History of Knox County Illinois 1912
William B. Main, deceased, a resident of the town of Abingdon for more than three decades, who for a number of years was prominently identified with its business interests as a leading hardware merchant, has lived retired from 1896 up to the time of his death, in January 1912. His birth occurred on Snowdon Hill, Otsego county, New York, on the 7th of December, 1835. His parents were Thomas P. and Laura (Allen) Main. The first emigrant ancestor of the Main family came to the United States from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, in May, 1680, landing in New York and thence going to Stonington, Connecticut, where the took up his abode. William B. Main represented the sixth generation of the family in this country. Thomas P. Main, the father of William B. Main, was born in Otsego county, New York, on the old Main homestead which had been in possession of the family for several generations, his natal day being May 31, 1798. He remained in his native county until 1838 and then removed to Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York. The tract of which he settled was a primeval forest and his first task was the clearing of a site for a log cabin, which he erected. Our subject was then about four years of age. Thomas Main had incurred a debt of about two hundred dollars and was unable to discharge it until some sixteen years later, when his son William left the parental roof and at which time the farm was cleared of trees as well as indebtedness. Thomas P. Main passed away on the 27th of July, 1878, at Boone, Iowa, where he had removed some twelve years earlier and where a son and daughter had preceded him. In his family there were eight children. For many years he was recognized as a pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church, acting as class leader and Sunday school superintendent and long serving in one official capacity or another. His wife, who natal year was 1808, was also a representative of an old New England family of English descent. Her demise occurred soon after she and her husband had established their home in Chenango county, New York.
William B. Main acquired his early education in the district schools but his advantages in this direction were meager, for his services were required on the home farm and he was able to attend school for only about two months, each winter, often being too busy to begin his studies until after the 1st of January. On attaining the age of twenty years he started out in life on his own account, securing employment as a farm hand on Chenango county. In 1857 he came to Altona, Knox county, Illinois, here breaking prairie and operating a threshing machine and working as post driver until 1861. In that year he enlisted for three year's service in the Union army, becoming a member of Company I., Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 25th of May. At the siege of Fort Donelson, however, he was obliged to sleep on the snow and share one blanket with two other mean, contracting a severe cold. This together with a chronic enteric sickness, reduced his weight from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and six pounds, and on April 28, 1862, he was discharged on account of disability. He returned to Galesburg, Illinois, and was an invalid throughout the summer. In the fall he took up railroad work and was soon afterward made a conductor on the Burlington road, running a freight train from Galesburg to Aurora for seven years and a passenger train from Galesburg to Peoria for ten years. In 1878, in company with A. J. Shaw and William Wincup, he went to northwestern Texas and acquired some twenty thousand acres of land in Floyd and Hale counties. Buying railroad land warrants, paying sixty-five dollars for warrants covering six hundred and forty acres, and also incurring additional expense for surveys and entrance fees, the land cost them about one hundred and five dollars per section.
After returning to Galesburg, Mr. Main resumed his railroad work. In the fall of 1878 he traded some Texas land for one of the best residences in Abingdon as well as a farm near the town. In the spring of 1879 he came to Abingdon and has here resided continuously up to his demise. He left the railroad service in October, 1879, and on the 1st of June, 1881, purchased the hardware business of H. L. Chaffee, of Abingdon, remaining one of the leading merchants of the town for about fifteen years. In 1896, having accumulated a handsome competence, he put aside active business cares, turned his establishment over to his son-in-law, C. D. Byram, to enjoy the last fifteen years of his life in honorable retirement. He was likewise a prominent factor in financial circles serving as president of the First National Bank for some years and as a director of the institution until January 1, 1911, when he withdrew and turned over his banking interests to his son-in-law. For twenty years he acted as trustee of Hedding College and for several years was chairman of the finance committee and treasurer of the college.
On the 12th of January, 1865, Mr. Main was united in marriage to Miss Harriet M. Bills, of Bainbridge, New York, by whom he had two children: Carrie E., the wife of C. C. Byram; and George W., who is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Main was formerly identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a demitted member of the blue lodge, the chapter, commandery and Eastern Star. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belongs. Mr. Main died in January, 1912, in his seventy-eighth year of his life. He enjoyed to a large extent the respect and veneration of all who came in contact with him in a business or social way and is sincerely mourned by a host of friends who reverently cherish his memory. His loss is irreparable to his immediate family, to whom he was the most devoted and loving husband and father.
William B. Main, deceased, a resident of the town of Abingdon for more than three decades, who for a number of years was prominently identified with its business interests as a leading hardware merchant, has lived retired from 1896 up to the time of his death, in January 1912. His birth occurred on Snowdon Hill, Otsego county, New York, on the 7th of December, 1835. His parents were Thomas P. and Laura (Allen) Main. The first emigrant ancestor of the Main family came to the United States from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, in May, 1680, landing in New York and thence going to Stonington, Connecticut, where the took up his abode. William B. Main represented the sixth generation of the family in this country. Thomas P. Main, the father of William B. Main, was born in Otsego county, New York, on the old Main homestead which had been in possession of the family for several generations, his natal day being May 31, 1798. He remained in his native county until 1838 and then removed to Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York. The tract of which he settled was a primeval forest and his first task was the clearing of a site for a log cabin, which he erected. Our subject was then about four years of age. Thomas Main had incurred a debt of about two hundred dollars and was unable to discharge it until some sixteen years later, when his son William left the parental roof and at which time the farm was cleared of trees as well as indebtedness. Thomas P. Main passed away on the 27th of July, 1878, at Boone, Iowa, where he had removed some twelve years earlier and where a son and daughter had preceded him. In his family there were eight children. For many years he was recognized as a pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church, acting as class leader and Sunday school superintendent and long serving in one official capacity or another. His wife, who natal year was 1808, was also a representative of an old New England family of English descent. Her demise occurred soon after she and her husband had established their home in Chenango county, New York.
William B. Main acquired his early education in the district schools but his advantages in this direction were meager, for his services were required on the home farm and he was able to attend school for only about two months, each winter, often being too busy to begin his studies until after the 1st of January. On attaining the age of twenty years he started out in life on his own account, securing employment as a farm hand on Chenango county. In 1857 he came to Altona, Knox county, Illinois, here breaking prairie and operating a threshing machine and working as post driver until 1861. In that year he enlisted for three year's service in the Union army, becoming a member of Company I., Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 25th of May. At the siege of Fort Donelson, however, he was obliged to sleep on the snow and share one blanket with two other mean, contracting a severe cold. This together with a chronic enteric sickness, reduced his weight from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and six pounds, and on April 28, 1862, he was discharged on account of disability. He returned to Galesburg, Illinois, and was an invalid throughout the summer. In the fall he took up railroad work and was soon afterward made a conductor on the Burlington road, running a freight train from Galesburg to Aurora for seven years and a passenger train from Galesburg to Peoria for ten years. In 1878, in company with A. J. Shaw and William Wincup, he went to northwestern Texas and acquired some twenty thousand acres of land in Floyd and Hale counties. Buying railroad land warrants, paying sixty-five dollars for warrants covering six hundred and forty acres, and also incurring additional expense for surveys and entrance fees, the land cost them about one hundred and five dollars per section.
After returning to Galesburg, Mr. Main resumed his railroad work. In the fall of 1878 he traded some Texas land for one of the best residences in Abingdon as well as a farm near the town. In the spring of 1879 he came to Abingdon and has here resided continuously up to his demise. He left the railroad service in October, 1879, and on the 1st of June, 1881, purchased the hardware business of H. L. Chaffee, of Abingdon, remaining one of the leading merchants of the town for about fifteen years. In 1896, having accumulated a handsome competence, he put aside active business cares, turned his establishment over to his son-in-law, C. D. Byram, to enjoy the last fifteen years of his life in honorable retirement. He was likewise a prominent factor in financial circles serving as president of the First National Bank for some years and as a director of the institution until January 1, 1911, when he withdrew and turned over his banking interests to his son-in-law. For twenty years he acted as trustee of Hedding College and for several years was chairman of the finance committee and treasurer of the college.
On the 12th of January, 1865, Mr. Main was united in marriage to Miss Harriet M. Bills, of Bainbridge, New York, by whom he had two children: Carrie E., the wife of C. C. Byram; and George W., who is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Main was formerly identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a demitted member of the blue lodge, the chapter, commandery and Eastern Star. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belongs. Mr. Main died in January, 1912, in his seventy-eighth year of his life. He enjoyed to a large extent the respect and veneration of all who came in contact with him in a business or social way and is sincerely mourned by a host of friends who reverently cherish his memory. His loss is irreparable to his immediate family, to whom he was the most devoted and loving husband and father.
History of Knox County Illinois 1912
William B. Main, deceased, a resident of the town of Abingdon for more than three decades, who for a number of years was prominently identified with its business interests as a leading hardware merchant, has lived retired from 1896 up to the time of his death, in January 1912. His birth occurred on Snowdon Hill, Otsego county, New York, on the 7th of December, 1835. His parents were Thomas P. and Laura (Allen) Main. The first emigrant ancestor of the Main family came to the United States from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, in May, 1680, landing in New York and thence going to Stonington, Connecticut, where the took up his abode. William B. Main represented the sixth generation of the family in this country. Thomas P. Main, the father of William B. Main, was born in Otsego county, New York, on the old Main homestead which had been in possession of the family for several generations, his natal day being May 31, 1798. He remained in his native county until 1838 and then removed to Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York. The tract of which he settled was a primeval forest and his first task was the clearing of a site for a log cabin, which he erected. Our subject was then about four years of age. Thomas Main had incurred a debt of about two hundred dollars and was unable to discharge it until some sixteen years later, when his son William left the parental roof and at which time the farm was cleared of trees as well as indebtedness. Thomas P. Main passed away on the 27th of July, 1878, at Boone, Iowa, where he had removed some twelve years earlier and where a son and daughter had preceded him. In his family there were eight children. For many years he was recognized as a pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church, acting as class leader and Sunday school superintendent and long serving in one official capacity or another. His wife, who natal year was 1808, was also a representative of an old New England family of English descent. Her demise occurred soon after she and her husband had established their home in Chenango county, New York.
William B. Main acquired his early education in the district schools but his advantages in this direction were meager, for his services were required on the home farm and he was able to attend school for only about two months, each winter, often being too busy to begin his studies until after the 1st of January. On attaining the age of twenty years he started out in life on his own account, securing employment as a farm hand on Chenango county. In 1857 he came to Altona, Knox county, Illinois, here breaking prairie and operating a threshing machine and working as post driver until 1861. In that year he enlisted for three year's service in the Union army, becoming a member of Company I., Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 25th of May. At the siege of Fort Donelson, however, he was obliged to sleep on the snow and share one blanket with two other mean, contracting a severe cold. This together with a chronic enteric sickness, reduced his weight from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and six pounds, and on April 28, 1862, he was discharged on account of disability. He returned to Galesburg, Illinois, and was an invalid throughout the summer. In the fall he took up railroad work and was soon afterward made a conductor on the Burlington road, running a freight train from Galesburg to Aurora for seven years and a passenger train from Galesburg to Peoria for ten years. In 1878, in company with A. J. Shaw and William Wincup, he went to northwestern Texas and acquired some twenty thousand acres of land in Floyd and Hale counties. Buying railroad land warrants, paying sixty-five dollars for warrants covering six hundred and forty acres, and also incurring additional expense for surveys and entrance fees, the land cost them about one hundred and five dollars per section.
After returning to Galesburg, Mr. Main resumed his railroad work. In the fall of 1878 he traded some Texas land for one of the best residences in Abingdon as well as a farm near the town. In the spring of 1879 he came to Abingdon and has here resided continuously up to his demise. He left the railroad service in October, 1879, and on the 1st of June, 1881, purchased the hardware business of H. L. Chaffee, of Abingdon, remaining one of the leading merchants of the town for about fifteen years. In 1896, having accumulated a handsome competence, he put aside active business cares, turned his establishment over to his son-in-law, C. D. Byram, to enjoy the last fifteen years of his life in honorable retirement. He was likewise a prominent factor in financial circles serving as president of the First National Bank for some years and as a director of the institution until January 1, 1911, when he withdrew and turned over his banking interests to his son-in-law. For twenty years he acted as trustee of Hedding College and for several years was chairman of the finance committee and treasurer of the college.
On the 12th of January, 1865, Mr. Main was united in marriage to Miss Harriet M. Bills, of Bainbridge, New York, by whom he had two children: Carrie E., the wife of C. C. Byram; and George W., who is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Main was formerly identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a demitted member of the blue lodge, the chapter, commandery and Eastern Star. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belongs. Mr. Main died in January, 1912, in his seventy-eighth year of his life. He enjoyed to a large extent the respect and veneration of all who came in contact with him in a business or social way and is sincerely mourned by a host of friends who reverently cherish his memory. His loss is irreparable to his immediate family, to whom he was the most devoted and loving husband and father.
William B. Main, deceased, a resident of the town of Abingdon for more than three decades, who for a number of years was prominently identified with its business interests as a leading hardware merchant, has lived retired from 1896 up to the time of his death, in January 1912. His birth occurred on Snowdon Hill, Otsego county, New York, on the 7th of December, 1835. His parents were Thomas P. and Laura (Allen) Main. The first emigrant ancestor of the Main family came to the United States from the vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, in May, 1680, landing in New York and thence going to Stonington, Connecticut, where the took up his abode. William B. Main represented the sixth generation of the family in this country. Thomas P. Main, the father of William B. Main, was born in Otsego county, New York, on the old Main homestead which had been in possession of the family for several generations, his natal day being May 31, 1798. He remained in his native county until 1838 and then removed to Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York. The tract of which he settled was a primeval forest and his first task was the clearing of a site for a log cabin, which he erected. Our subject was then about four years of age. Thomas Main had incurred a debt of about two hundred dollars and was unable to discharge it until some sixteen years later, when his son William left the parental roof and at which time the farm was cleared of trees as well as indebtedness. Thomas P. Main passed away on the 27th of July, 1878, at Boone, Iowa, where he had removed some twelve years earlier and where a son and daughter had preceded him. In his family there were eight children. For many years he was recognized as a pillar in the Methodist Episcopal church, acting as class leader and Sunday school superintendent and long serving in one official capacity or another. His wife, who natal year was 1808, was also a representative of an old New England family of English descent. Her demise occurred soon after she and her husband had established their home in Chenango county, New York.
William B. Main acquired his early education in the district schools but his advantages in this direction were meager, for his services were required on the home farm and he was able to attend school for only about two months, each winter, often being too busy to begin his studies until after the 1st of January. On attaining the age of twenty years he started out in life on his own account, securing employment as a farm hand on Chenango county. In 1857 he came to Altona, Knox county, Illinois, here breaking prairie and operating a threshing machine and working as post driver until 1861. In that year he enlisted for three year's service in the Union army, becoming a member of Company I., Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on the 25th of May. At the siege of Fort Donelson, however, he was obliged to sleep on the snow and share one blanket with two other mean, contracting a severe cold. This together with a chronic enteric sickness, reduced his weight from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and six pounds, and on April 28, 1862, he was discharged on account of disability. He returned to Galesburg, Illinois, and was an invalid throughout the summer. In the fall he took up railroad work and was soon afterward made a conductor on the Burlington road, running a freight train from Galesburg to Aurora for seven years and a passenger train from Galesburg to Peoria for ten years. In 1878, in company with A. J. Shaw and William Wincup, he went to northwestern Texas and acquired some twenty thousand acres of land in Floyd and Hale counties. Buying railroad land warrants, paying sixty-five dollars for warrants covering six hundred and forty acres, and also incurring additional expense for surveys and entrance fees, the land cost them about one hundred and five dollars per section.
After returning to Galesburg, Mr. Main resumed his railroad work. In the fall of 1878 he traded some Texas land for one of the best residences in Abingdon as well as a farm near the town. In the spring of 1879 he came to Abingdon and has here resided continuously up to his demise. He left the railroad service in October, 1879, and on the 1st of June, 1881, purchased the hardware business of H. L. Chaffee, of Abingdon, remaining one of the leading merchants of the town for about fifteen years. In 1896, having accumulated a handsome competence, he put aside active business cares, turned his establishment over to his son-in-law, C. D. Byram, to enjoy the last fifteen years of his life in honorable retirement. He was likewise a prominent factor in financial circles serving as president of the First National Bank for some years and as a director of the institution until January 1, 1911, when he withdrew and turned over his banking interests to his son-in-law. For twenty years he acted as trustee of Hedding College and for several years was chairman of the finance committee and treasurer of the college.
On the 12th of January, 1865, Mr. Main was united in marriage to Miss Harriet M. Bills, of Bainbridge, New York, by whom he had two children: Carrie E., the wife of C. C. Byram; and George W., who is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Main was formerly identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a demitted member of the blue lodge, the chapter, commandery and Eastern Star. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belongs. Mr. Main died in January, 1912, in his seventy-eighth year of his life. He enjoyed to a large extent the respect and veneration of all who came in contact with him in a business or social way and is sincerely mourned by a host of friends who reverently cherish his memory. His loss is irreparable to his immediate family, to whom he was the most devoted and loving husband and father.
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