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 60
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C. E. Doyle, railroad agent at the Danville Junction, is a native of the state of Florida, and is a man now about twenty-eight years old. He has had about thirteen years' experience in the. railroad business. He began first with the Iron Mountain road. in 1866; he was after- ward located for two and a half years at La Fayette, Indiana, in the employ of the Wabash road ; in 1875 he came to Danville and accepted the position of ticket agent at the Junction. Here he has the ticket
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business of five different roads to which to attend. In 1878 the ticket sales of this office were $50,000. Daily, he has abont eighteen regular passenger trains. He also understands telegraphy, but he has a man to attend to this part of the business. Though he has been a resident of Danville but a few years, he has already won the respect and confi- dence of the better class of the citizens.
George Gordon Mabin, Danville, attorney, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on the 30th of March, 1853. Through the misfortune of his parents, he was thrown upon his own resources at the early age of ten years. By the assistance of Prof. H. S. Perrigo, he was sent to school at Mount Carroll Seminary, of Carroll county, Illinois. There he made rapid progress in the common branches, and in 1871 entered the Illinois Industrial University, and began a literary course which he . pursued for three years. He then left college without completing his collegiate course, and began the study of law with T. J. Smith, of Champaign, Illinois. In 1875 he came to Danville and finished his course of law under W. R. Lawrence and Young & Penwell. In 1877, at the age of twenty-four, he was admitted to the bar at Ottawa, Illinois, and began the practice of law in Danville the same year, where he has since resided, engaged in the practice of law.
F. G. Irwin, Danville, druggist, corner Main and Hazel streets, is a native of Bartholomew county, Indiana. He was born in 1846, and remained a resident of that county until 1863, when he removed to Rushville, Indiana, and from there to Eugene, Vermilion county, of the same state, where he was engaged in the drug trade from 1865 to 1875; he then removed to Danville and began business in the same line. Many men with less enterprise would have feared to engage in a business which was already so well represented ; but understanding from past experience that " opposition is the life of trade," he began with a full understanding of the difficulties to be overcome. ITis store is twenty-four feet front by seventy deep, and stocked with a full line of pure drugs and medicines, perfumeries, cigars, tobaccos, etc. etc. These, with a neat and tastily arranged store, are all conducive to his success; but no more so than a fine family recipe department, over which he presides personally. He is a thoroughly educated druggist of sixteen years' experience. By his close attention to business, and polite and courteous treatment of customers, he has already established a fine business in Danville.
W. F. Baum, one of the popular druggists of Danville, is a native of Fountain county, Indiana. He has had ten years' experience in the drug trade,- beginning in the business first in Covington, Indiana. From there he went to Marshfield in August of 1872, where he spent
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three years in the business,- one year of this time he managed an estab- lishment of his own. Closing ont in business there he came to Dan- ville, where he now has one of the neatest and most centrally located establishments in the city. He was first located on Vermilion street, but in December of 1878 removed to his present quarters, northwest corner Vermilion and Main streets. Here he has his establishment stocked with a nice fresh line of goods, consisting of pure drugs, medi- cines, perfumeries, paints, oils, cigars, tobaccos, etc. etc. He has a neat and tastily arranged store, and is enjoying the success merited by his enterprise and close attention to business.
It is seldom we find a man at the age of Mr. John Stein, the brewer of Danville,-he being twenty-eight years old,- who by his own efforts has accumulated the property that he has. He is a native of Germany ; there he learned the trade of a brewer with his father, who followed the brewery business in Germany. In 1868 he came to the United States. For a time he was located near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but later moved to Covington, Indiana, where he lived for a time en- gaged in his line, and in 1875 came to Danville and began business for himself. Here, by a close attention to business, he has acenmulated a fine property and established a good business. He built the brewery he is now running, and though he at one time lost heavily on account of not having ice in proper time. he still has a property valued at near $12,000. Some idea of the extent of his business may be gained when it is known that he manufactures from eighteen to nineteen thousand barrels of beer annually .- his business aggregating about $18,000 per annum. He supplies a large part of the home demand and does some shipping. Should he be as successful in the future as he has been in the past, he may vet rank among the large brewers of the west.
Frield Miller & Son, Danville, manufacturers of what is known as the Beethoven organs, is one of the most enterprising firms of the city. Frield Miller, the senior member of the firm, is a native of Baden, Germany, and in 1830 came to the United States with his parents, he being six years old. His parents first located in Lebanon county, Penn- sylvania, where they remained about seven years, and then removed to Richland county, Ohio. It was there, while Mr. Miller was yet a boy, that he received his education at the country schools, and was em- ployed for a long time when the feeder of the canal through Mercer county was built, nsing his earnings in the support of his parents. He has had thirty-two years' experience in the manufacture of organs. He first learned the trade of a wagon-maker, and afterward learned the trade of manufacturer of organs in Williams county, Ohio. From there he went to Canada, locating at Woodstock, after having spent
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about three years at Tillsonburg in the making of wagons and carriages. At Woodstock he began the manufacturing of organs, re- maining there abont eight years, when he went to Toronto, where he became a member of a joint stock company for about eighteen months, during which time he had charge of about one hundred men. In 1875 he came to Danville and began the making of the Beethoven organ. At this time his son, J. M., became a member of the firm, the firm name being F. Miller & Son. They first began their work in what was known as the old Schroder building, and in 1876 built their present factory on East Main street. Here they have a capacity for manufac- turing ten instruments per week. They have in all three different styles of organs. Though they have been here but a few years, their work has already a name and reputation ranking with old established houses.
William J. Calhoun, Danville, attorney-at-law, was born in Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of October. 1847, and is the son of Robert and Sarah (Knox) Calhoun. His mother was a native of Penn- sylvania, and his father a native of Ireland, having emigrated to America when he was about ten years of age, and engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in Pittsburgh. When Mr. Calhoun was abont two years old he. with his parents, moved to New Castle, Pennsylvania, and from there they moved to Mt. Jackson, the same state. Here his mother died in 1857, at about thirty-two years of age. His father remarried to Mrs. Sarah Taip, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania. The family then moved to Ohio, and on a farm Mr. Calhoun worked until 1864, when he entered the late war in the 19th Ohio Vol. Inf., as private in Co. B, for three years. He participated in a number of very severe battles when he was with General Sherman on his march to Atlanta. He returned with General Thomas to Nashville. After serving until the close of the war he was mustered out at San Antonio, Texas, and received his final discharge at Columbus, Ohio, December, 1865. He then entered the Polland Union Seminary of Ohio, where he graduated. He then came to Illi- nois and located in Arcola, Douglas county. Here he commenced the study of law and entered the law school of Chicago. He came to Danville and entered the office of J. B. Mann, Esq., and in 1875 was admitted to the Illinois Bar. The same year he entered as a law partner with J. B. Mann, Esq., and to-day it is the firm of Mann, Cal- hon & Frazier, one of the strongest law firms of this vicinity. Mr. Calhoun was married in December, 1876, to Miss Alice Harmon, of Monroe county, New York, and by this marriage they have two children.
Joseph G. Cannon, Danville, banker, was born in Gnilford county,
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North Carolina, on the 7th of May, 1836, and is the son of Dr. Horace F. Cannon, a native of North Carolina. When Mr. Cannon was four years of age he, with his parents, emigrated west to Indiana and lo- cated in Annapolis, Parke county, where his father followed the prac- tice of medicine up to his death, which occurred in 1850. The subject of our sketch received his principal education at the Bloomingdale Academy of Annapolis, a leading Quaker school. At fifteen years of age he entered as clerk in a general store, at Annapolis, where he re- mained until twenty years of age. He then began the reading of law, entering the Cincinnati Law School, of which he is a graduate. He then came to Illinois, locating at Tuscola, and commeneed the practice of law, where he remained until 1876. While a resident of Tuscola he held the office of state's attorney for eight years, practicing in Ford, Champaign, Douglas, Coles, Vermilion, and Edgar counties. In 1872 he was elected congressman by the republican party, and reelected in 1874-76-78. In 1876 Mr. Cannon moved to Danville, which has since been his home. He was married in 1862 to Miss Mary P. Reed, daughter of John C. and Frances M. Reed. By this marriage they have had three children.
George Kamper, Danville, news-dealer and stationer, was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, on the 28th of February, 1854. He came to America in 1868, and commenced his first experience in the news line as newsboy on the Indianapolis & St. Louis railroad. From that one he has run on most of the principal railroads west. In November, 1876, he eame to Danville and commenced his present busi- ness, and to-day he is doing the leading business in his line. He is the general agent for the leading daily newspapers of Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Cincinnati. His sales in this line have been as high as eight hundred and fifty daily papers in one day in the city of Danville. Mr. Kamper has the general run of the daily papers from Chicago to Danville, furnishing most of the towns between these two points.
Thomas J. Elliott, Danville, dry-goods dealer, is one of Danville's enterprising merchants. He was born in Cumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1829, and is the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Zeigler) Elliott, of Pennsylvania. His father was a farmer; Mr. Elliott was brought up on the farm. He received a common-school education, and then began to teach school. At twenty years of age he entered a dry-goods store as elerk. He then came west and located in Attica, Indiana, where he was engaged in the dry-goods business. From there he went to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he remained about six months. He then went to Wabash, Indiana, when in 1876 he came to Danville and entered the dry-goods and notion business. He employs three clerks.
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His store is located at No. 70 Main street. Mr. Elliott was married in 1859, at Attica, Indiana, to Miss Josephine Hobert, of New York. By this union they have three children.
There always seems to be room in any city for a good, wide-awake business man, in whatever line of trade he may choose to engage. A practical demonstration of this fact has been made by Mr. J. H. White, proprietor of the Danville Fruit House. Some men in engaging in a business seem to gather their ideas almost wholly from other dealers in the same or similar lines of business. This does not seem to be his method of snecess, as he is constantly on the watch to add some new publie want to his already extensive business. When he began business in Danville, on the 12th of June, 1877, it was in a little cramped-up corner of his present place of business, Nos. 56 and 58 North Vermilion street. By good financiering, or a wonderful run of luck (a risky thing to depend on), he has gradually increased his business, until now he is doing both a retail and wholesale business in oysters, fruits, nuts, con- fectionery, etc. He is also manufacturing extracts, baking-powders, washing-blue and New York beer. During the season he also does a commission business in domestic fruits ; this, in addition to a fine stock of faney groceries, which he also carries, makes up a business of which he, or any other " White " man, ought to be proud. We may also men- tion a new $250 steam peanut-roaster that he has recently purchased. This has proved to be a curiosity which thus far has been liberally pat- ronized by all classes. Mr. White is a native of Scott county, Illinois. In 1855 he went to St. Louis, and in 1858 began boating, which he fol- lowed until 1869. He then began traveling, remaining on the road until 1877, when he came to Danville and engaged in business as above stated.
In speaking of the railroad men of Danville we mention Mr. D. G. Moore as holding the most responsible position of any of those who are residents of the city. January 1, 1866, he first began his railroad life by entering the employment of the C. B. & Q. R. R. Company, at Chicago. In October of the same year he engaged with the T. W. & W. road, and has since been connected with this road, though the name of the line has recently been changed to the Wabash Railway. From October, 1866, to August 1, 1877, he was located at Springfield, Illi- nois, being connected there with the treasury department. When he came to Danville, August 1, 1877, it was to take charge of all business pertaining to the road at this point. This being what is known as the joint station between the eastern and western divisions of the road, the importance of the work and responsibility connected therewith is greatly increased. Mr. Moore has about thirty men under his super-
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vision, some of whom are also filling very important positions, though the responsibility of all rests with himself. To give a detailed history of the Wabash road at this point would require too much space. We may add that under Mr. Moore's management the business has been done in the best order possible, there being few men equal to him in similar executive ability.
.Dr. H. H. Clark, physician and surgeon, who has been a resident of Danville only since 1877, has had a very exciting and eventful life, and to give a complete history of it would require a book half as large as this volume. He is a native of Onondaga county, New York. His ancestry is French, though his parents are natives of Massachusetts. He was eight years old when his people went to Walworth county, Wisconsin ; he remained there till fourteen years old, when he went to the city of Chicago. After leaving there he spent several years in travel, finally locating in Edwardsville, Illinois, in 1854. In 1861 he entered the regular army, remaining in the service for five years. These five years were spent on post duty and at the operating board and in the field hospital. These five years of the practice of surgery in the army has probably made Mr. Clark more perfect in the science of surgery than any physician in Vermilion county. He resigned his position of surgeon at Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1866, and returned to Edwards county. He was elected six times coroner of that county, and upon the death of the sheriff filled that office for a time. He was also examining surgeon from 1866 to February of 1877, when he re- moved to Danville where he has since resided, giving his time exclu- sively to his practice. His specialty is surgery and diseases of the eye. He is also, at present, surgeon of the C. & E. I. R. R. at this point.
The old woolen mill, now run successfully by Riggs and Menig, is one of the old landmarks of Vermilion county. It was built in 1844 by Hopson & Ailsworth, and has been through many hands since, and has undergone many changes of remodeling. It has been operated by hand, water, and the present method of driving the machinery -steam power. There is probably not another manufacturing establishment in the county so well known as this one. It is located on the bank of the north fork of the Vermilion, just above the bridge, and is supplied with an abundance of water for all purposes by a series of fine springs located farther up the bluff. Since it has been in the hands of the present firm they have added the manufacture of soaps; this they have also made quite an extensive business. They have been running the mill since 1877. In all they give employment to about ten men. Mr. F. Menig, the subject of this sketch, is a native of Bavaria, Germany, where he was born in October of 1840. In 1857 he came to the United
1
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States and began learning the baker's trade. In 1858 he enlisted in the U. S. regular army, Company C, 4th artillery ; here he remained for five years and then was three years in the ordinance department. Dur- ing his service as a soldier he spent two and a half years in Utah fight- ing Indians. He still has a couple of scars to remember them by, on the knee and head, where he was wounded by arrows. During his service he was, among other battles, at Antietam, the seven days' fight and retreat at Richmond, and at the battle of Gettysburg. He certainly is entitled to a full share of the honors dne the soldiers of our great war. He has had eleven years' experience in his present business. He lost his right arm in 1873 in this same business in which he was engaged in Ohio. His life certainly has been a varied and eventful one, though now we find him in a quiet, steady business, one of the honored and respected business men of Danville.
Allen Cooke, Danville, was born in Worcester, Worcester county, Massachusetts, on the 19th of September, 1829, and is the son of Wel- come B. Cooke, of Massachusetts, who was a farmer there. On the farm Mr. Cooke remained until he was about seventeen years old. From the farm he entered the employ of the Boston & Worcester R. R., in the freight house, at Milford, Massachusetts, engaged in loading freight. From that he entered the engine-house of the same rail- road, and from there he entered, in 1852, the employ of the Cleveland & Toledo R. R. In 1853 he was made engineer, and ran on the C. & T. R. R. from 1853 to 1859. He then was appointed foreman of the round-house at Norwalk, Ohio, which place he filled until 1869. He then was made master mechanic, which position he filled but a short time, as the company did not pay sufficient salary. He resigned and accepted a position as master mechanic of the Atlantic & Great West- ern R. R., making headquarters at Galion, Ohio. There he remained in the employ of this company until 1873. Mr. Cooke was in the em- ploy of the railroads from about 1846 till 1873, a period of twenty- seven years. His intentions were to retire from railroad life, and he went to Rhode Island, locating at Allenville, and commenced the gro- cery business. Here he remained until 1877, when he came west and accepted a position with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois R. R., taking charge of the engines and cars at this place. This position he has occu- pied ever since.
George Leslie and Silas Black, natives of Belfast, Ireland, came to this country in October, of 1869. They first located in Indianapolis, and were there engaged principally trading in real estate up to 1871, when they removed to Brazil, Clay county, Indiana. There they were engaged in dry-goods business, with a branch honse at Alexandria, in
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the same county, where they handled dry goods, groceries and general merchandise, and had, also, charge of the post-office at Alexandria. In these places they did the largest trade in the county up to Septem- ber. of 1877, when they felt compelled to look np a location where they would have better facilities for the extension of their business. They located here at Danville at 109 and 111 Main street, in the Gid- dings block, where they were engaged in the dry-goods business exclu- sively up to March of 1879, when they took in an additional room, No. 113 Main street, in which they put a stock of groceries. These three rooms all communicate by means of arches. Taken as a whole, this business is one of the most extensive in the state outside of Chi- cago, doing a business of over $65,000 per year. Their parents, John and M. E. Black, are natives of Belfast. Mr. John Black engaged principally in loaning money, being a member of a loan fund society of which he has been a director for over thirty years. All the members of the firm of Black Brothers have had an extensive experience in the dry-goods business in Belfast. Silas Black, the junior member of the firm, was a student of the Queen's College, Belfast, for four years; also of the Indiana Medical College and College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Indiana, of which latter he is a graduate, with honor, in token of which he obtained a fifty-dollar gold medal. He is not a practicing physician.
Isaac Porter, Danville, dealer in dry-goods and notions, was born in Vermilion county, Indiana, on the 13th of January, 1833, and is the son of Judge John R. and Mary (Worth) Porter, who were among the early settlers of Vermilion county, Indiana, having made their home there in 1826. Judge John R. Porter was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the 22d of February, 1796. He entered Union Col- lege, New York, in 1813, from which he graduated in 1815, taking the first honors of his class. He then entered upon the study of law, and in 1818 became a partner of his preceptor. The year 1819 found him on his way to the far west. Armed with letters of introduction to Henry Clay and others, he landed in Louisville, Kentucky, in December, 1819. Finding nothing to induce him to remain there, he went to Indiana and located in Paoli, Orange county, where he commenced the practice of law. Soon after this he made the acquaintance of Charles Dewey and others of the bar, who became his life-long friends. Mr. Porter was commissioned postmaster of Paoli in 1822. In 1825 he was appointed circuit judge, and the same year was one of the commis- sioners to locate the seat of justice of Fountain county, Indiana, which was formed from the counties of Montgomery and Wabash. He was married on the 13th of November, 1825. to Miss Mary Worth. The
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legislative changes of his judicial circuit were so frequent and so great that he held courts during his term of service from the counties on the Ohio river to those of the lakes. In 1832 he assisted in making a treaty with the Indians. Many of the early courts of Judge Porter were held in private residences selected by the legislature. Judge Porter assisted in laying the foundation of Indiana jurisprudence. In 1833, by the act of the legislature organizing the eighth judicial dis- trict, he was greatly relieved by having his circuit ent down to a civil- ized boundary, which gave him more time to be at home with his family, which he loved so well. His term as circuit judge expired in 1837, and he was afterward elected judge of the court of common pleas for the counties of Vermilion and Park, which office he held at the time of his death, which occurred on the 23d of April, 1853. Isaac Porter, the subject of this sketch, during his residence in Vermilion county, Indiana, was one among the most prominent citizens of the county. In 1860 he was elected sheriff of Vermilion county, Indiana, which office he filled with honor and credit for four years. He was married in 1860 to Miss Alice Millekin, of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. They have one child, Harry. Mr. Porter moved to Danville, Illinois, in 1877, where he commenced in the dry-goods business, and to-day ranks as one of Danville's leading business men.
The establishment recently conducted under the firm name of Brand & Harper, dealers in millinery and notions, was founded in 1878, and is now one of the largest, most reputable and successful business houses in the city, and holds a position for integrity above an average char- acter. William F. Brand has purchased Mr. Harper's interest, and now manages the business alone, having removed from their old stand, 50 Vermilion street, to No. 46 on the same street. Mr. Brand was born in Germany, and having come to America in 1865, he came west, and located in Quincy, Illinois, where he was connected with a prominent dry-goods house. From there he went to Springfield and accepted a similar position with Kimber, Ragsdale & Co., filling the very im- portant position of purchasing agent. In Springfield he met Mr. Harper, who afterward became his partner. Mr. Brand's stock is the largest and among the finest in this vicinity. He employs some eight hands, and the work turned out of this establishment is of a superior quality.
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