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 57
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Mr. A. C. McElwee, the present proprietor of this fine farm, was born in Fountain County, Indiana, December 27, 1864, a son of Leonard C. and Anna M. (Simmons) McElwee. Leonard C. McElwee was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, November 3, 1837. His wife was born in Ohio, and they were married in Fountain County, Indiana. Leonard C. McElwee for many years combined the vocation of school teacher with that of farmer, teaching country schools in winter terms. He and his wife had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, A. C. being the youngest son. The latter was educated largely in the Bowers District School in St. Joseph Township, his parents having moved to that township in 1874. The mother died there in 1899, and the father survived until 1915.
On May 13, 1890, A. C. McElwee married Miss Julia A. Green, who was born three miles east of Danville, Illinois, a daughter of William and Sarah (Davidson) Green. Both her parents were natives of Illinois, the Green family having come from Ohio and the Davidsons from Virginia. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. McElwee settled on the J. S. Kilbury farm not far from Burr Oak Grove. They lived there eight years, leasing land and farming. At the end of that time Mr. McElwee bought the old home place from his father. His mother in the meantime had died, and his father desired to leave the farm. Here the young couple have made their permanent home, and with industry and intelligence have done
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much to improve their lot in life and better the circumstances of the family in general. The Elder Row Grain and Stock Farm now comprises 248 acres. Mr. McElwee has constructed a fine and commodious home, a large assortment of fruit trees has been set out, and the place indicates even to the casual observer the evidence of intelligent farming. Mr. McElwee has found mixed farming the most profitable plan and combines the raising of grain crops with good stock. He keeps graded Shorthorn cattle, Belgian horses, and his chief field crops are oats, corn and some wheat and clover. Some years he threshed as much as 6,000 bushels of oats and gathered 8,000 bushels of corn.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McElwee: Floyd L., Florence Ruby (deceased), Harry G. and Albert C. The education of these children was carefully looked after both at home and in the local district schools. The son Floyd L. is a successful young farmer and lives. on part of his father's estate. He married Lucile Warnick of Bloomfield, Indiana, and they have two children, Rowena Laverne and Dorothy Florence. Mr. McElwee very wisely provided location and opportunity for his son, and their interests are mutual and each is assisting the other in the work. Thus Mr. McElwee not only has the satisfaction of having his son near him, but also in seeing his grandchildren grow up around him. Mr. and Mrs. McElwee are active members of the United Brethren Church of Union in Ogden Township, and Mr. McElwee is one of its trustees. In politics he is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, and it is his firm belief that this party has done more for the welfare of the country than any other organization. Mr. McElwee is interested in the local schools, has served as school director for fourteen years, and has also been ditch com- missioner. He and his wife have contributed not a little to the upbuilding and growth of Champaign County during the many years of their residence here.
CLARENCE A. RICE. Some highly developed farms lie along rural route No. 56 in Philo Township, and one of them is the place of Clarence A. Rice, which is in section 24. Mr. Rice has given a good account of his energies and ability and deserves to rank well to the front among the farming men of one of the richest agricultural sections of the Middle West.
He was born in Bureau County, Illinois, April 7, 1861, a son of Sam- uel D. and Kate (Bergstra) Rice. His father was born in Massachusetts and his mother in New York State. It was in 1856 that Samuel D. Rice came West, first locating in Iowa and about two years later moving to Bureau County, Illinois. In 1881 he came from Bureau County to Cham- paign County and established his home in section 24 of Philo Township. He was successfully identified with farming in that locality until his death on December 23, 1914. His good wife and the mother of his only child died in 1863.
Clarence A. Rice grew up in his father's home, attended both the common and high schools, and for many years was associated with his father in the management of the fine farm in Philo Township. He is now individually the owner of 185 acres in section 24 and devotes it to general farming and stock raising.
On March 4, 1886, Mr. Rice married Carrie Hazen. Their two chil- dren, Katherine G. and Nathan L., have been afforded every advantage at home and in school and are now students in the State University at Urbana. Mr. Rice is a Republican in politics and is now serving as treasurer of his township school. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
The pretty estate of Mr. and Mrs. Rice is known as "Belle Vue," and it is the abode of hospitality and good cheer.
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MATISON F. DUNN has spent a long and productive career as an agri- culturist in St. Joseph Township, and for the last two years has lived retired from farming in the village of St. Joseph, and has conducted a very success- ful real estate enterprise.
Mr. Dunn is a native of Champaign County, having been born on a' farm in St. Joseph Township, February 9, 1868, a son of Zephaniah M. and Elizabeth (Mapes) Dunn. His father was a native of Kentucky and his mother of Maryland. Zephaniah Dunn, who was born in 1831, was only two years of age when his parents migrated to Illinois and settled near Urbana among the few families then resident there in 1833. Thus the Dunns shared in the experiences typical of the country and described as pertaining to the early decade of the '30s. Zephaniah grew up in these pioneer conditions, and during his youth he worked for Mr, Busey, one of the prominent farmers of the day, for wages of only 25 cents per day. Zephaniah Dunn had a family of eight children, six sons and two daugh- ters, all of whom were educated in the district school known as the Patterson School.
Matison Dunn after reaching his majority married Laura M. Berkshire, daughter of Jesse B. and Ida (Hawley) Berkshire. His marriage was the signal for the beginning of an industrious and active career as a farmer. For some years he rented eighty acres of land, but was not destined to remain long in that condition of semi-dependence. Prosperity has con- tinued to smile upon him and his labors as an agriculturist had their due reward. A number of years ago Mr. Dunn bought 120 acres in Paulding County, Ohio, 240 acres in Minnesota, and at the death of his father became heir to 100 acres in St. Joseph Township.
By his first marriage Mr. Dunn had three children, Grace E., Ida M. and Arley O. These children, except Ida, who died at the age of three years and eight months, were educated in the St. Joseph High School. Grace married Carl E. Murphy, who lives at Richmond, Indiana, and is employed as interlocking tower man with the Pennsylvania Railway Com- pany. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have four daughters, Mildred, Gertrude, Louise and Esther. Arley O. Dunn is a locomotive fireman with the Chi- cago & Eastern Illinois, living at Danville. He married Hazel Davidson, and they have a daughter, Lavone, aged four years.
This little family household endured a heavy loss in the death of the good wife and mother on January 6, 1896. Later Mr. Dunn married Nora (Stewart) McCormick, widow of John McCormick. By her first marriage she had two children, Ollie M. and Mabel F. McCormick. Ollie is the wife of Banks Lambdin of Fisher, Illinois, and has a son and daughter named Fred and Marie. Mabel married Paul M. Freeman, an employe in the Big Four Railway shops at Urbana, and their family consists of two small boys, Donald M. and Stanley F.
By their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dunn have a son and daughter, Lowell M. and Thelma Lavone. These children have been educated in the St. Joseph High School.
Throughout all these years Mr. Dunn has been successfully engaged in farming and stock growing, but in 1913 he left the active supervision of the farm and moved to the village of St. Joseph, where he erected a fine residence on Sixth Street and has done much to improve and beautify the home and grounds. While living in the country Mr. Dunn was noted as one of the men who could get the most out of a given acreage and with a given capital, and the same success has followed him to St. Joseph as a real estate man. He is engaged in that business as partner of his cousin, John B. Dunn.
In politics Mr. Dunn is a Republican and he and his wife are active
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members and liberal supporters of the St. Joseph Christian Church. He is one of the trustees of the church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen order, and Mrs. Dunn is a Pythian Sister.
Such are the principal facts in the history of one of the fine families of Champaign County. Mrs. Dunn is a most excellent wife and home maker and has encouraged her husband and performed a worthy part by her children.
ORIE A. COOK, D. V. M. The important responsibilities of carrying on the world's work are devolving upon younger men in every generation. It is the young men who furnish the enthusiasm and energy to industry and business and also to the professions. One of the young professional men of Fisher is Dr. O. A. Cook, a young veterinarian who has quickly gained the confidence and esteem of his patrons in veterinary surgery and is well deserving of that confidence.
He is a native of Ford County, Illinois, born April 11, 1894. His parents are Carvosso W. and Elma (Arnold) Cook. There were seven children, five sons and two daughters, in the family, and four are still living. Carvosso Cook was born in Indiana, was educated in the common schools, and his life has been successfully spent as an agriculturist, though for a short time he was a dealer in drugs. From Indiana he re- moved to Livingston County, Illinois, and later to Ford County, which has been his home for many years. His first purchase of land was eighty acres and after disposing of that he bought forty acres and still later 160 acres, and having accumulated a fine property of 200 acres of fine land in Ford County is now well deserving of the comforts which surround his retirement. In politics he is a Republican and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife own a good property in Roberts, where they now reside. Doctor Cook's mother is a native of New York State and was educated in the public schools. She worships in the Congregational Church.
Doctor Cook was reared in Ford County and had a common school education. As a boy his inclinations were plainly manifest for the pro- fession of veterinary surgery and in 1913 he entered the Chicago Vet- erinary College, where he was graduated with high standing in a class of ninety-two in 1917. Prior to his graduation he had selected his future location in the great agricultural belt of the world, Champaign County, and has already acquired a good practice at Fisher and over the county at large. He located there in April, 1917. This part of the country has the best class of draft and work horses in the state.
Doctor Cook's office is located in the center of the business district and is thoroughly equipped with the most modern surgical instruments, while his laboratory has a stock of the purest of drugs and medicincs. His equine sanitarium is as well equipped as any in the largest cities. Doctor Cook is an affable, cordial and genial gentleman and has those qualities which make him socially popular as well as the thorough ability which merits the confidence shown in his judgment and skill as a professional man. His practice has already extended over the northwestern part of Champaign County and even to Rantoul. His equipment of instruments and drugs represent an investment of fully seven hundred dollars. He is always prompt and ready to answer calls for service and has his own automobile to take him quickly to any farm in this part of the county.
Doctor Cook keeps in touch with all the latest points of his profession and has his library well stocked with medical journals as well as a complete collection of the best authors on the science of veterinary surgery. He is
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extremely well fortified to pursue his chosen work in Champaign County and the prosperous and promising beginning he has made of his pro- fessional career well justifies placing his record in a conspicuous place in this publication.
WILLIAM L. YANCEY. The various items in the career of William L. Yancey show that he is one of Champaign County's farmers who have made more than an ordinary success, and that while acquiring material prosperity he has not neglected those public interests which claim his atten- tion in common with all good citizens. Though he started life compara- tively a poor man, he now has a farm in Mahomet Township which is easily among the best in that section. He is a native son of Champaign County and his record is such that everywhere his word is considered as good as his bond.
His birth occurred June 19, 1864. He was the younger of two children, his only sister being now deceased. His parents were Laten and Margaret (Everett) Yancey. His father was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, was reared and educated there, and was an early day arrival in Champaign County. He made settlement near the old Middletown postoffice, now Mahomet, and industriously pursued the career of farmer there the rest of his days. His remains now rest in the Riverside Cemetery, and his wife is also deceased. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, a member of the Masonic order and both he and his wife were active in the Baptist Church. The Yancey family has long been identified with American history, and some of the earlier members served with credit as soldiers in the Revolu- tionary War.
William L. Yancey grew up on his father's farm in Champaign County and attended the Mahomet schools. When about nineteen years of age he started out to achieve his own success in life, and being without cash capital he made his start as a renter. Later he married, and with the aid of a competent wife has made a complete success. His first purchase of land was 153 acres, thirty-five acres in Newcomb Township and the rest in Mahomet. Mr. Yancey has managed his farming activities in a way to bring prosperity and to serve as a stimulating example in the handling of a farm. He has always taken just pride in his blooded sheep, and that is one of the chief features of his farm. The various improvements on his farm have been made by his own efforts.
Mr. Yancey married Miss Kate Scott. Of their three children, one son and two daughters, two are living. Harlow, the only son, was educated in the Mahomet High School and is a practical agriculturist now in charge of his father's farm. He is independent in politics and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Mahomet. Wilma, the only surviving daughter, is a graduate of the Mahomet public schools and was successfully engaged in teaching in this county before her marriage to Mr. Guy Jones. Mr. Jones is an expert automobile mechanic and lives in Mahomet Town- ship. Mrs. Jones is a member of the Baptist Church.
Mrs. Yancey was born in Mahomet Township and she has a twin sister, Sarah, now living in St. Louis. Mrs. Yancey was educated in the common schools and is an active member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Yancey is a Democrat in national affairs, but has very frequently exercised his choice of candidate according to the dictates of his personal judgment. The local schools have always received a generous share of his time and attention, and for a number of years he acted as director of the school in Newcomb Township. He has passed all the chairs in the lodge of Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Mahomet and is a member of the Court of Honor. He has long held the position of deacon in the Baptist
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Church, and has cordially supported every worthy movement of benev- olence and the general welfare of his community.
JAMES LOUIS EDWARDS. One of the comfortable country homes of Philo Township, a place adding to the distinctive character of prosperity and well ordered enterprise in that section, is the Edwards place, now occupied by James Louis Edwards, who acquired it from his father, George Edwards. The Edwards family has been identified with Cham- paign County for over half a century. James Louis Edwards is unmarried and with his sister Anna looks after the management of the farm and they keep house together.
Mr. Edwards was born on the old homestead in section 18 of Philo Township in 1867, a son of George and Susan C. (Andrews) Edwards. His father was born in England and his mother in Baltimore, Maryland. The family came to Champaign County in 1865, locating in that year in section 18 of Philo Township. Land that was then only raw prairie was converted by the united efforts of the family into a fine and prosperous homestead. The father died July 3, 1916, and the mother in February, 1914. They had a large family of children: William, deceased; Anna, at home; John, of Urbana; Ruth, wife of Ora Lindley, of Urbana; Frank, of Warsaw, Indiana; Nellie, wife of John Elliott, of Cass County, Nebraska; James Louis; Minnie, wife of Irvin Maxwell; and Albert and Edward, both deceased.
James L. Edwards has farmed on the old homestead all his life and is now owner of 160 acres of the old place and besides has eighty acres not included in the original domain of his father. Mr. Edwards is a fine type of the Champaign County agriculturist and has proved the right man in the right place. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church at ·Philo.
JASON EUGENE CHURCHILL. One of the good farm homes in Philo Township is found in section 25, where Mr. J. E. Churchill shows his ability as a farmer and stockman' and by dint of hard work and good management has acquired the ownership of a tract of land which he first farmed as a renter.
Mr. Churchill is a native of Champaign County, having been born in Crittenden Township April 3, 1892. His parents were Jason M. and Jennie E. (French) Churchill. His father was born in New York State and his mother in the State of Kansas: His father came to Champaign County when twenty-five years of age and lived an active life as a farmer until his death on July 16, 1911. The mother died in September, 1916. They had three children : Lottie J., Agnes E. and Jason Eugene, and all are living in Philo Township.
At the age of nineteen, in 1911, J. E. Churchill graduated from the Philo High School and almost at once began farming on the home place. A little later he transferred his operations to a rented farm of 160 acres in section 25. Each year brought him added capital as well as experience, and he is now the owner of eighty acres of land in section 25, and his accomplishments promise still greater achievements before he comes to the full maturity of his career. He is both a farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Churchill was married January 1, 1913, to Fern Spencer, of Crittenden Township. Their three young children are: Jason Spencer, born June 1, 1914; Esther Marie, born July 7, 1915; and Mildred Jean, born September 12, 1916. Like many of the young men of modern times, Mr. Churchill chooses independently in matters of politics. He is a
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member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Philo and also of the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife worship in the Metli- odist Episcopal Church.
M. FENWICK. Among the families of more than fifty years' residence in Champaign County, one which is well and favorably known is that rep- resented by M. Fenwick, a prosperous business citizen of St. Joseph, who has made his home in this community since 1868. Mr. Fenwick was born in Indiana, June 14, 1842, a son of William and Mary (Gilbert) Fenwick. His maternal grandfather was an early frontiersman of Ohio. and in that state, in Ross County, Mr. Fenwick's parents were married. William Fen- wick was born in Highland County, Ohio, and his father's birthplace was Fenwick's Island, Delaware.
The Fenwick family can be directly traced back to the days of bow-and- arrow warfare in Scotland, when members of the family, loyal Scots all, were among the best archers, there being at one time 500 of the name so armed fighting for the rights and liberties of the land of heather. Sir John Fenwick, one of Mr. Fenwick's ancestors, was beheaded in England for his patriotic activities, and it is thought that the original Fenwick in America, Thomas, who arrived in Virginia in 1630, came to this country to escape a like fate. In the Encyclopedia Et Heraldica it is found that the armorials of the family are deposited at the Lion office of Edinburgh, Scotland. The original orthography of the name Fenwick was given in 1567 as Fynwyk, this being changed in 1723 to Finwick and in 1793 to Fenwick. The first record given of the family in this country was in a reference made in the work, entitled "Southern Quakers and Slavery," by Stephen D. Weeks, Ph. D., published by Ballentyne, 1896. In the court records of Norfolk County, Virginia, the name of Thomas Fenwick is fre- quently found, either as a prosecutor or a defendant, and while his record shows that he surely led a stormy life, some of the penalties, fines and causes for proceedings were both laughable and absurd. He was granted at different times several thousand acres of land by the Virginia governors as recompense for bringing settlers into the county, and at one time trans- ported sixty persons, for which service he was given 3,000 acres, a part of which was subsequently called Fenwick Island, lying off the coast of Dela- ware. The court record of May 21, 1679, shows that one Malachi Thruston received judgment against Thomas Fenwick for 365 pounds of tobacco; on September 5, 1679, Thomas Fenwick received a judgment against Nathaniel Brangwing for 400 pounds of tobacco; on February 15, 1680, Thomas Fenwick obtained judgment against Edward Wilder for 337 pounds of pork, and in another case Henry Creek obtained judgment against Thomas Fenwick for 130 pounds of tobacco and 108 pounds of pork. On October 15, 1684, William Porter obtained judgment against Thomas Fen- wick for 1,000 pipc stems, to be paid at "Fenwick's Landing." In the land office at Richmond, Virginia, Liber. VII, folio 423, Francis Lord Howard, governor, is shown to issue to Thomas Fenwick a grant of 350 acres for the transportation of seven persons, and later it is shown where Thomas Fen- wick traded a negro slave woman for 200 acres of land. On November '17, 1685, "Whereas, Philip Howard did detain a servant of Thomas Fenwick (named Humphry Dorman, who had three years to serve) for the loss of a bull hired to said Fenwick-in which hire the servant ran away, and if Howard do not return said servant within six months to Fenwick, he pay Fenwick 600 pounds of tobacco and costs." Later in 1700, he was made a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature and with other members was appointed at different times to call upon the governor and to present bills for consideration. In the Pennsylvania archives it is shown that Thomas
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Fenwick was appointed justice of the peace for Sussex County, and that on May 4, 1703, one Edward Page was fined five shillings for swearing in his (Fenwick's) presence. Fenwick's Island is referred to in the celebrated case between William Penn and Lord Baltimore. The will of Thomas Fenwick is recorded at Georgetown, Delaware, Liber. A, folio 77, as follows : He first willed his soul to God and to his heirs his real estate, slaves and chattels; his daughter, Margaret Stretcher, and heirs his spinning wheels, cards and utensils, her choice of beds and his youngest negro girl; to Anna Clifton, his sea bed; to Margaret Hepburn, his old horse "Lodge" and four barrels of Indian corn; to Sarah Clifton, his silver baker; and to Thomas Clifton, half of his mares and an increase on Fenwick's Island.
From his native state of Ohio William Fenwick removed to Indiana and subsequently to Illinois, but after seven years in this state returned to Indiana and there passed the rest of his life. His son, M. Fenwick, was twenty-six years of age when he came to Illinois, being at that time the possessor of a common school education and the trade of carpenter, and settled in St. Joseph Township, Champaign County. He subsequently built the first house at St. Joseph, as well as the first ticket office at this point ; likewise built the first house and ticket office at Ogden, Illinois, and scored and hewed the first ties used on the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, Nebraska, but after several years in the trade turned his attention to farming, a field in which he won enviable success through industry and good management, backed up by sound integrity in all transactions.
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