USA > Illinois > Livingston County > The biographical record of Livingston County, Illinois > Part 60
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served as mayor and never were the reins of city government in more capable hands, for he is pre-eminently public-spirited and pro- gressive, and gives his support to all meas- ures for the public good. In July. 1900. he was unanimously appointed supervisor of his township to succeed D. M. Owen, de- ceased. and is now acceptably filling that of- fice. He is one of the best posted men of the town, and as a genial, pleasant gentle- man, he has become one of its most popu- lar citizens. He has a large collection of minerals, petrifications, Indian relies and va- rious other curiosities in his office, and this museum of interest is open and free to all.
S. H. WORTHINGTON.
Among the prominent business men of El Paso is numbered S. H. Worthington, a leading . dry goods merchant of tat place. He was born in Brooke county. West Vir- ginia. August 23, 1842. and is a son of Rev. S. G. J. and Mary ( Hedges ) Worthington, natives of Maryland and Virginia, respect- ively. Hlis paternal grandfather. Nicholas Worthington, was also a native of Mary- land and a planter by occupation. He moved to West Virginia when his son was about ten years old and located in Brooke coun- ty, where the latter grew to manhood. He received a good collegiate education and at an carly day entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he de- voted fifty years of his life. He was pastor of churches in Allegheny. Pennsylvania. and Wheeling, West Virginia, and was presiding elder of a district in the former state, his residence being at Clarksburg. In 1857 he came west and first located in Tazewell coun-
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ty, Illinois. He was the pastor of the First Methodist church of Rock Island two years. and later of the First church in Peoria, after which he preached in Geneseo, Omarga and other places in the state. He was a presid- ing elder for eight years in the Central Illi- nois conference, and as a superanuated preacher lived retired the last two years of his life at El Paso, where he died Septem- ber 29. 1883, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife survived him some time. dying December 22, 1895. at the age of eighty-nine years. In politics he was a Re- publican.
To this worthy couple were born seven children, and all but one reached years of maturity. N. E., a resident of Peoria, has served as judge of the circuit court and a member of congress two terms, and is one of the best known men of Illinois. Hle mar- ried Elizabeth Fouchs and they have five children. Jennie married J. W. Coates, and died in Clearwater, Minnesota, at the age of thirty years, leaving four children. S. H .. our subject. is next in order of birth. Mary E. is the wife of George E. Hubbel, a lead- ing attorney of Davenport. lowa. Emma L. is the wife of George Cunningham, of Mannington, West Virginia. Ella died in Genesee, Illinois, at the age of nineteen years.
Our subject was educated in the high schools of Peoria. The Civil war having broken out. he entered the army at the age of nineteen years, enlisting in Company C. For- ty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. D. McClure and Colonel John Bryner. The regiment was mustered into the United States service at Springfield, in September, 1862, and assigned to the Army of the Mississippi. They went first to St. Louis, and from there to Jefferson City. where they remained until the spring of
1863, when they went to Otterville and from there to St. Charles, Missouri. Taking the boat they proceeded to Pittsburg Landing, and took part in the battle of Corinth, where Lieutenant-Colonel Miles was killed. The summer was spent in Mississippi, during which time they participated in the second battle of Corinth and the siege of Vicks- burg. They were with Banks in his expe- (lition up the Red river, and took part in the battle of luka. On transports they went to Nachez, and in the spring of 1864 took part in the engagements at Big Black river and Jackson, Mississippi. During the siege of Vicksburg Mr. Worthington's brigade dug a canal around that city. His term of enlistment having expired, he returned to Memphis, where he was mustered out, and was discharged at Springfield, Ilinois, in September, 1865. During his last year he served as quartermaster's clerk under Bri- gade Quartermaster Thomas Pickerell, of General J. A. Mower's brigade.
After his return to civil life Mr. Worth- ington taught the Deer Creek school. Taze- well county, and the Mossville school, Peoria county. In the fall of 1867 he moved to a farm in El Paso township. Woodford conn- ty, belonging to his father, and operated the place one year. Ile entered the employ of J. P. Ferrell, at El Paso, and worked for him three years, at the end of which time he went to Fort Worth, Texas, where he was en- gaged in the hotel business one year. On his return north he engaged in farming near Onarga, Ilinois, one year and from there went to Wichita, Kansas, where he fol- lowed the same pursuit one year. Dis- posing of his property there he returned to El Paso, where he was engaged in the notion business for eight years in partnership with R. C. Springgate, under the firm name of
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S. H. Worthington & Company. On account of ill health he sold his interest in the busi- ness to S. M. Ferrell and went to Colorado. where he carried on the real estate business one year. Since then he has made his home uninterruptedly in El Paso, and has engaged in the dry goods business alone, occupying a double store room and carrying a large and well-selected stock of merchandise. He is a wide-awake, progressive business man. and is meeting with excellent success.
January 20, 1869, Mr. Worthington was united in marriage with Miss Sadie M. Fer- rell, who died eighteen months later. Their only child. George, died in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Worthington married Miss Jennie Carleton, a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of F. W. Carleton, who died in El Paso. By this union were born two chil- dren, Helen and Major Henry, both grad- uates of the El Paso high school. The daughter is now a trained nurse and was with the army at Chickamauga, but is now at home. The son completed a four years' course at the Northwestern Medical Col- lege. in Chicago, in 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. Worthington are both act- ive members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a trustee for many years, and he is also connected with S. T. Rogers Post, No. 531, G. A. R., of which he is senior past commander. Since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- coln, he has affiliated with the Republican party, but has never cared for political hon- ors.
CHARLES H. GISH.
The subject of this personal narration is one of the most enterprising and public- spirited citizens of Roanoke, of which thriv-
ing village he is now efficiently serving as mayor and also as a member of the school board. He is a native of Woodford county, born in Roanoke township, south of the vil- lage. April 27. 1867, and is a son of George W. and Sarah Jane ( Ruddell) Gish, both natives of Roanoke, Virginia. In 1850 they came to Illinois and took up their residence about one mile south of the present town of Roanoke, where the father pre-empted a tract of government land on the southwest quarter of section 23. Roanoke township, for which he paid a dollar and a quarter per acre. He was one of the early settlers from Roanoke. Virginia, who gave to the township its name. Here he followed farming for many years. but in 1890 sold his place and moved to Greene township, where he made his home until called from this life, October. 1894. For forty years he served as a minister of the United Brethren church, and by his upright. honorable life gained the confidence and re- spect of all who knew him. After his deat !! his widow made her home with her children until she departed this life. November 7. 1896.
This worthy couple had twelve children. namely: T. W., now sheriff of Woodford county; Lydia, wife of J. L. Brown, of Boise City, Idaho; W. B .. a resident of Ok- lahoma: Bessie, wife of J. D. Kendig, of Gilman, Ilinois: Addie and Emma, twins. the former of whom is the wife of T. A. Robinson, of Mansfield, Illinois: the latter the wife of C. L. Moore, of North Dakota : James L., who died in 1893 : Maggie, wife of Ross Polhemus, of Secor, Illinois: Charles. our subject : Ed G. and Oscar J., twins, the former a resident of Roanoke. the latter of Greene township: and Calvin, deputy sheriff of the county and a resident of Roanoke.
The boyhood and youth of Charles H.
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Gish were passed in his native township, and at the age of twenty years he commenced work at the carpenter's trade, at which he worked uninterruptedly for nine years, and then entered the employ of the Roanoke Coal & Mining Company in that capacity. On the ist of December, 1898, he was appointed top foreman and is now filling that responsi- ble position with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the company. Hle was married August 4, 1896, to Miss Maggie Wilson, of Roanoke, a daughter of the late John G. Wilson, and to them has been born one child, George W. Politically Mr. Gish is an ardent Democrat, and since attaining his majority has taken a very active and prominent part in public affairs. He has served as village clerk two terms, and in the spring of 1900 was elected mayor, which office he is now filling in a most acceptable manner. He is also a member of the board of school directors.
R. EARL GORDON, M. D.
One of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which a man may lend hus energies is that of the physician. A most scrupulous preliminary training is de- manded. a nicety of judgment but little un- derstood by the laity. Dr. Gordon, of El Paso, is well fitted for the profession which he has chosen as a life work, and his skill and ability have won him a large and lucra- tive practice.
A native of Illinois, he was born in Car- lyle. Clinton county, September 5. 1872, and belongs to a family which has had many prominent representatives in the medical pro- fession. Ilis paternal great-grandfather was a native of Edinburg, Scotland, and the founder of the family in America. The
grandfather. James Gordon, was a physician and had two brothers, one of whom was a prominent attorney, the other a physician of Texas, Ile had seven sons who engaged in the practice of medicine, and two daughters who married physicians. At one time men- bers of the family to the number of fifteen formed a medical society of their own. The grandfather was engaged in practice for six- ty-five years, a part of this time being spent at Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1865 he re- moved to Bond county, flinois, where he made his home until his death in 1896.
Dr. J. T. Gordon, our subject's father, was born in Jackson, Mississippi, Septem- ber 5. 1848, and was the sixth son in his father's family. He was a graduate of the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, and also of the St. Louis Medical College. . As a general practitioner and surgeon, he was engaged in practice at Carlyle, Illinois, for eighteen years prior to his death, which oc- curred June 19. 1887, when he was thirty- eight years of age. Both he and his father were prominent Masons, and he was a sup- porter of the Republican party. While living in the South during the Civil war three of his brothers were forced to serve in the Con- federate army, though their sympathies were with the North. Through the assistance of his mother he managed to escape and come north. In their church relations the family have been prominent Methodists. Dr. J. T. Gordon first married Miss M. A. Ellegood. who was born in Pocahontas, Illinois, and was of Scotch and English descent. She died in 1876, and of the three children born of this union two died in early childhood, leaving our subject the only survivor. In 1878 the father married Miss S. F. Challis, also of Pocahontas, by whom he had four children, who grew to maturity: Lula, Ed-
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win, William and Harry, who are living with their mother in Carlyle.
In the public schools of his native city Dr. R. E. Gordon acquired his early educa- tion, and took the teacher's examination for first and second grade certificates, receiving ninety-eight per cent in both. At the age of sixteen he entered the McKendree Universi- ty at Lebanon, Illinois, which was founded by Bishop MeKendree in 1826, and there he took a preparatory course for the study of medicine. He was next a student at the Mis- souri Medical College in St. Louis, where he pursued a three-years course and was grad- uated in 1893. Ile also spent two and a half years in hospital and clinical work in that city, and was thus well fitted for his profession before he entered upon private practice. He spent one year in Benson, and in the fall of 1894 came to El Paso, where he has built up an excellent practice, amount- ing to about six thousand dollars per year. Ile is a general practitioner, but makes a specialty of surgery and the diseases of the eye. The Doctor has purchased property in El Paso, and in 1898 erected a beautiful resi- dence with all modern improvements, cost- ing about four thousand dollars. It is one of the finest homes in the place.
On the 8th of July, 1894, Dr. Gordon was united in marriage with Miss Della C. Chappelle, who was born in Rollo, Missouri, in 1872, and they have become the parents of one son. Virgil C., born January 27, 1890. In his political views the Doctor is a Re- publican, and in religious belief a Methodist, though he gives to the support of all churches. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias. For five years he has held the office of consul in the Modern Woodmen Camp, No. 168, and has also
served as examining physician and a delegate to the head camp. He is a member and ex- amining physician for the Royal Neighbors and the Court of Honor, and is also examin- ing physician for several old line insurance companies. He is ever ready to do his part in everything that will tend to the advance- ment of his city and county, and therefore has many friends who esteem him for his worth as a man as well as a physician. Among his professional brethren he has gained an enviable reputation.
JUDGE A. M. CAVAN.
Judge A. M. Cavan. ex-county judge of Woodford county, and one of the most prom- inent attorneys of this section of the state, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, May 13. 1838. and is a son of Thomas B. and Mary E. (Wertz) Cavan, also natives of Pennsylvania, and the former of Irish, the latter of German descent. Our subject's pa- ternal grandfather was a native of Ireland. his ancestors being the founders of County Cavan and large land owners there. At an early day he came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. The Judge's father was born there in 1801, and in early life learned the spinner's trade in woolen mills of his native state, where he continued to work until 1845, when he removed with his family to Madi- son, Indiana, residing there until the fall of 1851. The following two years were passed in Springfield, Illinois, and from there he went to Canton, this state, to take charge of the woolen mills of John G. Piper, remain- ing there until 1860. For three years he en- gaged in farming upon rented land in Ful- ton county, and then came to Woodford county and purchased a farm in Greene
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township, upon which he made his home un- til called from this life February 16. 1886. at the age of eighty-five years. Ilis wife died February 9. 1876, at the age of sixty- eight years. In politics he was a Republi- can, and in religious belief a Dunkard, tak- ing an active part in church affairs. Of his thirteen children, only six reached maturity. namely: Maria, wife of A. J. Waugh, of Chatsworth, Illinois : Barbara, wife of Philip R. Wertz, of Florida : Mlinson M., our sub- ject : William H., a successful grocer of Ell- wood, Indiana : Oliver A., general agent for the Hall Safe Company, who died in March, 1891, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he made his home: and Nelvin. R., who is en- gaged in the grocery business with his broth- er in Ellwood. Indiana.
During his boyhood and youth Judge Cavan accompanied his parents on their vari- ous removals, and was educated in the pub- lic schools of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in Paris, Jefferson county, Indiana, and of this state. He assisted his father on the home farm until he attained his majority, when he entered Lombard College, at Galesburg, and pursued the law course one year. He was then a student in the law office of Harper, Cassell & Ingersoll at El Paso. Colonel In- gersoll being actively engaged in practice there at that time. Our subject was reading law when the firm when the Colonel lost the nomination for governor in 1868, and took the stump for Palmer who received the nom- ination. In 1867 Judge Cavan was admitted to the bar at Metamora, and immediately opened an office at El Paso. He was ap- pointed deputy revenue assessor for the sixth division of the eighth district, in 1869, and filled that position until the fall of 1870, when he was elected to the twenty-seventh general assembly from the district, then
comprising Marshall, Putnam, Bureau and Woodford counties. After serving one term he was tendered the nomination for state senator, but refused to accept the nomina- tion. While a member of the house he was on the committee on the Illinois river and canal and took an active part in legislation pertaining to the canal. He was also on the committees on federal relations and state li- brary and it was during this time that a re- vision of all the state laws was made. The Judge was the man who proposed to change the state capitol and put the resolution before the house. This brought on one of the great - est fights in that body.
After serving one term Judge Cavan re- turned to El Paso and resumed practice. In the fall of 1883 he was elected city attorney and held that office until April, 1887, when he resigned, having been appoined postmas- ter by President Cleveland. Ile served as such until the fall of 1800, when he resigned to accept the more important position of county judge, and after filling the latter of- fice most acceptably for four years, he was re-elected by an increased majority, his last term expiring in December, 1898. In 1898 he declined the offer of nomination of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Only one of the many cases tried by him was ap- pealed and his decision in this was affirmed in the appellate court. the case involving the power of foreign corporations in the state of Illinois. He is thoroughly versed in the law, and never at a loss for a precedent. He is eminently gifted with the capabilities of mind which are indispensable at the bar, and is a man of deep research and careful investi- gation, whose skill and ability has won him a liberal patronage.
On the 17th of March, 1863. Judge Cav- an was united in marriage with Miss Anna
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Rule, also a native of Pennsylvania, and the youngest in a family of seven children. Her father. William Rule, was born in Pennsyl- vania, and at an early day moved to Ogle county. Illinois. The Judge and his wife have six children. namely : May, wife of Lee Lambert, who is engaged in farming near Earlville, Illinois: Josephine, a professional nurse residing at home: William T .. who is engaged in the loan and real estate business in Minneapolis: John A., at home: Hattie, wife of Lewis Robeson. of El Paso; and Ida, who is cashier in a ladies' emporium in Minneapolis, and makes her home with her brother. Mrs. Cavan and the children are members of the Christian church.
Fraternally the Judge is a member of the Odd Fellow's Lodge, No. 819, and the Modern Woodmen Camp. No. 168, both of El Paso: and was on the committee of laws and ritual of the head camp of the latter or- dler for a number of years. Ile is also con- nected with Hugh De Payne Lodge. No. 241, K. P., of which he is past chancellor, and which he has represented in the grand lodge. He has served a number of times as a delegate to the various conventions of the Democratic party, and is regarded as one of the most prominent and influential citizens of his community.
BENJAMIN GROVE.
Benjamin Grove, a well-known retired farmer residing on section 25, Worth town- ship, has been a resident of Woodford coun- ty for over sixty-five years, and is therefore numbered among its honored pioneers. The difference between the past and the present can scarcely be realized, even by those who
have been active participants in the develop- ment of the county. The present generation can have no conception of what was re- quired by the early settlers in transforming the wilderness into a well settled and highly cultivated county.
Mr. Grove was born in Augusta county. Virginia. March 28. 1816. a son of Simon and Elizabeth ( Rinehart ) Grove, both na- tives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Lancaster county. In 1816, during the in- fancy of our subject they removed to Har- rison county, Indiana, where the father cleared and improved a good farm. He be- came quite prosperous, but by going security for others, he lost everything and was forced to begin life anew. In 1835 he came to Woodford county, Illinois, making the trip with an ox team. Industrious, persevering and enterprising, he succeeded in accumulat- ing a nice property here, and was accounted a successful farmer, as well as one of the highly esteemed men of the community. Both he and his wife died in Woodford county. though the latter survived him several years.
Benjamin Grove was a young man of nineteen years when he came to Woodford county with his parents in 1835, and he en- tered a forty-acre tract of government land, to which he later added forty acres pur- chased from his father, and still later tracts of eighty and twenty acres adjoining, mak- ing the fine farm of one hundred and eighty acres which he now owns. For a half cen- tury he actively engaged in the cultivation of his farm, but is now living a retired life. enjoying the fruits of former toil.
On the 5th of October, 1843. in Wood- ford county, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Grove and Miss Hannah Rinehart. who was also born in Augusta county. Vir-
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ginia, of German ancestry, and was reared there. She died May 5, 1886. Of the six children born of this union, four are still liv- ing, namely : Washington is now a resident of Rice county, Kansas, and is married and has five children : Ella. Lizzie, William, Jacob and Nellie. Ella and Lizzie are both married and have chiklren, Bertha and Nera, respectively, making Mr. Grove a great- grandfather. William H., who operates a part of the home farm, married Ann Lind- enfelser, and to them were born four chil- dren, Anna, Benjamin and Bessie, all living, and Dessie, who died in infancy. Sarah Eliz- beth is now her father's housekeeper. Elias A., living on the home farm, was married December 15. 1887. to Magdaline Linden- felser, a native of Tazewell county, Illinois, and a daughter of Francis Lindenfelser, who was born in Germany. They have two chil- dren, Philip and Orville, both in school. Nancy Jane, daughter of our subject, mar- ried John Woodcock, and is now deceased.
Politically Mr. Grove was first a Whig and cast his first vote for "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," in 1840. Since the dissolution of that party he has been identified with the Republicans, but has never cared for politi- cal preferment. In early life he united with the Christian church at Washington, Illinois, and later transferred his membership to the church at Matamora. The children were reared in that church, but since it was aban - doned the family have attended the union services at Metamora. Mr. Grove has wit- nessed almost the entire growth and develop- ment of Woodford county. When he lo- cated here wolves, wild deer, wild geese and turkeys were plentiful, but all have now dis- appeared : the swamps have been drained and converted into well cultivated fields ; and the county has become one of the richest agri- 30
cultural districts in the state. In the work of progress and advancement Mr. Grove has borne his part, and is justly entitled to prom- inent mention among the honored pioneers and representative citizens of the commu- nity.
FRANCIS F. BRIGGS.
This well known undertaker has for al- most half a century been identified with the business interests of Metamora, Illinois, and is numbered among its leading and repre- sentative citizens. Ile is a native of the old Bay state, his birth having occurred in Berk- shire county, Massachusetts, February 21, 1825. Ilis father, Francis Briggs, was also born in Massachusetts, in 1794, and there married Betsy Hakes, a daughter of James llakes, who belonged to one of the oldest families of that state. For many years the father of our subject followed farming in Berkshire county, and then removed to New York. After spending seven years in Cayuga county, that state, he moved to Chautauqua county, New York, where he made his home upon a farm throughout the remainder of his life, though he died while on a visit in Ohio in 1844. His wife sur- vived him nearly thirty years, dying on the old homestead in Chautauqua county, in 1874.
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