Egbert J. Myers. For forty-one years Robert J. Myers has lived in Champaign County. Those have been years of productive labor, of public spirited enterprise, and few men have left a stronger impress upon their home locality than he. He was not a wealthy man when he came to this county and his prosperity has been the fruit of long continued work, good management and an unselfish interest in the life and affairs of his community.
He is a native of the old Blue Grass State and was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, March 23, 1853. He is the oldest of four children, three sons and one daughter, born to John Means and Isabel (Markland) Myers. Three children are still living: Robert, Henry and Nannie. Henry, still living in Lewis County, Kentucky, is both a farmer and manager of a large tobacco warehouse. He is married and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church. Nannie is the wife of A. G. Wilson, a farmer and breeder of blooded horses in Lewis County, Kentucky.
John M. Myers was born in Lewis County November 2, 1812. His death occurred in 1896, at the age of eighty-four. He improved his limited advantages in the common schools so as to be able to teach for a number of terms. In politics he was an old line Whig and an admirer and supporter of Henry Clay. From that party he went into the Republican ranks upon the organization and cast his vote for Fremont in 1856. Besides the ownership of 572 acres in Lewis County he acquired 1104 acres of land in Newcomb Township of Champaign County, Illinois. Part of his Champaign County possessions he entered direct from the government. Land that he paid a dollar and a quarter an acre for could not now be bought for less than three hundred dollars an acre. He and his son Robert walked all the way from Kentucky to Illinois to enter the land in Champaign County. Combined with his ability and success in material affairs John M. Myers possessed the qualifications of the true Kentucky gentleman. He lived liberally and hospitably and was a man looked up to wherever he was known. His death occurred in the old home where he was born and reared. His wife was a native of Adams County, Ohio, born there September 20, 1818, and died a number of years ago. She grew to young womanhood in her native state, was educated in Ohio, and then accompanied her parents to Lewis County, Kentucky. Her father was William Markland. John M. Myers and wife were both members of the Christian Church.
Mr. Robert J. Myers grew up in his native state. The advantages he acquired in the local schools were supplemented by a rigid course of self training and study. At one time he attended school kept in a log cabin. He even used and made the old-fashioned goose quill pen as the implement of writing. For thirteen terms Mr. Myers was a school teacher, teaching twelve terms in his native state and one in Illinois. Some of his Kentucky schools were supported on the subscription plan. His home was with his parents until he was twenty-three and part of his earnings always went into the family exchequer.
At the age of thirteen Mr. Myers met with an accident which made his left leg permanently crippled. In spite of that handicap his indomitable energy and ambition has made him a very successful man. Coming to Illinois, he took up a life of agriculture, and that has been his chief calling and the source of his best success. With the aid of his good wife he has accumulated 200 acres of the rich land in Newcomb Township and they also have a beautiful residence in Fisher.
On December 21, 1886, Mr. Myers married Miss Anna Belle Gilmore. Two children have been born to their union, a son and a daughter. John G., the son, has for the past seven years been a resident of Mansfield, Illinois, and is assistant cashier and bookkeeper in the State Bank of that town He was educated in the Fisher High School, and before entering the bank took a business course in the Bloomingtoa Business College. He is a Republican, and in Masonry has advanced from the Blue Lodge to the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite. He is a live and enterprising young citizen and besides his connection with the bank is associated with Alva James in the automobile business. John G. Myers was married in December, 1916, to Miss Phoebe James.
Lela M., the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Myers, married W. B. Scott. A resident of Fisher, he spends his time in travel as an employee in the United States mail service. Mrs. Scott was educated in the Fisher schools, is an active member of the Domestic Science Club and was its secretary four years. She and her husband are members of the Christian Church at Fisher. Mr. Scott was educated in the common schools and the Danville High School and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. The delight of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Scott and the grandparents, where Mrs. Scott resides, is the little daughter, Virginia Erretine.
Mrs. Myers was born in Licking County, Ohio, October 9, 1865, a daughter of George W. and Hannah J. (Holland) Gilmore. She was one of four sons and two daughters, five of whom are living and all residents of Illinois. Her father was a native of Virginia, where he grew to manhood and received his education. He and his wife were married about the time of the war and removed to Licking County, Ohio. He followed agriculture as his vocation and had seventy-five acres in Licking County. During the war he fought as a soldier and at the end of his term was granted an honorable discharge. His death occurred June 2, 1898. Politically he was a Democrat and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. Mrs. Gilmore, also a native of Virginia, where she was reared and married, attended the common schools and she died in Champaign County in 1901. Both of them are now at rest in the Mahomet Cemetery, where a monument marks their resting place. Mrs. Myers was educated in the common schools and has proved a most capable helpmate and counselor to her husband in the rearing of their children and the establishment of their home.
In politics Mr. Myers is a Republican and cast his first presidential vote for James G. Elaine in 1884. For nine years he served as assessor of Newcomb Township. He and his wife are active members of the Court of Honor at Mahomet and belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fisher.
