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 42
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Carrie Our; William, who is a farmer in Newcomb Township, married Anna Liestman and they have four children, Orville, Earl, Mabel and Bernice; Ida, who is the wife of Fred Hansons, a farmer in Hensley Township, and they have three sons, Louis, Oscar and Albert; Minnie, who is the wife of Herman Liestman, a prominent farmer in Harris County, Texas, and they have two sons, Gilbert and Louis; Anna, who is Mrs. Charles Liestman; and Louise, who is the wife of Jason Synnott, owner of a ranch in Harris County, Texas, and they have three children, Eva, Clifford and Harold. The brothers of Mrs. Liestman are members of the fraternal order of Modern Woodmen of America, and the entire connection belongs to the Lutheran Church.
Nicholas Leischner, father of Mrs. Liestman, was born in 1842 in Germany and was a young man when he came to the United States, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a sailing vessel that six weeks after embark- ing landed him safely in the harbor of New York. His older brother, John Leischner, had preceded him and had made a home for himself at Monticello, Illinois, and Nicholas joined him there. As he was without capital he had to work hard before he could negotiate the purchase of his first land, a tract of 120 acres, and even then had to assume a heavy debt. He was industrious, steady and saving and finally paid for it and added forty more acres to the first tract. When he retired he moved to Urbana, Illinois, where he yet resides. In politics he is a Democrat and he belongs to the German Lutheran Church. His wife was born in Germany in 1848 and died in 1902. A beautiful monument erected to her memory stands in the cemetery at Monticello.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Liestman lived on rented land for a time, although he owned eighty acres in Wisconsin. When his father died he was made administrator of the estate and located on the old homestead, assuming an encumbrance of $12,000, which has all been cleared off. Mr. Liestman has made so many improvements that the farm residence is as comfortable and convenient as many city homes. It is lighted by acetylene gas, which proves very satisfactory. Mr. and Mrs. Liestman have two daughters, Bertha L. and Minnie L., both at school and doing well and both taking lessons in instrumental music, their parents being determined to give them every advantage possible to fit them for the positions in life that probably await them.
Mr. Liestman is one of the busy men of his section. In addition to his many agricultural interests he is a director of the Lotus Grain & Coal Company, having served in that position for the last ten years, and for two years has been a director of the Lotus Special Drainage District, and also is somewhat prominent in county politics. On the Democratic ticket he has frequently been elected to township offices. He served three years as collector of Newcomb Township and several years has been a school director. He belongs to the order of Odd Fellows and attends the lodge at Foosland, Illinois. Both he and wife are active members of the Lutheran Church and were of great assistance when the new church was erected at Osman.
Naturally Mr. Liestman and family are best known in their own neighborhood, where they are held in the highest estcem, but they believe in some change and variety to add to life's innocent pleasures, hence they take many pleasant trips in their fine Studebaker touring car and have greatly widened their circle of acquaintance. As they choose, also, they make far distant pleasure trips and Mr. Licstman has made four visits to the vicinity of Galveston, Texas, and his wife and daughters accompanied him on two occasions. While in Texas he saw the beginning of the con- struction of the great sea wall at Galveston and its completion, believing
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at that time, with others, that no ordinary force of Nature could destroy such a solid structure, but after the terrific storm of 1915 he saw it prac- tically destroyed, an example of how weak is man's best handiwork pitted against wind and wave in mighty unison. Mr. Liestman is one of the solid, dependable men of his community, and the high regard in which he is universally held is thoroughly justificd.
DAVID WILSON of section 24, St. Joseph Township, first became acquainted with Champaign County when he was fifteen years of age, and for nearly thirty years he has lived in this county continuously, having acquired and developed one of the splendid farms in his vicinity.
Mr. Wilson is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was born March 17, 1851, a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Laird) Wilson. His parents were born in Ireland, came to America about 1836, were married in Cincinnati, and spent their industrious and honored lives in that city, where both of them died. They had six children, five sons and one daughter.
David Wilson with his brothers and sister attended the public schools of Cincinnati. His coming to Illinois at the age of thirteen was in com- pany with his uncle, David Wilson, for whom he was named. David Wilson and his brother Samuel had bought from the Government at $1.25 an acre two sections of land in Champaign County, in sections 11 and 13 of St. Joseph Township. David Wilson, Jr., remained a year with his uncle and helped with the management of the land. He then returned to Cin- cinnati, but after another year was back in Champaign County and found work in the distillery at Urbana owned by his father and uncle. While there he was severely injured by an explosion on November 15, 1871.
He then returned home with his mother to Cincinnati. In 1877 Mr. Wilson married Lessetta Lorenz. She was born at Cincinnati, daughter of Nicholas and Catherine (Klei) Lorenz. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wilson located in Cincinnati, where he continued the business of his father, a livery and teaming enterprise, which he successfully managed for a number of years.
In 1888 Mr. Wilson returned to Illinois, locating in Stanton Township upon forty acres that had been bought by his father from the railroad company. Mr. Wilson also acquired 160 acres additional and used that land as the foundation of his substantial enterprise as an agriculturist. The passing years have witnessed an increment to the land until his estate now comprises 280 acres, and he has greatly increased its value by improve- ments and careful handling.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were born six children, three sons and three daughters, named Clarence, Edward, Warren, Rebecca, Edna and Marjorie. The education of these children was carefully looked after at home and in the local schools, and all of them attended District School No. 176. . Only one of them is married, Rebecca, wife of Harley Sanders. Mr. Sanders is a successful farmer in Stanton Township. They have two children, Russell and Marie, bright and attractive young people, and the only grandchildren of Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson took care that his farm should not only represent the best standards of agricultural husbandry but should express his ideas of home making. He erected commodious buildings, set out fruit and shade trees, and in that attractive environment is now content to spend his remaining years. In 1913 he suffered his greatest bereavement in the death of his good wife. Mrs. Wilson had endeared herself to the community as a kind neighbor and good friend, had made her home an abode of hospitality, and many grateful memories continue to wreathe themselves about her name.
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Mr. Wilson's people in Cincinnati were active members of the Presby- terian Church. In Champaign County he and his wife found no con- venient Presbyterian Church in which to worship, and they therefore affil- iated themselves with the Friends Church, of which they were liberal supporters. Since the death of his good wife Mr. Wilson has remained on the homestead, with his daughter Marjorie as a most capable home maker. His three sons look after the management of the farm and have largely relieved their father of the heavier burdens which he in earlier years so capably sustained.
Mr. Wilson is an ardent Republican and comes of a family that first voted for the Whig candidate and have supported the Republicans in an unbroken line since the organization of that great party. Fraternally Mr. Wilson is a Mason, and his sons Edward and Warren are Knights of Pythias and the daughter Marjorie is a member of the Eastern Star.
Mr. Wilson has done much for his community, and for twenty-two years was vitally interested in the welfare of the local schools as a director. He was also honored with the office of township supervisor four years. Thus his record is closely identified with Champaign County and is worthy of perpetuation in this publication.
PETER HEDRICK NELSON. For fully half a century Mr. Nelson has known Champaign County. The development of its resources and the transformation of its lands from raw prairie into beautiful farms have taken place before his own eyes. In that development he has shared as an individual, has made a name for himself as a substantial and public- spirited citizen, and has acquired those things an ambitious man most desires-financial independence, the rearing and training of children to lives of usefulness and honor, a good name and many friends. For many years he and his good wife worked side by side in the mutual task of making a home and bearing their responsibilities as good citizens, and they are now in a position to enjoy the fruits of their well spent earlier years.
Mr. Nelson was born in Jefferson County, Iowa, July 24, 1856. He was the youngest of three children, two sons and one daughter, and is the only one now living. His parents were John and Barbara (Burrough) Nelson. His mother died in Iowa. His father was born in 1824, in the Old Dominion State of Virginia, and died in 1886. When but a young boy he went with his parents, in a wagon drawn by ox teams, over the mountains and across the prairies of the Middle West. The family first halted near Mahomet in Champaign County, but soon proceeded westward to Iowa. John Nelson began life in Iowa as a renter, but about 1862 returned to Illinois and located at Bloomington. From there he removed to Hayworth, and a year later chose a location near Bloomington. For seven years he was engaged in herding and handling cattle for the Orendorf farm along Salt Creek in McLean County. The Orendorfs and the Nelsons were close friends.
About 1865, in the spring, John Nelson and his son Peter brought a herd of cattle into Champaign County. It was customary to drive cattle into this county and keep them during the summer and then return to Bloomington for the winter.
During these early years Peter Nelson had some interesting experi- ences. At one time he was employed by James Orendorf to cut a cord of wood. He walked a mile and three-quarters to get to the timber, and was paid for his labor $1 a cord. He and his father lived the rough out- door life of the real cowboy while herding along Salt Creek. In order to get a dining table they knocked one end out of a large box and thus improvised a rude table.
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Peter Nelson when in his eleventh year was directed by the Orendorfs to take charge of a bunch of cattle consisting of 202 head. He began his duties as herdsman on the 5th of May and kept the cattle on good pasture until October. He then returned with them to Bloomington, and the cattle, being weighed on the same scales where their first weight was taken, showed an increase of 330 pounds apiece. Perhaps this record for cattle grazed on the open pasture has never been excelled. For this work of five months Peter Nelson was paid $45 a month, boarding himself. While he was in the herdhouse there came up from Farmer City, seven miles away, a hunter. Half a mile from where the headquarters of the herders were this hunter came upon a great flock of water fowls which in those days frequented by thousands and thousands the marshy places. of Champaign County. In two shots from his gun the hunter killed thirty-four ducks, two brants and onc goose. Had this been told Mr. Nelson he would not have believed it, but having witnessed the feat with his own eyes he is able to vouch for the complete accuracy of the count.
His father, John Nelson, began life without means and had only such education as was supplied by the old log cabin schools of the primitive style, the furnishings of which were wooden benches and the curriculum of the most meager classifications. He followed agriculture as his life- work, and was a Jeffersonian Democrat and a man of good character. He died in McLean County and was laid to rest in the Bellflower Cemetery.
Peter Hedrick Nelson attended common schools, but through the necessity of work his education was somewhat limited so far as books were concerned. He not only looked after his own prosperity, but cared solic- itously for his father during his declining years. When the time arrived for him to start life on his own account he possessed a team and buggy, and the fortune he has since accumulated has been only a just recompense for many years of strenuous labor and effective management. While the years brought him considerable property, Mr. Nelson chose the role of a farm tenant or renter. He was the type of farmer such as any large land owner would delight to have as a tenant. In 1893 he rented a farm from M. W. Hays, and was continuously with Mr. Hays as a renter until 1916. This period of twenty-three years perhaps sets a record, so far at least as information is available, for continuous renting on one place.
Many years ago Mr. Nelson became widely known over this section of Illinois as a stock buyer. Much of his success in life has been due to his enterprise in that direction. He has bought stock from the leading farmers of McLean, Ford and Champaign counties. He has sold not a little of his own stock, and for many years has bred and raised Poland China hogs, Shorthorn and Hereford cattle.
The farm which Mr. Nelson owns and where he and his good wife now reside in comfort and plenty comprises 320 acres in Newcomb Township. In 1915 they erected there a beautiful home. It is only two and a half miles south of Fisher and is convenient to schools and other advantages which they enjoy. Their home is modern in every detail, is furnace heated and lighted by acetylene. Mr. Nelson also owns property in Fisher.
The real beginning of his life's happiness was with his marriage on December 14, 1887, to Miss Mary Ann Jervis. To their marriage were. born ten children, five sons and five daughters, and nine of the number are still living. Gertrude Irene, the oldest, was educated in the Busey School and is now the wife of Earl Campbell, a practical agriculturist living in Newcomb Township. Mrs. Campbell is a member of the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church. Ernest John, the oldest son, completed the work of the eighth grade and for three months was a student in the Illinois Normal University. He married Miss Daisy Hawkins. He is also a
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY 807
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Alta Mae, after finishing the eighth grade, spent one year in the high school at Fisher and has also taken musical ,instruction. Harry, the second son, had the full eighth grade course and two years in the high school at Fisher. Leslie Dell is now in the seventh grade of the public schools. Cecil Calvert finished the work of the eighth grade and had one year in the high school at Fisher. Randall Linden is now in the eighth grade. Fern Rosetta is attending the sixth grade. The youngest, Lela Hannah, is in the fifth grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are to be commended for their earnest desire to give their children the best home and school training.
Mrs. Nelson is a native of England, having been born in that indus- trial district around Manchester and Liverpool in the county known as Lancastershire. She was born July 24, 1863. She was the third in a family of twelve children, consisting of seven sons and five daughters. Nine of these children are still living, five of them in Champaign County. Her sister Sarah lives in West Lebanon, Indiana, her brother Andy is a resident of Continental, Ohio, and her sister Kate is a milliner at Granite City, Illinois. Mrs. Nelson is a daughter of Andrew and Hannah (Sher- gold) Jervis. Her father was a native of England and was educated in the National schools there. Farming was the occupation he took up in early life, and about 1864, when Mrs. Nelson was an infant, he brought his family by sailing vessel from Liverpool to New York City and from there to Champaign County. He acquired 120 acres of good land in Newcomb Township and was quite a successful man. Politically he cast his vote for the Republican party. His death occurred January 21, 1900, and he is now at rest in Mount Vernon Cemetery at Champaign. Mother Jervis is still living at Fisher with a daughter. She was born in 1839 and had a common school education. She and her daughter Lizzie reside together at Fisher.
Mrs. Nelson was educated in the local schools of Champaign County, and was well qualified for the duties which she assumed as a home maker. Her children have been all with her, and her practical wisdom and encour- agement have many times sustained Mr. Nelson in his work. Their beau- tiful home is known as the Walnut Dell Stock Farm. It is a home of peace and comfort, of widespread hospitality, and is a favorite resort for the many friends of this worthy couple. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson keep in close touch with the modern world, and they share in its enjoyment. As a means of getting about the country and better commingling with their friends they have a large Case touring car. Mrs. Nelson is a member of the Methodist Church, and they have always endeavored to exemplify the tenets of true Christianity in their lives. They have aided financially in the erection of churches at Osman, Bellflower, Weedman, Walker, Shiloh, Oak Grove, Fisher and Blue Ridge. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were visitors to the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Politically Mr. Nelson is a Democrat. The success he has gained in his own affairs has naturally made him the object of confidence on the part of his fellow citi- zens and for two terms he was township assessor and for a dozen years or more was a director of his home school district. Thus he has lived usefully and well and played a part among the men of affairs in Champaign County.
JOSEPH C. DODDS, M. D., B. L. Long identified with Champaign County as a physician and surgeon and also as a citizen and business man, Doctor Dodds has lived in this county since he was ten years of age.
He was born on Long Island, New York, June 15, 1864. At the age of ten he came to Champaign to live with his uncle, Dr. J. G. Chambers, brother of his mother. Here Doctor Dodds was educated, graduating from
-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
the Urbana High School, from the University of Illinois with the class of 1886, attended the University of Michigan Medical School and in 1889 graduated M. D. from Northwestern University at Chicago:
For twenty-five continuous years Doctor Dodds practiced medicine in Champaign County. He was an interne in the Marine Hospital of Chi- cago, and for some years was on the staff of the Kankakee Eastern Hospital and was district surgeon for the Illinois Central Railway between Gilman and Effingham. In 1908 he was appointed state medical director of the Modern Woodmen of America, and reappointed in 1911.
In 1901 Doctor Dodds moved to Denver, Colorado, where he practiced a year and following that for nine years was located at Tolono, Illinois. While at Tolono he held the various offices of the village from mayor down, and his present home is at 622 West Hill Street in Champaign, where he owns a beautiful home. He is also one of the principal stockholders in the Twin City Ice and Cold Storage Company, of which he is manager and formerly was secretary and treasurer.
Doctor Dodds is a member of the County and State Medical Society, is a director and the vice president of Burnham Library Board, is a Knight Templar Mason and Woodman, a member of the Country Club, and his wife is an active Presbyterian.
January 1, 1891, Doctor Dodds married Miss Mina Brown of Newport, Indiana. They have three children: Eva, wife of Harry B. Crowder of Seattle, Washington; Josephine, a member of Chi Omega Sorority and a graduate of the University of Illinois, class of 1917; and Donald C., a graduate of the Champaign High School and a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, of three years' standing in the University of Illinois. When Battery F was organized he volunteered and was in Texas with the battery. He is now a corporal in Battery F with the One Hundred and Forty-ninth United States Field Artillery of the Forty-second Division in France.
JAY G. BUCHAN. The natives and their descendants of Scotland, the land of hills and heather, have played important parts in the history of the United States, and it is something that justifies pride to be able to trace a direct Scotch ancestry. This good fortune belongs to Jay G. Buchan, one of Newcomb Township's best known and most esteemed citi- zens. His father and grandfather were natives of Scotland, but his own birth took place in Champaign County, Illinois, March 12, 1877, being the fourth in a family of six children born to Rahymond and Margaret (Buchan) Buchan. The survivors are: James, a farmer and stockman, residing at Clarion, Iowa, married Luzetta Thompson; Raymond, who is in the automobile business at Spencer, Iowa, married Mary Ann Peterson ; Mary E., who resides with her younger brothers in Newcomb Township; Colin C .; and Jay G.
Rahymond Buchan, father of the above family, was born in 1830, in the parish of Alford, twenty-seven miles from Aberdeen, Scotland, a distance he thought nothing of covering on foot. He grew to manhood in his native parish and received excellent school instruction, the minister of the Presbyterian Church being his teacher, and the name of this church was the "Priory of Money Musk." It was an old landmark, having been erected in 1080 A. D., and the entrance to the tower was built of Norway pine. For 400 years the ancestors of Mr. Buchan had been laid to rest when their lives were spent in the cemetery adjoining this ancient house of God. Another noted relic of long ago which Mr. Buchan knew well in his boyhood days was known as "The Breda House," which was probably built in 1700 and stood two miles from the village of Alford.
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Rahymond Buchan was about twenty-three years of age when he took passage on a sailing vessel at Glasgow bound for Montreal, Canada, which consumed eight weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean, but staunchly contended with every menace of the deep and safely landed its passengers. In June, 1854, Mr. Buchan located in Savannah, Ohio, remained there one year, and then came on to Bloomington, Illinois. There he engaged to work for Isaac Funk, one of the pioneers of McLean County, with whom he remained eighteen months. He was anxious, however, to secure land, and although he had to go into debt for a part of the purchase price he then bought 120 acres in Newcomb Township, in 1866, this being the present liome place of Jay G. Buchan. With the thrift that is a marked character- istic, and an exceedingly commendable one, of the Scotch race, Mr. Buchan kept adding to his acreage, tract by tract, until it aggregated 2,500 acres, situated variously in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Mr. Buchan developed into a very wealthy man, but his reputation was founded on other things than his wealth. He was known far and wide for his neighborly kindness and his name was a synonym for integrity. Public office in his township was almost thrust upon him because of his known honesty, but he served willingly as school trustee and director because he took a deep concern in educational matters and his suggestions and advice were welcomed by his fellow officials because they were sensible and practical. He was a strict Presbyterian and not only kept faithful to the word but the spirit of the law. He passed away in the present home residence, which he built in 1874, on March 23, 1907. His wife was born in Ashland County, Ohio, March 4, 1842, and died July 16, 1916, leaving behind her the memory of a beautiful, unselfish, helpful life. She was laid by the side of her hus- band in Shiloh Cemetery and a monument of Montello granite marks their last resting place.
Jay G. Buchan attended the public schools, but the larger part of his very liberal education has been self-secured through a love of reading. He early took an interest in his father's large farming operations and even in boyhood took pride in the fine herds of Shorthorn cattle that have been a feature of agricultural industry here. Mr. Buchan pays taxes on many acres of fine land, 876 acres lying in Champaign County and in Piatt County and 160 acres in Palo Alto County, Iowa. Although preferably independent in politics, he has served in public office when called upon to do so for the public benefit, being school director for three years and for eight years was a member of the drainage commission. He is an adherent of the Presbyterian Church and has been a liberal contributor to it and to other religious organizations. Mr. Buchan owns an Interstate touring car and with his brother and sister make it a means of pleasant relaxation on many occasions.
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