USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a tale of its evolution, settlement, and progress for nearly a century, Volume II > Part 88
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All through the days of her early teaching she never wavered from her purpose of one day pursuing a college course, saying: "It must be. I feel it as essential to mind as bread and meat to the body." In 1865 arrangements were made whereby she could pursue a course in the Granville (Ohio) Female College, and meet the expenses of the course after its completion when she should be self supporting. Her close application and naturally receptive mind enabled her to master the entire curriculum in three years. At the end of that
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time she found herself indebted to the sum of eight hundred dollars. An uncle, however, told her that if she would pay off the sum by her labors in four years he would make her a present of five hundred dollars. She did it and her uncle also kept his part of the contract. Her college days were marked by another event that gave color to her whole life. In her earlier years, when the restrictions of poverty and lack of opportunities seemed to hamper her, she had at times lost her faith but in her college days she united with the Presbyterian church and her interest in the broader teachings of religion never faltered throughout her remaining years. After leaving the seminary she became a teacher in the public schools of Granville, Ohio, was also recognized as a social and liter- ary leader in the little city and continued her own education by broad reading and study. One who knew her at that time said that her characteristics which impressed him most were "her wonderful memory, vivacity and charming man- ner as a conversationalist, commanding both attention and respect." From Granville she went to Danville, Illinois, to become a teacher in the schools there, and at the same time devoted her leisure hours to newspaper correspond- ence and other literary work. In 1873 she went to Galveston, Texas, to visit her sister, Roxana, who had gone there to live with their great-aunt, Mrs. Harrold. Her appreciation of beauty is noticed in a letter which she wrote back
to her foster sister: " .. .. Have been down to the beach and gathered many beautiful shells. Nothing can describe these. I lie awake every night looking at long strips of it, glittering in the moonlight, until I fall asleep."
After returning north Miss Hartwell wrote many short articles, chiefly stories for children, and later, going to New York, became a writer for Leslie's and other popular publications, at which time she resided at Newburg-on-Hud- son. She afterward removed to Cincinnati where she wrote for the Ladies Repository and Golden Hours. Her success with her children's stories and the advice of her friends caused her to turn her attention to literary productions for more advanced readers. She was making progress in this line when the financial panic that followed 1873 caused several of those who published her stories to fail and thus her employment was largely taken away from her. But it was about that time that the greatest happiness of her life came to her in her marriage. Miss Hartwell had previously visited her aunts, Mrs. Allen T. Catherwood and Mrs. Hattie De Volt, at Hoopeston, and there became ac- quainted with James Steele Catherwood, to whom she was married on the Perkins' farm near Hoopeston, on the 27th of December, 1877. They re- moved to Fairfield, Indiana, where Mr. Catherwood was engaged in business, but after a few months went to Indianapolis where better opportunities were presented for promoting her literary interests. She there became dramatic critic for the Review and at once was a prominent figure in the literary cir- cles of the city. She found great joy in her acquaintance with men and women of the brightest mind, such acquaintance resulting in friendships that con- tinued throughout her active life. While there she became acquainted with James Whitcomb Riley, from whom she said she gained much information and encouragement. During their Indianapolis reesidence Mrs. Catherwood wrote for Lippincott's Magazine and also for the Atlantic Monthly, and the acceptance of her articles by these high grade magazines greatly stimulated
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her ambition. It was also while living there that she became acquainted with Benjamin S. Parker, who was then American consul at Sherbrook, Canada, and who invited her to pay a visit to his family. While enjoying the hospitality of his Canadian home she witnessed the celebration of St. John's day, July 17, 1884, and it was this unique and attractive event, in which there was a float representing Dollard and his sixteen men, that brought to her the idea of portraying this character in a story. She spent some months in Canada study- ing characters and scenes which subsequently found place on the pages of her interesting story, the Romance of Dollard.
In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Catherwood removed from Indianapolis to Hoopes- ton, Illinois, which remained her home to the time of her death, although in her last years she also maintained a home in Chicago for the purpose of being near her daughter, who was in school. One of her biographers has said of her: "Mrs. Catherwood's vitalized sensibilities would sometimes see her char- acters imaged before her as in the mirror of her mind and often before describ- ing them. Her husband once asked: 'Where did you get the character of Le Rosignol, the dwarf-girl,' in the Lady of Fort St. John?' She replied most earnestly: 'Why, I was sitting here and she came into the hall and walked right up to my side: she stood there on the register.'"
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Catherwood were born two children but the little son died in infancy. Then came a little daughter, Hazel, and between husband, wife and child there was an attachment seldom equalled in its strength. In 1891 Mrs. Catherwood went abroad with her little daughter for the purpose of collecting material for a new story, spending some months in travel in England, Scotland, France and Germany, and gaining much material which she afterward used. Her writings were notable for their historical accuracy. She was accorded national recognition when, in 1893, at the congress of authors held in Chicago during the World's Columbian Exposition, she was asked to prepare a paper which she presented to the congress under the title of The Technic of Fiction or Form and Condensation in Novel Writing. She greatly enjoyed meeting with the notable personages of the literary world. The circle of her friends was constantly widening and few writers held a higher place in literary circles and in public favor than did Mrs. Catherwood. She never forgot the friendships of her earlier years, however, and her greatest happiness came when with her husband and daughter she would travel to points which for beauty or historic association were particularly interesting to her. In 1894 she again went abroad, accompanied by her husband and daugh- ter, having been commissioned by the Century Company to visit France and make a particular study of the life association of Joan of Arc for publication in the Century Magazine. In the preface to her articles she wrote: "This book is the outcome of many months of patient study and collection of material in America; the rejection of much of this in Paris; of journeys over the Maid's country, following her path from Domremy to Rouen, in voitures, in carts, and on foot; of careful study of the fifteenth century,-and, at the risk of creating a smile, I will confess it is the result of a Divine hint." While abroad she also wrote an article for the Atlantic Monthly on French Roads and Road- making, which was copied in part or at length by the press throughout the
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country. While she studied closely all that might help in the faithful execution of her mission abroad she also greatly delighted in the humorous situations which always abound for the American in "foreign" travel. She did not speak German but expressed herself most fluently in French.
A desire to provide better educational facilities for her daughter, and also to be in closer touch with her publishers, led Mrs. Catherwood to establish a temporary home in Chicago in 1899. Her husband's business connections made it impossible for him to be in that city all the time, but he paid weekly or semi- weekly visits to his wife and was interested in her literary work as she was in the business activities with which he was connected. During the sum- mer months the family always took their outing in some northern summer resort, usually Mackinac Island and vicinity. Mrs. Catherwood entered into the sports and games that provided mental and physical diversion with the greatest zest. Mrs. Catherwood at times appeared before literary societies in Chicago, Indianapolis and elsewhere where she would give readings, but she regarded literary production as her chief work and often had to refuse the social invitations proffered her. Her deeds of benevolence were many and yet they were of the most unostentatious character. During her residence in Hoopes- ton there was organized a literary society called the Mary Hartwell Cather- wood Club, and during the second year of its existence she was elected its president and so served until her removal to Chicago.
She is perhaps best known to the world at large through her writings which include, beside the Romance of Dollard, The Story of Tonty, The White Islander, The Days of Jeanne D'Arc, Heroes of the Middle West, Dogberry Bunch, Old Caravan Days, Rocky Fork, Secrets of Roseladies, The Lady of Fort St. John, Old Kaskaskia, The Choice of St. Castine, The Spirit of an Illinois Town, Little Renault, Bonny and Ben, Mackinac and Lake Stories, Spanish Peggy, and last, but not least, Lazarre. Few works of modern times have been so enthusiastically received as Lazarre. The distinguished actor, Otis Skinner, recognizing its dramatic merit, prepared it for the stage and it was as suc- cessful before the footlights as it had been in novel form. The play was first produced by Mr. Skinner at Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the historical events were supposed to have taken place. On that occasion Mrs. Catherwood was present-one of a large and fashionable audience that also included many peo- ple whose names are well known in the literary world. The friendship between the actor and the author continued throughout her life. While she was prepar- ing another work to be called Tippecanoe, for publication, death came to her.
Her old time Newark friend and editor, later her biographer, said: "She could not realize that her rheumatism would have a fatal termination so soon, and continued to devote her mental and physical energies to the work in hand. Living in the glow of her fertile genius and in the warm atmosphere of her happy family and social relations she was beaming in the happiness of present achieve- ments and the glow of a hopeful future." She passed away at her Chicago home, December 26, 1902, the evening previous to the twenty-fifth anniversary of her marriage. After preliminary funeral services in St. Paul's Episcopal church in Kenwood, which she had attended, her remains were brought back to Hoopeston for interment. Among the beautiful funeral pieces sent were con-
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tributions from James Whitcomb Riley, Otis Skinner and other literary friends. There also stood near the bier the banner of "The little Rose-Bud Class," a banner which she made with her own hands when she was teacher of the "Rose- Buds" in the Sunday school of the Universalist church at Hoopeston.
She had come to a point where her literary work won her recognition from the highest sources in America. James Whitcomb Riley wrote of her: "Mrs. Catherwood was a dear friend of mine. I first knew her in Indianapolis, and her death is a great shock to me. I had a high appreciation of her fine mental endowment. Her death, in my mind, is a distinct loss to the fraternity of letters." From H. H. Howland, of Indianapolis, came the following: "My feelings over my personal loss are such that I cannot give a carefully thought- out appreciation of Mrs. Catherwood's worth, and society's loss. I heard from her daughter, telling me of her mother's condition, and saw from her letter that the child did not realize the seriousness of her mother's illness. In spite of this, the news of her death is a shock to me. . . . She was a lover of nature, and saw all of its beauties with the eye of an artist. She would go into raptures over a sunset, and clap her hands in childish delight at the discovery of the first spring flowers. Mrs. Catherwood was a mother by instinct. It was a benediction to go into her home. Her love went out to every one, and every thing good. She was thoughtfulness, gentleness and salf-sacrifice per- sonified. She had her full share of trials but met them with a high courage and bore them with unending patience."
"Mrs. Catherwood's death was a great shock to me," wrote Hobart Chat- field-Taylor. "She occupied a unique place in American literature because of her inclination toward the historic features regarding the early settlement and exploration of the middle west and northwestern portion of America. Her books appealed to me with peculiar force and I think they have earned for themselves a prominent usefulness. I have known Mrs. Catherwood for some years and have a distince personal sorrow in her sudden death." It is safe to say that the memory of no one in Hoopeston is cherished with greater tenderness, love and reverance than that of Mary Hartwell Catherwood.
ROBERT R. BOOKWALTER.
4
By the consensus of public opinion Robert R. Bookwalter is classed with the leading, although one of the younger, representatives of the Danville bar. He was born in this city April 8, 1885, a son of Hon. Ferdinand and Hannah M. Bookwalter. The father, born in 1846, was a native of Fountain county, Indiana. A lawyer by profession, he gained a position of distinction at the Danville bar and his record as circuit judge from 1891 until 1902 reflected credit upon the judicial history of the state. He continued an honored representative of the bench until his death, which occurred on the 13th of August, 1902. At the time of the Civil war he had enlisted in the Union army and served for one year as a member of Company H, Sixtieth Indiana Infantry, until honorably discharged following the cessation of hostilities.
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Liberal educational advantages were afforded Robert R. Bookwalter, who attended the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois, pursuing courses in literature and the arts, and afterward in law to the time of his graduation from the Illinois State University with the class of 1909. He is now following in the footsteps of an honored father, the stimulus of whose example is manifest in the excellent work being done by the son who, locat- ing for practice in Danville, has made steady progress and has already become well established among the younger representatives of the Vermilion county bar.
Mr. Bookwalter gives his political allegiance to the republican party and his membership relations are with the Kappa Sigma, a college fraternity, and the Phi Delta Phi, a legal fraternity, together with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is widely known in this city where his entire life has been spent.
HENRY L. BUSHNELL.
Henry L. Bushnell, engaged extensively in the grain and coal trade at Hoopes- ton, where he has made his home for a quarter of a century, is today one of the oldest grain merchants of eastern Illinois. He has built up a very satis- factory and substantial business which he is now conducting under the name of the Hoopeston Grain & Coal Company, of which he is the president. His suc- cess is such that his methods are of interest to the commercial world and care- ful analyzation of his life work indicates the fact that he has ever followed the rules which govern unfaltering industry and strict and unswerving integrity.
Illinois numbers him among her native, sons, his birth having occurred in Peoria county, October 2, 1843. His father, Horace Bushnell, was born in Catskill, New York, July 16, 1816, and was of English and Welsh descent. The family was represented in the Revolutionary war and the grandfather of Henry L. Bushnell was a soldier in the war of 1812. Horace Bushnell spent the period of his youth and early manhood in the Empire state but in 1839 removed west- ward to Peoria county, Illinois, where he remained until 1850, when he went to Chicago. The following year, however, he returned to Peoria county, where he resided until 1865, when he took up his abode in the city of Peoria, where he made his home until 1892. He then came to Hoopeston, where his last days were passed, his death occurring July 16, 1899, when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-three years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret H. Crouter, was born in New York city in May, 1817, and was of Holland Dutch descent. She died in 1897 at the home of her son, Alvin R. Bushnell, a resident of Monterey, Mexico. Horace Bushnell afterward made his home with his son Henry L. in Hoopeston. They were the parents of seven children, six sons and a daughter. Charles C., born in Peoria county, September 2, 1839, died August 27, 1890. Omer, born in Peoria county, October 30, 1841, is now living in Monterey, Mexico. Henry L. is the next of the family. Mary H., born March 11, 1845, in Peoria county, was married at Gilman, Illinois, September 27, 1873, to David B. Cook, and for many years
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they were residents of Kansas and at the time of Mr. Cook's death were liv- ing in El Reno, Oklahoma, where he had been engaged in the banking busi- ness for ten years, from 1892 until 1902. Horace, born in Peoria county, Illi- nois, became a soldier of the Civil war and died the day following his muster out at Springfield, Illinois. William M., born in Peoria county, passed away at Monterey, Mexico. Alvin R., born in Peoria county, is engaged in business at Monterey.
Henry L. Bushnell pursued his education in the public schools of his na- tive county, completing the high-school course in the city of Peoria with the class of 1858. He displayed special aptitude in his studies, being graduated when but fifteen years of age. He then went to work on his father's farm, where he remained until eighteen years of age, when he enlisted for service in the Civil war on the 3d of July, 1862. He was at the front throughout the remainder of hostilities, became second lieutenant of Company E, Seventy- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and on the Ist of July, 1863, when but nineteen years of age, was commissioned second lieutenant. He participated in all of the principal engagements of the war and for fourteen months was a prisoner of war at Tyler, Smith county, Texas. He twice escaped from prison but was recaptured on each occasion and held until the close of hostili- ties. He was also twice wounded and although but twenty-one years of age when mustered out, had had military experience that equalled that of many a veteran of twice his years. All of the hardships of war were familiar to him, together with the difficulties of campaigning. He returned home with a most creditable military record and is now a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being connected with the local post at Hoopeston.
Following the close of the war Mr. Bushnell engaged in the lumber busi- ness in Peoria, Illinois, until October, 1867, when he sold his interests at that place and removed to Gilman, Illinois, where he conducted a similar business and also extended his activities to include the grain trade. In 1878, how- ever, he withdrew from those lines and entered the service of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company as general agent, with headquarters at Terre Haute, Indiana. He remained with that company from the 28th of March, 1878, until July 1, 1885, when he came to Hoopeston and here established a grain and coal business, which he has since conducted, covering a period of a quarter of a century, which makes him the oldest grain merchant in eastern Illinois in years of continuous connection with the business. He is now presi- dent of the Hoopeston Grain & Coal Company, which is controlling a good business and which returns a gratifying annual income. He closely watches over all the details of his business to insure its successful management and his discernment is keen, his judgment sound and reliable.
Mr. Bushnell was married at Peoria, Illinois, on the 18th of September, 1867, to Miss Hatttie A. Littell, a daughter of Isaac F. Littell. She was born in New York city, March 18, 1844, and by her marriage became the mother of twelve children but all are now deceased with the exception of one daugh- ter, Jessie A., who was born at Terre Haute, Indiana, April 21, 1882, and is now the wife of John H. Jones, a native of Champaign county, Illinois, who is connected with her father in the grain and coal business. The marriage of Mr.
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and Mrs. Jones was celebrated January 16, 1902, at Hoopeston, and they have become parents of four children : Henry L., born April 19, 1903; Robert A., March 12, 1906; and Francis and Florence, twins, born November 26, 1908. All were born in Hoopeston. Mrs. Bushnell and Mrs. Jones are members of the Illinois chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the latter is entitled to the highest honorary degree from the fact that her ancestors on both sides were represented in the American army in the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Bushnell has been in public office the major portion of his life. At Gilman he served as a member of the school board and in 1885 was elected mayor of Hoopeston, in which position he served until 1888. At the close of his term he entered the city council and served continuously for fourteen years, beginning in 1889. No higher encomium concerning his worth as a man and a citizen could be given than the fact that for seventeen years he was continuously in office. For six years he has been a member of the school board and during four years of that time was its president. In politics he is an earnest republican and still takes an active part and interest in public af- fairs. He belongs to the Hoopeston Commercial Club and cooperates in all its projects for the general good. The underlying motive force of his life is found in his Christian faith. He has long been a devoted member of the Baptist church and for ten consecutive years was superintendent of the Sunday school. He is justly accounted among those who have largely made Hoopeston the model city which it is today. Few cities of the size have such a splendid record for all those things which are uplifting elements in the life of men, and the muni- cipal standing in this regard is due to the efforts and influence of such citizens as Henry L. Bushnell.
MRS. MARGARET MILLER.
Mrs. Margaret Miller, a highly respected resident of Danville, is a daugh- ter of Samuel and Jane (Evans) Porter. Her father was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1802, and made his home in Brown county, Ohio. He was a son of John Porter, of Scotch descent. Her mother was a native of Ohio and a daughter of George Evans. The brother of our subject, Samuel Porter, Jr., was one of the valiant defenders of the Union in the Civil war. He joined the Thirty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry at Normal, Illinois, but later was dis- charged from service on account of ill health. After returning home, he as- sisted in organizing the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Infantry and was ad- vanced through the various grades from private to brigadier general in the army, gaining a record which reflected the highest credit upon himself and his country. He lost an arm at the battle of Chickamauga. Personally he was greatly liked by his brother officers, and Generals Custer and Canby claimed him among their warmest friends, he having served as a staff officer under the latter general. After the war he took up law and was admitted to the bar in Kentucky and became the legal adviser of the Mckay Sewing Machine Asso- ciation, which was a very large corporation. He was a good business man and
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acquired large farming and mining interests, also becoming a holder of gov- ernment bonds. He departed this life in Boston, April 21, 1880, and his re- mains were deposited in a cemetery at Bloomington, Illinois.
Margaret Porter was educated in the public schools of Tonica, La Salle county, Illinois, and grew to womanhood under the sheltering protection of the paternal roof. She was happily united in marriage to Horace Miller, who was born in La Salle county in 1839, being the second child born in that county. He was the son of Horace K. and Eunice (Newton) Miller, pioneers of that county. He received his education in the public schools of Ottawa and after reaching manhood engaged in the wholesale lumber business. Being a man of marked ability and good judgment in business affairs, he was highly success- ful and gained a reputation as one of the reliable and progressive citizens of Vermilion county. In political belief he was a liberal democrat, often voting for a candidate irrespective of the party to which he belonged. Fraternally he was identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Commerical Travelers Asso- ciation of America. He departed this life in 1903 and the universal regret expressed in the community attested the esteem in which he was held by those who knew his worthy qualities. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Leo Porter and Mary Margaret, both of whom were educated in the Danville schools, completing the high-school course.
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