Knox County, Illinois - The whole text, 1912 (part 56 of 56)

It will be seen that the subject of this sketch is descended from patriotic, fighting stock, and it accounts, in a measure, for that persistent tenacity which has characterized his entire career. Mr. Wilcox was graduated in the classical department of Knox College in the class of 1851. As before stated, his father was a farmer, and Mr. Willcox was reared upon the farm. His taste, however, was not for that sort of a life, but rather for books. After graduation he taught a select school in Farmington, Illinois, for one year. He then became clerk in a bank in Peoria, where he remained for a year, after which he studied and traveled in Germany, France, Italy and England, for two years, with his personal friend. Professor Churchill, of Knox College. He was then professor of modern languages for six years, until the war of the Rebellion compelled retrenchment in the college finances. He then returned to Peoria, studied law and subsequently engaged in the business of manufacturing and coal mining, which he continued until 1891, when he assumed the duties of librarian of the Peoria public library. Probably no man in Peoria was so actively and earnestly engaged in the establishment of the public library as Mr. Willcox. Soon after his return and settlement .in Peoria he interested himself in the library as it then existed, and was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Mercantile library. With great persistence and sound judgment he aided in the development of the latter, and subsequently, in connection with others, brought about the establishment of the Peoria public library, to which was transferred all of the personal property of the Mercantile Library Association. The beautiful building, now known as the Public Library building, was largely the result of the earnest efforts of Mr. Willcox, and it will stand as a monument for years to come of his zeal and interest in the education of the people. He has occupied the position of inspector of the Peoria public schools, and was president of the board for two years. He has always been especially interested in the subject of education, not only in the public schools, but through the influence of the public library, and has been noted during his whole career in Peoria for his devotion to this cause. His experience as a director of the Mercantile library from 1864 demonstrated that a subscription library - the only kind of public library known in those days - was a failure, so far as reaching the masses of the people were concerned ; and, for the very good reason that the women and children who hungered for books did not hold the family purse strings, while the men who held the purse strings did not care particularly for books. I- -

Mr. Willcox has always earnestly favored the societies and organizations that had for their purpose the development of all that was best in the city, and has given of his time and means generously in that direction. He is the author of the present state library law, which was adopted March 7, 1872 - the first really comprehensive free public library law in the United States, and the model of the library laws which other states have enacted since. The proof that such a law was needed is seen in the fact that, whereas, the old subscription library had a membership never exceeding three hundred, the free public library now has a membership of nine thousand, four hundred and seventy.

Mr. Willcox grew up under the influence of the Presbyterians and Congregationalists, but in his maturer years has not been able to subscribe to all the peculiar tenets of either of those churches, but has always believed in all that was best in all church work. ^ " -:'

In politics he is and always has been a republican but believes in that manly independence which leads a man to vote for the best man for public office, especially in local affairs, whether belonging to his own party or another.

In July, 1857, Mr. Willcox was married to Mary T. Hotchkiss, of Peoria, the only daughter of J. P. Hotchkiss, and granddaughter of General Walter Booth, of Meriden, Connecticut. She died January lo, 1863, leaving two children, George M. and Mary H., the latter now Mrs. Sisson, of FlagstaflF, Arizona. Mr. Willcox was again married, June 22, 1869, his second union being with Mary L. Hatch, of Warwick, Massachusetts. Two children have been born of this union, William Arthur and Harold Hatch.

As the beginning of this sketch indicates, Mr. Willcox is the right man in the right place. His thorough education, his foreign travel, his interest in and acquaintance with books, render him an invaluable man in the position he now occupies. It would be exceedingly difficult to fill his place with any one so well fitted to discharge the duties of the position. He has for years kept himself well abreast of the times and well informed in reference to books and writers. His sound knowledge touching the value of books peculiarly fits him for the position. He has made a special study of public libraries, and is well versed in all modern methods relating to their operation. All the friends of the public library earnestly hope for many future years of his efficient, acceptable service, and would seriously regret his retirement. He has always in all his dealings and life been highly regarded for his high purpose, his advocacy of all that is best in personal, municipal and national life. The influence of such men is not always fully appreciated during their life but it leaves its mark for good upon the community, becoming more apparent and potential as time goes on.

Theodore M. Cox, the president of the Galesburg Grocery Company and also of the Cox Brothers Company, made his start in life upon the basis of a public-school education and good home training, and since that time has constantly advanced, the field of his activity continuously broadening while his labors have more and more become a factor in upholding the commercial stability and progress. He was bom in Vermont, Fulton county. Illinois, May 26, 1866. His grandfather, Jesse Cox, was a native of Pennsylvania and a carpenter by trade. He married Theodosia Mershon and they became early residents of Fulton county, Illinois, where their remaining days were passed. They had a large family including Mary, Samuel, Henry, Rebecca, Caleb B. and others. The maternal grandfather of Theodore M. Cox was Josiah Wilkinson,

Caleb B. and Annie B. (Wilkinson) Cox, the parents of Theodore M. Cox, were natives of Pennsylvania. The former was reared in the Keystone state ; and became a school teacher but, removing to the west, cast in his lot with the early settlers of Fulton county, Illinois, where he engaged in merchandising. . Some time afterward he turned his attention to the banking business in Ver- . -".': mont,. Illinois, and also became a prominent factor in the public life of the county which for two terms he represented in the Illinois legislature. He also served V for three years in the Eighty- fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the r''; Civil war with the rank of major. He died in Vermont in 1874 when but fortyone years of age, and in that period he accomplished a work which might well be regarded as a serviceable life work of many a man of twice his years. His ' - widow still survives him. They were originally members of the Society of -; Friends or Quakers. Their family numbered seven children: Wilmer, deo ceased; Theodore M., of this review; Mary Ellen, who has also passed away; ; Olive, the wife of H. H. Cleveland, of Rock Island, Illinois; Edward, of Galesburg; Howard, also a resident of Rock Island; and Sherman, of New York city. ., Theodore M. Cox spent his youthful days in his native county and after attending the public schools of Vermont was for a brief period a student in Knox ]'- - College. He afterward began clerking in a hardware store belonging to his ; uncles, J. W. and Henry Cox, and subsequently became a partner of his uncle, , ' Ezra Dilworth, and the latter's son Willis in the conduct of a business at Ver- . . mont under the firm name of E. Dilworth & Company. After two years Mr. Cox withdrew from that partnership and joined his brothers Edward and Howard in purchasing the Dilworth interests in the business, which they con- "' tinued to conduct until 1896. In that year Theodore M. Cox and Howard Cox came to Galesburg and purchased the business of the Avery Brothers & Brooks Company which they conducted with success until 1903, when they sold out and -,. . erected the Cox building at the corner of Chambers and Mulberry streets. There V they conducted a heavy machinery storage and transfer business and in 1904 ' ; organized the Cox Brothers Company in order to engage in the general vehicle - and implement business in addition to their storage enterprise. They also opened a retail store for the sale of vehicles, farm implements and seeds, and - through the establishment of branch houses conducted business in that line in three different locations. Eventually, however, they disposed of their retail interests and in 1909 in connection with F. S. Taylor acquired the Galesburg Grocery Company of which Theodore M. Cox is the president. In 1910 he also became interested in the Galesburg Cornice Works, the business being now conducted in the Cox building. He is likewise a member of the syndicate that purchased the George W. Brown property. Long since recognized as a prominent and progressive man, his cooperation has been sought in many fields, in all of 'which his labors have become effective and far-reaching elements of success.

Mr. Cox was united in marriage to Miss Lilly I. Oviatt, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Jones) Oviatt and a native of Arkansas. Eight children have been born of this marriage, as follows: Anna Beth, Margaret Ella, Olive Louise, Doris Irene, Mary Ann, Syble Josephine and two who died in infancy.

In his political views Mr. Cox is a republican and has served as chairman of the board of election commissioners but has on the whole taken little active part in politics or public affairs, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business interests which have constantly developed in importance and in extent. He never falters until he has carried forward to success his well defined plans, yet in their execution he has never been known to take advantage of another in trade conditions but has promoted his business along constructive lines and by honorable methods has won public confidence as well as prosperity.

' For fifteen years Isidor I. Bondi has been numbered among the merchants of Galesburg, having in 1897 opened here a dry-goods store under the name of Bondi Brothers & Company. The correctness of their business methods is manifest in their success, which has enabled them not only to build up an extensive establishment and control a large trade in this city but also to establish various branch stores elsewhere which are also proving profitable sources of income.

Mr. Bondi was born in Salina, Kansas, April 29, 1868, his parents having been pioneer settlers there. His father, August Bondi, was born in Vienna, Austria, July 21, 1833, and acquired his education in the Academic Gymnasium of Vienna. He was fifteen years of age when on the i5th of May, 1848, he joined the Academic Legion, lifting the first granite paving block to start the first barricade in the Vienna revolutionary struggle. On the 6th of September, 1848, he left Vienna for the United States, arriving at New Orleans on the loth of November and going thence to St. Louis. In October, 1849, he began retailing auction stock at Quincy but afterward returned to St. Louis to learn the printer's trade. In 1854 naturalization rights made him a citizen of the United States and the same year he entered a claim near Lawrence, Kansas. While there he formed the acquaintance of John Brown, the noted apostle of liberty, and joined the Free State minutemen under command of that intrepid leader. They marched to Lawrence and thus was instituted the beginning of the Border Ruffian war. On the I4th of May, 1857, Mr. Bondi was appointed postmaster of Walker, Anderson county, Kansas, and was still the incumbent of that office when, three years later, on the 28th of June, 1860, he was married to Henrietta Einstein, of Leavenworth, Kansas. On the 23d of December, i86i, he offered his services to the government in defense of the Union as a member of Company K, Fifth Kansas Cavalry, with which he remained for three years. Mr. Bondi was a lawyer by profession and was prominently identified with public interests in the various communities in which he lived. He served at different times as United States commissioner at Fort Harker, as postmaster at Salina, Kansas, and in various county and state offices in Kansas. The love of liberty and the spirit of loyalty which prompted him to ally his interests with the contending forces in Vienna when but fifteen years of age were manifest throughout his entire life. He died September 30, 1907.

Isidor I. Bondi laid the foundation of his education in the public schools at Salina, Kansas, and made his initial step in the business world in 1886 by pursuing a course of drafting and serving an apprenticeship at carpentering and building. Subsequently he took a business course in the Salina Normal College at Salina, Kansas, and in the spring of 1889 he removed westward to Portland, Oregon, where he remained for six years. The following year was spent in eastern Oregon and in Idaho and after the McKinley election he left the west

-. and came to Illinois. In the spring of 1897 he formed a partnership with his brother, Hart E. Bondi, and opened a dry-goods store in Galesburg under the firm style of Bondi Brothers & Company. They have increased their business from year to year until theirs is one of the most extensive establishments in this part of the state and in addition they have opened and conduct successfully branch stores in Kewanee, Illinois; Salina, Kansas; and Sedalia, Missouri. On the 26th of July, 1911, Mr. Bondi was united in marriage to Miss Tennie

. Zuzak, of Boonville, Missouri. They have one daughter, Helen, who was born on the 8th of June, 1912. Mr. Bondi belongs to the Sons of Judah, a Jewish congregation, and is its secretary. He is a charter member and one of the di- :- rectors of the Provident Saving & Loan Association of Galesburg and his fraternal relations are with the Elks Lodge No. 894 and Veritas Lodge, No. 478, I. O. O. F., of which he has been treasurer for a number of years. He is likewise

. ingly admit that the last mentioned is limited and young men especially all believe that they possess it. But the annual records of business failures show that the rule holds good and that only a comparatively few have the capability for the successful control of commercial interests. Mr. Bondi is one who has been thus endowed and his diligence and progressiveness have constituted the basis of

For many years the Rev. Lucius H. Parker devoted much of his life to Christian teaching. As a minister of the Congregational church his labors were far reaching and effective and still bear fruit in the lives of those who came under his guidance. He was born March 20, 1807, in Woodstock, Vermont, and although he passed away in Galesburg on the 29th of February, 1872, he is yet remembered by many of the older citizens who recognized his worth and .entertained for him the highest regard and gave to him their warm friendship. His parents were Lucius H. and Marion (Wallace) Parker, in whose home his youthful days were passed. Having determined to devote his life to the ministry he began studying in the Lane Theological Seminary at Cincinnati, Ohio, but left that school in April, 1836, six weeks before graduation, together with ninety other students because of the anti-slavery ideas which they held. Later he attended lectures at Oberlin College, of Oberlin, Ohio, and his wife was a student there at the same time.

In 1836 the Rev. Lucius. H. Parker went to Galena, Illinois, where he engaged in preaching for about one year and then resumed his studies at Oberlin where he remained for two years. On the expiration of that period he accepted a call from a church at Erie, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in preaching until 1844. He then came to Galesburg and filled the pulpit of the Congregational church at this place for two years. In addition to his church work he was interested in agriculture. When he no longer accepted regular pastorates he spent much of his time in organizing Congregational churches and many of the now strong church societies of the northern and central part of. the state were formed through his instrumentality and under his guidance. He likewise labored earnestly in the interest and for the upbuilding of Knox College until the time of his death.

On the 3 1st of August, 1836, the Rev. Parker was married to Miss Elizabeth Treat Holyoke, a daughter of William and Lucy (Greenleaf ) Holyoke, the latter an own cousin of the poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Mrs. Parker's father was a wealthy carriage manufacture of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the daughter attended Harriett Beecher Stowe's school in that place.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Parker have been born the following named: William Holyoke, Lucius Clark, Robert Stuart, Edward Austin, Mary Elizabeth Castle, David, Charles Wallace and Emily Almira Gilbert.

The Rev. Parker was always deeply interested in the anti-slavery movement and before the war his home was one of the so-called stations on the famous underground railway and gave shelter and food to many fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. His early political allegiance was given to the whig party and when the republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks and continued one of its stanch advocates until his death. He was very deeply interested in the Union cause during the Civil war and at all times was a loyal and progressive citizen who sought the welfare of the community at large as well as the advancement of the individual. .- , ..

" Dr. Ewing Van Darien Morris is now one of the oldest practicing physicians in Galesburg in years of continuous connection with the profession, having first opened an office in this city in 1885.' Thorough preparatory training well qualified him for the responsibilities which have devolved upon him and study abroad has also given him intimate knowledge of the methods followed by many of the distinguished physicians and surgeons of the old world. Illinois claims Dr. Morris as one of her native sons, his birth having occurred in Monmouth, on the 7th of May, 1858. His parents were Easton and Rebecca Ann (Butler) Morris, the father born in southern Illinois, May 13, 1833, while the mother's

. party and the community in which he lived regarded him as a worthy and valued citizen. His wife was a daughter of William and- Susan (Chapman) Butler, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Easton Morris were bom three children of whom the Doctor is the eldest. The second child, a daughter, died in infancy, while Myron is now a farmer in Minnesota.

. In his youthful days he walked three and a half miles to and from school and when but nine years of age he engaged in driving teams. When a lad of nine years he began farming for himself and he saved money until he had a sum sufficient to buy a self-raking reaper, after which he cut grain for neighboring farmers by the acre. Later he purchased a binder and continued his work as a factor in the agricultural development of the community. From his earnings he saved every cent possible, until he felt that he was justified in carrying out his intention of preparing for the medical profession. He was twenty-two years --.--'/',] of age when he entered the office of Dr. Webster, of Monmouth, Illinois, who ''. ! . .- directed his preliminary reading while later he pursued a three years' course in Chicago and in 1884 he entered upon the practice of medicine at Cullom, : '^ -,'; Illinois, where he remained for a year. In 1885 he came to Galesburg and is .-.-.'

, one of the oldest practicing physicians in this city, having for more than a - C - ' quarter of a century been active in the profession here. From the outset he has been a close student of everything bearing upon the profession and tending to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life. In 1894 he pursued a post-graduate course in Chicago and a year later went to New York

; for further study. Another year passed and he then went to Vienna, Austria, where he spent a year, and also pursued special courses in Berlin, Paris and London, coming under the instruction and watching the methods of some of the most eminent practitioners and specialists of the old world. Since 1904 he has remained continuously in Galesburg and in 1909 extended his business ac- . tivities to include the conduct of a drug store, becoming a partner of Dr. Dick- : ' inson in this enterprise. Subsequently he purchased his partner's interest and - , ; is now sole owner of the business. Dr. Morris has always enjoyed an extensive -' - . \ practice and his ability is widely recognized,' placing him among the eminent - > v representatives of the profession in this part of the state. He is extremely .- ;'. careful in the diagnosis of his cases and very conscientious in the performance / ; -> of professional duties. r > v'; ':--;; I " ^' '

Dr. Morris has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Francis Margaret .'.v ./ McVey, a daughter of Daniel and Margaret McVey, of Warren county, Illinois, v . . . She was born November 2, 1858, and died on the 3Oth of October, 1883. For ; j-. his second wife Dr. Morris chose Miss Lavina Gale, a daughter of James Gale, ; , ;' of Galesburg, this marriage being celebrated in January, 1895. Dr. Morris is a member of the Modern Woodmen Camp at Galesburg and his social as well as his professional qualities render him popular. He has a very wide acquaintance and his friends are many. He never allows social or other interests, however, to interfere with the faithful performance of his professional duties and he keeps in close touch with the onward move of the profession through his membership connections with the Knox County Medical Society, the City Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.