Charles
W. Mummey is the leading hardware merchant and agricultural implement dealer of
Farmington. He is a man of talent, of wide experience,
and stands high in the financial circles of the county. He is a native of Ohio,
born in McConnellsville, Morgan County,
January 19, 1840. In him is mingled the blood of many
nationalities – English, Welsh, French and Dutch – and he can trace his
ancestry back for a period of more than one hundred years, he being a
representative of one of the earliest Colonial families of America, whose
members were identified with the early American wars.
The
paternal great-grandfather of our subject, Christopher Mummey, was born in Maryland,
and he served in the War of the Revolution.
After peace was declared he continued in the employ of the Government
until 1800 as an Indian soldier and scout, and was a celebrated
frontiersman. He was with St. Clair at
the defeat of the Americans,
and took part in several of the Indian skirmishes. He rounded out a life of eighty years. His son John, grandfather of our subject, lived in Brook
County, Va. till his death, when
about eighty years old. The grandmother of our subject was a Hammond. The Hammonds
are of English descent; there are relics such as silver buckles, buttons, etc.,
that their forefathers brought from England,
which are still in possession of the family.
The
parents of our subject, David and Sarah A. (Smith) Mummey, were natives
respectively of Wellsburg, Brook County, VA.,
and Morgan County, Ohio. His father was
an early settler of Morgan County,
and was a pioneer in the dry goods business there, conducting an extensive
trade at McConnellsville.
He subsequently removed to Kansas
and died in this new home in Milton,
Summer County,
in 1885,
at the age of sixty-seven years. He was
twice married; his first wife, the mother of our subject, died at
McConnellsville in 1847, leaving two children, Charles W. and William H. By his second marriage he had the following
children: Fletcher, Homer, Harry, Fred, Lida, Addie, Ruth, Fannie, Lulu and
Nellie. The father was a prominent man
in politics, affiliating with the Whigs and was once a candidate of that party
for the legislature.
Charles
Mummey’s early life was passed amid the scenes of this birth, and he acquired a
good knowledge of business in his youth by working in his father’s store. His father handled great quantities of
produce, which he sent away on flatboats, and as a boy Charles managed one of
these boats. In 1864 he commenced as a
pilot on the Ohio River, and was engaged in carrying
supplies, cannon shot, shell, etc., for the Government, and also transported
mules and soldiers by the thousands to the Union armies in the South. He continued as pilot till 1868, his run
being between Pittsburg and Cincinnati. He finished a course of study a the
McConnellsville graded schools and at the High School in his youth, and laid a
foundation for his career as a business man.
In
the year 1871 Mr. Mummey removed with his family to Peoria,
where he entered the employ of Sloan, Johnson & Co., of that city, as a
mercantile traveler, remaining with them in that capacity seven years. In 1878 he went to Sumner County, Kan., and
there purchased five hundred and sixty acres of land. He improved three hundred and twenty acres of it, and besides
sold goods, took charge of a post-office and loaned money to the people of
Sumner County, Kan., conducting these various operations with excellent
success. He sold out his interests in Kansas
in 1885, and came back to Illinois
and engaged in the hardware business.
In 1880 he entered
into the employ of Charles J. Off, of Peoria,
as a commercial agent, and traveled on the road till 1885. He has been very prosperous as a hardware
merchant, an in the sale of agricultural implements, buggies and carriages, he
has built up a large trade.
January
18, 1862, was the date of the marriage of Mr. Mummey, with Miss
Sarah A., daughter of Simpkin H. and Jane (Graham) Brown. Her father and mother were both born near New
Athens, Harrison County, Ohio,
and were farmers. Mrs. Mummey is the
fourth of a family of seven children.
She was well educated at Unionville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Mummey have a large and
interesting family circle, as they had had ten children, namely: Mary V., Annie
F., William H., Charles B., Fred (who died at the age of two years), F. M., A.
V., Alice, Edith, and Harry. Miss Mary
is living in Peoria. The others are at home.
Mr.
Mummey is a man of fine presence, whose many pleasant social qualities make him
a favorite. He is prominent in
fraternity circles as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in
politics is a stanch Republican.
Source: Portrait
and Biographical Album of
Fulton County, Illinois, 1890, pages 535-6