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CHAPTER XXXVIII
CITIZENS OF A PAST GENERATION
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Wherein is Set Out a Roster of Some of the Men Known Aforetime in
Champaign County Who by Virtue
of Their Talents or Superior
Attainments Rose to Positions Exalting Them Above the Level of
Mediocrity -
Included in This List Are Such Names as Those of
Joseph Vance, Former Governor of Ohio;
Simon Kenton, Pioneer
Explorer and Indian Fighter, Who Wrote His Name Large in the
History of the Middle West;
William Ward, the Founder of Urbana,
and Numerous Others Who in One Way or Another Placed This
Generation Under a Debt of Obligation to Their Memories.
SOME CHAMPAIGN CITIZENS OF A PAST GENERATION.
In every community
there are some men, who, by virtue of their talents, rise to a
position above the level of mediocrity. This may come
about for a great variety or reasons, but the fact remains that
the careers of some men bring them more prominently to the front
than other men of probably equal ability. Some men, in a
measure, have a certain greatness thrust upon them; others,
through their own efforts, acquire such a measure of fame as
insures them ore than a passing notice at the hands of their
fellow citizens.
And thus it is in Champaign county. In this
county have lived men who have become governors, members of
Congress, members of the state Legislatures, and justices of the
supreme counts of this and other states; others from the county
have been secretary of state, auditor of state and state
librarian; still others have been in the diplomatic service of
the country or held other high positions under the federal
government; some have become noted educators, lawyers,
ministers, physicians and financiers. At least one man in
the county has risen to the rank of an admiral in the United
States navy, more one attained a high rank in the Civil War.
A few have been such peculiarly useful citizens in their
community that their names deserve remembrance for their busy
lives in behalf of their fellow citizens. It is not
possible in this connection to notice the large number of worthy
citizens citizens of the county who have served their county in
such ways as to make them remembered for what they did; rather
the purpose of this chapter is to single out only a few of the
large, outstanding figures whose names have not been confined to
the county with which they were immediately identified.
In the different chapters of this history will be found
mention of scores of worthy men of the county who rose to an
enviable place in their particular line of activity. For
instance, the medical chapter gives a brief biography of at
least fifty physicians of the county; the bench and bar chapter
mentions some of the leading lawyers; the newspaper chapter
treats of the men who have been identified with the press of the
county; scores of min-
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isters find themselves noticed in the
church chapter; the military chapter notes several men who rose
to the rank of commissioned officers; artists, musicians,
actors, acrobats and people in the dramatic world find proper
recognition in their respective chapters. Scattered
throughout the histories of the twelve townships are found
references to the early vicissitudes of hundreds of pioneers,
and in many cases a complete sketch is given of these worthy
forefathers of ours. A careful estimate shows that in
other chapters than the present one, there are at least five
thousand men and women mentioned by name and identified in one
way or another with the history of the county. And finally
there are several hundred citizens of the county represented in
the biographical section of the history, most of whom are now
living, but a considerable number of whom are deceased.
This present chapter singles out only those who have
not been noticed in other chapters, or, if noticed, not with the
fullness their prominence justifies. In the following
pages may be traced the careers of Joseph Vance, Simon
Kenton, Col. William War, John Reynolds, John Hamilton, James
Cooley, William Patrick, Henry Weaver, Joseph Fyffe, John
Russell, Joseph P. Smith, Francis M. Wright, Dr. James Williams,
William Haller, John H. Young, John S. Leedom, Frank Chance,
Thomas S. McFarland, John F. Gowey, and Jules Guthridge.
There were a few other men whose names would have been included
in this list if it had been possible to obtain accurate data
concerning their careers.
GOV. JOSEPH VANCE.
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SIMON KENTON.
[PORTRAIT OF SIMON KENTON]
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Clark county, who delivered the address, said: "A long life of
hardy adventures with unexampled courage and a devoted patriotism in the
cause of his country justly stamp him as illustrious."
WILLIAM WARD, SR.
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of the sons, mentioning the good price he would give. His method
did not altogether appeal to Mr. Ward who asked him haughtily the
next day why he did not come to him with his offer. Vance
did not know what dire consequences would follow, and his surprise can
well be imagined when Ward assured him the horse was for sale,
and was as good and sound as he appeared; and above all his price was
about ten dollars less than Vance offered.
William Ward was an old-school Virginian
gentleman, who believed in good farming, and he kept the best breeds of
horses and cattle. His manners were stately and decorous, and he
was kind to his neighbors and liberal to strangers needing assistance in
a new home. He was a Presbyterian, as was his family, but he
freely entertained traveling ministers of all denominations in his home.
JOHN REYNOLDS.
John Reynolds, the first
postmaster of Urbana and one of the leading citizens of the village for
the first twenty-five years of its history, was born on Apr. 18, 1775.
Little is known of his career prior to his location in Mad River
township in 1807, and shortly after settling in Urbana, but be evidently
had a fairly good education, if his success in financial affairs
in Champaign county may be considered as demanding a trained mind.
He was married on Nov. 9, 1797, to Jane Lemon in Virginia.
It seems that he came to the village about a year after locating in the
county and shortly afterwards opened a store on the corner now occupied
by the department store of Hitt & Fuller. For half a
century he was a prominent figure in the life of the town. Just
how long he was engaged in the mercantile business is not known, but he
presumably maintained his connection for several years with the store he
established. He died in Urbana on Dec. 21, 1855, in his eightieth
year.
Reynolds began investing in land in various
parts of the county and his name appears in the records of several of
the townships as the owner of varying amounts of land. He owned so
much land in the southern part of Salem township that he appealed to the
Legislature to pass a special bill providing for the construction
of a ditch to drain it. This was in 1827 and the bill which the
Legislature passed in that year furnished the legal means for the
construction of what is now known as Dugan run, or Dugan ditch, or
sometimes as the Town branch. However, for several years after its
construction it was known as the Reynolds ditch, his connection
with it
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as superintendent of construction being responsible for its
being so called. This famous artificial waterway has been in use
so many years that many people have forgotten that it is of artificial
construction.
Reynolds became the first postmaster of the
village and it is said that he personally guaranteed that he would make
up any deficit that the government might incur in maintaining the
office. in his own store and for several years had charge of it,
finally retiring in favor of John C. Pearson. In the
meantime he had become interested in the first bank in Urbana and, as
the wealthiest citizen of the village, was no doubt the main figure in
the bank. Unfortunately, there are no records to show the amount
of business transacted by this first bank of the village and the absence
of any local newspapers covering the early history of the village
renders it impossible to do more than give only the vaguest details of
this primitive banking institution.
Personally, Reynolds is represented as having
been a quiet and unassuming sort of man, always careful in the
management of his extensive business interests, and at the same
time interested in everything of a public nature. His wife is
remembered as a woman of more than ordinary ability. She served as
superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school when the church was
located at the corner of Church and Locust Streets. The methods of
Sunday school instruction were very different then from what they are
today. Mrs. Reynolds had a desk in front of the room and it
was her wont to walk up and down the little room, stopping here and
there to engage in a religious conversation with one of the pupils.
There were no classes as they are now understood, only an opening hymn,
a reading of a few verses from the Bible by the school alternately, with
no comment on what was read, and the closing hymn. Mrs.
Reynolds was usually garbed in a black silk dress and white apron,
while she invariably wore what was called a "mob-cap" on her head.
Mrs. Reynolds died on Mar. 5, 1857.
JOHN HAMILTON
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JAMES COOLEY.
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taken place. On the return of the boats, as the members of the
Peruvian government, who had been in attendance, passed the
'Brandywine,' Com. Jones displayed the Peruvian flag at his fore
and fired a salute of seventeen guns, which being answered by the
Admiral's ship, closed the ceremony of the day."
It is not known where Cooley is buried. He
left no descendants in the county, and as far as is known, no other
members of the family have ever lived in Champaign county.
WILLIAM PATRICK
[PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM PATRICK]
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HENRY WEAVER.
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REAR ADMIRAL
JOSEPH FYFFE.
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JOHN RUSSELL.
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JOSEPH P. SMITH
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his death, Feb. 5, 1898. His health had been failing for some time
previous to his death, and he had gone to Miami, Florida, during the
winter of 1897-98 in order to recuperate. He is buried in the Oak
Dale cemetery at Urbana.
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his death, Feb. 5, 1898. His health had been failing for some time
previous to his death, and he had gone to Miami, Florida, during the
winter of 1897-98 in order to recuperate. He is buried in the Oak
Dale cemetery at Urbana.
FRANCIS MARTIN WRIGHT.
Francis Martin Wright, former
auditor of Champaign county and later auditor of the State of
Ohio for ten years, was born in Frederick county, Virginia, July
14, 1810, and died on Jan. 18, 1859, as the result of a
steamboat accident on the Mississippi. He came to Urbana
in 1834 and made that city his home until his death, with the
exception of the years spent in Columbus. He was a man of
keen political sagacity and had an unusual insight into the
maneuvers necessary for political success. He was not a
politician in the ordinary Machiavellian sense, but a
public-spirited citizen who was sincerely interested in public
affairs. He served as county auditor for some years and as
state auditor from 1856 to 1867. He resigned his position
as state auditor on account of his health and it was while on a
trip to the South that he met his death in 1869 as the result of
a steamboat explosion.
DR. JAMES WILLIAMS.
Dr. James Williams, state auditor
from 1872 to 1880, was born in Prince George county, Maryland, May 21,
1822, and died at Mechanicsburg, Champaign county, Ohio, July 9, 1888.
He came to Champaign county in 1831 with his parents and was licensed
for the practice of medicine in 1843. He followed his profession
until 1850 and then went to California, but returned a year later and
was elected the same fall to the state Legislature. When
Francis M. Wright became state auditor in 1856 he appointed
Doctor Williams as trust-fund clerk and he served in his capacity
for eight years. In 1864 he became deputy auditor and held this
position until he was elected auditor in 1872. His long connection
with the office had made him thoroughly conversant with every detail of
its administration and as a result he was re-elected in 1876, serving
until 1880. He was in the auditor's office continuously from 1856
to 1880, a period of twenty-four years, and a longer period than any man
had served in the office up to that time. After retiring from the
office in 1880, he returned to his former home in Mechanicsburg, where
he quietly lived until his death, July 9, 1888.
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REV. WILLIAM HALLER.
William Haller, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal
church and a resident of Champaign county from 1812 until his
death in 1880, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, Aug. 5, 1801,
and arrived in Urbana with his parents of Oct. 12, 1812.
In 1814 the family settled on Nettle creek and there the future
minister grew to manhood. At the age of nineteen he was
ordained as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church;
married in 825 to Sarah Arrowsmith, who died ten years
later, leaving three children; married, in 1837, Jane
Arrowsmith, sister of hte first wife, two children being
born to the second marriage before the death of his wife in
1851; married, in 1855, Myrtilla Bishop and one child was
born to this third marriage. Reverend Haller was a
frequent and valuable contributor to the local papers on a wide
variety of subjects. For sixty years he was a local
preacher and served many of the Methodist churches in this and
adjoining counties. Shortly after his first marriage
he built his cabin in Mad River township and continued to reside
in that township until after the death of his second wife.
He then located on the hill one mile west of Urbana, but some
years before his death he removed to Kingston, where he was
living at the time of his death on Dec. 2, 1880. He lies
in the Talbott cemetery, beside the remains of his second wife.
JOHN H. YOUNG
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JOHN S. LEEDOM.
FRANK CHANCE.
Frank Chance was one of the many local lawyers trained under the
able tutelage of John H. Young, and at the tie of his death in
1901, probably enjoyed a larger income from the practice of his
profession than any man in the county. Born near Westville, in
this county, May 17, 1842, he
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THOMAS SIMS
M'FARLAND.
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JOHN FRANKLIN
GOWEY.
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JULES GUTHRIDGE.
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