Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 49

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough & Co.
Number of Pages: 458

USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 49
USA > Illinois > Moultrie County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 49

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Mrs. Lloyd has survived her husband, and is a resident of Shelby- ville at this time. There were born to Wilson C. and Nancy Lloyd, seven children-five sons and two daughters-five of the children are still living. The subject of this sketch is the eldest. He was born in Springfield, Illinois, March 15, 1841. His early youth was passed in the subscription schools of Moultrie county, and in clerk- ing for his father. His educational advantages were superior to many boys of his age. In addition to his attendance upon the pub- lic schools, he received private instruction in mathematics, book- keeping, etc, and spent about four years at the academy in Sulli- van. The year preceding his father's death, he clerked in the store and in the circuit clerk's office, but also kept up his studies and re- cited to a private tutor, preparing to attend college. His oppor- tunities for prosecuting his studies to the extent desired, were cut short by the death of his father. Being the eldest of the family, the duty of providing for their maintenance and support, to a great extent, devolved upon him. He entered the store of Kellar & Cleveland, as salesman and book-keeper, and continued with them as long as they remained in business; after which he went into the general store of Judge J. E. Eden, as book-keeper, salesman and assistant post-master. He remained in that capacity until Novem- ber, 1859, when he accepted a position as clerk in the circuit clerk and recorder's office, in Shelby county, and removed to Shelbyville. On arriving at the age of twenty-one years, he was made deputy clerk. He remained in the office until the winter of 1864-5. After leaving the circuit clerk's office, he commenced the study of law, connecting himself with the law office of Anthony T. Hall; in the meantime carrying on the business of a real estate agent, etc., with Hon. Geo. R. Wendling as partner, and during which time he pub- lished " Lloyd's map of Shelby county." In the beginning of the year 1867, he accepted the position of deputy county clerk. In the summer of 1869, he received the nomination in the Democratic primaries for the office of county clerk, and at the ensuing election in November, was elected by a majority representing more than the full strength of his party. In 1873, he was the candidate of the united opposition to the Republican party, and was almost unani-

mously elected for the second time. He continued in office until the expiration of his term in 1877. During the last two years of his official life he resumed the study of law under the direction of Hon. W. W. Hess, present county judge, whose office was in the county clerk's rooms After his retirement from the office of county clerk, he formed a partnership with W. A. Cochran in the real estate, abstract and insurance business, which he still continues. In May, 1880, he formed a partnership in the practice of law with Truman E. Ames, the law firm of Lloyd & Ames, and the real estate and abstract office, occupying the same building.

Politically Mr. Lloyd is a Democrat. He cast his first presiden- tial vote in 1864, for Geo. B. McClellan. He is a member of the ancient and honorable order of Freemasonry, of the I. O. O. F. and Encampment, also a member of the Knights of Honor and A. O. U. W. of Shelbyville. In the order of I. O O. F. and Knights of Honor, he has been particularly active, having passed all the chairs in the former and held the position of instructor in the secret work of the order in this district, and filled the office of vice-dictator of the State of Illinois in the latter.

On the 13th of October, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary M., daughter of Chattin Kelly, Esq., an old settler and honored citizen of Shelby county. Mrs. Lloyd was born and raised in this county. By this union there have been two children, a son and daughter named William H. and Nellie C. Lloyd, aged respec- tively twelve and five years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd are mem- bers of the Christian Church.

Mr. Lloyd is emphatically a business man, with a business and legal education. His life, since he was fifteen years of age, has been passed in the transaction of business for himself or others. His father dying while he was yet a mere youth, and being the eldest of the children and only support of the family, he was compelled to act a man's part and take a position among men at an age when most youths are receiving an education and training to fit them for the battle of life. That severe ordeal, however, was not without good results. It taught him habits of self-reliance and industry and brought into action that will-power and force that lies dormant in every man, and is sometimes only awakened by stern, hard necessity. That he acted well a man's part, all who know him will bear ample testimony.

WILLIAM C. KELLY.

THE Kelly family are among the old settlers of Shelby county. The paternal grandfather, Mason Kelly, was a native of Virginia. He removed to Tennessee a short time after that state was admitted to the union. He subsequently removed to Illinois and settled in Shelby county. He died while on a visit to Tennessee. His son, Chattin Kelly, father of William C., was born in Tennessee in 1819. He came with his father to Shelby county in the year 1838; they settled in Rural township. Mr. Kelly remained here until 1878, when he removed to Brownsville, Mo., where he at present resides. He married Elizabeth A. Smith, a native of Kentucky. She died in 1865. By this marriage there were seven children, one son and six daughters. The subject of this sketch is the third in the family. He was born in Rural township, Shelby county, July 31st, 1848. He was an invalid in his youth, and therefore missed opportunities for receiving as thorough an education as the public schools could give. He attended for a time the country schools, and as he advanced in ycars, his health improving, he came to Shelbyville and received a fair English education in the High school of that city. In 1868 he entered the University of Ken- tucky at Lexington, taking the full course in mathematics, and

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Greek and Latin languages. By teaching during vacation, and being appointed tutor during the last year, he was able to maintain himself at college for four years. After the close of his college days he went to Harrisonville, Cass county, Mo., and taught school for one year, then returned to Shelbyville, and entered the law office of Thornton & Wendling, and read law. At the September term of the Supreme Court, in 1876, at Ottawa, he was admitted to the bar. In June, 1877, he formed a law partnership with H. S. Mouser, and commenced the practice. The law firm of Mouser & Kelly still continues. In the summer of 1880 he was nominated in the Democratic primaries for the office of States Attorney for Shelby county, and in November following, at the general election, was elected over the combined opposition of Republican and Green- back partics, beating his opponent by a handsome majority. We venture the prediction that Mr. Kelly will make an able prosecu- tor. He was married on the 21st of December, 1876, to Miss Anthea D., daughter of A. V. Harper, of Tower Hill, Shelby Co., Ills. By this marriage there is one daughter, named Bessie Kelly.

E. E. WAGGONER

WAS born in Shelby county, Illinois, May 3d, 1829. His father, Amos Waggoncr, was descended from a German family, who emi- grated to America about the year 1730, and settled in or near Charleston, South Carolina. His mother's maiden name was Nar- cissa Jay, and was of that well-known American family. His parents were among the early pioncer settlers of Shelby county, Illinois, arriving at Shelbyville in February, 1828, while the red man still roamed the forests of central Illinois in search of game. The subject of this sketch is the fourth child of a family of twelve children. He received his literary education in the common schools of the county until his teachers were incapable of leading him farther up the hill of knowledge, and then he was placed under the private instruction of a Massachusetts gentleman of ripe scholarship. In this manner he received a liberal educa- tion. He then studied medicine, graduating at the University of Missouri in the class of 1855-6, and a few years later received the degree Ad eundem at the St. Louis Medical College. After gradu- ating he practiced his profession up to 1870, when his health fail- ing he quit the practice of medicine and went into the mercantile business with J. J. & W. L. Hayden, in Shelbyville. He quit that business in 1874, and in company with J. Wm. Lloyd started a new newspaper in Shelbyville, which they called " The Shelbyville County Independent," announcing that "The Independent as its name implies is thoroughly independent-intensely democratic." In 1875 he bought Mr. Lloyd's interest, since which time he has played a lone hand. In 1876 he changed the name of his paper to The Shelbyville Democrat. The doctor's first connection with a news- paper was in 1858, when he and his brothers Joseph H. and Frank M. owned and conducted The Sullivan Express, the first newspaper published in Moultrie county, Illinois, and the predecessor of the present excellent county newspaper in that place called The Sulli- van Progress. His next newspaper connection was in 1867-8, when he bought the controlling interest in The Central Illinois Times, published in Shelbyville, and had the editorial charge of that paper. The Times was the predecessor of the present Shelby County Leader. As will be seen by the foregoing Dr. Waggoner has had much newspaper experience. Among the journalists of Illinois he is regarded as an able newspaper writer, and much above the average of country journalists.

MATTHIAS DILLEY.

THE subject of the following brief biography is a native of Hunt- erdon county, New Jersey, and first saw the light of day one morning in May, 1836. His grandfather, Aaron Dilley, was born in Germany, emigrated to America, settled in New Jersey and died there at the advanced age of ninety-nine years, and his wife in her ninety-seventh year. His son, and father of Matthias, was also named Aaron. He was born and bred in New Jersey, and lived there until 1880 when he died. He married Sarah Ann Shurts. She is living on the old homestead near where she was born. Matthias, or "Tice," as he is familiarly called, is the second in a family of fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters-five sons and seven daughters still surviving. Young "Tice " remaincd at home until he was twenty-three years of age, when he engaged in farming for himself, and continued in New Jersey until 1867, when he came west and settled in Shelbyville, Illinois, and en- gaged in draying, delivering freight and express from depot to every part of the city. He prospered in the business, working hard early and late, and trying to please his numerous patrons and friends. In 1878 he leased the Commercial House, renovated it and fitted it up for the reception of the traveling public, and here, in his house, with a bland smile illuminating his handsome face, (said smile may always be taken as an omen of good things lying beyond) he receives his guests in an affable and courteous manner and bids them welcome to the best his house affords. In October, 1859, he married Miss Mary Ann Kinsley, a native of Ireland, and a most estimable woman. Her parents came to America while she was in her infancy. By this marriage there are six children, three sons and three daughters. Both parents and children are members of the Catholic Church. Politically, Tice is a Democrat of the un- compromising and never give up kind. He votes that ticket for the principles that underlie that great political organization. Mr. Dilley has made the Commercial a favorite hotel, and struck his true vocation when he gave up draying and went into the busi- ness of entertaining and providing for the comfort of the great public

JAMES & YANTIS.

THE James family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Alexander C. James, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Prince George's county, Md., in the year 1800; he removed with his father's family to Kentucky, in 1808, and settled in Nicholas county, remaining until 1831, when he came to Illinois. and settled in Shelby county, where he remained until his death, in 1870. His son, W. W. James, was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, in 1829. He was in his infancy when his father came to this county ; he is still a resident of Ridge township, in this county : he was the only son and child of A. C. and Mary Ann (Robinson) James; his mother still lives with him. W. W. James married Cordelia Small. She was a native of Ohio; her parents came to Illinois about 1840; she died in 1862. In 1866 Mr. James married the second time; his present wife's name was Leah A. Killam. By the latter marriage there were two, and by the former five children. John A., the subject of this sketch, is the eldest son of the latter union; he was born in Ridge township, Shelby county, Illinois, October 11, 1852; he was raised upon the farm, attending the country schools in the winter months. At the age of twenty he entered Westfield College, in Clark county, Illi- nois, and remained there one year; on his return he entered the

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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

store of Kleeman & Goldstien as clerk, and remained there for three and a half years, and then, in connection with John W. Yantis, embarked in dry-goods and general merchandizing business. On the 9th of December, 1873, he married Miss Henrietta C. Butler, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, but a resident of Shelby county, Illinois, at the time of her marriage. Two children are the fruits of this union. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian Church; he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W. Politically, he is a democrat.

John W. Yantis was born in Pickaway township, Shelby county, Illinois, May 13, 1855. His father, Daniel Yantis, was born in Maryland in 1811; he removed to Ohio in 1817, and to Shelby county, Illinois, in 1853; he married Elizabeth Longenbaugh, a native of Ohio. The subject of this sketch is the youngest of fifteen children, nine of whom are living ; he was also raised on the farm. At the age of seventeen he entered Westfield College, in Clark county, Illinois ; in 1875 he entered Bryant & Stratton's Commer- cial College, in Chicago, and graduated from that institution ; he then came to Shelbyville and clerked for Klceman & Goldstien for one year and a half ; he then formed a partnership with Mr. James in the dry-goods and general merchandising business, which, under the firm name of James & Yantis still continues. On the 21st of May, 1876, he was united in marriage to Miss Tarcy J. James, daughter of W. W. James, of Shelby county, Illinois; one child has been born to hallow and bless this union. He is a member of the I O. O. F. and order of A. O. U. W. In politics he votes the democratic ticket. His wife is a member of the Christian Church. Both James and Yantis are, comparatively, young men, just entering upon the threshold of their business life; what success is in store for them the future can only tell ; but, if steady habits, in- dustry, economy, and business integrity arc guides to success, then we predict for them an honorable and successful career. They bring to their business good training and a thorough knowledge of the wants and tastes of their patrons. They constantly strive to give to the public the best goods in the market at fair and reason- able profits, consistent with prudence and safety to themselves.

C. J. KURTZ,

THE subject of this biography, was born in Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, January 10th, 1832. He is of German parentage. His parents, Amos George and Dora (Rapp) Kurtz, were natives of Wurtemburg, Germany. They emigrated to America in 1830, and settled in the above named county, in Ohio, and engaged in farming, and remained there until their death ;-- the father dying in 1875, and the mother January 6th, 1881. The subject of this sketch was raised upon the farm. In his youth he attended the public schools of his neighborhood and received a sufficient education to fit him for the ordinary duties of life. He remained at home assist- ing his father until he attained his majority. He then started out in the world to make his own way. It may be mentioned, however, that he had learned the carpenter trade in Ohio, and when he came west to Illinois, he stopped at Lacon, in Marshall county, and there worked at his trade and remained there until May, 1860, when he came to Shelbyville, and here embarked in the grocery and pro- vision trade in connection with D. W. Marks. This partnership continued until 1860, when Mr. Marks retired from the firm, and he was succeeded by William Bivens, in 1874. The firm of Kurtz & Bivens continued until 1878, when the latter retired from the firmn, and from that time to the present, Mr. Kurtz has continued alone in the business, in which he has been more than ordinarily

successful. What he has in the way of the world's goods has been the accumulation of his own industry, and sagacity, and the prac- tice of economy. He is a good business man, methodical and prompt, and of the strictest integrity. He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary. Brokaw ; she fell a victim to the cholera in 1865. On the 4th day of May, 1871, he married his present wife. Her maiden name was Miss Alice Bivens, daughter of William Bivens. She was born and raised in Shelby county, Illinois. By this union there are two children, named Sidney G. and George Kurtz. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and his wife of the M. E. Church. He is a respected member of the I O O. F., and of the beneficiary order of Knights of Honor. In politics, he is a member of the Republican party. He has held local offices, and at present is City Treasurer. He is a man who takes but little interest in politics further than to express his views and exercise the right of the ballot. Mr. Kurtz is among the old business men of Shelbyville, and with one or two exceptions has been longer in business, continuously, than any other in the city. He started in 1860, and the year 1881 finds him still in the same line. During all these years the public have learned to know and recognize him as an honorable and conscientious business man and citizen.

THOMAS W. STUART,

EDITOR and publisher of the Greenback Herald, was born in Shelby county, Ills., September 8th, 1840. He removed with his parents to Missouri in 1847, where he lived until his parents moved to Bloomfield, Iowa, in 1856, and remained there until the breaking out of the civil war, when he enlisted in the first company raised in the town. The company was assigned to the 2d Iowa Infantry and called Co. " G." He served three years in the regiment, participat- ing in the desperate battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, the siege of Corinth, the second battle of Corinth and nu- merous minor engagements. The 2d Iowa regiment particularly distinguished itself at Fort Donelson, where it made one of the most desperate and successful bayonet charges on record, losing in killed and wounded over one half of the regiment. When his three years service expired, General J. B. Weaver, then Colonel Commanding regiment, voluntarily gave him the following certificate :

" Headquarters, 2d Iowa Infty. IN THE FIELD NEAR ROME, GEORGIA, 22d OF MAY, 1864.

To whom it may concern.

The bearer hereof, Thomas W. Stuart, has been a member of this regiment during the past three years, and has by his uniform good conduct as a soldier and a gentleman, endeared himself to the officers and the men of this command, and I take great pleasure in recommending him to the confidence of all good people, wherever J. B. WEAVER, he may go.

Col. Commanding."

Mr. Stuart then went to Cincinnati, where he remained a couple of months, but being of an adventurous disposition he again entered the service, this time as Master's Mate in the navy. He was assigned to duty on the Monitor, Milwaukee, which had just been built at St. Louis. The Milwaukee was ordered to join the blockading squadron in Mobile Bay, which it did, and performed duty in that capacity until the 23d of March, 1865. On that day the Union squadron was ordered to make an attack upon the Confederate fleet and forts. The Milwaukee led the attack, and while engaging Spanish Fort at close quarters, ran on a torpedo which exploded

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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

and blew a hole in hier hull, and she went down. The boat was lying in shallow water at that time, and to that lucky fact the crew owe their lives.

Mr. Stuart remained in the navy until thic close of the war, when he resigned his commission and came north. During the last fif- teen years he has spent some time in most of the states of the union, and is familiar with the inside workings of nearly all the great newspapers of this country, having worked on them in one capacity or another. He is a practical printer, a good short-hand writer and a thorough newspaper man. He is very positive in his opinions, and never at a loss to find language with which to express himself.

C. J. WESTERVELT, M. D.

Is a native of Ohio, and was born June 7th, 1855, in the town of Westerville, which place was laid out by his paternal grandfather Dr. Westervelt is the seventh son in a family of nine sons. His father, J. L. Westervelt, removed from Ohio to Illinois in 1860, and settled in Livingston county, and engaged in farming. He is still a resident of that county. Dr. Westervelt commenced the study of medicine in 1874, in the office of Dr. D. Brewer of Fair- bury, Ills. He afterwards entered the Bennett Eclectic Medical College of Chicago, and remained there two terms, and graduated fron that institution in 1877. In the fall of the same year, hc entered Hahnemann College in the above-named city, and gradu- ated therefrom in the spring of 1878, with the degree of M. D. He soon thereafter came to Shelbyville, Ills., and commenced the prac- tice in connection with Dr. Stevenson The partnership continued six months, until the removal of the latter. Dr. Westervelt belongs to the progressive school of Homeopathy.

On the 28th of July, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary L., daugher of S. H. Webster, an old and prominent citizen of Shelbyville:

Dr. Westervelt is well qualified by educational training and habits of thought for his chosen profession. He is a man of correct and studious habits.

CAPT. PHIL. R. WEBSTER.

THE Webster family, on the paternal side, are of English descent. Russell B. Webster, the father of the subject of this biography, was born and bred in the state of Massachusetts. He emigrated to Ohio in 1821, and in 1823 removed his family to Cleveland, which had been laid out a few years before, and at that time was a small, insignificant village. He still resides in Lorraine county, Ohio. He married Orpha Hunter, who is also a native of Massachusetts, and is yet living-an aged couple of over four-score years. They have been residents of Ohio since 1821, except a few years during the time of the late rebellion, when they came to Shelbyville, Ill. There were eight children in the family, seven sons and one daugh- ter-the latter died in her infancy. There are five sons yet living. Philander R. Webster was born in Lorraine county, Ohio, February 10,1833. He received an excellent education in the public schools of . his county, and adopted the profession of Civil Engineer. He was employed by the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad Company in the capacity of Civil Engineer during the process of the construction of that line of roadway, and he made his first advent into the town of Shelbyville on the 14th of July, 1855. He had however been in the county before that date. On the 1st of January, 1856, he came to the town as an actual and permanent settler, and here he has re-

mained to the present. After the completion of the railroad he took charge of a section as master, and continued in that position for six months, at the end of which time he commenced clerking for Weh- ster & Jagger, general merchants of Shelbyville, until 1862, when he became proprietor, and operated the business until May 1st of the same year, when the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. was formed, which still continues. H. L. Martin was a member of the company until 1872, when he retired from the concern, and Phil. H. Webster and S. H. Webster, his elder brother, from that time constituted the firm of S. H. Webster & Co. Their business is handling grain, pork packing, and dealers in agricultural implements and farm machinery.

On the 13th of May, 1864, during the progress of the great re- bellion, he enlisted in "Co. G," 143d regiment Ill. Vol. Infantry, and upon the organization of the company was clected captain. He served out his term of enlistment, and was honorably discharged and mustered out of the service. In the year 1862, on the 15th of April, he married Miss Elenor M. Bryant, a native of Steuben county, New York, but a resident of this county at the time of her marriage. She came here in 1858. They have an adopted daugh- ter named Mattie Webster. His wife is a member of the Presby- terian Church. He is an honored member of the A. F. & A. M., and of the Chapter of R. A. M. Politically he is a Republican, and always votes with that party. He has been a member of the City Councils, and at the present time is Mayor of the city of Shelby- ville. He was elected to that position in 1877 for the term of four years. Captain Webster has been a citizen of Shelbyville for twen- ty-five years, and in that time has made many friends, both in the town and country.

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Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 49

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough & Co. Number of Pages: 458

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough & Co.
Number of Pages: 458