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 36
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The family of Joseph Groves consisted of nine children, five sons and four daughters. They were all educated in the Fairview schoolhouse in Rush County, Indiana. Robert, who was the fifth in age, grew up in that Indiana district, and at the age of twenty-eight laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Sarah W. Ginn of Connersville, Indiana, a daughter of Gabriel and Hannah (Wood) Ginn.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Groves located near Fairview on rented land, but the next year moved to Wabash County, where they farmed for three years. In 1870 they came to Sidney, Illinois, and this has been their home for forty-seven consecutive years. During all this time Mr. Groves has been engaged successfully in buying live stock, and for many years shipped to market at Buffalo. He was considered one of the best judges of live stock in a section where live stock men rank second to none, and many have said that what Robert Groves did not know about stock was not worth knowing.
Into their home were born three children, Mabel, Howard and Carl. Mr. and Mrs. Groves gave them the best of educational advantages, includ- ing the Sidney High School. The daughter Mabel took up teaching as a life work, graduated from the Normal College, and is now living with. her parents at Sidney. The son Howard was well embarked on a promis- ing career when at the age of thirty-four he lost his life in a railroad accident at Litchfield, Illinois, July 3, 1904. At the time he was employed as a train dispatcher with home at Decatur, Illinois. He left a widow, formerly Miss Mollie Cook, and one son, Robert Cook Groves, who is now in the United States army in Battery F of the artillery at Long Island.
At the age of seventy-seven Mr. Groves carries his years gracefully, is hale and hearty, and takes a keen interest in all that goes on round about him, including the welfare and activities of his many friends. He has prospered in life and has always kept his character of integrity unsullied. He is widely and affectionately known as Uncle Robert Groves. He had a close and intimate acquaintance with many of the prominent men of Champaign County, including the late Judge Cunningham and Colonel Busey, and for a quarter of a century has banked with the Harris family at Champaign. Mr. and Mrs. Groves have for many years been identified with the Christian Church, but their daughter is a Presbyterian. Polit- ically Mr. Groves is a stalwart Republican, having grown up as such and has never felt that his confidence in that party and its principles was misplaced.
ISAAC NEWTON WADE. There are doubtless a number of men and women now in mature years who knew Isaac Newton Wade in Champaign County as a teacher. He was one of the early educators, and afterwards for a long period of years was a traveling salesman for a text book house. Mr. Wade is now living retired at Champaign, in which city he has had his home for the past forty-five years.
He was born in Lockland, Ohio, May 13, 1846, a son of Moses and Rachel (Ferris) Wade. His mother was a native of Mount Arie, Ohio, and died at Lockland. The father, who was born in Switzerland County, Indiana, became a merchant tailor, and died at Champaign, Illinois, at the age of eighty-five. Of their five children the first three died in infancy. The fourth was the late Arthur Elliott Wade, who died at Urbana in 1916.
The youngest of the family, Isaac Newton Wade, acquired a liberal education. He attended College Hill (General Sam Cary's College near
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Cincinnati), and subsequently entered Hillsdale College in Michigan. He was graduated from Hillsdale in 1868 and has the degrees Master of Arts and Master of Science. While at Hillsdale he was a schoolmate and friend of the famous poet Will Carleton, who sang his way into the hearts of many thousands in the previous generation and whose poems are still read and appreciated. After completing his education Mr. Wade taught school in Ohio until 1870, when he came to Illinois and continued teaching in Douglas County. His work as a teacher in Champaign County was done at Sadorus, Rantoul and Toulon. He was also located for a time in the schools of Bement in Stark County. Mr. Wade has a life teacher's certificate for the State of Illinois, given him by the venerable Newton Bateman.
From practical school work Mr. Wade went on the road as a traveling salesman for a school book company. He represented the company over a large territory for thirty-six years, and finally retired on a pension from the company. Mr. Wade is a Republican in politics, is a Knight Templar Mason, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In Douglas County, Illinois, in August, 1870, he married Miss Nannie Brian. Mrs. Wade died at Champaign a number of years ago. There were three children : George Leonard, now living at Kansas City, Missouri ; Thomas Brian, member of the faculty of the dental department of the Philadelphia Medical College; and Fred Alonzo, of Peoria.
WILLIAM F. EVANS has been identified with Champaign County for over twenty years, and he and his capable wife now enjoy the comforts and pleasures of a fine country home a mile and a half west of Rantoul and have near them their children and grandchildren and can look back with pardonable pride over many years well spent.
Mr. Evans was born in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1856, the third in a family of twelve children whose parents were Daniel and Isabel (Engle) Evans. His father and mother were also natives of Ohio. When he was nine years of age the family came to Illinois, locating a mile and a half west of Dewey. Here William F. Evans grew to manhood, attended the district schools and made himself proficient in those duties and responsi- bilities which are the portion of the industrious farmer.
When he was twenty-seven years of age, on December 31, 1883, he married Miss Sarah Belle Rider. Mrs. Evans, the only child of Jason L. and Mary (Forshee) Rider, was born in Michigan, twenty miles west of Detroit, and her parents were also natives of the same state. She was well educated in the public schools of Michigan and at the age of twenty-three, her mother having died and her father being lonely after the home was broken up, removed to Kansas, where his daughter joined him. It was while in Kansas that she met Mr. Evans, who in the meantime had gone out to the western counties of that state to take up a homestead. They were married in Hodgeman County. ยท
For ten years Mr. and Mrs. Evans struggled with the adverse con- ditions of life in western Kansas. They had youth and enthusiasm and industry, though Mrs. Evans suffered much from ill health. Nearly all the experiences that the pioneers in western Kansas endured were a portion of the life of Mr. and Mrs. Evans. They lived in a stock-raising country, and Mr. Evans acquired a large herd of cattle. There were drouths, hot winds, crop failures, and twice they were burned out by prairie fircs. In the great blizzard of 1886 they lost much of their stock. Through an accident Mrs. Evans suffered a severe injury to one of her feet, and about that time Mr. Evans decided to sell his stock in order that he might have more time to wait on his wife. When the stock was sold he put the money
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in the bank. Then came the year of panic and hard times, 1893, and the treasurer of the bank absconded with all the money, including Mr. Evans' hard won savings. After that disaster he was left with his sick wife and with only his land and a few dollars in money.
Prospects were so discouraging that they determined to sell their Kansas interests and return to Illinois. In the meantime two children had come into their home, Frank Lee and Hazel Belle. For the return journey Mr. Evans fitted up a wagon into the model of the old type of prairie schooner. In this they made provision to live as comfortably as possible during their journey, and they spent fifty-one days on the return trip. 'They slept in the wagon, never once in a house, and finally arrived at Mr. Evans' old home in Champaign County. Here for one year he rented a farm near Dewey, later farmed for his father, and finally was able to purchase 160 acres, comprising the beautiful farm that he now owns near Rantoul.
In Champaign County Mr. and Mrs. Evans were fortunate in having superior educational advantages for their children. The son and daughter completed the course of the eighth grade and afterward were students in the Rantoul High School; where they graduated. The son took the agri- cultural course at the University of Illinois and is now a practical and scientific farmer on a place adjoining his father. He married Miss Mina Elsie Webster, a native of Champaign County and a daughter of Charles B. Webster. Two children are in their home, June and Paul Arthur. The daughter, Hazel Belle Evans, after graduating from the Rantoul High School, became a very successful teacher. She taught two years in the Hyde school, also at the Union Center school, and her unusual qualifica- tions caused the school board to employ her to teach the higher courses in the district school, and thus she afforded the pupils the opportunity of carrying on high school work in a common school. She is now the wife of Edward Fanning Webster, a farmer living near Rantoul. Their house- hold comprises three children, a son and two daughters, Charles William, aged six ; Dorothy May, aged four; and Ruth Pearl, aged two.
Thus Mr. and Mrs. Evans have five lively grandchildren, who consider a visit to the home of their grandparents one of the greatest opportunities and pleasures. Mrs. Evans finds it a difficult matter to keep her cookie jar filled when her house is invaded by her grandsons and granddaughters, bringing with them all the sunshine of life.
In politics Mr. Evans is liberal in his views and believes in voting for principles instead of for party. However, he has long thrown the weight of his influence on the side of temperance and looks forward cven within his own lifetime to the day when nation-wide temperance will be a rcality.
LUTHER B. SOUDER is proprietor of one of the oldest dyeing and clean- ing establishments in Champaign County. It was originally established by his father more than half a century ago, and he has perfected and modernized its equipment and service until its facilities are now unex- celled by any similar enterprise in the county.
Mr. Souder is a native of Champaign, where he was born January 4, 1878, a son of Samuel H. and Lottie A. (Taylor) Souder. His- father was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his mother in Marysville, Ohio. Samuel Souder came to Champaign County in 1856, and was first identified with farming. In 1866 he established at Cham- paign a cleaning business, and by careful and thorough work soon had a trade that was profitable and satisfactory to himself and the community. He was active in this business until his death, which occurred in Septem-
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ber, 1915. His widow is still living in Champaign. Their four children are : Louise, wife of Oscar L. Davidson, of Indianapolis, Indiana ; Luther B .; Jennie E., wife of C. A. Carlson, of Champaign; and Mary, deceased.
Luther B. Souder grew up in Champaign, attended the local schools, and as something that would be of benefit to him in his business he took a special course in art and design at the University. As a boy he worked in his father's establishment, and has succeeded to the proprietorship of the business.
He is a Republican in politics, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. On September 2, 1904, Mr. Souder married Edna W. Hall, who was born in Paxton, Illinois. They have four children : Robert Hall, Luther Samuel, Eugene Phillip and Virginia.
JOSEPH WHITE. Among the numerous families of Champaign County, Illinois, whose industry and activities of life have aided in its upbuilding is that of White. Joseph White is one of the prosperous and successful farmers located east of Rantoul, some three miles. In the early years of his young manhood he came to Champaign County, and there with his good wife, whose maiden name was Jane Osborn, they began to found a perma- nent home for themselves. The young couple experienced many trying hardships incident to pioneer life, but possessing strongly those qualifica- tions which go to make up a splendid citizenship, industry, progressiveness and economy, they went to work with that determined energy that always marks the life of successful men and women of earth.
Progress was the keynote of their lives, and during the passing years their industry has met with pleasing success.
One especially pleasing feature of their life's work was the pains they exerted in the education of their children, fully realizing the advantage to them in future years of possessing this needful equipment for life's duties. It was especially gratifying to see them manifest an admirable interest in the pursuit of their studies, and, after graduating from the state univer- sity in Urbana, become popular and successful teachers in Champaign County. Anna, the daughter, is the wife of V. B. Rusk, and their two children are Mildred and Walter. Mary is the wife of Frank Rusk, and their home is near Armstrong, Illinois. Their children are Nellie, Rea, Russell, Harold and Lloyd.
The White family have experienced the usual joys and sorrows inci- dent to the human family. The death angel visited the home at different times and the dear mother entered into rest after a long and useful life, in which her many acts of Christian kindness endeared her to a large circle of friends. She rests today with heaven's benediction resting upon her, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." The daughter Tillie, who for years had been a beloved teacher in Champaign County, was also claimed by death. She was an admirable character who left a large circle of friends to mourn her loss. The remaining daughters, Grace, Florence and Margaret, are at home, being home makers for their father and their brother Thomas, who manages the farm.
The family arc honored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and their lives have been closely identified with the interests of Champaign County. In fact so much so that a history of Champaign County would be incomplete without a compilation of their lives in the records of the county's community builders. Therefore it is with pleasure that the above is compiled of this most worthy family.
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BERT E. SPALDING was born in Champaign and has spent his life prac- tically within the limits of that city. When little more than a boy he became self supporting, acquired business experience under others, and now for a number of years has been one of the leading druggists.
He was born in Champaign, January 7, 1868, son of John W. and Maria (Halford) Spalding. His father was a native of Hamilton, Ohio, and his mother was born in Nottingham, England. She was a sister of E. W. Halford, who a number of years ago was private secretary to Presi- dent Benjamin Harrison. John W. Spalding came to Champaign in 1866. For many years he followed his trade as a wagon maker and subsequently was in the shoe business. During Harrison's administration he served as postmaster of Champaign. He died in 1911, an honored and respected citizen, while his wife passed away in 1903. They were the parents of eight children : Walter, deceased; Arthur, of Champaign; Lois, deceased ; W. P., of Champaign; Bert E .; John, deceased; Margaret, widow of Joseph Laughlin, of Boston, Massachusetts; Jessie, wife of Charles Frison, of Bloomington, Illinois.
Bert E. Spalding obtained his early education in the public schools of his native city. After one year in high school he determined to give up his studies and fit himself for business. In 1885 he became a clerk in H. Swannell's drug store and learned the business as a profession and in all other details. He remained with that store until 1898, when he became associated with John T. Quirk in the same line of business. In 1909 the store was established at 602 Green Street, with Mr. Spalding and Mr. Quirk as partners. In February, 1915, the partnership was dissolved and since that time Mr. Spalding has conducted the Green Street store alone.
He has always been active and popular in local affairs and organiza- tions. In 1894-95 he served as alderman and is now a candidate for a position on the city commission. He is a Republican, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, the University Club, the Rotary Club, and is a member of the Country Club. He and his family worship in the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Spalding married Josephine Arie, a native of Champaign. They have two children, Russell and Halford.
MARY E. WATSON. In the home of her declining years in Rantoul Mrs. Mary E. Watson is one of the noble women of this county who experienced the pioneer hardships connected with establishing a home and developing a farm out of the raw prairie. Her late husband, James Wat- son, for long years had a substantial place in this community. He was honored for his work and for the influence of his character and his home. It was of such men that the Holy Writer spoke when he said: "Their bodies are buried in peace but their names live for evermore. The people will tell of their wisdom and the congregation will show forth their praise."
Mrs. Watson was born in the Blue Grass district of Kentucky, a daughter of William H. and Rachel M. Huffman. She was one of five children, the others being Susan J., Cynthia A., George W. and Wellington. She also had a half brother and two half sisters, John D., Ida C. and- Donna E. The sons both died in infancy. The three sisters settled in different states, Kansas, Indiana and Illinois. When Mary E. Huffman was seven and a half years of age her mother died and she had only limited opportunities to attend school.
James Watson, whom she married when she was still a young girl, was the son of William N. and Ellen Watson of Chillicothe, Ohio. In the modern growth and development of Chillicothe some of its built up streets
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have stretched out to the borders of the old farm where he was born. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. James Watson located in Champaign County and lived for a year two and a half miles east of Ludlow in a one-room house with a little summer kitchen attached. The land was owned by Mr. Watson's father. Subsequently they moved nearer to Ran- toul and lived on a rented placc. By strict economy and industry they were able after one year to make the first payment on an eighty-acre tract of railroad land. When they made that payment it was one of the proudest moments of their lives. Thus they had made a beginning in getting a home for themselves and, blessed with good health and strength, they went forward in their career until Mr. and Mrs. Watson owned an estate of 440 acres in Illinois and 317 acres in North Dakota. Three children were born to their union, William Allen, John Calvin and James Ernest. James E. died in infancy in 1877. The surviving sons were well educated. They first attended the district schools, and both were students of Eureka College, John C. spending five years there and he subse- quently spent two years in Harvard University, where he was graduated. William A. was for two years a student in Eureka College. The Watson family has made a notable record as educators. Mrs. Watson taught in the old home district of Champaign County. Her son William A. was a teacher at Pleasant Ridge, Ludlow Center and other districts in Cham- paign County. John C. taught at Menominee, Michigan, and in Chicago, and from there went to Harvard University to do post-graduate work. For four years he was one of the instructors in Cornell University. Finally, for the benefit of his family's health, he went to the Northwest and bought a half section of land in North Dakota. John C. Watson married Miss Edna Hamilton of Harristown, Illinois, a former classmate, who graduated with him from Eureka College. She also had taught before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. John C. Watson have three children, two daughters and one son, Constance, Malcolm and Beatrice. These grand- children of Mrs. Watson have proved equally proficient in their studies. Constance has attended the University of Dakota two years, while Malcolm has had one year of instruction in that school.
William Allen Watson married an old schoolmate, Miss Maude Anthony, and they have a daughter, Zelda Irene, who is now a successful teacher east of Ludlow. Zelda I. enjoys the distinction of teaching in the same schoolhouse where her grandmother, Mrs. Watson, taught fifty-two years ago. The influence exerted by a teacher upon the generations is inestimable and beyond all computation. Members of the Watson family have done a splendid work in this field and they have the satisfaction of knowing that the influence they exerted did not cease when they closed their term of school.
Mr. and Mrs. Watson were active members of the Christian Church, which Mr. Watson served many years as deacon. In later years he was clected to the post of honorary deacon.
Besides her grandchildren Mrs. Watson now has only the comfort of one living son. Her son William A., a noble young character beloved by all who knew him, passed away in 1894.
Mr. James Watson's health began to decline in 1916 and his life came to a peaceful close on April 26, 1917. He had lived long and usefully and a host of friends paid tribute to his memory. The name Watson stands significant of deeds of kindness and upright character throughout the length and breadth of Champaign County. Mrs. Watson is an earnest Christian woman, cultivated and refined, and has made her life of benefit to her family and to a large community. Her only surviving son, John C., at the death of his father, resigned his position as dean and professor of Latin of Nevada University at Reno, Nevada, and returned to look after
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the estate of his father in Champaign County and care for the mother in her declining years.
The late Mr. Watson served his community as constable and tax col- lector. He was one of the early day tax collectors and frequently collected large sums of public money. There being no bank available, he acted as his own banker and for all the sums he had at his home at different times the money was never molested. In later years he served as assessor of his township and supervisor and school director. Mrs. Watson has many happy memories of her early home, a log cabin in the timber near Paxton and later on a lonely prairie. Frequently she heard the howling of prairie wolves, and on some of the mornings of sunshine in winter could see the deer playing over the snow. The dark, graceful bodies of these animals made a striking contrast against the snowy background. Such were some of the features of the environment in which she and her husband began their careers, and in later life she found herself surrounded with every comfort and with the love and veneration of family and friends.
DANIEL MORRISSEY. In the case of this well known citizen of Cham- paign success speaks for itself. Perhaps a few men remember the time when Daniel Morrissey was helping run a small weekly paper. That was more than half century ago. He early succumbed to an irresistible impulse to buy land. He bought with unlimited faith in the future of this locality, and his friends say that he also bought with almost unlimited skill and accuracy of judgment. Doubtless he made some mistakes, but they have not interfered with the big results. For the benefit of future genera- tions, if not for the present, it is useful to state that Mr. Morrissey is one of the three largest land owners in Champaign County, and is president of the Morrissey Farm Land Mortgage Company.
He was born in New York State, August 4, 1844, a son of James and Mary (Murphy) Morrissey, both of whom were natives of County Mayo, Ireland. His parents spent the last years of their lives in New York State.
The spirit of independence, which is an Irish characteristic, was coupled in Daniel Morrissey's equipment with unlimited industry and energy. At the age of fourteen he left home and went to Detroit, Michigan. There he had his first experience in a printing office. Subsequently he worked on the old Chicago Times at Chicago. His work as a printer he gave up to take a position with the Western Union Telegraph Company on con- struction work. He helped build the line from Mendota, Illinois, to Burlington, Iowa.
. A friend of his boyhood days, D. S. Crandall, had in the meantime come to Champaign, Illinois, and was conducting a newspaper known as the Union Weekly. Mr. Morrissey joined him here in 1863. When he arrived in the county his cash assets amounted to $13.75. Mr. Morrissey's chief success in life is coincident with and a reflection of the development of the magnificent agricultural resources of this part of Illinois. A lover of the country, he was alive to every opportunity to get possession of a piece of land. The progress in his accumulations would, if described in detail, be a quite accurate record of his growing financial asset. When- ever he had any money to spare, and sometimes on credit, he bought land that his judgment urged him to buy. Thus it is that now he is recognized as one of the largest land owners in Champaign County. He pays taxes on something more than three thousand acres in this county alone, while in the Northwest and in other parts of the country he owns between nine thousand and ten thousand acres.
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