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 65
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Mr. Cotton was born in Madison County, Indiana, April 6, 1860, and was brought to this county by his parents in 1866. He is a son of Robert and Margaret (Williams) Cotton, his father a native of Indiana and his mother of Ohio. When his father came to Champaign County he located on a farm near Catlin, and became widely known and respected as a busi- ness man and citizen. His death occurred March 13, 1907. The mother, who was born in 1838, is now living at Homer in her eightieth year. They were the parents of four children: Charlie N .; Emma R., wife of L. C. Palmer of Homer ; Josephus W., who died in childhood; and William E. of Homer.
Charlie N. Cotton had a farm as his early environment, and he learned the lessons taught in the local district schools. He was a factor in the family and at home until twenty-eight, and then rented ninety-seven acres in section 12 of Sidney Township. From there he moved to Lost Grove, Illinois, bought a place of 1291/2 acres, and five years later sold this and acquired eighty acres south of Broadlands. He farmed there for nine years and on selling that bought the old homestead of nincty-seven acres, which he has since increased by the purchase of eighty acres. All of this land is now thoroughly cultivated and used as a general farming proposition.
Mr. Cotton married December 27, 1888, Miss Alice Coddington. She was born in Sidney Township. They had three children: Robert F., an attorney at Newman, Illinois; Carl, who died at birth; and Frank Earl, still at home. Mr. Cotton is a Republican and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
CHARLES D. BABB. Established in 1900, the private banking house of Raynor & Babb, at Homer, Illinois, has enjoyed a prosperous existence of seventeen years, and through the financial ability, personal integrity and
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good management of its owners has grown to be a recognized institution among the concerns of Champaign County which are engaged in the handling of the money of corporations and individuals. One of the mem- bers of this firm, Charles D. Babb, is a man of broad experience in business and financial matters, an excellent judge of realty and loan values, and a citizen who has at times taken more than a passing interest in public affairs. He belongs to the well known Champaign County family of the name, a review of which will be found in the sketch of E. P. Babb, else- where in this work.
Charles D. Babb was born in the northern part of Champaign County, January 2, 1867, and received his early education in the Homer schools. When fourteen years old he began to do his share of work on the home farm, and although he later entered the Illinois College at Jacksonville, circumstances made it necessary that he leave during his second year and he at that time returned to his home. When he was eighteen years of age he assumed the responsibility of caring for his mother's business in addition to his own, and his first business experience, aside from farming, was gained in the field of mortgage loans, which he carried on near Homer. Later he entered the Champaign National Bank and for five years was engaged in clerical capacities, thus gaining much information and knowledge regarding financial systems and methods of procedure. During his connection with that institution he was thrown into contact with Eugene N. Raynor, and with mutual respect for each other's abilities they formed a partnership and embarked in the real estate and loan business, in which they continued with marked success for three years. Mr. Raynor was a man of much experience and business training, and had formerly been manager of the great Broadland farm, an estate of 22,500 acres. In 1900 Messrs. Babb and Raynor formed the banking house of Raynor & Babb, which has since continued to grow and prosper, being one of the institutions of this part of the county which has the full confidence of the public. Mr. Babb is a Republican in politics and has been prominent in the ranks of his party, having served as delegate to a number of state and county conventions and being prominent in other ways. He was formerly a member of the town council and of the school board, and under appoint- ment of the governor was for four years a member of the board of trustees of the State School for the Blind, and president of that board for an addi- tional four years. He is a Mason, and his religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Babb was married north of Homer, April 20, 1892, to Miss Alta M. Woody, who was born in Champaign County and attended the public schools of Homer, as well as the Women's College at Jacksonville. She is a daughter of Ancil C. and Rachel M. (Poage) Woody, natives, respec- tively, of Kentucky and Virginia, and both now deceased. For a number of years Mr. Woody was engaged in mercantile pursuits both at Homer and at Decatur, and was well and favorably known in commercial circles. Mr. and Mrs. Babb are the parents of one daughter, Margaret Elizabeth.
ALVA GILMORE. With all due credit to the great metropolitan dailies that keep people informed of the life of the world, the local paper now as always has its great field of influence and value and is an indispensable factor in the life of a community. One of the leading papers of Cham- paign County is the Fisher Reporter, which has been regularly published since 1890 and is now a weekly visitor to all the leading homes in the northern part of the county. Since 1902 its editor and proprietor has been Mr. Alva Gilmore, a practical journalist and business man, who has made his paper a medium of communicating his public spirit and enterprise to the public in general.
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Mr. Gilmore is a native of Champaign County, where he was born Jan- uary 15, 1871. He is the second in a family of seven children, consisting of three sons and four daughters. Their parents were David B. and Maria (Edwards) Gilmore. Only two of the children are living. Mr. Gilmore's younger sister, Minnie, is living at Fisher with her mother. She was edu- cated in the common schools and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
David Gilmore was born in 1835 in that section of old Virginia now the State of West Virginia. He grew up in his native state, and on coming West lived for a short time near Columbus, Ohio, and in 1869 located in McLean County, Illinois. He had a common school education, and in early days taught schools when education was furnished on the subscription plan. For the greater part of his years he was identified with agriculture. From McLean County he moved to Newcomb Township of Champaign County and bought 100 acres, which in time he increased to 180 acres and developed it as one of the model farms of the county. He also owned town property. His success in life was due to strenuous effort, since he began without capital, and in early years he paid interest at the rate of 12 per cent on borrowed money. In 1894 he retired from his farm to a home at Fisher, where he died in 1912. He was a great admirer of "the Little Giant," Stephen A. Douglas, and cast his first presi- dential vote for that Illinois statesman. Afterwards he went into the Republican party. He stood firm in his principles, was positive in his convictions and was always able to discern the difference between right and wrong. Popular as a citizen, he served as township clerk for several years. as assessor, road commissioner, township school treasurer and school director, and his community properly esteemed him as one of its most useful citizens. He and his wife were active Methodists and he assisted in the erection of the beautiful church of that denomination at Fisher. He also served as an official of the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church in Newcomb Town- ship and was teacher and superintendent of its Sunday school for a number of years. His forefathers back in Virginia had been strong Methodists, and he was interested in religion and the work of his church from early boyhood. His body now rests in the Willow Brook Cemetery at Fisher, and a monument stands sacred to his memory. His wife was born in McLean County, Illinois, near Leroy, about 1847, and is still living in Fisher. She had a common school education and, like her husband, has always been a member of the Methodist Church. She was a splendid mother, and her home, her children and her church have given her the best interests of her life. In ancestry her lineage goes back to Wales. She and her daughter Minnie now occupy the old home at Fisher.
Alva Gilmore attended the common schools, but gained most of his education by self-application. He also attended the business college at Champaign when J. B. McKee was president. This school is now one of the chain of excellent business colleges conducted by the Brown Business College Company.
By the time he was eighteen years of age Mr. Gilmore had acquired a practical experience as a farmer on the home place. At that age he began teaching and taught two terms at East Bend and Newcomb Township. For ciglitecn months he was in the employ of the Pacific Express Company at Champaign, and then joined his father in the general merchandise business at Fisher. They began merchandising there in 1895, and had built up a handsome trade. In 1902 their store was consumed, along with many other business structures, in the great fire of that year, and their total loss through this disaster was $7,000.
In August, 1902, Mr. Gilmore bought the Fisher Reporter and has
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since been its sole proprietor and editor. It is a quarto paper, independent in politics, publishes all the news of interest through the northern part of Champaign County, and is an instrument for the effective welfare of that district.
Mr. Gilmore himself is a Republican. His first presidential vote was cast for Mckinley. He has served as a trustee of the village board and is now a police magistrate for Fisher. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Church.
On November 30, 1906, Mr. Gilmore married Miss Anna M. Beckham. Mrs. Gilmore is a daughter of Nathan H. and Rebecca (Bishop) Beckham. Her parents reside at Leroy in McLean County. Her father was born near Bowling Green, Kentucky, was educated in the common schools there, and when a young man, about 1861, came to McLean County, Illinois. His work has been that of an agriculturist and he now enjoys the profits of a fine farm of 400 acres in McLean County and also owns town prop- erty. He has always stood high in farming circles in that rich agricul- tural district. Politically he is a Democrat, has for many years been a Mason, and he and his wife are active members of the Christian Church. He contributed to the building of the church home in which he and his wife now worship. He has held the office of school trustee and director. The Beckham lineage is traced back to English Quakers. Mrs. Gilmore's mother was born in McLean County, and her father was one of the pioneers of that section.
Mrs. Gilmore received her early education in the common schools. She is an active member of Chapter No. 244 of the Eastern Star at Fisher. They have a home of comfort and hospitality at Fisher and are moving spirits in the social life of the community.
WILLIAM B. LYMAN is now carrying on a successful farming enter- prise on the estate where he was born and where he has spent practically all the days of his life. This is in section 20 of Champaign Township.
He was born at that farm June 26, 1884, a son of John P. and Julia (Ryan) Lyman. His parents were both born in Vermilion County, Illinois, but for many years have lived in Champaign County. Of their five children William B. was the second and is the only one now living. The others in order of age were named Mary, John and Julia, twins, and Thomas D.
William B. Lyman grew up in a rural environment, had the advantages of good home training in addition to the country schools and a course of one term in Brown's Business College. In 1908, at the age of twenty- four, he rented his father's farm of 120 acres, and has handled its opera- tions with a high degree of success ever since. Besides general farming he raises considerable stock and is also one of Champaign County's farmers who devotes considerable attention to poultry.
On February 10, 1908, Mr. Lyman married Mary Jordan, a native of Champaign County and a daughter of Patrick and Ellen Jordan. Her father is now deceased and her mother lives in Champaign. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman are members of the Holy Cross Catholic Church at Champaign. He is affiliated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus, and in politics is a Democrat.
ROBERT S. RITCHIE. As in the war the burden of arms falls largely upon the youth of the nation, so to an increasing degree in America the heaviest responsibilities of business have likewise fallen upon those who are young and vigorous, with enthusiasm undimmed and with energies undiminished. Among this class of young and aggressive business men
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of Champaign County mention should be made of Robert S. Ritchie, who for a number of years has been successfully identified with agricultural operations and with the grain business at Foosland in northwestern Cham- paign County. With the exception of his college career, practically all his life has been spent in Champaign County.
Mr. Ritchie was born in Champaign County, February 18, 1886, a son of William and Emeline (Ball) Ritchie. He was one of four children, one of whom is now deceased. John J. is a resident of Bloomington, Illi- nois ; the next in age is Robert S .; and Corley S. is an agriculturist living at Foosland.
William Ritchie was born near Dumfrieshire, Scotland, in 1847, and grew to young manhood in his native country and was quite well educated. In 1869 he came with his parents to America and they all located in Cham- paign County. William Ritchie followed agricultural pursuits until 1899, when he moved into Foosland and entered general merchandising. In 1907 he retired with a financial competence. He and his brother Walter had acquired 400 acres of the rich soil of Champaign County, and that land is still owned by their descendants. William Ritchie was distinguished by his strong belief in and advocacy of the Prohibition cause. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Foosland and he and his wife were formerly Presbyterians, the faith in which they had been reared and to which the Ritchie family had been devoted for generations in Scotland. Finally, however, they united with the Methodist Protestant Church and aided in the erection of the church edifice in their home town. William Ritchie died in January, 1916, and his wife in February, 1908, and both are now at rest in Mount Hope Cemetery. Mrs. William Ritchie was born in Illinois in June, 1861. She was a loving and affectionate mother and a sincere Christian.
Robert S. Ritchie was educated in the schools of Foosland and took his higher education in Adrian College at Adrian, Michigan. As a boy he showed unusual talent in a musical direction, and that talent was trained along with a thorough literary course in Adrian. He did some successful orchestral work in Michigan for eighteen months, but gave up that as a career and returned home to assume the management of his father's farm. Mr. Ritchie was engaged in farming from 1907 to 1912, and in the latter year entered the grain business with Noble Brothers. Later he went into the business for himself and has developed a large and extensive trade. He is a man of cordial and genial demeanor and his integrity and ability have won the complete confidence of his customers. Besides the grain business at Foosland Mr. Ritchie conducts a large grain and stock farm two miles from the village.
On December 24, 1910, he married Miss Lucile Boulware. They have a little son, Robert Merrill, who is now five years of age. Mrs. Ritchie was born in McLean County, Illinois, July 8, 1891, and was educated largely in the common schools at Foosland. She is an active member of the Methodist Protestant Church. Her parents were Walker and Alice (Merwin) Boulware. Her father was born in Kentucky and his lineage goes back to France. Mr. Boulware conducted a general store in Stanford and Bloomington, Illinois, and in 1898, removing to Foosland, took up the grain trade. He was a man of good education, having had the advan- tages of not only the common schools but the normal course in the State Normal at Normal, Illinois. Before entering business he had taught in McLean County. Both he and his wife were active members of the Chris- tian Church. Mr. Boulware died in January, 1915, and Mrs. Boulware is still living and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie at Foosland.
Mr. Ritchie has found his political choice with the Republican party.
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His first presidential vote was cast for William H. Taft. He served six years as township clerk of Brown Township and is now a director of the public schools of Foosland. His college fraternity at Adrian was the Alpha Tau Omega, and he belongs to Lodge No. 842 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Foosland. Besides passing all the chairs of the local lodge, he was a delegate to the grand lodge in 1914. He is affiliated with Camp No. 3807, Modern Woodmen of America, and has taken his first degrees in the Knights of Pythias.
FRED HOY is one of the younger factors in the agricultural enterprise of Champaign County. He took hold of farming as a practical proposition in early life, and the ten years or more he has applied to that business have been in a high degree profitable. He now looks after the management of one of the best places in Urbana Township, located in section 24.
Mr. Hoy was born on the old farm in that township June 10, 1885, a son of Rufus B. and Martha (Arrington) Hoy. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Indiana. They came to Champaign County in 1880 and his father was actively identified with farming until 1903, when he removed to the city of Urbana, where he still resides. They were the parents of five children : Jesse; Bertha, wife of A. Duvall, of Rantoul ; May, wife of Earl Swartz, of Matthews, Missouri; Fred; and Lucy, still at home with her parents.
Mr. Fred Hoy attended the district schools as the source of his early education. He learned farming under the direction of his father and at the age of twenty took active charge of the home place. He now has 180 acres in section 24 of Urbana Township and conducts it with high power efficiency and in a way to get the best results consistent with wise and con- servative methods of agricultural management.
Mr. Hoy married, January 1, 1910, Opal Lockwood. She is a daughter of David and Sarah E. (Woodard) Lockwood, both natives of Indiana. The Lockwood family came to Champaign County in 1889, locating at Sidney. Her father, however, died in Indiana and her mother is now living in Urbana. Mrs. Hoy was the youngest of three children. Her sister Media is the wife of Truman O. Cord, of Sidney Township. Her sister Bertha is the wife of Roy Rankins, of Monticello, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoy have two young children. Marjorie Helen was born November 19, 1912. The only son, Donald Frederick, born March 28, 1913, lived only a few months and was taken away by death September 12, 1913. Politically Mr. Hoy is a Republican. Mrs. Hoy is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their home is on Rural Route No. 5 out of Urbana.
CHARLES CHESTER PLACE. For more than half a century the Place family has been identified with one locality in Champaign County, section 36 of Sidney Township. This is the farm home of Charles Chester Place, who was born there and has followed up the pioneer enterprise of his father with signally successful efforts of his own.
Mr. Place was born February 9, 1880, and is a son of Jefferson R. and Henrietta (Cash) Place. His father was a native of Ohio and his mother of Pennsylvania. Jefferson R. Place came to Champaign County in 1865, and at that time bought 120 acres in section 36 of Sidney Township. He did much to develop and improve the land, and at the time of his death in 1905 left it as property many times more valuable than when he bought it. His widow is still living at Sidney. They were the parents of three children: Edgar of Homer Township; Edna, wife of George Trees of Ohio; and Charles C.
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Charles C. Place has lived on the home farm all his life. After attend- ing the district schools he learned farming under the capable direction of his father and at his father's death became active manager of the home- stead. He is now farming 240 acres and owns considerable of the land in his own right. He has successfully combined the raising of the staple crops with live stock. Mr. Place is a Republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He married Miss DeEtta Mumm, a native of Sidney. They are the parents of five children, all at home, named Oliver, Melvin, Carl, Opal, and Pearl.
JOSEPH M. MULLIKIN has made a name for himself in the farming enterprise of Champaign County and has been a land owner and pro- gressive agriculturist for the past thirty years. His efforts in business and his attitude in civic matters have been in every way commendable, and there are few country places around Champaign which will better repay inspection than that of Mr. Mullikin, located on Route No. 1 out of the city of Champaign.
Mr. Mullikin was born in Johnson County, Indiana, February 7, 1863, but has lived in Champaign County since early infancy. He is a son of George C. and Nancy (Jones) Mullikin, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky. Joseph Mullikin is a brother of Mr. Charles J. Mullikin, now postmaster in the city of Champaign. His father was a prominent man and a splendid character and a more extended reference to his career will be found on other pages.
Joseph M. Mullikin remained at home until he was twenty-four years of age. In the meantime he attended the local schools and fitted himself by practice and exertion for the work that he has followed as a business career. At the age of twenty-four he located on 160 acres near Bond- ville in this county, and that was the stage of his activities as a farmer for eighteen years. In the meantime he bought eighty acres elsewhere, and kept increasing his farm enterprise until he was cultivating 370 acres as a general farmer. In 1902 he bought 160 acres, and in 1911 sold the eighty acres above mentioned. In the same year he purchased another 160 acres and at the present time his fine farm comprises 400 acres situ- ated in sections 20 and 29. In 1915 Mr. Mullikin suffered the misfortune of having his entire home destroyed by fire, but has since replaced it with a modern two-story, eight room house that realizes some of the best ideals and standards of Champaign County rural homes.
On February 12, 1887, he married Miss Belle Lowman, who was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Allison and Sarah J. (Lytle) Lowman, both natives of Pennsylvania and both now deceased. The Lowman family came to Champaign County in 1867, locating south of Bondville. In 1868 occurred a destructive cyclone in this section of Illinois, and the first home of the Lowmans was blown down. After nightfall the daughter Belle was discovered in' the garden near the home fast asleep, having been blown there during the storm and having slept peacefully through it all. Mrs. Mullikin was one of nine children, the record of the family being briefly as follows: Inez, wife of Chalmer Stitt, of Champaign; Alice, deceased; Mrs. Mullikin; Elizabeth, wifc of Charles Mullikin, postmaster of Champaign; John L., who lives near Staley and is road commissioner of that district; Mary, wife of Charles Shotts, of Milmine, Illinois ; Samuel L., in the grocery and grain business at Staley ; William, deceased ; and Cora, wife of Frank Brown, of Champaign.
Mr. and Mrs. Mullikin have two children, Maude Edith and George Allison. Maude Edith is the wife of George Armstrong and their home
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is one mile west of Bondville. Their three children are named Dorothy Marie, Verlie and Marian Esther. George Allison is a farmer associated with the enterprise of his father. By his marriage to Blanche Fowler, a native of Urbana, he has one child, Marcella May.
Mr. Mullikin is a Democrat in politics. He is now serving his district as school director. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their postoffice is at Champaign and they are well known in that city.
FRANCIS M. LEIGH of St. Joseph village is one of Champaign County's veteran farmers. He is also one of those living who have seen most of the development of this section of the country. His own part has been not entirely that of a witness, and taking the aggregate results of the work and influence of the Leigh family it can truthfully be said that their lives are inseparably identified with all the real history of the county.
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