Champaign County IL

Biography of Lew E. Stevenson

Lew E. Stevenson. The village and community of St. Joseph have had no citizen whose work and interests have been more closely identified with the general welfare than Lew E. Stevenson. His home has been there for forty years, and almost continuously during that time he was in business in the village, but has kept in close touch with the agricultural development as well. He has given liberally of his thought and purpose to the upbuilding of local institutions, particularly the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is now the only surviving original trustee. Mr. Stevenson was born in Highland … Read more

Biography of Chester Garfield Reynolds

Chester Garfield Reynolds is one of the enterprising young farmers of Harwood Township, his well cultivated and managed farm being in section 11 of that township, not far from the Village of Gifford. Mr. Reynolds was born in that township in 1881, the next to the youngest of the fifteen children of Hanford and Antoinette (Roberts) Reynolds. Two of the children died in infancy. A conspicuous factor in the early days of Illinois was Father Hanford Reynolds, who was born in Westchester County, New York. He was a surveyor by profession and followed that calling in the early days, laying … Read more

Biography of Ira H. Dodson

Ira H. Dodson. Among the families that have been identified with Champaign County for more than half a century are the Dodsons, represented by Mr. Ira H. Dodson, who still has a portion of the old homestead in Urbana Township. Mr. Dodson was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, August 10, 1855,. a son of John and Elizabeth (McGee) Dodson. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Indiana. In 1865 the Dodsons came to Illinois, locating in Urbana Township, where the father bought 192 acres of land. John and Elizabeth Dodson had two sons, Edward and Ira, and … Read more

Biography of John E. Gehrt

John E. Gehrt. Upon the success and welfare of the cultivators of the soil rests the true destiny of any nation. Nowhere does the agricultural element represent such qualities of business success and energy as in Champaign County, and one of the men who have claimed this county as their home and have gained unusual fruits from their effort is Mr. John Gehrt, whose home is in section 33 of Harwood Township. Mr. Gehrt is a native of Stark County, Illinois, a son of John M. and Catherine (Best) Gehrt. Both parents were born in Germany, came in early youth … Read more

Biography of Fred Hoy

Fred Hoy is one of the younger factors in the agricultural enterprise of Champaign County. He took hold of farming as a practical proposition in early life, and the ten years or more he has applied to that business have been in a high degree profitable. He now looks after the management of one of the best places in Urbana Township, located in section 24. Mr. Hoy was born on the old farm in that township June 10, 1885, a son of Rufus B. and Martha (Arrington) Hoy. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Indiana. They … Read more

Biography of James Barber

James Barber. Of the fine homesteads scattered about Champaign County one that betrays to the casual observer every evidence of thrifty and careful management and successful operation is that of James Barber, located in Champaign Township, on Rural Route No. 1 out of the city of Champaign. Mr. Barber has been a practical farmer in Champaign County since early youth, is a young man, vigorous and far sighted and keen in handling every detail of agricultural management. He was born in Colfax Township of Champaign County April 1, 1886, a son of Alfred C. and Louisa (Peters) Barber. His father … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Clarence L. Williams

Clarence L. Williams is an enterprising farmer of Philo Township and is now living in section 25, on the land where he was born August 7, 1875. The family is an old and prominent one of Champaign County. His parents were Elias and Hannah (Peterson) Williams. Both were born in Franklin County, Indiana. Elias Williams came to Illinois in early manhood and located in Champaign County during the early ’60s. His first possessions here were eighty acres and he subsequently added another eighty acres and had the farm well improved and under profitable operation long before his death, which occurred … Read more

Biography of George W. Herbert

George W. Herbert, who is supervisor of Harwood Township, has been identified with Champaign County many years, and in the solution of the daily problems confronting him has found the opportunities for progress to success and prosperity. He is one of the leading farmers and has one of the most attractive homes in his township, located in section 36, north of Gifford, in Harwood Township. Mr. Herbert was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, a son of Richard and Anna (Cox) Herbert. His parents were both born in England and their coming to America was their bridal tour. They came to … Read more

Biography of John Wallace Mulliken

John Wallace Mulliken. It is said that the greatest incentive to ambition for young people who have not yet discovered their proper talents and place in life are stories of successful self-made business men. Any boy might be encouraged by reading something of the career of John W. Mulliken, one of Champaign’s leading merchants. Mr. Mulliken has been a resident of Champaign County for over sixty years. He came to the county when a boy of six and he had practically no opportunities to gain an education. This was partly due to the fact that good public schools did not … Read more

Biography of David A. Silver

David A. Silver is one of the men who claim Champaign County as their birthplace and the scene of their substantial activities. Mr. Silver has found in farming both a congenial and profitable occupation. The management of well tilled fields, the care and superintendence of good stock, the task of winning a living and at the same time increasing and improving the value of his farm, and the duties of good citizenship, have occupied him for many years. His home and farm are in Philo Township in section 3, and his mail is delivered on Rural Route No. 11 out … Read more

Biography of Olof Olson

Olof Olson on coming to America from his native land of Sweden had only three dollars in money, and was in debt for his transportation across the ocean. He has been a resident of Champaign County nearly twenty years, and it is truly remarkable what he has been able to accomplish in the way of accumulating property and in the rearing and founding of a splendid country home and a family of most industrious children. No small share of the credit for this distinctive success is due to his capable and energetic wife. Mr. Olson was born in Sweden, a … Read more

Biography of Rufus B. Hoy

Rufus B. Hoy. A resident of Champaign County almost forty years, Rufus B. Hoy after a brief visit determined that this county should be his permanent home, and here his industry has borne fruit and his name is one that is spoken with honor and respect. Mr. Hoy was born in Hancock County, Ohio, November 6, 1850, son of Abraham and Mary (Fellers) Hoy. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio and both their ancestors several generations back came from Germany. Abraham Hoy and wife had twelve children, six sons and six daughters, Rufus being … Read more

Biography of Joseph White

Joseph White. Among the numerous families of Champaign County, Illinois, whose industry and activities of life have aided in its upbuilding is that of White. Joseph White is one of the prosperous and successful farmers located east of Rantoul, some three miles. In the early years of his young manhood he came to Champaign County, and there with his good wife, whose maiden name was Jane Osborn, they began to found a permanent home for themselves. The young couple experienced many trying hardships incident to pioneer life, but possessing strongly those qualifications which go to make up a splendid citizenship, … Read more

Denney, William L. – Obituary

William L. “Bill” Denney, 63, of Champaign, Ill., and formerly of Wallowa County, died Aug. 13 after a long battle with pancreal cancer. Bramley Funeral Home in Champaign is in charge of arrangements. A funeral was held Aug. 18 in Divernon, Ill., with burial in Pawnee, Ill., at Calvary Cemetery. A memorial service will begin at 11 a.m. Sept. 5 at Northside Baptist Church in Vancouver, Wash. A reception and visitation will follow. Bill was born Dec. 14, 1944, to Clifford R. and Mary (Betz) Denney in Spokane. He moved to Oregon in 1948 to the lower Imnaha area. He … Read more

Biography of Lewis Prather

Lewis Prather has been a resident of Champaign County for many years. He has been one of the live and energetic business men and farmers of the community, though he was well educated for the law. Successful in business, he has not neglected the public welfare and is a man who can be depended upon for helpful support wherever the best interests of his home community are concerned. Mr. Prather was born in Cumberland County, Illinois, April 20, 1862. His parents were James and Delilah (White) Prather, his father a native of Indiana and his mother of Illinois. The mother … Read more

Biography of Ed Green, Col.

Col. Ed Green. While Colonel Green’s home and interests have been centered in Kansas for a number of years, he is hardly less well known in the State of Illinois, where he was reared and where he spent many active years, and in fact throughout the country and even abroad the name of Col. Ed Green is one of the most prominent associated with the breeding of short-horn cattle and of fine trotting horses. His home is now at Howard, Kansas, and he owned several ranches in that section of the state. Colonel Green was born at Indianola, Illinois, October … Read more

Biography of Alba J. Flatt

Alba J. Flatt. In a business way Mr. Flatt has been most prominently known in the community of Leverett in Champaign County, when he has the finest grain elevator in this section of the state and where for many years he has been the active medium through which an important bulk of the local grain production has been marketed. Mr. Flatt in recent years has had his home in the city of Champaign. While a resident of Champaign County most of his life, Mr. Flatt was born near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, July 6, 1863. His parents, James H. and Matilda … Read more

Biography of Mark Carley

Mark Carley was one of the founders of the city of Champaign: His name appears again and again in connection with the early annals of that city and of Champaign County, and always he appears as a man of force, of almost unlimited enterprise and of a public spirit that was in keeping with his many successes in private life. He knew much of the world by experience and had come to Champaign County soon after returning from an excursion to California during the great gold excitement on the Pacific Coast. His own life was to a large degree the … Read more

Biography of Henry Hickman Harris

Henry Hickman Harris, who followed in his father’s footsteps as a farmer and cattle feeder, and who, accepting the character and principles which his father had introduced into the First National Bank of Champaign at its founding, took it upon himself to apply these principles and broaden them for forty years, was born on the Sangamon Paver farm in Champaign County, where his father first settled. He was born on April 27, 1844, and lived seventy useful years, passing away July 15, 1914. Henry H. Harris was a stalwart citizen and under his skillful hands the fortune of his father … Read more

Biography of George W. Fenimore

George W. Fenimore. After half a century of almost uninterrupted peace and prosperity America is again at war, and in this condition the people appreciate more than ever the splendid services and devotion of those brave boys in blue who defended the Union at the time of the Civil War. That war made America a great and united nation, unexampled in resources and material achievement, and there is a direct logical connection between the victories of the Union troops on Southern battlefields fifty years ago and the present great world struggle, when America, by lending its resources and soldiers to … Read more