Doney - B.T.
B.T. DONEY
Source: The Past and Present of Vermilion County, Illinois, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1903, pages 151-152
B. T. Doney, who is serving as post-master of Fithian, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, February 28 1848. His father, Benjamin Doney, was a native of Pennsylvania and after arriving at years of maturity he was married in Ohio to Miss Elizabeth Summers, a native of Maryland. They began their domestic life in the Buckeye state, where the father engaged in farming until 1845, when he removed with his family to Indiana, living in Greene county until his death, which occurred in the year 1858. The Whig party received his political endorsement and he was an exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity and a devoted Christian man who belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was held in high esteem for her good qualities of heart and mind and she passed away in 1889. In their family were three sons and two daughters but only two of the number are now living, the sister of our subject being Mollie, the widow of John Fields, and a resident of Bloomington, Indiana.
B. T. Doney pursued his education in Greene county, Indiana, in the district schools and later attended the college at Bloomington, that state, putting aside his text books at the age of twenty-one years. He afterward learned the blacksmith’s trade, which he followed in Greene county. His preparations for having a house of his own were completed by his marriage on the 2d of February, 1873, in Owensburg, Indiana, Miss Belle Owen becoming his wife. She was born in Greene county, November 7, 1856, a daughter of Kiah and Mary (Brown) Owen, both born in the Hoosier state. Her parents were also married in Owensburg and the father followed blacksmithing and wagon-building in Greene county until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when aroused by a spirit of patriotism he offered his services to the government, enlisting in Company H, Thirty-first Indiana Infantry. With his regiment he went to the front and was killed at the battle of Shiloh, thus laying down his life upon the altar of the Union. In March, 1889 his widow became the wife of Jesse Doney. Mr. Owen was a Democrat in political faith. By his marriage he had six children and by the mother’s second marriage there were no children. Four children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Doney: John, who married Lilly Ward and is a telegraph operator at Goodanole, Illinois; Benjamin, who resides upon a farm near Fithian; F. G., who is assistant postmaster of Fithian; and Clyde, who is still with his his [sic] parents
The year 1875 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Doney in Vermilion county, at which time he took up his abode in Fithian, where he stablished a blacksmith shop, which he conducted for eight years. He then embarked in general merchandise, but later he sold his store and resumed work at his trace. Subsequently, however, he again disposed of his smithy and once more turned his attention to general merchandising, which he has since followed. He now carries a good line of everything found in such an establishment and his trade is growing continually because the public recognizes in him a merchant of reliability, fair in his dealings, reasonable in his prices and courteous in hid treatment of his patrons. In 1896 he was appointed postmaster of Fithian and has continuously occupied the position since that time. He votes with the Republican party and for nine years he held the office of township assessor, discharging his duties with marked promptness and fidelity. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. - thanks so much to Denise Wells for sending this one :)