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 18
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In the meantime his brother Anton Blue had come to America and located at Thomasboro in Champaign County. He wrote to J. H. Blue describing the fine country of castern Illinois and requesting the pleasure of a visit. J. H. Blue then came to Champaign County, but his preferences werc for the eastern states.
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In the meantime, in 1876, Mr. Blue had married in Germany Miss Lena 0. Saathoff, who was born in Germany in 1850, a daughter of Oltman and Luecka B. (Ammerman) Saathoff. In that year Mr. and Mrs. Blue came to America and went direct to Champaign County. For twenty years Mr. Blue and his wife lived as renters but prospered greatly owing to the possession of habits of thrift and industry characteristic of their country- men. Later they bought eighty acres of land four miles south of Rantoul, paying $70 an acre. Mr. Blue had only $200 to make his first payment, but in a few years had his home paid for and finally, in order to provide greater scope for the efforts of his growing sons, traded the eighty acres for 173 acres.
Mrs. Blue is the mother of eleven children, named Oltman, Henry, Louis, Alma, Janc, John, Ben, Herman, Anthony, Fritz and Dee. They were all educated in the district schools of Champaign County. Oltman married Angel Thompson, and they live on a farm in Champaign County. Their four children are John, Anna, Lena and Bertha. Henry married Katie Hineberger, and their family consists of Alma, Mabel, Lee and Clarence. Louis married Bertha Cook, and her two children are Elden and Glenn. Alma is the wife of William Meuser and is the mother of three . children, Minnic, Herman and Gertrude. Jane married Gustave Meuser, and their children are Augusta, Albert, Rosa and John. Jolin Blue married Alma Hanson. Ben Blue married Lucy Brucker and has two children, Chester and Opal. Herman married Rosa McClelland and has one child, William. Anthony took for his wife Ola McClelland, and their two children are Ruby and Kenneth. Fritz Blue married Anna Nelson. Dee, the youngest of the family, is the wife of Herman Nylen, a barber at Rantoul, and they have one son, Johnnie Morton Nylen.
Mr. and Mrs. Blue are active members of the German Evangelical Church at Flattville and their children were baptized in the same church. Politically they are active supporters of the Republican principles and vote the Republican ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Blue have known the usual trials and hardships of people who must struggle to gain a living and establish a home, but their energy has brought them ample success. In 1913 they wisely started to retire from the farm and bought a beautiful and attractive little home in the northwest quarter of Rantoul. They have lived to see many changes occur in Champaign County and have themselves contributed some- thing to the wonderful transformation that has occurred on these Illinois prairies in the past forty years. Both of them are fine types of the American citizens, appreciative of the greatness of this country and extremely loyal to the flag. In 1900 Mrs. Blue and her son Louis went back to Germany to visit the old home, and later Mr. and Mrs. Blue enjoyed a similar trip. They crossed the ocean both times on the liner Barbarossa. Inevitably they compared the scenes of their youth and their native country with America and they came home with loyalty to their adopted land increased and strengthened.
JOSEPH E. McGURTY is one of the successful business men of Cham- paign, where in the past seventeen years he has built up a large livery enterprise and also a well conducted automobile business. He comes from . the country district and was a farmer prior to his business career.
Mr. McGurty was born at Colfax, Illinois, December 11, 1869, a son of Hugh and Sarah (Reagan) McGurty. Both parents were natives of Ire- land. His father when six years of age went with his parents to Canada, loeating near Montreal, where he grew up, and about 1859 he came to Illinois and soon afterward located on a farm in Champaign County. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army, in Company E, Ninety-seventh Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, and served three years and six months. He lived
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a long, useful and honorable life and died at Champaign, June 2, 1897. The widowed mother is still living in Champaign. There were six children : Anna, of Champaign; Catherine, at home; John, deceased; Joseph E .; Agnes, at home; and James, deceased.
Joseph E. McGurty grew up on the farm, was educated in the local schools, and was a practical farmer on the old homestead until he was twenty-five years of age. For three years he had some mercantile experience in the department store of F. K. Robeson, and then engaged in the livery business at Champaign. In 1909 Mr. McGurty put up a large barn, 60x130 feet, and two stories. It contains a complete equipment of horses and he has gradually perfected a first class automobile service.
Mr. McGurty is a Republican in politics and was for two years street commissioner of Champaign under O. B. Dobbins. He and his wife are members of the Church of the Holy Cross, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Arcanum, the Sons of Veterans and the Mystic Workers. He was married August 12, 1902, to Miss Anna McGraw, a native of Champaign County. Her parents, James and Ann (McGraw) McGraw, were both born in Ireland and are both now deceased. Her father was for many years employed as a machinist and boiler maker in the Big Four Railway shops.
THOMAS GORDON. As a farmer and farm manager Thomas Gordon is easily one of the 'leading figures in Champaign County. He has acquired and developed and superintends through his tenants and managers an estate of 975 acres in Compromise Township. For a number of years Mr. Gordon has lived in the Town of Penfield, and goes out from there almost daily to look after his business affairs.
Mr. Gordon is a native of Aurora, Illinois, a son of John and Mary (Whalen) Gordon. Both of them were natives of Ireland and came to America in early life. When Thomas was about ten years of age they set- tled in Champaign County, where their family of five sons and three daugh- ters were educated in the local schools.
In 1906 Thomas Gordon gained a capable companion and helpmate for himself in the person of Miss Blanche Hobbins. She was born at London, Canada, daughter of Danicl and Julia (Farmer) Hobbins. Her father was a Canadian farmer and there were just two daughters in the family, namely, Mary and Blanche. Mary is the wife of Mr. Crunican of London, Ontario. Mrs. Gordon has a cousin, Sergeant R. J. Farmer, who is a graduate of the London Medical College, and is now in the Englishi Navy on the Salmon. Mrs. Gordon was eleven months old when her father died and her mother, desiring to give her daughters the best of advantage, sold the farm and moved to the City of London, Canada. Her daughters were pupils in St. Peter's separate school and from there entered high school and later were students in the London Collegiate Institute while Mr. F. W. Merchant was principal. Mrs. Gordon graduated with honors in 1899, and having taken special training with a view to becoming a teacher went to North Dakota and taught at Elm Point, Freement and Crystal. At Crystal she was assistant principal in the high school under W. R. Decker, the prin- cipal. She had the satisfaction of seeing the entire class successfully pass their examinations, a fact she was congratulated upon by the board. After completing her last term there and before returning to her home in Canada she stopped in Champaign County, Illinois; to visit her uncle, Cornelius Clifford. While there she met the young man Thomas Gordon, and their acquaintance ripened into matrimony. They were married in St. Lawrence Church at Penfield in September, 1906. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Father Quirk, a warm personal friend of Mr. Gordon, both young men
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being of the same age. Father Quirk came from Ottawa, Illinois, to solem- nize his friend's marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon then located in Penfield, a location that allows Mr. Gordon to superintend his several farms with the greatest convenience, at the same time allowing his family the advantages of town life.
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter, John Anthony, Daniel Nicholas, Thomas Cornelius, Lawrence Ignatius and Mary Angela. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon are active members and liberal supporters of the Catholic Church. In politics Mr. Gordon is a Democrat and a great admirer of President Wilson, believing him to be the man of the hour and the American best fitted to guide the nation through the strenuous and critical times of the present. Mr. Gordon has served a number of years as school director and has done everything in his power to make the schools what they should be as institutions for the education of the future generation. It was his good fortune to secure for his wife a woman of thorough education, culture and refinement, and she has been a big factor in his success and standing in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have a home of noted hospitality, and they enter heartily into all social and community affairs. Mr. Gordon's parents have long since passed away, but the name remains today, as always, one entitled to the complete respect of the community with which it has been identified for so many years.
ARCHIE ERNEST STRODE. One of the important industries of Cham- paign is the tent and awning business which for a number of years has been carried on by the Strode family. The owner and proprietor of the business at present is Archie Ernest Strode, who gave up his active trade as a boiler maker to take charge of this business at the time of his father's death.
Mr. Strode was born in Bristol, England, May 11, 1879, but was brought to this country when a child of about four years. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Frank) Strode, were both natives of England. His father died March 4, 1915, and his mother in 1901. The family came to Champaign in 1883, and George Strode established the present tent and awning business in 1905. There were five children in the family : Frank, of Champaign; Celia, widow of Thomas Dodsworth of Champaign; William, who died in 1892; Bessie, wife of W. E. Lott, of Flint, Michigan ; and A. E. Strode.
In 1895, at the age of sixteen, and after completing his education in the local schools, Archie E. Strode began learning the boilermaker's trade. He still has his card of active membership in the Boilermaker's Union. He spent about four and a half years in the shops of the Illinois Central, one year with the Santa Fc, and two years with the Big Four Railway Company. He was not only a successful and able workman, but also gained a thorough knowledge of the business end of the work. He finally entered the service of the Kennicott Company, construction engineers, and traveled over thirty-eight different states for that firm, representing them even in old Mexico. After giving up traveling, Mr. Strode returned to the service of the Big Four Railway Company, and was in their shops from 1907 until November, 1911. He then went into business with his father and at the time of the latter's death took active charge of the tent and awning business, which he developed to one of the considerable industries of the city.
On January 29, 1908, Mr. Strode married Laura Gundlock, a native of Champaign. They have one son, Orvil George, born March 5, 1910. Mr. Strode is independent in his political actions. He is a member of the Foresters, the Federation of Labor, the Labor Day Association, belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and his church home is the Episcopalian.
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ABRAHAM GRAHAM. The quiet life and substantial aeeomplishments of the farmer have been the lot of Abraham Graham, who is now living in the town of Penfield, retired from the strenuous labors which marked his early youth. Mr. Graham has been identified with Champaign County almost half a century, and his life record is one that will be read with pleasure by his many friends and acquaintances as well as by his family. He long ago accumulated sufficient to proteet him against the days that are to eome, and the respeet in which he is held is no less than his material accomplishment.
Mr. Graham is a native of the Emerald Isle, born in County Monaghan, December 27, 1838, a son of Hugh and Sarah (MeMahon) Graham. He was the third of nine children, six sons and three daughters. He acquired an' education in his native country and at the age of nineteen determined to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities of America. Accompanied by a cousin, Miss Rosa Martin, he sailed on the ship Aurora and five weeks and three days later arrived at Castle Garden, New York. From there he went to Providence, Rhode Island, and for nine months during the panie of 1857 worked in lumber yards. He then became a farmer at Gleneove in Queen's County on Long Island, but three years later eame west to Illinois, stopping first at Buffalo. Later he joined a eousin at Illiopolis and worked on a farm there for several years.
On February 26, 1867, Mr. Graham married Miss Anna E. Welsh. She was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Adam and Mary (Craten) Welsh. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Graham began life near Illiopolis, and two years later, in 1869, eame to Champaign County and located in that part of the original Kerr Township that is now Compromise Township. Here with the characteristies of industry and perseverance which he inherited from his Irish forefathers, Mr. Graham' began work and energetieally developed a permanent home. His first pur- chase was eighty aeres of raw prairie land eosting $10 an aere. At that time the entire township had only one schoolhouse. With the passing of years there eame many notable improvements, ineluding commodious build- ings. Mr. Graham set out 107 apple trees and numerous native forest trees. The latter are now lofty trees and stand as a monument to his long and prosperous life in this seetion.
Eight children were born to their marriage: Sarah A., Mary E., Ella, Catherine, Franeis, Celia, Gertrude and Nora E. The daughter Gertrude died at the age of twenty-two. Sarah A. married Thomas Buek, a farmer of Compromise Township, and their nine ehildren, seven sons and two daughters, are named Franeis, Joseph, Arthur, Edward, Harold, Mary, James, Charles and Helen. Mary E. Graham became the wife of James MeKeon, and they live near Rantoul. Their children are Ellen, Anna, Marie, James, Loretta and Gertrude. Ella 'Graham is the wife of James Kelley, and is the mother of Michael, now a United States soldier, William, Anna, Cletus, John, James, Paul and Joseph. . Catherine Graham married John Harney, and their children are Thomas, Wilfred, Margaret, Edward, Emmett. Franeis Graham married Emma Buek, and their children are Agnes, Gertrude, Maude, Franeis, Thomas, Raymond and Gilbert. Nora E. Graham is the wife of Bannis Mahew. Her children are Floyd, Idell, Ruth, Russell, Arthur and Charles. Celia Graham has never married and sinee her mother's death in 1884 has remained at home and is now her father's eapable executive in the management of the home. Mr. Graham is the patriarchal head of a large household, ineluding forty grandehildren. During all these years sinee his wife's death Mr. Graham has lived among his children and friends and has so lived as to make his influenee a faetor in the community without which things would not have been as they are
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today. Having reared a family of capable children and seeing his grand- children growing up true types of American boys and girls, he ean properly feel that his life has been a success. In politics he renders support to the Demoeratie party and it is his belief, shared in by so many other thousands of Americans, that President Wilson is the man for the position and will safely bring the ship of state through troubled waters. Mr. Graham has always been a Catholic and is a liberal supporter of the church at Penfield. Having come to Champaign County a young man with little capital and having made a success here, he is attached to the county by the strongest ties of loyalty and affection.
J. S. MASON, M. D., who was graduated in medicine over twenty years ago, has found his time and abilities more and more taxed as a_competent physician and surgeon, and in that field he ranks among the foremost in his section of the state. Doctor Mason is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, an honor conferred only upon surgeons of distinetive rank and attainment.
He was born at Newark, Ohio, May 22, 1868, a son of Jacob W. and Elizabeth (Smith) Mason, both natives of Ohio. His father came to Vermilion County, Illinois, in 1881 and followed farming all his active career. There were six children : J. Smith, a lumber dealer and hardware merchant at Oakwood, Illinois; Frank M., a physician practicing at Ross- ville, Illinois; Dr. J. S. Mason; Leora, living at home and a school teacher ; Archie R .; and Etta Florence, at home with her parents.
Doctor Mason grew up on a farm, attended country sehools, and when about eighteen years of age began teaching in the country. This vocation he followed five years and in the meantime took special courses in a Normal school and acquired a first grade teacher's certificate. It was through his individual earnings that he paid his way until graduation from medical school. He took up the study of medicine privately, and afterwards entered the Northwestern University School of Medicine at Chieago, where he was graduated M. D. in April, 1894. Doetor Mason practieed five years at Penfield, Illinois, and about six years at Rantoul, but since 1906 has been located with residence and office in Urbana.
Doctor Mason formerly served as Champaign County Medieal Society's president and is now president of the Twin City Clinical Medical Society. He is a Mason, Knight of Pythias, Elk, a Democrat in politics and a member of the Baptist Church.
February 16, 1897, he married Lena O. Warner, daughter of Ed. B. Warner. They have four children: James Bryant, Edward William, Elizabeth and Robert Stephen.
SAMUEL HENSON LITTLE. Among those substantial people of Cham- paign County with whom industry has been the keynote of their lives and successes a family of special interest is that of Samuel H. Little. Mr. and Mrs. Little are now retired from the active responsibilities of farming and reside in a comfortable brown cement block home on Sangamon Avenue in Rantoul.
Mr. Little was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, a son of John and Charlotte (Coon) Little. His parents were natives of Ohio, and after coming to Illinois they spent their lives as farmers. Samuel H. Little was educated in the district schools of Champaign County.
At the age of twenty-six he married Miss Jessie Babb. Mrs. Little was born in Staffordshire, England, a daughter of Charles and Eleanor Babb, of a well known family represented in Champaign County. Mrs. Little was educated in the district schools of this county and attended high school at
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Rantoul. After their marriage they moved to Vermilion County and for three years were farmers on rented land. They then returned to Champaign County and continued renting for five years, and by the exercise of their native thrift and good judgment had by the end of that time sufficient capital to buy a farm of 120 acres. For this land they paid $71 an acre. Then followed other years of industry and with increasing prosperity until they had accumulated an estate of 243 acres five miles southwest of Rantoul.
This large farm was acquired at the same time that children and other responsibilities were absorbing much of their energy. Six children were born into their home, three of whom died in infancy. Those still living are Nellie, Arthur and Roscoe. These children were educated in the Gray dis- trict school. Nellie married Earl Fletcher, a farmer nine miles south of Rantoul. They have three young daughters, Alice, Edna and Louise. Arthur Little is a practical young farmer and manages his Grandfather Charles Babb's place two and a half miles east of Rantoul. Arthur Little married Edith Putnam of Condit Township, and their two sons are named Charles and Ray. Roscoe lives on and is manager of his father's homestead. By his marriage to Mabel Johnson of Rantoul he has two children, Ruth and Paul Henson.
Mr. and Mrs. Little took great pains with the education and early train- ing of their children and instilled into their minds the principles of integrity and industry and fitted them for good citizenship.
Mr. and Mrs. Little are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Rantoul, and their children are of the same faith. They have always done all they could to promote and support church affairs, especially at Beulah Chapel. Earl Fletcher, their son-in-law, was chosen superintend- ent of the Sunday school there, and altogether they have aroused a spirit of Sunday school work which now gives a membership of 110 and is one of the best Sunday schools in the county.
Mr. Little has served as school director, and has worked for the benefit of good education in his community. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World. In 1914 Mr. and Mrs. Little decided to remove from their farm to Rantoul, and they are now taking life somewhat at leisure in their com- fortable residence on Sangamon Avenue. Mrs. Little is a pleasant, cultured woman, has distinguished herself as an excellent home maker, and is espe- cially fond of flowers. She inherits this love from her English grandmother, whom she remembers as a dignified white haired English matron owning a fine estate in England and with gardens of fine cultivated flowers.
CHARLES BABB, while for many years a resident of Champaign County, is a cosmopolitan citizen, has traveled extensively over the New and Old World, and has not only earned but has learned the wisc use of financial independence. He is now living retired in a commodious and beautiful home at Rantoul and is one of the large land owners of Champaign County.
Mr. Babb was born in Staffordshire, England, son of John and Mar- garct (Whyte) Babb. He grew up in his native country and in the year of the Chicago fire, 1871, came to this country with his wife and threc children and located in Champaign County, six miles north of the city of Champaign. His three children were named Arthur, Jessie and Margaret. In Champaign County he engaged in farming, and possessing character and energy, he was soon on the high road to prosperity. At the present time Mr. Babb owns 535 acres of splendid soil in the vicinity of Rantoul.
After he came to America another child was born and was given the name Anna.
The good wife and companion of his early life in America was taken away from his side twenty-one years ago. Her maiden name was Elcanor
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Bunting, and she was also a native of England. Mr. Babb saw to it that his children had the best of educational advantages, and they attended the sehool at Thomasboro and also at Rantoul. The son Arthur, who died twelve years ago, married Aliee Merchant, and he left two children, Jessie and Florenee. The second child, Jessie, married Samuel Little, and their children are Nellie, Arthur and Roseoe. The daughter Margaret married Charles Merchant, and they live in Walnut, Bureau County, Illinois. Their two children are Bessie and Ira.
In 1897 Mr. Babb married Mary Taylor. Mrs. Babb was born in Kin- eardine, Seotland, daughter of John and Helen (Gordon) Taylor. At the age of thirty-four Mrs. Babb came to America, but she is a world traveler and has always been delighted with ocean voyages. She enjoys the distinc- tion of having erossed the Atlantie thirteen times. Mr. Babb is also a thorough sailor and in 1917 he and his wife had planned another pleasant trip to Europe, but were hindered by the war.
Mr. Babb is a born sportsman. When he goes to England he takes the greatest delight in participating in hunting trips and spends the sea- sons with some of his friends who own fine estates in the old country. Mr. and Mrs. Babb are active members of the Episcopal Church, liberally support the church eauses, and Mr. Babb in politics is a Republican. He believes in supporting the principle rather than the party strictly as a party organization. Mrs. Babb also gives her support to the party which has produced Lincoln, Mckinley and Garfield.
Eleven years ago Mr. and Mrs. Babb removed from their farm to Ran- toul and have a commodious home a block south of the Illinois Central Depot. Mr. Babb's former extensive operations as a stock buyer made him widely known over this seetion of Illinois, and mueh of his business was transacted through Rantoul. Having worked hard in the prime of his career he is now able to enjoy with satisfaction his pleasant home on Ken- tucky Street and has hosts of friends in Illinois as well as in his native land. On the walls of their home at Rantoul are hung many fine views of Scotland and England, including representations of some of the large estates which they have visited. One of these is "Lumber Grange," owned by Mr. Babb's nephew, Alfred Wood. It is one of the stately old homes of England, has rustic fences covered with rambling roses, and is a place which would delight the eye of the sportsman and the landscape painter. Other views show the estates known as "The Croft" and "Littleover." Mr. Babb has collected many articles of interest both to themselves and their friends, and they have the parlor of their home furnished with finely earved Japanese furniture.
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