USA > Illinois > Champaign County > A Standard history of Champaign County Illinois : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic and social development : a chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs, Volume II > Part 1
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT UR ..... CHAMPAIGN ILL. HIST. SURVEY
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308
A STANDARD HISTORY
OF
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY ILLINOIS
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs
J. R. STEWART Supervising Editor
Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED ·
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1918
I.A.S.
ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY
977,366 St 42 V. 2 , campo. 3
T'te Leurs Publishing
D.O. Comunigham
,
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
JUDGE J. O. CUNNINGHAM. The publishers and editors of this work feel that only a meager tribute can be paid to the memory of Champaign County's most beloved citizen in the following brief review of his life. Judge Cunningham was a great historian. He contributed liberally to historieal literature, was himself the author of a History of Champaign County, and in the closing months of his life he gave generously from the riches of his great collection and from his experience and memory in an advisory capacity to the compilation of the present work.
Joseph Oscar Cunningham was born at Lancaster in Erie County, New York, December 12, 1830, and died at his home, 922 West Green Street, Urbana, on April 30, 1917, when in his eighty-seventh year. He was a son of Hiram Way and Eunice (Brown) Cunningham. Some of his early life was spent in northern Ohio, where he attended Baldwin Institute at Berea and also Oberlin College. In June, 1853, at the age of twenty-two, he eame to Champaign County, and from that time forward his home was at Urbana. He had previously taught in the village school at Eugene, Indiana, but a month after his arrival at Urbana became associated as one of the proprie- tors and editors of the Urbana Union. He was a member of this firm of Cunningham & Flynn until 1858, and in August of that year became asso- ciated with J. W. Scroggs in the publication of the Central Illinois Gazette at Champaign, a village then known as Western Urbana.
In April, 1855, Mr. Cunningham was admitted to the bar. In 1859 he received his law degree from the Union Law School of Cleveland, Ohio. After his admission to practice it is said he never missed a single term in court for forty-seven years. He was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1880. He was a member successively of the law firms of Sim & Cunningham, Cunningham & Weber and Cunningham & Boggs. He finally retired from active practice in 1905.
The title by which he was so long known in Champaign County was a mark of respect, though it was based actually upon official service as judge of the Champaign County courts. He was elected to that office on an independent ticket in 1861 and served four years. At the time of his death he was the only surviving member of the original Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. He was first appointed a trustee by Governor Oglesby in 1867, and was reappointed by Governor Palmer in 1871. For six years he served as a member of its executive committee. The university always claimed much of his time and interest, and for fifty years he was its devoted friend. Another institution which claimed some of his serviees was McKendree College at Lebanon, Illinois, which he served as trustee during 1897-98.
Judge Cunningham was a member of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1896 and 1900. He was a member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society. He distinguished himself by his ability as a collector and writer
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
on historical subjects and delivered many addresses before the State His- torical Society and before Masonic and legal associations. On June 27, 1900, he delivered an address at Norwalk, Ohio, before the Firelands His- torieal Society on the occasion of its forty-fourth annual meeting. He was one of the founders and was vice president of the Illinois State Historieal Society, and two of his most notable addresses were read before that society in 1902 and 1905. In collaboration with William C. Jones he prepared Jones & Cunningham's Practice, a volume on County and Probate Court Praetiee, the first edition of which was printed in 1883. Second and third editions were issued in 1892 and 1903. His History of Champaign County was published in 1905. After the publication of that work he continued to gather many new matters and data bearing upon the local and general history of Champaign County.
Judge Cunningham had been an active member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church since 1866. A permanent monument to his memory is the result of his donation in 1894 to the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Illinois Conference of the home in which he and his wife had resided for twenty-five years. This is a large place on Cunningham Avenue, north of Urbana, and was donated to the church to be used as a home for home- less children. The building, with a tract of fifteen acres, valued at $15,000, now has the name of the Cunningham Orphanage. The missionary society instructs and trains the children of the home.
When the Urbana Park Commission began its work of preserving beauty spots in Urbana, Judge Cunningham made the city a present of fifteen acres of land adjoining Crystal Park Lake and now comprising that portion at the north end of the park which is distinguished by a beautiful winding drive and boulevard.
Judge Cunningham was married at Bainbridge, Ohio, October 13, 1853, to Miss Mary M. McConoughey. Judge Cunningham was for a number of years master of Urbana Lodge of Masons and also a member of the Urbana Knights Templar Commandery. He began voting as a Whig, sub- sequently was a Republican, but from 1873 was an independent, though a pronounced advocate of the principles of the Prohibition party.
It would be impossible within the seope of this article to deseribe all the interests and associations that made Judge Cunningham a part of Champaign County. In conclusion should be quoted the words of one of the local papers used at the time of his death :
"The end of a long and fruitful life, the life of a friend of the immortal Abraham Lincoln, came at 11:30 o'clock Monday night when a two weeks' illness resulted in the death of Judge J. O. Cunningham, one of the oldest and best known citizens of Champaign County.
"As Judge Cunningham had lived, so did he die, surrounded by his beloved books, a library such as none other in the State and probably in the United States, containing as it does some of the rarest old historical works obtainable, collected during a long life of research along historical lines. Some of the rarest volumes in the collection have to do with the life of Mr. Lincoln, who was a close friend of Mr. Cunningham in the pioneer days of Champaign County when Mr. Lincoln came to Urbana to attend the court.
"A number of years ago Judge Cunningham had a large room added to the rear of his residence as his library, and during his last illness he had his bed in this room, and at his request the last obsequies over his body were observed there.
"In the death of Judge Cunningham one of the greatest minds of the State is sealed forever. During his life, scholars from many places of learning, sat at the feet of Judge Cunningham to draw.from the immense
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
storehouse of his memory details of local and State history forgotten by other minds as old as Judge Cunningham's but more feeble. Not only was he familiar with intimate bits of information regarding the life of the greatest American statesman, but he made it a part of his life to remember details of history of his home city and was able to tell many Urbana people things that they did not know about their own forebears, details that would have been lost had it not been for Judge Cunningham's interest in preserv- ing them. Many of his recollections of days long gone are preserved in historical works compiled by Judge Cunningham."
WILLIAM W. EARNEST. Firmly intrenched in the American heart is the public school system, which, while not perfect perhaps, is continually being improved, largely as the result of the efforts of conscientious, intel- lectual leaders. The city of Champaign in its superintendent of schools has a well qualified, constructive man, a graduate of the University of Illinois and a thorough teacher as well as executive. He is William W. Earnest, who has occupied this responsible office for the past nine years.
William W. Earnest was born in Mississippi, October 1, 1863, one of a family of three children born to his parents, who were John W. and Julia J. (Woolley) Earnest. Both parents were natives of Illinois, the father born in Sangamon and the mother in Greene County. Both are now deceased, the death of the father occurring in 1902. He was one of the argonauts who, in 1850, went to California in search of gold, of which he found enough to pay for his time, and he had many interesting experiences and adventures. From California he returned to Illinois, but afterward went to Mississippi and was engaged in managing sawmills there at the outbreak of the war between the states and found it impossible to escape from a situation' embarrassing to a northern man until the opening of the Mississippi and Yazoo mines in the spring of 1864. Later on he followed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture in Macoupin County, Illinois.
William W. Earnest attended the public schools of Greenfield, and after completing the high school course and a college course in the Val- paraiso University he was engaged for a number of years in teaching in country and village schools and in the management of the Western Normal College of Bushnell, Illinois, as well as in the superintendency of the city schools of Macomb. Afterward he entered the University of Illinois, from which institution he was graduated in 1908, shortly afterward accepting the superintendency of the city public schools of Champaign.
In many ways Mr. Earnest has proved his superior qualifications, not the least of these being his record for constructive service, he being in the lead in all hopeful and vitally important movements in relation to the efficiency of the schools. He is not only a man educationally trained but one of broad mind, social understanding and civic responsibility. He is popular with the teachers under his management and enjoys the confidence of parents and pupils. In his political affiliation Mr. Earnest has always been a Republican but practically takes little part in advancing the inter- ests of any office seeker. Fraternally, he is a Mason and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In meeting Mr. Earnest the visitor receives an impression of strong individuality, conscientious acceptance of respon- . sibility and unusual modesty as to his achievements.
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.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
A native of Illinois, he was born near Farmer City in DeWitt County, December 11, 1861. His parents, Jacob and Rebecca (Davis) Swigart, were both born in Ohio. Jacob Swigart, who was born in 1827 and died in 1907, removed to DeWitt County, Illinois, in 1847. Rebecca Davis was taken to DeWitt County in 1837, when a sinall child, and she is still living, being now one of the oldest settlers of that county. Jacob Swigart followed farming during his active career, and became well known in politics and business affairs. In 1868 he was elected a member of the State Legislature.
In a family of nine children, Edwin S. Swigart was the sixth in order of birth. His early advantages were those of the common schools of DeWitt County and for three years he was a student in Lombard College at Gales- burg. He had considerable experience as a farmer, and after his marriage in 1885 he remained on the home place for a year.
Mr. Swigart was one of the organizers of the Creamery Package Com- pany, then located at Morrison, Illinois, and for a time he gave this business his entire time and energies. The company has since grown to very large proportions, and now has its main offices in Chicago. For six years Mr. Swigart was associated with his father in the management of a private bank at De Land, Piatt County. In May, 1896, with J. W. Armstrong and J. W. Orr, Mr. Swigart bought an interest in the Citizens Bank of Champaign. This is now the Citizens State Bank. He was actively associated as one of the bank's managers for three years. Mr. Swigart now has numerous business interests, especially in farm lands, and owns some of the best and most profitable acreage in Champaign and Piatt counties.
In 1900 he was supervisor of the census in this congressional district. He was first elected to the office of mayor of Champaign in 1903, and his creditable work in that office was fresh in the minds of the people when in 1915 he was again chosen to the same position. He served until May 1, 1917, when the commission form of government was adopted by the city.
On September 3, 1885, Mr. Swigart married Miss Nellie Lapham, a native of Whiteside County, Illinois. They are the parents of two children : Alta C., wife of D. T. Hoskins, Jr., of Lincoln, Nebraska; and Faith, still at home. Mr. Swigart is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. .
LOUIS ARTHUR BUSCH. The legal profession of Champaign County and the civic government of Urbana have a worthy representative in the person of Louis Arthur Busch, state's attorney. A native of the city of Urbana, he has passed his entire life here, and his career among its citizens is looked upon as particularly worthy, as he has trod the hard self-made road to success and has triumphed over a number of discourag- ing obstacles which have arisen in his path. A member of the legal brotherhood since 1908, he has made rapid advancement in his calling, and since 1912 has been the incumbent of the official position which he now occupies.
Louis Arthur Busch was born June 4, 1886, at Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois, and is a son of Carl T. and Carolina S. (Hank) Busch. His father was born in Prussia, Germany, and was a child when brought to America in 1868, the family originally locating at Champaign, where he was reared and received his education in the public schools. Upon his removal to Urbana, in young manhood, he cmbarked in the furniture business, and continued to be identified with that enterprise during the remaining ycars of his life, his death occuring June 8, 1896. Mr. Busch was a Democrat in his political views, but not an active participant in politics. Hc religious faith was that of the Lutheran Church, in which his children were carefully reared. Mrs. Busch, who survives her husband
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
and resides at No. 411 West Main Street, Urbana, was born in Germany, July 3, 1861, and was brought to the United States by her parents in 1868. She has been the mother of seven children, as follows: Carl C., William L., Mrs. Emma (Busch) Lange, Mrs. Minnie (Busch) Baker, Louis Arthur and Mrs. Bertha (Busch) Foesterling, and Henry, who died as an infant.
After completing the curriculum of the graded schools and spending one year in high school, Louis Arthur Busch, then a lad of fifteen years, became identified with the furniture business, to which he had been given an introduction some years before in his father's store. He had lost his father by death when he was ten years of age, and he therefore had not enjoyed the privileges in an educational way which would have otherwise been his. However, he was desirous of obtaining a good education, having set his ambitions upon a professional career, and through his industry and continued effort managed, in 1905, to enter the University of Illinois, as a special student. For three years he took law and preparatory studies, and in 1908 duly completed his course and was graduated, whereupon lie entered upon the practice of his profession at Champaign. Being earnest and industrious, he not only gained for himself a good clientele, but attracted to himself the attention of a number of representative men, who saw in him good official timber and eventually persuaded him to allow his name to be used as a candidate for the office of state's attorney. To this office he was duly elected December 2, 1912, and in the same position he has continued to serve to the present time. He has proven a most excellent official, his value to the community being enhanced by his com- prehensive knowledge of his calling, his conscientious performance of his responsibilities and the fearless manner in which he attacks the duties of his office. Among his professional associates, Mr. Busch bears a good reputation as an adherent of the best ethics of the law, as a valuable fellow counsel and as a worthy opponent.
On February 2, 1910, Mr. Busch was united in marriage in Shelby County, Illinois, with Miss Laura Wascher, who was born at Champaign, Illinois, August 5, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Busch are the parents of two sons and one daughter, namely : Arthur, who was born November 1, 1912; Robert, born March 6, 1914; and Barbara, born December 24, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Busch are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Busch belongs to the church council and is active in its work. His political support is given to the candidates and policies of the Democratic party. During Governor Richard Yates' administration he was appointed law clerk of the House of Representatives for two terms. As a fraternalist he holds membership in the local lodges of the Masons, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
G. W. HARTSOCK. The record of a true and upright Christian gentle- man, a man of more than ordinary business acumen fortified by years of industry, is that of G. W. Hartsock, who with his noble wife is now spending years of retirement at their home on Belle Avenue in the City of Rantoul.
Mr. Hartsock was born in Greene County, Ohio, son of David and Sarah J. (Cornell) Hartsock, both natives of Ohio. His grandfather, Sylvanus Cornell, was a soldier of the War of 1812 under General Harrison, and for many years he drew a pension until his death. G. W. Hartsock had a district school education. He was one of the following family of sons and daugh- ters : Jessie L., Sylvanus, Ruth A., Elizabeth, Flora, Eli and G. W. Flora and Eli are both deceased.
As a young man G. W. Hartsock, hoping to obtain better conditions in the region of cheaper lands, made a visit to his uncle at Clinton in DeWitt
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
County, Illinois. His investigations extended as far as Rantoul, where he was particularly impressed with the outlook, and he bought eighty acres of land at $13.50 an acre. Having made this purchase he went back to Ohio and then came on with a covered wagon and his only companion was "Dash," an English terrier dog. This dog was a most faithful animal and in a way was the foundation of Mr. Hartsock's fortune. Mr. Hartsock had a French neighbor who possessed a large store of grain, but much of it was being destroyed by the rats. He succeeded in persuading young Hartsock to exchange the English terrier for twenty bushels of rye, and thus the owner- ship of the dog changed hands and the rye was put to good use by Mr. Hartsock.
Soon after starting from his Ohio home Mr. Hartsock met the man wlio had made his wagon. This wagonmaker volunteered the information that within three months the youth would be back at home asking for bread and butter from his parents. To this the young pioneer rejoined : "Jake, sink or swim, survive or perish, I'll never do that. I'm going to stay." While a boy at home Mr. Hartsock was very much attached to his mother and had to bear considerable ridicule on that account. Some of his companions also called him "General," and said they wondered at his willingness to leave home, though they admired his pluck.
On June 5, 1871, Mr. Hartsock laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Miss Emogene Soper. She was born in Lake County, Illinois, a daughter of Orange P. and Jerusha I. (Abell) Soper. Her grandfather, Remember E. Soper, was also a soldier of the War of 1812. After a very determined courtship Mr. Hartsock had won the consent of this young lady to become his wife and they started away from the vicinity of Gifford for Urbana, the county seat, to obtain a license and get married. After making the trip they learned that the only minister in town was away at the confer- ence. Finally, after hunting around some time, they discovered MT. McElroy, a minister of the Methodist Church, who solemnized their bonds.
The young couple began housekeeping in the northwest quarter of sec- tion 26 of Harwood Township. They had hope and faith, unlimited indus- try, and the years have fully justified them in all their plans and ambitions. Their means enabled them to buy another eighty acres, then forty acres, and they finally bought six acres adjoining the town of Rantoul. Mr. Hart- sock's landed estate now comprises 240 acres of as fine land as can be found in the State of Illinois and worth $250 an acre.
Seven children were born into their home, two of whom died in infancy.
Sylvanus L. Hartsock, the first child, is now deceased. He married' Anna Lapham of Indiana and she survived with two children, Charles Walter and Esther Ruth,
Olive M., the oldest of those living, is now Mrs. Reynolds and the mother of the following children: Lula L., Hurley, Emogene, Volney, Gladys, George, Flossie, Teddy, Orange, Lucy May, Belzoria, Velma Doris, and Floy Myrul and Loy Bural, twins, but Loy Bural is deceased. Orange and Lucy May are both now deceased. Lula is married and has a child named Marvin, and Emogene is also married. Gladys is now Mrs. Leon Conley and Hurley E. is a soldier in the United States army in the First Cavalry, Troop D, and stationed with his troop at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming.
The next child, Asa, died in infancy. David O. lives in Pocahontas County, Iowa, and by his marriage to Tillie Gehrt of Peoria has two chil- dren, Raymond and Hazel.
Sarah A. Hartsock is the wife of Isaac Funkhouser and has a son, Marion.
Caroline E. is the wife of R. L. Carr, and they live on an eighty-acre
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
farm belonging to her father in Champaign County. Their children are two in number, Evelyn and Layton.
Amos S. Hartsock, the youngest child, is a farmer in Pocahontas County, Iowa. He married Sadie Shaveland and has a bright little son named Harlan, now four years of age.
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Mr. G. W. Hartsock has been a sturdy supporter of the Republican party for fully half a century. His first presidential vote was 'given to Stephen A. Douglas. He has reared his sons to support the principles which he has believed right and just and to respect and honor all those things which are the essential clements of good citizenship and good character. Mr. Hartsock has been public spirited in all his community actions, has served as road commissioner and school director and his liberal prosperity has not been for himself alone, but for the benefit of the community in general. Since retiring from the farm he and his good wife have enjoyed the comforts of a pleasant home in Rantoul.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of their long and worthy lives has been their devotion to church and Christianity. Mrs. Hartsock was the first to join the Christian Church at Gifford, while Mr. Hartsock and their two children followed her into the church the next fall. At that time the people of the Christian denomination worshiped in a schoolhouse. Mr. Hartsock soon took the lead in circulating a petition for the building of a church at Gifford. This petition met with hearty response and in a few years they were able to dedicate a fine church and the little organization has been growing in all the years. Mr. Hartsock has served as an elder and trustee and has ordered his entire life to conform to the principles of true Christian manhood. After coming to Rantoul he encouraged the building of an addition to the local church, and gave $300 for that purpose. He has filled the office of elder and trustee in the Rantoul church and is now one of the elders. For many years Mr. Hartsock and wife have made it a rule to pay out one-tenth of their income for church purposes, and the payment of this tithe has constituted one of the most enduring satisfac- tions of their lives. Along with active work in the church Mr. Hartsock has given equally ardent advocacy of the cause of temperance, and he has never neglected an opportunity to work for the fulfillment of that cause. The record of such a man is above all value and estimate as an example and a source of good to his community and particularly to his children and descendants.
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