USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 21
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 21
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Aside from his official acts while an incumbent of political positions Mr. Hawthorne has done much important public service as a private citi- zen. He has given his cooperation to many pro- gressive public movements, serving as secretary of the Granville Lecture Association, while for the greater part of twenty years he has been secretary of the Granville Cemetery Association, perform- ing the duties connected therewith with satisfac- tion to those concerned and with financial success. In politics he has always been a stalwart repub- lican and has done some effective campaign work. He has never been connected, however, with fra- ternal, political or social organizations or clubs, his relations with organized bodies being restricted to the church. When yet a boy he became a church member and is religiously cosmopolitan, having be- longed at different times to the Methodist Episco- pal, the Christian, the Presbyterian and the Con- gregational churches. Wherever he has lived he has connected himself with the orthodox church of the community and has been Sunday-school superin- tendent for perhaps twenty-five years of his life, while in one way or another he has been connected with church work for a long period. At the pres- ent time he holds membership with the Congrega- tional church at Granville, but occupies no office therein.
Mr. Hawthorne was married March 14, 1882, to Miss Emma Emelia Opper, of Granville, a daughter of C. G. and Anna Opper. The first few years of their married life Mr. and Mrs. Haw- thorne attended and taught school together. Nine years following their marriage twin boys came to bless their home, and so delighted was the father that he hastened to his office and had the follow- ing announcement printed and distributed among his friends :
Often have the poets told us In their lyrics of the deep, Awful calms are but the presage Of the storms that o'er them sweep.
Thus, perhaps, protracted stillness On a calm domestic sea Signifies that force is gathering For the squalls that are to be.
Weighed we anchor on life's ocean Sunlight flooding us in torrents, But two little squalls have struck us, William Henry and Orin Lawrence.
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In 1894 twin daughters blessed the home, these being Helen and Marie. The next in order of birth is Charles Findley, who bears the name of President Blanchard of Wheaton College as well as the name of his grandmother. The youngest in order of birth is Edward Everett, who was born in 1902. The mother, as the name implies, is of German ancestry, and as she speaks, reads and writes the German language she is likewise edu- cating her children in the German tongue. Five of the children are now attending school.
Mr. Hawthorne is himself a twin, his brother being O. E. Hawthorne, a resident of Marshall, Missouri, who is agent for the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company. He is married and has a son and daughter, Lucile and Ray, who are still with their parents.
Mr. Hawthorne believes fully in the principle expressed by the Bard of Avon when he said, "There is a Divinity that shapes our ends," and while he recognizes the fact that he has perhaps not improved all his opportunities, that Divinity has never failed, and on every occasion he ex- presses himself as a willing devotee at the throne of that Divinity. Mr. Hawthorne was blessed with the influence of Christian parents, and to this, combined with the influence and encouragement of his excellent wife, gives credit for the position to which he has attained in the moral, business and social world. He bears testimony to the power of associations as potential in forming character. Next to his wife, no one has so influenced his life as his elder brother whom he considers an ideal man. His father's example, too, has always been that of a Godly man, while his intimate friends have been ever men of the highest noble character. This brief sketch of the writer of our historical narrative of Putnam county does not pretend to be a biography, entering into detail but simply a suggestive outline, leaving the completion to his future biographers after the records are all in.
FRANK A. BARR.
Frank A. Barr is a prominent representative of commercial and industrial interests in Steuben township. He carries on merchandising in Spar- land and is operating extensively in coal, thus de- veloping the rich mineral resources of the county. His ready recognition and utilization of oppor- tunity have been important elements in his suc-
cess and he belongs to that class of representative American men who while advancing individual interests also promote the general prosperity. He is likewise popular and prominent in political circles and he has made a record which is indeed creditable in all life's relations.
Mr. Barr was born in Mercer county, Illinois, in 1858. His father, Hamilton Barr, was born in Kentucky, April 5, 1829, and on coming to this state took up his abode in Mercer county but sub- scquently removed to Hancock county, Illinois, where he engaged in the practice of law for about twelve years. He then removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa, and spent a portion of his time in the city and also lived part of the time upon a farm. He afterward removed to La Harpe, Hancock county, Illinois, where he conducted a hotel for four years, after which he came to Sparland. Here he was elected to the office of justice of the peace, fill- ing that position until his death, which occurred October 19, 1906, his incumbency covering a period of twelve years, while his service was marked by the utmost fidelity to duty, his deci- sions being strictly fair and impartial. He was admitted to the bar in 1862. His political alle- giance was given to the democracy and he held membership in the Methodist church. He had been married twice, first wedding Miss Sarah Compton, of Kentucky, on December 17, 1848. For his second wife he chose Elizabeth Cunning- ham. By the first marriage there were the fol- lowing children: Anna, the deceased wife of Philip Fosbender, of Sparland; Mary, the wife of George Riddell, who is engaged in the grocery business in Watseka; Frank, of this review; Louisa, the wife of Frank Moor, who is in part- nership with Mr. Riddell at Watseka.
Frank A. Barr spent his childhood days in La Harpe, Illinois, and was graduated from the high school there. He entered upon his business career as a clerk in the employ of Charles F. Gill & Company, with whom he remained until nine- teen years of age, when he removed to Sparland and for two years conducted the elevator here. With the assistance of T. Gapen and Dr. Tesmer he opened a small store and after conducting it for two years was enabled to discharge his finan- cial obligations to the two gentlemen who had assisted him and to whom he has always felt deep gratitude for the aid which they rendered in his early days when he had no capital of his own.
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When he had discharged his indebtedness he bought a building and with renewed energy en- tered upon the work of building up a store. He is now proprietor of one of the largest general stores of the county, carrying an extensive and well selected line of goods which meets a very ready sale, owing to his reasonable prices, his fair and honest dealing and his earnest desire to please his patrons. His trade is constantly increasing and his success is thereby augmented. This does not, however, embrace all of Mr. Barr's business interests, for he is operating a coal mine a mile north of Sparland. This is one of the best drift mines in the state and he owns altogether about nine hundred and fifty acres of coal land in the vicinity of Sparland, employing thirty-five teams and sixty men to haul the coal and props and work in the mines. Since December, 1905, he has been paying out on an average of ninety dollars per day for labor. The business there- fore is of the utmost value to the community as well as to himself, for it furnishes the means of livelihood to many a family.
Mr. Barr was married at the age of twenty-one years to Miss Clara B. Brassfield and unto them have been born three children, but the daughters, Eddie B. and Mabel, are both deceased. They died of scarlet fever just three weeks apart, the former at the age of five years and the latter at the age of three. The only son, Leslie, who was graduated from the high school at the age of eighteen years, is now conducting the Lacon electric plant. He is a young man of exceptional business ability and enterprise, of whom the pa- rents have every reason to be proud. He intends to take a higher course in electrical engineering and thus fit himself for a responsible position in the business world.
Mr. Barr is a stalwart advocate of the democ- racy and was first elected to office in 1885, when he was chosen township collector. He has served as alderman of Sparland for nine years, exercis- ing his official prerogatives to advance many pro- gressive public movements. He was also school director for twelve years, has been clerk of the school board, was county treasurer for four years and sheriff for four years, filling the last named position at the present time. He is also again a candidate for the office of county treasurer. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Masonic lodge at Spar- land and has taken the degrees of Royal Arch
Masonry in Lacon. He is likewise connected with the Knights of Pythias at Lacon and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Mystic Workmen, all of Sparland. He is now worthy patron of Star chapter at Sparland and is likewise con- nected with the Rebekah degree of Odd Fellows here. Over his public record and private life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He has become a leader in local democratic ranks and is one whose fidelity and loyalty in office have ever been above question. In his business life he has manifested traits of character which are most commendable and exemplary, never mak- ing engagements that he has not kept nor incur- ring obligations that he has not promptly met. In fact his is a record which any man might be proud to possess and it has won him the admira- tion and respect of his contemporaries.
JUDGE THOMAS M. SHAW.
Judge Thomas M. Shaw, faultless in honor, fear- less in conduct and stainless in reputation, left behind him a record which is an honor to the bench and bar of Illinois and to the state legis- lature, where he served as a distinguished mem- ber of the senate for four years. But while he won distinction and honors his more personal at- tributes and characteristics-his kindly disposi- tion, gentle manner and consideration for others -gained him the warmest personal regard, so that every one who knew him was his friend, and when a long life of professional activity was ended and the world passed judgment upon his record the consensus of opinion was altogether favorable.
Like many another man who has risen to public prominence, he was born in a little log cabin that stood on the old family homestead in Roberts town- ship, Marshall county, his natal day being August 20, 1836. At that time Marshall was still a part of Putnam county and its white settlers were com- paratively few. Indians were still seen in the neighborhood, although four years had passed since the close of the Black Hawk war. The genealogical records furnish several interesting facts about the ancestors of Judge Shaw. His grandmother was a cousin of George Washington and his father, George H. Shaw, went to school in Kentucky with a boy who was to become President Buchanan.
The Century Fralist ng & mitging - Ching.
Very thinly Gowns J.M. Shaw
Mo I'M Shaw
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
His father, George H. Shaw, was a Kentucky planter, who after liberating his slaves came to- Illinois in 1829 accompanied by his young bride, who bore the maiden name of Penelope R. Ed- wards. He selected as their home a tract of government land, situated about eight miles from the Illinois river, and comprising both prairie and wood land. A point of grand forest trees, mostly oaks, extended into the prairie tract and this gave occasion for the naming of the locality Shaw's Point. In the midst of the forest George Shaw hewed the logs and built the cabin in which his son Thomas was born and where he lived for many years with his brothers and sisters until the family was prosperous enough to erect a large two-story brick residence on the old home- stead, the work being done by the sons of the family, who not only constructed the building, but also manufactured the brick. This resi- dence, which is one of the landmarks of the com- munity, is now occupied by George H. Shaw, a brother of the Judge, who saw most honorable service as a lieutenant in the Union army in the Civil war. Mrs. Penelope Shaw died in 1840, when her son Thomas was but four years of age, but the father reached the age of eighty years, passing away on the old homestead, February 2, 1877.
The usual description of pioneer life would present a picture of the environments of Judge Shaw in his boyhood days, when there were forest trees to fell, a virgin soil to till and prairie fires to fight. From his work in the forest and fields he eagerly turned to his books, his favorite studies being mathematics and history, and he made such surprising progress in his education that with all the disadvantages which attended upon its acquirement he was prepared when six- teen years of age to carry on the work as a. student of Judson College at Mount Palatine, in Putnam county, Illinois, then the leading educa- tional institute of the central portion of this state. A year later, however, in 1854, the school was obliged to suspend, and Judge Shaw became a student in Mount Morris Academy. Ambitious to enter a field of labor demanding intellectual prowess, he became a law student in the office of William D. Edwards, his cousin, and at that time the leading attorney of Lacon, in 1855. The same thoroughness which characterized his gen- eral school work was manifest in his efforts to
master the principles of jurisprudence, and in later years when he had earned an assured posi- tion as a lawyer and judge, those who had the privilege of studying in his office and afterward of following his professional career and private life, enthusiastically testified to his broad under- standing and impartial interpretation of the law, his intellectual cultivation, his manly integrity and his firmness and courage, coupled with a tenderness which was essentially womanly in its type.
When twenty years of age Judge Shaw was ad- mitted to the bar and located for practice at Hennepin, where he remained for five years. In 1873 he was also admitted to practice before the United States supreme court. He became a resi- dent of Lacon in 1862, but had previously en- listed for service in the Civil war at Hennepin. He had been chosen captain of the company, but was afterward rejected on account of an accident in boyhood, which deprived him of the use of an eye. Removing to Lacon, he became a partner of Judge Mark Bangs under the firm style of Bangs & Shaw, a connection that was maintained for seventeen years, and the firm was regarded as one of the strongest at the bar of central Illi- nois. It is said the two made an excellent com- bination, the studious habits and close applica- tion of Mr. Shaw being supplemented by the oratorical powers of Mr. Bangs, who was always effective in jury trials. The dissolution of the firm came with the appointment of Mr. Bangs to the office of the United States district attorney, with headquarters in Chicago. In the meantime, in 1874, R. B. Edwards, a cousin of Judge Shaw, had been received into partnership, so that upon the retirement of Mr. Bangs the firm became Shaw & Edwards, and was thus maintained until Mr. Shaw's election in 1885 as one of the three cir- cuit judges of the tenth judicial district. He went to the bench well qualified for the arduous duties that are called for in the impartial ad- ministration of the law, and his record on the bench was in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer, being distinguished by irreproach- able integrity and a masterful grasp of every problem that was presented for solution. In 1891 and again in 1897 Judge Shaw was elected, but died April 15, 1901, during the sixteenth year of his service. He had the highest respect of the members of the bar and his decisions were models
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
of judicial soundness. He had the faculty to a remarkable degree of losing all personal prejudice and peculiarities in the equity and justice of the case, and he was seldom, if ever, at error in the application of a legal point to the question at issue. There are few men who have had so small a number of decisions reversed. While quick to grasp a point and with a breadth of perception enabling him to view a case from every stand- point, he must also feel assured that he was right before a decision was rendered. His im- partiality and absolute fairness were acknowl- edged by every member of the bar comprising the district and none feared to leave a decision of a case in his hands. He was often urged by his professional friends to become a candidate for judge of the state supreme court, and his name was prominently mentioned in connection with gubernatorial honors.
Judge Shaw was a recognized leader in the ranks of the democracy, and although while on the bench he took little part in political affairs and never allowed partisan feeling to affect him . in any way in the discharge of his multitudinous delicate duties, prior to the time when he was called to the bench he was an influential factor in democratic circles. He was twice elected and served as mayor of Lacon, and was also a member of the school board. He was once the candidate of his party for congress and in 1880 he was elected to represent his district, comprising Mar- shall, Woodford and Putnam counties, in the state senate. He had very ably represented his district during the thirty-second and thirty-third sessions of the legislature, and at the latter had been honored with the unanimous vote of the senators of his party for the position of presi- dent pro tem. He was next elected to the bench, although he never sought office.
day after the latter's death and died six days later. This double sorrow to Mrs. Shaw was a strain to the heart strings which few women would have borne without utter collapse. She was only ten years of age when the family re- moved from the east to Woodford county, Illi- nois. Besides Mrs. Shaw, the aged father left three married daughters : Mrs. Carrie S. Irving, of Metamora; Mrs. Lutie C. Myers, of the same place; and Mrs. Narietta A. Cassell, of Denver, Colorado. The maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Shaw was an officer in the British army. His real name was Stuart, and he was related to Mary, Queen of Scots. While in England he fell in love with an English lady of nobility, but their marriage was opposed on account of his Scotch connections. The young couple eloped to America and were married on their arrival in New England. To hide his identity he changed his name from Stuart to Starrett and eventually settled in New Hampshire.
Judge and Mrs. Shaw never had any children of their own, but reared an adopted doughter, Daisy, and upon her Judge Shaw lavished the love of the ideal father. The domestic life was everything that might be expected when one con- siders the deeply affectionate, the strong, the considerate, and the well balanced character of the Judge. At home he cast aside his legal and judicial cares. He loved music and sang in a deep mellow voice, and he delighted in the musical talent of his daughter. A lover of art, he visited in his travels many noted galleries. He loved nature even more and its beauties- and he could always find beauty thercin-were a constant delight to him. He took little interest in games of chance even for amusement, but such as whist and chess, which call for the applica- tion of memory, intellectual action, decision, pa- tience and mental stamina, he always played with enjoyment and skill. He was very fond of travel, both as a means of recreation and improvement, and in his trips in his native land and abroad he was always accompanied by his wife or his daughter or both, the measure of his enjoyment
Judge Shaw was married on the 24th of Decem- ber, 1863, to Miss Nellie F. Hirsch, of Metamora, Woodford county, Illinois, considered one of the beautiful belles of that locality. She is a native of New Hampshire, and is one of the five chil- dren born to Frederick F. and Caroline (Starrett) Hirsch. Her mother was also born in New Hamp -. . being never completed unless he could share it shire, and died in Metamora, Illinois, October 8, with others. His membership relations were with the Order of Elks and with the State Bar Asso- ciation. There is no better estimate of character and of accomplishment than that which is ex- pressed in the words of friends who, without 1866, while her father was born in Lowell, Massa- chusetts, and died in Metamora, April 22, 1901, at the age of eighty-five years. He was pre- paring to attend the funeral of Judge Shaw the
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
thought of eulogy, voice their true sentiment in regard to an individual. His large and lovable qualities as a man have been a frequent theme of discussion by those who knew him best. Judge S. S. Page, one of his co-workers in the circuit court, wrote: "We all feel that we have lost one of the best and most lovable men we have ever known. The bench and bar alike will mourn his loss. I never knew a man who seemed to possess more of a sweet and womanly disposition." While Judge Leslie Puterbaugh, of Peoria, said: "No one can more fully than I appreciate your irreparable loss. While I had known Judge Shaw since my boyhood and had always respected and admired him as a lawyer and jurist, my close offi- cial and personal relations of recent years had led me to know and love him almost as a father. I feel that I have lost one of my best friends, and shall long miss his genial companionship and wise counsel." Ex-Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson, who spoke at his funeral, referred to him as his life-long friend, as. not only an able lawyer and upright judge, but so true a man in all the relations of life as to have fairly earned the immortality spoken of by the poet :
"To live in hearts we leave behind, Is not to die."
A more general tribute of affection and esteem was presented in these resolutions spread upon the records of the circuit court of Peoria county by the members of the Peoria Bar Association : Whereas, Thomas M. Shaw, one of the judges of the Tenth Judicial. Circuit of Illinois, has been suddenly called away in the midst of his usefulness, the members of the bar practicing before him in Peoria and adjoining counties, de- sire to place on record their appreciation of him as a judge and a man.
Faithful in all his duties, widely and profound- ly learned in the law, he brought large abilities to the work of the jurist. Kindly, patient and serene, his great endeavor was to mete out jus- tice through the rules of law. He has not only the respect and admiration of the bar, but the love of its members also. "Justice, tempered by mercy," was his motto.
In social intercourse he was modest and un- obtrusive, but always approachable and pleasant. He weighed social, moral, and religious ques- tions with the same calm, judicial spirit that he brought to legal ones. As a friend he was
reliable; always the same. When he approached any question, principles rather than persons guid- ed him.
Thus he won the confidence of the people. For the sixteen years they kept him on the bench he grew in that confidence. They felt their rights were safe in his hands.
To his afflicted family we tender our heartfelt sympathy, knowing that the beautiful picture of his life will abide with them so long as memory shall endure.
To the people of this judicial district his de- parture is a great loss, but the effect and memory of his service on the bench endure as a great gain. A model judge, an upright citizen, a lov- able man has gone from us. We ask that this imperfect memorial of him be placed on the records of Peoria county.
Says Rev. Theodore Clifton, western field sec- retary of the Congregational Educational Society : "I knew Judge Shaw long and well, only to love and honor him. The news of his death was a great surprise to me, and came with a distinct sense of personal loss. When I first met the judge, nearly thirty years ago, he was a young lawyer in Lacon, Marshall county. From that day to the day of his death he grew upon me, not only as a lawyer, but as a man, a citizen and a personal friend. Judge Shaw possessed a fine legal mind and his career as a lawyer and a judge was an honor to the state as well as to himself. Illinois did not confer honor upon him so much as he conferred honor upon Illinois. A quiet, unassuming man, he did not realize his own great worth or his own great influence. He was a man of few words, but whether before a jury, on the bench or in the social circle, his words were always listened to and carried weight. It was the weight of a noble manhood, a mature and accurate judgment, and an unsullied life."
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