USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a tale of its evolution, settlement, and progress for nearly a century, Volume II > Part 8
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Nicholas Engelmann remained under the parental roof until he had at- tained his majority. He was only three years of age when the family came to Vermilion county and in the schools of the district he pursued his education. He was carefully trained to the work of the fields and thus early became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. On attaining his majority he rented what was known as the Sylva Parl farm, on
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which he lived for a year. Later he bought twenty acres of land and after his father's death he received twenty acres as his share of the old homestead, so that he now owns forty acres. Although the farm is small it is well improved and the land is rich and arable so that its cultivation brings to him a handsome financial return.
In 1877 Mr. Engelmann was married to Miss Martha Williams, who was born in Catlin township, March 14, 1856, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Myrum Williams, both of whom are now deceased. Their family numbered seven children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Engelmann was born a daughter, Edna L., whose birth occurred June 21, 1878. She became the wife of Roy Kirkheart and died May 9, 1898. The death of Mrs. Engelmann occurred September 27, 1879, and her remains were laid to rest in Pate cemetery. She was a consistent member of the Christian church and her many good traits of char- acter won her the love and esteem of all with whom she came in contact.
Mr. Engelmann has supported the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise but has never sought or desired office. He belongs to the Masonic Lodge, No. 285, of Catlin, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His life has ever been upright and honorable, and he has èver endeavored to deal justly by his fellowmen and to shape his conduct in ac- cordance with the principles of good citizenship.
ASA M. BUSHNELL.
The years that cover the active business career of Asa M. Bushnell have chronicled his success as a result of determined and persistent purpose and close application. He is now well known as president of the American Bank & Trust Company of Danville but has also been identified with various other en- terprises which have materially advanced the interests of this city and county. Throughout his entire career he has retained the high regard of a large circle of friends-a fact indicative that his pronounced traits of character are those which everywhere command confidence and trust.
A native of Illinois, Mr. Bushnell was born in Cook county on the 8th of December, 1849, his parents being Henry and Lavina (Dayton) Bushnell, who were natives of Ohio and New Jersey respectively. Before his marriage the father came west, becoming one of the early settlers of Cook county, Illinois, and purchased a farm in Blue Island which he operated for a number of years. In 1854, however, he removed to Vermilion county, taking up his residence about ten miles east of Danville, where he continued to engage in agricultural pursuits for a few years. At the end of that time, however, he returned to Cook county, where he made his home during the Civil war. He was the first man drafted from that county but his services were refused and the company he organized there was given to another. After the close of the war he again came to Vermilion county but in 1874 removed to California and spent the re- mainder of his life in Monterey county, his time and attention being devoted
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to farming. His death occurred there on the 19th of March, 1901, but his widow is still living and continues to make her home in the Golden state. There were seven children born to this couple, four sons and three daughters, namely : Lydia, deceased; Asa M., William, Mary, Loran, Henry, and Nellie. All are residents of California with the exception of our subject.
Asa M. Bushnell acquired a good practical education in the public schools of Merom, Indiana, and upon the home farm he spent the days of his boyhood and youth, remaining under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age. He then engaged in clerking for the firm of Gundy Brothers at Myersville, Vermilion county, for one year and in 1873 opened a store of his own at Bis- marck, this county, which he conducted for twenty years. While engaged in business there he also served as postmaster for eighteen years, one term of this time being under the administration of President Cleveland, although he is a strong republican. While residing in Bismarck he also served as school director for several years.
It was in 1894 that Mr. Bushnell removed to Danville, where he was first engaged in the music business, purchasing his stock from the firm of Lyon & Healy of Chicago, but a few months later he sold out and bought an in- terest in the implement and hardware business with J. B. Chambers, with whom he was connected for seven years. On disposing of his interest in that enter- prise he organized the Danville Wholesale Grocery Company but sold out at the end of a year and in 1907 organized the American Bank & Trust Company, of which he has since been president. It has a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and has already paid five per cent dividend, with an undivided profit of five thousand one hundred and fifty-two dollars and ninety- three cents. The officers are Asa M. Bushnell, president; John L. Hamilton, vice president; Alonzo L. Lyons, second vice president ; and James A. Foster, cashier. They occupy a very modern building which was remodeled at a cost of twenty-eight thousand dollars, and their fixtures are up-to-date and of the most approved pattern. Although the bank has been in existence only a few years, it has steadily prospered and is today regarded as one of the safest and most conservative financial institution of this section of the state. The build- ing it occupies and the one adjoining it are owned by Mr. Bushnell, who is still in possession of a fine farm near Bismarck.
On the 15th of October, 1873, was celebrated his marriage to Miss Willie M. Shockley, of Vermilion county, and they have become the parents of four children, as follows: Clyde H., now a resident of Durant, Oklahoma; Mabel, the wife of O. H. Fairchilds, of Denver, Colorado; and Frank and Barton, who are engaged in the wholesale candy business in Danville.
Fraternally Mr. Bushnell affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. A man of good business and executive ability, he has met with excellent success in his undertakings and is today numbered among the men of affluence in Danville. He has known the pleasure of success, not simply in the pecuniary reward that has come to him but also in that enjoyment which comes in the accomplishment of what one undertakes. He has ever persevered
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in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and is now numbered among those who are the factors in Vermilion county's material upbuilding. He is a splendid type of the American business man, alert, energetic and determined, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
ALONZO BUSHNELL BENJAMIN.
The visible evidence of the activity and success of Alonzo Bushnell Benjamin is the business of the Benjamin Temple of Music, which is today the most extensive and up-to-date establishment of the kind in the middle west out- side of Chicago. He is a man of good executive ability and sound judgment and during his residence in Danville has steadily prospered.
A native of Illinois, he was born in Peoria county, on the 3d of July, 1849, his parents being John and Levira (Hitchcock) Benjamin, both natives of New York. Throughout his active business life the father followed farming and in 1832 came to Illinois, being one of the pioneer settlers of Peoria county, where in the midst of the wilderness he developed a good farm. As time passed he added to his property as he found opportunity until he became the owner of sixteen hundred acres of very valuable land. Being of an inventive turn of mind, he constructed the first cultivator plowing a row of corn, which was then called the Shanghai plow, and also invented a corn planter which dropped a double row. This was a decided improvement over the machinery of the time, but unfortunately he never patented it. A progressive, wide- awake and enterprising man, he met with success in his undertakings and ma- terially aided in the development of his section of the state. His home was the first brick house in the locality and for many years it was considered a landmark. Both he and his wife were earnest and consistent members of the Baptist church and were held in the highest esteem by all who knew them. He passed away in 1863 at the age of sixty-two years, and his wife died in 1883 at the age of seventy-four years.
They were the parents of seven children, namely: R. J., an attorney of Princeville, Illinois; Truman and Edwin, who died in infancy; J. H., a retired farmer of Winfield, Kansas; M. W., who is engaged in the music business in Boone, Iowa ; Harriet L., the widow of J. S. Barnum and a resident of Chicago; and Alonzo Bushnell, of this review.
Reared in the county of his nativity Alonzo B. Benjamin acquired a good practical education in the public schools and made preparation to enter upon a commercial career by a course in a business college of Peoria, continuing his studies until twenty-one years of age. He first became identified with busi- ness interests as a music dealer in Princeville and from that city removed to Danville, in 1876, opening his present establishment as a branch house for Lyon & Healy, of Chicago, whom he thus represented for seventeen years under the name of the Benjamin Temple of Music. He began business on West Main street in the old Hub block and in 1882 removed to the Palmer block, where he remained until 1901, when he secured the fine building at Nos. 30 and 32
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North Vermilion street. This is a three story structure, twenty-seven by one hundred and fifty feet, and each floor is occupied by the Benjamin Temple of Music, being well equipped and splendidly stocked with musical instruments of all descriptions. Although he has made a specialty of the Everett piano, he carries a great many makes and also organs, piano players and all kinds of musical merchandise. His trade has steadily increased until now he is at the head of the most extensive business of the kind in this section of the country. On the 2d of November, 1902, the business was incorporated under the name of the Benjamin Temple of Music and capitalized for twenty thousand dollars, the officers being: A. B. Benjamin, president; his nephew, F. A. Benjamin, vice president; and his son-in-law, F. J. Lovell, secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Benjamin was married June 10, 1872, to Miss Angie Cook, a daugh- ter of T. G. Cook, a prominent farmer and early settler of Knox county, Illi- nois, now living retired in Galesburg. Her mother, who bore the maiden name of Susan E. Wilder, belonged to one of the leading families of that lo- cality. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin have four children, namely: Susan L., the wife of F. J. Lovell and the mother of two sons, Ralph B., and John L .; Roy A., who married Miss Bessie Jeremy; Ruby Adeona, who married R. Day Kelley and has one daughter, Jane M .; and Horace Victor.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Benjamin has been prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having filled all the chairs in the local organization and encampment at Princeville, Illinois, and transferred his membership to Danville in 1877. He has been patriarch militant, adjutant and captain. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Court of Honor, the National Union, the Eagles and the Improved Order of Red Men. His public spirit has been manifest in his support of those things which he believed calculated to prove of public benefit, and he exercises his right to vote with discrimination, in this way rendering noble service to the city. For two years he has served as alderman of his ward but has never taken a very prominent part in political affairs. For a third of a century he has been identified with the commercial interests of Danville and throughout that entire period there has been naught said detrimental to his business integrity, and that he enjoys the. respect and confidence of his patrons is shown in his rapidly increasing business.
JACOB P. ELLSWORTH.
The worth and fidelity of Jacob P. Ellsworth in positions of public trust is indicated in the fact that he has served continuously as assistant supervisor of his township since 1902. All those activities which effect the municipal wel- fare, the intellectual and moral progress and the material development of West- ville receive his endorsement and support and in the town he is also known as an enterprising general merchant.
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Vermilion county numbers Mr. Ellsworth among her native sons. He was born January 8, 1847, of the marriage of Sylvanus T. and Zarelda (Graves) Ellsworth, who were natives of Miami county, Ohio, and of Kentucky respec- tively. The father was a resident of the Buckeye state during his youth and early manhood and there engaged in farming and logging until 1840, when he made a trip to Illinois, visiting Vermilion county. Soon afterward he re- turned to Ohio but again made his way to Vermilion county, believing that ex- cellent opportunities were here offered. It was in this district that he married Miss Zarelda Graves and later removed with his family to Lewistown, Illinois, where he remained for a year. He then returned to Vermilion county and for about three years resided in Georgetown township, while in 1854 he settled in Catlin township, making his home there throughout his remaining days save for a period of two years spent with his daughter in Westville. Farming was his life work and the energy and diligence with which he prosecuted his labors led to his success. He started out empty handed but came into the possession of a comfortable competence as the reward of his unremitting industry. He died August 12, 1901, having for about fourteen years survived his wife, who passed away in 1887.
Their family numbered seven children: Mary E., the wife of Israel Bur- roughs, of Danville; Margaret, who became the wife of William Currants and died in 1885; Jacob P., of this review; Sarah, the wife of William D. Parker, a farmer living on section 6, Georgetown township; Eveline M., the wife of George Watson, a contractor of Danville; Levi Lincoln, who married Minnie Hodge and is living on the old homestead in Catlin township; and Catherine, the wife of William C. Dukes, who was formerly engaged in the butchering business but is now a carpenter of Georgetown.
Jacob P. Ellsworth, as has been seen, is a representative of one of the old- est pioneer families of Vermilion county and is himself one of its early settlers, having for sixty-three years resided here. He has therefore witnessed the greater part of its growth and development and at all times has rejoiced in what has been accomplished for its improvement. The public schools afforded him his educational privileges and later he engaged in teaching in the McMil- lan school in Danville township in 1870. The following year he became the teacher in the Brooks Point school and in the winter of 1872 was engaged to teach the Rouse school, after which he returned to the McMillan school for one term. He proved a capable educator, having the faculty of interesting the children in their studies and maintaining discipline as well.
Mr. Ellsworth lived for a time on the old home farm and in 1871 took up his abode in Westville, since which time he has been connected with the up- building and improvement of the town. He erected the first store building here and engaged in general merchandising for a short time. In 1880 he again entered the mercantile field but after a brief period once more sold out. He then followed farming until 1889, when he began clerking in the Kelly store of Westville, remaining there for two years. Since 1891 he has engaged in business on his own account, erecting a store building in which he has since carried a large and well selected general line of goods. His fair dealing and earnest desire to please his patrons have constituted the salient features in his
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success, bringing him a liberal patronage. He is still connected with agricul- tural pursuits as the owner of seventy acres of land in Georgetown township and one hundred and ten acres of the home farm in Catlin township. His business interests are capably conducted and at all times he has recognized and utilized the opportunities for success.
Mr. Ellsworth was united in marriage, in this county, to Miss Sarah O'Neal, whose father, Isaac O'Neal, was a pioneer settler here. Mrs. Ells- worth died on the 21st of June, 1888, leaving two children: Austin, who wedded May Lash and is living near Westville; and Lola B. Mr. Ellsworth afterward married Miss Mary Donlon, a daughter of Anthony Donlon, formerly of Dan- ville, but now deceased. They have two sons: Ralph Anthony Sylvanus; and . Harold Donald, born July 20, 1903. Their home in Westville is a hospitable one, always open for the reception of their many friends.
Mr. Ellsworth belongs to the Christian church of Westville, while his wife is of the Catholic faith. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has been called to several local offices, serving as the first police magistrate of Westville, which position he filled for four years, while for eight years he has been assistant supervisor of his township. He was also a trustee of the village board for two years, retiring from that office in 1909. His genial qualities, his social disposition and his sterling worth have gained him many friends in this community and the high regard in which he is held merits his classification with the representative and honored citizens of his native county.
WILLIAM MOORE.
There are found many men whose industry has won them success-men who by their perseverance and diligence execute well defined plans which others have made-but the men who take the initiative are comparatively few. The vast majority do not see opportunity for the coordination of forces in the develop- ment of new, extensive and profitable enterprises, and therefore must follow along paths which others have marked out. In William Moore, however, the initiative spirit is strong. He has realized the possibility for the combination of forces and has wrought along the line of mammoth undertakings until he well deserves to be ranked among the captains of industry, being the strong center of the community in which he moves.
A native of Ohio, Mr. Moore's birth occurred at West Bedford, Coshocton county, November 30, 1841, his parents being Silas and Mary Moore, the former a prominent farmer and capitalist of Spring Mountain, Ohio. The youth- ful days of William Moore were spent upon his father's farm and after master- ing the branches of learning taught in the public schools he entered the Spring Mountain Seminary at Spring Mountain, Ohio, where he pursued a preparatory course, expecting to make this the foundation for the study of law. Events shaped his life otherwise however. The Civil war came on and text-books were abandoned for active service in the field. He was only nineteen years of age when, in 1861, he responded to the country's call for troops, joining the army
moore
William
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on the 23d of April, just eleven days after the Confederate forces made their attack upon Fort Sumter. The call under which he enlisted was for three months' troops. He joined Company D. Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private and was promoted to the rank of orderly sergeant. In the following August he was honorably discharged by reason of the expiration of his term of service, but by this time it had been proven that the war was to be no mere holiday affair and to the loyalty of the northern men an appeal was made to preserve the Union. Mr. Moore reenlisted on the 3d of October, 1861, and was com- missioned by Governor Denison a first lieutenant with authority to raise a com- pany. He secured his enlistments largely among the students of the Spring Mountain Seminary and the organization became known as Company I of Fifty- first Ohio Infantry under command of Colonel Stanley Matthews. With his company, Lieutenant Moore fought at Philippi, Perryville, Chickamauga, Look- out Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, and in January, 1863, was pro- moted to a captaincy. His command suffered severely at Chickamauga, half of the number being killed or wounded, while many of the remainder were captured. All of the regimental officers of the Fifty-first having been taken prisoners, Captain Moore, as ranking line officer, assumed command and with but a few men, bearing the regimental colors and the stand of rebel colors captured from a South Carolina regiment in the last charge, he cut through the rebel lines and safely reached Chattanooga the next day. It was a brave move and one which displayed superior knowledge of military tactics as well as unfaltering courage. Captain Moore on two different occasions was chosen for special service of a difficult and dangerous kind. He executed his commission, however, with signal success and was complimented by his fellow and superior officers and also by the general in command of the army. Three years were given by him to the defense of the Union and in April, 1864, he retired from the army with the most creditable military record.
While his early life was devoted to farming, Captain Moore felt that com- mercial and industrial interests offered a broader field of activity and he be- came identified with the interests of Hoopeston in 1871. He had taken up his abode in Vermilion county in March, 1865, settling upon a farm in Grant town- ship of three hundred and twenty acres, which he had previously purchased. It was not long before his fellow townsmen recognized his ability and personal worth, and in 1866 elected him to the office of justice of the peace, which he filled for eight years, and was also chosen collector of Grant township in 1867 and acted in that capacity for three years, while from 1866 until 1872 he was school treasurer. The cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart champion and for several years he was officially connected with the Hoopeston public schools, his energy and enterperise being largely responsible for the erec- tion of the first imposing and substantial school building in the city, which was completed at a cost of about twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Moore was strongly opposed in his efforts in this direction, but he had firm faith in the ulti- mate development of the town and time has proven his wisdom, for today Hoopeston has several schools equally commodious and excellent in construction. He has also served as a member of the Hoopeston Library Association since its organization and no movement for the benefit of the city fails to receive his
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endorsement and cooperation. In fact, he is the moving spirit in many projects for the general good and his efforts have indeed been far-reaching, effective and beneficial.
While never neglecting in the slightest degree any public duty devolving upon him, he has yet made business activities his chief interest and by reason of his ramifying business connections the name of Hoopeston has largely be- came known throughout the entire country. He first became identified with real- estate operations in Hoopeston in laying out the Moore and Brown addition, utilizing for this purpose fifty acres of land which he had purchased here at an early day. For the more satisfactory management of his real-estate interests he took up his abode in Hoopeston in April, 1872, and has since operated more or less extensively in realty here, although this by no means compasses the ex- tent of his activities. He was for a time a member of the real-estate firm of Moore & Brown and later became the senior member of the well known firm of Moore, McFerren & Seavey, whose sales for the year beginning March, 1874, amounted to two hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars. Not only did this firm handle Hoopeston property but also became proprietors of large land in- terests in Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and other southern states.
Recognizing the fact that the upbuilding of every city depends not so much upon the machinery of government nor the men controlling the public policy as upon the establishment and conduct of extensive business enterprises, Mr. Moore has done much to make Hoopeston the commercial center which it is today. He became one of the investors in the stock of the Illinois Canning Company. soon after its organization and later was made general manager and is now the president of this corporation with N. S. Cutright, of Peoria, as vice president ; W. A. Miskimin as secretary; and Earl Webster as treasurer. He originated and executed the plans for forming the Union Tin Can Company, of which he became stock-holder and director and of which he was the president when the company was merged into the American Can Company. In was organized in 1892 and capitalized for forty thousand dollars. The progressive methods of Mr. Moore and his associates are indicated by the fact that when the business was sold in 1900 it returned to the owners one million dollars, the original stock- holders retaining their respective interests as paid up stock. In other sections of the country. Mr. Moore has also largely operated along industrial and man- ufacturing lines, and different communities have profited greatly by his business activity. He became connected with Mr. McFerren at Memphis, Tennessee, in the ownership of an extensive enterprise conducted under the style of the Moore & McFerren Box & Lumber Company, of which Mr. Moore is the managing partner. These gentlemen are also proprietors of a double band saw- mill, box. factory and planing mills at Memphis, which has an extensive capacity and they are also the owners of a large sawmill at Luxora, Arkansas, a saw -- mill on Pittman's island, another at Woodstock, Mississippi, and still others, all of which have a large capacity. They own over thirty thousand acres of timber land in Arkansas and to facilitate the development of their properties- and get the lumber products to the market they have built railways. Mr. Moore has also secured donations for the two railroads which enter Hoopeston and was a member of the committee for obtaining the right of way for the Lake.
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