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PAST AND PRESENT OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD AND SANGAMON COUNTY ILLINOIS
By Joseph Wallace, M. A.
of the Springfield Bar
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, IL
1904



Page 1644

ANTHONY W. SALE - Anthony W. sale is a member of the state board of live stock commissioners. Mr. Sale is capably filling the position, for which he was well qualified having become an excellent judge of stock through previous years of connection with the business of stock-dealing. He has been a resident of the city of Springfield since 1878 and of Sangamon county since 1876. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, February 25, 1849, and on the paternal side comes of German ancestry. Through many generations representatives of the family were connected with mechanical pursuits and some of the name have become prominent in professional life. Lewis Sale, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, and after arriving at years of maturity he was united in marriage to a Miss Arion, who was a native of Kentucky. For many years they resided in the latter state and both were buried on the farm in Bullitt county, Kentucky, on which Anthony W. Sale, Sr., the father of our subject, was born. The family has ever been noted for longevity, the greater number of its members having reached the eightieth milestone on life's journey or a more advanced age.

Anthony W. Sale, Sr., was born in Bullitt county, Kentucky, in 1814, and throughout the greater part of his life he followed contracting and building. He lived for a long period in Louisville and erected many of the residences and business blocks of that city, receiving a liberal patronage, which brought to him a good financial return. To some extent he also engaged in dealing in stock, of which he was an excellent judge, so that his investments were therefore wisely made and his sales brought to him a good return. Anthony W. Sale, Sr., was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta S. Woolls, who was born in Smyrna, Delaware, in 1821, a daughter of George and Henrietta (Silby) Woolls, the former born in Alexandria, Virginia, the latter at Snow Hill, Maryland. Mr. Woolls was a member of the band that played at the funeral of George Washington. He died in 1866 at the age of eighty-eight years, and both he and his wife were laid to rest in the cemetery of Louisville, Kentucky. Of their family three are still living: Mrs. Belle Naudain, who is living in Louisville, at the age of eighty-seven years; Mrs. Sale; and Mrs. Stephana Roberts, of Colorado. Like the Sale family, the Woolls family was noted for longevity and they were of English ancestry.

Unto Anthony W. and Henrietta Sale were born fourteen children, of whom two died in early childhood, while ten, seven sons and three daughters, are still living, but the subject of this sketch is the only one living in Illinois. The sons have largely followed mechanical pursuits, and the daughters have been educated in some of the best schools of the country. The father died in Louisville, February 22, 1902, and his widow, still surviving him, makes her home in that city. The children are: James S., who is wharfmaster at Uniontown, Kentucky; T. B., a contractor of Louisville; Clarence, who is a dealer in implements; W. B., who is a salesman with the National Lead Company, at Denver, Colorado; Theodore, who is engaged in dealing in horses at Floresville, Texas; A. P., who is agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Lake Charles, Louisiana; Anthony W., of this review; Mrs. Ida Compton, who married a doctor and resides at Ophir, Colorado; Mrs. Luella Stock, who is a widow and is engaged in teaching gymnastics in the schools of Denver, Colorado; and Mrs. Nettie A. Woolls, whose husband is a preacher at Utopia, Texas. Of the four children who have passed away two died in early childhood, one daughter at the age of twenty-two and anther at the age of thirty years.

Anthony W. Sale, Jr., the seventh of their children, pursued his education in the public schools of his native city and after leaving the schoolroom he began working with his father, learning the bricklayer's trade until, having acquired proficiency in this line and mastered the business in all its departments, he took and executed a number of building contracts in Louisville, remaining a resident of that city until his removal to Sangamon county in 1876. In the same year, on the 9th of November, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Leaverton, a daughter of John Leaverton, a farmer and stockman of this locality. In his family were the following named: John F., a resident of Chicago; George W., of Springfield; Charles A., a farmer of Sangamon county; Mrs. E. J. Smith, a widow living in Springfield; Mrs. Belle Washburn, of Loami Township; and Mrs. Sale. The other of this family is now living with her son Charles, at the age of seventy-six years. At one time the Leaverton estate comprised twelve hundred acres. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sale there was one child who was born in 1878 but died in 1885.

For a year Mr. Sale was engaged in farming in Curran township, purchasing a farm, which he afterward sold. On removing to Springfield in 1878, he began dealing in horses and mules, following the business continuously and successfully until 1895, when he was appointed to a position in the internal revenue service as deputy collector, in which capacity he served for six and a half years. When Governor Yates was elected chief executive of the state he appointed Mr. Sale, who is a Democrat, as minority member of the state board of live stock commissioners. As stated, in his political affiliations Mr. Sale has always been an advocate of the minority Democracy, and he has held two appointive offices. His wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, to the support of which he contributes generously. In matters of citizenship he has ever been public spirited and progressive and has withheld his co-operation from no movement for the general good, while in business he has gained a wide acquaintance among stockmen throughout the country. He dealt in horses and mules on a very extensive scale, purchasing all over the states of Illinois and Missouri. He superintended the business personally, considering no detail too unimportant to claim his attention, and to his close application and energy may be attributed his success. He now has a very attractive home in Springfield, having in 1882 purchased the land upon which he erected his own residence and the one adjoining. He has seen the city double in size during the years of his residence in Sangamon county and has watched with interest its progress and improvement, and while controlling business affairs that have brought to him an excellent financial return he has also found time and opportunity to labor for the general good.



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