USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 58
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HON. JOHN ADAM NAUMAN. Very frequently it is found that a sue- cessful business man is the citizen best qualified for publie office in a community, the management of public affairs requiring the same firm- ness, foresight and good judgment that are necessary to insure prosperity in carrying on commercial undertakings of a personal nature. Thus the people of Valmeyer. Illinois, have undoubtedly done well in selecting as the president of their village the present incumbent, John Adam Nau. man. He was born in Jefferson county, Missouri, December 4, 1884, and is a son of John William and Mary (Arnold) Nauman.
John William Nauman was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, De- cember 4, 1849, and was about eight years old when he accompanied his parents to America. They located on a farm in Monroe county. Illi- nois, and there John William grew to manhood. After his marriage to Mary Arnold, of Jefferson county, Missouri, he moved to Frederick- town, Missouri, where he went into the butcher business, subsequently moving from there to Kimmswick, in the same state, where he acquired property and continued in the meat business until his death, which oc- eurred November 1, 1904. He was twice married, his first wife dying in 1889, the mother of seven children. His second marriage was to Christianna Mann, who was born in Germany, and five children were born to this union. They were members of the Lutheran church and all were worthy and respeeted people.
John A. Nauman obtained his education in the public schools of Jefferson county. His father was a very practical, sensible man, and as soon as the son was old enough he had duties to perform in his father's market and subsequently learned the business in all its details, after the family moved to Kimiswiek. In 1909 he eame to Valmeyer, Illi- nois, where he embarked in the meat business, in which he has continued, having the leading market in the place. In his business affairs he has prospered and through his public spirit and personal integrity has be- come a leading citizen here. Prior to being appointed president of the village, which honor was accorded him in 1911, he had served as a mem- ber of the board of aldermen. Politically he is a Republican, as was his late father.
On Angust 19, 1907, when in his twenty-fifth year, Mr. Nauman was united in marriage with Miss Mary Loner. a daughter of Frederick Louer, and they have one son, Elmer. Mr. and Mrs. Nauman. are mem- bers of the Lutheran church.
WILLIAM H. HOWELL was born in Monongalia county, West Vir- ginia, on the 4th day of May, 1845. He is the son of George and Mary Howell. His great-grandfather, Samuel Howell, immigrated
William H, Howell
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from England to Maryland, and his grandparents, Annie and Laban Howell, eame from Maryland into West Virginia.
William II. Howell's father, George Howell, was one of seven sons, good old English stoek. Ilis father died when he was only three years old and his mother married again two years later, which caused Wil- liam to live with his grandfather Howell until he was sixteen years old. In March, 1862, he came west to Carbondale, Illinois, and there learned fine earpentering and soon became a contractor. In 1869 he went to Kansas and during the boom in that state he carried on an extensive con- traeting business.
He afterwards returned to Marion, Illinois, and went into the mer- cantile business, remaining there eight years. From there he moved in 1879 to Harrisburg, Illinois, and was a partner of Robert Mieks in the dry goods business for one year. In 1880 he formed a partnership with Jaek Davenport, William Alsopp and E. O. Roberts, and went into the coal business under the firm name of the Cliffton Coal Com- pany, operating a coal mine known as the Cliffton mine, which they operated very successfully together for two years. At the end of that time William H. Howell bought out two of his partners, which gave him 75% of the business. In two years he bought out his remaining partner and continued in the business alone, in which he was partieu- larly successful. In 1892 he leased his eoal mine to Davenport & White for a term of five years, and upon the termination of their lease he incorporated a new company known as the Cliffton Coal Company and sunk a shaft to No. 5 vein of coal, retaining a controlling interest in the new company and leasing his property to the new company on a royalty basis. Under the management of Mr. Howell this arrange- ment was a very profitable one.
In 1905 the Cliffton Coal Company sold out its interests to the O'Gara Coal Company at a figure which represented a handsome profit. Mr. Howell also sold all his coal lands to the O'Gara Coal Company and retired from the coal business.
Two weeks after selling his eoal mine and eoal lands Mr. Howell found himself out of a business. He began to get restless, his time heretofore having always been employed by his various business inter- ests, and he began to prospeet about for a new business. ITis atten- tion beeame centered upon Vincennes, Indiana, and there he purchased three acres of land, well nigh the center of the city, with a view to start- ing a factory to manufacture corrugated paper, single and double feed board, and manufacturing it into boxes of all sizes for shipping cases, taking the place of wood.
In June, 1906, this firm was incorporated as the W. H. Howell Man- ufacturing Company, of Vincennes, Indiana, with a capital stoek of eighty thousand dollars. William H. Howell is president and general manager and owns a controlling interest in the business. Thus far the new concern has done business at a profit, and Mr. Howell is firm in his opinion that the industry has a great future. He manifests a great deal of pardonable pride in the success it has achieved thus far, and it is not too much to say that that success is for the most part due to the splendid management of Mr. Howell as president of the concern and its general manager. He still retains his beautiful home in llarris- burg, Illinois, where he lives, going and coming each week from there to the factory in Vincennes.
On September 15. 1874. Mr. Howell was married to Mary M. Mitchell, at Grayville, White county, Illinois. She is the daughter of M. P. and C. W. Mitchell. The father, Mardonius Paterson Mitchell, was the second son of Sion Ilunt and Elizabeth (Cook) Mitehell. He
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was born in Williamson county, April 19, 1821. IIis father, Sion Hunt Mitchell, was the third son of William and Elizabeth (Hunt) Mitchell, and he was born in Franklin county, North Carolina, September 13. 1797. He was one of a family of eleven children, and his father was William Mitehell, son of John Mitchell, who lived at Whitehall, Lin- coln county. England, and was knighted some time in the eighteenth century. William Mitehell married Elizabeth N. Hunt, March 3, 1790. She was born at White Hall, Lincoln county, December 18, 1771. Lord Hunt, the great-great-grandfather of Mary M. (Mitchell) Howell, was famous by reason of his leadership in the Hunt rebellion.
One daughter, Lelle Mitchell Howell, was born to Mr. and Mrs. William H. Howell. She was born at Marion, Illinois, on the 21st of July, 1878. She married J. M. Pruett at Harrisburg, Illinois, April 25, 1900, and to them one son has been born,-John Howell Pruett, born August 21, 1902. The Pruett family also reside in Harrisburg, Illinois.
William H. Howell is a thirty-second degree Mason and an old school Presbyterian. He is a past master of Harrisburg Lodge, No. 325, and is vice president and a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of Harrisburg. He has achieved a worthy measure of success because of his exceptional ability to make the most of every business opportunity, and throughout his life all his dealings have been open and above board.
As citizens the character of himself and his wife is without blemish, and such men and women eannot fail to advance the best interests of the communities with which they become identified, and the precept and example of their lives is one that the present generation would do well to emulate.
THE PRUETT FAMILY. One of the old and honored families of Southern Illinois, members of which are well known in the commercial world, especially as the owners of large coal mining properties, is that of Pruett, which traces its history back to John Pruett, a native of Georgia, who was born in 1777. In 1803 he founded the Illinois branch of the family, settling on the Ohio River at what is now Elizabethtown, Hardin county, with four or five other families, among them the Mc- Farlands. Soon thereafter he went to Eagle Creek, in what is now Saline county, and there spent the remainder of his life, attaining a ripe old age and becoming a prominent and highly respected eitizen. His son, Benjamin Pruett, had died some time previous, and both are buried in the cemetery on the old homestead known as the Pruett family burying ground. Benjamin Pruett left one son, who was called John. born at Eagle Creek, September 4, 1826, and he was reared by his grandfather to the age of eighteen years. At that time he took up the work of flatboating on the Ohio river and for three years or more he was thus engaged. He then took up the carpenter trade and after becoming proficient in the work he devoted his time to that trade in the southern states for some time as a stage and house carpenter. The opening of the Civil war brought an end to his labors in that section of the country, and in 1863 he located in Harrisburg, Illinois, where he engaged in the undertaking business, at the same time following his trade as a carpenter and cabinet maker. When he was thirty-five years old he married one Margaret Christian, born in Christian county, Ken- tueky, in 1842, and coming to Illinois when a small child. She was twenty-two years old at the time of her marriage. Six children were born of their union, three of whom died in infancy, and three sons, Frank, Albert and Milo, yet survive. They are well known and repre- sentative citizens of Harrisburg and are heavy property owners, prom-
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inent among their possessions in the way of realty being the Pruett block, a handsome struetnre used for a store and office building. The family holdings aggregate a wide acreage of valuable lands, richly un- derlaid with deep veins of coal. The old homestead of the Pruett fam- ily, which came into their possesion in 1866, is now occupied by Al- bert, who was married in Peoria, Illinois, in 1891, to Cora Armstrong. One daughter, Margaret, has been horn to them. Frank married Mar- garet O'Dwyer, of Vienna, Illinois, in 1900, and Milo married Lelle Howell, of Harrisburg, on April 25, 1901. She is the daughter of William H. Howell, of that city. One son, John Howell Pruett, is the issne of their union.
HON. SIDNEY B. MILLER. A man who both as a public official and as a prominent citizen has been an important factor in monlding Cairo's imieipal history is Sidney B. Miller, the popular and efficient post- master of this city, a position which he has held for the last ten years. Mr. Miller was born in Rowan county, North Carolina, and is a son of Milford Green and Mary A. ( Walton) Miller.
Milford Green Miller was born in the same county in North Caro- lina, of German descent, and had a brother, Daniel, and a sister, Mrs. Barbara Mowery, who also came to Alexander county and reared lam- ilies. Milford G. Miller was twice married, his first wife being a Miss Cauble, who at her death left him one son. George, now a resident of Dis- wood, Illinois. Mr. Miller's second marriage was to Mary A. Walton, who was born in North Carolina, of German and English descent, and in 1857 they came to Illinois and settled in the rural community of Elco, Alexander county. Mr. Miller engaged in agricultural pursuits, to which the remainder of liis life was devoted, his death occurring in 1892, when he was seventy-two years of age, while his widow survived until 1909, and was eighty-four years old at the time of her demise. They had the following children : Margaret, the wife of Henry Whitta- ker, died in Alexander county ; Sidney B. ; Clinton Eugene, who lives at Miller City, Illinois ; Susie, who married .I. S. MeRaven, of Marion, Illi- nois: Jesse E., of Cairo, who is serving his fourth term as county clerk of Alexander county ; and Mary JJ., who married William Brown, a well- known citizen of Cairo.
Sidney B. Miller was reared in the vicinity of Elco, was educated liberally in the public schools, was reared to the work of an agrienlturist, which he followed in youth and part of young manhood, and for a few terms taught district school. He then joined his brother in the erection of a flour mill at Eleo and operated it for a time, and was engaged in the grain and milling business when he yielded to the local clamor for his candidacy for a publie office. He was elected county clerk in 1886 and again in 1890. and in 1894 was elected sheriff for four years. At the expiration of this term he engaged in the timber business, operated a sawmill in Alexander county and handled timber extensively. In 1900 Mr. Miller was elected a representative to the Hlinois General Assembly for the fiftieth district, and served one term. His service in that body gave him an extensive acquaintance with prominent Re- publicans in the state and the political friendships he made were a factor in his further interest in political activity. He has been a member of the Republican county and congressional committee, has helped organize state conventions and contributed to the success of many Republican candidates for state and congressional office. He was appointed postmaster of Cairo by President Roosevelt in 1901 and was commissioned by him a second time in 1905. President Taft reappointing him in 1909. Although a firm Republican and steadfast in his loyalty to
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his party, Mr. Miller has never been animated by any controversial spirit that would antagonize those of opposite political belief. Conse- quently he has hosts of warm friends and supporters among his political opponents, whose votes have often been given him when he has been a candidate. Mr. Miller has never married.
JOHN BRUFF STOUT. The position of an editor is one of great re- sponsibility, for in spite of this being an age of doubt and of much inde- pendent thought, and in spite of the commonly heard remark "I believe nothing I see in the newspapers," people are unconsciously influenced by what they read. The seed is sown, and there are ten chances to one that it will grow. An editor, therefore, should be a man of great dis- crimination, and instead of retiring into a literary shell he should be out among the people, for he, more than anyone else, should know the conditions of the people who read his words and he must keep in touch with the thought of the day, for which his paper should be only a mirror. John B. Stout comes very near the realization of this ideal. For many years previous to his entering the field of journalism he was connected with educational work in one way or another, and in this work he had a great opportunity to learn how people really thought and felt. With this as a foundation he has been able to keep in close touch with the people, and he has always stood as the champion of any cause that would improve conditions and would benefit the social and civic life of the people.
John Bruff Stout was born in Lawrence county, Illinois, on the 5th of August, 1863. His birthplace was a farm near Clancy, Illinois. He was the son of George Stout, who was born at Coshocton, Coshocton county, Ohio, on the 18th of October, 1836. He was not yet grown when he came to Illinois, the year being 1853. IIe located in Lawrence county, and there took up farming. He has been a farmer all of his life and is now living a very quiet life at his home in Sumner. At the age of twenty-one he was married to Sarah Mushrush, who was at the time a resident of Lawrence county, although she, like her husband, had been born in Coshocton, Ohio. She is now seventy-three years of age and is enjoying the companionship of her husband, as she was never able to when she had the cares of a household and he had the work of the farm. Her family of children numbered eight, seven boys and one girl, and of these John B. was the third. George Stout is a Republican in his politics and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist church.
The early years of John Bruff Stout were spent on the farm in the western part of Lawrence county, and, as farmer's lads usually do. he spent about as much time working on the farm as he did in the school room. Being one of the older boys, he was of great assistance to his father, and it was hard to spare him, even for the few hours he spent in school. He had inordinate thirst for knowledge, however, and when this was clear to his parents they were as anxious that he make the most of his advantages as he was himself. Ile first attended the publie schools, and then knowing that the money could not be spared from the family exchequer for any further education, he determined to earn some through the medium of a teacher. He taught school until he had saved enough to enable him to enter the state university at Lawrence, Kansas, and by making every penny do double duty, and by working while he was studying, he managed to remain at the university until he had a fair education.
On leaving the university he first taught in the county sehools, and then was elected assistant superintendent of schools at Sumner, Illinois. HIe remained here for two years as assistant, and then was elected prin-
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cipal, holding the latter position for two years. In 1894 he was elected county superintendent of schools for Lawrence county, and he threw all his forces into the work of improving and developing the school sys- tem of the county. He modernized and improved the course of study, raised the standard of scholarship in the schools and infused into the life of the community a new enthusiasm for reading and for general culture by the introduction of a reading cirele which he organized and developed. During his work as superintendent he had great difficulty in placing his projects before the people, and he realized that the county needed a newspaper that would stand for progress and would not only fight for political reform but would also stand for civic and social reform.
It is not surprising. therefore, that at the expiration of his term as county superintendent he should buy the plant of The Republican, the oldest newspaper in this section of the state, having the prestige that age always gives to anything. It was established in 1847, and ever since the founding of the Republican party the policy of the paper has been consistently Republican. Into this staid, conservative publication Mr. Stout infused new life, and now the paper has the largest circulation of any in the county. It is popular because its editor is afraid of no one: Catering directly to the people, he is not forced to pander to the men who advertise in his pages. Being independent, he can say to men who threaten to take their advertising away from him, "Take it out, if you choose, the people believe in me, and you will be the loser in the fight." It is a great thing to have the trust of the people in this way, but the responsibility is also a heavy one.
During the past years Mr. Stont has built a fine new fire-proof build- ing, the ground floor of which is occupied by the offices of the paper. He has the most modern machinery, and the attractive sheet which is issued would be a credit to any community. The poliey of the paper is now, as it has always been, Republican, and opposed to the saloon ele- ment and the liquor dealers. Mr. Stout was appointed postmaster by Roosevelt in 1907 and he still holds the office. He has been a strong ele- ment in the civic affairs of Lawrenceville, serving for four years on the city council, and for one year acting as mayor. He is one of the strongest men in the Republican party in this part of the state, and will doubtless be of great value in the coming campaign.
lle is a very active member of the church in which he was reared, that is the Methodist Episcopal. He is a member of the board of stew- ards, was elected as delegate to the General Conference in East St. Louis in 1911, and since 1894 has been superintendent of the Sunday- school. lle was a member of the building committee that had the erec- tion of the $35.000.00 church in charge. This edifice was completed in 1911, and is a very fine piece of architecture. In the fraternal world he is prominent, being a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Elks.
In 1891 Mr. Stout was married to Miss Jennie Dobbins, who lived in the northwestern part of the county. She was the daughter of a retired farmer. Vincent Dobbins. Three children were born of this marriage, but they were early bereft of their mother, who died at the age of twenty-eight. The eldest of these children, Lela, is dead, and the other two are Mable and Leslie. In December, 1898, Mr. Stout married again, his second wife being Sarah A. Salter. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William'Salter, who lived at that time in Lawrenceville, but who have since moved to Wisconsin. There are no children from this second marriage.
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WILFORD F. DILLON. One of those men whose influence has been deeply felt in Franklin county, Illinois, because of the part he has played in promoting the best development and progress of this sec- tion of the state, is Mr. Wilford F. Dillon, the well known lawyer of Benton. Mr. Dillon first saw light of day in Franklin county, Novem- ber 25. 1853, his parents, Isaac, Jr., and Malinda (Rea) Dillon, hav- ing also been natives of the same community. Jesse Dillon, grandfather of Wilford F., was one of the earliest pioneer settlers of Franklin county. Both he and his son followed the pursuit of agriculture and Wil- ford Dillon is owner of a fine two hundred and forty aere farm, the cul- tivation of which he superintends during the time he spares from his legal practice. Our subject's father was a Douglas Democrat and a man of wide acquaintance. His death occurred February 6, 1861. Mrs. Dillon survived him many years and died on February 14, 1890. Her father, Colonel Abraham Rea, came to Franklin county in an early day, when the country was very sparsely settled and the Indians trouble- some, and Mr. Rea was a colonel in the army which fought the Black Hawk war.
Wilford F. Dillon received his early education at the city schools of Benton, later supplementing that training with a course at Ewing College. Upon completing his educational training he adopted the pedagogie profession and for fifteen years was engaged as a teacher in the schools of Franklin and Monroe counties, and was at one time principal of the Benton schools.
In 1886 Mr. Dillon began the study of law in the office of D. M. Browning and was admitted to the bar in 1889. He did not, however, engage in active practice at that time. He was appointed a master in chancery, in which capacity he served until 1890, when he was elected county superintendent of schools, receiving the nomination at the hands of the Republican party, in the principles of which he believed and in whose councils he was always interested and active. The follow- ing year, 1891, Mr. Dillon was appointed by Governor Yates as superin- tendent of stone at the Southern Illinois Penitentiary at Chester and resigned that position. In 1894 Mr. Dillon was called to official position again in Franklin county and served as county judge for a term. He later received the nomination for circuit judge, but was defeated at the election by a small margin in one very heavily Democratic district.
Locating in Benton, Mr. Dillon formed a partnership with A. A. Strickland, and the firm has ever since done a very large general prac- tice in all the courts. Mr. Dillon is a man of many attainments and aente foresight and has conducted his personal business affairs in such a manner as to have won for himself through his own unaided efforts a comfortable fortune. Whatever his official or private interests he always maintained great activity in educational lines and has done much to promote higher education in this part of the state. The pub- lic schools owe much to his efforts for their present high efficiency and it was through his influence that the Benton township high school, with one of the finest buildings in the state, was established here.
The marriage of Mr. Dillon to Miss Nellie Hudelson occurred on November 17, 1889. She is the daughter of Joseph A. Hudelson, who came to Franklin county from Indiana in early days and still lives on his Farm in this county. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Dillon has been blessed in the birth of four children, all of whom are in school. Joseph and Dorothy are high school students. while Richard W. and Nellie C. attend in the lower grades. Mrs. Dillon is a member of the Baptist church.
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