USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Historic sketch and biographical album of Shelby County, Illinois > Part 27
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In 1897 he began the practice of his chosen profession in the village of Herrick, and in the following year formed a partnership with Dr. Geo. S. Bolt, whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume. Our subject has come to be recognized as a good practitioner : he keeps
abreast of the times, sparing no pains to be able to recognize and successfully treat disease. It may be stated that Dr. Whittington has devoted his life to this one thing : his only other occupa- tion being that of a hardware dealer, which served but as a stepping-stone to his college course. He is identified with the Masonic and K. of P. lodges, and is admired for his social qualities. He goes to Coffeen, Illinois, as min- ing physician, and takes with him the respect of all who know him. We venture to predict that he will one day stand high in professional circles at large.
EZEKIEL K. SCHWARTZ.
The subject of this review was born in Lewiston, Mifflin county. Pennsylvania. He is the son of German-Swiss parentage : his father's name was Frederick and his mother's Elizabeth (Kohler) Schwartz. Ezekiel was reared upon a farm, and attended the district school in his na- tive town. He subsequently spent some time in tlie Lewiston Academy, leaving the same at the age of twenty years and coming with his parents to Shelby county, where they settled upon a farm seven miles north of Shelbyville. In the year 1862 he enlisted for service in the Union army as a private in Co. B. 115th Illinois Vol. As a soldier he saw much hardship and partici- pated in a large number of severe engagements : so bravely and well did he discharge his soldierly duties that he was the subject of promotion, and in June, 1865. was honorably discharged bearing commission as first lieutenant.
On the twenty-sixth day of December. 1866. he was married to Miss Joanna, daughter of Nel- son and Angelina (Kyes) Scott. The couple are the parents of the following named children : Frederick. Elgin. Bertha. Estella. Irma. Grace.
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Sula, and Ralph, living : Mary and Luther, dead, and two others deceased in infancy.
They lived upon their farm until October, 1892, when they removed to Findlay and en- gaged in the mercantile business. In this line he has been successful ; he carries a large line of general merchandise and groceries, and is re- garded as a reliable business man. His life is a living example of sturdy, upright manhood.
JAMES B. SINGER.
The proprietor of the Climax Roller Mills of Stewardson, Illinois, is the son of Christian and Mary Singer. His birth place was in Wayne county, Ohio, the event occurring in the year 1856. He attended the villiage school in his na- tive town until he was eighteen years of age. when he left home and began making his own way in life. He first stopped at Neoga, Illinois, where he learned the milling business while working for his brother, W. H. Singer. He after- wards formed a partnership with his brother, dissolving the same in 1883. After this time he removed to Stewardson in 1894, and started the enterprise which he still conducts. Mr. Singer took for a wife Miss Emma Lewis. They have been the parents of three children-Bessie Ward, and James E., who are living, and William, who (lied at the age of nine years.
Mr. Singer is a member of Stewardson lodge A. F. & A. M. No. 541, and Neoga Chapter No. 150, R. A. M. ; he is also a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen and of the Methodist Epsicopal church. The life of Mr. Singer is an illustration of the possibilities in honest effort ; he has made his way unaided, no inherited wealth giving him his start in life. He now stands well in the social, business and religious life of the com- munity in which he lives. We have ever felt that the highest words of praise fittingly belong to
that class of our American manhood which arises from obscurity to places of eminence and trust.
SAMUEL A. IGO.
Our subject was born in the city of Shelby- ville, Illinois, on the 14th day of July, 1864. His father, John Igo, was a native of Ohio, and came to the city named when he was but one and one- half years of age. Though of the age just men- tioned he rode a horse across the Okaw when coming into the city ; we will leave the reader to conjecture how this was accomplished. The mother of Samuel was Harriet Phelps. His boy- hood was spent in labors upon a farm and in at- tending school. He was one of the first two pupils to take his seat in the new school build- ing ; and here he laid the foundations for the business success which. now characterizes him. On April fourteenth, .A. D. 1886 he was married to Miss Ada Lantz, of Shelbyville. The father of the bride, Philip Lantz, was one of the much re- spected residents of the city, both in business and social circles. Mr. Igo for a time engaged in the restaurant and bakery business, but for the greater portion of his adult life has given his at- tention to the breeding and sale of choice stock, including both horses and cattle ; of Jersey cat- tle he makes a specialty. In the year 1900 he shipped about twenty car loads of live stock from the Shelbyville yards. His business is largely conducted from his office in the "Water Tower Barn" where he has been for the last three years. Mr. Igo is fraternally a Modern Wood- man. He is also a member of the Christian church. Politically he has ever been a democrat, though ever caring more for business than for politics. He is a man of good address, good habits, and good standing. Both Mr. and Mrs. Igo are well received wherever known.
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J. F. Dove
BIOGRAPHIES.
THEODORE F. DOVE.
Theodore Franklin Dove was born in a rural district of Ohio, about nine miles from the city of Lancaster, the date of his birth having been .April 22, 1846. The paternal ancestry was Ger- man, but his father. Elijah Dove, was a native of the Buckeye state. born in 1811, and one of the pioneer tillers of its soil, while his mother, nee Mary Small, was a lady of Welsh decent. Theo- dore F. Dove was one of fifteen children born to them. he having seven brothers and seven sisters, seven of them older and seven younger than himself. Reared upon the home farm, and in the moderate circumstances common to the large families of early settlers, he learned in childhood and youth, lessons of industry and economy that contributed greatly to his success in later years. At the same time he acquired an aptitude and taste for agriculture on a large scale which has since become highly developed. Meanwhile, however, he has developed many years to the cultivation of his mind and to intel- lectual work. At the age of twenty he had only such education as he had been able to obtain in the district schools of Ohio, but he then resolved . to supplement it with academic and university study. Accordingly, he entered an academy at Pleasantville, Ohio, where he advanced so well that at twenty-two he became professor of mathe- matics and natural philosophy in the institution, where he continued to teach until the spring of 1869. During the following summer he was variously employed, always to the end of increas- ing the facilities for higher education, and in the fall he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. Ohio, where, by doing double work. he graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1871. Subsequently the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by his alma mater. After leaving col-
lege he resumed teaching, and devoted a consid- erable portion of his time to that profession until 1876. superintending schools at West Jefferson. Ohio, from 1871 to 1872, and at Mechanicsburg. Ohio, from 1872 to 1874. He served also as superintendent of the schools of Shelbyville, Illi- nois, during the two years prior to 1876. Mean- time he had read law, and in 1875 gained admit- tance to the bar at Delaware, Ohio, and opened an office in the city of Columbus, in the same state, where he practiced until October 16. 1876. Soon afterwards he formed a partnership with Ilon. W. J. Henry, of Danville, Illinois, and in the following April the firm removed to Shelby- ville. in this state, where it continued until No- vember 12. 1879. when, by mutual consent, it was dissolved. After the dissolution of the firm of Henry & Dove, our subject opened an office alone and met with phenomenal success. Ad- vancing at once to the front rank as a reliable counsellor and trustworthy adviser, he has al- Ways sought and obtained that kind of legal busi- ness and requires sound and safe advice and management rather than the petty and showy trial branches of the profession : and today he has one of the most pleasant and lucrative practices enjoyed by any lawyer in Central Illinois. Ilis sound judgment and his quick conception of a business proposition have contributed greatly to his financial success. He has been the legal ad- viser and one of the directors of the Shelby County State Bank since the establishment of that institution at Shelbyville in 1895, and was. likewise. a leading spirit in its organization. On the 27th day of December. 1877. Mr. Dove was united in marriage to Miss Alta W. Clark, of Mechanicsburg. Ohio, a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan Female college at Delaware and a lady of general culture and high character. She died on the 24th of May. 1896, leaving two sons-
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Theodore C .. and Franklin R .. aged seventeen and fourteen years, respectively. The ekler son was a soldier of the Spanish-American war, carly enlisting in Company K. 14th Ohio National Guards-afterwards known as the 4th Ohio. After remaining one month in camp at Colum- bus, this regiment was ordered to Chickamauga, then to Norfolk, Virginia, and thence to Porto Rico, where it remained until discharged from service. On June 16, 1900, the young ex-soldier and his brother, who is known as Roy, sailed for Europe with the intention- of making an ex- tended tour of England and the Continent on the bicycle. This plan they successfully carried out, and at the present time have returned to their studies in the Ohio Wesleyan University. where they expect to complete the classical course, the one in two, and the other in three years. To return to our immediate subject- Theodore Franklin Dove was married for the second time on August 25, 1898, to Miss Mary Belle Williams, of Columbus, Ohio; and Mr. and Mrs. Dove are now pleasantly domiciled on their fine estate in the city of Shelbyville, Illi- nois. The experience of our subject has helped to verify that gratifying assurance of Emerson, that whatever we earnestly desire in youth comes crowding upon us in later years. It has always been an ambition of Mr. Dove to become the proprietor of extensive and valuable farm lands, and today he is known as one of the largest land owners in Shelby county. In politics he is a democrat of the Jacksonian type, and has but little sympathy with coalitions for temporary success. He is a member of the Masonic order and belongs, also, to the Modern Woodmen of America. He has held a life-long membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, to the support of which he has contributed freely of his means. Mr. Dove is a devoted and self-sacrificing friend
(and a silent foe). and his hospitable, genial na- ture. together with his family and church en- vironment, have made him a social factor in the community that is much sought and enjoyed.
JAMES POLK BENNETT.
The curtain which hangs between us and the past of our family history seems to be of ex- ceedingly frail texture. Only a slight pull woukl be needed to tear it aside or rend it in twain. Alas! how easy it is to be deceived. The cur- tain may be thin and delicate, but the greatest efforts of men do not suffice to rend it or draw it aside. Their ancestry is shrouded in a dim mist dying away into darkness before the fourth generation is reached. How few there are who can speak with any certainty concerning their great, great grandfather ; yet to this somewhat remote ancestor. we must go for our beginning in our genealogical and biographical sketch of James P. Bennett. This grandfather, twice "great." was an Englishman possessed of wealth and ambition. His attention was turned to this New Worldl, and in it he saw an opportunity to increase his fortune. He, being the owner of a ship, fitted it out as a trader, and came with his two sons to America. lle loaded his vessel with a rich cargo, and leaving his sons here, perhaps to look after future cargoes, and perhaps to seek their own fortunes, set sail for England. Neither the enterprising sailor nor his ship were ever heard from again. Perhaps the staunch little trader was overwhelmed in a storm, and today makes one of the great number which sleep upon the ocean's bed instead of gallantly sailing its sur- face : or, it may be that the crew threw the mas- ter and owner into the sea and ran away with his vessel. This latter view is quite generally held by the family.
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The two boys left in this country, soon be- came deeply devoted to the land of their adop- tion as is evidenced by the fact, they fought. side by side, under Washington, in the great Revolutionary struggle. One of these brothers was killed during the war, thus baptising the name of Bennett in patriot blood. The remain- ing brother, who was with Washington at York- town, when the haughty Cornwallis surrendered his sword, at the close of the war settled in Virginia. To him were given three sons: Wil- liam, Elisha and Richard. Elisha settled in Ken- tucky at an early date, while William and Rich- ard became pioneers in Tennessee. In the year 1835. Richard came to this state. soon after which he died, leaving a widow and eight child- ren, six of whom were girls.
How singularly are families broken up and scattered ! A mormon elder came into the neigh- borhood where this widow resided, conducted special meetings, and made many converts. amongst whom she was one. The four elder chil- dren in the family did not embrace the new faith : hence it came to pass, when the Mormon con- verts left this state, the widow and her four younger children left with them. We may fairly state the breaking and final separation of this family is but a sample of the baneful effects of Mormon- ism, wherever introduced. William Bennett. father of the one whose name heads this sketch. was one of the four children left here by this mormonized mother, his three eldest sisters mak- ing up the remainder of this unfortunate quartet.
A. D. 1838, William was united in marriage with Miss Lavina Curry. To them were born six children-Dr. R. F., who is now Superintend- ent of the Insane Asylum at Anna, Illinois : J. P., of whom we now write, a resident of Shelby- ville : R. E. : W. A and Mesdames D. F. Storm
and l'reston Colson, all of whom reside upon farms in Ash Grove township. Mr. Bennett. the father of these six children, is 84 years of age': but is still in excellent health and in full posses- sion of all bodily and mental faculties. It is with pleasure that he talks of the growth of Shelby county under the vigorous hand of her pioneers, and their names and characteristics are all fresh in his memory. His active mind vividly recalls the days to which the words of Longfel- low's immortal Evangeline may fittingly apply :
"Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows :
But their dwellings were open as day, and the hearts of their owners :
There the richest was poor, and the poor lived in abundance."
The life of William Bennett has been charac- terized by religious devotion. For forty-seven. out of sixty-five years he has lived in Ash Grove. he has been an elder in the Christian church. The record of his life may be summed up by the use of this epigram : a long life and a good life.
James Polk Bennett was born into this world on the 24th day of February, 1845. His boyhood days were spent in the hardy pursuits of a pioneer's son. His educational advantages were meagre, receiving, only. the training af- forded by a district school. The lessons taught to him in the school of life were well learned. and with the coming of maturity's years, we find him well prepared to make his way to the heights of business success. On the 4th day of March. 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- beth Wilson, a granddaughter of "Jackie" Storm. the first Christian preacher in the county. Mr. Bennett received from his father the gift of forty acres of unimproved land : and, from his father-in-law, the gift of a log house. He cut a
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road through the brush, on the forty he now called his own, to a suitable place on which to erect the house which had been given him. The house having been moved and set up, the young wife and a few plain necessaries moved in. Mr. Bennett tied his team to his wagon, and began clearing his land, splitting rails to fence the same. It was from this humble beginning as a nucleus, that Mr. and Mrs. Bennett toiled and economized through a period of twenty-nine years, and at last gathered about them a com- fortable competency, consisting of more than five hundred acres of good land.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are the parents of seven children. Laura, the eklest. died in her 21st year. Besides those in her father's family. she left a husband and little girl (Etta Lemons) to mourn her loss. Miss Etta is still in her grandfather's home, where. ever since her mother's death, she has received kindly and pro- tecting care. Cora. is the wife of Mr. T. F. Ridges, a respectable farmer of Ash Grove : Oscar. a bright and genteel young man, is an able assistant in the abstract office of Craig & Garis: and John is now a student in Decatur. 111. Two boys and one girl were taken from the home in their infancy. God oftentimes reaches out a hand of love, and plucks the brightest and sweetest Howers to grace his own dwelling place.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett both united with the Christian church in early youth. hence their home has been a christian one. No greater tribute can be paid to the piety of these parents. than to say. all their children . are with them united in the visible church of Christ. In poli- tics, Mr. Bennett has ever been a republican, though his early surroundings were entirely democratic.
In August of 1898. Mr. Bennett and wife left
their farm ; since which they have lived in a beau- tiful home of their own in the city previously mentioned. Without attempting any fulsome or flattering praise, we can truthfully state. their lives had been without a disfiguring scar. Their circle of friends is large, which circle is the only limit that circumscribes the respect and loving esteem in which they are hekl.
THOMAS B. SHOAFF.
One of the most prominent men of Shelby- ville today. is Thomas B. Shoaff, editor and manager of The Shelby County Leader. He is a native of Greenville, Illinois, where he was born on the 23rd of February. 1847. His parents were James and Nancy Shoaff. His father was a newspaper man for many years, and from him Thomas inherited his journalistic tendencies. Mr. Shoaff was publisher of the first paper in the following named towns: Shelbyville, Green- ville. Bloomington, Pekin, and Decatur, and was publishing the Edgar County Gazette, in Paris. Illinois, at the time of his death, which occurred on April 12, 1874. Mrs. Shoaff is the daughter of Dennis Hanks, who was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln, and was at one time a tutor of the boy "\be." Mr. Hanks lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six, at his home in Charleston, Illinois. By these genealogical facts it will be seen that the subject of this sketch is a third cousin of the martyred President.
Thomas received his education in the public schools of Decatur, and early began his career as a journalist. At the death of his father, he. together with his eldest brother, continued the publication of The Gazette until January of 1881. Thomas then removed to Danville, and com- menced the publication of The Danville Leader.
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BIOGRAPHIES.
At the expiration of seven years, the name of the paper was changed to The Daily Press, and Mr. Shoaff continued the management of it until August. 1897. He was then made manager of The Democrat, of that city, which position he competently filled until he came to Shelbyville. February 1. 1900, and took charge of the paper with which he is now engaged.
The marriage of Mr. Shoaff occurred in Fort Wayne. Indiana. Nov. 15, 1871. when he was united to Miss Ella W. Lytle. The children born to them are James, Clare. La Vone and Douglas Shoaff. all of whom are living and at home. The domestic life of the family has al- ways been of the happiest and the children are of such as any parents might well be proud.
During the Rebellion Mr. Shoaff was too young to enlist as a regular soldier, but, being eager for the fray, he went with C. R. Griggs. sutler of the 25th Illinois Vol ..
Alr. Shoaff has never sought notoriety, but has led a quiet. unpretentious life, devoting his time to the management and operation of news- papers, and is thoroughly acquainted with the art preservative in all its details. With his cap- able assistants he makes of The Shelby County Leader one of the most readable newspapers in this part of Illinois. Mr. Shoaff is a member of the Episcopal church, and has, with his estimable family, the respect of a wide circle of friends.
ELGIN H. MARTIN.
Born in Jersey, Ohio, June 5th. 1842 : the 4th son of Mark D. and Julia Martin. His mother died March 4. 1846, leaving 5 children- all boys : the subject of this sketch lacked three months of being 4 years old. He found a home with his grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Josiah W.
Ward. where he remained until his tenth year. His father taking a second wife. the family was again brought together at the home in Central College, Ohio.
In April, #1858, the family came west and settled in Shelbyville. Elgin being then in his 16th year. He attended school at Shelby Semin- ary until the family went on a farm in the spring of 1860. When the war broke out in 1861. Elgin's brother Thaddeus K., two years okler than himself, was one of the first to enlist. In the fall-in the month of November-that brother's remains were brought home and buried near where the family lived. In March another bicther, two years older than he who had gone. took the dead brother's place in his company and regiment, and a month later was severely wound . ed in the bloody battle of Shiloh, and was fur- loughed home. In July. 1862. impelled by a sense of duty to his country, and not from any love of excitement and adventure. Elgin en- listed and became a sergeant in Co. B. of the 115th Illinois infantry. The regiment had its full share of marching and fighting, and though frequently under fire, among others going through the sanguinary battle of Chickamauga unscathed. though his regiment lost nearly half its number in killed and wounded. He escaped being touched by rebel bullets until in a trivial skirmish, February 24. 1864. in front of Dalton. Ga., he received a flesh wound in his good right arm and for seven months was incapacitated for duty by reason of gangrene in the wound. con- tracted while in the army hospital at Nashville. Tenn. Four of the seven months were passed at home on furlough. After returning to duty, be- ing unable to carry a musket he was detailed first as orderly for Capt. Slocum, who was on detach- er service in Chattanooga. Tenn .. and later was given command of the provost guard of "Whit-
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taker's Iron Brigade," ist Brigade, ist Division, Fourth Corps, Army of the Cumberland, which position he held until muster-out in June, 1865.
Returning home. Mr. Martin for a season resumed his studies at Shelby Seminary, then as previously, under the management of Mr. C. W. Jerome, who had served as quartermaster of the 115th regiment. Hle afterward-in 1866-went south and for two years acted as salesman and collector for his uncle, D. C. Martin, who con- ducted a supply store in Port Hudson, La. Mr. Martin returned north in the early winter of 1868, and took a position pressed upon him by his brother, Park T., as local editor of The Shel- byville Union. This position he held until the spring of 1872, when he stablished The Republi- can in Effingham, which about a year later was sold, when the founder returned to Shelbyville and resumed his place on The Union, which was held until 1890, with the exception of about a year spent in Troy, N. Y., and Carbondale, 111 .. working at the case as a printer.
While editing The Union he was instrumen- tal in the organization of the first loan associa- tion in Shelbyville, and when a few years later he felt that there was a disposition to run the association in the interests of the officers and di- rectors rather than the stockhoklers, he initiated a movement that crystalized in the organization of The Laborers' Loan, yet a potent factor in the building up of Shelbyville. In 1886, co-operat- ing with his brother. Horace L .. he established The daily edition of The Union, which he edited until April, 1890; he was appointed postmaster. serving in that capacity until September. 1897. Since September, 1898, he has been his brother Harry M's, assistant as postmaster.
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