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 80
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While in Germany he served an apprenticeship at agriculture, but in that vocation he could see no future except as a tenant or farm manager, and therefore at the age of twenty-five, in the fall of 1864, he set his face for the land of America, where his two brothers had already preceded him. He had been encouraged to make the journey by enthusiastic letters from
Edward Butyour Jennie. Butyou
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these brothers. He took ship at the city of Hamburg, and after a number of days of voyage landed at New York. The following winter he spent at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was employed on construction of Gov- ernment gunboats for use in the Civil War. He next went to Oil City, Pennsylvania, and was employed as an oil driller. In 1865 Mr. Butzow arrived in Iroquois County, Illinois, where he worked at making railway ties. In the fall of 1865 he joined his brother Louis at Urbana. Louis was engaged in the brewery business at Urbana as partner of some other parties who were not distinguished for scrupulous honesty and were rapidly getting the better of Mr. Butzow's brother. He finally lost nearly all his capital and was compelled to take the $300 that remained to his credit in notes of the brewery with the understanding that he should buy enough beer to cancel the account. In this dilemma he set up as a retail liquor dealer, and employed his brother Edward as salesman. Edward Butzow saw so many unpleasant things connected with the business that he soon became disgusted, and though very poor and without extended opportunity he refused to have anything to do with the liquor trade. Early experiences make strong impressions, and it is noteworthy that from that day to this Edward Butzow has been one of the strongest and most determined oppo- nents of the liquor traffic and there is no truer friend of the temperance cause anywhere in the country. It should be remembered that fifty years ago, when he became aligned with the temperance people, liquor manu- facture and liquor selling were accepted as a matter of course and there was no general public opinion against the traffic. Thus through all these years Mr. Butzow has been a nucleus in that gradually enlarging movement which now happily promises to destroy the liquor evil for all time to come.
After this early adventure at Urbana Mr. Butzow bought a half interest in a shingle mill. The mill turned out a fine grade of shingles. These were cut in blocks, boiled in water and cut into shingles, but the business was not profitable. He then turned over his share to his partner, and after that bought forty acres in section 27 of St. Joseph Township. Here he established a brick yard, making brick for one year and the following year engaged in the manufacture of tile. He was really in advance of his time as a tile manufacturer, since land owners had not yet learned to appreciate the value of subsurface drainage by means of tile, and in a short time he found himself bankrupt and burdened with a large debt of $1,150 after selling all his land. When he had solicited a local merchant for financial aid in the tile business, Mr. Butzow assured his creditor that he would see that he incurred no loss by the venture. He made good his word, though it took five years of hard, steady and heavy manual toil at ditching to pay off his note of $1,150 and its accumulating 10 per cent interest. It was an honest debt, and Mr. Butzow could not rest until it was paid, and he has always looked back upon that transaction as one of the most satisfactory in his entire career and furnishing him more pleasure than even the abundant possessions which he now enjoys.
One incident occurred in the life of Mr. Butzow which he always called "Two seconds from death." While in Germany, he was working with another man in a "marl pit," a mixture of clay and lime. They were working under a great undermined embankment of earth. Observing a boy driving up to it with a blind horse, he stepped out from under it to caution him, when the props gave way and the entire embankment fell, burying his companion.
In 1874 Mr. Butzow was elected town clerk of St. Joseph. While look- ing after the duties of that office he took up the study of law in a practical . fashion. He was possessed of a good education, was a good talker and man of experience. and there being no lawyer in the community, he carried on
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a considerable practice, especially in drawing up legal documents and per- forming such other services as have popularly been denominated as pettifog- ging.
In the meantime Mr. Butzow bought 120 acres of land in section 2 north of the village of St. Joseph at a price of $20 an acre. He went to work clearing it up and cultivating it, saved every dollar he earned, and gradually was in a fair way to the success which later years and labors assured him.
In 1880 Mr. Butzow married Miss Lenna E. Cross. She was a native of Ohio. Mr. Butzow took his bride to his farm of 120 acres, and together they laid the foundation of a good home. It was improved with substan- tial buildings, with the planting of trees and other improvements, and in 1892 Mr. Butzow sold to advantage and subsequently bought the magnificent place of 440 acres which he still owns in section 34 of St. Joseph Township.
Mr. and Mrs. Butzow have four children, one of whom died in infancy. The other three are Louis James, Edward Charles and Clara Bertha. Mr. Butzów saw to it that they had the advantages of the local district schools and also the high school at Sidney. Louis subsequently graduated from the University of Illinois in the technical course and is now an electrical engineer in Chicago. He has made a splendid record for himself, and enjoys a good position and has an ideal family life. He married Louisa Hermison, and their two children are named Mary and John. The son Edward C. is a practical farmer and manages his father's estate in section 34. He married Zora Rudisell, and their family consists of three sons, Harold, Gleason and Darnel. The daughter Clara, after graduating from the Urbana High School, took a bookkeeping course in a business college at Chicago, and is now the wife of Oliver Plummer, a successful teacher of Champaign. Mr. Butzow has given each of these three children eighty acres of land, and Mrs. Clara Plummer is now preparing to move to her farm.
In 1900 the death angel visited the Butzow home and took away the good wife and mother, leaving Mr. Butzow with his three young children. In 1905 he married for his present wife Mrs. Jennie Reese, who was born in St. Joseph Township, a daughter of Henry and Catherine (Argo) Reese. Her people were pioneers in Champaign County. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Butzow was educated in the district schools, and was left fatherless and motherless at an early age. For several years she was employed as a housekeeper in the family of Mr. Butzow until their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Butzow have five young children, Grace, Waldo, Ruth, Marshall and Gladys.
Politically Mr. Butzow is an ardent Republican and has supported that party first and last ever since casting his first vote in America. He and his wife are regular members of the Christian Church at Tipton. It is certainly with pardonable pride that he may look back upon his career in Champaign County. He overcame much in his early experiences, as already noted, and having paid every obligation and every honest debt, it is with unusual satisfaction that he enjoys the fine estate which has grown and accumulated under his enterprise and which furnishes a splendid home for his later years.
A. F. MEUSER has been a resident of Illinois and the greater part of Champaign County for fully fifty years, and his labors long since became so productive as to enable him to live in retirement. He and his wife now have a large and comfortable home in Rantoul, on Grove Avenue. In earlier years they worked hard, were content with simple comforts and necessities, and were willing to sacrifice many things in order to secure a home, rear their children properly, and have a competence for their later years. In
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all this they have succeeded, and they deserve the respect and honor paid to hard working and excellent citizens.
Mr. Meuscr was born at Garz on the River Oder, Germany, one of the seven children of John D. and Minnie (Bishof) Meuser. When he was three years of age his mother died, and his father subsequently married again and came to America.
Mr. A. F. Mcuser was twenty years old when he came to this country in 1867, in company with his brother Frederick. They landed at New York, went west to Chicago, and from there A. F. Meuser journeyed to Minonk, Illinois, where his married sister, Fredericka Westermann, lived. He found employment with his brother at the carpenter trade, and subse- quently engaged in farming.
In 1875 Mr. Meuser laid the foundation of his own home by his mar- riage to Fredericka Bermaum. She was born in the village of Voigstdorf, Germany, a daughter of Gustave and Sophia (Casdorf) Bermaum. The Bermaum family and also the parents of Gustave and Sophia came to America, and Grandfather and Grandmother Casdorf died and were buried in Champaign County.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Meuser started farming on a place three miles northwest of Rantoul. It was prairie land, eighty acres, which Mr. Mcuser's father had bought from the Illinois Central Railway Company in 1868. They paid $12 an acre for it, though now it is worth many times that sum. Mr. Meuser knows full well the condition of Cham- paign County fifty years ago. Much of the land was raw prairie, there were numerous sloughs filled with water a large part of the year, and in the swampy section wild game abounded, especially water birds, geese, ducks and cranes being counted by the thousands. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser began housekeeping in a small place fourteen by twenty feet. One compensation for such small quarters in the estimation of Mrs. Meuser is that in those days she was not troubled with extensive house-cleaning operations. This couple possessed the qualities of German progressiveness, energy and econ- omy, they worked diligently, and were always buoyed up with hope of the future and by the widening opportunities of life in the New World.
Into their, home there came in time three children, William, Gustave and Rosa. The daughter died at the age of twelve years. The children were educated in the Ludlow Center school. This school was three miles away, and frequently the roads were very bad, but the children went back and forth every day.
In the meantime Mr. Meuser found opportunity to add to his posses- sions, bought small tracts of land from time to time, and finally found himself possessed of a full half section, which he still owns.
Both of his sturdy sons. married sisters, daughters of John and Lena Blue, a well known Champaign County family. William Meuser married Alma Blue, and their three children are Minnie, Herman'and Gertrude. Gustave Meuser married Jane Blue and has four children, Augusta, Albert, Rosa and John. William Meuser is a successful farmer in Ludlow Town- ship, a mile and a half from Rantoul, and Gustave does his farming in the same township.
Mr. and Mrs. Meuser are active members of the German Lutheran Church, and their sons were confirmed in the same faith. In a public way Mr. Meuser has always donc what he could to promote the public welfare. He served three terms as drainage commissioner, was a member of the town council at Rantoul three years, and one year was mayor. He takes a broad-minded view of politics and government, and believes that the man rather than the party is chiefly entitled to support. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser are loyal Americans, and have rcared their sons with the same sturdy prin- ciples which have guided their own lives so prosperously. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser have lived in the town of Rantoul for the past eighteen years.
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Among their old family possessions is a book which for age is probably the oldest in Champaign County. It was published 400 years ago, and is a collection of sermons of German Lutheran Evangelical preachers. This book was the property of Mr. Meuser's stepmother. She so prized it that she requested it to be buried with her. At the time of her death the family hunted diligently but were unable to find the volume. Later, when it was found, the pastor of the church told them not to worry since the book was of more value above ground than in the grave. Mr. and Mrs. Meuser also have a book of hymns which was published fully 100 years ago.
NORMAN C. HOYT has spent the best years of his life in one of the rich agricultural districts of Champaign County, has become prosperous from his handling of the soil and its crops, has reared a capable family, and has many reasons to be well satisfied with the retrospect that he can now con- template while living at his beautiful old home at the north end of Main Street in the village of St. Joseph.
Mr. Hoyt was born in St. Joseph Township, June 6, 1863, son of James N. and Sarah (Hoss) Hoyt. His father was born at Moreau, Sara- toga, New York, May 20, 1824, of Scotch ancestry. His parents were Nathan and Lucretia (Stevenson) Hoyt. Her father was pressed into service on the British side in the Revolutionary War, but was captured and fought on the American side. Sarah Hoss was born in Brown County, Ohio, January 1, 1825. Her paternal grandfather came from Germany and was a soldier in Washington's army. James and Sarah Hoyt were quite early settlers in Illinois. Sarah Hoyt came to this state in 1836 with her mother and two brothers and sister. The mother entered forty acres of Government land on Salt Fork Creek in Champaign County and that land has continued in the family possession to the present day. James N. Hoyt and wife had two sons, George and Norman. George is also a resi- dent of St. Joseph, but spent thirty-seven years of his life in the West.
Norman Hoyt acquired his education in the district schools of St. Joseph Township and at the age of twenty-two he married Miss Mary E. Walker. She was born in Indiana, a daughter of Joseph R. and Cath- erine (Young) Walker. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt began housekeeping in his father's old home, and the place where he was born and reared. Later his parents removed to the village of St. Joseph, and Norman and wife continued to live on the old homestead for twenty years.
To their marriage were born nine children: Dolly E., Anson J., Minnie E., Ralph W., Ealy N. and Nealy G. (twins), Mildred C., Sarah L. and Zella E. Mr. Hoyt was very much concerned with the education of luis children, and sent them to the public schools of the township and also to the high school at St. Joseph village. The son Anson J. is a farmer on the old homestead and by his marriage to Rosa Sinks lias four children, Rolla, Robert, Leon and Charles. The daughter Dolly married Fred Roney, and at her death she left one child, Forest, and there was one that died in infancy. Ralph W. Hoyt lives in Minnesota. Minnie E. is the wife of Frank M. Jones. a resident of Champaign County. The son Ealy Hoyt is one of the young volunteers from Champaign County for the liberty war, and has enlisted in the artillery service, in Battery B, Third Infantry, and is at present located at Houston, Texas. Mr. Norman Hoyt has an interesting relic of Civil War times in the form of a bond issued July 11, 1864, drawing 6 per cent interest for three years. His brother George has a similar bond for $100, a 5 per cent issue for five years.
A number of years ago Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt moved with their family to the state of Kansas, where he bought land and was engaged in farming. While living in that state the death angel visited the home and on Decem-
NORMAN C. HOYT AND MARY E. HOYT AND CHILDREN
RESIDENCE OF NORMAN C. HOYT
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NORMAN C. HOYT AND JULIA E. HOYT AND CHILDREN
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ber 21, 1909, Mrs. Hoyt passed away. Left with the care of his young children Mr. Hoyt then returned to Champaign County and on the old homestead adjacent to St. Joseph village built the fine residence which he still occupies. In 1910 he married Mrs. Julia Etta (Clements) Appling. She was the widow of John H. Appling, and by that marriage was the mother of three children, William J., Grace C. and George E. Appling. William Appling was educated in the high school at Urbana, graduating in 1917 at the age of seventeen, while the other two children are still pursuing their studies in the local high school. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt have one child, James C., now six years of age, and just beginning his educational preparation. Mrs. Hoyt's mother, Mrs. Julia (Kirby) Clem- ents, was born where the Blackberry Schoolhouse now stands in Champaign County. At the age of eight years she went with her parents to Wisconsin in a covered wagon. She now lives in Urbana, at the age of eighty-two years, with faculties well preserved.
For many years Mr. Hoyt has been a successful grain and stock farmer. . His industry has met with pleasing success and one of the best fruits of it all besides his fine family is the beautiful and attractive home in North St. Joseph. As a background to his residence there is a dense wood of large elms and oaks which has stood there for generations, and Mr. Hoyt wisely held on to his inheritance of Champaign County soil and has always honored and appreciated the county where he was born and where his efforts have been most productive in the world's work.
Mr. Hoyt's mother passed away March 26, 1905, and his father joined her on August 8, 1911. They were among the highly respected residents of Champaign County. The father died in Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hoyt are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mrs. Hoyt is a member. In politics he is a man of broad views and principles and interested in the man rather than the party. In many ways he has exemplified his public spirited interest in the local welfare and has been especially concerned with the maintenance of good schools. He served as director of District No. 1 for several years. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt have endeavored to rear their children with utmost care and with a training that would make them loyal to their country and fitted for all the duties of citizenship.
Mr. Hoyt has always taken special interest in the breeding of good stock, and his farm contains some as fine Belgian horses as are to be found in the country. One fine imported mare is Lisa Baron (98467) 3788, imported by Finch Brothers, November 16, 1913, sired by Fleurin (14928), he by La Fleur (8616) dam Olga Baron (14605). Other noted animals are: Gravenelle, 3785 (98475), was imported in 1913; sire, Certain (31606), by Bienvenu (13292), out of Vitesse (42675) ; dam, Louise De Reves (76871). Gavenelle has taken first premium in a two and four horse team and in a six-horse team in the International show at Chicago. Mr. Hoyt also owns some fine Hereford stock, among them Flora Donald IV (348400), Miss Gipsy Maid II (496972), and he has recently added fifteen more fine registered Herefords. These animals are a fine acquisition and a valuable asset to the county.
JESSE NEWTON DICK. The communities which do not have the pro- portion of intelligent retired farmers, many of whom are capitalists, as residents lack an element that may be one of great importance. The farmer's life leads to thought and contemplation and a man who through his own toilsome efforts can acquire a competency and retire to enjoy it while yet in middle life must be possessed of excellent judgment, which should be a valuable addition to community life. He should be a man
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with clearer views concerning many things and more able to give sensible advice and offer practical suggestions in regard to the everyday problems that have to be settled when interests clash, as they do in congested sections contrasted with the larger freedom of country life. In the pleasant town of Philo may be found fine examples of the retired farmer who have become exceedingly useful members of this community, and one who was held in general esteem was Jesse Newton Dick, who was called from this life on the 10th of August, 1917. He lies buried in the Maharry Cemetery near Wingate, Indiana.
Jesse N. Dick was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, December 7, 1857. His parents were Eli H. and Jane P. (Maharry) Dick, the former of whom was born at Baltimore, Maryland, August 15, 1822, and the latter in Indiana, February 10, 1829. They came to Champaign County in 1878 and settled on a farm in Philo Township which Mr. Dick had purchased in 1876. He carried on the usual agricultural industries here during the rest of his active life, and died at Philo January 30, 1897. His widow survived for many years afterward, her death occurring at Philo September 15, 1915. Of their three children, one son and two daughters, all are now deceased. The daughters were Ellen and Emma.
Jesse N. Dick attended the public schools in Indiana and was a student of De Pauw University for two years. In 1878 he accompanied his parents to Champaign County. In 1879 he began his farming operations on the homestead and continued to reside in Philo Township, where he owned 320 acres of fine land. He moved then to the village and in 1910 built his handsome modern residence, one of the finest in the place and a model of comfort and convenience.
'Mr. Dick was married April 15, 1879, to Miss Harrict Emily Luse, who was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, and is a daughter of Jacob and Charlotte (Martin) Luse. The father of Mrs. Dick was born in Pennsylvania and the mother in Ohio. They had the following children : Rhoda A., who is deceased; Belinda, who is the wife of J. Bottenburg, a farmer ; Amos M., who lives at Waynetown, Indiana; Harrict Emily, who is Mrs. Dick; Albert, who is a resident of Lebanon, Indiana; and Estella, George W. and William, all of whom are deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Dick had two daughters: Pearl, who is the wife of Mark Maddux, of Wingate, Indiana; and Elma Jane, who is the wife of W. H. Hickman, of Paris, Illinois. Mr. Dick was quite prominent in Democratic politics.
HENRY ROSCOE SHADE is a graduate of the agricultural department of the University of Illinois, and since that time has applied his efforts suc- cessfully to farming in Champaign County. He has mixed the correct proportions of science, brains and practical experience in his work, and as to his success his fine farm in Somer Township, his standing and position in the business and civic community, can testify better than words.
Mr. Shade was born in Dale Township of McLean County, Illinois, November 1, 1880. He is a son of John K. and Anna (Bower) Shade, both of whom were Pennsylvanians. His father came out to Illinois about 1874, locating on a farm in McLean County, and living there until his death on June 2, 1896. His mother passed away on the 18th of March, 1898. Henry R. Shade was their only son. He has one sister, Imogene, wife of Charles A. Shoults, of Detroit, Michigan.
Henry R. Shade was sixteen years of age when his father died. He had in the meantime attended the country schools, and had acquired con- siderable knowledge of farming on the home place. Subsequently for four years he worked on the farm and at the same time attended the Blooming-
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ton High School, from which he was graduated in 1900. Mr. Shade has had considerable business experience as well as association with farming. For three years after leaving high school he traveled, handling household specialties. Largely with such money as he was able to acquire by his own efforts he entered the University of Illinois and pursued the agricul- tural course from the fall of 1903 until his graduation in 1907. The vacations he had utilized as an employe of the International Harvester Company. He traveled for this company as salesman and collector in the states of Iowa and Illinois and also in Canada.
On December 24, 1906, Mr. Shade married Mary Thornburn, a native of Urbana. After graduation from the University of Illinois in 1907 Mr. Shade and wife went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and resided there until January 1, 1908. While there Mr. Shade was employed by the Inter- national Harvester Company. In the spring of 1908 the young couple located on Mr. T. B. Thornburn's farm six miles north of Urbana, where Mr. Shade had ample opportunity to demonstrate his ability as a farmer and the value of his university course. They remained there until the spring of 1914, when they removed to Mr. Shade's own farm of 100 acres in Somer Township. His farm lies in sections 16, 15 and 20. Mr. Shade made considerable profit by raising seed corn, and he also specializes in the Duroc hogs . and Holstein cattle. Besides his Illinois farm, which is a model place, Mr. Shade owns 320 acres in the Province of Alberta, Canada, and also 170 acres in Owen County, Indiana.
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