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JOHN E. DAUGHERTY
is secretary of the Chester Knitting Mills, was one of its active spirits as a promoter and has been identified with this section of Illinois since 1903. He is indigenous to the soil and climate of this state, his birth having occurred at Pontiac, Illinois, January 17, 1879. He grew up in that city and his early educational training was acquired in the township high school, in which he completed a commercial course, thus equipping himself for a business career, which he began upon reaching his majority.
The father of the subject of this review was James M. Daugherty, a native of Ireland, whence he came to the United States with his parents when a mere child. He grew up and was educated in Rhode Island. James M. Daugherty married Miss Nancy Sharkey, and the two came out to Pontiac, Illinois. There he passed his life and died in 1899, at the age of sixty-six years. Concerning the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty, James is an instructor in the trade school of the Pontiac Reformatory; Mrs. A. J. Renoe resides at Leavenworth, Kansas; Elizabeth is a teacher in the Pontiac public schools; John E. is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Edward S. resides with his mother and sister at Pontiac.
When ready to engage in business John E. Daugherty was confronted with an opportunity to become a volunteer soldier and help fight a battle for humanity or seek employment in some commercial or industrial capacity at home. He chose the former and enlisted as a soldier in Company F, Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Fred Bennett, for service in the Spanish-American war. The regiment was ordered from Springfield to Chickamauga Park, Georgia, and there remained in camp for three months. In July it was ordered to join the troops bound for Porto Rico and was disembarked at Arroya. The command proceeded on the Guyama and encountered the Spanish at a few points, but met with little resistance. When the Spanish dominion collapsed in America, August 12, 1898, the Third Illinois became one of the regiments of occupation. It remained on police duty until November, 1898, when it was ordered home. Upon reaching Joliet, Illinois, the regiment was furloughed until January, at which time it was mustered out.
Upon resuming the responsibilities of civil life Mr. Daugherty entered the Paramount Knitting Company's service at Pontiac as an ordinary hand about the plant and he came to Chester for the company in 1903. He had been rewarded with a foremanship by this time and when the factory removed to Waupun, Wisconsin, in 1904, he accompanied it and was absent from Chester till 1905, some eighteen months. When the Paramount mills left Chester a movement was soon inaugurated for the establishment of an independent plant here, with J. H. Rickman as its prime mover. Mr. Hickman was joined by Mr. Daugherty and upon the organization of the new concern the latter was chosen secretary of the company. Both Mr. Daugherty and Mr. Rickman
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had mastered the details of the knitting business and, as a matter of course, the management of the new company fell to them. The several expansions of the plant and the erection of another mill at Collinsville, Illinois, are some of the indications of the efficiency of the work of the management.
On April 24, 1907, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Daugherty to Miss Mabel V. Homer, of Chester. Mrs. Daugherty is a daughter of Hon. Henry Clay Hornet, one of the leading members of the Randolph county bar and a citizen of prominence and influence in Southern Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty have two children,�Mary Elizabeth and Catherine Isabel.
Mr. Daugherty, while he has never participated actively in public affairs, is deeply and sincerely interested in community affairs and does all in his power to advance progress and development. He is affiliated with a number of representative fraternal organizations. The family home of the Daughertys is one of great attractiveness and is a center of refinement and hospitality.