USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 57
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Ninety-seven years ago Valentine Martin Darnall left the old home at Georgetown, Ky., and journeyed to Illinois, where in 1827 he estab- lished his homestead on the eastern border of Indian Grove, the first white settler within the confines of what is now known as Livingston ยท County. With him came his brother, Nicholas Darnall, the paternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, Warren C. Darnall.
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Nicholas Darnall, having served as first lieutenant in the Black Hawk war, was united in marriage with Sarepta Brooks, daughter of the founder of the Brooks' Grove colony, and settled at Brooks' Grove in about the year 1834. He was for many years widely and favorably known as an ordained minister of the Christian church.
On the old home farm at Brooks' Grove William Darnall, father of Warren C., was born Jan. 5, 1836, and on the adjoining farm on April 18, 1864, Warren C. Darnall began an eventful life that has mingled rather more than the ordinary amount of the lights and shadows of human experience. William Darnall and Eliza Ann Coffman were united in mar- riage in 1856. She was the daughter of William Henry and Martha (Young) Coffman. William Henry Coffman was a pioneer minister of the Christian church and in the prosecution of his missionary labors traveled extensively through Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas and Texas. William Darnall died at Stanford, this county, in April, 1923, at the advanced age of 87 years. The mother, Eliza Ann Darnall, now in her 85th year is at this writing still living in the old home in Stanford.
Thus within the span of three generations has McLean County passed from the habitat of the hardy pioneer who braved the dangers of the wilderness, trusting his own prowess and sagacity to protect him from the ravages of disease and from the perils of contact with savage beasts and still more savage men to the abode of seductive environment and cul- tured ease.
In striking contrast with the manners and customs of the present day, it is to be recorded that the early pioneers were essentially hos- pitable and neighborly. They were contented and happy. In their farm and houshold duties they exchanged work freely. Long after Warren C. Darnall had passed the age of childhood it was the prevailing custom for men to lay aside their own work and journey miles to assist a dis- tant neighbor to "raise" his house or barn. Harvesting, shucking corn, hog killing, fruit, berries and nut gathering, making cider, laying worm fence, rail splitting on the farm and quilting, carpet weaving and numer- ous other tedious household duties were made the occasion for mutual exchange of assistance. Then when Thanksgiving or Christmas came or weddings or birthdays were to be celebrated such feasts were spread as only the wives and mothers of that early day knew how to prepare.
Such may be said of the environment of the early pioneers. Prac- tically all of the first and second generations have "wrapped the draperies
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of their couch about them and lain down to pleasant dreams" and with the passing of the third generation, to which Warren C. Darnall properly belongs, memory will cease and only history and tradition will remain to relate imperfectly the story of the old settlers of the Corn Belt of Illinois.
The Darnall family traces its history in America to the period about 1625 when Lord Baltimore secured a grant of land from the English Crown and established the Colony of Maryland. The wife of Lord Baltimore was a Darnall and her brothers, John and Henry, were prominent in the early distribution of the colonial lands. Later on when the colony was rent with religious dissention, the family was divided, that branch ad- hering to the Catholic faith remaining while the Protestant branch migrat- ed to Virginia and the Carolinas, thence over into Kentucky and eventu- ally to the North and West. It has been particularly noted as a family characteristic that while taking a lively interest in political and civic affairs, very few of the family name ever manifested political aspirations.
Warren C. Darnall is a worthy representative of this type of American citizenship. Firm and steadfast in his convictions, "he is by no means a surface feeder but a deep thinker and reasoner." Loyalty to God, loyalty to his country and loyalty to his home mark the outstanding charac- teristics of his being. Hence, on questions of justice, law and order his attitude can always be taken for granted. Like one of whom it was said, "He wore his heart on his sleeve, no matter what people would say", so of Warren C. Darnall it may be said, his life is as an open book, not always right but reflecting the highest ideals and purposes.
Born amidst the stirring scenes enacted in the closing days of the Civil War, his earliest recollections have to do with tales of marching men, the blare of trumpets and deeds of valor on field of battle. Then on occasion around some fireside gathering of neighbor folk would be re- counted the scenes of earlier days when pilgrimage was made for family supplies over the long trails to Peoria or Chicago. Whistler's Mill on the Mackinaw ground the corn and wheat while sturdy pioneers vied with each other in feats of skill in wrestling, markmanship, pitching horse-shoes and other sports. Now and then Old Uncle Martin Darnall could be in- duced to contribute the story of his hunger experience "in the winter of the deep snow" and how when hope had well nigh gone, he climbed to the roof of his cabin and espied a deer caught in the distant drifts; needless to add that after a thrilling experience and with the aid of snowshoes, that
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deer was made to provide food for the family until assistance arrived. Such were of the impressions and such the environment that early assist- ed in the development of mind, body and character in the life of Warren C. Darnall and in later years galvanized them into a dynamic personality that was destined to take a place of leadership in practically all the activi- ties of a varied career.
As a boy Warren C. Darnall attended the country schools, then the Atlanta High School, finishing his literary training at Eureka College. After two successful years in teaching he attended and graduated from the Ever- green City Business College, where he also taught the greater part of one year. Changing from a professional to a business career only tended to open up a wider field for his investigations and he continued his studies with unremitting energy. As president of the school board at McLean he gained an enviable reputation as teacher of elocution and literary art and his pupils were uniformly successful in numerous contests in which they engaged. On the board of trustees of Eureka College where he served for six years, he was regarded as an authority on matters of finance and only retired on account of failing health.
Following his experience in the business college Mr. Darnall was em- ployed for a short time as bookkeeper and accountant in the office of a lumber yard in Mason City. A short time later, however, an opportunity was presented to engage in the grain business and marshalling the savings of his teaching and accounting days he started on the long trail that led from the grain office in Ashland in the spring of 1885 and ended 32 years later when he sold his enviable business interests in McLean in June, 1917. During this period he owned and controlled many branch elevators and became one of the best known and successful grain men in the Illinois Corn Belt. Shortly after moving from Ashland to McLean in August, 1886, he added a burglar-proof safe to his office equipment and thenceforth became one of those private country bankers to whom the agricultural interests of Illinois are indebted for the most prosperous and satisfac- tory development in their history. Mr. Darnall has never hesitated to denounce the adverse criticism and propaganda that eventually culminated in the restrictive banking laws against which the farming interests have been obliged of late years to strive in their efforts to successfully finance their business and as a proof of his position points with pride to the ad- ventures of many men whom his assistance as a private banker started on the road to prosperity and in many instances to financial independence.
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Few men are better known in the fraternal orders in Illinois than Warren C. Darnall. In 1911 he was made Chief of Examiners and Instruc- tors of the Grand Lodge of Illinois Odd Fellows. His original methods and ability as an instructor soon created such a demand for his services that he was obliged to separate the State into zones and enlist the serv- ices of many assistants. In 1914 he was elected Grand Master, having After passed through all the intervening chairs without opposition. serving two years as representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge he was appointed on the Judiciary and Appeals Committee where he gained much valuable legal experience during the five years of his service. He has just recently completed his second term as chairman of the board of trustees of Remembrance Lodge No. 77 and was re-elected for the third term. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner.
Born of Christian parentage, both his father and mother having been active church workers until their declining years, and both of his grand- fathers having been ordained ministers of the gospel, it was natural that Warren C. Darnall should take a lively interest in church work. Being unusually well equipped in Bible history and literature he has been for five successive years elected teacher of the Brotherhood Class of the First Christian Church of Bloomington where his work is much appreciated. His wife and daughter are also members of this church.
Warren C. Darnall has been a life-long Republican. He believes firmly in the protection of the industries of the country so far as may be neces- sary to safeguard the standards of living of our laboring population. He is a great admirer of Theodore Roosevelt and his ideas of the "Square Deal" and "Equal Rights" and strenuously opposes special privileges in the operation of state and national affairs.
Congenial co-operation, mutual regard and consideration, comfortable surroundings and happy companionship are the distinguishing character- istics of the family home of Warren C. Darnall. After selling out his business in McLean in 1917 the family moved to Bloomington where he purchased a very desirable residence at 34 White Place. On June 17, 1885, Warren C. Darnall and Ida May Linebarger were joined in wedlock at Stanford. To this union one daughter, Camilla Irene, was born, Oct. 27, 1897. Ida M. Darnall was the only daughter of Henry and Jane Line- barger. Henry Linebarger came to Stanford in 1869 and for 30 years was one of the best known grain dealers and bankers in central Illinois. Jane
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Linebarger was born in Germany and in her infancy came with her par- ents to America.
Camilla Irene Darnall completed her literary course and graduated from Eureka College in the class of 1919. Following the trend of natural skill and capability of her mother, she specialized in domestic art and domestic science and has developed unusual talent along those lines. On June 17, 1922, she was united in marriage with Joseph H. Stevenson of Aledo, Ill. Mr. Stevenson is a licensed embalmer and undertaker and while in his apprenticeship held positions in Peoria, Moline and Chicago. He was overseas with the A. E. F., having volunteered and crossed with the 33rd Division, and after the armistice was signed he was with the Army of Occupation.
From the foregoing it may be gleaned that Warren C. Darnall "Has had his share in the fame and fight,
"In the struggles and cares of men"
and few men in the county have contributed more of their time or a larger portion of their means for the common good and development of indi- vidual character and opportunity. His field of operation has been broad and his beneficences free from ostentation but they have been none the less appreciated by the recipients.
J. H. Barnes, the capable and well known cashier of the Cropsey State Bank, is a native of McLean County. He was born near Cropsey, Aug. 6, 1889, and is a son of Henry L. and Ada A. (Mccullough) Barnes.
Henry L. Barnes is one of the foremost citizens of McLean County, where he is widely known in connection with important banking enter- prises, real estate transactions and extensive live stock operations. Mr. Barnes was born in Greene County, Pa., April 10, 1856, the son of John and Sarah (White) Barnes, the former born in 1818 and the latter in 1822. John Barnes was a farmer by occupation and in Pennsylvania was the owner of a 230-acre farm. He removed to Livingston County, Ill., March 27, 1868, and later located in Belle Prairie Township, McLean County. He died Feb. 12, 1899, and his wife died May 12, 1903.
Henry L. Barnes was educated in the schools of Pennsylvania and Illinois and lived on the home farm until he was 21 years old. He then
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spent five years in teaching school. His first investment consisted of 40 acres of land at $30 per acre. Mr. Barnes has become one of the leading real estate operators in the county and has officiated as clerk at more public sales than any other man in McLean County. In 1892 he built a commodious and attractive residence in Cropsey, which is the family home. In April of that year he started a private bank there, which was operated as the Henry L. Barnes Bank until the time of its reorganization in 1921. In November, 1903, Mr. Barnes established the Colfax Bank, at Colfax, of which his son, John L., is cashier. Mr. Barnes is a member of the McLean County Bankers Association. He is interested in the Farmers' Elevator at Cropsey and assisted in organizing the telephone company there.
On Nov. 20, 1881, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage with Miss Ada L. Mccullough, who was born in Grundy County, Ill., Jan. 24, 1861, the daughter of George H. and Sarah (Converse) Mccullough, both natives of New York State and of Irish descent. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have five children: Myra M. Lackland, born Dec. 9, 1883, lives in New York; John L., born Feb. 16, 1885, lives at Colfax, Ill .; J. H., the subject of this sketch; Ethel Ada Tanner, born July 30, 1892, lives at Roanoke, Ind .; and William Frank, born Oct. 19, 1898, deceased.
J. H. Barnes received his education in the public schools of Cropsey and Colfax. In 1910 he entered his father's bank as cashier, which posi- tion he has since held. Mr. Barnes is an extensive feeder of stock and handles about 3,000 head per year.
On Dec. 21, 1914, Mr. Barnes was married to Miss Leah Belle Kyle, a native of Colfax, born Jan. 27, 1893, and the daughter of Dr. M. and Lola (Wakeley) Kyle. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have two children, Henry Walter and Rita Belle.
Mr. Barnes is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his family hold member- ship in the Methodist Church.
The Cropsey State Bank, which was organized by Mr. Barnes' father in 1892, is among the substantial banking institutions of McLean County.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 977.359H27H C001 V002 HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS TOPEK
3 0112 025394328
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