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BELGIANS IN AMERICA:    Biographies of Belgian settlers  

Eugene C. Van HOOREBEKE is one of the leading representatives of his profession in the thriving city of Marseilles, where he has been established in the general practice of law since the autumn of 1905, and where he is valued as a loyal and public-spirited citizen.

Mr. Van Hoorebeke was born at Carlyle, Clinton County, Illinois, December 27, 1879, and is a son of Gustav and Cora B. (Cook) Van Hoorebeke, the former of whom was born in the historic old city of Ghent, Belgium, February 2, 1839, and the latter of whom was born at Evansville, Indiana. Of the four children two are living, the subject of this review having been the second in order of birth. Gustav Van Hoorebeke was a lad of thirteen years when he accompanied his parents on their immigration from Belgium to the United States, and the family home was established near Jefferson City, Missouri, where the father became a substantial exponent of farm enterprise. Gustav Van Hoorebeke profited by the advantages of the public schools of Missouri, as well as those of St. Louis Universiiy, in the metropolis of that state. As a youth he assisted in the work of his father's farm, besides which he learned and followed the carpenter's trade. His ambition was such that he permitted no hour to be wasted, he having studied law at night, and having been admitted to the bar after he had established his residence in Illinois. He became one of the successful and influential members of the Clinton County bar, with residence and professional headquarters at Carlyle. In 1895 he was appointed, by President Cleveland, to the ofce of United States district attorney for Southern Illinois, and in this position he served a full term, his record having been such that Hon. Shelby M. Cullom, then United States senator from Illinois and a leader in the ranks of the republican party in this state, urged Mr. Van Hoorebeke to continue his service in the position of district attorney, but as the latter was a stalwart in the ranks of the democratic party, preferred not to hold ofce under a republican administration, his decision having been prompted by his fine sense of the "eternal consistencies." It is worthy of mention in this connection that while he was the incumbent of the office mentioned above he recommended William Jennings Bryan for the position of assistant district attorney of this Illinois district. Mr. Van Hoorebeke declined nomination for the offices of circuit judge and representative in Congress, and in 1903 he transferred his residence to Grand Junction, Colorado, where be continued in the practice of law until 1907. He then removed to California, in which state he was living retired at the time of his death, January 7, 1911, his widow being still a resident of that state, in 1923. He continued his support of the principles of the democratic party until 1900, when he followed the course of his convictions and transferred his allegiance to the republican party, in the ranks of which he was thereafter aligned until the close of his life. He was affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.



Source : O'Byrne, M. C. : History of La Salle County, Illinois; Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1924, 1217 pgs.