USA > Illinois > A history of southern Illinois; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests > Part 76
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Mr. Copeland has been twice married. His first marriage occurred on January 15, 1865, at Vienna, Illinois, when Miss Louisa Washburn became his bride. She was a daughter of one of the Washburn families of Kentucky of historic name, but the exaet branch is not known. Mrs. Copeland died on February 22, 1896. She was the mother of three chil- dren : Benjamin F., connected with the Standard Oil and Ink Com- pany at Memphis, Tennessee, and his present home is New Orleans, Louisiana ; Addie, the wife of J. M. Strike, chief operating engineer of the Kansas Gas and Electric Company, of Wichita, Kansas; and Ida, born in March, 1867, and died in August, 1872. Mrs. Copeland was a woman of many virtues, and was from her childhood an active and earnest worker in the Methodist Episcopal church. Her mother was a Dean, numbered among the pioneer settlers of Illinois, and she was thriee married, her last husband being Colonel John G. Hardy, lieutenant colonel of the One Hundred and Twentieth Illinois Volunteers. He died at Memphis, Tennessee, February 28, 1864. The heroie mother was a splendid representative of the most perfect type of womanhood, and she passed away one month after the death of her husband.
Mrs. Copeland was born in Metropolis, Illinois, September 4, 1847. There she remained until after the death of her father. Her mother married her last husband and located in Vienna, Illinois, when the Civil war began. Five of the family enlisted in the Federal army. The mother, three daughters and a baby boy remained at home, where they too had the battles of life to contend with. Fortunate for Mrs. Cope- land she was blessed with a kind spirit and a responsive heart to the calls of the needy. She never turned the hungry from her door with- out bread nor failed to administer to the distressed when she could be charitable and energetie. She overcame many difficulties. With an
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abiding faith in the Christian religion she was ever hopeful. When death entered the home and called for the little daughter, she mourned not as those who have no hope. At last, when the shadows of the evening of life were gathering around her, she calmly looked her husband in the face and said in the light of the other shore "I am better now," and the spirit returned to the God who gave it.
In October, 1896, Mr. Copeland married Mrs. Minnie Lilley Brooks. She is the daughter of Boston Lilley, of Union county. Ilinois, a success- ful farmer of that district and for twelve years a teacher in the public schools. He was born in Union county, Illinois, September 24, 1854. The Lilley family have been residents of Kentucky for many genera- tions back. The mother of Boston Lilley was Nancy Worley Reed. The Worleys were prominent southerners. Her brother, Willis Worley, was a member of the state legislature of Tennessee. Mrs. Copeland's an- cestry is of the French Huguenot, Scotch-Irish and Dutch nationalities. Boston Lilley was educated in the public schools of Union county, and he was one of the first to attend the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale. He was particularly successful as an exponent of the pedagogie art during his twelve years' experience in that branch of work. He died December 6, 1886, while a teacher, as well as being an active farmer, and was still a young man when he passed away. He was a kind and genial gentleman. beloved by all who knew him, and his loss was poignantly felt by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. The mother of Mrs. Minnie Lilley Copeland was Hannah North, of Jackson county, Illinois, whose parents were natives of Pennsylvania and Tenn- essce. The Norths were a prominent English family, and in this country many of the family were teachers of note. The mother of Hannah North was Sarah Hutchinson, of Tennessee. Mrs. Copeland was born April 22, 1873, in Union county. She was married May 4, 1900. to Mr. Wil- liam L. Brooks, of Union county, Illinois, and has one son by her first marriage : Raymond Harrison Brooks, born February 4. 1891. He is a member of the Copeland household. He is a student and teacher. as was his mother, she having taught seven years before she assumed the duties of home and family. Mrs. Copeland was candidate for county superintendent of schools of Williamson county in 1898, and made a splendid run for the office, failing to win at the primaries by a very small majority. Mrs. Copeland is a member of the firm conducting the Marion Greenhouses, having been actively engaged in the work for the past eleven years. The greenhouses were established in 1901. She is a faithful member of the Methodist church, and has taught a class of young women in Sunday school for the past seventeen years. She is also active in temperance work, and is a hearty supporter of votes for women.
Mr. Copeland is an Odd Fellow, a Pythian Knight, and, like his wife. is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Marion, and is a member of the board of trustees of that organization.
Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have one living son,-John Wallace, born December 16. 1902; their first child. Emory Allen Whittier, born Sop- tember 17. 1897, having died on Jannary 29, 1899.
FRANK COLES JR. But one year previous to the establishment of the Albion Journal, there was born in Edwards county the present editor of that remarkably interesting and well-conducted sheet. Frank Coles Ir. Ile has been identified with the paper since 1903 and its career in his hands has been a most successful one. Mr. Coles is a leading Republi- ean and for some twenty years has been actively concerned in the affairs of the party, while previous to that he pored over the pages of its his- tory and drank inspiration from its high traditions. Mr. Coles is bound
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to Edwards county by the primary tie of birth within its fair borders, the date of his nativity being December 22, 1868, and its scene the homestead-farm of his parents. Ilis father, Joseph G. Coles, a widely known and honored citizen of this section, was born April 8, 1843, also on this farm and his father, William Coles, a native of England, settled in Edwards county in the early '20s, when its history was young and the pioneer was hewing down the forest primeval and bringing the vir- gin soil to subjection. He entered government land and such was the origin of the Coles farm. The young Englishman, soon after his arrival in America, married Rachel Garrison, who was born in South Carolina in 1804, and in 1814, migrated to White county, Illinois, and later came on to Edwards county and located near Grayville. Their son, Ilenry S. Coles, was the first white child born on the present site of Grayville. The father of Frank Coles answered to the dual calling of Baptist min- ister and farmer and the maiden name of the mother was Julia Compton of Wabash county. These worthy people reared four sons and four daughters, as follows: Frank Jr .; Rachel, now Mrs. Thomas J. Jacobs, of Albion; Florence, wife of Clarence G. Johnson, of Albion; Ilarry P. Coles, residing in Aberdeen, South Dakota; Charles S. and Joseph Ross, of Glendive, Montana ; Nannie, who lives in Albion, Edwards county ; and Ollie, wife of Homer May, of Whittier, California. The father is a veteran of the war between the states, having served for over three years of that dread period in the cause of the Union as a member of Company B, of the Eighty-seventh Illinois Infantry. He was often in the thickest of the fray, participating in the battle of Vicksburg, the Red River Ex- pedition and the Mississippi River Campaign. The mother passed away on October 7, 1887, when but forty-two years, her birth having occurred in 1845.
Frank Coles Jr. has passed the greater part of his life in this locality and like the usual boy received the foundation of his education in the common schools. Following that he became a student in the University of Indiana at Bloomington, in which institution he completed his work in 1894. He then entered the field of pedagogical endeavor and taught school until 1898, becoming principal of the Grayville schools and later of the Bone Gap schools. 1n 1898, he was elected county superintendent of schools of Edwards county and in 1902 was reelected, serving two terms of four years each. He filled the office with much ability and in the years in which he stood at the helm in county educational matters a number of good things were inaugurated.
As mentioned in a preceding paragraph Mr. Coles is an active Repub- lican. He has several times served as delegate to the state conventions and his influence in party ranks is by no means inconsiderable. Mr. Coles became editor of the Albion Journal in May, 1906, but since 1903 he had been a director of the paper. He is an able representative of the Fourth Estate and is a forceful and edifying writer. In addition to the activities mentioned, he has several other interests of wide scope and importance. In 1902 he assisted Walter Colyer in organizing the Al- bion Vitrified Brick Company and for three years served as a director. Also for the past ten years he has been secretary of the Edwards County Independent Telephone Company, operating the lines throughout Ed- wards county.
Mr. Coles is one of the most popular of lodge men and has a number of fraternal connections. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of Albion ; of Delta Tau Delta fraternity at the University of Indiana ; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica ; Ben Hur and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Mt. Carmel. Ilis church is the Presbyterian.
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On July 14, 1898, Mr. Coles established a home of his own by his marriage to Lucretia Blair, daughter of Hugh A. Blair, former post- master of Grayville. Under their roof-tree are sheltered four promising children, as follows : Ivon, Ruth May, Joseph Blair, and Lucille.
Mr. Coles has one of the best equipped newspaper and printing plants in all Southern Illinois. Ilis paper is one of the most widely read and most efficiently edited in the section and its popularity is amply attested by the fact that it has a weekly eireulation of 2,300. Ile is a most ac- curate and methodical business man and prides himself on conducting the business with wonderful exactness, and by means of card systems he keeps in touch with every inhabitant in Edwards county. Edwards county is indeed fortunate in the possession of so enlightened and able a moulder of public opinion.
PROF. TICE D. MASON, principal of the schools at Browns, Illinois, was born August 21, 1881, on a farm near Bone Gap. Ile is a son of Jacob and Mary (Smith) Mason. Jacob Mason was born in 1845, and was a native of Richland county : he was the son of George Mason, also a resident of Richland county. Jacob Mason was a farmer, prosperons and well known, and he settled in Edwards county in 1866. IIe owned six hundred acres of valuable Illinois farm land, which he operated in a highly successful manner until his death in 1905. His wife, Mary Smith. was a daughter of Isaac Smith, a pioneer settler of Edwards county. She is still living in West Salem. Five children were born to them, named below in the order of their birth: Anna, died at the early age of three years; Della, who became the wife of Dr. Weber; Charles, on the home farm ; Tice D., of this review; Lloyd, a dentist located in Chicago.
Professor Mason was educated in the public schools of Albion and later attended the Southern Collegiate Institute and the Southern Illi- nois Normal at Carbondale, Illinois. In 1903 he began his teaching career. For three years he taught in country schools and for the three years following was assistant principal of the Bone Gap Schools. For the past four years he has been superintendent of the Browns public schools, and he has been reengaged for a fifth year with an increase of salary. Under his direction the character of the high school of Browns has taken on additional qualities of thoroughness and completeness, and the curriculum of the school is one well suited to the demands of the student body. The course is one of three years duration. The high sehool enrollment is in the neighborhood of twenty-five, and four as- sistants are employed in the school. In addition to his interests in the . educational field, Mr. Mason has been able to give some attention to out- side matters, and he is now the owner of a farm of one hundred aeres of land.
In 1900 Prof. Mason was united in marriage with Miss Flossie Rude. of Bone Gap, a daughter of Albert and Christine Rude. They have an adopted daughter, named Mary. The family are members of the Meth- odist church.
DR. WILLIAM HENRY BROSMAN. This is an age of progress and America is the exponent of the spirit of the age. In the beginning of the nineteenth century our country was in its infaney and history shows no parallel for its growth and achievements. No other country has made as great advancement in the lines of science and mechanical invention and the superiority of her inventions has been widely recognized through- out the civilized world. In this steady growth and development which has characterized the age, the science of dentistry has kept pace with
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the general progress and in that profession Dr. William Henry Brosman stands as a man of eminent qualification.
Dr. Brosman is of Hoosier birth, his life record having had its in- ception on April 12, 1867, in Greene county, Indiana, the scene of his nativity being a log house on his father's farm. The parents of Dr. Brosman were Ezra and Margaret (Myers) Brosman. Ezra Brosman was born in the year 1835, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, of Penn- sylvania-German stock, the son of Adam Brosman. The period of his life extended to 1897, and his summons to the Great Beyond occurred at his home in Greene county, Indiana, at the age of sixty-two. He had mi- grated to Ohio as a young man, but remained in the Buckeye state only a few months before going to Indiana which was to prove his perma- nent home. A considerable company of relatives and friends made the home-seeking journey westward, but when they came to the middle west they took different directions, some remaining in Greene county, Indiana, others locating in Clark county, Illinois, and others seeking Missouri. Among those who chose Clark county, Illinois, were Peter
Isaac and Henry Brosman, uncles of Dr. Brosman. Ezra Brosman reared five children, the doctor being the only son and the third in order of birth. Alice (Killinger) lives in Greene county, Indiana; Inez (Cal- vert) is a resident of Champaign, Illinois ; Zelma Jane (Huffman) makes her home on a farm in the vicinity of Bloomfield ; and Eva (Skomp), who died in 1911, lived near Worthington, Indiana. The mother of these children died in 1872, at about thirty-two years of age, and the father married again in 1873, Sarah Cuthrell, a native of North Carolina, be- coming his wife.
Dr. Brosman received his preliminary education in the common schools of Greene county, and also in those of Mitchell county, Kansas. When eighteen years of age he bade adieu to the parental roof-tree and started out in the world in quest of whatever fortunes might await him. For some ten years he worked on farms in Kansas and Nebraska and in addition to making his living secured a great deal of valuable experience. It was at this time that he attended school in Mitchell county. In the fall of 1888 he left Kansas and located in Nebraska where for a short time he made his livelihood working on a farm, and, what is more important, began the study of dentistry in which he was to prove so gifted. These early studies were inaugurated in the office of a dentist in Auburn, Nebraska, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. He also studied in the Kansas City Dental College, from which institution he received his degree in the spring of 1895. It was in December, 1896, that Dr. Brosman first became identified with Albion and his career here has been of the most satisfactory character, his practice being large and his services generally recognized as of the highest character. He is also very skilled in taxidermy and has a re- markable collection in this line.
Dr. Brosman has from the first taken a great interest in public af- fairs and a helpful one. This fact made very appropriate his selection to the mayoralty of the place, and he gave an excellent administration of the duties of this office. He also served two years as a member of the board of education and in 1907 was president of the Home Coming celebration at the fair ground. He served two years as president of the Fair Association and assisted in the organization of the Albion National Bank, of which he is vice-president. He is indentified with other in- terests of broad scope and importance and assisted in the organization of the Vitrified Brick company, of which he is president. At the time of the erection of the plant in 1902, he was vice-president and he served in such capacity nntil 1907, when he was elected to the presidency. His
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influence has been of success-bringing order, for he is a wise and dis- eriminating business man.
Mr. Brosman is a popular lodge man, being identified with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Ilis faith is that of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is also a valued member.
Dr. Brosman was happily married in 1901, Rachael Eliza Leavitt, of Greene county, Indiana, becoming his wife. Mrs. Brosman is the daughter of George B. Leavitt. They share their charming household with five children, as follows: Paul, Monica, Harriet, Julia, and Robley May. Dr. Brosman may well be designated as a man who does things and he exerts much influence in the county, both as a man of value to his profession and a eapitalist who has achieved much in the industrial and municipal upbuilding of Albion. In addition to the fraternal af- filiations noted, he is prominently identified with the several dental associations.
The Albion Vitrified Brick Company, organized in 1902 with a capital of forty thousand dollars, has experienced steady growth, the capital being subsequently increased to sixty thousand dollars. The plant covers thirty-five aeres, all owned by local capitalists, some eight citizens sharing the ownership. The plant manufactures twenty-five thousand paving blocks per day, each block weighing ten and two-fifths pounds, and is manufactured from shale. The product is sent to St. Louis, East St. Louis, Louisville, Memphis, Terre Haute and points in Arkansas. The company employs on an average sixty men. For the past five years the success of the company has been phenomenal, and its influence on the prosperity of Albion is marked. It is equipped with the most modern machinery proeurable. The officers are as follows: President, Dr. William II. Brosman; vice-president, W. A. Schock ; see- retary, S. A. Ziegler ; treasurer. L. W. Wilson : directors, Ben L. Mayne, Albert Epler, R. T. Barber, and the four officers.
LYMAN W. WILSON. The gentleman to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith directed is among the foremost business men of Albion and has by his enterprise and pro- gressive methods contributed in a material way to the industrial and com- mercial advancement of the city and county. He has in the course of an honorable career been most successful in the business enterprises of which he is the head, and is well deserving of mention in the bio- graphical memoirs of this section of the state. He is an extensive dealer in live stock and grain and holds the office of treasurer of the Albion Vitrified Briek Company in whose organization he played a leading part. Mr. Wilson was born in Albion, April 16, 1872, and is the son of John Wilson, who likewise was born in this place, the date of his nativity being 1846. Lyman W. Wilson is therefore bound to this section by unusually strong ties and he has manifested his loyalty in various pub- lie spirited ways. His grandfather, William Wilson, was a native of Scotland, who emigrated to this country from Caledonia and shortly after found his way to Edwards county, his arrival here ante-dating that of the English colony which played so important a part in the de- velopment of the section by only a few years. John Wilson was for many years a sueeessful agriculturist, engaging in operations in the great basie industry until about twenty years ago and for several years past he has been engaged as a live stock and grain dealer in Albion, where he is a citizen of very considerable prominence. He took as his wife Alice Henderson, who was born in Ireland and at an early age left an orphan, accompanying an older brother and sister to the "Land of Pro-
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mise" across the seas. The elder Mr. and Mrs. Wilson reared two chil- dren, Lyman W. and a younger son, Edwin J., who was born in 1868 and died in October, 1908.
Lyman W. Wilson was educated in the public schools of Albion and in the Southern Collegiate Institute and at the age of twenty-one years he gained his first experience in the live stock business in association with his father. This field proved one in which he encountered remarkable success and he still continues his connection with the business, while at the same time concerned with other interests of wide scope and im- portanee. In 1908 he formed a partnership with Elbert Epler in the grain and live stock business, and in September, 1911, he and Mr. Epler purchased the Leader Department store in Albion. This stock, which approximated fourteen thousand dollars in value they sold to other parties on January 1, 1912. In 1902, Mr. Wilson assisted in organizing the Albion Vitrified Brick Company, a concern which is of great import- ance and which has done much for the material welfare of the com- munity. He was elected a director in 1904 and also in that year received the office of treasurer of the company. The Messrs. Wilson and Epler also own in partnership a valuable stock farm of ninety acres situated in the vicinity of Albion and they devote one hundred and twenty acres in Wabash county also to stock raising.
This progressive business man is affiliated with two lodges, his name being enrolled with the Knights of Pythias of Albion and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks of Mt. Carmel. He gives heart and hand to the policies and principles of the Republican party to which he has given his loyal support since the attainment of his majority. He has from time to time assisted in the direction of public affairs, having served on the city board of aldermen, when he exerted a potent influ- ence toward the paving of the streets of Albion. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Wilson became a recruit to the ranks of the Benedicts on Novem- ber 22, 1911, his chosen lady being Agnes Petty, daughter of A. J. Petty, of Baltimore, Maryland. Mrs. Wilson had been a resident of Albion for several years previous to her marriage. They maintain a hospitable home and are popular members of society.
It was of such personalities as the late Edwin J. Wilson, brother of the foregoing, that it has been said,
".To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die."
This respected citizen served for two terms as eireuit clerk and recorder of Edwards county, being clected for the first time in the fall of 1890 and being the youngest official ever elected in this county. At the time of his lamentable demise he was assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Albion. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows and attended the Presbyterian church. He was everywhere highly regarded and his memory will long remain green in the hearts of his many friends. The father of these gentlemen was twice mayor of Albion and now resides in this place, a wealthy and respected eitizen.
PROF. LEWIS OGILVIE. A fortunate example of the right man in the right place is Prof. Lewis Ogilvie, who is making an excellent record as superintendent of the Albion sehools. No one is better entitled to the thoughtful consideration of a free and enlightened people than he who shapes and directs the minds of the young, and adds to the value of their intellectual treasures and moulds their characters. This is pre- eminently the mission of the faithful and conscientious teacher and to such noble work is the life of Professor Ogilvie devoted.
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Professor Ogilvie was born April 10, 1874, in Plymouth, Illinois, the . son of William F. Ogilvie, a native of Ohio, and the grandson of William Ogilvie, a native of Scotland, who left his native heath in early life and erossed the Atlantic in quest of the much vannted American opportunity. He soon came westward to Illinois, loeating first in Schuyler county and in 1833 taking up his residence near Carthage in Ilancock county. His son, William F. Ogilvie, was born on his Ilaneoek county homestead in 1842 and when it came to choosing a life-work he followed in the pater- nal footsteps and became an exponent of the great basic industry of ag- rienlture. lle now resides in Plymouth and is a prominent and highly respected citizen. Ile chose as his companion in life's journey Mary A. Bell, daughter of Jesse Bell of Hancock and four children were born to them, Lewis being the eldest in nativity ; Lida, the only daughter, is de- eeased ; Guy resides in Bushnell, Illinois; and William T. is deceased.
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