USA > Illinois > Douglas County > Historical and biographical record of Douglas County, Illinois > Part 18
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William F. Murphy has throughout his life been a shrewd business man, and his success has been the result of his own efforts. During the Civil war he largely assisted in filling the quota of his township under President Lin- coln's different calls for troops. His life has been one of action and his accumulations of this world's goods have been the result of econ- omy and close attention to business.
JAMES R. HAMMETT.
James Richard Hammett was descended from Irish ancestry, his grandfather, Richard Hammett, having been a native of County Cork, Ireland. Here the Hammetts resided for a long period of time. Richard Hammett, as far as known, had five children, four sons and one daughter, all of whom at different periods emigrated to America.
John, the father of James R. Hammett, was the first to come. He came to this country
when a young man and settled in Montgomery county, Virginia, and there married Diana Gardner, a native of the Old Dominion and of Irish descent. The three younger brothers came to America at a later period and likewise settled in Virginia. One of them, William Hammett, became a Methodist preacher and about 1835 he returned to his old home in Ire- land, where his labors as an evangelist at-
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tracted large crowds of people. He resumed preaching on his return to America and settled in Mississippi. Subsequently he was elected to congress from the Vicksburg district and after leaving congress he continued to preach. As an orator he was of a high order. Of the other brothers, Richard Hammett was a man of great energy and versatile talents. The greater part of his life after his arrival in America was spent in Mississippi, where he was a prominent politician and for a time editor of the Vicksburg Whig.
Douglas county had perhaps few men who have lived on its prairie soil for three score and four years, and whose labors have contributed so largely to the development of its resources and whose life has been more upright and ex- emplary than the late James R. Hammett, who was born in Montgomery county. Virginia, January 1. 1820, and who died August 11, 1896, in the seventy-first year of his age. His parents removed from Virginia to Bourbon county, Kentucky, and in the fall of 1830 came to Ilinois, halting at sunset one evening almost on the spot where he spent sixty-four years of his life. The farm consisted of eight hundred acres lying just north of Camargo, which was then in Park county, the northern limits of which at that time extended to Wisconsin. The hardships of the carly pioncer only served to call forth all the energy and enterprise of Mr. Hammett, and his success was due to his un- tiring industry and financial ability, which placed him among the leading financiers of this county.
In 1854 Mr. Hannett was married to Miss Sarah C. Watson, who was born in Fountain county, Indiana. July 4. 1836, a daughter of William D. and Mary ( Low) Watson. Her
father was born in the neighborhood of Vin- cennes and her mother in Madison. To James K. Hammett and wife were born ten children, four of whom are now living: Mrs. William lles, of Carmargo: F. W., cashier of the First National Bank of Tuscola; Richard and Roy. both farmers of Carmargo. Politically, Mr. Hammett early attached himself to the Whig party, and upon the birth of the Republican party, inheriting his father's dislike of slavery. he became connected with that party and very generally supported its candidates, as he gave an enthusiastic adherence to its principles.
Mr. Hammett was connected with the de- velopment of the railroads in this county and took an active part in the building of the Illi- nois Central Railway. Ile visited Springfiekl and was influential in obtaining the charter from the Legislature. In the original bill granting charter rights he was named as one of the incorporators and subsequently became a member of the board of directors. He was re- elected several times and filled the office for twelve years. When the First National Bank was organized. in 1870, he became a stock- holder and in 1873 was elected director, filling this place until the time of his death. He was one of the ablest financiers of the county and was worth about one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars, owning about two thousand acres of land. Mr. Hammett was not a member of any church, but practiced Christianity in his every-day life. It is not to be wondered that the people revered him, because his sympathetic and generous heart was always responsive to every touch of distress and he was ever ready to extend a helping hand to his fellow man. It may well be said of him that he has made the world better by having lived, and his life is
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a true illustration of the fact that the line of duty is alike the path of safety and the way of lionor.
WILLIAM T. SUMMERS.
William Thomas Summers, of Newman. came from Sangamon county, Illinois, to New- man township in 1877, and located on a farm seven miles northwest of the village. lle was born near Augusta, Bracken county, Kentucky,
May 15. 1845, and is a son of Lewis and Eliz- abeth ( Threlkeld) Summers, who were na- tives of the same county, both being members of pioneer families of that section. llis grand- tather, Thomas Summers, was a native of Vir- ginia, and was a soldier in the Mexican war.
W. T. Summers was reared in Kentucky and came to Sangamon county, Illinois, when a small boy. With the exception of two years, during which time he was associated in busi-
ness with James Barr, of Newman, he has al- ways been engaged in farming.
In 1865 our subject was wedded to Miss Virginia C. Woltz, a daughter of John and Sydney ( Halbert ) Woltz, natives of Virginia. Mr. Summers and wife have no children. He is a member and one of the organizers of the Christian Scientist church of Newman, and is a firm believer in its principles. Mr. Sum mers has just completed a fine residence in Newman at a cost of over five thousand dollars, and it ranks with the most elegant homes in the county. He owns three hundred and twenty- six acres of land, two hundred and six acres" lying southwest of Newman and one hundred and twenty acres one mile and a half north- west. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and Masonic fraternities. Mr. Summers has, ever since his residence in Douglas county, been identified with the county's best interests. progress and development, and ranks among its best and most progressive men.
MOSES S. SMITH.
Moses S. Smith, the genial and talented editor of the Newman Independent, was born July 19, 1869, a son of George W. Smith, and was raised at Newman, the place of his birth. In 1887 he and his brother, A. B., who had been connected with the mechanical department of the Independent, purchased the paper, suc- ceeding C. V. Walls, who removed to Arcola, where he edited the Arcola Record for a time. 11 has now been twenty-six years since the first copy of the Newman Independent was issued.
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During all these years the Independent has tried to chronicle all the events of interest transpiring in the town and vicinity, as well as a synopsis of those occurrences in adjoining
towns, 'the state and nation. It has striven to represent the best interests of the community and assist as much as possible towards build- ing up the town. The efforts of Mr. Smith have not been in vain, proof of which is the large and increasing circulation of the paper. The paper has grown from a puny infant to strong and well developed manhood, owing largely to the generous patronage given it by the progressive business men of the town and county. The Newman Independent was first instituted in April, 1873. by Cicero V. Walls. lle experimentally conducted it for six months and then suspended it for a year, when he re- somed its publication. In 1882-83 the paper was leased to Carl 11. Chler for about a year. during Mr. Wall's absence from Newman. On his return he again assumed control with John W. King, who was postmaster at the. time, as
assistant editor. In 1884 he again leased it to A. B. Smith, his foreman, while he went to Paris and took charge of the Paris Beacon. M. S. Smith, since he has succeeded to the en- tire control of the paper, has added materially to its mechanical completeness ly the purchase of two new job presses, also a new four-horse power gasoline engine, and on April 1. 1900. the paper came out in an entire new dress, and is now one of the cleanest and newsiest local newspapers in Illinois.
Mr. Smith was united in marriage t> Miss Isabelle Root. a daughter of D. (). Root, of Newman. They have two children. Hughes Blake and Harriet Elzabeth. Mose Smith, as he is generally known by his friends. is one of the most accommodating and agree- able gentlemen found in the county, and in business is an all-round hustler.
WINFIELD S. REED.
WinGeld Scott Reed. a prominent and in- telligent farmer of Arcola township, was born in U'nion county. Indiana, May 13, 1851, and is a son of John T. Reed. The latter was a na tive of Butler county, Ohio, and emigrated to Douglas county and settled in Tuscola township in: 186. Ile moved to Arcola township in 1867 and there resided up to his death, which occurred in March, 1801, in the seventy-first year of his age. His wife was Ann Walters. who was born in Lancaster county. Pennsyl - vania, in 1820, and moved with her parents to Buttler county, Ohio, in 1836; she is now in the seventy-fourth year of her age. John T.
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Reed was a renter when he first came to the county, but in 1867 he bought the farm where his son, W. S. Reed, now resides. He was a
tailor by trade, but quit that and went to farm- ing. W. S. Reed owns one-half of the old homestead farm, which contains one hundred and twenty-two and a half acres. He has been a successful farmer, progressive in his ideas. and owns a beautiful home.
February 24, 1875, he was married to Miss Nellie Watson, a daughter of Thomas Watson. of Clark county. They have three children : Ollie, wife of A. Wright; Dora M. and John G. Thomas Watson was a native of Frederick county, Virginia, where he was born in Octo- ber, 1794, and was married to Susanna Thom- as, in 1824. To them were born two sons and one daughter. His wife died in 1832, and he was married the second time, in 1834, and re- moved to Ohio in 1837, residing in Fairfield county until October, 1854, when he came to Illinois. Mrs. Reed's mother was Nancy Franklin, who was born near Greencastle,
Pennsylvania. ITer father died in 1872, aged seventy-eight years. He was in the war of 1812. His father, Henry Watson, came from England. Mr. Reed is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity. Court of Honor and the Woodmen.
LEMUEL CHANDLER.
ยท Lemuel Chandler, of Bourbon, is one of the oldest and most universally respected citizens in the county. He was born within three miles of Cynthiana. Harrison county, Kentucky, August 30, 1824. a son of Israel and Lydia (Grewell ) Chandler, who were born in the 'Blue Grass" regions of Kentucky. Israel Chandler emigrated from Kentucky to Cler-
mont county in 1831 and remained there seven years, when he came to Douglas county and located in Bourbon township, settling on what
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is now known as the old Chandler homestead, upon which William Chandler now resides ( see his sketch ). John Chandler (grand- father ). a Quaker in his religious belief, emi grated from Chester county. Pennsylvania, to Kentucky and settled in Harrison county in about the year 1791. the year preceding Ken- tucky's admission into the union. John Gre- well ( maternal grandfather ) married a Miss Temple, a native of Delaware, and settled near the Chandlers in Kentucky.
Lemuel Chandler was reared to manhood in the neighborhood in which he has always resided. For that day he received a very good education, attended the Paris Academy and later taught school in the Bourbon neighbor- hood. He has never been an aspirant for office. in the usual acceptation of that term. but he has held the office of supervisor of his town- ship.
In 1849 he was united in marriage to Mrs. Prudence W. Bacon, a native of Hampshire county, Virginia, and a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Beavers, the former born in the state of New Jersey, and the latter in Baltimore, Maryland. To Mr. and Mrs. Chandler have been born six children : John, who is a farmer and resides in Bourbon township; William, whose sketch is found elsewhere: Beatrice, wife of Dell Ilenry, of Hastings, Nebraska; Lydia Belle: Gertrude, wife of Clifford Jones, who re- sides in the edge of the village of Bourbon ; and Ernest M. Chandler, in the live stock com- mission business at Peoria, Illinois. Mr. ('handler is a member and deacon of the Baptist church, of which church his wife is also a mem- ber. Mr. Chandler owns two hundred and sixty acres of land in Arcola township and five hundred and forty in Bourbon township.
O. V. MYERS.
O. V. Myers, a grain buyer at MeCown's Station, and one of the wheel horses of the Douglas county Democracy, was born in Ed- gar county, Illinois, March 13, 1863. He is a son of William Myers, who was a native of Kentucky and who became an early settler of Edgar county. His mother was Eliza Size- more, a daughter of Martin Sizemore, who was also born in Edgar county.
Mr. Myers grew up on the farm and re- ceived the advantages of a good common school education, and also attended the high school at Paris. For the past ten years he has lived on his farm of one hundred and twenty acres. about one mile and a half east of Newman. Ilis firm handles about one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of grain annually. In the re- cent Democratic primary of Douglas county he received the endorsement for state senator vi the district composed of Douglas, Coles and Shelby counties. In 1898 he was the Demo-
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cratic nominee for the office of county treas- urer of Douglas county. On March 4. 1885, he was wedded to Miss Alice Estes, of Edgar county. They have seven children: Edna, Harry, Don, Charlie, Laura, Edwin and Nellie.
David Meyers (grandfather) was a native of Kentucky. Our subject's maternal grand- father. Martin Sizemore, was a North Caro- linian by birth and served in the Black Hawk and Mexican wars.
O. V. Myers is a young man of good ability, and there is little doubt should he be elected to represent this senatorial district that the best interests of the people will be carefully and ably looked after.
JOHN LOWRY.
John Lowry, one of the promising young business men of Fairland, where he has been extensively engaged in buying grain since 1896, was born in the county of Tipperary, Ireland, in 1858, a son of John and Margaret ( Nolan) Lowry, who were born in the same county. Ilis father settled in Champaign county on a farm in the vicinity of Fairland in 1871, and was engaged in farming up to the time of his death, in 1874.
John Lowry was reared and educated in the country and was engaged in farming up to the time he became engaged in his present business, then becoming a member of the firm of Lowry & Hanson. They bny on an average about five hundred thousand bushels of corn and oats an- mally. He is now building a new elevator and making other improvements in connection with his business.
In 1887 our subject was married to Miss Nelly Ryan, a native of Will county, Illinois. They have five children: Maggie, George, Kittie, Maud and Paul. Mr. Lowry's business interests at Fairland are gradually extending. and he is becoming to be recognized as one of
the village's most successful business men. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land two miles and a quarter north of town, one hundred and sixty acres in Edwards county, Kansas, and several houses in the village. He is public spirited and generally lends a helping hand to any cause or enterprise which is intended to add to the material, moral and social interests of Fairland.
JAMES W. HANCOCK.
James W. Hancock, editor and founder of the Newman Record, was born in Champaign county, Ohio. August 18, 1839. The family from which he is descended is of English ori-
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gin and for many years resided in Patrick county. Virginia. His grandfather, Major Hancock, was born in this county in March. 1792. lle married Mrs. Elizabeth Adams, whose maiden name was Fuson, also a native of Patrick county. Directly after their mar- riage, in 1812, they emigrated to Ohio and set- tled in Champaign county. Their journey from Virginia was made on horseback, and when they arrived they found themselves pioneers in the wilderness.
Our subject's father. William Hancock, was born in Ohio, February 10, 1819, and spent the early part of his life in that state. He grew 10 manhood on the farm, attending school part of the time, and at the age of nineteen years and seven months he was married to Susanna Stier, who was born in Ohio, but belonged to a Vir- ginia family. His marriage occurred Septem- ber 16, 1838, and soon afterward he emigrated to Illinois, coming to the neighborhood of Brushy Fork, where he rented land of a M ;. Coffey. In 1843 he entered forty acres of land
near the Pleasant Grove church, and a short time afterward bought an additional forty acres. lle remained on this land until 1845 and then rented a farm a mile west of New- man, where he resided for two years. After occupying Col. Hopkins' farm, southwest of Newman, he, in 1849, bought of the govern- ment eighty acres and removed onto the land in December, 1850. Tracts he added later com- prised several hundred acres. He died in 1802. fle was in politics a Whig and later a Republican, and was a delegate to the conven- tion which nominated Gov. Oglesby. He was first elected justice of the peace at Camargo in 1847. He was a member of the first board of county officers for Douglas county, and filled the offices of treasurer and assessor. On the establishment of the state board for the equali- zation of assessments, in 1867, he was appoint- ed a member from the ninth congressional dis- trict, composed of the counties of Coles, Dong las, Champaign. Vermilion, Iroquois and Ford. In 1868 he was elected by the people in the same district to the same office for a term of four years. Cornelius Stier, father of Susanna Stier, was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was for five years in the regular army. He was reared near Baltimore. Major Hancock, above mentioned, was a minister in the New Light Christian church.
James W. Hancock attended the ordinary schools in the neighborhood of Brushy Fork. residing with his father on the farm. He fol- lowed farming and teaching school up to the time he located in Newman in 1861. and from 1874 to 1879 was cashier of the Newman Bank. lle was married April 9, 1860, to Miss Amy Shute, and to their marriage have been born six children : William L., Lulu F., Isaac 1 ...
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James P., Howard L. and Everett H. Mr. Hancock ,in 1896, founded the Newman Rec- ord, an independent newspaper, which has a circulation of about six hundred. From 1893 to 1806 he served as police magistrate of New- man. He owns two hundred acres of land in Newman township, besides town property. On December 4, 1898, he, in conjunction with W. T. Summers, W. D. Goldman, S. C. Hicks and Mesdames Goldman, Moffitt and Vance, organized the First church of Christ, Scientist, of Newman, Illinois.
JOHN HAWKINS.
John Hawkins, another of the Hawkins brothers, and an ex-soldier of the Civil war, residing in the town of Newman, is a native of
Pickaway county, Ohio, where he was born November 30, 1828 ( for ancestry see sketches of Samuel and J. M. Hawkins). 11
In 1859 he was united in marriage to Miss Iva, a daughter of Cornelius Hopkins, who was one of the earliest settlers of Newman town- ship. To their marriage were born twelve chil- dren, of whom but seven survive, viz. : Marion : Cora Ann, who is the wife of Samuel Johnson, of West Ridge: Emma Alice; Rosetta Estella: Ida Lucretia; Wiley Sherman and Harrison Sylvester. In 1862 Mr. Hawkins volunteered in the same company in Newman as his brother, Samuel, but he did not meet the same fate at the first day's battle as did his brother Samuel at Chickamauga. In all he was out three years and has scarcely seen a well day since. Mr. Hawkins' wife died December 30. 1890, in the fifty-seventh year of her age, and in the fall of 1894 he removed from the farm to Newman. llis wife was a daughter of Cor- nelins Hopkins, who was born May 10, 1818. and who wedded Rachel F. Albin; both are buried at the Wesley Chapel. Two of his sons, Jeremiah and George, were soldiers in the war of the Rebellion.
CLARENCE L. WYETH.
Clarence L. Wyeth, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Wyeth, was born in Tuscola July 27, 1860, and died September 7, 1893. His boy- hood days were passed in this city and on his father's farm he developed into manhood. In 1882 he was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Atwell, of Atwood. Seven children were the result of this union, who together with the wife have suffered such an irreparable loss.
Mr. Wyeth was one of the best financial
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managers in the county. He possessed remark- able business sagacity and his great brain force would have been felt in commercial centers had
he been thrown among the foremost financiers of the country. At the time of his death he was probably worth one hundred thousand dollars. and the future with all of its possibilities and opportunities was before him.
cidents which marked the carly frontier life, when the present Commonwealth of Kentucky formed a county of Virginia. He was born in Virginia, and about the breaking out of the Revolutionary war resided in Kentucky. The maiden name of his second wife was Sarah Bryant. she being a member of the family which gave the name to the fort known as Bryant's Station, celebrated in the anuals of the early history of Kentucky. Charles Rice took part with Daniel Boone in the adventures which have made historic the home of the carly pioneers. He bought of Boone a tract of land in what is now Fayette county, and settled there. Boone subsequently lost nearly all of his estates in Kentucky through his carelessness in neglecting to record and prove his title, and among the tracts which changed ownership in consequence was the one occupied by Charles Rice. One thousand and six hundred acres
MARTIN RICE.
Martin Rice, who was, up to the time of his death, in 1883. prominently identified with the interests and growth of the county, came to Illinois in 18449, and to what is now Camargo township in 1853. He was descended from old Virginia and Kentucky families, and his grand- father. Charles Rice, was a pioneer in the were subsequently confirmed to Boone, and of this, in compensation for his loss, he gave Rice wilderness of Kentucky, a companion of Daniel Boone, and a participant in the romantic in- a portion lying within the presents limits of
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Madison county, and here Charles Rice lived to the close of his eventful life. He had borne the hardships and dangers of frontier life, had been through the memorable siege of Bryant's Station, and taken part in many other conflicts with the Indians of that day.
Martin Rice was born in Madison county, Kentucky, July 28, 1822. He was brought up on his father's farm, where he remained until after reaching his majority. He at- tended subscription school, which was of the rudest character, but he diligently improved his time and formed the foundation for a sound, practical business education. In the summer he spent the time working on the farm, and on November 16, 1843, he married Mary Ann Adams, who was a native of the same town in Kentucky. After his marriage Mr. Rice took up his residence on a farm belonging to his father, where he lived for about four years, when he removed to Illinois. This was in No- vember, 1840. He settled in Coles county, nine miles east of Charleston. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he lived for four years. He found this tract too small to suit the plans according to which he proposed to carry on agricultural operations, so in the fall of 1853 he disposed of his land in Coles county and removed farther porth. The place in which he settled is now the home of his son, Eugene. Land here was cheaper, the location better and the soil richer than on his former farm. The neighborhood had but few residences. There were some set- tlements in the neighborhood of Camargo, but with one exception no improvement had been made for eight miles west until the timber bordering on the Okaw was reached. As the country settled up Mr. Rice became recog-
nized as one of the leaders in the community. Ile was deeply interested in the formation of Douglas county, and did all in his power to make the measure a success, there being con- siderable opposition at the time in some sections in Coles county, from which the territory was taken. After the new county was organized he was a member of the first political conven- tion ever held in it. The convention, which placed in nomination the candidates chosen as the first board of county officers, was held in a temporary board shanty on the farm of Col. McCarty, two and a half miles east of Tuscola. The men composing the ticket were nominated and elected irrespective of party. In 1869, the second year after the township organizations were effected, Mr. Rice was elected the first su- pervisor of Camargo township, and re-elected in 1873, 1874 and 1875. He also took a deep interest in the cause of the common schools. Ir the early day he was a Whig in politics, and cast his first vote for Henry Clay, and later be- came a Republican. His first wife died in 1869. His second marriage occurred October 25, 1871. to Mary Jane Caraway, a native of Virginia, and whose father's family came to Vermilion county from that state in 1834. Of his six children, three are living: Engene, Josephine (now Mrs. Goff, of Tuscola), and Martin, who resides on part of the old home- stead in Camargo township.
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