USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 2
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HENRY WHITCOMB LYNCH.
Henry W. Lynch is prominently before the public in Peoria at the present time as postmaster of the city and yet long before entering upon the duties of this position he has been known as a representative and valued citizen because of the extent and importance of his business connections. He is one of the fore- most representatives of the coal trade in the central part of the state. conducting his sales along wholesale lines while at the same time he is interested as an owner in various coal mining properties of this state and of Indiana. His birth occurred in Magnolia. Putnam county, Illinois, on the 26th of July, 1857. his parents being Jesse and Harriet ( Whitcomb) Lynch, the former a native of New York and the latter of Michigan. The son entered the public schools of his native county and after mastering the branches of learning therein taught, con- tinued his education in the University of Illinois, where he spent two years. Turning his attention to the profession of teaching, he took charge of a school south of Chenoa and later accepted a clerkship in a grain elevator at Ballard. Afterward he became connected with the railroad service as an employe of the Toledo, Peoria, Warsaw & Western Railway Company, acting as agent at Shel- don, Illinois, from 18SI until 1888.
On the Ist of February of the latter year Mr. Lynch came to Peoria where he has since made his home and entered business circles here as manager of a coal company that was operating extensively in central Illinois. He has been engaged in business on his own account since 1894 and in the intervening period his course has been characterized by continuous progress resulting from the wise and judicial use of time, talents and opportunities. He has been a leading factor in the development of the coal trade in this and adjoining states, eventually becoming one of the most extensive operators in Illinois. He handles the product of various mines of the middle west and in a number of these is largely inter- ested financially. He has studied the trade and its possibilities, has bent his energies to the mastery of every problem connected therewith and in this way has advanced to a position of leadership in his chosen field.
As previously stated, however, Mr. Lynch is also well known because of the service which he is now rendering to the public in office. In politics he has ever been a stalwart and earnest but conservative republican and his opinions have carried weight in the local councils of his party. He was first called to office in
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1895 when elected alderman from the old first ward and his first term's service received commendation and approval in his reelection in 1897. Further indorse- ment of his record as councilman came to him in his election to the office of mayor in 1899 and to the city he gave a businesslike, practical and progressive administration. In 1906 he was again called from private life to public office in his appointment as postmaster of Peoria, to which he was reappointed on the expiration of his four years' term. The local press said of him: "As alderman, mayor and postmaster his official course has been marked by the same earnest qualities that have made him a successful business man. He has always en- deavored in an official capacity to perform his duties in the interest of the public welfare and in this his sterling integrity and his capabilities have made him a valued public official." Neither is Mr. Lynch unknown in the financial field for he figures in local banking circles as the vice president of the Central National Bank.
On the 24th of July, 1884, Mr. Lynch was united in marriage at Oxford, Indiana, to Miss Frances M. Baldwin, a daughter of Ira and Phoebe Baldwin, and unto them have been born two sons, Ralph A. and Harold W., both yet at home. The family attend the Congregational church in which Mr. Lynch holds membership, and he belongs also to several fraternal organizations including the Masonic, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen and Maccabee lodges. He is a mem- ber of Illinois Lodge No. 263, F. & A. M., the chapter, commandery and the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a member of the Creve Coeur and Country Clubs. In business and social circles he stands equally high. He is a man of firm purpose, dependable under all circumstances and in any emergency. His quietude of deportment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, with the total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and an habit- ual regard for what is best in the exercise of human acitvities.
EDWARD N. WOODRUFF.
Firm of purpose, progressive in spirit and with notable conception of the duties, obligations and opportunities of citizenship, Edward N. Woodruff well merits the honor which has come to him in a third election to the office of mayor of Peoria. Moreover, his life record stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, for he is a native son of the city which has three times called him to serve as its chief executive. There are those who address him in terms of familiarity which indicate long acquaintance from boyhood days ; there are those who greet him with the dignity that seems to be a part of his office, but both entertain for him the respect which is given in recognition of individual character and of fidelity to principle.
His father, Nelson L. Woodruff, was one of the pioneer residents of Peoria, arriving in this city in 1834. He was born in Chenango, New York, May 24, 1818, his parents being Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Woodruff, who on coming to this state, settled upon a farm and aided in the early agricultural development of their district. Nelson L. Woodruff at the time of the removal was a youth of sixteen years. He continued to reside upon and assist in the cultivation of the old home farm until he had reached his majority, when he began learning the cooper's trade, which he followed for some time. He afterward built the first canal boat used on the Illinois canal and named it Fort Clark. In 1855 he turned his at- tention to the ice business, in which he continued successfully for almost a quar- ter of a century, enjoying a large trade in the handling of the output to the time of his death, which occurred October 23, 1879. His wife afterward took up the
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
management of the business, which later was turned over to their son, Edward. Mrs. Woodruff had become a resident of Peoria in 1835. She bore the maiden name of Mary A. Monroe and was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, Jan- uary 1, 1826, her parents being Samuel and Lois ( Brown) Monroe, who were also natives of the Keystone state. It was on the 15th of October, 1846, that she gave her hand in marriage to Nelson L. Woodruff, and unto them were born six children, of whom two are living, the daughter being Mrs. Harriet Emerson, wife of George Emerson, of Peoria. The parents were consistent members of the First Baptist church and the father was a republican in his political views.
At the usual age Edward N. Woodruff entered the public schools and pur- sued his studies in consecutive grades until he was graduated from the high school. A year thereafter was devoted to range riding in New Mexico, and dif- ferent lines of business claimed his attention at various periods but in early man- hood he settled down to the management of the ice business which his father had established. Progressive methods constituted his control of this undertaking, as was manifest in the fact that he later erected a modern ice plant, equipped with the latest improved machinery, its location being at No. 1122 South Adams street. Mr. Woodruff is still at the head of this business, which has now grown to extensive proportions and is a source of gratifying revenue. Into other fields of activity he has extended his efforts and is now a director of the Peoria Life Insurance Company and vice president of the Peoria Tent & Awning Company. He is likewise the president of the Ice Dealers Association of the state, formed to further the interests of those connected with the trade.
Mr. Woodruff has followed in the political as well as the business footsteps of his father, for his mature judgment has indorsed the principles of the republi- can party and its policy.
Of him it has been said: "The same elementary constituents in the composi- tion of E. N. Woodruff that made him a good business man have made him a good politician, and more." He is not a political leader in the ordinary sense of the term, for he employs party organization only as a means to an end and yet manifests those qualities which in a wider sphere constitute the statesman. He is essentially a student of municipal affairs and gives much thought. consideration and study to questions relative to city government. While he holds to high ideals, his methods are practical and even the bitterness of partisan politics can- not o'ercloud the service which he has rendered in behalf of progress, reform and improvement. He was first called to the office of alderman, representing the first ward for two terms. In 1903 he was called to the mayoralty and retired at the close of that term. A careful reflection concerning the work of his ad- ministration led to his selection again as a candidate in 1909. The people indorsed the choice of the party delegates and once more he was elected and again in 1911. One of the local papers said concerning his reelection in April, 1910, that it came "after a severe criticism of his previous administration and a cam- paign for a commission form of city government in which his administration was mercilessly reviewed, and yet when the heat of party passion and civic criticism had spent its force, the fact remained that the administration of Mr. Woodruff had been sound and just and he was reelected by a majority of over fifteen hundred. A greater compliment was never paid a mayor of the city of Peoria. It was a vote of confidence and his present term would show that this confidence was not misplaced. Mayor Woodruff is a man with a brain and a sense of justice ; with administrative power to plan much for the city's good and the executive will to carry his plans into effect. Elected twice an alderman and three times as mayor, attests the qualities not of a politician but of a man with high ideals as a public officer and these have been duly recognized and will continue to be recognized as the years roll on." Many tangible evidences of Mr. Woodruff's loyalty to the city's welfare can be given. He has made many public improve- ments and while never countenanceing needless expenditure. he has not believed
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
in retrenchment at the sacrifice of progressiveness, and has sought the city's ad- vancement along all possible lines. During his administration about eighteen miles of paving has been laid on the east side in two years and twenty miles of cement sidewalk. A bridge proposition has been put through, planning for a bridge across the river, which will be of great benefit to the city. His plans have made it possible and he has promised the settlement of difficulties between the citizens and the water company by a direct vote of the people. He also sub- mitted the bridge referendum to the vote of the people and has introduced many improvements in the police and fire departments, including civil service reform.
In Peoria, in 1888. Mr. Woodruff was united in marriage to Miss Anna Smith, a daughter of Gottlieb Smith, an early settler of Peoria, who resided here for many years, and they have one child, Mary Monroe.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Woodruff is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, and he is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. He early learned the lesson that life means more than pleasure and has a deeper, broader purpose than activity for the benefit of self alone. He has therefore made an effort to render his career a serviceable one in the world's work and his fellow townsmen attest and appreciate the fact that he has done so.
B. FRANK BROWN.
B. Frank Brown, founder of the Brown Printing Company and an official of various other local enterprises, is one of the successful business men of Peo- ria whose life should be an inspiration to every ambitious young man, as it clearly demonstrates what it is possible to achieve through the intelligent ap- plication of intense energy. Mr. Brown is not only prominently connected with the manufacturing and industrial interests of the city but he is actively identified with political affairs, having for some years been a member of the board of aldermen. He was born in Washington, Illinois, on the 18th of Sep- tember, 1866, and is a son of Adam and Salome Brown. The father is one of the foremost citizens of El Paso, this state, where he has been engaged in car- riage building for more than thirty years. He is a republican in his political views and has been a member of the town council during a part of his residence there. Originally the Brown family came from Pennsylvania and they are of Dutch extraction, but they have long been residents of Illinois.
The education of B. Frank Brown was obtained in the public schools of El Paso, which he attended until he was fourteen years of age. He then laid aside his text-books to become a clerk in the postoffice. He subsequently apprenticed himself for three years to the jewelry business and after the expiration of his period of service worked for several years as journeyman watchmaker in the states of Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and California. While employed in the lat- ter state he learned how to make rubber stamps from the man with whom he worked at the bench. Upon his return to Illinois he located in Peoria and bor- rowing seventy-five dollars engaged in the manufacture of rubber stamps. He engaged in this enterprise with intense enthusiasm and an abundance of energy, determining to make it a success. He did his work thoroughly, delivered his orders promptly and took infinite pains to satisfy his patrons, and as a result his trade increased rapidly and he was subsequently able to extend the scope of his activities by adding a job printing department. This likewise proved to be very remunerative and he later engaged in book binding also, and during the inter- vening years the business has developed until it is now the largest concern of the kind in the state outside of Chicago. As his business has prospered. Mr. Brown has extended his interests in various directions and is financially interested in
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
several thriving enterprises of the city. He is secretary and treasurer of The Peoria Bulletin Company located at 201 and 203 South Washington street, and is secretary of The Smith-Brown Tent & Awning Company, located at 107 South Washington avenue, and treasurer of The Saratoga Cigar Stores Company.
In this city on the ist of June, 1887, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Adah Prince, a daughter of Mrs. Cordelia Prince, and to them have been born two children: Chauncey, who is superintendent of the monotype depart- ment of the Brown Printing Company; and Vera, who died in 1889 at the age of fourteen months and is buried at Washington, Illinois. The family home is located at 518 Bryan street, where they have a very pleasant and comfortable residence.
Mr. Brown is a Knight Templar and a member of the Shrine. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his connection with organizations of a more purely social nature is confined to his membership in the Creve Coeur Club. Mr. Brown votes the republican ticket and is now serving his second term as alderman from the third ward. He manifests the same qualities in the discharge of his public duties as characterize him in his business transactions, and as a result has proven to be a highly satisfactory and efficient official. He possesses an intense capacity for work, pronounced executive ability and unusual powers of organization, which qualities have been dominant factors in his career.
BENJAMIN LANGFORD TODD BOURLAND.
Among those who are operating in real estate in Peoria Benjamin Langford Todd Bourland is well known and it would be difficult to find one who has a wider acquaintance with realty values or who has conducted more important ne- gotiations over the exchange of property here. Hle was born in Trigg county, Kentucky, October 10, 1825, a son of Andrew and Damaris ( Reese ) Bourland. both of whom were natives of South Carolina. His great-grandfather, John Bourland, was born in the north of Ireland and early in life sought the oppor- tunities offered by the new world, establishing his home in South Carolina. In that state occurred the birth of his son, the Rev. John Bourland, who, on attain- ing his majority, there married Miss Mary Loving, also a native of that state. On the maternal side Benjamin L. T. Bourland comes of ancestry established in South Carolina in colonial days. One of his great-grandfathers was Bayless Earle, whose wife lived to the age of one hundred and four years. Their daugh- ter, Nancy Earle, became the wife of John Reese, also a native of South Caro- lina, and they were the parents of Damaris Reese, who became the wife of An- drew Bourland. It was in the year 1834 that Andrew Bourland removed with his family to Illinois, settling in Perry county, where they remained until 1836. In that year a removal was made to Vandalia, which was then the capital of the state, and in 1840 when the capital was removed to Springfield, Mr. Bourland hecame a resident of that city. In May, 1844, he became a resident of Chicago, and the year 1847 witnessed his arrival in Peoria, which became his place of per- manent abode.
In the meantime Benjamin L. T. Bourland had been attending the public schools in the different localities where the family resided and for a time was a student in an academy at Springfield. He was also employed for a period in the office of the Hon. Alexander P. Field, secretary of state, and after going to Chi- cago he had his first experience in the real-estate business with Ogden, Jones & Company. On coming to Peoria he continued in the same line of business in company with William R. Phelps, adding thereto a banking and loan business. During his residence in Peoria, covering a period of sixty-five years, he has been
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
identified with various banking enterprises and in addition has conducted some of the most important real-estate operations in the history of the city. He has always kept well informed concerning property values and has therefore been enabled to negotiate important realty transfers beneficial alike to his clients and to himself. At the present time he is engaged in the real-estate and loan business as senior member of the firm of Bourland & Bailey. They have large and com- modious offices in the new Dime Savings Bank building and have an extensive clientele which indicates that the business is one of the most important and ex- tensive of the kind in the city.
Mr. Bourland has been twice married. On the 20th of November, 1849 he wedded Julia M. Preston, of St. Louis, Missouri, and on the 17th of January, 1869, Clara Parsons, of Chicago, became his wife. By the first marriage there were born two sons, Ogden Phelps and Rudolphus Rouse. The children of the second marriage were six in number, four sons and two daughters, Benjamin Parsons, Caroline Brown, Elsie Parsons, Norman T., Philip D. and Robert C.
In religious belief Mr. Bourland is a Unitarian and in politics he is a demo- crat. He has always been a broad and liberal-minded man, interested in life, its purposes and its activities and seeking ever to benefit not only himself but others by his labors and his example. He enjoys an unassailable reputation for integ- rity and honor in business and his success is the merited reward of earnest labor and capable management. Mr. Bourland has now passed the eighty-sixth mile- stone on life's journey and is one of the venerable and honored residents of the city. He has been a witness of a greater part of the growth and development of the state. The leading events in its history are familiar to him not because he has read of them but because he has lived through the period in which they occurred. There are few men today who can claim residence in Vandalia when it was the capital of the state. He has watched the marvelous growth of Chicago and almost equally wonderful development of the entire commonwealth. While he has not sought to figure prominently in public affairs he has ever been faith- ful to the duties that have come to him day by day and his worth as a citizen and business man has long been widely acknowledged.
EDWARD C. LEISY.
Edward C. Leisy is perhaps most widely known outside of Peoria as the president of the Leisy Brewing Company, but in the city his work has included not only the upbuilding of this mammoth enterprise but extended also to other fields whereby Peoria has largely profited. He is the builder of some of the finest structures of the city and has again and again shown his faith in Peoria by placing his investments in business projects here. His sound judgment and enterprise are forces which overcome difficulties and obstacles, and he has at all times been able to coordinate seemingly diverse elements into a unified and harmonious whole.
Mr. Leisy was born in Keokuk, Iowa, November 16, 1859, and, as the family name indicates, comes of German ancestry. The family record running back two hundred years in Germany shows that throughout this entire period repre- sentatives of the name have been connected with the brewing business, and their adaptability thereto comes largely to them through heredity. John Leisy, the father of Edward C. Leisy, left his native land to establish a home in America and resided for some time in Keokuk, Iowa, where he owned and operated a brewery. He was also at one time connected with the brewing business in Cleveland, Ohio, under the name of the Isaac Leisy Brewing Company. The thorough training which he received in Germany well qualified him for the suc- cessful conduct of the business after coming to the new world. When the
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HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
family removed to Peoria, Edward C. Leisy purchased the plant which is now conducted, in its enlarged state, under the name of the Leisy Brewing Company. It was in 1884 he purchased the Old City Brewery which had been established in 1849 and was the oldest in the city. In 1890 the Leisy Brewing Company was incorporated, prior to which time the business had been conducted under a partnership relation between Edward C. Leisy, who is now the president, Albert Leisy, secretary and treasurer; John Leisy, vice president and Gustave Leisy, who at present is not connected with the business. These gentlemen are brothers and have continued in the line of trade which was the ancestral busi- ness of the family through many generations. When John Leisy, the father, came to the new world he brought with him between thirty-two and thirty-three thousand dollars in gold. He therefore had no difficulty in establishing himself in business on this side of the Atlantic, and under his guidance his sons were trained to the work in which he had been so carefully reared.
Edward C. Leisy spent his youthful days under the parental roof and ac- quainted himself with the business in his father's establishment. He has been identified with brewing interests in Peoria since the purchase, in 1884, of what is now the Leisy Brewery. From the beginning success has attended the under- taking here and the firm today does the largest brewing business in the state outside of Chicago, their plant having a capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand barrels annually. Their barrel and keg trade has been extended throughout the states of Illinois, Jowa and Missouri, while their bottle prod- ucts are shipped throughout the west to the Pacific coast, one firm in Los An- geles, California, handling'nothing but the Leisy goods. To provide for their growing bottle trade the company, in 1910, erected at a cost of fifty thou- sand dollars, an extensive addition to their bottling plant, and equipped it with the latest improved machinery, including two machines which fill, cork and label ninety bottles a minute each. During the busy season this plant runs night and day and turns out over four hundred thousand bot- tles in the twenty-four hours. The beer is bottled from enameled stor- age tanks under government supervision in a two story brick building absol- utely fire proof. In shipments by the barrel and keg the business has reached a corresponding ratio, and the Leisy Brewing Company controls the biggest switching interest on the Rock Island track, distributing twenty-eight carloads daily. They employ three hundred and sixty people and pay out an- nually two hundred thousand dollars in salaries. For the accommodation of the trade in this city and agencies seventy-five wagons and one hundred and sixty horses are used. The plant is a most extensive one, including a number of buildings, and the business transacted each year approximates two million dollars. The upbuilding of this mammoth enterprise is due to Edward C. Leisy and his associates, and yet this does not cover the scope of his business activities. In many other connections Peoria has profited by the labors, enter- prise and ability of Mr. Leisy, who is a director of the Merchants National Bank and also of the Home Savings and State Bank of Peoria. He is presi- dent of the Jefferson Deposit Company, owner of the Jefferson building, which is the finest and largest office building in the city, and a director of the new Jefferson hotel which has just been completed and is the finest hotel in the state outside of Chicago. The Jefferson building is a strictly modern steel structure twelve stories in height with attractive interior finishings and most modern equipment. Metal and marble have been used in the interior deco- ration and mosaic tiled floors. The building contains oyer four hundred stores and office rooms and is occupied by the Home Savings and State Banks, the Peoria Journal and many other of the leading business concerns of the city. It represents an investment of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and stands as a perpetual monument of the enterprise of the man who erected it. After the destruction of the Grand Opera House by fire Edward C. Leisy and
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