USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Past and present of Piatt County, Illinois : together with biographical sketches of many prominent and influential citizens > Part 10
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Mr. Langley is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Erie county about four miles from the city of Erie on the Ist of October, 1837. He is a son of James and Jane (Weston) Langley, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state. The Langley family is of Scotch extraction and when sixteen years of age the grand- father of our subject came from the land of the heather to the new world, locating in Erie county. There he afterward followed farming until called to the home beyond.
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It was in Erie county that he was married and reared his family. James Langley also became an agriculturist, and with his fam- ily he removed to the west in. 1853, estab- lishing his home in Macoupin county, Illi- nois. The subject of this review was then a youth of sixteen years. The journey was made overland and nineteen and a half days had passed ere they reached their destina- tion. They did not, however, travel on Sun- days. After arriving in Macoupin county the father purchased land and continued to engage in farming there until his demise. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, of whom four are yet living, but Andrew J. Langley is the only one now re- siding in Piatt county. One of the family is living in Seattle, Washington, another in Mississippi, and the sister is a resident of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
school of Gerard, Pennsylvania. Under the parental roof he remained until twenty-one years of age, when he began business as a farmer and nurseryman in Macoupin county. As a companion and helpmate for the jour- -ney of life he chose Miss Celia A. Curtis and the wedding was celebrated on the 11th of March. 1859. The lady is also a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John and Hulda Curtis, natives of New York, whence they removed to the Keystone state, where the father followed farming. The Curtis family is probably of English lineage and Mrs. Langley is one of a family of eight children, five of whom are yet living. Unto our subject and his wife were born six children, but a son and daugh-
ter died in infancy. Elmer E., the eldest, is now living in Morris, Stevens county, Min- nesota. He married Emma Smith, who died leaving two children : Elbert E., who makes his home in Minnesota with his father; and Emery F., who is residing with his grand- parents, Mr. and Mrs. Langley. Frederick Lincoln, the second son of the family, re- sides at Bingham Lake, Minnesota. He wedded Mattie Holman and they have three children, Max, Wilbur and Celia. James C. Langley is the cashier of the First National Bank of Mansfield. Roy A. is engaged in farming in Morris, Minnesota.
In the schools of Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, Andrew J. Langley began his educa- tion which he afterward continued in the public schools of Macoupin county, Illinois. He also spent one term in a commercial · place in many ways. It was almost destitute
Mr. Langley returned to the east for his wife and then brought his bride to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he carried on farming until 1865, and likewise devoted some atten- tion to the nursery business. That year he came to Piatt county and purchased four hundred acres of land, which was then par- tially improved, having upon it a little house of two rooms. He erected a new residence, also built outbuildings and has improved the of trees when he took up his abode there,. but the place is now surrounded by many beautiful trees. Mr. Langley was planting a grove of five acres of walnut trees when a messenger riding across the country from Champaign county called to him the news that President Lincoln had been assassinated. Mr. Langley then gave to the place the name of Lincoln Grove. For a numberof years he successfully carried on agricultural pursuits, but not caring to be burdened with the su- pervision of an extensive farm here, he has since sold all of the home place with the ex- ception of eighty acres. However, he has landed possessions in South Dakota, in Minnesota and Nebraska, having wisely in- vested his money in real estate.
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In 1893 in company with his son J. C., and William Firke, Mr. Langley founded what became known as the Langley, Firke & Langley private bank. This was afterward sold to John M. Dighton & Company of Monticello, and they reorganized the State Bank of Mansfield, with which Mr. Langley was identified until 1902. In that year in connection with W. D. Fairbanks and his son, J. C. Langley, he founded the First Na- tional Bank of Mansfield, its present officers being W. D. Fairbanks, president; A. J ... Langley, vice president, and J. C .. Langley, cashier. Mr. Langley has always given his political support to the Republican party since casting his first presidential ballot, and he was a warm admirer as well as a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. For about fourteen years he served as supervisor of Blue Ridge township, holding the office for twelve consecutive years and for one term he was chairman of the board. He has been chairman of nearly all of the committees of the board and has done effective and helpful service in behalf of the county through the exercise of his official prerogatives. Fra- ternally he is connected with Mansfield Lodge, No. 773, F. & A. M.
He and his wife are now the only peo- ple living on the "ridge," who were here when Mr. and Mrs. Langley arrived and their own home place has never been out of their possession and the property is a monu- * ment to the enterprise and efforts of the subject of this review. While always active in matters of citizenship. for the general good Mr. Langley has never taken an active · Dilatush were the parents of five children : part in political work in the hope of gaining Frank V., a resident of Monticello; Jarvis J., who is living in Utah; Elmer E., who- makes his home in Decatur; Lida E., who is with her parents; and William H., of this. office, having always preferred to give his attention to the superintendence of his pri- vate business affairs and extensive invest- ments. A man of unswerving integrity and ' review.
honor, one who has a perfect appreciation of the higher ethics of life, he has gained and retained the confidence and respect of his fellow men and is distinctively one of the leading citizens of Piatt county, with whose interests he has been identified for more than a third of a century.
WILLIAM H. DILATUSH.
Among the enterprising and energetic young business men of Piatt county is numbered William H. Dilatush, the popular cashier of the State Bank of DeLand. He was born in this county, July 5, 1871, and is a son of George D. Dilatush, a resident of Decatur. The father in early manhood wedded Cynthia Jeffries, a native of Ohio. He was a native of New Jersey, but in his boyhood days emigrated westward with his parents to the Buckeye state and located in Warren county. They were married in Ohio and in 1868 they removed westward to Illi- nois, settling in Lincoln, Logan county. There they lived until 1870, when they took up their abode in Cerro Gordo township, Piatt county, where Mr. Dilatush purchased land and engaged in farming. He followed that pursuit until 1890, when, having ac- quired a handsome competence sufficient to enable him to put aside business cares and rest in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil, he removed to Decatur, where he has since lived retired. Mr. and Mrs.
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In the district schools William H. Dila- tush began his education which was con- tinued in Monticello high school, of which he is a graduate. On putting aside his text- books he entered upon his business career in the capacity of a clerk in a grocery store of Race, Handlin & Company, with whom he continued for four years. He then went in- to the postoffice book 'store, where he re- mained for two years, and in 1898 he came to DeLand, accepting the position as cashier in the John Kirby & Company Bank. This institution was reorganized in 1899 as the State Bank of DeLand, with John Kirby as president and W. H. Dilatush as cashier. The bank was capitalized for twenty-five . thousand dollars and is a most reliable finan- cial institution. The bank building is splendidly equipped, being fitted up with a Mosler safe manufactured at Hamilton, Ohio. There is also a safety deposit vault with sixty boxes. The building was erected in 1902 at a cost of eleven thousand five hundred dollars, and is one of the most com- plete bank buildings in this part of the state. A general banking business is carried on along progressive lines and yet the policy of the firm is conservative enough to insure perfect safety to depositors.
In October, 1898, Mr. Dilatush was unit- ed in marriage to Miss Ida Stevenson, a daughter of Wilbur Stevenson, of Monticello, The young couple have many warm friends in DeLand and Piatt county, and their own home is celebrated for its gracious hospitali- ty. Mr. Dilatush is a member of DeLand Lodge, No. 812, F. & A. M., also of Twen- tieth Century Lodge, No. 603, K. P., and in politics he is a stalwart Democrat .· He has served as supervisor of Goose Creek town- ship, filling the office from 1899 until 1901. He is a typical American citizen, wide-awake
and enterprising, quick to notice business opportunities and to utilize them for the ad- vancement of his individual success. At the same time he is ever in touch with public progress and improvement and co-operates in many measures for the general good.
JOHN W. HILLIGOSS.
In public affairs in Mansfield John W. Hilligoss has been prominent and his efforts in behalf of the general progress have been far-reaching and effective. He was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, on the Ist of October, 1841, a son of Thomas and Mary (Darnall) Hilligoss, who were also natives of the Bluegrass state. The former was a farmer, and in following that pursuit pro- vided a comfortable living for his family. Both he and his wife died when about sixty- eight years of age, and they were laid to rest in the cemetery at Elizaville, Fleming county. In their family were the following children : John W .; James T., who is de- ceased; Jeanette, a resident of Fleming county, Kentucky; Mary, who is a widow and lives in Fleming county ; Maggie, who makes her home in Lexington, Kentucky; Cynthia, who is also living in Fleming coun- ty ; Clyde, who has passed away ; and Robert E. Lee, who resides in LaSalle county, Il- linois.
Under the parental roof John W. Hilli- goss spent his boyhood days, and in the pub- lic schools he acquired his education, contin- uing his studies there until about eighteen years of age. He was a student through the winter months, and during the summer seasons he engaged in farming, assisting in the operations of the old home place. At
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the age of nineteen he began teaching in his home locality, and he there continued to re- side until his removal to Illinois. In Septem- ber, 1862, true to his loved southland, he responded to the call of the Confederates for troops and enlisted as a member of the command of Colonel Thomas Johnson, join- ing the army at Mount Sterling, Kentucky. He was in the service for two years, and on the 9th of July, 1864, at Mount Sterling, he was wounded in the right leg, which was amputated just above the knee on the 12th of the same month. This, of course, inca- pacitated him for further service and he re- turned to his home.
He continued to reside in Fleming coun- · ty, Kentucky, until 1868, when he decided to establish his home in Illinois, and took up his abode near Mattoon, this state. There he engaged in teaching school successfully until 1873, when he came to Mansfield, and. for thirty years he has been a resident of this place. The favorable opinion passed upon him at the outset of his career here has never been set aside, or in any degree modified, for he has always lived so as to command the respect and good will of his fellow men. For two years he was en- . gaged in teaching school here, and in 1881 he established the Mansfield Express which had its origin in Mahomet in 1878. He has since published the paper which is independ- ent in politics, and which has a good circu- lation and a constantly growing patronage. It is devoted to the advancement of the lo- cal and general news and to the furtherance of the best interests of this locality, and is a leading journal of Piatt county.
of John R. Watkins, who is conducting a job printing business in Urbana, Illinois. Socially Mr. Hilligoss is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belong- ing to Brothers Lodge, No. 589, in Mans- field. He has filled all of its offices and has twice represented the local lodge in the grand lodge; is thoroughly informed con- cerning the tenets and teachings of the or- der, and his life has been guided by its be- neficent principles. In public affairs he has been prominent and has served as village clerk, and also as township clerk. During his long residence in this county he has be- come very widely known, and Mansfield numbers him among its respected and hon- ored citizens.
WILLIAM H. PIATT.
It is most fitting that there be accorded due mention in this biographical history of this prominent representative of a family whose name is borne by the county and whose members have been so prominent in promoting the various interests which have contributed to the country's welfare and progress along all lines of substantial im- provement. Since the time that the first members of the Piatt family located in this section of the state the name has figured con- spicuously in connection with its material, social, intellectual and moral development. Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished, and happy is he if his lines of life are cast in har- money therewith. In appearance and in tal- ents Mr. Piatt is a worthy scion of his race, and after more than fifty years of honorable
On the 9th of July, 1872, Mr. Hilligoss was united in marriage to Miss Hester House, of Champaign county, and they now have a daughter, Clyde, who is the wife . and active connection with the agricultural
W. H. PIATT
PIATT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
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interests he is now living a retired life, hav- ing long since passed the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten. Indeed, he has now reached the age of eighty-seven years --- a venerable man whose upright life should serve as a source of inspiration and as an example for emulation.
The Piatt family is of French lineage and was established in America by John Piatt, the great-grandfather of our subject, who was a Huguenot in religious faith. He left his native country of France and crossed the Atlantic to America, establishing his home during colonial days in New Jersey, where he died in 1760. Abraham Piatt, his son and the grandfather of our subject, was born in New Jersey in 1741 and became a sur- veyor. He emigrated to Center county, Pennsylvania, casting in his lot with its pio- neer settlers and taking an important part in the work of development and improvement there. When the colonists attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression he joined the American army and fought for the independence of the nation. He held the rank of colonel and rendered valiant and ef- fective service to the cause of liberty. He did not live very long, however, to enjoy the fruits of this long struggle, for when fifty years of age he passed away, dying on the 13th of November, 1791, from the effects of of a cold which he contracted while engaged in surveying a large tract which was given to him for his services in the Revolutionary war. Jacob Piatt, a brother, was also an officer under Washington and was also granted land.
Among the children of Abraham Piatt was James A. Piatt, in whose honor this county was named. His birthplace was Center county, Pennsylvania, and the year of his birth 1789. He was for many years iden-
tified with pioneer life not only in Illinois, but also in Indiana. In 1815 he left Penn- sylvania and removed to Brookville, Frank- lin county, Indiana, at which time that state was still under territorial rule. The place of his destination was a small village and was situated upon what was then the very west-' ern frontier. There Mr. Piatt engaged first in merchandising, but frequently he fol- lowed freight-boating on the Mississippi river, taking many cargoes to New Orleans, which has then the market for all that sec- tion of the country, for the era of railroads had not dawned upon the nation and ship- ments were made by water. Mr. Piatt also made several trips to Cuba with live stock. In 1828 he established the first tin shop in Indianapolis, and through two years was en- gaged in business there as a hardware and tin merchant. There was something in his nature that was in accord with pioneer con- dition, and in 1829 he again resumed his westward journey. He came to what is now Piatt county, Illinois, reaching the present site of Monticello on the 7th of April, after a journey made with ox teams. All was wild and unimproved. The prairies were still as they came from the hand of nature, not a furrow having been turned or an im- provement made. At that time there existed a preemption law whereby settlers were en- abled to hold land for five years before enter- ing it. Mr. Piatt made wise choice of his se- lection of land, although many at that time would have wondered at his choice, for his nearest neighbor, with one exception, was fifteen miles distant. As years passed, how- ever, this land greatly increased in value, and he carried on the work of farming, his labors being attended with very creditable and grat- ifying success. The first family home was a pioneer cabin built of logs, and for many
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years it has stood on the Monticello fair grounds, one of the old landmarks of pioneer days, and an interesting relic of the early times when such homes sheltered all the early settlers. Another indication of the wild- ness of the district was the large number of Indians who still lived in this part of the state, and Mr. Piatt became agent for a con- tractor who supplied the red men with ra- tions at the close of the war of 1812. He found favor with the Indians who regarded Mr. Piatt as the donor of the supplies, and always held him in grateful remembrance, frequently giving expiration of their appre- ciation of his bounty by bestowing upon him venison and other wild game. No history of central Illinois would be complete with- out mention of this gentleman, so promi- nently was he associated with the early de- velopment of the locality. He aided in laying broad and deep the foundation for the pres- ent progress and prosperity of the county and his death, which occurred in 1838, caused an irreparable loss to central Illinois. His work in connection with the capture of horse thieves in an early day was likewise notable. At that time such law breakers infested the country, for owing to its unsettled condition, they had good opportunity to get away. However, Mr. Piatt was relentless in his search for such thieves, and more than one instance is related of his skill in capturing those who had stolen horses. In the spring of 1832 two of his best horses were stolen, and, accompanied by a neighbor, he traced the thieves, capturing them in Indiana near the Ohio line. He then returned with them to Decatur, where they were tried, con- victed and sentenced to be whipped by the sheriff, one thief to receive thirty-nine lashes and the other forty-nine. The follow- ing year Mr. Piatt, accompanied by his son,
William H., of this review, went to Ohio county, Kentucky, in search of a horse thief, whom they arrested and took to Ottawa, Il- linois, for trial. During the Black Hawk war James A. Piatt served as a ranger in Illinois under the command of Major Warnick, who had been an officer under General Jackson in the war of 1812. In civil life Mr. Piatt was also prominent. In the early days he served as one of the county commissioners of Macon county for seven years before the division of the district into Macon and Piatt counties. His influence was ever given on the side of progress and improvement, and he well de- served the honor of having the new county called by his name.
In the early schools of Indianapolis and of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, William H. Piatt pursued his studies, although his educational privileges were extremely limited. He left school when only eleven years of age, and although he has become a broad-minded man and one of good general information, this is due to his experience and observation. He has possessed an observing eye and retentive memory, and these qualifications, added to keen discernment, have gained for him prac- tical experience of much value in the busi- ness world. His surroundings and environ- ments in boyhood were those of the frontier, and he assisted in the arduous task of devel- oping new land and of reclaiming the region for the purpose of civilization. After arriv- ing at years of maturity he chose a com- panion and helpmate for life's journey, being united in marriage on the 10th of April, 1838, to Miss Clarinda Marquiss, who was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1819, and is a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth ( Barnes) Marquiss, who were natives of Pennsylvania, but became pioneers of Piatt county. As the years passed the home of Mr. and Mrs.
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Piatt was blessed with seven' children : James A., who is now deceased; Abraham, deceased; Charles, who is extensively en- gaged in farming and stock-raising ; Frances, the wife of W. E. Lodge, of Monticello ; Je- mima, the wife of W. E. Smith, a merchant of Monticello; ånd Emma L., the wife of Joseph Llewellyn, of Chicago. She is a graduate of the Illinois University and is the author of the Piatt county history.
Mr. and Mrs. Piatt began their domestic life upon a farm, and throughout his business career he carried on agricultural pursuits. His first home was the site of the present fair grounds near Monticello, where he lived for a short time. In the fall of 1839 he built a cabin on the banks of Goose Creek in the township of that naine, and while his wife cared for the little home he engaged in the labors of the fields. In his farm work he prospered. The land was rich and proved very productive, returning excellent crops in reward for the labors bestowed upon the fields. As his financial resources increased Mr. Piatt made judicial investments in real estate, and from time to time has made pur- chases and sales that have proven of profit and added largely to his income. He en- tered land in various parts of the country, much of which he improved and sold to his children. He has fenced and broken over two thousand acres and he now has in his possession about one hundred and seventy acres of this land, upon which he has made many fine improvements. In the years 1864 and 1865 he erected a large brick house upon a beautiful site in the midst of a fine grove of walnut trees that have stood for ages upon the place.
Mr. Piatt has not confined his attention solely to the cultivation of his fields and to the purchase and sale of property, but has
also engaged in large measure in cattle deal- ing. He began this business in 1841 and for some time was associated with his brothers in the enterprise. In 1851 he drove his first herd of cattle to Philadelphia and thence to the New York city market, making the journey on horseback. Later he made va- rious other trips to the east with stock at a time when there were no railroads and when it required about one hundred and twenty days to make the trip. For several years he dealt very extensively in stock which he purchased in various states and drove to the eastern market. Thus he add- ed annually to his income and to-day Mr. . Piatt is one of the wealthy men of the county.
While extensive business interests have claimed his attention he has ever found time and opportunity to assist in many measures of progress and improvement and to co-op- erate actively along lines leading to the per- manent development of central Illinois. In measures for the public good his assistance is not sought in vain and while he has given generously of his means, his wise counsel and practical judgment have also been valued factors in the control of affairs of public mo- ment. He has never sought or desired office, in fact; the demands of his business have been too great to allow him to take an ac- tive part in political work even had he de- sired to do so. His fellow townsmen have frequently solicited him to become a candi- date and at one time he served as commis- sioner of Piatt county. With this exception he has always refused to serve in political offices. His support, however, is given to the Democracy and although now well ,ad- vanced in years, he still keeps in touch with the political questions of the day, being deep- ly interested in the welfare of his nation.
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