Coles County, IL Biographies

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Coles County, IL Biographies

ALBERT CARMAN ANDERSON. This is a name that has had a long and honorable association with the legal profession in Coles County. Albert C. Anderson has practiced law there more than thirty-eight years. Two of his sons are also prominent younger leaders of the bar.

Albert C. Anderson was born at Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1870. He was twelve years of age when his parents came to Illinois and settled in Coles County. His father, Benjamin F. Anderson, was superintendent of bridge construction when the Clover Leaf Railroad was built through Illinois. Albert C. Anderson completed his public school education after coming to Illinois and then attended the Illinois Normal University and studied law in Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington. He was admitted to practice in 1893. He has continuously since that date been an ardent devotee to his professional work and his public interests in the City of Charleston. As a trial lawyer he stands in the front rank. Mr. Anderson has always been a man of influence in the Republican party of his county and district. He is a member of the Coles County Bar Association and the B. P. 0. Elks.

Mr. Anderson married in 1892 Miss Nellie Wright, of Charleston. Her father, W. G. Wright, was a pioneer in the broom corn industry, a line of work he followed from 1855 until his death. Mrs. Anderson attended school at Charleston, being a graduate of the high school. She is a member of the P. E. 0. Sisterhood, the Christian Church, and has had much part in the social life of the community. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are four in number, Benjamin F. Anderson, Paul Wright Anderson, Earl William Anderson and Herbert Spencer Anderson. Individual sketches are given of the two lawyer sons. Paul Anderson, who was born in 1894, and was educated in the Charleston High School and the Illinois State Teachers College, is now a practical farmer in Coles County. He married Miss Nora Dennis. Earl Anderson, the third son, was born March 15, 1897. He has devoted his career to educational work. He attended the Eastern Illinois State Teachers College at Charleston, received his Master of Arts degree from the University of Illinois, and is a Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University. He is now professor in the School of Education at Ohio State University at Columbus. During the World war he was enlisted and was a lieutenant in the navy. Earl Anderson married Miss Helen Root, of Charleston. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ANDERSON, Charleston attorney, and junior partner in practice with his father, Albert C. Anderson, was born at Charleston in 1893. After the public school he attended the Eastern Illinois State Teachers College and in 1915 was graduated LL. B. from the University of Illinois.

For the past seventeen years Mr. Anderson has been a co-worker with his father in handling an extensive volume of general law practice. He was city attorney of Charleston from 1917 to 1921, and from 1922 to 1930 held the office of judge of the City Court. He is a former secretary of the Coles County Bar Association, is a Phi Delta Phi, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Rotary Club, and is one of the outstanding young leaders in the Republican party. Benjamin F. Anderson married in 1917 Miss Lena McNeel, of Charleston. Her father, W.S. McNeel, was also a native of Coles County and one of the substantial farmers of the county. Mrs. Benjamin F. Anderson attended high school at Charleston and DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana. Outside of her home she has found outlet for her talents in music and she is also president of the Drama Study Club. She is a member of the Delta Zeta sorority and the Christian Church. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Anderson have two children, Martha, born in 1919, and Barbara, born in 1923. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

HERBERT SPENCER ANDERSON, judge of the City Court of Charleston, is the youngest son of Albert C. Anderson, prominent Charleston attorney. Herbert S. Anderson was born June 7, 1900. He was educated in the Eastern Illinois State Teachers College and the University of Illinois, and during the World war was enrolled in the Students Army Training Corps. He has been successful in his work as a lawyer, and in 1930 was elected judge of the City Court, to succeed his brother, Benjamin F. Anderson, who was not a candidate for reelection. Judge Anderson is a Republican, a member of the B. P. 0. Elks and the Psi Upsilon fraternity. He belongs to the American Legion.

On December 27, 1920, he married Miss Mercedes Kenny, of Charleston. She is a graduate of the Charleston High School. They have two sons, Jack Harvey and David Kenny. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

VINTCEN AYE is a Coles County citizen whose name is probably known to every man, woman and child in the county. For thirty years he has had an almost continuous record of public service. He has the unique distinction of being the only citizen of the county ever elected to three terms as sheriff.

Sheriff Aye was born on a farm north of Mattoon, Coles County, November 4, 1871. He is a son of Rufus A. and Anna A. (Ashbrook) Aye. On both sides his people were sturdy Middle West farmers and loyal patriots, his grandfather Aye having served in the Union army from Indiana. His maternal grand father, Reson Ashbrook, and one of his Sons, John Ashbrook, both enlisted from Cole County, Illinois, for war service. Rufus Aye was born in Indiana and came to Illinois about the close of the Civil war. He was a industrious farmer, a staunch Republican, and he believed and practiced the creed that it was the duty of every man to attend election Throughout his mature life he never miss an election. He was a director of his home school district. He died in 1884. His wife was born in Ohio and died in 1922.

Vintcen Aye grew up on a farm, attended country schools, and when public duty a service have not required his time he has been a farmer and still owns farming interests in the county. In 1900 he moved his home to Mattoon. The first official position he held was that of tax collector of LaFayette Township. For two years he was town clerk of Mattoon. He served two years as deputy sheriff, under Sheriff E. H. Slover. For two years he was an alderman. In 1910 he was elected for the first time to the office of sheriff of Coles County, serving four years. At the close of his term he returned to farm, but in 1918 the people again called him to the office of sheriff for another two year term. At its close he entered the state quarantine service, in May, 1923. Mr. Aye had a great deal of responsible work in looking after the cattle quarantine, and was connected with that service until June 1, 1929. During the last two years he worked for the state he was supervisor over all the quarantine officers. In 1930 he was again elected sheriff, for the third time. Sheriff Aye took into office the third time the valuable experience he had acquired in official position both in his county and in the state, and is the type of officer who commands respect and confidence. He has always been an active leader in the Republican party, serving on the County Central Committee and as a delegate to state conventions. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Chamber of Commerce and Methodist Episcopal Church.

In October, 1899, he married Miss Frankie Rhoades, of Mattoon, daughter of Franklin and Margaret Rhoades. Her mother was born in Kentucky. Her father served as a lieutenant in the Union army during the Civil war. Mrs. Aye was educated in Illinois public schools, attended the Normal University at Normal, and for four years before her marriage was a teacher. She was a member of the Rebekahs, the Eastern Star and the Methodist Episcopal Church. Sheriff and Mrs. Aye had one daughter, Florence Margaret, born in 1906. She is a graduate of the Charleston High School and the Eastern Illinois State Teachers College, and is now a teacher in the city schools of Champaign. Mrs. Aye died October 8, 1931. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

HON. BUELL BRAKE, member of the State Democratic Committee, is a resident of Mount Sterling, Brown County, where he has a successful business as a merchandise broker.

Mr. Brake is a native of Brown County, born in Lee Township April 29, 1897. His father gave him the name of the Civil war general under whom he served in the Union army. His father, Cornelius Brake, was born in Morgan County, Illinois, in 1828. The Brake family were among the earliest pioneers of Morgan County. Cornelius Brake was with the One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois Infantry during the Civil war, and had a high regard for his commander, General Buell. He spent his active life after the war as a farmer. He died in Brown County May 29, 1900. The mother of Buell Brake was Miss Eliza Woods, who lives at Mount Sterling.
Buell Brake attended the Lee Township public school and afterward entered the employ of the local telephone exchange at Buckhorn in Brown County. He was there until the World war came on and he joined the colors on September 1, 1918. He was in training at Camp Grant until discharged November 30, 1918.

After the war he resumed his work with the telephone company at Buckhorn, and from there removed to Mount Sterling in 1925. Since then he has been in business as a merchandise broker. He has the reputation of being not only a thorough business man but one whose actions square with every principle of integrity and honor.

Mr. Brake since early manhood has been a valued worker in Democratic party ranks, and in 1930 he received the great honor of being elected a member of the State Democratic Committee from the Twentieth Congressional District. He carried seven out of the ten counties in the district. Mr. Brake is active in the American Legion. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

SOLON ELI CONARD, osteopathic physician and surgeon, was one of the early graduates at the original osteopathic center of training at Kirksville, Missouri, and has been a prominent leader in his profession in Illinois for over a quarter of a century.
Doctor Conard was born at Monticello, Illinois, August 9, 1877. He is of prominent American ancestry on both sides. His parents were John S. and Paulina (Stiles) Conard. The Stiles family was established in New Eng land in the early Colonial period. A grandson of the original Stiles in America was Ezra Stiles, who at one time was president of Yale University. Other members of the family had a part in shaping the educational and civil institutions of the nation. Doctor Conard's maternal grandfather, James Stiles, was a native of Massachusetts, who came from New Jersey to Illinois and was one of the prominent early settlers of Geneseo. He was a merchant and educator.

In the paternal line Doctor Conard's ancestors were pioneers around Germantown, Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, Mahion Conard, was a native of Virginia, but spent most of his life in Ohio. Doctor Conard's grandfather, Amos Conard, was born in Loudoun County, Virginia. He was three years of age when his parents moved to Ohio, where he grew up. In 1866 he came to Illinois, and he died at Monticello in 1898. He was a farmer, lumberman and sheep man. He became identified with the Republican party at its formation, and was very active in Illinois politics.
John S. Conard, father of Doctor Conard, was born in Ohio. He came with his father to Illinois in 1866, driving 500 head of sheep to the state. He first located at Heywort. Sheep husbandry was always the prominent part of his activities as a farmer and rancher. In 1901 he moved to Colorado, where he found more extensive range for his sheep business. He died July 9, 1921. John S. Conard was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Solon E. Conard acquired a liberal education. He attended Camp Creek School, the White Heath Academy, the Monticello High School and the Illinois Normal University at Normal. His mother was one of the early graduates of the Normal University. After teaching for four years Doctor Conard entered the American College of Osteopathy at Kirksville, where he was graduated in 1905. After practicing for a short time in Missouri he returned to Monticello, where he was busy in his professional routine until 1909. Since that year he has been the leading representative of his profession in Mattoon. He is easily one of the outstanding osteopathic physicians and surgeons of Illinois. At his office in Mattoon he has assembled all the equipment and apparatus for the splendid work now accomplished by osteopathy. In the intervals of his private practice he has gone many times for special courses to Chicago, in 1922 was awarded a diploma for post-graduate work in the Chicago College of Osteopathy, and in 1919 he studied under Doctor Iron at Columbus, Ohio. He is a member of the Illinois State and American Osteopathic Associations. Doctor Conard in Masonry is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Council. He is a Presbyterian.

He married, September 27, 1910, Miss Goldie Bosler, daughter of Charles Henry and Jessie E. Bosler, of an old-time family of Illinois. Mrs. Conard is a graduate of the high school of Chillicothe, Missouri, is a past president of the Parent-Teachers Association of Mattoon and is active in the Presbyterian Church. They have three children: Miss Jessie Lou, born October 10, 1911, a graduate of the Mattoon High School, now a student in the University of Illinois; John Charles, born September 29, 1913, a graduate of the Mattoon High School; and Grace Orilla, born July 14, 1919. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

JOSEPH COLQUITT FICKLIN is a representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of Illinois, in which state he was born and reared. In former years Mr. Ficklin was actively and successfully engaged in the practice of law, but during a period of over thirty years he has been engaged in real estate operations in the City of Chicago, where he maintains his office headquarters at 105 West Monroe Street.

At Charleston, judicial center of Coles County, Illinois, the birth of Joseph C. Ficklin occurred May 30, 1857. He is a son of Orlando B. Ficklin and Elizabeth Hill Ficklin. His mother was a daughter of United States Senator Walter T. Colquitt, a distinguished and leading senator from the State of Georgia. He was a great friend of President Polk and his representative on the floor of the Senate. The President visited Senator Colquitt -at his home in Columbus, Georgia, while he was President. Mrs. Ficklin as a young lady was very beautiful and was prominent and popular in Washington society during the time her father was in the Senate. She inherited her father's talents and was a brilliant and accomplished woman. After her marriage she became one of the most highly respected and well known women in Central Illinois. For more than a century the Colquitt family has been one of the leading, old, aristocratic families of the South. Mrs. Ficklin's two brothers were generals in the Confederate army. One of them, Gen. Peyton H. Colquitt, was killed in the battle of Chickamauga. A monument commemorating his bravery and heroism has been erected by the Government on the spot where he died. Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt, her other brother, at the head of an army in Florida, won a signal victory in the battle of Lake Olustee. He prevented an invasion of Florida and was called the hero of Olustee. "Colquitt's Salient" marks a spot on one of the historic battle fields of Virginia where his invincible troops made an unflinching stand. After the war he was twice elected governor and twice United States senator from the State of Georgia. He died while a member of the Senate, near the end of his second term. The Colquitt family of Georgia has lost none of its standing and prominence. One grandson of Walter T. Colquitt is a lawyer of high standing and represents the Street Railways and General Utilities of the State of Georgia. A great-grand son, Walter Colquitt Carter, is one of the most brilliant and promising young lawyers of the Atlanta bar. Walter T. Colquitt's grand-daughters are all beautiful, brilliant and accomplished women and leaders in Atlanta and Georgia society. Ex-Governor O. B. Colquitt of Texas is also a member of this family.

The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. O. B. Ficklin occurred at LaGrange, Georgia, in 1845, while Mr. Ficklin was a member of Congress. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who was a bachelor and an intimate friend of Mr. Ficklin and serving in Congress with him at the time, at tended the wedding as his best man. The original American representative of the Ficklin family came from Wales and became a Colonial settler in Virginia. Members of a later generation went to Kentucky and gained honors in the old Blue Grass State. The most distinguished of these was Joseph Ficklin of Lexington, Kentucky. He was a great-uncle of Joseph Colquitt, and for whom he was named. He was a leading citizen of Lexington and its postmaster for many years. President Polk appointed him consul general to Cuba, where he made a fine reputation as a diplomat. He owned many slaves but in his will gave them all their freedom at his death. He was too human to let them be treated unkindly by other masters.

Orlando B. Ficklin, father of Joseph C., was born in Scott County, Kentucky, in December, 1808. His parents moved to Potosi, Missouri, when he was a boy and he attended the schools in Potosi until it became time for him to attend college, when he returned to Kentucky and entered old and historic Transylvania University in the City of Lexington. He also graduated from its law department. He decided to remove to Illinois, where he was examined for admission to the bar by Governor Edward Coles of Illinois. In 1829 he located in Mount Carmel, Illinois, and in 1832 was elected state's attorney for the district in which Wabash County was located. He was also elected colonel of the militia of that county and served under Gen. Milton K. Alexander in the Black Hawk war. In 1836 he was elected to the Legislature and there met Lincoln, Douglas and many other members who in later years became prominent men of Illinois. He was later elected to the Legislatures of 1837 and 1838.

The capital of the state at that time was Vandalia and these three sessions of the Legislature were famous on account of the fight made by Lincoln and the six members from Sangamon County to move the capital to Springfield. Senator Beveridge, in his life of Lincoln, speaks of O.B. Ficklin as the brilliant Democratic leader in these Legislatures. He was elected to Congress in 1842 and served five terms. Both Lincoln and Douglas were members during the time he was in Congress. The other members from Illinois were Long John Wentworth, Gen. John J. Hardin and Gen. John McClernand. He moved to Charleston, Illinois, in 1839, and lived there until his death in 1886. He presided at the Lincoln and Douglas debate held in Charleston, September 18, 1858, and as he had served in Congress the only time Lincoln was a member the latter called on him during the debate to state that he, Lincoln, had not voted against supplies to the soldiers during the Mexican war. He rode the circuit with Lincoln and tried many cases in which they were opposing counsel. The most famous was the Matson case.
General Matson, a wealthy Kentucky slave owner, bought a large farm in Coles County, Illinois. He brought some of his Kentucky slaves with him. He concluded to return to Kentucky and started to take his slaves with him. They, however, became free when they entered the State of Illinois and O.B. Ficklin was employed to get out a writ of habeas corpus to prevent them from being taken out of the state. Lincoln was employed by General Matson and argued the case in court against the former slaves. The trial lasted three days before two judges of the Supreme Court and was decided against Matson. This case settled the slave question in Illinois for ever. O.B. Ficklin was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati in 1856 that nominated Buchanan for President and also a delegate to the convention in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860, where the party was split in the attempt to nominate Douglas for the presidency. He was the Illinois member of the committee on resolutions in both conventions, representing Buchanan at Cincinnati and Douglas at Charleston. He was elected to the Legislature the last time in 1878 and was the Democratic leader in the House. He was selected to place Gen. John C. Black in nomination as the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate and his speech was said to have been one of the greatest ever made in the State House at Springfield. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1870 and was an important factor in framing the present constitution of the state. He was one of the great lawyers of the state and for twenty-five years or more was selected by the justices of the Supreme Court as chairman of the committee that examined candidates for admission to the bar. It is said his name appears in as many Supreme Court reports as any lawyer who ever practiced in the state.

O.B. Ficklin and his three sons were all delegates to the Democratic State Convention in 1884 that nominated Carter H. Harrison as a candidate for governor. O.B. Ficklin and his son, O.B. Ficklin, Jr., were delegates from Coles County. Joseph C. was a delegate from Edgar County and Alfred C. Ficklin a delegate from Douglas County. The convention selected O.B. Ficklin to lead the ticket of presidential electors by selecting him as the Democratic candidate for elector from the state at large. They selected Joseph C. and Alfred C. Ficklin as alternate delegates to the national convention which nominated Grover Cleveland for President. The chairman of the convention, the brilliant Gen. John C. Black, further complimented Joseph C. Ficklin by calling him to the platform and asking him to read the resolutions presented to the convention and move their adoption. The four Ficklins all took a prominent part in the campaign of 1884 as speakers advocating the election of Grover Cleveland.

The public schools of Charleston afforded Joseph C. Ficklin his early education, and after his graduation in the high school he entered the historic old University of Virginia, at Charlottesville. In that institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1876 and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the following year he entered Union
College of Law in the City of Chicago, from which he received, in 1878, his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of his native state and continued to be engaged in the successful practice of his profession at Paris, county seat of Edgar County, until 1892, when he returned to Chicago, the city that has since been his place of residence. Here Mr. Ficklin continued in the practice of law a short time, and he then turned his attention to the real estate business, in which his operations have been wide and varied and have contributed in no insignificant degree to the march of development and progress in the great metropolitan area of the city, he being now one of the veteran exponents of this important line of enterprise in Chicago. Mr. Ficklin has membership in the Cook County Real Estate Board, the Chicago Real Estate Board and the National Board of Realtors.

The political allegiance of Mr. Ficklin is given to the Democratic party and while a resident of Paris he served three terms as a member of the city Board of Aldermen. There also he held the office of United States commissioner for the southern district of Illinois from 1886 until his removal to Chicago, in 1892. In his youth Mr. Ficklin served as a member of the Illinois National Guard. He is a member of the Iroquois Club of Chicago
and was formerly a member of the old Columbus Club.

On May 18, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ficklin to Miss Susan R. Thomas, daughter of Benjamin M. and Mary (Roberts) Thomas. James Roberts, the only child of this union, was born at Paris, Illinois, September 4, 1883, and in Chicago he was graduated in the Chicago Latin School and also in St. Ignatius College. In 1903 James R. Ficklin was graduated in Yale University, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science, and then he became associated with his father in the real estate business.

He married Miss Kathleen McPherson, daughter of Duncan McPherson, of Bristol, England, and of the two children of this union the elder, Duncan Joseph, was born in New York City, January 2, 1017. He has inherited the high sterling qualities of his McPherson ancestors and the keen intellect of his father. The younger son, James Ernest Mervyn, was born in Paris, France, April 14, 1928. He is a child of rare beauty and great charm. James R. Ficklin and his family now maintain their home on a fine country estate on the Potomac River near Tidwells, Westmoreland County, Virginia. This estate is known as "Rochester Hall." The old mansion was built over two hundred years ago by the original Rochester, whose descendants founded the City of Rochester, New York, and for whom it was named. The house has been remodeled into a modern home but still retains the marks of the old Colonial architecture. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

THOMAS OSCAR FREEMAN, physician and surgeon, has been a prominent figure in the professional and civic life of the City of Mattoon for over thirty years. He was a member of the Illinois State Board of Health under Governor Dunne.

Doctor Freeman was born on a farm seven miles north of Mattoon, son of Joseph B. and Mary J. (Moore) Freeman, and is of an old American family of Revolutionary stock: His great-grandfather, Moses Freeman, came to the United States from England in time to participate in the War of the Revolution. Doctor Freeman's two grandfathers, William Freeman and Newton Moore, were natives of Ohio. Adams County, Ohio, was the birthplace of both of Doctor Freeman's parents. His father was an Ohio soldier in the Civil war. In 1865 he brought his family to Illinois and settled on a farm in Coles County. He was a successful farmer and a man of much influence in the affairs of his community, where he died in 1901.

Doctor Freeman attended country schools, the Austin College at Effingham, Illinois, and in 1898 was graduated from the medical department of the University of Maryland. His intern experience and training were acquired in the Maryland General Hospital. Returning to Illinois, he located at Mattoon. His abilities have brought him a great reputation as a surgeon, and he is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is attending surgeon at the Memorial Hospital in Mattoon. His broad personal experience has been supplemented by attendance at many clinics in Chicago, in the Mayo Brothers institution at Rochester, Minnesota, and elsewhere. Doctor Freeman is the present health commissioner of Mattoon and he was a member of the State Board of Health from 1913 to 1917. He is a past president of the Coles County Medical Association, member of the Illinois State and American Medical Associations, and during the World war was chairman of the District Appeal Board in Eastern Illinois. Doctor Freeman is an active Democrat and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1924. He is a member of the Coles County Country Club, the Central Community Church at Mattoon, and is a Mason.

He married, December 29, 1898, Miss Nellie Voigt, of Mattoon. Her parents, John and Alberta Voigt, were born in Germany. Her father for many years had a wagon factory in Mattoon. Mrs. Freeman was educated in the Mattoon High School and the University of Chicago. She takes an active part in the Woman's Club and social life of the community. They have two talented daughters. Miss Bernadine was graduated from Wellesley College of Massachusetts in 1922 and from the University of Chicago in 1924, and is the wife of John H. Bailey, Ph. D., of Indianapolis. The second daughter, Joy, attended school at Mattoon and Northwestern University at Chicago and was married to Mr. Paul R. Wilkinson, of Chicago, and is the mother of Paul Freeman Wilkinson. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

S.L. GREEN
Hon. S. L. Green, McCook, Red Willow county, is a native of Saratoga county, N. Y., born Feb. 28, 1823. In 1837 his parents settled in Ill., where he was raised, in Peoria county. His father was a farmer and stock-raiser, and the son attended the common schools and the academy, and at 20 years of age began the study of medicine. About 1845-6 he went into the banking business. He followed that about ten years, then settled in Coles county in the southern part of the state and practiced medicine. In 1871 he came to Nebraska, located in Richardson county, and followed his profession there for a period of three years, then pulled up and located in Norton county, Kan., in the practice of medicine. In 1876 he was in the Kansas legislature. He located at Indianola, Nebraska, in 1880, and when McCook began to boom he went up there, practiced medicine until within the last three years, since which time he has been in the drug trade. He is a Republican, as old as the party, a man of ability, and he will fill his legislative position honorably.
[Biographical manual of the members and officers of the twentieth Legislature of Nebraska, February 1887, By C. L. Hall]

HON. JOHN ROBERT HAMILTON, one of the most valuable members of the Illinois State Senate, having represented the Thirty-fourth Senatorial District for twenty years, is a resident of Mattoon. He has long been prominent in the political and commercial life of Coles County. His business is that of a whole sale and retail coal merchant.

Senator Hamilton was born in Coles County, son of James and Margaret (Hoskins) Hamilton. The Hamilton family is of Scotch ancestry and came to America in Colonial times. His grandfather, John Hamilton, came to Illinois from Ohio, but later returned to Ohio, where he lived out his life. James Hamilton was born in Adams County, Ohio, grew up there, and as a young man settled in Coles County, Illinois. He was a school teacher and farmer, was a sergeant in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Illinois Regiment in the Civil war, and in later years a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was one of the leading figures in the Republican party organization and for two terms was sheriff of Coles County. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Baptist Church. The mother of Senator Hamilton was born in Morgan County, Illinois, Her father Lowry Hoskins, was a native of Virginia, moved west to Kentucky and then to Illinois.

John R. Hamilton was educated in common schools and business college, for a short time was associated with his father on the farm, and then took up farming as an independent occupation. He was on the farm until 1888. For over forty years he has been active in county politics and has held the offices of supervisor, collector and circuit clerk. He was chosen clerk of the Circuit Court in 1888. He declined nomination for a second term in order to enter business as a wholesale and retail coal merchant. He established yards at both Charleston and Mattoon. For eight years he was engaged in other lines of business, but then returned to the commercial field, in which he has been most successful through a long period of years.

Senator Hamilton is a man of genial traits, arid both as a business man and public leader has won a high place in the affairs of Coles County. He has been a member of the Illinois State Senate for five terms, first elected from the Thirty-fourth District in 1912. He was reelected in 1916, in 1920, 1924 and 1928. During these five terms he has been a member of such important committees as agriculture, apportionment, appropriations, chairman of the committee on banks and building and loan associations, member of the civil service, corporations and municipalities, drainage, education, elections, executives, forestry, fish and game, industrial affairs, insurance, judiciary, license and miscellaneous, arid Lincoln Memorial committees. In the present Legislature he has been a member of the committees on military affairs, parks and playgrounds, public health, railways, highways and transportation, revenue, waterways and World's Fair. His outstanding work in the Legislature has been in behalf of road building and education.

Senator Hamilton is a past treasurer of the Knight Templar Commandery, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, a past grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a past treasurer of the B. P. 0. Elks, member of the Knights of Pythias, Loyal Order of Moose, Improved Order of Red Men, Rotary Club, Country Club and Chamber of Commerce.

Senator Hamilton's first wife was Miss Kate Van Deren, of Charleston. She died January 17, 1917. Later he married Miss Ethel Bussinger, of Mattoon, daughter of William and Auracy (Welicuts) Bussinger. Her father, a native of Wood County, Ohio, came to Illinois in 1893. For over a quarter of a century he was a passenger conductor with the Illinois Central Railway. He died in 1913. He was a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a Presbyterian. Her mother was born at Marion, Indiana, and passed away in 1905.

Mrs. Hamilton is a graduate of the Mattoon High School and of the Eastern Illinois Teachers College at Charleston, and at the time of her marriage she was a teacher in high school. She is active in the social and club life of her home city, a member of the Woman's Reading Club, the Presbyterian Church, and has worked and spoken for the woman's organizations of the Republican party. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

HON. SAMUEL ALEXANDER HUGHART, mayor of the City of Mattoon, has spent a long and active life in the work of education, the ministry of the Gospel, and everywhere and in every relation his influence has been one for enlightenment and progress.
Mr. Hughart was born at Gallipolis, Gallio County, Ohio, March 8, 1864. The Hughart name is of French origin. His parents, William and Elizabeth (Sidenstricker) Hughart, were both born in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. His grandfather, Charles Hughart, was a wealthy farmer in West Virginia. His maternal grandfather, Samuel Sidenstricker, was a native of Germany and before the Civil war was a man of wealth. His fortune was wrecked during war times, and in 1867 he moved to Illinois, where he spent the rest of his life. William Hughart devoted his active life to farming and the ministry of the Gospel. He was a West Virginia soldier in the Civil war. In the spring of 1866 he brought his family to Illinois and settled north west of Charleston. His wife died there in 1871 and shortly afterward he returned to West Virginia, where he died.

Samuel A. Hughart attended country schools in Illinois, graduated from Lees Academy and attended the college at Lincoln, Illinois. Forty-four years of his life have been devoted to educational work, teaching and preaching. He has been an educator in the high and noble sense of that term. Many communities have benefited from his labors as a teacher, including Clear Springs, Spring Garden, Ina, Inman Rose School. He spent eleven years at the Grant Park School, was principal of the Learner School, for seven years was a teacher at Frazier. For twelve years he held the pastorate of a church at Trilla and for many years supplied his home church when the pulpit was vacant. Mr. Hughart was ordained a Presbyterian, but under special dispensation has preached in Methodist churches.

His home has been at Mattoon since 1905. In 1925 he was elected mayor, serving one term of two years. This term had as some of its high lights a large amount of paving work and a reduction of the state's indebtedness. After an interval Mr. Hughart was again elected mayor, in 1928. He was, in fact, called back by the people to restore order out of financial chaos. He came into his office the second time finding a deficit of $3,600 in the street department, though when he first went out of office there was a favorable balance of $2,000, and likewise the police department was burdened with a debt of $2,500, though he had left it with a credit of $1,500. During his present administration he has not only lifted the debt from these departments, but without increasing the taxation has carried out a constructive and progressive program, including the construction of a $120,000 reservoir dam, resurfacing of streets, extension of the city's drainage system, opening new streets, and the securing of a fish hatchery. His administration has been as notable in its moral tone as for its practical financing.

Mayor Hughart is a Democrat. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Houston, Texas, in 1928, and sup ported James Hamilton Lewis for United States senator in 1930. For two terms he was a delegate to the State Teachers Association, holds a life state teachers certificate, and is a member of the Eastern Illinois Teachers Association and the Northwestern Teachers Association. He is past noble grand of the Lodge and a past patriarch of the Encampment of Odd Fellowship.

At the conclusion of this brief sketch some mention should be made of his home and the splendid family that have grown up there. He married in 1891 Miss Minnie Duckworth, of Mattoon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Duckworth, who were old settlers in Coles County. She also attended Lees Academy, and has been very earnest in her church work. Of the children born to their marriage the son Ira died when three years old. Ethel Fern, now a successful teacher at Chicago, was educated in the Mattoon High School and the University of Chicago. Orley Lyle, who attended the Mattoon High School and is now superintendent of the Sheet Metal Company of Oklahoma City, married Miss Grace Ritter, of Mattoon, and has a son, Donald. Cleda Marie was educated at Mattoon, is the wife of J. E. Ferguson, an engineer on the Illinois Central Railway, and they have children named Virginia Lee, Betty Jane, James Edmond and Gerald William. Letha Arline attended school at Mattoon, is the wife of Roy Fortney, connected with the Chuse Engine Works of Mattoon, and has three children, Howard Wendel, Robert Eugene and Dorothy Joan. Herman Neal, the youngest of the family, was educated at Mattoon, is in the dry goods business in that city, and married Miss Edna Myrl Cloud, of Mattoon. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

CLARENCE HUGH HARWOOD, who has made a notable record in his profession as a physician and surgeon in Southern Illinois, is a resident of Charleston, and was recently honored with election to the office of mayor of that city.
Doctor Harwood was born on a farm near Farmington, Coles County, September 5, 1882, son of J. L. and Mary C. (Baughman) Harwood. His parents are highly respected citizens of Coles County. The Harwood family is of English ancestry. His grandfather, Ephraim Harwood, whose mother was a Dickerson of the noted Tennessee family of that name, came to Illinois from Ohio. He was a pioneer settler in Coles County, a farmer, contractor and builder. Farming and work in the building line have constituted the active career of J. L. Harwood. His wife, Mary C. Baughman, was born near Farmington.

Clarence Hugh Harwood was educated in the public schools of Coles County, attended the Eastern Illinois Teachers College at Charleston three years and obtained part of his professional training in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis. In 1910 he was graduated with the M. D. degree from the University of Louisville. During the next fifteen years Doctor Harwood con ducted a general medical practice over a rural community at Janesville in Cumberland County. He then moved to Charleston, and in that city has won a high reputation for ability both as a physician and surgeon. He was one of the three Charleston doctors who founded and builded the Oakwood Hospital in 1923. He is still interested in this hospital. Doctor Harwood has during his career as a practicing physician attended the Chicago Post Graduate School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinics. He is local surgeon for the Illinois Central Railway and a member of the Coles County, Illinois State and American Medical Associations.

During the World war Doctor Harwood was local examiner for the draft board. He is a Democrat in politics, and was elected mayor of Charleston by the largest majority ever given a candidate of either party. He is a past grand of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, a Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Doctor Harwood married in November, 1910, Miss Nannie Watkins, of Toledo, Illinois, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Watkins. Her father is a well-to-do farmer of Cumberland County. Mrs. Harwood was educated in the schools of Illinois, is a member of the Royal Neighbors and the Rebekahs, and the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have four children: Evelyn Dorothy, born February 10, 1912, is a high school graduate and has graduated from the State Teachers College at Charleston; Clarence Hugh, born July 11, 1913, is a graduate of the Charleston High School; Mary Alice, born October 21, 1916, is in the high school of the State Teachers College; and Marjorie Jean, born December 3, 1920, is in grade school. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

HON. JOSIAH BOYER LANE, former county judge of Coles County, has been a citizen prominently before the public for many years. He has shown a high degree of skill and resourcefulness in his professional work. As a public official his honesty and integrity have stood all the tests.

Judge Lane was born in Ashmore Township, Coles County, September 18, 1878, son of Benjamin Franklin and Isabelle (Kearns) Lane. His grandfather, Benjamin Lane, moved from Ohio to Coles County and was one of the pioneer farmers of this section of Eastern Illinois. He lived to the great age of ninety-six. The maternal grandfather was Josiah Boyer Kearns, who came to Coles County from Indiana, locating on a farm in Ashmore Township. He was road commissioner of that township and was a leading member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Benjamin Franklin Lane was born in Ohio and was a child when his parents came to Illinois. He is still active as a farmer, and is a man held in high respect in his community. He has been road commissioner of his township, school trustee, a member of the Masonic fraternity, a Republican in politics, and he and his family are loyal adherents of the Cumber land Presbyterian Church.

Josiah Boyer Lane grew up on a farm. He showed initiative and independence at an early age, and his industry and enterprise enabled him to fit himself for usefulness both in a business and professional career. He attended Lees Academy, the Eastern Illinois State Teachers College at Charleston and Lincoln University. For eight years he was deputy county treasurer of Coles County. He completed his law studies at Northwestern University at Chicago and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1920. He had practiced only two years when he was elected county judge. By reelection he served two full four-year terms. At the end he declined to be a candidate for reelection in order to take up and develop his private law practice, which has grown to very satisfactory proportions. Out of his long and successful service as county judge he has come to be a recognized authority on subjects of local taxation, and much of his private practice is in cases involving tax matters. Judge Lane is a fluent speaker and has shown much ability in trial work.
Recently Judge Lane was instrumental in getting Charleston to petition for the pro visions of the recall and referendum in order to take out of the hands of the State Public Service Commission the regulation of the public utilities at Charleston, thus restoring "home rule" of these utilities by the City Council. Charleston was the first city in the state to petition for this change, and although the change did not take place it eventually will. Judge Lane is a member of the Coles County Bar Association, has been secretary of the Republican County Central Committee, is a member of the Masonic fraternity and B. P. 0. Elks and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

He married in 1904 Miss Anna B. Henry, of Ashmore Township, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Henry, who were also born in Coles County. Mrs. Lane is a member of the Christian Church and is well known in the social and civic life of her home city. To their marriage were born four children, the daughter, Henriette Joan, dying at the age of fourteen months. The son Harold Dwight Lane, born in February, 1905, is a graduate of the Charleston High School, attended the Teachers College at Charleston, is now in the real estate and insurance business in that city, and married Miss Helen Bryant. Miss Dorothy Josephine, born in September, 1907, graduated from the Charleston High School and from Utterbacks Business College at Mattoon, and is now stenographer and bookkeeper in her father's office. The youngest child, Miss Joy, was born May 19, 1913, and is a graduate of the Charleston High School.

HON. JOHN THOMAS KINCAID, judge of the County Court of Coles County, has made an honorable record as a lawyer and public official at Charleston, covering a period of twenty years.

He is a member of one of the old families of Coles County and was born in the Village of Ashmore, January 5, 1887, son of George M. and Sarah C. (Loop) Kincaid. His grand father, Thomas Kincaid, was a native of Ohio and came to Illinois before the Civil war. By trade he was a wagon maker. He died in 1892. Judge Kincaid's maternal grand father was John Loop, who in his time lived on a farm in Edgar County. George M. Kincaid was born at Ashmore, Coles County, and has been an important factor in the life of that community. He was a blacksmith in early days, later a hardware merchant, and is now living retired. He has been mayor of Ashmore and trustee of the local schools, is a Republican in politics, a member of the Masonic fraternity, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Presbyterian Church. John T. Kincaid grew up at Ashmore, graduated from the high school there and subsequently attended Millikin University at Decatur and the law department of Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1911. He chose Charleston as his home and professional headquarters, and in his law work has been distinguished by his abilities as a speaker, as a resourceful trial attorney, and the care and diligence which he has displayed in chancery cases. He served two terms as city attorney of Charleston and four years as judge of the City Court. In 1930 he was elected judge of the County Court. Judge Kincaid is a member of the Coles County Bar Association, is prominent in Republican party circles, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, member of the Consistory at Bloomington and the Shrine at Peoria. He is a member of the Charleston Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and is a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. He married in 1912 Miss Amy Baumgarner, of Kansas, Illinois, daughter of William and Mary Baumgarner. Her people came to Illinois from Ohio. Mrs. Kincaid attended high school at Kansas and finished her education in a musical conservatory. She is a member of the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Women's Auxiliary of the Boy Scouts, the Charleston Reading Circle and the Presbyterian Church. Judge and Mrs. Kincaid have two children: John Thomas, Jr. (Jack), born August 3, 1914, a student in the high school of the State Teachers College at Charleston; and Mary Kathryn, born December 5, 1916, a Junior High student. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)

WM. E. GINTHER, dealer in hardware and farm machinery, and general insurance agent, Charleston; was born in the province of Saxony, Prussia, May 2, 1834; his father was a wagon and carriage manufacturer, and he attended school and worked in his father’s shop till he was 16 years old, when he came to this country, landing in New York on the 4th of July, 1850; coming to Chicago, he worked on a farm and on the old Galena & Chicago R. R. for awhile; afterward engaged as a traveling salesman for H. W. Austin, of Chicago, his route lying through Central and Southern Illinois, and Missouri; in 1864, he removed to Charleston, and, until 1869, followed the hardware and lumber business, the firm being McGee and Ginther; he then became a partner in the firm of Weiss, Ginther & Co., proprietors of the Charleston Woolen Mill; in 1874, he resumed the hardware business, and in September, 1877, started in the insurance business also; he represents fifteen first-class fire insurance companies, and three life and accident companies. He represented a part of Cook Co. in the State Legislature in 1861 and 1862, his district comprising the West Division of Chicago and the western portion of Cook Co.; for four years previously, he had been a member of the Cook County Board of Supervisors; since coming to Charleston, he has abstained from political life, and with he exception of serving in the City Council, has held no public office. He was married in 1853 to Miss Catherine Jacobs, of St. Charles, Ill., a native of Bavaria, Germany; she died in 1858, leaving one son—Francis W., now U. S. Postal Clerk from Pittsburgh, Penn., to New York City; Mr. Ginther was married again in 1859, to Miss Christina Schneider, of Oak Park, Ill.; they have five children—Emma L., Anna, Clara A., Minnie C. and William E., Jr."

—From: "The History of Coles County, Illinois", Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., & Co., 1879, page 521 [contributed by Source #62].

"According to the Coles County Death Record, Volume 2 Page 73, Christina Ginther died on July 24, 1902 in Charleston, IL at about 1 am, is buried in the Mound Cemetery, and died of a Disease of the Stomach, and was buried on July 26, 1902. She was aged 70 years, and was born in Silesia, Prussia."

Alonzo L. Sortwell, son of Justus and Elizabeth Sortwell, was born April 1, 1849. His mother had previously been married to Benjamin Taylor and following his death had married Justus Sortwell. Alonzo's half-brothers were A.J. (Uncle Jack) Taylor, W.W. Taylor of the Jack Oak neighborhood. He had two brothers, Pausade Sort well who along with others founded the Antiock Separate Baptist Church and Dr. Frank Sortwell of Joplin, MO.

Alonzo married Tabitha Catherine Adcox February 10, 1880 in Oakland, Illinois. W.C. Lacy was the minister. Tabitha was a daughter of Noah and Matilda (Goodnight) Adcox, settlers in the Egypt School neighborhood. They had come by covered wagon from Muhlenberg county, Kentucky in 1856. Other children in Noah and Matilda's family were Mary Swinford, Martha Moyer, Charlotte, Minerva and James.

Alonzo and Tabitha's fourth daughter, Iva, married John Woodall at the family residence one half mile west of Hindsboro. They became the parents of Lowell Woodall and Goldeen Woodall Temples.

Alonzo was a successful farmers and livestock breeder. After his wife's death, he purchased land in Southern Illinois and moved there.

In a clipping from The Ledger in 1877 it states: "On September 6, 1877, the Ledger was started. One of the first men to subscribe for it was A.L. Sortwell. Not only this, but Mr. Sortwell, who lived in the Jack Oak neighborhood wrote up some items being the first correspondent of the paper. Saturday we received a call from Mr. Sortwell who for the twenty-sixth time renewed his subscription." When he became ill, he returned to Oakland and died there April 21, 1914. Services were in change of Masons. Burial in Oakland Cemetery. [Article from the "150 Years of Oakland, Illinois" book; contributed by Laura J. Kelahan, Source #27]

Hon. Thos. C. MOORE.
For Many Years an Able Lawyer of Kane Co., and a Prominent Resident of Batavia.
Died at Washington D. C., July 11, ’95, aged 78 years, Sketch of His Life by a Washington Writer.

Hon. Thomas Cincinnatus MOORE was for many years a member of Kane County Bar. He died July 11, 1895. He came to Washington in 1892, to temporarily reside with his son, W. A. MOORE, with the hope that his health would be restored to him, and that he could again resume the practice of his profession at his old home, Batavia, Illinois. Advancing years operated against him, and he steadily failed in health until he succumbed to an attack of congestion of the lungs.
All old citizens of northern Illinois will best remember him as Tom MOORE, a genial, kind hearted gentleman, ever ready to help a friend or serve his party. His associations in early days were with some of the oldest and earliest citizens of Illinois.
He was born, November, 26, 1817, on Mount Emmett, near Shelbyville, Bedford county, Tennessee. The facts of his early ancestry are traditional and meager. His grandfather was a Thos. MOORE, and his grandmother a Miss Elizabeth WANHOP, and they came from the north of Ireland in the same vessel and were married in Virginia – both being of Scotch-Irish descent and strict Presbyterians. To them were born four sons and one daughter, part of whom settled in Kentucky, where their descendants now live. His father was Thos. MOORE, and his mother was Miss Cassandra CRAWFORD, who was born in South Carolina; and they were married on Jan. 18, 1810, in Georgia, to which place the grandparents had removed. To them were born five children, Robert Emmett, Amelia, Wm. Henry Harrison, Sophronia, and the subject of this sketch, who adopted the name Cincinnatus in after life.
The third Thos. MOORE, of whom we now write, married Miss Delia Ann VANDERVEER, May 23, 1843, in Vigo county, Indiana. She still survives him, and is with her only daughter, Mrs. Cassandra HICKOX, in Springfield, Illinois.
Tom MOORE had born to him six children; three died in infancy, and three still live, Wm. Arthur MOORE in this city in the service of the United States, , Mrs. HICKOX, and Joseph Raymond MOORE, who now resides in Batavia, Ill.
In 1821 he moved to Clark county, Ill., from there to Coles county, where he resided until he was twenty-one, working at farming, flat-boating and rail splitting. He was admitted to the Bar of Clark county in 1843, where he practiced three years, when he moved to Chicago and from there to Batavia in 1848, at which place he lived until he came here on a visit in 1892.
In politics he was a whig in early days, and was present and acted as the secretary of the first meeting which organized to form the Republican party. That it was the first meeting called for that purpose has been denied by those present at meetings in other states; but Tom Moore preserved the record of his meeting and stoutly maintained up to the last that it was the first.
The members of the Kane county Bar, to show their kind appreciation of his friendship, gave to him on his 70th birthday a beautiful gold-headed cane suitably inscribed, which aided him to walk in his declining in years.
The writer, way back in boyhood, remembers him as a kind, polite, dignified Christian gentleman, and is indebted to him for many civilities. All of the Kane county contingent present in Washington were at his funeral, where the services were conducted by a Grand Army Chaplain as a friend of Arthur.
Washington D.C., July 13, 1895.
[Batavia Herald, 25 July 1895 - submitted by webmaster]

John Chapman Poorman
John Chapman Poorman, grandson of Dennis Hanks, was born in Charleston, March, 1855. He learned the trade of a printer with Dunbar Brothers, propiaters of the old Charleston Plaindealer. In 1878 Mr. Poorman and Newman Said, another Charleston printer, were associated together as managers of the Morrisonville, Ill. Gazette. Mr. Poorman died in Charleston in 1882. [Charleston newspaper, submitted by Src #196]

George R. Chambers
George R. Chambers, former merchant, bank director and prominent citizen and a member of one of Charleston's oldest and best known familes. He was born in Charleston, Feb. 22, 1849. Charleston was his home all of his life and he did much towards making the beautiful Charleston as it is today. He was an active figure in the location of the Eastern Illinois State Normal school here. He has served as a member of the Charleston board of education and was a member of the county board of supervisors. His death occurred in Charleston, Sunday, March, 9, 1913. Mrs. Chambers is a resident of Charleston and her children, Thomas G. Chambers, is a resident of Chicago, and Mrs. Edgar Van Brundt, resides in North Yakima, Wa. His brother, Henri Chambers, and a sister, Mrs. Will E. Hill are residents of Charleston, while other sisters, Mrs. Belle Calvert lives in Indianapolis, and Mrs. Charles L. Ricketts is a resident of Dallas, Tx. [Charleston newspaper, submitted by Src #196]

John Hutchason, son of Louis R. and Permelia Hutchason, well known citizens of Charleston. At the time this picture was taken, Mr. Hutchason was a student at Lee's Academy at Loxa. After graduating he learned the harness making trade. He can now be found working every day at this trade at the bench in the well known shop of Albert Frommel, south side of the square. [Charleston newspaper, submitted by Src #196]

Dennis Hanks, cousin of Abraham Lincoln, and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Sarah Bush Lincoln by a former marriage, were born in Hardin Co.;, Ky. and came to Illinois from Spencer Co., In. with the Lincoln family in 1830. They finally located in Charleston in 1832. Their residence at that time was in an old log cabin situated on the southwest corner of the public square, which is now occupied by the Charleston Odd Fellows block.
Dennis Hanks was a shoemaker by trade and followed this occupation in this city until 1864 when his shop and residence was destroyed in the great fire which burned the greater part of the west side of the square. He was raised by the Lincoln family and is credited with giving the great emancipator his first lessons in reading and penmanship.
Mr. and Mrs. Hanks were the parents of eight children, two of whom are now living. They are Mrs. Harriet Chapman of Charleston, and Mrs. Amanda Poorman of Chicago. There are now living thirty-three grandchildren. Mrs. Hanks died in 1869 and Mr. Hanks in 1892 in his 93rd year. Both are buried in the old cemetery in West Madison street. [Charleston newspaper, submitted by Src #196]

James K. P. White.
James K. P. White, farmer, was born in Coles County, Ill., in 1845. the son of Thomas J. and Amy (Jones) White. The father, of Irish descent, was born in 1807, in Baron County, Ky. Soon after he married, in 1828, he went to Coles County. Ill., where he lived until 1858, after which he located in Beaver Creek Township, Hamilton County. The mother, born in Jackson County, Tenn., November 7, 1808, died in Coles County, in 1851. In 1853 he married Amy Canteberry, born in Kentucky in 1818. She died in 1881, since when he has lived with his children. He is one of the oldest men in the county, and a courteous gentleman. Our subject, the eighth of nine children, was thirteen when be came to this county, and left home in August, 1862, to enlist in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-first Illinois Infantry for three years or for the war. He was made corporal, and fought at Arkansas Post, Blakely, Spanish Fort, Vicksburg and many skirmishes. November 6, 1865, he was honorably discharged at Hamstead, Tex. April 22, 1866, he married Sarah J. Springer, born in Hamilton County, March 15, 1848. Albert M., Tabitha A. (deceased), John M., Mary E., Sarah J., Lora D., Maudie M. and James W. are their children. He began with eighty acres after his marriage and now has 279 acres slowly acquired. In 1882 he erected an $800 two-story dwelling. Politically he is a Democrat, first voting for McClellan. April 5, 1886, he was made highway commissioner and re-elected in 1887. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church.
["History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin, and Williamson Counties, Illinois : from the earliest time to the present, together with sundry and interesting biographical sketches, notes, reminiscences, etc., etc." Evansville, Ind.: Unigraphic, 1887; Transcribed and Contributed to Genealogy Trails by Barb Z.]

C. B. Wysong
C. B. Wysong, living on section 22, Clayton township (Taylor County, Iowa) is one of the thrifty and prosperous farmers and stock raisers of Clayton township. His home is situated about four and a half miles east of Bedford and his energies are concentrated upon the cultivation and development of a tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres. Few residents of the county can claim a longer connection with its interests, for Mr. Wysong arrived here in 1855. He had previously lived in Monroe county, Iowa, for two years, having been brought by his parents to this state in 1853, when but two years old. His birth occurred in Coles county, Illinois, January 4, 1851, his parents being William and Eliza (Webb) Wysong, natives of Floyd county, Virginia, and of Kentucky, respectively. The father was reared in the place of his nativity and then removed westward to Putnam county, Indiana, where he married Miss Webb. He afterward took up his abode in Coles county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming for four years, and on his arrival in Iowa in 1853 he established his home in Monroe county, where he lived until 1855, when he came to Taylor county. Here he preempted land—a tract of virgin prairie—on which he turned the first furrow. After the breaking plow came the planting and in due course of time harvests were gathered. Year by year he carefully tilled the fields until his property was transformed into a valuable and productive farm. Upon this place he reared his family and spent his last years, making the farm his home for forty years and two days, or until the time of his death, which occurred in September. 1895. He survived his wife for two years, her death occurring in December, 1893.

C. B. Wysong was brought to Taylor county by his parents when in his fifth year and was here reared, remaining with his father until he attained the age of twenty-two. He then completed his arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage on the 1st of January, 1873 to Miss Amy J. Marshall, who was born in Fulton county. Illinois, and there spent her girlhood days. After their marriage they took up their abode on a farm in Benton township, Mr. Wysong renting land for two years, during which time he carefully saved his earnings so that he was then enabled to purchase eighty acres of the farm upon which he now makes his home. He broke the land, planted his crops, built a house and has caried on the work of general improvement to the present time, the excellent results of his labors being manifested in the attractive appearance of the place. He has also made other investments in property and now has one hundred and sixty acres in the home farm. In the midst of well tilled fields stands an attractive residence and large barn, while an orchard yields its fruits in season and shade and ornamental trees add to the attractive appearance of the place. In addition to this property Mr. Wysong also has an adjoining tract of land of forty acres. He annually gathers good crops which he rotates that the soil may be kept in rich condition, and in addition he raises the cereals adapted to soil and climate and likewise raises high grade short horned cattle and good horses and hogs, annually fattening a large number of hogs for the market. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wysong have been born two children: Frank E., who is married and resides in Bedford; and Harry Elmer, who met death by accident July 24, 1905, when twenty-six years of age. He left a son, Charles Glen Wysong, who is now living with his grandparents. In his political views Mr. Wysong is a republican but though he always supports the party at the polls he has never sought nor desired office for himself. He was reared in the faith of the Christian church and his wife is a member of that denomination. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge at Bedford, in which he has filled all of the chairs and is a past grand. He has also attended the grand lodge of the state and both he and his wife are connected with the Rebekah Lodge. Mr. Wysong is also a member of the encampment and a patriarch and is in thorough sympathy with the beneficent spirit of the order. He is well known in Bedford and Taylor county as a prosperous farmer and good business man and merits and enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fellowmen. He has lived to see remarkable changes in the county where he has now made his home for more than a half century. With the family he shared in the hardships and privations of pioneer life, assisted in the arduous task of developing new farms and as the years have gone by has done splendid work in business lines, attaining success which placed him with the substantial agriculturists of the county.
(History of Taylor County, Iowa : from the earliest historic times to 1910 " by Frank E. Crosson; Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1910; sub. by K.T.)

William B. Rodgers has been identified with the legal profession in Montana since 1891. He is not a native of the state, but was born in Coles county, Illinois, the son of John White and Margaret Elizabeth (Gillenwaters) Rodgers, both natives of the state of Illinois. The father was born in Morgan county, Illinois, in 1831, but soon removed with his parents to Coles county, where he passed the remainder of his life. He died in 1883, at the age of fifty-two, his widow passing away in the following year, in the forty-ninth year of her life. They became the parents of five children, of which number William B. of this review was the third born. Two brothers of Mr. Rodgers are in Montana. Hiram W. is a lawyer and is associated with William B. in the law business, under the firm name of Rodgers & Rodgers. Henry G., also an attorney, resides at Dillon, Montana.
The early education of Mr. Rodgers was received in the public schools of Coles county, but at an early age he determined to obtain a college education and entered upon his studies at Lincoln University, Illinois. To obtain sufficient funds for this purpose he alternately taught school and attended college. Later he entered Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1891. Shortly after his graduation, Mr. Rodgers came to Montana, locating first in Philipsburg, where he began the practice of law. His stay in Philipsburg was brief, lasting something more than one year, when he was elected county attorney of Deer Lodge county. He moved to Deer Lodge and remained there about five years, carrying on the practice of his profession in a private way in conjunction with his duties as a county official. In 1897 Mr. Rodgers removed to Anaconda, and after a year in that place he was appointed United States district attorney by President McKinley, which brought about his removal to Helena. He acted four years in that capacity, and in 1902 he returned to Anaconda, which has represented the scene of his principal activities since that time. He has represented his district in the state legislature, in addition to filling the offices previously mentioned, and while acting as representative he was appointed to serve on practically all of the important committees. Upon his retirement from the office of United States district attorney, he ceased to actively participate in politics and since that time he neither desired nor sought public office, although at all times he has taken a deep interest in the public welfare. He has been a Republican in politics, and an ardent believer in the principles and policies of that party. He takes great interest in his profession, at one time being president of the Montana State Bar Association, and a large and constantly growing business requires all of his attention. For three years he has been and is now vice-president for Montana of the American Bar Association.
Mr. Rodgers, as a member of the Masonio fraternity, affiliates with the blue lodge and chapter, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias as well. He is a member of the Silver Bow Club of Butte, the Lambs Club of Helena and the Anaconda Club at Anaconda. He is the owner of one of the finest and largest private libraries in the state, aside from his professional library, which, in view of his fondness and that of his wife and daughters for good literature, is an especial pleasure to him.
On June 17, 1896, Mr. Rodgers was married to Alice Jeannette Knowles, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Knowles, of Petersburg, Illinois, where the marriage took place. They have one child, Margaret Elizabeth, who is attending school. Mrs. Rodgers is a member of the Presbyterian church in which she takes an active interest, and shares in all the labors of that organization. She is a woman of wide culture, devoted to her home and deeply interested in Mr. Rodger's success, to which she has contributed in a large measure.
[History of Montana, Volume 3, transcribed by C. Danielson]