jackson Oliver was born in Ohio in 1817, grew up in that state, was educated in the common schools, and took up and successfully pursued for many years the vocation of agriculturist. He died in 1900. Politically he was a Democrat. It was in 1854 that he removed to McLean County, Illinois, and bought land which was the basis of his farming activities for many years. His religious home was the First Presbyterian Church. His wife was born in Ross County, Ohio, grew up in that state, and also was a Presbyterian. Her death occurred in 1896 and both she and her husband are buried at Leroy in McLean County, where a beautiful monument stands sacred to their memory.

Lewis D. Oliver had a common school education. He began his active career in the environment where his youth was passed, and acquired a very thorough knowledge of farming and stock raising in McLean County. In 1891 Mr. Oliver removed to Fisher in Champaign County, and from this locality he continued his interests and activities in the live stock industry for fifteen years. Mr. Oliver has sent many carloads of fat stock out of eastern Illinois and did much of his shipping direct to Boston, Massachusetts, through various Chicago commission houses, including Clark, Bowles & Company, the National Company and Rice Brothers. In live stock circles Mr. Oliver came to be rated as one of the most successful in Champaign County.

THE FOUNDER OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, CHAMPAIGN, TOGETHER WITH. PORTRAITS OF His SON, HENRY HICKMAN HARRIS, AND GRANDSONS, B. F. AND N". M. HARRIS

He has been active in banking at Fisher since 1906, when he became cashier of the Farmers Exchange Bank. The president of that institution was George W. Busey. Mr. Oliver continued as cashier until the incorporation of the First State Bank on April 23, 1913, when he assumed the post of vice president. He now gives much of his time to the management of the bank's affairs. His business interests also include extensive land holdings in Shelby and Vermilion counties, where he owns a total of 680 acres. His home at Fisher is one of modern style and architecture and possesses every convenience. Mr. Oliver is also interested in the Farmers Grain Company's elevator at Fisher.

In September, 1883, he married Miss Mary Phillips. Two children, both sons, have been born to their union. Walter was educated in the Fisher public schools and is now cashier of the First State Bank. While cashier he also took a business course at Brown's Business College at Bloomington, Illinois, and has thoroughly fitted himself for his duties as a banker. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fisher. Edgar P., the other son, still at home, was educated in the common schools, and is assistant cashier of the First State Bank of Fisher. He is also a member of the Methodist Church.

Mrs. Oliver was born in McLean County, Illinois, in 1863, a daughter of D. F. and Margaret Phillips. She was educated in the common schools. She takes a very active part in the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society and the Foreign Missionary Society.

Politically Mr. Oliver is a man of his own mind and listens to the dictates of his own judgment when it comes to casting his ballot. He is affiliated with Castle Hall Lodge No. 305 of the Knights of Pythias at Fisher, and is the present chancellor commander. Mr. Oliver is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a member of the building committee when the beautiful church edifice was erected in 1912, at a cost of $10,000. This is one of the modern churches of Champaign County and would be a credit to any locality.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HARRIS. Love of land, of peace and industry, cardinal virtues in the lives of men and nations, were ever present influences in the long life of the late B. F. Harris of Champaign County. To say that he left "a good name" as a legacy to his family, is to state only part of the truth. It was a strong name, one that is ^ital today, and the memory of it has an inspiration to all those who ha.ve the resolution and the will to labor in order to secure worthy places in their respective spheres.

Without disparaging the remarkable material achievements associated with the name in Champaign County, there is need to emphasize the wonderful virility of the family stock and its permanence. America, and this is particularly true of the Middle West, can show comparatively few families who can take root and grow and flourish generation after generation in one spot. In fact mobility in population has been exalted in some quarters almost to a virtue. Of the Harris family five generations have lived in Champaign County, beginning with the father of B. F. Harris, Sr., and coming down to his great-grandchildren. More important still, each generation has amplified and expanded the interests of the preceding. The word virility is as applicable to the family today as it was when Champaign County was on the frontier.

In 1916 there was held a simple ceremony at the University of Illinois, which attracted wide newspaper publicity even at a time when politics and a world war were the absorbing topics of conversation.. This was the hanging of the portrait and the name of B. F. Harris in the University Hall of Fame. It was a signal and worthy honor paid to this greatest of

Illinois farmers and stockmen. During this ceremony an address was read by Mr. B. F. Harris, the grandson, which contains as fully as any brief article could, the experiences and achievements of this Champaign County pioneer. In the preface to his address the grandson said : "No intimate acquaintance of his active years is either living or physically able to speak of him here - wherefore I trust you will not feel that there is a lack of modesty in a grandson attempting a brief sketch and those personal allusions that must go into the permanent record." From this address it is possible to compile a brief biography and a more or less imperfect estimate of the real character of the man. While his life contained some events of the dramatic quality, it was continuously and exceedingly rich in those elements of manhood which constitute noblemen in all ages.

Benjamin Franklin Harris was born December 15, 1811, on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley near Winchester and Harper's Ferry, Frederick County, Virginia. At the age of fifty-three he had retired from an extremely active business life, but was keenly interested in business and public affairs for forty-two years more and was still strong in mental and physical vigor when he passed to the Great Beyond in his ninety-fourth year on May 7, 1905.

The family was of Scotch English extraction and Quakers and in this country became fighting Quakers, then Methodists. His great-grandfather William Harris with two brothers from England settled on the eastern. shore of Maryland in 1726. His grandfather Benjamin Harris died and his will is recorded at Winchester, Virginia.

B. F. Harris grew to manhood on his father's Virginia farm, attending the country schools until sixteen years of age. At that time President Jackson's attitude towards the United States banks so seriously affected values that wheat declined from a dollar and a half to fifty cents and Virginia farm lands to less than one-third its former price. These declines so affected the father's obligations that he and his brothers each with a six horse team went into the "wagoning" or freighting business and for three years "wagoned" freight over that section and out through Pennsylvania and as far west as Zanesville, Ohio. This work they did in order to recoup their father's losses. On March 20, 1833, the Virginia farm was sold at forty per cent of its original cost. In a one-horse gig and a twohorse carry all the Harris family set out for Ohio, arriving at Springfield, April 8th and nearby purchased and settled upon their new farm.

Within the same year B. F. Harris commenced business for himself, buying and driving cattle overland to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and there disposing of them to cattle feeders.

In 1834 more than seventy years before his death, B. F. Harris started for Illinois by way of Danville, then through the present site of Sidney and Urbana (where was but one cabin) and on to what is now Monticello in Piatt County. During the ensuing year he began to accumulate farming lands in Piatt and Champaign counties and to buy cattle through all this section and as far south and west as Mount Vernon, Vandalia and Springfield. For several seasons he bought for feeding purposes all the corn for sale in Macon, Sangamon and Champaign counties. Each year for nine years he drove these cattle overland by way of Muncie, .Indiana, and Springfield and Columbus, Ohio, into Pennsylvania and then to New York and Boston, where they were sold. Subsequently St. Louis and Chicago furnished a market, requiring a thirty day trip, and still later the railroads broadened the outlet.

When B. F. Harris came to this section of Illinois no stream was bridged, and only eleven families were on the Sangamon from its source to the limits of Piatt County. Fifteen years later not a half doaen men had erected their cabins a mile from the timber limits - the deer and Indians were still at home there. It was the frontier, with all freight by river or team. In 1840 B. F. Harris visited Chicago, a town of two thousand people, on stilts in a swamp. Nineteen days were required for the round trip and the corn and wheat he teamed there sold for twenty and thirty cents a bushel respectively. Fifteen years after he came, not twenty-five per cent of the land in this county had passd from government ownership and the first railroad came twenty years later. The first public religious services in the western section of this county were held in his cabin. Promptly he had hewed and built the first church, 22x24 feet, and later converted into a permanent school. When it was necessary he built the larger church, Bethel, dedicated by his brother-in-law, General Granville Moody. For many years his home was the shelter of all itinerant preachers through this section. He writes that "the church business was looked after as well as any other business; I never lost anything by looking after the church and school."

In those years it was customary to furnish farm laborers with whiskey daily, but he always refused to do this and instead added twelve and a half cents to each man's daily pay.

B. F. Harris brought the first sawmill, mower, reaper, carriage, organ, brick, cook stove, to Champaign County. He never sought public office nor did he fill such office except in pioneer days as justice of the peace and supervisor, and as such helped hew the first courthouse. As justice of the peace he performed the few early marriages, dispensing simple justice on the one hand and calomel on the other. He came in the day of ox teams and lived to ride over his farm with his son, grandsons and great-grandsons in an automobile. He voted for nineteen presidential candidates, beginning with Henry Clay.

For nearly three quarters of a century he bought, fed and sold five hundred to two thousand head of cattle annually. He established the First National Bank in Champaign in 1865, but of that institution and his connection therewith a separate article must tell. B. F. Harris was one of the chief movers in the plans to raise Union troops in Champaign County, to locate railroads, to oppose bond repudiation, and to induce the location of the great State University.

Personally he was a sociable man, fond of his friends and companions, and was full of anecdote and reminiscence, growing out of a remarkable experience. Peter Cartwright, Abraham Lincoln, David Davis, Isaac Funk, John Gillet and many other well known men were his friends and guests. He and Lincoln were long time friends and at the outset of the war he went on to Washington to encourage him in his stand. He was the guest of the President and at Lincoln's request attended a cabinet meeting and discussed the war situation with them.

For all these things the true import of his career and its lesson was that life may be what we have the courage to make it - that the "will to labor" with true zeal will bring results, and that the chiefest of these results are "the character" and "simplicities." Distinguished as he was in Champaign County, Illinois, and the nation, B. F. Harris acquired the true distinction of breadth, nobility and simplicity of character.

As a livestock man B. F. Harris was preeminent. The Pittsburg Livestock Journal speaking of his death referred to him as the "grand old man of the livestock trade - the oldest and most successful cattle feeder in the world." This praise was well deserved. The New York Tribune in 2 - 2

October, 1853, referred to his prize winning drove of cattle averaging 1,965 pounds, displayed at the New York World's Fair, then in session. His most famous herd consisted of a hundred cattle, the finest and heaviest hundred cattle ever raised and fattened in one lot by one man. These were weighed on his farm by Doctor Johns the president of the State Board of Agriculture on May 23, 1856, and the average weight of a hundred was 2,378 pounds. Hundreds of visitors came from neighboring states to see these cattle. In the following February he sent twelve of these cattle to Chicago and the bunch averaged 2,786 pounds. A firm of Chicago butchers paraded these stock about Chicago's downtown streets. These were his conspicuous early achievements, but every few years he took cattle prizes or topped the market, and less than a year before his death his cattle received the highest prices for the season in the Chicago market.

"The death of a man devoted almost wholly to the private affairs of life will seldom attract the attention of so wide a circle of people as will that of B. F. Harris of this city. The reason is first that he lived to a remarkable age and second that he was a remarkable man. His long life journey was begun in 1811. He had few of the aids on which young men now so much rely. He had to rely on himself, a resource which seems never to have failed him, and one in which he had unlimited personal confidence. Life for him in its early age was not an easy battle. Nature, however, had furnished him with an extraordinary physical and mental equipment.

"Everything to which Mr. Harris put his hand flourished. His judgment was so trustworthy that he made few business mistakes. He applied himself to real things and eschewed what men now call speculation. He did business on a cash basis and was never in debt. Operating on these, his chosen lines, he was a rich man long before his race was run, and he enjoyed a period of ease and entire freedom from anxiety much longer than falls to the lot of most men who are accounted fortunate in the world. An equally remarkable and gratifying thing was the retention of his wonderful faculties to the end of his life.

"Thus came to his last account a man of extraordinary qualities in whatever light we may view him. He knew this portion of the state from the period of its rude, frontier aspect and he had a large share in its development into what we can see today. Every man has a niche to fill. No man could fill his better than B. F. Harris did. Measured fairly, we may say that nature does not often produce such a man. It will be long before this region sees another in all respects his equal."

"Everyone recognized the fact that he had sterling qualities of heroic mold. He did things in days and circumstances when the doing of things required stalwart men and when the doing also made men still more stalwart. In this way the fine physical frame and splendid moral character with which nature endowed him were developed and seasoned to an extent which made him a notable man in the Mississippi Valley. It was a small number of such men as he who laid the foundation of the history of the Middle West, that great region of our country which is the richest in the resources and the most prolific in productivity. It is doubtless within the fact to say that no man within a hundred miles of you - if, in- ' deed, in the State of Illinois, has been so richly entitled to be permanently and gratefully remembered. I am sure that it will be so for the common feeling of the people will have it so."

The significance of his life as a farmer and its weighty contribution to the dignity of that calling, were happily expressed by the Breeders' Gazette as follows :

"In literature, art, professional life, or politics a man with a record of achievement equal to that of the late Benjamin Franklin Harris would deservedly have numerous biographers. Many a man has been made the subject of bulky biography who might not measure up to him on any score. This is not because the most inviting and interesting personalities are found outside the farmer's calling, but largely because until recent years agriculture as a vocation had not been adequately appreciated by the public. It had not been sufficiently dignified to become the source of life histories. Other professions have furnished the candidates for the Plutarchs, and contributed the heroes and heroines famous in fiction. Farming has been drawn on principally for Philistines. Its great men, its geniuses, its Harrises have been overlooked by almost all writers worthy of putting their useful lives into books.

"It is gratifying to all friends of agriculture that this vital and honorable occupation at last has begun to take its rightful place in the list of man's employments. For the extremely gradual process which has wrought such a wholesome change in the popular estimate of farming, we are indebted to men of the Harris type - farmers whose lives and work are a convincing reply to all the derogatory references ever made to agriculturists .and their business."

And the grandson in his address chose to find in this the proper significance of the occasion. He said : "Out of the sentiment and spirit expressed by the Breeders' Gazette has come the Hall of Fame - this desire on the part of the men of Illinois to put agriculture and the farmer in the high place that is theirs - to make him and all our citizenship realize that the farm is the greatest place that God ever made on which to live honest, helpful, wholesome lives - lives to be reckoned with, and without which we would not be here or elsewhere."

Benjamin Franklin Harris was married June 17, 1841, to Elizabeth Sage, daughter of Colonel Harley Sage of Circleville, Ohio. He brought his bride to Champaign County and they located in their log cabin on the western limits of the county. On April 27, 1844, in this cabin their only child Henry Hickman Harris was born. Some years later B. F. Harris married Mary Heath of this county, the only living child of that marriage being Mrs. D. A. Phillippi of this city.

HENRY HICKMAN HARRIS, who followed in his father's footsteps as a farmer and cattle feeder, and who, accepting the character and principles which his father had introduced into the First National Bank of Champaign at its founding, took it upon himself to apply these principles and broaden them for forty years, was born on the Sangamon Paver farm in Champaign County, where his father first settled.

Henry H. Harris was a stalwart citizen and under his skillful hands the fortune of his father had greatly increased and he had managed his varied interests and affairs, including the First National Bank in which he succeeded his father as president, in such a way as to justify his stewardship, and all that came to him in the way of fortune and influence. His good judgment and wise administration carried the bank successfully through several financial panics. He was one of the organizing members of the Illinois Bankers Association and served as its president in 1908-09.

and to his aggressiveness and good judgment the city is indebted for many of its best improvements. He served for a number of years as president of the Champaign County Fair Association and established that organization on a sound financial basis, having taken it in a bankrupt condition.

While he was a man of decided opinions and a patriot, he was of a rather retiring disposition, never accepting any political office and refused some possible opportunities to become a public servant. He was especially helpful to young men, recognizing business acumen and honesty, and encouraging it in a substantial way.

Henry Hickman Harris married Melissa Megrue, who was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, April 19, 1846, and is still living at Champaign. To them were born two sons, B. F. and Newton Megrue Harris, respectively president and vice-president of the First National Bank and worthy sons of a worthy father.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HARRIS, grandson of the late B. F. Harris and son of Henry Hickman Harris, was born on the old Harris farm in Champaign County, where his father was also a native, on September 30, 1868. He had of course liberal advantages during his youth and every incentive to make the best of his personal talents. Besides the common and high schools he attended the University of Illinois 1887 to 1889, and in 1892 was graduated from the law department of Columbia University. The law was only part of his preparation for life, not a profession. He returned home to assist in the management of farm lands and business enterprises, and he has continued the work of his father and grandfather as livestock farmers and bankers. From 1892 to 1899 he owned and developed and consolidated all electric street railway, lighting, power and gas plants in the twin cities. He succeeded his father as president of the First National Bank of Champaign, and in 1911-12 he served as president of the Illinois Bankers Association and has identified himself actively with many of its most important committees. He has also served as chairman of the Agricultural Commission of the American Bankers Association, and president of tihe Conference Committee on agricultural development and education of all state bankers associations. It was he who inaugurated the banker-farmer movement in 1908, and as the organizer of the Agricultural Commission of the American Bankers Association he held the post of chairman for five years. Mr. Harris also organized and edited the Banker-Farmer Magazine, which has a nationwide circulation.

In addition to his part in this notable movement Mr. Harris has a further distinction which is likely as time goes by to become greater than any other. This is the distinction of being "the father of the county agent movement," which has rapidly spread all over the country until the county agent or agricultural adviser can be found in practically every progressive agricultural county in the country. While the need of systematic advice and cooperation between state and federal government and the individual farmer has been long recognized, it was Mr. Harris who definitely formulated the plan for such cooperation in the person of the county agent, and the great agricultural journals, including the Breeders' Gazette, the Prairie Farmer and others, have taken pains to emphasize Mr. Harris' leadership and the credit due him for inaugurating this movement.

Mr. Harris has for many years been active in the propaganda in Illinois for securing the adequate supervision of private banks by .the state government. He has written and spoken on banking and agricultural subjects and in that field he is without question one of the most competent authorities in America today. He served three terms as president of the Champaign Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Harris is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, belongs to the University, the Union League and South Shore Country clubs of Chicago and is a member of the Methodist Church. He married December 5, 1895, Miss May Melish of Cincinnati, and to them were born Henry H. Harris, William Melish Harris, B. F. Harris, Jr., and Elizabeth Harris. He is vice-c'hairman of the Illinois State Council of Defense.

NEWTON M. HARRIS, vice-president of the First National Bank of Champaign, was born in that city July 27, 1872, a son of the late Henry H. Harris and a grandson of B. F. Harris, Sr. He was liberally educated, being a graduate of Yale University with the class of 1895, and for fully a quarter of a century has been actively identified with the interests of the Harris family as farmers, stock raisers and bankers. During his father's life he shared the responsibilities of vice-president with his brother of the First National Bank, and still fills that post.

Newton M. Harris married Mary Bruce Burnham, of the well known Burnham family of Champaign County elsewhere referred to. Mr. and Mrs. Harris are members of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches, respectively. Their three children are Bruce, Barbara B. and Mary Julia.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CHAMPAIGN. In celebrating its semi-centennial the First National Bank of Champaign issued a handsome booklet under the title "The Story of an Institution which is Fifty Years Old," written by Mr. Louis M. Tobin. This story with some condensation properly belongs in the History of Champaign County. The bank is entitled to it, and the public likewise.

"It was founded by B. F. Harris. It has been carried on by his descendants upon his principles. It has become more than a bank - it is an institution. That is what I would say if I had to write the story of the First National Bank of Champaign in a single, crisp paragraph.

"The story of the First National is more than a mere chapter of material success. It is the reflection of the character of the men behind it. It is a personal story, because the bank was founded by B. F. Harris. A son and a grandson have followed him as its head. The third generation of his family owns it. It is the 'Harris' bank in fact. For fifty years it has reflected the principles and character of its founder."

The historian of this bank must inquire: What have these fifty years meant to the community that has dealt with this bank? What has been the public spirit of this bank ? To answer these questions it is necessary to go back to the beginning, the Champaign of 1865, then hardly more than a frontier hamlet, with a population of fourteen hundred. B. F. Harris had decided to establish a bank. The decision in itself was not remarkable. Almost any one in that young community who desired could call himself a banker and open a bank. The importance of the decision was in the character of the man who made it, and in the kind of bank that he decided to establish.

Banking in Champaign in 1865 was a precarious business - for banker and depositor alike. Those were the days of "wildcat" currency, issued at the will of the banker, curtailed only by his credit at the printer's. The farmer ajid merchant encountered not only exorbitant interest rates but also faced constantly the prospect of bank failures. The legal interest rate was ten per cent, but real interest rates ranged from two to five per cent a month. Two banks in Champaign County had recently closed their doors, and in 1862 another bank had opened at Champaign, but it was operated on much the same old lines and in a few years it shared the fate of its predecessors.

"B. F. Harris was not satisfied. A man of large interests he wanted a bank where his own money would be safely administered. A man whose character had been marked by deeds for the general good, he wanted a bank where the money of the people would be free from hazard. He knew that there must be another kind of banking from the current system. Men living here today will tell you that above everything else this pioneer abhorred the general custom of exacting as large an interest fee as could be secured from the needy borrower. Had B. F. Harris done so, there would have been no criticism. It was an accepted custom. But when he loaned his own money, he accepted the legal rate of interest, nothing more.

"A national banking act had been passed, creating national banks under laws and regulations practically unchanged today. While many of the moneyed men of the county regarded the regulations imposed by the Government as an unjust interference with their business, the law did appeal to B. F. Harris. It was the kind of bank he wanted for his own money and for the people's money. He called together the men of the community he considered most likely to be interested. A charter was secured from the United States on January 30, 1865. It was signed by a man who counted B. F. Harris as a friend - 'A. Lincoln.' It was numbered 913.

"The new bank was located on Main Street in a frame building on the site of the Kuhn Building. The big 'cannon' stove defied the cornbelt winter. Around it often grouped the men of Champaign. A small safe, innocent of combinations, was the most important accessory. That safe is still preserved at one end of the banking room of the First National Bank Building.

"It was not the intention of B. F. Harris to be the active head of the new bank. His interest had been to see a safe institution established. He was content to have another - Harry Thomas - serve as president. But in a year he took over the presidency. Some of the stockholders irked under the restrictions of the National Banking Act, pointing out the larger profits being made by the private banks and disliking the unexpected appearance of the bank examiner. But B. F. Harris set his foot down flat. The bank was to keep on its sober path. It was to charge only the legal rate of interest. It was to earn only reasonable dividends to its stockholders. It was to go along slowly and surely. It was to serve the community - not to speculate on its funds or exact a heavy profit from its necessities. That was to be the policy of the First National. The disgruntled stockholders parted company. B. F. Harris took over the presidency. Within three years there were three private banks competing with the First National. But as Judge J. 0. Cunningham's History of Champaign County states, the First National 'came to the front as the first financial institution of the county.'

"By 1872 the bank was moving into a new building of its own on its present site. So well was the policy of honest profit and service paying. And Time, the great adjuster, soon demonstrated that the theory of the other banking school was wrong - the three private banks ingloriously passed out of existence.

"The Harris policy came to mean that a bank was to be conducted on a theory that it had a public service to perform. That the best personal service was based on 'safety first' even if that expression was yet to be invented. That it was well to put stress on the character, rather than the wealth of the prospective borrower.

"In 1873, at the great panic, when all other banks in this locality had to close their doors, the young Henry H. Harris had refused to close. He knew that a bank which wouldn't give you your money when you wanted it and needed it, wasn't doing its public duty. And Henry H. Harris, then much older, knew that in 1907 - during that brief financial flurry when the 'clearing house certificate' was born. The First National stood like a rock, refusing to use the certificates or drafts, paying cash on demand, and loaning to its regular customers at its invariable rate of six per cent. Never has the First National failed to meet all obligations in cash on demand. That's a pretty big thing to say for fifty years. The First National can say it truthfully."

In many ways the First National has exercised its influence as a trustee of the community welfare. About twenty years ago, when the University of Illinois was in dire financial straits owing to the peculations of the University treasurer, Henry H. Harris sent a message to the trustees requesting them to send their warrants to the First National and that they would be cashed freely without discount until the state government had come to the aid of the university. The only memento of this favor is in the form of a letter from the secretary of the Board of Trustees of the University expressing their gratitude for the assistance rendered by the bank to the school during its recent financial trouble.

"The Harrises have always been practical farmers. The bank as a matter of course long ago recognized the importance to the community of good agriculture. It has always cooperated with the farmer. Its officers could talk intelligently with him about his problems - whether of financing or fanning. They showed their faith in the future of county land long ago by acquiring many acres. Today the First National is naturally and logically the bank of the Champaign County farmer."

It has also proved an institution in time of need to the farmer. This was well illustrated during the dry year of 1913 when the farmers found it difficult to secure money to carry on their business or make necessary improvements. B. F. Harris, then vice president, sent out a circular letter which contained the following message: "We have so managed our affairs that despite the drought we are loaning and will loan at the same six per cent rate we have loaned for years. There is no better borrower than a good farmer. We are glad to cooperate with him." Thus the Harrises have the right to call the First National the "six per cent bank." It has been the "six per cent bank" not only in fair weather but in bad.

The building occupied by the bank in 1872 served its purpose until about 1900 when it was remodeled. Then followed further growth and development and in 1910 the bank's business had assumed such proportions that the building was torn down and was replaced by a magnificent five story structure, in type and character and architectural design unsurpassed in the state as a banking home.

Henry H. Harris, strong son of a strong father, did not live to see t!he bank celebrate its golden anniversary. The third generation took the rein. Another B. F. Harris became president. His brother Newton M. Harris is vice president. Hazen S. Capron is the cashier, following the long service of the late G. A. Turell.

There is an atmosphere of efficiency about this bank. The men who run it are men of big interests as has been said - men of large measures - of broad minds - they are able to think big. They are more than bankers. The Harrises have made successes in other undertakings, for they have diversified interests. The knowledge gained by handling their own varied holdings has been profitable to customers of the bank who come for counsel.

ing business in Champaign County a brief table of statistics may be appended, not to fortify the statements made above but as an illustration of what results flow from character and integrity in banking as in everything else. This table is a statement of deposits at the ten year intervals from the day the bank opened for business.

CHARLES B. JOHNSON, M. D. Valuable work in his profession and an unusual variety of experience contribute to make the career of Dr. C. B. Johnson one of note in Champaign County, where he has lived for the past forty-six years. Doctor Johnson is a veteran Union soldier, is grandson of a Revolutionary soldier, and' during the half century since he came out of the Northern army he has been in the active practice of medicine and is still a competent member of his profession and one of Champaign County's most useful citizens.

Doctor Johnson was born at Pocahontas in Bond County, Illinois, October 8, 1843. His grandfather, Charles Johnson, was a native of North Carolina, and went with the troops of that state to battle against the British armies and the Tories in the times of the struggle for independence. Doctor Johnson's father was James Johnson, an early settler in Illinois and a farmer. In 1849 he went out to California when that was the mecca of gold seekers and adventurers from all parts of the world, and he died soon after his arrival on the gold coast. James Johnson married Elizabeth Jane Volentine.

On August 7, 1862, he enlisted in Company F of the One Hundred Thirtieth Illinois Infantry. He was with that regiment in all its campaigns, marches and battles for more than three years. He was finally mustered out in August, 1865, several months after the close of actual hostilities. - On coming out of the army in 1865, Doctor Johnson continued the medical studies he had previously begun, and in 1868 he began practice at Chatham in Sangamon County, Illinois. In 1871 he removed to Champaign County and soon afterward, 'in 1872, he completed the regular course of study in the Medical College of Ohio, now the medical department of the University of Cincinnati, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree.

For the past thirty-eight years Doctor Johnson has practiced with home and offices in the city of Champaign, and he has become widely recognized as one of the leading physicians of the county. For many years he served on the Champaign County Pension Board, and he !has recently accepted the appointment as medical member of one of the Champaign County exemption boards. He was a member of the Illinois State Board of Health for eight years, from 1897 to 1905, and for two years was president of the board.

Perhaps the work to which he has been most devoted in recent years has been that of the Champaign County Anti-Tuberculosis Health League. He is now president of this League and is also a member and president of the Board of Directors which has in charge the construction of the Champaign County Tuberculosis Sanitarium. In politics Doctor Johnson has always been staunchly aligned with the Republican party.

Doctor Johnson married January 1, 1874, Maria L. Lewis, of Chatham, Illinois. Their children are: Lewis W., born April 15, 1875; Charles Sunderland, born May 12, 1877; James Edward, born Marc'h 10, 1879; Fred Volentine, born December 3, 1880; Alice Sarah, born February 26, 1884; and George Thompson, born March 6, 1886. The children all grew up in the atmosphere of the university city and they are all graduates of the University of Illinois.

Doctor Johnson has devoted considerable time to literary pursuits, and has just published a very commendable book entitled "Muskets and Mediums," which is receiving a flattering patronage, and promises to fulfill every expectation of its author. He is an active member of the State Historical Society and is much interested in local history.

THOMAS M. LYMAN gave many consecutive years to the management of an Illinois farm, and through hard work and intelligent management obtained the financial competence which enabled him a few years ago to retire from business and enjoy the comforts of a good 'home in the city of 'Champaign.

Mr. Lyman was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, February 6, 1866. His parents, Bernard and Mary (McLennan) Lyman, were both natives of Ireland. His father came to America as a young man about 1854, lived for a time near Eaton, Ohio, and subsequently removed to Vermilion County, Illinois. He farmed a few years near Eidge Farm and made his farm in Champaign County the scene of his productive labors for many years. He died in Champaign County in 1904 and his wife passed away in 1902. Their children were: Lucinda, wife of John Martin, living in Adams County, Nebraska ; John, a retired farmer in Champaign ; Mary Jane, who died in childhood; Bridget, who married John W. Early, both now deceased; Thomas M.; William, deceased; Catherine,' deceased wife of James B. Hagan; and Mary, wife of William McMahon, of Champaign.

Thomas M. Lyman was born in Vermilion County but was reared and educated in Champaign County. The country schools supplied his early instruction. He lived in the wholesome atmosphere of a farm and that was the vocation he took up when 'he started to make his own way in the world. Mr. Lyman was a progressive farmer until April, 1914, when he retired and removing to Champaign bought a fine home in that city.

He was married January 29, 1895, to Miss Ellen J. Curtin. Mrs. Lyman was born in the city of Chicago, daughter of Michael and Ellen (Clancy) Curtin. Both parents were natives of Ireland. Her father came to America before the Civil War, first locating in Massachusetts and afterwards going to Chicago, where he was connected with the Allerton Packing Company for many years. He died in November, 1894, and Mrs. Lyman's mother passed away in December, 1903. They were the parents of ten children : Jeremiah, Thomas, Patrick, William, all deceased, and the fifth child, a son died in infancy ; Ellen, wife of Mr. Lyman ; James, of Chicago; John, of Chicago; Mary, wife of William P. Ward, of Champaign County; and the tenth and youngest, a daughter, died in infancy.

To Mr. and Mrs. Lyman were born nine children: Mary A., now a student in the University of Illinois ; Bernard A., a member of the freshman class of the State University ; Helen J., deceased ; Margaret, deceased ; Julia Laurentine, deceased; Thomas M., deceased; Monica Lucile; Thomas Mark; and Frances L.

Politically Mr. Lyman has always been a democrat. For nine years he served as road commissioner and is now a member of the drainage commission and has served in that capacity for ten years. He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the

W. E. COLE is one of the former prominent business men of Champaign County now living retired. He and Mrs. Cole occupy a very attractive home on Belle Avenue in Eantoul. Mrs. Cole is a member of an old and prominent family of Champaign County, and is a sister of one of the foremost physicians and surgeons in the world, Dr. D. A. K. Steele, one of the founders of the University of Illinois medical department. Mrs. Cole and her brother both taught in the school at Rantoul and they are of a family of teachers, preachers and lawyers.

A native of Canada, W. R. Cole was born at Adolphostown, a son of Conrad B. and Sarah Ann Cole. He was only an infant when his mother died. He grew up and received his early education at Nappanee, Canada, and at the age of twenty-six, in 1870, came from Kingston, Ontario, to Rantoul, Illinois, to visit his brother, L. B. Cole, who was at that time a coal, grain and lumber merchant. He assisted his brother in the business for several years.

In 1872 Mr. Cole married Mary E. Lavinia Steele. She was born at Grandcote in Perry County, Illinois, daughter of Rev. Daniel and Mary Leatham Orr (Anderson) Steele. Her parents were natives of northern Ireland. Rev. Daniel Steele came to America in 1851, locating in Ohio, and in 1868 removing to Rantoul. He was a Presbyterian minister and for a number of years filled a pulpit in Rantoul. As the result of a runaway horse he sustained an injury which crippled him through his later years. He took up the drug business and employed Mr. W. R. Cole, and they were associated until his death on January 5, 1891. He was a man of exceptional character and ability and for many years was closely identified with Rantoul. His fellow citizens showed their confidence in his judgment and integrity by electing him to a number of offices. Mrs. Cole's mother died February 13, 1899, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, two months and nineteen days. She was a noble character, and her many kindnesses endeared her to a large circle of friends.

Mrs. Cole has only her one brother, above mentioned, Dr. Daniel Atkinson King Steele, who was born in Delaware County, Ohio, March 29, 1852. He was graduated in medicine from the Chicago Medical College in 1873, and in 1906 was given the honorary degree LL. D. by the University of Illinois. He was one of the founders in 1882 and since 1894 has been president and professor of principles and practice of surgery and clinical surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of the Illinois University at Chicago. In 1907 he also became president of the University Hospital and for many years was professor of clinical surgery in the Post-Graduate Medical School. He is attending surgeon to various Chicago hospitals, was president of the Chicago Surgical Society in 1907, was president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1884-85, and by his skill as a surgeon and his researches in medicine his name is known world wide in the profession. He married Alice L. Tomlinson of Rantoul, September 7, 1876. She is a college trained woman and a cultured writer. Doctor and Mrs. Steele made a trip together around the world in 1912.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cole continued to reside in Rantoul. There were born into their home four children, named Mary Maude, Alice Bell, Lilly Lavinia and Daniel Thomas. Mary Maude graduated with honors and as valedictorian of her class from the Rantoul High School and then continued her studies in the University of Illinois, graduating as valedictorian of her class in that institution. As a result of her unusual ability she was given a scholarship and $400 to continue her studies and has attained the master's degree. She taught one year in the Rantoul High

School and had taught several terms before finishing her education. She is now the wife of George Harvey Scott, who was a member of the same class in the Eantoul High School and was also in her class at the University of Illinois. Mr. Scott is now professor of mathematics in a college at Yankton, South Dakota, and has filled that chair for the past sixteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have five children: William Arthur, Franklin Daniel, Irving Cole, Mary Elizabeth and Clara Lavinia. Irving C. died in infancy. William A. was a member of the United States army while guarding the Mexican border, was promoted from corporal to sergeant, and is now in the detail of the United States army destined for early action in France.- Franklin D., the second son, has distinguished himself as a youthful orator and has won prizes in high school and college oratorical contests at Yankton, Vermillion, Brooking and Mitchell, South Dakota.

Mr. and Mrs. Cole lost their second and third children. Alice Bell died at the age of thirteen months and Lilly Lavinia at the age of eleven years. The youngest child, Daniel T. Cole, entered the medical department of the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1900, and was graduated in 1905. He is now a successful physician practicing at Odell, Illinois. He was recently appointed, with the rank of first lieutenant, to the Medical Eeserve Corps of the United States army. He is now located with the Medical Eeserve Corps at a base hospital somewhere in France. Dr. Daniel Cole married Miss Ethel Martin of Eantoul, and they have a daughter, Mary Lois.

For thirty years Mr. W. E. Cole was successfully engaged in the drug business at Eantoul. Then desiring a change and having acquired a financial competence, he exchanged his business property for land in Saline * County, Illinois. - Since then he and his wife have enjoyed the comforts of a good home at Eantoul. They are members and liberal supporters of the First Congregational Church and for a number of years he has been a deacon. In politics he is -a stanch Eepublican.

Mrs. Cole is one of the cultured women of Champaign County. She and her husband have traveled a great deal and have seen much of the beauty and grandeur of American scenery. She has always been interested in literature, especially poetry and history. It has been a task spread over many years to neatly compile some scrap books of the choice bits of information and literature which she has come across in her reading and these books already find increasing value with the passing years. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have been closely identified with Champaign County and their lives have meant much to the welfare of the little city of Eantoul, where they now reside and can look back over many years of happy associations and of good work well done.

JOSEPH FULTZ, now living retired at Eantoul, has had a career filled with labors and ministrations of kindness, and has done what good he could as he went through the world. The practical side of his career has been as a farmer, and for a number of years he served as a local minister of the Methodist Church, a work of inestimable value which cannot be measured by any ordinary human standards.

Mr. Fultz was born in Washington County, Indiana, a son of Frederick and Mary Fultz, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Indiana. Frederick Fultz was twice married, had eight children by his first wife and seven by the second. Joseph Fultz was the youngest of the first family. He was carefully reared, had a common school education and became a farmer even before he reached his majority.

At the age of twenty-one Joseph Fultz married Mary Bottorff, daughter of James and Lydia Bottorff, both of whom were born near New Albany, Indiana. James Bottorff was of German parentage. After their marriage

Joseph and Mary Fultz began their wedded life on a farm in Washington County, Indiana, and farming was the work which Mr. Fultz pursued in order to provide the advantages and home life of his growing family.