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 26
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In October, 1895, Rev. Mr. Mochl removed from Iowa to Champaign County, entering a new field of work as pastor of the German Evangelical ยท Church at Flatville. For twenty-one years he has gone in and out among
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these good people as a preacher and an instructor on the important things of life, preparing them for a truer and better citizenship not only in this life but in that which is to come.
His congregation has grown and prospered and with prosperity there came a recognition of the need for a larger and better edifice in which to worship. Mr. Moehl laid this cause before his people, a committee was appointed, plans were carefully studied, and with the enthusiastic co-opera- tion of his parishioners the work was begun and has resulted in a beautiful and imposing Gothic church building, which is one of the finest in Cham- paign County. It is built of Hytex brick and sandstone, cost $50,000 and was dedicated January 26, 1915. The broad steps in front lead to the main entrance, and the auditorium is reached through three glass folding doors. Over thesc doors on the stained glass is the inscription in German, "Beware your fect, if you come to the House of the Lord and come that you may hear." The auditorium is a wonderful work of art, containing many stained glass windows with life size pictures of biblical scenes and characters. One of the figures is Luther, another is Paul, and on a large south window is Christ represented in the home of Mary and Martha. There are mural paintings representing the shepherds at Bethlehem, Christ blessing the children, Christ walking on the water, while back of the altar are six paintings representing Easter scenes and the Apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The pulpit is in the Gothic style to cor- respond with the architectural harmony of the building, and there is a fine pipe organ. A complete individual plant supplies electric light.
The first church of this congregation was erected in 1874 and stood until 1887. The second church was used from 1887 until 1914, and then a temporary structure during 1914-15 until the completion of the new building. Below the cornerstone of the present church is the cornerstone of the old one, containing the inscription of date of erections. The church has a membership of 135 families. It is the center of a lively picture on Sundays when automobiles bring the worshipers from near and far. There is a large Sunday school of interested children.
Rev. Mr. Moehl has conducted a German school during the years he has spent at Flatville for the benefit of the children of the church. There the Bible is taught daily, in addition to literary studies.
Rev. Mr. Moehl is a man of broad and liberal views and in politics is a Republican. He is a fine type of the American citizen and has always been proud of his American home and has made his work a factor in the building up of loyalty to country as well as in the education of his people for the other conditions of life here and later. Rev. Mr. Moehl's experi- ences since coming to America have been both pleasant and congenial, and herc he has found his work and has never had cause to regret the influences that led him away from the land of his birth.
HARRY C. KARIHIER, M. D. Perhaps no call is so insistent in man as that of personal service to others. It is one of the beautiful elements of humanity ; it lics at the root of religion and permeates every brotherhood organization.
The appeal for help made by the physically sick and maimed has led many a noble-hearted young man to prepare for and devote himself to the arduous profession of medicine, occasionally thereby to a large extent turning aside from the pleasures of the leisurely life that ample means might have afforded him, finding compensation in the knowledge of the facts of science and his ability to helpfully apply them. It can but be acknowledged that no body of men as a class give so much of themselves to others as do physicians and surgeons, and that individually few mnen of
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this profession have ever been known to turn a deaf ear to suffering they could relieve. The city of Champaign has, among other advantages, a skilled and generous body of medical men, and an eminent representative is found in Dr. Harry C. Kariher, widely known in the state.
Harry C. Kariher was born at Chicago, Illinois, September 22, 1878. His parents were Harry and Mary E. (Sullard) Kariher, the former of whom was born at Delphi, Indiana, and the latter in the State of New Jersey. For many years the father was engaged in the drug business in Champaign, building it up to great importance and thereby amassing a large fortune. The handsome Kariher business block stands as a monu- ment to his thrift and enterprise. Both he and wife were of the highest social standing and were beloved and respected by every one. H. C. Kariher, the elder, died in 1893 and his wife in 1895.
Harry C. Kariher attended the public schools of Champaign, grad- uating creditably from the high school, after which for two years he was a student in the University of Illinois. Having determined on a medical career, the young man then entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which great school he was graduated in 1903. He returned then to Cham- paign and engaged here in practice for one year and then took advantage of a favorable medical opening at Seymour, Illinois, and continued in that field for five years, returning then to Champaign, where he has large prop- erty interests to look after and a weighty practice that he never neglects, and in addition to these responsibilities is also county physician for Cham- paign Township.
Doctor Kariher has one of the beautiful homes of the city and a happy domestic circle. He married Miss Gwendolyn Roberts, who is a daughter of Humphrey and Sarah (Williams) Roberts, old residents here, and they have one child, Harry Cullen. Doctor and Mrs. Kariher are members of the Emanuel Episcopal Church. In politics he has always been identified with the Republican party, believing in the justice of its principles. He is interested in different scientific bodies, is a member of the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the Country Club.
ANTONY H. BLUE. The poet who said, "Sweet are the uses of adver- sity," had a true understanding of life's meaning, since it is true that those are happiest who have lived most and have had experiences in which the sweet and the bitter have been mingled. It is the prosperity and contentment won by years of faithful toil, self-sacrifice and economy that Mr. and Mrs. Antony H. Blue enjoy in their beautiful home south of Thomasboro. Mr. and Mrs. Blue have lived in Champaign County since 1870. Years have brought their honest endeavors a full reward and besides their material possessions they present the picture of a true com- panionship, whole-souled personalities and hospitality and kindliness and generosity are everywhere in cvidencc.
Both of them are natives of Germany. Antony H. Blue was born in North Germany in 1845, a son of Henry A. and Alma Blue. His father was a sailor and in 1863 lost his life in a shipwreck on the North Sea. The ship went down and all hands aboard perished. The country where Antony H. Blue lived as a boy bordered on the North Sea and nearly all the inhabitants were either sailors or fishermen. In those occupations Antony H. Blue had a complete apprenticeship and grew up strong, sturdy and self-reliant, always ready to facc the dangers and difficulties unafraid.
In October, 1869, he was married in his native land to Miss Eckeline Mayar, daughter of H. D. and Engel Mayar. She was also born in the north of Germany. It was in the nature of a wedding journey when
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Antony H. Blue and bride set their faces toward the New World in the spring of 1870, crossed the ocean and came inland until they arrived in Champaign County. They located in Rantoul Township, and their home has never been more than two miles from where they first settled. They were among the early comers, and there were hardships and privations aimost without end until their toils were rewarded with comforts beyond their fondest anticipations. .
T'en children were born to their marriage, and five died in infancy. Those who grew up werc named H. D., Henry, Alma, Carl and Albert. H. D. Blue is now a retired farmer at Webster City, lowa. He married Maggie Carsons, and their children are Lena, Walter, Eleanor, Raymond and Maggie. Henry Blue married Minnie Shoneman, and he is also a farmer at Webster City, Iowa. His children are Leona, Tony and Arthur. Alma Blue married, for her first husband Cordy Buscher, and by that union there were three children, Henry, Gertrude and Eveline. For her second husband she married Henry Eihusen, and they have two small daughters. They are farmers and live near Hastings, Nebraska. Carl Blue lives on the old homestead in Champaign County, and by his mar- riage to Fannie Mathers has one daughter, Lena. Albert Blue was living at Webster City, Iowa, when he died as the result of an operation for appendicitis at the age of twenty-seven. He married Emma Breidentkamp and left two children, Dorothy and Louise.
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When Mr. and Mrs. Blue came to Champaign County they rented a tract of land to farm, and by severe application and economy they were justi- fied in making a contract about a year later to purchase eighty acres at $13 an acre. They gave a mortgage to the amount of $1,100 at 10 per cent interest. This land was on the prairie, and during part of every , year it was almost covered with water. The year they bought the land was the year of the great Chicago fire, and lumber was very high priced and hard to get. They contented themselves with very small buildings at first. Because of his early experience as a sailor perhaps Mr. Blue was not so much discomforted as many others would have been at the situation on almost a swamp. In times of high water he frequently took a boat and rowed between his farm and Rantoul. One advantage the swampy land possessed it was the rendezvous for countless ducks and other water fowl, and these birds furnished an abundance of meat for the table. Those early conditions have long since passed away. Land that was once an infertile swamp is now drained and is considered as productive as any farm land in Champaign County. Mr. Blue's efforts have brought him an estate of over 400 acres.
Mr. and Mrs. Blue are regular attendants and members of the German Lutheran Church at Flatville, and their children were all baptized in the same faith. Politically he has been a Republican from the time he was granted his first rights as an American citizen. In all things he has been public spirited and has served as a member of the school board and for the last twenty-two years has been president of the Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company and also agent for the North German Lloyd Steamship Line. Mr. Blue has been able to revisit the fatherland several times, and in 1901 he made an extended trip of two months, being accompanied by his wife, and they visited old scenes and revived many old acquaintances among people whom they had known when they were children.
ARTHUR T. WALLS. There are certain lines of business so necessary to the growth, life and comfort of a community that they have become standard, as it were, and fill a stable, definite place in the commercial world. They are solid and dependable and it is not unusual to find a
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business of this kind descending from father to son, and very often the old established firm name is carefully preserved. Such is the case with W. W. Walls & Company at Champaign, dealers in lumber, building mate- rial and coal, the able manager of the concern being Arthur T. Walls, who is recognized as one of the city's alert and representative business men.
Arthur T. Walls was born in Fayette County, Illinois, February 2, 1874, and was thirteen years old when his parents came to Champaign. His father, William W. Walls. was born in Indiana and died at Champaign August 22, 1908. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Josephine Tiemann, was born in Pennsylvania and now resides at Warsaw, Indiana, being the wife of James B. Babcock, whom she married some years after the death of her first husband. Five children were born to William W. and Josephine (Tiemann) Walls, namely: Arthur T .; a son who died in infancy ; William W., who is deceased; Katheryn, who is the wife of Harry Herrick, a well known business man of Champaign; and Glenn H., who is a resident of Champaign.
Arthur T. Walls attended the public schools until he was seventeen years of age and then became associated in a clerical capacity with his father's lumber business. When William W. Walls came to Champaign in 1887 he bought a partnership in a lumber business with M. E. Lapham and two years later bought Mr. Lapham's interest, at which time he adopted the firm. name of W. W. Walls & Company, which still prevails. He proved an able and successful business man and conducted his affairs wisely and built up an honorable business reputation. At his death his widow, his two sons and his daughter formed a stock company, incorpo- rating, and the business is so operated, with Arthur T. Walls as manager. He is well qualified, having passed his entire business life identified with this concern.
On December 9, 1896, Mr. Walls was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Yates, who was born at Homer, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Walls have one daughter, Gwendolyn. They are members of the Presbyterian Church and in all movements of social uplift and public benevolence take an , interested part. In political opinion Mr. Walls has always been a sup- porter of progressive principles, but has never been willing to accept political honors for himself. He is universally popular with his fellow citizens and is especially valued as a member of the local body of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
JAMES R. WILLS. Special interest attaches to the career of James R. Wills of St. Joseph not only because of his long residence in that com- munity but also for the fact that he is one of the honored survivors of the great struggle between the North and the South in the '60s. Mr .. Wills was one of the productive farmers of this county for fully forty years, and then turned over the heavier responsibilities to a younger gen- eration and with his good wife, who has traveled by his side for over half a century, is enjoying the comforts of a good home and the estcem of many friends in the village of St. Joseph.
Mr. Wills is a Kentuckian by birth, born in Clark County, son of Elijah and Ruth (Beall) Wills. The Wills family came to Illinois in 1855, first living in Edgar County and later locating at Urbana, where the mother died. James R. Wills received his education in the public schools of Kentucky and Illinois, and was twenty-three years of age when the war came on. He felt it a privilege as well as a duty to serve his country in that exciting time, and enlisted in Company K of the Twenty- fifth Illinois Infantry. His company was organized from men from Urbana and Homer. The record of this regiment was a splendid one.
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It served in Arkansas with General Sigel's division, was at the battle of Pea Ridge, at Sedalia (Missouri), Paducah (Kentucky), and in many of the leading campaigns of the Middle West. Mr. Wills was a natural musician and played the fife in the regimental band, though he also carried a musket and did valiant duty as a private in many battles. He was not possessed of a vigorous constitution when he went to the war and finally his health became so undermined that he was discharged on account of disability.
On May 6, 1866, about a year after the war closed, Mr. Wills married Miss Ella Crayne. A little more than a year ago they celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding. Mrs. Wills was born in Covington, Indiana, June 20, 1848, a daughter of Levi and Elizabeth (De La Tourette) Craync. Her mother was of French origin, as the name indicates, and the French words have a significance, "The keeper of little tower." Eliza- beth De La Tourette was born near Franklin, Ohio. Her father, John De La Tourette, grandfather of Mrs. Wills, was born on Staten Island, New York, in 1795, and married a girl from Monmouth, New Jersey, where she was born in 1799, of Holland Dutch parentage. John De La Tourette and wife had six sons and six daughters, most of whom lived near Covington, Indiana. It was a splendid family and all of them are now deceased except one son, Schuyler De La Tourette, who remains at the fine old Indiana home, enjoying the comforts of a brick house that was erected many years ago. Schuyler De La Tourette was captain of a company in the Civil War. He is now eighty-three years of age, but his years rest lightly upon him and he retains much of the soldierly bearing of his youth.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wills located on his farm of 120 acres in Stanton Township. Mrs. Wills had grown up there, her father being among the pioneer settlers. The Wills farm adjoined the farm of Mrs. Wills' father, and they began life there when all was open prairie. In 1866 they built a commodious house and it was their home for forty years. Many improvements and adornments were made in this time, including the planting of fruit and shade trees, the cultivation and main- tenance of fine fields of grain and pasture and the operation of a very successful farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Wills became the parents of one son and one daughter. Charles Clifton was born September 7, 1867, and Bertha Florence was born January 2, 1872. The education of these children was carefully looked after and they have proved themselves worthy and equal to all the emergencies of life. Charles is a prosperous farmer in Compromise Town- ship of Champaign County, and is one of the men of judgment and capacity in that community, where he has served as school director and road com- missioner and in other places of trust and responsibility. Charles Mills married Alta Eyestone and six children were born to them, three dying in infancy, those living being Ella, Florence and Harold. The daughter Florence Wills married Charles P. Lippe and they live in the city of Champaign. Mr. Lippe is a traveling salesman for a wholesale house of Decatur, Illinois. They have one son, Raymond W. This grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Wills has made a notable record for so young a man. He was president of his class when he graduated from the Champaign High School in 1910, then did three years' work in the University of Illinois, and is now employed in the First National Bank of Champaign. In 1906, forty years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Wills left their fine farm and moved to the village of St. Joseph, where they built a cosy home in the north part of the town. They have beautified this place in many ways, and Mrs. Wills is never happier than when working with her flowers and
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has made her lawn in summer time a bank of flowers enjoyed by all who pass that way as well as by herself.
In matters of politics Mr. Wills supports the Republican party. He and his wife have lived to see most of the changes of importance made in Champaign County, and through all the years they have been upheld by their intimate love and sympathy and by the consciousness of doing a good work for those dependent upon them and for their community.
SHELBY D. TAYLOR. A large tract of Champaign County's fertile acres have been developed and improved by Shelby D. Taylor, who still owns one of the valuable farms of the county, though for a number of years he has lived retired at Champaign.
Mr. Taylor came to Champaign County thirty-five years ago. He was born in Morgan County, Illinois, May 15, 1851. His parents, both natives of Kentucky, were George and Polly E. (Tucker) Taylor. His father was born July 20, 1805, and died September 23, 1886, and his mother was born August 15, 1807, and died January 22, 1894. Both of them died in Jack- sonville, Illinois. George Taylor spent his active years as a farmer. He and his wife had ten children: Maxmillie, who was born January 6, 1831, and died in February, 1916; Edward A., born January 9, 1833, and died in February, 1912; Benjamin H., born October 2, 1835, and died October 26, 1892 ; William P., born December 22, 1837, now lives at Springfield, Illinois; Casabianca R., born December 2, 1839, is a resident of Jackson- ville; Phoebe, born March 13, 1842, wife of George Scott of Norfolk, Virginia ; Sarah F., born May 5, 1844, wife of Edward E. Telling of Cham- paign County ; George Z., born September 20, 1846, died October 21, 1907; John H., born February 20, 1849, a resident of Mattoon, Illinois; and Shelby D., who was the tenth and youngest of these children.
Shelby D. Taylor was reared on his father's farm in Morgan County, attended the public schools there, and his early experience was farm work. After his marriage he continued farming in Sangamon County about six years, and in 1882 removed to Champaign County, locating on a farm in Homer Township. From Homer Township he removed to Broadland, and on his farm of about 300 acres continued actively as a stock raiser and general farmer for many years, until he retired into Champaign.
Mr. Taylor was married March 27, 1882, to Mary L. Anderton. She was born in Morgan County, Illinois, daughter of William and Margaret (Seymour) Anderton, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Morgan County, Illinois. Her father was a farmer and died in 1865, and her mother lived until December 29, 1912. Mrs. Taylor was the oldest of three children. The other two are Bird W. of Franklin, Morgan County ; and Levina, who died in 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have no children of their own. They reared a little girl, Lela May Ladd, from the time she was left motherless at the age of eleven years. She is a daughter of James A. Ladd of Urbana. On October 2, 1916, this foster daughter married Leslie W. Faulkner of Cham- paign, and the young people still live with Mr. and Mrs. Taylor.
Mr. Taylor is a Republican in politics. While living in the country he served as township supervisor and as assistant supervisor in the city of Champaign. He has attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry, and is also a member of the Independent. Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
JAMES B. RUSSELL. During his long and active career in Champaign James B. Russell made his impress on the financial life of the city and was a business man implicitly trusted, and the success he won in material
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affairs was only a part of the splendid record of his entire life as a man and citizen.
Mr. Russell was born in the city of Philadelphia in October, 1837. At the close of a long and active career he passed away at his home in Champaign, November 4, 1914, aged seventy-seven. His parents were Jonathan and Sarah (Burt) Russell, the former a native of Philadelphia and the latter of New Jersey.
The late Mr. Russell was educated in the grammar schools of Philadel- phia until he was sixteen years of age and then for a time attended an academy in New Jersey. When about twenty-one years of age he married and soon afterward he and his young wife came West to Champaign County. He bought land at Tolono and was getting well started and had considerable business interests when the war broke out.
Early in the war Mr. Russell went back to visit friends and relatives in New Jersey. While there he witnessed many of his boyhood friends joining the army, and he. too, caught the infection and, placing patriot- ism above all business and personal considerations, he enlisted in Company D of the Twenty-fifth New Jersey Infantry. Mrs. Russell in the mean- time had remained in Champaign County. With the assistance of her neighbors Mrs. Russell sold off much of the farm stock and implements and returned to Philadelphia and New Jersey, remaining until the close of the war.
Mr. Russell served in the army ten months, and came out with the rank of sergeant. He and his wife returned to Champaign, and for a time he acted as station agent for the Illinois Central Railway Company, and then entered the prominent old banking house which later became known as Burnham, Trevett & Mattis. Mr. Russell was cashier for that bank a period of thirty years. Failing health compelled him to resign, and he lived retired for some time before his death.'
He was a loyal and active Republican, and was called upon to serve in the office of city treasurer. He was also keenly interested in the wel- fare of his old comrades of the war and at one time served as commander of the Grand Army post. He and his wife were members of the Presby- terian Church.
Mr. Russell married Harriett Potter Holmes, a native of New Jersey, and daughter of John and Mary (Clark) Holmes. Both her parents died in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Her father was a prominent miller and owned a large mill in the town where Mrs. Russell spent her girlhood. Mr. and Mrs. Russell became the parents of three children: Mary, who died March 6, 1867; Jessie, who became the wife of Bert Spalding of Cham- paign, and she died September 27, 1904, leaving one son, Russell; and Winfred, born September 18, 1873, and died May 10, 1891.
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