Biographies (Test Layout)

Featured in: 1995

33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 33^rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment was raised by Charles Hovey, the first...

Featured in: 2005

Adams, Dr. William Henry Harrison

Dr. William Henry Harrison Adams was born on March 30, 1840 in Effingham County, Illinois. He...

Featured in: 1998

Allin, James

James Allin was born on January 13, 1788 in North Carolina. He was the son of Isaac and Sarah...

Featured in: 2020

Anthony, Susan B.

Champion of temperance, abolition, the rights of labor, and equal pay for equal work, Susan...

Featured in: 2010

Austin, Grace Jewett

Grace Merrill Jewett Austin was born on January 12, 1872 in Laconia, New Hampshire.  She...

Featured in: 2013

Bach, Maria Sophia

Maria Sophia (Koehler or Kahler) Bach was the wife of pressman and political dissident, William...

Featured in: 2007

Bakewell, Edwin

Edwin Wells Bakewell was born in Wellsburg, Brooke County, Virginia (today located in West...

Featured in: 2000

Barton, Lucinda

Lucinda Robinson Barton was born on January 18, 1838 in Washington Co., Missouri. When she was...

Featured in: 2018

Becker, Augusta "Gussie"

Augusta Becker, known as “Gussie” to most, was born in Berlin, Germany on November 13, 1882, to...

Featured in: 2022

Beich, Paul F.

Featured in: 2001

Benjamin, Reuben Moore

Reuben Moore Benjamin was born on June 29, 1833 in Chatham Center, Columbia County, New York...

Featured in: 2000

Bradner, Judith Ann

Judith Major Allin Bradner was born on May 9, 1814 in Bourbon County, Kentucky to Mr. and Mrs....

Featured in: 2000

Brokaw, Abraham

Abraham Brokaw (he preferred to go by Abram), was born November 6, 1815 in Somerset County, New...

Featured in: 2013

Brown, Henry L.

To...

Featured in: 2001

Bunn, T.J.

Thomas Jefferson (T.J.) Bunn was born on August 29, 1832 in Xenia, Green County, Ohio. He was...

Featured in: 2020

Burnham, Almira Sarah Ives

At the turn of the twentieth century, when the public reception of visual arts in Bloomington,...

Featured in: 2002

Burnham, John Howard

John Howard Burnham was born on October 31, 1834 in Essex, Massachusetts....

Featured in: 2022

Butler, James Preston

Featured in: 2017

Bynum, Edward

To view the...

Featured in: 2017

Bynum, Lincoln

To...

Featured in: 2018

Cahill, Francis

Francis Cahill, Jr. was born on April 5, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the oldest of four...

Featured in: 2015

Calcote, Matilda

Matilda Bell Heaston entered the world on November 30, 1910. Born to Jake and Doshie...

Featured in: 2019

Calimese, Louise

To...

Featured in: 2019

Calimese, Napoleon

Napoleon J. Calimese (pronounced Calimeez) was born February 18, 1890 in Irvine, Kentucky. He...

Featured in: 2021

Carman, George

“‘To write, or not to write: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to sit and scratch your pate...

Featured in: 2020

Cheney, Owen Lee

Owen Lee Cheney (1846-1911) was a quixotic man in his quest...

Featured in: 2019

Christian, Annie May

Annie May Christian (who went by May for most of her life) was born on November 28, 1866 to...

Featured in: 2007

Christian, Elizabeth Jane Mitchell

Elizabeth Jane Mitchell, called Lizzie, was born on July 16, 1842 at Stout’s Grove near Danvers...

Featured in: 2018

Clark, Lue Anna Sanders

To...

Featured in: 2003 2014

Claxton, Belle Blue

Belle Blue Claxton was born in Bloomington, IL on April 30, ...

Featured in: 1998 2014

Colby, Celestia Rice

Celestia Rice Colby was born on December 19, 1827 in Andover, Ohio.  ...

Featured in: 2007

Colby, Dr. June Rose

June Rose Colby, known to friends and family as Rose, was born at Cherry Valley, Ohio on June...

Featured in: 2005

Cotting, James M. and Cotting, Katherine M.J.

James M. Cotting was born on March 18, 1825 in North Chatham, New York. He married...

Featured in: 2001

Covington, Dr. Eugene

Eugene Gray Covington was born in Rappahannock County, Virginia on August 1,...

Featured in: 2006

Crandall, June W.

June W. Crandall was born in 1878 in Richmond, Kentucky.  In 1896 June moved to Illinois...

Featured in: 2015

Crothers, Dr. Eli Kirk

To...

Featured in: 2015

Crothers, Dr. Marie Louise

To...

Featured in: 1997

Davis, Elmer

Elmer Ray Davis was born in Bement, Piatt County, Illinois, on October 6, 1888. He was the...

Featured in: 2003 2009 2022

Davis, Judge David

David Davis was born on March 9, 1815 at Mercer Plantation, Maryland to David and Anne Mercer...

Featured in: 1995 2009 2022

Davis, Sarah

    Sarah Woodruff Walker Davis was born on September 4, 1814 in Lenox,...

Featured in: 2015

Davis, William O.

If you would like to read the full citation biography,

Featured in: 2015

DeMotte, Harvey C.

To...

Featured in: 2005

Dietrich, Julius R.

Julius R. Dietrich was born in September of 1858 in Heinichen Saxony, Germany.  He spent...

Featured in: 2008

Dillon, Ellis and Martha Fisher

Ellis Dillon was born on March 25, 1816 in Clinton County, Ohio to Jesse and Hannah Pugh...

Featured in: 2007

Dodge, Flora Pennell

Flora Pennell Dodge was born on September 14, 1868 in Normal, Illinois.  She was the...

Featured in: 2005

Doubleday, Ulysses Freeman

 Ulysses Freeman Doubleday was born on December 15, 1792 in New Lebanon, Columbia County,...

Featured in: 2005 2021

Duff, Alverta

     Alverta Duff was the oldest child of Peter Charles and Fannie E. (Walker)...

Featured in: 1997 2004 2021

Duff, Julia

     Julia Edith Duff was born on June 5, 1895 in Normal,...

Featured in: 1995

Duff, Peter

Featured in: 2013

Edwards, Ruby

To...

Featured in: 1995 2011

Ela, Frances Harriet Rowell and Ela, George Porter

Featured in: 2001

Elder, Mary

Mary Elvira Elder was born in Bloomingburg, Fayette County,...

Featured in: 2022

Erickson, Alexander G.

Featured in: 2011

Esque, Eliza (Davis)

Eliza Davis Esque was born around 1845 in St. Charles County, Missouri.  Little is known...

Featured in: 2013

Eyer, Lloyd

Lloyd Eyer served as physical director of the Bloomington YMCA for twelve years from 1905 to...

Featured in: 1997

Eyestone, Lura

Lura Mary Eyestone was born in Bloomington, Illinois on October 14, 1872 to Theodore Riley...

Featured in: 2002

Fell, Hester Vernon

 Hester Vernon Fell was born on March 2, 1819 in Little ...

Featured in: 1997 2007 2009

Fell, Jesse Weldon

If you would like the full citation version of this biography,

Featured in: 2006

Ferre, Goodman

Goodman Ferre (pronounced Ferry) was born on January 27, 1806 and died on September 24,...

Featured in: 2008

FitzHenry, Judge Louis

Louis FitzHenry was born in Bloomington on June 13, 1870. He was the oldest son born to Hiram...

Featured in: 1996

Fitzwilliam, Sarah Raymond

Sarah Raymond Fitzwilliam was born and raised in Kendall County, IL. She attended Illinois...

Featured in: 2010

Foster, Daniel T.

If...

Featured in: 2008

Fox, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Irons Folsom

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Irons was born in about 1862 in Peoria to Charles and Ettie Maria English...

Featured in: 1999 2004

Frank, Henry “Teddy”

Henry “Teddy” Frank was born in Pennsylvania sometime in 1840 or 1841 and remained there...

Featured in: 2012

Funk, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Funk was born on October 17, 1837 to Isaac and Cassandra Funk.  Benjamin...

Featured in: 2020

Funk, Florence Mae Risser

Florence Mae Risser Funk (1871-1923) was one of McLean County’s most renowned...

Featured in: 2018

Funk, Henry

To...

Featured in: 1997

Gage, Dorothy Louise

The life of Dorothy Louise Gage, although brief, was certainly meaningful, leaving an impact...

Featured in: 1998 2017

Geneva, Carolyn Schertz

If...

Featured in: 2013

Goodheart, James

If...

Featured in: 2003

Graves, Linus

Linus Graves was born in Williamstown, Vermont on April 2, 1815 one of eleven children born to...

Featured in: 2013

Green, Fred and Harry -"The Flying LaVans"

To...

Featured in: 1998 2014

Gridley, Asahel

To...

Featured in: 2001 2014

Gridley, Mary

Mary Enos Gridley was born in Onondaga Hollow, Onondaga County, New York on March 18, 1818....

Featured in: 2000 2014

Guthrie, Adam

To...

Featured in: 2000

Haggard, David

 David Haggard was proud of his family tree. David was a descendant of Sir Andrew Ogard, a...

Featured in: 1999

Hall, Helen Ross

Helen Ross was born on September 15^th, 1846 in the village of Kenagh, in County...

Featured in: 2006

Hamilton, Kate Waterman

Kate Waterman Hamilton was born on November 12, 1841 in Schenectady, New York the only daughter...

Featured in: 2008

Hanner, Carl Gustav

Read more

Featured in: 2017

Hanson, Ethel Hamilton

If...

Featured in: 2007

Harris, Carter

Carter Harris was born April 15, 1856 on a small plantation in Red Bank, Mississippi. A son of...

Featured in: 2007

Hartmann, Mary J.

Mary J. Hartmann was born on October 13, 1845 on a farm in Franklin Township, Washington...

Featured in: 2008

Hawkins, Absalom

Read more

Featured in: 2002

Hawkins, Julia Bee

Julia Bee was born in Illinois on March 29th, 1863. It is not known who her parents were but...

Featured in: 2003

Hawks, Samuel Lockhart

Read more

Featured in: 2002

Heafer, Napoleon B.

Read more

Featured in: 2002

Henderson, Effie

Read more

Featured in: 2018

Hendryx, Jane Frankeberger

If...

Featured in: 2007 2020

Hewett, Edwin C.

Edwin C. Hewett was born November 1, 1828 in Worcester County, Massachusetts. He was the first...

Featured in: 2016

Higgins, Hamer

If...

Featured in: 2021

Hill, William Dr.

Dr. William Hill (1829-1906) was a talented surgeon and one of Bloomington’s...

Featured in: 2012

Hobbs, Dr. William C.

If...

Featured in: 1996

Hogg, Harvey

The Bloomington lawyer and Civil War cavalry commander, Harvey Hogg (originally from...

Featured in: 2017

Holder, Julia

Julia Montrose Holder was on born December 24, 1884 in Bloomington, Illinois to Dan and Kate...

Featured in: 2011

Horine, William H.

William (Bill) Horine was born to Adam and Sallie (Mason) Horine on March 3, 1840 in Jessamine...

Featured in: 2020

Howard, Emily

At the turn of the twentieth century, when the public reception of visual arts in Bloomington,...

Featured in: 2012

Huggins, Sophia

Sophia Roundtree Huggins was born in Kentucky on May 4, 1832.  According to Sophia her...

Featured in: 2011

Ijams, Lewis E.

Lewis E. Ijams was born on November 21, 1841 near Zanesville, Ohio.  His parents were...

Featured in: 2016

Jackman, John

John Adams Jackman was born March 22, 1816 in Boscawen, New Hampshire, where his...

Featured in: 2005

Jackman, Sarah Farnum Sargent

Sarah Farnum Sargent Jackman was born on December 18, 1816 in Boscawen, New Hampshire. She was...

Featured in: 2006

Jones, Eva

Eva Mae Gaiter Jones was born in Frenchmans Bayou, Arkansas on March 15, 1930. Her parents,...

Featured in: 2016

Jung, Jacob

If...

Featured in: 2019

Kaywood, Florence Stevens

If...

Featured in: 2015

Kessler, Clara Louise

If...

Featured in: 1998 2004

Kimball, Luella

Not much is known about Luella Kimball, sometimes known as Luella Rankin. Luella was the fourth...

Featured in: 2019

Kirkpatrick, Charles

Much of the information about Charles Kirkpatrick’s life comes from an autobiographical...

Featured in: 2001

Klemm, C.W.

Carl Wilhelm (C.W.) Klemm was born on May 1, 1845 in Haynrode, Saxony, Germany. His grandfather...

Featured in: 1996 2004

Law, David D.

Read more

Featured in: 2009

Lewis, Edward J.

Edward J. Lewis was born to Enoch and Lydia Jackson Lewis in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on...

Featured in: 1995 2014

Litta, Marie

   Marie (pronounced Maria) Litta, born Marie Eugenia von Elsner, was born in...

Featured in: 2021

Livingston, Hilda

Sigmund Livingston was born on December 27, 1872 in Giessen, Germany. He was one of eight...

Featured in: 2021

Livingston, Sigmund

Sigmund Livingston was born on December 27, 1872 in Giessen, Germany. He was one of eight...

Featured in: 2003

Locher, Beulah Baker

Beulah Baker Locher was born on January 7, 1881 in Gibson City. She was the daughter of Frank...

Featured in: 2009

Loomis, Emily Hanks

Emily Hanks Loomis was born October 18, 1837 on a farm in Hickory Point Township, four miles...

Featured in: 2006

Lott, Harrison Clay

Harrison Clay Lott was born August 16, 1848 in Madison, Indiana.  When Lott was fifteen...

Featured in: 2001

MacGillivray, Dr. Margaret

Dr. Margaret MacGillivray was born in Dunfermline, Scotland on October 21, 1845. She was a very...

Featured in: 2012

Madame Annette

At the turn of the last century, when newspapers ruled the media roost and Bloomington had two...

Featured in: 1999

Major, William Trabue

William Trabue Major was born on March 1^st, 1790 about three miles from Frankfort,...

Featured in: 2009

Malone, Simon B.

Simon Booth Malone was born into slavery on December 18, 1842 in Tippah County,...

Featured in: 2010

Mandler, Christoph

Featured in: 2021

Marmon, Mary Ann

Mary Ann (Cheney) Marmon (1837-1908) grew up in a log cabin on the Illinois...

Featured in: 1997

Mayers, Aaron

Aaron Mayers was born in Manheim, Pennsylvania in about 1827. It is unknown when exactly Mayers...

Featured in: 2008

McClun, John Edward

John Edward McClun was born on February 19, 1812 in Frederick County, Virginia.  He was...

Featured in: 2007

McCormick, Henry

Henry McCormick was born on February 5, 1837 in Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland.  He spent...

Featured in: 2020

McCoslin, William

William McCoslin (1830-1878) was born in Vandalia, Illinois on July 27, 1830....

Featured in: 1999

McCullough, William

William McCullough was born on September 11, 1811 in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He was the son of...

Featured in: 2022

McCurdy, Helen Clark

Featured in: 2011

McNulta, John

If...

Featured in: 2003

Merchant, Mary Arenz

Mary Arenz Merchant was born on February 28, 1841 in New Berlin, IL the fourth of ten...

Featured in: 2007

Milner, Angeline Vernon

Read more

Featured in: 2005

Moore, Asa Harvey

Asa Harvey Moore was born on October 20, 1820 in Rutland, Westchester County, Massachusetts. He...

Featured in: 2000

Moratz, Palma

Palma Moratz was born on April 6, 1879 in Bloomington, IL to German-born parents, Hermann and...

Featured in: 2016

Moratz, Paul

Paul O. Moratz had a passion for building and design that started at a young age. For 34 years...

Featured in: 2010

Morgan, Lucy Orme

Featured in: 2019

Munsell, Oliver

If...

Featured in: 2016

Murray, Ethel

Featured in: 1996 2004

Muxfeld, Louise

Louise Muxfeld, known as “Lizzie” by all, was born as Johanna Louise Catherine Tobecksen on...

Featured in: 2001

Neville, Edith

Edith Neville, one of Bloomington’s most wealthy and eccentric citizens, was born in...

Featured in: 2018

Noble, Clyde Van

If...

Featured in: 1997 2018

Noble, Emily Vecchi

If...

Featured in: 2009

Northrup, Rose Whipp

Rose Whipp Northrup was born on September 27, 1850 in Beardstown, Illinois.  She was the...

Featured in: 2006

Orme, Nancy “Nannie” McCullough

Nancy “Nannie” McCullough Orme was born on October 23, 1834 in McLean County.  In 1853 she...

Featured in: 2006

Orme, William Ward

William Ward Orme was born February 17, 1832 in Washington, D.C.  William’s parents died...

Featured in: 1995

Paist, Maria Dawson

Maria Dawson Paist came to Illinois with her family in 1822 at the age of five. The Dawson and...

Featured in: 2009

Pike, Alpheus

Alpheus Pike was born to Harrison Wallace Pike and Susan A. Mayberry Pike in Casco, Maine on...

Featured in: 2002

Pillsbury, Arthur L.

Arthur L. Pillsbury was born in Bloomington, Illinois on November 29th, 1869. He grew up in...

Featured in: 2005

Porter, Ida

Ida Porter was born on September 19, 1863 in Normal, Illinois.  She was the daughter of...

Featured in: 1996

Potter, Mary

Featured in: 1998

Price, John Joseph

John Joseph Price was born on October 16, 1835 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Little information is known...

Featured in: 2009

Prince, Ezra Morton

Ezra Morton Prince was born on May 27, 1831 in Turner, Maine.  His parents were Job Prince...

Featured in: 1995 2004 2014

Radbourn, Charles "Old Hoss"

Charles Radbourn was born on December 9, 1854 in Rochester, New York. He was the son of...

Featured in: 2002 2004

Rankin, Melinda

Melinda Rankin was born in Littleton, New Hampshire on March 21, 1811. She attended and taught...

Featured in: 2006

Rayburn, Jennie

If you would like the full citation version of this biography,

Featured in: 2017

Read, Roland

If...

Featured in: 2011

Rice, Martha Baker

Martha H. Baker (Rice) was born in Richmond, Kentucky on September 4, 1817.  Her parent’s...

Featured in: 2015

Riebsame, Christian

Captain Christian Riebsame (1839-1913) was a German-born citizen who came to the United States...

Featured in: 2021

Rodenhauser, William

William John (Wilhelm Johannes) Rodenhauser (1842-1919) was among a large...

Featured in: 2011

Roeder, John Conrad

If...

Featured in: 2015

Rogers, Dr. Thomas

If...

Featured in: 1996

Saltzman-Stevens, Minnie

The story of Minnie Saltzman-Stevens is a Cinderella story of the musical arts. She rose from a...

Featured in: 2012

Sanders, Isaac

Isaac Joshua Beasley Sanders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on January 17^th,...

Featured in: 2003

Sanders, Susan Pike

Susan Augusta Pike Sanders was born in Maine on March 25, 1842. She was the third of seven...

Featured in: 1996 1999 2004

Schroeder, Herman and Baroness Maria von Buchau Schroeder

Herman Schroeder was born on May 22, 1821 in the town of Althandensleben, near Magdeburg,...

Featured in: 2012

Scott, Charlotte Ann Perry

Charlotte Ann Perry was born on September 18, 1831 in Athens, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. ...

Featured in: 2002

Scott, John Milton

John Milton Scott was born on August 1, 1823 in 

Featured in: 2000

Scott, Julia Green

Julia Green Scott was born to privilege and distinguished ancestry on February 14, 1839 in...

Featured in: 2003

Seibert, Leonard

Leonard Seibert was born on August 18, 1831 in Koenig, a borough of Essen, Germany. He came to...

Featured in: 2016

Shipley, Richard

Image Courtesy of Circus World, Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Featured in: 2013

Smith, Alice Orme

If...

Featured in: 2011

Smith, Dr. Lee

Dr. Lee Smith was born on May 8, 1832 near Havens Grove, Illinois. He was the first child born...

Featured in: 2010

Stearles, Willis

Featured in: 1995

Stevenson, Adlai E. I

A devout Democrat in a staunchly Republican district, Adlai E. Stevenson I managed to be twice...

Featured in: 1997 2014 2018

Stevenson, Adlai E. II

Politics was in his blood. Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was a member of the two most...

Featured in: 2010

Stevenson, Helen Davis

Helen Louise Davis Stevenson was born in Normal on September 17, 1869.  She was the...

Featured in: 1999

Stevenson, Letitia Green

Letitia Barbour Green Stevenson was born in Alleghany City in Western Pennsylvania on January...

Featured in: 2020

Stewart, Grace Huddleston

Grace Huddleston Stewart (1910-1996) became known throughout Bloomington after...

Featured in: 2011

Stipp, Dr. George Winfield

Dr. George W. Stipp was born on...

Featured in: 2022

Stokes, Ella Lee

Featured in: 1998

Thomas, George Washington

George Washington Thomas was born in Wisemantown, Kentucky, around 1860 or 1861. At that time...

Featured in: 2016

Thompson, Jennie

Jane “Jennie” Lynd Thompson was born on October 28, 1860 in Bond Head, Canada—located in the...

Featured in: 2000

Tipton, Thomas F.

Thomas Foster Tipton was born to Hiram and Deborah Ogden Tipton in Franklin County, Ohio, on...

Featured in: 1998 2012

Trotter, Georgina

Georgina Trotter was born on August 15, 1836 in Drogheda, Ireland to John and Ann...

Featured in: 2010

Van Schoick, William

Featured in: 2008 2017

Vrooman, Carl and Julia

If...

Featured in: 2008

Wagner, Grace B.

Grace B. Wagner was born on May 1, 1890 to Henry and Nellie Spafford Wagner. The family...

Featured in: 1995

Wakefield, Cyrenius

Featured in: 2016

White, Samuel

Prominent contractor and builder Samuel...

Featured in: 2010

White, William Richard

Featured in: 1999

Wickizer, Jennie MacDonald

Jennie MacDonald Wickizer was born on December 31st, 1852 at Knightswood, Scotland, located...

Featured in: 1999

Williams, Private Gus

Augustus “Gus” Williams was born in Jacksonville, Illinois on September 22nd, 1892. He was the...

Featured in: 2009

Withers, Allen

Allen Withers was born on a farm in Jessamine County, Kentucky about seven miles from...

Featured in: 1995 2009

Withers, Sarah

Sarah Rice Withers was born to John M. Rice and Patsy (Polly) Johnson Rice in Jessamine County,...

Featured in: 1996 2004

Witherspoon, Julius

Julius Witherspoon was born in Arkansas in about 1860 and spent his first twenty-four years...

Featured in: 2006

Wolcott, John Laurens

John Wolcott was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts on August 30, 1808.  He learned...

Featured in: 2019

Wright, Ebenezer

Ebenezer Wright was born in either 1830 or 1831 in Ludlow, Massachusetts to Rev. Ebenezer and...

Featured in: 2012

Wunderlich, Gerald “Jerry” White

Gerald “Jerry” Wunderlich (sometimes spelled Wonderlich) was born on August 25, 1889 in...