CHARLES BURCHAM. - A farm of about one hundred acres situated on section 27, Mechanicsburg township, is the property of Charles Burcham, who for more than forty years has made his home in Sangamon county, having arrived in August, 1862. He was born near Plattsburg, Clinton county, Missouri, March 31, 1856, and is a son of Levi J. and Lydia F. (McCorkle) Burcham, the former born in Virginia, August 9, 1830, and the latter in Missouri, May 25, 1831. His paternal grandfather Reuben Burcham, was also born in the Old Dominion and, removing westward to Ohio, he afterward went to Indiana and subsequently to Illinois, settling in Sangamon county in 1849. He established his home near Chatham and afterward to Curran township and still later to Wheatfield township.

Levi J. Burcham accompanied his father on his removal to Ohio, to Indiana and to Illinois and when a young man he went to Missouri in 1849, locating in Clinton county. there he was married to Miss Lydia F. McCorkle and for a few years thereafter he followed farming in that county. Two children were born unto him and his wife in Missouri: Charles, who birth occurred in Clinton county; and Nancy Z., who was born in Guilford, Nodaway county. In 1862 Levi Burcham returned to Illinois, at first locating on his father's farm near Curran, but in 1863 he took up his abode in what is now Lanesville township, where he carried on agricultural pursuits until his removal to Cooper township, where he purchased land upon which he made his home until going to Mechanicsburg in August, 1903. He has been a successful farmer and at one time was the owner of five hundred acres of valuable land, but has been very generous in his gifts to his children, so that his holdings are not so great at the present time. He served as justice of the peace of Cooper township for twenty years and is one of the leading, influential and honored citizens of his locality.

Charles Burcham was reared to manhood on his father's farm and is indebted to the public school system for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He early became familiar with farm work and after arriving at years of maturity he began following that pursuit on his own account. He located near Mechanicsburg, where he cultivated one hundred and forty acres of land for several years. Later he removed to Pawnee, where he engaged in the agricultural implement business for a short time and then went to Mechanicsburg, but soon afterward he located upon a farm which he continued to cultivate for several years. His next removal was to Edinburg, where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber for about a year, when he sold out and took up his abode in Cooper township. In 1891 he left his wife with his father and went to California, where he remained for three and a half years, acting as foreman and general manager of a ranch there. In August, 1895, he returned to Sangamon county and after living in Rochester for six months took up his abode upon the farm on which he now resides, in January, 1896. this has since been his home and his time and energies have been devoted to its further cultivation and improvement. He has here one hundred acres of land and he also owns another farm of eighty-six acres in Cooper township - the old homestead - together with eighty acres near Edinburg. Both of these tracts of land are rented. Mr Burcham is a member of a stock company that bought and owns an imported Percheron stallion. He is secretary of the company and keeps the horse upon his place for breeding purposes. He is also a stockholder in the Dawson and Mechanicsburg Telephone Company, of which he is the secretary. He possesses good business ability, strong executive force and keen discernment and his judgment in business matters is rarely at fault.

In Sangamon county on the 11th of March, 1850, Mr Burcham was united in marriage to Miss Emma F. Lord, a native of Cooper township and a daughter of William N. Lord, who was one of the pioneer residents of this portion of the state and here reared his family. Mr. and Mrs. Burcham have three children: Ora, Ethel and Mabel. Politically he has been a life-long Democrat and he served as a member of the township central committee, but has never sought the rewards of office. His wife and daughters belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and he contributes to its support. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he filled all the positions and is a past grand. Several times he has been sent as a delegate to the grand lodge of the order and he and his wife and one of the daughters are members of the Rebekah lodge, of which he is now financial secretary. In the Knights of Pythias fraternity he is serving as chancellor commander and was master of finance for five years. He occupies an enviable position in the regard of his brethren of these fraternities and is well known as a successful business man of enterprise and integrity whose course has made him a citizen of worth in his adopted county.