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 at 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 journalistic
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.
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