JOHN C. DEWITT. Among the successful self-made men of Southern Illinois,
probably no business citizen has been the architect of his own fortunes to a
greater extent than John C. DeWitt, general manager of the Union/ Fruit
Package Company, of Anna, and a man whose activities in the discharge of
public duty have reflected the greatest credit upon his administrative
abilities. Mr. DeWitt was born on a farm three and one-half miles south of
Anna, in Union county, Illinois, in 1855, and is a son of Bennett M. and
Elizabeth (Cruse) DeWitt, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of
Illinois.
John C. DeWitt began life as a farmer boy, and his early education was
secured in the district schools of Union county, but the greater part of his
training was obtained in the school of hard work, as his father met his
death while serving as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, at
Jackson, Tennessee, and his mother passed away during the same year, 1863.
Being thus orphaned at a tender age, young DeWitt went to work as a laborer
in the timber business, accepting such employment as he could find and
seizing every opportunity that presented itself to better his condition. Of
a thrifty and industrious nature, when he was twenty-three years of age he
had accumulated enough capital to enter the merchandise business in Johnson
county, and after six years there, requiring a wider field for his
operations, he located in Anna, where he carried on the same line for twenty
years and developed one of the leading establishments of its kind in this
section, finally selling out to John W. Moore. In 1906 he entered the fruit
package business as general manager of the Union Fruit Package Company, in
which he is also a large stockholder, and this company is now doing a
business aggregating $16,000 per annum, and he is also interested as a
director in the First National Bank of Anna and the Anna Lumber Company.
Mr. DeWitt first entered the political field in 1902, when he was elected
county treasurer and collector, and served in those offices for four years,
his first year being marked by the increase in the county's assessments of
$200,000, while for the four years in which he was the incumbent of the
collector's office the total increase was over $800,000. His excellent
services in this capacity were appreciated by the people of his community,
and when he became a candidate on the Democratic ticket for the office of
alderman he was elected by a handsome majority and was returned to that
office several times. He is president of the Southern Illinois Fair
Association and a member of its executive committee, and has identified
himself with various public-spirited movements, to which he has given freely
of his time and means. He is prominent and popular fraternally as a member
of Blue Lodge No. 520 and Royal Arch Chapter No. 45, of the Masonic order,
and also belongs to the Odd Fellows.
Mr. DeWitt was married to Miss Delia Shaddrick, who was born in Union
county, in 1862, and they have been the parents of the following four
children: Julia M., who died July 28, 1898, when nineteen years of age;
Stella Mae, who died in infancy; Elsie E., who died August 31, 1905, at the
age of twenty years; and Calla, who is fifteen years of age and resides at
home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and have always been active in its work, Mrs. DeWitt being
especially interested in the Sunday School, while Mr. DeWitt is a trustee of
the church. Both are widely known in charitable work, and as the possessors
of numerous friends and acquaintances in Anna are popular in Anna's social
circles.
Extracted 16 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 713-714.
| Jackson | Williamson | |
| MO |
 |
Johnson |
| Alexander | Pulaski |
