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 52
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Andrew Scott was about seven years years of age when his parents came to Canada. He had attended school in Scotland, and afterward had the benefit of the splendid public school system of Canada. One of his teachers to whom he has always paid homage was John T. Wood, who had the unusual record of teaching in one school for twenty-eight years. About 1877 Mr. Scott came to the United States and entered that well known Ohio institution of learning, Hiram College, of which James A. Garfield was at one time president. Mr. Scott has always had a high admiration for the "towpath boy" President. For three years he pursued the literary course in Hiram, at the end of which time he received a call from the Ontario Mission Board to take charge of a mission at Portage la Prairie, then far out in the western wilds, beyond the terminus of all railroad lines, in what is now the province of Manitoba. This mission was one of the outposts of the Christian Church. Mr. Scott went into the far west in 1881, about the time President Garfield was assassinated. Portage la Prairie is now a flourishing city sixty miles west of Winnipeg. Mr. Scott had a frontier missionary experience two years. The mission was composed of seven members when he took charge, and he held his first religious service in a private house and afterward in a small public hall. In less than a year he had bought ground and had erected a church at a cost of $4,000. At the end of his two years' missionary work the membership had increased to seventy-five. Some of those first members of the missionary church are still connected with the flourishing congre- gation as officials and members, and now Portage la Prairie has a hand- some church building costing $25,000.
In the fall of 1883 Rev. Mr. Scott returned to Walkertown, Bruce
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County, Ontario, and assumed a regular pastorate, which he held four years. There he had a church of about 150 members, and it was a pros- perous and contented congregation. While acting as regular pastor there he was also connected with evangelistic work in the province of Ontario. In 1887 Mr. Scott went to Niagara Falls, where he gave all his time to his pastoral duties for three years.
He next received a call from Sterling, Illinois, and was located there two years. In 1895 he took charge of the church in Saginaw, Michigan. In all communities where he had his work he proved a vitalizer of church effort and activity, and the results of his work were not far to seek. The congregation at Saginaw when he took charge was worshiping in a small and inadequate building, and while he was there he erected a fine edifice costing $12,000. On the first church there was a mortgage, and he not only paid this off but gave the community an edifice of which they might be proud. For five years he remained at Saginaw, and besides his regu- lar pastoral duties he spent every Sunday afternoon at a neighboring church. From Saginaw Rev. Mr. Scott was called to Butler, Bates County, Missouri, where he remained two years. He followed this with a pastorate at Pontiac, Illinois. He found there a mission, and was able to pay off another mortgage. About that time, his daughter desiring to enter the State Normal University, Mr. Scott took charge of a church there for two years. His following charge was at Danville, Illinois, where he again acted as a "mortgage burner," and gave the congregation new life and inspiration for larger work. During the last three years of his Danville pastorate he was district superintendent of the sixth dis- trict, and had active charge of the placing of ministers and the general upbuilding of church affairs throughout the district. Altogether he remained at Danville seven years, and this long pastorate is of itself a highly significant testimony to Mr. Scott's efficiency and ability.
From Danville he removed to Hoopeston, Illinois. He went there following an investigation whichi showed the affairs of the parish in such condition that his personal attention was required. The people at Hoopes- ton had been worshiping in a church cdifice for sixteen years, and it was still burdened with a $6,000 mortgage. The resourcefulness of Mr. Scott in lifting mortgages did not fail in this crisis, and the second year he was there he paid off the mortgage and brought zeal and renewed courage to a thoroughly disheartened people. . In November, 1914, Mr. Scott assumed the pastorate of the Christian Church at Fisher, Illinois. The usual success has attended his efforts in this locality. Under his energetic leadership the people have undertaken the building of a modern church edifice which will be dedicated in the fall of 1917. The church, with the grounds, when completed will repre- sent a cost of about $20,000. Of this amount the sum of about $17,000 in cash or collateral has been raised by Mr. Scott. For many years Mr. Scott has been chairman of the committee on ministerial standing.
In 1882 he married Miss Sophia Stait. Three children, two sons and one daughter, were born to their marriage and all are living. Errettine was educated in public schools in the various localities where her father lived, and after graduating from the State Normal University of Illinois she taught seven years in the Danville schools. She was especially success- ful in primary work. Besides her literary education she has taken musical instruction. She is now the wife of Elmer Barnes, who is manager of the Bank of Cheneyville, Illinois. Paul A. Scott, the older son, is a merchant now living at Waterloo, Iowa, and at present connected with the May Tag Company of Newton, Iowa. He is a very energetic young man. He had a common school education and also attended the high
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school at Normal, Illinois. The maiden name of his wife was Sidney Smith, who was well educated and taught school at Danville, Illinois. They have two sons, Charles and John Andrew. Walter, the youngest of the children, is a talented musician, especially as a singer, with a voice of fine tone and compass, and has taken considerable part in evangelistic work. He is now an employe of the postoffice. He married Miss Lela Myers, and they have a daughter, Virginia Errettine.
Mrs. Scott was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1863, and was well educated in Canada. Her father was a native of England and came to Canada when a young man, marrying in the Dominion. He was an agriculturist, and died in Canada at the age of ninety. Mrs. Scott's mother was also a native of England, and is now living at Montclare, a Chicago suburb, at the age of eighty-five.
Ever since their marriage Mrs. Scott has been thoroughly in sympathy . with her husband's aims and work, and has done much to give him prac- tical aid in his successful endeavors in addition to caring for her home and looking after the training of her children. Rev. Mr. Scott has for a number of years been one of the leaders in the temperance movement. He is a very effective speaker, and is not only eloquent but has that poise and dignity which command the confidence of an audience. He has been heard on questions of public and current interest as well as on religious texts and has appeared in pulpits and lecture platforms in such cities as New York, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Cleveland. Rev. Mr. Scott has a thoroughly used and well rcad library of standard literature, comprising at least 500 volumes. He and his wife have a very comfortable home at Fisher, and a home that is a manifest of the culture and refinement of its inmates. In 1911 Mr. Scott and his daughter made a tour of about three months through his native land of Scotland, and also through England and France, and visited many of the places of historic interest. While abroad he preached in Edinburgh and London. For years he has been a regular contributor to the church papers. He now edits what is known as the Fisher Christian, which has a local distribution of about 200 copies and is a valuable medium for the dissemination of religious influences.
GEORGE W. HILL. As the nation grows older more and more honor is paid the men who offered their lives as sacrifice to the preservation of the Union in the dark days of the '60s. One of these veterans still living in Champaign County is George W. Hill, whose life since the war has been one of peaceful industry as a farmer and he is now enjoying a well earned retirement at his home in the village of St. Joseph.
He was born at Paola, Orange County, Indiana, February 22, 1840. It will be noted that his birth occurred on Washington's birthday and he was given the name of the father of his country. His parents, Erasmus and Huldah (Fawcett) Hill, were both natives of North Carolina and were early settlers in Indiana. George W. Hill received his education in a subscription school known as the Prospect School, kept in an old log schoolhouse. He grew up in Indiana, and was twenty-one years of age when the war broke out and he volunteered his services, enlisting in Com- pany B of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Infantry. He enlisted at Orleans, Indiana, went South to St. Louis, up the river to Jefferson City, on to Sedalia, and from there to Springfield in the southern part of the state, returned to Sedalia and at St. Louis again took boat and went down the Mississippi to Cairo, Illinois, and from there proceeded up the Tennessee to Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, while Grant was waging his tremen- dous campaign around those outposts of the Confederacy. The record of
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his service introduces many of the most notable battles and landmarks of the Civil War. After the fall of Fort Donelson he went to Pittsburg Landing, then to Corinth, to Memphis, crossed the river and participated at Ball's Bluff, a campaign in which his regiment did a great deal of skirmishing, and was also in that victorious engagement for the Union arms at Grand Prairie, Arkansas. Another river journey took them to Helena, Arkansas, where Mr. Hill and his comrades were encamped when the news of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was received. The next movement was down the Mississippi to the campaign around Vicksburg. He and his comrades marched around Vicksburg to Grand Gulf and fought at Port Gibson, later at Campian Hills in the rear of Vicksburg, and then followed the real siege of the Mississippi stronghold. He was also at Jackson and in the ten days of continuous fighting around Vicksburg. After the fall of that city his regiment was sent down by river transport to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on to New Orleans, and participated in the Red River expedition. On returning to Algiers, Louisiana, Mr. Hill re-enlisted for three years or the war. He spent thirty days' furlough at home and again started South to Evansville, Indiana, where he took boat for New Orlean and then crossed the Gulf to Pensacola, Florida. He was in the noted engagement at Fort Blakely, one of the posts guarding the city of Mobile, and did considerable duty until that last southern strong- hold was vanquished. The troops then went up to Selma, Alabama, from there to New Orleans, and again crossed the Gulf to Galveston, Texas, where Mr. Hill was mustered out. Thus he gave four years of service of almost continuous fighting and marching during the war. Though in almost constant danger he sustained only two slight wounds, one in the hand and one in the ankle. His two brothers were killed in the war, Alonzo at the siege of Vicksburg and Eli at the battle of Lexington.
On April 13, 1879, on Easter Sunday, Mr. Hill married Miss Sarah E. Butts. She was born at Winchester, Indiana, in 1857, a daughter of Oscar and Catherine C. Butts. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hill rented a farm at Homer in Champaign County and they continued the active life of farmers for many years.
Mr. and Mrs. Hill have one son, Oscar A. Hill. He is a young man of more than ordinary attainments and abilities. He graduated from the high school at St. Joseph, was given a diploma as a teacher, and spent several years in that work. His first school was the Beverlin School and later he taught the Wilson School and Zion School. For a number of years he was also in the employ of Charles Dale, editor of the St. Joseph Record. From an early age he has been interested in electricity and he helped install the electric light and telephone systems at St. Joseph. He afterwards went to Florida, where he did electrical work, and also edited a newspaper known as the Lake Wales News. He is now connected with an electrical company at Akron, Ohio. Among other talents he is a noted musician, and while living in Champaign County took instruction from Professor White of Champaign. He is known as a composer of several popular melodies, two of the latest being "The Blue and the Gray" and "Stand by the Stars and Stripes Forever." Another song which gained much popular favor is entitled, "Is This the Road to Heaven?" Thus his life has been filled with interesting activities. He distinguished himself as a teacher, being an excellent disciplinarian as well as a thorough instructor. As a musician his services were much in demand as a choir leader. At the dedication of the fine Christian Church at St. Joseph he led the choir of sixty trained voices. In token of appreciation of his services in this way the church made him a present of a fine ring. While living in Florida he married Catherine Hickman.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hill are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at St. Joseph, and in politics he is a Republican, though a man of broad views, and supports the principles rather than the party. He is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, and Mrs. Hill is a member of the Royal Neighbors.
PATRICK HENRY CAIN. For many years one of the highly respected and substantial citizens of Philo Township, Mr. Cain has been chiefly identified with farming, and has not only provided well for his family but is regarded as one of the men of influence of his community.
Though a resident of Champaign County since childhood, Mr. Cain was born at Peru in LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1865. His parents, . Thomas and Bridget (Finn) Cain, were both natives of Ireland. In 1878 the family removed to Champaign County and located on a farm in Colfax Township. The parents both died on that old farm. Their family of children consisted of six: Austin, deceased; James T. and Thomas, of Colfax Township; Mary Ann, wife of John Giblin of Colfax Township; Patrick H .; and Sarah, wife of Lawrence Gallagher, of Colfax Township.
In the schools of Illinois Patrick H. Cain acquired a substantial training during his youth and he lived at home until the death of his parents. His best work has been accomplished on the 160 acres of land which he bought in 1903, located in sections 15 and 21 of Philo Town- ship. Under his energetic direction this farm has been brought to a highly improved condition and has responded bountifully to his efforts as an agriculturist.
On February 4, 1891, Mr. Cain took upon himself the responsibilities of a family by his marriage to Anna Coady. Eight children have come into their home, and those that grew up have shown the characteristics of energy and ambition which are distinctive of their parents. Mary Gertrude, the oldest, is now deceased. Estella is still at home. Henry is deceased. Grace is now a Catholic sister in Springfield. The younger children, all at home, are Leo, Anna, Kathleen and Thomas Mathew. Mr. Cain is a Democrat in politics, is a member of the Knights of Colum- bus and he and his family worship in the Catholic Church at Philo.
FRED ROY PARRETT. Such capable citizens as Fred Roy Parrett are the men who are now bearing the brunt of the agricultural activities in Champaign County. He is a general farmer and stockman in Mahomet Township, and has one of the best improved places in that community. Mr. Parrett is one of the younger generation of Champaign County's native sons, and his name is one that is spoken with honor and respect due to the achievements and the character of those who have borne it in this section of the state.
He was born in Champaign County and in the house where he still lives on January 18, 1890, the only child of George C. and Susan Mary (Thomas) Parrett. His father, who was born in Ross County, Ohio, June 6, 1849, was brought to Illinois at the age of two years. His parents made this journey in pioneer style, with wagons and teams, crossing the intervening country and locating on rented land in Piatt County. They afterwards moved to Champaign County, where George C. Parrett was reared. He was well educated, having, in addition to the common schools, the advantages of a course in Oberlin College. After completing his edu- cation he farmed as a renter three years, and then bought eighty acres, going in debt in order to secure a home. He and his wife were married April 23, 1878, and together they worked loyally side by side until their
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debts were paid and they were financially well to do. Most of the perma- nent improvements on the farm were made by George C. Parrett. He was a Prohibitionist, and advocated the temperance cause long before it became as popular as it is today. He was also identified with the Baptist Church, for twenty-five years served as deacon, was interested in the Sunday school and for years was superintendent. The death of this good man occurred November 18, 1916, and an appropriate stone marks his resting place in the Blue Ridge Cemetery.
Mr. Fred Parrett's mother was born in Champaign County, October 19, 1857, and is a daughter of the Mexican veteran, James Quincy Thomas, whose long and interesting career is the subject of an article on other pages. She is still living, at the home of her son, and has spent all her life in Champaign County, where she received her education in the common schools. She is a member of the Baptist Church.
Fred Roy Parrett grew up on the old homestead, attended the common schools, and early made choice of a career as an agriculturist, the returns from which have been highly satisfying in every particular.
His farm comprises 160 acres in Mahomet Township and he is also managing a farm of 160 acres belonging to his grandfather, Thomas. The soil is well adapted to the cultivation of crops of corn and oats, and he raises some good grades of horses and hogs. The Parrett home bears the appropriate name of High View Lodge. It is a home reflecting good management and is also the abode of hospitality and comfort.
Mr. Parrett devoted himself to the duties of home and looking after his parents, and for five years had active charge of his grandfather's estate. About the time he married he returned to the Parrett farm. February 22, 1911, he married Miss Mary Margaret Anderson. They are the happy parents of three sturdy young boys. Maurice Anderson was born July 24, 1912; Mervin Thomas was born October 31, 1913; and Frederick Harold was born October 21, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Parrett find one of the chief incentives to their labors and efforts in their plans for the appropriate education and training of these sons.
Mrs. Parrett was born in Champaign County, August 3, 1892, a daughter of John C. and Emily May (Samuelson) Anderson. There were seven children in the family, four sons and three daughters. Mrs. Parrett was educated in the public schools, and while her life has been a busy one, taken up with practical affairs at home, she has cultivated every oppor- tunity to improve her mind by association with the best of literature and social life. She is an active member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Parrett is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Woodrow Wilson. He also is a member of the Baptist Church at Mahomet. They have begun life well, and have the best things still in prospect for achievement and enjoyment.
MARTIN JOSEPH CLENNON. That farming can be conducted as a suc- cessful business in the same class as a store or factory needs no other proof than a visit to the place under the management of Martin Joseph Clennon in section 33 of Philo Township. Hc has a large acreage under cultivation, a group of well arranged, substantially built structures for his home and barns, and on every hand are evidences of good management and efficiency.
Mr. Clennon is one of the younger farmers of Champaign County. He was born in Crittenden Township of this county December 12, 1880, a son of William F. and Adelia (Moran) Clennon. His father was born in Grundy County, Illinois, and his mother in Canada. It was in 1877 that the parents removed to Champaign County and located on a farm
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in Crittenden Township, where the widowed mother still lives. The father died here May 16, 1906. They were the parents of a large family of nine children: Mary Agnes, still at home; Martin J .; Franeis W., of Crittenden Township; Sadie, wife of Frank H. Cain, of Philo Township; Agnes, at home; Catherine, wife of Lawrence Flynn, of Philo Township; Lauretta; Lawrence, in Battery F, 149th Illinois Volunteers; and Ray- mond J., at home.
Martin J. Clennon attended the district schools in his early youth and also had a course in a business college at Decatur. He wisely made choice of agriculture as his vocation and has been steadily improving his opportunities granted by experience and is now capably managing one of the fine farms of Philo Township, containing 236 acres.
On September 4, 1907, he married Catherine Tyrrell, a native of Livingston County, Illinois. They have three young children, named Howard Ambrose, Mary Edith and Lois Adelia. In politics Mr. Clennon is a Democrat. He and his family are members of St. Thomas Catholie Church at Philo, and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. His country home is supplied with the daily mail from rural route No. 1 out of Tolono.
JAMES W. HARPER, who is now living retired in a beautiful semi- country home at the village of Ogden, has been a factor in this section of Champaign County for many years. His associates speak of Mr. Harper as a man, meaning thereby not only his physical strength, but strength of determination, of purposeful conduct, and of notable public spirit dis- played in his efforts to advance wherever possible the welfare of the eommunity.
Mr. Harper was born at Dana in Vermilion County, Indiana, August 23, 1865, a son of John and Amanda (Dikes) Harper. Both parents were born at Rockville in the same Indiana county. The Dikes . family came originally from Kentucky. John Harper and wife had five chil- dren, one son and four daughters. About fifty-two years ago the family moved to Vermilion County, Illinois, locating at Pilot Grove, and still later in Champaign County, settling in Ogden Township.
John Harper was one of the most successful men of Champaign County and much of his ability was inherited by his only son, James. He was quick, intelligent and industrious, and had the faculty of using his means for redoubled profit and advantage. At the time of his death he owned an estate of 800 acres.
The Harper children all attended the district school known as the Hope School. James W. Harper was educated there, and as he grew up he learned farming from his father and emulated his skill and competenee as a business manager.
On October 1, 1890, Mr. Harper married Miss Mary E. Canady. She was born in Ogden Township, daughter of Asbury and Drusilla (Divan) Canady. The. Canadys were prominent pioncers of Champaign County. Drusilla Divan had three brothers who offered themselves to the country for the purpose of preserving the Union during the Civil War. Their mother, Ellen Divan, was at the time a widow and sorely needed her sons at home, but slie courageously gave them up for the benefit of the country and deserves every credit for keeping up the home during their absenee.
John Harper's parents were Elijah and Hannah Harper, who were among the pioneer settlers of Indiana and spent all their lives therc.
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Harper after their marriage spent one year at Hope, where Mr. Harper rented his father's farm. They then removed three miles north of the village of Ogden to 160 acres, which had been
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given Mrs. Harper by her father. Her father gave a similar amount to all his children. Here Mr. and Mrs. Harper made their permanent home for many years, and carried forward their plans for improvement and home making. They erected a comfortable house and barns, and set out many trees, both shade and fruit. Mr. Harper has the distinction of giving Champaign County its largest grove of catalpa trees. He set out 2,500 of them, eultivated them and cared for them, and today it is the finest catalpa grove in the entire county. They serve a double purpose, being not only an attractive feature of the landseape but furnishing a splendid windbreak for the farm.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Harper were born three sons: Arlie C., who died at the age of eight months; Chester C. and Merle. The latter two were educated in the district sehool known as Prospect School, while Chester subsequently graduated from both the St. Joseph and Urbana High schools, and completed his edueation in the University of Illinois. On May 12, 1917, he married Miss Mabel Hubbard of Ver- milion County, Illinois. Two days after his marriage he went to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, having volunteered his services as a soldier in the American National Army. There after a brief period of training he was released and returned home. The youngest son, Merle, is still a student in the public schools of Ogden.
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