USA > Illinois > Clay County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 70
USA > Illinois > Marion County > Biographical and reminiscent history of Richland, Clay and Marion counties, Illinois > Part 70
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Mr. Pullen's happy married life dates from December 10, 1857, when he was unit- ed in the bonds of wedlock with Lucille O. Gex, a native of Kentucky. Her ancestry was of French descent. Her grandparents on the mother's side were named Price. They were from England and her grandfather was a Baptist minister. Her father was an educated man, a linguist. He was a planter in Kentucky and a slave holder.
Nine children have been born to the sub- ject and wife, named in order of birth as follows: Lucian C. is married and the fa- ther of four children : Rena is the wife of E. S. Condit and the mother of two children; Maud, who was the wife of Dr. George Ab- bott, is deceased; Blanche is also deceased ; May is the wife of Charles P. Marshall and the mother of two children; Fred is mar- ried and has one child; Rome B. is the sev- enth child and Bird G. the eighth, the latter married and has two children; Lillie is the youngest and the wife of Raymond A. Beck and the mother of one child.
The subject's first wife died in 1891, and he was again married September 13, in 1893, to Mrs. Anna E. Russell, of Clinton county, Illinois.
Our subject is one of the original organ- izers of the local First Baptist church, of Centralia, and is the only living member of the original organization. In politics he was
originally a Whig, then a Republican, but in late years a Democrat. He was a mem- ber of the State Board of Agriculture, hav- ing been vice-president of the same for twen- ty years. He was one of the Commission- ers appointed by the Governor to take charge of the Illinois exhibit at the World's Fair in 1893 at Chicago, and was chairman of the Committee on Horticulture and Floriculture. He spent two years in this work, having charge of and preparing the grounds and buildings for this display. He was for some time Trustee of the University of Illinois, by appointment of Governor Oglesby, hav- ing been Chairman of the Committee on Grounds. He was also Auditor of the State Board of Agriculture, having had charge of the purchasing department and a number of other departments. He has had charge of some one of these departments for the past twenty years.
Mr. Pullen, besides having been a very busy man in this line, has also had other business of much importance. He assisted in the organization of the Merchants' State Bank. of Centralia and was its first presi- dent, having faithfully performed the duties of this exacting position for a period of six years, and withdrew on account of physical disability. E. S. Condit, a grandson of the subject, is now assistant cashier of this bank. Mr. Pullen was one of the organizers of the Centralia Ice and Cold Storage Company, and has been its president ever since it was first organized. His son, Fred, is secretary and business manager of the same and has ably filled this position since 1898.
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Mr. Pullen has long taken an active in- terest in public affairs and he has served creditably as School Trustee and Director, also Township Supervisor. He was active in the District Fair Association and was the first president of the same, having been chosen by acclamation, and it was largely due to his efficient efforts that the success of the fair was due. Whatever of success has been attained by our subject is due entirely to his own industry, energy and ability. From small beginnings he gradually, by the most honorable methods, attained a prominence in his county which entitles him to be regard- ed as one of its leading citizens, his reputa- tion being that of a man of business in- tegrity, and his modern home is often the gathering place for numerous friends of himself and family.
F. H. BAUER.
All honor should be due the men who turn the ideal into the practical, inaugurate such conditions and crystalize into the probable and actual what appear to be wild flights of fancy and imagination. It is of such a man that the biographer here essays to write.
F. H. Bauer, the well known proprietor of the Centralia Steam Laundry, one of the busiest places in the city, was born in Ma- rion county, Illinois, September 1I, 1866, the son of Fred and Amelia (Ruple) Bauer, in whose family there were two sons, our subject being the older.
Mr. Bauer was educated in the Centralia public schools and the high school. Being anıbitious to receive a business education he attended the night schools in St. Louis, Mis- souri, where he made a splendid record. He began his life work when eighteen years old by entering the employ of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad. He worked for some time as fireman and was later promoted to locomo- tive engineer, and for a period of twelve years gave entire satisfaction in whatever ca- pacity he served, and being regarded by the company as one of the most trusted and valuable employes.
After his railroad experience he turned his attention to mining in the Joplin (Mis- souri) zinc and lead mine district, where he remained one year, after which he returned to Centralia, Illinois, and took the occupa- tion of tonsorial artist, which he pursued with marked success for a period of four years, at the expiration of which time he pur- chased the laundry plant originally known as Ormsby & Ormsby laundry, having been started in 1880. H. C. Watts bought the Ormsby plant and run it for several years, when his interests were purchased by the enterprising and hustling subject of this sketch. Mr. Bauer at once proceeded to re- model the plant throughout, replacing the old worn-out machinery with latest models and most up-to-date equipment in every re- spect. He also rebuilt the engine in every part. Outside of the large cities this is one of the oldest laundries in the state and none turns out better work, for the plant is equipped with the best machinery obtainable
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and only expert employes are to be found here. Useless to say that with such an en- terprising man at the head of this old es- tablished institution that it at once assumed new life and his success was instantaneons, his patronage having steadily increased from the first. When he first assumed charge the total income of the plant was only sixty-five dollars per week. Mr. Bauer has increased this to two hundred dollars per week. In 1901 this plant employed only three girls; now thirteen are constantly employed. The main room of this plant is one hundred and forty feet long by twenty-four feet wide and the capacity is now over-crowded. Work is done in this laundry for all surrounding towns as far east as Wayne City and as far north as Kinmundy, west to Evansville, Il- linois, and south to Herrin. They do hotel, barber shop and family washings for more than one hundred and fifty patrons per week.
The domestic life of Mr. Bauer dates from October 30, 1891, when he was united in the bonds of wedlock with Louise Jones, the daughter of a well known family, and to this union one child has been born, Wen- dell A., whose date of birth occurred Feb- ruary 20, 1901.
Our subject was reared a German Luth- eran. He is an ardent Democrat in his po- litical beliefs. He holds membership in the following orders in Centralia : Masons, Blue Lodge No. 201; Chapter No. 93; Council No. 28; Knights Templar No. 26; Knights of Pythias No. 26; Pythian Sisters, Lotus Temple No. 8; Odd Fellows No. 179; En-
campment No. 75. He is also a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers No. 37. Mr. Bauer takes a great interest in lodge work.
LEVI BRANCH.
There can be no greater honor than to serve one's country honestly and conscien- tiously in any capacity, but when the na- tion's integrity is at stake and it becomes necessary for the citizen soldiery to leave plow and workshop and go into the conflict, risking limb and life, it is a much greater sacrifice and the honor attached thereto is higher than almost any other known to man. Of this worthy class belongs the subject of this sketch, a veteran of the war between the states, who has long led an active and useful life in Marion county.
Levi Branch was born in Meigs county, Ohio, January 3, 1843, the son of Samuel S. and Elizabeth (Smith) Branch, the former a native of Vermont, of hardy New England stock, having been born there December 27, 1801. He was a farmer and also a Baptist preacher. Grandfather Stephen Branch moved to Ohio when Samuel was an infant of twelve months. There were three boys and one girl in their family. He died Jan- uary 29, 1862. Elizabeth Smith, mother of the subject, was born in Pennsylvania Au- gust 4, 1806. Samuel S. Branch and wife were the parents of seven children, four boys and three girls, of whom Levi, our subject,
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is the sixth child in order of birth. He was the son of Samuel S. Branch's third wife. There was one son by his first wife and one daughter by his second wife. A half broth- er of the subject was also in the Union army and five of the Branch brothers were in the Civil war, all of whom returned home after their enlistments had expired. Levi Branch enlisted at Springfield, Illinois, and he left Wayne county April 27, 1863, being a mem- ber of Company M, Fifth Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel McConnell and Capt. R. N. Jessup. His first active service was in a skirmish in Missouri and he was captured near Collinsville, Tennessee, where he and three of his comrades were held for twenty- four hours and were then sent to Memphis on fictitious parole given by the colonel in the saddle. He was discharged at Spring- field October 27, 1865, after having made an excellent record as a soldier, returning to Wayne county and took up farming after the war.
Mr. Branch was married to Clarinda Phil- lips January 3, 1864, and to this union six children have been born, all deceased. The oldest daughter, Ida E., who was a grad- uate of the Centralia high school, died when twenty-four years of age. The other chil- dren died in infancy.
Clarinda Phillips, the daughter of John and Harriett Phillips, of Wayne county, Il- linois, is the third child in a family of five children, all girls. Mr. and Mrs. Branch moved from Wayne county to Austin, Min- esota, iri 1876, where they remained one year, then came' to Rice county, Kansas, where they remained for fifteen years, and
in 1892 moved to Centralia, where Mr. Branch followed the carpenter's trade, hav- ing done considerable contracting also in this city. He has always been known as a very able workman, his services being satis- factory to all concerned, for he is conscien- tious and painstaking.
In politics Mr. Branch is a Republican, but he is a great admirer of William J. Bryan, for whom he voted three times. In religion he adheres to the Baptist faith, in which he was reared, but he joined the Christian church, and is a faithful attendant of the same. He is known to be a man of uprightness and honest in all his dealings with his fellow men, and he has won many friends since coming to Centralia, where he has been very successful in his line of busi- ness.
JOHN A. SNODGRASS.
The gentleman whose name initiates this sketch has shown by a long life of industry and honesty that he is entitled to a place in the history of Marion county. John A. Snod- grass was born August 28, 1836, in Scott county, Indiana, the son of Samuel Snod- grass, a native of Kentucky, who was born in 1800 and who married Mira Hardy, of New Hampshire. He lived in Kentucky un- til 1818, when he went to Jefferson county, Indiana, with his father, Hugh, where he lived until his death in 1850. He was a farmer and a member of the Christian church, also a temperance worker and a member of the Sons of Temperance. His
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wife died in 1851. Seven children were he has remained for the past twenty-six born to them, namely: Norma, deceased; years. He bought a home and three lots in Centralia, and in 1900 purchased his pres- ent splendid home at 1301 South Locust street. He has farmed, made brick and teamed, making a success at each. He re- tired in 1906. Marion, who died in Pilot Knob, Missouri, in 1863, was a soldier in the Union army ; Tirzah is single and always lived with the subject; Mary married Solomon Cutshall, a farmer at Patoka, Illinois; John, subject of this sketch; Alonzo, a plasterer in Okla- homa, was in Company H, Twenty-second Illinois Infantry, for two years, later re-en- listing ; Lambert, who is deceased, lived with the subject in Centralia.
John A. Snodgrass received a limited ed- ucation in the subscription schools of the early days. He lived at home, assisting with the work about the place, until the Presi- dent's call for loyal citizens to aid in sup- pressing the rebellion induced him to enter the conflict, having enlisted in September, 1862, in Company H, Twenty-second In- diana Volunteer Infantry at Lexington, In- diana. He was sent to Kentucky and Ten- nessee, and was in the engagements at Per- ryville, Lancaster, Nolansville and Murfrees- boro, having fought seven days at Stone River. He was taken sick after that battle and was in the field hospital, later sent to Nashville, still later to Louisville, suffering with rheumatism and fever, becoming so sick that he was given up by the physicians to die. He was discharged from the army for disability, October 20, 1863, after which he returned home, where he remained until the spring of 1866, when he came to Illinois and located one mile west of Central City on a farm. He then came to Centralia township, where he remained three years, moving one and one-half miles south of Centralia, where
Mr. Sodgrass was married in 1868 to Mary Crawford, of Centralia, the daughter of Zachariah Crawford, of Kentucky, who in 1840 came to Illinois, locating two miles west of Centralia. He was a blacksmith and also owned a good farm. The subject's wife passed away in 1870. Mr. Snodgrass has one daughter, Lulu, who is the wife of Charles Phillips, of Centralia. He is now engaged in the round house of the Illinois Central Railroad. Our subject has reared two of his brother's children, John and Lizzie Snod- grass.
Mr. Snodgrass is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the post at Centralia, and his sister is a member of the Christian church. Our subject is a fine old man whom everybody likes and everybody respects and honors for his life of industry and loyalty to high principles.
THOMAS F. MEAGHER.
The subject of this sketch is one of the well known men of Centralia, and his resi- dence in Marion county has shown him to be a man of business ability and honesty of purpose so that he has won the confidence of those with whom he has come in contact.
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Thomas F. Meagher was born December 23, 1848, in Toronto, Canada, the son of James W. and Anna (Ryan) Meagher, the former a native of the county of Tipperary, Ireland, as was also his wife, where they grew up and married. He was a carpenter by trade and he came to Toronto, Canada, in 1842, and in 1865 he moved with his fam- ily to Chicago, where he worked at his trade until his death in 1869, his widow having survived until 1892. They were members of the Catholic church and they were the parents of the following children; Joseph P., who was in the United States navy dur- ing the rebellion and later a policeman and butcher in Chicago; Thomas F., our sub- ject; Harry is a painter and foreman in the Denver & Rio Grand Railroad shops in Colo- rado City, Colorado. He was quartermaster in the army for five years under General Miles. Maria is the widow of Samuel Pal- ing and lives in Chicago; Margaret is the widow of Jerome P. Merrill, of Chicago.
Our subject went to the common schools and later educated himself. He and his brother Joseph went in the fall of 1864 to Chicago and followed the lakes for five years steamboating, and he was for three years in the wholesale house of J. W. Doane & Co., of Chicago. After this he went into the land office of the Illinois Central Railroad in Chicago. During the great fire of Octo- ber 8 and 9, 1871, he saved all the land records and books of this company. After the fire the office was moved to Centralia and the subject came here to look after the business. He continued in the land office
and also traveled all over the country for this road as traveling land agent, selling land and collecting and looking after their interests in general. In 1882 he was ap- pointed Deputy Revenue Collector of the Thirteenth United States District of Illi- nois for one term. After this he returned to the employ of the Illinois Central, with which he remained until 1884. He was re- garded by this company as one of the most trusted and indispensable employes.
Mr. Meagher was united in marriage No- vember 3, 1872, with Mary A. Lawler, who was born in Chicago, the daughter of Mich- ael and Johanna (Phelan) Meagher, both natives of Tipperary county, Ireland. They came singly when young people to America and settled in Chicago when the country thereabout was a wilderness. He was a gardener by trade and also teamed exten- sively. He helped lay out the famous Lin- coln park of that city, putting out trees, etc. He died in 1893 and his wife died in 1898. Their children were: Mary A., the subject's wife; John, who is with J. W. Reedy Elevator Company in Chicago; Ed- ward is a street car conductor in Rochester, New York; William is shipping clerk for a candy manufacturing firm in Chicago; Mar- garet is single and living in Chicago; The- resa is single and operating a hair dressing establishment at 92 State street, Chicago; Sarah is the wife of J. W. Reedy, of Chi- cago.
Ten children have been born to the subject and wife, as follows: Frank J. is single and living at home, clerking in the offices of the
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Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in Centralia ; Margaret is saleslady at Marshall Field's & Co., Chicago .; Mary is saleslady at Hartman's Dry Goods Company, Centra- lia; Thomas T. is a machinist on the Big Four Railroad at Mattoon, Illinois; James W. is a cigarmaker in Naples, New York; Henry Edward is foreman of The Democrat office in Centralia; Charles A., who died at the age of twenty-one years, was clerk for the Illinois Central Railroad at Chicago, also in Centralia, having died February 25, 1905; Frederick D. is a machinist in Dan- ville, Illinois, for the Illinois Central Rail- road Company; Anastacia is bookkeeper at Marshall Field's & Co., Chicago; Richard T. is a boilermaker in the Illinois Central shops at Centralia.
In 1884 the subject was elected Circuit Clerk and County Recorder of Marion coun- ty, serving with much credit for a period of four years. He has always been active in politics and is a loyal Democrat. He is not a member of any church. He has made a success of his life work, for he has been a very industrious man and possesses rare business acumen.
JOHN WOODS.
The venerable and highly honored citizen of Centralia whose name appears above has through a long life of industry and fidelity to duty shown that he is worthy of a place in the history of Marion county along with
his fellow citizens of worth. John Woods, a retired farmer, was born in Tennessee, De- cember 29, 1827, the son of Willis and Mary (Willis) Woods, both natives of North Car- olina, who went to Tennessee in an early day, and in 1828 came to Marion county, Illinois, settling south of Odin, taking up a claim, later locating near Kinmundy, Illi- nois, just northwest of Centralia. He died in 1859 and his wife is also deceased. He was twice married, his last wife being Nellie Berge, of Connecticut. She is deceased. The father of the subject was always a farmer, a man well known and highly respected, a Democrat, but never aspired for office. He and his wife were members of the Christian church. Six children were born to them as follows: Louisa, deceased; John, our sub- ject; William, deceased; Mary, deceased; Green, deceased; the youngest child died in infancy.
Mr. Woods had little chance to attend school, having lived at home until he was twenty years of age and assisted with the work about the place, attending subscrip- tion school a few months in the winter. He was married March 11, 1847, to Catherine McClelland, who was born in April, 1831, in Centralia township, the daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Welsh) McClelland, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Tennessee. He came to Illinois in 1820, set- tling near Walnut Hill, Marion county, later coming to Romine Prairie and then to Cen- tralia township, north of Centralia in San- doval township. He secured seven hundred acres of land. He engaged extensively in
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farming and stock raising and became a prominent man in his locality. He held many local offices and spent the latter part of his life in the city of Centralia. He died in 1881, his wife having preceded him to the si- lent land in 1848, and he married a second time, his last wife being Mary J. Collum, of Maryland, who is deceased. Six children were born to Mr. McClelland, all by his first wife, namely: Alexander, who is now deceased, lived in Sandoval township; John went to Oregon in 1883 and died in 1906; Rachael married Thomas N. Deadman, and she is now deceased; Catherine is the wife of the subject; Elizabeth, who is deceased, married W. K. Bundy, of Raccoon town- ship; Rebecca J., who married Richard Col- lins, lives in East St. Louis.
Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Woods, four of whom are now living, namely: Isaac N., who remained single, is deceased ; Willis died young; Mary F., who is deceased, married Asa Mattocks; Luella married William Ingrahm, of Centralia; Sarah Ellen, who remained single, is de- ceased; Cella Ruth married Erastus Root May 6, 1883, and eight children have been born, namely; Lawrence, Nellie, John, Kate, Jessie, Clyde, Marie and Charles, all living. John died when young; Susan married John Heyduck, of Centralia, an engineer on the Illinois Central Railroad, and they are the parents of five children, Lawrence, John, William R., George H. and Ruby May; George, who was the fifth child in order of birth, is a farmer on the old home place in Centralia township, who married Martha
Sanders, and they have four children, Buell, Myrtle, Helen and Mabel.
After his marriage our subject and wife located in section 15, Centralia township, where he secured one hundred and sixty acres of land, which was entirely unim- proved, but he was a hard worker and soon had a comfortable home and carried on gen- eral farming and stock raising in a most suc- cessful manner. He was popular in his township and was School Director for four- teen years and held a number of minor of- fices. He was always a stanch Democrat and he and his good wife are members of the Christian church. Mr. Woods retired from active business life in December, 1898, and has since lived in Centralia. He and his wife are well preserved for their years and they can tell many interesting things that hap- pened in the early days in Marion county.
WILLIAM D. NEWMAN.
This venerable citizen of Centralia ranks with Marion county's conspicuous figures, having been one of the sterling pioneers from Eastern Tennessee, from whence so many men came to this state and did so much in its upbuilding, William D. New- man having been born in Blount county, that state, August 13, 1833, twelve miles south of Knoxville, the son of Louis J. and Rachael (Logan) Newman, both natives of Blount county, Tennessee, the former the son of David and Elizabeth (Phillips) New-
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man, also of the above named county, who came to Illinois in 1833 and settled five miles west of Richview in Washington coun- ty, where he secured three hundred acres of land, which he later added to, dealing ex- tensively in stock growing and general farming, and he became a prominent man in that locality. Daniel died in 1840 and his wife followed him to the silent land in 1852. He was a cooper by trade. Twelve children were born to them, the only one now living being Campbell Newman, in Chanute, Kan- sas. The subject's maternal grandfather was William Logan, of Tennessee, who mar- ried a Miss Edmonston, of Tennessee. They both died in that state. He was a farmer and he and his wife were the parents of four children, all deceased. The subject's father, Lewis J. Newman, was educated in the pub- lic schools and in 1854 came to Illinois, set- tling in Richview, Washington county. He was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade. In 1861 he located in Patoka, Illinois, and lived there many years, and in 1873 went to Collins, Texas, and he died there in 1876. His wife died September 5, 1863. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He was Justice of the Peace at Patoka and active in politics, being a Democrat. Twelve children were born to them as follows: Alexander, who formerly lived in this county, went to Texas in 1874 and died there. He was a preacher for many years in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He was in the Thirty-first Wiscon- sin Volunteer Infantry. The second child was William D., our subject ; Elizabeth, who
is deceased, married Charles Smith, living at Patoka, Illinois; Sarah, who remained single, is deceased; Eveline, who also re- mained single, is deceased; Lorenzo D. lives in Patoka. He is a carpenter and he mar- ried Fannie Rice. He was in Company F, One Hundred and Eleventh Illinois Volun- teer Infantry; Martin is deceased; Mathew C. is deceased; Henry is also deceased; George W. and Andrew J., twins, are both deceased; James lives in Dallas, Texas.
William D. Newman, the subject, had only a limited schooling in the home schools. He lived at home until he reached the age of twenty-four years, and he came to Illinois in 1855, locating at Richview. He learned . the carpenter's and cabinetmaker's trade with his father. He married February 11, 1858, Mary E. Gray, who was born October 3, 1840, in Tonti township, Marion county, the daughter of J. H. and Nancy M. Eddington, the former having been born in Maury coun- ty, Tennessee, in 1817, and died in Patoka, Illinois, September 2, 1878. His wife was born in Clinton county, Illinois, October 27, 1819, and she died in 1905. J. H. Gray, a farmer, was the son of Joseph and Agnes (Denton) Gray, the former a native of Ten- nessee and the latter a French woman. They married in Tennessee and came to Marion county, Illinois, in 1820, settling near Kin- mundy. They died near the above named place. To them were born the following children : Rev. James D., of the Methodist Episcopal church; John H., Samuel, Abner, William, Martha Jane, Joseph. The chil- dren of John H. Gray and wife are as fol-
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lows: James D. was in Company F, One Hundred and Eleventh Illinois Volunteer In- fantry; Captain A. S. lives in Patoka, Illi- nois (see his sketch) ; Mary E. is the wife of the subject; Thomas Benton was clerk for Col. James S. Martin during the Civil war; Jane is deceased ; Amanda, deceased ; Henry, deceased; Samuel died in infancy ; Albert is deceased; Alfred is deceased; Sarah, de- ceased; Hattie lives in Memphis, Tennes- see; Emma, deceased.
Eleven children have been born to William D. Newman and wife, as follows: Lina, de- ceased ; John A., who is in the office of the first vice-president of the Burlington Route, Telegraph Operators' Association headquar- ters in Chicago, who married Maria Wertz; Jennie, deceased; Alice, deceased ; Ella, de ceased; Nellie, deceased; Fred, who died in Kansas City in 1904, was a telegraph op- erator, and he married Evelyn Brooks, who is the mother of three children, Claude, Floyd and Esther; Lillie, who is deceased, married Clyde Soots. She was an accom- plished musician, both in vocal and instru- mental music. Mattie, the ninth child in order of birth, is deceased; W. D. is a car- penter by trade. However, he now runs a meat market in Centralia, and he married Ethel Ralston, who is the mother of one son, Arthur, and a daughter, deceased ; Jesse B. married Mary Hollinger and they have two children, Harvey and Bessie. He is a carpenter and contractor in Centralia.
After his marriage our subject and wife lived in Richview, Illinois, for three years and then went to Patoka, Marion county,
where Mr. Newman engaged in the under- taking business for over thirty years, hav- ing been very successful in this line of work. In February, 1901, he came to Centralia and has since that time been a successful con- tractor and builder. He is a Democrat and has long taken an active part in politics. He joined the Masonic Order in 1870 at Pa- toka, the Blue Lodge No. 613. Mrs. New- man is a member of the Eastern Star. Mr. Newman is also a Good Templar. He and his wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and they have always been active in church and Sunday school work. Mr. Newman has a fine voice and is a great singer. He is a leader in the local church and is very prominent in church work. His past record is that of a man of genuine worth and honesty, and because of his many good qualities he is highly respect- ed wherever he is known.
CHARLES V. BURT.
The record of the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is that of a man who by his own unaided efforts has worked his way from a modest beginning to a position of influence and comparative prosperity in his community while yet young in life. Throughout his career he has maintained the most creditable standards of personal and business integrity, and without putting forth any efforts to the end of attaining popularity he has achieved it in a local way
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by the manner in which he transacts the everyday affairs of a busy man. His life has always been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and hon- orable methods which he has followed have won him the unbounded confidence of his fellow men.
Charles V. Burt was born in Marion county, Illinois, twelve miles east of Cen- tralia, October 25, 1876, the son of Addison and Margaret A. (Morrison) Burt. The father of our subject was born in Indiana, January 3, 1852, and after attending the home schools until he was about fifteen years old, went to Wisconsin with his par- . ents, and about a year later came to Illi- nois and located on a farm in Marion coun- ty, where he resided until 1885, when he moved to Macon county, this state, his death occurring there in 1886. A Republican in politics and a man of excellent repute, he was highly respected by all who knew him. Luther Burt, grandfather of the subject, came from Pennsylvania in an early day, having been born in Washington county, that state, where he grew to manhood, and when the Civil war broke out enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Forty-sev- enty Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving through the war as a private. He moved to Wisconsin in 1866, then to Illinois in 1867, locating in Marion county, removing to Macon county, this state, in 1881, where he now lives. On August 2, 1852, he was united in marriage with Violet Swain, who was born in Preble county, Ohio, and she is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Luther Burt are
the parents of ten children, five boys and an equal number of girls.
Mrs. Harriett Morrison, maternal grand- mother of the subject, who was born near Walnut Hill, Jefferson county, Illinois, and who is a sister of Squire Andrews, of Cen- tralia, is still living in Marion county and is enjoying good health for one of her ad- vanced age. After the marriage of the sub- ject's maternal grandparents they moved to Little Prairie, where Mr. Morrison died. They were known for many years through- out the community where they resided for the excellent quality of sorghum molasses they made, and were largely patronized by the farmers for miles around. No towns were in the county at that time and all goods used in the county were hauled from St. Louis, to which city local products were placed on the market, usually in exchange for goods, provisions, etc. Most of the teaming was done with oxen. The subject's mother was born twelve miles east of Cen- tralia, June 23, 1857, and lived at the old home until she married in 1876, then she moved to a farm on Romine Prairie, seven miles south of Salem in Raccoon township. She now lives with our subject most of the time. Mr. and Mrs. Addison Burt were the parents of four children, three boys and one girl, namely : Charles V., our subject ; Frank Le Clare, deceased; Esther D. is married ; Roy C. is also married.
Our subject was about nine years old at the time of his father's death. He remained at home during his boyhood days, attend- ing school in four different places, working
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in the meantime on the farm during the city and farm, also accident and health in- summer months, which work he continued surance. until his mother moved to Kell, Illinois, The happy domestic life of Charles V. Burt began May 31, 1900, when he was united in marriage with Estella Stonecipher, daughter of Hiram and Dorcas Stonecipher, of near Kell, Illinois. Mr. Stonecipher is one of the substantial agriculturists of that community, and the subject's wife is the third in order of birth in a family of five children. where she conducted a hotel. Here Charles V. managed a livery barn with much suc- cess for a period of four years, after which he moved to Centralia and worked in the envelope factory for one year, then secured employment at the South Mines for eight- een months ; but, not satisfied with his work, he decided to become a merchant and accord- Mr. and Mrs. Burt are the parents of three children, Wandah V., born April 3, 1902 ; Thaddeus L., who was born October 17, 1903, and one died in infancy, all hav- ing been born in the city of Centralia, where the subject has a comfortable and nicely furnished home, where their many friends often gather. ingly went to work in a grocery store as clerk, which position he filled with entire satisfaction to his employer. Finding it to his advantage to give up the grocery busi- ness on account of a better opportunity opening up in another direction, Mr. Burt accordingly formed the firm of Burge & Burt, dealing in real estate, farms and city Our subject is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and is in the team work of the lodge, No. 397, of Centralia. In his political relations he supports the principles of the Republican party, and he and his estimable wife are both members of the Christian church. property, their business having been large from the first and has steadily increased, having been so conducted as to gain the con- fidence of the many patrons of the firm throughout this locality. An extensive business is also carried on in fire insurance,
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 977.37B52B C001 BIOGRAPHICAL AND REMINISCENT HISTORY OF
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