Browse Items (475 total)
- Collection: Photo File: Biography
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Andrew J. Dunston
Photograph of Andrew J. Dunston (b. 4/9/1852, d. 1933). He was a blacksmith and horseshoer for over 60 years. Dunston built a building at 136 S. Franklin in 1892 that was eventually bought by Lubin A. Freeland for a machine shop. He was the father…
Michael Fahay
Photograph of Michael Fahay (d. 3/3/1941). He established a hardware store and tin shop at 1102 E. Eldorado St. in 1894, and sold it in 1937 to Richard E. Harner. Fahay was prominent in politices, and served as alderman from the fifth ward from…
William F. Frede
Photograph of William F. Frede (d. 12/24/1950), a Decatur automobile dealer. In 1891, Frede started a farm implement business. After buying his first automobile in 1910, Frede opened a Studebaker dealership. He took over the Chevrolet dealership…
"Immortal J.N." Free
Photograph of "Immortal J.N." (Jacob Newman) Free (d. 6/27/1906). Free was a wanderer who traveled throughout the United States for 50 years by riding for free on every railroad, and staying in hotels at their expense. He was considered harmlessly…
George I. Fulk
Photograph of George I. Fulk, formerly of Bethany, IL. Fulk was a lawyer by trade, but also the Macon County Chairman of the 1951 Crusade for Freedom, a delegate to the international peace conference at the Hague in 1907 under President Theodore…
Auntie Gastman
Photograph of Mrs. Belle Hobbs Gastman (Mrs. E.A. Gastman). The photo is labeled "Auntie Gastman".
Alonzo Gray
Photograph of Alonzo Gray. He came to Decatur in 1878 from New York, and was employed by Wabash Railroad until 1910. At that time, he went to work for the Illinois Traction System. He was an expert on interior car-work, and a cabinet maker by…
Isaiah Green
Photograph of Isaiah Green (d. 2/11/1909), a veteran Wabash Railroad employee. He started in 1881 as a wiper, then as a helper in the storeroom. He was a Civil War Veteran, serving with the 134th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The photo ran in the…
Jacob Hanes
Photograph of Jacob Hanes (d. 11/13/1923). He was a prominent harness race horse driver, which he took up very late in life. He was a Civil War veteran, and a farmer until 1891. Used in the Decatur Herald or Daily Review.
Charles S. Hankins
Photograph of Charles S. Hankins (d. 10/1/1933). He was the former owner and operator of the Decatur Independent Telephone Co., which he sold to the Illinois Bell Telephone Co. in 1907. He was a pioneer in the use of underground telephone cables,…