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 56
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ing his profession at Racine, Wisconsin. He was educated in the Univer- sity of Illinois and made a splendid success in his calling. He married Miss Ella Kelphart, and they have one child, Jeannette. Jesse Grant, a graduate of the University of Illinois and an expert mechanic, lives at . Vermillion, South Dakota. He married Miss Jinks Hume, and they have six children. They are also members of the Methodist Church. Minnie E., the youngest of the living children, is the wife of W. L. Hart, a wholesale ice cream dealer at St. Louis, Missouri. They have two sons and are Methodists.
John H. Funston was born in Ross County, Ohio, February 29, 1828. He died May 25, 1903. He grew up in his native state, having the advan- tage of the common schools and became an architect and cabinetmaker. About 1851 he came to Illinois, locating in Piatt County. He had no money, and though he found himself among strangers he soon gained the confidence of his community and found plenty of work at his trade. For several years he lived at Monticello, and the year he married he located in a log cabin in Newcomb Township in 1857, the same house where Mrs. Downs first saw the light of day. Mr. Funston was diligent at his busi- ness and therefore gained a substantial success in life. At his death he owned more than 400 acres of the rich land of Newcomb Township. For a number of years he had combined farming with his trade as cabinet maker. In the early days he was called upon to make many of the coffins for the burial of the dead. Mrs. Downs frequently aided her father in making caskets. He was also very progressive and enterprising. It was his distinction to own the first mower, the first self binder and the first corn planter in the township. The old log cabin home of the Fun- stons in Newcomb Township was a place of very meager comforts. There were no glass windows and light was admitted through greased paper. There was not even a board floor, and the bare ground, packed hard, furnished footing and Mrs. Downs as an infant played about on the dirt floor of this humble abode. John H. Funston was not only a successful man in business but a leader in the community and in its spiritual and moral uplift. He was one of the founders of the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church and for years was one of the officials. A substantial monument in Riverside cemetery marks his last resting place. His wife was born in Ohio, in Madison County, November 26, 1832, and died Sep- tember 3, 1895. She moved with her parents to Piatt County, Illinois, about 1857 and soon afterwards married and located in Newcomb Town- ship. She was the oldest of twelve children, her parents being John and Mary (Hubbard) Baily. She proved herself a loving and affectionate mother and devoted the best energies of her life to her family.
Mrs. Downs had an interesting childhood and girlhood in Champaign County. The first school she attended was a more or less exact copy of the primitive schoolhouse which has become so celebrated in song and story of the early times. The slab benches had no backs and she can testify to the fact that it was exceedingly tiresome to sit upon one of these benches for any length of time. The first book put in her hands was a
little green primer. She has never forgotten her first lessons in school. Her first instruction was to memorize a stanza of poetry and the words of that little poem have never escaped her. They are as follows:
"Oh mother may I go to school with brother Charles today ? The air is very soft and cool, do, mother, say I may.
Well, little Mary, you may go if you will keep quite still,
"Tis wrong to make a noise, you know, I do not think you will."
Miss Funston grew up in the home of her parents in Newcomb Town- ship, and on December 19, 1880, she became the happy bride of the late
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Woodrow Downs. Mr. and Mrs. Downs became the parents of fifteen children, ten sons and five daughters. Thirteen of them are still living. It is a splendid family record. Dwight, the oldest, was educated in the common schools and is a practical agriculturist at Clyde, North Dakota. He married Miss Maud Lott and their four children are Rollo, Mary, Elsie and Josephine. Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Downs helped build the first Methodist Episcopal Church at Clyde, North Dakota. Mettie, the second child, was educated in the Fisher High School, with the class of 1904, and is still living with her mother, and she has taught school successfully in this county. Elizabeth was graduated from the Fisher High School in 1905 and is still at home. She is a member of the Domestic Science Club of Mahomet. Woodrow was educated in the common schools and is now following agriculture near Baker, Montana. He is a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen of America and married Miss Anna Becker. Pearl had a common school education and is now doing much of the work of the home farm for his mother. Bernice graduated from the Mahomet High School with the class of 1913, taught two years in this county, and is still at home. John Isaac had a common school education and two years in the high school at Mahomet and is now connected with a large automobile firm at Alma, Michigan. Nannie had two years in the Mahomet High School and is now the wife of E. J. Hammnell, an agriculturist of Newcomb Township. They have a daughter, Mary Louise. Jesse Glenn, still at home, is attend- .ing high school at Fisher. Don Edmund has finished the common school course and in 1917 received his diploma from the Rakes Automobile and Tractor School at Kansas City, Missouri, and is now a very expert mechanic and thoroughly competent to handle all kinds of automobile and tractor machinery. Melvin is in the seventh grade of the common schools; Leslie S. is also in the seventh grade of the Fisher school and Carrol Newton, the youngest, is in the third grade.
Great credit is due Mrs. Downs for the way she has reared her children and the unusual advantages she has afforded them both at home and in school.
The late Mr. Downs was born in Logan County, near North Lewis- burg, Ohio, February 27, 1852. He grew up there until he was fifteen and then came to Champaign County. He had the advantages of the common schools and early took up agriculture as his vocation. With the aid of his good wife, who stood constantly by him in practical assistance and in counsel and advice, he was highly prospered and stood high in community esteem. This esteem was well manifested at the time of liis death on December 17, 1912, when it was generally felt throughout New- comb Township that one of its ablest and best men had passed away. He is now at rest in the Shiloli cemetery, where Mrs. Downs has erected a monument to his memory. Mr. Downs was a Republican, and in a public way served as a justice of the peace and town clerk and for twenty- five years was a director of the public schools. He had the good of his community at heart and was always willing to work for the raising of standards and improvement of the locality. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served as superintendent of the Sunday school. His parents and grandparents were Quakers.
For years Mrs. Downs has been foremost in all the good work of her township and particularly in her church, with which she is officially iden- tified. She is also one of the teachers of the Sunday school. Mrs. Downs has given liberally of her means to the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church, of which her father was one of the founders. This church stands just across the road from Mrs. Downs' residence. The handsome and modern edifice was dedicated May 13, 1917, at a cost of $9,000. There
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was still a deficit of $1,850 at the time of dedication and the members of the church at once subscribed $2,700, nearly $1,000 more than enough to pay off all indebtedness.
Mrs. Downs still lives on her farm of 270 acres in Newcomb Township. It is a splendid place, and for a number of years has been known as the home of some very fine Shire horses. It bears the title of Willow Brook Farm, but has long been known as the Pancake Point Farin, due to the fact that members of the Pancake family entered the land from the gov- ernment.
Mrs. Downs has taken pleasure, recreation and additional means of culture from travel. She has visited many of the states in the Union, including the Dakotas, and has been through Canada. She has a fine home, many friends, and her high place in the community is not difficult to understand.
DAVID MADDOCK, who died in 1909, was a citizen of the type and vir- tues who should long be remembered not only among his descendants but by all who find encouragement and inspiration in a life of practical utility and a devotion to the best interests of mankind.
Mr. Maddock lived in Champaign County for nearly half a century. He was born near West Elkton, Ohio, a son of Eli and Absillit (Wood- ward) Maddock. His father was a native of Ohio and his mother of North Carolina. When David was a young man, after he had obtained his education in the district schools, the family moved to Illinois and went through the experiences of pioneers on a farm in Vermilion County and later in Champaign County.
On February 21, 1861, David Maddock married Jane H. Mills. Mrs. Maddock, who is now living in the village of St. Joseph, gave him the inspiration of her presence and her companionship for nearly half a century. She is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Mendenhall) Mills, both of whom were born in Tennessee. They first moved to Ohio and later to Vermilion County, Illinois. Mrs. Maddock completed her educa- tion in the old Vermilion Seminary near Vermilion Grove.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Maddock located five miles north of St. Joseph, where they bought 160 acres at $10 an acre. It was all virgin prairie, not a tree in sight, and it was possible to see over the prairies as far as Rantoul. They bought this home in 1865 and went through all the hardships and inconveniences devolved in making a good farm there. Later, in order to educate their children, Mr. and Mrs. Maddock moved to Indiana, and lived in that state for fifteen years.
Their six children were Oliver W., John M., Cora Ellen, William E., Anna E. and Emma J. They received their first advantages in the Stanton District School No. 4 and afterwards attended the Quaker school known as Bloomingdale Academy in Indiana. From the first Mr. and Mrs. Maddock endeavored to give their children every possible advantage. The three younger children completed their education in the famous old Quaker school, Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana.
The oldest of the children, Oliver W., is a farmer three and a half miles north of St. Joseph. He married Lutora Thompkins, and their children are Edward W., Clifton, Earl, Lowell and Russell. Of these Edward and Clifton were educated in the St. Joseph High School, while Earl spent two years in the special study of agriculture in the University of Illinois. Earl is a successful farmer, and has been honored with the position of deacon in the New Light Church.
The son John M. is in the jewelry business at Manhattan, Kansas. He married Grace Lamb, and their only child, Ralph, is now in the new
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National Army as a soldier. The daughter Cora Ellen is the wife of Charles Digby, and their home is at Charleston, Illinois. Their four children are Loren, Clara E., Paul and Charles. William E. is a school superintendent at Butte, Montana. He married Lida Shobe and has two daughters, Margaret and Helen. Anna E. is the wife of Dr. W. W. Pretts of Platteville, Wisconsin. Their three children are Elizabeth, Mary and William. The youngest of the children, Emma J., is the wife of Rev. Clarence Burkholder of Alpena, Michigan. They have a family of five children : Evelyn, Irene, Clarence E., Lucile and Henry.
After the education of their children was finished in Indiana, Mr. and Mrs. Maddock returned to Champaign County, lived in. the village of St. Joseph eighteen months, and then went back to their old farm. They erected a fine new home and surrounded themselves with every comfort that goes with modern rural life. Mr. Maddock always took an active interest in his church, served it as overseer and Sunday school superintendent, and was a man of public spirit in every sense of the word. He was school director, township treasurer, town clerk and commissioner, and the last work of his life was in connection with the schools. He and his wife had driven to St. Joseph to look after some school matters, and after they returned home that evening he was stricken with a pain about his heart and died of neuralgia before 1 o'clock the next morning. Mrs. Maddock after the death of her beloved companion remained on the home farm until 1916, when she bought an attractive home on Main Street in the village of St. Joseph, where she now lives surrounded with good neighbors and with many friends, and with an unclouded retrospect over the past she looks forward to the future with anticipation and a hope born of a true Christian life.
ROY YOUNGBLOOD, present assessor of Sidney Township, is a progres- sive young business man of that village. He began his career with limited capital and from employment by others has worked into a profitable busi- ness of his own.
He was born at Sidney, Illinois, December 23, 1880, and is a son of William H. and Savilla (Lucas) Youngblood. His father was born in Logansport, Indiana, and his mother in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His father, who is still living at Sidney, is an honored veteran of the Civil War. He served almost throughout that great conflict, part of the time in the Thirty-fifth and part of the time in the Twenty-fifth Illinois Infantry. As a result of the explosion of a caisson he became totally blind. He and his wife had six children: James, of Normal, Illinois; Anna, wife of William Eaton, of Sidney; Elizabeth, wife of T. L. Dalton, of Sidney ; Howard, of Sidney ; Grace, deceased; and Roy.
Roy Youngblood grew up in his native village, attended the local schools, and after finishing a course in the Indianapolis Business College in 1900 he returned to his home town and became assistant cashier and bookkeeper in the State Bank. He served faithfully in that capacity four years and then made an opportunity for a business of his own. as a restaurant proprietor. He conducts a model establishment and has a fine trade.
On September 26, 1906, Mr. Youngblood married Lessie Yeazel, a native of St. Joseph Township of Champaign County. Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood have three children: Mary, Milton and Mildred, the latter two twins. Politically Mr. Youngblood has always acted in the Republi- can party and is influential in its councils. Besides his present office as township assessor, in which he is serving his second term, he is an alder- man of the village, and was formerly village treasurer. In fraternal matters he is a Mason.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
J. W. BENSYL, whose home is an attractive place just east of Urbana, enjoys the honor and respect of all the people of Champaign County, par- ticularly for the valiant service he rendered as a soldier of the Civil War. Mr. Bensyl was in the army for over four years, and his subsequent life and activities have been of a piece with the loyalty and devotion he showed his country in time of stress.
Mr. Bensyl was born at Danville, Illinois, November 23, 1839, a son of John and Elizabeth (Corray) Bensyl. Both parents were natives of Ohio. Elizabeth Corray, a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Corray, was born in that state January 29, 1820. John Bensyl was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, December 5, 1808, a son of John and Mary Bensyl. John and Eliza- beth Bensyl were married December 27, 1838, before a justice of the peace, Walter Roads. John Bensyl died January 23, 1844. J. W. Bensyl was one of two children. His sister, Mary Matilda, was born January 27, 1842, and died in Nevada.
The Bensyl family were pioneer settlers in eastern Illinois and the parents were married at Danville. John Bensyl took part as a soldier in the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832, a brief campaign in which many men had their first experience in military affairs. It will be recalled that Abraham Lincoln was captain of a company in that war. John Bensyl enlisted twice during the war. He was first under Captain James Parmer and afterwards under Captain Jesse B. Brown. Mr. Bensyl has in his possession the discharge papers of his father, dated June 23, 1832. This discharge states that John Bensyl carried the thanks and gratitude of his commanding officer, which is high evidence of his soldierly quali- ties. John Bensyl was a very active man, was of medium height, five feet ten inches, had a fair complexion, gray eyes and dark hair.
After the death of his father J. W. Bensyl's mother married James Springer and removed to northeastern Missouri. The half brothers of Mr. Bensyl are: J. E. Springer of Urbana Township; William I. Springer, deceased ; and Thomas Springer of Salt Lake, Utah. J. W. Bensyl lived in Missouri from the age of ten until he was nineteen. He had obtained his first school advantages in the old Bromley School, where his first teacher was George Hoyt. Later he attended the St. Joseph School, where his teacher was Armstrong Rankin.
J. W. Bensyl was not twenty-one years of age when the Civil War broke out. He soon caught the enthusiasm and desired to enlist with the first call for three months' troops. However, he deferred on account of his mother's objection. His mother at that time was in poor health, and on October 16, 1861, she passed away. After she was laid to rest the young man felt that his duty had been done by granting her wish, and that nothing stood in the way of his service to his country, which was so sorely in need of brave men. On the 25th of October, 1861, he enlisted in Somer Township in Company I of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, a gallant organization in which he did his full share of hardships and duty. The regiment was first ordered to Cairo, then was sent back to Camp Butler at Springfield, thence to Quincy, Illinois, to Benton Barracks at St. Louis, and from there sent into southwestern Missouri, being quartered during the summer at Sand Springs on guard duty, twenty miles from Springfield: During the next winter the regiment was at Brownsville, Arkansas, and in the spring was sent on to New Orleans, to Little Rock, and about that time the term of enlistment having expired, Mr. Bensyl re-enlisted. He and his comrades were granted a thirty days' furlough, which they spent at home and at Springfield, Illinois, where the ladies of the town entertained the soldier boys most royally, giving them a reception which they appreciated the more because of their long experience in camp life.
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From Springfield, Illinois, the regiment was again sent South to Nashville, Tennessee, and to Little Rock, Arkansas, where their arms and horses were restored for duty. On first entering the service the members of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry had furnished their own horses, but at the second enlistment the Government furnished their mounts.
The Tenth Illinois Cavalry of which Mr. Bensyl was a member was recruited in the fall of 1861, was mustered into service at Camp Butler, and was discharged from service at the same place January 6, 1866, after four years, two months and seventeen days. It participated in the follow- ing notable engagements : Cane Hill, Clark's Mills, Niauqua Creek, Prai- rie Grove, Van Buren, Cotton Plant, Arkansas Post, Little Rock, Bayou Des Arc, Vicksburg and Mobile.
Mr. Bensyl was first discharged from service January 2, 1864, at Little Rock. At that time his captain was the gallant George L. Snelling. Dur- ing his first enlistment he served as corporal. His second discharge was dated November 22, 1865, at San Antonio, Texas. He came out of the army with the rank of sergeant. His second captain had been William H. Coffman. Thus Mr. Bensyl was in the army four years, two months and ten days. Not long after he returned to Illinois he went to farming, and on September 25, 1870, married Armilda Brownfield. Mrs. Bensyl was born in Somer Township of Champaign County, a daughter of Ben- jamin and Lavina (Hayes) Brownfield. The Brownfield family consisted of four children and with her brothers and sisters Mrs. Bensyl attended the district schools.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl went to Martin County, Min- nesota, where they remained two years engaged in farming. Returning to Illinois, they settled in Somer Township on land which had been part of Mrs. Bensyl's father's estate and a portion of which she had inherited. Here they began building their permanent home, and in time they bought the interests of the other heirs and had a well improved farm of eighty acres.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl, two of whom died in infancy. The only daughter, Kathryn, was educated in the home dis- trict schools and the Urbana High School, and after reaching young womanhood married Charles U. Ross. Mr. Ross had formerly been a resident of Urbana, but at that time was engaged in business at Okla- lioma City. The wedded life of these two young people was brief. At the end of sixteen months Mr. Ross passed away. Thus left alone in her widowhood, Kathryn returned to the home of her parents at Urbana and has lived with them ever since.
Eighteen years ago Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl left their farm and moved to Urbana, residing there six years. They then sought a home near Urbana, where they acquired a small tract of ground just east of the city and built themselves a most commodious and modern home. The home is located close to the interurban line, and they thus enjoy the conveniences of the city and the comfort and quiet of the country. Uncle Sam delivers their mail every day, and with telephone and electric light they are able to enjoy the scriptural injunction to eat and drink and enjoy the work of their hands.
The family are active members of the Christian Church at Urbana. Mr. Bensyl has served his community as school director and school trustee, and politically has always voted in line with the principles that led him to serve his country in the dark days of the '60s. The Republican party has meant to him the greatest political organization in the world and the source of the best laws America has ever had.
Mr. and Mrs. Bensyl have witnessed many of the interesting changes and developments as a result of which Champaign County has become a
ELDER ROW, GRAIN AND STOCK FARM A. C. McELWEE
MR. AND MRS. A. C. MCELWEE AND CHILDREN
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
garden spot of the world. He recalls a time when the town of Urbana consisted of only a few buildings and the country around was a scene of waving prairie grass and sloughs. The original log jail was standing in Urbana when Mr. Bensyl first came to the county. On a farm that after- wards belonged to Mrs. Bensyl a man named Weaver, while under the influence of liquor, shot and killed a Mr. Hildebrand. Weaver was arrested and confined in the old jail at Urbana, and after trial was sentenced to be hanged. The night before the morning set for the execution he broke out of jail and was never apprehended. It was said that he went to Wisconsin, where his family joined him, and he spent his last years therc.
Thus the main facts have been recited in the career of a worthy Cham- paign County citizen who as a youth marched away with the boys in blue to save the Union from disintegration and after more than four years of fighting returned home to enjoy the fruits of peace and take his place among those who were fighting for the victories of civilization. More than ever today the world realizes how much the victorious boys of the '60s contributed by their brave efforts to the well being of not only this nation but of the world, since it was the results of their sacrifices that made it possible for the allies to appeal for help to the United States and thus preserve the rights and liberties of freedom everywhere from the encroachment of monarchy and despotism.
A. C. McELWEE. The township of St. Joseph has some of the best farms in Champaign County, and one that at once attracts attention by its well tilled fields and splendid improvements is the Elder Row Grain and Stock Farm, the proprietor of which is A. C. McElwee.
Back in 1856, more than sixty years ago, his grandfather, C. J. McElwee, acquired 120 acres. It was raw and unimproved and largely became a farm under his efforts. That was the foundation and nucleus of the Elder Row Grain and Stock Farm. Oddly enough, the land has not been retained in the family possession by the usual method of inheritance, but always by purchase from one member or one generation of the family from another. Thus what one generation developed has been taken by the next succeeding and every year has witnessed increasing value and care and management.
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