Portrait and biographical record of Christian County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and   representative citizens, together with biographies of all the Governors of the state, and of the Presidents of the United States.  Chicago, Ill. : Lake City Pub. Co., 1893.  Transcribed by Judy Rosella Edwards, 2007.

HUGH C. LAWLER, a brick mason and contractor, is recognized as a wide-awake and enterprising young business man of Taylorville. It is to such men as our subject that the prosperity of the city is due, for their energy and industry form the foundation upon which the successful structure is reared. Mr. Lawler has the honor of being a native of Illinois. He was born in McLean County, near Bloomington, and is one of three children whose parents were Jonathan and Adeline (Campbell) Lawler, both natives of Kentucky. His paternal grandfather, Gibbon Lawler, was a native of North Carolina. He afterward became a resident of Terre Haute, Ind., and was a contractor on the National Plank Road. His death occurred in 1834. The maternal grandfather, Hugh Campbell, was born in 1812, and was a farmer by occupation. He became one of the early settlers of Illinois, locating in Morgan County about 1830. His last days were spent in Bloomington, he having gone to McLean County in 1855, where he died in 1888, at the age of seventy-six years. The father of our subject was in early life a farmer, and followed that pursuit until his removal to Illinois, after which he became a brick mason and contractor. To that business he still devotes his time and attention. He and his wife make their home in Taylorville, where they are widely and favorably known. With the Christian Church they hold membership. Their three children were Mary Alice, now deceased; Hugh C., of this sketch; and Clarence E. In the county of his nativity, our subject passed the days of his boyhood under the parental roof, and in the public schools acquired a good practical education. His life has been a busy and useful one, devoted to the work which he now carries on. He learned the trade of brick-laying with his father, and in time became a contractor. He first began contracting in 1883, since which time he has erected many of the fine buildings in Bloomington, including several store buildings and the Jewish synagogue. He also built a schoolhouse in Clinton and one in Carrollton, and the Antlers Hotel in Taylorville. Under his supervision the Gephart Block of Decatur and the St. Nicholas Hotel of Decatur were built, and the fine new Christian Church of Taylorville is now being erected. Mr. Lawler is also building two public school buildings and the Huber Block at Pana. He is an expert workman and has a high reputation in various parts of the State for doing fine work and living up to his contract. Although only a young man, he has had a large experience as a contractor and builder of masonry. On the 22d of November, 1882, Mr. Lawler was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Amelia West, a daughter of Andrew C. and Etta (Schaum) West, of Bloomington. Five children have graced their union: Ida May, Hugh M., Alma L., Henrietta A. and Alice A. The parents are members of the Christian Church, and in social circles where true worth and intelligence are received as the passports into good society they hold an enviable position. Mr. Lawler exercises his right of franchise in support of the Republican party, but has never been an aspirant for political preferment. He is a pleasant, genial gentleman, and the high regard in which he is held has been won by an upright and honorable life.

HOME

© Judy Edwards and Genealogy Trails