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WILLIAM W. ANDERSON, whose name is intimately connected
with every interest tending to advance the financial, social or moral condition of the community in which he lives,
whose personality is closely interwoven with local affairs, and whose counsel has in many respects shaped the course
of events in Christian County, is President of the First National Bank of Taylorville and is a prominent figure
in many other business enterprises; besides which he is closely identified with public affairs and every enterprise
calculated to promote the general welfare. A man of high character, his thousands of warm personal friends will
find pleasure in close inspection of the excellent steel engraving of him found in this volume. The pleasant expression
of countenance is faithfully reproduced in most artistic lines, and the indication of years of development, of
the generous manhood, and of the warmth of friendship and love of right-dealing and justice that have endeared
him to every resident of Christian County, are all found preserved in such delicate and yet permanent form that
lapse of time cannot efface them.
The Anderson family is of Scotch-Irish origin, and was
established in the South, probably in Virginia,
in early Colonial days. It is known that both the paternal and maternal grandfathers of William W. were soldiers
during the memorable struggle for the independence of the Colonies, and that his father, George H. Anderson,
served under Gen. Jackson in the later conflict with Great Britain
and was present at the battle of New Orleans.
He was married in Tennessee, not many years
after the return of peace, to Miss Nancy Mann. They soon after migrated to Henderson County,
Ky., where they resided for ten years, and where
our subject was born October 27, 1825. When he was a lad of five years, the family came to Illinois,
and settled two miles east of Hillsboro, Montgomery
County. There George Anderson reared his family, developed
a comfortable home, and acted his part in the growth of the new country. He was honored by the most responsible
local offices of the time, being a man of varied experience, well read for his time, and he is remembered by the
pioneers as a man of generous impulses and strong character. He died at the age of sixty-one. His widow, a woman
whose impress was early stamped upon the minds of her children, survived her husband about twelve years.
Their family numbered twelve children, of whom William is the sixth in order of birth, and one of four yet living,
all residing in this county. The days of his boyhood were noted for their meagre privileges for education, and
what education he received was in one of the first log schoolhouses built in Montgomery
County. The demands of the farm were such that he was required
to assist in the labors of the field when but a lad of nine, and his attention was almost constantly given to home
duties until he had reached his seventeenth year. He then entered the employ of Judge Hiram Rountree, of Hillsboro.
He remained in the employ of Judge Rountree for eight years, first working on the farm, then in the store, and
assisting in his office while he was Circuit Clerk of Montgomery County.
He was married to Miss Nan B. Rountree, a daughter of Judge Rountree, in August, 1850.
The following year they came to Christian
County, and Mr. Anderson assumed charge of a farm four miles
east of Taylorville. The farm did not satisfy his nature, as his tastes led in the direction of mercantile life,
he being educated in that direction while in the store of the Judge in Hillsboro. Accordingly, after three years,
when harvests were not sufficiently abundant to satisfy his business sense, he left the farm, removing to Taylorville,
and we soon find him installed as a salesman in the dry-goods store of Shumway & Cheney. Mr. Cheney died in
January, 1854, and his brother-in-law, Albert Sattley, whose figure is still a familiar one on the streets of Taylorville,
succeeded to the Cheney interest, and he in turn was succeeded by Mr. Anderson. The firm of Shumway & Anderson
continued for about two years, when Mr. Anderson became sole proprietor of the constantly increasing business.
He carried an extensive stock of goods, ranging from threshing machines to the most delicate dress fabrics, as
demanded by the trade of the day. The financial depression of 1857, the worst in American history, coming so soon
after his embarkation upon the seas of mercantile life, was a test of business ability that gave him ample opportunity
for meeting the many demands incident to hard times. By judicious selection of goods, untiring attention to delinquents,
and universal courtesy to patrons, he succeeded in passing through that trying period, and his success was ample
proof of his business ability. Henceforth he was considered by all one of the cleverest and most successful merchants
of the county. During the succeeding decade his business assumed immense proportions, and his standing, not only
among his friends at home, but among the large wholesale houses, was such that it was possible for him to conduct
much the largest business of any firm in a large radius of territory.
After fifteen years of close attention to these extensive interests, Mr. Anderson disposed
of a part of his establishment and placed his brother in charge of the boot and shoe department, thus placing his
mercantile interests in shape to admit of his devoting personal attention to another line of business, to which
his tastes naturally led him, and which was the logical outgrowth of a successful career. Accordingly, in the year
1871, he established the banking house of W. W. Anderson & Co., his partner
being another one of the most capable business men of Taylorville, D. D. Shumway. The well-known carefulness and
ability of the proprietors assured a substantial business, and the confidence of the public was fully accorded
the new institution. The partnership as indicated continued with most pleasant relations for twelve years, when
Mr. Shumway retired and Mr. Anderson's son, Hiram R., became partner with his father. He was a young man of brilliant
mind, a close student, and a general favorite with friends of the bank, who rejoiced to see him advanced in responsible
positions. On the 1st of November, 1886, the bank passed into its present form, being incorporated as the First
National Bank of Taylorville, with a capital of $75,000. W. W. Anderson became President; A. L. Augur, of Mt.
Auburn, Vice-President; and H. R. Anderson, Cashier. Its Directors
were W. W. Anderson, A. L. Augur, J. G. Drennan, N. D. Ricks, Matthew Kavanaugh, John White, R. M. Powel, G. R.
Sharp and H. R. Anderson. Of these, Messrs. Sharp, Powel, White and H. R. Anderson are now deceased. The present
Board of Directors is composed of the following: W. W. Anderson, President; A. L. Augur, Vice-President; Mat Kavanaugh,
W. M. Provine, Hiram White, J. N. C. Shumway, J. C. McBride, D.
D. Shumway and F. W. Anderson.
The latter is the present Cashier, and E. R. Wright is Assistant Cashier. Mr. Anderson began business on his present
site in 1871, and carried on operations in his first building until 1884, when the present building was erected.
The bank is supplied with a McNeale & Urban safe, with the Fowler door attachment, and the other furnishings
are complete in all appointments. The First National Bank is a conservative and substantial institution, run on
a perfectly safe basis, and is doing a good business, having now a capital and surplus of $100,000.
Every venture to which Mr. Anderson has devoted personal attention has prospered to an
eminent degree, and his foresightedness in making investments have borne out the views that he had formerly advanced.
He served for two years as President of the Board of Supervisors. He has had a firm belief in the future of Taylorville,
not only as the county seat and on account of its extensive country trade, but as a coal-producing point, and soon
to become a manufacturing center. He has invested largely in business property, and is now owner of one-half the
frontage on the south side of the square. He has always advocated the advantages of railroad facilities, and was
one of the promoters and at one time Director of the Ohio & Mississippi Railway, which passes through the county,
giving a direct outlet to the East. He has always taken an interest in, and frequently furthered, legitimate means
of building up his home town, and in no little degree to him is owing the present advantages the city enjoys in
its excellent system of electric lighting, its water works and its ample hotel accommodations. His means, advice
and energy were called upon and freely given when its extensive coal fields were developed, and thus a permanent
basis of growth and prosperity was assured to the city. Prospering to an unusual degree, he has been blessed with
ample means, which, unlike some moneyed men, he has liberally devoted to progressive uses. A member and Trustee
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he has been a ready supporter of church interests. A Royal Arch Mason, he is
held in high esteem by all brother Masons, though his gifts to charity are not circumscribed by any bounds of fraternal
character, for he recognizes the rights and obligations that man owes to man on the broad plane of universal brotherhood.
Politically, Mr. Anderson has been a life-long supporter of the Democratic party, but has preferred to devote his
attention to private, rather than to public, business, and hence has never sought honors at the hands of the party.
Only four years after his marriage, Mr. Anderson was called upon to mourn the death of his companion, whose
only child had died in infancy. This was a blow whose sorrow only years of business activity could mitigate. When
prosperity had come to him, he again felt the need of loving words and womanly counsel, and in 1860 he made Martha
L. Wright, widow of Dr. Wright, of Carlinville, his wife. She was a woman of estimable character, and proved a
valuable companion and helpmate on life's journey. She, too, was taken from him after a companionship of nearly
a quarter of a century, her death occurring August 2, 1884, at the age of fifty-four years. Unto them were born
five children: Hiram R., who was Cashier in the First National Bank, and died September 4, 1891, at the age of
twenty-nine years; Nannie West, who died in childhood; Fred W., who is now serving as Cashier; Grace E., wife of
F. C. Hawley, of the Paddock-Hawley
Iron Company, of St. Louis; and Julia W., a
young lady of nineteen, who is now a student in the Auburndale Seminary (Lasell
College), of Boston, from which she will graduate
in the Class of '94.
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