Transcribed by Mary Ann Kaylor
Page 1225:
FLATT, CHARLES SAMUEL - When an institution can obtain the services of a reliable man for responsible positions, it is not likely to dispense with him unless forced to do so because of his own desire. The fact that Charles Samuel Flatt has been chief engineer of the St. Nicholas Hotel for the past twenty years, speaks well for both him and the concern employing him. Mr. Flatt was born in Westfield, Union County, N. Y., in October 1857, a son of John A. Flatt, born in Ipswich, Deconshire, England, about 1821, and grandson of Samuel Flatt, a farmer. John A. Flatt had no educational advantages, but was a keen, shrewd man, who, recognizing the better opportunities offered in the United States, came here with his wife and the two children then born to them. They landed in New York about 1852, locating on a farm, but came to Jersey County Ill., in 1863, where the father continued farming, until his death in 1891. His wife died at the age of seventy-seven years. In religious faith, they were Baptists. The children born to them were: Mary, deceased; James, deceased; George of Springfield; Charles S.; John A. of Tallula, Ill., married Jennie Rice, and Lillie, married Richard Ryan of Jersey County.
Charles Samuel Flatt was seven years old when his parents located in Jersey County, Ill., and there he attended school until fifteen years of age. A natural mechanic, his boyish fingers were constantly at work fashioning appliances for use on the farm. When he was fifteen, he left home and worked among the farmers in his native county until his marriage, when he moved to the southern part of Sangamon County, to farm until his engagement with John McCreary, proprietor of the St. Nicholas Hotel, as superintendent of his dairy farm, but in 1891, came to Springfield to assume the duties of chief engineer of the hotel.
On August 13, 1880, Mr. Flatt was married to Miss Mary Francis Boyant of Jersey County, Ill., daughter of Aaron and Ellin (Bartlett) Boyant. Mrs. Flatt died June 24, 1909, after a long illness. A consistent member of the West Side Christian Church, in his funeral sermon her pastor referred touchingly to her deep Christianity. He declared in substance that, although she had been shut in her own home for years, she practiced true Christianity and exerted a powerful influence through her patience and tenderness. There were four children born to her and her husband: Charles Royal, on a ranch in South Dakota, married Pearl Browning; Carlton G., of Springfield; Truman, also of Springfield, and Jessie B. of Nashville, Tenn. Mr. Flatt also belongs to the same church as his wife. A strong Republican, he served one term on the Board of Education, and has been a member of the County Central Committee. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, being Past Chancellor of Capital Lodge No. 14, and is also a member of the Red Men, being Sachem of Inna Lodge No. 117.