USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 45
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Mr. Kuhn is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church and belongs to the Masonic Lodge. He is one of the highly esteemed and influ- ential citizens of McLean County, a man who in business and as a private individual manifests a keen and intense appreciation of all that pertains to the welfare of the city and its citizens.
August Fissel, dealer in grain and feed, is a well known business man of Normal. He was born in Bloomington, Nov. 6, 1871, and is the son of August and Wilhelmina (Mahnacke) Fissel.
August Fissel, Sr., wa a native of Saxony, Germany, born in March, 1841. He came to the United States in 1861 and worked at his trade as baker in New York, making "hard tack" for the soldiers at Governor's Island. After six months there he began traveling and went all over the country from Minnesota to New Orleans. While in St. Louis he worked as a steamboat cook and made a trip to St. Joseph, Mo., on the Missouri River. While working in St. Louis he was employed by a man from Bloomington and came here to work in the bakery shop of A. M. Sibel on
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W. Chestnut Street. In 1875 he went into business for himself at Normal, where he remained until the time of his death in 1913. His wife, a native of Prussia, born June 6, 1845, died in 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Fissel were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are now living.
August Fissel, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the public schools of Normal, and has always lived at Normal. He was in the employ of the city pump works of Normal for a number of years and in 1909 purchased his brother's feed store, which he has since operated. Mr. Fissel owns one-third of the old home place of 24 acres and also sev- eral pieces of city property in Normal.
In 1906 Mr. Fissel was married to Miss Emma Schrieber, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and to this union one child has been born, Herman, who is in business with his father.
Mr. Fissel is identified with the Republican party in politics and is a member of the Reformed Evangelical Church. He is one of the enter- prising and substantial citizens of McLean County.
George Champion, retired hardware merchant of Normal, is a vet- eran of the Civil War and a highly respected citizen of McLean County. He was born in Bristol, England, Feb. 24, 1840, the son of George and Eleanor (Ellis) Champion.
George Champion, Sr., was a seaman and died on the coast of Africa in 1843. His wife brought her three children to the United States in 1854 and settled in Kane County, Ill. She died at Elgin, Ill. To George and Eleanor (Ellis) Champion three children were born, as follows: Thomas E., lives retired at Normal, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; George, the subject of this sketch; and Athaliah Victoria Bright, who lives with her brother, George.
George Champion was educated in the schools of England and was graduated from a military school there. After coming to this country he became an apprentice to a wagon maker, but in a few years learned the carpenter trade and also the machinist trade. In June, 1862, Mr. Champion enlisted for service during the Civil War and served with Com- pany B, 69th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the war he was employed by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad as a machinist and in 1867 he came to Normal, where he engaged in the hardware business with his
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brother, Thomas. In 1875 Mr. Champion bought his brother's interest in the business, which he continued to conduct successfully until 1906, at which time he sold the business. He then built a large brick building on Beaufort and Linden Streets in Normal, which he later exchanged for 260 acres of well-improved land in Lee County, Ill. Mr. Champion also owns 160 acres of land in Cropsey Township, McLean County, and he is trustee for an estate of 1,600 acres of land in Illinois.
On Jan. 6, 1869, Mr. Champion was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Baker, a native of Peoria County, Ill., born Dec. 5, 1847, and she died Dec. 16, 1898. To this union five children were born, as follows: Ger- trude B., married James Wilson, lives at Pasadena, Calif .; George, de- ceased, was the husband of Emily Moore, lives at San Diego, Calif .; Ralph Ellis, deceased; Frank, lives in California; and Myrtle, married Earl Bowles, lives at Mt. Sterling, Ohio. George Champion was married the second time to Miss Hannah E. McKnight, who died March 5, 1908, and on Aug. 9, 1911, he was married to Miss Mary W. Huxtable, a native of Orange, Mass., born Sept. 13, 1865.
Mr. Champion is a Republican, served as mayor of Normal for three years, as alderman for two years, as city treasurer for three years, as city clerk for two years, as township clerk for four years, and as supervisor of Normal Township for seven years. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Grand Army of the Republic, and has held the office of post commander of the latter organization for 20 years. Mr. Champion has held every office in the Masonic Lodge and is a member of the Methodist Church. He is a reliable citizen of his community, a man who believes in progressive movements both in his work and in civic affairs.
Albert Bischoff, a well-known and successful merchant of Normal, is a native of Bloomington. He was born July 7, 1885, and is the son of Albert and Julia (More) Bischoff.
Albert Bischoff, Sr., came to the United States from Dresden, Ger- many, where he was born. He was 13 years old and after arriving in Bloomington was employed by Colonel Hefferman and several years later owned and conducted a saloon, known as the Merchants Exchange. His wife has lived at 11101/2 N. Center Street, Bloomington, since the death
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of Mr. Bischoff 14 years ago. They were the parents of four children, of whom Albert, the subject of this sketch, was the oldest.
Albert Bischoff, Jr., was reared and educated in Bloomington, where he has spent most of his life. He was employed in the Mormon Drug Company there for four years and later in the grocery store of George and William Freese. In 1908 he managed the meat market for Charles Grimes and six months later entered the employ of C. L. Schneider at Bloomington. In 1914 Mr. Bischoff came to Normal and was manager of the C. L. Schneider meat market, and five years later he purchased the business, which he now conducts on a most satisfactory and profitable scale.
In 1909 Mr. Bischoff was married to Miss Maude Tabor, a native of South Carolina, and to this union three children have been born, as fol- lows: Helen, Julia and Charles.
Mr. Bischoff is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Church, and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a stockholder in the Gable Meat Packing Company of Chicago. Mr. Bischoff is a progressive business man and is well liked in Normal and the surrounding community.
Enos I. Lanter, chief of the Normal Fire Department and member of the police force, is a native of Kentucky. He was born at Richmond, Ky., Dec. 30, 1880, and is a son of John and Mary (Parker) Lanter.
John Lanter was a native of Orange County, Va., and the son of Har- vey and Nancy (Wright) Lanter. The Lanter family went from Virginia to Kentucky in the early days, where John Lanter engaged in general farming. He died in 1890 at the age of 38 years and his wife now resides in Kentucky. They were the parents of three children, as follows: Enos I., the subject of this sketch; and Anna, married William Tribble, lives in Kentucky.
Enos I. Lanter spent his boyhood on the home place in Kentucky and attended the public schools there. On Oct. 4, 1904, he came to Normal, where he was employed in the Chicago & Alton Railroad shops for eight months. He then worked for Funk Brothers Seed Company for six months, and then spent the next three years in the employ of the Port- able Elevator Company at Bloomington. After working at other various occupations Mr. Lanter came to Normal in 1918, and was appointed on
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the police force, serving nights. Three months later he was appointed city fire chief, which office he has since filled in a capable and efficient manner.
On Dec. 21, 1900, Mr. Lanter was united in marriage with Miss Rosa E. Brookshire, a native of Clark County, Ky., and to this union two chil- dren have been born, R. Clay, deceased, and Carrie, lives at home.
Mr. Lanter is a Republican, a member of the Baptist Church, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Masonic Lodge. He is well known throughout the county as a substantial citizen.
Rolla Basil Neal, the well known chief of the fire department of Bloomington, is a native of Illinois. He was born at Farmer City, May 24, 1889, and is a son of Minor B. and Mary Jane (Weedman) Neal.
Minor B. Neal was born on a farm near Farmer City, Ill., and was a policeman there for many years. He is now truant officer for the city schools of Bloomington, where he lives. His wife died April 3, 1922, and is buried in Park Hill Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Neal had two children, as follows: Rolla Basil, the subject of this sketch; and Gladys, married Carl Lee.
Rolla Basil Neal was reared near Farmer City, Ill., and attended the public schools there and also at Bloomington, where he was a student at the Brown Business College. His first position was with the Bloom- ington fire department from Jan. 10, 1911, to Aug. 30, 1913, when he resigned and entered the employ of the Union Gas Company. However, on Aug. 1, 1917, he returned to the fire department and was driver and pipeman at the central engine house. On May 8th, 1923, Mr. Neal was elected chief of the department, which office he has since filled in a most capable and efficient manner. He is the youngest fire chief that Bloom- ington has ever had and is perhaps the youngest in central Illinois.
On Nov. 18, 1912, Mr. Neal was married to Miss Sarah Belle Ornen- dorff, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ornendorff, who reside at 1011 South Main Street in Bloomington. Mrs. Neal died Aug. 30, 1923, and is buried in Park Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Neal is a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 512 of Bloom- ington, and he belongs to the Illinois State Firemen's Association. He is
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MRS. ROLLA B. NEAL.
ROLLA B. NEAL.
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one of the enterprising and substantial business men of Bloomington, where he is widely and favorably known.
F. W. Westhoff, professor of music at the Illinois State Normal Uni- versity, is one of McLean County's prominent citizens. He was born in St. Charles County, Mo., June 14, 1863, the son of Theodore and Mary Ann (Roderfeld) Westhoff.
Theodore Westhoff was a native of Germany, as also was his wife. After their marriage they came to the United States and upon their ar- rival in New Orleans their oldest child died. They settled in St. Charles County, Mo., in 1852, where Mr. Westhoff engaged in general farming and stock raising. Mr. and Mrs. Westhoff had eight children, four of whom are now living.
F. W. Westhoff, the subject of this sketch, was reared in St. Charles County, Mo., and received his education in the district schools there. He began his musical career at the age of eight years, when he studied music with an uncle, Englebert Roderfeld, a prominent German musician who had come to this country with the Westhoff family. Mr. Westhoff later studied vocal music at the Lindenwood College under Emil Wolf and at the age of 16 years he conducted a large choir in a German Catholic church at St. Charles, Mo. In 1882 he went to Edwardsville, Ill., where he studied piano under Prof. Henry Wolf. He studied the cornet under Wil- lie Schwarz and in 1884 Mr. Westhoff began his orchestra work at De- catur, Ill. In 1891 he was engaged as supervisor of music in the Decatur schools, in which line of work he met with marked success. Professor Westhoff was called to the Illinois State Normal University at Normal in 1901 and since that time has taught music there, having four classes each day, and he also does a great deal of orchestra and band work and has complete charge of the glee clubs.
On Oct. 9, 1889, Professor Westhoff was married to Miss Lonia Gaeb- ler, a native of Decatur, Ill., born April 4, 1862, and the daughter of Will- iam and Margaret (Hughes) Gaebler, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Ireland. The Gaebler family came to Decatur, Ill., many years ago, where Mr. Gaebler was employed as a stone mason. To Prof. F. W. and Lonia (Gaebler) Westhoff four children have been born, as follows: Frank, foreman of the Beaverboard Company, Chicago; Mar-
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garet, supervisor of music, lives at home; Herbert, died at the age of 10 years; and Clarence, city salesman for the Whitaker Paper Company of Chicago.
Professor Westhoff has written a great deal of music and also text- books used in the public schools. During the recent Illinois Centennial he wrote the piano music for the story of the pageant of Illinois, the words of which were written by Miss Grace Arlington Owen of Bloomington.
Professor Westhoff is highly respected throughout McLean County and stands high in musical circles throughout the state of Illinois.
William W. McKnight, a prominent and successful business man of Normal, was born at Granville, Ill., Jan. 11, 1874, and is the son of Dr. William and Sarah (Moore) McKnight.
Dr. William McKnight was a native of Guernsey County, Ohio, where he was born in 1823. He was the son of David McKnight, a pioneer set- tler of Ohio from Pennsylvania, having come there in 1812. David Mc- Knight was a successful farmer, and his son, Dr. William, father of the subject of this sketch, was a prominent physician for many years. He was graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago and then took up the practice of his profession at Granville, Ill., where he remained for 33 years. In 1883 he brought his family to Normal on account of the school advantages here, and practiced there for 10 years, when he retired. Dr. McKnight died in 1908. His first marriage was to Miss Henderson, and to that union five children were born, two of whom are now living, as fol- lows: Margaret J., the widow of George M. Adams, and she is in business with her step-brother, William W., the subject of this sketch; and Mrs. W. E. Stansbury, of Chicago. Later, Dr. McKnight was married to Miss Sarah Moore, who was born in Granville, Ill., Sept. 2, 1840, the daughter of Shepherd and Margaret (Hawthorne) Moore. To this union two sons were born, as follows: William W., the subject of this sketch; and Jo- seph N., who lives in Denver, Colo. Mrs. McKnight died Nov. 6, 1923, and is buried in Evergreen City Cemetery at Bloomington.
William W. McKnight received his education in the public and high schools of Normal and attended Illinois Normal State University. When he was attending high school in 1891 he had charge of the Daily Panta-
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graps subscriptions and news agency at Normal. He had charge of this agency for a period of 29 years until 1923. January, 1895, he and his sister, Hannah McKnight, who later married George Champion, Sr., en- tered business together at Normal under the firm name of McKnight & McKnight. Mrs. Champion died in 1908 and her place in the business was taken by her sister Margaret J. Adams. Mr. McKnight has built up a splendid business in geographical publication and handles a complete line of school supplies, books and stationery. He does an extensive mail order business also. The firm has been in the same location, southeast corner of Broadway and North Streets, since starting in business Jan. 1, 1895, and own the double store building in which they are located.
On Dec. 25, 1907, Mr. McKnight was married to Miss Isabel Travis, who was born in Shelby County, Ill. She is the daughter of the late James S. and Catherine (Crane) Travis, natives of Pennsylvania who came to Illinois many years ago. To William W. and Isabel (Travis) McKnight one child has been born, William W., Jr., who attends school.
Mr. McKnight is serving his second term as city treasurer of Nor- mal and he is treasurer and director of the Citizens Savings, Loan & Building Association of Normal, and a director of the First National Bank of Normal. He is a Republican, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a Past Master of Normal Lodge No. 673, A. F. & A. M. He was president of the Illinois Booksellers and Stationers Association during 1923-24. He is a reliable business man and an excellent citizen.
Glenn Huffington, general contractor and builder, is a veteran of the World War and a progressive. young business man of Normal. He was born in the city where he now lives, March 13, 1892, and is the son of R. M. and Sarah W. (Simshauser) Huffington.
R. M. Huffington is a native of Clark County, Ill., and his wife was born in Bloomington. Mr. Huffington came to Normal in 1883 and en- gaged in the contracting business, and became successful. He was ac- tively engaged in business until 1920 when he sold his business to his son, Glenn, the subject of this sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Huffington have two children, Grace M., lives in Indianapolis, Ind., and Glenn, our subject.
Glenn Huffington was reared in Normal and attended the public and high schools, and later Illinois State Normal University. He has been in
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business since completing his education at Normal, and is among the suc- cessful young men of his community. Mr. Huffington carries a complete line of paints and building materials, and his building activities are de- voted to residences exclusively.
On May 8, 1917, Mr. Huffington volunteered for service in the World War and was assigned to the air service as a mechanic, and stationed at camps in Illinois, Texas and Florida. After the close of the war he was discharged on June 18, 1919.
Mr. Huffington was married on March 11, 1922, to Miss Florence S. Snyder, a native of Cairo, Ill., and the daughter of John and Jessie S. (Farrin) Snyder, the former a native of Paris, Ill., and the latter of Cairo, Ill. Mr. Snyder is deceased and his widow lives at Normal. Before her marriage, Mrs. Huffington taught kindergarten from 1919 until 1922. During that period she taught at Chatsworth, Ill., and at the Soldiers' Orphans Home. Mrs. Huffington was graduated from Illinois State Nor- mal University in the class of 1918.
Mr. Huffington is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Church, and belongs to the Masonic Lodge.
Col. Dudley Chase Smith .- A resident of Normal, but a citizen whose interests outspanned his own town, or even his own county and state, was Col. D. C. Smith, who spent the better part of his long and useful life in McLean County.
Born of parental stock which had a part in the successful waging of the Revolutionary War for the colonies, Colonel Smith was himself a native of Illinois. His paternal grandfather was Benjamin C. Smith, a Revolutionary soldier under Israel Putnam. The grandfather was one of the early settlers of Vermont. His grandmother was a sister of Dudley Chase, twice United States senator from Vermont, and judge of the Su- preme Court of that state. Salmon P. Chase, the great secretary of the treasury in Lincoln's cabinet, was a nephew of Senator Chase, and another distinguished relative was a brother of the senator, Bishop Philander Chase, well known in the religious history of the northwest, and founder of Jubilee College, near Peoria.
Addison Smith, father of Col. Smith of Normal, was, a student of Dartmouth and a graduate of the University of Vermont. He afterwards
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read law, and then started out in life for himself by locating in Dayton, Ohio, where he became editor of the first newspaper in that town. Some- time afterward, he removed to Bloomington, Ind., where he was influential in securing for that city the location of the state university. While a resident of Bloomington, Addison Smith was married to Nancy Fitzger- ald Hicks, of Hopkinsville, Ky.
Having suffered some financial reverses, Mr. and Mrs. Addison Smith decided to remove to Illinois, and they located in Shelbyville in the year 1832, where Mr. Smith bought the land on which the northern part of the town was afterward located.
Dudley Chase Smith was born on Dec. 9, 1833, about a year after his parents had located at Shelbyville. He was the seventh child and the only son in a family of ten children. The home of the family was a log house, much in the prevailing custom of those times, and the settlement where they had their home was a typical frontier place, the nearest town of any considerable size being Alton, eighty miles away, where they went to market. In 1846 one of the newcomers to Shelbyville was Joshua L. Dexter, who established a store. He came from Maine, and after he had been located at Shelbyville for a comparatively short while he was mar- ried to the second daughter of Addison Smith. After this, he took Dud- ley Smith into his store as a clerk and collector. In this position, young Smith received valued instruction from Samuel W. Moulton, who had come from Salem, Mass., and who arose to a position of influence in Illi- nois, being member of the Legislature. Mr. Moulton showed young Smith, how to draw up forms of legal papers, such as notes, deeds and mortgages. In 1855 Mr. Moulton became the author of the bill which was enacted as the free school law of Illinois, and which two years later resulted in the founding of the Normal University. Naturally, Mr. Moulton was named as member of the first governing board of that institution, a position which he occupied for twenty-five years.
In 1851, his employer, Mr. Dexter, persuaded Dudley Smith to spend a year in Jubilee College, and the next year, at the age of 19, young Smith was taken into the Dexter store as a partner. The firm grew in prestige and its trade was prosperous, having attracted customers from distances of twenty miles or more from the town. On the death of Mr. Dexter, the firm became Roundy, Lufkin & Smith, all being brothers-in-law of Mr. Dexter.
By the time Dudley Smith was 27 years of age, the Civil War came
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on, and he dismissed his plans for a commercial career to enlist in the army. He was mustered in under the first call for troops, as a member of Company B of the 14th Illinois. Soon after his mustering in, he was chosen a lieutenant, and had that rank when he went into the battle of Shiloh in 1862 and was severely wounded. He went home to recuperate, but returned to his company as soon as possible and was made captain. In 1863, the death of his only remaining partner, Mr. Lufkin, compelled him to return to Shelbyville to settle up the business of the firm.
After settling the estate, Captain Smith again volunteered and raised a regiment, of which he became colonel. This was the 143d Illinois, which took part in the later campaigns of the war and continued in active serv- ice until the end of the war.
Returning to Shelbyville after the close of the war, Colonel Smith retained his business interests there until 1870, when he sold them out and came to live in Normal, where his sister, Mrs. Lufkin, had preceded him. It was at this period of his life that he sought in travel the broaden- ing of his mind and experience which had been denied him because of his limited book education in his boyhood. He spent much time for the next few years in visiting parts of Central and South America, twice went to Europe and also made a trip to Alaska. Once after having visited the far west, he returned home just when the last stretches of the Union Pacific Railroad were being laid.
One of the friendships formed by Colonel Smith during the Civil War was with John P. St. John, lieutenant-colonel of the 14th Illinois. Lieutenant-Colonel St. John later becoming prohibition governor of Kansas.
Colonel Smith was married on Jan. 2, 1885, to Miss Bernardine Orme, daughter of Gen. William W. Orme, a prominent veteran of the Civil War and a lawyer in Bloomington. Col. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of seven children, all of whom are now living.
One of the dominant characteristics of Colonel Smith's life was his generous disposition toward all good causes and institutions. He had never aspired to public office or political position of any kind, and re- marked once that the superintendency of a Sunday school was the only elective position that he ever held. This was in the Presbyterian Church at Shelbyville, in which church he erected a memorial window in honor of his mother. While Colonel Smith affiliated with the Presbyterian Church during his residence in this community, he never confined his in-
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terest to his own denomination. One of the public and humanitarian causes to which he gave time and interest for many years was the McLean County Tuberculosis Society, of which he was long president. This so- ciety sponsored the present Fairview Sanatorium. Colonel Smith was a liberal donor to many educational institutions and young people had cause to thank him for his benefactions. Always a student and close reader, Colonel Smith had acquired a large private library to which he devoted his hours of leisure. In politics, Colonel Smith was a Republican, but an independent and patriotic one who thought of his country's inter- ests as above party interests. One of the tributes paid to the memory of Colonel Smith was the following expression from President David Felm- ley of the Normal University: "In the death of Col. Dudley Chase Smith, which occurred on May 22, 1920, this community lost a man who for more than a half century had been one of its most prominent and highly re- spected citizens. Although he had not held public office, or engaged in active business during his period, he was widely known throughout the state and beyond its borders because of his uprightness of character, his extensive knowledge of men and affairs, his interest in the public welfare, and his liberal contributions to causes for promoting human bet- terment. His story is the story so frequently found in America, the land of opportunity, the story of a youth of slender resources rising to afflu- ence and a commanding position by virtue of his pluck, his strength of purpose and sterling character."
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