Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 535-536; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Charles W. Mummey is the leading hardware merchant and
agricultural implement dealer of Farmington. He is a man of
talent, of wide experience, and stands high in the financial circles of
the county. He is a native of Ohio, born in McConnellsville,
Morgan County, January 19, 1840. In him is mingled the blood of
many nationalities – English, Welsh, French and Dutch – and he can
trace his ancestry back for a period of more than one hundred and fifty
years, he being a representative of one of the earliest Colonial
families of America, whose members were identified with the early
American wars.
The paternal great-grandfather of our subject, Christopher
Mummey, was born in Maryland, and he served in the War of the
Revolution. After peace was declared he continued in the employ
of the Government until 1800 as an Indian soldier and scout, and was a
celebrated frontiersman. He was with St. Clair at the defeat of
the Americans, and took part in several of the Indian skirmishes.
He rounded out a life of eighty years. His son, John, grandfather
of our subject, lived in Brook County, Va., till his death, when about
eighty years old. The grandmother of our subject was a
Hammond. The Hammonds were of English descent; there are relics
such as silver buckles, buttons, etc., that their forefathers brought
from England, which are still in possession of the family.
The parents of our subject, David and Sarah A. (Smith) Mummey,
were natives respectively of Wellsburg, Brook County, Va., and Morgan
County, Ohio. His father was an early settler of Morgan County,
and was a pioneer in the dry goods business there, conducting an
extensive trade at McConnellsville. He subsequently removed to
Kansas and died in his new home in Milton, Summer County, in 1885, at
the age f sixty-seven years. He was twice married; his first
wife, the mother of our subject, died at McConnellsville in 1847,
leaving two children, Charles W., and William H. By his second
marriage he had the following children: Fletcher, Homer, Harry,
Fred, Lida, Addie, Ruth, Fannie, Lulu and Nellie. The father was
a prominent man in politics, affiliating with the Whigs and was once a
candidate of that party for Legislature.
Charles Memmey’s early life was passed amid the scenes of his
birth and he acquired a good knowledge of business in his youth by
working in his father’s store. His father handled great
quantities of produce, which he sent away on flatboats, and as a boy
Charles managed one of these boats. In 1864 he commenced as a
pilot on the Ohio River, and was engaged in carrying supplies, cannon
shot, shell, etc., for the Government, and also transported mules and
soldiers by the thousands to the Union armies in the South. He
continued as pilot till 1868, his run being between Pittsburg and
Cincinnati. He finished a course of study at the McConnellsville
graded schools and at the High School in his youth, and laid a solid
foundation for his career as a business man.
In the year 1871 Mr. Mummey removed with his family to Peoria,
where he entered the employ of Sloan, Johnson & Co., of that city,
as a merchantile traveler, remaining with them in that capacity seven
years. In 1878 he went to Sumner County, Kan., and there
purchased five hundred and sixty acres of land. He improved three
hundred and twenty acres of it, and besides sold goods, took charge of
a post-office and loaned money to the people of Sumner County, Kan.,
conducting these various operations with excellent success. He
sold out his interests in Kansas in 1885, and came back to Illinois and
engaged in the hardware business. In 1880 he entered into the
employ of Charles J. Off, of Peoria, as a commercial agent, and
traveled on the road till 1885. He has been very prosperous as a
hardware merchant, and in the sale of agricultural implements, buggies
and carriages, he had built up a large trade.
January 18, 1862, was the date of the marriage of Mr. Mummey,
with Miss Sarah A., daughter of Simpkin H. and Jane (Graham)
Brown. Her father and mother were both born near New Athens,
Harrison County, Ohio, and were farmers. Mrs. Mummey is the
fourth of a family of seven children. She was well educated at
Unionville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Mummey have a large and
interesting family circle, as they have had ten children, namely:
Mary V., Annie F., William H., Charles B., Fred (who died at the age of
two years), F. M., A. V., Alice, Edith, and Harry. Miss Mary is
living in Peoria. The others are at home.
Mr. Mummey is a man of fine presence, whose many pleasant social
qualities make him a favorite. He is a prominent in fraternity
circles as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in
politics is a stanch Republican.
