USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a tale of its evolution, settlement, and progress for nearly a century, Volume II > Part 91
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resident of Galveston, Indiana; James A., of this review; Ida V .. , living in San Diego, California ; and Mrs. Sarah Ellen Vincent, whose home is at Meeks.
James A. Meeks was only about a year old when the family came to Illinois, and upon the old homestead he spent the days of his boyhood and youth. He at- tended the Wingard school nearby, then became a pupil of Westfield College and later of Illinois College at Jacksonville. Determining early upon the practice of law as a life work, he began reading in the office and under the direction of E. R. E. Kimbrough, who is now on the circuit bench. In November, 1890, Mr. Meeks was admitted to the bar and on the Ist of October of the following year opened a law office in Danville. He was in partnership with Judge Kimbrough for ten years prior to the election of his former preceptor to the bench. He has always continued in active connection with the bar as a general practitioner and in Oc- tober, 1903, he was appointed master in chancery of the circuit court for Ver- milion county, which position he has filled without interruption to the present time.
On the 27th of August, 1898, Mr. Meeks was married to Miss Frances R. Pearson, a daughter of Gustavus and Hattie (Brown) Pearson, natives of Ohio and New York respectively, who are now living in Danville. Her father was for many years a commission merchant of Chicago and prominent on the Board of Trade. He is a member of the Chicago Pioneers and of the California Pioneers of Chicago. His father Judge John Pearson was for a time on the circuit bench when the district in which Danville was located also embraced Cook county. At length he retired from the bench to accept the office of state senator in the same district. He was one of Danville's pioneers and most honored and respected citizens. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Meeks was also a lawyer at Ogdens- burg, New York, and likewise served upon the bench. Her father, Gustavus Pearson, in early manhood was employed by Joel Matteson, of Joliet, Illinois, who afterward became governor of the state. In 1849, following the gold ex- citement, he went to California and in addition to his mining interests he operated with a party of twelve a flouring mill at Vallejo, near San Francisco. While prospecting, he discovered the Yosemite valley. Since 1880 he has made his home in Danville.
In his political views Mr. Meeks is a democrat, thoroughly versed on the ques- tions and issues of the day. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is, moreover, a very public- spirited man and one of the foremost members of the Danville bar.
JOSEPH G. CANNON. JR.
Joseph G. Cannon, Jr., who for three years has been connected with the Illinois Traction System and makes his home in Danville, was born in Tuscola, Illinois, November 28, 1870, a son of William and Anna (Wamsley) Cannon, who removed to Danville when he was about five years of age. Their family numbered two sons and a daughter, the brother of our subject being O. W. Cannon, of this city, while the sister, Anna, is the wife of G. W. Helm of Los Angeles, California.
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Joseph G. Cannon, Jr., acquired his early education in the Danville schools and afterward attended the Pennsylvania Military school at Chester, Pennsyl- vania. Upon completing his course there he secured a position in the Second National Bank of Danville of which his father was for a number of years president. There he remained for several years, his ability and fidelity win- ning him promotion through various positions. He then became associated with the Illinois Traction System, with which he has now been connected for three years.
On the 12th of June, 1893, Mr. Cannon was married to Miss Claribel Dur- ham, who was born January 27, 1871, in Kankakee, Illinois. In 1875 she was brought to Danville by her parents, John and Mary (Cassidy) Durham, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of this city. The ancestors of the family came from Virginia. George Washington Cassidy, the grandfather of Mrs. Cannon, was one of the pioneer residents of Vermilion county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Durham are now deceased. There are two living sons, however, and two daughters: J. C. Durham, a resident of Borden, Indiana; Myra, also living at Borden; J. H Durham, of Bloomington, Indiana; and Mrs. Cannon, who by her marriage has become the mother of one son, John William, born March 7, 1898, and now a pupil in the Garfield school. Mrs. Cannon com- pleted her education in the Danville high school. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and she presides with gracious hospitality over her attractive home at No. 1018 North Vermilion avenue.
JOHN E. P. BUTZ, M. D.
Dr. John E. P. Butz, who since 1878 has engaged in the practice of medicine at Potomac, has won for himself a favorable place in professional circles and. at the same time has been recognized as a leader in political lines. He was born July 12, 1849, at Little Sandusky, Ohio, a son of Samuel and Alcinda Helen (Foulke) Butz. The father was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1824, and the mother was a native of Virginia. They were married in 1848 at Little Sandusky, Ohio, and on removing from that place became residents of Ver- milion county, Illinois, Mr. Butz entering land in Pilot township in 1852, since which time the family has resided in the same neighborhood.
Dr. Butz was reared upon the old homestead farm and the usual experi- ences of agricultural life were his in his boyhood and youth. He supplemented his early educational training by study in the high school at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1875 and then en- tered the Rush Medical College of Chicago, where he completed a three years' course and was graduated in 1878. Locating for practice in Potomac, he has remained here continuously since and in the intervening period, covering a third of a century, he has always been recognized as one of the leading and able members of the profession in this part of the county. Broad reading and wide research have kept him in touch with the advanced work that is being done by the profession and he is quick to adopt any new idea or method of
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practice which he believes will have vital worth and significance in his pro- fessional duties.
On the 24th of June, 1880, in Ladoga, Indiana, Dr. Butz was united in marriage to Miss Mabel F. Buckingham and they have one son, Homer E., who married Beryl M. Osborn and has two sons, Edmund and Frederick. Dr. Butz holds membership in the Unitarian church and in every relation of life is a man of broad and liberal views who recognizes that there is much good in the world and at the same time recognizes the opportunity for further progress and advancement, toward which he is lending his aid and influence. He be- longs to both the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges and the Modern Wood- men and in his political views is a democrat, supporting the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. That he is recognized as one of its leaders in local ranks is indicated in the fact that he was honored with election to the state legislature and served in 1897-8. In that office, as in other relations of life, he gave careful consideration to every question that came up for settlement and by his support or opposition to any measure, as the case might be, sought the welfare and benefit of the state at large.
REV. FREDERICK GAHLMAN.
Rev. Frederick Gahlman, pastor of St. Anthony's church at Hoopeston, was born at Clyman, Wisconsin, March 28, 1871, a son of Frederick and Josephine (Bauerichter) Gahlman, both of whom were natives of Westphalia, Germany. They came to America in 1841, settling in Wisconsin. They were then in the period of childhood and in 1856 they were married in Watertown, Wisconsin. The father was a lifelong farmer, following general agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred October 6, 1909. His widow still survives and is now living in Clyman, Wisconsin.
Frederick Gahlman attended the country schools and afterward pursued a commercial course at Sacred Heart College in Watertown, Wisconsin. He studied the classics and philosophy at St. Joseph's College in Dubuque, Iowa, where he was graduated and then entered upon further preparation for the priesthood by pursuing a theological course at Mount St. Mary's Seminary at Cincinnati, Ohio. Following his graduation there he was ordained in 1901, in Peoria, Illinois, by Bishop O'Reilly and was assigned to the assistant pas- torate of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Gilman, Illinois. In March, 1902, he was appointed pastor of St. Anthony's church at Hennepin, Illinois, by Bishop Spaulding and while there built the new church-St. Pat- ricks. In July, 1903, he was transferred to St. Anthony's church in Hoopes- ton and under his charge also has the Watseka out mission. Through his diligent labors he built up the Hoopeston parish so that they were able to support their own pastor. In 1907 the new St. Anthony edifice was dedicated, all debts were liquidated and the church started out clear of any financial obligations. The Hoopeston parish was established about 1880 and was for many years attached to the Gilman parish. About 1898 Father Mainville was
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placed in charge, being the first resident pastor. Father Selk succeeded as the second pastor, then came Father Welters and at the present time Father Gahl- man is in charge. There are seventy families members of the parish and they are numbered among the best and most substantial citizens of Hoopeston and the surrounding country.
LORENZO D. WOOD.
Lorenzo D. Wood, proprietor of a livery and sales barn at Hoopeston, was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, December 15, 1869, a son of Lorenzo D. and Martha Ann (Hill) Wood, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father was born December 22, 1841, and on the 28th of February, 1864, was united in marriage to Miss Martha Ann Hill, whose birth occurred February 21, 1846. They became the parents of eight children, namely: Augusta, who was born November 26, 1865, and is now living in Clinton county, Indiana; William T., who was born January 19, 1868, and is now a resident of Danville; Lorenzo D .; Jefferson, who was born June 27, 1873, and is living in Hoopeston; Ma- haska, who was born December 22, 1875, and is now the wife of Charles Murray, of Hoopeston ; Maud, who was born April 12, 1879, and is the wife of Richard Eddy, of Chicago; Claude, who was born March 12, 1883, and died May 21, 1908; and Piner, who was born October 16, 1885, and died October 30, 1890. The mother of these children passed away October 9, 1908, and in February, 1910, the father married Mrs. John Sabon.
At the age of eleven years Lorenzo D. Wood, whose name introduces this record, came with his parents to Vermilion county, the family settling on a farm near Hoopeston. The father continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits in this county until 1904, when he sold his farm and turned his at- tention to the dairy business, since which time he has made his home in Hoopeston.
Lorenzo D. Wood assisted his father in the work of the home farm until he had attained his majority and during that period acquired his education in the public schools. When he had reached adult age he began working for the Illinois Canning Company, with which he remained for three years and then turned his attention to buying, baling and shipping hay and straw. For nine years he engaged in that business and in 1902 established a livery and sales barn in Hoopeston, in which connection he has built up a successful busi- ness not only in the rental of horses and vehicles but also in buying and sell- ing horses.
On the 12th of April, 1892, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Laura B. Pickerell, a daughter of John W. and Lizzie Jane (Renaker) Pickerell. Her father is now deceased but her mother is living in South Dakota. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wood have been born two daughters: Edith, born December 9, 1896; and Ruby C., July 28, 1901. Both are now students in the schools of Hoopeston.
John W. Pickerell, the father of Mrs. Wood, was born April 17, 1852, and died on the 12th of June, 1908. He was married December 10, 1874, to Lizzie Jane Renaker, who was born February 20, 1856, and is now the wife
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of G. V. Hill, living in South Dakota. By her first marriage she had five children. Laura B., who was born October 3, 1875, is now the wife of our subject. Tremont, born March 3, 1878, Albert, born April 13, 1880, and Edward, born September 13, 1883, are all residents of Hoopeston. Martha Agnes, born December 6, 1887, married Jess Mckibben September 20, 1903, and died leaving two daughters, Florence and Frances.
Mr. Wood belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp and to the Odd Fellows lodge and enjoys the favorable regard of his brethren of those fraternities. His life has been an active and useful one and the success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his own efforts, for his close application and energy have enabled him to work his way steadily upward.
JOHN L. HAMILTON.
John L. Hamilton is the only man chosen from the ranks of those in con- trol of private banking institutions to become president of the National Asso- ciation of Bankers, and in that organization other honors of almost equal promi- nence have been accorded him, giving proof of his standing among those who are foremost in controlling the financial interests and solving intricate money problems of the country. His local business connection is now that of presi- dent of the Hoopeston National Bank of Hoopeston, yet his business activities reach out into various fields and wherever progress, reform and public honor are to be conserved his interest is awakened and his cooperation becomes a forceful element.
A farm in Macoupin county, Illinois, was the birth place of Mr. Hamilton and his natal day was May 8, 1862. His parents, John L. and Anna Eliza (Leemon) Hamilton, removed to Wellington, Illinois, in 1864, and became residents of Watseka in 1875. The father, who devoted many years of his life to general agricultural pursuits, was afterward selected to the position of county treasurer of Iroquois county and proved a most faithful custodian of the public funds. He was also four times honored with election to the state legislature and was connected with much important constructive work that found its way to the statute books of the state. While a stanch advocate of republican principles, he ever placed the interests of the commonwealth be- fore that of party and the general good before personal aggrandizement. Loyalty characterized all of his public service and sound judgment made his work of practical value and of far-reaching and beneficial effect. In business affairs, too, he displayed keen discernment and making judicious investment in property became the owner of twenty-four hundred acres of land in Iroquois county and seventeen thousand acres in Texas. He died in Watseka, Illinois, in May, 1900, and is still survived by his widow, who is yet a resident of that place. Both were of Scotch and English lineage and the traits of a worthy ancestry are manifest in their descendents. The family of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Hamilton, Sr., numbered seven children, of whom the subject of this re- view is the eldest. The other sons are William A., Edward C. and George
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H., all residents of Iroquois county and extensively engaged in the cattle busi- ness in Texas.
The public-school system of Watseka provided John L. Hamilton of this review with his educational privileges. He left the high school when in his eighteenth year and from 1879 until 1886 filled the office of deputy county treasurer, under his father, in Iroquois county and also the office of deputy county clerk. He resigned the latter position in 1887 to become one of the organizers of the Citizens Bank of Watseka, with which he was connected until the spring of 1889, when he disposed of his interests and on the Ist of April removed to Hoopeston. He has since been prominently identified with the banking interests of this city. He was first cashier in the banking house of Burwell, Hamilton & Morgan and when change in ownership occurred the name of Hamilton & Cunningham was assumed, Mr. Hamilton becoming vice president of the institution and so continuing until the Ist of June, 1909. On that date he organized the Hoopeston National Bank and was elected its presi- dent. His operations at Hoopeston, however, do not compass the scope of his activities, for he is now vice president of the American Bank & Trust Company of Danville and in other connections has rendered service of marked value to the banking interests of the state.
There are few representatives of the banking business in Illinois who have so wide and favorable an acquaintance, and the labors of none have been more effective and beneficial in upholding the high standard of service or in more closely safeguarding the interests of banking institutions and depositors. He has served for fifteen years on the executive council of the Illinois Bankers Association and was for three terms its chairman. In the years 1898 and 1899 he was honored with the presidency. He served for eight years on the execu- tive council of the American Bankers Association and during one year of that time was chairman. He was also made chairman of the Fidelity Bond Com- mittee, which is considered one of the leading, if not the most important, com- mittees of the association. In this connection the local press said: "The con- ferring of these honors upon Mr. Hamilton without solicitation upon his part comes as the strongest possible official endorsement of the valuable work he has been doing for the association for many years. The honors in this instance have fallen upon shoulders well worthy of receiving them. No man in the asso- ciation takes a deeper interest in looking after all that tends to improve the present system of banking than Mr. Hamilton. His careful and conscientious study of the financial problems with which all banking institutions must necessarily come in contact has supplied a fund of information that has earned for him the well merited distinction of being one of the ablest and most conspicuous authorities on financial questions in the association. In June, 1901, he went to England as the representative of the American Bankers Associa- tion to study financial conditions in that country." The task occupied about two months and the able and exhaustive report he rendered the association on his return elicited from its members the most favorable comments. Still higher honors came to him in 1905 in his election to the presidency of the American Bankers Association. This was a mark of special distinction, for he is the only private and country banker that has ever been called to the
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presidency of the National Association, which has eleven thousand members. He is now a member of the currency commission of fifteen members, who were appointed to assist congress in revising the banking laws of the United States and is member of the federal legislative committee of five of the Ameri- can Bankers Association, to whom is referred all federal legislation affect- ing bankers in the United States. He is likewise chairman of the fidelity and burglary insurance committee of the American Bankers Association, which has in charge the bonding and pensioning of employes of the members of the Ameri- can Bankers Association and the insurance interests and protection against burglary.
Aside from his banking business and his insurance service in the State and National Bankers Associations, Mr. Hamilton is widely known in business cir- cles, being treasurer and director of the Federal Life Insurance Company of Chicago, secretary and treasurer of the Hoopeston Horse Nail Company and the owner of extensive landed interests which include property in Iroquois county and large holdings in Texas and Georgia, having about thirty thousand acres of yellow pine in the latter state. In other connections he is also promi- nently identified with the organization of movements for the benefit of trade and commerce. He is a member of the Association of Commerce of the city of Chicago and is a director of the Illinois Manufacturers Association. Hoopes- ton, too, has benefited by his efforts in its behalf. He rendered signal service to the city as a member of the council from 1895 until 1897 and in the latter year he was chosen mayor, remaining as chief executive of the city for four years. His administration was characterized by the same prompt dis- patch of municipal business that has marked his management, of private in- terests and he also wrought along the lines of reform and progress, his capable service receiving endorsement through his reelection. He is recognized as one of the leading republicans of the state and has been a delegate to all its con- ventions since 1892. The call of benevolence and charity has never found him unresponsive and where the interests of humanity are to be conserved he is ready to lend his aid and influence, being now one of the seven commissioners of the National Red Cross Association of America, of which President Taft is the head, while Governor Deneen is the state chairman.
On the 9th of February, 1892, in Tolono, Illinois, Mr. Hamilton was mar- ried to Miss Mary A. Hall, a daughter of James A. Hall, and a native of Onarga, Illinois. They have become the parents of five sons: John Lawrence. Donald H., Robert L., Howard and Thomas J., all born in Hoopeston. The family attend the Presbyterian church. Mr. Hamilton is also prominent in the Masonic fraternity having taken all of the degrees of the York and Scottish Rites up to and including those of the commandery and the consistory. He is likewise a member of the Mystic Shrine and belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge, in which he has filled all of the offices. He is likewise a member of the Commercial Club of Hoopeston and maintains pleasant social relations with leading business men of Chicago through his membership in the Union League, the Hamilton and the Bankers Clubs of that city.
He has been the strong center of the community in which he moves and his business balances up with principles of truth and honor. His interests and
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activities have never been self centered but have reached out to that broad field of usefulness wherein the public is a benefactor. He believes in the main- tenance of the highest possible standards in the field of banking and his clear judgment and sound opinions have been influencing factors in the solution of vital financial problems and the conservation of banking interests.
JOHN C. BRADY.
John C. Brady, manager of extensive milling interests at Danville owned by the Charles Herenden Milling Company of Chicago, was born in Danville town- ship, October 14, 1869, and is of Scotch, Irish and German descent. He is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the county. His grandfather, John Brady, was one of the early settlers here and was closely identified with the development and progress of the county for many years. He was born in Virginia but when very young was taken to Ohio, his parents becoming pioneer resi- dents of Brown county, where he was reared to manhood and married. Instead of settling there he decided to come further west and made a prospecting trip on horseback. He was so pleased with the country in eastern Illinois that he re- turned to Ohio for his family and by team they traveled westward to Vermilion county. This section was very sparsely settled at the time, most of the land be- ing owned by the government and for sale to whomsoever cared to buy it at a dollar and a quarter per acre. Mr. Brady very soon made claim to a tract of land three miles south of the city of Danville, or rather of the present site of the city, and entered it from the government at the land office at Palestine. He built there a round log house for a temporary residence but soon afterward put up a more substantial hewn log house, and it was in that home that John Brady, Jr., the father of our subject, was born. Later the grandfather erected a frame house which was first put up in South Danville by a party who intended it for a hotel but who failed before it was completed. John Brady, Sr., then purchased the frame and erected the house on his homestead. The side-boards, casings, window frames and in fact all of the finishings were made of black walnut, and it was in that house that John C. Brady was born. This building remained stand- ing until a few years ago, when it was destroyed by fire. As the years passed John Brady, Sr., converted his claim into a good and productive farm and resided thereon until death closed his useful career. The maiden name of his wife was Rosanna Kratzer, and she was a native of Ohio. Her father, Henry Kratzer, removed from Ohio to Indiana, becoming a pioneer settler of Marion county, where he developed a farm from the wilderness, the place being about a mile from Indianapolis. Upon that farm he spent his remaining days. His daughter, the grandmother of John C. Brady, died at the old family homestead in Vermilion county. Both Mr. and Mrs. John Brady, Sr., were people of sterling worth and were very influential in their neighborhood, all holding them in high esteem and respect.
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