Adams County IL

Biographical Sketch of William Granville Lee

Lee, William Granville; labor leader; born, La Prairie, Illinois, Nov. 29, 1859; son of James W. and Sylvista Jane (Tracy) Lee; educated, public schools; married, Mary R. Rice, of Chicago, Oct. 15, 1901; brakeman and conductor, A. T. & S. F., Wabash, Missouri P., and U. P. railways, 1879-1884; deputy recorder deeds, Ford County, Kansas, 1884-1888; conductor, U. P. R. R., 1889-1895; 1st vice pres. 1895-1909, pres., Jan. 1, 1909; Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen; Republican; Mason.

Biographical Sketch of Henry King

It is not the rule for men to follow the trade or profession to which they are best adapted and to achieve the dominant ambition of their lives. This inclination and result can in absolute truth be said of Capt. Henry King. He learned the printer’s trade because the attraction was irresistible, and advanced from the composing room and hand press to the editorial desk because he must have foreseen the work he was best fitted to do. His taste and capacity were for writing, a natural force impelling him to reduce the workings of his mind to written form–and … Read more

Biography of Anton Andrew Ackerman

Anton Andrew Ackerman. The business opportunities that some men never see, attract others to whom they seem open pathways to success. Not every farmer boy, however, of seventeen years had the common sense attitude combined with the industrious habits that have made Anton Andrew Ackerman, now a substantial business man of Neosho County, a reliable, satisfactory, efficient worker in other industrial lines before he had more than reached manhood. Mr. Ackerman had worked hard and to some purpose, otherwise he would not have his present high business standing as one of the leading contractors and drillers in the Mid-continent oil … Read more

Biography of James Madison Harvey

James Madison Harvey, fifth governor of the State of Kansas, was born in Monroe County, Virginia, September 21, 1833, and was the second child and oldest son of Thomas Jefferson and Margaret (Walker) Harvey. His ancestors for several generations were Virginians. His paternal ancestor in America was Henry Harvey, who came from England about 1725, settling in Orange County. Henry Harvey’s son John was the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketeh. Other ancestors of the colonial period were Michael Woods of Albermarle County, who was a deseendant of a Yorkshire trooper of Cromwell’s army; Capt. Henry Walker, who … Read more

Biography of Hoit, Mary Melvina

Mary Melvina Hoit 1842 – 1916 Biography Mary Melvina Hoit was born in Meigs County, Ohio in 1842. She was one of the two daughters. Her sister’s name was Ruthanar. We do not have the names of her parents but in scrapbook #3 in one of the letters she wrote to newspapers there is come family history. Her father moved from Meigs Co. to Quincy, Ill. In Adams County in 1844. They lived in town until the following spring when they moved to the north line of Adams County and purchased a farm from his brother-in-law, Truman Hocox. This farm … Read more

Biography of Reinhard E. Wobus, M.D.

Dr. Reinhard E. Wobus confines his attention to surgery and obstetrics and is recognized as a surgeon of ability. He was born in Fort Madison, Iowa, July 20, 1879, a son of Gottlieb D. and Anna M. (Nollau) Wobus. His father is a native of Switzerland and came to America in 1869. He became a divine of the Evangelical church and devoted his life to the active work of the ministry until 1920, since which time he has lived retired, making his home with his son, Dr. Wobus, in St. Louis. The mother of Dr. Wobus was born in this … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas J. Benjamine

Thomas J. Benjamine was born in Union, Fayette county, Iowa, October 1, 1858. He is the son of Abram R. Benjamine a native of Pennsylvania. He left Iowa at the age of eight years and went to Quincy, Illinois, and from that place removed to Cameron, Missouri, where he learned his present business of railroad agent and telegraph operator. He came to Jamesport in 1877 and has held the office of agent of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway ever since. Mr. Benjamine was married in Jarnesport, on the 5th day of October, 1879, to Miss Fannie J. Harvey. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Theodore Jonte

Theodore Jonte, dealer in harness and saddles, Mattoon; was born in Nashville, Tenn., April 4, 1839; his father was a wholesale confectioner; he received a good common-school education, and, at the age of 16 years, left home and came West, settling in Quincy, Ill., where he engaged in working at his trade; in the fall of 1861, he engaged in laboring for the U. S. Government in the making of cavalry equipments; the fall of 1862, he came to Paris, Edgar Co., and engaged in business with Wm. Legy; they operated a shop in Paris, and one in Grand View … Read more

Biography of Hon. J. H. Rinehart

HON.J.H. RINEHART. – Mr. Rinehart, whose portrait appears in this volume, is one of the pioneers of Eastern Oregon, and the proprietor of the Mammoth Anna-Lulu Flouring mills. He was born October 1, 1836, in Adams county, Illinois, and moved to Mahaska county, Iowa, in 1845. In 1854 he crossed the plains with his parents to Oregon and located with them at Eugene. In 1855 he left the parental roof and, although but a boy of eighteen, sought the gold fields of Northern California, where he remained a year and a half, and returned to Oregon soon after the close … Read more

Cusick, William C. – Obituary

Wm. C. Cusick was born in Adams County, Illinois, Feb. 21, 1842, and died near Union, Oregon, Oct. 7, 1922, being 80 years, 7 months and 16 days old. In 1853 he left his birthplace with his parents for Oregon, near Kingston, where he made his home till he came to eastern Oregon and settled in Union County in 1871. While stationed at Fort Lapwai, with his company during the Civil war, he became interested in the study of botany. He continued this study during the remainder of his life, making a special study of the plants of the Blue … Read more

Biography of Thomas Jefferson Booth

Thomas Jefferson Booth, of Independence, is a native of Illinois, in Adams County, of which state he was born January 4, 1856. He was but eight years of age when his parents removed to Iowa and settled in Des Moines County, where they resided until 1869, in which year they settled in Montgomery County, Kansas, where the father took up a claim and resided until his death in 1878. Thomas J. Booth is a son of Milton and Agatha (Adams) Booth. His father was born in Virginia in 1808, and was a son of John Booth, an Englishman, who came … Read more

Biography of Charles F. Armstrong

For many years Charles F. Armstrong has been farming in the vicinity of Coodys Bluff and is readily conceded to be one of the progressive farmers and stockmen in this section of the state. A native of Oklahoma, he was born at one of the first post office stations in Indian Territory, at that time known as Cooscoowie district, on the 27th of February, 1872. His father, Henry Armtrong, a pioneer citizen and registered Delaware, was a son-in-law of Chief Journeycake. For thirty years he was engaged in the mercantile business at Coodys Bluff and Nowata. He suffered a severe … Read more

Biography of George Wagner

George Wagner, whose home is near Beloit in Mitchell County, is one of the men who bore the heat and burden of the day in introducing civilization to this section, and when the many hardships and vicissitudes encountered by him and his fellows are recalled it seems that no reward in comfort and circumstances could be too great for his declining years. Mr. Wagner is one of the few early settlers who still retain and reside on their first homestead. On coming to Kansas Mr. Wagner migrated from Adams County, Illinois, spent a short time at Selina, where he arrived … Read more

Fry, Ellen Bimson – Obituary

Died at her home in Guernsey, Iowa Jan 29 1899 of tumorous cancer, Mrs. Ellen Fry, aged 60 years, 9 months and 20 days. Funeral services were held in the M. E. Church at Guernsey conducted by her former pastor, J. F. Kalser, assisted by J. W. Wilson, pastor of the M. E. Church at Guernsey, after which the remains were laid to rest in the Moravian Cemetery at Harmony, Iowa. Ellen Bimson was born in England, April 9, 1838. At the age of four years she came with her parents to America, locating in Adams County Ill., where she … Read more

Biography of Samuel C. Pine

Samuel C. Pine, for over thirty years has been a resident, and identified with the varied interests, of San Bernardino County. He is now engaged in general farming operations upon 160 acres of productive land located in Chino Township, Chino school district, four miles south and east of Chino. In 1867 Mr. Pine purchased a squatter’s claim to this land, which was then in its wild and un-cultivated state. He spent years in litigation with grant claimants, but finally secured his Government patent. The first year of his occupancy he devoted his attention to stock-growing, but later commenced a system … Read more

Biography of Joseph F. Tobias

Joseph F. Tobias has for many years been closely identified with banking in Ellsworth County and is now cashier of the Wilson State Bank. The Wilson State Bank was established under a state charter in 1886 by B. S. and Myron P. Westfall. Its original capital stock was $35,000 and the first officers were: E. E. Parks, president; M. P. Westfall, vice president, and B. S. Westfall, cashier. Its record of thirty years had been a splendid one, reflecting good management and prosperity to its stockholders and patrons. Today the bank had a capital of $40,000, surplus and undivided profits … Read more

Biography of Adrian D. Nichols, D. O.

The school of osteopathy has a worthy representative in Adrian D. Nichols, who is a successful practitioner of St. Louis, and since his graduation from the Kirksville School of Osteopathy has practiced in this city. He was born on a farm near Nashville, Illinois, April 17, 1870, and is a son of David William and Tabitha (Ballard) Nichols. The father, a native of the state of New York, was born in what was then known as Bath Village but is now the city of Syracuse. He was a son of William Nichols who came to America from Scotland in early … Read more

Biography of Lewis Hanback

Lewis Hanback. In the summer of 1865, soon after the close of the Civil war, in which he had played a gallant part as a Union officer, Lewis Hanback came to Topeka to practice law. For many years he was one of the eminent members of the Kansas bar, and he was not less well known and esteemed in public affairs. He was one of the makers of Kansas history during the last half century. He was born at Winchester, Scott County, Illinois, March 27, 1839. He was the oldest of the six children of William and Ann Hanback. His … Read more

Biography of George W. Robinson

George W. Robinson of Wichita has been a Kansan forty years. His first work in this state was as an educator at Winfield, continuing from June, 1876, to June, 1879. He soon turned to the more congenial work of a business career. The field in which his energies have found their most successful issues has been in banking, and there are a number of flourishing institutions in the state which were organized or at some time in their career have received the benefit of his excellent judgment and financial ability. Born February 20, 1855, in Piqua, Ohio, he went to … Read more

Biography of Hon. William Payne

Farmers who have been elected to positions of trust and honor are not by any means few in America, but it is the exception that the tiller of the soil continues to be such long after he has won success in any sphere outside his regular calling. The allurements of city life in the great majority of cases quickly overcome the inborn love of nature unadorned and the farmer is known by another name. Honorable William Payne has been one of the few. After terms of service in county offices and through twelve years in which he held membership in … Read more