USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a tale of its evolution, settlement, and progress for nearly a century, Volume II > Part 56
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James G. Rice, whose name appears at the head of this review, came to Ver- milion county with his parents in 1863. He was reared upon the home farm and under his father became thoroughly acquainted with all the details pertain- ing to its management. Although the father had little opportunity of obtaining an education he was greatly interested in securing a good common-school train- ing for his children. James G. Rice remained on the family homestead until 1882, when he became associated with his eldest brother, W. J., in buying and shipping cattle, in which he continued for one year, when he went to the terri- tory of Wyoming. There he was employed on a cattle ranch during the sum- mer, but in the fall, believing that more favorable opportunities lay eastward, he returned to Vermilion county and began farming upon his own responsibili- ties. For two years he lived on the home farm and then removed to his present location in Sidell township. He owns eighty acres of well improved land, con- stituting the home place, and in conjunction with his sons farms three hundred and twenty-five acres, being highly successful in his operations. For a number of years he has also been engaged as a breeder of Percheron horses and has attained a good reputation in this part of the state as a man of unusual judgment in producing some of the most valuable animals that have been sent out of this region. His success in two departments of the farm is an evidence of well di- rected thought and patient application of correct principles.
On April 8, 1885, Mr. Rice was united in marriage to Miss Fraba Jane Nugent, a daughter of John Nugent, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Eight children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Rice: Will- iam Waverly, a farmer of Sidell township; Robert Riley, who is associated with his father on the farm; and Mary Orletha, John Lester, Edward 'A., Dan- iel, Albert and Frances, all living at home.
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Mr. Rice has since arriving at the age of majority been a supporter of the democratic party but has never aspired to political honors. He is an esteemed member of Sidell Lodge, No. 798, A. F. & A. M., and his two oldest sons are also members of the same organization. Mrs. Rice is affiliated with the Meth- odist Episcopal church and is one of its earnest workers. For nearly fifty years Mr. Rice has been a resident of this county and in that time he has witnessed many great improvements and has himself assisted materially in bringing about the present desirable condition of comfort and refinement which so clearly char- acterizes the early years of our present century. The prosperity he enjoys is the result mainly of his own industry and enterprise. He is recognized as one of the substantial citizens of Vermilion county, fully deserving of the high repu- tation he has gained as a worthy representative of the agricultural interests.
CHARLES F. UHLEIN.
Charles F. Uhlein, now successfully engaged in the plumbing business in Danville, is one of this city's native sons, his birth occurring October 8, 1879. His father, Charles Uhlein, was born in Germany, January 28, 1847, and was only six years of age when he accompanied his parents on their emigration to the new world in 1853, the family taking up their residence in Pennsylvania, where they made their home for two years and then came to Danville. Through- out the greater part of his life the father has followed railroading and is still in active service as an engineer. In early manhood he married Miss Helen Schroeder, who was likewise born in Germany, October 23, 1853, and came to America in 1869, becoming a resident of Danville on the Ist of May of that year. They have become the parents of eight children. Frank J., born September 17, 1875, is now a priest of the Roman Catholic church and is located at Carbon- dale, Illinois. Elizabeth, born May 4, 1877, is the wife of Henry Schroeder, a butcher of Danville. Charles F., of this review, is the next of the family. Mary, born January 9, 1882, died on the 19th of the following March. Louise, born July 8, 1883, is at home with her parents. Anna, born July 31, 1885, died April 25, 1887. Joseph F., born November 16, 1887, now holds a position in the Second National Bank of Danville. Herman J., born August 2, 1890, is associated with his brother in the plumbing business.
Charles F. Uhlein acquired his education in the parochial schools of Dan- ville and after putting aside his text-books accepted a position as water boy with L. W. Straw, one of the pioneer plumbers of this city. He remained in his service for the long period of twelve years, during which time he thoroughly learned the plumber's trade and was well fitted to engage in the same line of business when, in 1904, he opened an establishment of his own. Since then he has made three removals, each being necessitated by his need of more commo- dious quarters. He was first located at No. 101 West Main street, where he remained one year, and then removed to No. II, Walnut street, carrying on business there until February, 1910, when he settled at his present location, No. 212 Vermilion street. Here he has the largest and best equipped establishment
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of the kind in the city, carrying a large and complete stock, and is able to fill any contract that is awarded him. His work has always been of a superior order and he is regarded as one of the best plumbers of the city. From the start he has been associated with C. F. Burow and the business has always been conducted under the firm name of Uhlein & Burow.
In religious faith Mr. Uhlein is a Roman Catholic and is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the One Hundred Thousand Club. He is not iden- tified with any political organization but casts his vote independent of party, endeavoring to support the men best qualified for office regardless of party ties.
CLINT C. TILTON.
Clint C. Tilton, a newspaper man of Danville, who is now president and manager of the company publishing The Danville Press-Democrat, was born in Catlin, Illinois, on the 10th of May, 1870, his parents being Samuel R. and Lou G. Tilton. His father was one of the pioneer merchants of Catlin, but is now living retired.
In the public schools of that city the son pursued his education, completing the high-school course by graduation in 1886. On starting out in life for him- self he turned his attention to the printing business and first conducted the Catlin Rocket, a weekly newspaper of miniature size. He was next employed as reporter and printer in various cities, but in 1904 returned to Danville and took the management of The Daily Press, then owned by John Beard. In 1908, in conjunction with A. R. Lynch, he purchased The Daily Press and The Daily Democrat and consolidated them under the caption of The Danville Press- Democrat, the first issue appearing March 1, 1908. Since the consolidation he has been president and manager of the company. The paper is one of the leading journals of this part of the state.
On the 10th of June, 1905, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Tilton and Miss Georgia May Wood, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Wood, of Bloomington, Illinois.
U. Z. GREEN.
Perhaps no name in all Vermilion county is more widely known in connec- tion with stock-raising interests than that of U. Z. Green, nor is his fame con- fined merely to the boundaries of this county, for as a breeder of trotting horses his stables have produced some of the finest racers in the entire country and his entries in various national stock shows have been among the finest displays in America. Vermilion county claims him as one of her native sons, his birth occurring on the farm which is now his home on the 26th of May, 1874.
His father, Lewis W. Green, was born in Ohio and came to Vermilion county in the early '6os and was here married to Miss Euphama Jane Sandusky, a native
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„of Vermilion county and a daughter of Abraham Sandusky. Lewis Green, upon his arrival in this county, purchased a farm to which he added until his posses- sions now aggregate over two thousand acres, constituting him one of the largest landowners in his section of the state. His time, however, is given mostly · to his stock-raising interests, and he is recognized as one of the most extensive breeders of trotting horses in the United States.
U. Z. Green was reared under the parental roof, and he acquired a good .education in the common schools and in the Vermilion 'Academy, which was later supplemented by a thorough course in the Terre Haute Business College. His commercial course was pursued with the view of making the banking busi- : ness his life work, and upon its completion a position awaited him in the Palmer National Bank at Danville. He never entered financial circles, however, for, believing that greater success awaited him in agricultural lines, he returned home . and took up his abode upon his father's Maple Grove ranch, where he engaged for several years in the breeding of cattle and fine hogs. Being as it were, "to " the manner born," his early training upon his father's farm was both thorough and comprehensive, and this practical experience, combined with his broad business training, well equipped him for the successful conduct of large and independent agricultural interests. He became an extensive stock-raiser and was the breeder of the champion herd of English Berkshire hogs of America in 1897, and it is also claimed that he raises more hogs than any other man in "Vermilion county. He also breeds fine shorthorn cattle and raised the largest five year old cow exhibited at the International Stock Show in Chicago in 1906, its weight being twenty-two hundred and sixty pounds. In 1901 Mr. Green · came to his present home, known as the Maple Hill Stock Farm, consisting of - three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land. Here he is conducting one " of the most extensive stock-raising enterprises in the state, making a specialty of cows, hogs and horses. Until two years ago he has regularly exhibited at the various international stock shows, where his entries have won high awards. He raises heavy draft horses and standard bred trotting horses, and his stables have produced some very fine racers. He purchased as a yearling "William Mack," the greatest race horse of the country, whose record was 2:0514 and . who won first money sixty-two times out of one hundred and twenty-seven . starts; 35 seconds; 9 thirds; 4 fourths; 12 unplaced. This racer he afterward . sold and it is now dead. He had a record of 2:07 on a one-half mile track.
Aside from his distinction as a stock-raiser Mr. Green has also won a name for himself as a farmer of importance, operating, aside from his home farm, · eighteen hundred acres south of where he resides which belongs to his father's- in-law estate. He has been eminently successful in the cultivation of grain, ¿his fields averaging seventy-five bushels of oats to the acre in the summer of .1909, while he produced one hundred and three bushels and twenty pounds of . corn to the acre. He has spared neither time nor money in the development . of his property and his home farm is today one of the finest and most highly improved properties in Vermilion county. He has erected a beautiful brick residence and the buildings for the protection and shelter of the stock are large, commodious and modern in structure. The place is equipped with the latest improved farm machinery and everything necesary for the successful and
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adequate care of stock. Without exception it is the best tiled farm in the county, thousands of dollars having been spent in thus improving it, and on one tract of forty acres alone there are ten thousand twenty-four inch tile.
In 1900 Mr. Green was united in marriage to Miss Blanch Mills, of Indianola, and to them have been born three children, Anna H., Margaret L. and Lewis William. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are well known in Vermilion county, within whose borders Mr. Green's entire life has been spent. In politics he supports the independent cause, but the duties of an intensely active business life have left little time for participation in political affairs other than casting his vote for the men and measures which, in his opinion, are best adapted to conserve the good of the community. The terms progress and enterprise may well be said to be the salient elements in the career of U. Z. Green, for the high place which he today occupies in agri- cultural and stock-raising circles in the country is due entirely to his own well directed efforts and unfaltering industry. He has kept in touch at all times with the progressive steps which have been made in those lines of endeavor, and today no man is better equipped to speak with authority on matters per- taining to those branches of activity. His labors have not only resulted in the acquirement of a success which in its extent ranks him among the most substantial and prosperous men of Vermilion county, but are all the greater because they have contributed to the general good and have done much to promote agricultural interests in this section of the country.
JOSEPH A. WILLIAMSON.
There is no profession in which advancement depends more surely upon indi- vidual worth than in the law. It is a calling in which wealth or influence avail little or nothing toward the attainment of success but where close application, earnest purpose and intellectual strength constitute the foundation on which pros- perity is built. Joseph A. Williamson, now practicing at the Danville bar, has made a creditable record in connection with the work of the courts. He was born in Mount Summit, Indiana, on the 20th of September, 1874, a son of Joseph S. and Frances Rebecca (Ice) Williamson. On the paternal side his grand- father was a native of England and on coming to America first settled in Ohio but later removed to Indiana, locating near Muncie, where the father of our subject was born. The paternal grandmother, however, was of German descent. On leaving his native state, Joseph E. Williamson came to Illinois about 1876 and has since made his home in Tuscola. Throughout his active business life he followed merchandising and farming. His wife, who was a native of Mount Summit, Indiana, died in 1874. Her father, Jesse Ice, was from Virginia but was one of the early settlers of Mount Summit.
Joseph A. Williamson of this review began his education in the district schools of Douglas county, Illinois, and for one year was a student at Austin College in Effingham, and became well fitted for the teacher's profession. He taught school in Douglas county for three years and then entered the law depart-
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ment of the Georgetown University from which he was graduated with the de- gree of B. A. in 1905. The following year the degree of M. A. was conferred upon him. Being admitted to the bar, he opened an office in Danville in March, 1907, and has since engaged in practice at this place, now enjoying a large clien- age. He is regarded as a wise counselor and able advocate and in the presenta- tion of his cause before the court seldom fails to win the verdict desired.
In his political views Mr. Williamson has been a democrat since age con- ferred upon him the right of franchise, but the honors and emoluments of public office have little attraction for him. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Danville and is also connected with the One Hundred Thousand Club and White Oak Lodge, Knights of Pythias, in which he now holds the office of keeper of the records and seal. He is appreciative of the social amenities of life and his genial qualities have won him many friends, but his attention is pre- eminently given to his professional duties, his devotion to his clients' interests being proverbial.
CHARLES W. WARNER.
Charles W. Warner, closely connected with the journalistic interests of Hoopeston since 1879 and since 1882 manager of the Chronicle, of which he has also been proprietor since 1887, was born upon a farm in Montgomery county, Indiana, January 24, 1857, and is descended in the eighth generation from William Warner, who came from England in October, 1682, with Will- iam Penn to establish a colony upon the present site of Philadelphia. He was made a judge in the superior court of that colony and was a prominent man in the community. The family line was strictly of Quaker faith for seven generations until Abner Warner, father of Charles W. Warner, was dropped from the roll of his monthly meeting for attending a "worldly wedding." He was a native of Ohio and a farmer by occupation. He wedded Mary Cadwal- lader, who was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, and was also a Quaker descended from eight generations of that faith, the first two generations being residents of Wales. She was also dropped from the roll of her monthly meet- ing for wearing a small gold pin in the collar of her dress. She afterward united with the Methodist Episcopal church. Both Abner and Mary Warner are now deceased and Charles W. Warner has no near relatives living except one brother, Perry M. Warner, who is manager of the Rossville Telephone Company.
In the public schools at Rossville, Illinois, Charles W. Warner pursued his education until compelled to leave school and go to work while yet lacking a year and a half of completing the high school course. He is, however, an honorary member of the alumni associations of the Rossville and Hoopeston high schools. He worked for three years during and just after the close of his school life at cabinet making and undertaking in Rossville. He then began to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Rossville Enterprise, which was published by John C. Cromer. He became connected with that paper in August, 1877, and five weeks later the Enterprise was removed to Homer, Champaign
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county. He continued his connection with it for three weeks longer and then concluded there was a broader field in school teaching. He accordingly fol- lowed that profession for two terms of three months each in district No. 10, just south of Homer, or from December, 1877, until June, 1878. He found the profession congenial but the remuneration was not sufficient and in October, 1878, he entered the employ of John W. Dale, then county clerk, whom he assisted in the extra work of getting out the tax books for the various town- ships. He was employed in that way for two months and gained considerable knowledge of mathematics and accounting while thus engaged. On the 10th of February, 1879, he went to work by the week as a printer in the office of the Hoopeston Chronicle published by Dale Wallace, and has since been con- nected with that paper with the exception of five months spent in Springfield as journal clerk of the house of representative in the thirty-second general assembly, from January until May inclusive, in 1881. During that session John G. Holden and Joseph B. Mann, of Danville, and Bradley Butterfield, of Rankin, were members of the lower house, and George Hunt of Paris was a member of the senate from this district. On returning from Springfield Mr. Warner went to work again in the Chronicle office and was there employed for another year. On the Ist of July, 1882, he rented the office and assumed the management of the paper under a lease of five years and on the Ist of July, 1887, purchased the office and has since published the paper, making it one of the leading country journals of the state. He follows progressive methods in its publication and its constantly increasing patronage is indicative of the favor which it finds with the general public.
On the 13th of December, 1883, Mr. Warner was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Clark, of Hoopeston, a graduate of the Hoopeston high school and an art student at Cincinnati under Thomas Lindsey. She has decided talent as an artist and is also interested in the church and benevolent work of the city, having for a number of years been the teacher of the "Rosebud" or infant class in the Universalist Sunday school. Mr. and Mrs. Warner have one daughter, Gladys June, who was graduated from the Hoopeston high school in 1909 and is now a student in the Virginia College for Young Ladies at Roanoke, Virgina.
Since becoming manager of the Chronicle Mr. Warner has made it the champion of Hoopeston's welfare among many lines and aside from the field of journalism has labored effectively and earnestly to advance the best inter- ests of the city. Like most of Hoopeston's residents, he is radically opposed to saloons. Every year and several times during each municipal campaign season he is called to various cities and towns in Illinois to deliver addresses in opposition to saloons. Hoopeston has certainly proved the value and worth of the non-license policy, having an exceptionally clear record in regard to crime, lawlessness and pauperism as compared with those cities where the sa- loon has free play. Mr. Warner served as city clerk of Hoopeston from No- vember, 1881, until April, 1883, and was postmaster at Hoopeston from July, 1889, until July, 1893, and again in July, 1897, was appointed to the office, in which he is now the incumbent. He has always been a republican-"stalwart as distinguished from the half-breed, and regular as distinguished from the
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insurgent." He was connected officially with the old Hoopeston fair and is now an officer of the Hoopeston Chautauqua. He became a charter member of Hoopeston Lodge, No. 195, Knights of Pythias, and was chosen its first chan- cellor commander, serving from December 4, 1888, until June 30, 1889. He belongs to Hoopeston Camp, No. 257, M. W. A., which he joined in 1893, and in March, 1895, became a member of Star Lodge, No. 709, 'A. F. & A. M., while in May of the same year he took the degrees of Hoopes- ton Chapter, No. 115, R. A. M., of which he has served for two years as high priest. He is also a member of Grant Council, No. 89, R. & S. M. He is liberal in his religious views and affiliates with the Universalist church, although not a member. He belongs to the Hoopeston Commercial Club, in which he has been honored with the presidency. His name is always associated with projects of progress and improvement and in all public service as well as: private interests he is a man of action rather than of theory.
HENRY PUZEY.
Few men acquire distinction in more than one branch of industry, and yet Henry Puzey now occupies a position in farming, stock-raising and horticul- tural circles such as few men of his section of the country have attained. He has made a success of scientific farming, is the owner of one of the finest orchards of Vermilion county and in almost every state in the Union, wherever his stock has been shipped, his name stands as a synonym for fine quality and high grade. He is one of those men who accomplish results in the business world, who bring to a successful completion whatever they undertake, and thus into whatever field he has directed his attention, fortune has smiled upon his efforts and he is today classed among the most substantial and well-to-do residents of Vermilion county.
He was born in Berkshire, England, on the 16th of August, 1826, a son of Joseph and Beatrice (Blanche) Puzey, also natives of England, the former born in Berkshire and the latter in Gloucestershire. The father was an important factor in industrial circles of Berkshire, where he engaged extensively in the manufacture of brick, tile and other clay products. His plant was located in the village of Stanford and he employed as high as seventy hands. He passed away in 1853.
Reared in the land of his nativity, Henry Puzey was given the advantages of a good education, attending the public schools of Andlem, Cheshire, Marl- borough and Wiltshire, and in due course of time graduated from the high school. When fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to his uncle, Thomas Puzey, in the wholesale dry-goods business and later was transferred to his uncle Henry in London, with whom he also served as apprentice. Including his term of indenture he was identified with merchandising for about nine years, after which he declared his intention of seeking his fortune in the new world. Something of his capability and reliability is indicated by the fact that at this time his employer offered to furnish him the capital, at five per cent, to estab-
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lish himself in business independently if he would remain with him for another year, but, determined to come to the United States in preference to remaining in his native country, he crossed the Atlantic and landed in New York on the 13th of May, 1850. His decision to come to this country was the outcome of a lec- ture on the advantages offered to settlers of Vermilion county, Illinois, which was delivered in London at the instigation of Isaac Sandusky for the purpose of exploiting the advantages of this region and inducing emigration to this sec- tion of the state. Many English settlers were thus lured to Illinois, and with Mr. Puzey came a brother, Albert; an aunt, Mrs. Sophia Church, the wife of Henry Church, who had already crossed the Atlantic; Jane Church, who later married Frank Champion, of Catlin; and Sarah Church, who became the wife" of Henry Lloyd. All are yet living and reside in Catlin.
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