Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 177

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

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principles and the education of the young, with- out thought of financial reward. Possessed of a brilliant intellect, with a mental equipment that was rarely to be found in the pioneer days of Illinois-a profound Hebrew, Latin and Greek scholar, and highly skilled in mathematics, Warren Nichols was able to accomplish a vast amount of good in the field of effort he had chosen, and few men of his period left a more indelible impression upon the State than he. In 1849 he removed to Ohio, where he continued to preach until failing health compelled him to abandon his labors. His death occurred in that State in 1862. His wife, who was born in Ep- som, N. H., and reared in Concord, of that State, was a descendant, on the maternal side, of the Kimball and Ayers families, two of the most noted families in the history of New Eng- land.

Samuel Warren Nichols was reared in Illi- nois and Ohio, and in the latter State began his studies in the public schools. In May, 1864, at the age of twenty years, he enlisted in Com- pany E, One Hundred and Fifty-first Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, and served four months in the Army of the Potomac, principally in the de- fense of Washington, being thus engaged dur- ing Early's raid against the National Capital. About two years after the death of his father (on November 11, 1864) he returned to Illinois, and entered Illinois College in the class of 1868, during the presidency of Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., LL. D. Though he abandoned his col- lege course before the expiration of the four ycars' course, he was voted a graduate and ac- corded the Bachelor's degree. Entering the Jacksonville Business College, in 1866, he be- came the first graduate of that institution, and during the year following was engaged as a teacher therein. Disliking the work, he relin- quished his post to become treasurer and col- lector for the Jacksonville Gas Company, in which capacity he served for three years. In 1870 he entered the First National Bank of Jacksonville as Teller. A year later he formed a partnership with Terence Brennan and Jo- seph DeSilva, under the firm name of Nichols, Brennan & Co., and either as a member of this firm, or individually, was engaged in the stove and tinware trade for six years. From 1877 to 1886 he operated a photograph studio, but while thus engaged, in 1884, was employed as local ed- itor of the "Jacksonville Daily Journal," devoting

his days to his studio and the larger part of the nights to his newspaper work. In May, 1886, he disposed of his studio and engaged his serv- sices exclusively as an employe of the "Journal." From that time to the present he has been con- tinuously identified with that newspaper. On November 22, 1886, the Journal Company was organized, with Edmund C. Kreider as Presi- dent, W. L. Fay as Secretary and S. W. Nichols as Treasurer. Since that time Hawes Yates has succeeded Col. Kreider as President, but Mr. Nichols and Mr. Fay have continued to conduct the paper, the former as editor and the latter as business manager. Under their management the "Journal" has become recognized as one of the influential newspapers of Central Illinois.

Mr. Nichols has been and still is identified with other enterprises of a more or less public nature. He has been Secretary of Passavant Memorial Hospital since its organization in 1874; for thirty-five years has been a member of the Prudential Committee of the Congrega- tional Church, of which he is a communicant; for twenty-eight years has been Superintendent of the colored Sunday-school of Jacksonville, whose business affairs he has generously pro- moted, giving freely of his means towards its support; and has been Chairman of the Park Board since its organization, following his gift to the city of the public park located southeast of the city. This park will be but one of the many monuments to his memory in the years to come, though perhaps it will be regarded by many as the chief of all, inasmuch as from its very nature it cannot fail to endure as some- thing tangible, rather than as a memory. In the fall of 1903 Mr. Nichols tendered to the city of Jacksonville the sum of $10,000 for the purpose of laying the foundation for a park system. The city accepted the gift, with expressions of the profoundest gratitude on the part of its people, and the site since selected southeast of the city, on Morgan Lake, has been laid out and its improvement begun.

This large gift for the foundation of a park system, though the most marked individual in- stance of Mr. Nichol's generosity, by no means represents the limit of his beneficences. No citizen of Morgan County-if, indeed, in the State-has more closely endeared himself to hundreds of children by his innumerable acts of kindness. A great lover of the young, and especially affectionate and sympathetic where

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

the children of poor parents are concerned, Mr. Nichols has taken no pleasure trips in many years without being accompanied by young chil- dren, that he might gain added pleasure from their rare enjoyment. During the past ten or twelve years he has visited Alaska, the Yellow- stone Park, the Yosemite Valley, the Grand Canon of the Colorado, Old Mexico, the Mam- moth Cave of Kentucky, the city of Galveston, Niagara Falls and various other points of un- usual interest, both in the East and the West; and on each of these trips he has been accom- panied, invariably, by two or more children, all of whose expenses he has borne personally. During the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, he took three small parties of children to that great exhibit, bearing all expenses, on one occasion taking with him, in a special train, a party of 408, mostly school children. In mak- ing up this party he announced that he wanted every poor child in Jacksonville between the ages of eleven and fifteen years to go with him, and probably ail coming within that class en- joyed that memorable visit to the great fair. During the past five years he has made it a rule to visit the poor authorities and the public school authorities, for advice as to children who might otherwise be overlooked at the Christmas season, and in this manner has endeavored to see that every poor child of Jacksonville shall have an appropriate Christmas present.

Mr. Nichols is a member of Matt Starr Post No. 738, G. A. R., and in Masonry is identified with Harmony Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., Jack- sonville Chapter, No. 3, R. A. M., and Hospitaler Commandery, No. 31, K. T. He was married December 30, 1873, to Helen M. Storrs, a native of Holliston, Mass., who died January 15, 1887.

That Mr. Nichols has inherited many of the unselfish and noble traits of character which were so conspicuous in his father is evident from the record of his career of usefulness and well-doing. Earnest in his religion, he has not been content to identify himself alone with the work of the church of which he is a member, but has endeavored to be of practical usefulness in carrying the message of love and brotherly kindness to those whose locations, remote from the scene of regular Sunday services, have made them intensely appreciative of his efforts. He has filled many pulpits, in the country and small towns, principally in Morgan County, in churches where no regular pastors have been

maintained, and in many other ways has made his influence for good felt in the community. He modestly refuses to disclose the facts per- taining to many of his charitable acts, but it is believed by many of his friends that he has partially, and in many cases wholly, paid the educational expenses of not less than fifty young persons. He is a man among men, and a child among children. Throughout his career, though diligent in business, he seems to have been guided by a paramount desire to make his life useful to others. His liberality has been more than liberality, in the common acceptance of the term; he has been self-sacrificing in his contri- butions to all worthy causes of benevolence. The unstinted appreciation shown by the people of Jacksonville for a life thus far so radiant with intelligent benevolence, so thoroughly alive with kindly energy-a life at once human, Christian, gracious, manly and true-affords a living testimonial to his worth.

NORBURY, Frank Parsons, A. M., M. D., of Jacksonville, Ill., one of the most prominent and successful physicians of Morgan County, was born in Beardstown, Ill., August 5, 1863, the son of Charles Joseph and Elizabeth P. (Spence) Norbury, the former a native of Phil- adelphia, Pa., where he was born May 27, 1812, and the latter born in the vicinity of Spring- field, Tenn., September 17, 1822. The ancestry of Dr. Norbury is traceable in America for several generations, and, more remotely, to English origin. The founder of the family in this country was Peter Norbury, who, in 1686, accompanied by his brothers, John and Joseph, came from England with William Penn, and settled near Chester, Pa. His son, Jacob Nor- bury, was born in Pennsylvania. Jacob's son, Joseph, was born near Cape May, New Jersey. Joseph's son, Heath, was a native of York, Pa., and Heath's son, Joseph Britt, was born in Northumberland in the same State. He married Rebecca Frick and their union resulted in the birth of Charles Joseph, the father of Dr. Frank P. Norbury. All of the above-named members of the Norbury family were Quakers, save Joseph Britt, who had renounced that faith and become a Reformed Lutheran. Heath Norbury, Dr. Norbury's great-grandfather, had charge of the hospital service of the Continental Army, near Valley Forge, toward the close of the Rev- olutionary War. Through that conflict, except

MILLER WEIR

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

903

for this short period, he served in the ranks. His son, Joseph Britt, was a Captain in the War of 1812, and subsequently a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was an attorney and for some time held a commission as Pro- thonotary in Philadelphia. Joseph Britt Nor- bury was named after an uncle, Joseph Britt, who served with the Colonial troops before the Revolution, afterward became a Major in the regular army, and took part in the campaigns around Detroit, Fort Wayne, and Vincennes.

Charles Joseph Norbury was a pupil in the Philadelphia schools, and completed his educa- tion in the Penn Charter Academy in that city. He then entered the employ of a wholesale merchant of Philadelphia, and later came to Beardstown, Ill., where, in 1833, he was em- ployed by a Mr. Bassett, formerly of Philadel- phia. He afterward opened a branch store for Mr. Bassett in Chandlerville, Ill., and while there, married Elizabeth P. Spence. Soon after his marriage he established a store of his own in Beardstown, and there spent the remainder of his life. For many years he was identified with the Illinois Packet Company, in connec- tion with his private interests in the grain and pork trade and general merchandising. Al- though reared in the Reform faith, he united with the Congregational Church soon after locating in Illinois. During the Civil War he strove in every way within his power to uphold the cause of the Union. Toward the end of his life, he became affiliated with the A. F. & A. M. His death occurred March 7, 1895. His wife was a daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Car- ter) Spence. Thomas Spence was a son of David Spence, a native of New Jersey, and the latter was a son of Thomas Spence, who was born in Scotland. He, In turn, was a son of David Spence. The Spence family In America originated with Thomas Spence, of the second generation above mentioned, who came with a Scotch-Irish colony to New Jersey, at an early period. Katherine Carter Spence, born at Cul- peper, Va., Dr. Norbury's maternal grand- mother, was a member of an old Virginia fam- lly, whose ancestry is traced to Robert Carter (King Carter), who came from England to as- sume charge of the Culpeper and Fairbanks estates. Davld Spence, the Doctor's great- grandfather, fought through the Revolution with Francis Marion, the noted cavalry leader. Isaac Watts, of hymn-writing fame, was

member of the same family, in a collateral re- lation. Dr. Norbury's maternal grandfather, Thomas Spence, was a minister of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, who came to Illinois with his family about the year 1825.

Charles Joseph Norbury and his wife became the parents of thirteen- children, as follows: Rebecca C., widow of D. H. Flickwir, of Brainerd, Minn .; Willlam Spence, of Beards- town, Ill .; Lydia J., wife of Judge Samuel P. Dale, of Canon City, Colo .; Martha P., wife of O. H. Kuechler, of Jacksonville, Ill .; Arthur Frick, of Denver, Colo .; Lizzie S., also of Den- ver; Anna C., wife of W. D. Epler, of Beards- town, Ill .; Frank Parsons; Mary G., wife of G. B. Hegardt, United States Engineer stationed at Fort Stevens, Ore .; Heath and Henry, who died in childhood; Edward, who was engaged in the lumber business at Houston, Tex., and died at the age of thirty-five years; and Nellie C., deceased, who was the wife of J. Burns, Di- vision Superintendent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, at Pittsburg, Pa. G. B. Hegardt, hus- band of Mary G., before mentioned, is the builder of Fort Stevens, Fort Canby, the jetties at the mouth of the Columbia River and the locks in the Illinois River.

Dr. Norbury received his education in the High School at Beardstown, Ill., and Illinols College. After leaving the latter institution he entered the office of the United States Engineer in charge of the Illinois River improvement, where he remained four years, serving a portion of this time as office and field assistant to Capt. R. A. Brown. A year afterward he was em- ployed in a wholesale iron establishment in St. Louis, but having decided upon a medical ca- reer, began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. George Bley, of Beardstown. A year later, he entered the Medico-Chirurgical College, of Philadelphia, where he remained one year. The year following he studied at the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, from which he was graduated March 9, 1SSS, with the degree of M. D. Returning to Philadelphla, lie became Resident Physlclan to the Pennsylvanla Institution for Feeble-minded Children, at the same time performing post-graduate work un- der such men as Dr. S. Welr Mitchell. Dr. Wil- liam Osler and Dr. Charles K. MIlls, making a specialty of nervous and mental diseases. On August 20, 1SSS, he came to Jacksonville. as Assistant Physician to the Illlnols Central Hos-

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

pital for the Insane, where he remained five years. Since his resignation from that post, July 1, 1893, he has been engaged in private practice in Jacksonville, with the exception of one year, during which he filled the chair of the Practice of Medicine, in the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, St. Louis, at the same time lecturing on nervous and mental diseases in the Woman's Medical College of that city, which is now extinct. His practice has been mainly confined to nervous and mental dieases. For ten years Dr. Norbury has been editor of the "Medical Fortnightly," of St. Louis, and has been a frequent contributor to other profes- sional journals. He is a member of the Morgan County Medical Society, of which he has been President two years; the Illinois State Medical Society; the Western District Medical Society, of Illinois, of which he was President in 1903; the American Medical Association; the Amer- ican Medico-Psychological Association; and the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, of which he was elected Vice-President at its an- nual meeting held at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1904. He is Consulting Physician to the Illinois State Institution for the Education of the Blind; has been Neurologist in Our Savior's Hospital since its establishment; for eight years filled the chair of Psycho-Physics in Illinois College, from which he received the degree of A. M. in 1903, and is now Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases in Keokuk Medical College, and in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, Iowa.

In 1901 Dr. Norbury and others founded Maplewood Sanatorium, in Jacksonville, for the treatment of nervous and mental diseases. The institution is under the direction of a corporation of which the Doctor is President, and he acts as Medical Superintendent of the sanatorium. It has a capacity of twenty patients, and, besides the Superintendent, has a staff of eleven nurses and a House Physi- cian. At this institution the principles of the rest cure, advocated by Weir Mitchell, are followed, with some modification.

On October 2, 1890, Dr. Norbury was united in marriage with Mary E. Garm, a na- tive of Beardstown, Ill., and a daughter of Henry and Mary D. (Haywood) Garm. Two children have resulted from this union-Frank Garm and Elizabeth.

Politically, Dr. Norbury is a supporter of the Republican party. Religiously, he is con- nected with the

Congregational Church. In fraternal circles, he is identified with Jack- sonville Lodge, No. 570, A. F. & A. M., Hos- pitaler Commandery, No. 31, K. T., and the K. of P.

OREAR, Thomas Benjamin, President of the Jacksonville National Bank, ex-County Commis- sioner, Jacksonville, Ill., was born on his fa- ther's farm eight miles east of Jacksonville, January 22, 1839, the son of George and Sarah (Heslep) Orear. (For ancestral history, see sketches of William Orear and George Orear in this volume.) He was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools. Early in life he engaged in the stock business, continuing to make his home with his father until the death of the latter, and occupying the paternal homestead until his removal to Jacksonville in 1903. His transactions in stock have been quite extensive at times, though confined principally to Morgan County. On September 2, 1862, Mr. Orear was mustered in as First Lieutenant of Company K, One Hundred and First Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which he helped to organ- ize, giving his active services to the cause of the Union until compelled to retire by reason of disability. He participated with his regiment in the Siege of Vicksburg, where he was pros- trated by an illness which nearly caused his death. After the fall of that Confederate strong- hold he was sent home on a furlough, but re- joined his command thirty days later at Union City, Tenn. Soon afterward his regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, and was sent to Chattanooga. But in April, 1864, at the beginning of the great Atlanta cam- paign, he was mustered out, his illness having incapacitated him from further active duty.

Judge Orear has always exhibited a lively interest in the political affairs of Morgan County, and has accomplished what he could toward the promotion of the best interests of his community. For two terms he served as County Commissioner, and for two terms of three years each also was a member of the Jack- sonville School Board, serving in that capacity in 1900, when the new High School building was erected. In 1892 he became a Director in the Jacksonville National Bank, and was subse- quently elected its Cashier and still later its

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President. In 1902 Goveror Yates appointed him a member of the Illinois-Vicksburg Com- mission (of which he is Treasurer). The Com- mission has charge of the erection, in the Vicks- burg National Park, of a State monument in- tended to commemorate the part borne by the eighty Illinois regiments in the historic cam- paign against that city. The contract for the monument has been signed, and the work will be completed in 1907. The monument will be constructed of granite and bronze, and will bear the name of every Illinois soldier of the 40,000 who participated in that memorable event. When complete, the monument will be one of the greatest of its character in the world, and the most noteworthy thus far erected in Amer- ica.

Judge Orear is identified with Harmony Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., and Hospitaler Comman- dery, No. 31, K. T., with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent Order of Elks. He was united in marriage January 26, 1904, with Sallie Browning, of Jacksonville, a native of Lexing- ton, Ky., and a daughter of Marcus and Ange- line (Rees) Browning. Judge Orear is highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens as a man of high character and generous public spirit, and as one who is keeping alive the traditions of an old and honored family. (For sketch of George Orear, see page 983.)

OREAR, (Hon.) William, (deceased), former · banker and ex-Sheriff of Morgan County, Ill., was born in Frederick County, Va., December 24, 1795, a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Ir- win) Orear, both of whom were also natives of the Old Dominion. His paternal grandfather, a native of Bordeaux, France, immigrated to America in colonial days, settling In Virginia. His maternal grandfather, William Irwin, was a native of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch ancestry. He also located in Virginia in young manhood. Of the family of ten children born to Benjamin and Elizabeth Orear, William was the eldest.

While the latter was still in his infancy, his parents removed from Virginia to Clark County, Ky., and soon afterward settled permanently near Boonesboro, where for a long period, Dan- iel Boone, the famous Kentucky pioneer, lived among the Indians. In 1834 and 1835 he con- tinued westward, making his home in Morgan County, Ill., where his son William had located several years before. His wife died in 1836, but

he survived until 1862. It is worthy of note that two of his uncles, Daniel and Enoch Orear, accompanied Col. George Rogers Clark in his western expedition against the Indians in the Territories of Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, afterward returning to their homes in Virginia. Elizabeth ( Irwin) Orear was a descendant of the Chambers family, who were pioneer in- habitants of Pennsylvania, members of which attained prominence in the early history of the Keystone State. Representatives of the family subsequently settled in Kentucky.

Though the early educational advantages of William Orear were necessarily limited on ac- count of the crude facilities surrounding him in his youth, he succeeded in acquiring a good knowledge of mathematics and the essential English branches, so that he was able to com- mence life with less of a handicap than most boys of that period. His young manhood was devoted principally to teaching school in Ken- tucky and Missouri. On March 18, 1825, he was united in marriage with Maria T. Sawyer, daughter of Daniel Sawyer, who removed from New York, his native State, to North Carolina. In the latter State he was engaged in the lum- ber trade until his death, after which his family settled in Petersburg, Ind. Mrs. Orear was born in North Carolina August 16, 1805. On April 13, 1825, Mr. Orear and his bride arrived in Morgan County, having made the journey on horseback, bringing with them all their worldly possessions in saddlebags. He settled npon an unimproved tract of Government land to the im- provement of which he at once devoted his en- ergies, and when the land was placed upon the market by the Government two or three years afterward, he purchased it, with an additional tract adjoining, the whole giving him a large and exceedingly fertile body of easily cultivable soil. From time to time thereafter he pur- chased additional farming lands, until he be- came known as one of the most extensive land- owners in Morgan County. He also began the raising of stock at an early day, and subse- quently entered Into transactions of consider- able importance in this direction.

For a long period Mr. Orear was closely Iden- tified with public affairs In the State and county. Originally a Whig, he cast his first presidentlal ballot for John Quincy Adams. He was a stanch supporter of Henry Clay, voting and working for him. Upon the organization of the

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Republican party he became prominently iden- tified with it, voting for John C. Fremont and for each succeeding candidate of the party until his death, April 29, 1876. On August 6, 1832, he was elected to the office of Sheriff of Morgan County, and reelected August 4, 1834, serving four years in all. On August 1, 1836, he was chosen to represent his district in the Illinois State Senate, serving his constituents with honor in the Tenth and Eleventh General As- semblies, the first two years of his term being during the time Stephen A. Douglas represented Morgan County in the lower branch of the Leg- islature. Abraham Lincoln was also a member of the House during the same term. Mr. Orear also saw active service in the Black Hawk War.

OSBORNE, Robert Tilton, (deceased), pio- neer farmer and stock-dealer of Morgan County, Ill., was born on a farm near Lexington, Ky., September 1, 1827, the son of Harrison and Eliza (Cassell) Osborne, both of whom were natives of the same State. His father, who was a minister of the Christian Church, devoted his life to the ministry and to farming. In 1829 or 1830 he disposed of his possessions in Kentucky and removed with his family to Illinois, settling in Morgan County. Soon after locating in Jack- sonville he engaged in the dry-goods business with Col. George M. Chambers. He afterward purchased a farm at Antioch in the eastern part of the county, where the remainder of his ac- tive life was spent. For several years he preached in the Christian church at Antioch, and frequently filled pulpits in other sections. After rearing his family, he sold his farm and retired, spending his declining days with his children, his death occurring June 3, 1883. Though he took a deep interest in the advanc- ment of the public welfare, he never sought political office. For many years he was a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity. To Harrison Osborne and wife were born five children, named as follows in the order of their birth: David, Robert T. (subject of this sketch), John T, Barton, and Ann Eliza who married Henry Babb. All are deceased. Barton, the youngest son, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and participated in several battles. Har- rison Osborne became widely known personally throughout Morgan County and the contiguous territory, and during the early days of his ministry was frequently called upon to officiate

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 177

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286