USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 47
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President David Felmley of the Illinois State University has expressed himself in the following language as to Mr. Davis and his work and char- acter :
"Shortly after I came to Normal in 1890 I was invited to dine at the home of Mr. Davis and spent the long evening with him. I was struck by the man's modesty, by the evident interest which he took in me, and the desire to draw me out by his questioning upon a great variety of subjects. He wanted me to do the talking. I have felt greatly complimented by the attention that I received at his hands. But I learned later that this was characteristic of the man. He took great interest in young men, was anxious to make their acquaintance and to encourage them. He did not seem at all to care to impress his personality upon them.
"I was impressed, too, by the evident broadmindedness of Mr. Davis. He was anxious to get everybody's point of view and to see the reason that lay behind opinions different from his own.
"Five years later, when the Silver Question came to the front in our national politics, it happened that I was a thorough believer in bi-metalism and was making speeches and writing articles in defense of the Silver cause. As the campaign progressed Mr. Davis told me that the columns of the Pantagraph were open for anything I might choose to write in behalf of the cause of free coinage of silver. It was his estimate that probably one- third of the subscribers of the Pantagraph were democrats, and he wanted them to feel that the Pantagraph was not a mere party organ, but rather an open forum in which the desire to arrive at the truth was more impor- tant than to win party success.
"A few years ago, in conversation with Mr. Clendenen, for many years editor and proprietor of the Springfield Register, I was told that the Panta- graph was the best-conducted newspaper in the state outside of Chicago, and probably the best newspaper property; that while the business suc- cess of the Pantagraph was due in large measure to the excellent organiza- tion that had been built up in its territory, it was still more due to the high plane upon which the paper was conducted and the character of its Editor
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and Proprietor. Of course, the character of the newspaper here was simply the character of the man who determined its policies and inspired all its employes.
"The Pantagraph to this day is a monument to W. O. Davis. When I first came to Normal I frequently heard it said, 'It must be true, for I saw it in the Pantagraph.' Mr. Davis told me once that he wanted his boys 'to get the news straight'; that 'it is better to be a little tardy than to be mistaken.' "
George E. Dooley, who lives retired at LeRoy, is among the prominent citizens and large land owners of McLean County. He was born on a farm in Old Town Township, McLean County, March 9, 1864, and is the son of William H. and Eliza J. (Noggle) Dooley.
William H. Dooley was a prosperous and widely known farmer of McLean County for many years and owned 1500 acres of well improved land. He was also an extensive stockman and feeder of cattle. From 1884 until 1888 Mr. Dooley served as county supervisor of McLean County. Further mention of the early history of the Dooley family appears in the sketch of O. M. Dooley, a brother of George E., our subject.
George E. Dooley spent his boyhood on his father's farm and his education was obtained in the district school, LeRoy High School and at Baker's Business College in Bloomington. He farmed on his father's land until 1890, at which time he purchased 228 acres three miles north of Saybrook, Ill. After improving the place, Mr. Dooley sold it in 1896 and in exchange received a half section of his grandfather's land, which has remained in the Dooley family since 1850. Mr. Dooley has been a leading stockman of McLean County for a number of years and has been an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and has held many private sales. In 1902 he retired from active farm life and moved to LeRoy, where in 1915 he built a beautiful home at a cost of $15,000. He owns over 2,000 acres of land and two beautiful farm houses.
On Sept. 12, 1888, Mr. Dooley was united in marriage with Miss Rose L. West, who was born in West Township, McLean County, May 17, 1864, the daughter of Simeon and Martha (O'Neal) West, natives of Bourbon County, Ky., and Ross County, Ohio, respectively. The West family set- tled in McLean County in 1851 and it is after this family that West Town- ship received its name. Simeon West was a prosperous farmer and served
GEORGE E. DOOLEY
MRS. ROSE L. WEST DOOLEY
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as a member of the legislature from 1883 until 1885. As a member of the legislature he was the only man to refuse a railroad pass in Illinois Mr. West died April 2, 1920, at the age of 93 years, and his wife died Dec. 16th of the same year. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are now living. Mrs. Dooley was the oldest child. She was educated in the public and high schools of LeRoy and attended Illinois State Normal University, afterward teaching school four years. To George E. and Rose L. (West) Dooley were born the following children: Lillian A., the wife of Homer D. Etherton, they live on the home farm near LeRoy and have six children, George C., Glenn H., Doris A., Delmar H., Lucille L., and Edson L. Etherton ; Ferne, a graduate nurse, located at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago; Iris G., a widow, lives with her parents and has one daughter, Mary Ellen Gilmore; and two other children died in infancy.
In 1903 Mr. Dooley was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of LeRoy and since that time has served as vice-president. He is also a director and the bank's largest stockholder. In politics, Mr. Dooley is identified with the Democratic party. He served as a member of the LeRoy city council for eight years and as supervisor of Empire Township for three terms. He was a member of the 51st General Assembly as a legislator during 1918 and 1919 from the 26th Senatorial District and in 1924 was a candidate for state senator. Mr. Dooley has been a trustee of the Brokaw Hospital of Bloomington for 15 years. He is one of the dependable and excellent citizens of McLean County, where he has spent his entire life.
Jacob Louis Hasbrouck-The editor of this history of McLean county, has been a resident of the county for 34 years, having come to Bloomington for the first time on the night of Dec. 18, 1890. He was then a young man following the printing trade as a "jour," and he arrived in the city looking for a job. He secured one within an hour after he got off the train, and from that time to the date of this history had not at any time been without useful if not particularly gainful occupation. From typesetter to occasional writer for a newspaper, then a regular reporter, then editor in various de- partments of The Daily Pantagraph, with which he has been connected since the fall of 1898, he has traveled about the whole route of a career as a newspaper man in a city of that size.
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Mr. Hasbrouck is a native of Illinois and his whole life has been spent in the confines of this state, except one little period of a few months when he worked for a newspaper at Toledo, Ohio. He was born at the town of Pana on April 23, 1867, being the son of Alpheus J. and Mary Ann Has- brouck. His parents resided in Pana for a comparatively short time, their previous life up to that time having been spent mostly at Mattoon, where the father was in the hardware business with his brother-in-law, Abram Hasbrouck. Alpheus J. Hasbrouck was a prominent citizen of Mattoon, having been elected mayor of the city in 1861. He lived there during the exciting time of the Civil War. Although prevented by physical debilities from enlisting in the army, he aided the union cause in many ways at home, being one of a number of citizens who supported a hospital at Mattoon for the returning wounded soldiers. At the close of the war financial reverses swept away most of his property, and he moved to Pana to begin life anew. After a few years' resident there, the family removed to Effingham, where they remained throughout the boyhood and young manhood of our subject. Jacob Louis graduated from the high school at Effingham, and then more by accident than anything else, he got into the print shop of the weekly newspaper published there, and managed to pick up some knowledge of type setting. The next fall, however, he went with another boy from his home town to take a course at Wabash college, in Crawfordsville, Ind. He pur- sued his studies there for two years, and often said that if he had accepted a professor's offer at the close of his second year, he would have become a tutor, and possibly a regular college professor for the rest of his life. How'- ever, owing to frail health at the close of the year, he was advised by a doc- tor not to return to school the following fall, and there ended any dreams he might have had of being a "professor." He went back into a printing office in Effingham and mastered the trade of setting type, and then got a job in the office of the Weekly Times at Champaign. He worked there something over a year and became assistant foreman, which position he occupied when he decided to quit and seek other pastures. It was then he came to Bloomington, and he has since been a citizen there. For a couple of years shortly after he came to Bloomington, Mr. Hasbrouck was the publisher of the Normal Advocate, a weekly paper, in which he was asso- ciated with Charles S. Neeld. Later he disposed of this business and re- sumed work with the Daily Leader, with which he had previously begun his career as a writer.
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Mr. Hasbrouck took the position of telegraph editor on the Pantagraph in the fall of 1898, and was holding down that job when the great fire of June 19, 1900, took place. That night the manager took him off the tele- graphı desk and put him on the local staff. From that date to about 1920 he served as reporter and city editor, most of the time in the latter capac- ity. So far as known, no other city editor served any longer period on one job on the Pantagraph. During that period the paper grew from an edition of four to eight pages and with circulation of about 7,000, to editions of 16 to 22 pages and a circulation of 17,000. Of course Mr. Hasbrouck never claimed the credit for this growth, but his work as city editor during these years must have been at least fairly satisfactory. For a short time after 1920 he again took the telegraph editor's work, and was so engaged until April, 1922, when he was placed in position of editorial writer, where he still remains (1924). His work in the latter position has won many favor- able comments.
It may not be amiss to mention that the ancestors of our subject were originally from Holland, whence they fled to America in 1650 on account of religious beliefs, hoping to find greater liberty in America. They were part of the great number of Dutch who settled in and about New York, the Hasbrouck family having its earliest American home in the town of New Paltz, on the banks of the Hudson river. Mr. Hasbrouck's father was born at Kingston, a village by the Hudson, and migrated to Illinois when a young man. Mr. Hasbrouck's mother was a Hasbrouck before she was married, but the relationship between herself and her husband was very distant if at all. A strain of French blood was almost dominant in the family in its earlier years in America, due to intermarriages.
J. L. Hasbrouck was married in Bloomington on April 7, 1896, to Miss Caroline Livonia Kimball, daughter of Mrs. Caroline F. Kimball, whose sketch appears in another place in this history. Mrs. Hasbrouck belong's to one of the old and well known families of Bloomington, being a grand- daughter of John A. and Sarah Jackman, who came to Bloomington in 1864. The Jackmans were New England people, and are descended from a distinguished line of ancestry, whose male members bore creditable parts in the American Revolution. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Has- brouck, they being Theodore L. Hasbrouck, who attended the U. S. naval academy at Annapolis and the University of Illinois and then became a traveling salesman, living at Bloomington; and Miss Helen Hasbrouck,
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who graduated from the Illinois Wesleyan in 1924 and lives at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hasbrouck have made their home in Normal for the last two years.
Ray Whitesell, an extensive farmer and stockman of Empire Town- ship, was born on a farm near LeRoy, Oct. 15, 1874, the son of C. H. and Minerva (Love) Whitesell.
The Whitesell family originally came from Indiana, where Robert E. Whitesell, grandfather of Ray Whitesell, was born in 1823. He went to Iowa when he was a young man but returned to Illinois, where he died at the age of 80 years. His wife, Elizabeth (Paul) Whitesell, died in 1919 at the age of 91 years.
C. H. Whitesell was born in Bloomington, Ind., June 17, 1851, now lives in Bloomington, Ill. He has always followed general farming and stockraising and has been successful. His wife died in 1884, leaving the following children: Ray, the subject of this sketch ; Seth, lives in Indiana ; Leon, lives at LeRoy; and Earl, lives in Indiana. C. H. Whitesell was married the second time to Lizzie Hoover, a native of Illinois, and to this union three children were born: Lulu, lives in Washington, D. C .; Lena, at home; and Vernon, lives at Fairbury, Ill.
Ray Whitesell was reared on his father's farm and has owned his own land since he was 21 years of age. He has been a widely known stockman for 28 years and also feeds cattle. Mr. Whitesell has had about 100 head of cattle on hand each year and ships his stock to Chicago and Indianapolis, Ind. He also feeds sheep extensively and is among the suc- cessful stockmen of the county. Mr. Whitesell has lived at LeRoy for 11 years.
In 1898 Ray Whitesell was married to Miss Nellie Martha Green, a native of McLean County, born May 11, 1877, and the daughter of William H. and Rachael (Kinney) Green. Mr. Green, a native of Springfield, Ohio, was born Dec. 14, 1840, and died Sept. 3, 1921. His wife was born in Indiana, Sept. 2, 1856, and died Sept. 21, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Green were the parents of five children, as follows: Mrs. Whitesell; Isaac, lives in Illinois ; Myrtle, lives at Oxford, Ind .; Charles, lives in Iowa ; and L. R., lives in Bloomington, Ill. By a former marriage Mr. Green had two other children, Sarah, and Anna.
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Mr. Whitesell is serving as school director and alderman. He is identified with the Democratic party in politics and is a member of the Methodist Church at LeRoy.
M. Dunlap, retired farmer and stockman of McLean County, is a mem- ber of one of the first families that settled in the county. He was born at Marysville, Kan., July 6, 1858, the son of John and Elizabeth (Rice) Dunlap.
John Dunlap was a native of Pikesville, Tenn., born April 15, 1827, and the son of Moses Dunlap, who first settled in McLean County near Bloomington. In 1830 he moved to Old Town Timber, about three and one-half miles northeast of LeRoy. The Hale cemetery in Empire Town- ship was on the land entered by him. M. Dunlap says he does not know whether the cemetery was there when his grandfather settled there. When he was a boy he says the names and dates on the soft sandstones placed at the graves were effaced by time and the elements. No one seems to know just where they are buried. The Dunlap family purchased the Elija Hale place at Bloomington, which is now the site of the Hale cemetery. Moses Dunlap died May 6, 1858.
John Dunlap was always a farmer and owned 200 acres of well improved land in McLean County. He died July 16, 1897, and his wife, a native of Ohio, died several years later. They were the parents of the following children: Henry L., deceased; Josephine, lives at Bloomington; Rosella Huffman, lives in Illinois; M., the subject of this sketch; James, lives in Bloomington; John, died at the age of 13 years ; Steven A., lives in Bloomington ; William, lives near LeRoy; Catherine, lives at LeRoy ; and Margaret A., lives in Bloomington.
M. Dunlap was educated in the district schools and was employed in a saw mill in 1880, where he remained for a number of years. He then engaged in general farming and stockraising until 1914, at which time he retired and moved to LeRoy. Mr. Dunlap was a successful farmer and owned one of the finest farms in the township.
On March 27, 1895, Mr. Dunlap married Miss Sarah J. Campbell, a native of Illinois, born Nov. 20, 1865, and the daughter of Thomas W. Campbell. Mrs. Dunlap had one sister, Mrs. Lucy M. Neal, lives at LeRoy. To M. and Sarah J. (Campbell) Dunlap the following children were born:
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Ira, born Jan. 7, 1896, died in infancy; James T., born Feb. 10, 1897 ; lives in Bloomington ; Cyrus and Sylvester, twins, born Oct. 17, 1898; Catherine M. Phillips, born Dec. 9, 1900, lives in Bloomington; and Henry L., born March 13, 1904; and Caroline E., born Dec. 3, 1909, attends school. Mrs. M. Dunlap died Dec. 12, 1919, and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Mr. Dunlap is a Republican and a member of the Masonic lodge. The Dunlap family are well known and among the substantial citizens of the county.
William Blue, retired, is a veteran of the Civil War and a leading pioneer citizen of Downs Township. He was born in Champaign County, Ohio, Feb. 11, 1836, the son of Zachariah and Jane (Johnson) Blue.
Zachariah Blue was a native of Ohio and his wife was born in Ken- tucky. They came to Illinois during the early days and settled on a farm of 160 acres in Downs Township. Mr. and Mrs. Blue, now deceased, were the parents of the following children: Sallie, Roland, Susan, Jane, Vina, all deceased; and William, the subject of this sketch.
William Blue was reared on the farm and attended school in a log school house. He operated his own farm at the age of 25 years and for many years has been among the leading and successful stockmen of Downs Township. Mr. Blue served with Company F, 94th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War, and was in active service for over a year, and also wounded while in service. At one time Mr. Blue owned and operated over 500 acres of land, but has disposed of part of it and the remainder is now operated by his son.
In 1861 Mr. Blue was married to Miss Catherine Wood, a native of Virginia and the daughter of Joshua Wood. To this union the following children were born: Albert, lives in Portland, Ore .; Hattie Carlisle, lives at Downs; D. D., lives at Downs; William, operates the farm for his father; Harry, farmer, lives at Lexington, Ill .; Grace, lives at Joliet, Ill .; Mettie Hicks, lives at Joilet, Ill .; Katie, deceased; and Harmon, died in 1918. Mr. Blue's first wife died and he later married Miss Mary Cupp, a native of Pennsylvania. No children were born to this union.
Mr. Blue is a Republican and a member of the Methodist Church of Bloomington. He has always been an energetic man and prominent in the affairs of his township, and his family stand high in the community.
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John Barton, deceased, was for many years a progressive farmer and stockman of Downs Township. He was born in Indiana, Jan. 17, 1854, the son of William and Louise (Sweet) Barton.
William Barton and his wife were natives of Indiana and came to Illinois shortly after their marriage, where Mr. Barton purchased a farm in Downs Township. He died at the age of 73 years and his wife died when she was 40 years old. They were the parents of 11 children, of whom only one is now living, Mary Williams.
John Barton grew up on his father's farm and received his education in the district schools. He followed farming during his entire life and lived on the same farm in Downs Township from 1879 until the time of his death. Mr. Barton met with an accidental death. His widow lives in Bloomington.
On Feb. 10, 1875, Mr. Barton was married to Miss Elizabeth Crull, a native of Indiana, born June 29, 1852, and the daughter of William and Lurena (Justice) Crull. Mr. and Mrs. Crull, both deceased, were the parents of the following children: Clara Barton, deceased; Nancy Devore, lives in Kansas; Mrs. Barton; Alice Peasly, deceased; Rachael Devore; John, lives in Iowa; Jeanette, lives in Iowa ; William, lives in Iowa; Frank, Minnie and Adie, at home. To John and Elizabeth (Crull) Barton one child was born, O. A. Barton, who was born in 1882. There are four grandchildren: John, Lena Darrell, lives in Iowa, and has two children, Raymond and John; Marie Wisener, has one child, Hubert; and Mildred Barton.
In politics Mr. Barton was a Democrat and he served as school director and road overseer for several years. He was a member of the Christian Church at Heyworth and was among the substantial and highly respected citizens of his township.
Herman L. Reynolds is a veteran of the World War and an enter- prising and successful young farmer of McLean County. He was born, on the farm where he now resides, Oct. 25, 1890.
Herman L. Reynolds received his education in the public schools and began farming for himself in 1917 on the home place in Empire Town- ship. He has a well improved place and raises pure bred stock exclusively. During the year 1922 Mr. Reynolds raised over 10,000 bushels of corn.
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On June 24, 1918, Mr. Reynolds was inducted into service during the World War. He left Bloomington on June 25th and was sent to camp in Georgia, where he was in training until Sept. 6th. He then was sent to Camp Mills and on Oct. 4th sailed for England, where he landed 11 days later. He was sent to France and took part in the remainder of the war, having joined the 83rd Division. Later he joined the 27th Division. Upon his return to this country, Mr. Reynolds took part in a large military parade held in New York City, in which 27,000 returning soldiers marched. He was discharged from service on April 5, 1919, and then returned to his farm in Empire Township.
. Herman L. Reynolds is a young man of ability and promise and he has some of the finest pure bred stock on his farm that is to be found in McLean County.
Rev. John F. Fitzpatrick, pastor of St. Patrick's Catholic Church at Merna, Ill., is a native of Bloomington. He was born on Feb. 3, 1876, the son of Michael and Mary (Timblin) Fitzpatrick.
Michael Fitzpatrick was a native of Ireland and came to this country when he was a boy and settled in Bloomington, McLean County in 1847. He served throughout the Civil War as a member of Company H, 94th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He laid the first rail of the Illi- nois Central Railroad in this section of the country. Mr. and Mrs. Fitz- patrick were married in 1855 and were the parents of 10 children, as fol- lows: John, deceased; Mary, deceased; Michael, deceased; Catherine, lives in Chicago; Edward, deceased; Margaret, lives in Bloomington; Jo- hannah, lives at Pontiac, Ill .; Timothy; Rev. John F., the subject of this sketch, and James, deceased. Mr. Fitzpatrick spent the greater part of his life at Bloomington and died in 1911, his wife having preceeded him in death.
Rev. John F. Fitzpatrick received his early education in the public schools of Bloomington and at St. Mary's School. He was graduated from there in 1893 and then attended St. Viator's College at Kankakee, Ill., and spent one year at St. Bede College, at Peru, Ill., and completed his semi- nary work at Mount St. Mary's College, at Cincinnati, Ohio. Rev. Fitz- patrick was ordained to the priesthood in June, 1901, and was then ap- pointed assistant pastor in Eagle Township, where he remained for two years, afterward spending two years at Rutland, Ill. Rev. Fitzpatrick
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REV. JOHN F. FITZPATRICK.
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was pastor of the Catholic Church at Elmwood, Ill., for three and one-half years and was then sent to Westville, Ill., where he was pastor of St. Mary's Church for nine and one-half years. He came to Merna, in 1918, where he is now pastor of St. Patrick's Church.
The Merna parish was first attached to the Holy Trinity Church of Bloomington, and in the fall of 1883 was made a separate parish with Rev. Fr. Ryan as the first resident pastor. The first church was a small
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ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, MERNA, ILL.
frame building, which was replaced by a large brick church in 1890. The pastors of St. Patrick's Church have been as follows: Rev. Fr. Ryan, Rev. Fr. O'Conner, Reverend O'Dwyer, Reverend McKennery, Reverend Hearn, Rev. S. M. Moore, Rev. F. B. Lentz, Rev. C. C. O'Briend, and Rev. J. F. Fitzpatrick.
Rev. Fitzpatrick is one of McLean County's most substantial and in- fluential citizens and he has many friends throughout the state.
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John A. Crookshank, a pioneer farmer of Randolph Township and a veteran of the Civil War ,is now living retired on his farm. He was born in a log cabin at Randolph, Ill., Sept. 5, 1844, the son of George and Eliza (Fauver) Crookshank.
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