Elmer Kenyon History Elmer Ellsworth Kenyon was born near Minonk, Illinois at the Kenyon family farm on April 27, 1886. He graduated Minonk High School as Valedictorian and was active in music and athletics. After the death of his grandfather, D.P. Kenyon, Elmer and his sisters moved to Normal where he worked in a bank. Later, he farmed near Towanda. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge at Towanda. After some specialized training, he opened the McLean County Seed Corn Testing Laboratory in 1923. Later, he established facilities in Chenoa, Merna and Cooksville, Illinois. The seed corn testing business provided jobs for people and a vital service to area farmers. The main laboratory was in Towanda. In August 1928, he married Miss Imogene Angeline Heller at the Heller family homestead near Towanda. Subsequently, the couple purchased a house in Towanda, near the Seed Corn Laboratory. Elmer and Imogene had one daughter, Angeline, who attended Towanda Elementary School, and later graduated Illinois State University at Normal with a Master of Science in Education Degree. After a very short illness, Elmer E. Kenyon died of double pneumonia, on January 19, 1934. He is buried beside his wife, Imogene, at Smith's Grove Cemetery. He was 47 years old. After Mr. Kenyon's death, the building and land of the McLean County Seed Corn Laboratory, just across the railroad tracks from the grain elevator, was sold. The building may no longer be standing in Towanda.
