USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 39
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Mr. Bohrer was married May 5, 1898, to Miss Florence Fifer, a daughter of Governor Fifer, and to this union two children have been born, as follows: Joseph Fifer Bohrer, attends the law school at Chicago University; and Gertrude Bohrer, a student in the journalism depart- ment of the University of Wisconsin. Miss Bohrer attended Dana Hall at Wellesley, Mass., and her brother is a graduate of Chicago University.
In politics Mr. Bohrer has always been identified with the Republican party and he is a member of the Unitarian Church. He is a reliable and excellent citizen of Bloomington.
Hal Marot Stone, attorney of Bloomington, is well known through- out the community as a successful man in his profession. He was born in Mason County, Ill., July 31, 1877, the son of Claudius L. and Mary Gertrude (Marot) Stone.
Claudius L. Stone was a native of Menard County, Ill., born Sept. 18, 1845, and the son of William A. Stone, who came to Illinois in 1832. William A. Stone was a captain during the Mexican war and died at the age of 87 years. He was a native of Kentucky and lived in Pennsylvania before moving to Illinois. Mary Gertrude (Marot) Stone was a native of Ohio and came to Illinois with her parents when she was a young girl.
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The Marot family originally came from France and settled in Pennsyl- vania and August Marot, Mrs. Stone's father, was among the first of the Pennsylvania Quakers to settle in Illinois. Mrs. Stone died in 1884 from injuries received when a cyclone struck this section of Illinois. A child, Inez, was killed in her mother's arms during the cyclone. Hal Marot Stone, the subject of this sketch, has three brothers: William E., attor- ney, Mason County, Ill .; Arthur L., traveling salesman, lives at Peoria, Ill., and Clyde E., supreme court judge of Illinois, lives at Peoria.
Hal Marot Stone spent his boyhood in Mason County and attended the district schools and high school. He then taught school for six years, four years of which were spent in Menard County. Mr. Stone attended summer school at Valparaiso and the state university at Champaign, Ill., being graduated from the law department there in 1903. He then came to Bloomington and began the practice of law alone, but soon became asso- ciated with Everett W. Ogelvee. The firm was known as Stone and Ogelvee until 1909 when Mr. Stone was appointed Master of Chancery and the firm was then known as Stone, Ogelvee and Franklin. Later Mr. Stone withdrew and practiced alone for about a year and in 1915 the firm of Stone and Dick was organized with offices in the Peoples Bank Building. On Aug. 1, 1923, Mr. Dick withdrew to become vice-president of the Peoples Bank and his place was taken by C. C. Taylor, the firm name now being Stone and Taylor. It is one of the well known law firms of Bloomington and has an extensive business in McLean County.
On Nov. 11, 1903, Mr. Stone married Miss Mildred Ann Burrill, a daughter of Thomas J. Burrill, a well known educator of Illinois. Mrs. Stone died Jan. 27, 1913, leaving one child, Mary Helen, at home. Mr. Stone was married on Jan. 24, 1916, to Miss Olive May Mellon, a native of Peoria. To this union three children have been born, as follows: Betty Jane, Hal, Jr., and Suzanne.
Mr. Stone has been an instructor in the law department of Illinois Wesleyan University since 1906 and now teaches equity, real property, contracts and evidence. He served as president of the Bloomington Club from 1914 to 1916 and he is a member of the Bloomington Country Club. Mr. Stone is a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma, the Phi Delta Phi and the Theta Kappa Nu fraternities. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and belongs to the Masonic Lodge No. 43, Bloomington Lodge, and is both a York and Scottish Rite Mason. He belongs to the Jesse Fell Lodge Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America No. 110, and is a
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member of the State Bar Association and three country clubs. During the World war Mr. Stone served as county food administrator. He is a progressive man in his profession, a citizen of great public spirit, and a man known to his community for his high ideals of civic pride and public service.
D. G. Fitzgerrell, president of the First National Bank of Normal, is among the leading and influential citizens of McLean County. He was born in Jefferson County, Ill., near Mt. Vernon, Feb. 10, 1868, and is a son of James Jackson and Sarah M. (Whitlow) Fitzgerrell.
James Jackson Fitzgerrell was a native of Virginia and was reared and educated in Gibson County, Indiana. He came to Illinois at a very early date, about 1839, when he was 25 years of age. He settled in Jeffer- son County where he purchased land from the government. Mr. Fitz- gerrell was a stockman and also followed farming. He was a Democrat and took a keen interest in politics but never held office. He died in 1889 at the age of 75 years. His wife, a native of Franklin County, Ill., died in 1903. They are both buried near an extinct town, Fitzgerrell, in Jefferson County. D. G. Fitzgerrell, the subject of this sketch, is one of a family of eight children.
Mr. Fitzgerrell was reared on his father's farm in Jefferson County and attended the district school. At the age of 16 years he attended Ewing College, at Ewing, Ill., from which he was graduated in 1886. After engaging in the hardware business for a time at Marion, Ill., he removed to Mt. Vernon, Ill., where he served as assistant postmaster during President Cleveland's second administration. After traveling a short time he engaged in the banking business at Ewing, and came to Normal on Oct. 1, 1916. Mr. Fitzgerrell has served as president of the First National Bank of Normal since 1916.
On May 25, 1887, Mr. Fitzgerrell was united in marriage with Miss Pauline Goddard, a native of Marion, Ill. They have three children: M. G., associated in business with Swift & Company in St. Louis; J. A., associated with the New York Life Insurance Company at Peoria, Ill., and Katherine, a junior at Illinois State Normal University.
Mr. Fitzgerrell is a Past Grand Master of the grand lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having served two and one-half years.
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He is also a 33rd degree Mason. He is a Democrat. Mr. Fitzgerrell and his family hold membership in the First Methodist Church of Normal and are widely known in McLean County.
The First National Bank of Normal was organized Nov. 1, 1893, with John C. Aldrich, as president. Colonel Smith was vice president until his death, and was then succeeded by his son, Dudley Smith, Jr. The present officers are: D. G. Fitzgerrell, president; Dudley C. Smith, Jr., vice president; William H. Odell, cashier, and T. H. Keys, assistant cashier. The directors are: D. G. Fitzgerrell, Dudley C. Smith, Jr., O. L. Manchester, David Davis and W. L. McKnight. The present resources are about $750,000.00, and the assets have almost doubled since Mr. Fitz- gerrell became president. The present bank building was designed and built by Mr. Fitzgerrell in 1918, and is modern throughout. It is located at the corners of Broadway and North Street, and is one of the leading banking institutions in McLean County.
0. A. Kyle, well known veterinary surgeon of Bloomington and pro- prietor of a veterinary hospital at 406 North Center Street, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Madison County, Ill., Nov. 1, 1874, the son of William F. and Mary (MacLilley) Kyle.
William F. Kyle was a native of Ohio and an early settler of Madison County, Ill., where his wife was born. They both died in Madison County. Mr. Kyle was a veterinary surgeon for many years and was well known. To William F. and Mary (MacLilley) Kyle 10 children were born, eight of whom are now living, as follows: William C., veterinary surgeon at Pocahontas, Ill .; N. W., veterinary surgeon at Colfax, Ill .; A. H., veter- inary surgeon at Highland, Ill .; M. H., veterinary surgeon at Chatsworth, Ill .; O. A., the subject of this sketch; J. C., engaged in the real estate business at Colfax, Ill .; Emma, married Eugene Forester, lives at Bloom- ington, and Bertha, married Ed Herrin, now deceased. A. H. Kyle has a son, Wilbur Kyle, who is also a veterinary surgeon, and another son, Raymond, who practices dentistry at Breeze, Ill.
O. A. Kyle spent his boyhood days in Madison County, Ill., and at- tended the public and high schools at Highland. He then entered Chicago Veterinary College, from which he was graduated in 1901. Dr. Kyle practiced with his brother, N. W. Kyle, for two years at Colfax, Ill., and
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came to Bloomington in 1902, and became associated with Dr. Alverson. After two years he engaged in business for himself and in 1914 opened a veterinary hospital at Bloomington. Dr. Kyle has facilities for treat- ing all kinds of domestic animals and his hospital is among the finest of its kind in the state. He also carries on a general practice besides his hospital work.
Dr. Kyle is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is an able man in his profession and a substantial citizen of McLean County.
David Felmley, president of the Illinois State Normal University, was born in Somerset County, New Jersey, April 24, 1857. He was bereft of his father when but a child of three and his early education was thus left to his mother. When David was eleven his mother decided to move to Illinois and settled in Pike County, where his boyhood and much of his youth was spent.
At an early age, David Felmley evinced a decided intellectual ten- dency, and his mother had the foresight to keep him liberally supplied with books and instructive periodical literature. As he approached man- hood, David became an insatiate reader, and had the ability to digest and assimilate much of the information and facts which he had so eagerly devoured. An employee of his mother, who was somewhat of a naturalist, persuaded the boy to stress natural science, especially in the direction of botany, while his fondness for mathematics was encouraged by an early teacher.
In 1872 young Felmley realized his ambition to enter college and became a student at Blackburn University at Carlinville, remaining there three years. He went from that budding institution to the University of Michigan, completing in three years the four-year college course. After leaving college in 1881 he taught a country school at Virden, then for ten years he served at Carrollton as principal of the high school and as super- intendent of schools. He received a call to the chair of mathematics at the Illinois State Normal University at Normal in 1890. Ten years of faithful and efficient work in that department brought him into such favorable repute with the State Board of Education that in August, 1900, he was elected president to succeed Dr. Arnold Tompkins, who had been selected as a successor of President John W. Cook, who, had resigned the year
DAVID FELMLEY.
AbrALI O TRE
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before to accept the presidency of the new Northern Illinois State Normal School at DeKalb.
In the twenty-four years of the incumbency of President Felmley he has enlarged the scope of the institution and increased its usefulness. The school year has been lengthened to twelve months. The regular faculty has grown from 21 teachers to 82. The normal department has been raised to the grade of a teachers' college; the annual enrollment of normal students increased from 800 to more than 4000. New departments have been established for the training of special teachers and supervisors of Art, Music, Manual Training, Home Economics, Agriculture, Commercial Branches and Physical Education. The State Normal University now ranks among the half-dozen leading teachers' colleges of the United States.
President Felmley has through his long career been an active figure upon the platform. He has delivered hundreds of educational addresses in Illinois and other states on commencement occasions and before assem- blages of teachers and friends of education. He has also been a frequent contributor to educational periodicals. He has been one of the authors of the State Course of Study, having written the mathematical curriculum in that publication.
President Felmley received the degree of LL. D. from the University of lIlinois in 1905, and L. H. D. from Blackburn University in 1906. He is a charter member of the College Alumni Club of Bloomington, and of the Rotary Club. He is in point of attendance the oldest member of the Illinois State Teachers' Association and of the Illinois Schoolmasters' Club. He served upon the Illinois Educational Commission in 1911-1913. He is now a member of the National Educational Council and was elected the first president of the National Council of Normal School Presidents.
President Felmley is temperamentally a progressive. He would sum- mon before the bar of reason every theory, doctrine, practice, or institu- tion in state or church, in school or in society, and oblige it to slough off its outworn and useless features. Accordingly he has been a consistent and persistent advocate of spelling reform, of tax reform, of the substitu- tion of studies in natural science and social science for the dead languages in the high school curriculum. He has always taken a keen interest in economic questions, and in former years made many addresses upon poli- tical and economic questions. Here, as in other fields, he showed his sympathy with the progressive tendencies of the time.
President Felmley is a man of broad intellectual interests and of
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extensive acquirements in almost every field of knowledge. He enjoys a reputation for accurate scholarship and for that reason was chosen a member of the board of pronunciation for the Standard Dictionary. He has served for 15 years as one of the forty members of the Simplified Spelling Board.
In 1887 Mr. Felmley was married to Miss Auta Stout of Carrollton, Ill. Their three children are Mrs. A. B. Meek of Carrollton, Ill., Mildred Felm- ley, a teacher in the Bloomington High School, and John B. Felmley, a construction engineer, now employed at Ottawa, Ill.
Julius Schausten, owner and proprietor of the Bloomington Soft Water Laundry, is one of the well known and highly respected business men of this city. He was born in Bloomington, Aug. 1, 1864, and is the son of William and Phillipine (Schlegel) Schausten.
William Schausten was a native of Germany and came to America when a young man, locating in Chicago. Several years later he removed to Bloomington and from there went to Clintonville, Ill. Later, however, he returned to Bloomington, where he spent the remainder of his life. Mr. Schausten served throughout the Civil war with an Illinois company. Mr. and Mrs. Schausten, now deceased, were the parents of the following children: Julius, the subject of this sketch; Ida, the widow of J. P. Hooley, lives in Bloomington; Herman, a plumber, lives in Bloomington, married Ella Irwin, and William, married Lillian Moore, lives in Bloom- ington.
Julius Schausten was reared and educated in Bloomington and has been engaged in the laundry business since 1902. The Bloomington Soft Water Laundry is located at 407-411 South Madison Street in a modern brick building, 150x115 feet. The building was built in 1902 and is equipped with up-to-date machinery. Mr. Schausten employs about 50 persons, several of whom have been with him for many years. His busi- ness is confined to Bloomington and is among the leading business enter- prises of the city, and Mr. Schausten has won a reputation for fairness both to his customers and employes.
On Dec. 25, 1896, Mr. Schausten was married to Miss Ida Schneider, a native of Bloomington and the daughter of C. C. Schneider. They have no children.
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Mr. Schausten is a member of the State Laundry Association and belongs to the Elks Lodge.
Milton R. Livingston, a member of the firm of A. Livingston & Sons, is one of the well known and successful business men of McLean County. He was born in Bloomington, Oct. 29, 1872, and is a son of Aaron and Hannah (Eliel) Livingston.
Aaron Livingston was born in Germany and came to this country in 1858, locating at Cincinnati, Ohio. Later he went to Fort Leavenworth. Kans., and at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted in Company I, Second Regiment, Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and served for four years as a corporal. Mr. Livingston came to Bloomington in 1865 where he had cousins living, and the following year he engaged in the dry goods busi- ness there. He was actively connected with this business until 1896, when he retired. He died in 1903.
A. Livingston & Sons is the oldest business establishment in Bloom- ington and since its organization has been in the same location where it was founded in the spring of 1866. It was originally a dry goods store, but has been enlarged from year to year until it now carries a complete line of women's wearing apparel, house furnishings, victrolas, etc. There are 175 persons employed in their store and it occupies a fine four story brick building on the south side of the square.
Milton R. Livingston received his education in the public schools at Bloomington and when he was a boy worked in his father's store after school and during vacations. When he and his brothers reached the age of 21 years they were taken in as members of the firm, the name of which was then changed to A. Livingston & Sons.
On Oct. 2, 1907, Mr. Livingston was married to Miss Florence Gries- heim, a native of Bloomington, and to this union two children have been born, A. Edward and William G.
Mr. Livingston is president of the Bloomington Association of Com- merce and has been a director since its organization. He has served as state president of the Illinois Retail Dry Goods Association and is a mem- ber of the Masonic lodge, being a 32nd degree Mason, and a member of the Consistory and Shrine. He is also a member of the Bloomington Club
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and the Maplewood Country Club. Mr. Livingston is highly esteemed as an alert business man and an enterprising citizen.
During the World war Mr. Livingston was very active in the Red Cross work and the Liberty Loan drives. He was also head of the Com- mercial Economy Administration of several counties in central Illinois.
Cliff Guild, registrar, bursar and secretary of the board of trustees of Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, was born in Watseka, Ill., Nov. 21, 1868, the son of Edward W. and Amanda (Foster) Guild.
Edward W. Guild was a native of Lowell, Mass., and came to Illinois with his parents in 1838. They settled first in Pike County, then in Henry County, and in 1863 moved to Watseka. Mr. Guild was a merchant for many years and during the latter part of his life engaged in farming in Iroquois County, Ill. He and his wife are now deceased. Mrs. Guild was born near Columbus, Ohio, and came to Illinois with her parents when she was very young, and they settled in Marshall County.
Cliff Guild spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and attended the district schools and high school at Watseka. He also was graduated from Grand Prairie Seminary at Onarga, Ill., and afterward attended Hedding College at Abingdon, Ill., from which institution he was grad- uated in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He received his Master's degree at the same institution in 1895 and three years later took post graduate work at the University of Chicago. Mr. Guild was a mem- ber of the Hedding College Academy faculty as instructor in mathematics for three years and in 1893 was elected to the chair of mathematics in Hedding College, which position he resigned in the early part of 1900, after which he returned to Watseka and engaged in the lumber business with his brothers. In 1903 Mr. Guild was re-elected to his former position at Hedding College and remained another year, then returning again to the lumber business on account of his brother's failing health. On Jan. 2, 1905, he was elected to succeed Dr. DeMott, deceased, as the head of the mathematics department in Illinois Wesleyan University. He held that position until June, 1920, when he became secretary of the board of trustees of Illinois Wesleyan University and bursar and regis- trar of the institution, which position he still holds.
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On June 28, 1894, Mr. Guild married Miss Hattie C. Cross, a native of Chicago, who came to Illinois with her parents when she was a young girl. She is the daughter of Michael and Kate (Mitchinson) Cross, both natives of England. Mr. Cross is deceased and his widow lives at Brews- ter, Minn. Mrs. Guild was educated in the public schools and attended Grand Prairie Seminary and was graduated in the same class at Hedding ยท College with her husband. She taught school for several terms before her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Guild two children have been born, as follows: Helen, a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, now married to Elmer R. Baum, lives in Bloomington, Ill., and Doris, a member of the class of 1924 at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Mr. Guild is a member of the Arts and Crafts Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and the College Alumni Club of Bloomington. He belongs to the Metho- dist Church and is a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi fraternity. Mr. Guild is a man of energy, vision and ambition, and an invaluable asset to the institution with which he is connected and to the community.
Campbell Holton, president of the Campbell Holton & Company, is a leading business man of McLean County. He was born at Vincennes, Ind., Aug. 11, 1866, and is a son of Rev. Thomas Tilghman and Ellen Margaret (Campbell) Holton. A sketch of Reverend Thomas T. Holton and his family appears elsewhere in this volume.
Campbell Holton received his education in the public schools and was graduated from high school at Lincoln, Ill., in 1882. When he was 16 years old he was employed in the grocery store of C. E. Ross. Six years later a partnership was formed with Mr. Reynolds, which was known as Holton & Reynolds. In 1895 Mr. Holton came to Bloomington and was associated with the Humphreys & Co., until 1907.
Campbell Holton & Company was organized in 1907 and incorporated for $100,000 cash paid in. Over 90 per cent of this stock was owned by practical men who became actively engaged in the development of the business. With only a few exceptions these men are the active managers, assisted by others who are receiving managerial education in the different departments. The company was organized to distribute in the most eco- nomical manner possible the entire line of food products and from the small beginning in 1907 it has developed a distribution which places it
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among the leading concerns of its kind in the central west. Originally located in the uptown district the company moved to its present track location after a fire in 1911, and in this location has every facility for the quick and economical handling of its merchandise. Under this roof there are coffee roasters, sugar grinding, nut roasting, cereal and coffee packing machinery, all of the most modern type. Cold storage rooms and up to date handling and shipping equipment enables the company to give the very best service.
The growth of the company has been steady year by years. Its proprietary brands, namely, "Happy Hour," "Camel" and "Red Mill" are now household words in thousands of homes.
The Campbell Holton & Company is capitalized at $400,000. Present officers and directors are: Campbell Holton, president; H. W. Kelly, vice- president; E. M. Evans, treasurer; C. A. Stephenson, secretary; H. A. Florence, J. M. Waterson, C. B. Holton, A. J. Means, R. H. Norton, C. R. Stuckey, William Nicol and H. W. Kelly, Jr., directors.
Campbell Holton was married to Miss Adelaide May Blake, a native of Clinton, Ill., born in 1867, and the daughter of J. H. and Susan (Ford) Blake, natives of Ireland. Mr. Blake was a well known dry goods mer- chant at Clinton, Ill., for many years. He died in 1913 and his wife died in 1905. To Mr. and Mrs. Holton two children have been born: Campbell Blake, born in 1894, associated in business with his father, and Ellen Margaret, born in 1904.
Mr. Holton and his family are members of the Christian Church. He belongs to the Masonic lodge and Consistory of Bloomington and the Shrine at Peoria.
During the World war Mr. Holton was active in Red Cross work and other important wartime activities.
C. A. Stephenson, secretary and credit manager of the Campbell Holton Company of Bloomington, is well and favorably known through- out McLean County. He was born at Heyworth, Ill., June 25, 1874, and is a son of George and Sarah Marie (VanOrdstraud) Stephenson.
George Stephenson was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1837. The Stephenson family originally came from England. Mr. Stephenson was an early settler of Heyworth, Ill., and was a carpenter and cabinet maker
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