William Franklin Baum was one of Danville's most successful businessmen and was a 51-year member of Olive Branch 38 at his passing in 1932. Information on him and his gravesite can be found here. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47026859/william-franklin-baum
This passage is from Past and Present of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume II by Lottie E. Jones, Page 497.
"William F. Baum needs no introduction to the readers of this volume,
for he has long been one of Danville's prominent citizens, having been
known for many years as a leading druggist. Moreover, the high and
upright principles of his life have commended him to the confidence and
good will of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
He
was born on the 5th of February, 1848, in Covington, Indiana, his
parents being Abner and Louisa (Hull) Baum, both natives of Ohio. As the
name indicates, the family is of German origin and the first
representative in America was John Baum, the great-grandfather of our
subject. The grandfather was Jonas Baum, who fought for American
independence during the Revolutionary war and died at the age of
seventy-five years. During his active business life the father followed
farming, but spent his last days in retirement in Nebraska. At the age
of six years he accompanied his parents on their removal from Fayette
county, Ohio, to Covington, Indiana, where he was reared upon a farm
amid pioneer surroundings.
He witnessed the building of the
canal there and saw many other improvements made that led to the
substantial development and progress of the city. In his family were the
following children, namely: William F. of this review; O. S., a
minister of the Presbyterian church, now located in Colorado; James A.,
who is engaged m the drug business in Lee, Nebraska; Emma, the wife of
Frank Scott, a druggist of Rising City, Nebraska, and two who are
deceased.
William F. Baum obtained a good practical
education during his boyhood and youth and later successfully engaged in
teaching school for a time, but believing that he could better his
financial condition by embarking in some other business, in 1870 he
accepted a position in a drug store at Covington, Indiana, where for the
first year he received only fifteen dollars per month. The following
year his wages were raised to thirty dollars per month and the third
year he received forty dollars. The firm then established a branch store
at Marshfield, that state, and made Mr. Baum its manager. A year later
he purchased the store and subsequently opened another at Gibson City,
Illinois.
On the 1st of November, 1874, he came to Danville and
embarked in the drug business here, bringing his stock with him from
Gibson City. His Marshfield store he had previously sold and on coming
to Vermilion county he first located near the Aetna House in Danville
where he carried on business for four years. He next conducted a store
on the public square until 1889, when he removed to No. 41 North
Vermilion street, opening one of the most modern and up-to-date
establishments of the kind in this section of the west. He has now for
forty years been identified with the drug business and is today the
oldest druggist in Danville.
As time has passed he has steadily
prospered and is today one of the most successful men of the city,
owning a large amount of real estate. In 1882 he built the Baum block at
the corner of East Main and Jackson streets, which at that time many
considered a great mistake, believing it to be a bad location. But Mr.
Baum's judgment in this respect proved sound and it has developed into
one of the leading business centers of the city. In 1907 he began the
erection of a magnificent building seven stories in height, which was
completed in April, 1908. It is the highest building in the city and one
of the best appointed and most handsome structures in this section of
the state. Here he is now conducting a finely equipped drugstore on the
ground floor, it being up-to-date in every respect and supplied with all
modern conveniences and accessories.
Mr. Baum was married
on the 10th of September, 1874, to Miss Louisa A. Johnson, whose birth
occurred in New Marshfield, Warren county, Indiana, in November, 1851.
She completed her education in St. Mary's Seminary, Terre Haute,
Indiana. Her parents were Henry and Amanda (Davis) Johnson, pioneer
settlers of Warren county. After a happy married life of over thirty
years she passed away on the 21st of March, 1905, leaving her husband
and one son to mourn her loss. The latter is Clarence H. Baum, who was
born September 6, 1875, in Danville and after completing the high-school
course here, entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1894,
completing the course in pharmacy and chemistry by graduation in 1896.
Two years later the degree of Bachelor of Science was conferred upon him
and in July, 1900, he started on a trip around the world, visiting
every country of any importance, and had many interesting experiences.
Since
attaining his majority Mr. Baum has affiliated with the republican
party and has taken a very active and influential part in local
politics, serving as a member of the city council for four years, from
1904 to 1908. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church and is an
honored member of the Masonic fraternity, also belonging to the
Vermilion county and Illinois Pharmaceutical Associations. He served for
one year as vice president and also as treasurer for the same length of
time for the state association and has been a delegate to the National
Association of Retail Druggists a number of times. As a businessman he
has always kept in touch with the trend of modern progress and through
well defined lines of management has contributed in no small degree to
the commercial development of the city. He is a man of sterling and
forceful personality, his mental vision is clear, and he readily
recognizes the possibilities of any situation whether of a public or
private character. Moreover, his position is never an equivocal one, for
he stands as a stalwart champion of whatever he believes to be right.
In his business career he has made steady progress, but is no less
esteemed for the traits he displays in the relations of social life and
of citizenship." (Past and Present of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume
II by Lottie E. Jones, Page 497)
