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CHARLES M. LYON, M. D.
Few citizens of McLeansboro, Illinois, are better or more favorably known than Charles M. Lyon, the oldest
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physician in Hamilton county in point of practice, editor of The Leader, the second oldest newspaper in the county, veteran of the Civil war and a man who has always been prominent in public and professional life. Born October 8, 1843, at Cuyahoga Falls, Summit county, Ohio, Dr. Lyon is a son of William and Catherine E. (Elrod) Lyon, the former born in 1815 and the latter in 1816, in Canada, in which country they were married. Dr. Lyon's parents moved to Pennsylvania about 1835, later removing to Ohio, and both died at Cleveland in 1854 of cholera. They had a family of ten children.
As a youth it was the ambition of Charles M. Lyon to become a doctor, but as his parents died when he was still a lad and he was thrown more or less on his own resources,, it proved a hard struggle. However, at odd times when he could leave his work he applied himself assiduously to his studies, which were interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war. In August, 1861, he enlisted from Mt. Vernon, Illinois, to which city he had come two years before, in Company I, Forty-fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and served throughout the war with that organization, being mustered out October 20, 1865, at which time he was captain of the same company, having won promotion through faithful, brave and meritorious service. On his return to Illinois he again took up his studies, and in 1867 began the practice of medicine at McLeansboro, where he has followed his profession to the present time. In November, 1882, he became the founder of The Leader, a weekly publication devoted to the best interests of McLeansboro and Hamilton county, and it soon became recognized as a sheet of much influence in Republican politics. Always a hard and faithful worker in the ranks of the Republican party, Dr. Lyon was appointed postmaster a.t McLeansboro in 1881, and again in 1890, and made an excellent official. He was a member of the thirty-first and thirty-second general assemblies of Illinois, and while acting in that capacity was a fearless advocate of the rights of his constituents, and earned the respect and esteem of his colleagues in those august bodies.
On May 13, 1880, Dr. Lyon was married to Miss Anna Wilson, who was born in McLeansboro about 1857, and she died January 13, 1882, leaving no children. On March 26, 1884, Dr. Lyon was married to Miss Vashti Ravenscroft, who was born in 1867 at Owensville, Indiana, the estimable daughter of William and Catherine (Jackson) Ravenscroft, and to this union there has been born one child: Katharyn, May 28, 1885, who makes her home with her parents. Dr. Lyon is an excellent example of the best type of American citizenship. Showing his patriotism as a soldier in his country's time of need, proving himself an eminent member of Hamilton county's medical profession, making his mark in the journalisfic field and attaining prominence as a public official, he has a record in every walk of life that is without stain or blemish, and he well merits the esteem and respect in which he is universally held.