Brother Augustus Livingston Webster was a Member of Olive Branch Lodge 38, having affiliated on February 18 1868. He received his degrees in Evergreen Lodge 222, Conneaut, Ohio. He was born in Conneaut on February 17, 1842 and passed in Danville, Illinois on January 23, 1922.
This biographical sketch was published in History of Vermilion County Illinois A Tale of Its History, Evolution, and Progress For Nearly a Century, Volume II by Lottie Jones.
AUGUSTUS LIVINGSTON WEBSTER.
Forty-three years ago Augustus Livingston Webster became connected with the mercantile interests of Danville and continuously throughout the intervening period he has been identified with the business interests of the city. His record is such as any man might be proud to possess, for he has never made an engagement that he has not fulfilled nor incurred obligations that he has not met. In the legitimate channels of trade he has sought his success, placing his dependence upon the substantial qualities of industry, perseverance, and the wise utilization of opportunities.
Mr. Webster was born in Conneaut, Ashtabula county, Ohio, February 17, 1842, and is a son of Daniel Noble and Emma (Wallingford) Webster, the former a native of Swanton, Vermont, and the latter of Stanstead, Province of Quebec, Canada. Both were descended from good old New England families, our subject being of the eighth generation from John Webster, who came to this country from England about 1633 and settled in Hartford, Connecticut, where he became a member of the general court in 1637 and was elected governor of the colony of Connecticut in 1656. He died at Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1661. On the maternal side our subject traces his lineage to David and Elizabeth (Lemar) Wallingford, both natives of New Hampshire, the former having been born in Bradford in 1744 and the latter in Hollis in 1747. The
Wallingford family was also of English origin and was founded in the new world in an early day.
During his boyhood Augustus L. Webster attended Conneaut Academy at Conneaut, Ohio, but his education has principally been acquired through contact with the world after leaving school at the age of sixteen years to commence the battle of life. He was first engaged in the hardware business in Conneaut where he opened a store in 1864, but two years later removed to Aurora, Illinois, where he continued in the same line of trade until coming to Danville in
1867. Here he opened a hardware store in partnership with the late George B. Yeomans and they carried on the same together until 1879 when they sold out to Messrs. Giddings & Patterson, who continued the business for many years in the building erected by Mr. Webster at the corner of West Main and Franklin streets. After disposing of his hardware stock in 1879 Mr. Webster embarked in the wholesale grocery business with the late Robert Coddington, under the firm name of R. Coddington & Company, but in 1884 he withdrew from that firm and established a wholesale business for himself under the firm name of A. L. Webster & Company. In 1889 A. H. Heinly was admitted to partnership and for seven years the business was conducted under the style of Webster & Heinly. In February 1896, the Webster Grocery Company was incorporated and is now doing business at the corner of North street and Washington avenue, where they own and occupy a fine large building well equipped in all its appointments. The company has a paid-up capital and surplus of one hundred and forty thousand dollars and has a large trade which extends over a large amount of territory. Its officers are A. L. Webster, president, George
R. Angle, vice president, and Lewis Williams, secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Webster was married in Conneaut, Ohio, September 30, 1862 , to Miss
Eliza E. Innis, an adopted daughter of Dr. James and Harriet Innis. She was born at Fairview, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Thomas and Eliza Baxter, but as her mother died at her birth, she was adopted by Dr. Innis and his wife with whom she made her home until her marriage. Later she was enabled to return their great kindness by giving her foster mother a home for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Webster became the parents of four children, namely: Emma H., who died in Danville, January 5 , 1898 ; Katie M. , who died in Danville, March 7, 1899 ; Clara M., who was married in 1893 to Dale Kemble now deceased; and Nellie E., the wife of Dr. R. L. Hatfield.
In 1862 when the Confederate general, Kirby Smith, made a raid northward from Kentucky and threatened to march through the state of Ohio to Lake Erie, Mr. Webster enlisted as a member of the militia company belonging to the Ohio Squirrel Hunters Brigade and aided in repelling this invasion. The republican party finds in him a stanch supporter of its principles but he has never cared for official honors, having served only as a member of the school and library boards and as assistant supervisor for two terms. As a public spirited citizen, however, he takes an active interest in those measures which he believes will prove of public benefit and has served as president of the Danville public library and as treasurer of the Spring Hill Cemetery Association. He is one of the prominent Masons of this section of the state, holding membership
with all the Masonic bodies, of Danville and also with the Oriental Consistory of Chicago, having attained to the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He was grand commander of the Illinois Knights Templar in 1895-1896 and is also identified with Danville Lodge, No. 332, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His business affairs, however, claim the greater part of his time and attention and he was for many years a director of the Palmer National Bank and also a director of the Vermilion County Building Association, with which he has been connected for many years. He is justly accorded a place among the prominent and representative citizens of Danville, for he belongs to that class of men whose enterprising spirit is used not alone for their own benefit. He also advances the general good and promotes the public prosperity by his able management of individual interests. He has excellent ability as an organizer, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. This enables him to conquer obstacles which deter many a man and it has been one of the salient features in his success.
