USA > Illinois > Christian County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Christian County, Volume II > Part 69
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On March 9, 1874, Mr. Pope was married to Druzilla Black of Blue Mound, Ill., a daughter of George Black, a noted farmer and stock- man. Mr. and Mrs. Pope have had nine chil- dren, as follows : George R. who was born September 7. 1876, married Nettie Kessler, two children,-Clarence E. and Marjorie Elizabethi, and he works on a farm at Irving, Ill .; Sarah Bell who was born February 22, 1878, married C. E. Wagoner, a farmer, and they have three children,-Guy, Gladys and Ralph ; Edward T. who was born June 22, 1880, married Ellen West, one child,-Beulah Idola, and he lives at Milwaukee, Wis .; Etta Ola who was born August 1, 1882, married Oscar Freeman, lives at Decatur, Ill .; Lula Margie who died in in- fancy ; Luella Dot who was born November 15. 1887, is at home; Christopher Guy who was born December 7, 1889, is at home : Lettie Maud who was born September 19, 1891, and married Othello Smith: and Lavina Druzilla who was born May 23, 1894. Mrs. Pope and one daughter belong to the Presbyterian Church, while four daughters belong to the Methodist Church.
PORTER, John, now deceased, was formerly one of the prominent farmers of Buckhart Township, where his operations formed an im- portant factor in the agricultural interests of that section. He was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, in September, 1836, a son of Basil and Mary (Cray) Porter, both natives of Ohio.
Leaving Ohio for Illinois in November, 1864. John Porter drove overland to the vicinity of Mt. Zion, Buckhart Township, where he spent four years. He then bought eighty acres of land on section 26, Buckhart Township, near Prairie Lea Church, and later added another eighty acres. Here he spent the remainder of his life, dying March 16, 1907, aged sixty-eight years and six months. When he located in Buckhart Township it was but little developed, Springfield being the nearest market, and he sold his corn during those early days for twenty cents per bushel, and hanled it to Springfield. In time he made a fine property out of his wild . land, erected a modern residence, where his widow still lives, and other buildings, and was
recognized as one of the very successful farmers of the township.
In March, 1859, Mr. Porter was married to Miss Margaret Lytle, who died the following year, leaving a daughter, now Mrs. Margaret Crane of Akron, Ohio, who has the following children : Cecil, Edna. Elgimond, Ruth and Dorothy. On January 15, 1863, he was again married, this time to Miss Mary J. Young, a daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Frederick) Young, and they had five children, namely : Jennie May, who married James Martin of Tay- lorville, has the following children, Bessie, Dwight. Nellie, Henry and Russell ; Emma I., who married Isaac Martin, died December 25, 1891. leaving two sons, Roy and Harry, and one daughter, Florence; Lucretia, who married Will- iam Bradley, died December 6, 1893; an un- named infant; Edgar Albertus, who died No- vember 19, 1910, leaving one daughter, Blanch B., he having been married to Lela (Baughman) Porter, a daughter of Edward Baughman of Christian County. The great-grandchildren are as follows: Winifred and Anna, daughters of Cecil, and Margaret, daughter of Edna, from his first wife ; Marcella, daughter of Roy: Berna- dine, daughter of Harry ; Clarence, Harold, Burl and Robert, the sons of Florence.
PRATER, B. K., now deceased, but for many years a very active farmer of Christian County, and an honored resident of Edinburg, was born in Warren County, Tenn., August 27. 1825, a son of Bazzel and Hannah Prater. The parents who were natives of Tennessee, left that state with their family. and coming overland to Illi- nois, located in Fayette County. They took up government land to the extent of forty acres. and when the father died he owned 600 acres. He had gained his start in life working for farmers in his native state. The mother died on the farm, and the father later married for the second time. In his later years he retired, moved to Edinburg, where he died February 15, 1901, having been a very successful man who had made everything through his own efforts.
In the early fifties. B. K. Prater left Fayette County and came to Christian County, buying land in Buckhart Township, owning at the time of his death 600 acres of land, all of which was under cultivation except sixty-five acres in Tay- lorville. In 1900 he moved to Edinburg, and there died at the age of seventy-five years. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religious faith he was a member of the Christian Church.
In 1844 Mr. Prater was married (first) to Miss Nancy Isobel, and they had six children, namely : Samuel. Martha. Regent. Tabitha, George and Mary. After the death of his first wife. Mr. Prater was married (second) to Miss Amanda Hill, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Massy ) Hill, who was born in Shelby County, Ill. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hill were born in Ken- tucky, and came to Illinois at an early day. making the trip overland to Shelby County. Ill., where they took up government land and lived upon their farm until death claimed them.
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Mr. and Mrs. Prater had six children, namely : Artemas, Cicus Herschel, Edgar, who died at the age of ten years, and Viola and Ernest. Mrs. Prater continues to reside in her comfort- able home where she is surrounded by the com- forts her husband's forethought provided for her.
PRATER, Judge Charles A., county judge of Christian County, and formerly one of the dis- tinguished members of the bar, is correctly numbered among the eminent men of this sec- tion of the state. He was born in Fayette County, Ill., January 21, 1851, a son of Elisha and Nancy C. (Watkins) Prater, natives of Ten- nessee and Illinois, respectively. The father came to Illinois in young manhood, and engaged in farming in Fayette County until 1861, when he moved to Christian County, and was here en- gaged in farming until his death, which oc- curred in 1887. The mother survived until October, 1911, when she too passed away,
Judge Prater attended the common schools of Christian County, and then was engaged in teaching school for nine years. In the mean- while he read law in the offices of several at- torneys, and was admitted to the bar in 1882. From 1882 to 1910, he was engaged in the active practice of his profession at Edinburg, Ill., and from 1880 to 1888 was a justice of the peace of that village. A strong Democrat, he was the nominee of his party for county judge, and was elected to that office at a special election held January 22, 1910, and re-elected in the fall of 1910 at the regular election. At the expira- tion of his term of office in 1914, he was re- elected, and is the present incumbent. During the period he has been on the bench he has dis- charged the duties of his high office with dis- tinguished capability, and his rulings have been sustained in nearly every instance by the higher courts.
On October 17, 1877, Judge Prater was mar- ried to Martha J. Finley of Edinburg, a daugh- ter of Samuel and Tabitha A. Finley, natives of Illinois. Judge and Mrs. Prater have five chil- dren, as follows: Lyman O., who was born August 16, 1890; Roscoe A., who was born August 6. 1894; Ida Marie, who was born De- cember 14, 1896; and Bertha Helen, who was born September 12, 1900. The Christian Church holds his membership. In fraternal matters he is a Thirty-second Degree Mason, and a mem- ber of the Eastern Star. He also belongs to tlie Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, the Elks and the Moose, and is very popular in all.
PRATER, Thomas Jefferson, a retired farmer of ample means living at Edinburg, is an example of what can be accomplished by hard work and intelligent economy. He was born in Warren County, Tenn., October 15, 1832, a son of Basil K. and Sarah (Murrell) Prater. The parents were born, reared and married in Ten- nessee. but desiring to found a new home, they came overland to Illinois in 1835, and took up government land in Fayette County. The oxen
which had drawn their wagons across country were used to plow their unbroken land. Here they spent the remainder of their lives, and died upon their farm, the father being a Demo- crat and a member of the Christian Church.
Thomas J. Prater spent his boyhood in Fayette County, and as his father died when he was a small boy, and his mother remarried, her second husband being James Davidson, he was thrown upon his own resources, and after his mother's death, he went to live with his half brother, Elijah Prater, with whom he remained until he attained his majority. Leaving his brother he went to work for Mr. Kirk in 1851, for $8 per month, his duties being caring for the stock. The second summer he was paid $15 per month, and he remained with Mr. Kirk until the fall of 1853, when he began working on the Illinois Central Railroad, grading the road bed. His work con- sisted in holding scrapers in the vicinity of Ram- sey Station, then known as Shantytown. In the fall of 1854 he rented the Daniel DeCamp farm, and during the fall of that year sowed wheat on the present site of Edinburg. Ile was also em- ployed by Dr. Abell, but in the fall of 1855 bought his first land, comprising forty acres east of Edinburg, and this he began breaking in the spring of 1856 with four yoke of oxen. Later he sold this little farm and in 1860 bought eighty- five acres of land in Buckhart Township, to which he added until he had 164 acres. He moved on his second farm in the spring of 1861, and had some hard work before he had it cleared of the timber and brush, but he lived on it until 1904, when he retired, moved to Edinburg, and since then has resided in his present comfortable home. In addition to owning it he owns some other valuable city property.
In 1864 Mr. Prater enlisted for service during the Civil War, in Company F, Forty-third Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, and was stricken down with fever at Little Rock, Ark., and nearly died from its effects. On account of disability, he was honorably discharged and returned home. While treading out wheat with three horses. he received an injury from the kick of one of the horses which resulted in the loss of his left eye during his boyhood.
During the spring of 1857 Mr. Prater was married to Miss Lucetta Casey, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Casey, natives of Fayette County. Mr. and Mrs. Prater became the par- ents of the following children : Thomas B., now deceased, married Hester Halford. They had eight children, Floy, Ellis, Arizona, Cleo, Hallie, Dayton, Verna and Lila, and Cleo married Frank Martin and they have two children, Vollie and an infant ; Sarah E., who is deceased ; John C., who married Zella Easley, issue-Gail, Fern, who married Lois Hunsley, Veda and Paul; Traphenia L .. who married Edward Wolfe, has'one daughter, Marjorie : Minnie B., who is now keeping house for her father; Fred, who is deceased ; William D., who married Cora Prater, has three children, Winona, Delbert and Flor- ence; Chalmer S., who married Louise Custer- man, has one son, Robert; Eugene V., who is
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deceased; and Ira, who is still living. Mrs. Prater died at the old home in Edinburg, in 1904, having been born in 1842. On Janu- ary 20, 1910, Mr. Prater was married (sec- ond) to Mrs. Anna Hough, who died October 17, 1916, aged seventy-four years. In politics Mr. Prater is a Democrat. Since 1853 he has been a member of the Christian Church. All that he now owns has been earned through his own efforts, for he started out in lite without means. He has seen many wonderful changes, and remembers very well when there was plenty of wild turkeys and other game in and about Edinburg.
PROFFITT, W. C., one of the highly esteemed men of Pana where he has held public oflice, is worthy of a place in a historical record of the character of this work. He was born in Mad- ison County, Ill., January 27, 1849, a son of Jeremiah and Elmira Proffitt. There were two sons and two daughters in the family of the parents, of whom the two sons and one daughter survive. In the fall of 1865 Mr. Proffitt came to Pana and has since made this city his home, for twenty-three years being profitably engaged in conducting a transfer business. For eight years he was constable here and has also served Pana as an alderman, and additionally has been on the police force, giving universal satisfaction in all offices because of his efficiency and faithful attendance to duty,
In 1871 Mr. Proffitt was married to Mary J. Burns, of Herrick, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Proffitt became the parents of the following children : Emma ; Charles, who was killed by a kick from a horse ; and Harry, William, Jessie, May E, and Ray, Mr. Proffitt attends the Baptist Church. and he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. A sound, reliable and responsible man he has measured up well to the standards of citizenship, and that he is appreciated by his neighbors, his frequent choice for public office clearly proves.
PROVINE, Walter M., one of the ablest attor- neys of Christian County, was born in Taylor- ville, November 23, 1873, a son of William M. and Mary (Murray) Provine. Extended men- tion of the parents appears elsewhere in this work. Walter M. Provine was graduated from the township high school in Taylorville and later entered Cornell University where he was gradu- ated with the degree of LL.B. in 1897. The same year he was admitted to the Illinois Bar. Since that time he has been continuously associated in the general practice of law with his father.
He has served as State Representative in the forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-seventh. forty- eighth and forty-ninth General Assemblies. He was chosen by the Republicans as caucus nomi- nee for speaker of the House of Representatives of the forty-ninth General Assembly, but re- fused election as a bi-partisan. During his term of service in the House his influence was strongly felt. He presided over many very im- portant committees, and is the author of some
of the most important legislation passed during his ten years service as a member of the state law making body and assisted in the shaping and passage of important and beneficial legislation. He was author of "The Meat Inspection - Law" and bills reducing the price of Supreme and Apellate Court reports. He is also the author of many important amendments to "The Practice Act" and other laws. He has served as vice president of the Illinois State Bar Association and is at present one of the board of governors. Mr. Provine was a Republican candidate for nomination for the office of attorney general of Illinois in September, 1916; and while not suc- cesstul, carried a large number of counties and made a ereditable race. He was mayor of Taylor- ville from 1913 to 1915. He is widely connected with the financial institutions of Christian Coun- ty and is vice president of the Taylorville Na- tional Bank.
In his fraternal affiliations, Mr. Provine is a Thirty-second degree Mason and a Knight Templar, a Knight of Pythias and an Elk.
PROVINE, William Martin, one of the leading members of the legal profession of Christian County, vice-president of the First National Bank of Taylorville and a veteran of the Civil War, is one of the thoroughly representative men of this section. He was born in McDonough County, Ill., August 22, 1841. The Provine fam- ily is of Scotch-Irish descent. The American members first located in Virginia before the war of the Revolution and later went to Tennessee and Kentucky, from whence the grandfather of this subject moved to territory that afterward became the state of Indiana and where William Provine, Jr., was born in 1816. In 1836 he came to McDonough County in Illinois where he lived until 18446 and then moved to Vermont, Fulton Connty. Ill., where he ran flour mills until his retirement from business, his death occuring April 21, 1903. He was married to Paulina Scott, a native of Kentucky whose ancestors after tak- ing part in the Revolutionary War became sub- stantial residents of that state. Her father moved from Kentucky to McDonough County. Ill., in the year 1835, where she was married to William Provine. Of this union eleven children were born, of whom William Martin Provine. whose name heads this sketch, was the second in order of birth, His educational training was obtained in the public schools of Fulton County, followed by a term at an academy in Macomb, Ill.
In 1862, before he was twenty-one years old. he enlisted as a private for three years in Com- pany B, Eighty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infan- try for service in the Civil War; when the company was organized he was made second sergeant, later first sergeant and on November 1, 1863, be was elected and commissioned first lieutenant. In the advance of General Sher- man's army on Atlanta in 1864, Lieutenant Pro- vine with a second detail from his regiment was sent late in the night of July 19, to close a gap that had been discovered in the picket line on
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Peach Tree Creek in front of the Third Brigade, First Division of the Fourth Army Corps. The night was dark and he was directed to wait until daylight before placing his men. Early in the morning of the 20th, as soon as it was light, he sought by a personal examination to locate the picket line of the Seventy-seventh Pennsyl- vania Volunteers with which he was to connect his line, and when passing along the bank of the creek he was taken prisoner by enemy pickets concealed behind logs and brush in the gap. He was one of the six hundred Union officers placed in the city jail and workhouse in Charleston, S. C., under fire of our batteries on Morris Island in August, 1864. He was held as a prisoner of war until March 1, 1865 when he was ex- changed. On expiration of his thirty days fur- lough at home he was detailed as Adjutant of paroled prisoners in the camp at Benton Bar- racks at St. Louis. He was honorably discharged under special orders of the war department May 15. 1865. The service of the Eighty-fourth Illi- nois Volunteers was in the army of the Cumber- land under command of Generals Rosecrans and Thomas. This regiment honorably bore its full part in the battles and campaigns of that great army ; Lieutenant Provine's service in it being continuous and without a break until he was taken prisoner July 20, 1864.
Returning home, Mr. Provine spent a short time with his father's family and then went to Albion, Mich., where he took a business course in Mayhew's Commercial College, from which he was graduated and the following two years he spent there as principal of the Theory De- partment. In 1867 Mr. Provine returned to Illi- nois and entered the law office of Palmer and Hay, of Springfield, remaining there until he was admitted to the bar. In November, 1868 be came to Taylorville and engaged in the prac- tice of the law : soon after, however, on the or- ganization of the Farmers & Mechanic's Bank of Galesburg he accepted appointment as cashier. He returned to Taylorville in 1872 and resumed the practice of his profession, in which he has continued uninterruptedly ; his son, Walter M. Provine, is associated with him and the firm has a prosperous business. Soon after the organi- zation of the First National Bank of Taylor- ville, Mr. Provine was made one of its directors, and is now its vice president. He was one of the prime movers in establishing the Township High School and for many years was president of the township board of education, serving as its first president. He is an active Republican, was a delegate to the Republican National Conven- tion in 1912, and takes pride in the fact that when a prisoner of war at Columbia, S. C., he cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- coln in his second campaign. He is a member of the G. A. R. and the Military Order Of The Loyal Legion of America, Illinois Commandery. Mr. Provine and his family are Presbyterians.
On May 11. 1869 Mr. Provine was married at Vermont, Ill., to Mary Murray, a daughter of Samuel R. Murray. Three children were born to
them, one of whom, Helen, died in infancy. Mrs. Provine passed away November 18, 1916, leaving surviving, her husband and two children, name- ly : Bertha and Walter M. Provine.
RALPH, Lewis, a prosperous retired farmer of Edinburg, and one of the representative men of Christian County, was born in Madison County, Ill., September 18, 1842, a son of Wil- liam and Lucinda Ralph. The parents were born in Tennessee where they were married, later coming overland to Illinois. After their arrival here, the father enlisted for service dur- ing the Black Hawk war. Returning he took up land in Madison County, between Edwards- ville and Alton, and conducted it until his death in 1854. The mother died that same year. In politics the father was a Democrat, and re- ligiously he was a Baptist.
Until he was nineteen years old Lewis Ralph spent his days as any farmer's son, working and attending school, but in 1862 he enlisted for service during the Civil War in Company K, Eightieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged after two years and ten and one-half months. Returning to Madison County, he resumed his farming and lived there until 1871, when he came to Christian County, buying sixty acres of land in Buckhart Town- ship. To this first purchase he added until he had 200 acres, and remained on his farm until 1908, when he retired, and coming to Edinburg, has since made this his home.
On February 20, 1868, Mr. Ralph was mar- ried to Miss Emily Orme, a daughter of Philip and Sarah Orme, natives of Derbyshire, Eng- land. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph have the following children : Charles H., Mary Louisa, James, Charity P. and Frank. In politics Mr. Ralph is a Republican and in religious matters he is a Methodist. A hard worker and good man- ager, he accumulated considerable property and is held in high esteem by his neighbors.
RANKIN, Rev. Edward Payson, one of the learned, scholarly and well beloved ministers of the gospel whose labors are now directed in forwarding the spiritual welfare of the people of Morrisonville, is one of the clergymen of the Presbyterian faith. He was born at Futtigurrh, Hindoostan, India, January 22, 1845, a son of Rev. John Chambers and Sarah Comfort Ran- kin, the former born at Chapel Hill, N. C., May 18, 1816, and the latter born at Kingston, N. J., in December 1814. The parents were married in 1840, and the father was sent as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church to India. Four children were born to these parents in India, namely : Walter Lewis, Sarah, Edward Payson, and John Chambers, Jr. On account of failing health the father returned with his family to the United States in 1848, and assisted in the office of the Presbyterian Board of Missions during the succeeding three years. His healtli having been restored, he was made pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Basking Ridge, N.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
J., there continuing until his death in 1898. The Rankin family came of Scotch-Irish descent, the American founder of the family having located in North Carolina in colonial days, and mem- bers of it were among the signers of the Meck- lenberg declaration of independence. The mother's ancestors were Presbyterians in faith, who came from the North of Ireland, and set- tled in Orange County, N. J.
Rev. Edward P. Rankin was educated at Princeton College and the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., and after completing his collegiate course was a tutor in Greek in this college for three years, and professor of lan- guages in Carroll College, Milwaukee, Wis., for one year. His early training had been an excel- lent one, his studies which prepared him for college being directed by his father, and both parents inculcated lessons of self denial and self restraint that later were to fit him to direct others. From 1872 to 1884 Dr. Rankin held the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church at Morrisonville. Ill., from whence he went to Car- roll College and was there during 1884 and 1885. From the latter year until 1895, he was in charge of the church of his faith at Tuscola, Ill., and then for the subsequent five years served in the same capacity at Steven's Point. Wis. Returning to Illinois. Dr. Rankin was pastor at Toledo, Ill., from 1895 to 1898. when he returned to Wisconsin and had charge of the church at Sherman from 189S to 1901. In the latter year the people of Morrisonville wel- comed him back to the church that was his first charge, and he still continues its pastor.
On September 18. 1877, Doctor Rankin was married at Basking Ridge. N. J., to Miss Bettie Scales, born February 2. 1854 in Patrick County, Va. Dr. and Mrs. Rankin became the parents of the following children: Mrs. Jessie A. Whit- mall of Newark. N. J., who was born December 8. 1880; Edward Payson. Jr., of El Paso, Tex .. who was born November 16. 1882: Mildred R .. of Baltimore, Mdl., who was born June 9. 1886 : John C., who was born February 11, 1SSS. is of Unadilla, N. Y .: Lois J., of Minneapolis, Minn .. who was born July 25, 1890; and Eunice M., of Baltimore, Md .. who was born March 11, 1894. Dr. Rankin was elected class orator at Prince- ton in 1865, and was captain of the Princeton University base ball team for two years during 1865 and 1866. A man of scholarly attainments, Dr. Rankin combines with his learning a sympa- thetic manner and an understanding of human nature that makes him able to aid others in endeavors to attain a better mode of living.
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