John H. Culver was born on December 26, 1858 in Christian County, Illinois to Edward and Mary (Scott) Culver.  His parents were from Ohio, and moved to Central Illinois (South Macon Township) in 1854 with their three children, James, Margaret and Nancy.  John H. Culver attended high school in Taylorville, IL.  He took business courses then went to work for his brother James S. Culver who, in 1871, established The Culver Marble and Granite Works, with locations in Springfield, Litchfield and Taylorville.  Not long after he started working there, he became Superintendent of the company. In 1880, he began teaching, and taught at Peru School for several years. He lived Southeast of Macon where he owned a farm.


In March of 1886, John H. Culver married Miss Florence Hight at her parents home in Macon, IL.


They moved to Springfield, IL and John worked for his brother James at Culver Marble and Granite Works as the Vice-President of the company. 


He believed Decatur was a good place to do business, and in December of 1889 he opened a marble shop on Franklin St. at the Southwest corner of the park. 

Culver Monument Works moved into the Perl Building on South Main St. in November of 1890.  A review of the company done in March of 1891 stated that "the company has the finest displays of artistic, beautiful and suggestive monuments ever exhibited in this city.  Mr. Culver is nothing, if not progressive; he is always alert, always striving to please the public, and that public would indeed be difficult to suit which could fail to find in his assortment an ideal monument to erect in memory of some dear departed friend or relative." 

An employee of Culver Monument Works, John Rainey, of Forsythe, purchased an interest in the company in June of 1891.  He had been a traveling salesman for the company for the past year.  This was just two years after the company opened in Decatur, and they had already  built a reputation of being the finest monument company in the area.  They employed 16 men and four traveling and six local salesmen.  The Culver Monument Works made changes in September of 1891 and was incorporated under the name of The Culver Monument Company with a capital stock of $15,000.  John H. Culver, who was the principal owner,  disposed of his interest in the new company for $12,500.  He continued at the head of the business and was the heaviest stockholder.  The other investors were J.M. Willard of Harristown, J.H. Rainey of Forsyth, and J.S. Culver of Springfield.  Culver often traveled for the company to purchase stock from marble and granite quarries, and trips included Boston, Montpelier, and Concord. 

Elizabeth Culver was born to John H. and Florence Culver on May 28, 1891.

A license was issued in January of 1892 to incorporate The Decatur Manufacturing Company, to make merchandise.  The capital was $12,000 and the incorporators were J.H. Culver, E.T. Coleman and E.E. Gibson.  The factory was located on South State Street over Bold's Machine Shop.  Four months later they closed a contract with R.F. Piatt and put in the largest stock of electrical supplies in the state, outside of Chicago.  They did wholesale and retail business and their office was located in the Opera House block.  They did all the wiring for the lighting furnished by R.F. Piatt.  They met in Chicago with Eastern manufacturers, and purchased approximately $6,000 in supplies, which included push buttons, bells, annunciators, buzzers, shades, lockets, clusters and other electrical supplies.
Six months after R.F. Piatt came to Decatur and opened his business, which J.H. Culver had stock in, it was discovered that Piatt had an enormous amount of debt, and his creditors came after him.  He had not paid anything on the power plant, and had almost $10,000 in debt.  His problems were believed to be caused by his excessive drinking and gambling.  Standard Electric Lighting Co. of Chicago, who sold the plant to Piatt, sued him, and the ownership of the plant was in question.  Culver, along with J.H. Willard, formed a new electric light company and applied for a franchise from the City of Decatur.  They planned to build a first class plant and supply both arc and incandescent light.  Piatt Electric Company had been given the contract to wire the Court House, but he did not fulfill his obligations.  John Culver and E.E. Gibson completed the job.  In May of 1893, Articles of Incorporation were filed for the Municipal Electric Company.  The object of the company was the transmission and sale of electric heat, light and energy and the manufacture and sale of electric appliances, gas machines and gas fixtures.  The capital stock of $25,000 was held by J.H. Culver, J.M. Willard and E.E. Gibson.  Gibson disposed of his interest in the company in December of that year and E.T. Coleman then took stock in the organization which was growing.  Due to the electrical business growing and taking so much of his time, Mr. Culver found it necessary to relieve himself of the active management of The Culver Monument Co. in January of 1894. 
By December of 1895, Culver had built a power plant that led the state.  They used the best equipment and poles, and provided light to the Wabash Railroad, Millikin Building, Morehouse & Wells Building, the new Temple Block, Guards Armory, Arcade Building, Fenton Block, First Presbyterian Church, all the jewelry stores in town and all but two clothing stores in town.  A grand opening of the new power house built by the Municipal Electric Light & Power Co. was held in March of 1896.  The power house was built along the Wabash tracks just West of Edward St.  The first year investment was $22,000, and just three years later had a value of $85,000. 

J.G. Willard and R.W. Hight filed court papers in June of 1896 asking that a receiver be appointed for the Municipal Electric LIght Co.  They hold the mortgage on the property and claim the company  had not lived up to the stipulations made in securing the loan stating the taxes had not been paid.  Culver claimed that at the time Gibson was involved in the company, he was responsible for that part of the business and it was assumed that all taxes had been paid.  John H. Culver, his wife Frances and J.M. Willard were the sole owners of the company at the time the suit was filed.  In April of 1897 the receiver was discharged, and the company was reorganized to be The Culver Electric Co.  J.G. Willard retired and John H. Culver was joined by his brother, Col. James S. Culver of Springfield who took a block of stock and an active interest in the affairs of the company.  

One year later, in April of 1898, The Culver Electric Co. and the Decatur Gas & Electric Co. consolidated.  Culver Electric was known as one of the best equipped electrical companies in the state with a capital stock of $400,000.  The principal owners at the time were J.H. Culver and J.S. Culver.  John Culver was the active manager of the company. 
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