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 5
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Mr. Atkinson has had a long and honorable career as a successful bus- iness man, and has been interested in many of the city's most stable enter- prises. He has been a director in the Champaign Building and Loan Association, of which George W. Harwood is and has been the secretary, and attributes his success in a business way to this sure and safe way of acquiring a home and a competence.
On August 8, 1894, Mr. Atkinson was united in marriage with Miss Emma Schultz, who was born in Champaign, Illinois, and they have two sons. Donald is a graduate of Champaign High School and attended the University of Illinois two years. He enlisted in the Ambulance Corps of the Regular Army June 7, 1917, and is now in training at Allentown, Pennsylvania, preparatory to service in France. Joseph, the other son, is a member of the Champaign High School, class of 1919. The family belong to the Congregational Church. In politics Mr. Atkinson is a Progressive Republican, and believes in clean politics and a progressive city. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery Mason.
HERMAN SCHWANDERMAN has his farm home in section 17 of Harwood Township, with postoffice at the village of Ludlow. He has contributed to the development and farm improvement of that locality for a number of years and he represents that sterling and industrious stock of people that came out of Germany.
Mr. Schwanderman was born at Dewey, Illinois, a son of Leopold and
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Rebecca Margaret (Behrens) Schwanderman. The parents were both born in Germany, came to America in early life and married in this country. They had only two sons, twins, Herman and Henry, the latter died at the age of seven months.
On December 25, Christmas Day, 1902, Herman Schwanderman mar- ried Ruth Mary Dodson of Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky. She was the oldest of the thirteen children of James R. and Harriet (Simpson) Dodson. Among her family Mrs. Schwanderman was always called "Mollie."
Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman married in Kentucky, and their wedding trip was the journey north to Champaign County, where Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman located in the home of his parents. They took charge of the farm of eighty acres and gave the tenderest care to Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman during the rest of their lives. This farm is the result of the accumulations and the hard work of Father and Mother Schwander- man after they came to America. The elder Schwanderman, who was born at Strassburg, Germany, died July 17, 1910, at the age of seventy-two, while his widow passed away. December 12, 1911. They were people of. splendid character, industrious, good home makers, supporters of church and morality, and endeared themselves to their community in Champaign County by numerous acts of kindliness and neighborliness.
Mr. and Mrs. Herman Schwanderman have five children: George Leo- pold, James Clarence, Oliver Herman, Eliza Ray and Leland Glenn. They are a happy family of five boys, the oldest being thirteen years and now in the seventh grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Schwanderman are taking great pains to give them the best of advantages and the older ones are in the Griswold school.
Mr. Schwanderman's ability as a farmer needs no comment. His well kept fields and his sleek stock show the care and enterprise of the thrifty agriculturist. In politics he is independent, voting for the best man. He was reared and has always retained his membership with the German Lutheran Church at Dewey, while Mrs. Schwanderman is a Baptist, the faith in which she was reared. Mr. Schwanderman believes in keeping up good schools and in giving the best of instruction to his children and is now . filling a place on the local school board.
WILLIAM B. KEUSINK is one of the younger business men of Cham- paign, has been a resident of the city most of his life, and since 1910 has conducted a very successful drug business.
He was born at Bloomington, Illinois, September 20, 1879, a son of William and Elizabeth (Lynch) Keusink. His father was a native of Schenectady, New York, and his mother of Utica, New York. William Keusink for a number of years conducted a laundry business in Cham- paign County, but is now living retired. He and his wife had two children, William B. and Wilhelmina, the latter the wife of H: C. John- .son, of Champaign.
His early education William B. Keusink obtained in the grammar and high schools of Champaign. After some preliminary experience he definitely determined on a vocation as a pharmacist and entered the Uni- versity of Illinois Pharmacy School in Chicago, where he was graduated in 1904. Returning to his home city he became a pharmacist with a local drug house until 1910, and at that date went into business for himself at the corner of West University Avenue and South Neil Street. He has a fine store, well equipped, and has always emphasized and sought in every way to improve the service of the pharmacy department.
Mr. Keusink is a Republican in politics. He is a Thirty-second Degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, belongs to the
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Elks Lodge and the Country Club, and is a member of the Episcopal Church. He married November 21, 1910, Miss Hazel M. Elliott, who was born at Arcola, Illinois. They have one child, Virginia Morse.
ALEXANDER CRAIGMILE. Of the men whose ability, industry and fore- thought have added to the character, wealth and progress of Champaign County none deserves better mention than Alexander Craigmile, a veteran of the Union army, long and successfully identified with agriculture, and now with his good wife living retired in a comfortable home at Rantoul.
His public spirited citizenship has stood every test of time and service. Forty years he has known Compromise Township, and during that time has again and again been chosen to fill places of trust and responsibility. He was elected to serve as assessor, collector, supervisor and road commis- sioner, and is now on his second term as justice of the peace at Rantoul, having been re-elected in April, 1917. He gave the best of his ability to the various offices, and his work in civil office has been characterized by the same fidelity which he displayed when following the flag of the Union during the Civil War. Mr. Craigmile is now commander of Seaver Post No. 253 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Rantoul.
He is of Scotch nativity and ancestry, and was born near Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1843. When a child he immigrated with his parents to Upper Canada, and in 1852 the family came to Illinois. When Alexander Craig- mile was twenty-one years of age he enlisted at Chicago in Company D of the One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and marched away to the sound of the fife and drum to protect his country's flag. He saw active service for upwards of a year and was finally mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, in October, 1865. Some idea of the service rendered is noted in quoting the contents of the Christmas card which Mr. Craigmile received in 1916 from Comrade C. C. Dudley of Minneapolis. This card reads : "To the playmates of my boyhood days, who knew no care or responsibility, and whose only burden was the long hours in the class rooms in Naperville Academy and who later put our names to the enlistment roll of Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and saw Chattanooga, Look- out Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Dalton and Memphis, and then every man went his way to the sterner duties of life. To my old associates in business and friends in church and college and old comrades of Phil Kear- ney Post No. 7, who walked with me side by side, sharing one another's joys and sorrows. To my new friends of later days in Minneapolis, whose kind hospitality has made our stay so full of gladness and cheer; I wish you all a joyous Christmas and a glad New Year. To the friends of a lifetime I count friendship one of the chiefest enjoyments of my life, a comfort in time of doubt and trouble, a joy in time of prosperity and success."
Mr. Craigmile is a son of Alexander and Jean (Mitchell) Craigmile. He received his early education in Ontario, Canada, in DuPage County, Illinois, and finished his work in Naperville Academy. After the war he came to central Illinois, and in 1868 made his first purchase of land near where the present town of Gifford stands, but before a railroad was built through that section.
Mr. Craigmile laid the foundation of his own home by his marriage to Miss Agnes Calder. She was born in Canada, a daughter of William and Mary Ann (Hempey) Calder. Her father was born in Scotland and her mother in Bristol, England. William Calder was a brave soldier of the British Empire and was in the armies of her majesty fourteen years.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Craigmile started life on a farm of 254 acres at Gifford. There the young Scotch couple demonstrated the possession of those sterling characteristics so familiar to the people of the
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land of the hills and heather. Though they started on the bare prairie, they gradually surrounded themselves with comforts and improvements, and have long since accumulated a fine estate. For his first land in Cham- paign County Mr. Craigmile paid only $11 an acre, and any of his pos- sessions now are worth many times that sum. He has been both a farmer and stock raiser.
The children born into their happy home arc named A. H., Erva J., Mary, Archibald, Eunice and Charles. The training and education of these children have been always close to the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Craigmile. The first school they attended was near Gifford, and the parents encour- aged the boys and girls to make the best of their time and opportunities, and subsequently gave them the advantages of the great University of Illinois at Urbana. Mary and Charles both graduated from that insti- tution with honors, and Mary became a popular teacher in Champaign County in the district schools at Penfield and the Rantoul High School. Charles Craigmile specialized in civil engineering and is now employed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway, with headquarters at Lincoln, Nebraska. He is a progressive American boy and makes friends wherever he goes. A. H. Craigmile was a successful teacher for ten years and for two years was principal of the Gifford schools. He also taught in Alberta, Canada. The children fitted themselves for useful occupations in which they might exercise the best talents of their characters. Many pupils have received instruction from the Craigmile children, and as teachers their record is enviable and worthy. The oldest child, A. H. Craigmile married Miss Clara Williams of Rantoul, and they now reside at Dauphin in Mani- toba, Canada. Their two children are named Mary W. and Robert Alex- ander. Erva J. Craigmile is the wife of W. S. Smith, and they live at Armstrong, Illinois. Their two children are named Emile Jean and Charles Craigmile. Eunice Craigmile married J. F. Clark, a Rantoul attorney, and is the mother of two daughters, Elizabeth and Janis.
For the past ten years Mr. and Mrs. Craigmile have had their home in Rantoul. Both attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, and fraternally Mr. Craigmile has affiliations with the Grand Army of the Republic, and Mrs. Craigmile belongs to the Woman's Relief Corps. Their comfortable home is on Belle Avenue, and here they dwell in peace and may look with pardonable pride over the backward stretch of years from the time they married and started to make a home until now their children are grown and they have grandchildren.
GENERAL SAMUEL T. BUSEY. A soldier, banker, a patriot and public- spirited citizen, the late General Samuel T. Busey was without question one of the ablest factors in the history of Champaign County and was widely known and his leadership gratefully acknowledged throughout Illinois.
Necessarily the name Busey is one that frequently recurs throughout the pages of Champaign County history. The family was founded here by Matthew W. Busey, father of General Busey. Matthew W. Busey was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, May 15, 1798, a son of Samuel and Catherine (Siegler) Busey. When he was a small boy they removed to Washington County, Indiana, where he learned the brick mason's trade. From 1823 until 1847 he followed the business of contractor and builder.
It was in 1832, eighty-five years ago, that Matthew W. Buscy first visited the region of eastern Illinois, including Champaign County. This was then a part of Vermilion County. During this visit he entered land from the Government on the site of what is now a part of the city of Urbana. In 1836 Matthew Busey brought h.s family to Champaign County and lived there from that time until his death on December 13, 1852. He
S.J. Busey
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married in Washington County, Indiana, Miss Elizabeth Bush, who was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, March 6, 1801, and died in Champaign County in 1880.
General Samuel T. Busey, the sixth child of his parents, was born at Greencastle, Indiana, in 1835. He was only an infant when the family removed to Champaign County and he grew up in almost a frontier com- munity and had the advantages of such schools as were maintained here seventy or eighty years ago. His early experiences were those of liis father's farm, but in 1856, when a little past twenty years of age, he entered merchandising. That was his active work until 1862, when he sold his business and prepared to assume the responsibilities of a patriot and defender of the flag.
Obtaining a commission from the war governor, Richard Yates, he recruited a company and with it went into camp at Kankakee August 6, 1862. When the company organized he was elected captain. On the organization of the regiment he was elected colonel. His company was Company B, Seventy-sixth Illinois Infantry. On the 22d of August, 1862, the regiment started south for Columbus, Kentucky, which was then the base of supplies for Grant's army operating about Corinth. He afterwards joined the field forces at Bolivar, Tennessee, and subsequently was with Grant at Coffeeville, Mississippi. In 1863 Colonel Busey led his regiment to join Grant's army in the rear of Vicksburg. His regiment was closer to a rebel fort than any other regiment on the entire fourteen miles, they occupying the extreme left of the command. They arrived at Chickasaw Bayou the night Grant drove the Confederates into the Vicksburg strong- hold. After that city surrendered Colonel Busey was the first Union officer to enter. His able services again and again attracted the attention of his superiors, but he refused promotion to the rank of brigadier-general in order that he might not be separated from his comrades in the old regi- ment. Subsequently he was offered command of the post at Natchez, Mis- sissippi, but he declined this for the same reason. On January 1, 1865, leaving Memphis with his regiment, he was the first to report to General Canby at New Orleans, went from there to Pensacola, Florida, later to Pollard, Alabama, and then moved down to Fort Blakeley, the last strong- hold in the rear of Mobile. This fort was carried by assault on the 9th of April, after a ten days' siege. Colonel Busey's regiment was the first to enter the works and it suffered greater loss than all the rest of the com- mand. Colonel Busey was the second man to surmount the works, and his companion was killed and he himself wounded. He recuperated from his wound in the hospital at New Orleans, and it was June before he was able to rejoin his command. He went to Texas and was mustcred out for discharge at Galveston and was given his honorable discharge at Chicago, August 6, 1865. Subsequently, on the recommendation of .Generals Andrews, Steel and Grant, for his gallantry in leading his regiment in the assault on Fort Blakely, he was commissioned brevet brigadier-general, and by active and meritorious service perhaps not one of Illinois' brigadier- generals more completely deserved this honor.
The war over, General Busey resumed civil life in the role of a farmer in Champaign County. In 1867, in company with his brother, Hon. Simeon H. Busey, he organized what is today known as Busey's State Bank at Urbana. General. Busey afterwards bought his brother's interest and associated with him his nephew, Matthew W. Busey, in the management and direction of the bank's affairs.
General Busey finally retired from active business affairs and lived quietly at his home in Urbana until his death on August 12, 1909. Polit- ically he was a Democrat, one of the best qualified leaders of his party in
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this section of the State, and had the distinction of defeating Hon. Joseph G. Cannon for Congress.
Mrs. Mary E. Busey, widow of the late General Busey, has long been identified with the life and affairs of her home county, and through her repeated elections to the post of trustee of the University of Illinois is one of the most widely known women of the State. Her maiden name was Mary Elizabeth Bowen. She was born in Delphi, Indiana, June 21, 1854, a daughter of Abner and Catherine J. (Trawin) Bowen. Her father was born in Dayton, Ohio, and her mother in Calcutta, India. Mrs. Busey's paternal grandparents were Enoch and Elizabeth (Wilson) Bowen, both natives of Pennsylvania. Her great-grandfather, David Bowen, was born in Pennsylvania. Her maternal grandparents were John and Mary (Webber) Trawin, and they and her great-grandmother, Sarah (Brett) Webber, were all natives of England.
Mrs. Busey was educated in Vassar College, and on December 25, 1877, at her parents' home in Delphi, Indiana, she married General Busey. For forty years she has been a resident of Champaign County, and not only shared with her husband the many social distinctions paid them, but is aetive also in the responsibilities of home and the community. She is an active member of the Presbyterian Church and has served on the board of trustees for more than twenty-three years. For several successive terms she has also filled the post of trustee of the University of Illinois, having been re-elected in 1916. She is identified with the patriotic order, the Dames of the Loyal Legion and the Woman's Relief Corps.
General and Mrs. Busey had three children. Marietta was married April 7, 1909, to Guy A. Tawney, who is head of the Department of Philosophy in the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Professor and Mrs. Tawney have two children, George Busey, born July 7, 1912, and Eliza- beth, born February 4, 1916. The daughter Bertha lives at home with her mother in Urbana. Charles Bowen was married June 6, 1911, to Louise Carter of Dallas, Texas, and they now reside at Urbana. They have one child, Charles Bowen, Jr., born November 15, 1915.
MATTHEW WALES BUSEY. Of the native sons of Champaign County who have been factors in the development of the county's resources, one of, the most prominently known is Matthew Wales Busey, president of Busey's . State Bank at Urbana. As one of the leading bankers of his section he has contributed to the advancement of the agricultural interests of Champaign County, and in his capacity of private citizen has ever been found ready to lend encouragement and support to the movements which have made for progress in his fertile and enterprising part of the State.
Matthew Wales Busey was born at Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois. December 7, 1854, being a son of Simeon Harrison and Artimesia (Jones) Busey. His paternal grandfather was Matthew W. Busey, who was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, May 15, 1798, a son of Samuel and Catherine (Siegler) Busey. The family removed to Washington County, Indiana, when Matthew W. Busey, the elder, was still a youth, and there he learned the trade of brick mason, later becoming a contractor and builder, a busi- ness which he followed with success from 1823 to 1847. In 1832 he visited the region of Champaign County, which was then a part of Ver- milion County, and entered land from the United States Government on the site of what is now a part of the city of Urbana. In 1836 he removed with his family to Champaign County, and continued to make this section his home during the remainder of his life, his death occurring here Decem- ber 13, 1852. Mr. Busey had married Miss Elizabeth Bush while residing in Washington County, Indiana, in 1821. She was born in Shelby County,
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Kentucky, March 6, 1801, and died in 1880. She was the mother of eight children, Simeon H., John Simpson, Samuel Thompson, Mathew D., Mary C. Kirkpatrick, Sarah A. Sim, Elizabeth F. McClain and Louisa J. Romine, all of whom survived their parents.
Simeon Harrison Busey was born October 24, 1824, at Greencastle, Indiana, and was twelve years of age when brought to Champaign County, Illinois, where, as his father had at that time taken up farming and stock- raising, the youth was reared in an agricultural atmosphere. He also had influences that were an incentive to the highest degree of effort to realize his individual capacity. His father was an active member of the Baptist Church and had served as a colonel in both the Illinois and Indiana State Militia, was for two terms a member of the State Legislature and had also acted as judge of the County Court. Simeon H. Busey, as he grew older, adopted farming and stock-raising, and eventually acquired extensive hold- ings in the rich farm lands of this section and did his work on a large scale. The competence he thus acquired led him into the financial and industrial development of a new country and he assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Champaign. Soon afterward, however, he disposed of his interest in that institution and in 1868, with his brother, Colonel Samuel T. Busey, organized Busey's Bank at Urbana, with which he was connected until a short time prior to his death, which occurred at Urbana, June 3, 1901. He was a born financier, and upon entering the banking business soon became known as such, and his judgment was much sought and relied upon in business matters.
On September 22, 1848, at Greencastle, Indiana, Simeon H. Busey married Miss Artimesia Jones, and brought his young bride to the Illinois home which he had prepared for her and where the young people soon became important factors in the social and intellectual life of the com- munity. Artimesia Jones was born at Greencastle, Indiana, October 26, 1826, was reared in that State, and after a residence at Urbana of nearly sixty-six years she passed away July 18, 1914. Her father, John Wesley Jones, was born in England, November 16, 1794, and married Alice Allen, who was born October 20, 1798. They were married in Indiana.
Nine children were born to Simeon H. Busey and wife: John Wheeler Busey ; Matthew W .; George W. Busey, who is president of the First State Bank of Fisher, Illinois; James B. Busey, a farmer and a banker at Mahomet; Alice J. Freeman, wife of Gus T. Freeman of Urbana; Ann Augusta Morgan, a resident of Urbana, Illinois; Elizabeth Frances Riley, wife of Ozias Riley of Champaign; Lucy Ann, who died in infancy ; and William H. Busey, who died aged forty years.
Simeon H. Busey was a member of the First Baptist Church of Urbana, was a charter member of the local Masonic Lodge, and in politics a Demo- crat. He served as a member of the State Legislature and besides his local banking connections was one of the organizers and a director of the Bankers National Bank of Chicago up to the time of his death. He was one of the active workers in securing the location of the University of Illinois at Urbana, as well as in securing the location of the railroad run- ning from Peoria to Indianapolis, now part of the Big Four System.
Matthew W. Busey was well educated for his work in life, both theoret- ically and practically. He attended the Urbana schools and in 1875, at the age of twenty-one, became bookkeeper in the bank of Busey Brothers. In November, 1879, he bought his father's interests, and in 1888 became president of Busey's Bank, a position he has held until the present date, almost thirty years. He is also president of the Ogden Bank of Ogden, Illinois, the Exchange Bank of St. Joseph, Illinois, and the Commercial Bank of Champaign. Mr. Busey has in many ways used his position and
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influence as a banker to promote agricultural prosperity and the solution of the many problems connected with the betterment of country life in America. He has acquired extensive interests in Champaign County farms and also owns a large amount of land in Mississippi and other sections of this State. In 1905 Mr. Busey was appointed treasurer of the University of Illinois. He has also been a member of the executive committee of the Illinois Bankers' Association.
On November 15, 1877, at Tolono, Illinois, he married Miss Katherine W. Richards. She was born at Warm Springs, Virginia, October 20, 1857, and was educated at the State Normal University at Normal, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Busey have two children. Paul Graham Busey, the son, was born at Urbana October 5, 1880, was educated in the public schools, the University of Illinois, the Art Institute at Chicago, and is now vice- president of Busey's State Bank, with his home at Urbana. He married Miss Clara Blanche Black, of Urbana, and they have one child, Patricia Blanche. Virginia Busey, the daughter was born at Urbana, November 4, 1883, and was also liberally educated, attending the Urbana public schools, the University of Illinois, the National Park Seminary at Washington, D. C., and Smith College. She is now the wife of Dr. James F. Churchill, of Chicago, and they reside at San Diego, California. They have one son, Robert Busey.
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