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 61
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
About October, 1905, Mr. Hollingsworth found employment with the well known firm of R. R. Donnelley & Sons at Chicago. Though only fifteen years of age at the time he was soon made "lock up" and "stone man" and assistant superintendent of his department. Though one of the youngest in the establishment he had some very taxing responsibilities. He was with that firm sixteen months, and then returned to the Metropol- -itan Church Association, which was then published at Waukesha, Wiscon- sin. He became foreman in the composing room. This publication was one of the largest business concerns in Waukesha City. In October, 1907, Mr. Hollingsworth went to Detroit to become identified with a large firm of that city, but in the panic of 1907 nearly all the force was discharged and he among them. He continued a resident of Detroit until August, 1908, when he went back to Waukesha and was there about a year and in 1909 entered the service of the American Tag Company at Chicago. He was there about two years and for a time was with the printing firm of Rogers & Hall, where he remained until 1912. On account of illness Mr. Hollingsworth was then compelled to leave the confining duties of city life and he came to Fisher, Illinois, to recuperate. This town has been his home since 1912 except for the portion of a year he spent with the Rantoul News at Rantoul. On returning to Fisher he went to work with the Fisher Reporter, and remained there until the present paper, The Fisher News, was establishd on May 8, 1913. Mr. Hollingsworth secured the full support of all the merchants of Fisher, and through the cordial co-operation of his fellow citizens has made the Fisher News a power throughout the northwestern section of Champaign County. The News is a weekly publication, six column quarto, and would be a credit to any county in Illinois. The circulation is fully represented in the surround- ing country. In the equipment is a fine Diamond press. The paper is published independent in politics.
Mr. Hollingsworth married June 4, 1914, Miss Edna B. Arm- strong, daughter of J. E. and Anna (Boskill) Armstrong, who are now living at Fisher. Mrs. Hollingsworth was educated in the common schools of McLean County. She is an active member of the Christian Church of Fisher and belongs to the Domestic Science Club. Politically Mr. Hollingsworth has worked with and has been a factor in the Republican party. His first vote was given to Colonel Roosevelt for President. He is now serving as clerk of Brown Township. Fraternally he is active in Lodge No. 704 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Fisher and belongs to the Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America at the same place. His church is the Christian denomination. Mr. Hollingsworth
931
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
was one of the leading spirits in the organization of the Community Welfare Association and served as its secretary two years. This associa- tion is composed of merchants, business men and all members of the community in and around Fisher who are truly interested in and willing to work for those objects which can only be accomplished by community co-operation. The membership now includes about seventy. Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth stand very high in the estimation of all the people of Fisher and they have well earned a place of esteem in the locality.
MARION E. LEIGH, whose home is in the village of St. Joseph, has spent a very active career in the agricultural pursuits of Champaign County and is a member of one of the old families of this section.
Mr. Leigh married Clara B. Leas. She was born in Stanton Township, Champaign County, a daughter of William C. and Margaret (Argo) Leas. Her father was a native of Indiana and her mother of Ohio, and the family were early settlers in Champaign County.
William C. Leas served three years in the Union Army in Company H of the Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was part of the famous brigade of General Wilder, commonly known as Wilder's Light- ning Brigade, and saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war, including Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and the Atlantic campaign. William C. Leas was mustered out at the close of the war and on receiving his honorable dis- charge returned home to Indiana. Hc married in Illinois and reared a family noted for integrity of character and loyal citizenship. He was one of the charter members of Prairie Hope Christian Church and he and his wife were long identified with that congregation.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Marion E. Leigh remained on her father's farm until the death of her parents, and tenderly cared for them during the setting sun of life and handed them down to their graves in peace.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Leigh, Cora and Etta. They were given the best advantages of school and home. Cora completed her education in the Urbana High School and then married Vernon E. Varner, a farmer in Stanton Township, living on her father's place. The daughter Etta-carried on her studies in the high school at St. Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Leigh removed to the village of St. Joseph, procuring a residence on Third Street. Mr. Leigh while living somewhat retired finds plenty to do and goes to his farm every day, traveling in his automobile. Mr. and Mrs. Leigh are active members of the Prairie Hope Christian Church in Stanton Township and he is one of the deacons and trustees.
In politics he is a Democrat and a man of broad views, upholding the principles of his party and working steadily for good government both in county and nation.
Mr. Leigh has become more than locally known as an extensive breeder and raiser of Shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses. He keeps fine regis- tered stock and his herd of fifty Shorthorns is regarded as one of the best in the entire state. Mr. Leigh has served as road commissioner, as school trustee and township supervisor, and in every office and public responsibility has justified the confidence of his fellow citizens.
William C. Leas had an interesting part in connection with the building as well as the maintenance of the Prairie Hope Christian Church in Stanton Township. Much of the timber entering into the construction grew on trees on his father's farm, and it was milled and hauled from Fountain County, Indiana. William C. Leas assisted in hauling the lumber and also in the work of constructing what was the first country church crected in that part of Champaign County. The old building still remains in a good state of
932
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
preservation, and its seats are of fine walnut timber, almost priceless at the present time. It has been a center of religious worship and social commin- gling for two generations of people, and both Sunday school and preaching services have been held there more or less regularly for many years. In the early times on account of the rough and muddy roads church services were difficult to maintain with any degree of regularity, but with the era of good roads the church has been open almost every Lord's day.
At the death of William C. Leas he left a farm to each of his three children. These three children are George N. Leas, Mrs. Della Christie of Urbana, and Mrs. Marion E. Leigh. Mrs. Leigh inherited the old homestead, which she still possesses and cherishes as the home of her birth and girlhood, with a host of pleasing associations and memories. George N. Leas has in his possession a small Testament which his father carried throughout the three years of his army service. During that time the cover was worn off the little book twice and he rebound it each time himself. The last time he put on a binding made from a piece of fine leather cut from the tops of his army boots. The Testament was given into his hands by his Christian mother whose prayers followed her boy throughout the many weary campaigns he experienced.
Mrs. Leigh has a greatly prized heirloom of her father, in the form of a diary which he kept throughout the war. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this is a poem which he wrote when a boy in the army and while he was on guard duty at Chattanooga, Tennessee. This poem reads as follows :
"My father is a farmer, My brothers are the same, But I for love of country Have to the army came.
"And by the prayers of Christians My life is spared thus far, To them I am indebted For God's protecting care.
"I know that mother often In Fountain County there,
Pours out her soul devoutly In humble, heartfelt prayer.
"And father, too, in secret Is offering up his prayer ยท For his absent son who long since Enlisted in the war.
"And there is sister Lizzie, And Arthur and the rest, Who often say to Jesus, 'My absent brother bless.' "
ROBERT SHIELDS. Among the men who during the past half century have done their full share in the agricultural development of Champaign County is Robert Shields, who for the past ten years has been a valued resident of the village of Foosland. He was born in Washington County, New York, September 25, 1842, and is the fifth in order of birth of nine children, five sons and four daughters, born to Francis and Agnes (Oliver) Shields. Three of the sons reside in Champaign County, one in Ontario, Canada, one in Florida, and one in Chicago, Illinois.
933
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Francis Shields and his wife were both born in Roxborough, Scotland, and they were married there and some of the older children were born in Scotland. In 1840 they started for America in a sailing vessel out of Liverpool, England, and it was three months before they reached Wash- ington County, New York. There Mr. Shields acquired land, but in 1854 moved to Ontario, Canada, where lic engaged in farming during the remainder of his active life and was unusually successful. While he lived in New York he voted with the Whig party. Both he and wife were faithful members of the Presbyterian Church and at death they were interred in the Presbyterian Cemetery at Strathroy, Canada, seventy-five miles east of Detroit.
Robert Shields was twelve years old when he accompanied his parents to Canada, having previously attended school in New York, which covered about his entire educational opportunities. He remained in Canada and worked on farms until he was seventeen years of age, when he decided to start out for himself, determining to reach Logan County, Illinois. When he reached Chicago in March, 1860, he found that he did not have enough money to reach his destination but fortunately was able to borrow one dollar and when he reached Atlanta, in Logan County, still had fifty cents of it. Thus Mr. Shields really did begin at the bottom of the ladder when he bravely started out to build up his fortunes. He found farm work near Lawndale with wages of $12 per month and probably would have continued had not the Civil War come on in 1861.
It is a tribute to Mr. Shield's courage and patriotism that he was one of the earliest to answer the first call of President Lincoln, enlisting on April 17, 1861, for three months, in Company . H, Seventh Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, under the command of Captain C. W. Holden and Colonel John Cook. When his term of enlistment expired he returned home but in August, 1862, he re-enlisted, entering Company C, One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain B. B. Pegram and Colonel R. B. Latham, and was in the Sixteenth Army Corps until after the siege of Vicksburg, in which he took part. The siege over, this regi- ment was assigned to the Seventh Army Corps, under General Fred Steele. Their field of operations being Arkansas, they drove the enemy out of Little Rock and then engaged in the skirmish at Clarendon. In 1864 General Steele joined in an expedition with General Banks but was forced back to Little Rock, the main object of the Federal army being to keep the Confederates from crossing the Mississippi River to give aid to their forces operating in Mississippi. At Clarendon Mr. Shields received a slight wound in the leg from an exploding shell but was not otherwise injured and was never taken prisoner, although the major part of his company and even his captain were captured near Jackson, Tennessee. He was mustered out of the service at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, July 12, 1865, and was honorably discharged August 1, 1865. After three years of hard service for his country he then returned home and resumed peace- ful life as a farmer.
Mr. Shields was married December 6, 1865, to Miss Harriet H. Maloney, and to them have been born nine children, five sons and four daughters, all of whom are living. Sarah, the eldest, married Hugh Donahue, a farmer in Brown Township, and they have two children, Earl and Nellie, both of whom are married, and there is a little granddaughter, Evaline Kathlyne. Mrs. Donahue is a member of the Methodist Protest- ant Church. Frank, the eldest son, resides with his parents in Foosland. Ella, the third member of the family, is the wife of Charles Hayes, of Melvin, Illinois, and they are members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Oliver B., the second son, is a successful farmer near Wales,
934
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
North Dakota, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Methodist Protestant Church. He married Sarah King and they have four children: Leda, Fern, Roy and Homer. William H., who is a resident of Foosland, is manager of the great Foos estate for the Foos family of New York. He married Elizabeth Ball, who is deceased and is survived by three children : Roscoe, Tracy and Helen. Mr. Shields is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. Flora, the sixth in order of birth, resides with her parents at Foosland. Fred V., who operates his father's estate in Brown Town- ship, belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He married Marie Anderson and they have three children: Harriet, Ralph and Robert. Alta M., who is the youngest daughter, is the wife of S. O. Keltner, who owns a cafe and tonsorial parlors at Selah, Washington, is a member, as are the other members of her family, of the Methodist Protestant Church. Mr. and Mrs. Keltner have one daughter, Ruth. Robert, who is the youngest of Mr. and Mrs. Shields' children, is a very highly educated and talented young man. After completing the public school course, he attended the State Normal University at Normal, Illinois, and afterward taught school in Brown Township. He is identified with the Odd Fellows and with the order of Modern Woodmen of America. From first to last this family may be held up as representatives of the best stock of old Champaign County, reflecting credit on their parents, on their home rearing and upon the state under whose wise laws they have grown to manhood and womanhood. Their father faced death on many a battlefield to insure them such a goodly heritage.
Mrs. Shields, the beloved mother of the above family, was born April 2, 1848, in Muskingum County, Ohio, and is a daughter of W. W. and Sarah A. (Mauch) Maloney. They had one son and six daughters, the survivors, all of whom live in Illinois, being: Harriet; Mary, who is the widow of John Keefer, resides at Farmer City; Tabitha, the widow of A. Music, is a resident of Chicago; Margaret is the wife of Max Kutnew- sky, of Peoria; and W. W. is manager of South Park at Peoria. The father of Mrs. Shields was born at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and when a young man rode on horseback from there to Ohio, where he married and afterward came. to Illinois. Here the mother of Mrs. Shields died in 1873 and the father in 1881. They were members of the Christian Church. Mrs. Shields was but a child when her parents made the journey from Ohio to Illinois, coming by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Pekin.
Mr. and Mrs. Shields have a very comfortable residence at Foosland. His valuable farm of 240 acres lies in Brown Township, and, as mentioned above, is under the management of one of the sons. Since retiring to Foosland Mr. Shields has taken a good citizen's interest in village affairs, but has never consented to serve in office although his Republican friends have often urged him to do so. It has been otherwise, however, in Stark Post No. 760, Grand Army of the Republic, at Bellflower, of which he is an honored member and has been commander and senior commander. Mr. and Mrs. Shields are very highly esteemed both in village and county. Their hospitable home is ever open to their friends, while to their children and grandchildren it is one of the dearest places on carth.
JOEL WOOD PINKSTON. A portion of the Blue Grass State, long famous for the cordiality and southern hospitality of its inhabitants, may be said to have been transferred bodily to central Illinois in the beautiful rural home of Mr. and Mrs. Joel W. Pinkston, who are in every way representative of the best traits of their Kentucky origin. Mr. Pinkston is a former supervisor of Newcomb Township, and his farming interests are there, while his post-
.
935
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
office is Mahomet. Along with the hospitality that characterizes this place there is a high degree of business efficiency. The Pinkston home is known as the Gaywood Stock & Grain Farm. It is three and a half miles northwest of Mahomet, and fourteen miles from Champaign. Mr. and Mrs. Pinkston have come to disregard old time standards of distance, since they now enjoy and deserve the luxury of one of the latest models of the National touring car.
In the state whose earliest historical character was Daniel Boone, Joel W. Pinkston was born, March 31, 1860. He was the eighth in a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, born to John Wesley and Amy (Parham) Pinkston. The Pinkstons are lineal descendants from a family of Scotland. Of the ten children nine are still living and eight are residents of Champaign County. John W. Pinkston was also a native of Kentucky, was reared and educated there, and prior to the war was owner of some slaves. Politically he was an active Democrat. He died in April, 1886. He and his wife were both Methodists. His wife was born in Kentucky, March 30, 1824, and spent her last years at Mahomet, Illinois, where she died, April 7, 1905. Her lineage was English, since the name Parham is strictly English in origin. She was a noble mother and always maintained very complete discipline over her home and children. With her home and church were the chief interests of her life. She was always devout in the performance of her religious duties. She and her husband now rest side by side in the River- side Cemetery, where a beautiful monument stands to their memory.
.
Joel Wood Pinkston grew up in Kentucky, secured his education there and lived at home until he was twenty-one, when he came to Champaign County and began as a farm laborer at wages of $18 a month. Thus the prosperity of his later years has been won by much self denying exertion and the diligence which makes men successful in every vocation. As a wage earner he continued three years, and for ten years was a tenant farmer in Mahomet Township. He finally contracted for the purchase of eighty acres in section 32, of Newcomb Township. He made that deal in 1893, the year of financial panic, and went in debt for a large part of the purchase money. By persistent effort and never ending vigilance and toil he paid out and then went in debt to the extent of $10,000 for another eighty acres. At the present time Mr. Pingston's home, the Gaywood Stock & Grain Farm, comprises 320 acres, all rich and fertile lands, with exceptional improve- ments in the way of buildings and barns, and there is not a dollar of indebt- edness on the place. Mr. Pinkston also owns city property in Champaign, a short distance from the State University Buildings.
On March 25, 1884, soon after coming to Champaign County, he married Miss Julia Maxwell. To this union were born five children, four sons and one daughter. Jesse Earl, the oldest, has a clerical position in St. Louis, Missouri. He pursued his early studies in the Mahomet High School and also took a business course in Brown's Business College at Champaign. He is a Democrat and a member of the Knights of Pythias. Willie Lce, the second child, attended the Mahomet High School, Brown's Business College at Champaign, and by profession is a civil engineer. At present he is serving as auditor for the Pacific Fruit Express Company, with home and head- quarters at Grand Island, Nebraska. He is a member of the Elks Lodge at Denver, Colorado, and politically is a Democrat. Susie May, the only daughter, spent four years in the Champaign High School and is now the wife of Ira Carl Abbott, a successful young farmer. in Mahomet Township. Both she and her husband are members of the Baptist Church. They have two children, grandchildren of Mr. Pinkston, named Edwin Pinkston and Julia Ruth. Ervin J., the fourth child, graduated in 1912 from the Mahomet High School and followed agriculture at home with his father
+
936
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
until death claimed him on September 23, 1917. He lies buried in the Riverside Cemetery. He was a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church. Julian O. has for the past two years been a cadet student in the Missouri Military Academy at Mexico, and belongs to the class of 1919. He has taken great interest in his work and military training. He has membership in the Baptist Church at Mahomet.
The mother of these children died November 9, 1899. Mr. Pinkston was married December 6, 1905, to Miss Harriet Gay Norton. Mrs. Pinkston was born in Missouri, but when four years of age her parents removed to Piatt County, Illinois, and eight years later to Champaign County. Mrs. Pink- ston is a woman of culture and unusual education. For three years she was a student in the Champaign High School, spent one year in the Decatur High School and one year in the State University. For fourteen years she was a popular and successful teacher in Champaign County, and during the latter part of that work she was connected with the grade schools of Cham- paign. Mr. and Mrs. Pinkston are members of the Baptist Church at Mahomet, and he is one of the deacons of the church. She served as presi- dent of the Domestic Science Club at Mahomet, and since her marriage has devoted herself to the interests of her home, her community, and has proved an invaluable business counsellor to her husband in his business affairs. In 1909 Mr. and Mrs. Pinkston made an extended tour through the great North- west and down the Pacific Coast, stopping at the cities of Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. They also visited the Yellow- stone National Park, Colorado Springs, and Denver. The outgoing trip was made by the Canadian Pacific, which took them through some of the most grandly scenic region on the American continent. At Salt Lake City. they entered the Mormon Temple, and were given a practical test of. its wonderful acoustic properties, when a lead pencil dropped at the extreme end of the building could be heard plainly from where they stood. For seven weeks Mr. and Mrs. Pinkston enjoyed the delights of this tour.
Mr. Pinkston is a Democrat and first voted for Grover Cleveland. He has always supported the principles of the party and at different times has been a delegate to county conventions. His official record is that of a public spirited and thoroughly progressive citizen. For fourteen years he served as school director and in June, 1905, was appointed township supervisor and thereafter was elected for each successive year until he had filled this impor- tant office, the highest in the township, for twelve years. Mr. Pinkston is a member of Castle Hall Lodge of Knights of Pythias at Mahomet.
RICHARD M. FRANKS. One of the representative citizens of Philo, Illinois, is Richard M. Franks, who not only is managing important bus- iness interests but is also one of the trustworthy public officials of town- ship and village. Mr. Franks was born in Saxony, Germany, February 7, 1868, to which province his people have belonged for generations. His parents were Frederick and Julia (Wiedeman) Franks. They came from Germany to the United States in 1881 and located at Philo in Champaign County, Illinois. There the father died in 1897, the mother passing away at a later date in the city of Dubuque, Iowa. They were the parents of two sons, Richard M. and Otto, the latter of whom died in Germany.
Richard M. Franks was thirteen years old when the family came to Champaign County and his schooldays were about ended. He went to work on a farm and continued to be interested in agricultural pursuits until 1904, in which year he came to Philo village and established a lumber yard here and later a yard also at Sidney, and since then has done a large business in this line. He is also agent for the Ford and Stude- baker automobiles. Mr. Franks is a man of unusual business enterprise
.
937
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
and in furthering his own business concerns has done well for others in affording employment to a number of men and paying good wages.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.