Andrew J. Langley.  The subject of this sketch finds an appropriate place in the history of men of business and enterprise in the states of Illinois whose force of character, whose sterling integrity, whose fortitude amid discouragements, whose good sense in the management of complicated affairs and of marked success in establishing and bringing to completion important business interests, have contributed in an eminent degree to the development of the best resources of this commonwealth.  His career has not been helped by accident or luck, wealth, family or powerful friends, but he is in the broadest sense of self-made man, being both the architect and builder of his fortunes, but not only has he won prominence in business life, but has also gained high regard by his genuine worth.  He is now the vice president of the First National Bank of Mansfield and was long associated with agricultural interests, his home at the present time being on his farm on section 17, Blue Ridge township.
     Mr. Langley is a naive of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Erie County about four miles from the city of Erie on the 1st of October, 1837.  He is a son of James and Jane (Weston) Langley, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state.  The Langley family is of Scotch extraction and when sixteen years of age the grandfather of our subject came from the land of the heather to the new world, locating in Erie county.  There he afterward followed farming until called to the home beyond.  It was in Erie county that he was married and reared his family.  James Langley also became an agriculturist, and with his family he removed to the west in 1853, establishing his home in Macoupin county, Illinois.  The subject of this review was then a youth of sixteen years.  The journey was made overland and nineteen and a half days had passed ere they reached their destination.  They did not, however, travel on Sundays.  After arriving in Macoupin county the father purchased land and continued to engage in farming there unthis his demise.  He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, of whom four are yet living, but Andrew J. Langley is the only one now residing in Piatt county.  One of the family is living in Seattle, Washington, another in Mississippi, and the sister is a resident of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
     In the schools of Erie county, Pennsylvania, Andrew J. Langley began his education which he afterward continued in the public schools of Macoupin county, Illinois.  He also spent one term in a commercial school of Gerard, Pennsylvania.  Under the parental roof he remained until twenty-one years of age, when he began business as a farmer and nurseryman in Macoupin county.  As a companion and helpmate for the journey of life he chose Miss Celia A. Curtis and the wedding was celebrated on the 11th of March, 1859.  The lady is also a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John and Hulda Curtis, natives of New York, whence they removed to the Keystone state, where the father followed farming.  The Curtis family is probably of English lineage and Mrs. Langley is one of a family of eight children, five of whom are yet living.  Unto our subject and his wife were born six children, but a son and daughter died in infancy. Elmer E., the eldest, is now living in Morris, Stevens county, Minnesota. He married Emma Smith, who died leaving two children: Elbert E., who makes his home in Minnesota with his father; and Emery F., who is residing with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Langley. Frederick Lincoln, the second son of the family, resides at Bingham Lake, Minnesota. He wedded Mattie Holman and they have three children, Max, Wilbur and Celia. James C. Langley is the cashier of the First National Bank of Mansfield. Roy A. is engaged in farming in Morris, Minnesota.
     Mr. Langley returned to the east for his wife and then brought his bride to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he carried on farming until 1865, and likewise devoted some attention to the nursery business. That year he came to Piatt county and purchased four hundred acres of land, which was then partially improved, having upon it a little house of two rooms. He erected a new residence, also built outbuildings and has improved the place in many ways. It was almost destitute of trees when he took up his abode there, but the place is now surrounded by many beautiful trees. Mr. Langley was planting a grove of five acres of walnut trees when a messenger riding across the country from Champaign county called to him the news that President Lincoln had been assassinated. Mr. Langley then gave to the place the name of Lincoln Grove.   For a number of years he successfully carried on agricultural pursuits, but not caring to be burdened with the supervision of an extensive farm here, he has since sold all of the home place with the exception of eighty acres. However, he has landed possessions in South Dakota, in Minnesota and Nebraska, having wisely invested his money in real estate.
     In 1893 in company with his son J. C., and William Firke, Mr. Langley founded what became known as the Langley, Firke & Langley private bank. This was afterward sold to John M. Dighton & Company of Monticello, and they reorganized the State Bank of Mansfield, with which Mr. Langley was identified until 1902. In that year in connection with W. D. Fairbanks and his son, J. C. Langley, he founded the First National Bank of Mansfield, its present officers being W. D. Fairbanks president; A. J.. Langley, vice president, and J. C Langley, cashier. Mr. Langley has always given his political support to the Republican party since casting his first presidential ballot, and he was a warm admirer as well as a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. For about fourteen years he served as supervisor of Blue Ridge township, holding the office for twelve consecutive years and for one term he was chairman of the board.  He has been chairman of nearly all of the committees of the board and has done effective and helpful service in behalf of the county through the exercise of his official prerogatives. Fraternally he is connected with Mansfield Lodge, No. 773, F. & A. M.
     He and his wife are now the only people living on the "ridge," who were here when Mr. and Mrs. Langley arrived and their own home place has never been out of their possession and the property is a monument to the enterprise and efforts of the subject of this review. While always active in matters of citizenship for the general good Mr. Langley has never taken an active part in political work in the hope of gaining office, having always preferred to give his attention to the superintendence of his private business affairs and extensive investments. A man of unswerving integrity and  honor, one who has a perfect appreciation of the higher ethics of life, he has gained and retained the confidence and respect of his fellow men and is distinctively one of the leading citizens of Piatt county, with whose interests he has been identified for more than a third of a century.

J. C. Langley is the cashier of the First National Bank of Mansfield.  Although yet a young man he occupies a prominent and influential position in business circles, and one may safely predict for him a successful future because he possesses laudable ambition and enterprise which are indispensable elements of business advancement.  Mr. Langley was born in Mansfield on the 26th of September, 1873, and is a son of Andrew J. and Celia A. (Curtis) Langley, who are residents of Blue Ridge township, Piatt county.  Both the father and mother are natives of Pennsylvania, and after their marriage they came to Piatt county in 1865, becoming pioneer settlers of this section of the state.  The subject of this review is the third in a family of four living sons.
     Reared upon the home farm in Blue Ridge township, James C. Langley attended the public schools and afterward entered the University of Indiana, where he pursued a literary and also a business course, being graduated in that institution with the class of 1890.  In the same year after his completion of his collegiate course, Mr. Langley entered the Mansfield Bank, and later became cashier of the Commercial Bank of Mansfield.  Throughout his business career he has been identified with financial interests and thoroughly understands the banking business in every department.  On leaving the Commercial Bank he became cashier and afterward second vice president of the State Bank of Mansfield, and in 1902 he resigned his position there and opened the First National Bank of this city, which is capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars.  Its officers are William D. Fairbanks, president; Andrew J. Langley, vice president; J. C. Langley, cashier; and H. P. Gladden, teller.  The directors of the bank are John N. Darst, John Gardiner, William DeGrofft, James Caldwell, Joseph Seitner, in addition to the three officers mentioned.  Although the existence of the bank covers a comparatively brief period it has already won favor with the public because of the excellent business methods which have been instituted there, and not a little of the success of the bank may be attributed to the enterprise, close application and broad knowledge of banking methods possessed by J. C. Langley.  It was on the 9th of January, 1902, that the bank was founded and subsequently the First National Bank building was erected and splendidly equipped for carrying on the business.  It has the triple time Hall safe and Hall vault, and every precaution is taken to insure safety for depositors.  Mr. Langley has also engaged in the insurance business as a member of the firm of Clemans & Langley and in this enterprise has a good clientage.
     On the 27th day of October, 1897, occurred the marriage of James C. Langley and Miss Elena Ryerson, a native of Gibson City, Ford county, Illinois, and a daughter of C. G. Ryerson, who was one of the early settlers of that county.  In addition to his splendid home in Mansfield, Mr. Langley also owns land in Stevens county, Minnesota, which he rents.  He is a member of the Presbyterian church and fraternally is connected with Mansfield Lodge, No. 773, F. & A. M., of which he is treasurer.  He also belongs to Celestial Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor and was made a delegate to the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Rockford, Illinois, in the fall of 1903.  In politics he is a Republican and that he has the regard and confidence of his fellow citizens is indicated by the fact that he is now acceptably serving as mayor.  Whatever tends to prove of public benefit and to advance local progress and improvement receives his attention, endorsement and co-operation, and his efforts along many lines have proven of material benefit to the city of his birth.

B. F. Lodge

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  William E. Lodge.  There are few men whose lives are crowned with the honor and respect which was so universally accorded to William E. Lodge, but through more than forty years connection with the history of Piatt county his was an unblemished character.  With him success in life was reached by sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly principle.  He never deviated from what his judgment would indicate to be right between himself and his fellow men, and he never swerved from the path of duty.  He gained distinction at the bar, where he practiced for four decades, and he also won marked financial success in the control of agricultural interests.  Into whatever channel he directed his energies he so guided his labors that he was always true to his duties to his fellow men, and secured his own advancement upon a high mental and moral plane.
     Mr. Lodge was a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in the town of Mount Hope, which is now included within the city of Cincinnati, in December, 1834.  Back to England can the ancestry of the family be traced, and representatives of the name established homes in America prior to the Revolutionary war.  The old family homestead which came into possession of the emigrants in 1750 is still owned by descendants of those who were the first occupants.  This property is situated in Gloucester county, New Jersey, and it was there that Samuel Lodge, the grandfather of our subject, carried on farming throughout his entire business career.  He wedded Miss Abigail Horner, who was of German lineage, and like her husband was a native of Gloucester county, New Jersey.  It was their son, Benjamin F. Lodge, who became the father of our subject, and who after arriving at years of maturity, removed from New Jersey to Brooklyn, New York, maintaining his residence in that place while he conducted his business operations in New York city for some years.  He was engaged in merchandising there when attracted by the opportunities of the growing west, and went to Hamilton county, Ohio.  In that section of the country he became well known as a builder of turnpikes, and he took contracts for similar work in Kentucky, carrying on the business with success until 1836.  In that year he took passage on a steamer which eventually landed him at Clinton, Indiana, but that was not his destination and he continued his westward journey by team until he arrived in Paris, Edgar County, Illinois.  All around him stretched the wild prairie, the work of improvement and development being scarcely begun, and Mr. Lodge undertook the mammoth task of improving and operating eleven hundred acres of prairie land for William Neff, of Cincinnati.  He used forty yoke of oxen in breaking the prairie.  The farm work at that day was very arduous, because of the primitive condition of the farm machinery and agricultural implements.  Grain was cut with a sickle and cradle and a scythe was used in mowing the meadow.  Prices, too, were very low, corn at one time bringing six and a quarter cents per bushel, while other cereals were proportionately cheap.  However, Mr. Lodge, with determined purpose and marked business capability, continued the work which he undertook and central Illinois owes much to him for its advancement of agricultural interests here.  He planted the first osage orange hedge ever seen in Illinois, and in his farming he always kept abreast with the progress and improvement of the times.  His first home was about three and a half miles north of Paris, but later he removed four miles west of the town,  where he resided until 1857.  In that year he took up his abode in Paris and was identified with its commercial pursuits as a merchant until his life's labors were ended in death in the year 1863. 
     The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Julia A. Brooks, and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In her early womanhood she gave her hand in marriage to Benjamin F. Lodge, and by his union she became the mother of eight children:  Alexander A.; Samuel A.; George R.; Julia, who became the wife of W. H. Rudy; Benjamin F.; William E.; Charles V. and a daughter who died in infancy.  Mrs. Lodge survived her husband for a number of years and passed away at the home of her daughter in Edgar county, Illinois, in 1881.
     William E. Lodge was a little lad of only two summers when his parents left Ohio and came to Illinois.  He was reared in Edgar county amid the wild scenes of frontier life, and as there were no schools yet established in that locality his early education was acquired under the direction of his father, who was a man of broad learning.  His training at farm labor, however, was not meager and almost as soon as old enough to reach the plow handles he began work in the fields, assisting from that time on in the task of planting, plowing and harvesting throughout the summer and fall months.  Every leisure moment which he had was devoted to study.  While hauling rails he mastered grammer, and while herding cattle he also learned arithmetic.  It was in such disadvantages that he pursued his education, but he was ambitious to advance in that direction, and throughout his entire life he continually added to the rich treasures which were in the storehouse of his mind.  He read broadly, thought deeply and had the power to assimilate and utilize what he learned.  His youth, however, was largely devoted to farm labor, and he remained with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age.
     Nature, however, evidently designed Mr. Lodge for the practice of law as he seemed to have a natural predilection in that direction, and was marked success in the calling.  He began his preparation for the bar as a law student in the office and under the direction of Green & Eades, of Paris, and when he felt that his knowledge justified his admission to the bar he came to Monticello, Piatt county, where a few days later he received his license to practice, having successfully passed an examination in Paris.
     Mr. Lodge at once opened his office and gradually advanced as he demonstrated his power to successfully cope with the intricate problems of jurisprudence.  He was remarkable among lawyers for the wide research and provident care with which he prepared his cases.  His logical grasp of facts and principles and of the law applicable to them was another element in his success and a remarkable clearness of expression and adequate language which enabled him to make others understand not only the salient points of his arguments, but his every fine graduation of meaning, were account among his conspicuous gifts and accomplishments.
     Mr. Lodge, however, did not confine his attention solely to his professional duties for he became extensively connected with farming.  He always maintained a deep interest in the occupation to which he had been reared and regarded it as the basis of all national prosperity.  From time to time he made judicious investments in real estate, and ultimately became the owner of six hundred acres of land in Monticello and Sangamon townships of Piatt county.  Upon his land he made many improvements, developing farms modern in all their equipments and supplied with all accessories necessary to carry on agricultural work.  He was the first in the county to use tile in draining his land, and was the first to advocate surface cultivation.  He was deeply interested in the Piatt County Agricultural Society, and in the accomplishment of the object for which it was established.  He acted as its attorney and he did everything in his power to promote its growth and usefulness.  He was a member of the board of directors of the Chicago & Paducah Railroad, now a part of the Wabash system, and was its solicitor at the time of his death.  He was also one of the promoters of the Monticello & Decatur Railroad, now a part of the Illinois Central and was its solicitor.
     On the 30th of January, 1868, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Lodge and Miss Francis A. Piatt, a daughter of William and Clarinda (Marquiss) Piatt.  Mr. Lodge was born in Goose Creek township, this county, and was a most estimable lady of broad culture and innate refinement, and shared with her husband in the high regard and friendship in which he was uniformly held.  The home of Mr. and Mrs. Lodge was blessed with five sons: William F., who is now a practitioner at the bar of Monticello; James P. and Charles V., twins, the former of whom is practicing law and looking after farming interests of the family, and the latter also has charge of farming interests in Kansas and is engaged in the raising of thoroughbred Holstein cattle and draft horses; Paul E. and Fred S.  Realizing the value of education the parents gave their children excellent opportunities in that direction, at the same time rearing them amid the influence of a refined and cultured home, and instilling into their minds lessons tending toward moral as well as mental development.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Lodge held membership in the Methodist church, of which they were most consistent representatives, and to the support of the organization they contributed liberally.
     In his early manhood Mr. Lodge gave his political support to the Whig party and after the war became a Democrat.  The honors and emolument of office, however, had no attraction for him as he preferred to devote his time and energies to his professional duties and the supervision of his invested interests.  In 1864 he established his home in Monticello upon a beautiful tract of land of thirty-five acres all within the corporate limits of the city.  He passed away Sept. 24, 1901, and his wife died on teh 16th of September, 1895.  Nature bestowed upon him many of her rarest gifts.  He possessed a mind of extraordinary compass and an industry that brought forth every spark of talent with which nature had blessed him.  He was in every way a most superior man.  Faultless in honor, fearless in conduct, stainless in reputation - such was his life record.  His scholarly attainments, his statesmanship, his reliable judgment and his charming powers of conversation would have enabled him to ably fill and grace any position, however exalted, and he was no less honored in public than loved in private life.
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William F. Lodge

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