DeWitt County Obituaries
D - G


Names In Alpha Order

OBITUARY OF ISAIAH DAVENPORT -- 1885

The following article appeared in the 30 October 1885 issue of The Clinton Public:

Death of a Black Hawk and Mexican War Veteran.

Isaiah DAVENPORT, of Creek township, who for over forty years was a resident of DeWitt county, 
died at his home on last Monday night, aged seventy-two years.  Mr. DAVENPORT was barn in 
Kentucky, and while yet a youth he came with his parents and settled in Sangamon county.  On 
the 23d of April, 1832, he enlisted in the fifth Regiment of Mounted Volunteers, commanded by 
Captain M. L. COVELL.  Ashael GRIDLEY, of Bloomington, was the First Lieutenant.  The regiment 
served a little over a month in the Black Hawk War, and was mustered out of service on the 
27th of May.

When the Mexican War broke out Isaiah DAVENPORT enlisted in Company E, Fourth Illinois 
Volunteers, commanded by Captain Daniel NEWCOMB.  This company was raised principally in DeWitt 
county.  Mr. DAVENPORT enlisted on the 13th of June, 1846, was commissioned as corporal, and 
served for over thirteen months, being discharged when the regiment was mustered out on the 
29th day of May, 1947.  Colonel Edward D. BAKER commanded the regiment.  While serving in the
Mexican War Mr. DAVENPORT contracted disabilities which clung to him through life.  He applied 
for a pension, but unfortunately for him he put off doing so till all the principal witnesses 
in his case were dead.

Isaiah DAVENPORT was the owner of a fine farm in Creek township, on which he had lived for more 
than thirty years..

His funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon.


OBITUARY OF THOMAS DAVENPORT - 1889

The following obituary appeared in the 23 August 1889 issue of The Clinton Register.

FOUR SCORE AND FOUR YEARS.

In the Ripe Age at Which Thomas Davenport is Called to His Reward

Last Friday evening as the mellow zephyrs stole noiselessly through the windows of the 
residence of "Pony" Davenport in the north part of the city, the occupants of the
bed chamber moved to and fro in silence, and their suppressed whispers told too plainly
that a weary mortal was slowly, yet [surely], succumbing to the strong hand of death,
and that but a few short moments would elapse before the spirit of one of the oldest
settlers of DeWitt county would take its flight to the realms of peace.  A few more
moments of silence, a few more whispers, and all was over.  Death the conqueror of all,
had counted another, and Thomas Davenport, Sr., was among the departed ....

Thomas Davenport was born in North Carolina, Aug. 22,1805, and would have
been 84 years old Thursday of this week, at which time arrangements had been made to
hold a family reunion in this city.  When but a few days old, his mother died, and when
two weeks old his father started to Kentucky, making the journey on horseback.  The
child was fed and cared for by the good people where they lodged of nights.  When the
journey was completed, his father gave him to his grandmother, who kept him until he
was 16 years old, when he came to Illinois, in 1820.  After two years he returned to
Kentucky, where he married Elizabeth French, returning to this state in 1829, he settled
in Sangamon county, near Springfield.  Here he joined the Christian church, Uncle Jimmy
Scott being the minister, and was soon licensed to preach ....

He served as a volunteer in the Black Hawk war, and was in the great battle of
Stillman's defeat.  He was in Illinois the winter of the deep snow, when the country was
full of Indians and the wild beasts inhabited the forests.  At that time there were no
railroads, no mills, no nothing, but hardships.  Corn was pounded in what was called a
mortar-all old settlers know what that was.  The old grates were used until the corn
was too hard to grate, then the mortar was used as a mill to make meal.

Thomas Davenport improved more farms and built more houses than any man of
early days.  He worked hard to raise his family of nine children, six by [his] first and
three by his second wife.  He had 72 grand children, 40 of whom are still living; and 23
great grand children, 18 of them surviving him.  He never craved wealth, but was
satisfied with what he had.  One circumstance which he often related, shows how the
wheel of fortune sometimes turns.  He went fishing and caught a string of nice fish which
he brought to Clinton and offered to sell them to C. H. Moore, who had a short time
before come to Clinton.  Mr. Moore said he would like to have the fish, but did not have
the money to pay for them.  He seemed to enjoy telling this and would say he thought
Mr. Moore could buy them now ....

Funeral services were held at his late residence in the north part of the city at
9:30 o'clock Sunday morning, conducted by Rev.  W. A. Hunter.  The remains were taken
to the cemetery in Texas township for burial .... He lived in Texas township for
several years, owning land there.


OBITUARY OF MRS. SAMUEL DUNMIRE - 1904

The following article appeared in the 25 March 1904 issue of The Clinton Register.

OVER FOUR SCORE YEARS OLD.  Mrs. Samuel Dunmire, One of Clinton's Aged Mothers, Answers Her 
Master's Call--Funeral Tuesday.

Mrs. Samuel DUNMIRE, who had lived in and near Clinton almost half a century, passed away 
Sunday at her home on West Adams street, aged 81 years, 2 months and 27 days, being sick 
about five days.

Phoebe WILLIAMS was born Dec. 20, 1822, near Delaware, O.  Nov. 9, 1848, she was married to 
Geo.  W. BELL, and they lived in that state until 1855 when they came to Clinton, where Mr. 
BELL died Oct. 28, 1863.  She, was left to care for the five children, the eldest being about
12 years old.  In 1875 she married Samuel DUNMIRE.  After about three years spent on his farm 
in Logan county they moved to near Clinton.  About ten years ago her husband died and she moved
to Clinton, which had since been her home.

Of her six children, Mrs. George LUTZ and Nelson are deceased. Those living are Howland J., 
Mrs. Caroline GIDEON, Mrs. Flora AUGHINBAUGH and Jay W. She is also survived by a sister who 
lives in-Iowa.

She united with the Baptist church when young, and later with the M. E. church . . . .

Funeral services were held in the M. E. church Tuesday, conducted by Rev.  CANADY.  Burial in 
Woodlawn.


OBITUARIES OF ANTON AND MARY ANN (DUNHAM) EBLE

The following transcriptions of obituaries from an unknown news paper were contributed by 
Mrs. Dorothy N. Eble.

MRS. ANTON EBLE DEAD    Feb. 14, 1901. Mrs. Anton Eble died Thursday morning at eleven o'clock
at the family residence in Texas township five miles northwest of Maroa. Mrs. Eble’s health 
for a great many years had not been good, but during the last few months she had gradually 
failed.  There was not much apparent change in her condition until the first of this week.
Mrs. Eble had been afflicted with dropsy and that with heart failure caused her death.

Mary Ann Dunham was born in Hamilton county, Illinois June 15, 1828.  When a child her 
parents moved to Morgan County.  She was united in marriage in that county to Anton Eble, 
who survives her, in March 1853. They resided there until the spring of 1871 when Mrs. Eble 
bought the 80 acre farm now occupied by T. C. Grady.  He paid $40 per acre for this land and 
the family made it their home until the spring of 1883, when desiring a larger farm the 
present homestead was purchased.

Mrs. Eble was the mother of six children, one of whom died in infancy. The living are Mrs. 
Ellen Goodwin, of Clarion, Iowa, Miss Lydia Eble, John Eble, Clarion, Iowa, Joseph D. Eble 
who resides on the homeplace and Clara Belle Lyles, wife of Rev. Charles Lyles, of Decatur.

Mrs. Eble was a loving wife and mother and was esteemed in the community where she resided. 
The funeral services will beheld at the family residence at ten o'clock on Sunday, being 
conducted by Rev. D. T. Miles and the interment will be at the Maroa cemetery.

         - - - - - - - - - - -

ANTON EBLE DEAD. Prominent citizen of Texas township passes away.  Had lived here for 3O years.
His illness was of short duration -- Funeral on Tuesday.  Anton Eble died at his residence 
five miles northwest of Maroa on Sunday Feb. 16, at three o'clock P. M., having been ill on a 
few days. Death was due to pneumonia.  So sudden was Mr. Eble’s death that very few of his 
neighbors & friends knew of his illness.  For thirty years Mr. Eble had been a farmer in the 
vicinity of Maroa.  He was a native of Germany having been born at Baden Baden April 26, 1829,
being in his 73rd year. In 1851, when a young man of 22, he crossed the Atlantic and went first
to St. Louis.  He stopped there for a short time and then went to Morgan Co., Ill., where he 
engaged in farming.  Mar. 22, 1853 he was united in marriage to Mary Ann Dunham of that county.

They continue their residence there until the spring of 1872, when the family moved to a farm
of 80 acres three miles and a half northeast of Maroa which Mr.  Eble had previously purchased.
Here was their home until the spring of 1883, when Mr. Eble sold the farm to the late John 
Grady and purchased the farm where the family has since resided.

Mr. Eble was the father of six children.  All are living except one son who died in infancy.
The others are Mrs. Ellen Goodwin and John Eble, Clarion, Iowa; Miss Eliza, Decatur; Joseph,
Maroa; and Mrs. Clara Lyles, Pawnee Ill.  Mrs. Eble’s death occurred one year and two days 
prior to her husband's.

Mr. Eble was a citizen of exceptional worth.  He took a great interest in political matters 
and was familiar with the topics of national interest.  He was intensely American.  Prior to 
1896 Mr. Eble affiliated with the Democratic party.  He was a great admirer of Stephen A.
Douglas.  Mr. Eble came to the United States without money or friends, but he went to work 
and by diligent toil accumulated a competency enabling him to spend his declining years in the
enjoyment of a wellearned repose.  The funeral services were held at the family residence at 
ten o'clock Tuesday, services being conducted by Rev. D. T. Miles.  Interment was in the Maroa
cemetery.

OBITUARY OF MRS. ELLA EDMISTON

The article which follows appeared in the 22 January 1892 issue of The Clinton Public.

At seven o’clock this morning Mrs. Ella Edmiston departed this life . . . Mrs. Edmiston
was born in Clinton about thirty-five years ago.  She was the daughter of William F. and
Elizabeth Humphrey.  She graduated from Clinton high school and was afterward a
teacher in the same building till she was married in the year 1877 to Theodore Edmiston.

After about five years of married life her husband died, leaving her with one child, a boy
. . . For several years she clerked in Drew Inman’s store . . . the funeral will take place on
Sunday afternoon.

OBITUARY OF MRS.  MARIA FACKRELL -- 1888

The following article appeared in the 27 January 1888 issue of The Clinton Register.

Mrs. Maria Fackrell, wife of James Fackrell, died at the residence of her son, T. J. Fackrell,
in this city, Tuesday, aged 90 years, 2 months and 24 days.  Funeral services were held at the
residence, at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning; interment at Woodlawn cemetery.

Maria Fackrell was born in Bath, England, October 30th, 1797.  She was a descendant of the old
Puritan family of Tillotson and was the great grand-daughter of John Tillotsons, the great 
preacher and controversialist who between the years of 1669 and 1691, occupied the honorable 
position of Curate of Cheshunt, Rector of Koddingdon, Preacher in Lincoln Inn, lecturer of 
St. Lawrence, Jury, Dean of Canterbury, and Dean of St. Paul’s, London, and in 1691 Archbishop
of Canterbury.  At the age of sixteen she became a member of the Congregational church under 
the pastoral charge of the renowned Rev.  William Jay, at Argyle Chapel Bath.  It was there 
she became acquainted with James Fackrell, and on the 23rd of January, 1824, 64 years ago was 
united to her by marriage.  She was the mother of six children, five daughters, Anna Maria, 
Charlotte Dakin, Emily Lucy, Fanny Parsons and Matilda, and one son Frank James, who is the 
only living child at whose house she died.  In 1847 she emigrated with her husband and 
children to America, and located in Brooklyn, N. Y. During the ensuing year, she, with five 
of her children joined the Strong Place Baptist church, which was then in its infancy.  In 
1849 she moved from Brooklyn to Plainfield, N. J., where she enjoyed the confidence and 
companionship of a large circle of friends; as also in Elizabeth and Newark, N. J. She removed
from the latter place to Clinton Ill., in 1876, where she resided until her death . . . . 
The only surviving members of her family are her husband, aged 84, and son, Frank J.

DEATH OF WM. FITZGERALD

"Word was received yesterday that Wm. Fitzgerald, eldest son of James Fitzgerald, had
been killed in New Mexico, where he had lived for two or three years.  the father
telegraphed for the remains to be sent to Clinton. . . ."
The Clinton Register
9 December 1887


OBITUARY OF HENRY S. GATCHEL -- 1892

The following article appeared in the 1 January 1892 issue of The Clinton Public.

Henry S. Gatchel.

Henry S. Gatchel was born in Cecil County, Maryland, on the 6th of June, 1829, and at the 
time of his death was sixty-two years, six months and sixteen days old.  In the year 1853 
he was married to Miss Martha Jane Grier.  Six children were born to them, four of whom are 
living.  In the spring of 1854 he moved from Maryland to Green County, Ohio, and in the fall
of 1855 he came to Clinton.  In the summer of 1859 the Pike's Peak fever broke out in Clinton
and in this county, and Mr. Gatchel became one of the party that went to seek their fortunes 
in the gold fields.  The prospects were not inviting, so the same fall he came back home and 
settled down to get rich by the ordinary methods of hard toil and industry. he built the house 
that is now owned by Mr. Morris Strum, and here he lived with his family till he went to 
farming . In partnership, with his brother-in-law, William Grier, he worked at the cooperage 
business in this city, but the demand being light . . . he turned to farming and there 
achieved success.  In 1860 he began farming on the Sam Argo farm, and two years later he 
moved to his own farm, where he lived and prospered till his death.  In his early life 
Mr. Gatchel was brought up in the Presbyterian faith, but later he became a believer in 
spiritualism and continued so till the end.  In politics he was an ardent Democrat . . . .

OBITUARY OF EDWARD GIDDINGS - 1892

The following article appeared in the 8 January 1892 issue of The Clinton Public.

Mustered Out.

At the age of sixty years Captain Edward Giddings answered the last roll-call yesterday morning
and was mustered out from the turmoil of life's battles and entered into rest.  Sixty years ago
the second day of this month Edward Giddings was born in the State of Vermont, and when but a 
child his parents moved to Ohio.  About the year 1850 he moved to Clinton, and from here he 
enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventh Illinois Infantry and went out with Co. B as orderly 
sergeant, and when Captain Turner resigned and came home Edward was promoted to the captaincy
and served till the regiment was mustered out.  For several years after the war he followed the
occupation of carpenter till he bought Bogar's furniture store in partnership with Finis Morgan.
Later the firm sold out to Wolfe & McHenry, and then Captain Giddings opened a general store in
the room now occupied by Jordan Bros., and continued there till the Florida fever broke out, 
when the captain and his brother Milton joined a Clinton colony that located in Gainesville, 
Florida.  There he remained with varying fortunes till his health failed, and a few weeks ago 
he came back to Clinton to die in the home of his sister, Mrs. William Weld.  Captain Giddings
had his share of the brightness and shadows of life.  A married daughter lost her husband about
a year ago in a railroad accident.  His wife is here at Mr. Weld's home.  The funeral service
will be held on Sunday afternoon, at two o'clock, at the home of Mr. William Weld, one mile 
south of the city . . . .

OBITUARY OF GEORGE WILLIAM GIDEON -- 1889

The following obituary appeared in the 15 March 1889 Issue of The Clinton Public.

At the advanced age of seventy-six years George William Gideon departed this life, at his home 
in this city, yesterday morning at ten minutes to one o'clock, after a brief sickness of only 
three days.  The deceased was born in Loudon county, Virginia, on the 15th of January, 1813.
At six years of age his parents moved to a farm near Woodstock, Champaign county, Ohio, and 
there Mr. Gideon Was married to Miss Lydia Kidder.  The result of this union was six children, 
three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Edwin 'A., was among the first to enlist in 
the Twentieth Illinois Infantry when the War broke out, and he was among the first to give his 
life for the flag of his country.  Another son, Nathan, died a few years ago.  The surviving 
children are three daughters and one son. Their mother died April 20, 1869.  On the 8th of 
September, 1870, he was united in marriage for a second time to miss Angeline Rowley, who 
survive him.
       
Geo. W. Gideon came to Clinton from Ohio in the spring of 1847, where he resided till his 
death.  In the fall of 1853 he was one of the incorporators of the village of Clinton and was 
elected a member of the board of trustees. In those days he was considered one of the 
wealthiest men in the township as he had both money and land, and was the owner of a couple of 
valuable farms, one of which was the eighty acres running west from the corner of Webster and 
Center streets, in and which is comprised what is now Woodlawn Cemetery, and one hundred and 
sixty acres which is part of C. C. Kellogg's farm.  In addition to this he owned a number of 
town lots and pieces of timber land here and there, and later he owned the City Hotel property.
Few men were stronger financially in those Days than George W. Gideon.  He was a large-hearted
man and could never refused to accommodate a friend, and as a result of having to pay security 
debts and losses in business enterprises in which he was persuaded to invest, his wealth 
dwindled down till in his old age he had but little which he could call his own  . . . .

It was to his liberality that Clinton is indebted for our beautiful Woodlawn Cemetery.  When 
his son Edwin W. died in the army and was brought home for burial, Mr. Gideon dedicated the 
beautiful hill on his home farm for a soldiers' cemetery, and his son was the first one buried
within the shadow of the soldiers' monument that was erected at the close of the war.  At that 
time Clinton had as its only place of interment the old graveyard south of the Champaign and 
Havana road.  Those who had sons and relatives buried in the soldiers, cemetery on Mr. 
Gideon's farm urged him to dedicate that part of the land for cemetery purposes, and the lots 
were speedily purchased.  Ten or twelve years later the Cemetery Association was organized and 
the match half of the eighty acres was purchased and became Woodlawn Cemetery.  This has since 
become the property of the city of Clinton.  In this cemetery hill be laid to rest this
afternoon the remains of Mi. Gideon . . . .


OBITUARY OF WEALTHY GIDEON --  1889

The following article appeared in the 25 January 1889 issue of The Clinton Public.

Mrs. Wealthy Gideon, wife of Peter 'A.  Gideon, formerly of Clinton, died in Minneapolis, 
January 19, 1889, where she had gone for treatment of disease from Which she had been suffering 
for a number of years.  Mrs. Gideon's maiden name was Hull, and she came from Madison county, 
Ohio, to this county with her father, Benjamin Hull, in the fall of 1847, she then being 17 
years old.  Perhaps many who read this will remember her as their young teacher, as she 
followed teaching county schools after coming to this county until she was married to Peter 
Gideon, in the winter of 1848.  A few years after her marriage, and after she was the mother
of three children, she moved with her family to Hennepin country, Minnesota, and settled on 
Lake Minnetonka, near Excelsior, Where her body will repose  . . . .


OBITUARY OF DR.  CHRISTOPHER GOODBRAKE

The following article appeared in the 20 March 1891 issue of The Clinton Public.


MUSTERED OUT.

Major Christopher Goodbrake, M. D. Surgeon of the Twentieth Illinois V. V. I..,  answered the last 
roll call on Monday night, at eleven O'clock. One week ago last Monday he went down to Beason   to 
attend a consultation in a critical case of sickness, and to reach the place had to drive a couple 
of miles out from the station.  The day was raw and chilly, and Dr. Goodbrake caught cold, which 
resulted in a chill on Tuesday night when he went to bed.  Sleeping alone in his office there was 
no one to call assistance, and he suffered terribly during the next night and till nearly noon the 
next day, till some one happened to call at his office on business.  The doctor was occasionally 
called away to attend patients in the country, so that nothing was thought of his absence at his 
boarding house as he seemed to be in his usual health the evening before.  Drs.  J. A. Edmiston 
and Myers were summoned to his bedside, and they gave the venerable doctor all the care and attention 
possible to medical science.  From Wednesday the doctor gradually grew worse, and by Sunday the attending 
physicians had about abandoned all hope of his recovery.  The end came suddenly, and on Monday night, 
at eleven o'clock,  Dr. Goodbrake breathed his last.  He was conscious down to a few minutes before his 
death, and while he was unable to speak he recognized his friends by a pressure of the hand.

Dr. Goodbrake was of German origin and was born near Stuttgart on the 14th of June, 1816.  Had he lived 
till next June he would have been seventy-five years old.  When he was but five years old his parents 
emigrated to this country and settled on a farm near Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio.  His early life 
was spent on the farm, and his education was had in the country district schools, supplemented by the 
lessons his father gave him in the higher branches.  In this way Dr. Goodbrake obtained a good English 
education and a fair knowledge of Latin.  After arriving at manhood's estate he spent three years in 
Allegheny City, Penn., in the office of a celebrated physician and studied medicine.  In the summer of 
1840 he began the practice of medicine in Portsmouth, Ohio, there he remained three years, and then returned 
to Allegheny City.  It was slow work for the young doctor to build up a lucrative practice where here were 
so many older physicians, and being ambitious to win success he left the scenes of his youth and came to 
Illinois, arriving in Clinton in the year 1847. There are but few living in Clinton now that were here when 
Dr. Goodbrake came, and we can only recall the names of the Hon. C. H. Moore, Dr. John Warner, Col. Thos. S
nell and Mrs. Samuel K. Harrold. At that time Dr. Warner practiced medicine, and between him and Dr. Goodbrake 
a friendship was formed that has lasted during all these long years. Practicing medicine in those days was 
hard and laborious, for the doctors had to make long trips over the unbroken prairies in all kinds of weather,
both by night as well as by day.
 
Before leaving Ohio in 1847, Dr. Goodbrake was united in marriage with Miss Charlotte Gleason, a native of 
Brookfield, Mass., and when they came to Clinton they began housekeeping in the house now owned by Mrs. W. 
E. Carter.  Mrs. Goodbrake died in March, 1872, and since that time the doctor has occupied his office as 
his home, boarding in the neighborhood.  In 1876 the doctor began boarding at the home of the editor of 
The Public, and with the exception of one year he called that his home till the hour of his death . . . .

Being anxious to excel in his profession, Dr. Goodbrake attended a course of lectures in Rush Medical College, 
Chicago, and in February,  1855, received a diploma from that institution.  He had great love for his alma 
mater, and during the years of his life made almost annual pilgrimages to Chicago to attend its graduating 
ceremonies.  He was credited by the members of the profession with being one of the most skillful surgeons 
and practitioners in Central Illinois.  In nearly all critical cases he was consulted by the younger men in 
the profession, and rarely, if ever, was his judgment at fault.  Till the past few years, when he began to 
gradually retire from the active duties of his profession, he was the family physician of nearly all the older 
residents of Clinton and of a large circuit in the country; and even after his advancing years protested against 
long rides his old friends went to his office for treatment and counsel.

On the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861 Dr. Goodbrake was one among the first to enlist as a private in the 
first company organized in DeWitt County, which in June of the same year was mustered into the United States 
service at Joliet as Co. E, Twentieth Illinois Infantry.  His reputation as a skillful surgeon and physician 
secured for him the position of surgeon of the regiment, and he was mustered into the service as a major . . . . 
In 1862 he was taken from the Twentieth and detailed as Surgeon-in-Chief of the Third Division of the Seventeenth 
Army Corps, which was a part of the grand Army of the Tennessee, and was Surgeon-in-Chief on the staffs of Generals 
John A. Logan, M. D. Leggett, and Charles R. Woods.  On the field of battle he was always faithful at the post of 
duty, and no matter how dangerous the place might be he was always close to the boys to render them his 
professional aid.  No man was more popular in the Third Division with both officers and men than was Dr. 
Goodbrake.  He was with his division in more than a score of hard-fought battles besides skirmishes without number.  
The doctor was a skillful marksman with the rifle, and it is told of him by his old comrades that often during the 
siege of Vicksburg he would take a rifle and go out on the advance line and do a little shooting to keep hand in 
practice.  He served in the army till September, 1864, when he resigned and came home, having served over three 
years and five months from the date of his enlistment.

Dr. Goodbrake was an enthusiastic member of the Masonic order.  He was made a Master Mason in Portsmouth, Ohio, 
in 1843; took the Royal Arch degrees in Springfield, Ill., 1852; and in 1857 was created a Knight Templar and 
Knight of Malta in Apollo Commandery, No. 1, Chicago.  In 1884 he received all of the degrees from the fourth to
the thirty-second in Oriental Consistory in Chicago, and had reached almost to the summit of Masonic honors.  He was 
one of the early founders of the Masonic order in this city, and when the Chapter was instituted it was christened 
Goodbrake Chapter in his honor.  He removed his membership from the commandery in Chicago and united with the 
Beaumanoir Commandery in Decatur.

After the incorporation of the City of Clinton he served one year as mayor, but local politics not being congenial 
to his tastes he retired from the field.  For a number of years he was a member of the board of education of this 
city, and for five consecutive terms filled the office of president of the board.

He took great pride in his profession and was a life member of the American Medical Association, and also a life 
member of the Illinois State Medical Society, of which he served as president for one year.  He was the founder 
of the DeWitt County Medical Society, was its first president, and for ten years or more has been its secretary.  
In 1866 he was elected president of the Central Illinois Medical Society.  For a number of years he has been the 
local surgeon of the Illinois Central company in this city, and his professional skill was held in high repute by 
the chief medical officers of the company . . . .

His only child, Mrs. Amanda Taylor, and one grandson survive him.  The doctor was prudent in financial matters and 
leaves to his heirs an estate worth from $16,000 to $18,000.

The Funeral.

Dr. Goodbrake was buried on Wednesday afternoon in Woodlawn Cemetery.  For years before his death he had expressed 
a desire to have the funeral conducted by Beaumanoir Commandery of Decatur and the Grand Army of this city.  The 
old soldier was proud of his army record, and well he might be, for he was forty-five years old the day after he was 
mustered into the service, and in those days but few men of his age were willing to leave the comforts of home for 
a three years campaign on the battlefields of the South.  And he was also proud of his advancement in Masonry and 
made arrangements with his Commandery to bury him with the rites of a Knight Templar . . . .  At two o'clock the 
line was formed and marched to Dr. Goodbrake's office and escorted his remains to the M. E. Church, where Rev. W. 
A. Hunter preached an appropriate sermon . . . .

After the service in the church the funeral procession took up the line of march to Woodlawn Cemetery.  At the 
request of Mayor Harris all of the business houses were closed.  The tolling of the bells and the solemn notes 
of the funeral dirge by Goodman's band made an impression that will not soon be forgotten.  Arriving at the cemetery 
the Blue Lodge of the Masonic order performed their ritualistic ceremonies, and then came Beaumanoir Commandery 
with their beautiful and solemn service . . . .  As a fitting close the firing squad of Frank Lowry Post fired 
three rounds over the grave of their venerable comrade, when Orrie Harrison stepped to the head of the grave and 
sounded on his bugle "lights out" . . . .

Dr. Goodbrake was buried in his Commandery uniform and an his left breast was the badge of the Grand Army of 
the Republic.


OBITUARY OF SAMUEL GRAHAM - 1890

The following obituary appeared in the 31 January 1890 issue of The Clinton Public.

Death of Samuel Graham.

After more than the allotted time of man Judge Samuel Graham departed this life on last Monday, at 
the residence of his son, Dr. S. A. Graham, in Waynesville, aged eighty-three years, five months 
and thirteen days. judge Graham was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 13th of August 1806.  He 
came from a long-lived stock.  His father was born in the County Down, Ireland, and when a young 
man came to this country and settled on a farm in Warren county, Ohio, where he died at the advanced 
age of one hundred and one years. judge Graham was raised on a farm, and in September, 1849, he 
emigrated from Ohio and settled in Waynesville township, where he spent more than thirty years of 
his life.  When he was twenty-three years of age he was united in marriage to Hannah Kirby, on the 
lst of November, 1829.  Thirteen children were born to them, nine sons and four daughters, all of 
whom excepting two are still living.  One of the sons died in infancy, and a daughter, Mrs. A. 
Jeffrey ... died in the summer of 1876.  Mrs. Graham died in December, 1876, aged seventy-six years, 
and last Tuesday the body of her aged husband was laid to rest by her side in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Four years after coming to this county (in 1853) Judge Graham was elected Associate justice of the 
County Court, which office he filled for six years when the adoption of township organization by the 
county disbanded the court.  He was next elected justice of the Peace, which office he filled till 
1865, when he was elected Probate judge, in which lie served four years, being succeeded by Judge Hall.  
He was a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Judge Graham was a kindly old man and was always pleasant and affable.  In his home and in his public 
life he was the same genial man, beloved by his children and respected by his friends and neighbors.  
His last sickness was of brief duration, and he died surrounded by all of his children who are now 
residents of this county.
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