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 2
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JAMES A. TALBOTT has not only achieved that success represented by large land holdings and rich and prosperous farms, but also the riches of friendship and community esteem. All this is well indicated by the title affectionately bestowed upon him and most people know him as "Uncle Jimmie" Talbott. Mr. Talbott and his family reside in Harwood Town- ship, in section 36, near Gifford, but his farm possessions spread over a large area and include 1,600 acres of choice Illinois soil.
Mr. Talbott is a native of West Virginia, and was the fourth of eight children born to J. V. and Sarah (Parsons) Talbott. He is of English stock on both sides and the families have been in America for many genera- tions. Mr. James A. Talbott grew up in West Virginia and attended a school known as the Wise school, from the name of the land owner there. He was still young when his parents, in April, 1865, left West Virginia, soon after the surrender of Lce's army, and migrated to Illinois. They heard the news of Lincoln's assassination on arriving at Danville. J. V. Talbott bought ninety acres of land in Middle Fork Township in Vermilion County, paying $25 an acre. The family encountered many hardships and privations. J. V. Talbott had always suffered somewhat delicate health
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and the change of climate not agreeing with him he died in 1866, after about a year of residence in Illinois. He was a man of fine character, and in the bricf time spent in Illinois had acquired a large circle of friends. His widow afterwards visited relatives in California and was taken ill and died in that state. When James A. Talbott was thirty years of age he married Ruthie LeFever. Mrs. Talbott at her death left four young children, named Charles V., Lucy A., Frank W. and Earl P. These children were educated in the Corliss district schools of Champaign County. Mr. Corliss had leased the ground for the school for a period of twenty-five years, and after the lease expired the name was changed to the Talbott school, in honor of this Talbott family.
For his second wife Mr. Talbott married Mrs. Eliza J. LeFever. She was born in Marion County, Ohio, seven miles from the city of Marion, daughter of Charles L. and Mary (Duckweiler) LeFever. Her father was a native of Germany and her mother of Pennsylvania.
After his marriage Mr. Talbott began housekeeping on a farm of eighty acres, for which he paid $20 an acre. It was prairie land in the midst of sloughs and without improvements. He bought the land from J. C. Shel- don. Here . he began the sturdy work of improvement, erecting a small house, planting trees, and in the course of time has developed one of the attractive farm homes which stands as a monument to his industry.
Mrs. Talbott first married Isaac LeFever. They lived at Sugar Grove in Champaign County. By her first husband Mrs. Talbott has two chil- dren : Minnie A. and Ross W. LeFever. Minnie is the wife of Louis Schmitt, a farmer in Iowa, and their three children are named Florence, Ray and Loren. Ross LeFever is a farmer in Harwood Township and by his marriage to Effie George has a daughter, Beula May.
Of Mr. Talbott's children by his first marriage Charles V. is a farmer in, Vermilion County. He married Laura Smith and has two children, Asher and Hattie. Lucy A. is the wife of Emanuel Rowe, a Harwood Township farmer, and has a son, Orene. Frank W. Talbott also lives in Vermilion County and married Ollie Shellenbarger. Their children were Ethel, Grace, Walter, Ray, Carl, Roy and Ruth. Mrs. Ollie Talbott died at the birth of her daughter Ruth. Earl P. Talbott is a resident of Champaign County on a farm. He married Bertha Harper and has a daughter, Viola.
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Mr. and Mrs. Talbott give their active support to the Methodist Epis- copal Church at Gifford. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and believes that President Wilson is the man of the hour and entitled to the full con- fidence and support of a united country. Mr. Talbott served fourteen years as school director, two years as road commissioner, and at one time was elected justice of the peace, but on account of his business duties was obliged to decline the honor.
Mr. and Mrs. Talbott have co-operated in their efforts to rear their children to uscful lives and instill in them the principles of loyal American citizenship. They have a most hospitable home and are well known throughout the county. One of Mr. Talbott's close friends was the late Judge Cunningham, who, he says, was one of the finest judges and citizens Champaign County ever had.
Mr. Talbott's success as a farmer needs no special demonstration. He has shown consummate ability in getting the most out of the soil without destroying its fertility and has built up a large estate of 1,600 acres. In 1872 he located a half section of land ncar Wichita, Kansas, and he has traveled widely over the different states and is thoroughly acquainted with agricultural conditions elsewhere as well as in Champaign County.
Mr. and Mrs. Talbott may now be found enjoying the comforts of a
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fine home a mile and a half north of Gifford. They look baek upon days well and profitably spent. Mrs. Talbott was for nine years a widow after the death of her first husband and after her marriage to Mr. Talbott she took eare of his orphan children, kept them in school, and her own ehil- dren and her husband's grew up in congenial companionship. Mrs. Talbott was a elose friend of Mr. Talbott's first wife and she and Mr. LeFever stood up with the couple when they married.
HEBER JUDSON MOREHOUSE. In acknowledging the valuable services of Mr. Morehouse as a member of the advisory board of editors in this pub- lieation, the publishers are but doing justice in presenting an appropriate sketch of his career. Mr. Morehouse has been a resident of Champaign County for over forty years, has always taken a keen interest in the county's affairs and can speak with authority on the many varied developments of his time, especially in and around Mahomet.
Mr. Morehouse was born in Ionia County, Michigan, May 18, 1856, a son of Albert F. and Sarah C. (Freeman) Morehouse. He was next to the youngest in a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, five of whom are still living. He is the only member of the family in Champaign County.
His father was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1818 and died in 1901. He had limited education and as a youth was apprentieed to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner. He became an expert carpenter and he also pos- sessed that judgment and energy which made for a successful business career. He married at Troy, New York, and afterwards moved west to Portland, Michigan, where he did a large business as earpenter and eon- tractor. Many houses in that seetion of the state still stand to testify to his skill and ability. He acquired considerable farm and town property and was also a popular citizen. For forty years he filled the office of justice of the peace and at the time of his death he was secretary of his Masonie lodge and had filled that office for many years. He was also ehair- man of the Michigan State Historical Society, and his son Heber now has the gavel presented his father by the society. He was one of the leading members of the Baptist Church and a deaeon. His death occurred in Portland, Michigan, and he and his wife both rest in the local cemetery there. His wife was a native of New York, but finished her education in the Female Academy at Bennington, Vermont. She was born in 1818 and died in 1900.
Heber J. Morehouse spent his early youth in Ionia County, Michigan, and while there had the advantages of the common and high schools of Portland. It was in 1875 that he came to Champaign County and took up the voeation of agriculture. For sixteen years he was one of the successful teachers of the county.
On October 17, 1876, he married Miss Laura E. Abbott. They are the parents of five children, one son and four daughters, all living. Myrta E., the oldest, was educated in the Mahomet High School and for six years was a teacher in the country and eity schools of that county. She is now the wife of Charles W. Dale, editor of the St. Joseph Record in Champaign County. Their three children are Ralph E., Virginia and Kent. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Sylva W., the second ehild, is a graduate of the Mahomet High School and is the wife of Frank O. Benson, eashier of the Iola State Bank at Iola, Kansas. Their children are named Jesse C., Laura E. and Frank M. Nelle R., who graduated from the Mahomet High School and from Brown's Business College at Champaign, was an able assistant to her father in his business for some years, but is now the wife of E. W. Morrison, a farmer in Mahomet Town-
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ship. They have a youthful son, Heber J. The only son of Mr. Morehouse is Chester A., fourth in order of birth. Further reference to his career is made in the following paragraphs. Mary, the youngest child and daughter, pursued her studies in the Mahomet High School and is the wife of Clark I. Pfiester, a farmer at Mahomet. Their two children are Paul M. and Charles W. Mrs. Pfiester is a member of the Baptist Chureh.
Chester A. Morehouse has for some years been actively associated with his father in business. He received a good educational training in the local high school and is also a graduate of Brown's Business College. He is a young man of more than ordinary business ability and also takes an active part in the affairs of his home town. He is superintendent of the Baptist Sunday sehool and an active member of that church, and is also scout master of the. loeal organization of Boy Scouts, numbering about thirty. In July, 1916, he took the military training at the Plattsburg camp at Lake Champlain, New York, and on November 16, 1916, he stood -a successful examination at Chicago for a commission in the Reserve Corps. He was the seventieth man commissioned in the Central Department and now enjoys the rank and title of captain in the Quartermaster's Corps of the United States Army. Fraternally he is affiliated with Mahomet Lodge No. 529, I. O. O.,F., Camp No. 2247, Modern Woodmen of America, which he is serving as consul, and is a member of Sioux Tribe No. 313 of the Improved Order of Red Men at Urbana. He is a Republican, and cast his first vote for William H. Taft. He married a popular Urbana girl, Miss Roma Renner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Renner of Urbana. Mrs. Morehouse was born in Champaign and is a liberally educated and eultured young woman. She graduated from the Thornburn High School with the class of 1906, and afterwards specialized in vocal and instrumental musie, studying a year under Professor Beresford in Chicago. She is one of the most finished contralto singers in Champaign County.
Mrs. H. J. Morehouse was born in Champaign County, October 2, 1858, a daughter of Stephen C. and Mary E. (Rea) Abbott. She was reared and edueated in this eounty and had a high school training. Mrs. More- house is an active member of the Baptist. Church and was formerly director of its choir.
In 1892 Mr. Morehouse engaged for a short time in the manufacture of tile and briek, but from that entered the real estate, loan and insurance business, and for years his office at Mahomet has been the medium for many large transactions in those lines. For twenty years he has held a commission as notary public. Mr. and Mrs. Morehouse own about 300 acres of rich land in Champaign County and also have their comfortable home and other properties in Mahomet. When Mr. Morehouse came to Mahomet forty-two years ago his cash eapital was very limited, but by striet economy and good business management, and with the aid of his capable wife, he has been blessed with a goodly competence. In 1898 he engaged in the undertaking business, buying the interests of J. C. Pittman at Mahomet. In the same year he was given a diploma in a school of embalming and he and his son Chester have since condueted the leading business of this kind at Mahomet.
In polities Mr. Morehouse is a stanch Republican and for years has filled official places in the town and village. He is a member and clerk of the local camp of Modern Woodmen of America and is a member and director of the Court of Honor at Mahomet. He has always been one of the leaders of the Baptist Church, has served as deacon and treasurer, and takes especial pride in the fact that he has had one elass in the Sunday school for thirty-six consecutive years.
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A. P. JOHNSON. Among the learned professions there are, probably, none that demand so much tact, judgment, patience, natural executive ability and specialized knowledge as that of the educator. The individual who enters into this field, selecting it as his chosen life work and calling, must be prepared to make many sacrifices, to endure numerous disap- pointments, to often spend himself for others without apparent return of gratitude, and to give the best years of his life often without the emolu- ments that equal efforts would in all probability bring in any other pro- fession. It is a vocation for which there are no weights and measures. The material with which it deals is the youth of our land upon which im- pressions are often eternal and which affords the man who would serve the race an opportunity than which there are none greater. Of the men of Champaign County who have dedicated their lives to this work, one of the best known is A. P. Johnson, superintendent of the public schools of the city of Urbana.
Born December 16, 1863, in Sussex County, Delaware, A. P. Johnson is a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Smith) Johnson. On both sides of the family he is descended from English ancestors, and his ancestors lived for many years in Delaware, where both his parents were born. Benja- min Johnson was a farmer by vocation and in 1873, feeling that the fer- tile fields of Illinois would yield him a fortune, he came to this state and settled on a farm in Mahomet Township, Champaign County, where the remainder of his life was passed in the tilling of the soil and the raising of crops and cattle. He was a good farmer and expert judge of cattle, an honorable man of business and public-spirited citizen, and a man who had the confidence and respect of his fellows. His death occurred in 1907. In his political affiliation he was a Republican, and he and Mrs. Johnson, who died in 1880, were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were six children in the family, namely: Charles, who is engaged in farming in Michigan; Mary, Stewart and Eliza, who are all deceased; A. P., of this notice; and Willard, who is a railroad locomotive engineer and makes his home at Decatur, Illinois.
A. P. Johnson was ten years of age when brought to Illinois by his parents, and here his education was commenced in the public schools. When he was seventeen years of age he began to do a man's work in the fields, at a monthly wage, although he continued his studies during the winter terms, and when he was nineteen years of age had so far progressed that he entered upon his career as an educator. While he was engaged in teaching in the country schools of Champaign County, during the winter months, when he could spare the time, and during vacations, he furthered his own education by attendance at the Illinois State Normal University, the Indiana Normal School, the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, although at no time did he give up his teaching. Thus he was enabled to pay his own way through for a comprehensive education, while at the same time he was enlightening the minds of the youths of his community. In 1900 Mr. Johnson was made superintendent of the schools of Gibson City, a position which he retained for six years, and in 1906 was called to Urbana to act in the same capacity. He has retained this position ever since, a matter now of eleven years, and from the start has sought to better conditions in every way and advance the educational standard. A thorough student of the science of education, and possessed of a natural instinct for child psychology, Mr. Johnson has made his schools a living, growing organism responsive to the best in both the teacher and the pupil. Mr. Johnson is a Republican, but not a poli- tician. He is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, and an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he joined in his youth.
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Mr. Johnson was married August 20, 1890, to Miss Effic J. Obenchain, of Compromise Township, Champaign County, and to this union therc has been born one daughter, Mary Fern, a graduate of the University of Illinois, class of 1916, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and a graduate of the School of Music, University of Illinois, class of 1917. The Obenchain family has resided in Champaign County since 1854, when Edward S. Obenchain brought his wife overland in a wagon from Indiana. Here they passed their entire lives, Mrs. Johnson's father dying February 17, 1914, and her mother following him to the grave March 15 of the same year. For a number of years they lived in Com- promise Township, where Mr. Obenchain was a successful farmer, but in later years went to Penfield, where he was in the grain business. In his declining years he returned to Urbana, and here passed away. During his day he was one of the prominent men of his locality, and served for some years in the capacity of supervisor of Compromise Township.
LEWIS D. OLIVER. Bankers and financiers have been happily compared to pendulums of commerce and progress, and it is very true that they furnish the stability and the steadiness chiefly required for the business world. Every financial institution acquires estimation and influence in its com- munity largely through the character and reputation of the men whose names are most intimately associated with the undertaking.
One of Champaign County's most prosperous banks is the First State Bank of Fisher and the success and prosperity of that institution are in no small degree a reflection of the personal integrity and business standing of its vice president, Lewis D. Oliver. Mr. Oliver has been identified with Champaign County many years, and his activities have been of such char- acter as to merit the confidence reposed in him by a large community.
He was born in McLean County, Illinois, January 20, 1857. He is the fifth in a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, born to Jackson and Clarissa (Courtright) Oliver. Four of these children are still living. Henry is a retired agriculturist living at Hennessey, Okla- homa, is a Democrat in politics and is married. Leroy P. is a resident of Morristown, Indiana. John W. is an agriculturist, live stock brecder and dealer living at Ottawa, Kansas.
Jackson Oliver was born in Ohio in 1817, grew up in that state, was educated in the common schools, and took up and successfully pursued for many years the vocation of agriculturist. He died in 1900. Politically he was a Democrat. It was in 1854 that he removed to McLean County, Illinois, and bought land which was the basis of his farming activities for many years. His religious home was the First Presbyterian Church. His wife was born in Ross County, Ohio, grew up in that state, and also was a Presbyterian. Her death occurred in 1896 and both she and her hus- band are buried at Leroy in McLean County, where a beautiful monument stands sacred to their memory.
Lewis D. Oliver had a common school education. He began his active career in the environment where his youth was passed, and acquired a very thorough knowledge of farming and stock raising in McLean County. In 1891 Mr. Oliver removed to Fisher in Champaign County, and from this locality he continued his interests and activities in the live stock industry for fifteen years. Mr. Oliver has sent many carloads of fat stock out of eastern Illinois and did much of his shipping direct to Boston, Massa- chusetts, through various Chicago commission houses, including Clark, Bowles & Company, the National Company and Rice Brothers. In live stock circles Mr. Oliver came to be rated as one of the most successful in Champaign County.
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H.H. HARRIS PRESIDENT
N. M.HARRIS VICE PRESIDENT
B.F.HARRIS VICE PRESIDENT
THE LATE B. F. HARRIS 1811. - 1905.
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H.S.CAPRON CASHIER
THE FOUNDER OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, CHAMPAIGN, TOGETHER WITH. PORTRAITS OF HIS SON, HENRY HICKMAN HARRIS, AND GRANDSONS, B. F. AND N. M. HARRIS
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He has been active in banking at Fisher since 1906, when he became cashier of the Farmers Exchange Bank. The president of that institu- tion was George W. Busey. Mr. Oliver continued as cashier until the incorporation of the First State Bank on April 23, 1913, when he assumed the post of vice president. He now gives much of his time to the manage- ment of the bank's affairs. His business interests also include extensive land holdings in Shelby and Vermilion counties, where he owns a total of 680 acres. His home at Fisher is one of modern style and architecture and possesses every convenience. Mr. Oliver is also interested in the Farmers Grain Company's elevator at Fisher.
In September, 1883, he married Miss Mary Phillips. Two children, both sons, have been born to their union. Walter was educated in the Fisher public schools and is now cashier of the First State Bank. While cashier he also took a business course at Brown's Business College at Bloom- ington, Illinois, and has thoroughly fitted himself for his duties as a banker. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fisher. Edgar P., the other son, still at home, was educated in the common schools, and is assistant cashier of the First State Bank of Fisher. He is also a member of the Methodist Church.
Mrs. Oliver was born in McLean County, Illinois, in 1863, a daughter of D. F. and Margaret Phillips. She was educated in the common schools. She takes a very active part in the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society and the Foreign Missionary Society.
Politically Mr. Oliver is a man of his own mind and listens to the dictates of his own judgment when it comes to casting his ballot. He is affiliated with Castle Hall Lodge No. 305 of the Knights of Pythias at Fisher, and is the present chancellor commander. Mr. Oliver is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a member of the building committee when the beautiful church edifice was erected in 1912, at a cost of $10,000. This is one of the modern churches of Champaign County and would be a credit to any locality.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HARRIS. Love of land, of peace and industry, cardinal virtues in the lives of men and nations, were cver present influ- ences in the long life of the late B. F. Harris of Champaign County. To say that he left "a good name" as a legacy to his family, is to state only part of the truth. It was a strong name, one that is yital today, and the mem- ory of it has an inspiration to all those who have the resolution and the will to labor in order to secure worthy places in their respective spheres.
Without disparaging the remarkable material achievements associated with the name in Champaign County, there is need to emphasize the won- derful virility of the family stock and its permanence. America, and this is particularly true of the Middle West, can show comparatively few fami- lies who can take root and grow and flourish generation after generation in one spot. In fact mobility in population has been exalted in some quarters almost to a virtue. Of the Harris family five generations have lived in Champaign County, beginning with the father of B. F. Harris, Sr., and coming down to his great-grandchildren. More important still, each generation has amplified and expanded the interests of the preceding. The word virility is as applicable to the family today as it was when Champaign County was on the frontier.
In 1916 there was held a simple ceremony at the University of Illinois, which attracted wide newspaper publicity even at a time when politics and a world war were the absorbing topics of conversation .. This was the hanging of the portrait and the name of B. F. Harris in the University Hall of Fame. It was a signal and worthy honor paid to this greatest of
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Illinois farmers and stockmen. During this ceremony an address was read by Mr. B. F. Harris, the grandson, which contains as fully as any brief article could, the experiences and achievements of this Champaign County pioneer. In the preface to his address the grandson said: "No intimate acquaintance of his active years is either living or physically able to speak of him here-wherefore I trust you will not feel that there is a lack of modesty in a grandson attempting a brief sketch and those personal allu- sions that must go into the permanent record." From this address it is possible to compile a brief biography and a more or less imperfect estimate of the real character of the man. While his life contained some events of the dramatic quality, it was continuously and exceedingly rich in those elements of manhood which constitute noblemen in all ages.
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