Tazewell County IL

Biographical Sketch of L. F. Morse, M. D.

L. F. Morse, M. D., physician and surgeon, Mattoon; was born in Canterbury, N.Y. Feb. 5, 1839; his father was a farmer, and his early life was that of a farmer’s son; at the age of 14, he went to live with an uncle; in the winter of 1860, he began the study of medicine, under the supervision of Dr. L. T. Weeks, of Canterbury; after an extended course of reading, he attended a course of lectures in the Burlington Medical College, at Burlington, Vt.; in June, 1862, he was engaged in the Government hospital at Washington, as Contract Surgeon; … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Daniel White

Daniel White, son of Samuel White, was born near the city of Richmond, in Madison County, Kentucky, February 26, 1831. He remained in his birthplace until he was about twenty-one years of age, during which time he was engaged in farming and working for his father. After becoming of age he was engaged in farming for two years, and then worked in a mill three years. August 9, 1862, he was enrolled in Company F, Seventh Kentucky Cavalry, and was in the service during the war, being in several battles and skirmishes. After the war Mr. White moved to Tazewell … Read more

The Conner Family of Prairie du Rocher Illinois

Conner's General Merchandise Store, Prairie du Rocher

There are few citizens of American blood, native born in Randolph County, who date their birth back as far as does Mr. W. S. Conner, a resident of the southern part of Township five — eight. He was born within a quarter of a mile of his present residence, in the year of 1815. He was the son of Henry Conner, who was born in Maryland and moved to Kentucky when ten years old, about the year 1795. The Conner family is of Irish extraction. The name was formerly spelled “O’Connor,” in which form it will be easily recognized as … Read more

Biography of Fred Warren Bailey, M. D.

Dr. Fred Warren Bailey, a St. Louis surgeon, was born in Minier, Tazewell county, Illinois, September 30, 1876. His father was Dr. G. O. Bailey, also a native of that state and of Scotch descent, their family having been founded in America in early colonial days. The family was represented in the Revolutionary war and has sent its representatives to each of the succeeding wars of the country, including the Indian war. Dr. G. O. Bailey was a graduate of McKendree College at Lebanon, Illinois, where he won his Bachelor of Science degree and later he pursued a course of … Read more

Biography of Mahlon F. Stout

Mahlon F. Stout. Many of the finest citizens of Kansas were never heard of outside of their home state. Their names in fact have not been generally known outside of their home communities and counties. They led quiet, unostentatious lives. They did the duties which lay nearest them, they were honest, straightforward, beloved and idolized in their home, upheld all the moral virtues and practically everything which their lives touched was benefited thereby. Such a citizen was the late Mahlon F. Stout of Williamsport Township in Shawnee County. He did not live to a great age, but he filled his … Read more

Biography of Henry B. Lautz

Henry B. Lautz has hardly attained that period in life when he might be described as a middle aged man. Nevertheless he is a veteran in railroad circles, and beginning as a boy of fourteen in the capacity of messenger he had been steadily with the Santa Fe Railway Company, enjoying successive promotions based on merit and efficiency until he is now superintendent of the Middle Division of the Santa Fe lines at Newton. Mr. Lautz was born in Pekin, Illinois, August 2, 1876. His grandfather, Wendell Lautz, was born in Germany in 1801 and became a German machinist. Coming … Read more

Biography of Lintner W. Baird

Lintner W. Baird was long a fixture in the business affairs of the town of Ogden as a lumber merchant, and is now living retired in that quiet village, surrounded with all the comforts and conveniences that a life of industry and honor have brought him. Mr. Baird was born at Washington in Tazewell County, Illinois, son of Thomas N. and Mary (White) Baird. Both parents were born in Ohio. L. W. Baird was the third among twelve children, all of whom were educated in the Franklin District School. Two of his brothers fought as soldiers in the Union army, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of E. R. Hoag

E. R. Hoag, farmer and stock-dealer, P. O. Ionia, was born in Peoria County, Ill., December 26, 1844. Came to Jackson County, Kan., and to Jewell County in the fall of 1871, where he took a homestead eleven miles southwest of Mankato, and is now the owner of 320 acres of land, and feeds 200 head of cattle. In July 1861, he enlisted in the United States army, in Company A, Illinois Second Light Artillery. Discharged October 4, 1864. Was married April 22, 1869, in Tazewell County, Ill., to Miss Catherine Anderson. They have four children – Winter, Emita, Mary … Read more

Biography of Francis Xavier Paquet

FRANCIS X. PAQUET. – Francis Xavier Paquet, son of Joseph Paquet and Marie Madaline Godant, was born in the parish of Saint John, about thirty miles west of Quebec, at the junction of the Jacquarka river with the St. Lawrence. Joseph Paquet was a stonemason by trade, but lived on a farm and took jobs of stonework. He was the father of eighteen children, nine boys and nine girls. F.X. Paquet, the sixteenth child in order, was born on the fifteenth day of January, 1811. He learned the trade of shipbuilding at Quebec, being apprenticed to Peter Labbe when not … Read more

Biography of Charles F. Little, M.D.

Charles F. Little, M. D., is one of the oldest living members of the medical profession in Kansas. It was fully half a century ago that he came to Manhattan, and until his recent retirement was almost continuously identifled with his professional duties in Riley County. Doctor Little is one of the men who gained their training and attended their first cases prior to the Civil war. In the war he served as an assistant surgeon. A great fund of practical business ability has been a prominent characteristie of Doctor Little and for years he has been one of the … Read more

Biography of William L. Sturdyvin

William L. Sturdyvin. A resident for more than forty-five years in Champaign County has made William L. Sturdyvin one of his community’s best known citizens, and the honorable and industrious life he has led has given him a substantial place among his people. The years have dealt kindly with him and with his efforts, and he and his good wife now reside in a comfortable and hospitable home in Rantoul. Theirs is one of the fine residences facing the park in Rantoul, and stands on a street corner about two blocks from the interurban station. Mr. Sturdyvin is a native … Read more

Biography of John Tucker Scott

JOHN TUCKER SCOTT. – Perhaps there is no feature in which American life has become more noticeable than in the development of influential families. Without titles to distinguish those of distinguished ancestry, we nevertheless have many among our citizens whose surnames are patents of ability, if not of legal nobility. In the older communities of the Atlantic states, the Chases, Fields or Adamses illustrate this fact; and the younger West has examples quite as marked. Without instituting comparisons, and only intending those of unusual force or efficiency, we shall not miss the general verdict of the people of our state … Read more

Early Exploration and Native Americans

De Soto and his band gave to the Choctaws at Moma Binah and the Chickasaws at Chikasahha their first lesson in the white man’s modus operandi to civilize and Christianize North American Indians; so has the same lesson been continued to be given to that unfortunate people by his white successors from that day to this, all over this continent, but which to them, was as the tones of an alarm-bell at midnight. And one hundred and twenty-three years have passed since our forefathers declared all men of every nationality to be free and equal on the soil of the North … Read more

Biography of John W. Waughop, M.D.

JOHN W. WAUGHOP, M.D. – The subject of this sketch was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, October 22, 1839, and is now in his fiftieth year. His early life was that common to boys on a Western farm, working in the summer and going to school in the winter. By the aid of private instruction, he prepared for and entered Eureka College, at Eureka, in his native state. Before the close of his college course, the war of the Rebellion broke out; and those whose memory runs back to that time can never forget the fire of patriotism and enthusiasm … Read more

Biography of Robert Allen Sturgeon

Robert Allen Sturgeon. For more than a quarter of a century Robert Allen Sturgeon has been a resident of Champaign County, and during this time it has been his fortune to have built up a prosperous business, to have established an extremely creditable record as a public official and to have made a lasting place for himself in the confidence of. the community through honorable conduct of the activities of life. In the difficult field of realty operation Mr. Sturgeon has achieved standing and reputation, and in the office of justice of the peace has proven a conscientious and efficient … Read more

Biography of Jeptha D. Vawter

Jeptha D. Vawter. In the task of giving credit to the men who made Kansas, it would be difficult to single out one who was more deserving of a place among those makers and builders than the late Jeptha D. Vawter of Shawnee County. He had much to do with the early history of that county, and what he accomplished, the ideals he lived for, and the influences that emanated from his life, are still vital and quickening. His was a long as well as a useful life. He was born in Todd County, Kentucky, July 18, 1809. By character … Read more

Biography of John P. Slaughter

John P. Slaughter. One of the largest and best known financial houses in Kansas is the Farm Mortgage Company, which to a large degree represents the personality and the financial judgment of John P. Slaughter, who is its president. The Farm Mortgage Company, which deals almost entirely in farm mortgages, is an institution occupying a large building of its own at Topeka, and its business also extends to Oklahoma and elsewhere, there being a branch office at Hobart, Oklahoma. The company is capitalized at $100,000 and its chief officers are: J. P. Slaughter, president; W. A. Smith, vice president and … Read more

Biography of Luther E. Tomm

Luther E. Tomm, conducting a real estate agency in Muskogee, was born in Delavan, Illinois, April 7, 1883, and is a son of Henry A. and Mary (Crabb) Tomm, the former a grain merchant of Illinois. The son obtained his early education in the public schools of Pekin, Illinois, passing through consecutive grades to a sophomore in high school, after which he attended the Lake Forest Academy at Lake Forest, Illinois, and was there graduated with the class of 1902. He afterward spent two years as a student in the University of Minnesota and thus liberal educational privileges well qualified … Read more