USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 27
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time to the raising of stock, meeting with success in both undertakings. He is now spending the evening of life in honorable retirement, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease.
Mr. Whitehouse has been married twice. In December, 1879, he wedded Miss Elizabeth Belle, a daughter of Andy and Lucinda Belle, of Macon county. Her father was a native of Kentucy and followed farming as a life work. Will- : iam S. and Elizabeth Whitehouse were the parents of a daughter, Goldie Pearl, who died when twenty-six years of age, leaving two children: William Russell and Goldie Fern Broughton, who are twelve and ten years of age respectively. Mr. Whitehouse lost his first wife in 1882 and three years later wedded Mrs. Ellen House nee Scott, of Indiana.
Politically Mr. Whitehouse is a stalwart advocate of the democracy and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to positions of public trust. He served as assessor of Mount Zion township for five terms and for three terms has acted as a school director, ever discharging his official duties in a most prompt and capable manner. In religious faith he is a Presby- terian. He has continuously resided in Macon county since boyhood and is, therefore, familiar with its development from pioneer times down to the present, having aided in the arduous toil which brought about the wonderful transforma- tion that is everywhere apparent in this part of the state.
HENRY C. BOWER.
More than a century ago George Washington said that farming is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation of man, and the statement is as true today as it was when uttered. Agriculture is the basis of all success, and no nation is really prosperous that does not found its progress upon the fruits of the soil. Mr. Bower is numbered among those who are engaged in farming in Whitmore township, where he owns and cultivates a valuable tract of land adjoining Oreana, which is situated on section 9, and in its thrifty ap- pearance gives every evidence of the careful supervision of a practical owner.
Mr. Bower was born in Scott county, Illinois, June 10, 1845, and is a son of John R. Bower, a native of Kentucky, whose father was the Rev. Jacob Bower. The latter was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1786, and removed from the east to Kentucky. He was a minister of the Bap- tist church, and became a pioneer preacher of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. For some time he lived in Scott county, Illinois, and his last years were spent in Macon county.
Jno. R. Bower came to Illinois about 1833, settling in Scott county, four miles west of Winchester, where he purchased land and opened up a farm of about one hundred acres. He cultivated that tract for a number of years and afterward sold out. He then came to Macon county about 1855, taking up his abode in Whitmore township, where he purchased one hundred and seventy acres of land, of which ten acres were timber. He broke the sod and developed the fields and afterward added to his holdings by the purchase of an additional
MR. AND MRS. H. C. BOWER AND DAUGHTER
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tract of timber land of twenty acres. For some years he lived upon the place and put fair improvements upon it. Subsequently, however, he sold that farm and removed to Clinton, Illinois, where he died on the 10th of June, 1887, at the age of seventy-six years and eight months. He had for some time survived his wife, who passed away in 1868. In their family were three sons and three daughters : J. M., now living in Pasadena, California; G. M., of Mount Vernon, South Dakota; Henry C., of this review; Malvina, the wife of J. T. Green, of White Hall, Illinois; and two daughters who are now deceased.
Henry C. Bower was a little lad of ten years when he came to Macon county, living on the farm adjoining his present home. He assisted his father in the arduous task of developing and improving the land, and gave to his father the benefit of his services until he had attained his majority. He then began farming on his own account on the place on which he now resides. He started here with eighty acres of land, which he placed under the plow and fenced with rail, wire and plank fencing. Subsequently he erected a good resi- dence, also a large barn and substantial sheds and cribs. He likewise added to the productiveness of his fields by tiling the land, and he planted an orchard and set out forest trees, thus supplying both fruit and shade. In fact, he con- tinued his work along progressive lines until he had developed a good farm, devoted to the raising of stock and grain. In 1873, when the Illinois Central Railroad was built through this district, he laid out the town of Oreana, giving to the railroad the right of way and every other lot along the line. He after - ward laid out a second addition to the town. Investing in land elsewhere, he became the owner of two hundred and twenty-six acres in Pratt and Seward counties, Kansas, and he now has one hundred and forty-six acres in Pratt, which is an improved tract, and also forty acres in Davison county, South Da- kota. He started out in life empty-handed, and his success has logically fol- lowed his perseverance, determination and intelligently directed labor.
On the 18th of July, 1875, Mr. Bower was married in Whitmore township to Miss Elizabeth Ann Shastid, a native of Pike county, Illinois, who was brought to Macon county in her childhood. Her father, J. S. Shastid, was a native of Kentucky, and on coming to Illinois settled first in Pike county and later removed to Piatt county, whence he came to Macon county. Mrs. Bower was largely reared and educated in Macon county, completing a course in the Decatur high school, after which she successfully followed the profession of teaching for ten years, becoming recognized as one of the most capable and efficient educators of the county. Not only was she a most intelligent lady, but also one whose kindly heart and cordial manner won her the friendship and warm regard of many. She died in this county September 25, 1903, and was laid to rest in Union cemetery. By her marriage she had become the mother of two children, but the first born, Albert Clark, had died at the age of four months. . Rosa Olive is now the wife of Lee Ragsdale, a well known farmer of Whitmore township, by whom she has a daughter, Helen Elizabeth Rags- dale.
In politics Mr. Bower is an earnest republican, supporting the party ever since casting his first vote for General Grant in 1868. He has served as town- ship tax collector, but has never desired office. Since 1858 he has been a de-
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voted member of the Baptist church and now holds membership with the church of that denomination in Oreana, of which he served as deacon for several years and also as church trustee and treasurer. He has likewise acted as superin- tendent of the Sunday school for some years, and was superintendent of the home department of the County Sunday School Association for a number of years. He promoted the movement that resulted in the organization of the county association, and has ever been actively and helpfully interested in this particular branch of church work, realizing the fact that "train the child up in the way he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it." For fifty-five years Mr. Bower has lived in Macon county and its history is, there- fore, largely familiar to him. He has seen much of the growth of Decatur and the development of this part of the state, and in many ways has aided sub- stantially in advancing the welfare and upbuilding of this section. His life, too, honorable and upright at all times, has commended him to the confidence and good will of those who know him, and as the years have passed he has made a most creditable record as a business man and citizen and in the social relations of life.
FRED KRASCHEL.
Fred Kraschel, who since March, 1908, has lived retired in Macon, was for many years actively and successfully identified with general agricultural pursuits in this county and still owns one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land here. His birth occurred in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, on the 27th of January, 1842. He lost his father when a little lad of about seven years and in 1856 accompanied his mother on her emigration to the new world, settling in Tonawanda, Erie county, New York. At the end of nine years he left the Empire state and in 1865 took up his abode in Hardin county, Illinois, there purchasing forty acres of land, to the cultivation of which he devoted his attention until 1871. In that year he disposed of the property and came to Macon county, buying and locating upon a tract of eighty acres. As his financial resources increased, owing to his untiring industry and capable management, he extended the boundaries of his farm by additional purchase and at the present time owns one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land in this county. In addition to cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he also devoted con- siderable attention to stock-raising, making a specialty of Duroc Jersey hogs. His undertakings as a farmer and stockman proved profitable and in March, 1908, he put aside the active work of the fields, having won a competence that made further recourse to labor unnecessary. For the past two years he has lived retired in Macon, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease.
Mr. Kraschel has been married twice. In 1865 he wedded Miss Annie Sandman, of Illinois, by whom he had five children. The only surviving child, however, is Rosa, a resident of Macon county, who is now the wife of William Eckhardt and has seven children. Mrs. Annie Kraschel passed away in June,
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1871, and on the 2d of January, 1874, our subject was again married, his second union being with Miss Nancy Jane Poe, who was born December 23, 1851, She was the eldest of ten children born unto Frank and Elizabeth Poe, natives of Tennessee. By his second wife Mr. Kraschel had five children, the record of whom is as follows : Melvin A., whose natal day was October 7, 1874, wedded Miss Jessie L. Bromley, of Macon, Illinois, by whom he has four children, and the family reside near Macon. Theodore F., whose birth occurred April 23, 1876, died when sixteen years of age. Ella E., born March 1, 1878, gave her hand in marriage to Charles Carr, of Missouri, and now resides near Macon. Hattie E., whose birth occurred December 6, 1884, passed away August 6, 1887. Nelson G., whose natal day was October 27, 1889, is still under the parental roof.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Kraschel has supported the men and measures of the democracy. He has served as road com- missioner for a term and a half and for eight years acted as a school director, ever discharging his official duties in a most prompt and capable manner. Fraternally he is identified with Beacon Lodge, No 434, K. P. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church of Macon, to which his wife also belongs. The period of his residence in this county covers almost four decades and he is well known and highly esteemed as a substantial and represen- tative citizen.
H. B. WILSON.
Holding to high ideals in his profession, Professor H. B. Wilson, city superintendent of schools, has done much not only to advance educational inter- ests in Decatur but also through published articles and volumes has stimulated interest and activity among the representatives of the profession at large. He was born in Frankfort, Clinton county, Indiana, July 26, 1874. His father, E. B. Wilson, was a farmer and educator, who engaged in teaching school for about eighteen years. He also served as county assessor for Clinton county for one term, and was identified with agricultural interests in that community. He married Miss Mary E. Norris, and for many years they were numbered among the valued and respected citizens of Clinton county, but in 1897 Mr. Wilson was called to his final rest. His widow still survives and now make her home in Frankfort, Indiana.
Professor Wilson, who is the eldest of four living children in his father's family, acquired his early education in the district schools of his native county, and afterward attended the high school of Colfax, Indiana. He was graduated from the Indiana State Normal School with the class of 1895,. and ten years later won the Bachelor of Arts degree in the Indiana University. In 1910 Columbia University conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. All of his degrees were taken for the purpose of advancement in his work. He did not regard his education complete when he left the normal school, but improved every opportunity for progress and thus promoted his efficiency in his chosen calling.
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For two years he engaged in teaching in the district schools of Clinton county, Indiana, after which he was appointed principal of the high school at Salem, Indiana, and two years later was made city superintendent of schools in Salem, filling that position for five years. For a similar period he was superintendent of schools in Franklin, Indiana, and in August, 1907, he was appointed super- intendent of the Decatur City schools and clerk of the board of education. There is now under construction a magnificent high school building, the com- bined cost of building, grounds and equipment being two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This will acommodate one thousand pupils and from thirty to thirty-six teachers will be employed. This work has been accomplished through his efforts alone and he certainly deserves much credit therefor. He now has charge of sixteen different schools, where are employed 147 teachers, with an average attendance of fifty-five hundred, while eight thousand are en- rolled. Professor Wilson has constantly sought out new methods to improve the schools and raise the standard of instruction, and to stimulate the interest of the pupils that their preparation for life's work as secured in the school- room may be thorough and comprehensive.
Professor Wilson is a member of the Illinois School Masters Club, the Central Teachers Association, the Illinois State Teachers Association and the National Educational Association. He likewise belongs to the Black Cat Club, of Columbia University, which has an elective membership of only those who are considered strong in educational affairs. In addition to printing reports and courses of study written for the systems of schools where he has been superintendent, he is the author of the following articles and volumes which are certainly worthy of mention: "A Course in Nature Study for the Common Schools of Indiana"-Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Indiana, 1902, pp. 87-140; "School Garden Work in Indiana"-Report of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Indiana, 1904, pp. 416-428; "The Value of Physical Train- ing in Modern Education"-The Educator Journal, Indianapolis, Vol. VI pp. 325-328, 368-371, 416-419; "The Relation of the High School Course to the Students' Life Problems"-School Review, Vol. XVI, pp. 469-474; "The Prob- lem of Professional Training for High School Teachers"-The Western Journal of Education, Vol. III, pp. 49-60; "The Possibility of Training Children to Study"-Proceedings Fifty-Sixth Annual Meeting, Illinois State Teachers As- sociation, pp. 173-175; "The Beginning of Medical Inspection in Illinois"- Proceedings Fifty-Sixth Annual Meeting, Illinois State Teachers Association, pp. 196-200; "Grading and Promotion of Pupils"-Proceedings of National Educational Association, Vol. for 1910; "The Motivation of the Children's Work in the Elementary Schools"-Proceedings of National Education Association, Vol. for 1910; "Some Things the Normal School Seeks to do for its Students" -Indiana State Normal School Anniversary Volume of President Parson's Twenty-five Years of Service; "Grammer Grades in a Central Building"- Schools and Home Education, Vol. XXIX, 324-325; "The Cooperative Method of Developing the Course of Study"-Master's Thesis, Bryson Library, Colum- bia University of New York City.
On the 10th of June, 1896, Professor Wilson was married to Miss Maude Barnes, of Michigantown, Clinton county, Indiana, and they have two children,
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Dean Bruce and Harriet Maud. Professor and Mrs. Wilson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree. He is found where the intelligent men of the city are wont to gather in the discussion of vital problems, and association with him means expansion and elevation.
SAMUEL SMETTERS.
The ranks of the Grand Army veterans are fast becoming thinned as one by one the old soldiers answer the last call and bivouac on the other side. Among those in Macon county who are still active factors in the world's work, however, is Samuel Smetters who for years was actively engaged in general agricultural pur- suits and owned and cultivated a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Friends Creek township. He has lived in this county since 1870 and in Illinois since 1844. He was a little lad in his ninth year at the time of his arrival in this state, his birth having occurred in Fairfield county, Ohio, on the 18th of October, 1835. His father, Daniel Smetters, was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to the Buckeye state and was there married to Miss Maria Kunkle, who was likewise born in Pennsylvania. In the year 1844 he went with his family to Illinois, settling in Jacksonville, where he spent the winter and later located upon a farm in that locality. Afterward Sangamon county numbered him among the representatives of its agricultural interests and there he reared his family and spent his remaining days, his death occurring in that county in 1862. His wife survived him for about ten years, passing away in 1872.
From the age of eight years Samuel Smetters, of this review, was reared in Morgan and Sangamon counties, and his experiences were those which usually fall to the lot of the farm boy who in the periods of vacation finds is necessary to aid in the work of the fields. In 1862 the critical condition of the country aroused his patriotic spirit and he enlisted at Springfield, joining Company B of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, with which command he went south to Missouri and later to Arkansas. He was first under fire at Little Rock and was also engaged in scouting duty in that locality. He likewise participated in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and was engaged with the army in the movements in the southwest for some time. Following the surrender of General Lee and the cessation of hostilities he was honorably discharged at New Orleans, Louisiana, on the Ioth of June, 1865.
Immediately thereafter Mr. Smetters returned home and quietly resumed the pursuits of farm life, working on a farm with his brother for two or three years. In 1870 he came to Macon county, settling in Friends Creek township, where he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land. This was a partially improved tract of which he afterward sold eighty acres. His attention was then given to the cultivation and further development of the remaining one hundred and sixty acres in the midst of which he erected a comfortable resi- dence and also built good barns and sheds, thus affording ample shelter for grain and stock. He also divided the farm into fields of convenient size by well
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kept fences and added to the productiveness of his land by tilling. The crops which he gathered indicated his intelligent methods of cultivating the fields and he continued his work with good success until 1902, also raising and feeding stock in addition to cultivating the crops. He made a specialty of raising and fattening hogs, selling a large number each year. In 1902, however, he leased his farm and purchased a home in Argenta where he has since resided. After renting his land for six years he concluded to sell, disposing of the farm in 1908.
On the 5th of March, 1873, in Macon county, Mr. Smetters was married to Mrs. Priscilla Jimison, nee Anderson. She was a widow and had two children by her former marriage: Henry L. Jimison, now of Colorado; and Ellen, the wife of C. F. James, also living in that state. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs Smetters has been blessed with a son and daughter: George W., who is married and also makes his home in Colorado; and Eliza, the wife of John Westerman, a farmer of Whitmore township, Macon county.
While at national elections Mr. Smetters votes for the candidates of the republican party, he does not consider it incumbent on him to vote for its local candidates and in exercising his right of franchise supports the men whom he believes best qualified for office. While on the farm he served as road com- missioner and was also a member of the school board for eighteen years. He has practically been a lifelong resident of Illinois and is greatly attached to the state, the development of which he has largely witnessed. He has seen its towns grow into flourishing cities, its lands taken up and improved, while year by year the work of its agriculturalists has caused it to forge ahead so that today Illinois leads other states in many respects. At all times Mr. Smetters has been a careful and conservative business man, trustworthy in his dealings, loyal in his citizenship and faithful to the duties of home and friendship.
GEORGE S. PHILLIPS.
George S. Phillips, who since 1909 has been employed by the Ilinois Central Railroad as station agent at Macon, was born in this county on the 22d of January, 1883, his parents being Robert N. and Jennie (Slack) Phillips, natives of Ohio and Illinois respectively. The father, who was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children, obtained his education in the public schools of the Buckeye state and after putting aside his text-books learned the painter's trade in Cincinnati, working at that occupation throughout almost his entire business career. In 1862 he enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of Company B, Seventeenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, remaining with that command for three years and being mustered out at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in May, 1865. He participated in the battle of Pea Ridge but his regiment was principally engaged in fighting bushwhackers in Missouri and Kansas. At the present time both he and his wife are living in Macon, Illinois, and they are well known and highly esteemed throughout the community as people of genuine personal worth.
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George S. Phillips, who is the eldest of three children born unto his parents, attended the public schools of Macon and completed the high school course in 1902. Immediately afterward he began the study of telegraphy with the agent at Macon and before the expiration of a year was employed by the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad as operator at Litchfield. He worked all over the Springfield division of that company until 1905, when he was assigned regularly as operator at Assumption, Illinois there remaining until 1909. In that year he was appointed agent at Macon and has since held the position, his courtesy and obliging manner toward the patrons of the road and his careful watchfulness over the interests of the company which he represents making him a valued employe.
In 1906 Mr. Phillips was united in marriage to Miss Flora Hofmann, of Clinton, whose birth occurred on the 7th of March, 1883. They now have three children, namely : Leone whose natal day was September 5, 1907; and Leah and Leota, twins, who were born on the 24th of October, 1908.
When national questions and issues are involved Mr. Phillips supports the democracy but at local elections casts an independent ballot, voting for the candi- date whom he believes best qualified without regard to party affiliation. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church of Macon, with which his wife is also identified. He enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance throughout the community and his many friends believe that a bright future lies before him.
ECKHARDT C. STEIN.
Eckhardt C. Stein, president and general manager of the Decatur Model Laundry, in which connection his business enterprise and sagacity have been instrumental in building up a business of large and profitable proportions, was born in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, on the 4th of October, 1858. His parents, Henry and Christina (Weyfahrt) Stein, were natives of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and in their youth crossed the Atlantic to Canada, where they were married in Waterloo. Later they removed to their country home in North Easthope township of Perth. The father was a successful business man, conducting an extensive business as a general builder and contractor, engaging largely in brick and stone construction. The family numbered two daughters and three sons, of whom the youngest died in infancy. The parents are now residents of Berlin, Canada, and the father, having retired from business, is spending his days quietly in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil.
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