Biography - William Shuping
WILLIAM A. SHUPING is a member of the firm of Dixon & Shuping, who are extensive dealers of grain at Witt, Ill. This firm is well and favorably known throughout this section of the country, has an unquestioned credit, and is considered quite a factor in the market. Mr. Shuping was born near Salisbury, N. C., March 16, 1849, a son of Andrew and Polly (Cense) Shuping, and knows but little of the ancestry or early history of his family further than the fact that they were natives of the old North State, where the father was an extensive and well-to-do planter. There is but little doubt that the Shupings were early settlers of Pennsylvania, and might be termed of Dutch extraction. Andrew Shuping and his son Henry espoused the Confederate cause at the opening of the Civil War and were in every sense of the word Southern sympathizers and loyal to Southern interests and institutions. The father is still living in North Carolina, and the son Henry is a resident of Sunnier County, Kan.
On the typical old Southern plantation belonging to his father, the subject of this sketch was reared, but in his youth was deprived of advantages for securing an education, save what the common schools afforded, but in these he managed to acquire a practical knowledge of the common branches. His early life was healthy, happy and free from care, but at the age of twenty-one, or in 1870, he took upon his shoulders the burden of his own support, and began his independent career as a tiller of the soil in Montgomery County, Ill. This honorable and useful employment occupied his undivided attention for a few years, after which he turned his attention to the business of grain buying in the town of Witt, where he has built up a reputation for honesty and fair dealing which has gone far toward making him the successful man of business that he is.
Mr. Shuping is personally held in the highest esteem, and is honored alike for his business qualifications and social standing. He is a fine financier and holds the confidence of the best grain houses of his section. His career bears evidence of his personal worth and he is one of the leading social factors of the place, conspicuous for his promptness and energy. Through energetic management the house has become a well-known and well-conducted one and the well-ordered premises are supplied with all requisite facilities, which enable them to offer special advantages to customers.
Mr. Shuping wooed and won for his wife Mrs. Ellen (Holmes) Anderson, their union being celebrated in .January, 1886. .Mrs. Shuping was born in England but was brought to the United States by her parents when a child, and in this country was reared to womanhood. This union has proved a very happy one but has not resulted in the birth of any children. Mr. Shaping has always supported Democratic principles and candidates, in which respect he follows in the footsteps of his worthy father. He has thoroughly identified himself with the section in which he resides, and all moral public measures which commend themselves to his excellent judgment find in him a hearty and liberal supporter.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 300-301.
