Toler, Dr Benjamin C. I bio

Dr. Benjamin C. Toler obit - on GT Schuyler County, Illinois
Dr. Benjamin C. Toler funeral card - on GT Schuyler County, Illinois

History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 463, Astoria Township, picture
B. C. Toler, physician and surgeon, was born in the Old Dominion State in 1829, and while quite young his parents, T. U. and Mary C. Toler, settled in Kentucky, where young Benjamin passed his boyhood. During his youth he studied medicine with Dr. W. T. Toler, and elder brother, who is now associated with him in his business. In 1848 he moved to Mason Co., where he again took up the study of medicine, and eventually graduated form the medical department of the University of Iowa, situated at Keokuk. Since then he has directed all the energies of his nature to his practice, and has been eminently successful. In 1857 he located at Astoria, where he has since resided and succeeded in building up a reputation as a physician unexcelled in the county. In 1858 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. McLaren, daughter of Peter McLaren, one of the pioneers of Fulton Co. They have 8 children, - Emma E., Sarah C., George, Chas. W., Thomas W., Luella, Nellie and Fannie R.
submitted by Carla Finley

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 455-457; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Benjamin C. Toler, M. D. The calling of a physician is not only one of the most arduous, but one of the most responsible pursuits in which man can engage, and he who attains a high reputation in this profession must necessarily be endowed with physical endurance, keen intelligence and excellent judgment. The subject of this sketch is one whose extensive practice and high standing in professional circles prove conclusively his mental and physical endowments, his careful culture, his painstaking efforts to continually add to his theoretical knowledge and practical skill. As a private citizen he is highly esteemed for his public spirit, personal example, and interest in all that is beneficial to the members of the community and the county at large.
Dr. Toler is of remote English ancestry, his forefathers having been numbered among the early Virginia colonists. His grandfathers, William Toler and William Hunton, served in the Revolutionary Army under Gen. Washington, and the former was a planter of abundant means. His son, Thomas U., received a first-class education, began teaching when quite young, and at one time occupied a Chair at Bethany College. In 1832 he removed to Kentucky with his wife and two children, making the entire journey with teams, crossing the mountains and location in Winchester, Clarke County. There he established a select school, pursuing his pedagogical labors until 1846, when he came to Illinois. He bought a tract of land in Mason County, and turned his attention to farming, but in 1852, on account of failing health, he sold and removed to Texas. Settling in Tarrant County he followed civil engineering for a time, until elected Circuit Clerk, which office he held about seven years. His death took place in 1865.
The wife of Thomas N. {U.} Toler was Mary Catherine Hunton, like himself a native of the Old Dominion, and possessed of sterling traits of character, the housewifely skill and hospitable spirit which animate all Virginia's daughters. She, too breathed her last in Tarrant County, Tex., in 1860. She and her husband were the parents of seven children, named respectively, William T., Benjamin C., Thomas H., Addison E., Mathew Henry, Mary C., and Sarah C.
Dr. Toler was born October 2, 1829, near Richmond, Va., and was three years old when the removal to the Blue Grass State took place. He received his education, embracing both the classical and scientific course of study, and being thoroughly drilled in the various branches which he undertook. When twenty years old he taught a term of school in Mason County, this State, after which he began the study of medicine with Dr. O'Neal, of Bath. The gold fever had broken out about this time, and the young student determined to visit the Eldorado toward which so many were hastening, and which to numbers proved but the grave of their hopes.
In 1851, therefore, young Toler formed one of a party who, with ox-teams, set out from Mason County, on the 9th of April, performed the tedious journey overland, crossing the Missouri River at the present site Nebraska City, which was then occupied by Ft. Kearney, and arrived at the Truckee River on the 9th of August. When they crossed the plains, there was not a white settler in Nebraska or Kansas, over which deer, antelope and buffalo roamed at will, the latter in great numbers. Arriving at the Truckee River, the party disbanded, and our subject in company with Thomas Athey started on foot for Downieville, eighty miles distant. They reached that place on the 13th, their joint capital on arriving being ten cents. They at once secured employment in mining at $6 per day and board, remaining at that point until the first of December. Mr. Toler then went to the Yuba River, near Foster's Bar, where he continued his mining operations during the greater part of five years, after which he was in the mercantile business until 1857. During all this time he practiced the profession of which he had acquired some knowledge, but charge nothing for his services, as medicine was then a secondary matter with him.
In 1857 Dr. Toler returned to the States via the Isthmus, landing in Texas, and spending some time with his parents, after which he came to this county, and resumed the study of medicine with his brother, William T., a well-known and highly reputed physician, whose recent death was a personal loss to a large circle of friends. After a few months our subject repaired to Keokuk, Iowa, where he devoted himself assiduously to the lectures at the medical college from which he was graduated the following spring. He began the practice of his profession in Astoria, which has since been his home, and is the center of a wide and successful business. He is a member of the State Medical Society, the Military Tract Medical Society, and of Astoria Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M.
Dr. Toler won as his companion in life, Miss Mary E. McLaren, a native of Woodland Township, and daughter of Peter and Lucinda (Saffer) McLaren, of whom further mention is made in the sketch of R. F. McLaren, on another page in this volume. Mrs. Toler is a quiet, unassuming lady, whose chief aim in life is to discharge well her duties as wife and mother, although ready at all times to bear such a part in the social affairs of the place as are consistent with her prime duties. She became the wife of our subject in 1858, and the union has been blest by the birth of nine children--Emma, Sarah C., George, Charles W., Thomas W., Lucinda, Nellie, Maude and Benjamin C. Emma is now the wife of Dr. A. J. Baxter, and Sarah is the wife of George Darling, of Rock Springs, Wyo., George married Mittie Gilbert, a young lady whose sweet voice has frequently charmed Astoria's citizens and visitors.
Doctor and Mrs. Toler belong to the Christian Church, in whose present prosperity the Doctor has been a most important factor. His political adherence is given to the Democratic party. He is a strict prohibitionist in principle.