USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 32
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Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shafer: Theresa, the wife of Peter Stoffel, of Springfield; Mary, who married Henry Harbauer and lived at Springfield, departing this life August 27, 1890; Joseph, a railway man of Englewood, Illinois, who married Betty O'Brien, of Springfield, and is the father of three children, Joseph, Leo and Marie; William, a farmer of Illiopolis, who was born in Sangamon county November 28, 1863, and married Katie Dwyer, of St. Louis, May 4, 1910; Anthony, who was born in 1865 and died in November, 1909; Elizabeth, who married John Swanson, of Springfield, in 1895, and departed this life March 30, 1904, leaving two children, Clara and Samuel; and Henry J., our subject.
Henry J. Shafer was brought by is parents to Macon county in his infancy and has ever since made his home on the farm which his father acquired in this county and has become one of the leading farmers of Niantic township. He has been very successful in his vocation, and in 1906 purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Sangamon county, near his home, at one hundred
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and fifty-five dollars per acre. His brother William bought eighty acres in the spring of 1910 on section 28, Niantic township, for which he paid one hundred and eighty-five dollars per acre, and also one hundred and sixty acres in Stoddard county, Missouri.
On the 24th day of February, 1903, Henry J. Shafer was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kirby, of Illiopolis, and two children have been born to them, Helena and William Kirby. Mr. Shafer has been prominently connected with various movements of the farmers aiming to eliminate the middleman and is a director of the Illiopolis Farmers Grain Company which he and his brother as- sisted in organizing. He is a stockholder in the Niantic Farmers Elevator Com- pany, a state director of the Farmers Grain Dealers Association of Illinois and was assistant secretary of the Macon County Farmers Intitute in 1908 and 1909. He has also been a delegate to the County Farmers Congress and also to the state convention of farmers. He is interested in all matters pertaining to edu- cation and serves with great acceptance as school trustee of his district. He is highly popular among his brother farmers on account of his public spirit and the interest he has shown in agriculture and stock-raising, without expectation of direct financial reward. He is earnest, patriotic and capable and is justly en- titled to high credit for the excellent work he has accomplished.
WILLIAM N. HUSTON.
Upon the farm have been reared many of the best men and women of our republic and it is a fact often demonstrated that in agricultural regions are de- veloped the strongest bodies and brightest minds, so that the cities are con- stantly looking to the farm for new supplies of energy and ability. However, not all the promising young men are absorbed by the cities. Many of our most successful and progressive farmers were born in the same county where they now live and among this number is William H. Huston, whose name stands at the head of this review.
He was born in Macon county, March 2, 1865, and is a son of Ulysses and Matilda (McRay) Huston, natives of Ohio, the former born in 1828 and the latter in 1829. The father emigrated to Illinois about 1840 and settled in Macon county. He first occupied the homestead where our subject lives but finally took up his residence on eighty acres in the same neighborhood, where he continued to make his home until he was called away in 1902. He was prominently identified with the republican party in this county and served for a number of years as justice of the peace. He was a man of marked ability and one who inspired confidence and respect in all with whom he came in contact. The mother of our subject departed this life in 1885. There were seven chil- dren in the family: Phoebe, now Mrs. R. Mckay; Robert; Oris; Martha, now Mrs. B. Major; Jane, deceased; William N., our subject; and Minnie, now Mrs. J. Tory.
William N. Huston was educated in the public schools and after laying aside his books continued with his father upon the farm until arriving at twenty-
MR. AND MRS. W. N. HUSTON
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one years of age, when he took unto himself a life companion and began farming upon his own account by renting land in the neighborhood. He is engaged in general farming, stock-raising and is recognized as one of the substantial and clear-headed men of his community.
In 1886 Mr. Huston was united in marriage to Miss Irene Major, a daugh- ter of Joseph and Sarah (Beal) Major, natives of Ohio, who came to Illinois and here established a home. They were the parents of nine children, eight of whom are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Huston three children were born: Florence, born in 1887, who married Frank Jones, of Mt. Zion, and has two children, Orval Fayette; Lola, born in 1892, who married Robert Ford and has become the mother of two children, Monta and Roy, the family living with our subject ; and Roy, born in 1894, who is also living at home. In 1897 Mr. Huston was called upon to mourn the departure of his beloved wife, who was an esti- mable woman of many noble qualities and had many friends in this neighbor- hood who sincerely mourned her death.
Mr. Huston has been successful in his farming operations, as he knows how to direct his energies so as to produce a desired result. He is a man of good common sense, always straightforward in his dealings and fully alive to the importance of keeping informed as to the development along agricultural lines. Politically he is in sympathy with the republican party, believing that its principles are better adapted than those of any other party for the maintenance of the Union. Socially he holds membership in Lodge No. 1597 of the Modern Woodmen of America, of Bearsdale, Illinois.
SOLOMON B. BETZ.
Among the residents of Argenta who have retired from active business life and in well earned rest are enjoying the fruits of their former toil Solomon B. Betz is numbered. For twenty-seven years he was closely associated with the farming and stock-raising interests of Macon county and is still the owner of two good farms in Friends Creek township. He has lived in this county since 1867 and has, therefore, witnessed much of its growth and progress. Pennsyl- vania numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in North- umberland county, December 17, 1838. His father was Solomon Betz, a native of the Keystone state, and his grandfather also bore the name of Solomon. He was a native of Germany, born in 1735, and in young manhood came to the new world. Here he espoused the cause of the colonists in the struggle for independ- ence, serving as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His son, Solomon Betz, Jr., was reared to manhood in the Keystone state and, having arrived at years of maturity, was married in Northumberland county to Miss Catherine Dunkel, a native of Pennsylvania. In 1839 he removed to Pickaway county, Ohio, and developed a farm upon the Pickaway plains, converting a tract of wild land into productive fields. Upon that place he reared his family and afterward came to Illinois, spending his last years in Champaign county. His wife, however, had died in Ohio.
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Solomon B. Betz, whose name introduces this record, was reared on the old home farm in the Buckeye state. He is largely a self-educated man because of the poor condition of the schools in the period of his youth and also because his labors were needed upon the farm when he was yet in his minority. His patriotic nature was aroused by the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union and on the 16th of August, 1862, he joined the Ninetieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being assigned to duty with Company F. The regiment became a part of the Army of the Cumberland and Mr. Betz was first under fire at Richmond, Kentucky, and later at Stone River, where he was wounded by a shell in the right arm. This disabled him for four months. He later participated in a number of skirmishes as the troops followed General Morgan in Kentucky and afterwards he participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga and Nashville. He was with the command that drove General Hood out of Tennessee and afterward participated in the battle of Asheville. He sustained a slight wound at Kenesaw Mountain but this did not incapacitate him for duty and he served with his regiment until the close of the war, being mustered out at Nashville and then honorably discharged, in June 1865.
Mr. Betz returned home with a creditable military record, for he had never faltered in the performance of any duty. Making his way northward to Ohio, he and his brother Charles purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he cultivated for a year and then sold. At that time he came direct to Macon county, Illinois, in company with his brother and they invested in one hundred and sixty acres, which they owned, occupied and operated together for six years, at the end of which time they divided their interests. Subsequently Solomon B. Betz purchased another farm but remained upon the old home place. His second farm comprises one hundred and forty-seven acres, constituting a well improved property. He built a good house on his first place, east of Argenta, and year after year carefully tilled the fields, which responded to his labor in generous harvests. He was thus actively engaged in farming until 1896, when he rented both of his places and removed to Argenta, building there a residence which he now occupies.
On the 31st of March, 1869, Mr. Betz was married in this county to Miss Margaret C. Wilson, a native of the county and a daughter of D. K. Wlison, one of the first settlers, who came from Tennessee to this state. Mr. and Mrs. Betz have three living children: Ida S., now the wife of Robert Fullerton, of Sac county, Iowa; Arthur, who is married and is a resident farmer of Macon county ; and Willis, who is married and occupies the old home farm west of town. The parents are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church of Argenta and Mr. Betz belongs to the Grand Army post at that place, of which he has served as chaplain for twenty-six years. He has also been post com- mander and is popular with his old army comrades. In politics he is a republi- can, supporting the party where state and national issues are involved but cast- ing an independent local ballot. He first voted in 1860, when he supported Bell and Everett, but in 1864 gave his political allegiance to Abraham Lincoln and has voted for each presidential nominee of the party since that time. He would never consent to hold political office but for twenty-one years has acted as school trustee. In all matters of citizenship he is loyal and progressive, mani-
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festing the same fidelity to the old flag that he displayed when he followed the starry banner upon the battlefields of the south. His capable management of his farming interests has made him a prosperous resident of the county and his example proves what may be accomplished through determined and resolute purpose and straightforward dealing.
GEORGE A. JIMISON.
Farming interests claimed the time and energies of George A. Jimison for many years and he is still the owner of a good tract of land adjoining Argenta- a tract of one hundred and ninety-two acres. In addition to this he owns another place of one hundred and seventy acres and a third farm of eighty acres, all three being well improved places which adjoin the corporation limits of the town. His home is an attractive residence in the village and from this point he supervises his agricultural affairs. He is one of Macon county's native sons, his birth having occurred within a mile of Argenta on the 10th of September, 1841. His father, George Jimison, was born in Scotland in 1810 and was a son of John Jimison, who came from the land of hills and heather to the new world, settling first in Canada, where his son George was reared to manhood. Having reached adult age, the latter married Hannah Jimison, a native of Canada, and for several years followed farming in that country. He afterward crossed the border into the United States, making his home near Bucyrus, Ohio, until 1839, when he came to Macon county, Illinois. This was then a wild and un- improved district, much of the land still belonging to the government, while the work of development seemed scarcely begun. He entered one hundred and sixty acres near the present site of Argenta and began the development of a farm. Upon this place he spent his remaining days, continuing its cultivation until his death, which occurred in April, 1853, when he was forty-three years of age. His wife survived him until 1857, when she, too, was called to her final rest.
George A. Jimison was reared upon the old homestead farm, remaining with his father until the latter's death and then with his mother until her de- mise. He was only sixteen years of age when his mother passed away, at which time he inherited a part of the old homestead and later he bought out the interest of the other heirs in the property. He has made farming his life work and that he has been industrious and energetic is indicated in the success which he now enjoys.
In February, 1868, Mr. Jimison was united in marriage to Miss Molly J. Woodward, who was born in this state and reared in Macon county. The young couple began their domestic life on a farm west of Argenta, having there forty acres of land, to which Mr. Jimison added by purchasing the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead until his holdings embraced one hundred and sixty acres. He continued the work of improvement and development and suc- cess crowned his labors. As his financial resources increased he added to his hold- ings by investing in a farm of one hundred and seventy acres east of Argenta
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and, removing to that place, built thereon a good residence and barns and added other modern equipments and accessories. Afterward he made purchase of a farm of eighty acres south of the town and was busily engaged in the cultivation of his fields through all the passing years until 1899, when he rented his farms and took up his abode in the town, where he still resides. He carried on general agricultural pursuits, cultivating the crops best adapted to soil and climate and also raising and feeding stock. He handled about a carload of steers and one or two carloads of hogs each year and his business in this connection was ex- tensive and profitable.
In 1869 Mr. Jimison was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife, who died leaving a son, Theodore, who is now married and resides in Granite City, Illinois. He was a soldier of the United States army for thirteen years, and served in the Spanish-American war with the rank of sergeant major. He has a son, John. After losing his first wife Mr. Jimison was married in 1871 to Mrs. Elizabeth E. Mulinix and their children were: Minnie, the wife of Albert Gould, of Rock Island, Illinois, and the mother of one son, Orin; Lillie, the wife of Bun Parr, of Moline, by whom she has one son, Morris; Mollie, the wife of Charles Majors, of Argenta; Ida, the wife of David Cooper, a farmer living at Argenta ; and George W., who is living on one of his father's farms. He is married and has four sons: Purley, Cecil, Paul and Ralph. By her former marriage Mrs. Elizabeth Jimison had two sons: John Mulinix, living in Argenta; and Ord, who is married and occupies one of Mr. Jimison's farms. The mother of these children passed away in Argenta in 1908 and her remains were interred in the cemetery here.
In his political views Mr. Jimison is a democrat and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but has no desire for the honors and emolu- ments of public office. He is a careful, conservative business man who has spent his entire life in Macon county and is well known in Decatur and this part of the state. His life work is represented in three well improved farms which re- turn to him an excellent income and which mark him as one of the representa- tive and progressive agriculturists of the community. He deserves the rest which he is now enjoying, as it has come to him as the fitting crown of his previous earnest and intelligently directed labor.
HENRY JOSTES.
It will be readily acknowledged by those who have studied the history of the United States and are familiar with the nationalities that have contributed to the life and growth of the republic that native sons of Germany have assisted very materially in the upbuilding of the country. Thousands of the most promising young men of the fatherland have sought fortune under the stars and stripes and here found a land of opportunity which yields abundantly to the hand of labor and seldom disappoints an aspirant for financial independence who strives energetically and faithfully. Indeed, it is doubtful whether any
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other country of the world ever offered such advantages as have been presented for fifty or one hundred years past under the American Union.
Henry Jostes at eighteen years of age, a native of Germany and ambitious to win an honored name for himself, bade farewell to familiar scenes and emigrated to this country. Here he found what he longed for and today, liv- ing retired at the town of Macon, Macon county, he occupies an elegant resi- dence located on a beautiful tract of five acres, which he has ornamented with trees and shrubbery, making it one of the most desirable homesteads in the county. He is also the owner of a fine Macon county farm and is recognized as one of the leading men of the county. He was born April 8, 1839, a son of William F. and Catherine Jostes. The parents came to America in 1870, the mother passing away soon after her arrival and the father in 1877, when he had arrived at the age of seventy-seven years. There were four children in their family, two of whom are now living: Henry, our subject; and Amelia, now the wife of John Rahler, a farmer of Shelby county, Illinois.
Educated in the common schools of his native land, Henry Jostes came to the United States in 1857 and began his active career on a farm where the town of Boody, Macon county, now stands. In July, 1861, he responded to the call of President Lincoln and enlisted in Company E, Forty-first Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, which served in the Sixteenth Army Corps and later in the Seventeenth Army Corps under command of Generals McPherson and Sher- man. He participated in a number of leading battles, among which were Fort Donelson and Hatchie's Run and also in the sieges of Corinth and Vicks- burg. He was present in many minor engagements and continued in the army for three years, receiving his honorable discharge at Springfield, Illinois, in August, 1864. He was born of good fighting material and was a brave and true soldier for the Union. After returning home Mr. Jostes took unto himself a wife and purchased forty acres of wild land in Blue Mound township, Macon county, which he proceeded to develop with a patience and industry that led to highly satisfactory results. Later he acquired more land and at the present time is the owner of a highly improved farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Blue Mound township. He and his wife began their married life in a little log cabin but after a few years this was replaced by a neat two story frame resi- dence, which was provided with all the comforts of life. In 1896 Mr. Jostes located in Macon, where he and his wife are enjoying the fruits of many years of well applied labor.
On the 12th of January, 1865, Mr. Jostes was united in marriage to Miss Julia Shoop, born in Pennsylvania, March 3, 1843, and a daughter of Daniel and Lena (Yoder) Shoop. She came with her parents to Macon county when she was four years of age and here the father died in 1854, the mother being called away at the age of sixty-one years, in 1888. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shoop three are now living: Julia, herein mentioned; Matilda, the wife of Jacob Snider, a farmer living near Sterling, Illinois; and Rosa, who married Peter Moss, who followed farming near Blue Mound, Macon county. Eight children blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jostes: Emma, the wife of William Fedderman, a farmer living near Moweaqua; Agnes, deceased in in- fancy ; William, who graduated from Brown's Business College of Decatur and
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is a farmer of Pleasant View township; Mary, now. Mrs. Richard Dorsey, of Pleasant View township; Frederick, who also graduated from Brown's Busi- ness College and is living in this county; Benjamin, of this county; Lena, the wife of Frank Phillips, of Macon; Lillie; and Effie.
Mr. Jostes is an adherent of the republican party and holds membership in the Grand Army post at Macon. He has taken a deep interest in educational affairs and served as school director for eleven years, performing his duties with an ability that met the hearty approval of people of the district. His wife and daughters are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are intelligent workers for every good cause. Coming to this country in his young manhood, Mr. Jostes allied himself heartily with its institutions and demonstrated his patriotism by service in support of the flag when the life of the republic was threatened. Always governed by principles of honor and fidelity to right he years ago became recognized as one of the substantial and reliable citizens of Macon county and no man in the county is more highly honored.
HON. JAMES M. GRAY.
The history of the Decatur bar during the past two decades would be in- complete and unsatisfactory were there failure to make prominent reference to Hon. James M. Gray, recognized throughout this period as one of the most distinguished lawyers of Macon county and this part of the state. In no pro- fession is there a career more open to talent than in that of the law and in no field of endeavor is there demanded a more careful preparation, a more thorough appreciation for the absolute ethics of life or of the underlying principles which form the basis of all human rights and privileges. Unflagging application, an intuitive wisdom and a determination to fully utilize the means at hand are the concomitants which insure personal success and prestige in this great pro- fession which stands as the stern conservator of justice. Possessing all the requisite qualities of the able lawyer, Mr. Gray is carving his name deeply upon the history of the courts of central Illinois.
A native of Illinois, Mr. Gray was born in Ramsey, Fayette county, on the Ist of June, 1862, a son of Richard H. and Emily (Hall) Gray, both of whom were descended from prominent southern families. The father was a native of Coles county, Illinois, his parents having removed to this state from Ten- nessee shortly before his birth. The mother of James M. Gray was born in Fayette county, her parents having come from Kentucky. Richard H. Gray was identified with farming interests during his active life but is now living retired. His wife died in 1887 and about 1890 he removed to Ramsey, where he has since made his home, resting from the arduous cares and labors which occupied his attention in former years. In politics he has ever been an ardent democrat and for a long period was a dominant factor in the local councils of his party. Wherever he has lived he has commanded the respect and good will of his fellow- men.
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James M. Gray was reared at home, acquiring his education in the district schools and at Ramsey high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1880. His thirst for education, however, was not yet satisfied and he entered the Valparaiso (Ind.) University. After a year there spent he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for three years, when he again en- tered Valparaiso University and completed the scientific course, being graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in the class of 1886. He resumed teaching, to which he devoted the succeeding two years but during that period gave the hours that are usually termed leisure to the study of law under the preceptor- ship of Henry & Foulke, of Vandalia, Illinois. He then returned to the Valparaiso University for a two years' course in law and on its completion was graduated with the class of 1890, the degree of LL. B. being conferred upon him. The last year he was honored with election as president of his class and during his college days he was prominent in debate and in the political activity of the school. His ability in debate brought him before the public in political connections and has ever kept him a prominent factor in political circles be- cause of his power in presenting clearly, strongly and forcibly the vital and scientific questions of the day.
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