USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County > Part 192
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YATES, Richard, ex-Governor of Illinois, was born in Jacksonville, Ill., December 12, 1860, the son of Richard and Catherine (Geers) Yates, this event taking place between the date of the
election and inauguration of his illustrious father to the position of Governor, which he filled with such ability and distinction during the dramatic war period in the history of the Nation. The Yates family is of English ori- gin, the great-grandfather of Richard Yates, Sr., having come from England before the Revolution, and, after settling in Virginia, married Martha Marshall, a sister of Chief Justice John Marshall. His son Abner, who had two children-Henry and Martha-re- moved in 1788 to Fayette County, Ky., where he died, his family later settling in Gallatin County, in that State. In 1809 the son Henry married Millicent Yates, a cousin, and they became the parents of eleven children, one of whom was the first Gov. Richard Yates. In 1831 the family removed to the western part of Sangamon County, Ill., and there the father located what is now the village of Berlin, and later laid out the town of New Berlin on the line of the Wabash Railway, where he died in 1865.
After receiving his elementary education in the public schools of his native city, Richard Yates, Jr., at thirteen years of age entered Whipple Academy, the preparatory depart- ment of Illinois College, and three years later (1876) was admitted to the college proper, from which he graduated as class orator in 1880. He then took a course in the law de- partment of Michigan University, at Ann Ar- bor, Mich., graduated therefrom in 1884, and was immediately admitted to the bar in both Michigan and Illinois, and soon thereafter to practice in the Circuit and Supreme Courts of the United States. For some two years after graduating from Illinois College, he served as city editor of the "Jacksonville Daily Journal."
From an early age Mr. Yates has been a prominent and influential factor in the life of the community. At the age of thirteen years he became a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, in 1900 served as a delegate to the General Conference, and has been actively as- sociated with auxiliary bodies, especially the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was Vice-President in 1885, during the pe- riod when William Jennings Bryan was serving as President of that organization. He is also identified with the Masonic Order, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the United Workmen and Modern
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
Woodmen Fraternities, and few men in the State have gained so wide a circle of intimate friends and associates.
Mr. Yates has been prominent as a public speaker since 1881, delivering his first Fourth of July speech during that year, and has taken part in all the political campaigns since 1880, besides being frequently called upon to address Grand Army Reunions and other patriotic as- semblages. For four years (1885-89) he served as City Attorney of the City of Jackson- ville; in 1892 was the nominee on the Repub- lican ticket for Congress for the State-at-large, but was defeated in the landslide of that year, though receiving a larger vote in the State than President Harrison; in 1894 was elected County Judge of Morgan County, but resigned in 1897 to accept the position of Collector of Internal Revenue for the Springfield District by appointment of President Mckinley, con- tinuing in this position until after his nomina- tion for Governor on the Republican ticket at Peoria on May 9, 1900, just forty years to a day after the same honor had been conferred upon his father at Decatur in May, 1860. During this campaign, as well as in 1892, he made an extensive canvass of the State, speaking in every county, the former resulting in his elec- tion by a vote of 580,198 to 518,966 for his Democratic opponent. Again in 1904 he was a candidate for renomination before the con- vention which met at Springfield in May of that year. After one of the most memorable contests in the history of Illinois politics, con- suming nearly two weeks of balloting, failing to secure a majority vote, though for a time being the leading candidate, he withdrew in fa- vor of Mr. Deneen, who was nominated and elected by an overwhelming majority of the popular vote.
On his retirement from the governship in - and South Carolina, returning on foot. In this
January, 1904, ex-Governor Yates took up his residence in the City of Springfield, where he has built himself a delightful home, and has given his attention to the practice of his pro- fession, being retained in some important cases before the higher courts. At the pres- ent time (1906) he is a prominent candidate for the United States Senate to succeed Sena- tor Shelby M. Cullom, and has made an active canvass of many of the counties of the State.
In 1888 Governor Yates was married to Helen Wadsworth, who was born in Jackson- ville in 1865, the daughter of Archibald C. and
Delia Ann (Wetherbee) Wadsworth-the father a former merchant and banker of Jacksonville. Mrs. Yates' parents are natives of Ohio, her grandfather, Capt. Edward Wadsworth, having been a soldier of the War of 1812, and her great-grandfather, Gen. Elijah Wadsworth, a soldier of the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Yates have two daughters, Catherine and Dorothy. Mr. Yates is filially and loyally devoted to his mother, Mrs. Catherine Yates, widow of the first Governor Yates, whom he frequently visits at her home in Jacksonville. Possess- ing a strong personality and entertaining aspi- rations of the highest order, he is destined to make his influence felt upon the State and the Nation. (For sketches of Henry Yates and Richard Yates. Sr .. see "Historical Encyclope- dia of Illinois," .p. 603.)
OREAR, George, (deceased), was born in Clark County, Ky., June 4, 1804. His father, Benjamin Orear, was a native of Virginia, and his grandfather of Bordeaux, France, the latter cmigrating to Virginia in its early days. George Orear's mother's maiden name was Elizabeth. Irwin. a daughter of William Irwin, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch ancestry. Mr. Orear came to Morgan County, Ill., in 1831. Regarding the country in the vicinity of his late residence, eight miles east of Jackson- ville, as the finest he had seen, he determined to cast his lot there, which continued to be his home until his death. Two years after his arrival in Morgan County, he returned to Ken- tucky for his parents, whom he brought home with him and cared for with filial devotion and affection during the rest of their lives. Before leaving Kentucky he had engaged in the busi- ness of buying hogs, which he fattened on the mast and then drove them to market in North
way he acquired a little money, but was com- paratively a poor man when he settled in Mor- gan County. His subsequent wealth was gained by hard work and prudent management. He had eight brothers and sisters, and was the last surviving member of the family. Five are buried in Antioch Cemetery near his late home, two in Kentucky, and one, Hon. William Orcar, in Diamond Grove Cemetery, near Jackson- ville.
Mr. Orear was a Quartermaster In the Black Hawk War, and served as Deputy Sheriff of Morgan County under his brother William, who
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.
was elected to the office of Sheriff in 1834. Though other positions of honor and trust were within his grasp, his modesty and retiring disposition prevented their acceptance. He had one brother, Benjamin Franklin, who was an attorney in Jacksonville at an early day, but who died while quite young. The subject of this sketch was always of a quiet and re- tiring disposition. A man of great modesty, he seldom referred to himself in any way, and to appreciate his true worth one had to know him well. He was always kind-hearted, and many a poor, hungry person could testify to his unostentatious generosity. He was always dutiful to his aged parents, caring for them with tenderness as long as they had need of earthly things. In business he was shrewd and careful without being in any way overreach- ing. He was careful and industrious, and. at the time of his death, was the owner of a large property. He was the proprietor of 1,300 acres of fine Morgan County land, and was a stock- holder in the Jacksonville National Bank, be- sides owning a large amount of other property. During the Civil War, he took an active inter- est in the cause of the Union, giving liberally of his time and money to the Sanitary Commis- sion, and doing all in his power to aid and cheer the veterans in the field. His wife also was President of the local society through whose efforts $5,000 was raised and sent for- ward to the soldiers at one time. In addition to this, local charity always found in him a true friend, and he was never known to turn a poor person unaided from his door.
Mr. Orear was married March 22, 1838, to Miss Sarah Heslep, with whom he lived most happily up to the time of his death. The cere- mony was performed by Rev. John Bachelor, the first Episcopal minister in Morgan County. His children are: Thomas B., Mrs. F. M. Mor- ton, Elizabeth, who died in 1875; Mrs. Stephen Dunlap, Frank, Mrs. J. M. Dunlap and Miss Nettie Orear. Thomas B. and Nettie remained at home devoting themselves to the care of their parents with affectionate tenderness to the end of their lives. All the children, except Elizabeth, deceased, were present with their aged mother at the time of their father's death, February 11, 1889. Mrs. Orear departed this life January 19, 1891, aged seventy-eight years.
Words of praise are superfluous in speaking of one so well known and so universally re- spected. His life was his best epitaph, and his friends and all who knew him are ready to attest his worth.
RAMMELKAMP, (Dr.) Charles Henry, Presi- dent of Illinois College, Jacksonville, was born in New York City, February 25, 1874, in boy- hood removed with his family to South Orange, N. J., and there attended the public schools, graduating from the high school in 1891, win- ning the State scholarship in Rutger's College. Preferring to enter another institution, after a year spent in preparatory work at South Or- ange, he entered Cornell University, where he became especially interested in history, also served for a time as editor of the "Cornell Sun," a daily paper published by the students. During his entire college course he was an ac- tive member of the University Christian Asso- ciation, becoming its Vice-President; was also President of the Curtis Debating Club, the strongest organization of its kind · connected with the University. In his senior year he won the Woodford prize in oratory, the most important prize in connection with the institu- tion. Graduating in June, 1896, he received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, and was elected to the Fellowship in American History, was also a member of the "Quill and Dagger" Society and an honorary in the Greek Letter "Phi Beta Kappa" Society. After graduation, he remained at Cornell, continuing his post- graduate work in American and English His- tory and Political Science. While thus en- gaged he was appointed Instructor in Amer- ican History, retaining this position for three years. In 1900 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The next year was spent in travel abroad and in study at the University of Berlin, and while there he received an appointment as Instructor in History at Leland Standford University, California. During his connection with this institution he received the appointment of Pro- fessor of History and Political Science in Illi- nois College, where, by unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees during the second year of his incumbency, he was tendered the presi- dency of the institution, which he accepted April 15, 1905.
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