Edwin S. Swigart, a former mayor of the city of Champaign, is a thorough business man, and his reputation as a successful manager of large and important interests was one of the chief reasons why the people of Champaign desired him as their mayor. A native of Illinois, he was born near Farmer City in […]
William H. Smith, who owns and occupies one of the beautiful and attractive country homes near Urbana, represents one of the oldest and most prominent pioneer families of this county. Here Mr. Smith was born July 22, 1844, a son of Jacob and Margaret J. (Beattie) Smith. His father was a native of Shelby County,
William Sullivan has been a life long resident of Champaign County and has figured in business affairs as a printer, newspaper man, and in later years in the real estate and insurance business. He has one of the principal offices for the handling of real estate and insurance at Champaign. Mr. Sullivan was born at
Alpheus C. Swearingen. At a pleasant home on Sherman Street in the village of St. Joseph reside a couple who carry with them many memories of Champaign County both old and new and are enjoying the declining years of life with comforts and the riches of esteem befitting their worthy careers. Mr. and Mrs. Swearingen
Frank Delaney. For forty years Champaign County has been the home of Frank Delaney, and his name, especially in Newcomb Township, is spoken with every degree of respect attaching to a man whose achievements have been commendable and whose influence has been in every degree salutary and beneficial in the community. Mr. Delaney is now
John C. Kruse is one of Champaign’s oldest business men in point of continuous service, having lived in that city for almost half a century. He has been an independent merchant for over forty-five years, and he has wisely looked after and directed the business training of his sons and assisted each one to get
Carl Odebrecht. Some of the finest farms in Illinois are to be found in Philo Township of Champaign County. This also means that some of the ablest exponents of the art of agriculture are in the same locality. One of the men who have been especially successful in transmitting the resources of the soil into
William J. Downing is one of the men of strength and successful record as a farmer in Ogden Township, and his name has also been identified with that locality in a civic way. He was born in Ogden Township, a son of Alvin and Serene (Hayden) Downing. His parents were natives of Indiana. Mr. Downing
Thomas E. Smith. The name Thomas E. Smith is at once associated with the wealthy and successful business men of Champaign. Success did not come to him like manna from the skies, but was earned by the hardest kind of effort. He gained some of his early experience as a pioneer on the Northwestern prairies
James Quincy Thomas of Mahomet is now in his eighty-ninth year. It is a remarkable span of life which his years cover. He was born when Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. Not a permanent settlement had been fixed in Champaign County at the time of his birth. There were no railroads in
Arthur C. Singbusch, now city electrician of Champaign, is a man of thorough technical training and wide experience in his profession, and his proficiency is due to a combination of practical work in various industries and to the advantages afforded by the great technical schools of his native city. Mr. Singbusch was born in Champaign
Charles H. Watts. Educational work is very exacting in the demands which it makes upon its devotees. Ostensibly the duty of the instructor is to instill in each of his pupils a proper and practical working knowledge; but equally important is his correlative, though less direct, function of instilling character and worthy precepts through his
Benjamin Franklin Harris, grandson of the late B. F. Harris and son of Henry Hickman Harris, was born on the old Harris farm in Champaign County, where his father was also a native, on September 30, 1868. He had of course liberal advantages during his youth and every incentive to make the best of his
Charles Chenoweth. The name of Chenoweth is one held in high regard in Champaign County because it has always been borne by men of sterling traits of character who have led honorable and useful lives. A worthy and well known representative of this old pioneer family is found in Charles Chenoweth, who resides on his
Benjamin Franklin Harris. Love of land, of peace and industry, cardinal virtues in the lives of men and nations, were ever present influences in the long life of the late B. F. Harris of Champaign County. To say that he left “a good name” as a legacy to his family, is to state only part
Robert Harmon Hazlett. Kansas is rapidly becoming a creditor state. It produces more than it consumes. It is flourishing, opulent and as progressive in material interests as in the field of legislation, social ideas and politics. Kansas farmers, Kansas business men, Kansas bankers are getting as securely established as factors in national affairs as Kansas
Joseph Brayshaw, M. D. The success of the capable and competent surgeon has attended the career of Dr. Joseph Brayshaw, who for the past fifteen years has been successfully engaged in practice at Homer. Doctor Brayshaw was born in Perry County, Illinois, January 15, 1868, son of Helvetius Pyle and Elizabeth (Brayshaw) Brayshaw. His father,
Charles George Decker. Since coming to Champaign County twenty-four years ago Charles G. Decker has demonstrated his thorough capacity and broad knowledge of farming and stock raising. His many years of practical experience contribute to his agricultural equipment, and his entire career has been devoted to the cultivation of the soil. Mr. Decker was born
Fernando A. Parsons. The career of Fernando A. Parsons, of Chanute, is remarkable in many ways, but principally because of the number of fields which it had invaded and the success which had attended the ventures in which its author had been engaged. From his youth, when he paid his own way through college, Mr.
Hon. Olin L. Browder. The office of chief executive in any community is a responsible one and the individual occupying it has resting upon his shoulders not only the numerous details of the management of a city, but also the accountability for its financial, commercial and moral integrity. In many cases, as he is so
