USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
Various enterprises and activities have from time to time claimed the at- tention of Mr. Bering, and his work on the whole has been of large benefit to the city as well as a source of revenue to himself. On the 2d of January, 1861, he began boring for oil and organized the Mullengar Oil & Lumber Com- pany, at Mullengar, Pennsylvania. When doing survey work for the Sunbury & Erie Railroad he noticed the pits on Mullengar creek where the Indians gath- ered oil and leased the property two or three days after Drake struck gas, and had the fire that disposed of his derrick. That was the beginning of the big oil excitement, and Mr. Bering was the organizer of the first company formed for developing the oil industry. Leaving the Sunbury Railroad, he took up his abode in the shanty on the property, and was a prominent factor in the oil region of Pennsylvania, while the field was being largely worked. In 1863 he was drafted for service in the army at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and paid the three hundred dollars exemption fee, for he felt that his business interests de- manded his personal attention. In 1876 he began boring for coal in Decatur, being fully convinced that the fuel was to be found underlying his line, and on the 12th of January, struck a three and a half foot vein at a depth of six hundred and ten feet, which was the first discovery of coal in this section. As the pioneer in this undertaking, his labors have not only greatly benefited himself, but have been of far-reaching benefit to others, owing to the further development of the coal lands in this vicinity.
On the Ist of October, 1856, Mr. Bering was united in marriage in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Morrison, and they have three children : Ida Isabelle, who has now passed away; Wilson Morrison, general manager of the manufacturing business in which his father is financially in-
198
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
terested; and Alice Clementina, who was born January 6, 1872, and is the wife of F. L. Evans, of the Evans Elevator Company. Mr. Bering possesses several volumes of family genealogy containing photographs of all the different mem- bers of the family, which he has taken and reproduced himself, and the vol- umes are in his own handwriting. He has made a great study of photography, also mineralogy and chemistry, and his library contains evidence of his re- search along those lines.
All through his life he has combined scientific knowledge with practical ex- perience, and the results have been most satisfactory, bringing him to a position in the business world where success has been achieved. His work has ever counted as a tangible result, and he is now numbered among Decatur's pros- perous residents, enjoying in the evening of life the fruits of his former toil. His extensive business connections have made him widely known, and honor and respect are accorded him wherever he is known.
JOHN I. PASOLD.
When one visits a city or daily passes to and fro among its business houses and residents, there is little thought given to the immense amount of work done in its actual building or of the knowledge and skill that are required in the construction of its substantial structures. Pausing for a moment, however, one must realize that the successful contractor must possess a comprehensive knowledge of the scientific principles of building as well as broad practical ex- perience in the actual work of construction of his work be pleasing and the results substantial and artistic. John I. Pasold as a stone contractor is numbered among those prominently connected with building operations in Decatur and monuments to his power and his enterprise are found in many of the leading structures of the city.
Mr. Pasold was born in Austria, July 28, 1853, and is a son of Christian and Margaret (Krumholz) Pasold, both of whom were natives of the same country. The father was a shoemaker by trade and followed that pursuit with success throughout his entire life. He died in 1868 at the age of forty-nine years, and his wife passed away in 1903, at the age of eighty-five years. In 1860 they had crossed the Atlantic, becoming residents of Joliet, Illinois, where their remain- ing days were spent.
John I. Pasold was at that time a little lad of seven years. He attended the public schools of that city and was also educated under private German tuition. When fourteen years of age he began learning the trade of marble and stone- cutting, serving a three years' apprenticeship and afterward working as a journeyman for the firm of Zirkel & Brown, of Joliet, one of the leading and well established firms of that city. In 1878, however, he began business on his own account in Decatur, where he has since operated, and that he has been successful is indicated by the fact that his name is associated with many of the leading structures of the city as the building contractor. Among these are the Millikin University, Powers Grand Opera House, Orlando Powers building,
199
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Roberts & Green block, Ullrich Bank building, Transfer station, Loeb Time block, Columbia block, Ullrich block, Mueller Manufacturing Company's buildings, the Anna B. Millikin Home, Cumberland Presbyterian church, English Lutheran church. New Decatur Hotel, W. H. Starr block, Illinois State Bank of Assump- tion, Illinois; the public school of Clinton, Illinois, and the Philo bank of Philo, Illinois. This list alone indicates the nature of his work and the extent of his reputation for he has been called to various points outside of Decatur where he has done excellent work as a stone contractor.
On the 27th of December, 1883, Mr. Pasold was married to Miss Augusta Long, of Decatur, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (May) Long, who were early settlers and well known citizens here. Mrs. Pasold has a brother George and two sisters living in Danville, Illinois. The father died in 1868 and the mother, long surviving him, passed away in 1902. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Pasold are: Lillian; Notie, a high school and normal school graduate; Clara M., a student of the Millikin University; John M., who was born in 1896; and Ruth, who completes the family. They also lost one son, who died at the age of two months. Musical talent is very pronounced among the members of the family.
Mr. Pasold is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Ionic Lodge, No. 312, A. F. & A. M., Decatur Chapter, No. 21, R. A. M .; and Decatur Command- ery No. 9, K. T. He is also associated with the Loyal Americans. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his religous faith is manifest in his membership in the Presbyterian church. He has not only made himself a prominent place in business circles but is also the architect and builder of his own fortunes, in which connection he has done excellent work, his record proving, too, that success and honored name may be won simultaneously.
TIMOTHY S. CHILDS, D. D. S.
Dentistry may be said to be almost unique among other occupations, as it is at once a profession, a trade and a business. Such being the case, it follows that in order to attain the highest success in it one must be thoroughly con- versant with the theory of the art, must be expert with the many tools and appliances incidental to the practice of modern dentistry and must possess business qualifications adequate to dealing with the financial side of the profes- sion. In all of these particulars Dr. Childs is well qualified and therefore has attained prestige among the able representatives of dentistry in Decatur.
A native son of Macon county, he was born in Illini township in 1865, one of the eight children of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Childs. The father died in 1905 and the mother in 1909. He had been a lifelong farmer and owned a section of land in Illini township. His success enabled him to provide well for his children and his widow and at her death the part of the estate which she had inherited was divided among their sons and daughters. As his share Dr. Childs received eighty acres of choice land near Warrensburg. He was reared to farm life with the usual experiences that fall to the lot of the farm boy who does
200
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
the chores and aids in the work of early planting and plowing and in gathering harvests in the autumn. Good educational privileges, however, were accorded him. After attending the district schools he spent one year in the Wesleyan University, at Bloomington and was graduated from the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. Subsequently he matriculated in the University of Michigan for professional training and was graduated from the dental depart- ment with the class of 1892, at which time he won his degree. Following his graduation he returned to Macon county and opened a dental parlor in Decatur, where in the intervening period of nineteen years he has built up an extensive practice. He has always kept in touch with the progress of the profession in the methods of practice and in the inventions which facilitate the work of the operating room. He belongs to the Macon County Dental Society and his close conformity to the strict ethics of the profession has won him the high regard of his fellow practitioners.
Dr. Childs was married in 1894 to Miss Carletta Hane and they have become parents of a daughter and three sons: Agnes, John, Russell and Robert. Dr. and Mrs. Childs have a wide acquaintance in Decatur and are favorably received into the best social circles of the city. He is also prominent in musical circles, having for a number of years been a member of the Goodman Band and historian of that organization. He has been the cornet soloist and is still identi- fied with the band, his musical talents contributing in no small measure to the high reputation of the organization.
W. M. SHETTEL.
The experience of many years goes to prove that a young man who has been reared to work and is governed by the right principles has little excuse to offer in this country if he does not attain a fair degree of success in what he undertakes. Lack of ambition holds many a competent young man back, but not so with W. M. Shettel, who has from his earliest recollection been blessed with the laudable desire to accomplish something worthy of the name. The son of a blacksmith, he has from boyhood been closely identified with that trade and is now proprietor of a blacksmith establishment at Harristown. He is also a dealer in agricultural implements, proprietor of a feed stable and is in charge of a flourishing automobile agency.
He was born near York, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1879, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Jacoba) Shettel, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state, and a grandson of Daniel and Elizabeth Shettel, also natives of Pennsylvania. The grandfather was a farmer but his son became a blacksmith and when the subject of this review became old enough he was put to work in the shop. He acquired a common-school education and at sixteen years of age, feeling that opportuni- ties lay westward, he came to Macon county and for the first two years after his arrival worked upon a farm. At the end of this time he entered the blacksmith shop of a brother who was living at Warrensburg, this county, and there he continued for seven years, becoming thoroughly familiar with the blacksmith's
201
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
trade. He next worked for two years in a shop at Greenview, Menard county. Having saved his money, he came to Harristown in 1904 and purchased a shop, starting in business for himself. After he had fairly launched upon his independent venture, he entered the implement business and still later he opened a feed stable. In July, 1910, he accepted the agency of the Interstate Automobile Company and up to date has disposed of a number of automobiles. He also does repair work on automobiles and in his various lines of business has shown an energy and capacity that give promise of continued advancement.
On September 2, 1903, at Warrensburg, Mr. Shettel was united in marriage to Miss Ada Taggart, a daughter of Captain Taggart. She is a well educated woman and by her sympathy and cooperation has greatly assisted her husband in his work. Having no children of their own, they have adopted a son, Earl Edwin, whom they propose to educate in such a way that he will make a useful and honorable citizen.
Mr. Shettel is a man of public spirit and in 1905, being a strong advocate of water works for Harristown, he prevailed upon Mr. Scroggin to supply the money so that the town now has a modern system of waterworks operated by compressed air by a gasoline engine. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and his wife of the Royal Neighbors, and they are also connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Shettel is a loyal and faithful citizen, having the best interests of the community at heart, and is politically identified with the republican party, of which he as been an earnest supporter ever since he arrived at man's estate.
NICHOLAS DRAKE.
Although more than a quarter of a century has come and gone since Nicholas Drake was called from this life he is yet well remembered by many who knew him as one of the prosperous and representative farmers of this section of the state. He became a resident of Macon county in 1861, at which time he purchased a tract of eighty acres of wild prairie land lying in Friends Creek township. He at once began the arduous task of breaking the sod, and when the fields were prepared for cultivation he planted the seed, later cultivated the crops, and in due time gathered abundant harvests. He also fenced his fields and otherwise improved his place, erecting thereon substantial buildings. He also extended the boundaries of his farm by the additional purchase of forty acres, and in course of time developed a good property. The soil is naturally rich and productive, and as the result of his cultivation he was able to derive a substantial annual income from his crops.
On the 28th of February, 1865, Mr. Drake was married to Miss Margaret J. Briggs, a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John and Mary Briggs, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state. On removing westward the Briggs family settled in Ohio, and there the father died. The mother with her children afterward journeyed westward with teams across the country to Illinois in 1863, and settled in Macon county on Friends
202
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Creek, where she spent her last years. Mrs. Drake was reared and educated in Ohio and accompanied her mother to Illinois, where two years later she gave her hand in marriage to Nicholas Drake, being at that time eighteen years of age. They established their home upon a farm in Friends Creek township, and Mr. Drake being an industrious and enterprising agriculturist, ever kept his place in good shape. As the years passed he became known as a successful farmer, stock-raiser and feeder, and his business interests brought him into close connection with the people of Decatur. He was recognized as a man of good business ability, of strict integrity, and sterling personal worth. He reared his family and spent his last years upon the farm, and his death was the occasion of deep regret to all who knew him.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Drake was born a daughter, Alice, now the wife of Alfred Marsh, a resident of Maroa, by whom she has one son, Roy Marsh. The two sons of the family have passed away. St. Clair Drake was married and followed farming in Macon county until his death. He left a wife and two daughters: Nora, now the wife of Newton Burkam, who occupies Mrs. Drake's farm; and Mary, at home. The other son was John W., who married Alice Naridith. He was engaged in railroading for eighteen years and was killed by a train in Chicago.
After her husband's death Mrs. Drake took charge of the farm and carefully managed her business affairs for a number of years, displaying in this good ability, keen insight and capable management. At length she left the farm however, and removed to Argenta, where she purchased a neat and pleasant home, which she has occupied for a number of years. Her wise control of her business interests has brought to her a good income, supplying her with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
HON. THOMAS N. LEAVITT.
Real worth and ability will always come to the front: it is an inevitable conclusion, as it were, a "survival of the fittest." While Hon. Thomas N. Leavitt, had no particular advantages at the outset of his career, his course has been marked by a steady progress and has wrought along the lines of general good, while at the same time he has made continuous advancement in those fields of business wherein his talent and qualities have found adequate expression. A native of New Hampshire, Mr. Leavitt was born in Rockingham county, October 6, 1838, a son of Anthony B. and Fannie F. (Lamprey) Leavitt, who were also natives of the Old Granite state. They left New England, however, in 1843, and made their way westward to Peoria county, Illinois, where they resided until 1848, when they became residents of Marshall county, this state. The following year the father crossed the plains to California and his death occurred in that state in 1850, when he was thirty-five years of age. His birth had occurred in 1815 and he was married in 1837. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that pursuit in order to provide for his family until the hope of more rapidly winning a competence in the mines of the west led him to the
203
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Pacific coast. His widow, who was born in 1815, died in 1896. In their family were four children; Thomas N., of this review; Mrs. Hannah Finney, who died in Henry, Illinois, in 1908; John F., who has been engaged in the ice business in Henry for a number of years; and Mrs. Fannie E. Kingsley, a widow of York, Nebraska.
Thomas N. Leavitt accompanied his parents on their various removals in his youthful days. He continued a resident of Marshall county, Illinois, until 1861, when he removed to Maroa, where he has since made his home. His education was acquired in the public schools of Henry and in the Northern Illinois Institute at that place, attending the latter school for two years. After putting aside his text-books he carried on farming for four years, but the outbreak of the Civil war made the interests of his country a paramount factor in his life and in July, 1862 he enlisted for active service at the front, becoming a member of Company C of the Sixty-sixth Illinois Regiment, known as Burgess or Western Sharp- shooters. After serving with that command for three years he was honorably discharged in November, 1864, as a noncommissioned officer holding the rank of corporal. He participated in the Sherman campaign through Georgia, was in the battle of Corinth and took part in many engagements, including all of those in which his regiment participated and some in which the command did not take part, this being due to the fact that he was an orderly at headquarters.
When the war was over Mr. Leavitt entered the grocery business in Maroa and after successfully continuing in that trade for some time sold out and turned his attention to the lumber, coal and farm implement business. In all of his efforts in the field of merchandising he has displayed marked enterprise and indefatigable energy and success has followed as the legitimate reward of his labors. Moreover he has been a prominent factor in the early life of the community and no man is more widely known or more popular in Maroa and his part of the county. He served as postmaster for seventeen consecutive years, being first appointed during President Grant's first administration. He was recommended to the office by General Moore, who was then congressman from this district. He continued to engage in merchandising during the time when he was postmaster and in fact was numbered among the prominent representatives of commercial interests in Maroa until 1900, when he retired from business. He has, however, been a director of the State Bank of Clinton since its organiza- tion in 1892.
In political circles Mr. Leavitt is a prominent figure and since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has ever been a stalwart republican. His opinions carry weight in the councils of his party and his efforts have been effective in promoting republican success. He was elected to the thirty-eighth general assembly for a term of two years, has been a member of the state board of equalization for two terms of four years each, from 1896 until 1900 and again from 1904 until 1908, and was chairman of the board of supervisors for one term, before being sent as a representative to the legislature. He was also elected to the forty-seventh general assembly. He has likewise been a delegate to state and congressional conventions and is widely recognized as one of the prominent republicans in this section of Illinois.
204
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
On the 31st of October, 1858, Mr. Leavitt was united in marriage to Miss Catharine A. Crowell, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1843, a daughter of Moses and Salina Crowell, who removed with their family to Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt now have one child, Clara F., who is the wife of J. F. Harris, of Maroa, and has two children, Newell L. and Alma F. Mr. Leavitt belongs to the Masonic fraternity in which he has taken the degrees of the blue lodge and chapter at Maroa and the Knights Templar commandery at Clinton, Illinois. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine of Peoria. His has been an active and well spent life in which success has followed legitimate labor, intelligently directed, while his worth and value as a citizen are attested by the many times he has been called to public office by the appointment or vote of his fellow townsmen. In matters of citizenship he has ever displayed a most progressive spirit and is as true and loyal to the old flag in days of peace as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battle fields of the south.
WILLIAM F. BUSHER.
Those who were residents of Decatur when William F. Busher arrived in this city over a half century ago can remember him as a humble shoemaker, working at the bench, mending shoes and doing other such tasks as fell to his lot. At the time of his death he was a capitalist, living retired from labor, for his life of industry and strict and unswerving integrity, combined with perseverance and unremitting diligence, brought to him a handsome competence. He was a native of the fatherland. Much of the civilization of the world has come from the Teutonic race. Continually moving westward, they have taken with them the enterprise and advancement of their eastern homes and have become valued and useful citizens of various localities. In this country especially have they demon- strated their power to adapt themselves to new circumstances, retaining at the same time their progressiveness and energy, and have become loyal and devoted citizens, true to the institutions of the "land of the free" and untiring in promotion of all that will prove of benefit to their adopted country. The German element in America forms an important part of American citizenship and while they cannot attain to the highest civil office in the gift of the people, they have given ample evidence of their power to sustain and uphold the government of the re- public and to become the factors in various communities to whom the locality owes its progress and prosperity.
When William F. Busher was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, in December, 1831, his parents might have dreamed of a brilliant future for their little son, but it is safe to say that they never thought that he would one day be- come one of the foremost citizens of an enterprising metropolitan center of Illi- nois. He was, however, associated with Decatur for more than a half century and his name occupied a conspicuous place on the pages of its commercial his- tory. His parents, Frederick and Dorothy (Reimer) Busher, were both natives of Germany and the father was a farmer by occupation, to which pursuit he
yours truly W I Bushes
f
MRS.W. F. BUSHER
209
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
devoted the best years of his life. Both he and his wife passed away in the father- land.
In the usual manner of farm lands of that district and period William F. Busher was reared. He attended the common schools, acquiring a good knowl- edge of the German language and the branches therein taught and also a fair knowledge of the English tongue. Attracted by the business possibilities of the new world he came to the United States and in 1849 landed at Baltimore, Maryland, whence he proceeded by rail and canal to Pittsburg and thence by steamboat to Cincinnati, Ohio. He was then in his eighteenth year and for a time he attended school in Cincinnati. Prepared for a business career by learn- ing the shoemaker's trade in Germany, during his first few months in that city he received one dollar per week and his board. For three years he remained in Cincinnati and then went to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he followed his trade for twelve months. On the expiration of that period he took up his abode in St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked at shoemaking until 1853, which year witnessed his arrival in Springfield, Illinois. In that city he attended the Lutheran College for a time and thus added to his knowledge and at the same time gained a greater proficiency in the use of the English tongue. The development of his character was based upon firm Christian faith and the principles with which he became im- bued through attendance at Sunday school and church were potent factors in shaping his entire career.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.