USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, volume II > Part 6
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In the year 1893 Mr. Hawver was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Fin- nity, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Finnity, natives of New York, who came to the prairie state in pioneer days. She was born July 6, 1868, the third of a family of five children, and in her infancy she lost her father. The mother passed away several years ago. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Hawver has been blessed with five children, two of whom are deceased. Those living are : Paul L., born December 23, 1893, who is a student in high school; Harold, who was born February 24, 1901, and is also attending school; and Helen Lu- cile, born May 10, 1906. Esther E., born in 1896, died in 1900; and Harry W., born in 1897, died in 1900.
A careful study of the political situation led Mr. Hawver early in life to give his support to the democratic party on national issues, the principles of which he deems most conducive to the general welfare. In local politics, how- ever, he casts an independent vote, always supporting the best men and most desirable measures irrespective of party ties. He filled the office of tax col- lector for two years while residing in Piatt county and was also school director for a number of terms, the cause of education finding in him a stanch cham- pion. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife hold membership in Grace Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which both are actively and helpfully interested. He is now serving
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as steward of the church, and Mrs. Hawver belongs to the Foreign Missionary and Ladies Aid Societies. They have ever been guided by high and noble ideals, and in their lives have manifested those characteristics which make for the best citizenship in any community.
JAMES W. SANDERS, M. D.
Dr. James W. Sanders occupies a distinguished position as a specialist in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and yet has hardly reached the zenith of his powers. The ability which arises from broad ex- perience and continued study and research is his and has won him recognition not only in a liberal patronage but also in the honor accorded him by fellow members of the profession.
Dr. Sanders was born in 1864, a son of Robert E. Sanders. The district schools of Sangamon county afforded him his early educational privileges, and he also spent one year in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Danville, Indiana. He engaged in teaching in the years 1884, 1885 and 1886, becoming teacher in the district adjoining the one in which his early education was ob- tained. He there remained for two years and also taught in the town school at Pawnee, Illinois. While there he made a specialty in careful instruction in penmanship and many attribute their good handwriting of the present time to his teaching. He made his way through college by his own labor and has never feared that earnest effort which is one of the concomitants of successful ac- complishment whether in the attainment of an education or of financial inde- pendence. For three years he was a student in Northwestern Medical College at Chicago, from which he was graduated with the class of 1889. He then opened an office in Windsor, Illinois, for general practice, but becoming inter- ested in the field which he now makes his specialty, he afterward pursued post-graduate work in the Chicago Polyclinic for the study of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. On the 3d of January, 1893, he came to Decatur, where he has now resided for eighteen years. When he completed his medical course he had incurred an indebtedness of four hundred dollars, drawing in- terest at the rate of eight per cent. He bent every energy toward discharging this financial obligation, which was soon done. Today he has an extensive practice netting him an income of perhaps a thousand dollars per month. He has won distinction in his especial line, and is now president of the Eastern Illinois Ophthalmological and Otological Society and a member of the Decatur Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Sanders married Miss Ida M. Zink, a native of Illinois, and they now have one son, Robert Zink Sanders, who was born at No. 2335 Wabash avenue, Chicago, in January, 1886. After completing the high school course in De- catur, at the age of sixteen years he entered Millikin University and was grad- uated there at the age of twenty. He is now a junior in the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons of Chicago, and is occupying responsible positions in con-
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nection with a number of distinguished members of the faculty of that school.
Dr. Sanders is the owner of a valuable farm in Blue Mound township, where he has made an artificial lake fed by various springs. This he has stocked with fish of many kinds, and he finds great delight in here using the rod and line. With a forty horsepower automobile he quickly drives from Decatur to his farm, where he can not only indulge in fishing but also in hunting, for he has put considerable game upon the place. His son shares with him in these sports, for the Doctor believes in keeping the physical in good condition. He has developed a magnificent country home which has a picturesque situation, and will make one of the ideal estates of this part of Illinois.
Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias. He has, however, comparatively little leisure for social or fraternal interests, owing to the heavy demands made upon his time and attention by a continually increasing prac- tice. He has a splendidly equipped office supplied with everything that is of practical value to his professional work, and the excellent results which have followed his labors prove him one of the most capable representatives of oph- thalmology, otology and laryngology in central Illinois.
LINN & SCRUGGS DRY GOODS & CARPET COMPANY.
Nothing indicates more clearly the growth of Decatur and of the surround- ing country, or gives more positive proof of the employment of progressive methods than the growth of the extensive house of Linn & Scruggs Dry Goods & Carpet Company-the leading dry goods emporium of Decatur. For forty- one years without interruption this house has continued in business and has set the standard among dry-goods enterprises in this city. The original part- ners were William H. Linn and W. R. Scruggs, the former from Belleville, Illinois, and the latter from New York. Coming to Decatur, they formed a partnership, and on the IIth of October, 1869, began business at No. 24 Mer- chant street, under the firm style of Linn & Scruggs. They opened with a little line of dry goods, and from the beginning were accorded a liberal share of the public patronage. Their earnest efforts to please their customers, their reliable business methods and the attractive line of goods which they handled soon brought them an increased business, and in February, 1870, they. removed to the old Condel & Stamper building, where they remained for a number of years. The continued development of their business, however, led to the re- moval in 1880 to the building which formerly stood on the site of the present store, and which was destroyed by fire in 1895. Phoenix-like, there arose the splendid structure which they now occupy and which is one of the leading busi- ness blocks of Decatur.
The policy inaugurated at the beginning has always been maintained. The founders regarded honesty and fair dealing as the only sure principle of suc- cess. At the outset their floor space covered hardly two thousand square feet, and their stock was worth but five thousand dollars. Today they have twenty- five times the original space, their store including nearly fifty thousand square
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feet, while their merchandise is worth forty times the original stock, being valued at two hundred thousand dollars. This is not only the oldest established dry-goods business in Decatur, but in many respects has been the pioneer in innovations in merchandising, which today are considered among the actual necessities of service in a modern department store. It was the first Decatur store to make a feature of show windows; it inaugurated the first dry-goods delivery system; was the first to establish and maintain a pneumatic cash sys- tem; and the first store to establish passenger elevator service.
While the original partners have passed from this life, the business has been conducted without interruption, the present officers being: T. J. Prentice, president ; J. R. Holt, vice president; and W. S. Grubbs, secretary-treasurer. The first two are the owners of the business which came to them by purchase on the Ist of February, 1907. Mr. Grubbs had been secretary and treasurer of the company for a long period and was so continued under the new man- agement. Mr. Holt and Mr. Prentice were both associated with the well known house of Scruggs, Vandervort & Barney, of St. Louis, of which Mr. Prentice was assistant secretary, while Mr. Holt held various positions in connection therewith. Under the new management the success of the business has in- creased beyond all expectations. Many improvements have been made, and the boulevard electric light system has been installed around the store, other mer- chants following their example in this regard. They have also established an automobile delivery system, and in fact employ every modern method to facili- tate the business and raise it at all times to the highest system of mercantile service. They employ from one hundred and eighty-five to two hundred and twenty-five people. The officers of the company are most enterprising and pro- gressive business men, of sound judgment and keen insight, with a genius for organization and marked executive ability.
KIRBY BROTHERS.
One would not attempt to write a complete history of Whitmore township without making prominent reference to the Kirby brothers, Grant, Richard and Lewis, who are numbered among the progressive farmers and stock-raisers, owning over four hundred acres of valuable land which has been brought under a high state of cultivation and is well improved with all of the equipment and accessories of the model farm of the twentieth century. There are two sets of buildings upon the place and an air of neatness and thrift pervades every- thing. Energy and determination are manifest in the transaction of the work and substantial results have followed. The brothers are all native sons of Illi- nois.
Grant Kirby was born in St. Clair county on the 4th of October, 1867, and is one of a family of three sons and four daughters. Their father, Richard Kirby, a native of Delaware, was born in 1835 and was reared to manhood in that state. When a young man, he came west to Illinois, settling in St. Clair county. He there worked by the month as a farm hand for a time, but was
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ambitious that his labor should more directly benefit himself and later rented land which he cultivated for a number of years. He was married there to Sophronia Ruddock, a native of Illinois, born in St. Clair county. In the year 1869 Mr. Kirby removed to Macon county and invested in property in Whit- more township, becoming the owner of one hundred and twenty acres, con- stituting the nucleus of the farm upon which his sons now reside. Slight im- provements had been made at that time, yet comparatively little had been done to convert the place into a productive and valuable farm. The father at once began to till the fields and cultivate crops adapted to the soil and climate, and year by year the work of improvement was carried forward. Prospering in his undertaking, so that his financial resources increased, he bought more land from time to time and became the owner of four hundred acres. There he erected a good residence, together with substantial barns and outbuildings, fur- nishing ample shelter for grain and stock. He became recognized not only as one of the well known, but also as one of the prosperous farmers of Macon county, and his business reliability as well as his energy gained for him the respect and good will of his fellowmen. He reared his family here and spent his last years on the farm, his death occurring November 23, 1904. Deep re- gret was felt when he was called away, for he had endeared himself to his fellowmen and everywhere he was spoken of in terms of high regard. His fellow townsmen had given expression of their faith in his progressive citizen- ship by electing and reelecting him to the office of supervisor, so that he served as a member of the Macon county board for a number of years. His widow survives and resides with her sons on the home farm. She, too, is widely known in this county and has a large circle of warm friends. The daughters of the family are: Anna, now the wife of Dr. Dixon, of Decatur; and Mamie, Sue and Dott, all at home.
Grant Kirby, the eldest of the three sons, was reared upon the home farm which he assisted in cultivating to the time of his father's death, when the management and care of the property devolved upon him and his two brothers. His experiences had been practical, so that he was well qualified to assume the responsibility which came to him. On the 14th of September, 1887, he was married to Miss Mae Morrison, who was born and reared in Macon county and pursued her education in its public schools. Her father, Robert Morrison, was one of the early settlers who came from Pennsylvania. Following their mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Grant Kirby began their domestic life on the farm where they still reside. They have become the parents of two daughters, Harriet Grace and Helen Alea.
His brothers have ever been associated with Grant Kirby in farming opera- tions, and in 1906 they purchased two hundred acres of land adjoining the old homestead. They have erected a commodious and neat residence, which is built in modern style of architecture, and in fact is one of the most attractive and pleasing country homes of Macon county. They have also built two good barns upon the place, and there are large cribs and other outbuildings which are a matter of convenience in carrying on the farm work. The brothers are progressive business men who are making a specialty of raising and feeding hogs, cattle and horses, giving, perhaps, more attention to hogs and heavy draft
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horses. They raise some good stock, including pure blooded and high grade Poland-China hogs, feeding about two hundred head for the market each year. In business affairs relating to the farm and its management their judgment is sound and their discrimination keen, and whatever they undertake they carry forward to successful completion.
The Kirby brother are identified with the democratic party but none of them is a politician in the usually accepted sense of office-seeking. They give their time and attention to the farm and business and are active and progres- sive in all of their work, keeping in touch with advanced methods of tilling the soil and raising the crops. Their labors have been attended with excellent suc- cess and they are numbered among the leading young men of Whitmore town- ship, their honorable, straightforward methods commending them to the confi- dence and good will of all with whom they are associated. Those who know them find them pleasant, genial and courteous, and these qualities have made them favorites in social circles.
A. T. HILL.
A. T. Hill, who passed away in Decatur in 1888, was one of the leading and influential men of the city during the thirty years of his residence here. He became a prominent factor in financial circles, being one of the founders and virtually establishing the institution which is now known as the National Bank of Decatur. His birth occurred in Virginia in 1818 and his early education was acquired in private schools in that state. He early manifested a fondness for reading and became a well educated, well informed man. After putting aside his text-books he accepted a position as clerk in a general store at Belleville, Illinois. The year 1856 witnessed his arrival in Decatur and from that time until the close of the Civil war he conducted a general mercantile establishment, selling out in 1865. He was one of the founders of the Decatur Bank, which he virtually established and placed upon a paying basis. It later became the Decatur Na- tional Bank and is now known as the National Bank of Decatur. He served as its president and was one of its largest stockholders until about the time of his demise. Earnest, discriminating study of each duty that devolved upon him and of each situation in which he was placed, brought him a keen, discriminating knowledge that enabled him to bring a ready and correct solution of the finan- cial problems which were presented to him.
On the 6th of September, 1860, at Randolph, New York, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Sarah D. Wilder, a daughter of Thomas and Han- nah (Dow) Wilder. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hill was born one son, Edward. In 1861 they established their home at the corner of North Church street and West Prairie avenue-the corner facing what is now the beautiful First Presby- terian church, and there Mrs. Hill and her son and family still live.
Mr. Hill was a republican in politics and took an active and helpful interest in all matters pertaining to the general welfare. In his capacity as alderman and mayor of Decatur he instituted many measures of reform and improvement and was also an efficient officer on the board of supervisors. The cause of public
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instruction found in him a stanch champion from the time he first came to Decatur and he did effective service in its behalf as a member of the board of education. His labors were a potent factor in the growth and development of Decatur and in his passing the city lost one of its most influential and respected citizens. He was liberal in religious views, ever ready to support all churches, but was not a member of any particular church. However he attended the serv- ices of both the First Presbyterian and Baptist churches and the high prin- ciples which actuated him were manifest in all the relations of life.
JEROME R. GORIN.
In 1833, the year following the Black Hawk war, a youth of sixteen years, Jerome R. Gorin arrived in Decatur, then a tiny village upon the western fron- tier. Long years passed before a colonist penetrated into this section of the country and before all of the land was taken up by actual settlers. It was almost twenty years later when the population of Decatur numbered only nine hun- dred, yet a start had been made and although the town was of slow growth for a decade or two, it was building upon substantial and permanent lines. From the beginning of his residence here Jerome R. Gorin took an active part in the work of public progress, helped to uphold the political and legal status of the community, to mold its commercial development and to promote its material and moral progress. His name is linked with those activities which figure as of worth on the pages of Decatur's history, and he came to an honored old age, having almost reached the eightieth milestone on life's journey when called to the home beyond.
A native of Kentucky, Mr. Gorin was born in Hopkinsville, Christian county, October 12, 1817, his parents being John D. and Mattie (Thomas) Gorin, who belonged to an old Virginian family. John D. Gorin was born in the Old Do- minion but in his early youth went to the Blue Grass state with his parents and was there reared. In the spring of 1828 he came to Illinois, taking up his abode in Vandalia, then the capital city. His attention was given to both farming and merchandising and he was active and prominent among the early business men of that locality. He was also a leader of public affairs and for some years acted as receiver in the loan office. His death occurred in Vandalia, April 26, 1846, when he was fifty-six years of age, while his wife reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years, her death occurring on the 13th of July, 1876.
Jerome R. Gorin was reared amid the wild scenes and environments of pio- neer life, although perhaps with less of the hardships than came to many for his parents were in comfortable circumstances. It is a well known fact that nothing more clearly shows the character of the individual than the experiences of pio- neer life and the qualities of courage, determination, loyalty and entire absence of ostentation were early developed in Mr. Gorin. He was a self reliant young man, possessed laudable ambition when in 1833 he came to Decatur and joined his two older brothers who were then residents here. His brother, Henry M. Gorin, was for many years clerk of the court here but left the office in 1841. His
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sister, Elvira, who had come to Decatur in 1830, married General Isaac Pugh and both she and her husband died here at an advanced age.
Mr. Gorin made his entrance into business life in Decatur as a salesman but professional activity seemed more desirable and he spent two years in the study of law. In 1842 he was admitted to the bar upon passing an examination before Judge Treat and the following winter was spent in Scotland county, Missouri. At the end of that time, however, he returned to Decatur and formed a part- nership with Judge Charles Emerson. When that connection was severed he became a partner of Judge Kirby Benedict and later put aside the duties of pri- vate practice to enter public service, having been elected city clerk and attorney in 1860 for a four years' term. He also filled the office of justice of the peace at one time and in the private practice of law was accorded a large and dis- tinctively representative clientage. His name figured in the court records in connection with many of the important cases tried in this district. His last law partner was Judge Arthur Gallagher, with whom he was associated until 1861, when he withdrew from the field of law and was thereafter a prominent factor in banking circles in Decatur. He accepted the cashiership of the bank of Millikin & Oder, acting in that capacity at the same time that he filled the office of city clerk and attorney. Four years later he became a partner in the bank, continuing to act as cashier until 1881, when he withdrew from that connection to become the senior partner of the firm of Gorin & Bills. They established a private bank and also a real-estate and loan department, carrying on busi- ness together for two years. Mr. Gorin then became one of the organizers and the president of the bank of Gorin & Dawson, conducting a successful busi- ness in that connection for several years when he sold out to L. B. Casner. A year later this institution was merged into the Citizens National Bank, with Mr. Gorin as one of its incorporators and its first president. A year later, however, he disposed of his interests and his remaining days were spent in hon- orable retirement from labor and business management.
Mr. Gorin was married in Decatur, April 1, 1845, to Miss Eleanor D. Faw- cett, a native of Virginia and a daughter of Isaac and Rebecca Fawcett. The six children born unto them are: Mary Emma, the wife of C. C. Middleton, a resident of Dallas, Texas; Orville B., long associated with banking interests in Decatur; Ida E., the wife of W. C. Armstrong, of Decatur; Jerome P., a business man of New York city; Mattie A., of this city; and Henry Gladden, now of Minneapolis.
Reared in the faith of the whig party, Mr. Gorin gave to it his stalwart sup- port until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new republican party. Later, however, he became a prohibitionist, because of his attitude on the tem- perance question, believing it to be one of the paramount issues before the people. In 1856 he was elected as the republican candidate to the state legislature and while filling that position was made disbursing agent of the Fort Ridgely wagon road, which was being built for the government from St. Paul and Fort Ridgely to the Missouri river. During that period Mr. Gorin maintained an office in St. Paul but at the end of a year returned to Decatur. His interest in Masonry was never of a perfunctory character. He had firm faith in the basic principles of the order, recognizing the fact that the world would be better if all would
4
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recognize the brotherhood of mankind and the obligations imposed thereby. He joined Macon Lodge, No. 8, A. F. & A. M. on the 18th of October, 1841, and for a number of years prior to his death was the oldest and most honored mem- ber of that organization. He served as master of the lodge for seven years and was then elected grand master of the state. He also held membership in Macon Chapter, R. A. M., in which he served as high priest and in Beaumonoir Commandery, No. 9, K. T., of which he was eminent commander. In 1867 he was elected grand master of the grand lodge and in April, 1866, he joined the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the consistory in Chicago. He be- came the founder of the commandery in Olney, Illinois, on the 19th of January, 1865, and it was named Gorin Commandery in his honor. In various lines of Christian activity he was also a prominent figure and served almost continuously during his long connection therewith, as one of the officers of the First Meth- odist Episcopal church. He was thoroughly in sympathy with the organized work for the Christian instruction of the young, and not only did his labors prove effective in behalf of the local Sunday School Association but also in con- nection with the Sunday School Association of the state, which he served as president. He was likewise president of the County Sunday School Association and a member of its executive committee as well as a faithful worker in the Young Men's Christian Association. In all his Christian work he was ably as- sisted by his wife. Their married life was one of the closest harmony, each ever seeking the happiness of the other, and, therefore, their home life was of a most ideal character. The death of Mrs. Gorin occurred in 1894, while Mr. Gorin survived until the Ist of September, 1897. He was then almost eighty years of age and, with the exception of the first eleven years of his life the entire period was passed in Illinois. No one rejoiced more sincerely in the growth and upbuilding of the state. His activities touched the general interests of society in his work along material, fraternal, political and moral lines.
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