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 I > Part 43
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The First Presbyterian Church of Urbana was organized in Sep- tember, 1850, by Rev. John A. Steele, under authority of the Presbytery of Palestine, Crawford County. Its original members were Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dean, Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Adam Karr and Mr. and Mrs. John J. Rea. The house of worship in use on West Green Street was erected in 1900. Rev. John J. Wilson is the pastor in charge.
UNIVERSITY BAPTIST CHURCH
The University Baptist Church of Urbana was organized in the fall of 1912 by the Illinois Baptist State Conference. Its membership of 300 is drawn entirely from the students of the University. Rev. Martin S. Bryant is pastor. For four years services were held in the Y. M. C. A. auditorium, but in November, 1916, a church building was erected, at a cost of $33,000, on South Fourth Street.
The MeKinley Memorial church was erected by Hon. W. B. McKin- ley in memory of his father, Rev. George Mckinley, and is an elegant and impressive house of worship.
THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
Universalist ministers held services in the courthouse and various residences for many years previous to 1859, when a church was formally organized. Meetings continued to be held in the courthouse until 1871,
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when a brick house of worship was erected on Green Street. Among the early ministers of the church were Rev. E. Manford, Rev. T. C. Eaton, Rev. Josiah Davis and Rev. D. P. Bunn. The handsome and convenient edifice now occupied was completed in 1913. Rev. E. V. Stevens is the pastor.
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
The First Christian (not Disciple) Church of Urbana is the only society of that denomination in the Twin Cities. It was organized in 1885 by Rev. Robert Harris, then secretary of the Central Illinois Christian Conference. Mr. Harris had charge of the church from 1885 to 1892. Services were held in a hall over one of the stores until 1889, when the first church edifice was erected on West Main Street near the site of the present house of worship, at a cost of $2,500. Other pastors who have served the church : Rev. W. G. Voliva, Rev. J. J. Pat- terson, Rev. Mrs. A. A. Draper, Rev. G. D. Lawrence, who was pastor from 1896 until 1904. Up until 1900 the church had preaching only every other Sunday. In 1900 the church engaged Rev. Mr. Lawrence for full time, and has maintained "full-time" preaching ever since.
Rev. W. H. Sando was pastor from 1904 until 1907; Rev. D. A. Boatwright from 1907 until 1908; Rev. W. O. Hornbaker from 1908 until 1912. During Rev. Mr. Hornbaker's pastorate a commodious new church building was erected at a cost of $25,000. Rev. Clarence Defur was pastor from 1912 until 1914. Rev. R. C. Helfenstein, the present pastor, was called September 1, 1914. The membership of the church is 300, of which number 208 are active members.
TRINITY M. E. (UNIVERSITY) CHURCH
Trinity, the Methodist University Church, was organized in 1892 and was first known as Park's Chapel. The names of its pastors : Rev. E. K. Towl, Rev. Clarence Reed, Rev. W. W. Henry, Rev. Willard N. Tobie (1899-1907) and Rev. James C. Baker, since the latter year. The first church building was erected in 1893 and destroyed by fire in the following year. A second church was at once built and replaced by the present structure, which was dedicated in November, 1906. The work of Trinity Church is now being merged in the Wesley Foundation and another edifice, to cost about $200,000, will soon replace the present building, being located two blocks farther south, at the corner of Green Street and Mathews Avenue. The present number of members is 825.
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Other churches of this denomination in Urbana are the Free Will and Grace Methodist.
ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH
St. Patrick's Catholic parish in Urbana was founded in July, 1901, by Rev. J. H. Cannon. It was an offshoot of old St. Mary's parish, at Champaign. Within the first few years of its history the Urbana con- gregation acquired property at the corner of West Main and Busey streets, and erected a substantial church and rectory, at a cost of $56,000. Father Cannon remained in charge of the parish for about nine years, and has been succeeded by Rev. Stephen N. Moore and Rev. J. W. Cummings, the present incumbent. About twenty years ago Father Cummings was assistant to Father Wagner, at St. Mary's parish, Champaign. St. Patrick's parish embraces some sixty families.
THE UNITARIAN CHURCH
The Unitarian Church of Urbana was organized in April, 1907, by Rev. Albert R. Vail, who is still its minister. Its house of worship was completed in the fall of 1909." The present membership of the society is 185.
CUNNINGHAM CHILDREN'S HOME
In 1894 Judge J. O. Cunningham and his wife presented their old home, with fifteen acres of land, one mile north of the courthouse to the Illinois Conference of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church to found an orphanage for children. Its official title is the Cunningham Deaconess Home and Orphanage, but the institution is popularly and gratefully known as the Cunningham Children's Home. The deed of gift declared that "neither nationality nor creed shall be considered-simply the need of the child." The Board of Management and the superintendents have faithfully con- formed to this pronouncement, and for some years about seventy chil- dren, the offspring of various nationalities and creeds, have been protected physically and morally, amid pleasant and comfortable surroundings, and afterward placed in the way of becoming intelligent and good members of society. Its mainstay of support is the Woman's Home Missionary Society, although it has received numerous outside donations and has a small endowment fund. The buildings of the Home comprise two comfortable and attractive buildings.
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The original building was completed in 1895, and the institution was opened, on October 25 of that year, with a matron in charge and four homeless little children as inmates. Additions to that structure were subsequently made of a playroom, schoolroom, nursery, two dormi- tories and other accommodations. In 1911 another building known as Sheldon Hall was erected, containing play and school rooms, boys' dormitory, industrial room and laundry.
The successive superintendents and matrons who have served since the opening of the Home in 1895 are as follows: Mrs. F. C. Woodruff, 1895-99; Miss Matilda Reeves, 1899-1903; Miss Jones, 1903-04; Miss Eva Schell, 1904-06; W. A. Davis and wife, 1906-12; Rev. Xenophon M. Fowler and wife, superintendent and assistant superintendent, respectively, 1912-17.
THE CUNNINGHAM CHILDREN'S HOME
At the coming of Rev. and Mrs. Fowler the authority to administer corporal punishment was taken from the workers and given only to the superintendent and wife. Since 1915 all corporal punishment has been banished from the Home. A credit system is now used, placing each child on its own merits. Those getting an average of eighty percent are eligible to a picnic, those who average ninety percent are entitled to a hike, and those whose average is ninety-eight per cent are treated to a special chicken dinner.
Since 1914 provisions have been made to keep boys until they are twelve years of age and girls until they are eighteen. Two grades, seventh and eighth, were added to the courses of study, which necessi- tated the hiring of an extra teacher.
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Finally, the following ingenious and informing acrostic, prepared by Superintendent Fowler, cannot but answer all pertinent questions which may arise in the minds of those who are not already posted on the merits of the Cunningham Children's Home:
Cunningham slogan is "Be good ; do good; make good."
University of Illinois Sociology class rated Cunningham Children's Home as a model small institution.
Number of children cared for during the year, 87.
Nursery has been closed, renovated and opened again.
I tems for one dinner: 8 chickens, 1 bu. potatoes, 1/2 bu. onions, 10 loaves bread, 11/2 pound butter, 8 quarts preserves.
N o boys are received over six ; our oldest is now twelve.
Girls are taken under twelve and kept until they are eighteen.
Heat, lights and repairs in the 48 rooms, 6 bath rooms and halls cost over $1,000 annually.
All our physical, industrial, educational, and spiritual training aims toward Christian citizenship.
Members of Catholic, Protestant, and atheistic families are alike accepted.
Children came from Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and 13 counties of Illinois.
Half-orphans constituted the majority of our membership; 11 were children of insane mothers.
Industrial classes in cooking, sewing, darning, and basketry were held weekly.
Lithuanian, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, Scotch, Irish, German, French and American children were here.
Doctor's calls were made on only 2 children ; 6 visits on one boy, one on another; cost, $14.
Repairs on shoes average over $15 per month in winter.
Endowment has been started; amounts now to nearly $3,000.
National W. H. M. S. sent for salaries, $785.50; other Conferences, $740.32.
Scholarships cost $60 per year ; kindergarten scholarships, $15.
Home employs Superintendent, Asst. Supt., 6 Dept. Matrons, 3 Teachers, Cook, Laundress and Farmer.
O ur pay roll for all fourteen workers averaged only $275 per month. M any children were turned away for lack of scholarships.
Even the smallest donation from You will be thankfully received.
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EARLY SUNDAY SCHOOLS OF URBANA
By A. O. Howell
Myself and family removed to this township in October, 1853, and purchased the farm on which we now reside. I organized a Union Sunday school in the old brick courthouse, April 19, 1854. The officers were : A. O. Howell, superintendent, and M. A. Barnes, secretary. Rev. W. W. Blanchard was pastor of the Congregational Church at that time and had many doubts about the success of the enterprise. The first Sunday there were 30 members in attendance; the second, 53; May 3d, 123. The Methodists and Baptists were cordial, in good feeling and co-operated with the new school. Many of our members were pre- paring to build and remove to "the depot," afterwards called "West Urbana," now Champaign City. Sunday school, with its officers, library, &c., was removed to an unfinished building of Deacon Moses Snelling, on University Avenue, now the residence of Mr. James Wright. We had rough boards for seats and a goods box for a pulpit. Here we reopened and reorganized the first Sunday school ever held in Cham- paign, on the 4th day of March, 1855. We changed our name from "First Union Sunday School of Urbana, Ill.," to "First Congregational Sunday School of Champaign." We built the first Congregational Church on the corner of University Avenue and Sixth Street, (sometimes called the Duck Pond Church) where our Sunday school numbered, on one Sabbath, 202. Thus I supposed for many years, that I had the honor of arranging and superintending the first Sunday school with a library and regular organization in this county for four years, but many years after I learned from B. F. Harris that he had antedated me two years. His Sunday school was held in a little church on his farm on the Sangamon. He carried his library to his Sunday school every Sabbath in a red handkerchief and back to his house at night. I carried my library to the courthouse in a candle box, in my then new rockaway buggy, and back at night. The four years war killed off and scattered our thorough members, and since then, oh, how sadly changed is our once humble and thorough church and Sunday school. I wish to say here that this was not the beginning of all the good church and Sunday school work done in this county. It would be difficult to over- estimate the noble work done by our venerable Father Bradshaw for many years previous to this, but in consequence of his immensely large circuit, the meetings and sessions of church and Sunday school work were necessarily quite semi-occasionally.
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I find from the old minutes of Illinois Conference of Methodist Epis- copal Church that in 1839, in the month of September, I was appointed to Urbana Mission. In October I landed in Urbana with my family. I do not know what had been done about a Sabbath school prior to that time, but the spring following we organized a Sabbath school, in which Baptists and Presbyterians took part, especially Milton Vance, a dry goods merchant, but the Sabbath school was under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was in the spring of 1840 I made the purchase of a church lot from the county for $3, and the summer follow- ing we erected a church building 30x40 feet, enclosing it, but did not finish it for some time. The Baptists had no church organization in Urbana, but I think they had in the Brumley neighborhood. But from the spring and summer of 1840 the Methodist Episcopal Church had a small Sabbath school organized in Urbana. I can not give particulars, nor can I say at what date the Baptist Church organized a Sabbath school in Urbana or organized a church in Urbana, or built a church, etc. I know the little church house we put up in 1840 was the first in the county. From 1840 to 1850 the Sabbath schools in Urbana were no big thing.
BANKS AND INDUSTRIES
There are five banks in Urbana-Busey's State, the First National, Urbana Banking Company, the First State Trust and Savings and the First University.
Busey's Bank, subsequently Busey's State Bank, is the name of one of the solid financial institutions and the second oldest bank in Cham- paign County. The name has become a household word throughout that part of the state, and is recognized as standing for financial integrity, square dealing, and all that pertains to a careful management of the property of other people and conservative banking methods.
This institution, under the name of Busey Brothers & Company, was organized in the fall of 1868, by the Hon. S. H. Busey, Col. S. T. Busey, and Dr. W. R. Earhart. In about a year Dr. Earhart sold out his interest to his partners, who now styled the firm Busey Brothers, under which name the business was conducted for several years, or until the interest of Hon. S. H. Busey was purchased by his son, Matthew W. The new firm of S. T. and M. W. Busey carried on the business under the title of Busey's Bank.
In 1888, after twenty years of continuous service, Col. S. T. Busey sold his interest, and the bank was reorganized, with Hon. Simeon H. Busey as president, Matthew W. Busey as vice-president, and George
(a) First Brick House in Urbana (1841)
(b) Present Postoffice
THE OLD AND THE NEW
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
W. Busey as cashier. This partnership continued until the death of Hon. S. H. Busey, which occurred June 3, 1901, after which the bank was again reorganized with Matthew W. Busey as president, George W. Busey as cashier, Garrett H. Baker and Paul G. Busey as assistant cashiers.
In 1907, George W. Busey retired, his position being taken hy Gar- rett H. Baker as cashier, and Paul G. Busey advancing to the position of vice-president. The ownership of the bank from that time until the present has been in the hands of M. W. Busey, Paul G. Busey and G. H. Baker. Other members of the force at present are Charles A. Bon- gart, teller; Bowen Busey and Glenn Ross, assistant cashiers.
In 1913 the owners incorporated the bank under the name of Busey's State Bank, with a capital stock of $100,000 and a board of directors composed of M. W. Busey, Paul G. Busey and Garrett H. Baker. A short time prior to the incorporation the bank had the honor of being the depository of the treasurer of the University of Illinois.
Within the last year the bank has enlarged its quarters on Main Street, of Urbana, to twice its former size in order to keep up with the growth of its business, and has at the present time one of the finest banking homes in Champaign County. This bank is a charter member of the Illinois Bankers' Association, its officers having served on its executive committee for a great many years, and is also a member of the American Bankers' Association.
The First National was chartered April 6, 1883, with Charles L. Burbee as president; George W. Curtis, vice-president, and P. Richards, cashier. Mr. Burbee served as president for a few years and was succeeded by Mr. Richards, who served a few years, or until his death, January 1, 1899. Judge Francis M. Wright then became president and continued as such until January 1, 1906. Since that date A. F. Fay has been at the head of its affairs. C. W. Richards is vice-president. G. W. Webber has acted as cashier since 1907. The capital of the First National is $50,000; surplus and undivided profits, $60,000; average deposits, $500,000.
The Urbana Banking Company was organized May 18, 1903, with a capital of $100,000. Its officers have remained unchanged, viz: John H. Savage, president; J. W. Shuck, vice-president; Thomas A. Burt, second vice-president; John H. Thornburn, cashier; Minnie Jaques, assistant cashier. The capital stock is still $100,000; surplus and undivided profits, $20,000 ; average deposits, $650,000.
The First State Trust and Savings Bank is officered as follows: S. E. Huff, president; Harry Gardner and C. H. Wallace, vice-presi- dents; Abner Silkey, cashier.
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First University Bank: David H. Lloyde, president; C. L. Lloyde, vice-president; H. R. Dow, cashier. This institution was organized in September, 1915.
The manufactures of Urbana are of modest proportions, but include brick and tile making, a foundry and machine shop and a planing mill. S. E. Huff & Company and Hunter, Rourke & Company are the workers in wood, and also operate large lumber and coal yards. The Leavitt Foundry and Machine Shop is the iron-working plant, and Alvin E. Huckins owns and conducts the brick and tile works, which he purchased of the Sheldon Brick Company in 1912. Bissell & Sherrill were manufacturing brick at Urbana as early as 1853, their kilus being on the ground now occupied by the Huckins yards. O. C. Wysons, W. J. Foots and Royal A. Sutton conducted the enterprise after Bissell & Sherrill and the Sheldon Brick Company, with which George and C. C. Sheldon were identified (uncle and nephew), as well as John W. Stipes, as manager, immediately preceded Mr. Huckins. It is therefore the oldest industry in Urbana.
URBANA SOCIETIES
The county seat has numerous lodges and societies, the histories of which, as a rule, are not accessible, and perhaps would be of more special interest to those who are closely identified with them. The Masons have a temple on West Main Street, and their lodge (Urbana No. 157) is the oldest of that order in the county. Urbana Chapter No. 80, R. A. M., Urbana Council No. 19, R. & S. M., Urbana Commandery No. 16, K. T., and Hope Chapter No. 104, O. E. S., are other strong Masonic bodies.
The I. O. O. F. Hall is corner of Main and Race streets, and the local order embraces Urbana Subordinate Lodge No. 39, Urbana Encampment No. 98 and Olive Lodge No. 57 of the Rebekahs.
The Knights of Pythias and the Pythian Sisters meet on West Main Street, and the Ben Hurs, Elks, Red Men and Woodmen are also repre- sented by organizations. The club rooms of the B. P. O. E. are in the Flatiron building, and the lodge (No. 991) has a membership of over 250.
The women's clubs of the Twin Cities co-operate so intimately that most of the strongest of them have no distinct dividing lines. Sketches of the Art, Thirty, Social Science and Woman's clubs, which embrace both cities, have already been given. The Urbana Fortnightly Club has, from the first, been a distinctive organization of the county seat.
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It was organized prior to 1885, as an informal reading club; was formally organized, with officers, in 1895, with Mrs. S. T. Busey as its president ; was admitted to membership in the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs in 1896, and has so extended its studies and pre- scribed membership as to embrace literature and domestic science and admit thirty women into its life. It also has a list of honorary mem- bers who are non-residents. At Urbana is also a strong Chautauqua Circle.
CHAPTER XIII
RANTOUL TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE
NATURAL ADVANTAGES-ARCHA CAMPBELL-JOHN W. DODGE, LEADER OF OHIO COLONY-JOHN ROUGHTON-THE PREEMPTORS' FIGHT- RANTOUL PLATTED-PRESENT VILLAGE-THE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS -CHURCHES AND LODGE-THIE FIRE OF 1901 AND ITS RESULTS- THIE CHANUTE AVIATION FIELD-THOMASBORO.
Rantoul Township, north of the central part of the county, is one of the most prosperous sections to be described in this work. It contains perhaps the most important part of the village of Rantoul, and Thomas- boro as a whole. The country is well watered by the Salt Fork, and the farmers of the township have always constituted a substantial element of the county's population.
Much of the territory now covered by Rantoul Township was included in what was formerly known as Mink Grove. It was a favorite camping place both of the Indians and the pioneers traveling back and forth between the Chicago region and Champaign County.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES
Rantoul is one of the largest townships in the county, having an area of forty-eight and a half sections of land. Mink Grove lies mostly in the northern part of the township, extending into Ludlow township. Otherwise, the country was practically prairie land, very fertile, as the settlers eventually discovered, and well watered by the tributaries of Salt Fork. The natural drainage is toward the south and west, and this has been supplemented by expensive ditches dug along the courses of the waterways; so that no better lands are to be found in the county than those included in Rantoul Township.
The township was, of course, named in honor of Hon. Robert Ran- toul, of Massachusetts, who may be justly called the savior of the Illinois Central Railroad, to which the township and the county owe so large a share of their development.
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ARCHA CAMPBELL
The first white settler in what is now Rantoul Township was Archa Campbell, who afterward became a probate justice, county commissioner, Urbana's first mayor and a prominent citizen generally. As a matter of fact, he did little more than open up farms on the present site of the village and on the ridge in what is now Hensley Township, about midway between Thomasboro and Mahomet. In the fall of 1848 Mr. Campbell built a log cabin fourteen feet square on his Rantoul place. It was roofed with rough boards twelve or fourteen feet long, but fully answered the purpose of holding down his title to his claim.
Mr. Campbell's nearest neighbors were Franklin Dobson, on the Sangamon River, nine miles west, and Lewis Adkins, at the north end of Big Grove, eight miles south. Largely through the influence of Mr. Campbell the Illinois Central Railroad located the station of Rantoul, from which the township afterward derived its name. He built the first dwelling there, which was subsequently occupied by George W. Terry and wife, and his entire property at Rantoul passed out of his hands in 1858, Guy B. Chandler purchasing the farm.
In 1852 Lewis L. Hicks entered a section of land two miles north- east of the present site of the village, and the following year was joined by his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Martin.
JOHN W. DODGE, LEADER OF OHIO COLONY
Until the building of the Illinois Central in 1855, Rantoul town- ship virtually remained unoccupied as far as permanent habitations were concerned. But the completion of that enterprise opened a new and brighter prospect for the northern and central parts of the county, and Rantoul shared in the general awakening and flow of immigra- tion. They came from the East and from the South-John W. Dodge, John Penfield, John Roughton, James T. Herrick and others who pre- ceded the large Ohio colony the members of which located at and near the station in 1857.
John W. Dodge, the advance agent of the settlers from Northern Ohio, arrived in 1855 from Twinsburg, for the purpose of pre-empting land for his friends and associates, several of whom accompanied him. He was well qualified for that leadership, having spent years in open- ing small farms from the dense timber lands of Northern Ohio. Such strenuous labors had weakened his constitution, and when he came to the Rantoul region he was not in stalwart health. He and his associates
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of the Ohio colony pre-empted several sections of land in what are now Rantoul and Ludlow townships and built eighteen pre-emption shanties. At the land sale in Danville during the following winter they paid the government for about three thousand acres of land at an average price of $3 an acre, including incidental expenses of pre-empting.
A year later Mr. Dodge commenced making improvements, sleeping at first in a pre-emption shanty without floor, door or window. He afterward moved three others together, and occupied them with his fam- ily and other newcomers, numbering from fifteen to twenty persons, during a whole summer, while a better house was being built. Groceries and provisions, lumber and hardware, were brought from Chicago. In those days wild game of different kinds was plentiful. Prairie chickens, ducks, geese and sand-hill cranes were out in force, during the season. The cranes would gather together in an open space and perform a dance, keeping time with their leader. Prairie wolves were also every- where, and during the first year's stay of the pioneer members of the colony deer were seen in herds, passing from Buck Grove to the Sanga- mon timber in a regular procession. At one time sixty were counted in line.
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