Biography - Eugene Bland
EUGENE BLAND is a fine representative of the
native-born sons of Shelby County, and also of the citizen-soldiers that she
sent to the front during the great Civil War to defend the stars and
stripes. The farm that he owns and occupies on section 23, Todd's Point
Township, was the scene of his birth November 2, 1841. He is now one of the
most extensive farmers in this section of Illinois, and a leading stock
dealer, a business thai he has carried on with more than ordinary success
for several years.
The father of our subject, Capt. Henry Bland, was a well-known pioneer of
this county and a wealthy citizen, who materially aided in its up building.
He was born in one of the early pioneer homes of Muskingum County, Ohio, and
when only a boy of a few years he asserted his independence, and left the
shelter of the parental roof to make his own way in the world. He was very
ambitious and enterprising, full of push and energy, and in a few years he
had risen to the command of a steamer plying on the Mississippi River. When
St. Louis was but a small village, he bought a tract of land there, which he
afterward exchanged for a boat load of honey, that he sold in New Orleans.
For a time he was overseer on a plantation in Mississippi, but the Southern
climate disagreed with his family and he concluded to locate in the North,
and so came to this State and county. He was one of the early settlers of
Todd's Point Township, where he bought a trait of land on section 23. He
devoted himself to its improvement, and made it his home until death closed
his busy career, and deprived the county of one of its most valued citizens.
He had met with more than ordinary success from the financial point of view,
and in the course of years had become a large real estate holder, owning
extensive tracts of land in Shelby and Moultrie Counties. In early manhood
he had married Elizabeth Dittenhauer, a native of Ohio. She survived him
until 1875, when she too passed away, dying on the old homestead.
Our subject was reared in the home of his birth, receiving a careful
training in all that goes to make a good citizen and a capable business man,
and with the exception of the time that he devoted to his country's service
in the army, he was with his parents until their death. He can remember when
this section of the country was still in the hands of the pioneers, and
presented a far different appearance from what it does to-day where many
cultivated farms and thriving towns have taken the place of a sparsely
settled, and but little developed wilderness. In his boyhood, deer, wild
turkeys and other kinds of game were plentiful; there were no railways here,
and the fanners had to go to St. Louis for the principal market. Our
subject's education was conducted in the pioneer schools of other days, and
the building in which he gained his knowledge of the "three Rs," was a log
house, heated by a fireplace, and furnished with benches made of split logs,
one side hewn smooth, and there were no desks or backs to the seats.
The breaking out of the war found our subject at work on his father's farm,
but at the first call for troops he abandoned agricultural pursuits to offer
his services to his country, though he had not then attained his majority.
He enlisted with the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry for three months and in
1862 he re-enlisted as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois
Infantry. He served a few months, and was then discharged on account of
disability. Notwithstanding all that he had suffered on Southern
battlefields and on the long and tryings marches, his loyal spirit was
undaunted, and as soon as he was able to endure the hardships of a soldier's
life once more, he had his name placed on the roll of the Seventh Illinois
Calvary, with which he remained until after the war was closed. He saw
service in the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and
Virginia, and in many a hard struggle with the enemy showed that he
possessed all the requisites of a good soldier, and his military record does
credit to the citizenship of his native Illinois. He was honorably
discharged with his regiment at Nashville after peace was declared.
After his return from the seat of war Mr. Bland resumed farming, and also
gave his attention to buying and shipping stock, in which line he has built
up a large business, and is to-day one of the most extensive dealers in this
part of the State. He now owns and occupies the old homestead, and this,
with other land that he has bought at different times, makes him the
possessor of upwards of eight hundred acres of valuable real-estate.
Mr. Bland was married in 1867 to .Miss Nancy E.
Wright, a native of Todd's Point Township, and a daughter of William and
Martha Wright, well-known pioneers of this county. Mrs. Bland is a member of
the Christian Church. She possesses in a high degree those fine womanly
traits of character that mark her as a true wife and devoted mother, who is
willing to sacrifice self-interests to procure the peace and well-being of
her household. Her marriage with our subject was brought then these eight
children: Mattie, Ella, Ada, William, Belle, Arthur, Eugene and Ray.
Our subject's success in life was assured at the outset, not only from the
fact that he came from a well-to-do family and did not have so many
disadvantages to content against in his chosen career as many who have set
their faces in the same direction, but he had fine natural endowments to aid
him in achieving whatsoever he desired. as a gentleman of character,
business acumen, and public-spirit that is manifested in his readiness to do
all in his power to help forward any and all feasible plans for the good of
the community at large, his name stands high in his country. In his
political belief, he is a Republican sound and true.
The reader will be pleased to notice in this connection, the lithographic
portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Bland.
Extracted 16 Feb 2019 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 603-606.
