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OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES:
BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
The History
of
Vermilion County, Illinois
A Tale of its Evolution, Settlement and Progress for
nearly a Century -
Vols. I & 2
By Lottie E. Jones -
Chicago - Pioneer Publishing Company -
1911
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PORTRAIT |
JOHN NOONE.
Among those men who bring things to pass is numbered John
Noone, a man of notable business ability whose marked
spirit of enterprise and progress has enabled him to bring
to successful completion what he has undertaken. Coming to
America when a young man of eighteen years, with but a few
cents in his pocket upon his arrival in Chicago, his life
has, during the intervening years, been one of continuous
and varied activity, his labors covering many branches of
industry. Starting out in his present business with but one
cab, he now owns the finest and largest livery barn in the
city of Danville, and he has other connections which combine
to make him one of the most substantial business men of the
community.
A native of Ireland, Mr. Noone was born in 1872,
and there spent the period of his boyhood and youth,
acquiring his education in the schools of that country. The
old world offers few advantages to her young men who are not
blessed with any especially favoring circumstances, and,
possessing a nature in which ambition and energy were
salient qualities, Mr. Noone decided to try his
fortune in America, which had come to mean to him, as it had
to many others, the land of opportunity. Accordingly, when
eighteen years of age he crossed the Atlantic, making his
way direct to Chicago, Illinois, where he arrived on the 1st
of January, 1890, with but a few cents in his pockets. His
spirit was undaunted, however, and he at once sought
employment, which he found, and for about five months he
worked in the Swift Wool house. He then left Chicago
and went to San Francisco, California, where he was engaged
on the wharves, handling freight and shoveling coal for a
few months. He next secured work on a farm in Sutter county,
that state, where he worked in the harvest fields for a
short time, after which returned to San Francisco and after
working a few weeks there again made his way to Chicago. In
that city he assisted in the erection of the Masonic Temple
and the Alhambra Theater, after which he helped in putting
in the abutments of the elevated railroad on Congress
street. At the time of the World's Fair in Chicago he
assisted in the erection of the buildings, working on nearly
all of the structures.
The fall of 1892 witnessed Mr. Noone's
arrival in Danville, and after purchasing a team he was here
engaged in hauling gravel and coal, becoming so rapid in
this line that he could shovel sixty bushels of coal in
seven minutes and a yard of gravel in three minutes. He
continued buying and selling coal for about five years,
hauling his material from Grape Creek, and then when the
city began paving the streets he assisted the contractors by
hauling brick. In 1897 he purchased his first cab,
maintaining his stand on Illinois street, and this proved
the initial step in a business which has since grown to
extensive proportions. After operating this both night and
day for about a year he was able in 1898 to purchase
Lester's cab line, which made him the owner of three
cabs, and for about a year he occupied a stable in the rear
of Ike Steams. Step by step he worked his way
up from this small beginning, carefully arranging his plans
and managing his interests, and day by day his trade
increased, making it necessary for him to seek larger
quarters. In 1900 he purchased a fifty-foot lot on East Main
street, where his barn at 728-730 now stands, and as he
prospered was able to add fifty feet more the next year and
still another hundred feet in the following year. In 1903 he
bought the lot adjoining his former purchase, upon which
stands a building consisting of two store rooms and two
flats above, all modern. In 1909 he purchased a lot east of
his original holdings and upon this property erected one of
the finest livery stables in the state. It is built in a
most modern style, with trestles fifty-seven feet wide by
one hundred and five feet long, and everything about it is
up-to-date and complete. The barn contains some very fine
horses and vehicles of various styles, the equipment being
planned to meet every demand in the livery line. In addition
he operates the only cab and hack line in the city, meets
all the trains, makes hotel calls, handles all kinds of
transfer with promptness and in fact is in the lead in all
that transfer service includes. He has made a reputation for
courtesy and correct business and holds the favor of the
city through honest and legitimate methods.
In addition to his business property Mr.
Noone also owns much residence property, possessing a
neat cottage at 1024 Grove street, a row of houses at
424,426, 428 and 430 Bryan avenue, a residence at 302 Park
avenue and another at 304 Park avenue. He is also the owner
of a house and lot in Central Park, and another house with
about two acres in Newman, the land being devoted to the
raising of fruit. It is at once evident to the reader that
in his business ventures Mr. Noone has been
eminently successful, and his prosperity is all the more
creditable from the fact that it is due entirely to his own
efforts. He well deserves the proud American title of a
self-made man, for, starting out in life for himself
empty-handed, with no capital except ambition, determination
and energy, he has steadily worked his way upwards in the
business world until today he ranks among the most
substantial, progressive and representative business men of
the city.
It was in 1890 Mr. Noone was united in
marriage to Miss Mattie Sconce, and
they became the parents of four children, as follows:
Eleanor, Mary, Frank and Maggie, of
whom Mary and Frank are yet living. In 1904
Mr. Noone was again married, his second union
being with Miss Minnie Olahy, who
became the mother of one son, John. In 1902 Mr.
Noone sent to Ireland for his mother but took her
home after a visit of nine months, as she had become very
dissatisfied here. He has, however, visited her twice since
that time.
Since becoming an American citizen Mr. Noone
has thoroughly identified himself with American customs and
institutions, making the interests of this country his own,
and in his citizenship has proven most loyal and
public-spirited. In politics he is a republican, giving
stalwart support to that party, although the honors and
emoluments of office have no attraction for him. A man of
fine personal appearance, he possesses a kindly spirit and a
genial disposition, and the smile with which he invariably
greets every one indicates a rare good nature which has won
him a most extensive circle of friends.
Source: History of Vermilion Co., Ill. -
Vol. II - Pub.
1911 - pp. 566, 572 & 572 |
NOTES: |
