USA > Illinois > Portrait and biographies of the governors of Illinois and of the residents of the United States > Part 32
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In everything pertaining to the public welfare, Mr. Davis was greatly interested, and held a num- ber of offices within the gift of the people. Among others he was Road Commissioner and School Di- rector, and was a staneh supporter of the best edu- eational facilities. In polities, he affiliated with the Democratic party. Both he and his wife were members of the Dunkard Church, to which the latter still belongs. The death of Mr. Davis oe- curred April 14, 1873, and his remains were in- terred in Taylorville Cemetery. He was respected and beloved by all who knew him, and was a man of upright character and true worth.
C ONRAD STORK is the fortunate possessor of one of the best improved farms of Ston- mgton Township, his home being made on section 33. The farm is located only two miles south of Stonington Station. Mr. Stork, who is one of the representative farmers of Christian County and a native of Germany, was born November 21, 1837, in Bavaria, being the youngest in his fa- ther's family.
John and Barbara ( Mauelem) Stork, the parents of our subject, were. like him, natives of Bavaria. The father was a wagon-maker by trade, which calling he followed until his death, which occurred
when he was in the prime of life, at forty-four years of age. Ilis wife did not long survive him, but was called from this life in her fifty-first year.
A lad of only eight years at the time of his fa- ther's death, Conrad Stork went to live with an unele on a farm, where he continued to make his home for five years. He was only thirteen when he crossed the Atlantie and went to work on a farm near Utica, N. Y., for 83 per month. At this employment he continued for five years, afterward going to Adams County, Ill., where for four years longer he worked by the month for farmers. Go- ing from there to Logan County, he was employed at farm work until the 9th of August, 1862, when he enlisted for the defense of his adopted land. Joining Company B, One Hundred and Sixth Illi- mois Infantry, he served until the close of the war, but never participated in an important battle. He was discharged from the service July 12, 1865, at Pine Bluff, Ark.
On his return from the war, Mr. Stork clerked for three years in a general store in Logan County, after which he rented and operated a farm one year. For fourteen years subsequently he rented land in Austin Township, Macon County. Com- ing to Stonington, this county, in 1885, he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of partly improved land, on which he still resides. It is now one of the best pieces of property in the township. The owner has made many improve- ments npon it and has set out several acres of fruit trees.
The marriage of Mr. Stork and Miss Mary E. Schick was celebrated October 28, 1865, soon after his return from the South. The lady was born in Logan County, Ill., and is a daughter of Frank and Margaret ( Young) Schick, who were old set- tlers of that county and both nalives of Germany. Mr. Schick located in Illinois in 1839, and for many years prior to his death, which occurred at the age of seventy years, he was engaged in mer- chandising in Pulaski. Seven children have been born to our subject and wife. Frank is still at home and assists in managing the home farm; Annie is the wife of Henry Polk, a former of Ne- braska; Katie married William Colbrook, a farmer of this county; Lizzie, Maggie, Christina and John
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complete the family. Mr. Stork and the other members of his household are members of the Catholic Church. Hle deposits his ballot in favor of the Democratic party.
S AMUEL BROWN, who is now living a re- tired life in Taylorville, was born in Cum- berland County, Pa., two miles from Carl isle, February 26, 1818. His father, George Brown, removed to Ohio with his family in 1831, and in 1845 went to Shelby County, Ill. About 1854 he left Taylorville and went to Blooming- ton, where his death occurred in 1857.
Samuel accompanied the family to the Buckeye State in 1831, and with his father learned the shoemaker's trade. Ere leaving Ohio, he was mar- ried, on the 31st of March, 1839, in Mt. Vernon, to Miss Margaret Sapp, and the following year started Westward with a desire to try his fortune on the broad prairies of Illinois. He cast in his lot with the early settlers of Shelby County, and there purchased a small tract of land. In those days trade was mostly barter. Mr. Brown operated his farm in Cold Spring Township, which was sit- uated a mile and a-half north of Williamsburg, until the autumn of 1846. when he began working for James C. Morrison, a tanner. He worked that winter at Mr. Morrison's home, and the next spring he opened the first shoe shop in Taylor- ville. Since that early day he has been promin- ently connected with the various interests of this city. Mr. Morrison's was the only tannery in the locality. Our subject formed a partnership with that gentleman, and together they carried on busi- ness for one year, after which the connection was discontinued and Mr. Brown was in business alone until 1852.
In 1852, our subject resumed farming, which he followed for two years. In 1854, he went West to Nebraska, but the Indians still held that country and he could not enter land until May, 1855. While waiting at Mormons' Ferry, on the Missouri
River, he lost his wife, who was called to her final rest in January, 1855. However, he continued his journey, and, crossing the river, made a claim on Rock Creek, of which he took possession in May. There he remained for two years and then returned to Illinois. Again taking up his resi- dence in Taylorville, he was here variously em- ployed for some years. Ile carried on farming, dealt some in real estate, and for an extended period served as Constable. He was elected to that office in 1858. and for thirteen consecutive years filled the position with eredit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned, as is indicated by his long term. Mr. Brown has also engaged in renting houses. He has built a number of resi- denees, which he rents. and also has the rental of dwellings belonging to other parties, but, practi- cally, he is living a retired life, and his rest is well deserved, for his career has been a busy and useful one.
Mr. Brown was a second time married, May 3, 1857, Amanda C. Brown becoming his wife. She was at that time a resident of Cass County, Neb., but was born in Ohio, and was reared in Decatur, Ill. ller father, Henry M. Brown, was the propri- etor of the Social Hall llotel of that city. By the first marriage were born six children: Willard Jackson, who is a carpenter and Street Commis- sioner of Taylorville; Ilarriet, wife of Levi A. Witherell, of Taylorville; Martha Ellen, wife of William Fasnacht, of Denver; Adelaide, who be- came the wife of W. B. Nicodemas, of Taylorville, and died at the age of forty; Jerome, who died in infancy; and Oliver, who died in Taylorville, in 1883, at the age of thirty. By the second union were born the following children: Clara, wife of P. D. Biggs, of Kansas City, Mo .; Etta, wife of W. HI. Moore, of Taylorville; Eva, who is a success- ful teacher, now employed in Assumption; Minnie, also a teacher in the schools of Assumption; Edna, who is cashier and book-keeper in the Morrison store of Taylorville; Grace, who died at the age of seven years; two children who died in infancy; and Eugene and Roy II. at home.
Mr. Brown has been an eye-witness of the growth of Christian County for more than half a century and has been prominently identified with
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its upbuilding and development, doing all in his power for the promotion of its best interests. Ile well deserves to be numbered among its honored pioneers, and is justly classed among its best citi- zens. for his life has been one of uprightness and has won for him the high respect of all.
OIIN G. DRENNAN, Taylorville's young and brilliant attorney, was born in Caldwell Connty. Ky., December 3, 1854. ITis pa- rents were John L. and Henrietta ( Wim- burley) Drennan, the former of Irish, and the latter of French and German, descent. Their early ancestors came from the Old Country to the Carolinas and went thence to Kentucky. The family moved from the latter State to Illinois in the fall of 1856, and settled in Mt. Auburn, Christian County. Subsequently they occupied the Drennan homestead in Mosquito Township, where the subject of this sketch worked on his father's farm until he had attained his majority, with the exception of the last three winters, when he taught school, giving his father all the proceeds.
On the 15th of March, 1876, John Drennan en- tered the law office of Hon. B. Jones, of Taylor- ville. as a law student. He passed a most thorough written examination for admission to the Bar at Springfield, December 3, 1878. acquitted himself with much credit, and received the highest grade in a class of seventeen applicants. In January, 1879, IIon. H. M. Vandeveer, one of the Judges of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, appointed him Master in Chancery of the county, which position he filled for two years. About the same time he formed a law partnership with his preceptor, Mr. Jones, which continued until the fall of 1880, when Mr. Drennan was elected State's Attorney of his County. Ilis success as a lawyer and prosecuting attorney was quite pronounced from the start. Ile was re-elected State's Attorney in the fall of 1884, and continued to fill that position acceptably until the expiration of his term, in the fall of 1888,
when he declined further candidacy. He was a vigorous and uncompromising prosecutor and during his eight years' service secured over one thousand convictions, with less than twenty acquittals. As State's Attorney he paid over to the school fund of the county nearly $3,500, a larger sum than has been paid by all the prosecut- ing attorneys from the organization of the county up to the present time, although the county has always had excellent prosecutors. Mr. Drennan, be- ing an active and uncompromising Democrat, the Republicans, who secured the control of the Board of Supervisors of the county about the close of his term, sought to break him down by a partisan in- vestigation. After a most thorough investigation, instead of Mr. Drennan being a defaulter, the county was found to be indebted to him over $200. which the succeeding Board of Supervisors paid him.
Mr. Drennan's accomplishments as a lawyer and business man are as varied as the avenues of the profession. Ile isstrong in all its departments, and prosecutes or defends civil or criminal cases with equal ardor and success. Ile has been on almost every important case that has been tried in Chris- tian County within the past ten years, and has also practiced much in the counties of Sangamon, Macon. Shelby, Forsythe and Montgomery. He has taken part in more than twenty murder trials with exceptional success, and he prosecuted the only case where capital punishment was admin- istered in the county. Mr. Drennan's keen sense of public justice and his personal courage received a powerful test in the ups and downs of the famous Emma Bond case. lle vigorously prosecuted the de- fendants, but when the mob broke into the jail and took the three defendants to the court house yard to hang them, Mr. Drennan at the risk of his own life, which was loudly and furiously threatened, faced the mob, and in a speech of over an hour brought the maddened and misguided crowd to their senses and secured the return of the prison- ers to the jail, for which he received an autograph letter of thanks from IIon. Shelby M. Cullom, then Governor of the State.
For years Mr. Drennan has been the local attor- ney for the Wabash and Ohio & Mississippi Rail-
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road Companies, the Panama Coal Company, and the First National Bank of Taylorville, and has practiced much in the Appellate, Supreme and Federal Courts. He was one of the attorneys that tested and defeated, in the Supreme Court, the noted Truck Store Law. Ile recently assisted the United States District Attorney, Hon. W. E. Shutt, in representing the Government in the pros- ecution of the famous Benton-Newby case, in the Federal Court at Springfield, Ill., in which the victory of the Government was most signal. Over two hundred and fifty witnesses were examined, the case lasting for two weeks. Mr. Drennan opened the argument for the Government in a three-hour speech, which was characterized by the : St. Louis, Springfield and other papers as the most powerful and convincing speech ever delivered in the Federal Court.
Mr. Drennan is an industrious, enterprising and public-spirited citizen. He began penniless, and has accumulated quite a competency, having now over twelve hundred acres of good land in this county. Ile organized the Taylorville Coal Company, the Electric Light Company, and assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Taylorville, of which he was a Director until he removed to Springfield. John E. Hogan, a prom- ising young lawyer, who was formerly a student of our subject, lias been in partnership with Mr. Drennan for several years, and the connection still continues in Taylorville.
On the 1st of June, 1892, Hon. John M. Palmer, now United States Senator for Illinois, and Hon. William E. Shutt, now United States District Attor- ney for the Southern District of Illinois, who have for years formed one of the foremost law firms of Springfield, invited Mr. Drennan to join them as a full partner. Ile accepted the offer and re- moved to Springfield, where he still resides, and we are reliably informed that the association has been most agreeable as well as profitable to all con- cerned. Mr. Drennan has long held the position of Judge Advocate of the State of Illinois in the Uniformed Rank of the Order of Knights of Pythias, with the rank of Colonel, and a like posi- tion on the staff of Gen. Barkley, of the Second Brigade of the Illinois National Guards. Ile
served several terms on the Board of Aldermen in the city of Taylorville, and was regarded as a public-spirited and efficient officer.
On the 26th of May, 1881, Mr. Drennan mar- ried Maggie, daughter of Dr. L. B. Slater, of Taylorville. He and his wife are the happy pos- sessors of two energetic boys: Leonard lI., born January 4, 1888; and Walter R., born October 20, 1889. Their last child, a beautiful little girl, died in infancy. For several years before her marriage, Mrs. Drennan was a teacher in the public schools of Taylorville. She is an accomplished lady, a woman of rare judgment, and to her wise counsel, faithful companionship and practical economy, Mr. Drennan attributes much of his success. Our sub- ject is a man of pleasing address, frank and open in manner, though firm in his convictions. Quick, logical and resolute, possessing excellent qualities for combining forces, he is devoted to his profes- sion, and we predict for him a bright future.
H
NDREW JACKSON WILLEY is the senior member of the firm of A. . I. Willey & Son, of Taylorville, dealers in lumber. A na- tive of Ohio, he was born in Ross, Hamil- ton County, January 31, 1832, and is a son of Horace and Anna (Tate) Willey. Ilis father was a native of Massachusetts, and his mother of Penn- sylvania, but in youth they emigrated to Ohio, where their marriage was celebrated. Their re- maining days were spent in Hamilton County, where they were highly respected citizens. The father enlisted for the War of 1812, but was never mustered in.
The subject of this sketch spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents' home, and re- mained in the county of his nativity until twenty- six years of age. On attaining his majority he left the parental roof and began earning his own livelihood. On the 31st of December, 1857, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Miller, and
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in March, 1858, emigrated Westward with his young wife. With the hope of bettering his fi- nancial condition in Illinois, he cast his lot among the early settlers of Christian County, locating eight miles south of Taylorville, on Buckeye Prairie. He had twice visited this county before, and was pleased with its prospects and advantages. With a capital of 82,000 he reached his destination. and invested the same in land, buying a partially improved tract of two hundred acres, at $13 per acre.
For many years thereafter, Mr. Willey was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. He remained upon his first farm until 1871, and increased its value to from 835 to $40 per acre. Ile raised both grain and stock, and made his place one of the best farms in the community. In 1871, he came to Taylorville. He purchased a farm near Willey Station, five miles from the county seat, on the Wabash Road. That comprised two hundred and forty acres, and he also bought another tract of one hundred and twenty acres. This land he op- erated successfully for fourteen years, and in addi- tion carried on stock-raising, although he still made his home in the city. In 1884, however, he retired from agricultural pursuits, and in 1887 he opened a Inmber-yard in Taylorville, on the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad.
In 1875, Mr. Willey was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 5th of May. He was again married, May 23, 1878, his second union being with Cordelia, danghter of George W. Vollentine, one of the early settlers of Bond County, where she was born. They have one son, Horace S., who has been a partner in the lumber business since 1889.
Willey Station was named in honor of an uncle of our subject, Israel Willey, who is now deceased, Ile gave the site of the town and did much for its upbuilding. Ile came to Christian County in 1845, and was one of its large land-holders. His death occurred about twenty years ago.
In his political views. Mr. Willey has always been a Republican and ever votes that ticket, al- though he has never been an office-seeker. For twenty years he has been a member of the Presby- terian Church. In addition to his business in
Taylorville, he is also interested in Chicago real estate. Ile invested about $12,000 in the lumber trade and now does an annual business of $40,000. In addition they have a branch yard at Owaneco. Mr. Willey is a man of good business ability, and his success in life has been achieved as the result of his labor, perseverance and enterprise. ITis ca- reer has been characterized by honorable dealings, and he has therefore gained the confidence and es- teem of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
REDERICK PAYNE, who is now making his home in Palmer, is retired from busi- ness life, enjoying a well-earned rest after years of industrious effort in the battle of life. He is a veteran of the late Civil War, and in times of peace as well as in the hour of his country's peril has been a patriotic citizen. Ile was born in Gar- rard County, Ky., February 1, 1826, being a son of Robert and Sarah (Stipe) Payne, who were both natives of the Blue Grass State.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Am- brose Payne, came to America at the time of the Revolutionary War, soon after the close of which he settled in Kentucky, and there reared his large family. His death occurred when he was still in the prime of life. Frederick Stipe, the maternal grandfather, was a native of Scotland. On com- ing to America, he went to Indiana, where he made his home for some years, engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. In later years he removed to Ken- tucky, where he lived to a good old age.
The life occupation of Robert Payne was that of a farmer, and most of his years were spent in Kentucky. In early life he lived for four years in Indiana, but returned to his native State. In 1850 he removed with his family to Illinois, and made a settlement in Christian County, on Bear Creek, in the township of the same name. There he bought and carried on a farm of one hundred acres. Ile did not long survive his removal, as he
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died July 24, 1851, aged fifty-one years. ITis wife died a few days later, on the 3d of August. They were members of the Baptist Church, in which Mr. Payne was an officer.
Our subject is one of a large family which con- sisted of five sons and eight daughters. Only three of the number are now living. Kittie Jane is the wife of William T. Fuleber, of Mattoon, III .; and Martha Susan is the wife of Frank Hay, of Indianapolis, Ind. The boyhood of Frederick Payne was passed in Kentucky, and with his par- ents lie removed to Illinois in 1850. Since that time he has been a resident of this county with the exception of one year spent in Montgomery County. " Ilis early education was received in the old-fashioned subseription schools of the day. Wild game was then abundant in this region, and frequently deer, wolves and wild turkey's fell be- fore his unerring aim. He resided with his pa- rents until reaching man's estate. His farm com- prises one hundred and ninety-three acres of good land, a part of which is in the corporate limits of the town. Mr. Payne also owns other desirable village property and has acquired a competence for old age.
On the HIth of September, 1846, Mr. Payne was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann Bell, a daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth (Allen) Bell, of Kentucky. By this union three sons and two daugh- ters were born, who are in order of birth as fol- lows: Lewis F., now deceased; Robert; Sarah E. and Willis M .. also deceased; and Mary Jane. Robert married Miss Mary J. Compton, and has two chil- dren, Emma and Robert. Mary Jane, who became the wife of Thomas Bradley, of Palmer, is the mo- ther of eight children, as follows: Lillie Belle, Edith Ann, Frederick, Clara F., James, Minnie May, Hiram and Eva.
For a number of years Mr. and Mrs. Payne were members of the Baptist Church, but of late years have been identified with the Christian Adventist Church, In politics, our subject is a Republican and served for one year as Justice of the Peace. During the War of the Rebellion he went to the defense of the Union, his name being enrolled as a member of Company G, Fifth Missouri Cavalry. He served for three years and six weeks, taking
part in a number of important skirmishes and bat- tles. and was sent in the raid after Gen. Price. He is now a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public.
AMES HENRY DICKERSON, one of the most prominent physicians of Christian County, now resides in Taylorville, al- though his praetice extends far beyond the limits of the city. In professional cireles he cer- tainly ranks high, and his skill and ability make his reputation well deserved. The Doctor was born in Washington, Ind., June 24, 1847. ITis parents, John and Mary (Bell) Diekerson, were natives of Kentucky, and when young people came to Illinois. They were married in Sangamon County, and afterward removed to Indiana. The grandfather, Isaae Dickerson, had emigrated to this State, but left it for the Iloosier State. The maternal grandfather. Robert Bell, also became one of the pioneers of Sangamon County. John Diekerson returned with his family to Sangamon County, and there lived for many years. but he and his wife now reside on their farm a mile west of Taylorville. Throughout life he has followed agricultural pursuits. In the family were six children, five of whom are yet living. One daughter, Alice, is now the wife of Dr. A. F. Hammer, of Taylorville.
The subject of this sketch was only three years of age when his parents returned to Sangamon County. Upon the home farm he remained until seventeen, when for two years he attended the State Normal School. He then engaged in teach- ing for two winters, while in the summer months he aided his father in the labors of the field. Previous to this time he had begun reading medicine, and while teaching, during his leisure hours and at other spare moments, he studied medicine in the office of Dr. Brooks, of Spring- field. Later he pursued a course of study in the Philadelphia Medical College, from which he was graduated in the Class of '70 with the degree
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of M. D. After thirteen years of practice he took a post-graduate course in Rush Medical College, of Chicago; two years later took the Bellevne regular course, and six years afterward, when he had practiced for twenty years, took the regular course at the medical department of the California University. The Doctor has spared neither labor nor expense in perfecting himself in his profession.
After his first graduation, Dr. Dickerson located at Blackburn, which was then scarcely more than a blacksmith shop. He expected to remain there only a short time, but his praetice steadily in- creased and yielded him a good income, so that he extended his residence there until it had covered a period of sixteen years. After a time he secured the postoffice at that place, built a store, and carried a stock of general merchandise. He also received a liberal patronage in that line, enjoying a flourishing trade.
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