USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > Past and present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois > Part 40
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY
of his obliging manner, his close fidelity to duty and his devotion to the interests of those whom he served. For several years he continued as clerk in Xenia and then removed to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he still continued in the hotel business. le became manager of the N. G. Omer House and held that position for twelve years, on the expiration of which period he came to Decatur. Arriving in this city in 1890 he purchased what is known as the Central Ilotel and continued to conduct it with marked success until his death. He made it an excellent hostelry which won favor with the traveling public because of the en- tertainment furnished the guests by a host who did everything in his power to pro- mote their comfort and welfare, while they were his guests.
Mr. Taggart was married December 19, 1877, in Xenia. Ohio, to Miss Mary Green- wood, a native of that city and a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth ( Layman) Green- wood. Her father was a native of England, but coming to America resided in carly manhood in Virginia, where he was overseer of slaves. He afterward removed to Greene county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming until his death, making his home near Xenia. His wife was a native of Pennsylvania, and she, too, died in the Buckeye state. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Taggart were born five chil- dren : Ralph, who is now day clerk in the St. Nicholas Hotel of this city; Thomas. who is a clerk in the chief engineer's office at Chicago, Illinois ; Robert, who is serving as a clerk in a hotel at Frenchlick. Indiana ; Mary, who resides at home; and Edgar, who is also with his mother.
In his political views Mr. Taggart was a stalwart Republican, but never turned aside from business cares to seck political prefer- ment. He held membership in the Masonic lodge at Terre Haute, Indiana, and also at- tained the Knight Templar degree in the commandery there. He belonged to the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows of Nenia and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. For three years after his death Mrs. Taggart conducted the hotel, showing excellent business ability and marked powers as a manager. She then pur- chased her present home at No. 443 North Morgan street in Decatur, where with her children she now resides. She is quite prom- inent in the social circles of this city and has many warm friends.
Mr. Taggart passed away on the 29th of November, 1897, at Battle Creek, Michigan, and was buried in Greenwood cemetery, Decatur. He was prominent and influential in Decatur, where he had become widely known and where the sterling traits of his character had gained for him warm regard. He was richly endowed in those qualities of manhood that win friendship and he had the happy faculty of drawing closer to him as the years passed the friends whose regard he once gained. Ilis geniality and courteous manner were among the salient features of his career and added to these qualities was strong determination and ex- cellent management, which in his business life won for him a fair measure of success.
GEORGE F. LOWE.
One of the prominent and representative citizens of Pleasant View township in the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He is a native of Illinois, born in Summerfield, St. Clair county, and belongs to an old and honored family of this state. His father Captain George Franklin Lowe, was born in Tennessee in 1816, but was only three years old when he came to Illi- nois with his parents, and settled in St. Clair county, where the grandfather of our subject purchased land, which later became the property of the father. \ part of the old homestead was afterward laid out to
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form the village of Summerfield. In early manhood Captain Lowe married Miss Martha Phillips, who was born in Wash- ington county, Illinois, and was a daughter of Colonel Phillips, who entered the army as a private during the Mexican war and rose to the rank of colonel. He was a prom- inent and extensive farmer of Washington county, where he owned about a section of land. When the country became involved in civil war the father of our subject was commissioned captain of a company or- ganized in St. Clair county and assigned to the One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the war he continued to make his home in that county until 1881, when he came to Macon county and purchased a farm of ninety-two and a half acres near the village of Macon, but after the death of his wife, which occurred in 1885, he sold the place to his sons, Al- bert and George, and now makes his home in Kewanee, Illinois, where he owns prop- erty.
George F. Lowe is the eighth in order of birth in a family of ten children, the others being as follows: J. H., a physician, died in Kewanee, leaving a family; Emma is at home with her father; Ellen married Dr. David Alvis and lives in Kewanee; Lucy is the wife of B. H. Ober, who is engaged in the manufacture of steam heaters in Duluth, Minnesota; A. G. married Hattie Cameron and resides in Chicago, although he is now in Texas; Albert married Ruth Spencer and follows farming in Shelby county, Missouri; Addie is the wife of John W. Seibert, who owns and operates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near Eldo- rado, Kansas; F. O. married Lena Jacobs and is engaged in the practice of medicine in Kewanee, Illinois; and C. E. married Sarah Hill and makes his home in Winfield, Kansas, where he has been a teacher in the Winfield Academy, a Methodist institution,
and also had charge of the accounts of the school.
The primary education of our subject was obtained in the schools of Summerfield and he later attended McKendree College, which was then in charge of his uncle D. W. Phil- lips, as president. That gentleman was also presiding elder in the Alton district for a time and was a prominent clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died in Chicago, having superannuated relations with the church at that time. It was the intention of Mr. Lowe to fit himself for the medical profession, and for some time he studied under the direction of his brother, Dr. J. H. Lowe, of Kewanee, his brother Frank O. being a student there at the same time. The latter completed his course and is now practicing at Kewanee, but our sub- ject was obliged to give up his studies on account of ill health and in 1884 commenced farming in Macon . county. As previously stated he and his brother, Albert, now of Missouri, bought the father's farm in this county, which with their other property here made them owners of one hundred and seventy-two and a half acres. Our subject finally sold out and on the Ist of January, 1897, went to Texas, locating in Brazoria county between Houston and Galveston, where he engaged in the fruit and real estate business for nearly two years. He next made his home in the Iron mountain district of Missouri, for a time, and then returned to Macon county, Illi- nois. After residing for a short time in Blue Mound he purchased his present farm of eighty acres on section 35, Pleasant View township, which is now worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. It is now under a high state of cultivation and improved in a worthy manner.
On the 24th of March, 1887, Mr. Lowe was united in marriage to Miss Effie L. Recdy, who was born in Ross county, Ohio, April 14. 1868, a daughter of Amos
J.A. Culver.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY.
and Rose (Bookwalter) Reedy, in whose family are four children: Elmer E., who lives with his parents near Macon; Susic, now the widow of James E. House and a resident of Blue Mound; Effie L., wife of our subject : and Mayme, wife of E. J. Divan, a real estate dealer of Decatur. Un- to Mr. and Mrs. Lowe have been born three children; Bessie E., born October 27, 1889; George Mervil, born September 25, 1892; and Wayne Reedy, born January 4, 1895.
As a Republican Mr. Lowe takes quite an active and influential part in local poli- tics and has been a delegate to the county conventions of his party. Ile is a promi- nent member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Blue Mound, is now serving as trustee. He is widely and favorably known in the county of his adoption and by the possession of those qualities, which in every land and clime command respect, lie has won many friends.
JOHN II. CULVER.
The term "captains of industry" is a fa- miliar one in the parlance of the day and has arisen from the conditions existing at the present age of the workl's history when business activity has replaced the records of wars and conquests. The men who awaken public attention and regard are they who are controlling the large commercial and industrial interests of the country. Each city has its representative men who have worthily won this title through their man- agement of extensive business concerns. The praise and compliment it implies is due John Il. Culver, of Decatur, whose asso- ciation with important industries has caused him to be classed among the leading resi- dents of this city and made him a man of wealth, notwithstanding that in his career there have been days of trial and discour- agement when disaster threatened and de-
feat seemed imminent. This capability, per- severance and honorable dealing have tri- umphed over adversity and now he stands as one of the foremost representatives of business life not only in Decatur but in Illinois as well.
A native of Christian county, this state, John H. Culver was born on the 26th of December. 1858, a son of Edward and Eliza- beth (Scott) Culver. The father was a farmer by occupation and also engaged in stock-raising. Ile became well known as a landowner in Nebraska but made his home in Macon county until 1883, when he removed to the west. Ile passed away in Blue Mound, Illinois, in 1891, at the age of sixty-two years, and his wife died in 1884.
John H. Culver was only five years of age when brought by his parents to Macon county. Here under the parental roof he was reared and at the age of sixteen he supple- mented his early educational privileges by study in the normal school at Taylorville. When he had completed a thorough busi- ness course he accepted a position in the office of his brother, J. S. Culver, of Tay- lorville, who was owner of an extensive monument establishment there and at sev- eral other points. John II. Culver soon mastered the business and became super- intendent of the plants. On attaining his majority, however, he returned to Macon county and through the succeeding three years was engaged in teaching school with good success. On the expiration of that period he rejoined his brother, who in the meantime had established headquarters at Springfield, Illinois, and there he devoted his entire attention to the mastery of all the details of monumental work save the strictly mechanical part of the business. At nine different points in Hlinois his brother had established monumental works and was in control of a mammoth enterprise in that line. John H. Culver eventually became a partner in the enterprise and soon afterward
18
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY.
they closed all the branch yards and greatly increased the capacity of the central estab- lishment. They concentrated their work and business there, their patronage being very extensive and their work returning to them a splendid income. Their partnership continued for four years, at the end of which time John H. Culver sold out and came to Decatur, arriving in 1889.
In the meantime the business of the firm met with disaster, not through any lack of capable management but because they dis- charged a debt or obligation of honor, which left them financially crippled. They had endorsed for the contractor on government work at Fort Riley, Kansas, and as he failed to carry out his contract, it was finished by the Culver Brothers, but this left them in very straitened financial circumstances. When John H. Culver arrived in Decatur he had but one hundred and fifty-eight dol- lars, and within the fourteen years which have since elapsed he has become one of the wealthy men of this part of the state. During the two years following his removal to Decatur he was upon the road as a trav- eling salesman for his monument house and his business reached a phenomenal figure. He worked night and day to retrieve his lost fortunes and his efforts were ceaseless until he had passed the financial goal which he had previously reached. In 1891 he opened a small establishment for the handling of electrical supplies. Not long after this R. F. Piatt obtained a franchise from the city for commercial lighting, but failing in the conduct of his business Mr. Culver and his partners fell heir, in a way, to his franchise and shortly after securing another franchise they incorporated the Municipal Electric Company of Decatur, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars and Mr. Cul- ver as the president. Thus he entered upon a new field of labor, which he has expanded and developed until the scope of his efforts is most far-reaching, the work proving of
benefit to many cities as well as a source of great remuneration to himself. The busi- ness of the new company was successfully managed for a few years but in 1895 failing health compelled Mr. Culver to seek a change of climate and he went to Florida. Upon his return a few months later he found the concern in the hands of a re- ceiver, but with his customary energy he took hold of the business and within ten months the receiver was discharged and the enterprise once more on a paying basis. The capable control and business foresight of Mr. Culver were manifest in the con- stantly increasing success attendant upon this enterprise and in 1898 the plant was sold by him for one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars. For a number of years he has been engaged in the building and con- trol of various light, water and heating plants all over the state of Illinois and yet retains the ownership of some of these, in- cluding the Tuscola Light & Heating Plant and an interest in the Assumption Light & Heating Company. He was also at one time the owner of a similar plant at Mo- weaqua, Illinois. In addition to his own plants Mr. Culver has built many plants for others throughout the state, including the Capitol lighting plant for the state of Illinois at Springfield.
He who reads between the lines will learn of the wonderful managerial ability, marked foresight. undaunted energy and above all the indefatigable industry of John H. Culver. who within the comparatively short space of fourteen years has built up a fortune which would be regarded by many as a splendid achievement of an entire life- time. He has made judicious investments of his increasing capital in real estate and now has large property interests, including four thousand acres of land in Minnesota, several hundred acres in the corn belt of Illinois and also property in Missouri and Nebraska. He owns the Platt, Mueller &
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Wheeland block, the postoffice block, the Culver building and other valuable proper- ties in Decatur, and through his investments in this direction has done much for the ma- terial improvement of the city.
On the nith of March, 1886, in Macon county, was celebrated the marriage of John II. Culver and Miss Florence Hight, a daughter of R. W. Ilight, of Macon town- ship, and unto them have been born two children, Elizabeth and Ruth, both attend- ing school in this city. Mrs. Culver has indeed been a faithful companion and help- mate to her husband, encouraging him in the dark days of his adversity and even as- sisting him in his efforts to regain a foot- ing in the business world by acting as his bookkeeper for two years after he again started in business in this city. She now presides with gracious and charming hospi- tality over their beautiful home at No. 412 Prairie avenue, one of the finest residences of the city, and containing one of the largest and most complete libraries of the city. This home is supplied with all that wealth can secure and refined taste suggest and is a fitting monument to the life and labors of its owner. Both Mr. and Mrs. Culver are members of the Grace Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Culver exercises his right of fran- chise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party and keeps well in- formed on the issues of the day and the great questions effecting the nation's wel- fare at home and in its relations with for- eign powers. He is the secretary of the chamber of commerce of Decatur and is un- tiring in his efforts to further the material welfare of the city. Fraternally he is con- nected with Ionic Lodge, No. 312, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; Macon Chapter, No. 21, R. A. M. ; Decatur Council, R. & S. M. ; and Beaumanoir Commandery, No. 9, K. T .; and he takes a decp interest in the workings of the craft. He is also a
member of Mahommed Temple of the Mys- tic Shrine at Peoria. He likewise belongs to the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, of which he is a charter member, and so- cially he is connected with the Decatur and Country Clubs. In the fraternal organiza- tions he is classed as a most valued member because of his absolute fidelity to the prin- ciples which form the elements of friend- ship. In a review of his business career it is easily seen that his success, although it seems almost phenomenal, cannot be at- tributed to any fortunate combination of cir- cumstances. On the contrary he has never let pass an opportunity to better his condi- tion by hard work, and there have been times in his business career when he worked almost night and day. He has ever been conspicuous among his associates not only for his success but for his probity, fairness and honorable methods. Ilis identification with industrial interests in Decatur covers fourteen years and his labors have extended far beyond the bounds of this city. During this entire time he has so conducted his affairs as to merit the confidence and es- teem of the entire community and no word of censure has ever been uttered against his actions. To him has largely 'been due the expansion of industrial interests and while far-reaching have been his efforts and bril- liant his success, his labors have also proven of great benefit to the general public in the stimulus given to business activity.
ELI S. ULERY.
One of the most prominent and wealthy citizens of Macon county whose life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits is the gentleman whose name initiates this review. He was born in Mount Zion township on the 12th of December, 1862, his parents be- ing Eli and Mary E. (Dillon) Ulery. The mother, who died at the carly age of twenty-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY.
eight years, was a native of Illinois and a daughter of Joshua Dillon, a well known stockdealer and prominent citizen of Mount Zion. Our subject's father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and on coming to Illinois in 1836 settled in the vil- lage of Mount Zion, but four years later re- moved to a farm on section 2, Mount Zion township, which he had purchased and which continued to be his home throughout the remainder of his life. He was a very successful farmer and accumulated a vast amount of property although he began life for himself with a capital of only twelve dollars. Industrious, persevering and en- terprising, he steadily worked his way up- ward until he was one of the most prosper- ous men of his community. During his active business life he gave considerable at- tention to stock and in early days drove his cattle across the country to the New York markets. As he acquired any capital he in- vested it in new land and in his speculations he prospered. In politics he was an ardent Republican. He died in December. 1897, at the age of eighty-two years, honored and respected by all who knew him. He had four brothers, all of whom remained in Pennsylvania, and all are now deceased.
Eli S. Ulery began his education in the common schools of Mount Zion and at the age of fourteen years entered the Christian Brothers College at St. Louis, Missouri. Immediately after leaving that institution he went to Colorado, where he enjoyed the novel experiences of a cowboy in the Green Horn mountains between Trinidad and Pueblo for four years. At the age of eigh- teen he returned home and has since en- gaged in farming, the buying and selling of horses and the shipping of stock. In 1886 he took charge of the home farm, consisting of six hundred and forty acres, and has since added to his property from time to time un- til he is now the owner of eleven hundred and eighty acres, most of which is under a
high state of cultivation and well improved.
On the 10th of March, 1885, Mr. Ulery was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Gib- son Bell, a daughter of Andrew and Lucy Bell, of Mount Zion, and five children bless this union, namely: Bernard B., Simon K., Mona G., Earl A. and Mary I.
In 1901 Mr. Ulery purchased forty acres of land of S. S. Bilby in the northern part of Mount Zion township and has converted a portion of it into picnic and pleasure grounds at a considerable cost, naming the place Woodbine. Here he has erected an artistic log cabin, in which he and his fam- ily spend the mid-summer days; has made a beautiful artificial lake; built a pavilion, water tank, boat house and a small hotel; has scattered rustic seats throughout the grounds, which are ornamented by foun- tains, urns and beautiful flowers. The lake is about twenty-four feet in depth and on it is run a naphtha launch. Mr. Ulery is very fond of sports of all kinds and takes espe- cial delight in fishing, making trips for this purpose into Louisiana, Missouri and Ar- kansas. He is also interested in a fish pond one-half mile south of Mount Zion, the other owners being Alexander Scott, W. S. Smith, W. C. Smith and T. C. Stoner, Jr. In politics he is a Republican but is not active in political affairs. He is a typical American citizen, thoroughly up-to-date and progressive, and his pleasant genial man- ners make him quite popular socially, while in business affairs he is prompt, reliable and energetic.
WALTER M. CRAWFORD.
The subject of this sketch is one of the successful and progressive farmers of Maroa township, his home being on section 23. Although he started out in life for himself with no capital, he has by persistent effort and untiring labor gained a nice home and
Jeorge fa Hangeisen
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MACON COUNTY.
omfortable competence that now numbers lim among the well-to-do and substantial citizens of his adopted county.
Mr, Crawford was born in Virginia, Sep- tember 9, 1863, and is the fifth in order of birth in a family of nine children, the par- ents being Thomas N. and Maria (Lugar) Crawford. By occupation the father was a veterinary surgeon and farmer. Our sub- ject acquired his early education in the dis- trict schools of Roanoke county, Virginia, where he was reared, and later attended high school for a time. He began his busi- ness career at the age of twenty years by paying his father for one year's work in order that he might start out for himself. Believing that he could do better in the west than in the more thickly populated state where his boyhood was passed, he came to Illinois in 1883 and worked by the month in Macon county for about six years. He next engaged in operating rented land for eight years, and at the end of that time purchased eighty acres acres in Maroa township where he now resides. In 1897 he bought another tract of seventy acres, and to-day has a well improved and highly cultivated farm of one hundred and fifty acres in this county and also a farm in Grove county, Kansas. Besides the cul- tivation of his own land, Mr. Crawford has charge of his sister's farm of eighty acres. He feeds about fifty head of cattle annually and three hundred head of hogs, and finds this branch of his business quite profitable. He is a stockholder in the Farmer's elevator at Maroa and being a man of good business ability and sound judgment he usually car- ries forward to successful completion what- ever he undertakes.
On the 15th of February, 1889, Mr. Craw- ford married Miss Anna Bell Bricker, and they have become the parents of three child- ren, namely: Ruth, born December 15, 1893; Irene, born February 18, 1895; and Russell, born February 10, 1897. Mr. Craw-
ford is pre-eminently a self-made man and as one of the leading and successful agricul- turists of Macon county he is certainly deserving of honorable mention in its his- tory.
GEORGE J. DANZEISEN.
The prosperity of any community de- pends upon its business activity and the enterprise manifested in commercial circles is the foundation upon which is builded the material welfare of city, state and nation. The most important factors in public life at the present day are therefore the men who are in control of successful business interests and such a one is George J. Dan- zeisen, of Decatur, the senior partner of the firm of G. J. Danzeisen & Sons, pork pack- ers, and jobbers and dealers in beef.
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