Parkhurst Ward Cutler (1848-1930)

Portrait from the Biographical Review of Hancock County, Illinois, 1907.

   A longtime resident of Hancock County, Illinois, Parkhurst Ward Cutler pledged allegiance to the Democratic party for a good majority of his life, until joining the Prohibition party in the mid-1880s. A Prohibition candidate for the Illinois State Board of Equalization (as well as several local offices), Cutler would also receive that party's nomination for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 14th congressional district in 1912. The son of Nathan and Hannah (Ward) Cutler, Parkhurst Ward Cutler was born in Fulton County, Illinois on February 27, 1847. The Cutler family resettled in Hancock County when their son was but five years old, and young Parkhurst would attend the "common schools" in the area, as well as working the family farm and briefly studying at the Central College in Pella, Iowa. 

   After attaining maturity, Cutler purchased 120 acres of land near Carthage, Illinois, and established himself as a farmer and stock-raiser. He would subsequently purchase additional property to expand his fields and would be later acknowledged as "probably the most extensive stock feeder in Carthage township, usually shipping about two hundred fat cattle per year." Cutler's prominence in stock-raising saw him be the first farmer to introduce Hereford cattle to Carthage township and also exhibited his stock at several fairs during his life.

   Parkhurst Cutler married on his twenty-fourth birthday in 1871 to Fannie Gage Barker (1838-1933). The couple's marriage extended nearly sixty years and their union would see the births of two sons, Nathan Barker (1873-1953) and Ward Augustus (1875-1953). 

   An adherent of the Democratic party until the mid-1880s, Cutler switched political allegiance to the Prohibition party in 1884, becoming a "stalwart champion of the cause of temperance." A candidate of that party for several local political offices, Cutler made his first run for state office in 1900, becoming a candidate for the Illinois State Board of Equalization from the 15th district. On election day he received just 878 votes, well behind Republican candidate John Cruttenden's winning total of 24,510. In 1912 Cutler returned to politics, receiving the Prohibition nomination for U.S. Representative from his state's 14th congressional district. As one of four candidates that year, Cutler garnered a meager 680 votes that November, losing out to Democratic candidate Clyde Tavenner's winning vote of 17,024. 

   A former director of the Harmony Mutual Fire Insurance Company and a longtime Baptist church member, Parkhurst W. Cutler continued to reside in Carthage, Illinois until his death at age 82 on May 3, 1930. His widow Fannie followed him to the grave three years later at age 94, and both were interred at the Moss Ridge Cemetery in Carthage.

Lindorf Osborn Whitnel (1863-1924)

From the July 7, 1900 edition of the St. Louis Republic.

  A leading railway attorney based in Illinois, Lindorf Osborn Whitnel earns placement here on the site due to his candidacy for Congress in 1900, as well as for his being a Democratic National Convention delegate in 1896 and a Presidential Elector for Illinois in 1912. A lifelong resident of the Prairie State, Lindorf Osborn Whitnel was born in the town of Vienna, Illinois on February 4, 1862, the son of David Tullis and Parmelia Caldwell Whitnel. Lindorf received his education in Vienna public schools and later studied at the Normal School in Danville, Illinois from 1881-1883.

  After concluding his schooling in the early 1880s Whitnel began pursuing the study of law, eventually earning his law degree in the mid-1880s. He began serving as an intern in the law office of Pleasant Thomas Chapman (a future U.S. Representative) in 1885 and in July of 1888 married in the town of Stonefort, Illinois to Ms. Amanda Elizabeth Trammell (1867-1944). The couple would later have three children, Ella W. (1889-1967), Josiah (1894-1951), and George (1898-1958). 

   Throughout the latter part of the 19th century, Whitnel continued to practice law in Johnson County, Illinois, eventually forming a partnership with another local attorney (George B. Gillespie) in 1890, continuing in this practice until 1901. Their law office was mentioned as being "a strong firm, with extensive patronage" in a biographical history of the Johnson County area. In 1896 Whitnel was named as one of Illinois' delegates to that year's Democratic National Convention in Chicago that nominated William Jennings Bryan for President.

   In 1900 Whitnel began a campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois, running as a Democrat against five-term incumbent Republican George Washington Smith (1846-1907). Illinois newspapers of the time note that Smith "had his hands full" running against Whitnel, who actively stumped throughout Illinois's 22nd District throughout the campaign. An article featured in the October 22, 1900 edition of the St. Louis Republic (shown below) gives notice that Whitnel addressed two large crowds in Harrisburg, Illinois a few days previously and was "well received and greeted with great applause at both places."

  When it came time to tally the vote in November 1900, it was George W. Smith who claimed victory in the polls, besting Lindorf Whitnel by a vote of 22, 349 to 17, 528. A result from that election appeared in the Courier-Journal Almanac shortly after the election and is posted below. 

From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 31, 1909.

    Four years following his congressional defeat Whitnel experienced renewed success as a railroad attorney, joining up with the Missouri Pacific Railway. He later became the general attorney for this railroad and also served as district attorney for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway for several years. In 1912 Whitnel served as a Democratic Presidential Elector at large for Illinois, casting his ballot for Woodrow Wilson.

   In 1919 Whitnel formed a law partnership with his second eldest son Josiah, operating out of East St. Louis, Illinois. In the year before his death, Lindorf and his wife are recorded as attending an American Bar Association conference in London. While visiting here Whitnel took sick with a "sinus complaint" that later turned into a more serious illness after he returned home to Illinois. This illness eventually claimed Whitnel's life on December 15, 1924, at age 61. His obituary in the Edwardsville, Illinois Intelligencer notes that he expired at a hospital in East St. Louis and was later buried at the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Belleville, Illinois. Whitnel's wife Amanda, daughter Ella, and sons Josiah and George all survived him, and the first three mentioned are interred at Mt. Hope.

               Lindorf O. Whitnel's death notice from the December 1924 Edwardsville Intelligencer.