USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 38
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Brand and the Baptist State Convention of Illinois have been inseparable in the minds not only of the Baptists of this one state but also of the Baptists of all the states in the central Mississippi valley.
"With keen foresight and consecrated judgment he has laid out cer- tain lines along which Baptist work is to be developed. He has spied out the land, has had a vision of the future and with able leadership has led the Baptist hosts of the state to catch the vision and to give them- selves to the realization of certain definite plans.
"He has stressed evangelistic campaigns, encouraged churches to develop the evangelistic gifts of their pastors, and to employ the most con- secrated and efficient evangelists. He has sought to bring to the state splendid men to carry on state-wide campaigns and he has always met the offers of the national societies by securing abundant funds with which to place evangelists in the field and to carry on the campaign for the con- version and spiritual development of men and women. It is the writer's opinion that Dr. Brand himself must think this phase of his work one of the most satisfying and outstanding of his numerous activities.
"When Doctor Brand undertook the state work the trust funds of the convention was small. He set himself resolutely to increase these funds and the endowment has gradually grown to such an extent that it is now more than $106,000. More than any other leader before him in the state, he has succeeded in interesting men and women of means in this phase of convention work and many large gifts which are to come in the future will no doubt be traced to his influence. In this connection too our super- intendent has made the convention the conservator of Baptist property and the friend of all needy Baptist churches. The starting of Baptist work in some localities and the chance to carry on such work in many others has been due to Doctor Brand's help and counsel.
"When the affairs of Shurtleff College were at their lowest and many of its best friends were confused and doubtful about the outcome it was Doctor Brand who called for a committee of the board of trustees of the institution to meet with the state board of the convention at its ses- sion in Bloomington. Out of this meeting came the decision which re- sulted in the action of the state convention at its meeting in Elgin in 1911 whereby Shurtleff College became the college of the state convention recognized as the Baptist State College of Illinois.
"He also brought about the building and establishment of our Baptist work at the State University of Illinois. With his active enthusiasm he
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threw a representative of the state convention into the canvass and secured the present grounds lying in a strategic location. A few years later the state convention authorized the building of a church edifice and pastor's home and Doctor Brand was directed to employ a man to push the campaign for funds and a few months later about $40,000 was raised and the work immediately begun.
"No summary of Doctor Brand's work for the Baptists of Illinois can be complete, for who can count the days and nights spent on trains, in carriages, in automobiles, as he traveled over our boundless prairies ? He has been a veritable builder of highways for the kingdom of Jesus Christ and these five great trunk lines stand out pre-eminent as roads over which he has led the Baptist host toward greater things: constant evangelistic endeavor; greater financial strength to the convention; denominational education of our young people; care of them while they are being edu- cated at our state university, and strong cooperation between our great metropolis and the rest of the state; from these great highways Doctor Brand is even now laying out branch lines."
J. Heber Hudson .- A position that is unique in the community, and a work which is peculiarly interesting and beneficial alike to the city and county is that of J. H. Hudson, secretary of the Bloomington Association of Commerce. This position he has filled and this work he has carried on for ten years, a record in that particular line which has no equal in Illi- nois and perhaps but few anywhere in the country.
While Mr. Hudson is not a native of McLean County, he has spent most of his life in this state and county. He was a native of Wiscon- sin, being born at the town of Milton, in that state, on Jan. 16, 1872. He is the son of Lewis B. and Alice A. (Gilbert) Hudson. His parents were both natives of the state of New York, but they located in Wis- consin after their marriage and remained there until the year 1881, when they removed to Bloomington.
The subject of our sketch was then a lad of only nine years of age, and the city to which he then came with his parents has since that time been constantly his home. The parents removed to Aurora, Ill., in 1892, but Heber remained in Bloomington. The father died in Aurora in 1915, and the widow lived there for many years afterward, her death occurring
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early in the year 1924. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Hudson were the parents of seven children, but two of whom are now living, they being J. H. Hud- son of Bloomington and Mrs. John J. Trauten of Aurora, Ill.
J. H. Hudson attended the public schools of Bloomington, and when it came time for him to start out in life on his own hook he secured work as a cash and delivery boy for a store. Later he took up the work of a com- mercial traveler, being employed by the firm of Seibel Bros., wholesale milliners of Bloomington. He was on the road for that firm continuously for 28 years and had a very wide circle of business friends throughout his territory.
In 1914, Mr. Hudson was offered the position of secretary of the Bloomington Commercial Club, now known as the Association of Com- merce. He was chosen from a large field of applicants, and the remark- able record he has since made showed the wisdom of the choice. The Commercial Club was then a comparatively small organization, with meager equipment and practically no working force aside from the secre- tary himself. With the accession of Mr. Hudson to the position of execu- tive secretary, the club took on new life. Its membership was increased several hundred per cent, its offices enlarged and moved to larger quarters three times in succession, and new branches of work for the good of the city and county were added from year to year. One of the most notable achievements of the Association first accomplished was the formation of the Better Farming Association, now known as the McLean County Farm Bureau, which was sponsored by the Commercial Club and had offices with it until the Farm Bureau became so large and robust a child that it left its home nest and established permanent headquarters in a building which it had leased. This project has done more to cement good relations between the city and rural population of the county than anything else. It is impossible within the limits of this sketch to outline all the accom- plishments of the Association of Commerce in the ten years in which Mr. Hudson has been secretary, but these are given more in detail in the chapter of the general history in this work which is devoted to that sub- ject. The Association of Commerce now occupies two floors of the B. S. Green building, and its office force consists of fourteen people. It is a general clearing house for community activities. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have passed through its office in the last decade all expanded in the interest of the general good of the city and county. The success
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and growth of the Association in this period has been due in large part to the universal confidence which its membership has in its secretary.
In 1894, Mr. Hudson was married to Miss Carrie Scott, a native of Bloomington, and a daughter of Benjamin F. Scott. To Mr. and Mrs. Hud- son two children have been born, as follows: Gladys, married A. V. Padou, lives in Indianapolis; and Heber S., an attorney of Bloomington. He received his education in the public and high schools of Bloomington and after attending Illinois Wesleyan University was graduated from the University of Michigan in 1922. He has charge of the credit depart- ment of the W. H. Roland Co.
J. H. Hudson is a Republican, a member of the Second Presbyterian Church, and belongs to the Masonic Lodge and Consistory of Blooming- ton. He belongs to the Rotary Club, the Young Mens' Club, the Bloom- ington Club, and the Maplewood Country Club. He is secretary-treasurer of Post L of the Travelers' Protective Association, the post having a mem- bership of more than 800. He is also a member of Bloomington Council of the United Commercial Travelers, the National Union and the Court of Honor. Mr. Hudson has served as president of the Illinois Commercial Secretaries' Association and is a director of the National Association of Commercial Secretaries. He is universally regarded as one of the sub- stantial and highly. esteemed citizens of McLean County.
H. K. Hoblit, vice-president of the First National Bank of Blooming- ton, is a well-known citizen of McLean County. He was born in Spring- field, Ill., Aug. 10, 1882, and is a son of A. B. and Anna (Keys) Hoblit.
A. B. Hoblit was born in Canton, Ill., and his wife was born in Spring- field, Ill. He was a leading banker of Illinois for many years and in 1878 organized the State Bank of Bloomington. Previous to that time he had organized the Farmers National Bank at Pekin, Ill., and was cashier there for two years. Mr. and Mrs. Hoblit were the parents of two children, as follows: Edward, died in 1921, was married to Elizabeth Harker, who lives in Bloomington; and H. K., the subject of this sketch. Mrs. Hoblit died when H. K. Hoblit was a child and her husband was later married to Sarah Coolidge, who now resides in Bloomington. A. B. Hoblit died in June, 1920.
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H. K. Hoblit was educated in the public schools at Bloomington and was engaged as a collector for the State Bank there. After many pro- motions he was made president of the bank in 1920 and the following year when the bank was consolidated with the First National Bank, Mr. Hoblit was made vice-president. He is also vice-president of the First Trust & Savings Bank and of the First Title & Savings Company.
In 1904, Mr. Hoblit was married to Miss Florence Herrick, a native of Oak Park, Ill., and daughter of D. C. Herrick. Mr. Herrick came to Bloomington after the fire here in 1900 and became a leading merchant. He sold his business in 1923 and now lives retired in Chicago. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. H. K. Hoblit, Barbara, born in 1913.
Mr. Hoblit is a Republican and a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Consistory of Bloomington. He also belongs to the Elks. Mr. Hoblit inherited the banking ability of his grandfather, Isaac Keyes, who or- ganized the Farmers National Bank of Springfield, Ill. Mr. Keys was appointed Provost Marshal under President Lincoln.
James Frank Gillespie .- Rising by his own efforts from surround- ings that called for the best that was in him, James Frank Gillespie has established himself in a secure place among the successful attorneys of McLean County, to which he came thirty-two years ago. He is a native of Virginia, a state which is called the mother of presidents and from whose bosom have come scores of men who have achieved renown for themselves and reflected credit upon the land of their nativity. Mr. Gil- lespie is now right in the prime of his professional career. He is located in the county seat, Bloomington, and has offices in the Livingston building.
Mr. Gillespie was born at White Sulphur Springs, Va., on April 18, 1869, and is the son of James and Henrietta Laurestine Gillespie. The Gillespie family were early settlers of Pennsylvania, but they later moved to Virginia, where James Gillespie was born and where the family lived their entire lives. The father was a prosperous farmer of the Old Domin- ion. He died in April, 1905, and the mother of our subject died on Feb. 15, 1923.
James Frank Gillespie was reared and grew to young manhood in his native state, where he secured his early education. He graduated from the normal school at Concord, Va., and then attended and gradu-
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ated from the Central Normal School at Danville, Ind. He started out as so many other aspiring youth have done, by earning his first money in teaching school, first in the public schools of West Virginia, and after- ward became principal of the high school at White Sulphur Springs, Va., in the years 1890 and 1891. Meantime he had studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1892 at Charleston, W. Va.
Being now equipped to start on his professional career, Mr. Gillespie decided to come to the middle west, and he chose McLean county as the place to locate and begin the practice of his profession.
Without fame or prestige of any kind, he began to work faithfully in the daily business of his legal practice, and gradually built up for him- self the reputation for professional ability and integrity which is his today. For a quarter of a century, with only brief intervals when he was more energetically engaged in political activities, Mr. Gillespie has stead ily forged ahead. He has been successful in every branch of his practice, but it is mainly for his ability and conscientious devotion to his clients as a trial lawyer that he has made his reputation. Few men in the history of the McLean County bar have been so effective in their jury pleadings. His reputation in this line is more than local, and he is known throughout Central Illinois and the whole state.
Mr. Gillespie served a term in the Legislature from the Twenty-sixth senatorial district, and made a good record in the house. He is now (1924) the nominee of the Democratic party for congress for the Seven- teenth Illinois congressional district. For many years he has been one of the reliable leaders of the Democratic party in the county and state, and his speeches in every recent campaign always being effective and magnetic. Mr. Gillespie is a student of economic questions from the non-partisan standpoint. He is fond of the best literature and is versed in the writings of famous men of many ages. Being himself owner of farm lands in McLean county, he has always been interested in legislation that relates to agriculture and its allied interests.
Mr. Gillespie was married on June 10, 1896, to Miss Laura Sharp, a native of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, W. Va. She was reared and educated in that county, graduating from the public and normal schools, and was for some years a teacher in the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie have one daughter, Lucile, a graduate of the University of Chicago, who resides at home. The daughter is a teacher of mathematics in the Bloomington high school.
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Park C. Gillespie, now living retired at Normal, is a substantial citi- zen and a member of one of the early prominent pioneer families of McLean County. He was born at Bloomington, July 12, 1867, the son of Christian J. and Theresa J. (Gregory) Gillespie.
Christian Gillespie was born April 15, 1842, in Pennsylvania, and came to Illinois with his parents when he was five years old. The Gilles- pie family settled on a farm in Twin Grove Township and were among the earliest settlers of McLean County. Christian Gillespie became the owner of 540 acres of land in Chenoa Township where he moved after his marriage, which occurred Nov. 10, 1865, and at the time of his death was a leading stockman of the county. He died Nov. 23, 1908, and his wife died July 13, 1920. Park C. Gillespie, the subject of this sketch, was their only child.
Park C. Gillespie received his education in the district schools and started life farming on his father's farm in Chenoa Township. He be- came the owner of 540 acres of land in that township and 800 acres in Kansas. For many years Mr. Gillespie was a successful farmer and was a breeder of registered stock. He was also an extensive grain farmer.
On Jan. 13, 1893, Mr. Gillespie was married to Miss Freda Reichardt, a native of New York City, born Jan. 24, 1873, and the daughter of John Reichardt, a native of Germany and an early settler of New York. Mr. Reichardt was a Republican and a member of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Gillespie had the following brothers and sisters: Bessie, deceased; Frank, Pontiac, Ill., and Dora, lives in New York. To Park C. and Freda (Reichardt) Gillespie the following children were born: Herbert, farmer, lives in Chenoa Township; Howard, twin brother of Herbert, engaged in the insurance business at Chenoa; Christian J., extensive farmer, a sketch of whom appears in these volumes; Grace, deceased; May, deceased; and Frank, World War veteran, a sketch of whom also appears in this history. Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie have five grandchildren, as follows: Ruth, Bettie Jean, Margaret, Hannah, Esther and Herbert.
Park C. Gillespie is identified with the Republican party in politics and served as mayor of Chenoa for a number of years. During his term as mayor Mr. Gillespie was instrumental in having the streets of Chenoa paved and in the enforcing of prohibition. He was a member of the school board for ten years and was a member of the school building com- mittee when the new school building was erected. He was elected to the Normal City Council in March, 1923, which office he now holds.
PARK C. GILLESPIE.
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Mr. Gillespie is a member of the Methodist Church and belongs to the Masonic lodge, and has held every office in the lodge with the excep- tion of 33rd degree. He and his wife now live retired at 912 Fell Avenue, Normal. Mr. Gillespie is a progressive and public spirited man and ranks as one of the leading citizens of McLean County.
Clinton B. Hughes, a prominent attorney of Bloomington, was born in Clayton County, Iowa, July 16, 1878, the son of Ambrose M. and Ida E. (Hale) Hughes.
Ambrose M. Hughes was born in Lycoming County, Pa., Jan. 9, 1855. He taught school in early life and followed farming later in Iowa, where his parents had moved in 1860. He purchased land near Strawberry Point, Iowa, and now lives at Ames, Iowa. He has figured prominently in local affairs and held various public offices. Mr. Hughes married Ida E. Hale, who was born in Maine, Dec. 20, 1857. To this union ten chil- dren were born, as follows: Clinton B., the subject of this sketch; Eva, married R. V. Cooper, lives at San Bernardino, Cal .; James R., died April 1, 1923, at Springfield, Ill .; Mrs. Peter Anderson, lives at Ames, Iowa, served as a Red Cross nurse during the World War; Harriet, a librarian in the Masonic library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa ; Cassie Fleihler, lives at Straw- berry Point, Iowa; Andrew, a veteran of the World War, having served over seas with the Rainbow Division, and he lives at Ames, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Baxter, lives at Lovell, Okla .; Amos, also a veteran of the World War, having served with the Third Division, and Howard, lives at Ames, Iowa.
Clinton B. Hughes spent his boyhood on his father's farm at Straw- berry Point, Iowa, and received his education in the schools there, and was graduated from the law department in the University of Iowa in 1900. He began the practice of law at Strawberry Point in 1901, but the following year removed to Arlington, Iowa, where he practiced his pro- fession until 1908. He then went to West Union, Iowa, where he was elected county attorney in 1911, and was re-elected in 1913 which office he held until coming to Bloomington, Ill., on Jan. 1, 1916. He has built up a splendid practice and ranks as one of the leading lawyers of McLean County. His offices are in the Griesheim building. During the World War Mr. Hughes was a member of the Council of Defense and chairman of Four-Minute speakers. He took an active part in all war work.
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In March, 1902, Mr. Hughes was married to Miss Anna Opperman, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of Henry and Mary (Kramer) Opper- man. Mr. Opperman followed farming for many years near Strawberry Point, Iowa, and died in March, 1913. His widow resides in Iowa. Mrs. Hughes died Jan. 3, 1904, leaving two children, Flora M., born December, 1902, and Donald M., born in December, 1903. On Dec. 22, 1905, Mr. Hughes was married to Miss Magdalena Opperman, a sister of his first wife and to this union the following children have been born: Harold A., born in November, 1906; Helen, born January, 1908; Theodore, born Au- gust, 1909; Paul, born in 1911; Dorothy Jane, born in 1919; and Clinton B., born in 1921. The three older children are students at Illinois Wes- leyan University, and the others attend school in Bloomington.
Mr. Hughes served as assistant attorney general of Illinois for two years. He is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Church, and be- longs to the Masonic bodies and Bloomington Consistory and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. Mr. Hughes is widely and favorably known throughout McLean County as a capable lawyer.
Miss Nellie E. Parham, librarian at the Withers Public Library of Bloomington for just a quarter of a century, has been an influential force in the city for that time. Miss Parham comes from English ancestry, for her grandparents on her father's side were both residents of England prior to their coming to America in 1830. Her paternal grandfather and grandmother were Thomas and Anna (Bristol) Parham, who had resided in Tisbury, England, until their emigration to the United States. Her maternal grandparents were Willard and Piany (Roberts) Doolittle, whose family came early to America and later made their home in New York. Miss Parham's father was Alford Bristol Parham, and he was born in northern Indiana. Her mother was Arvilla Berthea Doolitle, who was born in New York, but whose family came to northern Indiana when she was eight years of age.
Nellie E. Parham was the eldest of three children, and was born near the town of Lima, Ind., now known as Howe. She was graduated from high school at Lima, attended a private school one year, and then spent one year at the Indiana State Normal. She engaged in teach- ing for a period, first at Elkhart, Ind., and later at Beatrice, Nebr. She
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entered the University of Illinois and took a library course of training there in 1897-99. She went first to the library of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, where she remained from May till October, when she came to Bloomington. Miss Parham has had charge of the Withers Library continuously since coming here. She has filled the posi- tion with exceptional ability and general satisfaction to the library board and the general public. She has seen many changes in the library, chief of which was its expansion to include the use of the entire building, the upper story of which was leased and occupied by the Bloomington Club . when Miss Parham came here.
Aside from her work as librarian, in which she comes in contact with many groups of the citizens, Miss Parham has always been active in movements for the betterment of the community in other ways. She is an active member of the Woman's Club and of the Four O'Clock His- tory Club. She is a director and interested worker for the Day Nursery, and many other civic organizations have felt her energetic co-operation.
Jacob A. Bohrer, well known member of the firm of Bohrer and Riley, attorneys of Bloomington, was born on a farm in Normal Town- ship, May 15, 1867, the son of Frederick C. and Anna M. (Ziegler) Bohrer.
Frederick C. Bohrer and his wife were natives of Rhenish, Bavaria, and left that country when they were children. Their families settled near Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio, and Mr. and Mrs. Bohrer came to McLean County in 1855, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They are now deceased. There were five children, as follows: George, was a prominent farmer of Normal Township for many years, well known politician and served as a member of the board of supervisors, and died Sept. 30, 1910, at the age of 55 years; Louisa B., married Jacob N. Hilton, and died Sept. 23, 1922; Mary E., died July 5, 1917 ; Louis, farmer, lives in Dry Grove Township, and Jacob A., the subject of this sketch.
Jacob A. Bohrer spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and attended the district schools. He entered the high school department at Normal University in 1887 and the following fall attended Williams Col- lege at Williamstown, Mass., from which he was graduated in 1891. Mr. Bohrer was made a member of the Phi Delta Theta and the Phi Beta Kappa fraternities during his junior year at college, and after his grad-
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uation returned to Bloomington and taught Latin, Greek, German and American history in the high school department of Normal University for four years. While teaching there Mr. Bohrer studied law for two years and was graduated from that department in June, 1896, and admit- ted to the bar. He was appointed assistant state attorney under R. L. Fleming and served five years. In 1901, Mr. Bohrer was appointed post- master by President Mckinley and re-appointed by the late President Roosevelt and ex-President Taft. He served as postmaster of Bloom- ington for 121/2 years, which is the longest record held by any one in that office at Bloomington. Mr. Bohrer served as chairman of the McLean County Republican Central Committee for five years and on Feb. 1, 1914, at the expiration of his term, engaged in the practice of law, being associated with Governor Fifer. This partnership continued until Feb. 1, 1922, when Mr. Bohrer became associated with Judge Riley in the prac- tice of law. They do a general practice and are widely known throughout McLean County.
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