USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120
Edward L. Gutterridge, Danville, farmer, was born in Virginia in 1799, and is the son of Edward and Elizabeth (Thrap) Gutterridge. Mr. Gutterridge, with his parents, moved to Ohio when he was very small. In 1835 he moved to Vermilion county, where he has been a resident ever since. He located on the present homestead, and here he has made nearly all the improvements. He was married in Ohio to Elizabeth Thompson.
Levin T. Palmer, Danville, real estate and loan agent, was born on Long Island, New York, on the 3d of December, 1814. His father, Charles Palmer, was born on the 18th of December, 1790, in Newtown. New York ; he was engaged in farming, and died on the 30th of August. 1822. Mr. Palmer received a common-school education in his native
u
RJ Leverche DANVILLE.
385
DANVILLE TOWNSHIP.
state. In 1835 he eame west to Illinois, and in July of the same year located in Danville, which he has made his home principally ever since. IIe first commenced to clerk for Dr. Fithian, having arrived here a poor boy, and with only twenty-five dollars. He clerked one year for Dr. Fithian, and then went to Milwaukee, where he remained for several years, when he returned to Danville and entered the dry- goods and general store business in company with Richard T. Leverich, whose biography and portrait appears in this work. These gentlemen continned in business about fourteen years. From the mercantile busi- ness Mr. Palmer entered the loan and real-estate business with Thos. C. Forbes. This firm was dissolved, and Mr. Palmer then, in 1872, entered into partnership with his son, Charles J. Palmer, which firm to-day is L. T. and C. J. Palmer, real estate and loan agents. Mr. Palmer was married on the 17th of August, 1842, to Miss Esther Gil- bert, who was born in Ontario county, New York, on the 29th of No- vember, 1824, and is the daughter of Solomon Gilbert, who was born in Massachusetts on the 19th of June, 1787, and died on the 5th of February, 1857. He married Esther Green on the 6th of April, 1809; she was born in Massachusetts on the 13th of December, 1789; she died in Danville on the 31st of January, 1839. Solomon Gilbert, when very young, moved with his parents to Ontario county, New York, where he married Esther Green, a daughter of Captain Henry Green, who was a soldier of the war of 1812; Mr. Gilbert also was a soldier of the war of 1812. In 1828 they started for the far west, and arrived in Danville in July, after being out since April. They came via Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, by flatboat to Cincinnati, then by wagon to Iro- quois county. Mr. Gilbert built the first grist-mill in Danville.
M. A. McDonald, Danville, hardware merchant. The subject of our sketch was born on the 11th of November, 1836, in Vermilion county, Illinois, and is the son of Alexander MeDonald, who was born in Elbert county, Georgia, on the 14th of February, 1796. Mr. Alex- ander McDonald was engaged in farming, and moved from Georgia to Tennessee. He was married on the 24th of November, 1818, in Lin- eoln county, to Katherine, daughter of John B. Alexander. She was born on the 20th of April, 1800. From Tennessee they moved to Illi- nois, and located in Vermilion county about 1821. The land not being surveyed they moved to Edgar county, where they raised one crop, when they returned to Vermilion county and located on the Little Vermilion river, near Indianola, on a farm, where he remained for a number of years. He then moved to Georgetown to school his chil- dren. He had held several offices of public trust ; he was assessor and collector for several years. He died in Georgetown about 1861. Thus
25
386
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
passed away one of the pioneers of Vermilion and Edgar counties,- a man that was loved and respected by all. M. A. McDonald, our sub- ject, remained on the farm until he was about eighteen years old, when he entered school, where he received a common-school education. He then commenced clerking in his father's drug-store in Georgetown, and from there he went to Pontiac. He was married in Terre Haute to Anna W. Jackson ; she was born on the 17th of July, 1840, and is the daughter of Charles D. Jackson, of New York, who moved west and settled in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1817, and from there he went to Terre Haute. By this marriage they have had eleven children. In 1861 Mr. MeDonald came to Danville and commenced clerking in a dry-goods store. He then went into the hardware business, and has continued in this since.
J. G. Davidson, Danville, farmer, was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 24th of June, 1817, and is the son of John and Eliza- beth (Goodbar) Davidson, of Virginia. His father was a carpenter by trade, and followed farming; he was also a soldier of the war of 1812. They both died in Virginia. Mr. Davidson first went to Ohio in 1835. and remained there until 1837, when he came to Vermilion county, Illinois. Here he was first engaged in school-teaching, and was the first regular school-teacher. He organized the first singing-class in that neighborhood which is now Catlin township. He taught school until 1840. He married Harriet J. Rodgers, of Butler county, Ohio, the daughter of Samuel and Annie Rodgers. They have eleven chil- dren. Mr. Davidson has held the office of school-director for a num- ber of years. He had one son in the late war, John G., who enlisted in the 125th Ill. Vol. Inf. (a history of which regiment appears in this work); he, after serving about eight months, took sick, and was honor- ably discharged.
George Dillon, Danville, clerk of the circuit court. This gentle- man was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, near Georgetown, on the 16th of January, 1837, and is the son of Luke and Charity (Wright) Dillon. His father was born in North Carolina in 1790, and moved at an early day to Ohio, where he married Miss Charity Wright, who died in Vermilion county, Illinois, in 1838. She was the mother of ten children. From Ohio Mr. Luke Dillon moved and located in Ver- milion county, Illinois, in 1830, on a farm near Georgetown, where he was engaged in farming. He married the second wife, Miss Sarah Haworth. He died in 1852, and was interred in the cemetery of the Friends, near Georgetown, where rest the remains of his first wife, they both having been connected during life with this religions order. Mr. Dillon, the subject of this sketch, was engaged in farming until
387
DANVILLE TOWNSHIP.
the breaking out of the late war. He enlisted as private in Co. D, 125th Ill. Vol. Inf., for three years; he did good service, and partici- pated in some of the most prominent battles. He was wounded JJune, 1864, in a skirmish after night near Dallas, Georgia, and from the effects of this he lost his right arm : he was first sent to the hospital at Chattanooga, then to Nashville, Tennessee, and finally to Mound City, Illinois, where he received his final discharge in 1865. He returned to Vermilion county, and in 1866 he moved to Georgetown. Mr. Dil- lon has held several offices of public trust. In 1866 he was elected town clerk of Georgetown township; in 1867 he was elected assessor and collector of the same township, and in 1868 reelected to the same office; in the fall of 1868 he was elected to the office he now fills, and in which he has served since he was first elected. He has ably and punctually discharged the duties of these offices, and shares, as a result, a gratifying degree of popularity. The officers of Vermilion county, more than any other gathering of county officers in the state, are sol- diers, and to their honor be it said they are, without exception, soldiers who earned their spurs by the faithful performance of duty, their cour- age in action and their meritorious conduct. No higher tribute could be paid to the people of Vermilion county than to take a stranger into the court-house, and point out the maimed heroes of the war busily filling the positions that the people of Vermilion county have be- stowed upon them. Mr. Dillon married in Vermilion county, on the 7th of March, 1861, Miss Desdamona Martin, the daughter of Henry and Mary (Morgan) Martin, who made their homes in Vermilion county in about 1818. By this marriage they have had seven children, five living.
William Bandy, Danville, money-broker. This subject is one of the old pioneers of Vermilion county. He was born in Bedford county, Virginia, on the 22d of July, 1812, and is the son of James and Nancy (Brown) Bandy, both natives of Virginia. His father was a farmer, and about 1820 he moved to Tennessee, near Nashville. Mr. Bandy remained in Virginia, working on the farm, until 1828, and then, with his brother, Washington Bandy, who died in about 1837, and Samuel Howell and wife, he came by wagon and team to Illinois, and located in Vermilion county, taking about forty days to make the journey. Mr. Bandy came here very poor. He first was engaged in clerking in an Indian store, which was a trading-point for Gurdon S. Hubbard. When he came here he located on one hundred and sixty acres of land, but his brother married, and moved on the place and improved it. Mr. Bandy was also clerking for Dr. W. Fithian in a general store. Abont this time the Blackhawk war broke out, and he enlisted as a volun-
388
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
teer under Colonel Moore ; with a command of about four hundred men went to Joliet and built the fort at that place. Here was where the first man was killed by the Indians out of this regiment. From Joliet the regiment reported at Ottawa, and from there they returned home. He enlisted the second time, after making two applications, and did service in Illinois and Wisconsin. During this time the sol- diers suffered very much from cholera in Wisconsin. All returned home except sixteen men who remained there until the time expired. Mr. Bandy was one of the sixteen men. He returned to Danville, and was made marshal of this district. He read medicine for a short time. On the 16th of October, 1833, he married Harriet J. Murphy, dangh- ter of William Murphy, who was one of the first settlers of Edgar county, Illinois, having moved there about 1818. Mrs. Bandy was born in Virginia on the 27th of July, 1812; came to Edgar county, Illinois, with her parents. By this union they have had seven ehil- dren, five boys and two girls. They had two sons in the late war, William M. and Samuel J., and both did good service. Mr. Bandy, at the breaking out of the late war, took an active part in raising a company of cavalry, but on account of the quota being filled he was rejected. Many are the interesting stories of the good old times in Vermilion county that Mr. Bandy can relate.
The Giddings family. There is probably not an old settler in the city of Danville or Vermilion county but who, if he were asked who the Giddings family are, would answer without any hesitation, "One among the first and most honorable families of the county." Mr. William Giddings, the father of the family, and whose portrait appears in this history, was born in Silso, Bedfordshire, England, on the Sth of January, 1813: his death occurred on the 20th of Septem- ber, 1875, the superscription upon the silver tablet of his metallic burial-case being as follows: "William Giddings. Died September 20, 1875. Aged 62 years, 8 months and 12 days." His wife, who died on the 25th of May, 1874, was also a native of England. She was born on the 29th of July, 1814. They were married on the 3d of December, 1834. They came to the United States in 1837, coming direct to Danville, where they arrived on the 21st day of April of the year above mentioned. At the date of their deaths they were both consistent members of the North Street Methodist Episcopal Church. They came to Danville during the pioneer days of the county, and were obliged to put up with many of the hardships and privations ineident to pioneer life. Mr. Giddings was a manufacturer of wagons, carriages and plows, and began business in Danville when it was nec- essary to go to the timber to find a tree whose crooked growth was of
389
DANVILLE TOWNSHIP.
the proper shape for the manufacture of mold-boards, which he used in . the construction of plows of that date. Beginning business in this manner, he, by a life of energy, honest industry and a elose attention to his business, accumulated a property of one hundred and seventy- five thousand dollars. Danville, at his death, mourned the loss of one of her best citizens. The citizens, in respect for him, closed their busi- ness houses during the funeral services. His four sons, to whom the following sketch relates, are among the honorable business men of the city, and have not thus far disgraced the teachings of their father in a single instance. J. W. Giddings, the eldest of the four sons, was born in Danville on the 21st of April, 1842. His early life was spent with his father, with whom he learned the trade of manufacturing wagons and carriages. In 1863 he entered the Union army in the war of 1861-65, enlisting first in Co. A, 71st Regiment, three-months ser- viee. Upon the completion of this term of service he again enlisted, this time in the 135th Ill. Vol. Inf .. Co. K. On returning from the army he again became a resident of Danville, and in 1879 began busi- ness in his present line (that of heavy hardware). his partner being Mr. J. A. Patterson, and the firm name being Giddings & Patterson. They are located on the corner of Main and Franklin streets. They are the only dealers in this line of goods in the city. Though they have been engaged in the business but a short time they have every prospect of success. Charles H. Giddings, the second eldest of the brothers, is also a native of Danville. He was born on the 11th of March, 1844. He also learned the trade of his father, and for some time after his father retired from the business in 1865, was, in com- pany with his brother, John W .. and O. S. Stewart, engaged in the same line of manufacture under the firm name of Giddings, Stewart & Co. They were together about nine years, when the brothers bought the interest of Mr. Stewart, and continned the business together for about one and one-half years. He then sold out to his brother, John W. He, Mr. I. H. Philips, and his brother, John W., were the exec- utors of his father's large estate. This business they settled to the sat- isfaction of all parties interested, and without any of the wrangling which so often occurs in the division of a large property. One request in the will of Win. Giddings was that all his children might be pleased and satisfied with his apportionment of the property. Charles H. was appointed receiver of the Vermilion County Grange, when that insti- tution collapsed. This business he also settled up satisfactorily. He has recently engaged, in company with Mr. Ganor, in the ice trade ; they have begun only on a small scale, but they have commenced with a view of increasing the business as they become familiar with it.
390
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
They began business in 1879. He, like the rest of the brothers. is a good financier, and there is but little doubt of his success in this under- taking. George E. Giddings, the third son, is now junior member of the firm of Smith & Giddings, proprietors of the Lustro Mills. He was born in Danville on the 20th of July, 1848. His early life having been spent at home, he very naturally learned the business of his father. For five years previous to his engaging in the milling business, he had been engaged in the hardware trade. Closing out business in this line, he, in March, 1875, became a partner of Mr. Smith in the Lustro Mills. Though not a practical miller by trade, he has already become quite familiar with the business. He. like the others. seems to have chosen a business that, with proper energy and industry. can only bring him success. Albert Giddings. the youngest of the four sons, was born in Danville on the 3d of December, 1850. He. like his brothers, has received a good education, and like them also the early part of his life was spent at the business in which his father was engaged. He is now junior member of the firm of Johns & Giddings. dealers in groceries, the partnership having been formed in September of 1876. The build- ing they occupy belongs to him, and is located on the corner of Main and Hazel streets. It is a fine brick structure, built by his father in 1866. In size it is 21 feet front by S5 feet deep. two stories and base- ment, and is known as the Giddings block. Here he may be found during business hours engaged in a business that, if one may judge by his pleasant and courteous treatment of friends and customers, is both pleasant and profitable. In conclusion. we may say it has seldom been onr good fortune to meet a family of brothers situated similar to these four, who seem each to have the friendship for the other that existed in the times gone by when they were four boys under the care and guidance of their parents. We can only add that there are three sis- ters, whom we hope will be pleased with our sketch of the Giddings family, and our only apology for its being less complete than they might wish, is an ignorance of the necessary facts relative to themselves.
E. W. Eakin. Danville, county treasurer, was born in what was then known as Wythe county, Virginia, on the 12th of August, 1828, and is the son of Samuel and Sarah (Lockett) Eakin. His mother was a native of Virginia, and his father of Georgia. He was a farmer. In 1838 Mr. Eakin, with his parents, moved to Vermilion county. Illinois, and located on a farm in Georgetown township. Here Mr. Eakin was bronght up, engaged in farming in the summer and in the winter months attending school. He received his principal education in the Georgetown Seminary, then one of the leading institutions of learning in eastern Illinois. He, when twenty years old, was engaged in teach-
39
DANVILLE TOWNSHIP.
ing school. The first school which he taught was in Coles county, and of that county he was afterward appointed assistant county surveyor. From there he was engaged in stock-trading and farming. In 1859 he was married in Vermilion county, Illinois, to Miss Ellen M. Fairbank. of Vermont. He then moved to a farm in Carroll township. this connty, where he was engaged until 1862, when he enlisted for three years in the 125th Ill. Vol. Inf., Co. D., as fourth sergeant. He did good service, and participated in some of the most prominent battles during the war. He was in the battle of Perrysville, Chickasaw Mountain, siege of Atlanta and Jonesborough, Georgia. Here Mr. Eakin received a very painful wound in the face while his company was making an assault on the enemy's works. He was honorably mus- tered out at Lonisville, Kentucky, in 1865, when he returned home to Vermilion county, where he was engaged in farming. In 1877 he was nominated and elected by the republican party treasurer of Vermilion county, which office he now holds. Mr. Eakin is a strong republican in politics, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the last forty years.
Joseph Smith, Danville, miller. The Lustro Mills, which are now so well known to the people of Vermilion county, were built in 1870 by Knight & Fairchild, the firm making several changes before the present proprietors, Smith & Giddings, took it. This firm was estab- lished in 1875, though Mr. Smith, the senior member of the firm, was connected with the mills as early as 1874. The mills have three run of stone and a capacity of flouring about forty barrels per day. Their trade is both merchant and custom milling.
Mr. Joseph Smith was born on the 1st of August, 1819, in Oxford- shire, England. In 1834 he came to the United States with his people, they locating in Herkimer county, New York. He came to Vermilion county as early as 1838, though he only remained about one year. In 1840 he began learning the trade of a miller in Elmira, New York. He remained milling in that state about ten years, then came to Indiana and began in the same business at La Fayette. From there he went to Lebanon, Boone county, Indiana, where he purchased an interest in a mill and continued the business until abont 1855, when he came to Vermilion county and located at Myersville, still in the same line. From there he came to Danville, and was for one year connected with M. M. Wright. About this time he was unfortunate enough to have a team run away with him, and by this accident was crippled for five years. There seemed sometimes to him to be but little chance of recovery, but he did recover, and at present may be found almost any time at the Lustro Mills or on his farm, which is
392
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
located close to the city, a pleasant, genial gentleman as well as a good financier.
E. J. Draper, Danville, grocer, was born in Vermilion county in 1838, and is the son of Jonathan and Filena (Galusha) Draper, his mother being the daughter of Governor Galnsha. When he was five years old his people moved to the State of Vermont, and there E. J. remained until the age of nineteen years, receiving his education at North Bennington. In 1857 he came west, stopping at Sidney, where he engaged in business, and from that time until thirteen years ago, when he began business in Danville, in the grocery trade, was engaged in different kinds of business and in different localities. In Septem- ber of 1862 he entered the Union army in the war of the rebellion, enlisting in Co. C, 125th Ill. Vol. Inf., three-years service, Captain Wm. W. Fellows. He participated in many of the heavy battles, among which may be mentioned the battle of Perrysville, siege of Chattanooga, and the Atlanta campaign. During this campaign, for about three months, there was fighting nearly all the time. During his service he was a part of the time engaged as adjutant's clerk and some of the time as hospital steward. When he returned from the war, in 1865, he was for a time employed in the office of J. C. Short, county clerk. After engaging in the grocery trade, he was for eight years located on Main street, but is now at No. 62 Vermiliow, where he has an establishment 20 x 110, well stocked with everything pertaining to the grocery business.
Samuel G. Craig, Danville (deceased), was one of the old pioneers of Danville. He was born in the state of Kentucky in 1812. From that state he moved to Indiana, and from there to Danville in 1838. For twelve years he filled the office of circuit clerk. He then engaged in the dry-goods trade, which he followed for many years. For a time he represented Vermilion county in the state legislature. His death occurred in 1871. In 1856 Mr. Craig was married to Mrs. Gilbert. She is the daughter of Henry Klien, and a native of the state of Penn- sylvania. Her home is still in Danville.
Frank M. Riley, farmer, lives in Indiana, was born in Vermilion county, Indiana, on the 14th of April, 1844, and is the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Nichols) Riley. Mr. Riley's father, Jacob Riley, was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 10th of February, 1803. In 1827 he came to Perrysville, Vermilion county, Indiana, and was en- gaged in the saddle and harness business for about twelve years. He was married in Perrysville, in 1831, to Elizabeth Nichols, of Virginia. From Perrysville they moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, some forty years ago. Here Mr. Riley has been a resident ever since. His first
393
DANVILLE TOWNSHIP.
wife died on the old homestead. He then married the second time to Catharine Blunk, of Kentucky. He is the father of five children, liv- ing, all by his first wife. Mr. Frank M. Riley was brought np on the farm, engaged in farming. He, in 1861, at the first call, enlisted in the hundred-day service in the 71st III. Vol. Inf., Co. H, and did good service. He was honorably mustered out. Mr. Riley is a member of the Perrysville, No. 344, Masonic society. He is a republican in poli- tics. He was married in 1877, to Miss Martha W. Rodgers, of Warren county, Indiana, daughter of Elisha and Mary Ann Rodgers. Mr. Riley is flagman for the Evansville, Terre Haute & Chicago Railroad, which makes it convenient for any one to get on the cars at his farm, as it is a flag station. He also took an active part in helping to get the right of way for this railroad in this vicinity. Mr. Riley was in Wayne county, Illinois, one and one-half years, in the stock business.
R. M. Price & Bro., Danville, livery stable. These gentlemen were both born in Vermilion county, Illinois. R. M. Price was born on the 9th of April, 1840, on his father's farm, where he remained until he became of age. He then commenced school-teaching, and from that he commenced the practice of law in Danville. In 1863 he enlisted in the late war, in Jacksonville, Illinois, in the 61st Ill. Vol. Inf., Co. A. He was detailed as clerk in the quartermaster's department, and then in the United States arsenal at Little Rock, Arkansas, and from there he went to Franklin, Tennessee. He then went to Nashville, where he acted as clerk for the government. He remained in service until the close of the war. His brother, Thomas J. Price, was born in 1842, and was raised on a farm. In 1861 he enlisted in the late war, in the 125th Ill. Vol. Inf., Co. B, for three years, but after serving about nine months, he took sick and was discharged, returning to Vermilion county. These gentlemen to-day own one of the leading livery stables of Danville. They keep on hand twelve horses, with a good stock of carriages and buggies. Their father, Lloyd H. Price, was born in Pike county, Ohio, in 1812, and is the son of Robert G. Price, who, with a family, came to Illinois and located in Vermilion county, near Den- mark, in 1835. Here Robert G. Price died in 1850, and he and his wife were buried on the farm near Denmark. Lloyd H. Price remained on his father's farm until he was about twenty-three years of age, when he married Minerva Howard, who was born in Pike county, Ohio, in 1817. By this union they had nine children, four of whom are living. Lloyd H. Price commenced farming, a poor boy, but with hard work and good management had accumulated considerable property, and was recognized as one of the most successful farmers of Vermilion county. He owned sixteen hundred acres of fine land, and other valuable prop-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.