USA > Illinois > Douglas County > Historical and biographical record of Douglas County, Illinois > Part 19
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R. R. THOMPSON.
R. R. Thompson, one of the most hospit- able and clever gentlemen in the county, was born in Edgar county, Illinois, May 22, 1837,
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and is a son of Andrew E. Thompson, who was a native of Scotland. His mother was Eliza- beth Simpson, before her marriage, and was
born in England. and married in Fredericks- burg, Virginia. To them eight children were horn, of whom only three are living, one in Kansas and the others in Oklahoma.
Mr. Thompson was reared on the farm and has always been engaged in that occupation. In 1858 he was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Hardwick. To this marriage were born three children: George D .: H. V .; and Lenie, who died when ten months old. Mrs. Thompson chied in 1863. She was born in Kentucky. In 1864 Mr. Thompson married for his second wife Miss Sallie A. Lain, who was born in Lin- coln county, in the same state. Mr. Thompson has been a consistent member of the Methodist !episcopal church at Murdock and other places for forty years. In 1898 he was the Democratic nominee for the office of sheriff, but the Repub- lican majority was too strong for him, and he
was defeated by a majority of five hundred and forty-one votes.
John Simpson, his maternal grandfather, was a native of England and emigrated to Vir- ginia, thence to Illinois, and died in Edgar county.
E. C. FINNEY.
E. C. Finney, a retired grain merchant and one of the supervisors of Tuscola township. was born near the village of Annapolis, Park county, Indiana, April 4. 1836. From 1869 to 1891 he was extensively engaged in the grain business at Tuscola, but in the latter year he sold his interest to his partner, Charles L. McMasters. His father was Robert Finney, who was a native of North Carolina, and who
emigrated to Indiana in the year 1844. Robert was a son of Joseph Finney, who came to this
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country in its early history and participated in he lived for the remainder of his life. Two many of the conflicts for liberty. His mother, of his sons, Cyrus A. and Marvin A. were in the war, both having enlisted before they were twenty-one. The death of Benjamin F. Coy- kendall occurred in the spring of 1889. whose maiden name was Malinda Hunt, was a daughter of Nathan Hunt; she was born in North Carolina and moved to Indiana when but a child. Robert Finney died in Indiana in 1861, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and his mother in Tuscola, Illinois, October 16, 1897, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years.
Mr. Finney has been identified with the business interests of Tuscola since 1868 and is an upright and universally respected citizen. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
D. F. COYKENDALL.
D. F. Coykendall, whose death occurred in Chicago, December 16, 1892, was born near Brushy Fork September 8, 1850, at a time when the county was in its primitive state, and was there reared to manhood. He was a son of Benjamin F. Coykendall, whose ancestors were in all probability among the emigrants from Holland who in an early day settled in New Jersey, the descendants of whom now comprise some of the best families of that state. William, the father of Benjamin F. Coyken- dall, was born in that state and married Mary Van Ziekiel, whose family had sprung from the same stock. Benjamin F. Coykendall was born in Tompkins county, New York, near the town of Ithaca. On reaching his majority he came west and located in Wisconsin, and in 1847 sold out his property in Wisconsin and located in what is now Douglas county, where
On November 14, 1878, D. F. Coykendall was married to Miss Francis E. Cash, a daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Cash, of Newman. To this marriage was born one child, a daugli- ter, Lenoria. For two years before Mr. Coy-
kendall removed to Chicago he resided in New- inan, while his life previous had been spent on the farm near Brushy Fork. After his re- moval to Chicago he became associated in busi- ness with two firms, the Columbia Manufact- uring & Supply Company and John Hosbury & Company, live stock commission merchants. He was possessed of more than ordinary busi- ness ability, combined with genuine integrity and uprightness, and was very highly respected by all with whom he had dealings. He was devoted to his family and his death was a great loss to both wife and daughter. He was buried
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m the Newman cemetery He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, but was not a mem- ber of any church. He always did his part willingly in supporting the church and at- tended the same.
W. P. BOYD.
W. P. Boyd, who was for many years a prominent druggist and chemist of Arcola, was born in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, January 0, 1847. and was a son of Wilson P. and Susan
1. Boyd. His father was a prominent lawyer and served in both branches of the Kentucky Legislature.
W. P. Boyd received his early education at the old Bethel school in Kentucky, and sub- sequently attended the university at Blooming- ton, Illinois. In 1875 he was married to Miss
Emma Wyatt Hamilton, of Lexington, Ken- tucky, a step-daughter of Alexander Hamil- ton ( her real parents being Edward, and Anie ( Smith ) Wyatt, natives of England). To Mr. and Mrs. Boyd were born four children, namely: William 11., deceased, Wyatt, Anna M. and Wilson P'.
In 1867 Mr. Boyd commenced the drug business for himself in Arcola and until 1884 had the only exclusive drug store in the county. lle was a successful business man and re- mained in charge of the store until a few weeks before his death, November 17, 1899, when he disposed of it to A. Magnusson. He was one of the first movers in the state for the organiza- tion of suitable legislation for the elevation of the drug trade in the state. He was an active worker in the Illinois Pharmaceutial Society, and was president of that body one year and a delegate to the national convention in 1884. Never in all her history has AArcola known a more public spirited man, a better leader in every progressive movement, or a truer syn- pathizer in every just and noble cause. He held many positions of trust and honor, such as member of the school board, alderman, chief of the fire department, and chairman of the board of supervisors. In offices he re- garded the trust and the duties devolving upon him as sacred, and acted accordingly. In pol- ities he was a Democrat, and he served his party faithfully and conscientiously.
Ile was a member of several lodges, but allied his interests more closely with the Ma- sons that any other order. The poor and needy have lost a true friend, and one from whom they had learned to expect sympathy and aid. Never a Christmas passed by but that every poor family received something
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from him, and his charity was not confined to Arcola alone, but reached for miles around. He was a lover of children, and the child learned to expect some token of remembrance from him, nor was it ever disappointed. His life furnishes us many expressions of good which show the real character of the man. His life was made up of little things well and faithfully performed. But after all it is the little things that give us the true index to the real character of the man. His home rela tions were the most pleasant, and he remained true and devoted to his home fireside and altar until the close of his career. The town has lost a foremost man, the lodges a faithful member, the home a true head, the poor a sure and helping hand, and the workl one of her noblest men.
J. P. WOOLFORD.
J. P. Woolford, merchant and grain buyer at Galton and one of the most successful busi- ness men in the county, was born in Butler county, Ohio, February 18, 1855. His parents were Daniel and Elizabeth ( Echert ) Woolford, who were natives of the same county. His grandfather Echert was born in West Virginia, and in about 1812 removed to Butler county, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Wool- ford, was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and moved from there to Butler county, Ohio. Daniel Woolford came to this county in March, 1869, and located on a farm two miles from Arcola.
Since 1893 J. P. Woodford has resided at Galton, and was first engaged in grain buying for R. & J. Irvin, of Tuscola, succeeding M. S. Filson at this place. In 1894 be built an elevator of twenty thousand bushels capacity and has since become one of the most successful grain dealers in the county.
In 1879 Mr. Woolford was united in mar- riage to Miss Carrie Kelso, who resided one mile south of Arcola, and is a daughter of William Kelso, who is now living in Tazewell
county, this state. They have three children : Roscoe M. Alfred J. and Samuel M., all at home with their parents. For the past four years Mr. Woolford has been buying grain for himself, and in connection does a general mer- chandising business. Ile buys about one hun- dred thousands bushels of grain annually. In political opinion he is a stanch Republican, but his wife is a Democrat and is the postmistress of the village.
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RICHARD C. HAMMETT.
Richard Clyde Hammett, the second son of James R. Hammett, whose sketch and portrait are found on another page, was born on the okl
Hammett homestead in Camargo township. September 9. 1871, and was principally edu- cated at the State University and a business col- lege at Indianapolis. He has always been en- gaged in farming and owns four hundred and twenty acres of finely improved land, a part of which is the old Hammett homestead.
In 1895 he was married to Miss Ginerva Barnett, of the village of Camargo, and has two children : Ruth and Bessie. Mr. Hammett is a member of the Camargo Blue Lodge and Tuscola Chapter and Commandery of Ma- sonry. Mr. Hammett is an intelligent young man and conducts his farming on business principles. He is at present remodeling his farm residence, three miles north of the village of Camargo, and when finished it will rank with the most commodious and beautiful homes of the county.
JASPER S. RECORDS.
Jasper S. Records, who is one of the most prominent tenant farmers in the county and who was born two miles north of the village of Bourbon, January 31. 1856, is a son of John Records, who settled in that neighborhood in about the year 1850. The latter was a native of Kentucky, where he was born August 18. 1800, and died in July. 1803. His wife was Hanora O'Roark, who was born near Staunton, Virginia, and whose parents were both born in Ireland. J. S. Records' paternal great-grandfather, with five brothers.came from Scotland and settled in Kentucky, and were contemporaries of Boone and Kenton. He was killed by the Indians. John Records was a carpenter in early life and later turned his at- tention to farming, at which he continued up until the time of his death. While working at his trade he built the first frame church in In- dianapolis.
Mr. Records has for the past thirteen years sticcessfully superintended the cultivation of the
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farm he now resides on (owned by William Iles ), on which place he plowed the first furrow and laid the first tile. He has been twice mar- ried; first to Miss Elnora O'Brian, in 1879, the latter's death occurring in November, 1895. Her home was at Parkville, Champaign coun- ty. They had two children, both of whom are living: Bessie and Lloyd. His second wife was Miss Rachael Froman, of Switzerland county, Indiana. They have one child, Louise Iles. Mr. Records is a member of the Odd Fellows, Home Forum, the Court of Honor and the Modern Woodmen, and is an inde- pendent Republican. He is well informed on the topics of the day, 's public spirited and is a man of marked individuality.
LINES L. PARKER.
Lines L. Parker, the subject of this sketch, was born in Brown county, Ohio, Sep- tember 1. 1832. At the age of five years he removed with his parents to Vermilion county, Illinois. Ilis father, John W. Parker, and his mother, Hannah Parker ( nce Pangburn ), were both born in Brown county, Ohio, and after October, 1837, lived in Vermilion coun- ty, Illinois, where they died. John W. Parker was sheriff of Vermilion county just preceding the Civil war, and after the war he was county superintendent of schools for two terms. Lines L. Parker went into the war in 1861 as a mem- ber of Company D. Twenty-fifth Illinois Infan- try. He was soon commissioned a second lieutenant and after the battle of Pea Ridge was promoted to first lieutenant, and afterward
commissioned captain of Company E, One Hundred and Fiftieth Illinois Infantry. His final muster out of the service was at Atlanta, Georgia. January 16, 1866. At the next No- vember election he was elected sheriff of Ver- milion county, Illinois, and after the expira- tion of his office, in November, 1868, he re- moved to Douglas county, Illinois, and lived upon his farm for eleven years, when he was elected county treasurer of Douglas county, and was afterward re-elected for a two years'
term. At the expiration of his term of office he retired to his farin, where he and his faith- ful wife have lived for the last thirteen years. Ilis wife, Mary A. Parker . (nce West), was united to him in marriage on the 12th of April, 1855. She was born in Fountain county. In- (liana, August 28, 1837, and as the fruits of this marriage there were born to them five chil- dren, all living and settled in life near home: Alice is the widow of Alexander E. Fullerton, and now lives near Hugo, Illinois; John W. is a farmer in Bowdre township, near Hugo;
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Oliver Lincoln is a grain dealer in Tuscola, Ilinois; Hannah O. lives with her husband one mile west of her parents' home, and Hattie lives with her husband within hailing distance of her father and mother.
Mr. Parker is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, also of the Masonic fraternity. He owns three hundred and thirty acres of land, which he has divided among his children, who live upon or manage the part they expect to get at their father's death. Mr. Par- ker and his wife are members of the Christian church at Hugo, Hlinois, and are liberal con- tributors to its support.
JAMES M. GOODSPEED.
James M. Goodspeed, a resident of Tus- cola, Ilinois, and who has for many years been a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church, was born in the city of Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, June 22, 1845. Ilis parents were S. S. and Anna ( Fish) Good- speed. The former was born in Essex county, New York, and his mother in Vermont. His grandfather Goodspeed was a sollier in the war of 1812 and for his services drew a pen- sion from the goverment up to the time of his death.
During the Civil war the subject of this sketch enlisted in the services of his country four times. On June 4, 1862, he enlisted in the Sixty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers and served four months. After being hon- orably discharged he enlisted in the Twenty- sixth Illinois Volunteers, but was rejected.
On March 4, 1804, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ilinois Regiment and became sergeant in Company .1. After serving four months and twenty-four days he was honorably discharged. When the gov- ernment called for men to serve for one year, he enlisted again, but was rejected on account of a disabled arm. He is now a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Rev. Goodspeed was reared and educated at Urbana, Illinois, and after leaving the schools of that city he entered the University of Illinois, where he attended as a student for two years. He taught school near Urbana in 1869 and 1870, and then entered Garrett Bibi- cal Institute, at Evanston, Illinois, where he prepared himself for the duties of the ministry. lle joined the Illinois conference of the Meth- odist Episcopal church September 30. 1873, and served the following charges: Tuscola circuit, two years; Ludlow, two years; Catlin, two years ; Camargo, three years; Fairmount, two years; Georgetown, three years; Homer,
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three years, and was sent from Homer to Ar- cola. After serving the church here for one year, on account of ill health in his family, he, in 1892, located at Tuscola. From that date until the present he has continued in the active ministry, serving such charges as he could and live at Tuscola.
April 14. 1875, he was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca, a daughter of D. Il. Jessee, who is an enterprising stock raiser and shipper residing near Villa Grove. They have two children : Wilbur F., who is a graduate of the Tuscola High School, and Edith, ten years of age. Rev. Goodspeed owns a valuable farm of two hundred acres in Douglas county and other property. He has preached twenty-six years in this state, is an earnest and able speaker and is highly respected by his neigh- bors and friends.
JOHN SKINNER.
further ancestry see sketch of his brother, Isaac Skinner ).
John Skinner grew up on the farm and has always been identified with farming interests. lle has held the office of township commis- sioner, and has always identified himself with the best interests of Newman and Newman township. He owns three hundred and sev- enty acres of valuable and well-tiled land, which comes almost to the corporation line of Newman.
John Skinner, a retired and highly re- spected citizen of Newman, was born in Ver- In 1859 our subject was married to Miss Ilannah J., a daughter of Dr. Ringland, one of the first physicians of Newman, who emigrated from Pennsylvania to the neighborhood of Kansas, Edgar county, later removed to New- man in 1857, and thence back to Kansas, where he died. The death of the wife of our subject occurred within six weeks after her marriage to Mr. Skinner; he has remained unmarried ever since. million county, Indiana, April 4, 1831, and is a son of Joseph and Mary ( Gaston) Skinner. His father came to the county in 1839 as a renter, but afterward owned a tract of land of eight hundred acres. The city of Newman is located on part of this land. He took stock to the value of four hundred acres of land and one thousand dollars cash in the construction of the I. D. & W. R. R., from which he realized nothing. lle was an enlisted soldier in the In 1862 he volunteered in the Seventy- Black Hawk war, and died in 1857 (for ninth Illinois Infantry, and participated in the
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battles of Stone River, Liberty Gap and Chick- amanga. lle and his brother Anson were captured at the latter place on September 19, 1863, and were placed in Libby prison for three days. They were placed in the Pemberton building, just across the street from Libby, and kept there for six weeks. They were after- ward taken to Danville, Virginia, and kept in an old tobacco factory through the winter of 1863 and 1864 with sixteen hundred other prisoners, and were made to sleep on the bare floor without bedding or lights in the building. They were taken from this place in April, 1864, and sent to Andersonville, Georgia. This prison contained about twenty three acres, be- ing enclosed with logs standing on end, mak- ing a wall around about fourteen feet high. This prison had about thirty-five thousand men in it. In September, 1864, they were taken to Charleston, South Carolina, and remained there four weeks, thence to Florence Stockade, in February, 1865. They were kept prisoners here for about four months, when they were removed to Goldsboro, South Carolina, and back to Wilmington, where they were mus- tered out after enduring a prison life of seven- teen months and nine days. In these prisons they were reduced in flesh by starvation to less than half their natural weight. Mr. Skinner was with his regiment all the time after being mustered in until he was captured, excepting two weeks sickness at Stone River. After be- ing captured he was ten days on his way to Libby, where general starvation began. He issued rations to a squad of twenty men about one year. There were seventeen members of his company captured at the same time and he had charge of them in prison and kept them all in his squad except Lieutenant Albin, who was
wounded and taken from this place. Joseph Harvey and William Ritter were left sick at Richmond, Virginia: Ritter died and Harvey was paroled. D. N. Howard, Aaron Briton and Wm. Stillwell, of his company, died in Ander- sonville. These were all that died of the sey- enteen who were captured.
After they left Danville, Virginia, there was never a vessel of any kind issued for them with which to eat, drink or cook. All they had was old cans that they could pick up that had been thrown away.
Our subject got hokl of an old iron hoop and made a saw and a pocket knife, these being the only edge tools he had. With these he began making buckets out of cordwood. He could make one bucket a day and sold them for from one dollar to one dollar and a half. This was his occupation while in Andersonville. While he was in the Florence stockades he mended shoes and made from two dollars to two dollars and fifty cents per day. At Dan- ville he got a job of keeping the back yard clean, for which he received four rations per day: he divided these rations with his com- pany and by so doing saved the lives of six or eight men. In November, 1864, he went out to the commissary, where he had plenty to cat. taking his squad along, besides several mem - bers of other companies. While he was in An- dersonville prison he was starved down to the weight of eighty-five pounds, but when he lelt the commissary at Florence, in February, 1865, he had goten back to his natural weight, one hundred and ninety-seven and one-half pounds, so it can be seen how starvation had reduced him. He was mustered out of service June 5, 1865, at the city of Springfield, Illinois.
Anson Skinner's death occurred in Feb-
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ruary, 1896. William, another brother, now residing in Newman, was a member of the same regiment ; they were all sergeants. John Skinner's friends are legion in the community in which he resides. Ile lives a quiet, con- tented life, and enjoys the highest confidence of all who know him.
JOHN V. JORDAN.
John V. Jordan, one of the old and well known of the early settlers now living and re- siding in Murdock township, settled in what is now the confines of Douglas county in the fall of 1854. He is a son of Edward Jordan, who was born in Virginia and reared in Ken-
tucky, a son of Samuel Jordan, who was one of the pioneer settlers of that state. Edward Jordan wedded Christina Van Duyn, who was
born in New Jersey and was a daughter of Mr. Jordan's parents emigrated to Vermillion county. Indiana, where he was born in the year 1830. Here he was reared and received John and Rebecca Van Duyn. In about 1823 the meagre education obtainable in the early pioneer schools of that day. After arriving in Douglas county, he entered first an eighty- acre tract of land, and soon after bought an- other eighty-acre tract, which was second hand. For that which he entered he paid one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and the other at three dollars and seventy-five cents per acre. He now owns in all three hundred and fifty acres. Ile has only recently donated one acre to the Fairland Cemetery Company. He has always taken an active interest in com- inon school education and was school trustee and treasurer before he became a voter in Douglas county.
In January, 1855. he was united in mar- riage to Miss Lydia C. Lemon, who was a na- tive of Lawrence county, Indiana, and a daugh- ter of M. B. and Eliza Lemon. To their mar- riage were born six children: Lemon, Ella, Edward, John, Lucy and Dell. Lucy died in 1888, at the age of twenty-one years.
John V. Jordan, before the formation of the Republican party, was a Whig, and since the latter party went down he has been a Republi- can. When he first came to the locality in which he now resides, among those who had come previously were Robert E. Carmack, who was born in Tennessee and located here in 1852: Samuel and James Wishard and Jacob Caufman ; also Samuel A. Brown, all coming from Vermillion county, Indiana; Rev. Jones and Arthur Bradshaw were the early preachers.
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N. C. LYRLA.
N. C. Lyrla, of Tuscola, a young lawyer of brilliant prospects in the future, was ad- mitted to practice in the Douglas county courts. in 1896, having previously prepared himself for the law under the tutelage of the late llon.
Charles W. Woolverton. He was born October 4, 1875, in Champaign county, Illinois, and is the son of Il. J. and Rose ( Christy ) Lyrla, who were natives respectively of South Carolina and Ohio. His father is a tubular well driller by trade and resides in Tuscola. llis grandfather Christy was born in Ohio and served in the war of the Rebellion.
N. C. Lyrla was graduated from the Tus- cola high school in the class of 1804. He takes an active interest in the success of the Dem- ocratie party and was the party's nomince for county judge in 1898, but withdrew before the election. In the legal profession he is rap- idly fighting his way to the front ; he is a young man of excellent good judgment, is a good judge of law and is engaged in some of the most important cases that come before the Douglas county courts.
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