USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a tale of its evolution, settlement, and progress for nearly a century, Volume II > Part 2
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Hoopeston has profited largely through the efforts of Mr. McFerren in the upbuilding of the industrial interests at this point. He became one of the founders of the Union Tin Can Company and became a stockholder of the American Tin Can Company when the former was merged into the latter. He is joint owner with A. H. Trego of the Hoopeston canning factory, devoted ex- clusively to the canning of corn-an enterprise that stands foremost in its class in the country. His real-estate holdings, include the bank block, office buildings, the opera house block and many other business and residence structures.
It has not been alone along business lines, however, that Mr. McFerren has done splendid work for Hoopeston. Unlike many men of wealth, he has not left political service for others but has felt it a duty and obligation to serve his fellowmen when they have indicated their wish that he should do so. He was chosen Hoopeston's first mayor and on several occasions has been re-elected to
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the office. During his first term he succeeded in suppressing all the saloons in the town and there has never been an established liquor business in Hoopeston since that time. He has labored for street improvements, including the paving and has done much other effective work in the line of reform, progress and up- building. He has been treasurer and director of the district agricultural society, school treasurer of township 23, range 12, and one of the original projectors of the Ford County Agricultural Society. Churches and benevolent enterprises have received his support and his aid is withheld from no undertaking for the public good. His interest in the public library has been evidenced in his generous gifts thereto and Hoopeston's fine park is a mark of his generosity and public spirit. For this purpose he purchased the old fair grounds of thirty acres at a cost of six thousand dollars and presented the tract as a gift to the city for park purposes.
On the 4th of April, 1871, Mr. McFerren was united in marriage to Miss Susie P. Clark, a daughter of R. Clark, but her death occurred on the 28th of July of the same year. He afterward wedded Miss Lida A. Schultz, who died in 1894, leaving two sons, William and Donald. In 1897 Mr. McFerren married Miss Lottie L. Shultz, a sister of his former wife. Theirs is one of the hand- some homes of Hoopeston, erected in 1885, and it is justly noted for its warm- hearted hospitality. The simplicity and beauty of Mr. McFerren's daily life, as seen in his home and family relations, constitute an even balance to his splen- did business ability, resulting in the establishment of some of the laragest com- mercial enterprises of the middle west. To make his native talents subserve the demands which conditions of society impose at the present time is the purpose of his life, and by reason of the mature judgment which characterizes his efforts at all times he stands today as a splendid representative of the promi- nent manufacturer and capitalist to whom business is but one phase of life and does not exclude his active participation in and support of the other vital interests which go to make up human existence.
WILLIAM LYONS.
William Lyons, holding a position of distinctive precedence as a financier of Danville, has throughout his long connection with banking interests stood as an honored representative of a department of activity that has ever been a most important factor in conserving the business development and progress of every community. While today at the head of the Commercial Trust & Savings Bank, he is through investment and official service also connected with many other lead- ing business concerns that are substantial forces in the industrial and commercial growth of the city.
Pennsylvania numbers him among her native sons, for he was born in Lehigh county, May 1, 1840, his parents being Isaac and Jane (Barr) Lyons, both of whom were natives of County Derry, Ireland, but were married in Pennsylvania after coming to this country. During his early residence here the father was a manufacturer of pig iron in the iron districts of Pennsylvania, where he con-
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tinued to live for several years and then returned to his native land in company with his four children: William, Oliver, Samuel and Isaac, Jr. While in Ire- land the last named died and another son was born there, to whom was given the name of Isaac. The object of this trip to the Emerald isle was the securing of a small legacy left to the father, and after about fifteen months he returned to America with his family. He had sailed from New York on the ship Empire, which was twenty-seven days in crossing the Atlantic, and returned on a similar sailing vessel, known as the New World, which was about the same length of time on the voyage. On again reaching the shores of this country he located in the same place in Pennsylvania but did not remain there very long. His next home was in Ironton, Ohio, where he continued to engage in the iron business from 1855 to 1870. In the latter year he removed to Fairmount, Illinois, where his son William had bought a farm, and there he engaged in agricultural pur- suits until the death of his wife, when he sold the place and purchased another farm in Douglas county, this state, remaining there until called to his final rest. He was born in 1803 and died in 1899, at the extreme old age of ninety- six years. He was the youngest in a family of thirteen children and was a man of regular habits, possessing a strong constitution and weighing one hundred and eighty pounds. Throughout life he was very industrious and energetic and was a man in whom his fellowmen had the utmost confidence. For a time during the Civil war he was connected with the quartermaster's department and his sons, William and Oliver, were also connected with that department, the latter being stationed at Fayetteville, West Virginia, where he was foreman of a squad of men, while William was located at Charleston and was general superintend- ent of highways from Charleston to Fayetteville, having in charge several squads of men on this work. Another son, Samuel, served for three years in the Second Virginia Infantry.
During the temporary residence of the family in Ireland, William Lyons attended school in Coleraine, which city was divided by a river separating the counties of Derry and Antrim, but the greater part of his education was obtained in the schools of this country. He was in the Union service for about hree years and at the end of that time resigned and engaged in the contracting busi- ness at Parkersburg, West Virginia, remaining there until September, 1865, when he went to Kansas to make arrangements to embark in the sheep business. Hav- ing given a. man one hundred dollars on account to buy one hundred tons of hay for him, he came to Illinois and near Springfield purchased two thousand head of sheep. About this time he received a letter from his brother, who was farming in Douglas county, asking him to bring his sheep with him and feed them upon the grain he had raised, as there was no market for the same nearer than twenty miles. William then went to see his brother and after talking the matter over with him concluded to accept his offer, though he lost the one hun- dred dollars he had given to the man for the purchase of hay. Thirty years after this occurred he met a neighbor of this man while on a train who told him that the man had become very wealthy and attributed his success to the hundred dollars Mr. Lyons had deposited with him. As the country was new and the grass very long, the sheep became diseased and he finally sold out and discon- tinued that business. He was next employed as a salaried foreman on a big
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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY
ranch of about forty sections of land until 1871, when he purchased a farm in Vermilion county and continued its operation for four years. He next embarked in the lumber business at Hume, Illinois, which he carried on until 1887 and then sold out to his brother Oliver, who still continues in that business.
Mr. Lyons first became interested in the banking business at Sidell, Illinois, as a member of the firm of Lyons, Alexander & Company, who conducted a pri- vate bank, but he disposed of his interest in that institution in 1906 and pur- chased four hundred and seventy-five shares out of the one thousand shares of the Commercial Trust & Savings Bank of Danville and has since been its president. This bank has been remarkably successful under his administration, having doubled its amount of deposits, and the capital stock is now one hundred thousand dollars and the surplus thirty-five thousand dollars. This success is
attributable in a large measure to the keen discernment, indefatigable energy and
strong purpose of Mr. Lyons. He and the cashier of the bank, G. W. Telling, own three thousand acres of land in southeastern Texas, which produces cotton, cane and rice, and he is also a large landowner in Kankakee, Vermilion and Edgar counties, Illinois. His judgment has come to be regarded as practically infallible concerning the complex problems of banking and finance, for his pro- gressiveness is tempered by a safe conservatism and based upon a thorough un- derstanding of the conditions of the money market and the business principles involved.
In 1871 Mr. Lyons was united in marriage to. Miss Mary Todd, a native of New York city, and to them were born two children: Anna, now the wife of G. W. Telling, cashier of the Commercial Trust & Savings Bank; and Flora, who died in infancy. The family is one of prominence in social circles and they hold membership in the Kimber Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Lyons is also identified with the Masonic fraternity and as a public-spirited and progressive citizen has taken a commendable interest in public affairs, having served as president of the town board of Sidell for ten years. Trustworthy and faithful in business, progressive in citizenship and loyal to the claims of friendship, he has thus displayed many good qualities which have gained him high regard.
HARRY J. HOUGHTON.
Harry J. Houghton, the proprietor of a well appointed undertaking estab- lishment of Georgetown, was born in Dana, Indiana, on the 28th of October, 1884, his parents being Elijah and Mary (Jaggers) Houghton. The father's birth occurred at Montezuma, Indiana, in 1850, while the mother first opened her eyes to the light of day in Dana, Indiana, in 1853. Elijah Houghton devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout his entire business career and passed away in 1888. His widow still survives and makes her home on a farm near Dana, Indiana.
Harry J. Houghton acquired his education in the grammar and high schools of Dana and in 1905 became connected with the undertaking business at Knox- ville, Illinois, there remaining for about one year. He was afterward similarly
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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY
engaged in Chicago and various other points in Illinois until 1908, which year witnessed his arrival in Georgetown. Here he embarked in business as an un- dertaker on his own account and has since conducted a successful enterprise of this character. He carries a fine line of caskets and funeral supplies and a liberal patronage is accorded him, for his prices are reasonable and his integrity is above question.
On the 3d of June, 1908, at Sidell, Illinois, Mr. Houghton was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary B. Moore, who was born, reared and educated at that place. They now have a daughter, Frances, whose natal day was September 18, 1909. Mr. Houghton belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Masons at Georgetown and is likewise a member of the Court of Honor at Quaker, Indiana.
C. L. SANDUSKY.
While the record of the business men may be less spectacular than that of the statesman or military leader, it is none the less essential and none the less valuable. In fact the stable prosperity and substantial growth of every com- munity depends upon its enterprising and reliable business men who, day by day, perform their daily duties, advancing slowly yet steadily, utilizing every means that comes to hand not only to advance their own interests but also to promote the public welfare. To this class belongs C. L. Sandusky, proprietor of not only one of Danville's finest stores but the largest and finest exclusive furniture store in the state outside of Chicago.
He was born in Catlin, Vermilion county, on the 30th of September, 1872, and belongs to an old and prominent family of this region. His father, Jacob C. Sandusky, was a native of Kentucky and at an early age accompanied his father, Joshua Sandusky, on his removal to Illinois, the family locating at Brooks Point, Vermilion county. For some years the former engaged in agri- cultural pursuits at Catlin and owned and operated the land on which the Cat- lin fair grounds are now located. The home place was known as the Big Springs Farm, so named from the seven springs located thereon. It is now famous for its product of stone, being owned by the Illinois Steel Company, who are now operating valuable stone quarries there. In his farming operations the father of our subject was very successful and he especially prospered in his stock-raising interests, in fact the Sandusky family has become famous as stock- raisers. He died on the old home place in 1882. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary J. Gones, was a native of Ohio and during her girlhood settled at Catlin. Her father was Charles Gones, a respected pioneer of Vermilion county. C. L. Sandusky is the only son in a family of three children, his sisters being: Effie, the wife of J. W. Keeslar; and Viola S., now the wife of W. A. Bosley of Chicago.
C. L. Sandusky pursued his education in the public schools of Fairmount and after completing the high-school course spent some years on the home
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. farm, giving his father the benefit of his labors. At the age of twenty-four years he removed to Danville and became associated with his uncle, Thomas Gones, in the furniture business under the firm name of Gones & Sandusky. They began business here in a modest way in a small room at the present loca- tion of the store. In 1899 he purchased Mr. Gones' interest and has since con- ducted the business alone. From the start he has steadily prospered and from a small beginning the business has assumed extensive proportions until now, as previously stated, he has the largest and finest exclusive furniture store in Illinois outside of the metropolis.
On the 5th of October, 1892, Mr. Sandusky was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Marble, a native of Indiana, who has been to him a faithful companion and helpmate in the best sense of that term. She is an excellent business woman and has been of great assistance to her husband in the development of his business, having charge of the office. Their one child, a daughter, died in infancy.
Mr. Sandusky is a very public-spirited, patriotic citizen, taking a commend- able interest in those measures which he believes will advance the moral or material welfare of his city, county and state. In 1905 he was elected one of the business men on the reform supervisors board and has since been in charge of public buildings and grounds, in which department there was found to be the greatest leakage. But under his able management much has been accom- plished in effecting a needed reform. For the past five years he has also served as president of the Danville Commercial Club and probably no man in Danville has done more to promote the commercial and business interests of the city than he. Since attaining his majority he has affiliated with the Masonic frater- nity, his father having been a very prominent and active Mason. He joined Fairmount Lodge, No. 590, A. F. & A. M., and now holds membership in Olive Branch Lodge at Danville, of which he is past master, and he has at- tained the Thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, having for the past five years been district deputy of the Twenty-seventh Masonic district and was on September 22, 1910, elected to receive the Thirty-third degree.
GEORGE L. WILLIAMSON, M. D.
Dr. George L. Williamson, a prominent and successful physician and surgeon of Danville, has built up an extensive and remunerative practice during the six years of his residence here. His birth occurred in Richmond, Virginia, on the 22d of October, 1863, his parents being James Edward and Samantha (Perkinson) Williamson, both of whom were natives of Petersburg, Virginia, the former born in 1833 and the latter in 1836. The father was a Presbyterian minister and preached in Illinois for more than twenty years, erecting many churches throughout the state. His influence proved a potent factor for good in the moral advancement of the communities in which he labored and his con- secrated zeal and energy won him the respect and admiration of all who knew him. His demise occurred in 1901.
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In his youthful years George L. Williamson attended the high school at Clarinda, Illinois, and subsequently entered the Presbyterian College for Young Men at Jacksonville, Illinois. He next took up surveying and thus earned the necessary funds for a professional education, for he had determined to make the practice of medicine his life work. Entering the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, he pursued his studies there during the years 1883 and 1884 and was then en- gaged in practice until 1890. In that year he again entered the Missouri Med- ical College and following his graduation from that institution, practiced in St. Louis for twelve months. Homer, Illinois, next became the scene of his pro- fessional labors and at that place he remained until 1901, when he went to Europe, spending one year in hospitals at London, Vienna and Paris and de- voting his attention to the study of special work and surgery. On his return to the United States he located in Danville, Illinois, where he has remained con- tinuously to the present time, enjoying a lucrative and constantly growing prac- tice. As a member of the County, State and National Medical Societies he keeps in touch with the progress which is being made by the medical fraternity. He is surgeon at the St. Elizabeth and Lakeview Hospitals and also acts in that capacity for the Big Four Railroad.
In 1885 Dr. Williamson was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Moffett, a na- tive of Illinois, by whom he had two children: Paul, who died in 1894 when eight years of age; and Mary Virginia. Fraternally the Doctor is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a Scottish Rite Mason. Both he and his wife are popular in social circles and they possess many sterling characteristics which endear them to all with whom they are associated.
J. W. RALSTON, M. D.
Through active connection with the medical profession for thirty years, and through an extended period in which he was identified with the conduct of mer- cantile interests in Danville, Dr. J. W. Ralston commanded the unqualified respect of his fellowmen. There are few whose lives are crowned with the honor and respect which was uniformly accorded him in recognition of his un- blemished character. With him success in life was reached by his sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly principle. He never deviated from what his judgment indicated to be right and honorable between his fellow- men and himself. He never swerved from the path of duty and at the close of his long eventful life he could look back over the past with pride and with a conscientiousness of having gained for himself, by his honorable, straight- forward life, the confidence and good-will of the entire community in which he lived.
He was a native of Murfreesboro, Williamson county, Tennessee. His father, Joseph Ralston, was born in Franklin, Tennessee, on the 23d of Feb- ruary, 1804, and when a year old was taken by his parents to Franklin, Ohio, where he resided until the close of the war of 1812. When he was a lad of
Dr. J. M. Ralston
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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY
eleven years and before Indiana was admitted to the Union, he removed to what is now Washington county in that state and there remained for a year. He next became a resident of Parke county, Indiana, in 1816, the family home be- ing established on the Big Raccoon near Bridgetown, where he remained for three years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Rockville, Indiana, and started in clearing off the timber that then covered the site of the public school and also in building some of the first houses erected there. In 1824 he removed to Williamson county, Tennessee, where he was married in 1829, liv- ing in that county until 1836, after which he returned with his family to Rock- ville, Indiana, where he made his home until called to his final rest.
Dr. Ralston was a young lad when he accompanied his parents on their re- turn to Rockville, and upon the home farm there he was reared, early becom- ing. familiar with all of the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agricul- turist. He acquired his early education in the schools of that locality, which were conducted upon the subscription plan, each pupil having to pay a percent- age of the teacher's salary. He afterward attended school at Greencastle, In- diana, and thus laid the foundation for his professional learning. Determin- ing to make the practice of medicine his life work, his preliminary reading was done under the direction of a physician at Rockville, Indiana, while he subsequently attended the medical school of Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1855 was graduated from the Rush Medical College of Chicago. The same year he lo- cated in Indianola, Illinois, where he practiced continuously for thirty years, enjoying during that period an extensive patronage which indicated his ability and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens. In the early days no night was too dark, no storm so severe that he would remain at home when he received a professional call. He felt that it was his duty to respond where his aid was needed, and through the winter's cold and the summer's heat he made his way upon his daily round of visits, and his cheery presence and en- couraging words proved an excellent supplement to the remedial agencies which he administered.
In 1892 Dr. Ralston removed to Danville and became associated with his brother-in-law, George R. Angle, in the grocery business in which he continued up to the time of his death, February 6, 1907. He also became financially in- terested in several of the leading business enterprises of this city and his sound judgment and discrimination were factors in their successful conduct. He was a man of benevolent spirit and left many bequests to charity in his will.
On the 15th of October, 1856, Dr. Ralston was married in Indianola, to Miss Permilia J. Dixon, and the home relation was a most beautiful one. Dur- ing his boyhood days Dr. Ralston was converted at a camp-meeting and joined +'he Methodist church, being ever afterward loyal to its teachings and his life Jeing in entire harmony with his religious professions. He belonged to the med- ical society of the county and most conscientiously and faithfully performed every duty that devolved upon him in professional connections. His life was actuated in all that he did by the spirit of broad humanitarianism and he ever sought to ameliorate the hard conditions of life for mankind. He became a prac- tical student of the sociological and economic conditions of the country and
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wherever possible gave his aid to relieve hardships and to prevent misery. His generous spirit was manifested in his will which included many bequests to charity. His life was thus fraught with good deeds and the world is better for his having lived.
S. H. OAKWOOD.
S. H. Oakwood, a well known real estate dealer of Danville, was born in Vermilion county on the 14th of July, 1849, and is a worthy representative of one of its honored pioneer families. His father, Rev. Michael Oakwood, was a Methodist minister and was born in Brown county, Ohio, in 1823 and dur- ing his boyhood came to Vermilion county, Illinois, in company with his father, Henry Oakwood, the family being among the first to settle in this region. At that time the country was wild and unimproved and only a few settlements had been made. They took up their abode upon a tract of land near what is now the village of Oakwood, though there was no town there at that time, simply an Indian camp. Our subject's uncle, Henry Oakwood, Jr., afterward owned the old homestead and added to the farm until he had a large and val- uable property. When a village was projected it was named in honor of the family. In connection with his ministerial labors Rev. Michael Oakwood also engaged in farming, owning and operating a good place north of Oakwood, and there he continued to make his home until his death in 1903. He married Miss Nancy Copeland, a native of this county and a daughter of Samuel Copeland, who came here at about the same time as the Oakwood family and was engaged in farming in Blount township. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, and the mother of our subject passed away in 1852.
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