Joseph L. Hines. The first man appointed to carry the mail into the rural districts of Champaign County was the late Joseph L. Hines. Mr. Hines was for many years a resident of Champaign and his death, which’ occurred in that city November 15, 1910, removed an honored and respected citizen.
Mr. Hines was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, December 31, 1859, the youngest in a family of nine children born to Joseph and Elizabeth (LeMarr) Hines. He grew up and received his education in the country and was a farmer until his marriage. He then formed a connection as a traveling salesman with the Coal Brothers Pump Company at Greencastle, Indiana, and sold the goods of that organization over a large territory. After many years of this life Mr. Hines removed to Champaign County in 1893 and entered the livery business. About half a dozen years later, when the rural free delivery system was established, he secured the first appointment as a rural carrier and for a number of years made his journey daily u.p and down the roads of Champaign County, delivering mail to the farmers along the route.
Mr. Hines was married November 18, 1881, to Miss Lizzie B. McKinsey, a native of Indiana and the oldest of seven children of Jacob and Rachel (Moore) McKinsey. Her parents were also natives of Indiana. Since her husband’s death Mrs. Hines has continued to live in Champaign, and in 1913 she built the handsome two-story and basement brick and tile apartment house at 105 South Randolph Street, where she still resides. Mr. Hines was an active Republican in politics. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hines: Fred J., now deceased; Margaret L., wife of Charles A. Powers, of St. Louis; Edna, who died in childhood; and Kate, a resident of New York City and pursuing a course in voice culture.