BIOGRAPHY - Wallace S. Lamb
WALLACE SHUMWAY LAMB, the leading furniture dealer of Gibson City, is
numbered among the energetic young business men who are rapidly advancing
that town to the first place in business importance of any in the county.
His parents, John and Mary (Shumway) Lamb, were among the early settlers of
Stephenson County, Ill., whither the father emigrated in 1840, his wife
moving there at a later date. After their marriage, they located on a farm,
Mr. Lamb becoming a well-to-do farmer. He was a native of Kentucky and his
wife of Ohio, but since coming to Illinois they have made their home in
Stephenson County, Mr. Lamb still residing in Yellow Creek at the age of
seventy-seven years. His wife, who was an active member of the Baptist
Church, died in that faith in 1886. Politically, he was a Whig, but when the
question of abolishing human slavery arose, he threw his influence in that
direction, making public addresses as well as private arguments. Since the
rise of the Republican party, he has been a strong advocate of its
principles though not an office-seeker. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Lamb
consisted of seven children, five sons and two daughters, all of whom
are-still living.
Our subject, who was born in Freeport, Ill., May 5, 1862, is the youngest of
the family, and until the age of sixteen years he spent his time on the farm
and in the district schools. He subsequently pursued a business course at
Dixon, Ill., graduating in 1881, and the following four years was
book-keeper for Seeley & Read, of Freeport. Having served three years in the
wholesale carpet department of Marshall Field & Co., of Chicago, he
established business on his own account in Wilcox, Neb. In 1888, he came to
Gibson City and succeeded S. L. Harnit & Co. in the furniture business, and
the firm title adopted is W. S. Lamb & Co. They carry the largest stock of
furniture in the county, to which they have added an undertaking business.
Their main store, one hundred feet deep, fronts on Galena Avenue, the
principal business street of the town, while a forty-foot storeroom fronts
on the street on the south. Besides, they have a two-story warehouse, and
all are filled with select goods. Mr. Lamb is a genial, wide-awake young
man, justly deserving the success he has met in his financial undertakings.
Mr. Lamb visited Shawneetown, Ill., and while there was married, on the 10th
of March, 1887, to Miss Abbie A. Edwards, a native of that place. By this
marriage have been born two children: Wilber E. and Wallace S. In religious
belief, both Mr. and Mrs. Lamb are members of the Presbyterian Church, and,
in politics, he is a Republican. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic
order and of the Knights of Pythias.
Extracted 04 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, page 236.
