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 43
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OTIS G. HAWK, a native son of Champaign County, long identified with the agricultural enterprise of this section, has directed his efforts with such good purpose that now, at the age of fifty, he is able to retire and enjoy the comforts of a good town home in the village of St. Joseph.
Mr. Hawk was born southeast of Urbana, May 5, 1867, a son of Isaac and Mary F. (Hiett) Hawk. His parents were born and married in Ohio, and they came to Champaign County in the carly days, where they endured many of the hardships incident to pioneer life. They were practical and successful farmers. In their family were four sons, Otis being the third.
Mr. Hawk was educated in the Radebaugh school north of Philo, and growing to manhood on his father's farm he found in agriculture a voca- tion that satisfied his inclinations and furnished scope for his best endeavors.
Mr. Hawk married Adda Turner. Mrs. Hawk was born at Millers-
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burg in Mercer County, Illinois, daughter of Ross and Sarah (Boyd) Turner. It was while she was visiting friends in Champaign County that she met Mr. Hawk, and this acquaintance ripened into affection and love and terminated in their marriage. With the responsibilities of family upon him, Mr. Hawk settled on a farm in Stanton Township, buying eighty acres at $43.75 an acre. This land was quite barren of improvements, but with the best years of their lives before them Mr. and Mrs. Hawk deemed it no hardship to undertake its improvement, and the passing years have witnessed much work that is a permanent contribution to the prosperity of the county. Mr. Hawk cultivated the fields, set out fruit and shade trees, and gradually had his land in a condition up to the standard of Cham- paign County agriculture. He also bought 160 acres in Indiana, and still owns that, operating it under a tenant. For many years Mr. Hawk carried on intensive farming, grain and stock raising, handling the famous O. I. C. hogs and Barred Rock poultry. He also showed a commendable interest in local schools and served as school director.
One child was born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hawk, Charles C. He grew to manhood, attended the home district school and the St. Joseph High School, and was just to the point where he could look forward to a life of promise and justify the hopes and expectations of his parents when death struck him down in September, 1910. He was then nearly nineteen years of age.
In 1916 Mr. and Mrs. Hawk sold their farm and bought an attractive home on Main Street in the village of St. Joseph. Both of them are atten- tive members of the Prairie Hope Christian Church, with Rev. Simon Bennett as the present pastor. Mr. Hawk has filled the position of deacon in that church, and has liberally supported its every cause. Politically he is a Republican of liberal views and gives his support to principles rather than party.
GEORGE CEPHUS WILLIAMS. There is no citizen of Condit Township who more thoroughly enjoys the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens than George Cephus Williams. He is a native of Champaign County and has spent nearly all his active years here. He now occupies one of the best homesteads in the township, and his home is one of attractive exterior and all the comforts and conveniences which make life worth living. His individual prosperity has not been accomplished without benefit to the community in which he has lived. This is attested by the fact of his service in various official responsibilities, and by his present office as town- ship supervisor.
Mr. Williams was born October 9, 1868. He was next to the youngest in a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters, five of whom are still living. His parents were James Edward and Lavina (Linken- hoker) Williams .. Of the living children the oldest is Mollie, wife of Richard Harvey, who is a coachmaker in the Chicago & Alton shops at Bloomington, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have one son. Edward, the second child, is a retired farmer at Bellflower, Illinois, and married Vina Hopkins. Emma, the third child, lives at Fisher, Illinois, is a member of the Christian Church there and the widow of Charles Bryan, and has two living children. The next in age is George C. Frank A. is an agricul- turist in Champaign County, and by his marriage to Miss Lulu Beatty has a son and a daughter.
James Edward Williams, the father of these children, was born in Vir- ginia, grew up and received his education in and married a native of that State, and from there they came West to Indiana and a short time later to Champaign County, locating on a rented farm in Hensley Township.
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He was a hard working man and eventually acquired a farm of his own and died in Piatt County when about fifty years of age. He was laid to rest in Mansfield Cemetery. His wife is also deceased. In politics he was a Democrat.
George C. Williams had an uphill struggle during his earlier years, and most of his education has come by private study and as a result of experience. He was self-supporting when fifteen, and as a boy he fre- quently worked for wages as low as 20 cents a day. While still a single man he rented a farm in Piatt County, near Mansfield, where he remained two years, and then while boarding with his sister Emma he farmed a ยท rented place in Newcomb Township of this county. With his brother Edward he then went to McLean County, and they were partners on a rented farm until Mr. Williams took upon himself the responsibilities of a home and family.
On November 28, 1894, he married Miss Hattie Lee Taylor. While their other achievements deserve much credit, Mr. and Mrs. Williams may justly take the greatest pride in their fine family. Nine children were born to them, five sons and four daughters, and six are still living. Fred, still at home, has completed the course of the common schools and one year in the Fisher High School, and his inclinations in choice of a career are as a farmer. He is a member of the Christian Church. Mildred Bernice, the next in age, is a student in the Fisher High School and has taken musical instruction .. She is a member of the Christian Church. Lavina is now in the sixth grade of the common schools and has received musical training. Taylor is in the third grade of the public schools, James Edward has recently started to school, while the youngest and the baby of the family is Lee Cephus. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have submitted to many sacrifices in order that their children might have a good home and receive a good preparation for life's responsibilities.
Mrs. Williams was born in Champaign County, March 2, 1870, a daugh- ter of Joseph Dudley and Nancy Belle (Spratt) Taylor. There were eleven children in the Taylor family, five sons and six daughters, and seven are still living. Joseph D. Taylor was born at Sharpsburg, Kentucky, was reared and educated in the Blue Grass State and married there, and came to Champaign County with his family in 1863-64. He has lived in this county for over half a century and by hard work has not only reared a fine family of children but has become possessor of 110 acres of rich farming land in the county. He is a Democrat and both he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Mansfield. He is now eighty-two years of age, but his mind and intellect are still clear. His wife was born in Kentucky and died in October, 1913, her remains being at rest in Piatt County, where her family have erected an appropriate monument. Mrs. Williams received her education in the common schools and had prepared to take the teacher's examination, but duties at home prevented her from cmbarking on that career.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Williams started out to achieve success with only experience as their guide and with very little capital. They lived one year on a rented farm in Brown Township and then five years in Newcomb Township. It was not until 1906 that they were able to buy land of their own, eighty acres in Condit Township. A heavy obli- gation went with the purchase, but in less than ten years they had it all paid for and the farm now represents some of the best improvements and methods of management in the county. Mr. Williams now has twenty-five head of excellent horses, principally the English Shire. He has also raised with profit Poland China hogs, and he and his wife have become experts in the raising of blooded poultry, their stock being the Buff Orpingtons.
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Their birds have won two silver trophies in. exhibition and Mr. Williams lias a number of first and second premiums awarded his stock at State and county fairs. Each year he enters exhibits from his farm in the fairs of both Illinois and Indiana. The Williams farm bears the appropriate name of Sunnyside Farm.
Mr. Williams was also one of the organizers and first stockholders of the Fisher Telephone Company and is now serving the company as treas- urer. He is a stockholder in the Champaign County Fair Association.
Politically he is a Democrat and has been a delegate to various county conventions. In 1915 he was a delegate to the convention at Springfield of township supervisors, county clerks and probate judges. It was by the unanimous choice of his fellow citizens in Condit Township that lie was elected to the office of supervisor. This is the chief township office in Illinois, and a better qualified man could not have been found in Condit Township. Mr. Williams is a very popular official, and both he and his wife have served some years as director of the local schools. He is affil- iated with Sangamon Lodge of Masons at Fisher, and is a charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Bellflower. He also belongs to Champaign Chapter No. 50, R. A. M. They have contributed gener- ously of their means to the erection of the beautiful church of their choice at Fisher. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have practiced the principle of living well without extravagance. In earlier years they carried heavy obliga- tions, but are now comfortably situated, and among other things that make their life attractive for them is a fine Jeffreys touring car.
JOHN RUSH RITTENHOUSE. Those acquainted with the substantial agri- cultural and stock raising activities of Champaign County scarcely need introduction to the name John Rush Rittenhouse. His fruitful and active years have been spent largely in northwestern Champaign County, and he is a native son of this section of Illinois.
Mr. Rittenhouse was born January 26, 1870. The Rittenhouse ancestry is traced back to the German fatherland. His parents had six children, three sons and three daughters, and he was the third in order of birth and the second in age among the four still living. Of the living children he is the only one a resident of Champaign County. The oldest, Addie, is the wife of Dudley Herriott, an agriculturist at St. John, Michigan. Levi, the younger brother of Mr. Rittenhouse, is successfully engaged in agriculture and stock raising at Fairfield, Iowa. He finished his education in the Danville Normal School, was a teacher one year, and on examination took the highest mark in the county. He married Miss Mary Betts. Kate, the youngest of the children, is the wife of Charles Herriott, a farmer at Fair- field, Iowa.
The parents of these children were Joseph Hill and Mary (Richards) Rittenhouse. The father was born at Roxabell, Ross County, Ohio, and spent his youth in that state, where he acquired a substantial education. He followed agriculture as his regular vocation until recent years, and he and his good wife are now living in comfortable retirement at Mahomet. He still owns 190 acres of the rich and fertile soil of Champaign County, and this farm is being successfully managed by his grandson, Vern Rittenhouse. Joseph Rittenhouse for several terms filled the office of township assessor, for years was a school director, and was a stanchi upholder of education in every form. He came to Illinois in time to enlist in an Illinois regiment for service in the Civil War, and fought gallantly for the stars and stripes until mustered out and granted an honorable discharge. For years he has been a member of the Grand Army Post at Mahomet. His wife was born at Sidney, Ohio, and had a common school education. She was twelve
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years of age when she came to Illinois. Her father went to California in the days of '49, making the trip overland by wagon, and died while in the Golden State, a victim of cholera. Mrs. Joseph Rittenhouse has given her life to her family and her home.
John R. Rittenhouse grew up on his father's farm in Champaign County. He attended the common sehools and acquired a practical cduca- tion as a foundation for life's serious responsibilities. At the age of twenty-one he took up an independent eareer, renting land and also working out by the day. For many months he worked at wages of a dollar a day. As a wage earner and renter he made slow but sure progress for a period of thirteen years. His first purchase of land was ninety-two acres in Mahomet Township. Hc went heavily into debt for this, to the extent of $2,800, but by his industry and with the aid of his capable wife he was able to come out free and he then traded and sold and bought his next farm near Mahomet, consisting of ninety-three aeres. This he soon afterward sold and then bought 120 aeres included in his present homestead. He subsequently added another eighty acres, and has it all well developed as a first class model stock farm. Besides his possession in Champaign County Mr. Rittenhouse owns 107 acres in Tennessee and 100 acres in Lapeer County, Michigan. This land is in the midst of the sugar beet district. It is thirty-five miles from Detroit and thirty miles from Port Huron, Michigan, and in one of the best agricultural districts of the state. .
Mr. Rittenhouse for a number of years has made a specialty of Shrop- shire sheep and Shire horses. His stoek has won several silver cups, and he has exhibited at stock shows and fairs in Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis and in the fairs of Kankakee and Champaign counties. One of his horses of special class was Mahomet Teddy, an animal for which he paid $2,000. Mr. Rittenhouse has also interested himself in various other lines of busi- ness. That he is one of the suecessful men of Champaign County needs 110 further proof than what has already been noted in a brief way.
On December 31, 1891, Mr. Rittenhouse married Miss Ida Elvada Stout. To their marriage were born a son and two daughters. The son and one daughter still live. Vern Ralph, the only son, has found a place and posi- tion among the suceessful young agriculturists of Champaign County. He was graduated with the elass of 1915 and at the head of his class in the Mahomet High School. During his sehool career there was a period of five years in which he never missed a day from his sehool work and was never tardy. He is now the eapable manager of his grandfather's farm. He married Miss Ruth Miner. She is a member of the Baptist Church, while he is a Methodist. Ruth Marie, the only daughter, has finished the work of the common schools and is now in the second year of the high school at Mahomet. She has also taken instrumental music. She is quite active in the Pathfinders, a literary society maintained as one of the adjuncts of the Baptist Church.
Mrs. Rittenhouse was born in Champaign County June 21, 1870. She was the youngest of three children and the only one still living. Her father was born in Illinois, was an agriculturist, and made a suecess of life with only a common school education. For a number of years he lived in Illinois and afterward went to Nebraska and Iowa, and died at Marshalltown in the latter state in 1910.' His death occurred at the Old Soldiers' Home. He had fought with an Illinois regiment in the Civil War until honorably discharged, and was a very active member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife, also a native of Illinois, died when Mrs. Rittenhouse was an infant. Mrs. Rittenhouse grew up in the home of her aunt, Nancy Nelson. She attended the common sehools, and in church matters is a member of the United Brethren Church at Oak Grove in Newcomb Town- ship.
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Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse have taken great pains to prepare and educate their children for useful and honorable careers. Mr. Rittenhouse with the interest of his own children in mind has done all he could to promote good schools and for eight years was a director of his home district. Politically he is a Republican and cast his first vote for William McKinley. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse in Newcomb Township is known as The Blue Ribbon Stock Farm. It lies four miles northwest of Mahomet, ten miles from Fisher and five miles from Mansfield. It is the center of profitable industry as well as a fine country home, is a source of pride to Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse and a valuable exposition of the art of agriculture and stock husbandry for the entire community.
ROY R. CLINE, one of the younger members of the Champaign County Bar, had as preliminary to his practice a number of years of experience in the patent office at Washington, D. C., carrying on his law studies in the national capital at the same time, and now besides his general practice, he is serving as inheritance tax attorney for the District of Piatt, Cham- paign and Moultrie counties. He was appointed to this position in Febru- ary, 1917, by Attorney General Brundage.
Mr. Cline is a native of Illinois, born in Piatt County October 22, 1884, a son of Jacob H. and Josephine (Knott) Cline. His father was born in Piatt County and his mother in Cook County, Illinois. Jacob Cline was a merchant and banker, spent practically all his life in Piatt County, and died there August 29, 1913. The mother is now living in Urbana. They were the parents of five children: Anna, wife of James Stevens, of Urbana; Minnie, wife of Jerry Purcell, of Piatt County; Corria, an osteopathic physician in Piatt County ; Ona, of Piatt .County ; and Roy.
Roy R. Cline had a good education during his youth and paid his own way while preparing for the profession of the law. He attended the high school at White Heath, Illinois, two years, also the Urbana High School, and spent one year in the State Normal School at Normal. He had a couple years' experience as a teacher in Piatt County. In 1906 he came to Champaign and subsequently took a Civil Service examination and was appointed Examiner of Trade Marks in the patent office at Wash- ington, D. C. He held that position five years. In the meantime he studied law in the law department of Georgetown University in the District of Columbia and was graduated LL. B. in 1911 and with his Master's degree in 1912.
Mr. Cline returned to Champaign County in the spring of 1913, and began practice at Urbana with Franklin H. Boggs, now Circuit Judge. Since the fall of 1913 he has been located in Champaign and has rapidly gained a secure position in the law.
Mr. Cline married November 7, 1907, Miss Lena E. Dove, a native of Piatt County. They have two children, Josephine Catherine and Max Jacob.
CHARLES CHENOWETH. The name of Chenoweth is one held in high regard in Champaign County because it has always been borne by men of sterling traits of character who have led honorable and useful lives. A worthy and well known representative of this old pioneer family is found in Charles Chenoweth, who resides on his well improved farm of eighty acres, which is situated in Newcomb Township. Peace, plenty, thrift and prosperity are in evidence both within his hospitable residence and on the farm, and here may be found convincing proof that farm life in modern days may be wholesome, profitable and happy.
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Charles Chenoweth has lived in Illinois since he was a boy, but his birth took place March 15, 1857, in Pike County, Ohio. His parents were James P. and Maria (Ragen) Chenoweth, the paternal ancestry being traceable to England. James P. Chenoweth was born in Darke County, Ohio, September 8, 1829, and died in Illinois, October 24, 1915. He grew to manhood in Darke County and in boyhood had some school advantages, but as he was one of a family of thirteen children, self-support early became a necessity. He learned the tanner's trade and worked on a farm in Ohio up to 1859, when, with his family, he came to Illinois, making the long journey in a covered wagon in pioneer style, bringing along the house- hold goods. Mr. Chenoweth rented land at first in Logan County, about six miles from Lincoln, but in 1868 he came to Champaign County and purchased forty acres in Newcomb Township, although forced to borrow the money to pay for it. . This land he improved and later sold to advantage and subsequently, in partnership with his sons, purchased 308 acres in McLean County, a fine body of land which the family still owns. He was alive to every favorable movement in his section, political, religious or educational. He was a Republican from principle and frequently was elected by that party to local offices, in which he served honestly and faith- fully. For years he was a road commissioner when that office meant pro- viding for the construction of highways through forests and over brawling streams that overran their banks in times of freshets, and also for their preservation in good order. He also was a school director in those days when schoolhouses were few and far apart, when teachers were difficult to secure and when the people were apt to consider school taxes unnecessary burdens. These conditions in some sections have not been altogether changed, but more stringent laws now stand behind the officeholder. In Ohio he had joined the fraternal order of Odd Fellows and he maintained an interest in the organization until the close of life. His remains were interred in Riverside Cemetery in Mahomet, Illinois.
James P. Chenoweth married in Ohio Maria Regan, who was born in Pike County, that State, May 15, 1833, and died January 18, 1902, and was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery, where a beautiful stone marks the family burying ground. She was a woman of many virtues and was a devout member of the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church. To this mar- riage two sons and three daughters were born, the surviving children being : Lydia E., who is the widow of W. H. Hubbard, lives at Conway Springs, Kansas; Charles; Bertha, who is the wife of W. M. Hinton, who carries on a hardware and implement business in Rockwell City, Iowa ; and Lillian, who is a resident of McLean County, Illinois. She is a highly educated lady, a graduate of the State Normal University, and has spent a number of years in educational work. She, like all other members of the family, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Charles Chenoweth was eleven years old when he accompanied his parents to Champaign County and he attended the public schools in boy- hood, afterward remaining with his parents until his marriage, giving them filial care and attention.
Mr. Chenoweth married April 21, 1897, Miss Maria M. Lanam, who was born in Newcomb Township, Champaign County, Illinois, December 14, 1871. Her parents were Stewart and Eliza Jane (Wyant) Lanam, the former of whom was born in Noble County, Ohio, July 20, 1836, and died in Illinois, an honored veteran of the Civil War, April 4, 1916. His early boyhood was passed in Ohio and afterward he lived in Indiana, and from that State enlisted for service in the Civil War, becoming a member of the Third Indiana Cavalry, which was attached to the Army of the Cumberland. He served under General ("Pap") Thomas, a beloved commander, and took
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part in the battles of Chickamauga and Stone River and also accompanied General Sherman on the celebrated marchi to the sea. After three years of valorous service, during which he was fortunate enough to escape both wounds and imprisonment, he was honorably discharged. In 1868 he came to Champaign County and acquired 240 acres located in Newcomb and Brown townships. In his early manhood lic was a Democrat in his polit- ical views, but later became a Prohibitionist, as he was an carnest advocate of temperance. He had membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church and belonged to the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Fisher. He married Eliza Jane Wyant, who was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, August 24, 1845, and died in Champaign County, July 15, 1916. They had five children, one son and four daughters, all of whom reside in Cham- paign County. Mrs. Chenoweth was the second born and was educated in the public schools. She is a lady of most engaging personality, good, true, kind and womanly, and makes her home a place of content and comfort for all who come within its walls. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Chenoweth, Russell L. and Ruth A. The son at the time of writing has already passed one year of his high school course and is much interested in his studies, particularly mathematics and history. The daughter has advanced to the eighth grade in the Fislier public schools and is also being instructed in music, it being the intention of Mr. and Mrs. Chenoweth to give their children every possible advantage.
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