ANTHONY THORNTON
JUDGE ANTHONY THORNTON was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, on the ninth of November, 1814. He is descended from an English family. His great-great-grandfather emigrated from England to Virginia. In Carolina county of the Old Dominion, members of
the family lived for two or three generations. His father, Anthony Thornton, was born in that county, was raised there, and married Mary Towles, a native of the same county, and also connected with an old Virginia family. In the year 1807, Judge Thornton'
s father and grandfather removed from Virginia to Kentucky. The colony, including the members of the family and the negro servants, numbered in all ninety-nine persons. On their arrival in Kentucky, they settled in Bourbon county, where his parents reside
d till their death.
The early years of Judge Thornton's life were spent in his native county. He first attended the common-schools. At the age of fourteen or fifteen he was sent to a high school at Gallatin, Tennessee, where he remained two years. He then entered Centre Coll
ege at Danville, Kentucky, and subsequently became a student in Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, from which he graduated in the fall of 1834. He studied law, at Paris, Kentucky, in the office of an uncle, John R. Thornton, and was licensed to practice by
the Kentucky Court of Appeals before he was twenty-two. In October, 1836, he passed through Illinois, on his way to Missouri; he intended to make his home in the latter state. Stopping at Shelbyville, to visit some relatives, he concluded to give up his
project of settling in Missouri and establish himself in the practice of law at Shelbyville. In November, 1836, he opened an office. He was favored with success from the very start, and during the first year had as much business as he cared to attend to i
n the courts of Shelby and Moultrie counties. In those days all the lawyers of any prominence traveled twice a year over the circuit. A company of ten or fifteen generally made the round together, and their social habits commonly made the journey far from
an unpleasant one. Law-books were scarce; only a few text-books were in existence, and the reports were meagre in comparison with the great numbers which now crowd the shelves of every legal library. The young lawyer was in consequence compelled to thoro
ughly understand the principles of law and adapt his facts to them, a training which produced able and ready lawyers. Judge Thornton's progress was rapid. He soon obtained a high standing at the bar, and was usually retained in all cases of importance. He
practiced by himself till 1838. He resided at Shelbyville till November, l871, when he became a resident of Decatur. He is now a member of the law-firm of Thornton, Eldridge & Hostetler, at Decatur.
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1848, which formed the second constitution of the State of Illinois. In 1850 he was elected a member of the Sixteenth General Assembly. At that time the questions connected with the building of railroads
throught the state assumed great importance, and Judge Thornton, though a whig, was sent to the legislature from a democratic district, as a warm friend of the railroads, and in favor of the state granting the lands given by the general government to bui
ld the Illinois Central Railroad to private individuals who should undertake the construction of the road, instead of the state itself. In 1862 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention which held its sessions in the winter of 1862-3. Durin
g the rebellion he occupied the position of a war-democrat, and in various speeches sustained the government in its efforts to break down the
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rebellion and preserve the Union. In the autumn of 1864 he was elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and took his seat in March, 1865, just as the war was being brought to a close. He was appointed a member of the committee on claims, and performed much a
rduous labor, the committee being obliged to report on a vast number of claims presented immediately after the close of the war. He was renominated, but, though his election would have been beyond question, he declined becoming a candidate, preferring to
practice his profession. He served on the supreme bench of Illinois from July, 1870, to June, 1873. During that period the supreme court had before it an immense amount of business, which required uninterrupted and laborious attention. Litigation was then
at its height. The dockets were enormously large, and the position of supreme judge involved an immense amount of continuous labor. He resigned to resume his practice.
It is scarcely necessary to speak of Judge Thornton's characteristics as a lawyer, for his name has long been familiar to the bar of this state. His great industry has made him thoroughly acquainted with the learning of the law, and his natural abilities
long since gave him a commanding position in his profession. A strong liking for legal work, and especially for the trial of a case in court, has made the practice of the law, to him, a pleasant and congenial occupation. He has great strength as an advoca
te. While on the supreme bench, he was regarded as one of its ablest members. He was first married, in 1850, to Mildred Thornton, who died in 1856. His marriage to Kate Smith, of Shelby county, occurred in 1866. He has had four children, of whom three are
living.
COL. DUDLEY C. SMITH.
THE subject of the following sketch, is a native of Shelbyville, Shelby county, Illinois. He was born December 9th, 1833. His father, Addison Smith, was a native of Bethel, Vermont. He was born in 1784, and was a lawyer by profession, of liberal ed
ucation, and a graduate of Burlington University, Vermont. While yet a young man he went west, and stopped at Dayton, Ohio, where he published a newspaper during the last years of the war of 1812. He removed from there to Bloomington, Indiana, where he pr
acticed his profession and held a number of local offices. In 1832 he came to Illinois, and settled in Shelbyville, and engaged in teaching school and subsequently farming and teaching. Here he remained until his death, which occurred in January, 1846. He
married Miss Nancy F. Hicks, of Hopkinsville, Ky, in 1819, while a resident of Bloomington, Indiana. She died in Shelbyville in 1855. By this marriage there were ten children, six of whom are living. Dudley C. Smith remained at home beneath the parental
roof, attending the public schools, until his eighteenth year, when he entered Jubilee College in Peoria county, Illinois, where he remained one year. On the death of J. A. Dexter, his brother-in-law, he was called home from school, and went into the stor
e of Dexter & Roundy as clerk. One year later he entered into co-partnership in the firm of J. Roundy & Co. He remained in active business until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the first call for three-months volunteers. On the 25th of Ma
y, 1861, before the expiration of his term of service, he re-enlisted for three years in Co. "B" of the 14th Regiment Ill., Vols. On the organization of the company he was elected First Lieutenant. Four months later, while the regiment was at Jefferson Ci
ty, Missouri, he was elected captain of Co. B., Captain Hall being promoted. Captain Smith participated with his command, in all the battles and skirmishes in which it was engaged, until the battle of Pittsburg Landing, when he was severely wounded in the
thigh. He was brought to St Louis, and soon after to Shelbyville, and remained at home for three months and then returned to his regiment; rejoining it near Holly Springs, remaining with the regiment until March, 1863, when his partner, Mr. Lufkin, died.
He returned home on a twenty days furlough and made arrangements, as he supposed, to have his business continued in his absence. He returned to his command, but his arrangements at home miscarrying, he resigned in July following and returned, took charge
of his business and remained here, until the spring of l864, when he was solicited to take the command of a regiment of men, recruited for the one hundred days service, then rendezvousing at Mattoon, Illinois. He accepted the position, and his regiment w
as ordered to Memphis, where they did duty for some time, and from there ordered to Helena, Arkansas. From here, at the expiration of the term of service, the regiment returned to Mattoon, and was mustered out in October, 1864. He returned to Shelbyville,
re-engaged in business, and continued until 1867, when he took a trip to Califorina and spent six months on the Pacific coast. In the spring of 1869, he went to Europe and spent some time. In 1871 he removed to Bloomington, Illinois, and from there to No
rmal, Illinois, where he still continues to reside. Politically, Colonel Smith is a Republican. His first Presidential vote was cast for the Whig candidate, in 1856, but in all subsequent elections he has voted the Republican ticket.
B. P. DEARING.
AMONG the young and active business men of Shelbyville, who have made for themselves an honorable name, may be mentioned Mr. Dearing. He is a native of Maine, and was born February 21, 1848. His ancestors were among the first settlers of that state
. On the paternal side, the family is of Scotch descent. They were engaged in agricultural pursuits. The subject of this sketch was raised on a farm; he received a fair English education in the public-schools of his native state. When he was in his sixtee
nth year he commenced the tailor's trade, in the town of Brunswick. In September, 1865, he came to Shelbyville, Illinois, and stopped with his brother, who had preceded him here a few months before. The latter was engaged in the merchant tailoring busines
s, and B. P. entered his shop and continued his trade. He remained with his brother for four years, then went to Vandalia, in Fayette county, Illinois, where he was engaged for one year and a half, as cutter. After the expiration of that time, he returne
d to Shelbyille, and purchased the stock of goods of his brother, and commenced business for himself. He added largely to the stock, from time to time, and has continued his additions until he has now a large assortment of well-selected goods in every dep
artment of merchant tailoring and gents' furnishing lines. On the 25th of July, 1877, he was united in marriage, to Miss Ada, daughter of Samuel French, an old settler and prominent citizen of Shelby county. Mrs. Dearing was born in this county. By this
marriage there have been two children born to them, a son and a daughter. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, a beneficiary and insurance order. Politically, he is a member of the Republican
party. Mr. Dearing started his business unaided; his only capital was his knowledge of the trade, business integrity and a determination to succeed and earn for himself a comfortable competency. That he has succeeded is due to his close attention and per
sonal supervision of his business. He is progressive, and keeps fully posted in the different and many changes in the trade, and is always prepared to give the public the latest designs in the world of fashion. In his character as a man and citizen he is
above reproach.
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W. A. COCHRAN
THE Cochran family may be regarded as among the pioneer families of Shelby county. On both the paternal and maternal sides they are of Irish ancestry. Several generations back they belonged to a sea-faring family; the great-grandfather was born on
board a vessel of which his father was commander. They came to America and settled in the colonies prior to the Revolutionary war. John Cochran, the grandfather of the subject of the present sketch, was born in North Carolina, and was a soldier of the Rev
olution. He was in the irregular service, and for the greater portion of the time under Gen. Francis Marion, and with that gallant, dashing and patriotic leader, participated in the many engagements and skirmishes he had with the British forces. He was fo
r a short time in the regular service, and was present and took part in the battle of the Cowpens, Kings Mountain, Eutaw Springs and Hanging Rock; at the latter battle he was severely wounded in the leg. After Independence was declared he removed to Kentu
cky and remained there until 1824, when he emigrated with his family to Illinois, and settled in Shelby county, at a point then and for many years after known as "Cochran's Grove," now Ash Grove township. There the old veteran and pioneer remained until h
is death, which occurred in January, 1853, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. He married Martha McCaslin, who was of Irish parentage, but a native of North Carolina. By this union there were five children that reached the age of maturity and had famihe
s, viz.: John, Rachel, Jane, Martha and James Cochran. The daughters married three brothers, named William, John and Daniel Price. The latter was a prominent man in the early history of Shelby county. He was one of the first commissioners after the county
was organized; he also was captain of a company in the Black Hawk War. The Price family removed from Kentucky to Shelby county, Illinois, in 1825. They are also among the pioneers of the county.
James Cochran, the father of William A., is the youngest of the family and the only surviving child of John and Martha Cochran. He was born in Caldwell county, Kentucky, April 8, 1813. When the family came to Illinois he was but eleven years of age. When
he grew to manhood he married Miss Nancy Templeton. She was born in Iredell county, North Carolina, her parents removed to Rutherford county, Tennessee, and settled on the place where was fought in after years the battle of Stone River. They remained ther
e until 1825, when they came to Shelby county, Illinois. The marriage took place July 29, 1829. By this union there were four sons who reached the age of maturity. Their names are: William A., John T., who died in 1859, James H., and George R. Cochran. Th
e subject of this sketch is the eldest son. He was born in Cochran's Grove, June 23d, 1831, on the farm where his father, mother and brothers still live, and where John Cochran, his grandfather, settled in 1824, more than a half-century ago. He was brough
t up on a farm, and attended the subscription school, where he received the rudiments of a common-school education. In the rude pioneer school-houses, built from rough unhewn logs, with dirt floors, wooden benches for seats, and greased paper for windows,
he poured over Dilworth's Speller and tried to master the complex and vulgar fractions of Pike's and Smiley's arithmatic. When he had mastered their contents, and feeling the necessity of a more extensive and varied education, he went to Charleston, in C
oles county, and there entered the high school; he continued a pupil for eighteen months, then returned home, and in 1852, in
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connection with Mr. Cantrill, started the "Shelbyville Banner."
In the winter of 1852-53 he taught school. On the 15th of March, 1835, he started for California by the overland route in company with a family by the name of Davis. They reached Santa Clare, California, Sept. 10, of the same year. Mr. Cochran's first wor
k in Califorinia was hauling rails from the mountains; but the business and manner in which he conducted it not proving satisfactory to his employers, he was put to digging potatoes. He afterwards undertook to raise a crop of his own, but that proving a f
ailure, he went to Santa Clare county, and engaged to work on a new mill that James Lick, the California millionaire, was then building; he remained there during the summer, and in the winter taught school, which was among the first ever taught in that va
lley. In the spring of 1855 he went to the mines in Coloma, and worked at Gold Hill a short time for his consins, sons of Daniel Price. From there he went to Placerville, and from thence to Ranaka Bar, on the American river, and started a mining enterpris
e, and soon got his ankle dislocated, and spent some time in trying to effect a cure, but failing, he then went home by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New York, landing here in April, 1856. The following winter he engaged as a clerk in Kellar's store, i
n Windsor. A few months later he formed a partnership with John P. Templeton in the dry goods business, and continued thus until 1864, when he was elected circuit clerk of Shelby county, and he removed to Shelbyville. On the 13th of October, 1858, he was
united in marriage to Miss Josephine M., daughter of John Garis, of Valparaiso, Indiana. One child, a son, was born to them; he died in his second year. Both Mr. Cochran and his estimable wife are members of the Unitarian church; he is also a respected me
mber of the ancient and honorable order of Free Masons, and a member also of the chapter and council of Royal and Select Masters, and a member of the I. O. O. F. and Encampment.
Politically, Mr. Cochran has been a life-long Democrat. His first presidential vote was cast for Franklin Pierce in 1852, and from that time to the present he has been a true and faithful adherent of that political organization. Few men in Shelby county h
ave been more faithful or done more to insure the success of the party than Mr. Cochran. He is in full communion and fellowship with his party, and has from his boyhood and his maturer years steadily followed its varied fortunes through all the stirring c
ampaigns it has passed. He has seen its glorious banner borne proudly aloft at the head of its conquering legions and receive the joyous huzzas of a free and happy people. With strong heart and undismayed, he has seen it trailed and laid low in defeat; bu
t there remains with him that imperishable truth and conviction, that in its every crease and fold is written in letters of living light, Constitutional and civil Liberty; and it must be unfurled and float in the bright sunshine of freedom if these
great principles are to be preserved and maintained and the Republic perpetuated. His activity and labor in behalf of his party were not confined to the county, but were co-extensive with the state. He was for six years a member of the state central comm
ittee, and for two years chairman of the executive committee. For a long number of years he was chairman of the county central committee. In 1864, as above stated, he was elected circuit clerk, and re-elected three successive times. He retired from the of
fice December 1, 1880, sixteen years in office, and in all these years no stain, blemish or unofficial act rests upon his private or public life. That he has served his constituents honestly and faithfully is attested by his frequent elections and long oc
cupancy of the office. As a public servant, he was kind, affable and accomodating, of pleasant manner and most genial disposition. In 1875 he commenced the compilation of a set of Abstract Records, and after their completion formed a partnership with J. W
illiam Lloyd, and together they do a general abstracting business.
At the October term of the circuit court in 1878, he was appointed master in chancery, a position he still holds.
KLEEMAN & GOLDSTIEN.
AMONG the prominent foreign-born citizens of Shelbyville may be mentioned Messrs. Kleeman & Goldstien. The senior partner, Max Kleeman, is a native of Werneck, Bavaria; he was born August 10, 1837. In his youth he received a good education in the e
xcellent schools of Germany; he served an apprenticeship, three and a half years, to the trade of weaving fringes, ribbons and making tassels; at the expiration of that time he emigrated to America, landing in New York in 1853. He went direct to Columbus
Ohio, and remained there three years, and from there to Des Moines, Iowa, where he continued two and a half years, and from there to Cincinnati. On the 15th of July, 1859, he came to Shelbyville and opened up a stock of clothing; he remained alone in the
business until 1862, when he formed a partnership with William Goldstien; they added dry-goods, boots and shoes to their stock, and together they have continued the business to the present. On the 24th of February, 1861, Mr. Kleeman was united in marriage
to Miss Rosa Reiter, a resident of Cincinnati; four children are the fruits of this marriage -- three sons and one daughter. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M., and of the chapter of R. A. M. and council of R. and S M. Politically, he is a democrat.
William Goldstien is a native of Obbach, Germany; he was born April 1, 1840 ; he is the fourth of a family of nine children. He was liberally educated in the best schools of his native country, In his sixteenth year he left Germany and came to America, ar
riving here in 1856; he located in Columbus, Ohio, and remained there three years, then went to Des Moines, Iowa; one year later returned to Columbus, and in 1860 came to Shelbyville; six months later he went to Cincinnati, and remained there until 1862,
when he returned to Shelbyville and formed a partnership with Max Kleeman, in the dry-goods, clothing, boot and shoe business, and together they have continued merchandizing to the present. On the 3d of September, 1865, he married Miss M. Reiter, of Cinci
nnati; by the union there are two children named Ebbie and Edith Goldstien. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. Politically, he votes the Republican ticket.
The business firm of Kleeman & Goldstien has existed longer without change than any other business house in Shelbyville. Both were, comparatively, young men when they came to the town, and here both made their first business venture in life. They laid the
foundation of their success by learning early to cater to the good taste and best judgment of their friends and patrons, by selecting and keeping in stock the best class of goods, selling them at a reasonable profit, rather than carry an inferior stock a
nd striving to sell at low figures. By adopting this rule they have retained their patrons from year to year, who have learned to know and regard them as reliable and honorable merchants; honorable and fair-dealing brings its own reward, and in the case o
f Messrs. Kleeman & Goldstien it has reacted in constantly increasing patronage and sales, which, during the year just passed, reached the large figure of one hundred thousand dollars. They are both active and enterprising citizens, and contribute liberal
ly to all worthy objects.
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WILLIAM W. HESS
THE ancestors of the Hess family were originally German. They settled in America prior to the revolutionary war. John Moses Hess, the great-grandfather of W. W., was a soldier under Washington, and acted the part of a soldier in that memorable stru
ggle. When a young man, sometime after the family emigrated and settled in America, he settled in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. In the year 1800, Moses Hess, grandfather of William W., removed to the territory of Ohio and settled near Franklinton, then th
e capital of the State, now the city of Columbus. He married Mary Eve Hensel. By this marriage there was a large family, but one of whom survives. Daniel Hess, father of Judge Hess, was born in Bedford county, Penn., in 1782. He accompanied his father to
Ohio, and remained a resident of Franklin county until his death, which occurred in 1862. He was a farmer, and followed that occupation through life. He married Sarah Gordon. She was born in Maryland in 1801, and was of English parentage. Her parents remo
ved to Franklinton, Ohio, while she was yet in her infancy. Both the Hess and Gordon families were among the first permanent settlers of Ohio. Daniel Hess, the father, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and in proof of his services received a land warrant
for assisting in defence of his country. He belonged to the army operating between the boundaries of the United States and Canadas. There was born to Daniel and Sarah Hess ten children, seven of whom are yet living -- four sons and three daughters. The su
bject of this sketch is the sixth in the family. He was born in Franklin county, Ohio, January 10, 1837. His youth was passed at work upon the farm and in the district schools of his neighborhood until his seventeenth year, when he entered Dennison Univer
sity at Granville, in Licking county, where he remained one year. He then returned home and engaged as a clerk in John Stone's store, in Columbus for one year, after which he returned to the University and entered upon and completed the scientific course.
He then determined to adopt the law as the profession of his life, and with this object in view he commenced the study in the office of Swayne & Baber, of Columbus, Ohio. After making suitable progress through the usual course, he entered the Law School
at Cincinnati, and completed his studies, and graduated therefrom, in 1858, upon which he was admitted to the practice in the courts of Ohio. he returned to Columbus and formed a law partnership with Hon. B. F. Martin, which continued until the breaking o
ut of the war of the rebellion, when Mr. Martin received a Federal appointment. Mr. Hess continued in the practice, in Columbus, until 1866, when he came to Shelbyville, Illinois. Here he resumed the practice, in connection with L. B. Stephenson. They pra
cticed together in the circuit and State courts until 1872, when Mr. Hess formed a law partnership with Hon. William Chew, which continued until 1876, or until the former was elected County Judge. In 1874 he was appointed Master in Chancery by Hon. H. M.
Vandeveer, Judge of the 17th Judicial District. Judge Hess is a good lawyer, and discharges his duties well. He is painstaking, studious, and methodical, a good pleader, and zealous in the cause of his clients. He says, "that any lawyer is first class who
does what he has to do in a first-class way, be it much or little;" his ability as a lawyer, and his worth as a man and citizen, received honorable recognition in 1876, by being nominated and elected for the full term. In the discharge of the duties of h
is office he has given unqualified
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satisfaction, and has justified the wisdom of those who honored him with their suffrages. Politically, he has been a lifelong democrat; he cast his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas, and has voted the democratic ticket ever since; he is zealo
us and active, and one of the recognized leaders of his party. During the last political campaign he was chairman of the county central committee of the stalwart democratic county of Shelby, and much of the success achieved in that campaign, in the county
of his residence, was due to his labor and untiring industry in the thorough organization of his party. On the 3d of December, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss I. W. Harnett, daughter of Dr. J. M. Harnett, an old settler and prominent citizen of S
helby county, Ills. By this marriage there is one daughter, named Mary Alice Hess. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Judge Hess is also a respected member of the I. O. O. F. He is a man of fine social qualities, and of generous
impulses. In his manner he is a plain, unobtrusive gentleman.
HORACE L. MARTIN.
THE ancestors of the Martin family, on the paternal side, were originally from Wales, and on the maternal, Hollanders. The Martins upon coming to America settled in New Jersey, where Lewis, the paternal grandfather, was born. He removed to Ohio in
June, 1816, and settled in Licking county, where he resided the remainder of his life. He married Catharine Osborne, who was born and raised in New Jersey, and there married. Mark D., the father of Horace L., is the off spring of that marriage; he was bor
n in New Jersey, and accompanied him to Ohio in the above named year, and remained a resident of that state until the spring of 1858, when he came to Shelbyville, Illinois, where he at present resides. Both Lewis Martin and his son, Mark D., were blacksmi
ths, and worked at that trade; but both subsequently abandoned it and engaged in milling. Lewis Martin was a soldier of the war of 1812-14, and was connected with the army of the Frontier on the boundary line between the United States and Canadas.
Mark D. married Julia Ann Ward, a native of New Jersey; she died in 1842. After her death he married Martha L. Gaston, by whom he has a large family. By the first marriage there were five children, all boys. Horace L. is the eldest son. He was born in Lic
king county, Ohio, July llth, 1836. In his youth he received a fair English education in the district schools of his native county. The family afterwards removed to Franklin county, in the same state, and there young Martin improved his education in the C
entral College, located in the county. He remained a pupil of that school for five years. In 1855 he came west to Shelbyville, Illinois, and accepted a position as clerk in his uncle's drug-store, and remained with him two years. His uncle, Dr. Lewis D. M
artin, was a practicing physician; he persuaded Horace to study medicine, which he did, and read the standard authors, and pursued the usual course of study until 1857, when he returned to Ohio, and entered the Starling Medical College at Columbus, and pa
ssed through one regular course. In July, 1858, he returned to Shelbyville, and for a short time practiced his profession in connection with his uncle. The practice of medicine, however, was not congenial to his tastes, and he soon abandoned it to accept
a clerkship in the store of Webster & Jagger, general merchants, and remained in that capacity until January, 1861. In the spring of the same year the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. was formed, of which he became a member. The firm continued general merchand
izing and handling of grain until 1872, when Martin withdrew. In August of the same year he purchased one-third interest in the Union printing office, and in connection with his two brothers, under the firm of Martin Bros., continued the publicatio
n of the Union, the republican organ then as now of the county. They at the same time established the Effingham Republican, and conducted it for one year, when they sold out the office. In May, 1875, Mr. Martin became sole proprietor and edi
tor of the Union, and from that time to the present has been actively engaged and prominently identified with the journalism of Shelby county. While he is not a practical printer, yet he possesses much business tact and ability, and he has succeeded in ma
king his paper a necessity to the people of the county. In the heated and spirited campaigns of the past, the Union has taken a conspicuous part in ably presenting the principles of the republican party, and moulding public sentiment in their favor
. He is a bold, aggressive writer, and his readers are never left in doubt as to his position upon any question. On the 4th of July, 1859, Mr. Martin was united in wedlock with Miss Mary A. Jagger, a native of Summit county, Ohio. By this marriage there a
re two children living, both daughters. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the order of Free Masons, and of the beneficiary order of Knights of Honor. He cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and in a
ll subsequent elections has voted the republican ticket. His political principles have grown with his growth and strengthened with his years, and he may now be classed with the stalwarts of that political organization. He is a firm advocate of the cause o
f temperance.
J. W. HAMER
WAS born in Springfield, Clark county, Ohio, July 3d, 1846. His father, Solomon Hamer, was born in Maryland, and his mother, Ann (Click) Hamer, in Virginia; both are yet living, and are residents of Spring Hill, Champaign county, Ohio. J. W., the s
ubject of this biography, is the eldest of five children. When in his eighteenth year he enlisted as a private in Co. "C." of the 3d regiment, Ohio volunteers, under the first call of President Lincoln for troops. He served out his time, returned home, an
d on the 27th of January, 1864, enlisted for three years or during the war in the 66th Ohio volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out and honorably discharged July 15th, 1865. He participated with his regiment in numerous battles and skirmishes, and at Res
aca was wounded, receiving a charge of buckshot in the fleshy part of the leg, below the knee. He carried the lead in his leg for a number of years, and the shot was extracted in September, 1880. After he was discharged from the hospital, he was on detach
ed service until the close of the war. In 1865 he came west and stopped in Decatur, Ills., where for five years he was employed as a clerk; from thence to Taylorville, and in 1873, came to Shelbyville, and here and also in Taylorville was agent for Singer
's Sewing Machine. In 1876 he opened up a China, Glass and Notion Store, and has been in that business until the present time. On the 24th of June, 1873, he married Ella K. Kittle, of Taylorville. By this marriage there is one daughter, named Minnie B. Ha
mer. Politically he is a republican. He is a member of the order of A. F. & A. M., and of the R. A. M. and R. S. M. of Masons. He is also an Odd Fellow and member of the Encampment. In his line he carries a large stock, and is prepared to deal liberally w
ith his patrons.
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THOMAS J. GRAYBILL
THE present efficient Circuit Clerk of Shelby county, is a native of Fairfield county, Ohio. He was born December 26, 1846. The Graybill family were originally from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. On the maternal side the family is of Scotch-Irish
ancestry. The maternal grandmother was a native of Ireland.. She came with her parents to America when she was ten years of age. Thomas Carlisle, the maternal grandfather, was a native of Scotland. He settled in Virginia and from there removed to Ohio. Sa
muel Graybill, the great-grandfather of the subject of this biography, was one of the first settlers of Fairfield county, Ohio. The date of his removal from Pennsylvania to that state was about the year 1800. He entered one thousand acres of land in the H
ocking valley, and became a large landed proprietor. He built a tavern on the road between Columbus and Lancaster, and was personally known to a great number of people, particularly the old settlers of that part of the state. He was also known as a great
hunter, and very fond of the chase. He always kept a pack of hounds, of which he was careful and kind, and would allow no one to abuse or maltreat them. He was known far and wide as the "Old Fox-hunter Graybill." He lived to the ripe age of ninety years,
and preserved his vigor and strength until a short time before his death. His son, Jacob Graybill, married a Diller. By this marriage there was born Samuel R. Graybill, the father of Thomas J. He was born in Ohio, and married Sarah A. Carlisle, who was al
so a native of the same state. By this union there were twelve children, seven of whom are still living. In 1858 Mr. Graybill removed from Ohio to Illinois, and settled on section sixteen in Holland township, Shelby county. He is yet a resident of the cou
nty, and a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation. His wife, and mother of Thomas J., died in 1872. The subject of this sketch is the eldest in the family of children. He was yet in his youth when his parents removed to Illinois. His education was obtained
in the public schools of Fairfield and Shelby counties. He taught school for several terms in the latter county, and farmed for six or seven years; and during this time gradually worked into the stock business, feeding and shipping stock. During the past
eight years the latter has been his principal occupation and business. On the 24th of October, 1872, he married Miss Theresa Travis, a native of Pennsylvania. She died in August, 1873. On the 18th of October, 1876, he was united in marriage to Miss Laura
E. Newkirk, of Fairfield county, Ohio. Three children have been born to them. In politics Mr. Graybill is a sound democrat, voting that ticket from the time he cast his first ballot to the present. In the summer of 1880 he received the nomination of circ
uit clerk in the primary elections at the hands of the democratic party. In a vote of 2,506, he received a majority of 1,036 over both of his opponents; and in the ensuing election in November following was elected by over 1,500 majority. This of itself i
s the best evidence of his popularity and standing as a man and a citizen. In the years of 1875 and 1876 he represented his township in the board of supervisors of the county. He is an honored member of the Lodge of A. F. and A. M. and of the I. O. O. F.,
and belongs to the benificiary order of the Knights of Honor. He is an advocate of the cause of temperance, but not radical or a total abstainer, but believes that the question of temperance can and ought to be governed by the laws of the country.
Mr. Graybill is a good practical business man, possessed of much common-sense, which he applies to his business, and makes it his
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guiding rule. He was appointed assignee in several cases in the Bankruptcy Courts, and in all settled up the business in a very satisfactory and creditable manner. He has been largely identified with the live stock business, and has spent large sums of mo
ney for the introduction of fine breeds and the improvement of stock in Shelby county. In the occupancy and management of the office of circuit clerk the public have a painstaking, prudent and economical officer -- one who will reflect honor and credit up
on his many friends who helped him to the position.
GEORGE W. KEELER
WAS born in New Carlisle, Clark county, Ohio, February 14th, 1832. His grandfather, Seth Keeler, was a native of New York. He emigrated to Ohio in 1803, and settled in Highland county; in 1816 here moved to Calhoun county, Ills., where he died in 1
818. He married Jane Miller, who was born in Virginia, in Greenbrier county, December 25th, 1789. After the death of Seth Keeler his family returned to Cincinnati, Ohio. James W. Keeler, the father of George W., was born in Ohio; in 1834 he removed to Nil
es, Michigan, where he remained one year, then went to Elkhart, Ind., and made that his home until 1853, when he came to Shelby county, Ills., and settled on Robinson Creek; in 1867 he moved to Christian county, Ills., where he died May 18th, 1874 ; he wa
s thrice married; his first wife, and mother of the subject of the present sketch, was Catharine Taylor, daughter of Mathew Taylor; she was born in Dauphin county, Pa., near Harrisburg, in September, 1809. Her parents removed to Ohio in 1822, and settled
in Clark county, where she was married; she died on August, 1836. By that marriage there were three children; two of them have survived the parents, viz., Ebenezer and George W. In 1837 he married Rebecca Tallerday, by whom he had two children; she died i
n 1845; he afterwards married Hester Ann Musser; she still survives her husband, and is a resident of Assumption, in Christian County.
George W. is the eldest son and child of the first marriage; when he was in his fifteenth year he went to the tailor trade in Elkhart, Ind., and worked for three years for Silas Hogueland; in 1850 he started in business for himself in Elkhart, and continu
ed for one year, then went to Pine Bluff, Ark., and remained there one year, and then went to Grandview, in Edgar county, Ills., and on the 1st of April, 1855, came to Shelbyville, and formed a partnership in the tailoring business with B. B. Wheeler, whi
ch continued one year, when Mr. Keeler was appointed postmaster, a position and office he held until 1861. In November, 1861, he was elected county treasurer, and re-elected for five successive terms, and held office until 1873. In 1874, in connection wit
h J. T. Herrick, he built a business block on the south-east corner of Main street; he then embarked in the dry-goods business in connection with W. M. Wright under the firm name of Wright & Keeler; the partnership closed one year later, and Mr. Keeler co
ntinued the business for another year, and then sold out to James & Yantis. Since that time he has been engaged in farming and dealing in real estate. On the 1st of March, 1852, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Hogue, a native of Terre Haute, Ind. B
y this union there have been six children living, two sons and four daughters; their names are Alice, wife of J. T. Herrick; Cora, wife of Charles Waldron; Lola, Clinton, Eben, and Kitty. Politically, Mr. Keeler, since attaining his majority, had always b
een a democrat, and in all general elections votes the ticket without scratch or blemish.
SAMUEL H. WEBSTER.
THE subject of the following sketch has been for a long number of years one of the prominent and active business men of Shelbyville.
The Webster family, on the paternal side, are of English descent. Russell B. Webster, the father of Samuel H., is a native of Massachusetts. He emigrated to Ohio in 1821. In 1823 he removed his family to Cleveland, which was then a small straggling villag
e of a few houses.
He still lives where he settled in 1823, a hale, hearty, active man of over four-score years. He married Orpha Hunter. She is also a native of Massachusetts. She is still living, and of about the same age as her husband. They are residents of Lorraine co.
, Ohio, and have been since they first settled in that state, except a few years of residence in Shelbyville, while their sons were absent as soldiers in the war.
There were eight children in the family, -- seven sons and one daughter; the latter died in childhood. There are five sons yet living. The subject of this sketch is the eldest son. He was born in Lorraine county, Ohio, September 15th, 1825. His youth was
passed in the common schools of his neighborhood and in the high school of Wellington, Ohio. Early in life he engaged in business for himself. His first business was buying and shipping produce to the west, particularly to Chicago, when that city was yet
in its infancy. From the age of nineteen until twenty-five, he was engaged in selling notions through the country, traveling with two horse team. In 1856 he concluded to come west and try his fortunes in Illinois. He came to Shelbyville and engaged in gen
eral merchandizing in connection with E. H. Jagger. This co-partnership continued until 1862, when the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. was formed, which continued until 1872, when Martin Webster, brother of S. H., withdrew. The first name continued, and is in
existence yet, and recognized as one of the substantial business firms of Shelbyville. The firm is largely engaged in pork-packing, handling and shipping grain and produce, and dealing in agricultural implements. This has been their bussiness for twenty-
five years.
Politically, Mr. Webster was originally an old line whig. On the formation of the republican party, he joined that political organization, and from that time to the present has been an active and leading member of the republican party in Shelby county. In
September, 1878, he was appointed postmaster of Shelbyville, and now conducts the official business therewith connected in a manner entirely satisfactory to the citizens of Shelbyville and vicinity. In 1848 he was appointed postmaster of Wellington, Ohio
, by General Taylor, President of the United States. On the 21st of January, 1856, he was united in marriage to Miss Lucy A. Jagger. Four children have been born to them, all of whom are living. Their names are: Mary L., wife of Dr. Westervelt of Shelbyvi
lle; Charles M., assistant postmaster; Leveret S., and Ada Webster. His family are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is not a member of any church organization. He is an earnest advocate of the cause of temperance.
Mr. Webster is one of the oldest business men in Shelbyville. He came here in May, 1856 -- twenty-four years ago -- and commenced active business, and has continued uninterruptedly to the present; and in all those years he has borne the reputation of an h
onest, upright and honorable man, conducting his business in such a manner as to gain the confidence and esteem of the community in which he has so long resided. It is with pleasure that we here present him in this brief biographical sketch.
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ARCH. SHELTON
MR. SHELTON is all old resident of Shelby county. His ancestors on the paternal side, three generations back, emigrated from England to America, and settled in Virginia. His grandfather's mother was a native of Ireland. On the maternal side, the fa
ther of his grand-mother was a Frenchman, and his great-grandmother on the same side a native of Wales. Claiborne Shelton, the paternal grand-father, was born and raised in Virginia. He moved to Ohio, and settled in Gallia county, about the year 1812, whe
re he remained until November 19, 1827, when he removed to Madison county, Indiana, and remained there until his death, in the year 1838.
Jesse Shelton, the son of Claiborne and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pittsylvania county, Va., April 9th, 1797. He emigrated with his father's family to Ohio, and, in 1827, to Indiana, where he remained until February, 1857, when he c
ame to Illinois, and settled in Prairie township, this county, where he at present resides. He is still a vigorous man, although in the eighty-fourth year of his age. In June, 1817, while yet a resident of Gallia county, Ohio, he married Margaret Blake. S
he was born in Greenbriar county, Virginia, Oct. 25, 1800. Her parents removed to Ohio about the same time as did Claiborne Shelton. She died in Prairie township, Nov. 18, 1878.
By this marriage there were ten children, seven boys and three girls -- six of the former and one of the latter are living. The subject of this biography is the eighth in the family. He was born in Madison county, Indiana, Oct. 6th, 1833. Like all farmer
boys, his youth was employed at work on the farm, assisting his father, and in attending the district schools and learning the rudimentary principles of an education during the winter months. In this manner he passed his youth until his seventeenth year,
when he hired to a carpenter, and worked at the carpenter trade for four years.
In this time he married, and soon after went to farming in Madison county, Ind., and continued in that business until a few years ago. In 1857, he removed to Shelby county, Illinois, and purchased land in Sec. 12, T. 9 (Prairie township), which was partia
lly improved. He remained on that tract for one year, when he sold it and purchased in sec. 14 in same township, and there made his home until 1877, or until elected treasurer of Shelby county, when he removed to Shelbyville. The date of his marriage was
September 19, 1853. He married Miss Lucinda Seward. She is a native of Hamilton county, Ohio, but was a resident of Coles county, Ills., at the time of her marriage. This union has been blessed by eight children, six daughters and two sons. Mrs. Shelton i
s a member of the Christian Church. In politics, Mr. Shelton adheres to the democratic party since 1856, when he cast his first presidential vote for James Buchanan for president. He is among the active and safe counsellors of that political organization
in the county. During his residence in Prairie township he held several local offices. He was collector for three years, and represented his township in the board of supervisors for three terms. In 1877 he was nominated by the democratic party for the res
ponsible office of county treasurer, and in November following was elected. In 1879 he was re-nominated and elected by an increased majority, and now holds the office and attends to the duties thereof in a manner that reflects credit upon hinself and hono
r upon his friends, who urged his claims and supported him in the last two elections. In the collection and disbursement of the county's funds, he is a faithful public servant, exact and methodical, and careful in the discharge of every duty imposed upon
him. He is a plain, unpretentious man, striving to do unto others as he would have others do unto him. He has many warm friends.
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W. A TROWER.
THE TROWER family on the paternal side are of English and Scotch descent. The ancestors came to America in an early day and settled in Virginnia. The family have been cultivators of the soil and professional men, of the latter principally physician
s. Solomon Trower was born in Virginia and removed with his family to Mercer county, Kentucky, about the year 1808. His father accompanied him; both died in that county; the great-grandfather at the great age of one hundred and nine years; he was a soldie
r of the revolutionary war. John W. Trower married Nancy Robertson of Albemarle, county, Virginia. John W. Trower, jr., the father of William A., was the offspring of that marriage. He was born in Mercer county, Kentucky. He went back to Virginia and ther
e married Jane W. Breedlove, a native of Albemarle county. She died in Shelbyville, Ills., in the year 1874. About the year 1837, John W. Trower came west and settled in Coles county, where he remained nine years, then removed to Wisconsin, and the next y
ear came to Shelbyville, Ills., and remained here until his death which occurred Aug. 31st, 1855. He fell a victim to the cholera, which was raging here, at that time. He was a physician and practiced his profession until his death. By the union of John W
. and Jane W. Trower there were five children -- four sons and one daughter. Three of the children have survived the parents. The subject of this biography is the second in the family. He was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, October 1lth, 1833. He rece
ived a limited education in the district schools of Illinois. While yet young he went to McLean county, Illinois, and worked on a farm for four years. He then returned to Shelbyville and clerked for a number of years. He then received the appointment of p
ostmaster, in which he continued until 1855, when he resigned to accept a situation as clerk. In the spring of 1859, he went to farming and continued there engaged until 1861, when he was elected Sheriff of the county to fill the vacancy caused by the dea
th of Sheriff Shaw. Under the then existing law relating to the office of Sheriff he could not be re-elected; he therefore served out the unexpired time, and at the close he purchased the Leader printing office. He conducted that journal for a numb
er of years, and then sold out. He was appointed postmaster in 1866 under Andrew Johnson, and held the office for one year, when the senate for political reasons refused to confirm the appointment. One year later he was re-appointed, the senate reconcurri
ng, and he held the office until 1869. The same year he was elected Mayor of the city of Shelbyville, and remained in that office until 1871, when he resigned his Mayoralty and purchased the Leader office and again took up journalism, in which prof
ession and business he has remained to the present. Mr. Trower has made a success of the newspaper business. He is admirably fitted for it, particularly in the business management. He is a sharp, terse, vigorous writer. While his articles may not show sch
olarly attainments, yet they are directly to the point, and the reader is not left in doubt as to the writer's position upon any subject. Politically Mr. Trower has been a life-long Democrat. He is a respected number of the order of A. F. & A. M. and of
the beneficiary order of A. O. U. W. He is temperate in his habits, and an advocate of the cause of temperance. On the 30th of October, 1856, he, was united in marriage to Miss Cordelia, daughter of Letton Smith. She was born and raised in Shelby county,
Ills. By this marriage there were six children, five of them living. Their names in order of their birth are Mary F., Edith, Jennie, Maud and Tom B. Trower. Both Mr. and Mrs. Trower are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. Trower is an old resident of Shelby
county, and has been identified with its progress, and has contributed much to its material wealth, by the publication of his journal, which has always under his management spoken for the county, and advocated all enterprises that have contributed to its
increase and benefit. In the community where he has resided and is known by all, none are more respected for their worth as a man and citizen than Mr. Trower.
JAMES E. FRAZER.
THE FRAZER family, of Shelby county, to which the subject of this sketch belongs, is of Scotch-Irish descent, the forefathers of whom came to America about the close of the Revolutionary war, and settled in Virginia. John Frazer, the grandfather, w
as born in that state. He removed from there to Kentucky, where he remained until 1828, when he came to Illinois, and settled at a point then known as Cochran's Grove, in Shelby county; he remained there until his death, which took place in 1855. He marri
ed a Miss Jones; she was a native of Virginia. By this marriage there were eight children, five sons and three daughters. Albert G., the father of James E., was the second son; he was born in Caldwell county, Kentucky, April 1, 1809. When his father came
to Shelby county, he did not accompany him here, but stopped at the Salt Licks, near Shawneetown, Illinois. He remained there until 1830, when he came to Cochran's Grove, and there remained until his death, which occurred October 10, 1869. He was engaged
in agricultural pursuits during his life; he was also very fond of the chase and hunting, and for the first twenty years of his married life his family were not without a saddle of venison in the house, the trophy of his unerring rifle and prowess as a hu
nter. He only relinquished the sport, of which he was passionately fond, when age compelled him to respect nature's commands, and game became scarce from the rapid settling up of the country. He was a soldier of the Black Hawk war, and was a comrade and m
essmate of the immortal and martyred Lincoln. He married Rhoda E. Curry, daughter of John Curry, of Tennessee; he came with his family to Illinois about the same time as the Frazers. Mrs. Frazer was born in Tennessee; she died at the residence of her daug
hter in Sullivan, Illinois, October 25, 1880. There were born to Albert G. and Rhoda Frazer seven children, four sons and three daughters. The names of the living are: Thomas P.; Nancy, wife of W. G. Patton, of Sullivan, Illinois, and the subject of this
sketch. The latter is the youngest member of the family, He was born in Cochran's Grove, (Ash Grove township) Shelby county, Illinois, December 29, 1846. Like all farmers' boys, his youth was passed at work on the farm in the summer and fall months, and i
n attending the district schools during the winter, where he received the rudiments of a fair English education. He also spent a short time in the schools of Shelbyville, after which he returned to the farm and continued at work there until called by the
people of Shelby county to fill the responsible and honorable office of county clerk, when he removed to Shelbyville. On the 31st of May, 1866, he married Melinda, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Richmond, residents of Richland township, Shelby county, Ill
inois. Mrs. Frazer was born in Ohio, but was a resident of this county at the time of her marriage. By this union there have been six children, four of whom are living, viz: Rosalind, Ida May, Albert F. and William G. Frazer, -- all yet beneath the parent
al roof. Both Mr. Frazer and his amiable wife are members of the Unitarian Church. He is a member of the ancient and honorable order of Fremasonry, and also a member of the benevolent and benificiary order of United Workman. Politically, Mr. Frazer comes
from a Democratic family, and he has since attaining his majority been a firm
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believer in the principles and tenets of the Democratic party, and upon all state and national occasions, when called upon to exercise the right of suffrage, has uniformly voted the Democratic ticket. In 1878, as intimated above, his worth as a man and hi
s fidelity to his party received recognition by being nominated and elected as county clerk of Shelby county, an office he now fills with honor to himself and credit to his numerous friends who urged his nomination and supported him at the polls. In the e
xercise of his duty as clerk he is a careful, prudent and entirely competent official, and looks carefully after the county's interests. At the same time he treats all those with whom he comes in contact with a gentlemanly politeness that is born in the m
an, and as a matter of course, comes natural and unrestrained to him. Born and bred in the county of Shelby, he is well-known, and wherever known, is respected for his worth as a man and a citizen.
HON. WILLIAM CHEW.
THE ANCESTRY of the Chew family are of Welsh and Scotch extraction on the paternal side, and Scotch on the maternal. There were two brothers, Welshmen, who came to America and settled in Virginia, soon after the first settlement at Jamestown. From
these brothers have sprung the Chew family in America. A portion of the family at a later date removed to Pennsylvania and settled near Philadelphia, where they resided during the revolutionary war. It is related by the historians of that period that in o
ne of the numerous engagements between the Patriot and British forces in 1777, the latter were driven from the ground, but on their retreat they took possession of Chews house and from it successfuly resisted the attacks of the Patriot forces. Colly Chew,
the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Virginia, and a soldier of the revolutionary war, and was also under Gen. Anthony Wayne in the Indian wars. In the war of 1812 he was a captain in Gen. Hull's command, but fought his way out
of the Fort, before the surrender, and saved his company from a disgraceful defeat. He was in his day a great Indian fighter, and a comrade and friend of Adam Poe, whose exploits as an Indian fighter are well known to every student of American history. Co
lly Chew came west to Ohio about the year 1830, with his son, Morris R. Chew, and in 1844 came to Illinois and settled in Shelby county, and remained here until his death in 1847. He was in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He married a Reese who was of a
prominent and wealthy family of Virginia. Morris R. Chew, father of William, was the only son of this marriage. He was born in Virginia and removed to Ohio as above stated, and came to Shelbyville in 1844. He settled in Ohio in Clinton county, and there
followed the trade of Saddler and Harnessmaker. A short time after his arrival there he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, a position he held for a long number of years. While yet a resident of Ohio he came to Shelby county and purchased land
. After his arrival here in 1844, he re-engaged in the harness trade and carried it on extensively for a number of years, then sold out and moved into the country on a farm, and there continued until his death, which occurred in 1877. He married Matilda C
rumley, a native of Virginia. She died in 1850. By this marriage there were ten children, six of whom have survived the parents. The subject of this sketch is the fifth in the family. He was born in Clinton county, Ohio, September 3d, 1836. His youth was
spent at home in going to school and assisting his father until his seventeenth year, when he practically started in life for himself. He went to work on a farm until he had earned and saved sufficient money to purchase a team of oxen and twenty-two inch
plow and commenced breaking prairie. After a few years of hard work he had accumulated sufficient money to enable him to go to school to get an education, in which he was sadly deficient, and felt great need of. He commenced under the tuition of Prof. Jer
ome of Shelbyville Seminary, and remained there for three years, and then attended the State University at Springfield for one year, and commenced reading law in the office of Moulton & Chaffee, and in 1869, at the spring term of the circuit Court at Vand
alia, he was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice in Shelbyville in connection with Frank Penwell, which partnership continued two years. He then formed a law partnership with W. W. Hess, which continued until 1877, or until the latter was elect
ed County Judge. From that time to the present he has been alone in the practice. Politically Mr. Chew is a sound and thorough Republican, and is classed among the stalwarts. His first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and in all sub
sequent elections he has voted the ticket of his first choice. He has been for a number of years chairman of the Republican County Central Committee. In 1874 his services to his parts and worth as a man received suitable and honorable recognition in being
nominated and elected a member of the 29th Gen. Assembly of Illinois. While a member of that body he was on the Committee on Education, and drafted the bill on Compulsory Education, which was defeated by a small vote. He also drew the bill to compel all
clerks of courts of record to account for all fees received by then and to make publication thereof, giving the names of the parties who were entitled to the same, and if not called for within six months from such notice and publication, the same to rever
t to the general school fund, thereby lightning the burden of taxation. The bill was defeated by two votes in the house. On the 28th of December, 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss Annie Headen, a native of Shelbyville and daughter of Dr. William Hea
den, one of the pioneers of Shelby county. One child, a son, has been born to hallow and bless this union. His name is William Headen Chew.
DR. ENOS PENWELL
JOHN PENWELL, the ancestor of the present family in America, was a native of Ireland. Removed to England, and from there emigrated to America in 1732 and settled in Philadelphia. From there members of the family removed -- some to Delaware and othe
rs to New Jersey. A. C. Penwell, the father of Enos, was born in the latter state. In 1804 he came west and settled at Rising Sun in Switzerland county, Indiana. He lived in different parts of the state and died in Galien, Michigan. He married Elizabeth W
hitinger, who was of German descent. The marriage was solemnized in Wayne county, Indiana. Enos Penwell is the fourth in a family of five children. He was born in Wayne county, Indiana, March 22d. 1821. In his youth he received a very limited education in
the common schools. When he arrived at the age of eighteen he taught school, and at the end of the term became a pupil himself. In this way he continued teaching and attending school until his twenty-fourth year, and at the end of that time had so improv
ed that he was in possession of a good English education. He then concluded to mark out some course for the future. After due consideration, he determined to adopt the profession of medicine as the business of life. He then read the standard works, of the
best authors, and placed himself under the tuition of Dr. Daniel Meeker, a prominent and widely known physician of LaPorte, Indiana, and graduated from that institution with the degree of M. D., in 1848.
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After his graduation he went to Edwardsburg in Cass county, Michigan, and began the practice, and continued there five years. On the 18th of September, 1853, he came to Shelbyville, Illinois, and he reresumed the practice and continued to the present. The
life of a physician and the practice of medicine, in the early days of Illinois, was by no means a sinecure. Dr. Penwell was frequently called to visit patients who lived a distance of twenty miles. No matter what the season of the year or the condition
of the weather, he was always ready to go. He is possessed of a strong and vigorous constitution and a generous love of his profession, and neither time, nor the fatigues incident to extended practice, (scattering over a large area of country,) have been
able to make much of an impression upon his healthy and robust frame. On the 9th of June, 1842, he married Martha Holloway, of South Bend, Indiana. She died August 8, 1857. By this union there are three sons and two daughters. Frank Penwell, the eldest so
n, is a practicing attorney, and a resident of Danville, Illinois. He enlisted for three years in the late war, and was sergeant in the 12th Indiana Battery. He was but eighteen years of age when he entered the service. George V. is one of the prominent a
nd substantial business men of Pana, Illinois. Orville J. is employed as a clerk in Shelbyville. Helen was the wife of Wm. M. Rich, now deceased, and Mary E., is the wife of A. R. Launey, Photographer, Shelbyville, Illinois. On the 9th of December, 1858,
he married Mrs. Mary DePugh, nee Coleman. He had two daughters by this marriage, named Pauline and Hilda. Mr. Penwell is a member of the M. E Church; practically he is a Republican and an advocate of temperance.
THOMAS L. CATHERWOOD, M. D.
THE CATHERWOOD family are of Irish ancestry. Hugh, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Ireland, and there married Sarah King. Thomas K., the father of the subject of the following sketch, was the offspring of that marriage. He came to Ameri
ca in 1809, and settled in south-western Virginia, and there married Margaret Smith. He was a saddler by trade, and followed the business during the greater part of his life. He left Virginia in 1829, and removed to Sullivan county, Indiana, and remaine
d there until 1849; then went to Vigo county, in the same state, and in 1857 came to Illinois, and settled in Moawequa, Shelby county, where he lived until his death. His widow still survives him, and is a resident of the county.
Thomas L. Catherwood is the only son and child born to Thomas K. and Margaret Catherwood; he was born in Abingdon, Virginia, July 5th, 1827. In his youth he had the advantages of good school and received a fair English education. At the age of fifteen he
entered the State University at Bloomington, Ind., and took the scientific course, and remained there two years. While at school he read the standard textbooks upon medicine under the direction of Drs. Murphy and Helms, of Carlisle, Ind. After he left sch
ool he entered the office of the above named physicians, and remained with them until sufficiently advanced to commence the practice. In the meantime, however, he took a partial course in the Medical Department of the Louisville University at Louisville,
Ky. On his return from that institution, he commenced the practice at Middletown, Vigo county, Ind.; he remained in the practice from the 13th of April, 1847, until June, 1854, when he came to Moawequa, in Shelby county, Ills. In the winter of 1869-70 he
attended lectures at the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated therefrom in the spring of 1870; then resumed practice at Moawequa, and remained there until April 20th, 1876, when he removed to Shelbyville, and here he has continued the
practice of his profession with great success to the present. In the last few years he has made the diseases of the ear and eye a specialty.
On the 3d of March, 1847, at Carlisle, Indiana, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Aiken. She died in 1851. By this union there were two children; but one of whom survives, wife of Dr. A. P. Hoxsey, of this county. On the 3d of September, 1856, he
married his present wife, Carrie J. Hardy, a native of this state. By this union there are four children. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the lodge of A. F. & A. M., and is also a chapter member; he is a memb
er of the I. O. O. F. and beneficiary order of Knights of Honor, and A. O. U. W. Politically he is a democrat, but takes no further interest in politics than to exercise the right of suffrage. In the practice of medicine Dr. Catherwood has been very succe
ssful. He is a close student and progressive, and is well posted upon all modern discoveries in Materia Medica, and is not slow to apply them in his practice. As a man he bears an unblemished reputation, and as a citizen he is public-spirited.
CHARLES T. REBER, M. D.
THE subject of the following biographical sketch is one of the leading and prominent physicians in Central Illinois; he was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, January 18, 1836; he is the third son in a family of seven children, five of whom are li
ving. The Reber family is of German ancestry on the paternal side, and a mixture of English and French on the maternal. Dr. Reber had the advantage of a good English education in the public schools of his native state, and also an academic course. After h
is retirement from school he taught school for several terms. In 1853 he commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Livingood, and afterwards continued in the office of Dr. D. L. Beaver, of Reading, and after making suitable progress he entered,
in 1854, the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, and graduated therefrom March 8, 1856, with the degree of M.D. He commenced the practice in Reading, and continued there two years, after which he practiced in the county of Berks until the breaking
out of the war; he then raised a company of soldiers and went to Washington and offered his services to the government, but the authorities not being able to arm and equip the soldiers, his services were not accepted; he returned home, and soon after wen
t to Harrisburg and stood a medical examination before the surgeon general. He successfully passed the examination, and was commissioned assistant-surgeon and assigned to duty in the 48th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. In February, 1862, he was promote
d and commissioned surgeon of the regiment; he continued in that position until March, 1863, when he passed an examination for the hospital service; he was assigned to duty in hospital No. 8, at Beaufort, S. C., as assistant surgeon. He was examined again
at Hilton Head, for promotion, passed it successfully, and was placed in charge of Hilton Head as executive officer; he was afterwards appointed medical surveyor and chief medical officer and health officer of Port Royal district; his last appointment wa
s on the staff of General Devens, as chief medical officer of the military district of Charleston; he was acting in that capacity when mustered out of the service February 2, 1866. He was in active service for four years and five months; he returned home,
and on the 18th of April, 1867, came to Shelbyville, Illinois, and here has continued the practice of his profession to the present time. In the science and profession of medicine Dr. Reber belongs to the progressive school of thinkers and practioners; h
e is a close
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student, and has had the benefit of a varied and extensive practice. He is the author of a medical work called the "Paresis of the Sympathetic Centres, or the so-called Malaria." The work shows careful study and patient investigation of the causes and eff
ects of Malaria in all of its multitudinous forms. He is a member of the American Medical Association, Tri-State Medical Society, Illinois Medical Society, District Medical Society, Esculapian Medical Society, Wabash Valley, and Shelby County Medical Soci
ety. On the 20th of November, 1855, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Van Reed, a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania; by this union there are three children, one son and two daughters -- all yet beneath the parental roof. Both Dr. Reber and his es
timable wife are members of the Reformed Church; he is a member of the order of A. F. and A. M. Politically he comes from a free-soil democratic family; he was a supporter of John C. Fremont, in 1856, and in all subsequent general elections voted the repu
blican ticket, and may be classed among the stalwarts; he is an earnest advocate of the principles of his party, and his sage advice and bold aggressive action in times of great political contests, have been felt and heeded in the counsels of his party. I
n his character as a man and citizen he is above reproach.
TRUMAN E. AMES.
THE AMES family on the paternal side are of English ancestry, and of the old Ames stock that descended from the Pilgrim fathers. His mother was Jennie Armin. She is of English birth, and came to America with her parents while yet in infancy. The su
bject of this sketch is the eldest of the four sons. He was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, January 1st, 1850. He was reared upon the farm, and attended the public schools until his sixteenth year, when he entered the Academy at Hermon, in St. Lawr
ence county, where he remained irregularly for two years. After leaving the Academy he entered the Potsdam Normal School, and took the regular training course, fitting himself for teaching -- a profession he proposed to adopt and follow as a means of live
lihood. After his retirement from the school, he commenced teaching, and taught for eight years. In the fall of 1871, he came west to Illinois, and stopped in Windsor, Shelby county, and taught school for two terms near the village. Afterwards was princip
al for several terms of the school of Windsor. He had, however, before coming west, determined to enter the profession of law, and with that idea in view, read the standard text books upon law, while yet in New York. After he came west he continued his st
udies under the direction of Moulton and Chaffee, lawyers of Shelbyville. In the fall of 1875, he entered the Law Department of the University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and remained there two years, and graduated there from, and was admitted to practice in
that State. At the June term, 1877, of the Supreme Court at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, he was upon motion admitted to practice in the courts of Illinois. While a student at Ann Arbor, during vacation, he received valuable instruction in the office of Judge Co
oley, Dean of the Faculty of the University, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan. After his admission to the bar he returned to Windsor, and began practice. He remained there until May, 1880, when he removed to Shelbyville, and formed a par
tnership with J. William Lloyd, which still continues. Mr. Ames is of a studious disposition, in addition to a mind well trained by long habits of study, which fits him for the profession of law. Habits of study have also brought about active and increase
d mental power, and with the exercise of patience and industry, and with the assistance of practice to call into action knowledge obtained, we have no doubt that he will in the future take front rank in his profession.
On the 26th of May, 1874, he was united in marriage to Miss Dora, daughter of James A. Hilsabeek, an old and respected citizen of Shelby county. By this union there is one child -- a son, named Edward Peer Ames.
Politically, Mr. Ames is a staunch Republican. In 1880 he received the nomination for the office of States Attorney, and notwithstanding the county is largely Democratic, he was defeated by a small majority.
He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and Knights of Pythias. He is an advocate of the cause of temperance.
EDWARD BISDEE.
MR. BISDEE was born in Somerset county, England, in 1845. His parents were born and lived through their lives and died in that county. They were farmers. Edward was raised upon the farm, and remained at home until 1865, when he became of age. He th
en concluded to emigrate to America in company with his brothers William and James. They came to New York, and went to the town of Waterloo, and there Edward learned the butchering business and worked there until 1870. He then came next to Indianapolis, I
ndiana, and carried on butchering in that city for two years. In 1872 he came to Shelbyville, Illinois, and here he and William, his brother, opened a meat market and continued partners until one year ago, when William retired from the firm, and Edward ha
s continued the business to the present time. He has built up a good business, and has been very successful. He married Miss Mary Church in 1872. She was born in Ohio. By this marriage there are three children, named Charles, Frank and Bessie Bisdee. His
wife is a member of the M. E. Church. Politically he is a Republican. He is among the enterprising active business men of Shelbyville. He understands his trade thoroughly, and has built up a good custom by trying to please his patrons and customers. He al
so packs pork during the winter season sufficient to supply the home market. A view of his business place can be seen on another page.
JOHN C. HUFFER.
THE SUBJECT of this sketch is of German ancestry on the paternal side. His grandfather, Isaac Huffer, was a native of Maryland, and lived opposite Harpers Ferry, in Virginia. He moved from there to Ohio, and settled in Fairfield county, and was amo
ng the first settlers of that portion of the State. He married a Miss East. By this marriage there were seven children. John, his son, and father of John C, was born in Harpers Ferry in 1784. He went with his father's family to Ohio, and there remained un
til 1849, when he came to Illinois, purchased land in Shelbyville township, and there lived the remainder of his days. He died in 1877 at the advanced age of ninety-three years. He married Aley Collins. She was born in Ohio. Her family were among the ori
ginal settlers of Fairfield county. She died in Shelby county in 1860. There were born to John and Aley Huffer seven children, six sons and one daughter. The subject of this sketch is the third in the family. He was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, Februar
y 16th, 1829. He came with his parents to Illinois in November of 1849. In 1850, he engaged in farming, in which he continued for two years, then moved to the town of Shelbyville and engaged in the grocery trade for a few years, then opened a meat market,
and
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carried on the butchering business for five years. Failing in business, he saved enough to settle up in full with his creditors, but it left him without any means. He borrowed two hundred and fifty dollars, and, in February of 1859,
started for Pike's Peak, where, in the gold diggings, he hoped to retrieve his fortune.
After his arrival at the Peak, he went to work in the mines. Mining, in his case, proved a failure. After spending all his money, he went down to Denver, and there, through the kindness of a friend, he got a start in the butchering
business, and in it he made money rapidly. He remained there until the winter of 1860, when he returned to Shelbyville with the intention of removing his family to Denver, but the war breaking out, the Indians became restless, and crossing the plains was
attended with extreme danger. He, therefore, abandoned the trip, and went to farming, and continued until elected sheriff in 1866,
when he moved into Shelbyville, and here has remained to the present, except one year that he was in Arkansas, where he undertook to raise a crop of cotton and made a dismal failure. He returned home, then, and purchased the livery, feed
and sale stables, and engaged in that business and buying and shipping horses and mules, and at present is still so engaged.
In January, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Bell. She was born in Pottsville, Pa. She died in October, 1873. By this union there were four children born -- two sons and two daughters -- two of whom are living, viz.,
George and Emma; the other two died in infancy. On the 16th of April, 1878, he married Miss Mattie L Myers, his present wife. She was born and reared in Louisville, Kentucky. Both he and his wife are members of the Unitarian
Church. Politically, Mr. Huffer was originally an old line Whig. His first presidential vote was cast for Gen. Scott, in 1852. In 1856, he voted for Fillmore, and in 1860, voted for Stephen A. Douglass, and since that time has been a Democrat. Mr. Hu
ffer is one of the old settlers of Shelby county. Considerably over a quarter of a century has passed since he first came here, and in all these years he has born the reputation of a good, honorable and respectable citizen.
HOWLAND J. HAMLIN.
THE SUBJECT of the following brief biographical sketch is a native of the state of New York; he was born at Lawrence, St. Lawrence county, July 13, 1850. His youth was passed upon the farm and in attending the public schools of his
neighborhood, wherein he received the rudimentary part of an education. In his fourteenth year he was placed at school in the academy of Lawrenceville, N. Y., and remained there two years; he then taught school one term in the district
school of St. Lawrence county, after which he returned to the academy and entered upon and completed the course of study. At the closing exercises of his academic education he carried off the second prize for elocution. He now concluded to adopt the pro
fession of teaching, and with that idea in view, applied for and was appointed principal, and placed in charge of the public-schools of Bangor, in Franklin county, N. Y. In the spring of 1868 he came west on a tour of observation, and traveled through the
states of Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. He returned home in the fall of the same year, and entered the classical department of the Normal University at Potsdam, N. Y., and remained there prosecuting his studies until the fall of 1870, when in company with
E. P. Rose, nephew of judge Rose, he came west for a second time, and stopped in Shelby county. From here he went to Moultrie county, Illinois, and taught school. In the spring of 1871, he opened a select school in Windsor, Illinois, which was largely att
ended. His industry and zeal in his profession, and
methods of teaching, meeting with general approval, he was invited and accepted the position of superintendent of the public schools of Windsor, and remained in that public capacity for three or four years, retiring from it in order
to engage in the profession of law. During the time he was in charge of the school he read the standard text-books upon law, and commenced the study of his last chosen profession in connection with the law-office of Thornton &
Wendling, of Shelbyville, Illinois. He pursued the usual course of studies, and after having made suitable proficiency he applied for admission to the bar at the June term of the supreme court at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and after passing a rigid examinatio
n was admitted to the practice. He commenced the practice at Sullivan, in Moultrie county, in August, 1875. He removed from there to Shelbyville, and entered into partnership with Thornton & Wendling under the firm-name of Thornton, Wendling & Hamlin, w
hich firm was succeeded by Thornton &
Hamlin, Wendling having entered the lecture field. In 1879 the latter firm was succeeded by H. J. Hamlin, Judge Thornton removing to Decatur, Illinois. Mr. Hamlin is one of the rising lawyers of Central Illinois. Although
young in years and of comparatively limited and short experience, he is already in the front rank at the bar of Shelby county. He brings to the profession a mind well trained by habits of study and teaching, and peculiarly well fitted
for the profession of law. He is a clear, logical reasoner, but also owes much of the success attained in his practice to his consummate tact and management of his cases. Tact succeeds where talent fails. Nothing succeeds like success;
it is the world's measure of success. In June, 1876, Mr. Hamlin was happily united in marriage to Miss Ella M. York, of Tazewell county, Illinois, daughter of Dr. Eli York, and niece of Dr. Jesse W. York, a prominent physician
of Shelby County, now deceased.
SITTLER & LAUNEY.
GEO. W. SITTLER was born in Shelby county, Illinois, August 25th, 1847. His parents were from Westmoreland county, Penna., and came to Shelby county in 1841. Mr. Sittler commenced the photograph business in 1866 with Dr.
Hannaman, and after learning the business, purchased the gallery of Dr. Hannaman. In 1870 he married Miss M. Middlesworth, daughter of N. Middlesworth. She is a native of Shelby county.
A. R. Launey is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born December 10th, 1844. He is of French parentage. He came north in 1866, and engaged in the grocery business, and continued in it until 1869, when he returned south,
and remained one year; thence to Shelbyville and learnd the business of photography, and formed a partnership with Geo. W. Sittler, and together they have carried on the business and have been very successful. In October, 1868, he married Miss Mary L., d
aughter of Dr. Enos Penwell of Shelbyville. By this marriage there are four children.
Messrs. Sittler & Launey are among the successful, and most artistic and skilful photographers of Central Illinois. They carry on the business in all its various branches, and excel in Crayon lifesize pictures, and in India Ink work, water
colors, pastel, ferrotypes and gun pictures. They are both in love with their profession, and keep pace with all the wonderful discoveries that are daily being made in the wonderful art of photography. Their work is as good as that made in any of the Met
ropolitan galleries in the large cities.
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CYRUS HALL
THE SUBJECT of this biographical sketch was a native of Illinois, and was born in Fayette county, August 29th, 1822. John Hall, his father, was a Kentuckian by birth. He was one of the pioneers of the State of Illinois, and settled in Fayette cou
nty about the time the State was admitted into the union. Cyrus Hall, while a resident of Fayette county, enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war, and was a Lieutenant in Col. Ferris Foreman's regiment. He came to Shelbyville in 1860, and engaged in h
otel keeping on the corner where the dry goods store of James & Yantis now stands. He was in that business when the late civil war broke out. As soon as the first gun was fired on Fort Sumter, he became aroused, and with patriotic ardor commenced raising
and organizing a company of soldiers; the first company raised in the county, to go to the relief of the union. He was elected captain, and his company became a part of the fourteenth regiment Illinois infantry, commanded by John M. Palmer, afterwards Ma
jor-General, and Governor of Illinois. He participated with his regiment in the hard-fought battles of Shiloh, Donaldson, Mission Ridge, Corinth, Stone River, and numerous other battles of less note, and remained in the service over four years, or, until
the close of the war. When Colonel Palmer was promoted to the command of a division, Captain Hall, who had passed through the grades of major and lieutenant-colonel, was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, and remained in command during the remai
nder of the war. He was breveted brigadier-general for meritorious and gallant service on the field of battle. He had the reputation of being the bravest among the brave. He never hesitated to lead where his men would follow, and was always at the front
and head of his command in the thickest of the fight. He escaped unscathed, and returned home at the close of the war and engaged in the furniture trade. A few years after, he was appointed postmaster of Shelbyville, and held that office for over ten y
ears, and up to the time of his death, which occurred September 6th, 1878.
On the 10th of April, 1849, he married Margaret Jane Knight. She was born Dec. 9th, 1824, and died February 23d, 1867. By this union there were seven children, three of whom are living. The names of those living are, Charles Eugene, Theodora Ellen, wif
e of Frank Munsel, and Lucia Lufkin Hall. On the 14th of August, 1867, he married Miss Sarah Lowe, a native of Fairfield county, Ohio. She was born in York county, Pa., Sep. 28th, 1835. She came to Shelbyville, Illinois, Oct. 22d, 1863. By the latter
marriage, there are two
children, both daughters, named Rella and Bertha, aged twelve and nine years respectively. General Hall was a devout and consistent member in life of the M. E. Church, and was an active and prominent member of the masonic fraternity, and was buried with
masonic honors. He was domestic in his character, and loved his home and his family. He was a kind husband and an affectionate father, and his death was a sad loss to his family and to the community in which he was an highly respected, active and promin
ent member.
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J. WM. LLOYD.
THE REMOTE ancestry of the Lloyd family is of Welsh origin. The name was originally McLeod, but in process of time was changed to the present name.
Rhodes Lloyd, the paternal grandfather -- whose ancestors came from England -- is a native of Orange county, Virginia. He emigrated to Kentucky in the year 18--, then removed to Indiana, thence again to Kentucky, where he remained until 1834, when he cam
e to Illinois and settled in Springfield, where, with his wife -- whose
maiden name was Mary Turner -- he still resides.
Wilson C. Lloyd, his son, and the father of J. Wm. Lloyd, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on the 30th day of January, 1819. He came with his father's family to Illinois, and remained in Sanganion and Shelby
counties until the fall of 1846. Soon after Moultrie county was organized, and the town of Sullivan laid out, he removed to Sullivan, and soon after commenced the merchant tailoring business and clothing trade in connection with others, and was a member
of the firm of Hayden & Lloyd, general merchants, at the time
of his death. At that time he was also circuit clerk and recorder of Moultrie county. His death occurred October 8th, 1856. He married Nancy, daughter of Reuben Wright. She is a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., but was a resident of Shelbyville at the t
ime of her marriage. Her father was one of the pioneers of Shelby county, a soldier of' the war of 1812, and of the Black Hawk war in 1812.
Mrs. Lloyd has survived her husband, and is a resident of Shelbyvville at this time. There were born to Wilson C. and Nancy Lloyd, seven children -- five sons and two daughters -- five of the children age still living. The subject of this sketch is the
eldest. He was born in Springfield, Illinois, March 15,1841. His early youth was passed in the subscription schools of Moultrie couny, and in clerking for his father. His educational advantages were superior to many boys of his age. In addition to his
attendance upon the public schools, be received private instruction in mathematics, bookkeeping, etc., and spent about four years at the academy in Sullivan. The year preceding his fatber's death, be clerked in the store and in the circuit clerk's offic
e, but also kept up his studies and recited to a private tutor, preparing to attend college. His opportunities for prosecuting his studies to the extent desired were cut short by the death of his father. Being the eldest of the family, the duty of provi
ding for their maintenance and support, to a great extent, devolved upon him. He entered the store of Kellar & Cleveland, as salesman and book-keeper, and continued with them as long as they remained in business; after which he went into the general stor
e of Judge J. E. Eden, as book keeper, salesman and assistant post-master. He remained in that capacity until November, 1859, when he accepted a position as clerk in the circuit clerk and recorder's office, in Shelby county, and removed to Shelbyville. On
arriving at the age of twenty-one years, he was made deputy clerk. He remained in the office until the winter of 1864-5. After leaving the circuit clerk's office, he commenced the study of law,
connecting himself with the law office of Anthony T. Hall; in the meantime carrying on the business of a real estate agent, (etc., with Hon. Geo. R. Wendling as partner, and during which time be published "Lloyd's map of Shelby county." In the beginning o
f the year 1867, he accepted the position of deputy county clerk. In the summer of 1869, he received the nomination in the Democratic primaries for the office of count clerk and at the ensuing election in November, was elected by a majority representing
more than the full strength of his party. In 1873, he was the candidate of the united opposition to the Republican Party, and was almost unanimously elected for the second time. He continued in office until the expiration of his term in 1877. During the
last two years of his official life he resumed the study of law under the direction of Hon. W. W. Hess, present county judge, whose office was in the county clerk's rooms. After his retirement from the office of county clerk, he formed a partnership wit
h W. A. Cochran in the real estate, abstract and insurance business, which he still continues. In May, 1880, he formed a partnership in the practice of law with Truman E. Ames, the law firm of Lloyd & Ames, and the real estate and abstract office, occupyi
ng the same building.
Politically Mr. Lloyd is a Democrat. He cast his first presidential vote in 1864, for Geo. B. McClellan. He is a member of the ancient and honorable order of Freemasonry, of the I. O. O. F. and Encampment, also a member of the Knights of Honor and A. O.
U. W. of Shelbyville. In the order of I. O. O. F. and Knights of Honor. He has been particularly active in having passed all the chairs in the former and held the position of instructor in the secret work of the order in this district, and filled the offi
ce of vice-dictator of the State of Illinois in the latter.
On the 13th of October, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary M., daughter of Chattin Kelly, Esq., an old settler and honored citizen of Shelby county. Mrs. Lloyd was born and raised in this county. By this union there have been two children, a s
on and daughter named William H. and Nellie C. Lloyd, aged respectively twelve and five years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd are members of the Christian Church.
Mr. Lloyd is emphatically a business man, with a business and legal education. His life, since he was fifteen years of age, has been passed in the transaction of business for himself or others. His father died while he was yet a mere youth, and being th
e eldest of the children and only support of the family, he was compelled to act a man's part and take a position among men at all age when most youths are receiving an education and training to fit them for the battle of life. That severe ordeal, howeve
r, was not without good results. It taught him habits of self-reliance and industry and brought into action that will-power and force that lies dormant in every man, and is sometimes only awakened by stern, hard necessity. That he acted well a man's par
t, all who know him will bear ample testimony.
WILLIAM C. KELLY.
THE KELLY family are among the old settlers of Shelby county. The paternal grandfather, Mason Kelly, was a native of Virginia. He removed to Tennessee a short time after that state was admitted to the union. He subsequently removed to Illinois a
nd settled in Shelby county. He died while on a visit to Tennessee. His son, Chattin Kelly, father of William C., was born in Tennessee in 1819. He came with his father to Shelby county in the year 1838; they settled in Rural township. Mr. Kelly remai
ned here until 1878, when he removed to Brownsville, Mo., where he at present resides. He married Elizabeth A. Smith, a native of Kentucky. She died in 1865. By this marriage there were seven children, one son and six daughters. The subject of this sk
etch is the third in the family. He was born in Rural township, Shelby county, July 31st, 1848. He was an invalid in his youth, and therefore missed opportunities for receiving as thorough an education as the public schools could give, He attended for a
time the country schools, and as he advanced in years, his health improving, he came to Shelbyville and received a fair English education in the High school of that city. In 1868 he entered the University of Kentucky at Lexington, taking the full course
in mathematics, and
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Greek and Latin languages. By teaching during vacation, and being appointed tutor during the last year, he was able to maintain himself at college for four years. After the close of his college days he went to Harrisonville, Cass county, Mo., and taught
school for one year, then returned to Shelbyville, and entered the law office of Thornton & Wendling, and read law. At the September term of the Supreme Court, in 1876, at Ottawa, he was admitted to the bar. In June, 1877, he formed a law partnership w
ith H. S Mouser, and commenced the practice. The law firm of Mouser & Kelly still continues. In the summer of 1880 he was nominated in the Democratic primiries for the office of States Attorney for Shelby county, and in November following, at the genera
l election, was elected over the combined opposition of Republican and Greenback parties, beating his opponent by a handsome majority. We venture the prediction that Mr. Kelly will make an able prosecutor. He was married on the 21st of December, 1876, t
o Miss Anthea D., daughter of A. V. Harper, of Tower Hill, Shelby Co., Ills. By this marriage there is one daughter, named Bessie Kelly.
E. E. WAGGONER
WAS BORN in Shelby county, Illinois, May 3d, 1829. His father, Amos Waggoner, was descended from a German family, who emigrated to America
about the year 1730, and settled in or near Charleston, South Carolina. His mother's maiden name was Narcissa Jay, and was of that well-known
American family. His parents were among the early pioneer settlers of Shelby county, Illinois, arriving at Shelbyville in February, 1828, while the red
man still roamed the forests of central Illinois in search of game. The subject of this sketch is the fourth child of a family of twelve children. He
received his literary education in the common schools of the county until his teachers were incapable of leading him farther up the hill of knowledge,
and then he was placed under the private instruction of a Massachusetts gentleman of ripe scholarship. In this manner he received a liberal education.
He then studied medicine, graduating at the University of Missouri in the class of 1855-6, and a few years later received the degree Ad eundem at the
St. Louis Medical College. After graduating he practiced his profession up to 1870, when his health failing he quit the practice of medicine and went
into the mercantile business with J. J. & W. L. Hayden, in Shelbyville. He quit that business in 1874, and in company with J. Wm. Lloyd started a new newspaper in Shelbyville, which they called "The Shelbyville County Independent," announcing tha
t "The Independent as its name implies is thoroughly independent -- intensely democratic." In 1875 he bought Mr. Lloyd's interest, since which time he has played a lone hand. In 1876 he changed the name of his paper to The Shelbyville Democrat.
The doctor's first connection with a newspaper was in 1858, when he and his brothers Joseph H. and Frank M. owned and conducted The Sullivan Express, the first newspaper published in Moultrie county, Illinois, and the predecessor of the prese
nt excellent county newspaper in that place called The Sullivan Progress. His next newspaper connection was in 1867-8, when he bought the controlling interest in The Central Illinois Times, published in Shelbyville, and had the editorial cha
rge of that paper. The Times was the predecessor of the present Shelby County Leader. As will be seen by the foregoing, Dr. Waggoner has had much newspaper experience. Among the journalists of Illinois he is regarded as an able newspaper wri
ter, and much above the average of country journalists.
MATTHIAS DILLEY
THE SUBJECT of the following brief biography is a native of Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and first saw the light of day one morning in May, 1836. His grandfather, Aaron Dilley, was born in Germany, emigrated to America, settled in New Jersey and d
ied there at the advanced age of ninety-nine years, and his wife in her ninety-seventh year. His son, and father of Matthias, was also named Aaron. He was born and bred in New Jersey, and lived there until 1880 when he died. He married Sarah Ann Shurt
s. She is living on the old homestead near where she was born. Matthias, or "Tice," as he is familiarly called, is the second in a family of fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters -- five sons and seven daughters still surviving. Young "Tice"
remained at home until he was twenty-three years of age, when he engaged in farming for himself, and continued in New Jersey until 1867, when he came west and settled in Shelbyville, Illinois, and engaged in draying, delivering freight and express from d
epot to every part of the city. He prospered in the business, working hard early and late, and trying to please his numerous patrons and friends. In 1878 he leased the Commercial House, renovated it and fitted it up for the reception of the traveling pub
lic, and here, in his house, with a bland smile illumninating his handsome face, (said smile may always be taken as an omen of good things lying beyond) he receives his guests in an affable and courteous manner and bids them welcome to the best his house
affords. In October, 1859, he married Miss Mary Ann Kinsley, a native of Ireland, and a most estimable woman. Her parents came to America while she was in her infancy. By this
marriage there are six children, three sons and three daughters. Both parents and children are members of the Catholic Church. Politically, Tice is a
Democrat of the uncompromising and never give up kind. He votes that ticket for the principles that underlie that great political organization. Mr. Dilley
has made the Commercial a favorite hotel, and struck his true vocation when he gave up draying and went into the busmess of entertaining and providing
for the comfort of the great public.
JAMES & YANTIS.
THE JAMES family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Alexander C. James, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Prince George's county, Md., in the year 1800; he removed with his father's family to Kentucky, in 1808, and settled in Ni
cholas county, remaining until 1831, when be came to Illinois and settled in Shelby county, where he remained until his death, in 1870.
His son, W. W. James, was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, in 1829. He was in his infancy when his father came to this county; he is still a resident of Ridge township, in this county. He was the only son and child of A. C. and Mary Ann (Robinson) Jame
s; his mother still lives with him. W. W. James married Cordelia Small. She was a native of Ohio; her parents came to Illinois about 1840; she died in 1862. In 1866 Mr. James married the second time; his present wife's name was Leah A. Killam. By the latt
er marriage there were two, and by the former, five children. John A., the subject of this sketch, is the eldest sone of the latter union; he was born in Ridge township, Shelby county, Illinois, October 11, 1852; he was raised upon the farm, attending the
country schools in the winter months. At the age of twenty he entered Westfield College, in Clark county, Illinois, and remained there one year; on his return he entered the
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store of Kleeman & Goldstien as clerk, and remained there for three and a half years, and then, in connection with John W. Yantis, embarked in dry-goods and general merchandising business. On the 9th of December, 1873, he married Miss Henrietta C. Butler
, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, but a resident
of Shelby county, Illinois, at the time of her marriage. Two children are the fruits of this union. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian Church; he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W. Politically, he is a democrat.
John W. Yantis was born in Pickaway township, Shelby county, Illinois, May 13, 1855. His father, Daniel Yantis, was born in Maryland in 1811; he removed to Ohio in 1817, and to Shelby County, Illinois, in 1853; he married Elizabeth Longenbaugh, a
native of Ohio. The subject of this sketch is the youngest of fifteen children, nine of whom are living; he was also raised on the farm. At the age of seventeen he entered Westfield College, in Clark county, Illinois; in 1875 he entered Bryant & Stratto
n's Commercial College, in Chicago, and graduated from that institution; he then came to Shelbyville and clerked for Kleeman & Goldstie for one year and a half; he then formed a partnership with Mr. James in the dry-goods and general merchandising busines
s, which, under the firm name of James & Yantis still continued. On the 21st of May, 1876, he united in marriage to Miss Tarcy J. James, daughter of W. W. James, of Shelby county, Illinois; One child has been born to hallow and bless this union. He is a
member of the I. O. O. F. and order of A. O. U. W. In politics he votes the democratic ticket. His wife is a member of the Christian Church. Both James and Yantis are comparatively young men, just entering upon the threshold of their business life; wha
t success is in store for them the future can only tell; but, if steady habits, industry, economy, and business integrity are guides to success, then we predict for them an honorable and successful career. They bring to their business good training and a
thorough knowledge of the wants and tastes of their patrons. They constantly strive to give to the public
the best goods in the market at fair and reasonable profits, consistent with prudence and safety to themselves.
C. J. KURTZ.
THE SUBJECT of this biography, was born in Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, January 10th, 1832. He is of German parentage. His parents, Amos George
and Dora (Rapp) Kurtz, were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany. They emigrated to America in 1830, and settled in the above earned county, in Ohio, and engaged in and remaind there until their death; -- the father dying in 1875, and the mother January 6th, 1
881. The subject of this sketch was raised upon the farm. In his youth he attended the public schools of his neighborhood and received a sufficient education to fit him for the ordinary duties of life. He remained at home assisting his father until he
attained his majority. He then started out in the world to make his own way. It may be mentioned, however, that he had learned the carpenter trade in Ohio, and when he came west to Illinois, he stopped at Lacon, in Marshall county, and there worked at h
is trade and remained there until May, 1860, when he came to Shelbyville, and here embarked in the grocery and provision trade in connection with D. W. Marks. This partnership continued until 1869, when Mr. Marks retired from the firm, and he was succeede
d by William Bivens, in 1874. The firm of Kurtz & Bivens continued until 1878, when the latter retired from the firm, and from that time to the present, Mr. Kurtz has continued alone in the business, in which he has been more than ordinarily successful.
What he has in the way of the world's goods has been the accumulation of his own industry, and sagacity, and the practice of economy. He is a good business man, methodical and prompt, and of the strictest
integrity. He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary Brokaw; she fell a victim to the cholera in 1865. On the 4th day of May, 1871, he married his present wife. Her maiden name was Miss Alice Bivens, daughter of William Bivens. She was b
orn and raised in Shelby county, Illinois. By this union there are two children, named Sidney G. and George Kurtz. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and his wife of the M. E. Church. He is a respected member of the I. O. O. F., and of the benef
iciary order of Knights of Honor. In politics, he is a member of the Republican party. He has held local offices, and at present is City Treasurer. He is a man who takes but little interest in politics further than to express his views and exercise the
right of the ballot. Mr. Kurtz is among the old business men of Shelbyville, and with one or two exceptions has been longer in business, continuously, than any other in the city. He started in 1860, and the year 1881 finds him still in the same line. D
uring all these years the public have learned to know and recognize him as an honorable and conscientious business man and citizen.
THOMAS W. STUART.
EDITOR and publisher of the Greenback Herald, was born in Shelby county, Ills., September 8th, 1840. He removed with his parents to Missouri in 1847,
where he lived until his parents moved to Bloomfield, Iowa, in 1856, and remained there until the breaking out of the civil war, when be enlisted in
the first company raised in the town. The company was assigned to the 2d Iowa Infantry and called Co. " G." He served three years in the regiment,
participating in the desperate battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, the siege of Corinth, the second battle of Corinth and numerous
minor engagements. The 2d Iowa regiment particularly distinguished itself at Fort Donelson, where it made one of the most desperate and successful bayonet charges on record, losing in killed and wounded over one half of the regiment. When his three year
s service expired, General J. B. Weaver, then Colonel Commanding regiment, vouluntarily gave him the following certificate:
"Headquarters, 2d Iowa Infty.
IN THE FIELD NEAR ROME, GEORGIA, 22d OF MAY, 1864.
To whom it may concern.
The bearer hereof, Thomas W. Stuart, has been a member of this regiment during the past three years, and has by his uniform good conduct as a soldier and a gentleman, endeared himself to the officers and the men of this command, and I take great pleasure
in recommending him to the confidence of all good people, wherever he may go.
J. B. WEAVER,
Col. Commanding."
Mr. Stuart then went to Cincinnati, where lie remained a couple of months, but being of an adventurous disposition he again entered the service, this
time as Master's Mate in the navy. He was assigned to duty on the Monitor, Milwaukee, which had just been built at St. Louis. The Milwaukee was
ordered to join the blockading squadron in Mobile Bay which it did, and performed duty in that capacity until the 23d of March, 1865. On that day the Union squadron was ordered to make an attack upon the Confederate fleet and forts. The Milwaukee led the
attack, and while engaging Spanish Fort at close quarters, ran on a torpedo which exploded
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and blew a hole in her hull, and she went down. The boat was lying in shallow water at that time, and to that lucky fact the crew owe their lives.
Mr. Stuart remained in the navy until the close of the war, when he resigned his commission and came North. During the last fifteen years he has spent some time in most of the states of the union, and is familiar with the inside
workings of nearly all the great newspapers of this country, having worked on them in one capacity or another. He is a practical printer, a good shorthand writer and a thorough newspaper man. He is very positive in his opinions, and
never at a loss to find language with which to express himself.
C. J. WESTERVELT, M. D.
IS a native of Ohio, and was born June 7th, 1855, in the town of Westerville, which place was laid out by his paternal grandfather. Dr. Westervelt is the seventh son in a family of nine sons. His father, J. L. Westervelt, removed from Ohio to Illi
nois in 1860, and settled in Livingston county, and engaged in farming. He is still a resident of that county. Dr. Westervelt commenced the study of medicine in 1874, in the office of Dr. D. Brewer of Fairbury, Ills. He afterwards entered the Bennett E
clectic Medical College of Chicago, and remained there two terms, and graduated from that institution in 1877. In the fall of the same year, he entered Hahnemann College in the above-named city, and graduated there from in the spring of 1878, with the de
gree of M. D. He soon thereafter came to Shelbyville, Ills., and commenced the practice in connection with Dr. Stevenson The partnership continued six months, until the removal of the latter. Dr. Westervelt belongs to the progressive school of Homeopathy
.
On the 28th of July, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary L., daughter of S. H. Webster, an old and prominent citizen of Shelbyville.
Dr. Westervelt is well qualified by educational training and habits of thought for his chosen profession. He is a man of correct and studious habits.
CAPT. PHIL. R. WEBSTER.
THE WEBSTER family, on the paternal side, are of English descent. Russell B. Webster, the father of the subject of this biography, was born and bred in the state of Massachusetts. He emigrated to Ohio in 1821, and in 1823 removed his family to Cl
eveland, which had been laid out a few years before, and at that time was a small, insignificant village. He still resides in Lorraine county, Ohio. He married Orpha Hunter, who is also a native of Massachusetts, and is yet living -- an aged couple of o
ver fourscore years. They have been residents of Ohio 1821, except a few years during the time of the late rebellion, when they came to Shelbyville, Ill. There were eight children in the family, seven sons and one daughter -- the latter died in her infa
ncy. There are five sons yet living. Philander R. Webster was born in Lorraine county, Ohio, February 10, 1833. He received an excellent education in the public schools of his county, and adopted the profession of Civil Engineer. He was employed by the Te
rre Haute and Alton Railroad Company in the capacity of Civil Engineer during the process of the construction of that line of roadway, and he made his first advent into the town of Shelbyville on the 14th of July, 1855. He had however been in the county b
efore that date. On the 1st of January, 1856, he came to the town as an actual and permanent settler, and here he has remained to the present. After the completion of the railroad he took charge of a section as master, and continued in that position for
six months, at the end of which time he commenced clerking for Webster & Jagger, general merchants of Shelbyville, until 1862, when he became proprietor, and operated the business until May 1st of the same year, when the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. was fo
rmed, which still continues. L. Martin was a member of the company until 1872, when he retired from the concern, and Phil. H. Webster and S. H. Webster, his elder brother, from that time constituted the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. Their business is hand
ling grain, pork packing, and dealers in agricultural implements and farm machinery.
On the 13th of May, 1864, during the progress of the great rebellion, he enlisted in "Co. G," 143d regiment Ill. Vol. Infantry, and upon the organization of the company was elected captain. He served out his term of enlistment, and was honorably dischar
ged and mustered out of the service. In the year 1862, on the 15th of April, he married Miss Elenor M. Bryant, a native of Steuben county, New York, but a resident of this county at the time of her marriage. She came here in 1858. They have an adopted
daughter named Mattie Webster. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is an honored member of the A. F. & A. M., and of the Chapter of R. A. M. Politically he is a Republican, and always votes with that party. He has been a member of the
City Councils, and at the present time is Mayor of the city of Shelbyville. He was elected to that position in 1877 for the term of four years. Captain Webster has been a citizen of Shelbyville for twenty-five years, and in that time has made many friend
s, both in the town and country.
J. H. SILVER, [EX-SHERIFF.]
MR. SILVER was born in Merrimac county, New Hampshire, November 3d, 1823. His father, Jeremiah Silver, was a native of the same state, and was a mason by trade. He followed that occupation for many years, only abandoning it towards
the close of his life, when he engaged in farming. In the year 1836 he followed the stream of emigration that was pouring into the west, and went to Cass county, Michigan, where he remained until his death, which took place in 1876.
At the time of his demise he was in the eighty-seventh year of his age. During the war of 1812, in the capacity of fifer, he participated in and passed through the entire struggle. In early life he married Saran Hastings, who was born and
raised in the same state. She died in Cass county, Michigan, in 1844. By this union there were six children, four of whom lived to the age of maturity, and three have survived the parents. The subject of this sketch is the second of the family. Like a
ll New England boys he received a good common English education in the schools of his native state. At the age of eighteen he commenced the trade of brickmason, and worked with his father until he was twenty-eight years of age. He remained in Michigan, f
ollowing his trade, until March 3d, 1856, when he came to Shelbyville, and here continued brick-laying until 1860. About this time work was scarce and few buildings were being erected; he therefore concluded to engage in farming, and followed that vocatio
n for six years. In 1866 there came a revival of business, and building commenced anew. He moved to a place near the town, and re-engaged in his trade, and followed it continuously until 1876. During that time he erected a majority of the brick buildings
that now adorn the town of Shelbyville. The last of his handiwork and skill was the splendid bank building of T. M. Thornton & Co., on Main street. In the summer of 1876 he
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received the nomination for Sheriff of Shelby county, at the hands of the Democratic party, and in the ensuing election in November following, was elected by a handsome majority. He filled the office so acceptably that he was renominated and re-elected t
o the same position in 1878. He retired from the office Dec. lst, 1880, with the best wishes and kindest feelings of a majority of the people over whom he exercised the right and authority of an executive officer. In the performance of his duty he was im
partial and treated all
alike, and with that moderation that only strict justice would allow. On the 25th of September, 1845, he was united in marriage to Miss Julia A. Mead, who was born in New York, July 24th, 1825. She was a resident of Cass county,
Michigan, at the time of her marriage. Her father, Barak Mead, removed from New York to that state in 1834. This union of Mr. and Mrs. Silver has been blessed with eight children, five sons and three daughters. Six of the children are still living. Th
eir names, in the order of their birth, are: Emma C., wife of David Livers, a farmer and resident of Jewell county, Kansas; Edward A., farmer and resident of Moultrie county, Ill.; Barak M., Walter H., J. Judson, and
Hattie. Clarence died in infancy, and Mary C. in her seventh year. His estimable wife is a member of the Baptist Church. Politically Mr. Silver is a sound, uncompromising Democrat, and has been identified with that political
organization since casting his first vote for James K. Polk for President, in 1844. He has never lost faith in the principles and final success of that grand old party that has withstood defeat after defeat, but yet presents an unbroken front to the enemy
. Mr. Silver is of a quiet, unassuming man, but withal of a jovial, social turn of mind, and is an excellent companion, and a firm friend. In his dealings with mankind, and in his character as a man and citizen, he is honorable and just, and is universa
lly respected.
