USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
EBERSOLE, JOSEPH R., M. D .; physician and surgeon, Monmouth; was born in Lancas- ter County, Penn., October 21, 1859, a son of John R. and Anna (Rutt) Ebersole, both natives of that State. The family located at Sterling, Ill., in 1864, where the father en- gaged in farming. Dr. Ebersole attended the State Normal School and the Hahnemann Med- ical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D., March 20, 1888. Immediately following his graduation he located in Monmouth, where he has built up an extensive and highly successful practice. From 1888 to 1892, Dr. Ebersole served as Deputy Coroner. In 1896 he was elected Cor- oner, and still fills the office. Since 1890 he has also acted as local surgeon for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company.
He is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and Medical Director of the Illi- nois Bankers' Life Association. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He has taken an active interest in pub- lic affairs in Monmouth, and besides holding the office of Coroner, served on the Board of Education from 1894 to 1900. At Sterling, Ill., October 15, 1890, he was married to Miss Addie Over, and they have three children: H. Glenn, Ruth and Robert Joseph.
EWING, IRWIN AGNEW, business manager of the Monmouth Review, the son of Henry J. and Mary E. ( Webster) Ewing, was born in Monmouth April 14, 1865, and that city has always been his hrome. He received his education in the city schools and at Monmouth College, and while attending the latter insti- tution represented the Eccritean society in debate at the Philo-Eccritean literary contest in 1887. The same year he was Secretary and Treasurer of the Inter-State Oratorical Associ- ation. Mr. Ewing began his newspaper work in 1887 with the Evening Gazette, then under the management of G. G. McCosh, and in the following year became city editor of the Daily Review. July 20, 1889, he took a half interest in the Review, which he still owns. He was a delegate to the National Editorial Association meetings at San Francisco, Chicago, Asbury Park, Denver and Buffalo, and for two years was a member of the Executive Commit- tee of the Association. Mr. Ewing was identi- fied with the Democratic party until 1896, when, not liking the declaration of principles of that party, he allied himself with the Nat- ional (Gold) Democratic party. He was one of the Secretaries of the Illinois State Conven- tion of that organization, and was chosen one of the delegates from Illinois to the National Convention. He is now a member of the Pres- byterian congregation of Monmouth, a Mason, an Elk, a Knight of Pythias, and a member of the Illinois Gamma Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.
FINDLEY, W. S .; dealer in coal, wood and grain, and proprietor of the city dray-line, Mon- mouth; is a member of a pioneer family, an enterprising and successful business man, and is known as a public-spirited citizen. He was
827
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
born in Monmouth February 23, 1866, a son of David E and Mary Jane (Gettemy) Findley, David E. Findley was born May 30, 1840, at New Concord, Ohio, a son of James Findley, also a native of New Concord, born in 1800, who came to Illinois in 1833 on horseback and, after prospecting in Warren County, located upon land in Henderson County. He also took up land in Iowa, near Burlington, which then contained only a few families. He soon re- turned to Ohio and, in 1856, came to Monmouth, where he died in 1886. He attended the semi- centennial celebration of the settlement of Burlington in 1883, and otherwise took an in- terest in the progress of Iowa and Illinois. He was the pioneer grain-buyer of Monmouth, and continued in the business many years. His brother Mathew located in Henderson County in 1836 and lived there the remainder of his life. James Findley had four children: Mrs. M. M. Thompson, of Monmouth; Mrs. D. A. Wallace, wife of a former President of Mon- mouth College; Stewart S., of Wichita, and David E. The latter , was reared in Ohio, came to Monmouth in 1856, was long engaged in the grocery and bakery business on the site of the present courthouse, farmed in Iowa from 1880 to 1893, and then returned to Mon- mouth, where he and his wife are both living. He has eight children, named as follows: William S., Rosanna M., a teacher in the cen- tral school at Monmouth; Elizabeth, a teacher in Warren County; Martha, who married J. S. McMillan, of Monmouth; James G., superin- tendent of coal mines, Farmington, Ill .; John C., who is engaged in farming in Warren County; Margaret, and Mary, wife of B. A. McKnight, a merchant of Monmouth. After graduating from the high school at Monmouth, William S. Findley spent five years as a farmer in Iowa, and another year in California, and then became a member of the firm of Lord and Findley, dealers in wood, coal and ice, at Mon- mouth. In December, 1894, he succeeded to the entire ownership of the business and in 1901 withdrew from the ice trade, leasing his ice house to another dealer, and bought the grain interest of William Glendening and Christo- pher's dray line. Until 1899 his office was in the new postoffice block. His present office building was erected the year mentioned. He gives employment to five or six men and does a large and increasing business in the differ- ent lines mentioned, and his success, since he
began in 1890, is noteworthy and creditable. He married, in Iowa, in 1891, Miss Cora Gould, who has borne him a daughter named Lucile. Mr. and Mrs. Findley are members of the First United Presbyterian Church of Monmouth.
FRANTZ, WILLIAM HARRISON .- Repre- sentatives of old Maryland families who have located in the Northern and Western States have. almost without exception, proven their Americanism by the excellence of their citi- zenship and their public spirit by being fore- most in the work of enlightenment and devel- cpment. William H. Frantz, who is now liv- ing in retirement in Monmouth, has the satis- faction of being able to look back over the active years of his life with the knowledge that they have been busy and useful, not alone to himself, but to the community at large. Mr. Frantz was born in Alleghany County, Md., April 10, 1829, a son of Solomon and Jane (Mc- Elroy) Frantz, and grandson of John and Cath- erine Frantz. He was educated in the public schools of his native county, and, in the home of his parents, was thoroughly taught those principles which underlie an honest, upright and useful life. The year 1852 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Frantz in Warren County, when he located in Monmouth Township and, for the following four years, farmed upon rented land. His first purchase of land consisted of eighty acres, and this was increased by subse- quent purchases until he became the owner of an extensive tract aggregating over 1,000 acres. During his residence upon the farm, he dis- played, with characteristic energy, his desire to improve the standard of stock raised in this section of the State. In these undertakings he met with such success that he was classed with the most successful stock-breeders in Illi- nois. On April 2, 1857, occurred the marriage of W. H. Frantz and Miss Mary A. Lucas, daughter of Marsham and Elizabeth ( De- weese) Lucas, natives of Kentucky. The Lucas family came to Illinois in 1830, and located in Monmouth Township, four miles from Mon- mouth. Mrs. Frantz's father bought for five dollars the present Armory lot in Monmouth, which was one of the first lots offered for sale after the town was platted. The family was among the best known and highly respected among the pioneers in this part of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Frantz were born seven children: Delevan C., Kate, Sina, Pearl, Ella J., Mary E.
828
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
and George V. Not alone in the development of the agricultural interests of Warren County has Mr. Frantz more than borne his share, but, as a financier, he has been identified with the leading interests; first, as a director of the Monmouth National Bank, and, later as its President.
FRENCH, OELL S., President and General Manager of the Monmouth Lumber Company, who has been a member of the Board of Edu- cation of the city of Monmouth since 1897, and is now ( 1902 ) serving as Secretary of the Board, is one of the up-to-date, sucessful busi- ness men of that city. He is a native of War- ren County, born July 25, 1864, a son of Jona- than and Elizabeth (Sprout) French. His father was a native of Ohio and his mother, born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John Sprout. Jonathan French, his grandfather in the paternal line, was born in New York and married Martha Crawford, also a native of that State. Oell S. French was graduated at Monmouth College with the class of 1887. His primary education was gained in the public school in Hale, his native township. He had been reared a farmer, but, after finish- ing his education, turned his attention to the lumber and coal trade, and since July, 1891, his headquarters has been at 607 West Broad- way, Monmouth. He has interested himself in the development and prosperity of Monmouth, and in many ways has shown that he possesses a commendable public spirit. He is a member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Monmouth, in which he is an elder. For the past twelve years Mr. French has been a direc- tor of the National Bank of Monmouth. He was married at Monmouth, December 21, 1892, to Madge Irwin, who has borne him three daughters: Mildred I., Elizabeth L. and Marion E. Jonathan French, father of Oell S. French, . was, in 1833, at the age of about three years, brought to Hale Township by his parents, who located about a mile west of Monmouth. When old enough he did team work between Mon- mouth and Oquawka, on the Mississippi in Henderson County, at which point the family made its original landing in Illinois. They had gone from their old home in Ohio down the Dhio River and up the Mississippi River to that place. For many years Jonathan French was actively engaged in farming in Warren County, but is now retired and makes his home in Balti-
more, Maryland. Of the family the only one -now living in Warren County is the subject of this sketch.
GLENDENING, WILLIAM; grain-dealer and coal and wood merchant; Monmouth; is promi- nent as a business man, an active Prohibition- ist, a helpful member of the Presbyterian Church and a member of the Banker's Life Association. He was born in Mercer County, Penn., November 25, 1837, a son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Madge) Glendening, natives re- spectively of Pennsylvania and England. Andrew Glendening, who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a farmer and a carpenter. Mary Ann Madge came with her parents from England to Westmoreland County, Penn., when she was eight years old. Andrew Glendening and Mary Ann Madge married in Pennsylvania and he died in Mercer County in 1889, aged eighty years, she in that State at the age of seventy years. They had ten children all of which are living: Mrs. Margaret Bellville, of Illinois; Mrs. Harriet Numan, of Dixon County, Tenn .; William; Mrs. Nancy Hilder- brand, of New Castle, Penn .; Mrs. Emeline Fonts, of Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Jane Jones, of Mercer County, Penn .; Mrs. Mary Ann Mc- Clercomb, Newton, Kans .; John M., of Mercer, Penn .; A. J., of Pittsburg, Penn., and Lovicy Ashworth, who is married and lives at Alle- gheny, Penn. William Glendening was edu- cated and learned the carpenter's trade in his native country, and in 1863, came to Hen- derson County, and in 1864, to Monmouth where he worked at his trade until 1870. He was employed in the coal business at Black & White's in 1870-71, and was a clerk in a grocery store in 1872-78. In 1874 he embarked in the wood and coal trade as a buyer and as a shipper of grain for S. E. Bartlett & Co., who built an elevator in Monmouth in 1889. Mr. Glendening married at Monmouth, in 1867, Nancy M. (Rail) Belleville, who was born in Greensburg, Penn., a daughter of J. D. and Ann (Rail) Bellville, natives of that State, who located in Monmouth Township in 1856. Mr. Bellville, who was a farmer, removed to Monmouth in 1860 and in 1861 enlisted in the Sixty-third Regiment Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, with which he served in the Civil war. He died in Monmouth, April 1, 1866, and his widow, until her death September 12, 1902, was a member of the household of Mr. and
I.S.treuen δΈ€
829
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Mrs. Glendening, who have four children named as follows: R. M., who lives in Streator, Ill .; Margaret Jane, Jessie Ann and John R. at home.
GLENN, HON. JOHN J .; Judge of the Cir- cuit Court, Monmouth, Ill .; was born in Wayne (now Ashland) County, Ohio, March 2, 1831, a son of John and Anna (Johnson) Glenn. His father was born in Hartford County, Md., in 1794, and was the son of John and Jane ( Ren- shaw) Glenn, both natives of Maryland. His mother was born in New Jersey. Judge Glenn was reared upon his father's farm, attending the district schools during the winter. His academic course was received in the Vermillion Institute at Haysville, Ohio, and his classical studies completed in Miami University at Ox- ford, Ohio, from which institution he was grad- uated in 1856. His first work after leaving col- lege was that of an instructor in the Academy at Logansport, Ind., and while thus engaged he began the study of law under the supervision of Hon. David D. Pratt of that city. Two years later, in 1858, lie was admitted to the bar at Newcastle, Ind., at once opening an office for practice in Fort Wayne, in the same State. In 1860 he located in Aledo, Mercer County, Ill., and the year following came to Monmouth. where he has since resided. His practice grew rapidly and his reputation at the bar led to his election, in 1877, to the bench of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, under the law reorganizing the judiciary of Illinois. In 1879 he was elected for the full term, and by successive re-elections has occupied the bench continuously since that time, a period of a quarter of a century. Judge Glenn has always been a Republican and has been influential in the work of that party in Illinois, though not a practical politician in the usually accepted sense of the term. In re- ligious faith a Presbyterian, all of the impor- tant interests of his church have been subjects of his special care. For about 'twenty-five years he has filled the office of elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Monmouth. Aug- ust 12, 1856, at Fairhaven, Preble County, Ohio, he married Mary J., daughter of William and Rachel ( Paxton) Magaw. Of their five child- ren three survive: Anna R .; John M., Secre- tary of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and formerly Secretary of the Civil Service Commission of Chicago; and Adelaide M., wife of Junius C. Ferris, of Carthage, Ill. Judge 829-10
Glenn's record as a citizen and on the bench has been above reproach. During his career many important legal propositions have come before him for settlement, and his decis
in many of these cases have been accompanied by opinions which have become recognized by the bar of the State as among the ablest handed down during the period covered by his service on the bench. Judge Glenn has served several years as a member of the Appellate Court for the Third Division, but at the present time is doing duty on the Circuit bench. Few men in the State are more widely or more favorably known, and no judge is held in higher esteem personally by the bench, the bar and the gen- eral public.
GRAHAM, E. P .; Constable and influential Republican, Commander of McClanahan Post, No. 330, Grand Army of the Republic, Mon- mouth, Ill .; was born in Chester County, Penn., February 2, 1840, a son of E. W. and Mary ( McElhaney) Graham, and brought by his parents to Mercer County, Ill., in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Graham, who died in Mercer County, had children as follows: Ann Eliza, of Chi- cago; Lucinda; H. F. was a soldier in the Civil War in the One Hundred and Second Il- linois Infantry, and died at Galesburg; Henry M., was a member of the Tenth Illinois Cav- alry, in which he enlisted in Christian County, in 1862, lives at Rosemond, Ill .; E. P .; James, of Clinton County, Iowa; Hannah; Catherine, who died at Aledo, Ill. E. P. Graham was reared in Mercer County and has lived at Monmouth since 1880. He married, in Mercer County, in 1865, Lydia McPherren, who died there, leaving one son, J. C. Graham, of Peoria. In 17871, Mr. Graham married Luvinia Powell, who has borne him six children: Charles, Lewis W., Marie, Jennie, Otha and Madge. July 9, 1861, Mr. Graham enlisted in Mercer County, in Company E, Ninth Regiment Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, which was included in the Army of the Tennessee, with which he partici- pated in one hundred and ten battles and skirm- ishes, including the engagements at Fort Donel- son, Shiloh and Corinth, and those fought in the siege of Atlanta. He was with Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and, when his term of enlistment expired in 1864, he re- enlisted in his old company and was pro- moted to be quartermaster sergeant, in which capacity he did much important work. He
830
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
took part in the grand review at Washington, D. C., and was doing patrol duty at Columbia, S. C., when that city was burned, where he was instrumental in saving many lives. At the beginning of the battle of Shiloh his regiment contained five hundred and seventy-six men, three hundred and seventy-six of whom were killed and wounded in that engagement. There he lost his left eye and received a gunshot wound, besides receiving similar wounds at Fort Donelson and Corinth. He was honor- ably discharged from the service at Spring- field, Ill., August 9, 1865. He was elected Com- mander of McClanahan Post, Grand Army of the Republic, December, 1900, to succeed W. J. Patterson.
HALL, FRANK L., who organized the War- ren County Printing Company, which publishes the Monmouth Gazette, and late Vice-President of that concern, was born in Coldbrook Town- ship, Warren County, June 10, 1865, a son of Michael W. and Candis (Miller) Hall, natives of Kentucky, the former of Barren County. Michael W. Hall's father, Robert Hall, was born in Kentucky and married a member of the Harber family. Mr. Hall's grandfather Miller and his wife Parmelia were natives respect- ively of Kentucky and Virginia. Frank L. Hall was educated at Abingdon College, Abing- don, Ill., and, for two years after his gradua- tion from that institution, was engaged in the real-estate business at St. Louis, Mo. He lo- cated in Monmouth in the fall of 1888 and has since given his attention to real-estate and to farming. He was reared in the faith of the Christian church. Politically he is a Demo- crat and, as such, he was elected Mayor of the City of Monmouth in the spring of 1897, in which position he served with much success and became widely known as a model Mayor. In 1900 he was a candidate for the office of Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket. He is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and is popular in social and business circles. He was married at St. Louis, Mo., December 31, 1884, to Minnie M. Younkin, who has borne him children named Edwin, Leone and Myrtle.
HANNA, WILLIAM; manufacturer, Mon- mouth, Illinois; was born in Fayette County, Indiana, June 19, 1827, and died in Monmouth
December 18, 1900, as the immediate result of injuries received in a runaway near Cameron, Warren County, on that day. He was a son of John and Sarah (Crawford) Hanna, his father being a native of North Carolina and his mother of Virginia. In 1835 John Hanna brought his family to Illinois and settled upon a farm in Warren County, twelve miles north- west of Monmouth. His son, William, accom- panied an expedition to the gold fields of Cal- ifornia in 1849, and afterwards conducted a ranch on Feather River and carried on mining on the Yuba and American Rivers until 1851, when he returned to Illinois and engaged in farming in Henderson County. In July, 1867, in company with William S. Weir and Dr. W. B. Boyd, he organized the Weir Plow Company, and was elected Treasurer of the corporation. In 1886 he bought the interest of Mr. Weir in the enterprise and became President of the company. In 1892 he sold a three-fifths inter- est in the concern to Martin Kingman and associates, of Peoria, retaining a fifth interest and remaining in the directorate. The Maple City Soap Works was incorporated in 1890, and rapidly developed into one of the important industries of Monmouth. Of this concern Mr. Hanna was the chief organizer, and, from 1890 to the time of his death, was its President. He was also instrumental in the organization of the Monmouth Mining and Manufacturing Company, the Monmouth Pottery Company, and the Monmouth Blanket and Saddlery Com- pany, of all of which corporations he served as President. In 1871 he assisted in the organ- ization of the Monmouth National Bank, be- coming a charter director, and served as Pres- ident of that institution from 1874 to 1884. He was also one of the incorporators of the Keiths- burg Bridge Company; was President and Treasurer of the Burlington, Monmouth & Illi- nois River and the Peoria & Farmington Rail- way Companies during their construction and until their consolidation with the Iowa Cen- tral; later became a director in the Iowa Cen- tral Railway Company, and was a director in the Warren County Library and of Lombard University of Galesburg. He also had impor- tant holdings in real estate, including a ranch of 25,000 acres near Sweetwater, Texas, which he stocked with fine cattle from Illinois. In politics Mr. Hanna was a Democrat, but never sought political honors, though he was pre- vailed upon to fill the office of Mayor of Mon-
831
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
mouth for two terms-in 1880 and 1881. In religious belief he was a Universalist.
From his young manhood Mr. Hanna culti- vated an extensive circle of acquaintances, who immediately became his friends. Not only did he come in frequent personal contact with leading men from all parts of the country, but he carried on a correspondence which covered a considerable period of time and brought to him many letters of varied and peculiar inter- est. One of these, which negatively suggests the calm preceding the storm of war visited upon the country in 1861, is a letter from a friend in the South, written in 1860, which, while it mentions the writer's ownership of slaves, expresses no premonition of war.
June 26, 1851, Mr. Hanna was married to Sarah Findley, daughter of James Findley, a pioneer of 1832 in Warren County. They had three children: J. Ross Hanna; Mary J. E., wife of W. D. Brereton; and Sarah Frances, who died in infancy.
HANNA, JAMES ROSS, son of William Hanna (deceased), and his successor as the head of many of the most important industries of Monmouth, was born in Henderson County, Ill., September 30, 1852. After receiving the usual common school education he was gradu- ated from Monmouth College with the class of 1875, subsequently taking a course in the law department of Harvard University, graduating in 1877. After having devoted three years to the practice of his profession in Monmouth, he became identified with the Weir Plow Com- pany of which he was Secretary and Treasurer from 1881 to 1892. In 1894 he became Vice- President of the Monmouth Mining and Manu- facturing Company, and in 1896 Vice-Presi- dent of the Maple City Soap Works. Upon the death of his father in 1901, he was elected President of the Monmouth Mining and Manu- facturing Company, the Maple City Soap Works, the Monmouth Pottery Company, and the Monmouth Coal Company. In 1880 Mr. Hanna was elected a director in the Monmouth National Bank, served as such until 1884. Since 1893 he has been a member of the board of trustees of Monmouth College. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Mon- mouth, which he has served as elder since 1884. May 30, 1878, Mr. Hanna married Eliza- beth M. Merridith, daughter of Joseph and Amanda (Parker) Merridith. They have
three children: John, Alice and May. Eliza- beth, a fourth child, died in 1898, aged four years.
HANNA, REV. THOMAS HENDERSON, Clergyman United Presbyterian Church, Mon- mouth, Ill., was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1837, and educated in the public schools, the Cookstown and Buffalo Academies, and at Westminster College in his native State. Having studied Theology at Xenia, Ohio, Mr. Hanna was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Chartiers, April 17, 1860; was ordained by the Presbytery of Philadel- phia, February 18, 1862; was pastor of the Fifth Church of Philadelphia for five years; of the Second Church, Pittsburg, eight years; of the First at Xenia, five years, and has been pastor of the First Church of Monmouth since September 1, 1880. On October 16, 1862, Mr. Hanna was united in marriage, in Washington County, Penn., to Mary E. Templeton, and they have had six children, viz .: W. F. T. Hanna, Rev. Charles Hanna, James A. Hanna, Rev. Thomas H. Hanna, Lyda Martha Hanna and Hugh Allison Hanna. Of these the second son, Rev. John Charles Hanna, is deceased, and the daughter, Lyda Martha, is the wife of Dr. Palmer Findley of Chicago. In his political relations Rev. Mr. Hanna is in active co-opera- tion with the Prohibition party.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.