USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 22
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He had reached mature years when the Civil war broke out and feeling that his first duty was to his country, about the time he attained his majority, on the 7th of August, 1862, he enlisted for service at the front as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois Infantry. This company was organized at Camp Macon in Decatur, which stood where Fairview Park is now located. Proceeding southward to Vicksburg, Mr. Miller participated in many of the most important battles of the war. He was in the battle of Arkansas Post and was with Grant during the forty days' siege at Vicksburg. He also participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge and Chattanooga, where his regiment was one of the first to cross the Chattanooga river on pontoons. In the
JOHN H. MILLER
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battle of Lookout Mountain he was wounded in the side by a bullet. He was in the Atlanta campaign and also in the celebrated march to the sea, and on through the Carolinas to Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia, and at the close of hostilities took part in the grand review at Washington, D. C., when thousands of soldiers marched through the streets of that city and past the grand stand, where Presi- dent Lincoln stood watching the brave men who had preserved the Union. Al- though Mr. Miller enlisted as a private, he was later made second sergeant and at Young's Point was made second lieutenant, while later he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. While at the front he never faltered in the performance of any duty no matter where it called him, and after three years of faithful and valiant service he received an honorable discharge in the capital city in July, 1865.
Following the close of hostilities, Mr. Miller returned to his home in Decatur and here on the 8th of November, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte J. Cox, who was born September 6, 1845. The young couple began their domestic life upon a farm near the city and as the years passed Mr. Miller added to his holdings until he became the possessor of several hundred acres of land. He was actively identified with general agricultural pursuits throughout a long period and his labors brought him a success that any man might be proud to possess.
Unto John H. and Charlotte J. Miller were born six children: William D., who wedded Miss Carrie Jacobs; Martha Y., who is the wife of David Diller and resides in Albany, Texas; Ira B., now deceased; Ada L., who became the wife of S. H. Procter but is now deceased; Mary H., the wife of E. B. Johnson, a resident of Heyburn, Idaho; and Minnie T., the wife of Dana F. Black, who is an extensive farmer of Macon county, residing a mile west of Elwin. After a happy married life covering about twelve years, Mr. and Mrs. Miller were sepa- rated by the death of the wife and mother on the 28th of January, 1879, her re- mains being interred in Mount Gilead cemetery south of the city.
On the 28th of December, 1881, Mr. Miller was again married, his second union being with Mary J. Muirheid. She was born November 6, 1855, in Har- rison county, Missouri, and was a little maiden of eight years when she accom- panied her parents, William and Margaret J. Muirheid, on their removal from that state to Macon county, Illinois. They were prominent pioneers of this sec- tion of the state and with the exception of a brief period, spent their remaining days in this county. Mrs. Miller received a good public-school education and prior to her marriage taught in the home district. Mr. Miller continued on the farm after his second marriage but finally, his health becoming impaired, he purchased a home in Decatur and on the 24th of October, 1906, removed to this city, and after two and a half years of patient suffering, he passed away August 31, 1908, in the faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, having for many years held membership at Shady Grove.
Although leading a very busy life in connection with his private business affairs, Mr. Miller's zeal in behalf of beneficial public interests was perhaps the predominant feature in his life. He was a lifelong democrat and always took an active part in political affairs. For many years he was a tax collector of Macon county and held this office at the time the courthouse was erected in
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Decatur, being a member of the building committee. He was also supervisor of the county for seventeen years and filled the office of school director for a num- ber of years. He was actuated by a spirit of loyalty to the welfare and progress of the community that none questioned, and his labors on the whole were ex- tremely effective, far-reaching and beneficial. He was likewise one of the organ- izers of White Post, No. 529, G. A. R., at Mount Zion, and for many years served as its commander. His name thus became indelibly impressed upon the pages of Macon county's history, and his memory is revered and honored by all who knew him. The widow still resides at the old home in Decatur and retains pos- session of the farm of two hundred and twenty acres, which is now being operated by the eldest son.
ELI S. ULERY.
Macon county, located in the center of Illinois, in one of the richest agri- cultural districts of the country, owes its high standing among the counties of the state to its farming and live-stock interests. Here these industries have been carried to a very high degree of perfection and here are seen many of the finest and most completely equipped farming establishments to be found anywhere in the world. Even the fondest dreams of the early settlers have been more than realized and to be a successful farmer of Macon county is synonymous with pros- perity and the possession of practically every advantage that is known in con- nection with modern agriculture.
Among the prominent farmers of Macon county is Eli S. Ulery, a native of Mount Zion township, this county. He was born December 12, 1862, and is a son of Eli and Mary E. (Dillon) Ulery. His father was one of the remarkable pioneers of Illinois. He began with a capital of twelve dollars and became the owner of three thousand acres of rich Illinois soil. He was born in Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania, and came to Macon county in 1836, continuing here until his death, which occurred in December, 1898, when he was eighty-two years of age. He settled on two hundred and twenty acres and, being a man of great industry and foresight, he invested his money in land so that he became one of the large landholders of this part of the state. He was also a breeder of cattle and fattened a great deal of live stock for the market, driving to Chicago aind New York. Politically he was allied with the republican party. He had four broth- ers, all of whom continued in Pennsylvania and are now deceased. The mother of our subject was called away at the age of twenty-eight years. She was a daughter of Joshua Dillon, a stock-dealer and well known citizen of Mount Zion.
Eli S. Ulery grew up upon his father's farm but was deprived of the loving presence of a mother, she having departed when he was three years old. He was educated in the common schools and at Christian Brothers College at St. Louis. After leaving college he went to Colorado and for four years lived the life of a cowboy in the region south of the Arkansas river where he gained many experiences that have proved of practical benefit to him in later years. He re- turned home at eighteen years of age and in 1886 took charge of the home farm
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which then consisted of six hundred and forty acres. There is no doubt that the talents of the parents are often inherited by their children, who are thus naturally endowed with abilities that are denied many others. An illustration of this fact is presented in the career of Mr. Ulery who is now the owner of nine hundred and ninety-eight acres and, like his father, has been successful in almost everything he has undertaken. About ten years ago he acquired a tract of land in the northern part of Mount Zion townshinp, a portion of which he has con- verted into a picnic and pleasure ground, known as Woodbine Park. Here he has built a bungalow and an artificial lake and has also erected a hotel, pavilion and boathouse and made many other improvements, so that the park is one of the most attractive pleasure spots of the country. He is also interested in a fish- ing pond a half-mile south of Mount Zion and is a great lover of hunting and fishing, making trips to various states of the south annually for this purpose.
On the 10th day of March, 1885, Mr. Ulery was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Gibson Bell, a daughter of Andrew and Lucy Bell, of Mount Zion. Five children have come to brighten the household, Bernard B., Simon K., Mona G., Earl A., and Mary I. Mr. Ulery affiliates with the republican party but has never sought office, as his interest is mainly devoted to business affairs. He and his family are well known in Macon county, the name having been closely identified with this portion of the state for many years and no name stands higher in the respect of the people of central Illinois.
HAROLD RIVES WOODCOCK.
The financial interests of Macon county are represented by some of its brightest and most progressive citizens, among whom may be named Harold R. Woodcock, of Macon, now head of the banking firm established by his father and known under the title of R. H. Woodcock & Company. Mr. Woodcock was born in this county, June 6, 1871, and is a son of Robert H. and Frances J. (Rives) Woodcock, the former of whom was born August 30, 1835, in Pennsylvania, and the latter March 18, 1841, in Illinois. The grandparents on the paternal side were Edmund and Susanna (Funk) Woodcock, the former of whom was of English and the latter of German descent. Grandfather Woodcock came with his family to Illinois in 1849. Here he followed the wagon-maker's trade. He was the father of ten children, nine of whom grew to maturity. He died at Quincy, Illinois, in 1856, his esteemed wife long surviving him and passing away at the advanced age of ninety-five years.
Robert H. Woodcock graduated from the Greene County Seminary, Illinois, at twenty-one years of age and become bookkeeper in a dry-goods store. In 1862 he established a grocery store in Macon but sold out in 1865 and entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad Company as agent, continuing in this capacity for sixteen years. He was also agent for the American Express Company for eighteen years. After acquiring a competence he engaged in the banking business with H. Faling and subsequently purchased the interest of his partner and was engaged almost continuously in financial affairs until his
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death, which occurred May 30, 1909. He was one of the progressive and reliable men of the county and was highly esteemed by all with whom he came in contact. In politics he was a republican, serving as alderman of Macon for two years, mayor for one year and supervisor for fourteen years, one-half of which time he was chairman of the board. He was also actively connected with the Masonic order. On October 29, 1863, he married Miss Frances J. Rives, a daughter of Rev. James and Elizabeth (Hood) Rives, both of whom were from North Carolina. One child came to bless this union, Harold R.
The subject of this review was educated in the public schools and took a complete course at Brown's Business College of Decatur, graduating in 1890. Previously he had served as bookkeeper in the Woodcock & Hight Bank of Macon and after leaving the business college he became cashier of the Heilman grocery house of Decatur. In 1891 he was made cashier of the R. H. Woodcock & Company Bank in Macon and later occupied a similar position in the First National Bank at Collinsville, Illinois. In July, 1902, he returned to Macon and associated with his father in the banking business of which he is now sole owner. He has shown an ability which indicates that he is a worthy successor of his father, who was an acknowledged authority in Macon county on subjects pertaining to finances.
On the 25th of May, 1896, at Indianapolis, Mr. Woodcock was united in marriage to Miss Bertha R. Middleton, a daughter of John F. and Mary (Way) Middletown, natives of Canada, who came to Illinois about 1870. Mrs. Wood- cock is the youngest of a family of seven children and was born June 12, 1877. One child, Rives Way, born November 13, 1897, has come to brighten the household.
Mr. Woodcock is politically in sympathy with the republican party and has served for two terms as chairman of the board of supervisors, also filling the office of town clerk of Macon. He is a past master of the Masonic lodge at Macon, and also holds membership in Beacon Lodge, No. 434, K. P. He has passed through all the chairs in the latter organization. In the discharge of his various duties he has shown a capacity that has met the hearty approval of those most interested. Reared under favorable circumstances, Mr. Woodcock has made successful application of the practical lessons he learned under his father and occupies an honorable position in the estimation of a host of friends in Macon county.
ERNEST D. CAMP.
Ernest D. Camp is the owner of a highly improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres on sections 23 and 24, Long Creek township, Macon county, of which he may well be proud as it is the result largely of his own industry and his earnest devotion to a calling to which he has given the chief energies of his life. It was through self-denial and perseverance and not a little sound judg- ment that he has been able to meet the difficulties that lay in the way, but now he may rest at ease and in comfort, knowing that he and his family are provided for during the remainder of their lives.
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Mr. Camp was born in the township where he now lives, July 3, 1872. He is a son of Abel B. and Mary (Davis) Camp, the father born July 29, 1828, in Scott county, this state, and the mother born September 2, 1831. His paternal grandfather was born in Connecticut and when a young man went to Vermont, where he was married. About 1820 he brought his wife to Illinois and located in Scott county, where he entered land from the government. . Our subject's maternal grandfather was Joseph Davis, who was a native of Kentucky, but his wife was born in North Carolina. They came to Illinois in 1828, locating first in Sangamon county but later removing to Long Creek township, Macon county, where he entered land from the government and purchased other tracts.
Abel B. Camp, after arriving at years of manhood, selected one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 17, Long Creek township and proceeded to im- prove the same but later found a more desirable tract of one hundred and sixty acres on section 23 and disposed of the property he had previously acquired. He engaged in general farming and stock-raising with marked success and in the course of years became the owner of a well improved farm of four hundred and twenty-six acres. He and his wife lived retired for some years before their death, the mother being called away March 24, 1891, and her respected com- panion on November 1, 1900. They were worthy representatives of the pro- gressive and intelligent citizens of the county and their memory is revered by many old friends and acquaintances.
Ernest D. Camp was educated in the district schools and before attaining his majority engaged in teaching school. He continued upon the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he began farming for himself by renting land from his father, also receiving forty acres which his father bestowed as a gift when the son arrived at his majority. At his father's death in 1900, he inherited other land also and he purchased forty acres more in 1906. By applica- tion and good judgment Mr. Camp has been successful from the very beginning as a farmer and is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of valuable land, which he has provided with all modern improvements as to buildings, fenc- ing, drainage and trees. In addition to raising cereals he is devoting his atten- tion to the raising of fine stock, for which he usually receives the highest price quoted in the market for stock of its class.
On August 19, 1896, Mr. Camp was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth M. Weaver, a daughter of George W. and Nora (Whaley) Weaver, of Long Creek township. The mother was a native of Ireland and the father was born in Glens Falls, New York. He came west to Macon county and later removed to De- catur, where he held a position in the machine shop of the Chambers, Bering & Quinlan Manufacturing Company. He is still living in that city, but his wife departed this life in 1888. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Camp has been brightened by the birth of two children: Chester B., born May 26, 1898; and Nora Mar- guerite, September 22, 1902.
Mr. Camp affiliates with the republican party and, although he has not been a seeker for public office, he is now serving his second term as township clerk. He is a member of the Methodist church and has been recording steward and trustee for several years. He has always taken hold energetically of anything that attracted his interest and the neat and orderly appearance of his farm is
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evidence that he does his work well. He is a man of pleasing manners and readily makes friends, never giving up a friend without sufficient cause. He may be depended upon to do as he says and in all his acts he aims to keep in mind the simple teaching of the golden rule, which he has found to be a safe and sure guide in all affairs, great and small, of daily life.
ROBERT E. GRAY.
Robert E. Gray, with a law and loan office at No. 143 North Water street, Decatur, is well established in the business circles of the city as one whose ability justly entitles him to the liberal clientage which is accorded him in both departments of his business. A native of Fayette county, Illinois, he was born in 1860 and is a grandson of Richard Gray, one of the pioneers of the state, who in 1834 became a resident of Coles county when the Indians were still numerous in that locality. The evidences of frontier life were many and it remained to a few courageous and venturesome men like Mr. Gray to penetrate the western wilderness and there plant the seeds of civilization. In 1854 he removed to Fayette county, Illinois, becoming one of the early settlers there. His son David P. Gray, the father of Robert E. Gray, was a carpenter and contractor for many years but afterward turned his attention to farming. He was born in Tennessee in 1833 and died in 1875 at the age of forty-two years. His wife, who was born in Illinois and was of Pennsylvania descent, passed . away in 1872. In their family were seven children, four sons and three daughters, of whom three sons are yet living, the brothers of our subject being George W., a resident of Weldon; and Richard T., living in Oklahoma.
Robert E. Gray, devoting his youthful days to the acquirement of an education, attended the high school at Ramsey, Illinois, and also the normal school at Carbon- dale, this state while later he pursued the teacher's course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, where he was graduated with the class of 1892. In the interim he taught in the district schools in Dewitt, Fayette, Moultrie, Taze- well and Menard counties of Illinois and in South Dakota, demonstrating his ability in the work of the schoolroom by the clear and concise manner in which he imparted to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He continued teach- ing in all for about twelve years and during that time was principal of the Lane school for four terms. While engaged in teaching he devoted the hours which are usually termed leisure to the study of law and pursued his first year's law course at Valparaiso, Indiana. He read under the direction of the firm of Farmer & Brown of Vandalia and was graduated from the law department of the Northern Indiana Normal School with the class of 1896.
Mr. Gray then opened his office in Decatur and in the intervening period of fourteen years has continued a practitioner at the bar of this city. He has also engaged in negotiating and placing loans and has secured a good clientage in both departments of his business. His ability as a practitioner before the bar is continually increasing as the result of his broadening experience and his close and discriminating study.
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Moreover, he is recognized as one of the prominent political leaders in the democratic party in Macon county. While in Fayette county he was a delegate to the state conventions. He has served as chairman of the first precinct and of the first ward committee in Decatur and has been a delegate to the state conventions of his party. He likewise attended the convention in Denver in 1908, but was not a delegate. He is regarded, however, as one of the local leaders of his party and his opinions carry weight in its councils. He does not seek nor desire office for himself, preferring to concentrate his energies upon other and private business interests, but does all in his power to secure the election of the candidates which represent the principles in which he believes. He belongs to the Bar Association and to the Modern Woodmen camp and not only in professional and fraternal but also in social circles has many warm friends who entertain for him high and enduring regard.
WILLIAM L. ALLEN.
William L. Allen is well known in the commercial circles of Decatur, where he is engaged in the retail grocery business, conducting one of the handsomely appointed and well stocked grocery stores of the city. In its management he displays excellent business ability and keen discernment and his carefully di- rected labors are bringing to him continued success.
He is one of Decatur's native sons, born October 21, 1861, on what is now the site of his present handsome residence at No. 1650 East William street. He is a son of Samuel C. Allen, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. He acquired his education in the public schools, passing through consecutive grades until he became a high school student. When nineteen years of age he entered business circles, becoming associated with W. H. Strong in a mercantile enterprise at Morrisonville. Subsequently he returned to Decatur, where he engaged in clerking for a number of years. He afterward established and con- ducted a retail grocery house at No. 1502 East William street, carrying on busi- ness there for eight years, at the end of which time he sold his interest but after a few years' retirement again became a partner in the same store. He conducts a first-class grocery house, having a well established trade and carrying an ex- tensive line of staple and fancy groceries. This location has long been occu- pied as a grocery store at 1502 to 1508 East William street. The business policy employed is one which commends the house to public patronage. The methods of trade are strictly reliable and courteous treatment is demanded on the part of all employes toward the customers. In 1908 Mr. Allen was honored by elec- tion to the presidency of the Retail Grocers Association, which position he held for two years.
On the 6th of June, 1883, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Allen and Miss Mary A. Sanders, of Sangamon county, Illinois. Their children are: Guy F., a draftsman with the Decatur Bridge Company, who married Miss Anna L. Bigelow and resides at No. 1745 East Eldorado street; Roy O., who is employed in the signal department of the Wabash Railroad Company; and
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Emma J., who is now a senior in the Decatur high school. In the fall of 1909 Mr. Allen began the erection of a most attractive and beautiful modern home built after his own plans, and the family took possession thereof on the 2d of February, 1910. It is heated with hot water and supplied with all modern con- veniences and would be a credit to a city of much larger size than Decatur.
Mr. Allen belongs to Ionic Lodge, No. 312, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a junior warden, and he is also chief of Decatur Court, No. 243, of the Tribe of Ben Hur. In matters of citizenship he is progressive and public-spirited, giving active support to every movement and measure which he deems of benfit in the upbuilding and improvement of the city. He has won favor in social as well as business circles and is held in high esteem throughout Decatur. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion and his energy and determination enable him to overcome obstacles which would utterly dishearten and discourage others. In manner he is unaffected, genial and sincere and his many stering qualities have commended him to the confidence of those whom he meets in social and business relations.
SAMUEL KING SHAFFER.
Among those who have had influence in the moral and religious development of Decatur, Samuel King Shaffer is numbered. For more than thirty years he was a leading member of the Methodist church and his influence and aid were always cast on the side of progress, improvement, justice and truth. Ohio claimed him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at Bucyrus on the 4th of January, 1831. He was a son of George Shaffer, who served his country as a soldier of the American army in the war of 1812 for two years. By occupa- tion he was a farmer and owned and cultivated several hundred acres of land.
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