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

Biography of Albert M. Beal, M. D.

The technical education of the doctor of medicine avails him but little unless he has laid a foundation for it of broad general knowledge and made a careful study of human nature. When he took up the practice of medicine Doctor Albert M. Beal brought to the profession a mental equipment such as few men acquire in a lifetime. For years he had been an educator, teaching the common branches in the public schools and later specializing in college. Having as a student earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, he later found opportunity to perfect … Read more

Biography of William McEniry

William McEniry, one of the early settlers of the County of Rock Island, was born in Charleville, County Cork, Ireland, a village near the line of County Limerick, on February 15, 1817, where he received his education and where he was engaged in mercantile business two years prior to his departure for America which was in April 1840, having heard much of the United States from an uncle who at that time lived in Albany, New York, he concluded to pay a visit to his uncle, and in company with his eldest sister, departed for America, arriving in New York … Read more