Biography - William E. Means
Rev.
William E. Means, proprietor of the Atwood Herald, was born at Paris, Edgar
county, Illinois, June 28, 1850. He attended the district school during the
winter, working on prepared to enter Paris high school. In 1874 he
matriculated at the Northwestern University, and was graduated from the
theological department of this well-known institution in the farm during the
summer months, until the class of 1879. After graduation he was admitted to
the Minnesota conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was
appointed pastor of the Rushmore charge, where a handsome
four-thousand-dollar church was built, free from debt. In the middle of the
second year he was appointed to Lu Verne, where the church was greatly
blessed during his labors with a sweeping revival, the church completed, and
the way prepared for the paying off of a crushing debt. Finding the
Minnesota winters colder than he liked, he found an opportunity, in the
spring of 1884, to transfer to South Kansas conference, where during the
year he was instrumental in building two places of worship, a temporary
building in Fort Scott, Kansas, which afterward became Grace church, and a
beautiful village church at Hiattville, Kansas. The two years following were
spent at Moran, Kansas, and were very fruitful. More than a hundred were
gathered into the church, and the church thoroughly organized. A pastorate
of three and a half years on the Caney charge was likewise fruitful in
revivals, debt paying and church building. In October, 1891, Mr. Means was
invited to become pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sidney,
Illinois, and the following year passed a prosperous year on the Atwood
charge. Failing health compelled him to retire from the pastorate in the
fall of 1893, and he has since held a supernumerary relation to the Illinois
conference, often rendering efficient service in the ministry, without
assuming the responsibilities of a pastoral charge. In 1895 he leased the
Atwood Herald, and purchased it the following year. The paper was
established in 1888, and is independent in politics. It has a good
circulation and is an excellent advertising; medium.
Mr. Means was married in 1884 in Miss Ella M. Chesnut, of Delavan, Minnesota. To them have been born one child, a son, Cyril, aged fifteen years. Mr. Means is a son of Thomas N. and Janet (Quiett) Means, natives of Ohio and Tennessee, respectively. His grandfather, William Means, was of Scotch-Irish descent. In manner Mr. Means is approachable and unassuming, and is highly respected by all who know him.
Extracted 12 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from the Historical and Biographical Record of Douglas County, Illinois, published in 1900, pages 123-124.
