Showing results by author "Dale C. Maley" in All Categories

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois. This short story attempts do documents all the Fairbury citizens who have authored books over the years. Several of these book authors are major figures in the history of Fairbury. Additional biographical and historical information for these book authors is included in this short story.

American medical doctors face some unique financial planning challenges. They often have to incur student loans in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unlike regular college graduates who start working at age 22, they often can not start working until about age 30. Their relatively high income can also drive the need for huge retirement savings. Because of their high income, doctors are major targets for people selling bad investments. This short story explores these unique challenges. Read this short story if you are a medical doctor who wants to learn how to meet your long-term ...

William Walton and Elizabeth Gehman had a large family of 12 children in Ohio. They both died at relatively young ages, leaving several of their younger children as orphans.Four of these 12 children moved to the Fairbury area. Mary Ann Walton married prominent Belle Prairie Township farmer David Steele Crum. They provided a home for young orphan Isaac Walton after the parents died.Benjamin Walton was a pioneer settler of the Fairbury area. He established a large elevator and grain mill at the southwest corner of First and Locust.Orphan Isaac Walton served in the Civil War, then returned to ...

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois.William T. Stackpole came from a prominent family in the Maine coastal city of Thomaston, Maine. He was born in 1827. He grew up on the St. Georges River in Maine. At Thomaston, the St. Georges river empties into the Atlantic Ocean. He was aware of the great success of the Erie Canal, built in 1821. These factors led to a life-long obsession with improving waterway shipping, including rivers and canals.His...

The first settlers in the Fairbury area was Major Darnall south of town in 1829 and the McDowell family north of town in 1832. In 1857, the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad installed new tracks which helped to create the village of Fairbury.This book is a collection of over 70 different carefully researched stories about various aspects of Fairbury history. These stories run the range from the pioneer settlers, the coal miners, enterprising businessmen, school history, banking history, Post Office locations, and modern efforts to preserve Fairbury history.It is hoped this book will help people ...

James McDowell (1747-1809) was born in Ireland. He was a soldier under General Wayne in the Revolutionary War and was wounded at Brandywine. He married Sarah Gorrell (1763-1834) and they had nine children in Ohio. Families of three of these nine children moved to Avoca Township in Illinois starting in 1832. Descendants of James and Sarah fought in the War of 1812 and the Civil War.These McDowell family members were pioneers that helped establish the Illinois towns of Avoca, McDowell, Fairbury, and Gibson City. Some of the Fairbury, Illinois McDowells named and helped to establish Fairbury, ...

John A. Oliver (1733-1824) lived in Bordentown, New Jersey. He became friends with Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). John Oliver served as a quartermaster in the Revolutionary War. Bordentown citizen Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791) was a patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson had artistic talents and help design the first U.S. flag, wrote music, wrote poetry, sketched and painted. Hopkinson painted a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Franklin then gave the portrait to his friend, John Oliver. Eventually Franklin Oliver (1797-1881) inherited the portrait from his ...

The first settlers in the Fairbury area was Major Darnall south of town in 1829 and the McDowell's north of town in 1832. In 1857, the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad installed new tracks which helped to create the village of Fairbury. This book is a collection of over 70 different carefully researched stories about various aspects of Fairbury history. These stories run the range from the pioneer settlers to modern efforts to preserve Fairbury history. It is hoped this book will help people better understand the almost 200 years of rich history that helped to define the community of Fairbury.

This book traces the founding of the Fairbury area including the first pioneer farmers. The book includes maps of the Fairbury area indicating where the first farmers purchased land along Indian Creek or the Vermilion River. In 1850, Congress passed a new law authorizing land patents for military veterans. Most of these veterans did not want to move to the swampy Fairbury area, so they sold their patents to farmers interested in trying to farm the swampy soil. This triggered a second wave of pioneer settlers in the middle 1850s. In 1851, the State of Illinois passed a new law authorizing ...

Zoath Yost was born and raised in West Virginia. He completed college and obtained a law degree from West Virginia University. Zoath married Pontiac native Ella Louise Hartshorn in 1890. Ella Hartshorn graduated from Pontiac Township High School and then attended several colleges. In 1898, Zoath and Ella Yost built their home on the Vermilion River at 298 West Water Street in Pontiac. Zoath and Ella Yost had three children. The oldest child, Hellene Louise Yost, graduated from Pontiac Township High School. Hellene Yost received a bachelor’s degree in Greek from Randolph-Macon Woman’s ...

The first settlers in the Fairbury area was Major Darnell south of town in 1829 and the McDowells north of town in 1832. In 1857, the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad installed new tracks which helped to create the village of Fairbury. This book is a collection of over 70 different carefully researched stories about various aspects of Fairbury history. These stories run the range from the pioneer settlers to modern efforts to preserve Fairbury history. It is hoped this book will help people better understand the almost 200 years of rich history that helped to define the community of Fairbury.

Fairbury is a small town located in Central Illinois. It is 100 miles south of Chicago and 60 miles east of Peoria. It was founded in 1857 when the railroad first crossed Central Illinois. William T. Stackpole came from a prominent family in the Maine coastal city of Thomaston, Maine, on the St. Georges River. He was born in 1827. He grew up on the St. Georges River in Maine, where it emptied into the Atlantic Ocean. He was aware of the great success of the Erie Canal, built in 1821. These factors led to a life-long obsession with improving waterway shipping, including rivers and canals. ...

Abraham Lincoln visited Pontiac, Illinois, on five separate occasions. Lincoln visited Pontiac twice in 1840 and was the lawyer who represented William Popejoy on his lawsuits with Isaac Wilson. Lincoln was the lawyer in another Pontiac case with County Sheriff Blue in 1843. In 1855, Lincoln spent several nights in Pontiac after he was rescued from a train stuck in a snowstorm. Lincoln’s last visit to Pontiac was in January of 1860 when he gave a speech at the Presbyterian Church. After the speech, Lincoln spent many hours at the home of Jason Strevell before he caught his train to ...