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 37
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
All the while Mr. Morrissey has been a force in good citizenship and in
769
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
good business at Champaign. He is active in the Citizens Commercial Club and the Chamber of Commerce, is a popular member of the Elks' Lodge, and he was reared in the Catholic Church. His wife, whose maiden name was Annie Donnelly, died at Champaign, January 20, 1916. Their three children were Daniel C., who is actively associated with his father in business ; M. J. Morrissey, who died February 17, 1916; and Fay, also an associate of his father.
DELL E. HARRIS. In the University district of Champaign there is no merchant better known to the student population and citizens gen- erally than Dell E. Harris, who for over twenty-five years has been in active business as a confectioner. Mr. Harris has succeeded because he has concentrated his energies largely along one line, has studied and worked to develop a product of superfine quality, and has made that product of such a standard of perfection that it now signifies quality and is dis- tributed over a market by no means confined to Champaign or even to the state of Illinois.
Mr. Harris was born at Normal, Illinois, June 16, 1870, a son of Zera W. and Julia A. (Dyke) Harris, both of whom are still living. His father was a Union soldier during the Civil War, serving thirty-seven months in Company C., Fifth Illinois Cavalry. There were six children : Frank D., who is engaged in the real estate business at Champaign; Ray R., a physician practicing at Dubuque, Iowa; Ralph M., associated with his brother in the confectionery business at Champaign; Dell E .; Effie Estelle, wife of Professor E. J. Lake, an instructor in the University of Illinois; and Ruth, wife of William Dailey, of Mason City, Iowa.
Dell E. Harris spent his early youth principally at Decatur, where he completed the grade school work. He was about sixteen years of age when he engaged in the confectionary business for himself in that city. It was a moderate start, but he did not handle his establishment in a routine and negligent fashion, and in a short time his success was more than his most sanguine hopes had anticipated. He not only made a good living but also acquired an extensive knowledge of the confectionery business both as a manufacturing proposition and in the sale and dis- tribution of the products.
In 1891 Mr. Harris came to Champaign. His first location was at 61 North Neil Street, where he had his store until March, 1908. In the meantime he opened a branch establishment in the University district on Wright Street. After selling his store on Neil Street in 1908 he bought the business property at 608 East Green Street where his hand- some store now stands. The two stores were continued until the lease on the Wright Street store expired in 1914, at which time the enterprise was consolidated. He now handles all his trade at one store, which was opened January 1, 1910.
The popularity of his store and of his goods is a by-word in Cham- paign. His store is in the student district of the University of Illinois, and much of his patronage comes from the University. Mr. Harris originated the famous "La Noy" chocolates, and has the name, which is derived from the word Illinois, copyrighted and registered in the United States patent office. The La Noy chocolates are made and sold in Champaign, but they also go in package lots to.every state of the Union and to China, Japan and the Philippine Islands. The mail order feature is now one of the most profitable parts of the business for Mr. Harris.
Mr. Harris is a past president of the University District Commercial Association of Champaign and has been a progressive factor in everything
770
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
concerning the commercial life of his section of the city. He is also a member of the Rotary Club, the Travelers Protective Association, the Sons of Veterans, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. Mrs. Harris is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Harris was married December 8, 1908, to Miss Frances Roberts. She is a daughter of the late Joseph Roberts, a well known farmer of Champaign County. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have one daughter, Flora, now six years of age.
JAMES SPERRY, a well known contractor and builder at Ogden, is a native of Champaign County, and has spent his active career to good purpose early as a farmer and later in the business which has brought him such generous success.
Mr. Sperry was born north of St. Joseph, November 27, 1859, a son of Elias and Serena (Helton) Sperry. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Virginia. Serena Helton was a daughter of Simeon and Sally Helton, who moved from Virginia to Kentucky and when Serena was twelve years of age settled in Indiana. Serena Helton was educated in the public schools of Indiana. She was a member of a family of nine children, three sons and six daughters. The Heltons afterwards settled in Champaign County north of St. Joseph. Serena Helton and Elias Sperry were married near Greencastle, Indiana, and then went to farming in this county. They had five children : Mary Ellen, now Mrs. Church Rush; Sarah Josephine, deceased ; James, Elmer and Arthur C.
James Sperry attained his education in the public school known as the Old Blackberry Schoolhouse. When the Sperry family came to Cham- paign County the country was a virgin prairie, deer roamed about over the country, and wild fowls were in such abundance as at times to darken the skies in their flight. The Sperrys experienced many of the hardships connected with establishing homes in this new country.
On May 4, 1864, Elias Sperry enlisted in Company A of the One Hun- dred and Thirty-fifth Illinois Infantry. His service was brief, since he contracted measles and had not yet recovered from that disease when he was placed on guard duty, and again fell ill. He reccived his honorable discharge July 17, 1864, at Pilot Knob, Missouri. He did not long sur- vive the ordeal of warfare.
James Sperry was only a boy when his father died and he had to assume the serious responsibilities of life at an early age. He began farming on rented land and lived in bachelor's quarters for a time. On September 28, 1879, at the age of twenty, he married Martha Jane Hayes.
Mrs. Sperry was born in Oakwood Township of Vermilion County, Illi- nois, daughter of John and Martha J. (Gray) Hayes. Martha Hayes was seven years of age when her father died and she was reared in the home of her mother and attended public school at Ogden. Her mother, Martha J. Gray, was a daughter of William Gray, a native of Ireland. William Gray married Rosanna Hansel. The ancestry of the Hayes family goes back to Revolutionary days. David Gray, who was born in Ireland, served in the War of the Revolution, cnlisting from Bucks County, Penn- sylvania, August 1, 1776, and again in May, 1777. He fought in the battles of Staten Island, Brandywine, Germantown, and was in Washing- ton's army. He served under Captains John Jamison, John Thomas, John Cope and William Ramsey.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sperry engaged in farming in Vermilion County, Illinois, for three years, and they then removed to Ogden, where he has since successfully followed the business of contracting and building. Mrs. Sperry's father's family consisted of four children,
771
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN . COUNTY
three daughters and one son, and also two half sisters. The brother died. at the age of eleven years, his name being William Hayes. The sisters were Harriet and Elizabeth and the two half sisters Effie B. and Maryetta.
Mr. and Mrs. Sperry are the parents of one daughter, Della Sperry, born August 28, 1880. She was graduated with honors from the local high school May 10, 1899, and married Cyrus W. McPherren, July 13, 1905. Mrs.' MePherren, through her mother's Revolutionary ancestry, is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution and is a member of the Illinois Allianee, Chapter No. 642, of that order in Champaign. Mrs. McPherren las a bright and attractive daughter, Beula, now nine years of age and a student in the public schools of Ogden. She is still very much interested in her dolls, of which she has a generous supply. Her special favorite enjoys the distinctive name of Euodoria. Mrs. McPherren is a very eapable business woman and is general manager of the Ogden Courier and for seven years was assistant postmaster there.
Mr. and Mrs. Sperry are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In polities he is a Demoerat, is a man of broad views, and in local affairs supports the man rather than the party. He served eight years as poliee magistrate and for twelve years as justiee of the peace and was a member of the town board. While giving generously of his time and means to every community enterprise Mr. Sperry has been a very successful business man. Many fine eountry homes around and in the . town of Ogden stand as monuments to his industry. It is often said that a tradesman's family are the last to get the benefit of his industry. Thus a carpenter's house leaks and a shoemaker's wife goes barefoot. Mr. Sperry has reversed that rule. Some years ago on Leney Street, in the north end of Ogden, he erected a fine, commodious residence, with every modern improvement, including acetylene light. This home is enjoyed by his good family, consisting of himself, his wife, daughter and grand- daughter, and last but by no means least his dear mother who so faith- fully looked after him during his youth and now in the setting sun of her life he is repaying some measure of her tender solieitude and eare. Mr. Sperry is one of the charter members of the Woodmen's lodge of Ogden, organized in 1887.
LEE M. VAN WEGEN is one of Champaign County's well known citizens who started life with no particular advantages and assets and by self denial, thrift and industry gradually accumulated those means which represent financial independence. He was a successful farmer for many years, and was also at one time engaged in manufacturing at Champaign.
Mr. Van Wegen was born in New York State December 1, 1856, a son of James S. and Mary E. (Wells) Van Wegen, both of whom were natives of Orange County, New York. James S. Van Wegen brought his family to Champaign County in 1868, locating on a farm three and a half miles southwest of Champaign. He proved a valuable factor in that community and continued farming until within the last two years of his life, which he spent in Kansas. Mrs. Mary E. Van Wegen lived to the great age of eighty-eight years, passing away January 16, 1917. Their nine children were: Horton and Maria, both deeeased; Lee M .; Clarissa, deceased; Sidney, a resident of Iowa; Ella and Emma, twins, the latter deceased, and the former the wife of Scott Raypholtz, of Medford, Oregon ; Alexander, deceased; and Louis, of Ashland, Oregon.
Lee M. Van Wegen was twelve years of age when his parents removed to Champaign County. He had acquired some of his education up to that time and he also attended the country schools of this county. His father's home was also his home until he was twenty-two, and lie then
772
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
put his experience and training to practical test, married and started a home of his own on a rented farm. He followed the plan of renting for six years. He and his wife lived frugally and his hard work enabled him to accumulate the capital required for the purchase of 160 acres of land. That was his first farm, and later he bought another of 160 acres. He sold both tracts and subsequently bought a half section of land near the city of Champaign, where he accumulated a large portion of his" prosperity. Mr. Van Wegen also owns lands in the state of Louisiana.
In 1892 he retired from the farm to a residence in Champaign. In that city he served five years as superintendent of streets. He was also a financial and official member of the Champaign Cabinet Company, manu- facturing as a specialty a fine type of kitchen cabinet. At the present time Mr. Van Wegen finds plenty to do in looking after his private invest- ments.
He was married in February, 1878, to Miss Ella Hammer, a native of Bondville, Illinois. They are the parents of two children: Etta is the wife of Tony Saunders, of Greenwood, Mississippi, and they have two daughters, Madge and Ellen; Nellie is the wife of O. L. Gearhart, of Champaign, and they had one son, Van S. Gearhart, deceased. While living in the country Mr. Van Wegen served as supervisor of his town- ship one term and was also a road commissioner for six years. He is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
GEORGE W. HERBERT, who is supervisor of Harwood Township, has been identified with Champaign County many years, and in the solution of the daily problems confronting him has found the opportunities for progress to success and prosperity. He is one of the leading farmers and has one of the most attractive homes in his township, located in section 36, north of Gifford, in Harwood Township.
Mr. Herbert was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, a son of Richard and Anna (Cox) Herbert. His parents were both born in England and their coming to America was their bridal tour. They came to this country three weeks after their marriage. For some time they lived in Syracuse, New York, and then moved to Illinois. There were eight children, George being about midway in age. When he was eight years of age his mother died, and he grew up on his father's farm in Vermilion County and attended the common schools there.
In 1894 Mr. Herbert married Catherine Sunderlin. The Sunderlins are one of the oldest and best known families of Champaign County. Mrs. Herbert was born in Kerr Township of Champaign County, daughter of James and Mary (Hartman) Sunderlin, her father a native of Ireland and her mother of Cincinnati, Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Herbert lived one year in Kerr Township and they then bought 160 acres near Gifford in Harwood Township. For this land they paid $70 an acre. They began housekeeping in a small home, with meager comforts, and the land had no improvements, no drainage and was often covered with water in certain seasons of the year. The young people were pos- sessed of that "delightful content which the hope of better things inspires within," and by sturdy self-denial, by labor year in and year out, they have in time perfected their home surroundings and gained such pros- perity as few people outside of Champaign County enjoy. They planted shade trees, built up a home and barns and other buildings to satisfy their nceds, and have also acquired additional lands until they now own a full half section.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert are the parents of James R., George Francis,
773
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
John Aloysius and Catherine Vivian. These are all true types of American children and were educated in the local district schools. James R., after finishing the eighth grade, took the course of the Gifford High School, where he graduated, and subsequently was a student in the Bourbonnais school at Kankakee and from there graduated from the Champaign High School. He is a studious youth and has put his education to good advan- tage by the practical assistance he renders his father on the farm. The other two sons are in the grades of the Gifford school.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert are active members of St. Mary's Catholic Church at Penfield. In politics he is a Republican, and has always been loyal to the principles of that great party. His fellow citizens have shown their confidence in his judgment and ability by electing him for eight suc- cessive years as supervisor and for fourteen years he was school director.
VIRGIL W. JOHNSTON, banker, with offices at No. 10 Main Street in Champaign, has been a resident of this city for the past eighteen years.
He was born in McLean County, Illinois, March 15, 1871. His father James Johnston, a native of Ohio, grew up in Indiana and in 1852 re- moved to McLean County, Illinois, bought land from the government, developed it as a farm, and lived there prosperous and an influential citizen until his death in 1905. He was a Republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. James Johnston married Eleanor Marrs, who was born in Ohio in 1831, and was a young bride when she came to Illinois in 1852. Her death occurred in McLean County in 1901. Virgil W. Johnston was one of four children. His brother Lucien C. lives at Seward, Nebraska; his brother Alva E. lives at Monticello, Indiana ; and his brother Milo D. at Olustee, Oklahoma.
Virgil W. Johnston was educated in country schools, had the environ- ment of a typical Illinois farmer boy, and subsequently continued his education in the Fairbury High School. He was graduated from the Bloomington Law School in 1896. He has given most of his time and energies to the abstract business. He was in that business at Pontiac, Illinois, from 1896 to 1899, and in the latter year bought the old estab- lished abstract business of Colonel Wilcox at Champaign. He still owns and directs this abstract office. Since 1902 Mr. Johnston has been iden- tified with banking.
He is a member of the Champaign Club, the Champaign City Club, the Elks, and in politics is a Republican. On August 3, 1898, at Normal, Illinois, he married Vinnie Vennum.
GEORGE ROBERT SHAWHAN was for twenty-one years county superin- tendent of schools in Champaign County, and in this county, which has been his home for over sixty years, he has found ample opportunities for a life of quiet usefulness and service.
He was born at Falmouth, Rush County, Indiana, March 20, 1844. His grandfather, John Shawhan, was probably a native of Pennsylvania, but was reared in Kentucky and combined his work as a minister of the Presbyterian Church with practical farming. He died in Kentucky. He married a Miss Flowers, who was born and reared in Virginia. William McCune Shawhan, father of George R., was born near Lexington, Ken- tucky, grew up in Bourbon County in that state, in 1837 removed to Rush County, Indiana, and on April 17, 1856, arrived in Champaign County, settling in Section 19 of Raymond Township. He was a prac- tical farmer and also did considerable business as a cattle shipper. He lived on his farm in Champaign County until his death. He was attend- ing church at Sidney and died without a word during the service on
.
774
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
May 5, 1875. He was an active member of the Church of Christ or Disciples Church, was a Democrat in politics, and at the time of his death was acting as supervisor of Raymond Township. He married Nancy Redmond, daughter of a Kentucky farmer. She was born on a farm near Cynthiana, Kentucky, and was married there in 1837. She died in Urbana, December 12, 1893. Her children were six in number, and be- sides George R. they were Margaret, Helen, George W., James K. and William T.
George Robert Shawhan was twelve years of age when he came to Champaign County. He attended the common schools both in Indiana and Illinois and was also a student in the University of Illinois, but then known as the Illinois Industrial University. During his boyhood he helped on the farm, but at the age of seventeen began teaching. That was his chosen work throughout the subsequent twenty years, and it was his experience and qualification as a teacher that caused him to be ap- pointed in September, 1881, as county superintendent of schools by the board of supervisors of Champaign County. He held the office by ap- pointment one year and was then successively elected five times, filling the office from December, 1881, to December, 1902. The efficiency and welfare of the county schools during that period testified to the able work of Superintendent Shawhan. Outside of his regular administration his chief work while in office was in formulating and establishing a regular course of study with township and central examinations for the country and village schools. He helped to earry that plan further and in conjunc- tion with other superintendents developed a modified plan which was adopted for the state. The state superintendent now uses it in his ques- tions on pedagogy in all his examinations. Since leaving the county superintendency Mr. Shawhan has been manager of the savings depart- ment of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank of Champaign. While his life has been without dramatic incident, it has been filled with work and has been a means of exceptional service to the community. Mr. Shawhan is a member of the Church of Christ and is an elder in the University Church of that denomination. He belongs to the Masonic Lodge of Urbana and to the Modern Woodmen of America in Champaign. Politi- cally he is a Republican.
In Raymond Township of this county, May 12, 1867, he married Sarah Vista Brown. They have two children, a daughter, Gertrude, born in Urbana, February 8, 1874, and a son, W. Warren, born in Raymond Township, August 9, 1877. The daughter graduated from the University of Illinois in literature and science in 1895 and later from the Library School of the same institution. She is now the wife of Frank R. Shafer, an architect, and they live in Los Angeles, California. Warren Shawhan has become a farmer and is now on a farm in Central Louisiana, in Con- cordia County, with postoffice at Lismore.
JAMES M. REESE has been a factor in the business life of the village of St. Joseph for nearly thirty years, and has made a success because he has given a service a little better than others in the same line and has con- stantly striven to please.
Mr. Reese was born in that historic section of northwestern Pennsyl- vania, Washington County, June 17, 1853, a son of William and Matilda (Mikesell) Reesc. His parents were also natives of Pennsylvania. The father died in Iowa at the home of his son Henry at the advanced age of ninety-two. In 1864, when James M. Reesc was eleven years of age, he came with his parents to St. Joseph Township, where his father for a number of years worked as a carpenter. There were seven children in
775
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
the family, James being the oldest. He attended school in Pennsylvania and also liad one term in the St. Joseph school. When the Reese family came to Champaign County much of the land in St. Joseph Township was under water a part of the year, and to establish and maintain a home here was a task of many difficulties and hardships.
James M. Reese grew up to an industrious manhood, worked in the country and for a number of years was connected witlı a number of drain- age projeets in St. Joseph Township. In 1888 he established himself in the restaurant business at the village of St. Joseph and that has been his chief line ever since. He has studied the problems of this business and has solved them and has gradually increased his enterprise, not only in the way of stock handled but in facilities. He installed a soda fountain, has an ice cream parlor, handles candy, cigars, canned and bottled goods, and his place is an especially popular and welcome retreat during the summer season.
The profits of his suceess Mr. Reese has invested wisely in loeal real estate and has done much to improve the town. He bought a number of lots and has erected modern homes in the north part of the town.
In 1895 Mr. Reese married Miss Laura B. Cook, a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Ezekiel and Matilda Cook. She was eleven years of age when her parents came to Champaign County from Pennsylvania and located at Tolono, where she completed her educa- tion in the local schools. Mr. and Mrs. Reese had two children. The older, James Bernard, died at the age of three of infantile paralysis. The younger son was named Harry Cook in honor of his mother, and is now fourteen years of age. He is a very industrious and studious boy, attending the local high school, and is also doing mueh to develop his marked musical talent. He is a student of piano, and is also taking instruction in brass band music with the loeal organization under Pro- fessor Canouse of Champaign. He also plays as a member of the Sunday school orchestra in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Reese is a very active member of the Methodist Church and is and has been for some years president of the Ladies' Aid Society. She is a member of the Eastern Star and has served as marshal of that order. In polities Mr. and Mrs. Reesc have opposite affiliations, she being a Republican and he a Democrat. Mrs. Reese is a very ardent supporter of the cause of temperance.
The success which he has enjoyed in a business way Mr. Reese owes not only to his own capable efforts but to the wisdom and counsel of the good wife who has stood by his side. They have one of the pleasant and hospitable homes of St. Joseph, on Lineoln Street, and while enjoying its comforts they may look back with pardonable pride upon the labor of the years which has made it all possible.
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.