USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > Past and present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois > Part 33
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Politically Mr. Woodcock is connected with the Republican party, strongly en- dorsing its principles and laboring untiring- ly for its success. He has served as town clerk of Macon, and in 1899 he was elected supervisor for a two years' term. He served as chairman of the board in 1900-1 and was then re-elected for the term of 1901-2, but resigned in June of the latter year. His social relations connect him with the Ma- sonic fraternity. He was made a Mason in South Macon Lodge, No. 467, F. & A. M. and is now a past master. He also belongs to Beacon Lodge, No. 434, K. P., of which he is a past chancellor and district deputy, and thus in both organizations he has been honored with official preferment, showing the regard in which he is held by his breth- ren of the fraternities.
In 1896, in Indianapolis, Indiana, was celebrated the marriage of Harold R. Wood- cock and Miss Bertha Middleton, and they now have an interesting little son, to whom they have given the name of Rives Way. The business history of Macon would be in- complete without mention of the Wood- cocks-father and son-who are prominent and worthy representatives of financial in- terests and who in social life are also promi- nent, both families having many warm friends here.
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JAMES S. C. CUSSINS, M. D.
The city of Decatur, with its pulsing in- dustrial activities and rapid development, has attracted within its confines men of marked ability and high character in the various professional lines and in this way progress has been conserved and social sta- bility fostered. He, whose name initiates this review, has gained recognition as one of the able .and successful physicians of the state and by his labors, his high professional attainments and his sterling characteristics has justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the local public. He has resided in De- catur only since 1901, but for twenty-five years has been a practitioner of this part of Illinois, where he is widely and favorably known.
The Doctor was born in the city of Zanes- ville, Ohio, on the 24th of March, 1851, a son of Samuel A. and Jane (Cairns) Cus- sins, both of whom are natives of the Buck- eye state, and the latter was a daughter of Dr. Cairns. The father of our subject learned the carpenter's trade in early life and became a contractor and builder. In 1864 he removed with his family to Deca- tur, where he became actively identified with the building interests, continuing his work along that line until a short time prior to his death. In this way he did much for the improvement of the city and many evidences of his handiwork are still seen in substantial structures here. He passed away in 1869.
The Doctor was a youth of thirteen years when he accompanied his parents to this city and his youth was here passed, his early education being acquired in the schools of Decatur under the direction of Professor F. A. Gastman, a most thorough and com- petent teacher, who for more than forty years has been principal of the Decatur schools. He was also a student in the Uni- versity of Illinois for two years. On the
completion of his literary course Dr. Cus- sins determined to enter upon the study of medicine, preparatory to making its prac- tice his life work. He became a student in the office and under the direction of Drs. E. W. Moore and Ira N. Barnes, who di- rected his reading until he entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, in which in- stitution he was graduated with the class of 1877, winning the degree of M. D.
It was in August of the same year that he entered upon his professional career as a practitioner in the little town of Owaneco, Christian county, Illinois. Ile soon demon- strated his ability there and gained a liberal patronage which continually grew as the years passed by. For twenty-four years he conducted practice there and then desiring a still broader field of labor he returned to Decatur in 1901, opening an office on Prairie street over the store of the Decatur Gun Company. One of the local papers said of him: "With his remarkable physique and careful living, in spite of twenty-five years of hard practice, the Doctor to-day is active- ly practicing his chosen profession and en- dowed with all the energy which has char- acterized his work in the past."
In January, 1878, the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Ella Lord, of Decatur, a daughter of Thomas Lord, one of the old and prominent residents of this city and of Macon county. They began their domestic life in Owaneco and there two children were born unto them: Lelah, who died at the age of twelve years, and Minerva May. Bessie Marie and James S. C., Jr., were born in Decatur. The Doctor and his wife oc- cupy an enviable position in social circles and their own pleasant home is noted for its cordiality and gracious hospitality.
Politically the Doctor is an ardent Demo- crat and has taken quite an active and prominent part in public affairs, serving as a member of the board of supervisors in Christian county for eleven years and was
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its chairman for eight years of that time. He was also postmaster of Owaneco dur- ing both of President Cleveland's adminis- trations.
Not only has he attained success in his profession but is also a popular and promi- nent member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree. His membership is now with Lo- cust Lodge, No. 623. F. & A. M .; Chapter, No. 102, R. A. M., at Taylorville, Illinois, and Beaumanoir Commandery, No. 9, K. T., of Decatur. In the line of his profession lie is connected with the Decatur Medical Society and through the interchange of thought and experience in its meetings keeps in touch with the methods which the various members of the fraternity are fol- lowing and also gives of his own knowledge for the benefit of his professional brethren. He has followed along the line of general practice in medicine and surgery and is recognized as a man of marked ability in his profession, of keen intellectuality and of cultured tastes. He has made an honor- able name for himself not only in pro- fessional circles, but in the community in which he makes his home and has many friends. He is a valued acquisition to the medical circles of the city, in which his boy- hood was passed and already in Decatur he has gained a liberal patronage which is in- dicative of his superior skill and of the con- fidence reposed in him by the general pub- lic.
JAMES H. PARKER.
It was the commonly accepted belief in olden times that labor was the source of success ; to-day the world demands another element-that of sound judgment. Both qualities are possessed by James H. Parker, now one of the most extensive landowners of Macon county and the president of the
Citizens' Bank of Maroa. With few advan- tages in youth, depending upon his own re- sources as the years have gone by, he has risen to a prominent position among the prosperous men of the county and by the most honorable and businesslike methods has gained his prosperity. A native of Ohio, he was born in 1846, a son of James S. and Rachel (Hankinson) Parker. The father, a farmer by occupation, was born in New Jersey and removed to Ohio when a young man of twenty years. In 1853 he be- came a resident of DeWitt county, Illinois, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he sold a year or two later. He then came to Macon county and purchased a tract of land west of Maroa, where he carried on farming until three or four years prior to his death, when he re- moved to the town and lived retired until called to his final rest on the 5th of May, 1880. His wife long survived him and died in 1901. This was an old and highly re- spected couple.
James H. Parker attended school in Ma- con county, but is largely self-educated, reading, observation and experience adding greatly to his knowledge. Nature also en- dowed him with a good degree of common sense-a quality very essential in the busi- ness world and too often lacking. He did not fear that laborious attention to labor which is the basis of prosperity and in his early manhood, as in his more ma- ture years, labored earnestly and per- sistently. He started out for himself at the age of twenty-one years and at first operated his father's land. The training which he had received in the work of the fields now stood him in good stead. He dili- gently and energetically carried on his work and in the course of a few years had saved enough money to purchase a farm of his own. With renewed energy he began its cultivation and as the years passed he added to lis landed possessions from time to time
6. Ruchl
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until he now has about two thousand acres, much of which lies within Macon county and is therefore in one of the richest farm- ing belts of the entire country. His home farm, lying west of Maroa, comprises five hundred and forty-five acres. He formed a partnership with the man who now lives upon the place and operates it, and the re- mainder of his land he rents. His pos- sessions represent years of earnest, con- secutive toil and show what may be attained through enterprise and industry. His busi- ness interests, however, have not been con- fined entirely to agricultural pursuits but have gone beyond and embraced other fields of labor. He is now the president of the Citizens' Bank of Maroa, a reliable financial institution receiving a good patronage, and is also the president of The Farmers' Mer- cantile Association.
In 1871 Mr. Parker was united in mar- riage to Miss Emma A. Shaw, a daughter of William G. Shaw. They visited Chicago on their wedding journey and had just left that city when the great fire occurred. Un- to them were born two children, but both died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Parker own and occupy one of the handsome residences of Maroa and its hospitality is one of its most marked and pleasing features. They belong to the Methodist church, taking an active part in its work, and Mr. Parker is a member of the blue lodge of Masons in Maroa and of the commandery of Clinton, Illinois. He also holds membership rela- tions with the Knights of Pythias here. In politics he is a Republican and once served as supervisor, but would never consent to hold other office. His best public service is rendered as a private citizen and he is found as the advocate of many pro- gressive and beneficial measures. With lit- tle assistance from his father. James H. Parker has won for himself an enviable position in financial circles and in public regard and stands to-day as one of the
strong men of Maroa, the possessor of a very handsome competence and also of an untarnished name.
CHARLES F. RUEHL.
Almost a half century has passed since Charles F. Ruchl became a resident of Ma- con county. He is now a retired farmer and merchant, making his home in Decatur, and the rest which has been vonchsafed to him has been justly earned and is there- fore richly merited. It is a fact of which perhaps due recognition has not been given, that a large majority of the valued citizens of this portion of the state have had their nativity in or trace their lineage to the great German empire. Mr. Ruehl is a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, his birth having there occurred on the 3ist of August, 1832. His parents, Ernst and Elizabeth Ruehl, never left the fatherland, but spent their entire lives in their native country. When their son Charles was a little lad of six years they sent him to the public schools, where he continued his studies until he reached the age of fourteen and afterward he became a student in a gymnasium which is equivalent to a high school in this country. Entering upon his business career he was first. em- ployed as a farm hand and afterward be- came manager of an estate belonging to a nobleman, in which capacity he served for four years. He had acquired a practical knowledge of farming as it was then con- clucted in the old country and his services were of valne to the gentleman by whom he was employed.
The land of the free, however, was to him a source of attraction and since 1852 he has been allied with American interests. No native son of the country is more loyal to the United States and her welfare than is Charles F. Ruchl. In 1852 he took passage on a westward-bound sailing vessel that
15
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weighed anchor in the harbor of Bremen bound for the port of Baltimore, Maryland. He did not tarry long, however, in the lat- ter city, but went almost at once to Hamil- ton, Ohio, and in that vicinity secured work as a farm hand. Afterward he removed to Logansport, Indiana, where for three years he followed various pursuits. In 1856 he arrived in Decatur, Illinois, and having in the meantime saved some of his earnings, he established a retail grocery store on Water street. For eight years he conducted the business, being one of the early merchants of the city. He then sold out and removed to Forsyth, Macon county, where he not only conducted the railroad office, but also handled grain, carrying on his store there for twenty-four years. His business grew to an important one and he realized a hand- some annual income as the result of his la- bors. While a resident of Forsyth, in 1874 he went to Iowa, where he purchased eight hundred acres of valuable land, which he rented. For some time he visited Iowa once or twice each year to superintend his property interests. but made his home in Decatur. In 1892, however, Mr. Ruehl sold his Iowa property for sixty-five dollars per acre, which was an excellent advance upon the purchase price. He is now practically liv- ing retired, loaning his money and merely devoting his attention to this work and the collection of its interest.
The home life of Mr. Ruehl has been very pleasant. He married Miss Thekla Stommel and they became the parents of two chil- dren : Ernst, who is now residing in Cham- paign county, Illinois; and Lillie, who is the wife of Perry Lashier, of Sac county, lowa. After the death of his first wife Mr. Ruehl wedded her sister, Otella, and four children graced this marriage, namely : Carl, who resides in Centralia, Illinois ; Louis, who is manager of a lumber yard at Freeport, Illinois; Max, a practicing physi- cian who is employed by the McCormick
Manufacturing Company, in Chicago, Ill- inois, devoting his entire time and attention to professional work among the McCormick employes, numbering several thousand ; and Harold, who is a bookkeeper in the Citizens' National Bank of Decatur. Otto Link, who follows farming, is a son of Mrs. Ruehl's first marriage.
In his political views Mr. Ruehl is an earnest Republican, but without the party bias or aggressive spirit which many polit- ical workers show. He forms his ideas in- dependently and is firm in support of his honest convictions. In matters of citizenship he has always been loyal and true to the best interests of the city, state and nation. He may well be termed one of the pioneers of Macon county, for through almost a half century he has witnessed its growth and development. He has seen Decatur grow from a small town to one of the leading met- ropolitan centers of the state, becoming an industrial city second to none in Illinois, save Chicago. He has a wide acquaintance throughout the county and wherever he has gone he has won friends, who recognize his worth and accord him their warm re- gard.
WILLIAM CLARK.
William Clark, who is engaged in the real estate business in Decatur, has resided in this city since February, 1890, previous to which time he was for some years connected with agricultural interests in Illinois. His birth occurred in Clinton county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 27th of April, 1827, his parents being William and Sarah (Hayes) Clark, who were natives of the Keystone state. The family is of English lineage, but both the father and grandfather of our subject were born in this country. The grandfather also bore the name of William Clark and he was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, enlisting at the age of sixteen years. He
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY.
did valiant service for the country and after- ward devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. The father of our subject was also a farmer by occupation. Ile followed that pursuit in Pennsylvania throughout his entire life and in 1847 he passed away, being then sixty-five years of age. In early manhood he had wedded Miss Sarah Hayes, who was of Scotch-Irish extraction and who was also a native of Pennsylvania. She proved to her husband a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey, and her death occurred in 1850.
At the usual age William Clark entered the public schools and afterward attended a subscription school, thus fitting himself for teaching. He followed that profession in his locality for a number of years and also continued to engage in the operation of the old home farm during the periods of vaca- tion. He continued to reside in Pennsyl- vania until 1856, when he came to Illinois, locating first in Kendall county, where he secured a tract of land and successfully en- gaged in farming. After a period of twenty years he went to Mecklenburg county, Vir- ginia, spending a few months in the Old Dominion. Preferring Illinois, however, as a place of residence, he then returned to this state and located in Champaign county, where he purchased a farm, which he owned and operated for eighteen years. He was a progressive agriculturist and everything about his place indicated his personal super- vision. Neatness and thrift characterized the farm and he annually harvested good crops as the result of the care and labor which he bestowed upon the fields. In Feb- ruary, 1890, however, he rented his farm and removed to Decatur, where he has since made his home, residing at No. 619 West Wood street. For some time he has en- gaged in the real estate and fire insurance business here and has secured a good client- age in both lines, having negotiated a num-
ber of realty transfers and at the same time written quite a large amount of insurance.
In 1855 Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Hall, of Clinton county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jesse Hall. They became the parents of four children : Everett Howard, who is now living in west- ern Kansas; Jesse Hall; Minnie Belle, who is residing in Decatur, and Emma, who is now in Chicago. The parents are members of the First Presbyterian church of Deca- tur and Mr. Clark has been a stalwart Re- publican since the organization of the party, when questions of national importance are involved, but at local elections he votes in- dependently. His residence in Illinois cov- ers a period of almost a half century and his labors aided in making this state the splen- did agricultural district which it is to-day. His many admirable characteristics, his steadfastness of purpose and the genialty of his temperament have made him an integral part of the prosperity and general develop- ment of the communities in which he has made his home.
WILLIAM B. HUNTER.
Throughout the years of his manhood this gentleman has been actively identified with the agricultural and industrial interests of Macon county and is to-day a prosperous citizen of Mount Zion, where for the past three years he has engaged in the nursery business, owning a one-third interest in the Mount Zion Nursery. He claims Illinois as his native state, his birth occurring in Bond county, November 25. 1850. His father, James B. Hunter, was born in Ken- tucky and at an carly day came to Illinois, being engaged in farming in Macon county for some years. He entered the army dur- ing the Civil war as a member of Company I, One Hundred and sixteenth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry and when hostilities ceased
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he returned to this state, where he resided for a time, but is now living in Arkansas. He married Miss Nancy Griggs, and to them were born four children, as follows : Jennie, wife of Henry Fruit, of Decatur ; Emma, wife of Jackson IIanks, also of De- catur; Lucy, wife of Thomas Elker, who makes his home in California, and William B., of this review.
William B. Hunter spent his boyhood and youth upon a farm and in 1862 began earn- ing his own livelihood. For three years he was employed on a farm near Elwin and then came to Mount Zion township, where he worked as a farm hand by the month until he had accumulated sufficient capital to buy a tract of land and engage in farming on his own account. For a short period during his early life he was employed as a clerk in a general store but with that ex- ception his time and attention have been wholly devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which line he has prospered, becoming owner of over four hundred acres of rich and arable land in this county. In con- nection with his farming operations he has been engaged in the nursery business for the past three years in partnership with E. K. Hurlbert and George Spitler and this venture has been a success from the start.
Mr. Ilunter is a man of untiring disposi- tion, and although safe and conservative in his business methods, he is yet energetic and progressive, and to these elements in his character he owes his success in life for he started out for himself with no capital and has made his way in the world unaided from the age of twelve years. In politics he is a Democrat but at local elections gen- crally votes independent of party lines, en- deavoring to support the best man for the office.
NOAH D. MYERS, M. D.
One of the most prominent and successful physicians and surgeons now engaged in
practice in Decatur is Dr. Noah D. Myers, who has that love for and devotion to his profession which have won him a place among the ablest representatives of the med- ical fraternity in this section of the state.
The Doctor was born in Fountain county, Indiana, February 17, 1843. His grand- father, Jacob Myers, was a resident of North Carolina and in the spring of 1811 removed to Indiana. He found that the red men were so numerous at that time that he con- sidered it unsafe to reside in such close proximity to them and, accordingly, re- turned to the south. In 1829, however, he again ventured to the frontier and remained a resident of Indiana until his death. John Myers, the father of our subject, was also born in North Carolina and died April 1, 1903, at the residence of the Doctor in De- catur. He wedded Catherine Fine, who died in 1892, at the age of seventy-nine years. Both were of German lineage. In their family were eleven children, of whom four are now living, namely: Noah D .; Peter, who resides in Gila, Illinois ; Susanna, the wife of M. M. Sowers, of Gila ; Amanda C., who is the wife of J. A. Sanders, of Covington, Indiana.
Upon the home farm in his native state Dr. Myers spent the days of his boyhood and youth. He attended the public schools and he worked in the first steam sawmill in his locality, this having been erected by his father near Wallace in Fountain county. Later he became a student in Harmonia College at Russellville, Indiana, and subse- quently matriculated in the State Univer- sity at Bloomington, Indiana, where he pur- sued a scientific course. With broad gen- eral knowledge to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional learning, he took up the study of medicine in the office and under the di- rection of Dr. A. T. Steele, of Waveland, Indiana, and in 1870 he became a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago, but that
La N. Barnes.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY.
institution was burned during the great Chi- cago fire in 1871 and Dr. Myers therefore completed his course in the medical college of Ohio at Cincinnati, where he was grad- uated with the class of 1872. Being now well equipped for his chosen profession the Doctor opened an office in Veedersburg, Indiana, where he remained for a short time, removing then to Browns Valley in the same state. In 1874 he came to Illinois, locating at Gila, Jasper county. He built the first house in the village there and prac- ticed in that locality for thirteen years, having a large country practice which was of a varied and important character. In 1887, however, desiring a broader scope for his labors, le came to Decatur, where he has since carried on general practice and has won for himself a place among the lead- ing and successful physicians of the city. He belongs to the Decatur Medical Society and the members of the medical fraternity acknowledge his worth and capability.
In 1873 Dr. Myers was united in mar- riage to Miss Mattie J. Ward, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Musgrove) Ward, of Parke county, Indiana. They now have four children : Bessie Lee, the wife of W. H. Peters ; Minnie M .; Lulu P., the wife of William A. Shorb ; and Merle M.
The Doctor is a valued representative of the Masonic fraternity. He was made a Mason in 1889 in Ionic Lodge, No. 312, F. & A. M., with which he is still affiliated. He is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and holds membership rela- tions with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica ; the Fraternal Tribunes and the Yeo- manry. His political support has ever been given to the Democracy and he has taken an active part in politics. He was a member of the pension board during President Cleveland's administration. The Doctor deserves credit for what he has accom- plished. He earned a portion of the funds necessary for his college expenses as a
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