Portrait and Biographical Album of Coles County, Illinois,1887

584 Pages·2007·61.39 MB·English

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Illinois Historical Survtj
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S&f.
-OF-
LES COUNTY,
ILL.,
CONTAINING
Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent
and Representative Citizens of the County,
TOGETHER WITH
PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL THE GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS, AND
OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
CHICAGO:
CHAPMAN BKOTHEES,
1887.
i-
372,
9-77-
HAVE completed our labors in writing and compiling the PORTRAIT AND Bio-
iGRAPHiCAL ALBUM ofthis county,and wish, in presenting it toour patrons, to speak
briefly of the importance of local worksof this nature. It is certainly the duty
of the present to commemorate the past, to perpetuatethe names of the pioneers,
tofurnish a recordof their early settlement, and to relatethe story of theirprogress,
i- The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age, and this solemnduty which
men of the present time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity,
demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In local history is found a power
to instructman by precedent, toenliventhementalfaculties, andtowaftdowntheriveroftimea safe
vessel in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this region from its
primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly the noble men, who in theirvigor and prime
came early to the county and claimed the virgin soil as their heiitage, are passing to their
graves. The number remaining who can relate the history of the first days of settlement is
becoming smallindeed, so that an actual necessity exists for thecollection and preservation ofhis-
torical matter without delay, before the settlers of the wilderness are cut down by time. Notonly
isitofthegreatestimportancetorenderhistory ofpioneertimesfull and accurate,but it is also essen-
tialthat the historyof thecounty, from its settlement to the present day, should betreated throughits various
phases, so that a record, complete and impartial, may be handed down to ihe future. The present the age
of progress, is reviewed, standing out in bold reliefover the quiet, unostentatious oldentimes; itisabrilliant
record, which is destined to live in the future the goodworks of men, their magnificent enterprises, theii
;
lives, whether commercialor military, do not sink into oblivion, but, on thecontrary, grow brighter with age,
and contribute tobuild up a recordwhich carries with itprecedents and principlesthat will he advanced and
observed when the acts of soulless men will be forgotten and their very names hidden in obscurity.
In the preparation of the personal sketches contained in this volume, unusual'care and pains were
taken tohave them accurate, even in the smallest detail. Indeed, nothing was passed lightly overor treated
indifferently; and we flatter ourselves that it isone of the most accurate works of its nature ever published.
As one of the most interesting features of this work, we present the portraits of numerous represent-
ative citizens. It hasbeen our aim tohave the prominent men ofto-day, as well as the pioneers, represented
in this department; and we congratulate ourselves on the uniformly high characterof the gentlemen whose
portraits we present. They are in the strictest sense representative men, and are selected from all the call-
ings and professions worthy to be given. There are others, it is true, who claim equal prominence with
those given; but of course it was impossible for us to give portraits of all the leading men and pioneers
,ofthe county. We are under great obligation to many of the noble and generous people of this county
for kindly and material assistance in the preparation of this ALBUM.
p*
s- CHAPMAN BROTHERS.
CHICAGO,October, 1887.
li-W
911421