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 63
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Mr. Kirby was born in Sidney Township of this county January 22, 1885, a son of George Marion and Froella Catherine (Stillwell) Kirby. His father is still living in Sidney Township, where the mother died May 5, 1901. They were the parents of nine children: Cora of Sidney; Viola, wife of Frank Cannon of Homer Township; Albert of St. Joseph Township; Grover C .; Arthur of Decatur, Illinois ; Frank of Sidney Town- ship ; Clarence, at the home place ; Addison of St. Joseph ; and the youngest, a son, died in infancy.
Grover C. Kirby grew up at his father's home and received his educa- tional advantages in the district schools. At the age of twenty he left home and began farming for himself as a renter. The first two years he spent on a place of 160 acres in St. Joseph Township, and then removed to Sidney Township, where he has the active management of 400 acres in section 6. He is rapidly gaining an independent position in the world as a general farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Kirby is a Democrat in politics. His home is on Route No. 57 out of Sidney.
He married Miss Ella Marie Light, who was born in Philo Township. They are the parents of two children, Hazel, born September 10, 1908, and Helen Irene, born April 8, 1912.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
GEORGE HOLTAPP is one of the conspicuous factors in the modern agri- cultural activities of Champaign County. The name is one that has been identified with Champaign County history for many years, and he is one of the younger generation and with a brother is managing the resources of a fine farm in Harwood Township in section 33. The home is on Rural Route No. 3 out of Rantoul.
Mr. Holtapp was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, a son of Joseph and Barbara (Hoffman) Holtapp. His parents were natives of Germany. There were seven sons in the family, George, Fred, Charles and John, residents of Iowa, and Frank, Lewis and George of Champaign County.
Joseph Holtapp passed away in 1914. He had spent many years of usefulness and was a man of neighborly kindness and enjoyed a large circle of friends. He lived to see his sons well reared and all of them splendid citizens. The mother died in 1900 and her remains are interred in Maple- wood Cemetery at Rantoul. She was an active member of the Baptist Church, while her husband was a German Lutheran in faith.
George Holtapp married, in 1915, Miss Elizabeth Moore. She was born in eastern Kentucky, a daughter of John and America (Johnson) Moore, her father a native of North Carolina and her mother of Ken- tucky. Mrs. Holtapp was educated in the Kentucky public schools and when a young lady she came to Vermilion County, Illinois, to visit her aunt, Flora Hogge. While here she became acquainted with George Hol- tapp, and the acquaintance ended in her changing her name from Moore to Holtapp. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Holtapp started life on his father's farm near Dillsburg, the old homestead of his parents. They have shown many excellent and commendable qualities as farmers and home makers and as factors in local society. Mr. and Mrs. Holtapp have one child, a bright and attractive boy named George Mervin.
Mr. Holtapp and his brother Frank are now running the old homestead of 160 acres. They are practical farmers and have made mother earth respond bountifully to their touch. Last year they raised 1,750 bushels of oats and 5,250 bushels of corn, their crop averaging fifty-three bushels of oats and seventy bushels of corn to the acre.
In 1915 Mrs. Holtapp's widowed mother came from Kentucky with her daughter Evelyn, and they have since made their home with Mr. and Mrs. Holtapp. Mr. Holtapp is a stanch Republican in politics and believes that the principles of that party best express American ideals.
DAVID A. SILVER is one of the men who claim Champaign County as their birthplace and the scene of their substantial activities. Mr. Silver has found in farming both a congenial and profitable occupation. The management of well tilled fields, the care and superintendence of good stock, the task of winning a living and at the same time increasing and . improving the value of his farm, and the duties of good citizenship, have occupied him for many years. His home and farm are in Philo Town- ship in section 3, and his mail is delivered on Rural Route No. 11 out of Urbana.
Mr. Silver was born in Philo Township, September 22, 1867, and is a son of Wallace and Mary D. (Karr) Silver. His father was born in War- ren. County, Ohio, and his mother in New Jersey. Wallace Silver arrived in Champaign County October 23, 1854. He had come overland from Ohio, bringing household goods. and cattle. Locating in Philo Township, he bought in 1855 eighty acres in section 3, and proceeded forthwith to its development and improvement and followed farming successfully there until the last twelve years of his life, which he spent retired in Urbana. He died June 10, 1914, and his widow is still living in Urbana.
IN MEMORY OF MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH HOLTAPP.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
The only child of his parents, David A. Silver grew up on the home farm, attended the local schools, and at the age of twenty rented a tract of land for his own purposes. In 1891 he bought eighty acres in section 10 of Philo Township, and in 1902 increased his farm by the purchase of eighty acres more in section 3. This land he has devoted to general farming and stock raising.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Silver served as township assessor five years and for nineteen years was a member of the school board. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Masons, and he and his family are Presbyterians.
On March 7, 1893. he married Miss Mae Wells, a native of Champaign County. Their five children, one of whom is deceased and the others are at home, are named as follows: Wallace E., born November 26, 1895; Hazel M., born November 17, 1896; Mary V., born March 7, 1898; Frank W., born October 1, 1899; and Robert M., born November 3, 1900, died September 15, 1910.
Mrs. Silver is a daughter of Francis and Cordelia Jane (Evans) Wells. Both were born in Ohio and came to Champaign County about 1854, locating in Urbana Township, and from there moving to Philo Township. Her mother died May 27, 1908, and her father is now living with his chil- dren at Blackwell in Kay County, Oklahoma. Besides farming he took an active interest in local affairs in Philo Township and served as supervisor and assessor. During the Civil War he was a private and a member of Colonel Busey's Seventy-sixth Regiment. Mrs. Silver is the oldest of her father's eleven children. Thomas W. lives at Urbana; Ada is the wife of George Flewelling of Jackson, Minnesota ; Elias Herbert resides at Lin- coln, Nebraska; Elmer, at Pomeroy, Iowa; Arthur, at Los Angeles, Cali- fornia; and all the others at Blackwell, Oklahoma. Grace is the wife of Albert Lientz, Charlotte the wife of John Root; Chester M. and Irvin are the two youngest sons, and Nellie, the youngest of the family, is the wife of V. A. Gordon.
JOSEPH BRAYSHAW, M. D. The success of the capable and competent surgeon has attended the career of Dr. Joseph Brayshaw, who for the past fifteen years has been successfully engaged in practice at Homer.
Doctor Brayshaw was born in Perry County, Illinois, January 15, 1868, son of Helvetius Pyle and Elizabeth (Brayshaw) Brayshaw. His father, who was of mingled English and Greek descent, was born in Perry County, Illinois, while the mother was a native of England. The father was a farmer and spent the last twenty years of his life in Missouri, where he died January 1, 1895. Besides farming he was a skilled landscape gar- dener and a nurseryman. The widowed mother is still living at the old home in Missouri. Her six children are: James Edward, in Missouri; Sarah Ellen, wife of J. S. Langston, in Missouri ; Anna D., widow of H. F. Welsh, in Missouri; Doctor Brayshaw; Lucinda, at home; and Charles William, who was killed by a stroke of lightning in 1916.
Doctor Brayshaw spent the latter part of his youth in Missouri and besides the common schools attended the Baptist College at Pierce City, Missouri. He graduated in 1888, at the age of twenty, and following this for three years he worked on the home farm. His ambition from an early age was to become a physician, and largely through his own earnings he paid his way through the University of Michigan, where he spent four years and where he took his medical degree. In 1896 Doctor Brayshaw located at Berlin, Illinois, and was in practice there until he removed to Homer in January, 1902. He has joined the Medical Officers Reserve Corps and has received his commission as first lieutenant.
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While a resident of Berlin, Doctor Brayshaw served as mayor. He is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Mary R. King on June 1, 1898. Mrs. Brayshaw is a native of Kansas. They have one child, Helen Matilda.
TRUMAN O. CORD has made a success of farm management and has in active operation one of the fine places in Sidney Township, located on Rural Route No. 58.
While Mr. Cord has spent most of his life in Champaign County, he was born in Indiana, October 26, 1872, a son of Simon and Milcah (Caw- thorn) Cord. Both parents were natives of Indiana, and both are now deceased, the mother having passed away in 1884 and the father on July 13, 1890. They came to Champaign County about 1876 and the father was also a farmer. There were seven children: Charles E., in Iowa; Roma, wife of John C. Meyers of Mayview ; Frank of Urbana; Truman O .; Ben- jamin, deceased; Rose, wife of U. S. Thompson of Homer; and Allen, in Chicago. For his second wife Simon Cord married Nancy Bettis, and there is one child of this union, Pearl, wife of Ernest Lyons of Madison, Illinois.
Truman O. Cord received a district school education and at the age of eighteen entered upon an active career as a farmer, renting eighty acres. He worked that for a number of years, then spent two years in Michigan, and since returning to Champaign County has had the active management of 280 acres in section 8 of Sidney Township. He is devoting this to general farming and stock raising.
On March 17, 1899, Mr. Cord married Media Lockwood. They have five young children : Joy, Thelma, Lenora, Edith and Robert T. Mr. Cord is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Masonic order and with the Court of Honor.
HENRY K. KELLER, superintendent of the Champaign County Home and Farm, was for many years an active business man of Urbana, and has spent the greater part of his life in this county.
Mr. Keller was born in the historic and picturesque region around Cumberland, Maryland, January 20, 1858. His parents were William V .. and Susan (Cook) Keller. His father, a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, was a stone mason by trade. In October, 1864, the family came to Champaign County, locating at Urbana, where his father followed his trade until his death in 1876. The mother also died at Urbana. They had a large family of children : John W., James Milton, Scott, Mary and Annie all deceased ; Joseph, a resident of Urbana; Laura, deceased ; Henry K .; Martha, wife of John Buckley of Forest, Illinois; Emma, deceased; Susan, wife of George Stamp of Urbana; and two that died in infancy.
Henry K. Keller was seventeen years of age when his father died. Many of the responsibilities of keeping up the home and family then devolved upon him. He had received only such advantages as were fur- nished by the common schools. Soon after his father's death he went out to Moberly, Missouri, and was engaged in railroad work for about seven years. On returning to Champaign County he located in Urbana, entered the local brick works and was advanced to superintendent of the Sheldon Brick Company. He filled that position a number of years and in 1910 the Board of Supervisors appointed him superintendent of the County Home, an office he has held ever since. He is the right man for this place, and is giving a very careful and capable supervision of this important county institution.
Lintner, W. Baird Harriet Baird.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY .
Mr. Keller married for his first wife Louise Weil, who was born at St. Louis, Missouri, and died in September, 1911. They had two children: William, of Champaign; and Lottie, wife of Laurel Truman, of St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Keller married for his second wife Selma Benidott, who was born in Sweden. They have a daughter, Jet Virginia, born March 28, 1914. In matters of politics Mr. Keller is independent.
L. W. BAIRD Was long a fixture in the business affairs of the town of Ogden as a lumber merchant, and is now living retired in that quiet village, surrounded with all the comforts and conveniences that a life of industry and honor have brought him.
Mr. Baird was born at Washington in Tazewell County, Illinois, son of Thomas N. and Mary (White) Baird. Both parents were born in Ohio. L. W. Baird was the third among twelve children, all of whom were edu- cated in the Franklin District School. Two of his brothers fought as soldiers in the Union army, Thomas R. and George W. Baird.
In 1868 L. W. Baird married Lucinda Gland. a native of Ohio and a daughter of William and Nancy Gland. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baird located near Bloomington, Illinois, where he engaged in farming for some years. They were getting established with a good home and were rearing their children when death came upon the scene and took away Mrs. Baird on April 1, 1879. Four children were born to their union: Olive N., Charles Lossen, Minnie and Fred. These children were educated chiefly in the high school at Ogden. Olive N. is now Mrs. Wampler and has three children: Flossie, Otho and Minion. Charles Lossen is a prac- tical farmer in northwestern Missouri and by his marriage to Laura Young has three children, Lee, Oscar and Essie. Minnie died in Kansas City, Missouri, the wife of Benjamin Ladieu, leaving two daughters, Laura and Lillian. Fred Baird lives at Woodward, Oklahoma, and by his marriage to Miss Kirk has three children, Addison L., Cecil and Nellie.
On December 15, 1880, Mr. Baird married for his present wife Mrs. Harriet Bowman, widow of Captain Isaac L. Bowman. Captain Bowman and wife were married November 9, 1865. He had served gallantly as captain of Company G of the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry. Captain Bowman's father was a county and circuit judge of Logan County, Illinois. Captain Bowman passed away in January, 1872, leaving his widow with one son, Ralph Waldo. Ralph Waldo graduated from North- western University Law School at Chicago in the same class with Judge Kenesaw Landis, and is now a successful practicing lawyer in New York City. For ten years he was librarian of the Chicago. Bar Association. He is also a legal author, having compiled the work known as Bowman's Illinois Cases and Citations, which has found a place on the shelves of most law libraries not only in Illinois but elsewhere.
Mrs. Baird was born at Galena, Illinois, a town famous not only for being the center of the great lead industry but also as the early home of General Grant. Her maiden name was Wilson and she is a daughter of Hiram and Caroline (Reed) Wilson, her father a native of Pickaway County, Ohio, and her mother of Buffalo, New York. Mrs. Baird was one of a family of eleven children. These children grew up at Galena and the Wilsons were close neighbors to General Grant's family and the Grant and Wilson children played together and attended the same school. Mrs. Baird had a brother, Albert Wilson, who served in the Civil War. She also has two nephews who are successful physicians, Dr. Ray Tearnan of Munising, Michigan, and Dr. Clyde Tearnan, who is a partner of the noted Doctor Barnes of Decatur, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Baird were married in Peoria, Illinois, and have con-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
tinuously been residents of Ogden for over thirty-seven years. During all that time Mr. Baird carried on a successful business until February, 1909, when he retired. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ogden. In politics he supports the principles of the Republican party and has always cast his vote for an organization which he feels has been the source of the best laws and policies of this nation. Both he and his wife have given the strength of their advocacy to the breaking of the yoke long maintained by the liquor traffic in this country. Fraternally Mr. Baird is affiliated with Masonry, being a Knight Templar of the Urbana Commandery, and also with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Baird is a member of the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters.
In public affairs Mr. Baird served as tax collector thirteen years and also filled the offices of assessor and school director. His own work has been a factor in the development of Champaign County, and his early memories go back to a time when this country was little more than bare prairie and swamp. He has lived a life of industry, has reared his children for positions in which integrity of character and loyal citizenship count, and has identified himself with every progressive movement in the com- munity. Mr. and Mrs. Baird now enjoy a very pleasant home at Ogden, close by the interurban line, their dwelling house being set in the midst of a large lawn where a number of trees furnish friendly shade and well set off the architectural features of the building.
JOHN J. REYNOLDS is one of the progressive agriculturists of Cham- paign County, with a well improved place in Sidney Township on Rural Route No. 57.
Mr. Reynolds is a native of this county, born in Rantoul Township, March 9, 1881, a son of Isaac W. and Mary (Stephenson) Reynolds. The parents were both natives of Pennsylvania and his father spent his boyhood days in Ohio and identified himself with Champaign County in 1862. He broke some of the first prairie sod near Rantoul, and though beginning comparatively poor accumulated three fine farms and spent his last years in comfortable retirement at Urbana, where he died January 1, 1917. His widow is now making her home with her son John. John J. Reynolds was the only child of his parents, but his mother by a previous marriage to Mr. McCowan had one daughter, Nora, now the wife of John Norton of Shell City, Missouri.
At the age of nineteen John J. Reynolds left the high school, where he completed his education, and began work in a department store at Urbana. After that he was in the grocery business for about four years, and in 1907 he bought out the Kilpatrick Department Store and was at the head of that well known business in Urbana for four and a half years. He gave up his successful career as a merchant to resume the occupation which he had followed as a boy, farming, and has since lived on his farm in section 2 of Sidney Township. He also owns thirty-five acres in section 11, eighty acres in section 32 and eighty acres in section 33, Urbana Town- ship, eighty acres in Wayne County, and has considerable town property in Urbana.
On May 17, 1902, he married Fay Shepherd, who was born at Pesotum, in Champaign County, March 20, 1882. They have three young children, Helen M., Keith Isaac and Mary, and these children are receiving good school advantages and the best of home training.
Mr. Reynolds is a Republican in politics. He has served as secretary of the township high school, has been constable and has filled various minor offices. He is a Mason, a Mystic Shriner and present worthy patron
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
of the chapter of the Eastern Star at Sidney. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Sidney. He and his family are ·members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
GEORGE J. HURST. . An experienced and successful general farmer and a highly respected citizen of Champaign County is George J. Hurst, who farms 240 acres situated in section 5, Ayers Township, this being the old homestead farm on which his parents first settled when coming to the county and taking up farming. George J. Hurst was born in Germany, September 21, 1879, and is a son of John George and Mary (Franks) Hurst.
The parents of Mr. Hurst were born in Germany. The father brought his family to the United States and came to Illinois in 1883, locating at Leverett in Champaign County and residing there until 1891, when he bought 160 acres of land in section 5, Ayers Township, and resided on the same until 1912, when he purchased forty acres in Champaign Township, which is his present home. A man of industry and good judgment, he has been successful in his undertakings and has long been numbered with the men of comfortable fortune in this neighborhood. To John George and Mary Hurst the following children were born : Belle, who is the wife of Walter Ricc, of Murdock, Illinois; George J .; Carrie, who is the wife of Louis Wienke, of Homer, Illinois; Louisc, who is the wife of Jesse Rice, of Murdock, Illinois; Christina, who is the wife of John Grien of Philo, Illinois; Mary, who is the wife of Clem E. Smith, of Champaign ; Minnie, who resides at home; Annie, who is the wife of Vernon Rowland, of Champaign; William, who is deceased; and Carl, who lives with his parents in Champaign Township.
George J. Hurst obtained a good district school education and remained with his father until he was twenty-two years old and then rented a farm of 160 acres for two years. Before deciding to settle down permanently in Champaign County, Mr. Hurst determined to see other sections of the country and that led to his going to Oklahoma, where he remained as a farmer for one year and then returned to his native state and county. He settled then on a farm of 220 acres near Sidney, which he operated for two years and then removed to a farm of 240 acres which lay in Douglas County, and remained there one year and then came back to his father's old homestead. Here he continues general farming and raises some good stock.
Mr. Hurst was married December 27, 1905, to Miss Mattie Duggan, who was born in Kansas, and they have had six. children, namely : Nellie Marie, William George, Martha M., Mabel B., Walter Ralph and Minnie May, all of whom survive except Martha M. and Mabel B. Mr. Hurst believes in education and proposes to give his children every advantage that is in his power, but he is a practical man and it is very probable that his sons will learn under his instruction how to become judicious farmers such as he is. Mr. Hurst and family belong to the Christian Church. In every way he is a good citizen and lends a hand when any movement' is on foot to promote the general welfare, but he is not a politician and for many years has voted independently.
FRANK B. MEANS. As one of the leading business men of Fisher Frank B. Means is supplying a service which contributes to the standing and importance of that town among the communities of Champaign County and the skill and energy which he employs in the management of the only drug store and pharmacy in the town would be creditable to a city of much larger size.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Mr. Means belongs to the pioneer element of central Illinois, and par- ticularly McLean and Champaign counties. It is a fact that should not be forgotten in the history of Champaign County that his father, the late David D. Means, in 1850 broke up the first acre of land in Newcomb Town- ship. He had one of the old-fashioned plows and a team of oxen drew the heavy implement through the virgin prairie. That pioncer plowing was done near the present Phillips estate.
Frank B. Means was born in McLean County, May 18, 1875, and was the eleventh in a family of twelve children, eleven sons and one daughter, born to David D. and Rebecca (Cline) Means. Nine of these children are still living and all are in Illinois except David L., a resident of Post Falls, Idaho, and John R. of Arkansas.
David D. Means was a native of the Blue Grass State of Kentucky, where he was born May 4, 1827. His life was a long and useful one and was protracted to eighty-eight years. He passed away August 22, 1914. The Means family is noted for its longevity. There are few families in Illinois that can present a like record of age in individual members. While David D. Means died at the age of eighty-eight, his brother James died at eighty-nine, his brother Owen A. at eighty-six, and of his sisters Mrs. Van Scoyck died at eighty-five, Mrs. Snowdon Ball at eighty-two, Mrs. Jennie Stansberry at eighty-six and Mrs. Keturah McMacken at ninety. Thus seven children attained an aggregate of 606 years.
When David D. Means was three years of age his parents removed to McLean County, and the home of his mature years was within one mile of the original settlement. David D. Means himself was a pioneer in this great corn belt region of Illinois. He witnessed the remarkable march of progress and development which transformed Illinois within his per- sonal recollection. When the Means family settled in McLean County it was two years before the Black Hawk War, and Jackson was still Presi- dent of the United States. In the early days David Means assisted in driving stock to market at Chicago, when that city was clustered closely along the banks of the Chicago River. He also aided in the erection of the first log cabin at Ellsworth, Illinois. He was one of the old pioneers of central Illinois who were frequently called "The Snowbirds." As a farmer he came into the possession of and developed 240 acres near Say- brook, Illinois. In his later years he often referred to a time when the present wealthy city of Bloomington, with its population of 28,000, was a village and hamlet. He was on intimate terms with the prominent old family of Bloomington, the Funks. While a Democrat, David Means voted for Lincoln, and in the later years of his life he supported the Pro- hibition candidate, St. John. He and his wife were active Methodists and aided in building the various churches in their locality.
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