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 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
722
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
William E. Schowengerdt was born in Warren County, Missouri, Sep- tember' 16, 1872. His grandparents were both natives of Germany and were early settlers in Warren County, Missouri, where Doctor Schowen- gerdt's parents, Henry and Louise (Schoppenhorst) Schowengerdt, were born, the former in 1842 and the latter in 1846. The father during life was a farmer. His death occurred in Lafayette County, Missouri, January 2, 1909. The mother survives and resides at Higginsville, Missouri. They rearcd a family of seven children: Louis, who is engaged in farming at Higginsville, Missouri; William E .; Albert, a farmer at Higginsville ; Ernest, a farmer at Mayview, Missouri; Lizzie, who is the wife of Henry Held, also of Higginsville; and Robert and Emma, both of whom live at Higginsville.
Sometimes an ambitious and talented youth has difficulty in impressing upon his family the strength of his inclination in the direction of choice of career, but Doctor Schowengerdt was more fortunate. From the age of twelve years and all through his school days he cherished a desire to study medicine, a course in college being a necessary preliminary. In his father, in his nineteenth year, he found a benefactor who enabled him to pursue the collegiate course by lending him enough money for the expenses of one year away from home, but with the understanding that this sum should be finally repaid, in justice to his other heirs.
Under these circumstances William E. Schowengerdt enjoyed a year of study in the Central Wesleyan College. located at Warrenton, Missouri. After returning home he entered upon the study of medicine under Dr. A. Braecklein of Higginsville, Missouri, with whom he remained a year and then entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, from which well known institution he was most creditably graduated March 23, 1897. It was on the first day of the following June that Doctor Schowengerdt entered into medical practice at Champaign, Illinois, where he has con- tinued active and successful ever since. In addition to · attending to a large practice, for the past twelve years he has served as city health officer.
Doctor Schowengerdt was married April 28, 1897, to Miss Sophie Rabsahl, who was born in Missouri, and they have one son, William Henry, who was born in July, 1904. Doctor and Mrs. Schowengerdt are members of St. Peter's Evangelical Church. Although not unduly active in poli- tics, Doctor Schowengerdt conscientiously supports principles he believes to be right, being affiliated with the Republican party, and at times has accepted official position in a professional capacity or as a member of the board of education. He is identified with a number of representative fraternal organizations, including the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen and the Order of Ben Hur.
CHARLES BIRCH. The farming community around Rantoul has no more progressive and public spirited citizen than Mr. Charles Birch, whose home is in section 21 of Rantoul Township. Mr. and Mrs. Birch have a model country home, and though still comparatively young they have surrounded themselves with ample comforts and have been able to liberally provide for a growing family of children.
Mr. Birch was born in Piatt County, Illinois, a son of Thomas and Jane (Thompson) Birch. His parents were natives of Ireland and came to this country in early life. Mr. Charles Birch received his education in the schools of Piatt County, and from early manhood has followed steadily and sturdily the vocation of farming.
On August 26, 1902, he married Miss Margaret Ward, a native of Cham- paign County. Her parents, Patrick and Mary (Williams) Ward, were also
723
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
natives of Ireland. Mrs. Birch received her education in Champaign. They started their married life at Bondville in this county, and being without capital to buy land of their own they rented a tract and farmed it six years. Both of them exhibited business capacity and were willing to live econom- ically and simply in order to get a start. About eight years ago they bought 160 acres contained in their present farm. Their home is four and a half miles northwest of Rantoul. They have excellent building improvements and conduct their farm on a business like basis. They also own 180 acres in Moultrie County, Illinois.
The children born into their home are named Mary, Genevieve, Ward, William, Margaret, Ilene and John Joseph. These children have been well educated in the Ludlow Center School, and Mary, who completed the eighth grade, is now a student in the Rantoul High School. Mr. and Mrs. Birch attend the Catholic Church at Rantoul, and were both reared in that faith. Politically Mr. Birch votes as a Democrat. He is the type of man who believes in making his citizenship count for good to the community as well as for his own and family's prosperity. When a meritorious undertaking is broached he is sure to give it his unqualified support, and, so far as his means permit, his financial assistance. This has been proved on numerous occasions. He has a special interest in the oncoming generation and is willing to sacrifice something of his own benefit in order that the children may have adequate school advantages. He is serving as a school director and has been a justice of the peace and township collector. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
FRANK A. PARKER, D. O. Among the different recognized schools of the healing art, the science of osteopathy has undoubtedly made notable progress within the last decade. Its principles have been found to be so sound and its cures of the ills of the human body so remarkably successful that its practitioners can show lists of satisfied patients each year increasing, from every walk of life. Among the leading osteopathic practitioners at Champaign no one is better known or more thoroughly relied on than Dr. Frank A. Parker, who has been engaged in the practice of his science here since 1906.
Frank A. Parker was born in Ford County, Illinois, November 6, 1866. His parents were Henry J. and Susanna (Walton) Parker, the former of whom was born in New York and the latter in Ohio. Both are now deceased. The father was a merchant and also was a farmer in Indiana.
The youngest of a family of twelve children, Frank A. Parker had no exceptional advantages in youth but grew to the age of eighteen years as a farm hand during the summer seasons, attending the common schools during the winters. This educational training was later supplemented with a course of instruction at Valparaiso, Indiana. He was ambitious and an agricultural life as a finality did not appeal to him. Therefore he went to Chicago, the great city that has been largely built up through the brains and strength of the country boys who have sought and found opportunity there, and for three years he was connected with one of the great express companies of Chicago, in the capacity of bookkeeper, in the meanwhile keeping wide awake for a better position. An opportunity finally came and he accepted a humble position with the Hammond Pack- ing Company at Hammond, Indiana, with the promise of promotion if deserving, and there continued, rising step by step until he had become assistant purchasing agent. This rise represented nine years of such close and strenuous work that his health gave signs of failing and he found it advisable to sever his relations with the company in order to engage in some work that would give him outdoor exercise.
In the spring of 1904 Doctor Parker took up the business of writing
724
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
insurance in Champaign. In the meanwhile his attention had been called to the success which was attending the practice of osteopathy, in some special cases, and this led to increasing interest and finally to a deter- mination to apply himself seriously to the study of the science. There- fore, in the fall of 1904, he enrolled himself as a student in the American School of Osteopathy, the fountain head, at Kirksville, Missouri, where he continued until he was graduated in 1906. He returned then to Cham- paign and opened an office and has been in active practice here ever since, his remarkable success testifying to his thorough knowledge as well as to the merits of his school of healing.
Doctor Parker was married August 20, 1898, to Miss Clara Mashino, who was born in Kansas, and they have two children, Griffith H. and Ruby Maurine. Doctor and Mrs. Parker are members of the First Baptist Church. Their home is in a very pleasant part of the city, their residence being at No. 133 West Park Avenue.
Although an independent voter, Doctor Parker is by no means an indifferent citizen ; on the other hand, zealously working for city improve- ment, especially along sanitation lines, and for the general moral uplift that none so well realize the desperate need of as does the physician. He leads a busy and useful life, finding in his profession a congenial carcer, hence has but little leisure to give to social or fraternal activities, although for many years he has been a valued member of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias.
JOHN D. SELTZER, now living retired at Villa Grove, spent many useful and productive years in Champaign County. These years dealt pleasantly with him and in response to his energy and good judgment rewarded him with one of the finest farms in Raymond Township, which he still owns, and he is able to look back upon his past years with a great deal of satisfaction, born of practical achievement and the performance of the many duties that are assumed by public spirited citizens like Mr. Seltzer.
He is of old Pennsylvania stock and was born in Schuylkill County of that state April 6, 1843. His parents, Michael and Mary (Fryer) Seltzer, were natives of the same county. His father was a farmer, later engaged in the hotel business and for nine years served as superintendent of the Alms House in Pennsylvania. Going west, he lived about three years in Kansas, and through the inducement of his son John finally located in Champaign County. He and his wife had seven children: Francis and Abraham, both deceased, were Union soldiers in the Civil War; Rebecca, now deceased; Charles, also a veteran of the Union Army; John D .; Amanda; and Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Borda, living in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
John D. Seltzer grew up in his native state, but carly in life came west to Illinois and spent a year and a half farming around Naperville in the northern part of the state. In 1871 he came to Champaign County. His advent into the county was attended by some interesting circumstances.
While living at Naperville he had acquired a handsome team of horses. He drove this team from Naperville south into Champaign County, and for a great many years it has been a matter of jest with his friends that he was overtaken when about a mile out of Urbana on his way to Tolono by the Champaign County sheriff and was accused of having stolen the team. Champaign County people were not as accustomed to such fine horses forty- five years ago as they are today, and Mr. Seltzer's team had been the object of much admiration while he was stopping in Urbana. A few wiseacres at Urbana decided that such a fine team could not have been justly owned and acquired by their driver, and the only other plausible explanation was that they had been stolen and were being driven away for disposal. The sheriff,
725
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
therefore, went in pursuit merely on this suspicion, but Mr. Seltzer soon convinced him and the deputy that they had an innocent man to deal with.
.
On settling in Champaign County Mr. Seltzer bought 160 acres of rail- road land in section 30 of Raymond Township. For this land he paid only $12.50 an acre. Later he bought another quarter section for $15 an acre, and finally 160 acres more at $30 an acre. This last quarter section he sold some years ago for $120 an acre. Mr. Seltzer lived on his land, cultivated it to the staple crops, planted trees, tiled and ditched the low places, and left it to remove to Villa Grove in as complete a condition for practical and diversified farming as any other place in Raymond Township.
John D. Seltzer married Sarah Erb, widow of Richard Davis. She was the mother of one child by her first marriage, Charles Davis, a resident of Raymond Township. Mrs. Seltzer died February 26, 1908. She and Mr. Seltzer had five children: Elnora, widow of William Hays and living at Allison, Colorado; Amanda, wife of Jacob H. Joseph of Sidell, Illinois; Lydia, wife of Michael O'Neil of Longview, Illinois; John Franklin, who occupies the old homestead and is referred to in a later paragraph; Susie, wife of George W. Ewin of Villa Grove.
Mr. John D. Seltzer is an active Democrat. He was highway commis- sioner and for twenty years school treasurer of his district in Raymond Township. He belongs to the Grange or Patrons of Husbandry.
John Franklin Seltzer is the son who is capably managing the old farm in Raymond Township, and was born in that township on section 30 Octo- ber 7, 1879. As a boy he attended the district schools, afterwards attended the high school at Champaign, and took a business college course in Dan- ville. For nine months he had experience as a merchant at Fairland, and then returned home and took charge of the farm of 440 acres. He now has the active management of 280 acres and is also overseeing a large ranch of 400 or 500 acres in Montana. He is a busy farmer and stockman and has shown that he possesses much of the sterling ability in this direction of his father.
February 11, 1903, John F. Seltzer married Annie Kimmel, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Jacob and Amanda (Seltzer) Kimmel. Both her parents are now deceased. Mrs. Seltzer was one of nine children, the oldest and the youngest, both sons, having died in infancy. The second child, Robert, lives at Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. The third child, a daugh- ter, died in infancy. Her brother George is deceased and her sister Estella is the wife of Arthur F. Young of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Seltzer is the sixth in order of birth. Lottie is the wife of Newton Delbert of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Andrew is the youngest of the living children.
Mr. and Mrs. John F. Seltzer had three children: Frank, who died in infancy; George K., born March 29, 1906; and John J., born October 20, 1907. John F. Seltzer is a Democrat, has attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite of Masonry, belongs to the Mystic Shrine and is affili- ated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
HOWARD NASH. The handling of real estate is a business of many angles and can scarcely be honorably and successfully carried on without a thorough knowledge of land values and also an understanding of many problems of law. Not every dealer, however, so carefully prepares himself for this line of activity as has Howard Nash, one of Champaign's most prominent real estate men, whose course in law and extended travels have been but a part of his education for what he early determined to make his lifework. His success along this line has certainly justified his foresight in preparing for the work.
Howard Nash was born at Mansfield, Illinois, May 26, 1876. His parents are Jesse and Martha (McKillop) Nash, both noted old Kentucky
-
726
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
families and very prominent in Lewis County, where the Nash family can be traced back for generations. During the Civil War both families were strong Unionists and the uncles on both sides served in the Union army. At the age of eighteen years Jesse Nash, father of Howard Nash, enlisted as a private in Company I, Fourth Kentucky Infantry, and was taken prisoner at Macon, Georgia, and was incarcerated at Andersonville. He possessed a strong enough constitution to survive the cruelties of that period of imprisonment, and saw four years of military service. In 1870 he came to Illinois and located in Piatt County, where he and his wife still live, he being a large land owner. For some years he was a railroad contractor, taking contracts for the building of the Wabash Railway, and later he invested in farm land and carried on agricultural activities until he retired. To Jesse Nash and wife the following children were born: Minnie L., who is a resident of Portland, Oregon; Howard; William S., who is an attorney in practice at Portland, Oregon; Bessie, who resides in Montana; Frederick A., who is a farmer in Piatt County, Illinois; Jessie M., who is the wife of Doctor Ruden, a resident of Montana; and Walter B., who is a resident of Montana.
Howard Nash attended the local schools and remained at home until he was twenty years of age, in the meanwhile planning a course of three years in Valparaiso College, having very definite and determined ideas on the subject of education. He demonstrated his courage and independ- ence by working his way through college, after which he returned to Piatt County and began to teach school and at the same time filled in all spare time and vacations in studying law, his preceptor being Charles F. Mans- field of Monticello, Illinois. In thus broadening his understanding, Mr. Nash did not have the practice of law in view, but desired a legal education because of its helpfulness in other lines.
In 1902 Mr. Nash opened a real estate office at Mansfield and remained in business there until 1910, when he came to Champaign, and he is now located in the Trevett-Mattis Bank Building. As previously indicated, Mr. Nash has made a special study of land values, not only in Illinois, but on a much wider scale, traveling for this purpose over the country, making estimates and gathering information that has been of great benefit. His intelligent investigations have made him an expert, and operators all over the country consult with him and accept his opinion as to values.
On December 14, 1904, Mr. Nash was united in marriage with Miss Bertie M. James, who was born at Mansfield, Illinois, and they have three children : Lyle J., who was born in 1905; Lois, who was born in 1908; and Howard, born in 1912.
Mr. Nash is an ardent Republican and has attended every National Republican Convention since he was twenty years of age, not being inter- ested as a seeker for office, but because he believes in the principles of the organization to which he belongs and enjoys the congenial political fellow- ship he finds in these mighty gatherings. He is a strict party man and has devoted much time to the welfare of his party. His name may be found as a contributor to benevolent movements and charitable organiza- tions, and he is considered one of Champaign's leading public spirited citizens.
JOSEPH R. PEARSON. Among the families that have helped forward the remarkable economic transformation by which the waste lands of Chiam- paign County were reclaimed and converted into productive fields and a smiling landscape of happy homes, a place of prosperous usefulness belongs to those of the Pearson name represented by Mr. Joseph R. Pearson, whose home is in section 11 of Harwood Township. His postoffice is Ludlow.
1
Ghastmullikin
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY 727
Mr. Pearson was born in Mason County, Illinois, a son of Robert and Mary (Fletcher) Pearson. His father was a native of England but married in America, and from Mason County moved to Champaign County. When the Pearsons first settled here they had many unpleasant things to contend with. Much of the land was wet, covered with sloughs, and acre after acre had to be redeemed to cultivation at the expense of much labor and money .. But Robert Pearson had the energy requisite for such an undertaking, and in course of time he not only had a fine farm, but became one of the exten- sive land owners in Champaign County, having an estate of 560 acres. He and his wife finally retired to a comfortable home in Rantoul, where this good old timer entered into rest in 1913.
Joseph R. Pearson was educated in the public schools, and, was also a student in the State Normal University at Normal and in the college at Paxton.
He married Miss Clara J. Johnson, who was born in Champaign County, a daughter of Isaac and Alice (Belford) Johnson. Her father was a native of Vermilion County, Illinois, and her mother of Ohio. Mrs. Pearson was educated in the public schools, the high school at Gifford and Greer College at Hoopeston, Illinois. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pearson began life on the old homestead of Father Pearson, and he has since had the active management of this splendid farm.
To Mr. and Mrs. Pearson were born eight children: Mary Alice, Robert J., Bessie Lenore, Eva Pauline, Lowell B., Glen Leroy, Donald Richard and Harold Fletcher. This is a family of bright and energetic children, true types of American boys and girls. They received their preliminary educa- tion in the Webber District School. Mary graduated from the high school at Paxton and Robert did two years of work in that high school. Lenore is still a student in high school, a member of the junior class, while Pauline recently became the proud possessor of a diploma from the eighth grade.
As a farmer Mr. Pearson is giving a good account of his energies and ability. His principal crops are corn and oats, and in an ordinary season he gets seventy-five bushels of corn to the acre. As a stock man he raises some fine Percheron horses of French imported strains and has a herd of Jersey cows, shipping cream to market.
The family attend worship at the Methodist Episcopal Church of Gif- ford, and the children are all active in the Sunday school. Mr. Pearson is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics gives sup- port to the Democratic party.
Thus the lives of the Pearson family have been closely identified with Champaign County since early times. Their industry has brought about the improvement of a considerable acreage and they are to be credited with success as homemakers and with that public spirit which flows from capable and upright people. Mr. Pearson's mother is still living in her home at Rantoul and spends the winters in southern climates, chiefly in Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are carrying the responsibilities of their farm, have a pleasant home and enjoy the confidence and esteem of a large community. Mrs. Pearson is an energetic and cultured woman and takes proper pride in her home and her happy family circle.
CHARLES J. MULLIKIN is a native of Champaign County, has been a farmer, merchant, real estate and insurance man, and all his activities have done him credit. He is one of the most influential Democrats of this sec- tion of Illinois, and is now serving his term as postmaster of Champaign. Mr. Mullikin was born in this county, April 4, 1867. He is a son of George C. and Nancy (Jones) Mullikin, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky.
The branch of the Mullikin family to which the subject of our sketch
.
728
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
belongs came from Scotland, first locating in this country in the early part of the sixteenth century, in the province of Maryland, as a part of the Lord Baltimore colony. James Mullikin, of whom the subject of this sketch is a direct descendant, was granted land in the province of Mary- land for services rendered in bringing over emigrants to this country from Scotland; part of the land thus ceded was a fine tract in the forks of the Patuxent River near Baltimore. This tract was improved and became the original homestead of the family in 1668. The farm has never passed out of the family name and is now inhabited and owned by a Mullikin.
The Mullikins were owners of several plantations and numerous slaves throughout Maryland before the Civil War. The early generations were communicants of the Episcopal churches, but the later generations, how- ever, were principally affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Churchı. The early members of this family were tall, large formed, brawny men of fair and florid complexion, and as a family were possessed of superior intelli- gence and public spirit, most of them showing military tastes and many of them having held commissions in the Revolution and subsequent wars. The great-grandfather of our subject was born on the family homestead in Mary- land, at the "Forks of the Patuxent," during the year 1767. In the year 1811 he sold to other members of the family his interests in the homestead, and with his family and household goods, enclosed in wagons, removed with his slaves and stock to Fleming County, Kentucky, where he located. In 1812 he enlisted in the War of 1812, being a member of the celebrated Squirrel Hunter "Riflemen" Company from Kentucky. After the war he proceeded from New Orleans, with other companions, through the wilder- ness on foot to his home in Kentucky. The grandfather of Charles J. when a young man came from Maryland to Kentucky with his father, served his country in the War of 1812, being made captain, and later he moved to Johnson County, Indiana, where George C. Mullikin, the father of our subject, was born. In 1865 George C. Mullikin, following the inherited spirit of his grandfather, removed in a prairie schooner from Johnson County, Indiana, to Piatt County, Illinois. George C. Mullikin was a type of character such as not only his children but a large community always respect and remember with grateful esteem. He spent one year in Piatt County, and in 1866 located on a farm in Scott Township of Champaign County. He was a practical, hard-working farmer. He had a rugged physique and constitution, and was as big in heart and sympathy as he was in body. He stood six feet tall and was large in proportion. His faithful wife left him in 1879, and at her death there were five young chil- dren. Seldom has a man met his responsibilities with such versatile resourcefulness, prompted by love, as George C. Mullikin did when his wife died, laboring in absolute poverty. As a tenant farmer he worked in the fields and kept the farm going as usual. At the same time he looked after all the duties of the household, caring for the young children, cooking for them, mending their clothes and performing all the housework which the older children could not do. Thus he kept his children together until they had reached self-supporting manhood and womanhood. It is not strange that his children came to regard him as more than a father, and with a veneration which will never depart from their memory. The death of this worthy citizen occurred March 19, 1914. The five children were : Joseph, a farmer in Champaign Township; Charles J., who was the second oldest; Mary, wife of T. H. Walker of Bondville, Champaign County ; Austin of Illiopolis, Sangamon County, Illinois ; and William, who died in infancy.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.