USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 64
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Captain Crowley married Elizabeth Williams, of Coshocton, Ohio. Eight children were born to this couple, of whoin five are living. The polities of Captain Crowley were Democratie, and he and his family were faithful attendants of the Presbyterian church. In the social organiza- tions he was a member of the Masonie order and of the Royal Areanum.
Joseph B. Crowley was the sixth child of his parents, and spent his childhood days on the farm in Jasper county and in the town of New- ton. ITis youth was lived amid times of great distress and trouble. His father was away at the front for a number of years, and when he did come back times were hard and it was a continual struggle to feed and elothe the family. In spite of this little Joseph did not laek educational advantages. Ife was sent first through the grammar school of Newton, and later attended the high school at the same place.
It was, however, when boys of today would be thinking solely of bats and baseball that the young Crowley was set astride a horse and given a sack of mail to carry over a star route, a distance of some forty miles. After this experience he felt equal to handling anything, so set up in business for himself, the field of his venture being the retail drug and grocery business. He had no wish to become a merchant. This was merely a means to an end, which was the Law. Economy was a close friend of his during the days following. but after a time he was able to
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make a beginning leading to the attainment of his ambition. He began to read law in the offices of Parker and Olwin, under the direction of George N. Parker, who is his present partner. In 1883 he was ad- mitted to the bar and his partnership with Mr. Parker was formed at that time. It has existed without a break up to the present time, and a large amount of the legal business of the county passes through the hands of the firm.
Political interests have taken up a large part of Mr. Crowley's time sinee his first entranee into the most exciting field of endeavor offered by modern civilization. His first office was that of county judge, in which capacity he served for seven years. In 1893 he was appointed by President Cleveland as chief of the special treasury agents in charge of the seal fisheries of Alaska. He was re-appointed to this office by Presi- dent MeKinley in 1897, but resigned in 1898 to give his time to the campaign in which he was forced, through his nomination for congress, to take a leading part. Ile was elected to the United States congress and served in that body for three terms, retiring in 1904. At this time he returned to Robinson and again took up the practice of law which had held first place in his heart through all the years that he had given to other duties.
Mr. Crowley was married on December 1, 1888, to Aliee A. Newlin, a danghter of Alexander Newlin, a prominent farmer of Crawford county. Judge and Mrs. Crowley have two children, a son and a daugh- ter: Emily J., who has completed the course given in the Robinson high school, and Joseph B., who is yet a student.
Judge Crowley is a Presbyterian in his religions affiliations. He is very much interested in the brotherly spirit manifested in the fraternal organizations and gives his hearty support to the varions ones of which he is a member. Ile is a Mason and has taken all the degrees in this order up to the Knights Templar. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Elks and of the Modern Woodmen of America, being ae- tive in the work of all these organizations. His progressive spirit. makes him a valued member of the Commercial Club, of which he has been a member for a number of years.
GEORGE E. DODD. The first of the Dodd family to settle in America was John Dodd, the great-grandfather of George E. Dodd of this review. Ile was a native of Seotland, and he immigrated to America in about 1760, settling in Virginia in that year. He was a farmer by occupation, and of good old sturdy Scottish blood. He was of the Protestant religion, and in the early life of the colonies he took a prominent part. He fought in the War of the Revolution for four and a half years, and was present at Yorktown at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. Of the next of the Dodd family the record is not clear, but it is known that he settled in Illinois and there reared a family. His son, William J. Dodd, the father of George E., was born in Saline county, Illinois, on July 3, 1844. (Sa- line county was then a part of Gallatin county.) He also was a farmer, and as the son of a farmer his early education was somewhat limited. There were no free or common schools as exists today, but the youth of his period were dependent upon the subscription school for sneh learning as they acquired. He was of the same religion as his progenitors, that of the Primitive Baptist church, and was a Democrat in his political faith and allegiance. Ilis wife was Hannah Stoeks, a woman of English par- entage, born in Williamson county, Illinois, on September 12, 1848.
George E. Dodd was born at Eldorado, Illinois, on the 12th of No- vember, 1883. He attended the schools of Eldorado, and after his grad- uation from the Eldorado high school he attended the Northern Illinois
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Normal College of Law, and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1906. In the same year he was admitted to the bar of the state of Illinois, and appearing before the board of examiners at Spring- field, Illinois, and he initiated the practice of his profession in Eldorado as a partner of W. S. Summers, this association continuing until May, 1908. Between the years of 1908 and 1911 he was engaged in practice with K. C. Ronalds, and is now conducting an independent practice in Eldorado.
Mr. Dodd has been city attorney of Eldorado for one year and since his association with that place as a man of business he has been active in his labors for the betterment of the general good. He has done much to better the conditions of the public schools as a member of the board of education for three years, and of which important body he is still a mem- ber. He has been foremost in the work of Eldorado in the matter of local option and has done much for the cause thus far. He is not connected with any church. Mr. Dodd is a man of considerable civie pride, and in whatever city he finds himself it is safe to assume that he will bear the full share of a good citizen with relation to the uplift and betterment of that city.
On January 17, 1908, Mr. Dodd was married at Charles City, Iowa, to Gertrude Rowley, a daughter of Bertrand and Mary ( Usher) Rowley. Bertrand Rowley is a prominent farmer and dairyman of Charles City, Iowa, well and favorably known there for many years. He elaims among his remote ancestry relationship with Mary Queen of Scots and the Stuart family of England. Mrs. Dodd was educated in the Charles City schools, later graduating from the Charles City College, the Dixon College of Pen- manship and Drawing and the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illi- nois. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dodd : Halbert W., born April 26, 1909, and Everett B., born November 20, 1910.
OLIVER JACOB PAGE is the editor and proprietor of the Marion Daily Leader, the first Republican paper in Williamson county to survive the animosities and antagonisms of the strennous days after the Civil war and one of the leading county journals of Southern Illinois. Mr. Page has been identified with this paper for a decade, and came into possession of it from its founder, J. P. Copeland, who conducted it as a weekly paper, and converted it into a daily in 1908. It was established as a Republican organ and it has continued as such through all the erises of newspaper annals and the flag of party has never been lowered or dipped in financial defeat.
Mr. Page came to Marion from Metropolis, Illinois, where he was for three and a half years editor of the Journal-Republican, following his retirement from a long service as a public-school man. He served Me- tropolis as superintendent of schools for three years, served its high school as principal previously and came to that position from the faculty of Eureka College where he was a professor for one year. He began his graded school work with the principalship of the Hudsonville high school and did his very first work as a teacher in the country schools.
Recurring to his birth, Mr. Page was born in Richland county, Illi- nois, August 2. 1867, and grew up in Crawford county, on the banks of the Wabash. His father was Jacob Page, born in Quebec, Canada, in 1823, and died at Danville, Illinois, in 1868. He was a millwright by ocenpation, was of French lineage, and married, in Lawrence county. Illinois, Miss Caroline Long, a daughter of William Long, of Pennsyl- vania German stock. She still resides in Crawford county, Illinois, and is now Mrs. Wright. aged seventy-eight years.
Oliver J. Page was his father's only child and he grew up under the
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benign infinence of his mother. He became acquainted with rural en- vironment during the period of youth and it impressed him indelibly and has served him well through the serious years of his life. Teaching of- fered him the best opportunity, considering his situation and his inclina- tions, and he made it the stepping-stone to another and broader educa- tional field-journalism. He was drawn into politics when he entered the newspaper profession and was elected to the Forty-first general as- sembly from Massac county in 1898. He entered the lower honse of the state's legislative body as a Republican and his committee assignments were congenial. Ile was chairman of the committee on federal relations and was the author of the resolution to condemn the old Lincoln monu- ment, which passed both houses and was signed by the governor. He was made chairman of the special committee to investigate the monument and report its findings. The committee report recommended an appro- priation for a new monument and he introduced a bill appropriating one hundred thousand dollars to that end. Immediately upon the passage of the bill work was begun and the new structure marking the resting-place of the martyred president was dedicated.
During the session Mr. Page introduced a resolution instructing Sen- ator W. E. Mason, then strongly antagonistic to the administration of President MeKinley upon the questions involved in settling the status of the Philippines, to vote for the ratification of the peace treaty with Spain, which ratification the senator had publicly declared he would oppose. The resolution passed both houses within an hour, was officially signed and was forwarded to the obstreperous senator within forty-eight hours and its contents gave him a change of heart.
Of the thirteen joint resolutions passed by the general assembly, Mr. Page wrote and introduced three and of the one hundred and five bills that became laws he wrote and introduced the same number. lle mani- fested an active interest in legislation pertaining to public edneation and in a bill relating to contracts for public printing, which was passed as a result of his labor, several thousand dollars were saved for the common- wealth. The latter was prepared by the secretary of state and was man- aged in the house by Mr. Page. His apparent interest in all legislation pertaining to the welfare of the state and his ability to present his side of any controversy before the assembly gained to him high rank among the members of that body.
In 1900 Mr. Page was the Republican candidate for the office of clerk of the southern district of the supreme court of the state. a district com- prising thirty-four counties, and he was the first and only Republican ever elected to that office. He succeeded Jacob Chance and was the effi- cient incumbent of the office two years. He competed for the Republican nomination to Congress in 1906, but lost, and was nominated for presi- dential elector in 1908, when he met with the other electors at Spring- field and cast a silk ballot for William II. Taft for president and another for James S. Sherman for vice-president.
Mr. Page was married at Hudsonville, Illinois, May 8. 1891. to Miss Linnie B. Seeders, a daughter of William Seeders, of the Seeders family of Crawford county, Indiana. The children of this union are: L. Paul. who finished the Marion high school course at sixteen, was a proof-reader in the state printing office at eighteen and is now secretary to the state printer of Illinois : O. Heber is a senior in the Marion high school, being president of his class and he is active on the Daily Leader ; and Charles Bourke is a pupil in the public schools of Marion.
In a fraternal way Mr. Page is affiliated with the time-honored Ma- sonic order, being a Master Mason, and he is likewise connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the
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Tribe of Ben Hur, and the Modern Woodmen of America, being state lecturer of the latter organization. His religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Christian church, of which he and his family are devout members. Mr. Page has contributed a great deal to the general welfare of Marion and of Southern Illinois through the medium of his paper and as a public man the good accomplished by him is of no mean order. He is everywhere honored and esteemed for his sterling integrity of character and for his fair and straightforward dealings.
EMMETT O. BRYANT. After a man has spent more than twenty years in one line of endeavor in any one community his fellow citizens are apt to have formed a fairly eorreet opinion as to his character, and the high esteem in which Emmet O. Bryant is held by the people of Keyesport, Illi- nois, is sufficient proof of his worth as a business man and a citizen. Mr. Bryant, who is carrying on extensive operations in the mercantile line, was born in Clinton county, near Keyesport, November 4, 1866, and is a son of George Washington and Sarah G. (Seymour) Bryant.
George W. Bryant was born near Highland, Madison county, Illinois, in 1837, and eame to Clinton county with his parents when he was a boy. He grew to manhood on a farm, and he has made agricultural pursuits his life work, being well and favorably known to the people of his com- munity. In 1861 he was married to Miss Sarah G. Seymour, of Clinton county, and they had a family of six children, of whom Emmet O. was the third in order of birth. George W. Bryant is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist church.
Emmet O. Bryant was reared to the life of an agriculturist, and when he could be spared from his duties on the home farm he attended the dis- triet schools in the neighborhood of the homestead. IIe completed his educational training at the age of twenty years, and from that time until he was twenty-five he followed farming as a means of livelihood. At that time he eame to Keyesport, where he bought a stock of merchandise and established himself in business, and he has sinee been engaged in this line. Mr. Bryant's many years of experience have taught him just what his customers need in the mereantile line, and the fact that he can always supply this need has resulted in his having a large trade in Keyesport and vieinity. He bears the reputation of a business man of the strietest integrity and one whose word is as good as his bond. Naturally such a man is a very desirable eitizen, and his genial, kindly manner has made him many friends in the eity in which he has lived so long. Politically a staneh Republican, Mr. Bryant has been an active worker in the ranks of his party, and although never an office-seeker, he has served five years as supervisor, and is now discharging the duties of his third term of office. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows, and is very popular in the local lodge. His religious eonneetion is with the Methodist church, and he has been known as a liberal contributor to movements of a religious nature, as well as those which have for the objeet the betterment of Keyes- port along educational or eommereial lines.
In September, 1892, Mr. Bryant was united in marriage with Miss Hannah M. Langham, the estimable daughter of Henry Langham, a prominent Clinton county agrieulturist. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant have no children.
THOMAS J. NEWLIN. The story of the life of Thomas J. Newlin is like unto that of his brother's, Enoch E. Newlin, judge of the circuit court, in that during his early years life was a struggle, and that only by his own efforts was he able to succeed. The only aid he found outside of himself was the inspiration of his mother and the encouraging words of his elder
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brother. Men like Mr. Newlin, who have paid a price For their success in life, know how to value it when it at last comes to them. We hear much about the inferiority of those who possess ancient lineages, and it is often true that through intermarriage or a generation or two of self indulgent men and women the family does become degenerate, but often if the young seion of an ancient house were east upon his own resources he would show considerably more strength of character than pco- ple had given him credit for. The test of character that Mr. Newlin underwent would be too strenuous for many men, perhaps, but observe the result. He not only obtained a fair elassical education, but studied law, was admitted to the bar and became a successful lawyer. He then turned from the law to business, and is now one of the most prominent business men in Robinson, Illinois. His early lessons in self dependence, and the splendid mental training that the study and practice of the law gave him, he turned to great profit in his career as a business man, and his ability in his newer vocation is undisputed in the town where he makes his home.
Thomas Jefferson Newlin was born on a farm two miles south from Bellair, Crawford county, Ilinois. The date of his birth was the 2nd of April, 1863. His father was Thomas Newlin, and his mother was Mary E. (Ruekle) Newlin, who was a native of Hebron, Ohio. Thomas J. was the youngest of four sons, George A., Enoch E., LeRoy and Thomas J. His father enlisted in the Seventy-ninth Illinois Regiment, and suc- eumbed to the deadly elimate of the southern swamps, dying at Murphys- boro, Tennessee, on the 7th of April, 1863. At the time of his father's death, young Thomas was only five days old and the soldier father never saw his youngest son.
Of the first years of hardship when the widow and her older sons toiled desperately to keep a roof over the heads of the younger and to provide clothing and food, just the bare necessities of life, Thomas J. knew little. In 1872 his oldest brother died, at the age of fifteen. Al- though Thomas was only nine at the time, yet he rendered his small ser- vices as willingly as the older boys. During the winter he was sent to the distriet school, for his mother was determined that all of her boys should have an education. In the summer he worked on the farm with his brothers, and in time he saved enough money to take an eighteen weeks' college course at Merom, Indiana. His quiek mind and clear compre- hension won him the approbation of his teachers and inspired him to further effort. He therefore turned to school teaching as a way to carn enough money to continue his studies. For forty-nine months he labored conscientiously with the problems of the district school, from how to handle the young ruffians that sometimes came under his charge to the greater problem of how to make the fire go in the old stove. At last he had saved up enough money to take a ten weeks' course in the Danville, Indiana, school, and after having completed this course he came to Robin- son and began to read law with his brother, Judge E. E. Newlin. He took the examinations for the bar at Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 1891, and was admitted on the 28th of August, 1891. Ile had no way of living while awaiting for clients, so that winter he returned to Robinson, and taught school.
In 1892 a solution to his difficulties came in his election to the office of eireuit clerk, and for four years he held this position. His courage and determination to sneceed is well illustrated by the step that he took during this year. With scarcely anything but prospeets he was married in 1892 to Sarah F'. Kirts, a daughter of Isaac and Mary Kirts, of Ob- long, Illinois. Mrs. Newlin possessed as much courage as her husband, Vol III-28
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and the success that came to them proved them right in their belief that they could advance more rapidly together than alone.
On the 1st of January, 1897, Mr. Newlin began the practice of law. He formed a partnership with Judge W. C. Jones and Judge J. C. Eagle- ton, taking the place made vacant by the resignation of his brother, who had just been elected to the bench. This partnership continued until 1900, when he retired from the firm and entered into partnership with Valmore Parker. Then followed nine years of very successful practice, marked by honesty and sincerity on the part of Mr. Newlin. On the 1st of October, 1909, he retired from the firm and from active practice in order to devote more of his time to his business affairs. In the meantime he had been appointed master in chaneery, and filled this position with honor for twelve years.
In 1909 he became deeply interested in the oil business. Mr. Newlin has quite an income from royalties on oil lands that he owns, and he is also a member of the firm of Moren, Newlin and Adsit Oil Company, which is operating on an eighty aere tract of leased land. Shortly after he retired from the law business he purchased the stoek of a hardware store that had gone into bankruptcy and has succeeded in establishing a prosperous hardware business. Ile is also a stock-holder in one of the banks of Robinson, and occasionally accepts a ease, which he bandles with all of his old skill. With all of these concerns it may be seen that Mr. Newlin is an extremely busy man, vet he has time to interest himself in the affairs of his town and county, as well as in those of larger import.
In politics Mr. Newlin is a Democrat, and in his religious affiliations lie is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is active in the fraternal world, being a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Elks. He and his wife are the par- ents of two children, Floy, who is a graduate of the Robinson high school, of the class of 1911, and Ralph, who is yet a student in the same school, being a member of the elass of 1913.
DOCTOR LEROY NEWLIN, the prominent physician of Robinson, is a brother of Judge E. E. Newlin and Thomas J. Newlin. He is therefore the third to gain renown in a professional way, and well might the mother's heart rejoice when she saw that the sacrifice she had made to bring these boys to manhood and to give them all an education were not in vain. While his brothers chose the law as their profession, Doctor Newlin chose medicine, and throughout his life he has shown that he judged wisely in selecting this as the field of his labors, for he is peeul- iarly fitted by nature for the practice of medicine. Through the hard work and privations of his own childhood he learned the gift of sympathy. Ile is strong and self reliant, and inspires his patients with courage through his own foreeful personality. With these characteristics he has been able to become a valued friend to his patients as well as a physician.
LeRoy Newlin was born in Crawford county, on a farm, on the 8th of March, 1860. His boyhood, was spent on the farm, where he spent part of the time in work and part in study, with few hours to spare for playtime. He nevertheless grew up as sturdy and healthy a boy as one eould wish. He was educated in the eommon schools and in 1880 entered the state normal school at Terre Haute, Indiana. He studied in this institution for two years and then found that he had reached the end of his resourees. He therefore turned from the life of a student to that of a teacher, and for the next ten years this was his voeation. Whenever he eould spare the time and had a little money saved up, baek he went to the normal school for another course or so. Then he made the de-
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eision that was to change his life, and this was to take up the study of medieine.
In 1889 he therefore matriculated in the Kentucky School of Medi- eine. In two years he had completed the medical course and was grad- uated from this institution with the degree of M. D. in 1891. Hle then went to Crawford county and located in the town of Hardinsville, where he proceeded to practice his profession. He was eminently successful, and it was with regret that the citizens of this town saw him leave their midst to come to Robinson in 1908. He made the change for several reasons, chief among them being that he wished to be near his brothers, for the bond of affection between the three has always been very close. Since 1908 he has been in active practice in Robinson, and the people of this eity have come to place as much dependence upon him as did those of his former home.
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