Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 13

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell
Number of Pages: 876

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BROWN, William H., lawyer and financier, was born in Connecticut, Dec. 20, 1796; spent his boyhood at Auburn, N. Y., studied law, and, in 1818, came to Illinois with Samuel D. Lock- wood (afterwards a Justice of the State Supreme Court), descending the Ohio River to Shawnee- town in a flat-boat. Mr. Brown visited Kaskas- kia and was soon after appointed Clerk of the United States District Court by Judge Nathaniel Pope, removing, in 1820, to Vandalia, the new State capital, where he remained until 1835. He then removed to Chicago to accept the position of Cashier of the Chicago branch of the State Bank of Illinois, which he continued to fill for many years. He served the city as School Agent for thirteen years (1840-53), managing the city's school fund through a critical period with great discretion and success. He was one of the group of early patriots who successfully resisted the attempt to plant slavery in Illinois in 1823-24; was also one of the projectors of the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, was President of the Chicago Historical Society for seven years and connected with many other local enterprises. He was an ardent personal friend of President Lincoln and served as Representative in the Twenty-second General Assembly (1860-62). While making a tour of Europe he died of paraly- sis at Amsterdam, June 17, 1867.

BROWN COUNTY, situated in the western part of the State, with an area of 300 square miles, and a population (1890) of 11,951; was cut off from Schuyler and made a separate county in May, 1839, being named in honor of Gen. Jacob Brown. Among the pioneer settlers were the Vandeventers and Hambaughs, John and David Six, William McDaniel, Jeremiah Walker, Willis O'Neil, Harry Lester, John Ausmus and Robert H. Curry. The county-seat is Mount Sterling, a town of no little attractiveness. Other prosperous villages are Mound Station and Ripley. The chief occupation of the people is farming, although there is some manufacturing of lumber and a few potteries along the Illinois River. Population (1900), 11,557.

BROWNE, Francis Fisher, editor and author, was born in South Halifax, Vt., Dec. 1, 1843, the son of William Goldsmith Browne, who was a teacher, editor and author of the song "A Hun- dred Years to Come." In childhood he was brought by his parents to Western Massachusetts, where he attended the public schools and learned the printing trade in his father's newspaper office at Chicopee, Mass. Leaving school in 1862, he enlisted in the Forty-sixth Regiment Massa- chusetts Volunteers, in which he served one year, chiefly in North Carolina and in the Army of the Potomac. On the discharge of his regi- ment he engaged in the study of law at Roches- ter, N. Y., entering the law department of the University of Michigan in 1866, but abandoning his intenton of entering the legal profession, removed to Chicago in 1867, where he engaged in journalistic and literary pursuits. Between 1869 and '74 he was editor of "The Lakeside Monthly," when he became literary editor of "The Alliance," but, in 1880, he established and assumed the editorship of "The Dial," a purely literary pub- lication which has gained a high reputation, and of which he has remained in control continuously ever since, meanwhile serving as the literary adviser, for many years, of the well-known pub- lishing house of McClurg & Co. Besides his journalistic work, Mr. Browne has contributed to the magazines and literary anthologies a num- ber of short lyrics, and is the author of "The Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln" (1886), and a volume of poems entitled, "Volunteer Grain" (1893). He also compiled and edited "Golden Poems by British and American Authors" (1881); "The Golden Treasury of Poetry and Prose" (1886), and the "Laurel Crowned"series of stand- ard poetry (1891-92). Mr. Browne was Chairman of the Committee of the Congress of Authors in

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

the World's Congress Auxiliary held in con- nection with The Columbian Exposition in 1893.

BROWNE, Thomas C., early jurist, was born in Kentucky, studied law there and, coming to Shawneetown in 1812, served in the lower branch of the Second Territorial Legislature (1814-16) and in the Council (1816-18), being the first law- yer to enter that body. In 1815 he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney and, on the admission of Illinois as a State, was promoted to the Supreme bench, being re-elected by joint ballot of the Legislature in 1825, and serving continuously until the reorganization of the Supreme Court under the Constitution of 1848, a period of over thirty years. Judge Browne's judicial character and abilities have been differently estimated. Though lacking in industry as a student, he is represented by the late Judge John D. Caton, who knew him personally, as a close thinker and a good judge of men. While seldom, if ever, accustomed to argue questions in the conference room or write out his opinions, he had a capacity for expressing himself in short, pungent sen- tences, which indicated that he was a man of con- siderable ability and had clear and distinct views of his own. An attempt was made to impeach him before the Legislature of 1843 "for want of capacity to discharge the duties of his office," but it failed by an almost unanimous vote. He was a Whig in politics, but had some strong sup- porters among Democrats. In 1822 Judge Browne was one of the four candidates for Governor-in the final returns standing third on the list and, by dividing the vote of the advocates of a pro-slavery clause in the State Constitution, contributing to the election of Governor Coles and the defeat of the pro-slavery party. (See Coles, Edward, and Slavery and Slave Laws.) In the latter part of his official term Judge Browne resided at Ga- lena, but, in 1853, removed with his son-in-law, ex-Congressman Joseph P. Hoge, to San Fran- cisco, Cal., where he died a few years later- probably about 1856 or 1858.

BROWNING, Orville Hickman, lawyer, United States Senator and Attorney-General, was born in Harrison County, Ky., in 1810. After receiv- ing a classical education at Augusta in his native State, he removed to Quincy, Ill., and was admitted to the bar in 1831. In 1832 he served in the Black Hawk War, and from 1836 to 1843, was a member of the Legislature, serving in both houses. A personal friend and political adherent of Abraham Lincoln, he aided in the organization of the Republican party at the memorable

Bloomington Convention of 1856. As a delegate to the Chicago Convention in 1860, he aided in securing Mr. Lincoln's nomination, and was a conspicuous supporter of the Government in the Civil War. In 1861 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Yates United States Senator to fill Senator Douglas' unexpired term, serving until 1863. In 1866 he became Secretary of the Interior by ap- pointment of President Johnson, also for a time discharging the duties of Attorney-General. Returning to Illinois, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70, which was his last participation in public affairs, his, time thereafter being devoted to his profession. He died at his home in Quincy, Ill., August 10,. 1881.

BRYAN, Silas Lillard, legislator and jurist, born in Culpepper County, Va., Nov. 4, 1822; was left an orphan at an early age, and came west in 1840, liviug for a time with a brother near Troy, Mo. The following year he came to Marion County, Ill., where he attended school and worked on a farm; in 1845 entered McKendree College, graduating in 1849, and two years later was admitted to the bar, supporting himself meanwhile by teaching. He settled at Salem, Ill., and, in 1852, was elected as a Democrat to the State Senate, in which body he served for eight years, being re-elected in 1856. In 1861 he was elected to the bench of the Second Judicial Circuit, and again chosen in 1867, his second term expiring in 1873. While serving as Judge, he was also elected a Delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention of 1869-70. He was an unsuc- cessful candidate for Congress on the Greeley ticket in 1872. Died at Salem, March 30, 1880 .-- William Jennings (Bryan), son of the preceding, was born at Salem, Ill., March 19, 1860. The early life of young Bryan was spent on his father's farm, but at the age of ten years he began to attend the public school in town; later spent two years in Whipple Academy, the preparatory department of Illinois College at Jacksonville, and, in 1881, graduated from the college proper as the valedictorian of his class. Then he devoted two years to the study of law in the Union Law School at Chicago, meanwhile acting as clerk and studying in the law office of ex-Senator Lymau Trumbull. Having graduated iu law in 1883, he soon entered upon the practice of his profession at Jacksonville as the partner of Judge E. P. Kirby, a well-known lawyer and prominent Republican of that city. Four years later (1887) found him a citizen of Lincoln, Neb., which has since been his home. He took a prominent part -

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

in the politics of Nebraska, stumping the State for the Democratic nominees in 1888 and '89, and in 1890 received the Democratic nomination for Congress in a district which had been regarded as strongly Republican, and was elected by a large majority. Again, in 1892, he was elected by a reduced majority, but two years later declined a renomination, though proclaiming himself a free-silver candidate for the United States Senate, meanwhile officiating as editor of "The Omaha World-Herald." In July, 1896, he received the nomination for President from the Democratic National Convention at Chicago, on a platform declaring for the "free and unlimited coinage of silver" at the ratio of sixteen of silver (in weight) to one of gold, and a few weeks later was nominated by the "Populists" at St. Louis for the same office-being the youngest man ever put in nomination for the Presidency in the his- tory of the Government. He conducted an active personal campaign, speaking in nearly every Northern and Middle Western State, but was defeated by lis Republican opponent, Maj. William Mckinley. Mr. Bryan is an easy and fluent speaker, possessing a voice of unusual compass and power, and is recognized, even by his political opponents, as a man of pure personal character.

BRYAN, Thomas Barbour, lawyer and real estate operator, was born at Alexandria, Va., Dec. 22, 1828, being descended on the maternal side from the noted Barbour family of that State; graduated in law at Harvard. and, at the age of twenty-one, settled in Cincinnati. In 1852 he came to Chicago, where he acquired ex- tensive real estate interests and built Bryan Hall, which became a popular place for en- tertainments. Being a gifted speaker, as well as a zealous Unionist, Mr. Bryan was chosen to deliver the address of welcome to Senator Douglas, when that statesman returned to Chicago a few weeks before his death in 1861. During the progress of the war he devoted his time and his means most generously to fitting out soldiers for the field and caring for the sick and wounded. His services as President of the great Sanitary Fair in Chicago (1865), where some $300,000 were cleared for disabled soldiers, were especially conspicuous. At this time he became the purchaser (at $3,000) of the original copy of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had been donated to the cause. He also rendered valuable service after the fire of 1871, though a heavy sufferer from that event, and was a leading factor in securing the location of the

World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1890, later becoming Vice-President of the Board of Directors and making a visit to Europe in the interest of the Fair. After the war Mr. Bryan resided in Washington for some time, and, by appointment of President Hayes, served as Com- missioner of the District of Columbia. Possessing refined literary and artistic tastes, he has done much for the encouragement of literature and art in Chicago. His home is in the suburban

village of Elmhurst .- Charles Page (Bryan), son of the preceding, lawyer and foreign minister, was born in Chicago, Oct. 2, 1855, and educated at the University of Virginia and Columbia Law School; was admitted to practice in 1878, and the following year removed to Colorado, where he remained four years, while there serving in both Houses of the State Legislature. In 1883 he returned to Chicago and became a member of the First Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, serving upon the staff of both Governor Oglesby and Governor Fifer; in 1890, was elected to the State Legislature from Cook County, being re- elected in 1892, and in 1894; was also the first Commissioner to visit Europe in the interest of the World's Columbian Exposition, on his return serving as Secretary of the Exposition Commis- sioners in 1891-92. In the latter part of 1897 he was appointed by President Mckinley Minister to China, but before being confirmed, early in 1898, was assigned to the United States mission to the Republic of Brazil, where he now is, Hon. E. H. Conger of Iowa, who had previously been appointed to the Brazilian mission, being trans- ferred to Pekin.

BRYANT, John Howard, pioneer, brother of William Cullen Bryant, the poet, was born in Cummington, Mass., July 22, 1807, educated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N. Y, ; removed to Illinois in 1831, and held vari- ous offices in Bureau County, including that of Representative in the General Assembly, to which he was elected in 1842, and again in 1858. A practical and enterprising farmer, he was identi- fied with the Illinois State Agricultural Society in its early history, as also with the movement which resulted in the establishment of industrial colleges in the various States. He was one of the founders of the Republican party and a warm personal friend of President Lincoln, being a member of the first Republican State Convention at Bloomington in 1856, and serving as Collector of Internal Revenue by appointment of Mr. Lin- coln in 1862-64. In 1872 Mr. Bryant joined in the Liberal Republican movement at Cincinnati, two

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

years later was identified with the "Independent Reform" party, but has since cooperated with the Democratic party. He has produced two volumes of poems, published, respectively, in 1855 and 1885, besides a number of public addresses. His home is at Princeton, Bureau County.

BUCK, Hiram, clergyman, was born in Steu- ben County, N. Y., in 1818; joined the Illinois Methodist Episcopal Conference in 1843, and con- tinued in its service for nearly fifty years, being much of the time a Presiding Elder. At his death he bequeathed a considerable sum to the endowment funds of the Wesleyan University at Bloomington and the Illinois Conference College at Jacksonville. Died at Decatur, Ill., August 22, 1892.

BUDA, a village in Bureau County, at the junc- tion of the main line with the Buda and Rush- · ville branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and the Sterling and Peoria branch of the Chicago & Northwestern, 12 miles southwest of Princeton and 117 miles west-southwest of Chicago; has excellent water-works, electric- light plant, brick and tile factory, fine churches, graded school, a bank and one newspaper Dairying is carried on quite extensively and a good-sized creamery is located here. Population (1890), 990; (1900), 873.

BUFORD, Napoleon Bonaparte, banker and soldier, was born in Woodford County, Ky., Jan. 13, 1807; graduated at West Point Military Acad- emy, 1827, and served for some time as Lieutenant of Artillery; entered Harvard Law School in 1831, served as Assistant Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy there (1834-35), then resigned his commission, and, after some service as an engineer upon public works in Kentucky, established himself as an iron-founder and banker at Rock Island, Ill., in 1857 becoming President of the Rock Island & Peoria Railroad. In 1861 he entered the volunteer service, as Colonel of the Twenty-seventh Illinois, serving at various points in Western Kentucky and Tennessee, as also in the siege of Vicksburg, and at Helena, Ark., where he was in command from Septem- ber, 1863, to March, 1865. In the meantime, by promotion, he attained to the rank of Major- General by brevet, being mustered out in August, 1865. He subsequently held the post of Special United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1868), and that of Inspector of the Union Pacific Railroad (1867-69). Died, March 28, 1883.

BULKLEY, (Rev.) Justus, educator, was born at Leicester, Livingston County, N. Y., July 23, 1819, taken to Allegany County, N. Y., at 3

years of age, where he remained until 17, attend- ing school in a log school-house in the winter and working on a farm in the summer. His family then removed to Illinois, finally locating at Barry, Pike County. In 1842 he entered the preparatory department of Shurtleff College at Upper Alton, graduating there in 1847. He was immediately made Principal of the preparatory department, remaining two years, when he was ordained to the Baptist ministry and became pastor of a church at Jerseyville. Four years later he was appointed Professor of Mathematics in Shurtleff College, but remained only two years, when he accepted the pastorship of a church at Carrollton, which he continued to fill nine years, when, in 1864, he was called to a church at Upper Alton. At the expiration of one year he was again called to a professorship in Shurtleff College, this time taking the chair of Church History and Church Polity, which he continued to fill for a period of thirty-four years; also serving for a time as Acting President dur- ing a vacancy in that office. During this period he was frequently called upon to preside as Mod- erator at General Associations of the Baptist Church, and he became widely known, not only in that denomination, but elsewhere. Died at Upper Alton, Jan. 16, 1899.

BULL, Lorenzo, banker, Quincy, Ill., was born in Hartford, Conn., March 21, 1819, being the eldest son of Lorenzo and Elizabeth Goodwin Bull. His ancestors on both sides were of the party who, under Thomas Hooker, moved from the vicinity of Boston and settled Hartford in 1634. Leaving Hartford in the spring of 1833, he arrived at Quincy, Ill., entirely without means, but soon after secured a position with Judge Henry H. Snow, who then held most of the county offices, being Clerk of the County Com- missioners' Court, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder, Judge of Probate, Notary Public and Justice of the Peace. Here the young clerk made himself acquainted with the people of the county (at that time few in number), with the land-system of the country and with the legal forms and methods of procedure in the courts. He remained with Judge Snow over two years, receiving for his services, the first year, six dol- lars per month, and, for the second, ten dollars per month, besides his board in Judge Snow's family. He next accepted a situation with Messrs. Holmes, Brown & Co., then one of the most prominent mercantile houses of the city, remaining through various changes of the firm until 1844, when he formed a partnership with

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

his brother under the firm name of L. & C. H. Bull, and opened a store for the sale of hardware and crockery, which was the first attempt made in Quincy to separate the mercantile business into different departments. Disposing of their business in 1861, the firm of L. & C. H. Bull embarked in the private banking business, which they continued in one location for about thirty years, when they organized the State Savings Loan & Trust Company, in which he held the position of President until 1898, when he retired. Mr. Bull has always been active in promoting the improvement and growth of the city; was one of the five persons who built most of the horse rail- roads in Quincy, and was, for about twenty years, President of the Company. The Quincy water- works are now (1898) owned entirely by himself and his son. He has never sought or held political office, but at one time was the active President of five distinct business corporations. He was also for some five years one of the Trustees of Illinois College at Jacksonville. He was married in 1844 to Miss Margaret H. Benedict, daughter of Dr. Wm. M. Benedict, of Milbury, Mass., and they have five children now living. In politics he is a Republican, and his religious associations are with the Congregational Church. -- Charles Henry (Bull), brother of the preceding, was born in Hartford, Conn., Dec. 16. 1822, and removed to Quincy, Ill., in June, 1837. He commenced business as a clerk in a general store, where he remained for seven years, when he entered into partnership with his brother, Lorenzo Bull, in the hardware and crockery business, to which was subsequently added dealing in agricultural implements. This business was continued until the year 1861. when it was sold out, and the brothers established them- selves as private bankers under the same firm name. A few years later they organized the Merchants' and Farmers' National Bank, which was mainly owned and altogether managed by them. Five or six years later this bank was wound up, when they returned to private bank- ing, continuing in this business until 1891, when it was merged in the State Savings Loan & Trust Company, organized under the laws of Illinois with a capital of $300,000, held equally by Lorenzo Bull, Charles H. Bull and Edward J. Parker, respectively, as President, Vice-Presi- dent and Cashier. Near the close of 1898 the First National Bank of Quincy was merged into the State Savings Loan & Trust Company with J. H. Warfield, the President of the former, as President of the consolidated concern. Mr. Bull

was one of the parties who originally organized the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad Com- pany in 1869-a road intended to be built from Quincy, Ill., across the State of Missouri to Brownsville, Neb., and of which he is now (1898) the President, the name having been changed to the Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City Railway. He was also identified with the con- struction of the system of street railways in Quincy, and continued active in their manage- ment for about twenty years. He has been active in various other public and private enter- prises, and has done much to advance the growth and prosperity of the city.

BUNKER HILL, a city of Macoupin County, on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, 37 miles northeast of St. Louis; has electric-lighting plant, telephone service, coal mine, flouring mill, wagon and various other manufactories, two banks, two newspapers, opera house, numerous churches, public library, a mili- tary academy and fine public schools, and many handsome residences; is situated on bigh ground in a rich agricultural and dairying region and an important shipping-point. Pop. (1900), 1,279.

BUNN, Jacob, banker and manufacturer, was born in Hunterdon County, N. J., in 1814; came to Springfield in 1836, and, four years later, began business as a grocer, to which he afterwards added that of private banking, continuing until 1878. During a part of this time his bank was one of the best known and widely regarded as one of the most solid institutions of its kind in the State. Though crippled by the financial revulsion of 1873-74 and forced investments in depreciated real estate, he paid dollar for dollar. After retiring from banking in 1878, he assumed charge of the Springfield Watch Factory, in which he was a large stockholder, and of which he became the President. Mr. Bunn was, be- tween 1866 and 1870, a principal stockholder in "The Chicago Republican" (the predecessor of "The Inter-Ocean"), and was one of the bankers who came to the aid of the State Government with financial assistance at the beginning of the Civil War. Died at Springfield, Oct. 16, 1897 .- John W. (Bunn), brother of the preceding and successor to the grocery business of J. & J. W. Bunn, has been a prominent business man of Springfield, and served as Treasurer of the State Agricultural Board from 1858 to 1898, and of the Illinois Uni- versity from its establishment to 1893.

BUNSEN, George, German patriot and educa- tor, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, Ger- many, Feb. 18, 1794, and educated in his native

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

city and at Berlin University; while still a student took part in the Peninsular War which resulted in the downfall of. Napoleon, but resum . ing his studies in 1816, graduated three years later. He then founded a boys' school at Frank- fort, which he maintained fourteen years, when, having been implicated in the republican revolu- tion of 1833, he was forced to leave the country, locating the following year on a farm in St. Clair County, Ill. Here he finally became a teacher in the public schools, served in the State Constitu- tional Convention of 1847, was elected School Commissioner of St. Clair County, and, having removed to Belleville in 1855, there conducted a private school for the instruction of teachers while discharging the duties of his office; later was appointed a member of the first State School Board, serving until 1860, and taking part in the establishment of the Illinois State Normal Uni. versity, of which he was a zealous advocate. He was also a contributor to "The Illinois Teacher," and, for several years prior to his death, served as Superintendent of Schools at Belleville without compensation. Died, November, 1872.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Edgar County, Part 13

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Number of Pages: 876

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell
Number of Pages: 876