Full text of "The Biographical record of Livingston and Woodford counties, Illinois"

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Biographical Record

Livingston and Woodford Counties,

LLINOIS.

A people thai take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors ii'ill never achieve
anything ■n.'orthy to be remembered with pride by remote generations.'^ — Macauley.

CHICAGO;

The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company,

1900.

B57I

PREFACK.

^ZyilriL^ greaiest oi rviigiisn nistonans, imacaulay, ana one ot me moi

>vi brilliant writers of the present century, has said : "The history of

' country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." In cor

-V^^

5;^^^^HE greatest of English historians, Macaulay, and one of the most
^' 'The

people. " In con-
/ tormity with this idea, the Biographical Record has been prepared.
(J Instead of going to musty records, and taking therefrom dry statistical
matter that can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have
gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their enterprise
and industry, brought this county to a rank second to none among
those comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life
struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent
public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation
of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industrj- and
economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing
an education, have become learned men and women, with an influence extending throughout
the lengtli and breadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of
life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in
every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how that success has usuallv
crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the
world, have pursued the " even tenor of their way," content to have it said of them, as Christ
said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — " They nave done what they could." It
tells how many, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left the plow and the anvil, the
lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and protession, and at their country's
call went forth valiantly " to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was
restored and peace once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every
woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after'.

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sucred treasure, from
the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records, and which
would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work,
and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has
been written ; and the publishers flatter themselves that they give to their readers a work with
few errors of consequence. In addition to biographical sketches, portraits of a number of
representative citizens are given.

The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume.
For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some
relused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent.
Occasionally some member of the family would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such
opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men
never could be found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business.

October, 1900.

The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co,

" Biograpriij is the onlij true histonj."— Emerson.

GEORGE W. PATTON.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ox. GEORC.E W.
PATTOX. At the
present time it is sel-
dom that one wins
prominence in .se\-
eral lines. It is the
tendency of the age
to devote one's en-
tire energies to a special line, continually
working upward and concentrating his efforts
toward accomplishing a desired end ; yet in
the case of Judge Patton it is demonstrated
that an exalted position may be reached in
more than one line of action. He is an emi-
nent jurist, an able judge and a leader in
political circles. For several years he was
successfully engaged in the practice of law in
Pontiac, and is now serving as judge of tlie
eleventh judicial circuit.

The Judge is a native of Pennsylvania,
and during his infancy was brought to
Woodford county, Illinois, in 1851, by his
parents, Samuel R. and Jane (Haines) Pat-
ton, who were also natives of the Keystone
state. His paternal grandfather was Rev.
James Patton. and his great-grandfather.
Rev. John Patton, both of whom achieved
some local celebrity as Baptist ministers in
western Pennsvlvania.the latter having been

pastor of the church at Smithheld, Fay-
ette county, for thirty consecutive years, as
the inscription on his monument, erected by
his church, still attests. Judge Patton's ma-
ternal grandparents were John and Marga-
ret (Anderson) Haines, farming people of
western Pennsylvania. The latter was a
tlaughter of James Anderson, a native of
Ireland, who carried a musket for six years
in General Washington's arm)' during the
Revolutionary war. During their entire
residence in this state the parents of Judge
Patton made their home in Woodford coun-
ty, where the mother died in 1873, the father
in 1886. He was a Diemocrat in politics, a
successful farmer, a man of great industry,
indomitable will and strong common sense,
while the mother was a woman of keen wit,,
remarkable memory and forceful intellect.

Reared un the home farm in Woodfordl
county, Judge Patton attended the common
schaols of the neighborhood until twenty
years of age, and then took a three years'
course at Xormal, Illinois, completing the
same in 1871. During the following two
years he taught school in Secor and El Paso,
Woodford county, and with the money thus,
earned he commenced the study of law with
Hav, Green & Littler at Springfield, Illinois^

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and was admitted to the bar in 1875, being
a member of the same class as W. J. Cal-
houn, ex-Senator T. C. Kerrick and George
Torrance. Subsequently he again taught
school and engaged in other pursuits until
1 88 1, following farming for three years
to regain his health. In 1881 he com-
menced the practice of law at Fairbury. this
county, and two years later located in Pon-
tiac, where he formed a partnership with C.
C. Strawn, which was dissolved in 1888. Af-
ter that time he was alone and succeeded in
building up a large and lucrative practice.
On the 7th of June, 1897, he was elected one
of the judges of the eleventh judicial circuit,
composed of Livingston, Woodford, Ford,
McLean and Logan counties, and is now
most creditably tilling that office. His mind
is analytical, logical and inductive. With
a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of
the fundamental principles of law, he com-
bines a familiarity with statutory law and a
sober, clear judgment, which makes him
not only a formidable adversary in legal
combat, but has given him the distinction
of being one of the ablest jurists in this sec-
tion of the state.

Although reared in a Democratic at-
mosphere. Judge Patton has never voted
that ticket, but is a stanch Republican. He
was a member of the state central commit-
tee of his party from 1894 to 1896. He was
made a Mason at Fairbury, and is now a
member of Pontiac lodge, Xo. 294. F. &
A.M. ; Fairbury chapter, R. A. M. ; Chenoa
council, R. & S. M. ; and St. Paul com-
mandery, K. T., of Fairbury. He also be-
longs to the Odd Fellows lodge and en-
campment, and both he and his wife are
members of the Pontiac Methodist Episco-
pal church, in which he is serving as an offi-
cer. The Judge was married, September

20, 1877, to Miss Flo Cook, daughter of
James and Lucinda Cook, of Fairbury, and
they now have two children, Marie and
Proctor.

HAMILTON R. STEWART.

Hamilton R. Stewart, who for the last
fifteen years has successfully operated the
farm of B. M. Stoddard on section 8, Avoca
township, Livingston county, was born in
county Derry, Ireland, June 4, 1854, and is
the oldest cliild of W^illiam and Mary A.
(McLaughlin) Stewart, also natives of
county Derry, where the father successfully
engaged in farming from early manhooil un-
til his death in 1868. Subsequently his
widow came to America with her family of
five sons and one daughter, namely ; Ham-
ilton R., the subject of this sketch ; Joseph,
a farmer, who died in Iowa ; Samuel, a resi-
dent of Avoca township; William, a laborer
of Ogden, Iowa ; John, deceased ; and Han-
nah, wife of William Scott, who Ii\'es near
Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois. On their
emigration to America the family located in
Lexington, Illinois, where they made their
liome for four years, and in 1872 moved to
La Salle county, where the following two
years were passed, coming to Livingston
county at the end of that time. While in
Lexington the mother married Thomas
Clinton, by whom she had one son, Thomas
F., now a school teacher in Swygart, Illinois.
Her second husband died in Livingston
county and she is now living with our sub-
ject at the age of sixty-seven years.

Hamilton R. Stewart commenced l^iis
education in the common schools of his na-
tive land, and after coming to America, at
the age of fourteen vears, attended school in

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Lexington, Illinois, for a short time. Be-
ii g the oldest of the family he had to go to
work on a farm that he might aid in their
support, and livetl at home until twenty -
two. While in La Salle county he worked
in a coal mine in Streator for two years. In
1876 he left home and was employed as a
farm hand about five years, at tlie end of
which time he rented land and embarketl in
farming on his own account.

In 1883 Mr. Stewart married Miss Jane
Blair, who was born in Tazewell county,
this state, in 1862. Her parents, William
and Mary (Gillian) Blair, both natives of
Ireland, located in Tazewell county on their
emigration to the L'nited States, and after
residing there for a few years moved to Mc-
Lean county, where they now make their
home. The father is a successful farmer.
In the fariiily were seven children, namely :
Thomas, a farmer of McLean county ; Jane.
wife of our subject : David, a prosperous
farmer of McLean county : Annie, wife of
11. Gillian, of the same comity: \\'iliiam.
also a resident of McLean county : and Lydia
and Addie. both at home. Of the nine chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, one died
if infancy. The others are as follows:
William J. and Mabel M.. who passed tlie
central schcwM examinations at the ages of
fifteen and thirteen years respectively, be-
ing the youngest who ever passed from their
school, and standing high in rank in a class of
forty: Minnie P.. Litta G.. Ira J.. Hamil-
ton G.. Geneveive and Morris M. The par-
ents are giving their cliildren the best ptjssi-
ble educational advantages.

After his marriage Mr. Stewart located
en a farm in McLean county, where he suc-
cessfully engaged in general farming for two
years, and in 1885 mo^ed to the farm of two
hundred acres in Avoca township. Livings-

ton county, where he now resides. He is
a conscientious man, upright and honorable
in all his dealings, as is shown by his re-
maining on one farm so long. During his
residence here he lias been prc:)minently iden-
tified with local politics. He was justice of
the peace five years, school trustee si.x years
and asses.sor two years, being re-elected' for
a third term, and serving in each office to
the best of his ability and for the interests
of the people he represents. He is a man
who does not draw party lines in local af-
fairs, but supports those whom he believes
best qualified to fill the positions, regardless
of party affiliations. For. the past twelve
years in national elections he has sup])orted
the nominees of the Prohibition party and at
present is township committeeman of that
party. Socially he is a member of Fairbury
Cam|). Xo. 6. M. W. A., and religiously is
a member and active worker in the Meth-
odist Episcopal church and Sunday school,
serving as a member of the board of trustees
for the past fourteen years. He is a genial
gentleman, who is well liked by a large circle
of friends and acquaintances.

FREDERICK DUCKETT.

Success is determined by one's ability to
recognize opportunity, and to pursue this
with a resolute and unflagging energy. It
results from continued labor and the man
who thus accomplishes his purpose usually
becomes an important factor in the business
circles of the community with which he is
connected and also prominent in pulilic life.
Through such means Mr. Duckett has at-
tained a leading place among the representa-
tive men of Livingston county, which he is
now serving as county clerk.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

A son of Benjamin and Jane (Redmond)
Duckett, he was born November lo, 1840,
in W'edmore, Somersetshire, England, which
place has been the ancestral home of the
family for many generations. There the fa-
ther engaged in farming until his death,
which occurred when our subject was a boy
of five or six years. The mother was left
with six children, five sons and one daugh-
ter. She spent her entire life in her native
land and died in the faith of the Episcopal
church. Those of the family who came to
America were Francis, now a resident of Des
Moines, Iowa; Daniel, a physician, who died
ill Forrest, this county, in 1890; Sarah, wife
of Jesse Arney. of Kent, \\'^asliington ; and-
Frederick, our subject. The youngest son,
Gabriel, is a resident of Australia.

Frederick Duckett received a good prac-
tical education in the schools of his native
Isnd. In 1854, at the age of thirteen years,
he came alone to the United States and spent
two years in New York state, where he found
employment. In 1856 he came to Illinois
and first located in Henry. Marshall county,
working on a farm near thereuntil fall, when
he went to Peoria county and obtained a
position, where he worked for his board with
the privilege of attending school. He re-
mained in that county until the Civil war
broke out and in the spring of 1862 enlisted
in Company K. Eleventh Illinois Cavalry.
Going immediately to the front, he joined
his regiment at Memphis, Telinessee,-''and
was first under fire at Lexington, that' state.
He took part in the second battle of Corinth
and the siege of \'icksburg, and remained
ir. active service until mustered out Septem-
ber 30, 1865, being never off duty a single
day. He was serving as second lieutenant
at the time of his discharge. Returning to
I'eoria county he remained there until 1867,

when he removed to Forrest, Livingston
county, and entered in the drug business with
his brother. Later he became sole proprietor
of the store, and though he began in a small
way he carried a large and well-selected
Slock and had built up an excellent trade at
the time of disposing of his business.

On the 19th of February, 1866, Mr.
Duckett married Miss Mary E. Munhall.
of Peoria county, a daughter of Samuel
^lunhall, and to them have been born six
children : Jeanette, now the wife of H. C.
Amsbury, of Wellsville New York; Arthur
F., who married Grace Still well and resides
ir- Forrest ; Jesse, now ser\-ing as deputv
county clerk under his father; Nellie M. ;
Mabel M., wife of Everett Tate, of Pontiac;
and Aldine, at home..

Mr. Duckett attends and supports th.e
Methodist Episcopal church, of which his
wife is a member. He is a very active and
prominent member of several civic societies,
Vvas one of the organizers of Forrest Post,
G. A. R., and served as its first commander.
He has represented it in the state encamp-
ment several times and was a memljcr of the
commander's staff one year. He was a
charter member of Forrest lodge. No. 614,
F. & A. M., of which he was master about
ten years, and is now a member of Pontiac
lodge. No. 294, F. & A. M., of which he has
been secretary, while at present he is high
priest of Pontiac chapter, R. A. !M.. and
past commander of St. Paul Commandery,
K. T., of Fairbury. He also belongs to
Chenoa Council. R. & S. M., of Forrest
lodge, K. P., of which he is past chancellor,
and the Modern Woodmen of America, of
which he is past venerable consul.

Since attaining his majority Mr. Duckett
has been an active Republican. He served
as collector of his township several terms

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and was a member of the township board at
different times. In 1894 he was elected
county clerk by a gf6od majority and after
filling that office for four years was renom-
mated by acclamation in 1898 and elected
b}- an increasing majority, which sjieaks \^■ell
for the estimation in which he is held by the
people of the county, who recognize his abil-
ity and iitncss for the office. His present
term will not expire until December, 1902.
As a citizen he has always been found true
to every trust rei)osed in him. so that his
loyalty is above question, being manifest in
days of ])eace as well as when he folUnved
the old flag to victory on southern battle
fields. Since he entered upon the duties of
liis present office he has made his home in
Pontiac.

JAMES P. DAHL.

James P. Dahl, who is successfully en-
g-aged in farming on section 3.Eppards Point
township. Livingston county. Illinois, two
miles from Pontiac. is a native of Denmark,
born on the P.altic Sea March 24. 1839. and
i.- a son of Lars P. and Christina ( Peter-
son) Dahl, who s]ient their entire li\cs as
farming jjcople in that country.

Our subject was reared on a fruin and
educated in the common schools of his na-
tive land. His knowledge of the English,
language has been acquired through his own
imaided efforts. It was in i860 that he
crossed the broad .\tlantic. sailing from
Liver])ofil, England, tt) \ew York, and land-
ing in the latter city on the 25th of May,
that year. He came direct to La Salle coun-
.t)', Illinois, where he had friends living.
and where he worked on a farm by the
month for some time. Later he was similarlv

employed in Putnam county for five vears,
and from there went to Peru. Illinois, where
he formed a partnership with his brother-in-
law, John Dixon, and engaged in fruit grow-
ing and the milk and dairy business for nine
}ears, selling out on coming to this countv.

On the 10th of A])ril. 1877. in Peru. Mr.
Dahl married Miss Lydia Jensen, a native
of Copenhagen, Deimiark, and a daughter
of Paul and Louisa (Otto) Jensen, who were
also born in that country. The father was
a business man of Co])enhagen. ]\Irs. Dahl
was well educated in the schools oi that city
and came to the new world in 1875. To our
subject and his wife have been born six chil-
dren, of whom four are living, namelv :
.\nna is a well educated young lady, who is
now successfully engaged in teaching music
and also serves as organist of the McDowell
Methodist Episcopal church: William assists
liis father in the operation of the farm ; and
Joseph and Clinton are also at home. Carrie
died at the age of ten years: ]\lary. at the
age of six months.

The day after their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Dahl came to Livingston county and he
]iurchased eightv-four acres of land on sec-
l.on 3. Eppards Point township, where he
now resides, anfl has since bonglil forty
acres m'ore, making a fine farm of one hun-
dred and twentv-four acres, which he has
tiled and jjlaced under a high state of cul-
ti\-ation. He has remodeled the house,
planted an orchard, erected outbuildings and
made many other useful and valuable im-
pro\ements on the place which add greatly
t(, its attractive appearance. He is quite suc-
cessfully engaged in general farming and
slock raising. Originally he was a Repub-
licrm in politics, but is now a Prohibitionist,
and at l(ical elections votes for the men whom
he believes best qualified to fill the offices,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

regardless of party affiliations. He is now
an efficient member of the school board and
president of his district. Religiously -Mr.
Dahl and his family are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church of McDowell
and are highly respected and esteemed by
ai; who know them.

JAMES H. GAFF.

James H. Gaff, a prominent old resident
of Pontiac, Illinois, who is now serving as
justice of the peace and deputy sheriff of
Livingston county, was born in Xenia,
Greene county, Ohio, March 23, 1827, a son
of David M. and Hannah (Mock) Gaff.
His paternal grandparents were John and
Martha ( Scott ) Gaff, natives of Pennsyl-
vania and Maryland respectively, the birth
place of the former being not far from Get-
tysburg and Hagerstown.. They were of
Scotch-Irish descent and members of the old
Covenanter church. The maternal grand-
parents were John and Mary (Homey),
natives of Xorth Carolina.' In 1801 they
remo\-ed from that state to Xenia, Ohio, in
a one-horse wagon, resting always on the
Sabbath day during the journey. Mr. Alock
helped build the first house ever erected in
Xenia and owned one hvmdred acres of heav-
ily timbered land about five miles south of
where that city now stands. This he cleared
and transformed into a good farm. Lea\'-
ing his family and several children at home,
he enlisted in the war of 18 12, and was sta-
tioned at McPherson's block house on the
line between Indiana and Ohio. He and
his wife spent their last days upon a farm
Avhich he improved in Fayette county, Ohio.
She was of Ouaker descent and was a dausfh-

ter of James Horney, who had charge of the
train of seventeen wagons in which the Mock
family moved to Ohio from Xorth Carolina.
They became members of the Methodist
Episcopal church and old Peter Cartwright
preached in their house.

David M. Gaff, the father of our subject,
was born in Maryland near the Pennsylvania
hue. and was a young man when the family
moved to Xenia, Ohio, where he married
Hannah Mock, a native of Ohio. He fol-
lowed farming, but died at the early age of
twenty-seven years, being accidentally killed
Ixlarch 2~, 183 1. when our subject was only
four years old, leaving his widow with three
small children to support. This she did bv
engaging in weaving. Later she married
John Calhoun and mo\'ed to Montgomery
county, Ohio, locating six miles south of
Dayton, where the family lived until about
1857, when they came to Illinois and settled,
near Decatur, Macon county. Mr. Calhoun
died in Decatur in 1866 and his wife died
near Bloomington, this state, in 1892, at the
age of eighty-five years. At an early day John
Gaff, our suliject's paternal grandfather, who
was also a soldier of the war of 18 12, floated
down the Ohio river on a flat boat to Cin-
cinnati, and from there drove across the
country to Xenia, where in the midst of the
forest he commenced to develop a farm,
which was to have been inherited by our
subject's father had he not been killed so
early in life.

Just before he attained his eighth year
James H. Gaft'. our subject, went to live with
an uncle, with whom he remained for four
3"ears. and then made his home with his
grandfather j\Iock. Lentil eighteen years old
ht attended school not to exceed thirty days
a year, his first books being an elementary
speller and testament, which were later sup-

THE BIOGRArmCAL RECORD.

Ijlemented by the American reader and
Smith's aritlimetic. The sclux)l house wiierc
he pursued his studies was a primitive struc-
ture built of logs, with puncheon floor and
seats and greased paper windows, and the
little room often had to accommodate forty
pu])ils.

After leaving scliool at tlie age of eiglit-
een years Mr. GafT learned the blacksmith's
trade in Teffersonville. serving a three-year-;
apprenticeship, and then working as a jour-
neyman at that place for a time. \\'hile there
he was married. December ^3. 1850. to Miss
Catherine Powell, a native of Fayette coun-
ty. Ohio, and a daughter of Harper Powell,
a farmer. They have one child, Ann E.,
now the wife of Charles Tanquary, of Chi-
cago, by whom she has a daughter. Helen G.

On leaving Jefferson ville, Ohio, in tlie
fall of 185 1. Mr. Gaff moved to what is now
Cooksville. McLean county. Illinois, where
he hfiught eighty acres of land and com-
menced breaking prairie with an ox team.
In 18^4 he moved to Pleasant Hill and
opened a blacksmith shop, which he cnn-
ductcd for five years and then sold. Coming
to Pontiac he was here engaged in general
blacksmithing until after the Civil war
broke out.

In the fall of iSfij Mr. Gaff enlisted in
C<impany G, One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry and first
went to Louisville, Kentucky. He was at
the engagements at Bowling Green, Gallatin
and Nashville and later started on the Chat-
tanooga and .\tlanta campaign, his regi-
ment being one of the first to enter Atlanta
after the evacuation. They were on the left
wing of the army in the march to the sea
and up through the Carolinas to Goldsboro
and Raleigh. The war having ended they
continued their march through Richmond to

\\'ashington, D. C, where they participated
ill the grand review. They were mustered
out at Washington June 8, 1865, and dis-
charged at Chicago on the 21st of that
month. Mr. GafY had four half-brothers and
one step-brother in the service, not one of
whom was ill or wounded while in the army,
although their aggregate service amounted
to over nineteen years.

Returning to his home in Pontiac, Mr.
Gaff resumed blacksmithing. at which he
worked until the fall of 1866, when he was
elected sheriff of the county for a term of
two years, and the folUnving two years
served as deputy sheriff, having charge of
the office for his successor. After clerking
i:i a store for one year he again opened .t
Ijlacksmith shop and built up an extensive
l<usiness. furnishing employment to four
men. During President Hayes' administra-
f.on he was appointed postmaster, having
always been an active Repulilican and chair-
man of the central committee during the
Hayes campaign. He had previously filled
the office of assessor for a number of terms.
While serving as postmaster the jxjstage on
a letter was reduced from three to two cents,
which naturally affected the re\enue of the
ofiice. He was reappointed by President
Arthur and for eight years devoted his time
exclusively to the dutie s of his position.
Later he spent a year and a half in Kansas,
returning to Pontiac in 1890. He has served
as constable four years, justice of the peace
three years and deputy sheriff since 1891,
liaving charge of the circuit court. His
official duties have always been discharged
in a prompt and able miumer. wh-'ch has
won the commendation of all concerned.

Mr. Gaff is one of the oldest members of
T. Tyle Dickey Post, No. 105. G. A. R..
and has servetl as its commander. He

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

is one of tlie oldest Masons lielonging to
Pontiac lodge, No. 294. F. & A. M.,
and is a member of Fairbury Chapter,
R. A. ]\I. For forty years he and his
^vife have held membership in the ]\Ieth-
odist Episcopal chnrch and dnring that
entire time he has served as steward or in
other official positions. He has also been
class leader for some time and takes an acti\e
and prominent part in church work. Dur-
ing the long years of his residence in Liv-
ingston county he has been one of its most
influential and popular citizens — a man hon-
ored and respected wherever known.

GEORGE TORRANXE.

Whatever else may be said of the legal
fraternity, it cannot be denied that mem-
bers of the bar have been more important
actors in public affairs than any other class
of the American people. This is but the
natural result of causes which are manifest
and require no explanation. The ability
and training which qualify one to practice
law also Cjualify him in many respects for
duties which lie outside the strict path of
his profession and which touch the general
interests of society. The subject of this
record is a man who has brought his keen
discrimination and thorough wisdom to
bear not alone in professional paths, but also
for the benefit of"-his fellow citizens and the
community in which he lives. He is now
most efficiently and satisfactorily serving as
superintendent of the Illinois state reform-
atory at Pontiac.

Mr. Torrance was born in Lancaster,
Ohio, May 15, 1847, a son of David and
Sarah (Kerns) Torrance, both natiN'es of

Penns}'lvania, and the former of Scotch-
Irish and the latter of German descent. The
parents removed from their native state to
Lancaster, Ohio, and in 1863 came to Illi-
nois, locating in Danville. Vermilion county,
where for some time the father engaged in
business as a contractor and builder, being a
carpenter by trade. He died in that city.
While a resident of Ohio he took quite an
interest in educational affairs, and always
attended and supported the Pi'esbyterian
church, though not a member. His wife
still survives him and continues to make
her home in Pontiac.

During his boyhood George Torrance
attended the common schools of his birth-
place. He removed with the family to Dan-
ville, Illinois, and there enlisted, in 1864, in
Company E, One Hundred and Forty-ninth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was with
his command in Tennessee, Georgia and Ala-
bama. He remained in the service until
the close of the war, being mustered out at
Dalton, Georgia, and discharged at Camp
Butler, Illinois. At the age of twenty
}ears I\Ir. Torrance began his business ca-
reer as clerk in a grocery store, and was
later in the United States express office and
a clothing store of Danville. He came to
Chatsworth, this county, as a dry-goods
clerk, and held that position for some time,
after which he was employed as a commer-
cial traveler. He served as justice of the
peace and read law with the firm of Fosdick
& AVallace, the latter being now Judge Wal-
lace, of Pontiac. Later he studied for a
time with A. M. \\'yman, and was admitted
to practice by examination January 9, 1875.
He was engaged in practice at Chatsworth
until the spring of 1881, when he came to
Pontiac. Here he began practice alone, but
later was in partnership with R. S. Mclll-

GEORGE TORRANCE.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

<luf. as a member of the firm of Mclllduf &
Torrance, and when that was dissolved he
• was alone for some years. Subsequently
he was engaged in practice with his son im-
der the firm name of Torrance & Torrance.
He would never accept criminal cases, but
as a civil lawyer met with most excellent
success in his chosen profession.

On the 9th of June, 1869, Mr. Torrance
was united in marriage with Miss Eliza M.
Fenn, of Chatsworth, a daughter of Elam P.
Fenn, a farmer, from Connecticut, and to
ihem have been born two children : Herbert
E., now an attorney of P'ontiac; and Grace
Tren. Tlie family attend the Presbyterian
churcli. of which Mrs. Torrance is a mem-
ber.

As a Republican Mr. Torrance has
taken an active and influential part in po-
litical affairs, and has been chairman of the
county committee. In the fall of 1880 he
was elected to the state senate and served
two terms of four years each with credit to
himself and to the entire satisfaction of his
constituents. During this time he was one
of the one hundred and three who helped to
elect General Logan to the United States
senate.

Mr. Torrence was appointed superin-
tendent of the Illinois State Reformatory,
March i, 1897. Realizing that if it was
to properly perform the work designed for
it many changes must be made in its build-
ings, schools, etc., he immediately began his
labors along that line. This institution,
with the great outlay of money necessary to
its building, and the wants of fifteen hun-
dred inmates to look after, including their
schooling and discipline, would be a tax
upon the strength of any man, but with this
additional work has been a heavy burden,
which he has borne with wonderful forti-

tutle. Though critised and condemned at
times, he has never faltered, but patiently
awaited the time which he felt sure must
come when his work would meet with pub-
lic approval. It has now arrived and the
discipline of the inmates, the success of its
trade and common school work, and the
beauty of the grounds are generally com-
mentled and the institution is recognized as
among the most successful of its kind in the
world. Mr. Torrance has been told that
he expected to leave the institution as a
monument to his work in this state, and if
gi\en time would place it in such a position
tiiat it could not be surpassed by any other
in the near future. That he has succeeded
is now conceded and his former critics are
loud in his praise, and the doubting yet hope-
ful friends jubilant over his success.

The discipline is excellent, yet without
apparent severity. Tiiere seems to be a hope-
ful, contented air permeating the whole in-
stitution, and he has not elsewhere and prob-
ably never will have better friends than can
be found among the boys in his custody.
They speak kindly of him, are very respect-
ful to him and obey his requests or com-
mands as cheerfully as if he was paying
them salaries. One by one the former modes
of punishment have been abolished until the
shackle, hand-cuff, ball line, solitary, etc.,
are relegated to the things that were. Pa-
rade and assembly grounds have been ar-
ranged, fine lawns, cement walks and flower
l)eds constructed, until tiie mner yard is a
beautiful park, the admiration of all that
see it. Great attention has been paid by
him to the training of inmates in both in-
strumental and vocal music until the insti-
tution has one of the best bands in the state.
A military organization has lieen perfected,
and it is unsurpassed anywhere, outside of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

West Point. To insiruct tlie inmates he
has about twenty-two common and twenty-
live trade schools, classes in ethics, Sunday
school, chapel services, lectures, concerts
and entertainments of various kinds.

With him the work is not performed for
the salary alone ; it has become a work into
which he throws his entire energy and
ability. A visit to the institution is very
instructive and interesting, and hundreds
inspect it e\'ery week, as many as fifteen hun-
dred being conducted through it in one
week last summer. In the handling of hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars, the making
and looking after many contracts with build-
ers, machinists and plumbers, not one word
of scandal has ever been heard, not a dif-
ference ever existed but has been adjusted
without discord. The same is true in re-
gard to his officers ; differences often exist,
but under his direction they are harmonized
t)r he takes hold with a firm hand and set-
tles them beyond further controversy. One
employe said : "T have worked at other
institutions and found much trouble among
the officers always existing. This one runs
without friction.'" As an organizer and di-
rector, he is unsurpassed. He possesses ex-
ecutive ability of a high order, has had great
experience in public matters, is an excellent
lawyer, an extensive reader and possesses a
brain that works rapidly. Probably no man
in the state is required to promptly pass
upon so many matters embracing all the
lines of industry and education as he is, or
that could do so with less deliberation.

For nearly six years Mr. Torrance has
been officially connected witli the high school
of Pontiac, and was president of the board
almost five years, during which time the
school was opened and raised to its present
high standing among similar institutions in

the state. Other official honors would have
been conferred upon him had he not de-
clined, refusing to allow his name to go far-
ther on the party ticket. Upright, reliable
and honorable, his strict adherence to prin-
ciple commands the respect of all, and as a
pleasant, affable gentleman he makes many
friends.

JOHN K. OLESON.

John K. Oleson, who resides on section
8, Pontiac township, is one of the success-
ful farmers of Livingston countv. He is
a native of Norway and was born June 20,
1 83 1, just sixty-nine years from the day the
notes for this sketch were taken. He grew
to manhood on a farm in his native country
and until about thirteen years old attended
the parochial schools. He then had to begin
making his own living and engaged in farm
labor.

The life of a poor man in Norway is
not one for envy, and the opportunity for
advancement is not such as is afforded in
the L'nited States. Realizing this fact, Mr.
Oleson determined to emigrate to this coun-
try, and accordingly, in 1858, he took pas-
sage in a sailing vessel, crossed the Atlantic,
and landed in Quebec. From that city he
came west to Chicago, and from there to
La Salle county. Illinois, where he com-
menced work on a farm by the month, and
continued to be thus employed for several
years, saving as much of his wages as possi-
ble.

\Miile yet living in La Salle county, Mr.
Oleson was united in marriage with Miss
Elsie Olson, by which union two children
were born. Ole R., the eldest is now mar-
ried and has one son. He is enaged in farm-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing in Livingston county. Emma is the wife
of Ole Knudson and they have four sons.

In 1870 Mr. Oleson came to Livingston
county and purchased a farm of eighty acres
and also rented a place on which was an old
log house. The place had formerly heen
worked, but when he obtained possession it
had mostly grown up to grass and weeds
and only about fifteen acres was fenced.
Life in Livingston county was commenced
under very discouraging circumstances, but
he had grit and determination, and the un-
sightly weeds soon disappeared and the land
was placed under cultivation. A small house
was first erected, which in due time, gave
place to a larger and better one, and the
area of the farm was increased until the
farm now comprises two hundred and twenty
acres, all of which is under cultivation and
the land tilled and well drained throughout.

Politically Mr. Oleson is a Republican,
with which party he has been identified since
coming to this country. On his arrival the
slavery question was being agitated and the
country was almost in the midst of the throes
of a revolution. Lincoln and Douglas were
holding their great debate, and the young
Norwegian naturally took his place on the
side of those who were fighting for freedom.
His first presidential vote was cast in 1864
for Abraham Lincoln, while his last was
cast for William McKinley. He was reared
in the Lutheran faith and is yet a member of
that church. His wife is also a member of
the same church.

Mr. Oleson was a poor man when he
came to the United States, and for several
years he had a hard struggle to obtain a
foothold, but he persevered, with the result
that he now has one of the best improved
farms in Pontiac township, within three
miles of the countv seat, and he can calmlv

look the future in the face, knowing that he
has sufficient to carry him through old age
in comfort, if not in luxury. His forty-two
years in this country have served to broaden
his views and to make him progressive and
thoroughlv American in all things. All who
know him have for him the utmost respect.-

JOEL ALLEX. M. D.

Joel Allen. M. D.. a prominent and suc-
cessful physician of Pontiac, Illinois, is a
native of this state, born on his father's farm
in Jefiferson county. Xovember 13, 1827. and
is a son of Abel and Prudence ( Wilkey)
Allen, naties of Kentucky and Georgia, re-
spectively. His paternal grandfather, James
Allen was born in Virginia, and wiien quite
young moved to Kentucky, where he en-
gaged in farming for some years, coming
to Illinois about 1819. locating in Jefiferson
county, where he spent the remainder of his
life, dying about 1830. The Doctor's father,
who was a prosperous farmer, lived in his
native state until about thirty-five years of
age, when he came to Illinois and settled in
Jefferson county, where he continued to fol-
low his chosen occu])ation until his death,
which occurred at his home March 29, 1869,
at the aee of seventy- four years. His wife
survived him about six years and died on
the old homestead in Jefferson county, June
3, 1875. For a quarter of a century she
was a great invalid and for the last ten years
of her life was also entirely helpless, requir-
ing much care and attention. The Doctor
has one brother in this county. Christopher
Columbus Allen, a farmer of Pontiac town-
ship.

Dr. .Mien obtained h's early education
in the district schools of Jefferson county.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and assisted his father with tlie farm wiirk
until twenty-two years of age. He had a
great fondness for tlie study of medicine
and for some time read witli his uncle, Dr.
Carter Wilkey. with a view of fitting himself
for the medical profession.

On the 14th of Novemher, 1849, Dr.
Allen was united in marriage with Aliss
Martha Trowhridge. a daughter of Philo
and Martha Trowbridge of Jefferson county,
AA'here her father was successfully engaged
in farming until his deatli, about 1855. By
this union were four children, all of whom
are li\ing. namely: Hardin A., liorn in Jef-
ferson county, wedded Mary Kinnehan, of
Livingston county, and is now a pa\-ement
and concrete walk contractor of Streator,
Illinois ; Lydia A. is the wife of A. C. Scott,
<i prominent farmer of Eppard's Point town-
ship, Livingston county ; Laura is the wife of
T. C. Taylor, a dealer in hardware and ag-
ricultural implements of Pendleton Oregon ;
and J. Brown married Lizzie Labourn and
is a street car conductor of Den\er, Colo-
rado.

After his marriage Dr. Allen continued
farming for some years in Jefferson county
and then went to Lincoln, Logan county,
where he was engaged in the manufacture
of brick until the death of his wife, which
occurred January 15, 1858. He then came
to Livingston county and again took up
farming, at the same time continuing his
medical studies, being thus employed until
the outbreak of the Civil war. He was again
luarried, December 6, i860, his second union
being with Emily Tromh', by whom he had
two children : Gertrude, born in La Salle
county, August 2^. 1861. resides at home,
and Jessie P., born in this county, July 17,
1866, is the wife of Robert Harms, a farmer
of Rock Island, Illinois.

In August, 1862, Dr. Allen enlisted at
]\linonk, Woodford county, in Company H,
Seventy-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
as hospital steward and remained in the serv-
ice three years, having charge of his regi-
ment as physician and surgeon the last two
years. He was serving as second assistant
surgeon at the time he was mustered out
with his regiment at Mobile, July 25, 1865.
They participated in sixteen battles, the first
being at Chickasaw Bluft', in the rear of
Yicksburg, and for forty days was m the
siege of Vicksburg. The following winter
was passed in New Orleans and in the spring
the command took Fort Gaines on Mobile
Bay, also Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley.

After the close of the war Dr. Allen re-
turned to Livingston county. While in New
Orleans he took a course of medical lectures
and on his return, as a representative of the
Pxlectic School of Medicine, he commenced
practice in this county, and was not long
ni securing a liberal patronage. In the fall of
1882 he moved to Graymont, where he en-
gaged in practice and also conducted a drug
store until coming to Pontiac, in October,
1888. He has his office at his handsome
residence. No. 307 East North street, and
although well advanced in years continues
to engage hx active practice.

For his third wife Dr. Allen married
Mrs. Mary Hallam, of Livingston county,
a daughter of James Carson, a farmer of this
county, now deceased. She died in Pontiac,
December 5, 1888, leaving no children. On
the 1 2th of November, 1889, in Pontiac,
the Doctor married ]\Irs. Addie E. Pound,
oldest daughter of John S. and Eunice
(Packer) Lee. The father, a native of
Connecticut, and a blacksmith by trade,
came to Illinois in 1857 and settled at Pleas-
ant Ridge, near Lexington, where he fol-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lowed his trade for two years, and tlien
came to Pontiac. He now makes his home
with the Doctor and his wife, Mrs. Lee
having died at her home in Pontiac in 1896.
They had tliree cliildren besides Mrs. Allen,
namely: Hattie, wife of Josepli Roggy, a
farmer of Nebraska ; Frank P., who is em-
ployed in a pork packing establishment in
Chicago, and Charles, agent on the Ilinois
Central Railroad at Riverdale, Illinois.

Mrs. Allen was born in Connecticut. De-
cember 24, 1850, and was seven years of age
when she came to this state with her par-
ents. She is a lady of refinement, iiighly
educated, and after the death of her first
husband she was, for a number of years,
successfully engaged in teaching in the dis-
trict schools of this county, and for a period
pf eight years in the public schools of Pon-
tiac. Her first husband was Joseph Pound,
a farmer living near McDowell, Livingston
county, by whom she had two children, Mary
and Alfred, both now deceased. The Doc-
tor and Mrs. Allen have one child. Wayne
Lee, who was born in Pontiac, May 10, 1892.
Li his political views Dr. Allen is a Republi-
can, but has never sought or desired public
office, preferring to devote his entire time and
attention to his professional duties. He is
a member of the Methodist church of Pon-
tiac, and is honored and respected l)y all
who know him. Mrs. Allen is also a mem-
ber of the Metliodist Episopal church.

REV. E. F. WRIGHT.

Rev. E. F. Wright, who for six years
has been the beloved pastor of the Congre-
gational church at Dwight. Illinois, was
born July 21, 1842, in Shoreham, \'ermont,

adjoining Whiting, where Senator Sawyer
was born. His paternal grandfather was
Andrew Wright, a native of Connecticut,
and a soldier of the Revolutionary war, who
after that struggle migrated to Shoreham,
\ ermont. and took up a large tract of land.
He was married twice and reared a large
tamily. The youngest of his children by the
second marriage was Samuel Wright, our
subject's father, who in early life followed
the sea, sailing first on a whaling vessel and
later on a merchantman. After giving up
the sea he made his home in \'ermont for
some time, but spent the last three years of
his life in Jackson county, Michigan, where
he died when our subject was only four
}ears old. He was twice married, but his
first wife died young, leaving no children.
His second wife was Minerva Knowlton, a
native of New York state, by whom he had
three children, namely: E. F., our subject;
Florence, wife of C. W. Piatt, of North
Adams, Massachusetts; and Charles T., a
resident of Crow Point, New York. The
motlier survived her husband many years,
dying in Rutland, \'ermont.

Our subject was reared by his father's
sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Lu-
cius Robison, and his early education was
acquired in the district schools of Vermont,
which he attended during the winter months.
He was eighteen years of age when tiie civil
war broke out and was one of the first from
his state to enlist, joining Company K, Sec-
ond Vermont Volunteer Infantry, May 17,
1861. He was mustered into the United
States service at Burlington, and in June
went to the front, participating in his first
battle — that of Bull Run — on the nineteenth
anniversary of his birth, July 21, 1861. His
regiment was in the Peninsular campaign,
the siege of Yorktown, the battles of Lee's

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mills and Williamstown, and the seven days'
battle in front of Richmond. He was ill
and off duty from August, 1862, until Jan-
uary, 1863, and after rejoining his command
took part in the battle of Chancellorsville.
The regiment gained distinction the follow-
ing day by making a famous charge on St.
Mary's Height, and later participated in the
battle of the Wilderness, where they lost
three hundred and thirty-six men. The
brigade of which Mr. Wright was a mem-
ber probably lost more than any other in
the service. He was mustered out June
29, 1864, and returned home.

Previous to leaving the army Mr. Wright
was converted, and soon after his return
home entered the academy at Barry, Ver-
mont, where he spent two years. The fol-
lowing year he was a student at Newbury,
Vermont, and in the summer of 1866 en-
tered Middlebury College, from which he
was graduated in 1870, with the degree of
A. B., receiving the degree of A. M. three
years later. In the autumn of 1870 he com-
menced teaching in the academy, where he
remained two years, and in 1872 was called
to the pastorate of the Congregational
church at Danby, Vermont, where he was
ordained and installed in 1873.

On the nth of November, 1871, Mr..
Wright married Mrs. 'Ellen M. Marsh, of
Norwich, Vermont, who died July 4, 1874,
leaving one son, Robert Hopkins, who is
now married and in the employ of the Illi-
nois Central Railroad at Dubuque, Iowa.
After the death of his wife, Mr. Wright en-
tered the Chicago Theological Seminary,
from which he was graduated in 1876. While
attending that institution he had served as
pastor of the Congregational church at Des
Plaines, Illinois, and later was in charge of
the church at Seward, Winnebago county,

eight years ; .Rockton three years, and Crys-
tal Lake, Illinois, for a time. From the last
named place he came to Dwight, where he
has now been for the past six years, during
which time he has built up the church and
has ministered faithfully to the spiritual
needs of his people. He is not only well
liked by his own congregation, but is hon-
ored and esteemed by all who have wit-
nessed his devotion to his noble calling.

Mr. Wright was again married, Septem-
ber 7, 1876, his second union being with
Miss M. S. Stone, of Pecatonica, Winne-
bago county, Illinois, by whom he has two
children, namely : Florence, who is now
bookkeeper and stenographer for the Dwight
Star and Herald ; and Clarence. Both re-
side at home.

ARCHIE CRABB.

The early home of this well-known and
honored citizen of Pike township was on
the other side of the Atlantic, and on com-
ing to the new \\'orld he was in limited cir-
cumstances, but so successful has he been
in his business undertakings that he is now
able to lay aside all labor and live a retired
life upon his farm on section 4, Pike town-
ship, Livingston county, about eight miles
from Chenoa.

Mr. Crabb was born in Arbroath, For-
farshire. Scotland, June 18, 1833, a son of
James and Cecelia (Monroe) Crabb, also
natives of that county, \\here the mother
died. The father, who followed the sea in
early life, came to the United States after
the death of his wife and spent his last years
with a daughter in Illinois. During his
boyhood and youth our subject had limited

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

school advantages, and is mostly self-edu-
cated. In 1854 he took passage on a sail
vessel bound for Montreal, Canada, and was
seven weeks in crossing the Atlantic, dur-
ing which time the ship encountered some
severe storms. On their arrivfal in Quebec
they were quarantined for two weeks, there
being some twenty cases of smallpox on
board. Mr. Crabb spent about six months
in the city of Montreal, where he worked at
his trade, that of a blacksmith.

In 1854 he came to Illinois, and first lo-
cated in Tazewell county, where he worked
for his uncle, William Monroe, as a farm
hand, for about two years and a half, at
ten dollars per month. He next engaged
in farming for himself upon rented land in
the same county, where he continued to
make his home until 1866, and in the mean-
time purchased eighty acres of land in Pike
township, Livingston county, where he now
resides. He located here in 1866, and com-
menced immediately to break the virgin soil,
upon which he built a small house. Later
he purchased an adjoining eighty-acre tract,
and still later another eighty-acre tract, and
today has a fine farm of two hundred and
forty acres, which he has placed under a
high state of cultivation and improved with
good and substantial buildings, which stand
as monuments to his thrift and enterprise.
After years of faithful toil he can now well
afford to lay aside all business cares and en-
joy a well earned rest.

In Tazewell county. December 25, 1861,
Mr. Crabb married Miss Mary Ann Dor-
ward, who was born and reared in the same
neighborhood in Scotland as her husband
and came to the new world in 1853, locat-
ing in Illinois. To them have been born
six children, namely: Florence, now the
wife of William Snethen, of Pike township;

John Henry, who is married and engaged in
farming in the same township; Robert, also
an agriculturist of Pike township; Marga-
ret, wife of Lewis Brinkman, of Rooks
Creek township; Cecelia, wife of Louis Salz-
man. of the same township; and Agnes, wife
of C. B. Rollins, who operates the Crabb
farm.

Mr. Crabb voted for Abraham Lincoln
in i860, but since 1868 has been independent
in politics, giving his suport to the men and
measures that he believes will best advance
the interests of the public regardless of party
lines. He has taken <iuite an active part
in local politics, and is now serving his sixth
term as supervisor, and is now a member of
the committees on public buildings, county
house and farm, fee;^ and salaries. He has
also served as township clerk, assessor and
treasurer, which office of treasurer he now
holds, and as township trustee eighteen
years. He and his wife are active members
of the Presbyterian church, and his public
and private life are alike above reproach, for
his career has ever been one characterized
by the utmost fidelity to duty. He and his
family receive and merit the high regard of
the entire communitv.

THE LESLIE E. KEELEV CO.

Time tests the merit of all things, and
the years with unerring accuracy set their
stamp of approval upon all that comes be-
fore the public notice, or cause to sink into
oblivion that which is not worthy of atten-
tion. Only truth is eternal, while "error
wounded, writhes in pain and dies among
her worshippers." There is no escape from
such results; the ages have proven this, and
the law will hold good throughout all time.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In the face of the most bitter opposition
tliere was given to the world a wonderful
discovery by Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, of
Dwight, Illinois. He early met the ridicule
and persecution of the medical fraternity, of
which he was a member, and the amused and
oftentimes abusive disbelief of the world, but
time proved the efficacy and vaUie of his
discovery, and today he is known as one
of the greatest benefactors that America
produced in the nineteenth century.

Although the founder has passed away
his living record forms an epitaph time will
never efface, and the work he created is con-
tinued under the corporate name of The
Leslie E. Keeley Company, the leading mem-
bers being Major Curtis J. Judd and John R.
Oughton, the latter the present mayor of
Dwight, while the former for several years
was a successful merchant and filled posi-
tions in the e.xecutix'e departments of the
village. The history of the Keeley Insti-
tute forms the most important chapter in
the history of Dwight, for prior to its es-
tablishment the little' village was scarcely
h^ard of outside of a radius of a few miles,
and seemed to have little business or com-
mercial prosperity outside of the farming
industry before it. Today no city of equal
size in the Union is as widely known.

In 1866 Dr. Leslie E. Keeley was grad-
uated from Rush Medical College, of Chi-
cago, and in seeking a location, determined
upon this little village in Livingston county,
Illinois. He soon won an enviable repu-
tation, and enjoyed a large practice which
came to him from miles around ; but while
he successfully performed his daily duties
as a general practitioner, he became inter-
ested in the cjuestion of a possible cure for
inebriety. He ga\-e careful thought, study
and investigation to the matter, prompted by

a love of scientific research, but more than
all by the great humanitarian principles
which ever formed a basic element in the
character of Dr. Keeley. At length he be-
came convinced that drunkenness was a dis-
ease just as surely as a fever or any other
disease which comes under the care of the
physician. He became convinced that there
was nothing in the claim that heredity had
anything tu do with either. He believed
that while a neurosis might be entailed upon
descendants, they were not from necessity
liquor or drug users. He defined drunken-
ness as "a conditon wherein the nerve cells
have become so accustomed to performing
their duties and functions under the in-
fluence of alcohol that they are dependent on
it and will no longer perform those duties
and functions jjroperly and painlessly e.x-
cept when under its influence." This
theory has long been accepted by physicians
throughout the country, and is taught in the
leading text-books on physiology and hy-
giene in our public schools, but at the time
Dr. Keeley advanced it he met with the
greatest opposition from the medical frater-
nity. Hoping to perfect a cure for this con-
dition of the nerve cells, he wrote to several
well-known physicians to ascertain what
they knew about the effects of salts of gold.
A few responded and their information was
meager, but Dr. Keeley continued to investi-
gate and experiment, and as a result, per-
fected not only the cure but the system of
treatment. 1 he storm of abuse and oppo-
sition which he brought down upon him-
self can hardly be imagined. The president
of a prominent medical college, with whom
he took counsel, advised him thus : "Main-
tain the secret of your discovery if you
think it of use to humanity, but the pro-
fession will not leave a shred of your medical

Till-: iUOCRArillCAL RECORD.

reputation." Tliis was painfully true, hut
he fought his and humanity's hattle nohiy,
imtil now tliousands have hecn henctited l)y
Iiis treatment, the number reachini;- nmre
than three hundred thousand.

It was in 1880 that Dr. Keeley ahamloned
general i)ractice and began gi\ing his en-
tire attention to the cure of those wlio had
become slaves to alcohol,' opium and other
very injurious drugs. He early associated
with him Major Judtl and Mr. Oughlon. iuu\
the connection was maintained until the
Doctor's death. These gentleman were
prominent, popular and reliable business
men of Dwight, and their faith in Dr. Kee-
ley and his discoveries did much to gain for
him the confidence of his home comnnmit\'.
Major Judd is now the secretary and treas-
urer of the company, and Mr. Oughton is
president and chemist. Soon after the part-
nershi]) was formed Mr. Oughlon was given
the f(jrmulae and being an e.xpert chemist
has comi)ounded the Keeley remedies to the
l)resent time.

With three such men as Dr. Keeley. Ma-
jor Judd and Mr. Oughton at the head of
the Institute its success was assured, al-
though it was almost a decade before it
gained the recognition and assistance of the
press. (Gradually pulilic opijosition was
lessened, as those who came to the Institute
under the curse of inebriety went away sober,
intelligent citizens, ready to lake their places
again in the work of the world. Their tes-
timony and influence lead to the u;rowth of
the work, the luunber of patients gradually
yet constantly increased, and it is estimated
that twenty-five thou.sand t(jok the treatment
])rior to 1891, when J(jseph Meilill became
its champion and advocated tiie cause
through the colmnns of the Chicago Tribune.
Before .so doing, however, he thoroughlv in-

vestigated the cure. In an editorial in the
Chicago Tribune he said: "1 tested this
cure: 1 selected a half-dozen of the toughest
])roducts of alcoholi.sm that the Chicago sa-
loons had been able to turn out, and the
drunkard-making shops in no other-city can
beat them in their line of workmanship. The
experimental cases were .sent down to
Dwight. one at a lime, extending over a
period of several weeks, and in due time
they were all returned to me, looking as if
a veritable miracle had Ijeen wrought upon
them. The change for the better was so
great thai I scarcely recognized them. They'
went away .sots and returned gentlemen. It
was amazin.g, and coinerted me to a belief
in the cfticacx of the "(jold Cure' for alco-
holism and opium. Well, I did not stop
with the half-dozen specially selected cases,
but sent down to Dwight a number of ine-
briate ac(iuainlauces to take the treatment,
as I was anxious to reclaim those old friends
who had been res])ected and useful citizens
before the 'drink liabii' had ruined their
li\es. When 1 had thus become fully con-
vinced that drunkenness was a disease, the
result of imbibing poison, and that a mcfli-
cine had been discov'ered which releasetl the
\ ictim from the irrepressible thirst for alco-
hol, and that it rest()red the man to normal
health of bodv and mind, I felt it to be a
duty which I owed to humanilv to make
known the virtue of the Keeley Cure as fast
antl as far as in mv power, and I rejoice that
the control of a widely-read journal enabled
me to reach the minds of a multitude of in-
telligent people. I opened the columns of
my i)aper freely to the rescued victims (jf al-
cohol, who related their experience and tes-
tified to what the Keeley Cure hafl done for
them." The Tribune's exam])Ie was imme-
diately followed by that of other leading

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

journals in Chicago, and then throughout
the country, until the Keeley Institute of
Dwiglit became largely known throughout
the length and breadth of the lau

Jt was soon found that the accommoda-
tions at Dwight were totally inadequate, so
greatly did the number of patients increase.
Dr. Keeley, Major Judd and Mr. Oughton
lield consultation and it was determined that
the congestion at Dwight should be relieved
at once by the openiing of branch institutes.
The first one was established at Des ^Moines,
Iowa, soon others were started in New \ ork
and Pennsylvania, and after this branches
sprang up in various places until at the pres-
ent time there are one or more in nearly eve-\-
state and territory. The most notable work
perliaps was accomplished at the Lea\-er.-
worth branch of the National Soldiers"
Home, where nearly fifteen hundred \eter-
ans of the war of the Rebellion were treated
with the most gratifying results, and the re-
port of the board of managers to congress
and the secretary of war spoke of the great
good accomplished. The treatment was
also administered in the Soldiers" Home at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hampton, Virginia,
Los Angeles, California, and others, Avith
excellent results. ]Many men and officers
of the regular army have also taken the
treatment, sixty Indians from the Cherokee
and Osage reservations were sent to the
branch in Kansas Citv, and the results were
so favorable to the cure as to prompt the
writing of a letter by Chief Justice Connor,
of the Indian Territory, to Dr. Keeley, prais-
ing the treatment in the highest terms. Sixty-
ii\e men in tlie work-house of Minneapi.ilis
were sent by the mayor of that cit\' to the
branch institute there, and a large majority
of them, although they had been \'ictims of
inebriety, convicted from two to twenty-

nine times, were enabled to leave the work-
house, and were changed from wards of the
state to self-supporting, self-respecting citi-
zens. To cite, either collectxely or indi-
xidually, the wonderful ciu'es effected by
the SN'stem inaugurated by Dr. Keeley would
fill a large \-olume ; suffice it to say that
more than three hundred thousand have
taken the cure, and the greater number have
remained sober, useful citizens.

The cure for drunkenness is usually ef-
fected in four weeks. 1 here is no sickness
attendant upon the treatment, and 'the phys-
ical condition impro\es from the start. Men
are also freed from the opium, morphine,
laudanum, cocaine and chli>ral habits. The
patients are left absolutely free, there being
ri(j restraining influences other than those
of law-abiding citizenship. All patients
are treated alike and stand on the same
footing. It is interesting to note the many
exhibitions of kindness and good will of
the patients towards each other. A useful
lesson is ta:ught by this democracy of the
Keeley Institute — a man of humble station
is lifted up and given a new trend, whereas
a man of high position is convinced more
than ever of the leveling qualities of drink
toward the lowest strata of society.

The Livingston Hotel of Dwight is
owned and conducted by the Leslie E. Kee-
ley Company, and is an excellently conducted
hostelry, with pleasantly arranged rooms,
well lighted and ventilated, and tastefully
furnished. The laboratory is one of the
finest and best equipped in the country, and
the offices are models of convenience.

Dwight certainly owes her prosperity
in \-erv large measure to the Leslie E. Kee-
ley Company. Prior to the establishment
of the institute it was an ordinary country
town, without electric lights, without water-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

works and without drainage. Today it has
all the accommodations and improvements
of cities many times its size, this result being
largely obtained through the efforts of the
members of the Keeley Company. Jt is
safe to say that no private institution in the
entire country is so well known as the insti-
tute at Dwight, nor is there one whose in-
fluence and efforts ha\e been so beneficial
and far reaching.

The business of the Leslie E. Keeley
Cnmpan\- is conducted upon a liberal prin-
ciple and most approved business methods.
'] he sNstem is the result of years of expe-
rience and intelligent work, and cannot be
improved upon. Visitors to Dwight inva-
riably inspect the general ofifices as one of
the sights of the village. While it has been
a paying investment to its owners, it cer-
tainly deserves to be ranked among the
greatest institutions for good that the nine-
teenth centurv has known.

.MATTHIAS TO.MBAL'GH.

Matthias Tumbaugh, deceased, was one
of the most prominent of the early educators
of this county, and served as county super-
intendent of schools for several years, dur-
ing which time there was a marked im-
l)rovement made in the educational sys-
tem then in vogue here. He was born near
Washington, Washington county, Pennsyl-
vania, June II, 1835, and there grew to
manhood. His parents were Mathias aiul
Rachel (Spohn) Tombaugh, life-long resi-
dents of that county and of German descent.
The mother survived her husband several
years, dying about 1890.

Our subject completed his literary edu-

cation at Mt. Union College, and then com-
menced teaching school in his native county,
serving as superintendent of schools at
Monongahela City for a time. While there
he married Miss Elivira J. Lethern'ian. who
was born lune 1 1, 1838, a daughter of John
ami Christina Lethermaii. of Washington
county, Pennsylvania, ami nf German de-
scent. Her father was a soldier of the war
of 181J, and a fanner by occupation. To
Mr. and Mrs. TomlKuigh were born seven
children, ti\e of whom are still living, name-
ly: Charles K., who is represented on an-
other page of this volume; Alice I., wife of
E. F. Pound, of Glen Elder, Kansas ; Dr.
Frank M., medical examiner for the Chi-
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at
Burlington, Iowa; Nettie Z., wife of W. V.
Worthley, of Odell, Illinois"; and John L.,
a student in the Chicago Medical College.
Raymond R., the third in order of birth,
died June 25, 1886, at the age of nineteen
years. Horace Rcicl, the tifih child died
in infancy.

In 1865 Mr. Tombaugh came to Living-
ston county, Illinois, and purchased land in
Reading t(jwnship, when this country was
(|uite new and but slightly improved. Af-
ter making his home there for three years
he moved to Sunbury township and bought
another farm. While living there he served
as principal of the schools of Odell for one
year, and in 18873 ^^'^^ elected county su-
])erintendent of scht/ols, which important
])osition he held until i88j, the term at that
time being four years. While in office a
change was made in the election laws and
he was elected by the board of supervisors
for one year. During his incumbency he
made many important changes in the schools
which have been of permanent \alue. and it
is conceded that he was a verv effective

3°

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

scliool officer. Selling his farm in Sun-
bury township, in 1876, he bought property
in Odell township, and successfully en-
gaged in farming there u]) to the time of
his death.

After 1882 Mr. Tombaugh served as su-
pervisor of his township and was also a
member of the Odell school board. He
was a Republican in politics and a member
of the Masonic fraternity. Both he and
his wife held membership in the Methodist
Episcopal church, and took an active part
in its work. He served as superintendent of
the Sunday schools twelve years ; was presi-
dent of the County Sunday School Associa-
tion ; and was also steward, trustee and
church secretary, in fact was one of the pil-
lars of his church. While one of a fishing
party at ]\Iarseilles. Illinois, May 13, 1887,
he was drowned while attempting to rescue
another member of the party who had fallen
in the ri\-er. He was highly respected and
esteemed by all who knew him on accoimt
of his sterling worth antl true nobility of
character, and his death was widely and
deeply mourned. His estimable wife still
survives him and makes her home in Odell.

CHARLES R. TOMBAUGH.

Charles R. Tombaugh, the present counts-
superintendent of schools, was born near
AVashington, Washington county, Pennsyl-
vania, October i, 1862, and is a son of Mat-
tliias and Elvira J. (Letherman) Tom-
liaugh, a sketch of whom appears on another
page of this work. He was about three
vears old when brought by his parents to
Livingston comity, Illinois. He began his
education in the schools of Sunburv town-

ship, later attended the common cIuk.iIs of
Odell and then taught school for fi\e win-
ters in this comity, at the end of which time
he entered the Northwestern Unixersity at
Evanston, Illinois. After his return "home
he resumed teaching and taught for six
years, during which time -he was principal
of the East Side School at Dwight, and also
])rincipal of the schools at Chebanse and
Odell. While at Odell he was president of
the Li\'ingston County Teachers' Associa-
ti<.)n for two years, and also an instructor
in the County Teachers' Institute. After
the death of his father, in 1S87, he took
charge of the home farm and carried it on
until he assumed the duties of his present
position as county superintendent of schools.
He was elected on the Republican ticket,
and in 1898 was renominated by acclama-
tion and again elected to that office. The
educational meetings held during his term
have been most successful, and he has the
entire confidence and respect of the people.

On his election to his present office Pro-
fessor Tombaugh moved to Ponliac, and
now has a pleasant home at No. 311 South
Vermilion street. On the 20th of January,
1892, he married Mrs. Anna L. Bradrick,
a daughter of Rev. Samuel Deach, of the
Central Illinois Methodist Episcopal con-
ference. Re\-. and Mrs. Deach were in
Kansas for a time on account of his health,
and Mrs. Tombaugh was educated in Sa-
lina, that state. By a former marriage she
has one child, Margaret L. Bradrick, and
she has borne our subject three children:
Alice v., Glen D. and Stella M.

Professor Tombaugh was ma<le a Ma-
son in Odell Lodge, No. 401, F. & A. M..
in which he served as warden, but has since
(lemitted to Pontiac lodge. No. 2c)4, where
he is now sering his fourth year as mas-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ter. Bcitli he an<l liis wife are acti\e nieiii-
liers of the Methodist Episcopal cluirdi. and
lie is now a member of the offical hoard of
the churcii and president of the Livingston
County Sunday School Association. While
a resident uf Dwight. Chehanse and Oilell.
he was su]ierintendent of the Sunda\- schimls
there, having like his father devoted much
time to Sunday school work. He has fol-
lowed clnsely in the footsteps of his father,
having held practically all of the local,
county and cluuxh offices held l>y the latter.
As a citizen he ever stands ready to dis-
charge any duty devolving upon him. and
as an educator he stands dcservcdK- hii;h.

EMILK A. SIM.MOXS.

1 he man who achieves success in the le
gal profession is even more strictly the "ar-
chitect of his own fortunes" than is the
average self-made man. there being in the
keen competition of the lawyer's life, with
its constantly recurring mental duel be-
tween eager and determined antagonists, no
chance fur the operatinn df influences which
may be called to the aid uf the merchant, the
manufacturer or the financier, .\mong the
men of Livingston count\' who ha\e demon-
strated their abilites in this difficult field
Emile A. Simmons holds a leading place,
being one of the jjroiuinent attorneys of
Pontiac.

A native of Illinois. Mr. Simmons was
born in Avon, October 19, 1865, and is a
son of (ieorge and Charlotte L. J. ( Mail-
liard ) Simmons. The father was born,
reared and educated in Hamilton. Madison
county. Xew York, and as a young man
removed to .Avon. Illinois, about iS^o. where

he followed the carpenter's trade, and also
engaged in farming, making his home there
until his death. He held different local
offices, includmg those of justice of the
])eace, assessor and collector, and was a Re-
])ublican in jjolitics. having been an aboli-
tionist in .\'ew N'ork. His father was a
soldier of the war of iSij. and a life-long
resident of Hamilton. Xew ^'ork. where he
followed the occujiation of fariuing. The
lUiHher of our subject was born in Elor-
ence, Italv. of French parentage, and was
reared in I'rance until twelve years of age,
when she came to America with her family
and settled in .\vou. Illinois. Her father
was Ely Mailliard. She is still living, but
the father of our suliject died in ]Hi)j.

During his boyhood and youth I'^mile .\.
Simmons attended the ])ublic schools of
.\von. and at the age of sixteen commenced
teaching, .\fter following that profession
for six years, he became a student at the
Xormal School in X'ormal, Illinois, and af-
ter leaving that institution again taught
school for two years, being princi])al of the
school at Vermont, Illinois. In December,
i88q, he came to Pontiac and entered the
office of A. C. r.all. studying law with him
two years, and also teaching the latter year.
The following year he was in the office of
Mcllduff & Torrance, and in May. 1892,
was appointed deput\- circuit clerk. While
in that position seeing the practice of lead-
ing lawyers was of great benefit to him. In
August. 1892, he was examined at Mt. \'er-
non by the judges of tlie appellate court,
and a certificate issued at the next session of
the supreme court at that place the follow-
ing Xovember. In December he left the
clerk's office and entered the oftice of Mr.
Mcllduff. remaining with him until .Vugust,
18(^4. when he o])ened an otiice of his own.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

He is now successfully engaged in practice
before all the courts of the state.

On the 31st of December, 1894, Mr.
Simmons was united in marriage with Miss
Katherine M. Smith, of Avon, a daughter
of P. H. Smith, and to them has been born
one child, Louise A. They hold member-
ship in St. Hilary's Catholic church, of Pon-
tiac, and fraternally Mr. Simmons is a
member of Crescent Lodge, K. P., is clerk
of the Camp, I\I. ^\'. A., of Pontiac, and is
president of the Pontiac Colony Pioneer Re-
serve Association. He is also director and
treasurer of associated charities of Pontiac.
tor some time he has been secretary of the
Pontiac Loan & Building Association — a
home loan building concern, whose assets
amount to one hundred and twelve thou-
sand dollars. He is also a luember of the
company. By his ballot he supports the men
and measures of the Republican part}', and
takes an active and prominent pait in local
politics. He still retains an interest in edu-
cational aitairs, and in April, 1900, was
elected to the Pontiac township high school
board. He is also serving his second term
as a member of the board of directors of the
Pontiac public library, receiving his appoint-
ment from the mayor, and as a progressive
and public-spirited citizen, he takes a deep
interest in every enterprise calculated to ad-
A-ance the UKjral, social and educational wel-
fare of his communitv.

COLONEL FRAXK L. SMITH.

Colonel Frank L. Smith, of Governor
Tanner's staff, is one of the leaders of the
Republican party in Livingston cnuntv, his
large acquaintance and unbounded popu-

larity giving him an influential following,
while his shrewd judgment of men and af-
fairs make his counsel of value in all im-
portant movements. In business circles he
also takes a foremost rank, his success as a
real estate dealer being all the more notable
from the fact that it has been secured by his
own judicious management.

This prominent citizen of Dwight, a
member of the well-known firm of Romber-
ger & Smith, was born in that citv Xovem-
ber 24, 1867, and is a son of Jacob J. and
Jane E. (Ketcham) Smith, natives of Ger-
many and New York, respectively. The
father was only four years old when brought
to America by his parents, who located in
Pennsylvania, but at the age of fifteen he
came to Dwight, Illinois, which continued
to be his home until 1891, when he removed
to Chicago, where he died in 1894. His
Avife (lied nine years previous. In their
family were three children.

Colonel Smith received his early educa-
tion in the public schools of Dwight, and
at the age of seventeen taught school in
Round Grove township for about one year,
after which he accepted a position in the
freight department of the Chicago & Alton
Railroad at Dwight, remaining with them ii;
a clerical capacity about four vears. In
1887 he went to Chicago and acceiited n
similar position with the Rock Island Rail-
road, being located at the Englewood sta-
tion two years. Subsequently he ser\-ed as
cashier with P. H. Bolton & Company, c^im-
mission merchants on South ^^'ater street,
Chicago, until 1890, when he returned to
Dwight and entered into partnership with
W. H. Ketcham in the real estate and loan
business. W'hen that firm was dissolved
April I, 1895, Colonel Smith became con-
nectetl in business with C. L. Roniberoer un-

THIC BlOGKAPlllCAL KKCURIX

der the name of Romberger & Sinitli. their
specialty being real estate and real estate
work, although they do a private banking
business for the accommodation of friends
and acquaintances. Without question the
firm does one of the largest loan and real es-
tate businesses in central Illinois, this fact
being conceded by all other firms in their
line. At present they are extensively inter-
ested in Mississippi and Louisiana lands.
Their holdings in the latter state are tim-
ber lands, which the firm purchased with the
view of enhancing their \alue, and in Jan-
uary, 1900, they sold one tract of twelve
thousand acres in Madison pari.sh. This is
desiralile property, being accessible to steam-
boats and the \'icksburg, Shreveport & Pa-
cific Railroad. The Mississippi land is in
the Delta country, and is also covered witii
hard wood timber, principally oak, pecan and
gum. When cleared this will become ex-
cellent cotton land. Besides this property,
the firm has about fifteen hundred acres of
fine farming land in Lee county, Illinois,
which is well improved and under a high
state of cultivation, and also operate largely
in Iowa and Indiana lands.

On the 8th of February. 1893. ^I"".
Smith was united in marriage with iMiss
Erminie Ahern, of Dwight, a daughter of
John and Margaret Ahern. who are at pres-
ent living in Ogden, L'tah. Mrs. Sniitii is
a member of St. Patrick's Catholic church,
of Dwight, and the Colonel belongs to He-
bron lodge, Xo. j^. K. P., and Dwight
Camp, iM. W. A. Since attaining his ma-
jority he has affiliated with the Republican
party, and has taken a very active and promi-
nent part in political affairs, always attend-
ing the county conventions and serving as
a delegate to the state conventions tiiree
times. In the spring of 1900 he was offered

the nomination for state senator on his party
ticket, but would not accept on account of
his business interests, though the nonfina-
tion was equivalent to an election in his dis-
trict, which is strongly Republican. Early
in his career he served as city clerk in
Dwight. but since then he has never been
prevailed upon to accejH office. In January,
1897. he was appointed coLmel on Governor
Tanner's staff, and in that capacity has par-
ticipated in many important functions, being
present at the inauguration of President Mc-
Kinley at Washington. D. C. in March,
1897: the unveiling of the Grant monument
at Xew York; the unveiling of Logan's
monument at Chicago ; the christening of the
battleship Illinois at Newport Xews, Vir-
ginia; and the dedication of the Illinois
iiiniiument at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

HOX. XELSOX J. MVER.

There are in every community men
of great force of character and exceptional
ability, who by reason of their capacity for
leadership become recognized as foremost
citizens, and take a very important i)art in
public affairs. Such a man is Mr. Myer,
who is now so efficiently surving as superin-
tendent of the Livingston county farm in
Eppards Point township.

He was born in that townshi[). July 30,
185 1, and is a son of Judge Eli Myer, who
was born ami reared in Marvland. and at
the age of eighteen years moved to Licking
county, Ohio, locating near Xewark. There
he married, and continued to make it his
home until after the birth i^f several of his
children. In 1850 he came to Livingston
county, Illinois, and purchased a tract of
raw laml in Eppards Point township, to

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the cultivatiim and iniprdNement o\ whicli
he at once turned liis attention. Later he
bought more land and at <Hie time ownetl
five hundred and sixty acres, which he
l^laced under a high state of cultixation and
improved witii a good set of farm l)uilchngs.
He was a man of good business ab!Hty. and
was one of tlie most prominent and intluen-
tial citizens of his community, being called
upon t(i serve as associate judge, and town-
ship treasurer and clerk for some years each.
He died upon the old home place December
28, 1868. and his wife passed awav June t.

1875-

Xelson J. Alyer grew to manhood upon
the farm and attended the local schols, but
the knowledge there acquired has been
greatly supplemented by reading and study
in later years. Eor some time he and his
brother operated the old homestead together,
and in 1875 Air. Aloyer purchased eighty
acres in sections 21 and 16, on which he
lived and there made his home until 1895,
when he took charge of the Li\ingston
count}- farm. He has been \ery successful
in the management of this place, and has
gained an enxiable reputation as one of its
most efficient superintendents. When he
took charge of the farm it had fifty-one in-
mates, but the numlier has since been in-
creased to eighty-four, which includes a
number of insane, old and decrepit persons.
In the management of the place and the
care of the inmates, he has been greatly as-
sisted by his estimable wife.

In this county, December 17, 1S71, Mr.
Myer married Miss Helen E. McElhiney.
who was born in Green county. Wisconsin,
but was reared and educated in Stephenson
county. Illinois. Her father was James
McElhiney. To our subject and his wife
liave been l)orn two children: Xelson D..

who is attending the Pontiac High School,
and James O.. a student in the home school.
In his political affiliations Mr. Myer is a
pronounced Republican, and cast his first
presidential vote for General L'. S. Grant
in 1872. He has taken a very active and
prominent part in political affairs, and has
been electeil to several offices, serving as
township ct)llector several vears, and was
justice of the peace f(jr eight \ears from
1876. In 1 881 he was elected supervisor,
and filled that office continuously f(.ir ten
years, during which time he was chairman
of a numl)er of important committees. He
was elected to the state legislature in 1888,
and so acceptably did he fill that office that
he was re elected for another term, and
was a member of the committees on state
instituti(_nis. re\enue and others. In 1893
he was again elected supervisor, was re-
elected two years later and made chairman
of the county board. He resigned that
office to accejit his present position as su-
l)erintendent of the county farm. His ofti-
cial duties have always been discharged with
a fidelity and promptness worthy of the
highest commendation, and he is today one
of the best-known and most popular citizens
of the county. Religiously both he and his
wife are members of the Center Methodist
Episco^jal church.

CHRISTOPHER W. STERRV.

Christopher W. Sterry, of Pontiac, was
l)orn in Somerset county, Maine. August 12,
iS2b. His father, Samuel Sterry. also a
nati\e of Maine, was born in 1782, married
Hannah Harding, in 1807. and served
through the war of 1812. dying at his home
in Somerset county in 1827. when Christo-

C. W. STERRY.

THE LULK.kAl'HlCAl, KECORI).

plier was less than one year nld. The pater-
nal grandfather, David Sterry. was one of
the heroes of the Revolutionary war, and
dieil at his iionie in Maine at the advanced
age of eighty-eight years and eight months.
The mother, Hannah Harding Sterry,
\vas a devoted Christian woman. She was
born in 1788, and died in Maine in 1871,
when eightv-two years old. At the death
of her husband she was left with five sons,
the eiilest less than eighteen years old and
tlic youngest, Christopiier, not a year old.
to face the stern realities of life with but
scant means of supix)rt. The devoted
mother, after a heroic struggle for several
years In keep her family of boys together,
found it necessary to find homes for them.
1 bus the subject of this sketch, when but
eight years of age, was placed among
strangers, where he remained under harsh
treatment and bard work, and but few op-
portunities for sciiool privileges for four
years, when lie could endure it no longer,
and ran away. When fifteen be worked
si.x months for twenty-fi\e dollars, and at
eighteen he went intu Massachusetts and
commenced wurk at twelve dollars and a
half per montii on a farm. Then he be-
came engaged in manufacturing business,
in which he continued until he came to Illi-
nois in 1852, and located in Chicago, where
be remained four years, having charge of the
stone sawing works of A. S. Sherman &
Company. In 1856 be was engaged as
bookkeeper of the Sheffield Mining & Trans-
portation Company, of Sheffield, Bureau
county. It was in this year. 1856, that Mr.
Sterry came into Livingston county and
settled in Ksmen township, where he bought
a farm of one lumdred and si.xty acres of
raw i)rairie land, seven miles north of Pon-
tiac. This be improved, erecting buildings

and making of it a jileasant home, on which
be lived for many years, engaged in farm-
ing and stock-raising. During this time be
added one hundred and seventy acres to
the homestead, which he still retains in the
highest degree of cultivation, and became
jjossessed of large business interests and
prftperty holdings in Xew Orleans, Louis-
iana. The latter re(iuired so much atten-
tion that he left bis farm in 1884 and moved
into Pontiac. Securing one of the finest lo-
cations in the city on tlie north bank of pic-
tures(|ue \'ermillion. Mr. Sterry erected on
it one of the most elegant modern residences
in Pontiac. It is located on East Water
street, in the midst of spacious grounds ex-
tending back to the river, and is shaded by
grand old oaks and native forest trees. Here
be makes his home, though bu.siness as well
as comfort calls him south during the win-
ter months.

Soon after becoming a citizen of Pon-
tiac, Mr. Sterry became identified with the
business interests of the city, first by es-
tablishing the jewelry, drug, book and wall
paper firm of John S. Murphy & Company.
.\ little later be was one of the principal or- '
ganizers of the Pontiac Slioe Manufactur-
ing Company, which was incorporated in
1889, taking one-third of the stock and fur-
nishing financial backing to a much greater
extent. He has been a director and presi-
dent of the company from its organization.
It is the chief industry of Pontiac, and is
consi<lered a prime factor in itsprosperityand
growth. Starting up in October, 1889, it
has grown to a capacity of two thousand
pairs of shoes per day, and furnishes em-
jiloyment to three hundred men and women,
the majority of whom are skilleil workmen.
The product of the factory is disposed of
throughout the territory from Ohio to the

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Pacific coast on tlie west and the Gulf of
Mexico on the south.

In 1897 Mr. Sterry purchased Ri\-erside
Park, adjoining the city on the east, and
almost encircled by the \'erniilliim river.
shaded by stately native forest trees, thus
securing- its use for the Pontiac Chautauqua
Association, which he assisted in organizing,
and in which he was the largest stockholder.
He is also largely interested in the Pontiac
State Bank, of which he has been director
and \ice-president since its organization.
\Miile he does not give special attention to
the details of this business, yet the mere
fact of his connection with its has served
to increase the confidence of the business
community in its conservative management.
He is also president and largest stockholder
of the Riverside Irrigation Company, of
Idaho, which controls some fifteen thousand
acres of arable land in that state. About
thirtv miles of canal have been constructed
and is in operation for irrigation purposes.
In 1899 he erected the four-story office
building on the southwest corner of Court
House square. It is known as the Sterry
block, and will tloubtless be a landmark for
years to come as its equal has not appeared
in any city the size of Pontiac. It fronts
eiglity feet on Washington street and one
hundred feet on South Mill street, and is
four stories above the basement. It con-
sists of two stores and the Pontiac Stale
Bank lielnw. and of sixty suites of offices
a!)o\e, which are made accessible by an elec-
tric-power passenger elevator, heated In-
steam and supplied with city water and with
electric lighting.

As a citizen Mr. Sterry has ever been
ready to accept the responsibilities and per-
form his duty in the most conscientious way.
\\'hile as a matter of choice he would ha\-e

avoided the cares of public office, yet he has
served many years in various official posi-
tions. In Esmen township he served as
school director, trustee, school treasurer,
justice of the peace and supervisor. He was
a member of the board of supervisors of
Livingston county for several terms, and
as such, aided in securing the location of
the State Reform School at Pontiac.

Having been a strong advocate of anti-
slavery principles even as an abolitionist, on
the organization of the new part}-, he be-
came a stanch Republican, and during the
war of the Rebellon was an active member
of the Union League. He continued to
act with the jiartx- until the old issues were
settled, and he became convinced that the
new and greater issue of temperance could
expect no real support from the old party.
He then gave the Prohibition party his lib-
eral support and became an ardent supporter
of that party.

Realizing in his own life \\-hat he missed
through want of school privileges, he has
been an ardent supporter of the public school
system and also of higher education. He
has been a supporter especiallv of Xew Or-
leans L'niversity, of which he is a trustee, of
^\'heaton College, and of Illinois \\'esleyan
L'niversity.

In 1847 -^^1'- Sterry was married to Miss
Elizabeth Day, who lived with him seven
years, bearing to him three children, all of
whom died in infancy, while her death oc-
curred March 25, 1855.

In 1858 he married iVIiss Amanda Had-
lev. daughter of the late James P. Hadley, a
prominent farmer of Sunbury township,
this county. One child was born, and lived
but a short time, and the wife also was taken
awav after a union of a little more than one
vear. In 1861 he was united in marriage

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

with Mrs. Mary C. Beeler.a (laughter of Jolin
Ross, of Sangamon county, and she has
been spared to hve with him until tlie pres-
ent time. To them have been born six
children : Lida, wife of Dr. C. H. Long, of
Pontiac, whose sketch appears elsewhere in
this volume; John L., the only son, a young
man of great promise who died at the ai^o of
twenty years, in 1884, while attending the
Illinois W'esleyan University at Blooming-
ton, where he was preparing himself for the
ministry ; Hattie and Josephine, who both
died in infancy; Mary E., wife of E. M.
Kirkpatrick, a prominent grain merchant of
Chenoa, Illinois; and Jessie, wife of Clar-
ence B. Hurtt, now a resident of Roswell,
Idaho, where he is serving as secretary of
the Riverside Irrigation Company. They
have also four grandchildren, Christopher
Sterry Long, Mary Catherine Long. John
Nelson Hurtt and Baby Hurtt.

Mr. Sterry early identified himself witii
the Methodist Episcopal church, and for
many years has served in official capacity as
steward, trustee and Sunday school super-
intendent. \\'hile in Esmen he was instru-
mental in securing the erection of the Es-
men Center church. On moving to Pon-
tiac he was immediately chosen as a trustee
of the First Methodist Episcopal church,
and on the destruction of the old church by
fire in 1885. he aided in the building of the
present church edifice. He is president of
the board of trustees, having held that office
for a number of years.

For almost half a century Mr. Sterry
has been a resident of Livingston county.
On his arrival here the greater part of its
rich land was yet unbroken, its inhabitants
were few in number, widely scattered and
the improvements were not of the best. He
lias certainly done well his part. Thor-

oughly honest and conscientious in all he
does, he has won the respect and confidence
of all with whom he has been brought in
contact, and his lifework is worthy of emu-
lation bv the generations to follow.

CAPT.MX S1L.\S MILTOX WITT.

Captain Silas Milton Witt, an honored
veteran of the civil war and a prominent
resident of Pontiac, Illinois, who is now liv-
ing a retired life, was born in Lebanon,
Boone county, Indiana, February 1, 1842,
and is a son of Michael and Lohama (Wall)
Witt, the former a native of Guilford coun-
ty. North Carolina, of which state his fa-
ther, a soldier of the Revolutionary war,
was an early settler. The maternal grand-
father,. Elisha Wall, also fought for the in-
dependence of the colonies. He was a
relative of Daniel Boone, who was a fre-
(luent visitor at his home, and they often
hunted and trapped together. Later Mr.
Wall went with Boone and a number of
others to Kentucky, becoming pioneers of
that state.

Michael Witt, our subject's father, grew
to manhood on the home farm in his native
state, and from there entered the service of
his country during the war of 1812, serv-
ing as captain of a company. Later he
was commissioned colonel in the North
Carolina militia, and after his removal to
Indiana was an officer in the state militia
there. Our subject well remembers seeing
him on horseback on general training days,
which at that time were the important days
Lif the year. Soon after his marriage Mi-
chael Witt and his wife removed to the ter-
ritory of Indiana, and she was the first white
woman to locate in Leljanon, the countv

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

seat of Bi)one county. Tliere lie engaged in
farming for a time, and after the town was
started opened out an old fashioned general
store, liaiding his goods first from Cincinnati
and later from IndianapoHs and Lafayette.
He became one of the successful men of
that locality, owning large tracts of land,
and part of the town of Lebanon was built
on the first three hundred and twenty acres
Avhich he purcha.'^ed. He held much of this
property until his death, the land later be-
coming \-ery \-aluable. As a ^^'hig he took
quite an active and prominent part in local
politics, and held a number of offices, in-
cluding those of county judge and coroner.
He left the south on account of slavery,
and also because he believed that men of
moderate means could do better in the north.
Both he and his wife are devout members
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his
home was always the stopping place for the
ministers. His first house in Lebanon was a
sort of hotel for traxelers journeying be-
tween Lafayette and Cincinnati, and in those
days he was tlic man of the town. He died
' there March 2, 1861, and was buried the
day President Lincoln was first inaugurated.
Our subject's mother died in Dwight, this
county, in 1874. They left a family of six-
teen children, of whom our subject is the
youngest. Both had been marriett before,
the mother's first husband lieing a Mr.
Blair, of Kentuck}-.

Captain Witt recei\ed a good practical
education in the schools of Lebanon, and
aided his father in the work of the farm
and store until the civil war broke out. On
the night of the surrender of Fort Sumter,
April 13. 1861, he enlisted f(ir three months
as a private in Company 1, Tenth Indiana
\ olunteer Infantry, at the president's first
call for se\entv-fi\'e thousand men. Thev

joined (ieneral McClelland in West \'ir-
ginia, and with him participated in the bat-
tle of Rich Mountain, July 11, which was
followed by the engagement at Phillippi
Tunnel Hill. When his term of enlistment
expired, Captain Witt returned home and
was made recruiting officer at Lebanon,
where he helpeil recruit the Tenth, Fortieth,
Eighty-sixth and One Hundred and Six-
teenth Indiana Regiments, raising two ct)m-
panies for the Eighty-sixth. In the spring
of 1863 he enlisted as orderly sergeant in
Company G, One Hundred and Sixteenth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was first
ordered to Dearborn, Michigan, to guard the
arsenal there during the time of the Vallan-
dingham trouble. Crossing the lake to
Clexeland. he proceeded to Camp Nelson.
Kentucky, where he joined his brigade, and
later was through the east Tennessee and
Knoxville campaign, capturing Cumberland
Cap the last time. This was followed by the
siege of Knox\ille and the engagement at
Walker's Ford and Tazewell, Tennessee,
where his regiment was on the extreme left
of Burnside's army. In March, 1864, he
was mustered out and appointed deputy
provost marshal with headquarters at La-
fayette, Indiana, where he helped the deputy
proxost marshal organize a regiment, then
went to Indianapolis, where he secured
arms and ammunition and started in pursuit
of Morgan. He spent sixty days on this
expedition, and assisted in capturing some
of Morgan's forces at Mt. Vernon. When
the president called for troops to push the
Atlanta campaign, he helped organize Com-
pany E, One Hundred and Thirtv-fifth In-
diana \^olunteer Infantry and was commis-
sioned second lieutenant. They were on
duty in Kentucky, Alabama and North Caro-
lina, and participated in the battle of Look-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

out Mountain. Captain Witt was always
with liis regiment with tlie exception of
three days when ill with fever after the hat-
tie of Tazewell, hut was never in the hos-
pital. After lieing mustered out in the fall
of 1864 he returned to Lehanon. Indiana.

.\t Lebanon Captain Witt was married,
November 10, 1864, to Miss Maria L. Lan-
don, a daughter of Myron and Martha
( Jeffers) Landon. Her father removed
from Ohio to Indiana at an early day, and
was one of the first teachers in his locality.
He was a prominent Mason. He died when
Mrs. Witt was only a year old and her
mother died two years later. Their eldest
siin, Albert Landon, was a prominent mem-
ber of the Humane Society, of Chicago, and
was the publisher of the Humane Journal
until his death, a period of over thirty years.
Mrs. Witt spent her early life in Shelbyville,
Indianapolis and Lebanon, Indiana. To
the captain and his wife were born three
children, namely: Hattie A., now the wife
of L. S. Baldwin, of Xoblesville. Indiana;
Jessie M., wife of Philip Piper, a dentist of
Pontiac: and Albert M.. at home, who has
been a member of the National Guard for
three years, and served as corporal in Com-
l)any I', Third Illinois \"olunteer Infantry,
during the Spanish-American war.

On the 13th of November, 1864. Cap-
tain Witt removed to Dwight. Illinois,
w here he engaged in the real estate business
one year, dealing first in farm and later in
\illage property. In 1866 he was appointed
marshal of that town, and held the office
thirteen years; was also deputy sheriff ten
years and constable nineteen years. Fur a
}ear and a half he engaged in the harness
business, but at length was forced to give it
u]) as his various official duties re(|uired his
entire time. At the same time he als j held

other local offices, such as school director,
street commissioner, and was fire marshal
fourteen years. As a Republican he has
always taken an acti\e part in political af-
fairs. In 1866 on the first organization of
the (irand .\rmy Po.st at Dwight. under the
oUl dispensation Captain Witt became one
of the charter members, but the organiza-
tion afterward went down. Since 1880 he
has been a member of T. Lyle Dickey Post,
of Pontiac, of which he is now past com-
mander, and which he has represented in
the state encampment, and was also elected
U} represent his district to the national en-
campment at Chicago in the fall of 1900.
He was a member of Dwight Lodge, I. O. O.
!•'., antl admitted to Pontiac Lodge, No.
ji^j. in which he has filled all the chairs. He
is also a member of the encampment, anil
was the organizer and cai)tain of the Canton
for three years. lH)r many years he was
an active member of the Independent Order
of Good Templars, and was an officer in the
same until the lodge disbanded.

Tor ten years Captain Witt was a mem-
ber of the Illinois National Guard, and rose
from second lieutenant to captain of his
company, thus gaining his title. During the
strike of 1877 he was in active service with
his company for three months, being sta-
tioned at Braid wood. After his election
to the office of sheriff he had to disband the
company as his men refused to elect another
captain, so well was he loved by them, and
he was given permission to disband them
by Governor Cullom.

It was in 1882 that Captain Witt was
elected sheriff of Livingston county, which
office he filled for four years with credit to
him.self and satisfaction to his constituents.
.\t one time he had thirty-two prisouers in
the jail. Later he was appointed an officer

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ill the Illinois State Refurmatory under Dr.
Scouller, but resigned after holding the po-
sition for two years and four months, and
returned to Dwight, Avhere he was engaged
ill business for a year and a half. Subse-
quently he conducted a bakery in Pontiac,
but is now living retired, enjoying a well
earned rest. His beautiful home at No. 603
AVest Grove street, is pleasantly located on
the banks of the \'ermilion river in what is
now the best portion of the city, and the
lawn and garden surrounding it co\er one
acre of ground. The Captain and his wife
are leading members of the Methodist Epis-
copal church, of Pontiac, and are highly re-
spected and esteemed by all who know
them, while their circle of friends through-
out the countv is extensive.

\\ILLIAM KIMBER.

William Kimber, a thorough and skill-
ful farmer residing on section 10, Esmen
township, Livingston county, six m.les west
of Odell, was born near the city of London,
England, October 10, 1853, a son of Jesse
and Alice (Hacket) Kimber, natives of the
same country. In 1873 he crossed the
broad Atlantic with his parents, and on land-
ing in Xew York proceeded at once to La
Salle county, Illinois, where his brother
and sister had located four years previously.
There the father rented land and engaged
in farming for several years, but finally
came to Livingston county and spent his last
days on a farm in Esmen township with our
subject, dying here May 11, 1885. The
wife and mother departed this life October
19, 1883, ^"d both were laid to rest in Es-
men township cemetery. In their familv

were tliree children : Mar\-, wife of Samuel
Mills, of Grundy county ; Percival, a farmer
of Esmen township, Livingston county; and
\\'illiam.

Our sul)ject was given good educational
advantages in his native land. On the emi-
gration of the familv to America, he assisted
his parents and worked as a farm hand by
the month for six years. He was married
in De Kalb county. January i, 1880, to Miss
Caroline Rose Tomlin, a native of Adams
township, La Salle county. Her father,
James Tomlin, was born in England, and
came to America in 1 842 when a young man,
and located in Illinois. To Mr. ajid Mrs.
Kimlier were born seven children, namely:
Bertha Alay. now the wife of Henry War-
ner, of La Salle county ; Jesse Arthur, Ella
Alice, Edward James, Dora Ann, Caroline
Eliza and William Andrew, all at home.

For ti\e years after his marriage Mr.
Kimber operated a rented farm adjoining
liis present place, and in 1884 bought eighty
acres where he now resides, but did not lo-
cate thereon until a year later, though he
had engaged in its cultivation for two years.
To the original purchase he has since added
a forty-acre tract, and now has a fine farm
of one hundred and twenty acres which he
has placed under a high state of cultivation
and impro\ed with good and substantial
buildings. He is an industrious, enterpris-
ing and progressi^•e man, and to these char-
acteristics ma}^ be attributed his success,
for he received no outside aid.

By his ballot Mr. Kimber supports the
men and measures of the Prohibition party,
and he served one term as a member of the
school board, but has never cared for offi-
cial honors. Religiously both he and his
wife are earnest and faithful members of
the Methodist Episcopal church at Esmen

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Center, of which he is a trustee. In the
Sunday school he lias servetl se\eral \ears
as superintendent.

WILLI. \.M W. W.VSSU.M.

W illiani W. W'assoni is one of Pontiac's
highly respected citizens, wliose useful and
well-spent life has not only _q;ained for him
the confidence of his fellow men. hut has
also secured for him a comfMrtahle compe-
tence which enahles him lo lay aside al!
business cares and live retired. .\ native of
Illinois, he was born in Spring Valley, Bu-
reau county, December i, 1848, ar.d is a son
of Jacob and Jane (Scott) Wassom. The
fatiier was born in Pennsylvania, but when
a small boy accompanied his parents on their
removal to lennessee, where he was reared,
and as a young man came to this state, lo-
cating in Bureau county. There he was
married, and subsequently removed to Bur-
lington, Iowa, where he purchased a farm
and successfuU)' engaged in general farm-
ing and stock-raising, where he remained
seven years. Then returning lo Bureau
county he purchased a farm on the site of
the present village of Spring Valley. He
was a prominent man in his community and
took an active interest in the early schools.
He died there August 25, 1879. The wife
and mother died when our subject was only
four years old. Both were earnest mem-
bers of the Metliodi.st Episcopal church. She
was a native of Virginia, and a daugiiter of
Robert Scott, of Scotch descent, who was
one of the earliest settlers and most pros-
perous farmers of P)ureau county. He
manufactured the Ijrick of wliich his house
was constructed, and that building is still

standing, lie was i)robal)ly the tirst nianu-
facturer of brick in that comity.

\\ ilhaiii W. Wassom was educated in the
schoo.s oi ilall townsmp, and remained
With hiS lather untd cum.ng to Luiiigston
county m 18O8, when he took up his resi-
dence ill Nevada township. \\ liile living
there he was marrietl, June J9, 1871, to
iNliss Hannah Sharp, a native of Farm
Ridge, Illinois, and a daughter of George
and Catherine (SpenceJ Sharp. Her father
was born m Ireland of English parentage,
be.ng a son ot Aohle bliarp, who never em.-
graied to America. George Sharp was
married in Ireland, and later crossed the At-
lantic to Toronto, Canada, whence he re-
moved to Farm Kidge, Illino.s. Subse-
quently he took up his residence in Dwight,
and laier upon a tarm in Nevada township,
this couiiiy. He was highly respected and
was called ujion to fill different township
offices. Mr. and Mrs. Wassom have a fam-
ily (if six children, namel\' : Jacob, a resi-
dent of Marengo, Iowa; Chaiies Bert, who
is living on the Blackstone farm, in Sun-
bury township; Fannie, who married Ev-
erett Ferguson, of Saunemin, this county,
and has two children, Laurine and Lela;
.\(la, who resides at home and is success-
fully engaged in teaching in the schools of
this county ; George, who was graduated
from the I'ontiac Higli School in 1900; and
Catherine, who is still attending the high
scIk.ioI.

On locating in this county, Mr. Wassom
found C(Jiisiderable wikl game and much of
the land was still in its jirimitive condition.
He purchased eighty acres of raw' prairie
in Nevada township, which he at once com-
menced to break, fence and improve. Pros-
])ering in his new home, he purciiased more
land until he owneil five eighty acre tracts,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

which he tik'il and put in first class condi-
tioii, making one of tiie best improved
farms in the township. He also owned an-
other eighty-acre tract in Sunbury town-
ship, and in connection with the operation
of his land was engaged in stock raising.
He always kept a giiod grade and had con-
siderable registered stock on hand, being
among the first to introduce it. In 1895 he
moved to Pontiac and bought a pleasant
home at No. 608 North Mill street, where he
lias since lived retired.

Politically Mr. W'assom has always been
identified with the Republican party, but
has never held office, his home being in a
strong Democratic township where his party
could get nothing that the Democrats would
take. He \vas an efiicient member of the
school board for some time, and helped to
erect the school buildings in his township.
He and his wife are acti\-e members of the
Methodist Episcopal .church, and while liv-
ing in the country he served as superintend-
ent of the Sunday school one year and took
a leading part in church work, filling all of
the different official positions. He was a
member of the building committee when the
church was erected in Nevaila in 1873, and
hauled the first load of stone for. its founda-
tion. He is now ciinnected with the church
in Pontiac. \\'here\er known he is held in
high regard, and justly merits the confi-
dence and esteem of his fellow citizens.

HON. ROBERT R. WALLACE.

In the legal profession, which embraces
some of the finest minds in the nation, it is
difficult to win a name and place of promi-
nence. In commercial life one mav start

out on a more advanced plane than otliers;
he may enter into a business already estab-
lished and carry it further forward, but in
the legal profession one must commence at
the beginning and work his way upward by
ability, gaining his reputation and success by
merit. People do not place their legal busi-
ness in unskilled hands, and those who to-day
siand at the head of their profession, must
-merit their position. Among the most promi-
nent lawyers of Livingston county is Robert
R. Wallace, of Pontiac, who served as coun-
ty judge for the long period of twenty-one
years.

'i he Judge was born in Belmont county,
Ohio, March 13, 1835, a son of David and
Prances (Ross) Wallace. His paternal
grantl father was David \Vallace, who came
to this country from the north of Ireland
and was a strong United Presbyterian in re-
ligious belief. The maternal grandfather,
Robert Ross, was of Scotch descent, and also
a stanch member of the United Presbyterian
church. The Judge's father was born in
western Pennsylvania, and reared there and
in eastern Ohio, while the mother was born
near Chambersburg. in eastern Pennsylvania,
and when young remo\ed to the western
part of that state. During his active life
Da\id Wallace engaged in farming in Bel-
mont and (iuernse)- counties, Ohio, and in
1869 came to Illinois, locating near Biggs-
\ille, Henderson county, where he continued
to engage in agricultural pursuits until his
death in 1875. His wife still survives him
aiid is now living with a daughter in Kansas
at the age of ninety-one years.

During his boyhood Judge Wallace at-
tended the common schools of liis nati\e
county and completed his education at Mon-
mouth, Illinois, where he received the de-
.grees of A. E. and .\. M. and was graduated

R. R. WALLACE.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

^vith the class of 1861. In Deceniher oi
tiiat year he responded to his country's call
for troops, enlisting in Company K, Seventy-
fourth Ohio \'olunteer Infantry. He was
first sent to Xenia, Ohio, and from tiiere to
Camp Chase, Columhus, where he was en-
gaged in guarding prisoners for a time, and
later with the .\rniy of the CumberlantI he
participated in all the battles from Nashville
to Atlanta, and after the fall of the latter
city took part in the defense of Nashville.
Later he was on post duty near there and
^^lemphis until the close of his term of enlist-
ment. He had re-enlisted in the same regi-
ment and was promoted to captain during
the summer oi 1864, remaining in the ser-
vice until 1866.

Judge Wallace had previously com-
menced the study of law, and after the war
continued his studies at Ottawa, Illinois,
being admitted to the bar in April, 18&7.
\n the fall of that year he located in Chats-
worth, Livingston county, where he was en-
gaged in general practice until his remoxal
to Pontiac in the spring of 1874, having the
previous fall been elected county judge on
what was known as the anti-monopoly ticket.
He took the office in December, 1873, and
held it live consecutive terms — a longer
period than other county officer has been
retained in one position. This fact clearly
indicates his efficiency, popularity and fidelity
to duty. During all this time he continued
to engage in active practice, and is to-day
one of the leading general practitioners of
the county. He is an honored member of
T. Lyie Dickey Post, G. A. R., and is past
commander of the same.

On the 3d of June, 1867, Judge Wal-
lace was united in marriage with Miss C.
Louise Strawn, a daughter of Isaiah and
Elizabeth (Champlain) Strawn, of Ottawa,

Illinois, and to them were born four chil-
dren : Ross S., now chief engineer of the
People's Gas & Electric Company, of Peoria ;
Francis; Lucile, and Grace, a teacher in the
schools of Joliet. The family have a pleas-
ant home at No. 303 East Howard street,
and are prominent members of the Presby-
terian church of Pontiac.

MILLER HOTALIXG.

Miller Hotaling, a successful farmer and
land owner on section 31, Avoca township,
and a resident of Livingston county since
1876, was born in Greene county, New
"^'ork, July 30, 1850, and is a son of Rich-
ard and Helen (Miller) Hcjtaling, both na-
tives of that state and of German descent.
The father died in New York in 1882, where
he had followed farming since early man-
hood. His wife survives him and lives on
the old Miller homestead, which was occupi-
ed by her father for sixty years, never pass-
ing out of the family. She is now seventy-
three years of age, and has always been act-
We. Our sul)ject's jiaternal grandfather
served as lieutenant through the war of 181 2.
The family were formerly Whigs, and upon
the formation of the Republican party joined
its ranks. To Richard Hotaling and wife
were born eight children, five of whom are
still living, namely: Annie, wife of John
Jacobs, of Hazelton, Pennsylvania; Augusta,
wife of Harry Herr, of Athens, New York;
William, who lives with his mother on the
old Miller homestead; Van Allen, a pros-
])erous farmer and lantl owner of Livingston
county, Illinois; and Miller, the subject of
this sketch. Jacob, the oldest son, was a
member of the Seventh New York /Artillery

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

(luring tlie ci\i! war, was taken prisoner and
sent til Andersonville. where he was incar-
cerated twent\'-tw() months before ex-
clianged. and contracted cHsease from which
he died in 1865, just as he was released.

Miller Hotaling received a common
school education in his native state ami
grew to manhood on his father's farm. On
leaving the parental roof at the age of seven-
teen years he came to Illinois and worked
as a farm hand for two years in McLean
countv. at the end of which time he rented
a farm anil carried on farming (juite suc-
cessfully in that way for a numlier of years.
In 1885 he purchased fifty acres of rich and
arable land on section 31, Avoca tow^nship,
Livingston county, and has since engaged
i." general farming here with marked suc-
cess. He has added to the original pur-
chase another fifty-acre tract; has matle
many valuable improvements on the place
and to-day has a most desirable farm. He
gives his entire time and attention to the
improvement and culti\ation of his land.

Li 1874 ]\Ir. Hotaling was united in
marriage with Miss Flora Pulsipher, a na-
tive of Oneida. Knox county, Illinois, and
to them were born four children : Lewis,
who graduated at Eureka College and is
now a Christian minister at Kentland, In-
diana ; P'hilip. who was graduated at the
same institution, and is now assisting his fa-
ther on the farm ; Leah and Cliloe, who
are both at home. The wife and mother
■died at their home in Avoca township in
1887, and in 1890 ^Ir. Hotaling married
Miss Alartha Van Wormer, a nati\e of
Brimfield. Peoria county, by whom he has
three children, Edna, Millie and Leola. 2\Iis.
Hotaling is a daughter of \\'illiam and Mar-
tha (Shepherd) Van \\'ormer, her father
bein"- a veteran of theCi\'il war. anil w ho for

years was engaged in farming. F]oth he
anil his wife are yet living, and are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church.

As a Republican Mr. Hotaling has al-
ways been an active worker in the interests of
his party, and has held several minor offices
in the township, faithfully fulfilling every
trust reposed in him. In 1899 he was
electeil supervisor. He has been a school
dn-ector fifteen years, always taking a stand
for good schools and teachers. Re-
ligiously he is a member of the Christian
church, in which he is serving as elder, and
socially is a member of the Court of Honor
of Fairbury. He is a man of rather un-
pretentious nature, but is well liked by all
who know him. Mrs. Hotaling is also a
member of the Christian church.

HENRY C. JONES.

Henry C. Jones, a well-known citizen of
Pontiac. Illinois, was born in Cicero, Ham-
ilton county, Indiana, February 11, 1838, a
son of Henr}" Jones, who was born near
Cincinnati, Ohio, where during his youth
he learned the blacksmith's traile. When
a young man he removed to Cicero, Indiana,
and turned his attention to mercantile busi-
ness. Here he married Emily De Moss, a
daughter of James De Moss, a French Hu-
guenot and a carpenter by trade, who passed
his last da_\s as a farmr in Livingston
ciiunt}'. Illinois. The parents of our subject
came to this county in 1845, but after a
short time spent here they removed to the ter-
ritory of Iowa, locating at Bellevue, where
our subject began his education. In 1847
the family returned to this county, and after
following: farminq; for a short time the fa-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ther. in 1849, went to California, where for
several year.s lie was engag^ed in mining and
mercantile pursuits. Re turning to Pontiac
in 1855 he again engaged in mercantile busi-
ness here, and was, in 1857, elected county
judge. In 1859. resigning his office of coun-
t\' judge here, he returned to the Pacific
slope in company with our subject and fif-
teen young men. He engaged in mercantile
business in Shasta, California, and became
one of the most prominent and prosperous
men of that place. He was elected a member
of the board of supervisors, and was also
alcalde( or mayor) of Shasta. In connec-
tion with his other business he was (juite
extensively engaged in gold mining. He
did much to build up the town and was rec-
ognized as one of its most influential and
prominent citizens. After the Civil war
he supported the Republican party and took
a leading part in public affairs. He died in
Shasta in 1893, and the mother of our sub-
ject died in the same place in 1868, leaving
ti\e chiklren. of whom Henry C. was third
in onler of birth.

During his boyhood our subject attended
the public sdiools of Pontiac, and when his
education was completed clerked in his fa-
ther's store until going to California in 1859.
They made the trip overland with horseless
vehicles (o.k teams) and were six months
upon the way. They passed through St.
Joseph, Missouri, went up the Platte when
the Indians in that region were quite hostile,
and passed through what is now Ogden,
Ctah, and through Nevada. Arriving at
Shasta. California, which was a good min-
ing town, father and son opened a store and
as merchants soon built up a good trade.
For some vears they were interested in
])lacer and later in quartz mining. Our sub-
iect continued in business with his father

until i8()4. when he enlisted in the volun-
teer service and was elected lieutenant of his
company, but when they were put in bar-
racks and the regulars sent to the front, he
resigned, 'l hat he might see some active
service he went, X'ia Panama, to \ew York
with the intention of enlisting there, but
the war ended before he found the opi)or-
lunity.

Returning to Livingston county, Illinois,
.Mr. Jones entered the newspaper field, and
with Mr. Renoe established the Eree Press
at Pontiac. Later he bought the Sentinel,
the oldest newspa[)er in the county, from
James Stout, and. consolidating the two,
published a paper known as the Sentinel and
Press. Mr. Renoe was a Democrat, while
he was a Republican, but Mr. Renoe later
withdrew, leaving Mr. Jones as sole editor
and proprietor, and the paper resumed its
old name as Sentinel. He continued the
publication of the Sentinel for nine years,
during which time he built up a good cir-
culation and made it the leading Republi-
can j)aper in the county. Selling out in
1875, he went to Texas, and engaged
jn the au.xiliary newspaper business in Dallas,
getting out patent insides. In this enter-
prise he was remarkably successful, having
a list of two hundred and sixty-two local
]japers to supply. He also published the
Planter and Farmer, and in that undertaking
was also successful, but on account of the
ill health of his wife, he disposed of his in-
terests in Texas and removed to Santa Cruz,
California, where he owns a valuable prune
ranch.

In 1S9J Mr. Jones returned to Pontiac
and acipiired a three-fifths interest in the
electric light plant, having helped to develop
the enterprise. This company was incor-
porated as the Pontiac Light, Heat & Power

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Company, and has grown to large propor-
tions. Mr. Jones ser\-e(l as its president for
seven vears, though he recently sold his
interest in the same. He has been a tax-
payer in Pontiac for over thirty years and
is recognized as one of her most progressive
citizens, giving his support to those objects
■which he believes will prote of public bene-
fit. Socially he is a member of the Pontiac
Lodge, Xo. 294, F. & A. j\I.

On the 25th of September, 1873, ^^i'-
Jones was united in marriage with Miss
Mary A. Bancroft, a native of New York,
and a daughter of Luther Bancroft, of Pon-
tiac. They have one daughter, Nellie A..
\vh(j with her mother is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church of Pontiac.

LUTHER C. HAYS.

Luther C. Hays, a practical and enter-
prising agriculturist of Eppards Point town-
ship, owns and operates two hundred and
fifty acres of land on section 2,2, constitut-
ing a valuable and highly improved farm,
pleasantly located nine miles south of Pon-.
tiac and three and a half miles northeast
of Chenoa. His possessions have been ac-
quired through his own efiforts, and as the
result of his consecutive endeavor he has
won a ]:Iace among the substantial citizens of
his community.

]\Ir. Havs was born in Brown county,
Ohio. July 27, 1836, and is descended from
an old Connecticut family of Scotch-Irish
origin. His great-grandfather, Celia Hays,
was a native of that state and a pioneer of
Pennsylvania. He was a soldier of the
Revolutionary war. while the grandfather,
Warren Hays, aided in the defense of his
countrv during the war of 181 2. The lat-

ter was born in Pennsylvania, and married
a Miss Stark, a cousin of Rev. Lorenzo Dow.
Abiel Hays, father of our subject, was bnrn
in New York, in 1813, and from that state
remo\ed to Kentucky and later to Brown
county, Ohio, where in the midst of the for-
est he cleared and improved a farm. There
he wedded Mary Kennedy, a native of Vir-
ginia, and a daughter of James and Mar-
garet Kennedy. In 1855 he brought his
family to Illinois, driving across the coun-
try- with an ox team and locating first in
\\'oodford county, but a year later he re- .
moved to Chenoa township, ^iIcLean countv,
where he bought land and improved a farm,
making his home there for some years. He
helped organize that township, which was
l)reviously only a voting precinct. His last
days were spent upon a farm in southern
Illinois, where he died in 1890, at the ripe
old age of seventy-seven years, and his wife
died in 1884, at the age of sixty-nine years.
Our subject is the oldest of their family of.
seven children, two sons and fi\-e daughters,
all of whom reached years of maturity, the
others being as follows: Arminda J., de-
ceased wife of E. C. Hyde; Clarissa A., who
married John G. Dodge and died in 1898;
Ellen, deceased wife of Elijah Cole ; I^Iinerva
E., wife of A. D. Polk, of Minneapolis, I\Iin-
nesota; Eva, who died when a young lady,
and Thomas J., a resident of San Diego,
California.

Luther C. Hays was a young man of
nineteen years on the remo\'al of the family
t" this state, and he aided his father in open-
ing up and developing the farm in McLean
county, remaining with him until his mar-
riage. He was educated in common and se-
lect schools of his native state. \\'ith the
exception of the oldest, all his sisters engaged
in teaching school in McLean county.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In CIiica,s^<i. Illinois, Septenil)er 26. i860.
Mr. Hays married Miss Matilda Eraser, a
native of Canada and a daughter of Louis
and Mary Eraser, who were born in that
country of Erench ancestry, and removed
to Chicago during the childhood of Mrs.
Hays. They began their domestic life upon
a farm of forty acres in McLean county, to
which our subject added until he had one
hundred and twenty acres. Jlc continued
to operate that farm until 1888, when he
l)urchased the two-hundred-and-fifty-acre
tract of land in Eppards Point township.
Livingston county, where he now resides.
It was known as the 'Stiuire Payne farm,
being entered by him in 1852. Since tak-
ing possession of this place, Mr. Hays has
remodeled the residence, built a good barn,
set out fruit and ornamental trees, and made
many other improvements which add greatly
to its value and attractive appearance.

Mr. Hays" first wife died in McLean
county, in 1872, leaving four children,
namely: Samuel L., who is married and en-
gaged in farming in Oregon; Mary Erances,
wife of C L. Howard, of Byron, Nebraska;
Jessie, wife of Andrew Vercler. of Salem,
Oregon, and W. C, who is married and fol-
lows farming in this county. Mr. Hays
was again married, in Li\ingston county,
in 1874, to Mrs. Erances A. Clark, a daugh-
ter of Almon Rhodes, an early settler, first
of La Salle county and later of Livingston
county. She was first married in the former
county to Wilson M. Clark, a veteran of the
Civil war, who died in 1870, leaving two
daughters : Alda, a teacher of Black Hawk
county, Iowa, and Laura B., wife of J. C.
Rainbow, of Pottawattamie county, Iowa.
By his second union our subject has six chil-
dren, namely: George M., who assists in the
operation of the home farm: Xellie. Pearl

M., Eva E.. John S. and Lottie L., all at
liome.

I'olitically Mr. Hays was identifieil with
the Republican party until 1896, when he
voted for W. J. Bryan and free silver. He
cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham
Lincoln in i860. He has been a delegate
to numerous conventions; ser\ed as com-
missioner of highways in McLean couiity
tor six years, and as a member of the school
board for over thirty years, ha\ing always
taken an active interest in educational af-
fairs. Mrs. Hays and her daughter are
members of the Baptist church and the fam-
il\- is one of prominence in the community
w here lhe\- reside.

C.VPTAIX HEXRY B. REED.

Captain Henry B. Reed, an honored cit-
izen of Pontiac, now living a retired life at
Xo. 504 South Mill street, is a veteran of
the Civil war and bears an honorable record
for brave service in the cause of freedom
and union, and in the paths of jjeace has won
an enviable reputation through the sterling
i|ualities which go to the making of a good
citizen.

The Captain was born near Pottsville,
Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, January
29, 1833, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth
( Barley) Reed. The father was also a na-
tive of Pennsylvania and a son of Thomas
Reed, who was born in the North of Ire-
land and came to this country six years prior
to the Revolutionary war, in which he took
])art. He first settled near Philadelphia, and
throughout life followed farming, dying at
about the age of eighty years. (Jur sub-
ject's father was a life-long resident i>f Penn-

M. OF II . UB.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sylvania and a carpenter l)y trade. l)ut at the
time of liis death was following farming in
Schuylkill county. He died in February.
1833, when our subject was only three weeks
old. and the mother, who long survived him,
departed this life in 1873. They had eleven
children, of whom the Captain is the young-
est. Onlv three are now living. Elijah,
now seventy-six years of age, is living re-
tired in Schylkill Haven, Pennsylvania,
after having served for twenty-two years as
superintendent of the car shops at that place.
His wife died leaving five children that are
still living. Rebecca is the wife of Jacob
Zimmerman, who also worked in the car
shops at that place for a great many years,
but is now living retired at the age of sev-
enty-five years, while his wife is sixty-nine
years of age. They ha\'e a family of three
sons and three daughters.

Captain Reed remained with his mother
in his native county until nine years of age.
and then lived with a married brother on
his farm in the same county until twelve
years of age, when he commenced learning
the shoemaker's trade in Schuylkill Haven,
serving a three-years apprenticeship. The
following year he was foreman in the shoe
factory of Frederick Millett. at Tamaqua.
Pennsyh'ania. and then started in business
for himself at that place, remaining there
until 1852 and building up a large business
for those times. Receiving a good offer
from the firm of Packer & Olewine, shoe
manufacturers of Mauch Chunk. Pennsyl-
vania, he accepted the position as foreman
for that company, and was in tlieir employ
a year and a half, after which he returned
to Tamaqua. He was elected constable and
Iield that ofiice until coming to Illinois in
1853. He first located in Du Page c<~iunty.
where he worked at his trade for a time.

and later -was foreman for John Wallace,
at Joliet, for about a year and a half, at the
end of which time he removed to Blooming-
ton. During the Lincoln campaign of i860,
he was captain of the W'ide-Awakes, and
came to this count\- with that political or-
ganization. Being pleased with this locality
he decided to remain and was engaged in
the shoe business in Pontiac until the Civil
war broke out.

At the President's first call for troops,
Captain Reed responded, being the first to
enlist in Pontiac, and he helped organize
the first company from that city, which was
mustered in as Company D. Twentieth Illi-
nois Volunteer Infantry. He went to the
front as second sergeant, but after the battle
of Fort Donelson was promoted to second
lieutenant, his commission citing that his
promotion was for meritorious conduct on
February 14. 15 and 16, 1862, at Fort Don-
elson. Returning home June 30, 1862, he
organized a company under the large call of
that year, and again entered the service as
captain of Company G, One Hundred and
Twenty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, which
was under General Sherman's command
on the march to the sea, and from there
marched on to Washington. D. C. Our sub-
ject was mustered out at Chicago, in June,
1865. as captain.

After the war Captain Reed returned
to his family in Pontiac, and was here en-
gaged in the boot and shoe business for a
number of years, but finally retired on ac-
count of ill health. He was appointed by
Governor Oglesby as custodian of memorial
hall at Springfield, and was re-appointed by
Governor Fifer. Since 1894 he has led a
quiet, retired life at his home in Pontiac.
By his ballot he supports the men and meas-
ures of the Republican party, but has never

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

siiught political lioiKirs. Ueliginusly lie is a
member of the Methodist cluircli. and so-
cially belongs to Pontiac Ltxlge. Xo. 294.
F. & A. M.. and T. Lyle Dickey Post. Xo.
105. (;. A. R.. of I'ontiac, of which he is
l)ast commander. His loyalty as a citizen
and his devotion to his country's interests
have ever been among his marked charac-
teristics, and the community is fortunate
that numbers him among its citizens.

On the jyth of September. 1850, in
'J"ama(|ua. Pennsylvania. Captain Reed was
iniited in marriage with Miss Esther Beck,
a daughter of George and Mary ( Barbary )
Beck. o{ Carbon county, who were farming
jieople and life-long residents of that state.
'I he father died on his farm in Carbon coun-
ty at the age (jf eighty-five years, his wife
at eighty-six. Mrs. Reed's paternal grand-
lather A\as a native of Germany and came to
this country at an early date. To the Cap-
tain and his wife were born nine children,
six of whom are now living, namely: George
O., born in Tamatiua. Pennsylvania, is now
engaged in the boot and shoe business in
Pontiac: Katie L., I)orn in Du Page county,
Illinois, is the wife of Thomas Kay. a dry-
goods merchant of Pontiac; Eilward O..
born in Bloomington, in i860, is now serv-
ing as county treasurer of this county, and
is a prominent citizen of Pontiac; Harry B.,
born in Pontiac, March 17, 1862. lias been
mail clerk on the Chicago & .Alton Railroad
for fourteen years, running between Chica-
go and St. Louis, and makes his home in his
birthplace; Josepii S., born in Pontiac. in
1864, is now a groceryman of that city and
lias served as alderman from tlie second
ward ; Cora E. is the widow of Frederick
O. Scrivens, late of Pontiac. and is assist-
ant county treasurer at the present time.
The other children died at an earlv asre.

FREDERICK SCI 1()1-:XBECK.

I'redcrick Schoenbcck is one of the
worthy citizens that Germany has furnished
to Livingston comity, and is today one of
her most prosi)erous and successful farmers.
He resides on section 15, Pike township,
where he has a line farm of one hundred
and sixty acres, and besides this jjroperty
he owns two other farms of similar size on
sections 10 and 20. respect i\el\'.

Mr. Schocnbeck was born in the king-
dom i>f Prussia, CJermany, b'ebruary 26,
1850, and attended the .schools of his native
land for eiglit years. His knowledge of
luiglish has mainly been acquired through
his own unaided efforts. In 1867, at the
age of se\enteen years, he crossed the ocean
with his mother, brother and sister and
joined an luicle in Peoria, where the mother
subsec|uently married John Rutz. who later
came to Livingston county and settled on a
farm in Pike townshij). Our subject worked
for an uncle in \\'oo(lford county, and then
spent a year in Peoria county. In 1871 he
came to Livingston county, and after work-
ing for others two years he rented a farm,
which he operated for the same length of
tine. .\t the end of that period he pur-
chased eighty acres in section 15, Pike town-
ship, where he now resides. The improve-
ments u])on the place at that time were of
a very inferior order, but he has since erected
a pleasant residence, good barns and out-
buildings, has buiU fences, planted fruiit
and ornamental trees and to-day has one of
the best imijroved farms in the township.
He has extended its Ixnindaries until it now
contains one hundred and sixty acres, and his
other farms are Iioth \aluable places of one
hundred and sixty acres each.

On the _>5th of March. 1873. Mr. Schoen-

OGRAPHICAL RECORD.

beck was married, in I'eoria, Illinois, to
Miss Frederica Wenke, a native of Olden-
burg, Germany, and a daughter of John F.
Wenke, who, on his emigration to America,
settled in Peoria and purchased a farm ad-
joining the cit}'. where he spent the re-
mainder of his life, dying there in 1875.
Mr. and Mrs. Schoenlieck ha\e four chil-
dren, namely: Frederick. Jr.. at home:
Katie, wife of Jnhn ]). Klein, a son of John
Klein, who is represented on another page
of this volume; Anna and William, both at
home.

Mr. Schoenheck cast his first presidential
ballot for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, and
has never wavered in his allegiance to the
Repulilican party since that time, but he has
never cared for political preferment. His
life has been one of industry and persever-
ance, and to these characteristics as well
as his good business ability may be attributed
his success, for he has received no outsitle
aid. Both he and his wife were reared in
the Lutheran faith and are highly respected
and esteemed bv all who know them.

DAVID S. :\IYERS.

David S. Myers, of Pontiac. president of
the Pontiac State Bank, is ranked generally
as one of the safest financiers and most sa-
gacious business men in central Illinois. If
success is to be measured by results he luust
be regarded as an eminently successful man.
for not only his individual affairs, but all
the enterprises he has organized and pro-
moted in Pontiac and elsewhere ba\e pros-
pered even beyc^nd his preilictions and the
expectations of those he enlisted in these
various undertakings. His active connec-

tion with so many ]3rojects. both of a public
and private nature, most of which contrib-
uting to the material advancement of his
county and city, marks Mr. Myers as one
of the useful and prominent citizens of Liv-
ingston county.

Da\id S. Myers was born Feliruary 10,
1858, on a farm near Russellville. Ohio,,
and is now, July. 1900. only in the early
maturity of intellectual and physical man-
hood. He inherited much of the vigor of
liis constitution and force of character from
liis ancestors, who were people of reputation
and intelligence, conspicuous in the pioneer
history of Ohio. He is the son of William
and Margaret Myers, both natives of Ohio,
the former being born A larch 22, 18 14. at
Russellville. and the latter in 1823 at George-
town. This lad\\ who was a woman of
practical merit and mental attainments,
was the daughter of Ebenezer Moore, a sub-
stantial and influential citizen of Brown
county, Ohio, where he resided all his life
as- a prosperous farmer and useful member
of the community. His first political affilia-
tions were with the Whigs, but later the
progressive principles of the Republican
party appealed to his sympathies and won
his ardent support. As a girl Margaret had
what she afterward considered the rare dis-
tinction of being the schoolmate and study-
ing the same lessons with an unpretentious
lad who was destined to become the most
famous soldier of his time. General V. S.
(irant. the Grant and Moore families being
neighbors.

Francis Myers, grandfather of D. S.
]\Ivers. was among the earliest settlers of
southern Ohio, actively assisting in the tle-
\elopment of the count}', and. ti)gether with
his family, resolutely undergoing all the toil
and privations that were assumetl bv those

D. S. MYERS.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

devoted pioneers wlm hla^^ed the wav and
snn)othed tlie path for tlie coniino- "enera-
tions.

W'ilham Myers, fatlier of D. S. Myers,
was in many respects a remarkable man.
He passed the largest portion of his life in
Ohio, his native state, where he achieved
the noteworthy record of having taught
school uninterruiitedly for forty years. The
entire course of his life was regulated and
directed by his lo\e of humanity, his sense of
justice and his sym])athy with the oppressed,
and he was one of those dauntless spirits,
who, known as Abolitionists, were the
vanguard of that grand movement which
resulted in the extinction of slavery within
the borders of the United States. His home
was one of the stations on the "Underground
Railway," which was the significant name
of a secret byway over which fugitive slaves
were assisted and hurried from the yoke of
bondage to the blessings of liberty. He was
suspected and his life often endangered,
but no intimidation could swerve him from
his convictions of right. William Myers
had been a \\ lug, but the noble mission of
the abolition of slavery proclaimed by the
Republican party iniluced him to pledge his
voice and vote to that organization. For
a time but two Rei)ublican \-otes were re-
corded in iii^ township, one of which was his
own. lie enjoyed the distinction that few
could claim of having cast his first presi-
dential vote for William Henry Harrison
and his last for that president's grandson,
Benjamin Herrison. William Myers was a
man of culture in book knowledge as well
as of practical intelligence in the affairs of
life, being a close observer and a clear
thinker, with distinct though liberal views
on all the political and .social problems of
the time. He was evervwhere honored for

his excellent ((ualities of head and heart and
imi\ersally respected for his unyielding
tidelity to principle. He resided on bis farm
until 1888. when his .son induced his father
and mother to come to Pontiac and make
their home with him, antl he contributed to
their comfort and the serenity of their de-
clining years until death closed their eyes
in eternal slumber, .\fter a life seldom
e(|ualled in its steadfast ])ur])ose of uplift-
ing his race, William .Myers died in March,
1896, and was followed a year later l)v his
worthy heli)mate, a loyal wife, devoted
mother and sympathetic friend. Both lived
as exemplary Christians, being until death
members of the Presbyterian church.

The boyhood and early manhood of
David S. Myers was passed upon his father's
farm, where he formed habits of industry,
a fi.xed ]nu-pose in life and stability of char-
acter, and in the district schools where he
acquired the elementary principles of edu-
cation, and under the vigilant e\-e of his fa-
ther, the most eft'ective training that any boy
could receive. To prepare himself for the
])rofe,ssion of teaching he attended different
normal schools in southern Ohio and so im-
])roved his advantages that he soon qualified
and was called to take charge of schools,
tirst in Kentucky and then in Ohio. In 1883
he came to Livingston county, Illinois, a
movement upon which all his later successes
aj^jjear to hinge. 1 lere he engaged in teach-
ing for nearly two years in Owego and
Saunemin townshiijs. with the most satis-
factor}- results. Going to Chicago he en-
tered a real estate office, where he diligently
ap])lied his time for a year, familiarizing
himself with the details and acquiring much
\aluable knowledge of real estate transactions.
Returning to Livingston county be, with N.
O. Tanquary, opened the real estate office

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of Taiiquary & ]vlyers in Pontiac, an ar-
rangement wliich continued in force until
1889, when Mr. Tanquary's withdrawal dis-
solved the firm, since which time Mr. Myers
has conducted an extensive real estate busi-
ness independently, always beneficially to his
patrons and satisfactory to himself. During-
the years following 1888 several additions
to the city of Pontiac. owned by Mr. Myers,
were platted and opened to market. By
inviting buyers who improved the property
and became actual residents, he has promoted
the growth of the city in wealth and popu-
lation and thereby enhanced the value of
all real estate, stimulated business and in-
creased the general prosperity. The first
project of this kind in which he was inter-
ested, known as Camp's addition, comprised
sixteen acres of eligible lots and is now the
most desirable residence portion of the city.
A second addition to this tract has since been
opened. Myers' first, second, third, fourth
and fifth additions have also been platted,
all of which have their attractions and in all
of which lots are being rapidly disposed of
to home builders, many of whom he has
assisted in their improvements. At this
time, July, 1900, there are but two other
additions on the market, and in one of these,
the Riverside addition, near the shoe factory,
lie holds an interest. In 1899 Myers sold
thirty thousand dollars worth of \'acant lots,
in his various additions to Pontiac, which not
only attests his ability as a real estate dealer,
but is substantial evidence of the remark-
able growth and improvement of the city.
For the past ten years Mr. Myers has been
interested in drainage and reclaiming ex-
tensive tracts of swamp lands in Livingston,
Lee, Henry and Bureau counties, in Illinois,
and La Porte countv. Indiana, and is the
owner of a largfe amount of \erv \aluable

and ]iighly;_ product! \-e land in each of these
counties.

Mr. Myers does not lieliex-e that a city
can become permanently prosperous without
productive industries employing skilled labor.
Hence he has encouraged such enternrises
in Pontiac, and was one of the founders, as
well as the first stockholder, and is still a
director, in the Pontiac Shoe Manufacturing
Company, one of the most extensive and
prosperous plants of this kind in the United
States, affording employment to more than
three hundred persons, disbursing for its
pay roll more than one hundred and twenty-
fi\e thousand dollars annuall}' and an annual
product valued at nearly one million dollars.
In 1899 Mr. Myers became interested in the
Allen Candy Company, which was incor-
porated with a ca])ital stock of twenty-five
thousand dollars. He was chosen as one of
the directors and the company is now in suc-
cessful operation. Mr. Myers was the chief
promoter of the organization of the Pontiac
State Bank, which was incorporated and
opened for business in February, 1899. He
was the larest stockholder and was elected
president, which position he still fills ac-
ceptably to patrons and to the best interests
of the bank. Under his able management,
assisted by an efficient board of directors,
comprising some of the most capable business
men of Pontiac, the Pontiac State Bank was
a success from its inception, and is recog-
nized as one of the solid financial institu-
tions of central Illinois. The bank occupies
elegantly appointed rooms in the corner of
the new Sterry block, which were especially
designed for that purpose.

The Pontiac Chautauqua Association is
the pride and lioast of every citizen, and has
been popular as well as prosperous from its
first asseml)ly. Mr. Myers actively pro-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

motetl its organization and has since iieen
one of its directors. In 1899 its earnings
were fifty-five per cent, on its stock. He
rendereil valuable aid in founding the ]nihlic
library, and ])urchased. at a liberal price, land
donated by Mr. Babcock. besides contribut-
ing generously to the library fund. The
townshi]) high school was another object of
his generous public spirit, donating the
grounds in the center of which stantls the im-
posing school building.

Mr. Mvers has al\va\s been an interested
student of state and national affairs, and is
well informed on all the public questions of
the day. Politically, he is an a\o\ved Re-
publican of the most pronounced type. His
first presidential vote was given to General
Garfield in 1880. He has participated act-
ively in county and citv politics and rendered
^•aluable assistance to his party. In 1892
he was selected as councilman from the first
ward, and while acting in that capacity ad-
vocated the system of sewerage and adoption
of water works which marked the beginning
of an era of city improvements. In 1897
he was elected mayor of the city, his ad-
ministration being one of the most import-
ant and successful in its benefits to the city
in the ni'.toiyof Pontiac.includingtheremoval
of the unsightly raised sidewalks and bring-
ing the streets and sidewalks to a uniform
grade. From June. 1898. to June. 1900. he
served as chairman of the Republican county
central committee and brought to that posi-
tion the same energy and sagacity that he
exercised so effectively in other affairs. .\s
a prominent and active Republican Mr.
Myers is well known to the leaders through-
out the state.

Mr. Myers is a man of keen perceptions,
almost unerring in his judgment of men
and affairs and of the verv first order of

executive ability. In his methods of
thought and action he is very deliber-
ative, weighing every word before it is ut-
tered and measuring everv step before it is
taken. He is (piiet auvl self-possessed, and
he turns- off transactions involving tens of
thousands of dollars with less palaver than
many men would require to consummate the
most trilling transaction. . The elements
that contribute to his unexampled successes
are umlouhtedly his sclf-e\'ident honesty and
sincerity, which in\ ite confidence, the clear
manner in which he presents a ])roposition,
his excellent judgment in making invest-
ments and his exceptional al)ility in organiz-
ing and luaturing extensive enterprises. He
is unselfish in his success, for every step in
his prosperity has been marked by some ad-
vantage to his city and county. .\s an ex-
ample of what may be accomplished by a
well-balanced, energetic and ambitious young
man, dependent absolutely upon his own ef-
iovts. the career of Mr. Myers is invaluable.
-Mthough an inten.sely busy man, and
while engaged in business oblivious to everv
distraction, Mr. Myers, recognizing all the
obligations of citizenship and .societv. has
a very agreeable social side to his nature.
He has a refined home, one of the most ele-
gant residences in Livingston county, which
is located on Cirove street, overlooking the
\'ermillion river, and has a cultured family.
On I'ebruary 9. 1887. David S. Myers and
Miss Louise Catherine Slyder w^re united
in marriage. Mrs. Myers is a lady of
acknowledged refinement, supplemented by
a practical, womanly disposition and a cheer-
ful nature. She was born in Lixingston
county, one of ten children, her father being
Simon F. Slyder. a prominent citizen of the
same county. Four children came to bless
this union, two of whom are living. Diller

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Slyder and Anna Louise. TTie family are
regular attentlants of and liberal contributors
to the maintenance of the jMethodist Epis-
copal church of Pontiac. The passing years
have justified the wisdom of Mr. Myers in
the choice of a bride, for their domestic re-
lations are A'ery happy and their home life
what mav 1)e trulv termed ideal.

CHARLES L. ROMBERGER.

Prominent among the enterprising, pro-
gressive and successful men of Dwight is the
subject of this- sketch, who as a lawyer and
business man has been prominently identified
with its interests for several years. His life
history most happily illustrates what may be
attained by faithful and continued effort in
carrying out an honest purpose. Activity antl
energy hav6 been the crowning points of his
success, and his connection with various en-
terprises have been of decided advantage to
his community, promoting its material wel-
fare in no uncertain manner.

I\Ir. Romberger was born in a log cabin
in Wyanet, Bureau county, Illinois, June 12,
1862. His father, L. D. Romberger, was
born in Pennsylvania, April 23, 1831, of
German ancestry, and was left an orphan
\\lien only a _\'ear old. At the age of eight he
started out in life for himself and ser\-ed an
apprenticeship to the tinner's trade. He was
about twenty-three years of age w hen he re-
moved to Wyanet, Illinois, where he was
married, March i, i860, to Francisca L.
Weaver, who was also born in Pennsylvania,
P'ebruary 20, 1839, and had come west with
her parents, who were engaged in the hotel
liusiness. Air. Romberger was engaged in
merchandising in Wvanet for a few vears

and later followed farming for two years,
after w hich he mo\ed to Princeton, Illinois,
where he was engaged in the mercantile
business until his health failed, in 1880,
when he sold out and has since devoted his
attention to bee culture, having one of the
largest apiaries in the United States. He
has always been a stanch Republican in poli-
tics, but ne\er an aspirant for office, though
he is now serving as justice of the peace.
Of his three children, one died in infancy;
Emma L. is now the wife of Frank H. Hoff-
man, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and
Charles L. completes the familv.

The primary education of our subject
was obtained in the public schools of Prince-
ton, and he was graduated from the high
school of that city at the age of seventeen
years. He then entered the law department
of the L'nixersity of Michigan at Ann Arbor,
where he was graduated at the age of nine-
teen and received the degree of LL. B.,
March 2Q, 1882. He was not permitted to
practice, however, until he attained his ma-
jority, when the state of Michigan forwarded
his certificate, and he was admitted to prac-
tice at the bar of Illinois, September 24,
1883. After his graduation he located at
Ottawa, Illinois, and entered the office of
Mayo & \\'idmer, prominent attorneys of
that place, with whom he remained for fif-
teen months.

In 1884. at the suggestion of Hon. W'ul-
ter Reeves, now member of congress from
this district, Mr. Romberger came to Dwight
and opened a law office over the People's
Bank, being alone in business until 1887,
when he formed a partnership with John
C. Hetzel, a real estate and insurance agent,
under the firm name of Hetzel & Romberger.
In 1 89 1 he bought out his partner and con-
tinued alone until Xo\ember, 1895, when he

THE BIOGRATHICAL RFX'ORD.

sold a lialf interest in the business to Frank
L. Smith, the lirni being known as Romberger
& Smith. Their specialty is real estate and real
estate work, although they do a private bank-
ing business for accommodation of friends
and acquaintances. Without question the
firm does one of the largest loan and real es-
tate businesses in central Illinois, this fact
being conceded by all other firms in their
line. At present they are extensively inter-
ested in Mississippi and Louisiana lands.
Their holdings in the latter state are timber
lantls, wiiich the firm purchased with tlie
view of enhancing their value, and in jan-
ary. 1900^ they sold one tract of twelve
thousand acres in Madison parish. 1 his is
desirable property, being accessible to steam-
boats and the \'icksburg, Shreveport & Pa-
cific Railroad. The Mississippi land is in
the Delta country and is also covered with
hardwood lumber, principally oak, ])ecan
and gum. When cleared this will be-
come excellent cotton land. Besides this
property the firm has about fifteen hundred
acres of fine farming land in Lee county,
Illinois, which is well improved and under
a high state of cultivation, and also oper-
ates largely in biwa and Lidiana lands.
Since coming to Dwight 'Slv. Romberger
has had complete charge of tiie Keeley Com-
pany's legal business, and is attorney for
the estate of Dr. Leslie E. Keeley. He is
also local attorney for the Chicago & Alton
Railroad. He does very little court work,
however, his entire legal business being con-
fined to ofiice practice. He is interested in
the Keeley Institute, located at Xo. J803
Locust street, St. Louis, Missouri, being a
partner of Dr. J. E. Blaine, who for eight
years was chief of the medical staff of the
Leslie E. Keeley Company of DwigfTt.

On the 7th of October, 1S84. Mr. Rom-

berger married Miss Nellie M. Ensign, a
native of Connecticut, and a daughter of
Edward H. and Martha S. Ensign. By
this union three children were born, the old-
est, a daughter, died in infancy. Louise E.
ilied very suddenly of tonsilitis, November
2, 1899, at the age of twelve vears. Emma
T., aged eleven years, is attending school in
Dwight.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Romberger are mem-
bers of the Congregational church, and he is
also a prominent member of the Masonic
fralcrnitv. In 1884 he was made a Master
Alason in Livingston Lodge, No. 371, A.
F. & .\. ;M., of Dwight, of which he is now
past master, and received the higher degrees
in Orient Chapter, No. 31, R. A. M., and
Blaney Commandery, No. 5, K. T., of Morris,
Illinois; Dwight Chapter, No. 166, O. E.
S., of which he is past worthy patron; is a
member of the Oriental Consistory and Me-
dinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, both of
Chicago. He is now a member of Wil-
mington Chapter, No. 142, R. A. M., of
which he is past high priest, and Joliet Com-
mandery, No. 4, K. T., of which he is senior
warden. Since old enough to vote Mr.
Romberger has affiliated with the Republi-
can party, and in 1892 was elected president
of the board of trustees of the village of
Dwight on the ticket advocating ))ublic im-
provements. He has always taken the lead
in anything tending to advance the inter-
ests of his town and worked hard to get the
sewerage system, electric light and water
works adopted and cement sidewalks laid.
Therefore during his administration there
were more improvements made than at any
other time, and he is justly numbered among
Dwight's most progressive and public-spir-
ited citizens. He is emphatically a man of
enterprise, positive character, indomitable

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

energy, strict integrity and liberal views,
and is thoroughly identified in feeling with
the growth and prosperity of his city.

NATHAN S. GRANDY.

Nathan S. Grandy, deceased, was num-
bered among the honored pioneers of Li\-
ingston county, where he located when this
region was wild and unimproved. In the
work of de\-elopment he took an actixe part
in the early days and aided in opening up
the country to civilization. As the years
passed his faithfully performed duties of citi-
zenship and his interest in the welfare and
progress of the communit}- never aliated.
Becoming widely and favorably known he
made many friends, and his death was a loss
to the entire community.

Mr. Grandy was born October 6. 1816.
in Phantom township. Addison county. \'er-
mont, where he grew to manhood, and there
worked at the carpenter's trade, as a manu-
facturer of sash, doors and blinds. He first
married a Miss Kent, who died in Illinois a
few vears after soming here. After his
marriage he came to Illinois, arriving in Chi-
cago about the ist of May, 1850, when only
thirtv miles of railroad extended from that
city toward Galena, and a few miles had been
built in this direction, there being not more
than one hundred mdes in the state. From
Chicago Mr. Grandy went to Alton, a part
of the journey being made liy way of the Illi-
nois river, and the whole trip occupying over
a week. He first located in Kane, Greene
county, Illinois, where he had a brother liv-
ing, and there he engaged in farming for a
time.

While a resident of Greene countv, ^Nlr.

Grandy was married, February 12, 1854, to
Miss Harriet E. Christy, a native of Law-
rence county, Illinois, and a daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Denni.son) Christy, pio-
neers of that county, where their marriage
was celebrated. The father, who was a na-
tive of Ohio and a farmer by (Occupation, re-
moved to Greene county soon after the Ijirth
of Mrs. Grandy and bought a tract of land
in Kane, where he spent the remainder of
his life. In religious belief he was a Baptist.

To Mr. and Mrs. Grandy were born eight
children, namely: T. E., a real estate dealer
of Pontiac, married Elizabeth L. Mason;
Harriet A., at home with her mother; Clara
is the wife of .Albert G. Mason, of Pontiac,
and they have four children living, Ollie,
Leonard L., .\lice and Cress ; Charles E.,
who li\-es on a farm three miles and a hah'
east of Pontiac, married Susan Foster, of
Owego township, and they have two chil-
dren, iMabel E. and Victor J.; George W.,
a resident of St. John's, Kansas, married
Jennie Dudley, of Missouri, and they have
one child, Pearl; William A., a lumberman
of Mason City, Illinois, married Emma An-
irim, and they have one child, Margery ;
Henry li\es on the home farm and married
Miss Tillie Hill; Mary J. is the wife of W.
C. Young, a farmer living three miles east
of Pontiac, and the}- ha\-e three children,
Edith. Marshall and Lewis.

In 1856 Mr. and Mrs. Grandy came to
Livingston county and took up their resi-
dence in Owego township, where he pur-
chased a farm of eighty acres, on which
was standing a small caliin, 14.X18 feet, made
of rough slabs from the sawmill set up on
end and the cracks filled with clay. The
fioor was of ash and oak boards about ten
inches wide hewed down, while the roof was
made of real old-fashioned clapboards split

THE llIOr.KAl'HICAL RFX'ORD.

from oak timl)er. In tliis rude dwelling the
family lixed for nver a \ear. With the ex-
ception of a few acres the farm was un-
broken. C)n taking up his residence here
Mr. Grandy at once turned his attention
to the improvement and cultivation of his
farm. The first winter he constructed a
stable by ])utting f<irked poles into the
ground, laying other jjoles across these ami
covering them with brush and then with hay,
while the sides were also banked up with
hay. This comfortably sheltered his stock
until a better barn could be built. He fenced
his land and placed acre after acre under the
plow until all was highly cultivated. In
1861 a more substantial and comfortaljle
residence was built, much of the timber being
taken from his own wi od Int. two miles
from his home. .Men were making the sills
for the new house when the news came of
the firing upon Fort Sumter. The house
was completed that summer and is stiill
standing. A large part of the finished lum-
ber used in its construction was bought at
sixty dollars ])er thousand and paid for with
corn at ten cents per bushel. This had to be
shelled, sacked and hauled to Pontiac. Mr.
Grandy useil a small two-hole corn sheller,
run by horse jjower.

When he located in this cnnnty he cnuld
travel in a northeaster!}- directiim fnmi his
honie and find nut a Imuse nor a fence until
within twii miles ni Kankakee, while his
nearest trading places were Pontiac and
Fairbury. Coal was almost unknown and
was very high when obtainable. Several
times during the first four years sjjent here,
the Grandy home came \ery nearly being
destroyed by the prairie fires. Mrs. Grandy
once saved the house with a pail of water and
her mop. They added to the farm by addi-
tional purchase as their financial res(jurces

increased, but in 1S7J sold it and bought two
luiiidreil and fi ur acres in Pontiac township,
one mile fro.m the court house, which Mrs.
Grandy still owns, anil on which the family
moved that year. Our subject made all of
the improvements upon the place, inchuling
the erection of a fine house, a good barn and
substantial outbuildings. He was actively
engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1877,
when he was injured by a saw. after which
he ])ractica!l_\' lived retiretl until his death,
lieing" lilind the last two years of his life.

Mr. Grandy was a Democrat in politics
and took an acti\e and prominent part in the
public affairs of his time. While a resident
of Owego township he served as school treas-
urer, assessor and justice of the peace, and
was known throughout the county as S(|uire
Grandy. In Pontiac township he served as
road commissioner some years and took an
active part in building the bridges and im-
proxing the roads of his locality, assisting in
the construction oi the fine iron bridge three
miles west of Pontiac. In 1868 he was ap-
i;ointed county commissioner by the board
of supervisors to go over the county and re-
appraise the swamp lands, to which business
he devoted one whole summer, spending
nearly all the time driving over the county.
I le was one of the early members of the Bap-
tist church and later attended services at
Avoca. w here a church w as l)uilt for the use
<if any dencjmination, this being much nearer
his home. After his ren)oval to Pontiac he
united with the Baptist clunxii in that city.
He died on his farm, one mile east of Ponti-
ac. June 26. 1890. honored and respected
by all who knew him. Throughout his career
of continuetl and far-reaching usefulness his
duties were performed with the greatest care,
and his personal honor and integrity were
without blemish.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mrs. Grandy still survives her husband
and now makes her home in Pontiac, where
she has a lovely home at Xo. 317 East How-
ard street. She has only li\'ed here a year,
though owning the place for some time. She
was always a true helpmeet to lier husband,
aiding him in e\ery possible way, and is a
most estimable lady, beloved and respected by
all who know her on account of her sterling
worth and manv excellencies of character.

JOHN W. HOO\'ER.

John \\'. Hoo\er, whose home is at Xo.
215 East Livingston street, Pontiac, is one
of the most public-spirited and enterprising-
citizens of that place. He is a native of Illi-
nois, born in Putnam county, March 9, 1S40,
and is a son of Henry Mann and Sarah
(Hunt) Hoover. The father was born in
Pennsylvania, June 10, 1808, and in 1838
came to Illinois, locating in Bureau county,
where he engaged in farming until 1848
and then went to California, crossing the
plains with an ox team. The following four
)'ears were passed in prospecting and min-
ing, during which time he accumulated con-
siderable property, but when just ready to
return to his family in Illinois he met with
a violent death and his hard-earned treasure
was taken from him. His widow is still liv-
ing at the age of eighty-eight years, and
resides with her daughter in Minonk, Wood-
ford county, Illinois. Only three of her ten
children survi\-e. Two sons, George H. and
Julius G., were soldiers of the Civil war, and
died in Tennessee during their service.

Our suliject remained with his mother
on the home farm in Bureau county until
1857, when they removed to Livingston

county and located in X'ebraska township,
where he engaged in agricultural pursuits
until the breaking out of the Civil war, in
1861, when he enlisted in the Third Illinois
Cavalry, Company K. for three years. He
participated in a number of battles in ]\Iis-
souri and Arkansas, including the engage-
ment at Pea Ridge, where he was wounded.
He went to the gulf, was stationed at X^ew
Orleans for a time, and was in the sieges of
Port Hudson and Vicksburg. He was at
the latter place at the time of the first re-
pulse of Sherman, and remained there until
the surrender to Grant. He was mustered
out at Springfield, Illinois, as commissary
sergeant, having held that position two years.
After his discharge Air. Hoover returned
to Livingston county and again engaged in
farming in Xebraska township. Ihe sud-
den death of his father had left the family
in very straightened circumstances and
placed a very heavy burden on the shoulders
of our subject, but he early displayed that
determination and grit which have carried
him forward to a successful life. He was
devoted to his mother and toiled early and
late that she might have the comforts of life
that she had been accustomed to before the
death of her husband. He continued to en-
gage in farming until the fall of 1870, when
he was elected sheriff of Livingston county
on the Democratic ticket and moved to Pon-
tiac. He filled that office for one term with
ci"edit to himself and to the general satis-
faction of the public, and at its close em-
barked in general merchandising, which he
carried on until his store and its contents
were destro}-ed by fire, Jul)' 4, 1874. Al-
though he lost almost everything he pos-
sessed, he was not cast down or crushed by
the misfortune, but with characteristic en-
ergy he immediately purchased another stock

J. W. HOOVER.

MRS. JOHN W. HOOVER.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of goods and continued business until 1897,
being associated witli Wilson Pittenger some
years, and afterward \vitli ^\'. S. Sims for
about five years, the firm name being Hoover
& Sims. 1 le w as tiicn alone in business luitil
selling out. in 1S97.

Mr. Hoover was married. December 31,
1868, to Miss Mary E. \'an Doren, of this
county, a daughter of Hilyard and Eliza
(Thompson) Van Doren. Her father was
born in Xew Jersey, in 1808, and was si.K
years old when he removed to Ohio with his
parents. His father, John \'an Doren, also
a native of Xew Jersey, conducted a hotel
near Clarksville, Clinton county, Ohio, for
many years. Throughout the greater part
of his life Mrs. Hoover's father followed •
the carpenter's trade, but after coming to
Livingston county, Illinois, engaged in farm-
ing and stock raising in Nebraska township.
He was school trustee for many years and
also filled the office of collector and super-
visor for some years. He helped build the
first school house in his township, advanc-
ing money for the work until the district
could reimburse him, and he organized the
first Sunday school within its borders, serv-
ices being held at his home until the school
house and church were built. In 1885 he
retired from active life and moved to Pon-
tiac, where he died September i, 1898. His
wife had departed this life February 14,
1892. Mrs. Hoover is the youngest of their
seven children. William T., the oldest, mar-
ried Julia Smith in 1855, and is a prominent
contractor and builder of Pontiac. Frank
M. and Luther were both members of Com-
pany A, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil
war, and the latter was drowned in the Cum-
berland river in Tennessee after serving one
vear. Frank M. married Xettie Xickerson

and resides on the old home farm in Ne-
braska township. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover
have a family of four children, namely :
Ella I., born in Pontiac, was married, May
JO, 1898, to Halbert Opperman, a grocer
of Pontiac; Helen P. has for the past three
years been head bookkeeper at the Pontiac
Shoe manufactury; Edna R. is at home,
and Maude W. is a student in the high school
of Pontiac.

In 1898 Mr. Hoover was elected super-
visor of Pontiac township, and his services
gave such universal satisfaction that in the
spring of 1900 he was re-elected, being the
only Democrat elected on the township ticket,
which speaks well for his personal popularity
and the confidence and trust reposed in him
by his fellow citizens. He has been fire
marshal of the city for the past twenty-five
years, and was a member of the department
for some years before. It has been his con-
stant study to improve the department and
the time he has devoted to that work has been
well spent, for his efforts have been crowned
with success. At present a new city hall and
engine house is being erected. Mr. Hoover
is an honored member of T. Lyle Dickey
post, G. A. R., and attends and supports
the Methodist Episcopal church.

GEORGE Z. FI.ACILER.

Prominent among the citizens of Dwight
will) have witnessed the marvelous develop-
ment of Livingston county in the last half-
century, and who have, by honest toil and in-
dustry, succeeded in acquiring a competence
and are now spending the sunset of life in
quiet and retirement, is the gentleman whose
name introduces this sketch.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mr. Flagler wa.s l)i)rn in Herkimer. New
York, June 4, i8j8, aiul was reareil there
until ten vear.s of ag'e. when he renKned to
Ohio with his jiarents, Philip and Xancy
(Dyg'ert) Flagler, also natives of New York.
His paternal grandfather. Zachariah Flagler.
Avas horn in France, and on his emigration
to America settled in Dutchess county, Xew
York, where, in the midst of the wilderness,
he developed a farm and spent the remainder
of his life. He reared a family of eleven chil-
dren, ten sons and one daughter, of whom
Piiilip was fifth in order of birth.

On reaching manhood Philip Flagler re-
moved to Herkimer countv. New York, he-
coming one of its early settlers, and there he
married Nancy Dygert, a daughter of '\\'ill-
iam Dygert, who emigrated from Ciermariy
to the United States at an early day. After
his marriaee Mr. Flagler conducted a meat
market in Frankfort, Herkimer county, until
our subject was ten years of age, and then
moved to Middlebury, Portage county. Ohio.
going by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo.
by lake to Cleveland, by canal to Akron,
Ohio, and from there across the countr}- l)y
wagon to Middlebury, where he worked at
the shoemaker's trade fi\'e years. He then
returned to New York by the same refute,
this time locating in Dutchess county, where
he followed farming until a few years prior
to his death, when he sold his farm and
moved to Rochester, New York. There he
lived retired until called to his final rest,
at the age of seventy years. The mother
of our subject had died many years pre\-ious.
leax'ing si.x children, who reached man and
womanhood, namely : (ieorge Z., Catherine.
Walter, Albert, William and Oscar, all still
living with the exception of Walter. Cath-
erine is the wife of Philip Miller, of Dwight.
Illinois. For his second wife the father mar-

ried Katherine \\"rig'ht, by w lioni he had one
daughter, Annie.

George Z. Flagler recei\e(l his education
in the schools of Portage county, Ohio, and
Dutchess count}-. New York, and remained
at home with his father until after bis mar-
riage. On the 27tb of September, 1848,
when twenty-one years of age. lie married
Phebe Jane Clarkson, then sixteen. They
luet at the village school in Stormville, New
York, and the friendship there formed soon
ri])ened into a Ime that has never died out,
fi::r they are still lo\ers, the same as in the
days long gone by. Airs. Flagler was born
in Dutchess county, of which her parents,
Egbert and Maria ( facox ) Clarkson. were
also nati\es. while her paternal grandfather,
Charles Clarkson, was a native of England,
having emigrated to this country at an early
day. For many years her father followed
farming in Dutchess county, but in the fall
of 1856 he came to Livingston county. Illi-
nois, where he lived retiretl until bis death,
at the age of sixty-three years. His wife
died at the age of seventy-three. In their
family were four children. \\'illiam. Hamil-
ton. Phebe Jane and Mary Elizabeth,but Mrs.
Flagler is the only one now living. To our
subject and his wife were born three chil-
dren, namely : ( i ) Eugene, a resident of
Dwight. married Letty Potter, and they have
two children : Stella, wife of Eberett Lewis,
a jeweler of Dwight. by whom she has one
child, Harland : and Louise. (2) John \\'.,
an in\alid residing in Dwight, married
Laura Lee, and they have one child, Helen.
( 3 I George N.. who has succeeded his fa-
ther in the- lumber business, married Letty
Saltmarsh, and they have two children, Ed-
die and Mattie.

After his marriage Mr. Flagler remained
with his father a vear, but determining to

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

engfage in business for himself, he rented a
farm of one Inmdred and se\en acres in
Dutchess county, .\'e\v ^'nrk, whicli he suc-
cessfully o])erated for three years. Selling"
out in the east he came to Illinois in 1855.
and after spending" ten days at Joliet pro-
ceeded to Dwight, Livingston county, where
he hired out to a Mr. Spencer, whose farm
included the present home of our subject.
After working" for him one year he was \a-
ri<iusly empkned for a time, and then turuetl
his attention to the carpenter's trade. One of
the first houses which he built is the one he
is now living in. it being situated on a part
of the old Spencer farm and is one of the
most beautiful places in Dwight, surrounded
by four acres of well-kept grounds. Here
Mr. Flagler located in 1899. The first house
that he owned in Dwight is still standing.
He continued to follow the carpenter's trade
for several years, and in 1874 became inter-
ested in the lumber business, which he car-
ried on alone fur three years, when he
formed a jiartnership with Thomas Sims,
under the name of Flagler & Sims. Three
years later this was dis.solved and Zed John-
son purchased an interest in the business,
which was conducted under the firm name of
Flagler & Johnson for three years and a
half. From that time on he was alone in
business until 1897. when he was succeeded
by his SDU. ( ieorge \., who still carries it on.
w hile our sul)ject is practically living retired,
tlmugh he still continues to k)ok after his
property interests in Dwight. which include
a number of houses.

Mr. Flagler'has been prominently identi-
fied with almost the entire growth and de-
\elopment of Dwight, as when he located
there there were only six houses in the place.
During the first year of his residence here
he and his wife, with another faniilv, oc-

cupied a little shanty, 16x24 feet. In 1856
he rmd William Clarkson each built a house,
the first that were erected that year. One
Sunday the two men went out alx)ut three
miles in the country and got some x'oung
basswood trees, which they l)rought ti^ town
on their backs and planted, these being the
first trees set out in Dwight, as the place at
that time was flat prairie land, unadorned
by trees or shrubs. .Mr. Flagler lieli)ed or-
ganize the village and has aided materially
in its growth and building, assisting in the
erection of must of the older dwellings of
the place. He heli)ed Iniild the Presbyterian
church, which was the first house of worship
erected in Dwight, and later, as a contractor,
built the Methodist Episcopal church. He
was line of the first trustees of the village,
being elected on a temperance ticket, and
was a member of the village board four
terms. i'v his ballot he has always sup-
jjorted the men and measures of the Dem-
ocratic party at national elections, but in
local affairs, when no issue is involved, votes
for the man whom he believes best ciualified
to fill the oiifice. Socially he is a member of
Living.ston lodge. No. 371, F. & A. M., and
Wilmington Chapter, Xo. 142, R. A. M.
During their long residence in Dwight Mr.
and Mrs. Flagler have made a host of warm
friends, have gained the confidence and re-
spect of all who know them, and as honored
|)ioneers and representative citizens arc cer-
tainly deserving of prominent mention in a
work of this kind.

STEPHEN' A. GOODM.VX.

Stephen A. Goodman, the efficient en-
gineer of the Dwight Electric Light Com-
])any anrl a highly respected citizen of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Dwight, Illinois, was bom in Hunting-don
county, Pennsylvania, December 26, 1851,
and is a son of James J. and Catherine (Nu-
men ) Goodman, also natives of Pennsyl-
vania. By trade the father was a wagon-
maker and bridge carpenter, and during his
residence in the Keystone state followed
bridge building on railroads and canals. In
1867 he brought his family to Illinois and lo-
cated on a farm in Dwight township. t\\o
miles .southwest of the town of Dwight. mak-
ing his home there for two years, at the end
of which time he took up his residence in
town, where his death occurred, in 1884, and
where his wife is still living-. In their fam-
ily were ten children, namely : Anna, wife
of ^^'. H. \\'atson, a conductor on the Penn-
sylvania Railroad and a resident of Altoona,
Pennsylvania; IVIattie, widow of G. W.
Stewart and a resident of Union Furnace,
Pennsylvania; Stephen A., oiu^ subject;
Emma, wife of George Taylor, a farmer and
dairyman of Dwight township; Alfred, a
farmer of Grundy county, Illinois ; James.
a conductor on the Chicago & Alton Rail-
road ; George, who is employed in the round
house at Dwight ; Mary, twin of George and
deceased wife of John Camerorn, of Ono,
Willow county. Nebraska; Nora, wife of
Frank Phole, of Dwight ; and Bruce, an en-
gineer on the Chicago & Alton Railroad.

The boyhood and youth of Stephen A.
Goodman were mainly passed in Pennsyl-
vania, and at the age of fifteen he entered
the Mill Creek furnace shops to learn the
blacksmith and machinist's trades, his father
being then engaged in the hotel business at
Mill Creek. He was sixteen years of age
when the family came to Illinois, and for a
time he worked at his trade in Dwight. Sub-
sequently he accepted a position as engineer
and general assistant with the firm of Hef-

fenbaugh & Rutan, but his first permanent
position as engineer was in the old stone m!Il
of Hahn & Siegert, where he was employed
two years. He next entered the service of
the Chicago & Alton Railroad in the mund
house at Dwight, and later was fireman on
the Streator branch of that road and served
the company until 1893. He spent two years
as fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
running between Altoona and Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. In November, 1896, he ac-
cepted his present position with the Dwight
Electric Light Company, and has since filled
it in a most capable and satisfactory manner.

On the 22d of September. 1877. at
Dwight. was celebrated the marriage of Mr.
Goodman and Miss Belle Goodspeed, a na-
tive of Grundy county, Illinois, and a daugh-
ter of George R. and Emily ( Starkey )
Goodspeed. Her father gave u]) his life for
,his country as a soldier of the Civil war.
During the last ten years of her life Mrs.
Goodspeed made her home with our sub-
ject and there died March 31, 1897. }*Irs.
Goodman died January 12, 1893, and of the
three children born of that union, Emma
died at the age of four years and Hattie
at the age of eleven. Charles is still living
and is with his father. Mr. Goodman was
again married, in Peoria, Illinois, April 20,
1897, ^^'^ second union being with Miss
Agnes McCloskey, a native of Blair county,
Pennsylvania. They have a pleasant home
in Dwight, erected by him in 1882.

In political affairs j\Ir. Goodman sup-
ports the Democratic party. While a resi-
dent of Altoona, Pennsylvania, he joined the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and now
affiliates with Dwight Lodge, No. 513. of
which he is past noljle grand. He is also a
member of Pacific Encampment, No. 126,
and was elected and installed chief patriarch,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

l)Ut resignetl on account of liis night work,
wliicli occupies iiis time to the exclusion of
everything else. He is a thorough and
^-killed machinist and is a highly respected
and honored citizen of Dwight. He was for
tive years a member of the Illinois state
guards and was honorably discharged.

X. .M. .\M) TRUMAX .M. KKLI.OCCr.

These brothers, who are numl)ered anmng
the re[)resentative citizens of Pontiac town-
.ship, Livingston county, own and operate
a fine farm of three liundred and twenty
acres on section 8. pleasantly located on
Wolf creek, within three miles of the
city of Pontiac. They are natives of
( )neiila countv, Xew ^'ork. the former
born near L'tica June 29. 18J9. the lat-
ter October 7, 1835, and belong to an old
colonial family of English origin, w liich was
founded in this country by two brothers,
who were among the pioneers of Connecti-
cut. Our suljjects" paternal grandfather,
Truman Kellogg, was a native of that state
and a pioneer of Oneida county, Xew York,
where he located in 1790. There he cleared
and improved a farm in the midst of the
wilderness, making it his home throughout
the remainder of his life. The father, who
also bore the name of Truman, was born in
that county, in 1795. and on reaching man-
hood married ^lalinda Marsh, also a native
of Oneida county. He was a farmer by oc-
cupation and lived on the old Kellogg home-
stead throughout life, dying there May 17,
1867. He survived his wife only a few
weeks, as she died March 3, 1867. In their
family were four chiklren. two sons and two
daughters, but only the former are now liv-
ing.

In the county uf their nativity the broth-
ers passed their boyhood and youth, being
provided with good educational advantages
in both common and select .schools. In 1852
Truman M. went to Chicago, where he en-
tered the employ of the Illinois Central Rail-
road Company, in the engineer department,
as a rodman, and for twenty years was em-
ployed in the general ofifice of the civil en-
gineer for the Illinois Central Railroad Com-
pany at that cit}-, being promoted for suc-
cessful scr\-ice tnmi rodman ti> division en-
gineer, and as such he superintended the con-
struction of the Lake Shore harbor. X. M.
Kellogg remained at home with his parents
until their deaths, having charge of the
farm. In 1868 he came to Livingston coun-
ty. Illinois, and purchased the farm in Pon-
tiac township where the brothers now re-
side. They located thereon in 1871, and
have since devoted their time and energies
to the further improvement and cultivation
of the place, converting it into one of the
most desirable farms of its size in the coun-
ty. They follow general farming and have
engaged extensively in feeding and shipping
stock, fattening from six to ten car-loads of
cattle and hogs annually. To this branch of
their business they have devoted considerable
attention for the past fifteen years, and re-
cently have made a specialty of the breeding
and raising of good roadster horses of the
Hamiltonian and other standard bred stock.
Success has attended their well-directed ef-
forts and the}' are now numbered among the
most substantial men of the community in
which they live.

Politically the Kellogg brothers have
been life-long Democrats, and X. M. has
served as highway commissioner for fifteen
years, but neither have cared for official hon-
ors, preferring to give their undivi<le<l atten-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tion to their extensive business interests.
They are men of keen perception and sounil
judgment and their success in life is due to
their own well-directed efforts, so that they
deserve to be prominent!}- mentioned among
the leading and representative business men
of this county. Fraternally, Truman M. is
a member of the Masonic lodge of Pontiac,
ha\-ing been made a Master Mason some
years ago.

CHARLES H. LOXG, M. D.

The world has little use for the misan-
tlirope. The universal truth of brotherhood
is widely recognized, also that he serves God
best who serves his fellow men. There is no
profession or line of btisiness that calls for
greater self sacrifice or more devoted atten-
tion than the medical profession, and the suc-
cessful physician is he, who through love of
his fellow men gives his time and attention to
the relief of human suffering. Dr. Long is
one of the ablest representatives of this noble
calling successfully engaged in oractice in
Pontiac, Illinois.

The Doctor was born in Dimmick town-
ship. La Salle county, this state. May 14,
1850, a son of Archibald and Adeline
(Leigh) Long. The father was born in Gal-
lipolis, Gallia county, Ohio, in October,
1825, a son of Archibald and Catherine
(Keller) Long. The grandfather was born
near Wheeling, \\'est \'irginia, September
24, 1791, and was one of a large family of
children left orphans at an early age, and
who were thrown upon the world to make
their own way with little educational ad-
vantages. He managed, however, to acquire
much varied information, which, with untir-
ing energy, he ever put to use for the uplift-

ing of his fellow men. After drifting about
through Tennessee, Georgia and North Car-
olina during his boyhood he was finally mar-
ried, in October, 1813, and settled in (ial-
lipolis, Ohio, where most of his family were
born and where he acquired some property.
He also secured the maintenance of select
schools in the count}', and early became a
leader and exhorter in the Methodist Episco-
pal church, and afterward a licensed
preacher. He spent a few years in Indiana,
and then, in order to secure homes for his
children, now grown, he came to Illinois,
locating first in the militar}- tract, near Knox-
\il!e, Knox county, in 1834. He built the
first mill in that section and opened his house
for church and school purposes, there being
neither in his locality. He regularly filled
appointments to preach for miles around,
and our subject now has in his possession the
parchment certificate given by Bishop Mor-
ris, in 1839, at his ordination as deacon.
He soon secureil the building of a church
at Hermon, the expense of which was largly
borne by himself. At camp meetings and
revivals he was recongized as powerful in ex-
hiortation anil prayer. It was at a meeting
in his house that his son, Archibald, Jr., and
Rev. M. L. Haney were converted. In 1849
he removed to La Salle county, and early
the following year secured the organization
of a church at La Salle, there having been
no religious society there prior to that time.
He resolved to build a house of worship and
went about with his usual energy to accom-
plish this, hauling lumber, raising money and
working on the building. \\'hile thus en-
gaged he was exposed to the inclemency of
the weather and contracted a disease that
affected his lungs and eventually caused his
death. His home was always the stopping
place for all ministers, and he labored un-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tiringly for liis cluircli. He held nio?t all
the l(.)cal offices, inchuling those of school di-
recti.ir and justice of the peace, and in his
deatli the community realized that it had
lost one of its most valued anil useful citi-
zens.

Archihald Long. Jr., the father of our
subject, was reared on his father's farm near
Knoxville, and received a good practical ed-
ucation in the select school conducted in his
father's liome. This was largely supple-
mented in later years by extensive reading
and observation. He built the first saw-
mill at Knoxville and engaged in milling
for some time. In early days before the
grist-mill was built, the family hauled their
grain to Chicago, a distance of two hun-
dred miles. The early i)i( meers ground their
cornmeal on stones. After building the mill
the Long family sometimes rafted flour
down the Mississippi river to St. Louis.
In Knox county, Archibald Long, Jr., was
married, in 1847, to Miss Adeline Leigh, a
daughter of Robert Leigh, a veteran of the
war of 1 81 2, and an early settler of that
county, where he followed farming until his
death. Her paternal great-grandfather,
Leigh, was private secretary to George
III, of England, and for political reasons
lied to the United States. He was the pos-
sessor of a large fortune, which the family
never received. After his marriage, the
Doctor's father engaged in farming in Dim-
mick township. La Salle county, and was
one of the large land owners of his locality.
Although he gave strict attention to his
business affairs he never neglected his duties
to his fellow men, and took a very active
part in education and church work, ably
seconding his father in the support of the
feeble little church at La Salle. He was a
member of the official board throughout life

and after his father's death was its strong-
est mainstay for forty years. He was hon-
ored with all the township offices. He died
in La Salle county, December 31, 1892, and
the mother of our subject departed this life
in 1856, leaving two children, the younger
being Robert, now a resident of Koszta,
Iowa.

Dr. Long began his education in the dis-
trict schools near his boyhood lujme. and at
the age of fifteen years entered the academic
department of Wheaton College at W'heaton,
Illinois, where he was a student for two
years. In 1866 he entered the Illinois Wes-
leyan University at Bloomington, where he
was graduated with the degree of B. S., in
1873, being president of the class organi-
zation during his senior year. In the mean-
time he had engaged in teaching schools,
and after leaving college followed that pro-
fession for three years as principal at Mack-
inaw. Stanford and Homer, Illinois.

Having decided to make the practice of
medicine his life work. Dr. Long matricu-
lated at Hahnemann Medical College, Chi-
cago, in itS75. and was graduated with the
degree of M. J)., at the Chicago Homeo-
pathic Medical College in 1878. He is now
the leading homeopathic physician of Pon-
tiac, and enjoys a large general practice.
He served as United States pension examiner
under Presidents FLiyes and Arthur, doing
all the work in that line for the county, there
being no pension board at the time. In 1880
he was elected coroner of Livingston county
and served by re-election eight years, dur-
ing which time lie held the inquests made
necessary by the terrible Chatsworth wreck
when seventy-four Niagara excursionists
l<:st their lives. He is an honored member of
the Illinois Homeopathic Medical Associa-
tion, of which he was i)rovisional secretary

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

two terms, ending in May, 1899, and is also
an active member of the Central Illinois
Homeopathic Association. He is medical
examiner for the Modern Woodmen of
America at Pontiac.

Dr. Long has been twice married, iiis
first wife being Miss Martha \'eimont. who
died ]\Iarch 20, 1884, leaving two children,
v.-ho are still living, namely: Eva Mary,
now attending the Northwestern University
at Evanston, Illinois, and Archibald V., at
home. For his second wife he married Lida
Sterry, daughter of C. \V. Sterry, of Pon-
tiac, and to them have been born two chil-
dren : Christopher Sterry and Katherine.
The family have a I)eautiful home at Xo.
304 East Water street, Pontiac.

From the start Dr. Long has served as
secretary of the Pontiac Riverview Chau-
tauqua Association, wliich is to-day one of
the most successful organizations of the kind
in the west, financially and otherwise, and
he is also a trustee of the Illinois Wesleyan
University at Bloomington, and also trustee
of the board of finance for the same institu-
tion. With such ancestry it is not strange
that the Doctor takes a very active and
prominent part in church work and lias al-
v.ays lieen willing tii contribute liis share to
any enterprise for the puljlic good. He is
one of the leading and influential members
of the Methodist Episcopal church of Ponti-
ac, and is now the oldest member of its offi-
cial board in point of continuous service,
having held some office for the past twenty-
two years. After serving eight years as su-
perintendent of the Sunday school, he re-
signed that position to become superintend-
ent of tlie primary department, which has de-
^■eloped ra|)i(lly during the seven vears he
has been in charge, the enrollment at pres-
ent being two hundred and fiftv. He was

also secretary of the Livingston county
Sunday School Association seven years;
was chairman of the executive committee
a numlier of years : vice-president of the
third Illinois district, and has been chairman
of the finance committee a number of years.
At the age of thirteen he was elected sec-
retary of the Sunday school, which he at-
tended, and has since been officially con-
nected with Sunday school work. He was
a lay delegate to the general conference of
tlie ]\Iethodist Episcopal church, at Cleve-
land, in 1896, and at Chicago, in May, 1900,
and for four years was president of the Lay
Association of the central Illinois conference.
He is also editor of the Pontiac Methodist,
with which he has been connected from its
beginning, in 1896, As a physician he
ranks among the ablest, and as a citizen he
stands deservedly high in public esteem, be-
ing honored and respected liy all who know
him.

AUSTIN GIBBONS.

Austin Giljbiius. cif Dwight. was Ijorn in
ci'unt}' Mayo. Ireland. January 5, 1846, a
son of PhiUp and Bridget (McDonald)
(iilabons. also natives of that county. The
father was born December 10, 18 19, and
continued to make his liome in county Mayo
until his emigration to America in j\Iarch,
1851. For three years the family made their
home in New York state and in 1854 came
tc Illinois. locating first in Kendall county
and remii\-ing to Li\'ingston county in 1865.
Here the father purchased a half-section of
1,-ind in Nevada township, which he operated
eighteen years, and then moved to Chicago,
where he has since made his home. He is
liighly respected and esteemed and is a de-

AUSTIN GIBBONS.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

vout member of the Cathcilic churcli. to
wliicli his wife also belonged. She died in
the fall of 1899, at the age of eighty years.
In their family were nine children, all of
whom are still living, namely : Mary, a
resident of Chicago; Austin, our subject;
Margaret, widow of Denslow Marsh and a
resident of Pittsburg, Kansas ; Ellen, of
Chicago; John, of Barton county, Missouri;
I'hilip. Jane. Sarah and Thomas, all of Ciii-
cago.

Our subject was only four years old
wlien brought to this country by his parents
and his education was begun in X'ew York
state, though the greater part of it was ob-
tained in the schools of Kendall county, Il-
linois. At the age of twenty-two he started
out in life for himself by learning the trade
of bridge builder and carpenter, which he
followed twelve years. During this time he
made his home in Nevada township, Liv-
ingston county, and on retiring from that
business, in 1877, he engaged in farming on
section 2, that township, where he purchased
eighty acres of land. To this he added one
hundred and sixty acres in 1896, making a
tine farm of two hundred and forty acres,
which he placed under a high state of cul-
tivation. In connection with general farm-
ing he always gave considerable attention to
stock raising, his specialty being Xorman
horses.

In 1897 Mr. Gibbons commenced buying
grain for Edmund Mezger. of Dwight. and
continued in his employ until that gentleman
failed in business in March, 1898, when he
entered the employ of William Pope, who
llien took the elevator, remaining with him
until the fall of 1899, when Mr. Pojje sold
out to Merritt Brothers, of Dwight, by whom
Mr. Giblwns has been retained as manager
of the elevator. That fall he built a pleas-

ant residence at the corner of W'aupansie
and Xorth Clinton streets. Dwight, and in
the spring of 1900 ttxik un his residence
there, having remained on his farm up to
that time.

On the 6th of January. 1878, Mr. Gib-
bons married Miss Margaret Kane, a native
of Wisconsin and a daughter of Robert and
Ann Kane, of that state, where her father
died a number of years ago. Her mother
met her death in the tornado at St. Paul,
Minnesota, in 1893. ^^""S- Gibbons was their
only child. Our subject and his wife have
a family of fi\e children : Nellie, now the
wife of William Neville, a farmer of Good
Farm township, Grundy county, Illinois, by
whom she has one child, Frank ; Frank, son
of our subject and his father's assistant in
the grain business in Dwight; and Annie,
Philip and Saraii. students in the public
schtwls of Dwight.

Religiously Ixnh Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons
are members of the Catholic church of
Dwight. He has always been a stanch sup-
porter of the men and measures of the Dem-
ocratic party and taken an active and promi-
nent part in local politics for a number of
years. He was assessor of Nevada town-
ship in 1 87 1 and 1872 and served as super-
vfsor of that township for more than twenty
vears, whicii office he filled continuously un-
til the spring of 1900, when, owing to his
removal to Dwight, the township was forced
to seek another rejiresentative. His long
retention in office plainly indicates his effi-
cient service and the confidence and trust
reix)sed in him by his fellow citizens. He
\\ as chairman of the board in 1897 and 1898
and was one of the special committee to
oversee the building of the county house,
which was built during his term at a cost
of seventv-five thousanil tloilars. He was

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

chairman of tlie Imard of equalization for
sixteen consecutive years and served on
most of tlie committees, especially the more
important ones. He was school treasurer
for ten years prior to his removal to Dwight
and the cause of education always found. in.
him a faithful friend. In 1892 he was the
Democratic candidate from his district for
member of the state Ijoard (.)f equalization
and althoueh he failed of election he suc-
ceeded in reducing the usual Republican ma-
jority from twenty-five hundred to five hun-
dred, a fact which testifies strongly as to
his personal popularity. At present writ-
ing he is the nominee of his party from the
twentieth district as a member of the legis-
lature. No man in his community is mor^
highly respected or esteemed, and he has
been called upon to settle a number of es-
tates in Livingston, \\'ill and Grundy coun-
ties., and is now in charge of three estates
as executor and administrator.

S. H. POTTER, D. D. S.

S. H. Potter, D. D. S., a prominent and
successful dentist of Dwight, Illinois, was
born on the 7th of July, 1874, in Sheldon,
Iroquois county, this state, and is a son of
M. G. and Mahala ((iriswold) Potter, na-
tives of New York state and pioneers of Iro-
quois county. Illinois. In early life the fa-
ther engaged in farming and as a progressive
and enterprising agriculturist he met with
marked success, becoming owner of some
fi\e hundred acres of valuable land in that
county. Having secured a handsome prop-
erty he moved to Sheldon, in 1881, and has
since lived a retired life, enjoying the fruits
of former toil. In his family were ten chil-
dren, nine of whom are still living.

Of this family Dr. Potter is ninth in
order of birth. He received his literary eil-
ucation in the public schools of Sheldon and
was graduated from the high school of that
])lace. In 1893 he entered the Northwestern
Dental College, of Chicago, where he pur-
sued the regular course and was graduated
in April, 1896, with the degree of D. D. S.
That same month he came to Dwight and
opened an office. Although he met with
strong opposition from his competitors, he
was not discouraged, and, as his skill and
ability were soon widely recognized, he was
not long in building up the excellent practice
w hich he now enjoys. He is especially pro-
ficient in bridge and crown work and has met
with remarkable success. His younger
brother, Edgar C, was graduated at the
Northwestern Dental College, May i, 1900,
and is now engaged in practice with our sub-
ject, under the firm name of Potter Brothers.
Politically, the Doctor is identified with
the Republican party, and socially, affiliated
with Hebron Lodge, No. 176, K. P., of
Dwight.

JOHN O. JOHNSON.

John O. Johnson, whose home is on sec-
tion 29, Esmen township, has been identified
with the agricultural interests of Li\'ingston
county since July, 1857, and has borne an
acti\-e part in its development and progress.
He comes from across the sea, for he was
born in Norway, November i, 1835, and is
a son of John and Martha (Iverson) John-
son, who spent their entire lives as farming
people in that country. The father was four
times married, and our subject is the young-
est of the five children, two sons and three
daughters, liorn of the second union. He

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and a sister are now tlie only survivors. He
was reared on a farm and had fair common
sclmol ad\antages. His knowledge of the
linglish language has all been obtained
through his own efiforts since his emigra-
tion to .America.

Before leaving Norway. Mr. Johnson
was married, in April. 1856. to Miss Caro-
line Mitchell, also a native of that country,
and the following year they came to the new
world, taking passage on a sailing vessel at
Stovanger and reaching Quebec, Canada,
after a voyage of six weeks. They crossed
the lakes to Chicago and proceeded at once
to La Salle county, this state, where friends
from Xorwa\- had ])reviously located. Soon
afterward, they came to Livingston county
and located in the town of Auiity, where they
made their home while Mr. Johnson worked
by the day or month as a farm hand four or
five years. He next rented land, and in 1864
bought eighty acres of the farm in Esmen
township, where he now resides. At that
time it was wild prairie with no improve-
ments, but he built thereon a small house
and soon placed the land under excellent cul-
tivation. He has since purchased an ad-
joining eighty-acre tract, and the whole has
been converted into a well-improved farm.
He has tiled and fenced the land, has erected
a good residence and substantial outbuild-
ings, and has set out fruit and shade trees.
In 1893 he bought another place of forty
acres on section 29, Esmen townshij), where
be now lives, and he has since made many
imijrovements upon that farm.

To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson ha\c been born
seven children, namely: Isabel and Martha,
twins, the former of whom died at the age
of seven years, the latter now the wife of
James Street, of Hamilton county, Iowa;
Mitchell, who is married and engaged in

farming in Minnesota ; John, who is married
and assists in the operation of his father's
farius; Dora, wife of Oliver Henderocker,
of Hamilton county, Iowa; Isabel, wife of
James Jacobson. a farmer of South Dakota,
antl Theodore, who died at the age of three
years.

Since casting his first ]iresidcntial vote
for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, Mr. John-
son has been an ardent Republican in ])olitics,
and has given his support to every enter-
])rise which be believed would prove of pub-
lic benefit. He served one year as road com-
missioner and was a member of the school
l)oard three years, but has never sought
official honors. Religiously, both he and his
wife are members of the Lutheran cliurch
and are highly respected and esteemed by
all who know them.

GEORC.E SKIXXER.

The deserved reward of a well-spent life
is an honored retirement from business in
which to enjoy the fruits of former tnil.
I'o-day, after a useful and beneficial career,
Mr. Skinner is cpiietly living at his beautiful
home in I'ontiac. surrounded b\' the comfort
that earnest labor has brought him.

Mr. Skinner was born in Troy. Ohio,
Deceml)er 5. 1822, a son of Joseph M. and
]-ydia (Stillwell) Skinner. His paternal
grandfather was George Skinner, a Revolu-
tionary soldier, who was born in l'"ranklin
comUy. Pennsylvania, in May, 1761, and
there was married, Se])tember 23. 1789, to
Susanna l-"reeman. who was born in April,
1759. .\t an earlv dav they floated down
the Ohio river to Cincinnati, and located

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres
near Milford, Oliio, one mile from Camp
Dennison, \vhich place is still in possession
of the family. There the grandfather died
in 1853. his wife in 1849.

Joseph M. Skinner, father of our sub-
ject, was born in Franklin county, Pennsyl-
vania. January 25, 1795, and accompanied
his parents on their removal to Ohio, where
he grew to manhood, remaining at home
until he attained his majority. On the 27th
of September, 1820, he married Lydia Still-
well, who was born in New Jersey, January
24. 1792. As a young man he built many
mills in the unbroken forests of Ohio. On
leax'ing the parental roof, he went to Troy,
that state, and entered a general mercantile
store, later becoming a leading merchant and
prominent business man of that section. He
engaged in pork packing through the winter
months and also shipped produce quite ex-
tensi\-ely down the Miami, Ohio and Mis-
sissippi rixers to New Orleans. At that
time it required three months to go to New
York, buy goods and convey them to his
store, as the trip had to be made with horses.
A'alue (if mone}' was unstalile and postage
on a letter amounted to twenty-five cents.
Mr. Skinner owned the first freight boat at
Troy, which proved of great benefit to the
township, and he was extensively engaged
in the freighting business for some years.
Later he owned and conducted a branch store
■ at Covington, Ohio, and when the canal was
completed engaged in the commission and
shipping business, owning and running boats
on the canal, while he left his partner in
charge of the store at Tro}-. General Har-
rison was present at the opening of the canal,
and our subject well remembers that import-
ant occasion. The father had served in the
war of 1812 under that general, was a strong

Whig and anti-sla\ery man, but never an
office seeker. For many years he was an
elder in the Presbyterian church and also a
Mason, but during the Morgan trouble, he
was forced, bv public opinion of the church,
to withdraw from the order. He died Sep-
tember 12, 1869, and his wife passed away
December 19, i860.

Our subject was educated in a subscrip-
tion school at Troy, and during his youth
assisted in his father's store. Later he com-
menced to learn the tanner's trade at Cov-
ington, Ohio, where he remained one year.
Later, Mr. McCorkle, the leading tanner of
Troy, dying, he took charge of the business,
his father being administrator of the estate.
In 1 85 1 he went to Louisville, Kentucky,
where he was engaged in the ice business,
being the first man to bring northern ice into
that city. This he shipped down the Ohio
ri\er. He was living there during the great
American, or "Knownothing" mob, of 1856,
but that summer he was forced to give up his
business on account of failing health, and
came to Livingston county. Illinois. He
purchased two hundred and ten acres of
land in Odell township, near the station of
Cayuga, and in the spring of 1857 brought
his family to their new home. They often
tra\-eled ten or fifteen miles without seeing
a single habitation of any sort, and wolves
were still quite numerous in this region.
Mr. Skinner's land was still in its primitive
condition when he located thereon, but he
soon broke and tiled it, and erected good
and substantial buildings, making it one of
the most desirable farms of its size in the
count}-. Though he still owns the place, he
has made his home in Pontiac for the past
twelve years, and has a fine brick residence
here, which is supplied with many comforts
and luxuries. In connection with general

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

farming lie always engaged in stock raising,
and while living in the country served as
school director, but would never accept po-
litical positions.

In the fall of 1862 Mr. Skinner returned
to his old home in Trov, Ohio, where he re-
mained two years. As a young man he
had lieen a member of the La Fayette Blues
of that place, an infantry companv that
drilled all over the state, and in May, 1864,
he joined the Home Guards as a member of
Company K, One Hundred and Forty-sev-
enth Ohio Infantry. They first went to
Camp Dennison, Ohio, and from there to
Fort Alorrisy, A\'ashington, D. C, where
they were stationed at the attack of General
Ewell, the last" attempt of the rebels to cap-
ture the capital. Mr. Skinner remained
there until the close of his term of eunlist-
ment and was mustered out at Camp Denni-
son.

On the i_nh of April, 1849, ^I''- Skin-
ner was united in marriage with Miss Eliza-
eth Shafer, who was born Xovember 15,
1829, a daughter of Eckert and Rachel
(Smith) Shafer. Her father was born in
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, December
29, 1804, a son of George and Barbara
Shafer, and was reared in Earl township,
Lancaster county, between that city and
Philadelphia. His father was of German
descent and a soldier of the Revolutionary
war. Mrs. Skinner's mother was born at
New Holland, Pennsylvania, j\Iarch 25,
1809, a daughter of Edward Smith. After
following farming in his native state for sev-
eral years Eckert Shafer left there in the
spring of 1847, accompanied by his wife
and six children, and moved to Troy, Ohio,
by way of the canal and Ohio river. He
bought a farm two miles from Troy, where
his wife died March 7, 1854. Later he came

to Livingston county, Illinois, and purchased
hind in Esmen township, to the improxemtn
and culti\ation of which he devoted his en-
ergies until after his children were all mar-
ried. He then made his home with his eld-
est child, Mrs. Skinner, dying there Decem-
ber 13, 1882.

Mr. and Mrs. Skinner have a family of
nine children, namely : Loretta, wife of John
J. Pfau, of Odell; Clara L., wife of Joseph
French, of Indiana, by whom she has one
daughter, Edna May; Elias Freeman, now
a resident of Missouri ; Rachel L., who mar-
ried James Jones, of Streator, Illinois, and
they have three chil(Jren; Martha L., who
married J. W. Adams, traveling passenger
agent for the Vanderbilt lines, and a resi-
dent of San Francisco, and they have four
children, Xona L., Nina L., George J. and
Harry \'.; Eckert, also a resident of Cali-
fornia ; Joseph Morris, who married Minnie
Streator, has one child, Irma, and operates
the home farm near Cayuga; Luella and
Emma L., at home.

Both our subject and his wife are active
members of the Presbyterian church. He
assisted in organizing the church at Cayuga,
and was one of the leading contributors to
the erection of the house of worship there.
He also served as elder of the church at
Louisville, Kentucky, and has filled that of-
fice ever since in ditiferent societies with
which he has been connected. He was most
of the time superintendent of the Sunday
school during his residence at Cajuga, and
has never missed in his attendance at Sun-
day school or church since coming to Pon-
tiac. His life has been exemplary in all re-
spects, and it is safe to say that no man in
his community is held in higher regard or is
more deserving the respect and esteem of his
fellow men than George Skinner. He has

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

been an acti\e \v(irker for tlie Republican
party anil its principles, but lias never been
an aspirant for office.

JOHN Kl'LL.

It is astonisbing to witness tbe success
of men wbo bave emigrated to America
witbout capital and from a position of com-
parative oliscurity ba\e worked tbeir way up-
\\ard to a position of i)roniinence. Tbe read-
iness witb wbicb tbe}' adapt tliemselves to
circumstances and take advantage of op-
portunities offered brings to tbem success
and wins tbem a place among tbe leading-
business men of tbe community in wbicb
tbey reside. No better illustration of tbis
can be found tlian in tbe life of Jobn Kull,
tbe well known proprietor of tbe Pontiac
Steam ]\Iill and manager of a meal and feed
store on 'tbe Alton Railroad and Water
street. Pontiac, of wbicb place be bas l)een a
resident since October ii, 1894.

Mr. Kull was born in Niederlenz, Canton
Argau. nortbeastern Switzerland, October 5,
1834, a son of Jobn Kull, a baker by trade,
wbo spent bis entire life tbere. Our subject
attended scbool tbere. but tbe times being-
bard be commenced work at the early age of
nine years witb the hope of being of some as-
sistance to his parents. He entered the spin-
ning room of a cotton factory, where he
worked from six in tbe morning until nine
at night, witb only an. hour each day for
dinner, and received only the ecpiivalent to
one dollar per month in our money. When
all tired out with tbe day's work he had to
walk a distance of three miles to his home
before getting his supper. In the winter
he put in six hours of school work each day

during the six years spent in tbe cotton fac-
tory. At the end of that time be liegan serv-
ing a tbree-_\-ears api)renticesbip to tbe mil-
ler's trade with bis uncle, and while thus
employed recei\ed onh- his board and clothes
in compensation for his labor, but be thor-
oughly learned the business and at the age of
eighteen bad a good trade, having passed the
exan-iination and received his papers.

\\'ishing to see more of tbe country Mr.
Kidl traveled over Switzerland and Ger-
luany, working in mills in all of tbe import-
ant cities of those countries. He also spent
some time in France and learned to handle
and put together tbe French Ijurrs, this be-
ing an iniportant part ijf bis trade. By
working in so many different mills he gained
a varied knowledge of the methods in use
and became an expert miller. Returning to
Basal, Switzerland, one of the largest cities
of his native land, he served as head miller
in its largest mill for three years to the en-
tire satisfaction of tbe owners.

In April, 1867, Mr. Kull came to the
United States, landing in New York after
a fifteen-days yoyage in a steamer with an
excellent knowledge of a good trade, but
unable to speak a word of English. Coming
directly to Highland, Illinois, he served as
miller there for a time, and then went to
Pocahontas, Illinois, where he was similarly
employed for three years. He then removed
to Green\-ille, Boone county, Illinois, and
took charge of a mill for J. E. \\'alls, an
-English gentleman, wbo wanted la first-
class, practical miller. .\11 of tbe employees
of tbe mill being Americans but liimself, he
learned the English language more reachly
than had ever before been necessary, and
this has since been of great advantage to
him. From Greenville he went to Litch-
field, Illinois, and other places throughout

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tliis state, and also various ])laces in eastern,
southwestern and northwestern Missovn^i.
Sulise(|uently he had charge of some of tlio
liest mills in Kansas. On the ist of Octo-
lier. 1894, he came to Pontiac. Illinois, to
take chartfe of tlie I'ontiac Steam Mill for j'.
!•;. W'uerpel & Company, of St. l,nuis. and
in March, 1897, purchased the mill, which
he has since successfully conducted on his
own account, having huilt uj) a good busi-
ness. He has the leading custom trade of
the city, receivintr the patronage of all the
extensive farmers of this section of the coun-
ty who have grain t(j grind. He is also gen-
eral agent for the Jersey Lily flour, made hy
Jennison Mrothers & Compan}-. of Janesville,
.Minnesota, and has huilt up a tine whole-
sale and retail trade, as the Hour is of a su-
perior (|uality and gives excellent satisfac-
tion. As a wholesale dealer he sells in car-
load lots. In the spring of 1900 he equipped
his mill with electric motors and now very
successfully uses electricty for his motive
])ower. He was the fir.st miller in this ))art of
the county to adopt it and this shows the
characteristic enterprise of the man. While
by nature conservati\e, he is Aet ready to
ado])t new ideas in his business and keep in
the front.

On the 1 8th of Jvme, 1867. in Pocahon-
tas, Illinois, Mr. Kull married Miss Karo-
line Bornhauser, who was born in \\ ein-
felden. Canton Thurgau, Switzerland, and
whci came to this country on the same ves-
sel with him, joining her father, Jacob
Bornhauser, a cabinetmaker by trade, who
crossed the Atlantic in 1866. By this union
has been born one daughter, Carrie. Mr.
Kull and his wife are both earnest members
lit the Presbyterian church and he is a
Democrat in ]K)litics. He is enterprising
and progressive and gives his support to any

object he believes will prove of public bene-
fit. He was one of the men who felt the
need nf a bridge at Xermillion street. He
got U]) the petition and secured a suhscrij)-
tion of nine hundred dollars from citizens
and also a good one fmm the Chicago &
.\lton Railroad (."ompany. With such a
hacking the council jxissed the ordinance and
ajipropriated twenty-five hundred dollars to
the enterprise, while the board of supervisors
ga\e one thousand dollars. So Mr. Kull
was realley the founder of the bridge, which
is a great improvement to the western part
of the cit}-. Its need was long felt, hut it
reiiuiretl an active and energetic man like
Mr. Kull to carry the enterprise through
successfullv.

WILHELM r.lSCHOFF.

Wilhelm l^)ischoft', an industrious and en-
ter])rising agriculturist residing on section
14, .\\oca townshi]). Livingston county, is a
native of Illinois. hi< birth liaving occurred
in Ttiwanda ti>wnshi]), McLean county. Feb-
ruary 3, iH(>j. His parents, Ludwig and
.Mary ( .Allendortif ) BischotY, were both na-
tives of Germany and caiue to America when
young, about 1830. Their marriage was
celebrated in Bloomington, Illinois, and in
the vicinity nf Towanda, McLean county,
thev began their domestic life upon a farm
which Mr. Bisclvifif had rented. They re-
mained residents of that county until coming
to Livingston county in 1870. when they
located on the farm now occupieil by our
subject. The father purchased the property
anil at once began to clear away the timber
and break the land, having previously erected
a small house suitable iov a home for the
family. He died in 1893. li'iving survived

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his wife several years, her death occurring in
1894. Both were consistent members of
the Lutheran church, and he was a Repub-
hcan in pohtics and an ardent worker for
the party. In their family were five chil-
dren, two sons and three daughters, but two
died in childhood. Wilhelm, our subject,
is the oldest of those who reached maturity ;
Matilda is now the wife of Richard Mor-
ton, who lives south of Fairbury; and Al-
vena married F. Burley, of Pleasant Ridge
township, and died in 1889.

Wilhelm Bischoff came with the family
to Livingston county and upon the home
farm he grew to manhood, his education be-
ing acquired in the district schools of Avoca
township. He early became familiar' with
the duties which fall to the lot of the agri-
culturist and has never left the homestead,
but carried on farming successfully with his
father until the latter's death, since which
time he has had entire charge of the place,
consisting of one hundred and twenty acres
of good land, nearly forty of which are
covered with timber, while the remainder is
under a high state of cultivation. He has
added, by purchase, an eighty-acre tract,
giving him a farm of two hundred acres.
He is a thrifty and energetic farmer, and by
these means has made a success of his labors.
He raises hogs for the Chicago market and
in all his undertakings has steadily pros-
pered.

In 1890 Mr. Bischoff was united in
marriage with Miss Mary E. Funk, who was
born August 22, 1869, in Morton, Illinois,
and daughter of John and Christian Funk.
Her parents, dying when she was an infant,
left her in care of relati\es. with whom
she made her home until reaching' woman-
hood. She has a sister, Mrs. Christina Lu-
cas, who resides in Stonington, Illinois. ^Ir.

and Mrs. Bischoff have four children : Clar-
ence L., Ethel Alae, Lester Er and Irving F.,
all attending the district school with ex-
ception of the youngest. The parents are
active members and liberal supporters of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Bis-
choff is also a member of the Modern \\'ood-
men Camp of Fairbury and the Court of
Honor, in which later his wife is a member.
He has always been a stanch supporter of the
Republican party, but would never accept
office or hold any public position, preferring
that they should be given to men whom he
considers more worthy of them. He is,
however, public spirited and progressive and
gives his support to those measures which he
believes will prove of public benefit.

JA':\IES .\. CALDWELL.

Prominent among" the enterprising, ener-
getic and progressive business men of Ponti-
ac, Illinois, is the subject of this sketch, who
is now devoting his time and attention to
the real estate, insurance and abstract busi-
ness. He was born in Charleston, ^\'est
Virginia, March 22, 1831, a son of Joseph
and Mary Ann (Adams) Caldwell.

Joseph Caldwell, the progenitor of the
family in the L'nated States, emigrated
with his family from Derry, Ireland, m
1769, and settled in Sherman's \'alley.
Perry county, Pennsylvania. He was of
Scotch descent. About 1780 he moved
farther west, locating on Sewickley creek.
Pennsylvania. He had five children, of
whom Joseph, the eldest, was the great-
grandfather of our subject. The grandfa-
ther was James Caldwell, who was born in
Ireland, February 21, 1759, and was about

J. A. CALDWELL.

THE JUUGKAi'HlLAL RECORD.

ten years of age when lirouglit t(i America.
He married Sarah Byram. wlio was born
1 ehrn;ir\- i_^, 176,^ and was the eldest child
of Ell ward Byrani. At an early day her
father moved with his familv to the neigh-
borhood of Fort Pitt, now Pittsburg. Penn-
sylvania, and on the 7th of .\pril. 1779. dur-
ing the Revtjlutionary war, he and one
(laughter were captured by the Indians and
taken to Canada, where they remained in
ca])tivity for a year. The child was allowed
t'l ride with the Indians on horseback a
part (if the way. but Mr. Byram was com-
pelled to walk. In i7<So they were taken to
Montreal and later to Quebec, being in prison
a*^ lx)th places, and finally, in the spring of
1781. were transferred by boat with other
English prisoners through Eake Cham-
k plain and Lake (leorge, then down the Hud-
1 sen river and on to Morristown, Xew Jersey.
— their old home.

The Byram family is traced back to
Xicholas Byram, son of a gentleman of
jirominence in Kent county. England. He
was born in ]6[o. and as a boy was sent
ir. charge of an agent to a remote school,
but the agent t(3ok his g(jld and placed the
boy on l)(jard a ship to the West Indies,
where he was sold to pay his passage. Se-
creted in his clothes was some gold given
h.'m by his mother and with this he came
I 1 Massachusetts Bay in 1633 or 1634. He
settled in \\'eym(juth. Massachusetts. Ed-
ward Byram, previously mentioned, was
descended from John and Priscilla Alden
in the fifth generation. For a more extended
history of this family .see the book entitled
"Abby Byram and her Father, the Indian
Captives," published at Ottumwa. Iowa, in
i8(jS.

After his marriage James Caldwell, our
subject's grandfather, became a farmer of

Westmoreland county, Penn.sylvania. where
hfc spent his life, dying there July 1 1. 1847.
His wife passed away prior to 1833. He
was a zealous Christian, strong and positive
in his belief, and served as elder of the Se-
wickley Pre.sbyterian church for some j-ears.
Most of his sons adhered to that faith and
the father of our subject was educated for
the Presbyterian ministry. He was born
ii' Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in
1786, and was a student at the college in
Cannonsburg. that state, — the oldest college
west of the mountains. In early manhood
Ik removed to Charleston, West \'irginia,
where he embarked in merchandising, and
became one of the most prominent and suc-
cessful business men of the place. He mar-
ried Miss Mary ^\nn Adams, who was teach-
ip.g schiool in Tennessee at that time. She was
a nati\e of Weston. Massachusetts, and a
granddaughter of Alpheus Bigelow, who as
a Revolutionary soldier jjarticipated in the
battle of Concord. On both sides she was
descended from old Xew England families.
She was born in j8i i and died in i<S(jo, hav-
ing long survived her husband, who died at
Charleston in 1848. Of their eight children
who reached years of matin'ity our subject
if the oldest.

James A. Caldwell was about eighteen
years of age at the time of his father's death ;
he received a good academic education in his
native city and began his business career as
clerk in a drug store at Charleston, ^^'est
\'irginia. where he continued to make his
l.ome until 1865, covering the period of the
Civil war. There he engaged in business for
Inmself for a time. He first married, in
i860. Miss Jennie Harxey, of Springfield,
Ohio, a daughter of Captain John Harvey,
but she died in 1873, leaviup- two children,
one <-if whom, Jennie, is stiU Hving.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In July, 1865. Mr. Caldwell came to
Fontiac, Illinois, and embarked in the drug-
business on W^est Madison street in part-
nership witli John A. Fellows, under the
firm name of Fellows & Caldwell. They
continued in business tog-ether for some
3'ears and were finally succeeded by the firm
of Caldwell & McGregor, who for twenty-
five years carried on a most successful busi-
ness, theirs being by far the oldest drug- store
or business firm in the city. To their stock
of drugs and books they later added jewelry
and built up a good trade in that line. They
built the block on the northeast corner of
Mill and Madison streets, then the finest
business block in the city, and also bought
the opjxisite corner, and after selling the
front part improved the remainder of the
property. In 1895 the partnership was dis-
solved and Mr. Caldwell retired from the
drug trade. For about eighteen months he
conducted a grocery store, and since dis-
}X)sing of that has successfully engaged in
the insurance and real estate business, hand-
ling property for others as well as himself.
After the dissolution of the firm of Fellows
& Caldwell he bought lots 4 and 5 at the
corner of Madison and Plum streets, which
he subdivided into three business lots and
sold to different parties. About 1880, in
partnership with Mr. McGregor, he bought
twenty feet front on the corner where the
Sterry block now stands and sold it after-
ward to C. W. Sterry. At the time of pur-
chase it was covered with a two-storv busi-
ness house. Mr. Caldwell still owns six resi-
dences in the city and has » nice home at
the corner of Mill and Grove streets.

In September, 1874, Mv. Caldwell was
again married, his second union being with
Mrs. Lovina Hill, of Pontiac, a daughter of
G. E. Tibbets, who came here in 1866 from

]\faine, which was the birthplace of Mrs.
Caldwell. They are active members of the
]:'resb}terian church, in which our subject
is now serving as elder. Fie has been a
member of the official board many years and
was superintendent of the Sunday school
some time. He always supported the Dem-
ocratic party until the campaign of .1896,
but could not endorse the principles advo-
cated by the Chicago platform. He has made
an untarnished record and unspotted reputa-
tion as a liusiness man. In all ]3laces and
under all circumstances he is loyal to truth,
lionor and right, justly valuing his own
self-resiject as infinitely more preferable than
wealth, fame and position. His success has
been the result of honest, persistent effort
in the line of honorable and manly dealing.

GEORGE \\'. \\-0:\IELDORFF.

George \\'. \\"omeldorff, one of the high-
ly respected citizens and successful farmers
of Eppards Point township, residing on sec-
tion ^^, is a native of Illinois, born near
Tremont, Tazewell county, February 22,
1846. His father, Daniel Womeldorff, was
born in Gallia county, Ohio, in 1804, and
there married Miss Harriet X. Kerr, a na-
ti\-e of the same county and a daughter of
[Major John M. Kerr, an officer of the war
of 1812. After his marriage Mr. Womel-
dorff followed farming in Ohio until 1844,
when he came to Illinois and settled in Taze-
well county. For about four years he was
engaged in flat-boating down the ^Mississippi
to New Orleans, and then turned his atten-
tion to agricultural pursuits, having pur-
chased a claim in Tazewell county. Upon
that place he died in 1852. Subsequently

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

liis widow tiiok lier f'aniih' liack to Oliio.
locating in tlie old ncighl)orliood in Gallia
county.

There our subject grew to manhood and
attended the common schools. On the 25th
of March. 1863, at the age of seventeen
years, he joined the hoys in blue of the Civil
war. enlisting as a i)rivate in Company L,
Se\enth Ohio Cavalry, which was assigned
to the Army of the Tennessee, under com-
mand of General Sherman. He participated
in the battle of Stone River, the engage-
ments of the Atlanta campaign, and then
with his command went to the relief of Gen-
eral Thomas at Nashville. They were in
the battle of Franklin and followed Hood
to the Tennessee river. At (ira\ely Springs,
Alabama, Mr. \\'omcldiirff was severely
wounded, being shot in the left fore-arm and
left side and receiving a saber thrust in the
right leg and a scratch on the right shoulder.
He was sent to a hospital boat at Waterloo
on the Tennessee river, and fourteen days
later was taken to Jeffersonville, Indiana,
where he remained in the hospital until June
5, 1865, when honorably discharged from the
service, though his wounds did not heal for
nearly a year after his return home.

Mr. Wonieldorff then attended a select
school for nine months and engaged in farm-
ing in Ohio for a year, but in the fall of 1867
he returned to Tazewell count}'. Illinois, in
company with his mother, youngest brother
and sister. They drove the entire distance
and located in Treniont. For eighteen
months our subject was employed as over-
seer of a farm and in 1869 came to Livings-
ton county, operating a rented farm in Pike
township for three years, while his mother
and sister kept house for him.

In that township Mr. W'omeldorfY was
married, March 18. 1873, to Miss Maria C.

Beeks, a native of Pennsvhania and a daugh-
ter of J.imes n. r.ceks, wlio nio\ed to Mar-
shall county, Illinois, in 1853, and later to
Livingston county, but is now a resident of
Arkansas City, Kan.sas. Of the twelve chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Wonieldorff five
died in infancy. Those living are Eula,
wife of John \\". l-'arlcy, of E])])ards Point
township; Eugene, at home; Delia, wife of
x\lbert D. Hewitt, of Pontiac ; Gilbert, Min-
nie, Ethel and Bertel, all at home. Air.
Womeldorff's mother died at his home De-
cember j8, 1898, at the aihanced age of
eighty-four years.

Inir two years after his marriage our
suliject continued to engage in farming upon
rented land in Pike township, where he sub-
seciuently purchased a tract of eighty acres.
This he sold six years later and bought one
himdred acres in the same townshi]). u])on
which he also resided six years. ( )n dis-
posing of that property, in 1887, he Iiought
his present farm of two hundred acres on
section 33, Eppards Point township, to which
he has subsequently added a forty-acre tract.
He has made many useful and valuable im-
provements upon the place, and now has one
of the most desirable farms of its size in the
township. Starting out in life for himself
empty-handed, his career illustrates what can
be accomplished through industry, perse-
verance, good management ami a determina-
tion to succeed.

While with the army at Atlanta. Georgia,
in 1864, Mr. Wonieldorff cast his lirst pres-
idential vote for Lincoln and has since been
a stanch supporter of the Republican party.
He has served his fellow citizens as super-
visor and is now filling the office of town-
shi]) trustee. He has also been school di-
rector for thirteen years and president of his
district in both Pike and Eppards Point town-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ships. Religiously he and all his family,
with the exception of the youngest sun. are
members of the ^^lethodist Episcopal church
at Weston. McLean county, and take an ac-
tive part in church and Sunday school work.
He is a prominent member of the Grand
Army Post at Chenoa, in which he has
served as commander and is now vice-com-
mander. In times of peace as well as in war
he is recognized as a most patriotic and
useful citizen, and is held in high regard l)y
all with whom he comes in contact, either in
business or social life.

LESTER EDWIX KENT.

Lester Edwin Kent, a retired grain deal •
er and a prominent early settler of Pontiac,
was born in SuffieUl, Hartford county, Con-
necticut, August 1 8, 1834, a son of Edwin
and Huldah ( Tewett) Kent, also natives of
that state, his ancestors being among its
pioneers. The father was of English ex-
traction and of good Revolutionary stock.
He was a farmer of Suffield and a man of
considerable prominence in his community,
serving as selectman and road commissioner.
There both he and his wife died. She was
a consistent member of the Baptist church.

Our subject was educated in the common
schools and academy of his native town and
remained at home until he attained his ma-
jority. In 1855 he came west to Chicago,
Illinois, but first located in Kane county,
having a cousin living at Kaneville, where
he spent one year. In the fall of 1856 he
came to Pontiac and entered the employ of
Sidney A. Kent, a grain dealer and a very
prominent man, wlio recently died in Chi-
cago. While with him our subject became

thoroughly familiar with the grain busi-
ness in all its details, and in 1858 jjurchased
the elevator in Pontiac and embarked in the
business on his own account. The elevator
was located on the Chicago & Alton Rail-
road, which was then run by Governor Alat-
teson.

At that time grain was brought into Pon-
tiac from distances of twenty or twenty-five
miles, and as the wagons of the farmers
would not hold shelled corn jMr. Kent fur-
nished them with sacks. The elevators were
often more than full and sacks would be
piled up elsewhere like cord wood. It was
sometimes impossible to get box cars to ship
the grain and it had to be loaded on flat
cars. Mr. Kent soon became interested in
the grain business in other towns. He en-
larged the elevator at Fairbury, when that
place contained but one small house and
store and before the railroad was built. He
would drive over in the morning and back
again at night. He built the first elevator
at Odell, when it had but one store, and was
instrumental in building up the town, as
farmers bringing their grain to the elevator
wished to do their trading there. At Odell
the grain was shoveled into the cars at first.
Mr. Kent also built the first elevators at Cay-
uga and Blackstone, this county, where he
also engaged in the lumber business, and
for two vears shipped grain from Nevada,
but did not build there. In those days he
was the largest shipper on the Alton road,
and would load full trains at both Pontiac
and Blackstone : the road being short of cars
they would run a train in for him to load
immediately. He kept one man at Ocoya
and furnished employment to a number of
others most of the time. Most of his grain
was shipped to Chicago. For over twenty-
five years he continued to be at the head of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tlie grain trade in this county and gave liis
attention entirely to that l)usine.ss. He ad-
vanced nmney Hl)erally to farmers in need
of assistance when starting out. and was of
great help to I'ontiac in hringing trade here,
as well as to the other towns where he had
elevators.

Mr. Kent was also one of the original
stockholders of the Pontiac National Bank
and served as its vice-president fi^r a numher
of years. At one time he owned and op-
erated a distillery and was engaged in cat-
tle feeding. He went intc^ the fi^rnier husi-
ness to assist a man in difficult}', knowing
nothing of the business, and got into trouble
with the government, as the ta.xes were not
paid, but owing to his influence and it being
ascertained that the delinquency was prior
to his taking possession he was soon cleared.
He cld.sed the distillery, but fed cattle for
some years, doing a big business in that line.
shipping in cattle from Chicago.

Mr. Kent married Miss .Antoinette
Ciraves. of Joliet. and they ha\'e one daugh-
ter, Mary L.. wife of \ictor Pearre, of Pon-
tiac. by whom she has two children. William
I'ayson and Kent .\lden. He attends and
supports the Ejiiscopal church, of which his
family are meml)ers. .\bout 1865 he pur-
chased a half-block at Xo. 206 North Court,
opposite the park, which property he still
owns and occupies, it ha\ing been imjiroved
by him. In 1894 he retired from acti\e busi-
ness and is now enjoying a well earned rest.

Socially Mr. Kent is a member of Pon-
tiac lodge. Xo. J(j4. V. & .\. M.. and be-
longs to the chapter, council and St. Paul's
Commandery. all of Fairbury. He has al-
ways affiliated with the Republican party,
casting his first presidential vote for l-'re-
mont in 1856. He served as alderman from
the second ward for four years and was in-

strumental in getting seventy-five car-loads
of stone put into the street from the court
hou.se to the depot and also a sidewalk
around the court house square. Having
shipped .so much o\er the Chicago & Alton
road he got Mr. Chappel to ship the stone
free of freight charges. This stone made an
excellent foundation for the city streets. He
has taken an acti\-e interest in promoting
the welfare of the town and county, en-
couraging and aiding all enterprises tending
tcj benefit the i)ublic. and enjoys in a high
degree the confidence and esteem of his fel-
low men.

LEOXARl) \\"1:BF.R.

Leonard ^^'eber, a representative agri-
culturist of Pike township, residing on sec-
lion 10. has made his home in Livingston
county since 1869 and has taken an active
part in its de\'elopment. He was born in
Xew York February 2, 1850, and is a son
of ( "leorge Weber, w ho was l)orn in Wurtem-
burg, CJermany, about 1822. and emigrated
to the L'nited States when a young man,
locating near L'tica, Xew York, where he
married Sophia Horner, also a native of
Wurtemburg. Her father died in Germany
and she came to America at the .same time
as her future husband. In this country Mr.
Weber worked for others and also engaged
in teaming in Xew York for some years,
three of his children having been born in
that state, but in 1856 he came to Illinois
and first settled in Woodford county, where
he engaged in farming on rented land for
several years. At length he was able to pur-
chase a small place in the southern part of
the county, and on disposing of the same,
in 1869, he bought a farm of one hundred

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and sixty acres in Pike township. Livings-
ton county, which at that time was but sHght-
ly improved. After operating it for several
years he sold and bough.t another place in
Pike townsliip, which he subsequently dis-
posed of, and now makes his home in Pon-
tiac township, where he owns a \-aIuable
farm of three hundred and twenty acres.

The subject of this sketch was a lad of
six years when he came to this state, and in
Woodford and Livingston counties he grew
to manhood, his education being acquired in
the public schools near his home. He re-
mained with his father until he attained his
majority, and then rented a farm on section
3. Pike township, where he engaged in farm-
ing for about six years. Mr. ^^'ebcr was
married in this county. April 2. 1878, to
Miss Barbara Fischer, a native of W'oixlford
county. Illinois, and a daughter of Joseph
Fischer, a substantial farmer of Pike town-
ship, Livingston county, who was formerly
a resident of Woodford county and was born
in Germany. Mrs. Weber was reared and
educated in this ci^unty. Our subject and
his wife Iia\e a family of three children :
Barbara S.. Joseph G. ami Leonard F.. all
at home.

After his marriage ]\lr. \\'eber contin-
ued to engage in farming upon rented land
for about five years. He rented his present
farm of one hundred and si.xty acres on sec-
tion 10, Pike township, for two years and
then purchased the place, to the further im-
pr6vement and cultivation of which he has
since devoted his energies. In his farming
operations he is meeting with marked suc-
cess and the prosperity that has come to him
is certainly justly merited, for it is due en-
tirely to his own unaided efforts and good
management. Politically Mr. \\'eber is
identified with the Democratic party on na-

tional issues, but at local elections votes for
the men whom he believes best qualified to
fill the offices regardless of party lines. For
three years he ser\-ed as school director. l)ut
has never cared for political honors. Re-
ligiously both he and jiis wife are members
of the Evangelical church of Eppards Point.

EDWWRD O. REED.

Edward O. Reed, who for several years
lias been prominently identified with the
public afi^airs of Livingston county, and is
now most acceptably serving as count}" treas-
urer, Avas born in Bloomington, Illinois. June
12, i860, a son of Captain Henry B. and
Esther (Beck) Reed. The father is a native
of Pennsylvania, born near Pottsville,
Schuylkill county, January 29, 1833, and
there grew to manhood and married. In
early life he learned the shoemaker's trade,
which he followed prior to the Civil war.
On coming to Illinois, he settled in Xaper-
ville, later spent a short time in Joliet. and
then mc^ved to Bloomington. In the fall
of i860 he came to Pontiac, where he was
engaged in the shoe business mitil the follow-
ing spring, when he enlisted in Compan}- D,
Twentieth Illinois \^olunteer Infantry, with
which he served initil after the Ijattle of
Shiloh. On the field at Fort Donelson, he
was promoted for gallant service to the rank
of second lieutenant, and our subject now
has in his possession a reward of merit is-
sued bv (iovernor Yates. His term of en-
listment having expired. Lieutenant Reed
returned home. \Miile being paid off at St.
Louis, the paymaster told the government
needed such men as he and suggested that
he see Governor Yates. This he failed to

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

do, but tlie Go\ernor sent for liini aiul asked
him to help recruit three companies in tliis
part of tlie state. He helped recruit five,
and again went to tlie front as captain of
Company G. One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth Illinois A'olunteer Infantry. He was
with Sherman on the march to the sea and
remained in the service until the close of the
war. participating in the grand review at
\\'ashingt<)n. District of Columbia. Re-
turning to his liome in Pontiac. he resumed
the shoe business, which he carried on un-
til appointed by Governor Oglesby as custo-
dian of memorial hall in the state house at
Springfield, and served four years at that
time, being the first in the new hall and at-
tending to the arranging of all the flags,
etc. He proved a most capable official and
\\as re-apijohited by Governor Fifer. He
is an honored member and commander of T.
Lytle Dickey Post, G. A. R.. also belongs to
Pontiac Lodge. Xo. 294. F. & A. 'SI., and
both lie and his wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. He is now liv-
ing a retired life in Pontiac. A nmre e.x-
tended mention of this worthy gentleman
may be fnuntl on another page of this vol-
ume.

Our subject was educated -in the public
schools of Pontiac, and during his youth
served an apjirenticeship to the cigarmaker's
trade, at which he worked until twenty-seven
years of age. when he formed a partnershij)
with John C. Riess, luider the firm name of
Reed & Riess, and started a manufactory of
tlieir own, which they still conduct. They
have met with marked success in the under-
taking and furnish employment to six or
eight men. Mr. Reed built up the trade as
a traveling man. but the firm now sells their
goods mainly to home consumers, in this
county. He owns a good store building and

a fine residence on South Mill street, where
he makes his home. He was married, De-
cember 15. 1897. to Miss Eunice Stott, a
daughter of John Martin Stott, of Chicago,
and they have one daughter, Esther.

Since attaining his majority Mr. Reed
has been an ardent Republican in politics
and has taken a prominent and influential
part in public affairs. He was serving as
alderman from the third ward when the
water works were put in and the sewer sys-
tem adojued. the city being bonded to put in
the sewers. Before his term expired he was
elected assistant supervisor and was a mem-
ber of the finance committee that found the
ways and means by wiiich the county could
build the new court house, the contract being
let to a contractor providing he would take
the county warrants. It was built at a cost
of sixty tiiousand dollars and is one of the
finest in tliis section of the state. In the
fall of 1894, before his time as assistant
supervisor expired, Mr. Reed was elected
county sheriff and entered uixjn the duties
of the (itfice in December, that year. That
he filled the position in a most creditable and
satisfactory manner is shown by his being
elected county treasurer prior to the expira-
tion of his term as sherifi^. taking the office
of treasurer the day he left the other ofiice.
\\'hen the auditing committee of the county
checkeil up his four years as sheriff they
found that the ct)unty was sixty dollars in
his debt instead of their being deficiency.
He was a member of the Sheriff's Associa-
tion of the state. He is now supervisor of
assessment of the county, which makes his
position a very large and res]xinsible one,
and he handles over one hundred and fifty
thousantl dollars a year. His oflicial duties
have always been discharged with a fidelity
and promptness worthy of the highest com-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mendation.and he has proved a most popular
and efficient officer. Mr. Reed is now, in
1900, chairman of the RepubHcan central
committee of Livingston county, and the
party organization will, under his adminis-
tration, he kept intact, and the full \'ote nf
the part}- Ije pulled. Fraternally he is a
member of Pontiac Lodge. Xo. 294. F. & A.
M. ; Fairbury Chapter, R. A. M. ; the Council
R. & S. M., of Gibson City; and St. Paul
Commandery, No. 34, K. T., of Fairbury.
He also belongs to a number of mutual or-
ders, including the Modern ^^'oodmen of
America.

MRS. MARIA 0\\EX.

]\Irs. Maria Owen, who now has the dis-
tinction of having been a resident of Ponti-
a': longer than any other of its citizens, came
h.ere with her husband in 1842. She has
■witnessed almost the entire development of
the county, has seen its wild lands trans-
fr.rmed into beautiful homes and farms, its
hamlets grow into ^•illages and tln-iving
towns anfl all of the interests and evidences
of an advanced civilization introduced.

^Irs. Owen was born Januar\- lO. 18 12.
in X'ew York, fourteen miles from Lake
Ontario, and is a daughter of Starks and
Esther (Gilbert) Tracy. The father was
a native of Sharon, New York, born April
3. 1778, and an early settler of Oswego coun-
t\. where he bought land prior to his mar-
riage and there continued to make his home
throughout life. He was a farmer by oc-
cupation and one of the highly respected
men of his community. His estimable wife
v,as a member of the Congregational church.
I;(.th (lied in Oswego county. New York.
Mrs. Owen"s maternal grandfather was

Allen Gilbert, a soldier of the Revolutionarv
w<,r, who was severely wounded in the head
and left for dead on the battle-field, but was
found and cared for mitil he recovered. At
an early day he removed from Schoharie
county. New York, to Oswego county, where
his daughter, Mrs. Tracy, was liorn August
-3- 1793- He, too, was a farmer and a
prominent man in his community.

In 1840 Mrs. Owen married Augustins
Fellows, who, with his 1)rother, owned a large
farm in Oswego county. New York, but in
1842 he sold his interest in the same and
purchased property in Pontiac, Illinois,
whither the famil)- remo\-e(l in the fall of
that year. The trip was made liv wav of
the great lakes and W'elland canal in a small
propeller to Chicago, and the}- l)rought with
them all their household effects, which were
conveyed from that city to Ottawa, Illinois,
by teamsters who were returning to the
latter place, where Mr. Fellows had a sister
living. There teams were hired to convev
the family and their effects to their new home
in Pontiac. A farm of two hundred acres
and a number of town lots belonged to the
estate they had traded for before coming
west, so that they practically owned all of the
jiresent city at that time. There were onl}'
three families living there, and the build-
ings of the town consisted of a small frame
house and the court house. Lpon the farm,
v.liich adioined the A-illage on the east was
a good two-room log house, with large fire
places in both rooms, making it ])erfectly
comfortable.

Selling his town lots, Air. Fellciws turned
his attention to the improvement and culti-
\ ation of his farm and met \N-ith success in
its operation. ( )n the lot now occupietl b}-
Squire \\'oodrow's residence he Iniilt the
lirst large hotel in Pontiac in 1847, '*''"i '^^'^'^

ELIJAH B. OWEN.

MRS. MARIA OWEN.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a laro^e liarii. In 1848 they rented tlie hotel
iiiid that summer returned east t)n a visit.
but in 1849 took chargfe i)f the property.
While thus employed Mr. Fellows died of
cholera in the summer of 1849. ^"d ^^^'^ '^*
their children, aged seven and two years,
respectively, died of the same dread disease.
Having lost their three other children prior
to this time. Mrs. Fellows was thus left
alone. For over a year she carried on the
hotel and farm, hut found it a very difficult
task.

In the fall of 1850 she married Xelson
Buck, a surveyor and nurseryman of Bloom-
ington, where he was engaged in business
for some years. For several years they
conducted the hotel and also the farm, and
their place became the leading hostelry in
this section. In those early days before the
railroad was built drovers often stopped at
their house in large numl)ers. One man
v.onld come in an hour in advance of the rest,
.saying that twelve or fourteen men would
be there for supper. They also had a large
barn for the teams of the manv movers pass-
ing through this part of the state at that
tmie. In the spring of 1854. when the Chi-
cago S: Alton Railroad was built, they
boarded the construction hands and did an
extensive business. Mrs. Owen has. enter-
tained .\braham Lincoln, Judge David
Davis and other illustrious men. Her hus-
band received api^ointment to conduct the
j;overnment survey between Kansas and Xe-
1 raska. and while thus engaged he and his
l>arty were killed by the Indians in July,
T86g. Thus she \vas again left alone with a
h'Tge pri)pertv to care for. including the
farm, hotel and city lots. Mr. Buck had
three children by his first marriage, namely :
W'illard. a soldier of the Civil war, who is
now living in Wisconsin : Clarissa, deceased ;

and Cordelia, widow of William Watson
and a resident of Pontiac.

.\t intervals Mrs. Owen continued to
conduct her hotel for many years, it being
rented in the meantime. She made her
l-.ome on Water street until 1899. when her
present elegant home on North Main street
was built. It is supplied with all modern
conveniences and accessories, including elec-
tric light, hot water, etc.. and here, sur-
rounded bv every comfort, she is spending
her declining days, loved and respected by
all who know her. Her youngest sister,
Marv (].. was also one of the pioneers of the
county, locatin? here about the same time as
Mrs. Owen, and her home was two miles
li]) the river. Her first husband was Mr.
Burgett, her second Mr. Fricks and her third
Mr. Winslow. .\fter her last marriage she
lived f>n a farm two miles from Pontiac. but
spent her last days in the city, dying at the
home of Mrs. Owen February 16. 1900.

For her third husband our subject mar-
ried Elijah Owen, who came from near El-
n-.j-a. Chemung county. New York, and dur-
ing his active business career engaged in
farming but later lived retired in Pontiac.
Mr. Buck laid off two additions from her
original farm and Mr. Owen laid off the re-
n'.ainder. the additions being known as
Buck's first and second additions and Owen's
addition. Her name appears on many of
the deeds of this place. She was one of
the original stockholders of both of the na-
tional banks of Pontiac and has displayed
remarkable business and e.xecutive aliility in
tl.e management of her business affairs.
She united with the Presbyterian church in
Pont'ac on its organization, and has since
been one of its active and prominent mem-
bers. When she first located here the only
religious services were prayer meetings held

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in the cmirt liouse on Sundays, l.nit as soon
as the raih'oad was Iniilt churclies were
erected, and to their erection and support
she lias alwa^'s contrilxited liberally. She
is a most estimable ladv of many sterling
qualities, and has a large circle of friends in
the city which has so long: been her home.

LOUIS A. XAFFZIGER.

Louis A. Xaffziger. the popular cashier
of the Bank of Dwight, has won the enyiable
reputation as a most capable financier and
occupies a position of no little prominence
in connection with the public affairs of the
town. His life demonstrates what may be
accomplished through energy, careful man-
agement, keen foresight, and the utilization
of the powers with which nature has en-
dowed one. and the opportunities with which
the times surround him.

^Ir. NaiTziger is proud to claim Illinois
as his natiye state, his birth occurring in
McLean county, !March 31, i860. His fa-
ther, Peter NafTziger, was born in Darm-
stadt, Germany, March 4, 1831, and there
he remained until reaching his majority,
when he came to America and located first
iiL McLean county on a farm, later went to
Butler county, Ohio, where he worked on a
farm, the next year remo\'ing to Chicago,
where he worked at his trade of baker for a
time. \\ hen his parents came to America
lie remo\ed with them to Putnam county,
later remo\'ing to McLean county. At the
age of twenty-eight he was married in ^Ic-
Lean county, Ilinois, to Miss Catherine
Stuckey, who was born in Hamilton county,
Ohio, August 30, 1840. Her father, Peter

Stuckey, was born in Switzerland in August,
1799, and died February 23, i860. In 1821.
he married Elizabeth Sommers, who was
born oyember 24, 1801, in Alsace-Loraine,
and in 1830 they emigrated to the United
States and located in Butler county, Ohio,
where they resided twenty years. In Octo-
ber, 1850, they remoyed to McLean county,
Illinois, and took up their residence in Dan-
vers township. Mrs. Stuckey died in 1885
in Pike to^ynship, Liyingston county.

After his marriage Peter Xafifziger en-
gaged in farming in McLean county until
1869, when he came to Waldo township,
Liyingston county, and purchased a tract
of raw land, which he commenced imme-
diately to improye and cultivate, conyerting
it into a fine farm, on which he lived for
many years. In 1876 he mo-\-ed to Wash-
ington, Illinois, where he was engaged in
mercantile business for a few years, and
later followed the same pursuit in Stanford,
Illinois, until 1896, when he went to Slaugh-
ter, East Felician Parish, Louisiana, where
he is now engaged in cotton planting. Of his
four children, Louis A., our subject, is the
oldest ; Emilc died at the age of nine years,
the result of an accident: Bertha is the wife
of George L. Riggs,a farmer and stock raiser
of Botna, Iowa, and one son died in infancy.

Christian Xaffziger, the paternal grand-
father of our subject, was born in Darm-
stadt, Germany, January 17, 1803, and came
to this cinuitry, locating in Putnam county,
later moving to McLean county, Illinois,
dying there March 8, 1893. His wife, who
bore the maiden name of Barbara Staley,
was born January 22, 1805, and died Feb-
ruary 19, 1898.

Louis A. Xaffziger, our subject, re-
received his primary education in the public
schools of McLean county, and later at-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

103

tended tlie high school of \\'ashington, Illi-
nois, at the same time clerking in a cloth-
ing store mornings and evenings, and stead-
ily through the summer months. Leaving
school at the age of sixteen, he continueil
to clerk in the clothing store of John Burkey
lor one year, and then entered the dry goods
establishment of E. E. Hornish as clerk and
bookkeeper, remaining with him in that ca-
pacity for three years. In the spring of
1880 A. G. Danforth, of the banking firm
of A. G. Danforth & Company, of Wash-
ington, Illinois, made Mr. Xaffziger a prop-
osition to enter the bank as bookkeeper and
assistant cashier, which he accepted, remain-
ing with him three years. At the end of
that time, March 15, 1883. he accepted a po-
sition with David McW illiams of the Bank
of Dwight as l>5okkeeper and assistant cash-
ier, and in the fall of that year, when the
atshier, J. \\'. \\'atkins, resigned, he was
appointed to that position, which he has
^ince so efficiently filled. In September,
1 89 1, he built his present pleasant home on
the corner of Seminole and Clinton streets,
and besides this property he owns a well
improved farm of one hundred and sixty
acres in section 2, Broughton township. Liv-
ingston county, and also some western lands.
On the 1st of June, i88j, Mr. Xalifziger
\\as united in marriage with Miss M. Car-
rie Hukill, of Washington, Tazewell county,
Illinois, who was born in McLean county,
a daughter of Jackson and Maria (Kern J
Hukill. Her father was born in Fayette
county, Ohio, October 12, 1823. and for a
number of years was a traveling salesman,
representing a school furniture company of
Wabash, Indiana. In early days he also en-
gaged in mercantile business in Lincoln,
Illinois. He died July 2~. 1893, '^""^ '^'*

v, ife. who was born in Mount Pleasant,
Pennsylvania, December 28. 1829. is still
living and continues to make her home in
Washington, Illinois. Their children were
James H., M. Carrie, Ida Belle and Grace.
The last named is deceased. Mr. and Mrs.
XatYziger have two children : Clara, born
June II, 1883, and Oliver Hukill, born Oc-
tober 29, 1887. The former is attending
the high school, the latter tlie grammar
schools of Dwight.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Xaflfziger are active
members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
of which he has been an official member for
ten years, serving as sui^erintendent of the
Sunday school two years; one of the lx)ard
of stewards at the present time, and chair-
man of the finance committee of the church.
As a Republican, he has taken an active
and prominent part in local politics since
attaining his maority, and was secretary of
the Republican club of Dwight during tiie
McKinley campaign of 1896. His first of-
fice was that of village clerk, and he was
afterward appointed village treasurer, uliich
pxjsition he filled two years. During the
boom of the town a sewerage sxslem, cost-
ing over twenty-eight thousand dollars, was
lilt in, and Mr. Xaftziger was appointed col-
lector of special assessment by ci.e president
of the village board. He was electe/l trus-
tee of the village aiid scrvcf". m tliat capacity
two years; was appointed township treasurer
and held that office si.x years. In all the re-
lations of life he has been found true to
every trust reposed in him, whether public or
private, and is numbered among ihe valued
and useful citizens of Dwight, for he is pre-
eminently public spirited and pii;gressive,
and takes an active interest in the enterprises
tending to public develiij)ment.

I04

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

AUGUSTUS \\". CO\\'AN.

Augustus ^^'. Cowan, who is now suc-
cessfully engaged in the abstract business
in Pontiac, with office at No. io8 West
A\'ashington street, was born near Water-
town, New York, October 14, 1837, a son
of William and Emeline (Coffeen) Cowan,
also natives of the Empire state. For S9me
years the father was engaged in business
as a tinsmith and hardware merchant, in
Watertown, but died in Naples, New York,
in 1 85 1, at about the age of forty-eight
years, our subjects maternal grandparents
were Henry Dale and Delight (Whitney)
Coffeen. Througliout life the former en-
gaged in farming near Watertown, in
Jefiferson county. New York, and was a
term as sheriff of that county. The
paternal grandparents of our subject
were Andrew and Eujjhemia (Kelly)
Cowan, natives of Scotland, who came 'to
the United States in 1797, and settled in
Schenectady, New York, where they made
their home throughout the remainder oi their
lives. On leaving their nati\'e land the fol-
lowing testimonials \\ere given them :

"Wegtown, 25th March, 1797.
"That Andrew Cowan and his wife Eu-
]>hemia Kelly are members of the Associate
Congregation here and now remove from
this country to North America with un-
blemished characters is attested by

Theo. Ogil\'ie. Minister.

"We. the magistrates of the borough of
Wegtown. North Britain, hereby certify and
declare that the bearer Mr. Andrew Cowan
has resided in this borough since his infancy
and lias always maintained an unexception-
able character for honesty and sobriety, and
being about to depart fur Xdrtli .\merica
with his wife and children, also of good

character, ought to meet with no molestation
or hindrance, lie continuing to beha\'e as
becometh.

"Given under our hand and the common
seal of the borough this 25th day of March,
1797 year.

John Nathom,
(Seal) James Hem mag.

Appended by

\\'m. \\'. Connels,

Town Clerk.

The suliject of this sketch remained in
^^'atertown until eighteen years of age, and
was educated at the Jefferson County Insti-
tute. He came west in 1854 and the follow-
ing year took up his residence in Pontiac,
where he clerked in a general store for some
years. He then formed a partnership with
Judge Jonathan Duff in the banking and
real-estate business, conducting it with such
success that in a few years the firm had
gathered together a considerable fortune, ir.-
\'ested mainly in lands in this section. In
1870 tlie partnership was dissoh'ed. Al-
though the business relations were discontin-
ued there still remained such warm personal
feeling as exists between brothers and the
closest friends, until the Judge's death in

1 88 1. Bound together by ties not only of
personal friendship but that of political affin-
ity and the brotherhood of secret societies,
the two memjjers of the firm were regarded
as almost members of one family, and it
was natural that the lix'ing memlier of the
firm should be deeply affected at the depart-
ure of one he loved so well. Mr. Cow-an
continued in the real-estate business until

1882, when he was elected county treasurer
and for four years held that office, discharg-
ing its duties in a commendable and satis-
factory manner. Since 1889 he has been
owner of the Livingston county title ab-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

105

stracts and has devoted his time and atten-
tion to that husiness. meetiiiij with good
success.

At Rome. Xew York, .\ugust 21. 1867,
was celeltrated tlie marriage of Mr. Cowan
and Miss Mary H. P. Christian, a daughter
of Lutlier and Margaret (George) Cliristian,
natives of tliat state. Tiie uKither died in
Rome, in 1868, after whicli the fatlier lived
v,ith our subject for some time, but died at
tlie home of his son in Port Erie, Canada,
in 1 87 1. Tlirougliout liis active business
life he engaged in blacksmithing. !Mr. and
^Irs. Cowan have one child, Emeline, who
was born in Pontiac, in 1872. and is at home.
The family all attend the Episcopal church,
and Mr. Cowan is connected with Pontiac
Lodge, No. 294, F. & A. M.. and the higher
urders of Masonry, belonging to the Com-
niandery at Bloomington. L"ntil 1896 he
always affiliated with the Democratic party,
and besides serving as county treasurer he
has been called upon to fill several minor
offices in his township and city. He has
always taken a deep interest in public affairs,
as every true American citizen sliould, and
gives a hearty support to those enterprises
which he lielieves will prove of public benefit.

JOB FARLEY.

Job Farley, deceased, was for many
years one of the leading agriculturists of
Eppards Point township, a man honored
and respected wherever known. He was
born in \\'iltshire, England, September 16,
1829, and a son of Xias and Mary (Sell-
wood) Farley, both natives of the southern
l>art of England. They lived as farming

l-eople in tiiat country tlirougliout their en-
tire lives, botli dying at about the age of
sixty-five years.

Our cul)ject was reared and educated at
the place of his birth, and before coming to
America he was a member of the London
police force two years, and the force at
Shaftsbury one year. It was in 1859 that he
crossed the board Atlantic and came at once
to Illinois, settling first near Oneida, Knox
county, where he commenced farming, an
occupation he continued to follow until life's
labors were ended. After seven years spent
in Kno.K county, he removed to Henry couii-
t}', where fifteen years were passed, and in
1883 came to Livingston county, locating on
section 28, Eppards Point township. In
1875 he purchased one hundred and sixty
acres on this section, and in 1882 eighty
acres more, to which he added from time to
time until at his death he was the owner of
five eighty-acre tracts, with the exception
of one acre used for school purposes, all un-
der a high state of cultivation and a com-
fortable house on each farm. These were
purchased and improved with the view of
providing homes for his children.

On the 14th of April, 1863, in Knox-
ville, Knox county, Illinois, Mr. Farley mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth ^\'alker, a daughter of
James and Mary (Smith) Walker, also na-
tives of Leeds, Yorkshire, England, where
lier father, a machinist by trade, died at the
age of thirty-six years when Mrs. Farley was
only eleven years old. Her mother had
died eight years previous. She came to the
L'nited States in 1855, when nineteen years
old, and lived with her uncle and aunt, John
and Mary Else, in Truro township, Knox
county, Illinois, until her marriage. Mr.
Else, who was a farmer by occupation, died
in Peoria in 1882, after which his wife made

io6

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lier Imme with ]\Ir. and ]\Ii"s. Farley, where
slie (ht'd Februar}- ii, 1900.

Oi the se\'en children liorn to our snb-
ject and his wife live are still living, namely :
( I ) Ilia, born in Knok county, March 27,
1864, is the wife of Edward Folsom, a far-
mer of Eppards Point, and they have one
child, Edith. (2) Onias W., born in Knox
count}-, July 3, 1865, married Lizzie
A.rendts, and until recently was engaged in
farming, but is now living in Pontiac.
(3) Mary, born in Knox county, August 12,
1867, is the wife of Charles Mofifett, a far-
mer of Eppards Point township, and they
have three children, Lela Heath, Merton J-
and Harold. (4) Anna S., born in Henry
county, May 28, 1869, is the wife of Sher-
man Myer, also a farmer of Eppards Point
township, and to them were born five chil-
dren, three of whom are now living, Maud
M., Glenn and Lee C. (5) John J., burn in
Henry county, ]\Iay :i, 1872, died January
26, 1874. (6) Arthur J., born January 7,
1S74, married Anna Earhardt, and follows
farming in Eppards Point. (7} The young-
est child died in infancy minamed.

Mr. Farley died at his home in Eppards
Point township, January 9, 1895, after an
illness of about six months, though he had
been a sufferer from dropsy for twenty
years and was often in great pain. The fu-
neral was held at his home and the services
were conducted by Rev. Hussey, assisted
by Rev. Hobbs. The remains were interred
in Payne's cemetery. In his religious belief
Mr. Farley was an Episcopalian, and in po-
litical sentiment was a Democrat. Though
he never sought office, he was called upon to
serve as township commissioner in Henry
county for nine years and also as school di-
rector. He was a hard working and indus-
trious man, strictly upright and honorable

in all his dealings and one who made many
friends and no enemies. He was a dtvoted
husband and father and took great delight
in his home and children. He accumulated
considerable wealtli and was able to leave
his family in comfortable circumstances.
Since her husband's death I\Irs. Farle}' has
moved to Pontiac and purchased a pleasant
home at Xo. 506 South Vermilion street,
where she now resides. She is a most esti-
mable lady, highly respected by all who
know her.

ANDREW J. HOOBLER.

Andrew J. Hoobler, who is now living
a retired life in Streator, Illinois, was
for many years actively identified with the
business interests of Livingston county, and
was one of its honored and representative
citizens. He is a native of Indiana, born
in \'ermillion county, in October, iSj7, and
there grew to manhood. His father, John
Hoobler, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1801,
of old Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and was
one of the pioneer farmers of Vermillion
county, Indiana. In 1853 ^''^ came to Liv-
ingston county, Illinois, and entered about
fourteen hundred acres of land in Newton
township, becoming one of the large land
owners of the county in his day. Here he
continue<.l to make his home throughout the
remaintler of his life, dying in 1885. He
was elected a representative to the legisla-
ture on the Whig ticket and filled that posi-
tion one term. He was one of the pioneer
United Brethren circuit riders and rode the
state over at one time. He established the
church of that denomination in his township,
and spent most of his means in founding
churches throughout Illinois, being prac-
ticallv the father of them all.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

107

Upon tlie lionie farm Andrew J- Hoobler
grew to nianli<ii)(l. receiving the usual edu-
cational advantages of the tlay. He married
Miss Sarah Leonard, a daughter of Dexter
and Elizabeth Leonard, natives of Massa-
chusetts and early settlers of this county,
'i hree children were born of this union,
namely: Mrs. Fanny Syphers of Cornell,
Illinois; Wilder, of Manville, this county,
and Erastus, the present popular circuit
clerk, whose sketch appears on another page
of this volume.

Mr. Hoobler purchased a farm in Xew-
ti 'wn township, but after operating it for a
few years he turned his attention to mer-
cantile business, conducting a store in what
is now Manville (,t!ien the village of New-
town) for some seventeen or eighteen years.
He met with marked success in the enter-
prise, and finally retired from business, turn-
ing it over to his sons. Moving to Streator
ht has since lived retired. He is well known
throughout Livingston county, and has the
confidence and respect of all with whom he
has come in contact either in business or so-
cial life.

JOIIX M. FIX LEV.

John M. Finley, a successful farmer
lid honored citizen of Pontiac township,
' wns and oiierates a well-improved and
valuable farm of two hundred and forty
acres on sections 3 and 4, three ami tliree-
i|uarters miles north of the city of Pontiac.
i le is a native of Ohio, born in Delaware
ounty, November 25, 1831, and is a son of
Robert Finley, who was born in Virginia in
1801. The family is of Irish origin and
was founded in the Old Dominion at an early
day. Our subject's ])aternal grand fathi-r was

Jiihn Finley. a soldier nf the Revolutionary
war. who removed from \'irginia to Ohio
and opened up a farm in Delaware coiuu}'.
There Robert Finley grew to manhood and
married Elizabeth Riley, who was born in
Pennsylvania of German ancestry. Her
father, Joseph Riley, was a native of Ger-
many, and when a child came to America.
The vessel on whic he sailed was wrecked
and his parents were drowned. He was then
taken to the home of strangers and readed
by them, at the same time adopting their
name. For a few years after his marriage
Robert Finley engaged in farming in Ohio,
and in 1837 came to Illinois, locating on
the Fox river, near St. Charles, Kane conty,
where he opened up a farm and spent his re-
maining years, dying there in 1886, at the
ripe old age of seventy-five years. His wife
had passed away two years previously at the
age of sixty-nine years.

Our subject was about six years of age
v.hen brought by his parents to this state,
and in Kane county he grew to manhood.
He attended the common schools, but is
mostly self-educated, haing always been a
great reader, and is to-day a well-informed
man. On leaving home in 1854 he came to
Livingston county, where he and his brother
Joseph had purchased land in 1852 and
ii^^;^, and after locating thereon they oper-
ated it together until 1 861.

On the 2ist of November, 1861, in this
county, ^Ir. Finley married Miss Frances
E. McDougall, a native of New Vork, and
a daughter of Robert and Christiana ^Ic-
Dougall, who came from that stale to Illi-
nois about 1850 and settled in La Salie coun-
ty, where her father died in 1857. Her
mother is still living in California at the age
of eighty-two. ^Irs. Finley was jiricipally
reared in that count v. To our >i'')iect and

io8

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his wife were l)orn two cliildren : ^larian
E., who was educated at the lontiac high
school and Dixon College, and has success-
fully engaged in teaching in this county,
but is now at home with her parents, and
Orilla Eloise, wife of Warren Collins, who
operates a part of the Finley homestead.

Mr. and i\Irs. Finley began their do-
mestic life upon his present farm. He has
since erected a neat and substantial resi-
dence, good barns and other outbuildings,
has tilled the place and set out fruit and
ornamental trees, so that it is now one of
the best improved farms in the localit}'. In
connection with general farming he has en-
gaged in raising and feeding stock of a go :J
grade, and in all his undertakings he has
met with excellent success, becoming quite
well to do. He and his brother had little
means on locating here, but being indus-
trious, persevering and ambitious, his labors
were soon crowned with success. As a pab-
lic spirited citizen he takes a deep and com-
mendable interest in public affairs and gives
his support to those enterprises wh.ich he be-
lieves will advance the general welfare.
Originally, he was a staunch Republican in
politics and cast his fir^t presidential vote
for John C. Fremont in iS_v'', continuing
to affiliate with that party until JS96, when
he voted for \\\ J. Bryan and free sdver.
He has been a delegate to riunicrous con-
\entions, and for a quarter of a century has
been an efficient member of the school board,
but cares nothing for political preferment.

APOLLOS CAMP.

Apollos Camp, deceased, was fur o\-er
forty years prominently identified with the
agricultural and business interests of Li\-

ingst(in county, and was justly numbered
among her honored pioneers and leading
citizens, having located here in the spring of
185 1. He was born in Thomaston (then
Plymouth Hollow), Connecticut, March 19.
1806, and was a son of Ephraim Camp, a
Revolutionary hero, who was born in 1750
and sjjcnt his entire life in Connecticut,
Mhere he owned and operated a mill. Our
suljject grew to manhood in his nati\e place
and there learned the stone mason's trade in
early life.

There 'Sir. Camp married Miss Nancy
Thomas, a niece of Seth Thomas, the noted
clockmaker, by whom our subject was em-
ployed as superintendent of his outdoor
work for some time, and lived upon Sir.
Thomas' large farm for eighteen years. His
health failing. Sh. Camp purchased a farm
near bv and for three years devoted his at-
tention to agricultural pursuits.

In the spring of 1851 Mr. Camp came to
Livingston county, Illinois, and located lanil
in Sunbury township, but the family did
not come tnitil one year later, when the trip
to this state was made by water. In the fall
of 1852 he moved to Esmen township, his
first home in Illinois, where he took up a sec-
tion of land, though he still continued to
own a three-hundred-and-twenty-acre tract
ii' Sunbury township. He built the best
house in Esmen township at that time. His
nearest neighbor was then three miles away,
and if he required anything such as black-
smithing or a supply of groceries he had to
go to Ottawa, fordinp- all the streams antl
taking two days to make the trip, so sparsely
was the country settled at that time, so few
miprovements having been made and so few
towns estal)lished. Mr. Camp continued t<i
reside upon his farm until 1876. when he
remox'ed ti3 Pontiac. but went dav after day

APOLLOS CAMP.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ti- his farm until past eighty years of age.
He added to his landed possessions from
time to time until he and his son-in-law,
Mr. Humiston. together owned two thou-
sand acres of valuable land, most of wliich
was improved and under a high state of cul-
tivation. Of excellent business ability and
broad resources, he attained a j)rominent
place among the wealthy and substantial citi-
zens of the county. On locating here he
had six thousand dollars in gold, and being
a wide-awake business man of keen discrim-
ination and sound judgment his accumula-
tions rapidly increased. He and his son-in-
law engaged in business together until the
hitter's death. They were among the orig-
inal stockholders of the National Bank of
I'ontiac. of which he was one of tlie early
(!irect(jrs. His career was such as to warrant
the trust and confidence of the business
world, for he conducted all transactions on
the strictest principles of honor and integ-
rity, and he was highlv respected and es-
teemed by all who knew him.

Mr. Camp died May 2, 1892, and his
wife departed this life January 23, 1864.
She was a meml>er of the Presbyterian
church for some years. To them were liorn
two children, but Edward Thomas died Sep-
tember It. 1861. before he attained iiis twen-
ty-first year. The only representative of the
family now living is Harriet, widow of Ben-
net Humiston, whose .sketch appears on an-
other page of this volume.

JOHX H. SMITH.

This gentleman is entitled to distinction
as one of the most progressi\e anil enter-
prising men of Pontiac, with whose business

interests he has been prominently identified
for many years. Uix>n the commercial ac-
tivity of a community dejjends its prosperity
and the men who are now recognized as
leading citizens are those who are at the
head of important business enterprises. He
is a man of broad capabilities who carries
forward to successful completion whatexer
he undertakes.

Mr. Smith was born in Half Moon \'al-
ley. Centre county. Pennsylvania, August
12, 1839, a son of Jacob and Lydia Ann
( Henderson ) Smith. The father was born
in Union county, that state, of old Pennsyl-
vania Dutch stock, and being left fatherless
at the age of nine years was bound out to
strangers. There were only two children
ir; the family and his sister was taken to
another place. In Centre county, he mar-
ried Lydia Ann, daughter of David Hender-
son, who lived near Tyrone. Centre county.
Later he located near Pine Grove, Pennsyl-
sylvania, where he engaged in farming and
on stormy days worked at the gvmsmith's
trade which he had learned during his youth.
Later he lived in Huntingdon county, the
same state, but was with our subject in Pon-
tiac, Illinois, a short time prior to his death.
Both he and his wife were consistent and
faithful members of *the Methodist Episco-
pal church.

In the county of his nativity, John H.
Smith was reared and obtained a good prac-
tical education in its common schools. At
the age of eighteen he was bound as an ap-
prentice to a cari^enter, working for his
board and clothes and the privilege of at-
tending scIkxiI four months during the win-
terter. For three years and four months he
was thus employed, during wliich time he
thoroughly mastered the trade, including the
making of doors, sash. etc.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

On the30tli of Decemlser. 1863. ]\Ir. Smith
married Miss Mary J. Duff, who was born
Decemljer 8, 1840. Her paternal great-grand-
father come to tliis country from Scotland.
The grandfather. John Duf¥, was born in
Philadelphia, and at an early day removed
to Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, v>'hei-e
he spent the remainder of his life as a farmer.
He married Winifred Couch, of Philadel-
phia, a daughter of William Couch, who
was from Great Britain. !Mrs. Smith's
father, Charles Dufif, ^\■as born May 24,
1816, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania,
where he grew to manhood and engag'ed in
farming for many years. There he was
married, August 31, 1838, to Eliza Cun-
ningham, who v.-as born October 2, 1819, a
daughter of Robinson and ]Mary J. (Lane)
Cunningham, of the same county. Her fa-
ther, a farmer of Huntingdon county, was
born in that state, but his father was a na-
tive of England. Charles DufY continued to
reside on the old home farm in Pennsylvania
until 1865, when he came to Pontiac, Illi-
nois, and purchased one hundred and si.xty
acres of land east of the corporation, which
he improved and which continued to be his
home throughout life. He also owned two
hundred and forty acres of land north of
Pontiac, and in all had about six hundred
acres. He was one of the prominent and
wealthy men of his community and was
highly respected by all who knew him. He
died September 9, 1873. and his wife passed
away July it, i 887. Both were earn-est
members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
After learning his trade, Mr. Smith be-
gan taking contracts and erected many build-
ings in Huntingdon. Centre and Clearfield
counties, Pennsyhania. He met with ex-
cellent success, and although a young man
lie often employed eight hands. ^^'hile

erecting a large church in Kerwinsville,
Clearfield cuunty. he cast his first vote for
Abraham Lincoln, and when the war broke
out the work was dropped as most of his
workmen entered the service. Returning
tc Tyrone, he aided in the construction of
the one-mile trestle of the Tyrone and
Clearfield Railroad at that place, remaining
there until going to Oil City, \'enango coun-
ty, (luring the excitement of 1864. There
he put down many wells, one of which was
fourteen hundred feet deep and the average
depth of the seventeen he drilled was six
hundred and fifty feet. For this work he
received one dollar per foot and an eighth
mterest in the well, which proved quite
quite profitable, as the one dollar per foot
paid all expenses, and he sold liis eighth in-
terest from eight hundred to two thousand
dollars a well. On first going into the oil
region he was engaged by the New York
Oil Company, of which Mr. Hamilton, of
New York, was president, in the erection of
derricks. ]\Ir. Hamilton noticing the rapid-
it)' with which he worked asked him how
much a foot he would ask to drill the wells,
and later asked him to name a sum per'
year as superintendent of all their wells. Not
caring particularly to engage in that work,
he named two thousand dollars per year,
l)elieving the sum greater than the com-
pany would I)e willing to pay. His terms,
liowever, were accepted, and he remained
with the firm one year, and then refused an
offer of two thousand five hundred dollars
a year to continue. Leaving the employ of
the oil company he commenced drilling wells
for himself, and his first well, wdiich took
him twenty-six days to drill. lie sold for
eighteen hundred dollars. During the time
he spent there he made enough to purchase
his father's farm of one hundred and sixty

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

113

acres for eight thousand dollars, and he
nperatcd the place one year.

.\t the end (^f that time .Mr. Smith sold
1 ut and came to Pontiac. Illinois, and ])nr-
cliased a farm three-(|uarters uf a mile east
I 'l' the city, for which he paid fifty dollars
jier acre although it was poorly impro\ed
land. He huilt one of the largest and best
harns in this section at that time. He fenced
1 1x1 tiled the land, bringing the first carload
; tile into the county. This he bought in
Jnliet. paying thirty-seven dollars and a half
I'cr thousand for three inch tile. Previous
I" this he had put in some clapboard tile
i:d finding that it benefited the land, he re-
lived to thoroughly tile it. Some of it is
still in working order although in use for
I o\er thirty years. Mr. Smith's next ])ur-
I chase consisted of a quarter-section of land
' owned by Charles Uuff, which adjoins the
ty, and he also bought one hundred acres
' Mr. Dnft" north of his first home, making
iiiur hundreil and twenty acres adjoining
the town. All of this he has thoroughly
\ tiled and im))roved, and being well located,
i' is now among the best and m:'>st \-alua1:)le
land (if the county. -\t ])resenl he rents
his farm ])roperty.

l'"ur two years Mr. Smith rented and
operated a tile factory near town erected
by H. C. Bruner, and met with success in
that enterprise. In 1890 he erected a fine
brick residence on the corner of Walnut
and Washington streets, one of the tirst and
best brick houses in the city at that time.
^ It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity
and supplied with all modern conveniences,
w bile the lawn about the house is a quarter
of a block in extent. Mr. Smith also
erected a store building on Madison street
o])posite the court house and still owns that
property. In 1893 he bought the coal shaft

at Pontiac. which he ojjerated a vear, and
sank a shaft within twenty-eight feet of the
third vein of coal, afterward selling the
same at a jirolit. being the imly nnc tn make
any nidney in th;U \-cnture. I'nr the [)ast
two years he has again given his attention
to the tile business and furnishes employment
to seventeen men in manufacturing I)oth
brick and tile.

Mr. Smith began life for himself with-
out a dollar, antl in fact was si.xty-two dol-
lars and fifty cents in debt. As already
stated he was apprenticeil to learn the car-
])enter's trade. I'or the first year he was
to receive thirty dollars; the second year
fort}--fi\e dollars: and the third year sixty
dollars. lioard was included and in ad-
dition he was to have four months schooling
each year. The first year he was permitted
to go to scIkjoI, according to contract, but
during the succeeding years on one pretext
or another he was kejjt at work. On the
advice of his mother he permitted his last
Aear's wages to remain with his employer
until the end of the >'ear in order that he
might ha\-e a means to purchase a set of
car])enter's tools. His em[)loyer failed
about the end of his third year, and he never
recei\ed a cent. .\ local merchant kindly
agreed to furnish him the set of tools needed
and which amounted to sixty-two dollars and
fifty cents, and wait his convenience in pay-
ing. Securing the outfit he went to work
as a journeyman carpenter, and in due time
paid for his tools and felt like a free man.
On conn'ng to Illinois, his father loaned him
fi\e hundred dollars, but the wealth he has
since acf|uired has been secured through
his own enterprise, good business alMlity
and sound judgment.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children,
namely: Elizabeth is the wife of Cary W.

114

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Hill, of Pontiac, and they have one son,
?Iarold Smith; Charles is engaged in busi-
ness with his father and now manages the
tile works; and Winifred, twin sister of
Charles, is the wife of Franklin Laver, who
oi)erates the home farm and they ha\'e one
child, Alfred A'eron.

During the Civil war, [Mr. Smith was a
member of the Pennsylvania militia, which
was not supposed to leave the state, but they
Avent to Hagerstown, [Maryland, and par-
ticipated in the battle of Antietam. At his
home he could hear the cannonading at Get-
tysburg and also during the Morgan raid.
He has ser\-ed as school director, but has
never cared for political honors, preferring
to devote his entire time and attention to
his business interests. Both he and his
wife are members of the Methodist Episco-
pal church and are highly respected and
esteemed bv all who know them.

ERASTUS HOOBLER.

Erastus Hooliler. the present well-
known circuit clerk, is one of the most
prominent young men of Livingston county,
a leader in political and business circles,
and whether in public or private life he
is always a courteous genial gentleman, well
deserving the high regardd in which he is
held.

A native of this county. [Mr. Hoobler
was born in Xewtown township, December
II, 1867, and is a son of Andrew J. and
Sarah (Leonard) Hoobler, a sketch of
whom appears elsewhere in this work. He
was educated in the public schools, which
he attended constantly until eighteen years
of age, and then began his Ijusiness career

as a merchant of [Mehille, he and his
b.rother Wilder purchasing the store f^ir-
mery owned by their father and conducting
it under the firm name of Hoobler Brothers.
They did a large and successful business for
some seven or eight years, being energetic
and progressive yoiuig men of good busi-
ness ability and industrial habits.

On the 9th of June, 1888, Air. Hoobler
was united in marriage wdth Miss Jodie
Beach, a daughter of Anson and Ph'jebe
Beach, formerly of La Salle county, and to
them have been born one child, Ernest E.
The parents both hold membership in the
Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Hoob-
ler is now serving as one of the stewards
of the church in Pontiac. Fraternally, he
is a member of the [Modern \\"oodmen of
America and of Beacon Lodge, No. 618, I.
O. O. F., of Cornell.

Since reaching man's estate [Mr. Hoob-
ler has always been active in Republican
politics, doing all within his power for the
success of his party. In the spring of 1894
he sold his store, and two years later was
nominated as circuit clerk for Livingston
county, to which office he was elected that
fall by a handsome majority. He has since
efficinetly discharged the duties of that po-
sition, and in 1900 was renominated by ac-
clamation.

JAMES XICOL.

James Xichol is the proprietor of an
excellent farm of two hundred and forty
acres on sections 1 1 and 3, Pike township,
Livingston county. The well-tilled fields
and neat and thrifty appearance of the place
testify to careful supervision of a painstak-
ins: owner — one who is a thorough farmer

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and successful business man. He was born
in Arbroath, F"orfarshire, Scotland. June 6,
1849, a son of William and Jane (Simpson)
Xicol, also natives of that country, where
the mother spent her entire life. After lier
death the father married again. He was
born in Forfarshire in 1813. a son of James
Xicol, and in his native land was employed
as a pattern or model maker. In 1865 he
emigrated to the new world and came direct
to Livingston county, Illinois, where he ha<l
previously purchased eighty acres of land on
section 3, Pike township, where onr subject
now resides. At that time the tract was
v.ild prairie land, but he at once commenced
to fence, break and improve it. Later he
built a good house and made many other
permanent improvements. In connection
with farming he also worked at the car-
penter's and joiner's trade and built many
of the residences in his part of the county.
.\s one of the prominent and honored citi-
zens of his community, he was called upon
tL fill the offices of supervisor, justice of
the peace, school director and clerk of the
district some years. He was a man of sterl-
ing worth and strict integrity and was pre-
eminently i)ublic spirited and progressive.

Reared in his native land, James Xicol
received the advantages of a good common
school education, and served a five-years'
apprenticeship to the cabinetmaker's trade
after which he worked as a journeyman for
two years. In 1868 he decided to join his
father in .\merica and sailed from (ilasgow
to Xew York, landing in the latter city in
September of that year. He proceeded at
once to his father's home in this county, and
for the first si.x nuniths of his residence here
he worked at the carpenter's trade. The fol-
lowing two years he engaged in farming and
then went to Chicago, where he was em-

I^loyed at his trade for six months, rcturniu.';
ti> this county at the end of that time. He
lias since devoted his time to agricultural
])ursuits, and now owns the old homestead,
which he has greatly imro\ed. and to w'.iich
he lias added one huntlred and si.xty acres,
making a fine farm of two hundred and
forty acres.

In Livingston county. Xovember 24,
18873, ^^^- ^icol was united in marriage
with Miss Elizabeth Petrie. who was born,
reared and educated in the same towri as
her husband, and is a daughter of William
Petrie, who is still living in Scotland at the
advanced age of seventy-nine years. By
this union have been born seven cliildren,
namely : William P. and James, both farm-
ers of this county: Mabel May, Alfred. Ed-
ward Arthur. D. Harry and .\nnio Kdiili.
all at home.

In his political afifiliations Mr. Nicol is an
ardent Republican and cast his first presiden-
tial vote for Rutherford B. Ha>es. He
has been a delegate to county conventions,
.served as township clerk about seven years
and was a member of the school board and
cierk of the district twelve years. Socially,
he is a member of the Modern Woodmen
camp of Chenoa. and religiously is a member
of the Presbyterian church, to which his
wife also belongs. In all life's relations he
has been true to every trust reposed in him,
and is justly numbered among the valued
and useful citizens of his communitv.

JOHX C.rTHRIE.

John Guthrie, who for over a third
of a century has been identified with the
agricultural interests of Livingston county,
and now makes his home on section 10, Pike

ii6

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

township, was born in tlie city of Glasgow,
Scotland, December 26, 1827, a son of
James and Jane ( McMurtrie) Guthrie, who
spent their entire lives in Scotland, mostly
in Glasgow, locating- there soon after their
marriage. There all of their children were
born in that city and both parents died. By
trade the father was a stonecutter.

Our subject grew to manhood in his na-
tive land and obtained a good education in
an Ayrshire village school. He served a
four years' apprenticeship to the weaver's
trade with his uncle, David McMurtrie, and
tlien returned to Glasgow, where he worked
in a factory, having charge of one depart-
ment four years. Later he was employed in
a wholesale store for three years, and then
emigrated to America, in 1850, takmg pass-
sage on a sailing vessel at Greenock on the
Clyde for Montreal, and arriving in the lat-
ter city after a stormy voyage of eight
weeks. \Miile in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
the masts \\-ere broken and they were delayed
two weeks at Sidney, Cape Breton, while
new masts were set up. Mr. Guthrie and
two other men worked all one night at the
pumps in order to save the \-essel from de-
struction. It was twehe weeks from the
time he left home until he reached his desti-
nation in Kendall county, Illinois, in Sep-
tember, 1850. There he had an uncle liv-
ing, while another uncle made the voyage
with him. The following year he com-
menced work in Kendall county gathering
corn for ten dollars per mcnth, and, being-
unused to such work, the skin Avas worn
froni his fingers in a short time.

In 1852 \lr. Guthrie went to ]\Iadison
county, Iowa, where he spent one year, and
on his return to Illinois settled in \\'ood-
ford county, where he worked by the month
until 1864. During that year he purcliased

the farm in Pike township, Livingston coun-
ty, where he now resides, but engaged in
farming upon rented land in Tazewell
county for two years, at the end of which
time he located upon his own land, ha\-
ing since February, 1861, made it his hume.
He has planted an orchard and considerable
small fruit, has divided his land into fields
of convenient size by good fences, has erect-
ed a pleasant residence and substantial out-
buildings and now has a well-improved and
desirable farm of eighty acres.

In Tazewell county Mr. Guthrie was
married, in 1864, to Miss Betsy Nicol, who
was born and reared in Arbroath, Scotland,
and came to the new world with her mother
in 1853. She died, lea\'ing no children, and
for his second wife Mr. Guthrie married
Mrs. Eliza (McCracken) McNeil, who was
born and reared in Ireland. By her first
married she has three children : Martha,
wife of Henry Crabb, of Livingston county;
Lizzie, wife of Charles Richardson, of Pike
township, and James, a resident of Chicago.
Mr. Guthrie has two children by his second
r.iarriage : David M. and Alaggic May,
both at home.

Since casting- his first presidential ballot
for General U. S. Grant, in 1868. Mr. Guth-
rie has been a stanch Republican, but has
never cared for political honors. Both he
and his wife are active members of the
Presbyterian church of Chenoa, and are peo-
ple of sterling worth and strict integrity.

JOHN H. CRUMBAKER.

John H. Crunibaker. a well-known and
highly respected citizen of Avoca township.
Livingston county, Illinois, was born in
Muskingum county, Ohio, August 11, 1845,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

117

and is a son of William .\. and Margaret
(Piper) Cruinbaker, natives of \'irginia
and Pennsylvania, respectively. As chil-
dren they went to Ohio, and after that con-
tinued til reside in that state for many years,
the father being engaged in fanning. In
1864 they came to Illinois and settled near
Lexington, where they still reside on a farm
of forty acres. Both are consistent mem-
bers of the Methodist church, and in politics
the father was formerly a Whig and is now
a Republican. To them were burn twehe
children, two of whom died in infancy, while
th.ose who reached , years of maturity are
John H., our subject; Marion \'.. a Meth-
odist Episcopal minister of Kankakee; Sarah
C. wife of S. S. Smith, of Nebraska; Maria
V... wife of William Stickler, postmaster of
Lexington: Oliver M., a resident of Cropsey
township, McLean county; Samuel, a resi-
dent of the state of Washington; Joanna,
wife of J. C. Finley, of Nebraska; Jonas A.,
of Washington; Margaret, wife of H. Wil-
son, who lives near Lexington, Illinois; and
Alice E., wife of Ralph Wilson, of Ne-
braska.

The early education of Julin II. Ciuni-
baker was obtained in the common schools
of Ohio, and after coming to Illinois with
the family, at the age of eighteen years, he
totik an elective course at the Wesieyan Uiti-
versit\- in Bloomington and also attended
school in Onarga for a short time. Subse-
([uently he taught school in different parts
of ilcLean county during the winter months
for sixteen years, while through the sum-
mer season he engaged in farming. In 1885
he came to Livingston county and first rent-
ed a farm near Wing. Since then he has
lived in Avoca townshij) and has made his
home upon the J. L. McDowell farm of
three hundred and ten acres since 1894.

Two hundreil acres of this tract are under
cultivation and he devotes the same to the
raising of grain.

On the J5th of [March, uSfig. Mr. Crum-
liaker married .Miss Elizabeth Jane Wilson,
\vh(i was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, in
JS50, and they have become the i)arents of
eight children, two of whom died in child-
hood. Those living are \'ictor .\., who is
preparing for the ministry at Du Pauw
University of Indiana; William, who lives
near Chalmers. Indiana, is married, and has
two children, Bessie and an infant ;D. Theo-
dore, who is engaged in farming near Fair-
bmy, and resides at ho.nie:Jonas K., George
R. and John P., who are all at home assist-
ing their father on the farm.

By his ballot Air. Crumbaker supports
the men and measures of the Republican
i;arty, has served as collector of his town-
ship two terms, town clerk two years and
school director three years. Religiously, he
is an active meml)er and supporter of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and has the
confidence and respect of all who know him
on account of his sterling worth and strict
iiiteyritv.

SOLON C. DLXIIAM.

Solon C. Dunham, a wellknown agricult-
lUMSt of Epijards Point township, who owns
and operates a fine farm i)f one hundreil
and seventy-two acres on section 31, is a
native of Illinois, his birth having occurred
in Morgan county, October 18, 1848. His
father, Ebenezer Dunham, was born in New
Plampshire, in 18 10, and was a son of Will-
iam Dunham, also a native of the old Ciranite
state. About 1831 Ebenezer Dunham came
west and located in Morgan county, where he

Ii8

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

married Catherine Sweet, a native of tiiis
state and a daughter of Peleg Sweet, one of
the earliest settlers of that county. There
Mr. Dunham followed farming some years,
later spent about eighteen years in Wash-
burn, JNIarshall county, and in 1865 came to
Livingston county and purchased the farm
on which our subject now resides. At that
time it was a tract of wild prairie land, and
tc its improvement and cultixation he de-
voted his energies throughout the remainder
of his life. There he died in 1884, lion-
ored and respected by all who knew him,
and is still survived by his wife, who resides
on the old homestead with her son.

During his boyhood and youth Solon
C. Dunham attended the local schools and
assisted his father in tlie labors of the farm,
and after reaching man's estate took charge
of the farm and business, which he has since
carried on with marked success. He has
erected a large, neat and substantial resi-
dence, built a commodious barn, and has
made many other improvements, wdiich add
to the beauty and value of the place.

In this county, Mr. Dunham was married,
in 1880, to Miss Anna Stuckey. who was
born in England, but was rearetl in McLean
and Li\ ingston counties, Illinois. By this
union ha\-e been born f(_)ur children, namely:
Ralph, Roscoe B.. Earl and Inez, all at
home. ]\Irs. Dunham and Mrs. Dunham's
mother are meml)ers of the Baptist church
and tlie family is widely and favorably
known. In his political views I\Ir. Dunham
is a stanch Republican, and cast his first
presidential vote for General U. S. Grant,
in 1872, but he has never cared for the honors
or emoluments of public oftice. He is. how-
ever, a staunch friend of etlucation, and has
l)een an efficient member of the school board
for some years.

E. W. PEARSON.

Among the pleasantest rural homes of
Esmen township, Livingston county, is tlic
one belonging- to this gentleman on section
26. and his farm is one of the model places
of that locality, being supplied with all
modern conxeniences and accessories needed
liy the ]irogressi\-e agriculturist of the pres-
ent day.

Mr. Pearson was born in Miami countv,
Ohio. August II. 1836. and l)elongs to a
family which was founded in that state by
his grandfather, Enos Pearson, a native of
V'irginia. His ancestry can he traced back
to two peers of England, in which country
the family was (|uite noted, .\aron Pear-
S(jn, father of our suliject, grew to manhood
in Miami countv, Ohio, and there marrietl
Rachel Moore, who was born in that state of
Cierman ])arentage. In earl}- life the father
followed farming and later engaged in the
manufacture of lumber. He died in Ohio
when our subject was about seven years old,
his wife three years later. In their family
were five children, four sons and one daugh-
ter, but only E. \\'., our subject, and John, a
resident of Marion count}'. Ohio, are now
Ining.

Our subject's school prix'ileges during his
bi.ivhood were limited, and he is alnn)st
V\ho]l}- self-educated. Being left an orphan,
he was thrown upon bis own resources when
a lad of seven years. He grew to manhood
upon- a farm and remained in his native
county until October, 1855. when he came
to Illinois, joining his guardian in Bloom-
ington. He came to this state by himself,
dri\-int;' across the country with a team of
liorses. In Xo\-ember of the same vear he
located in Livingston county and bought
eighty acres of land in Odell township, to

E. W. PEARSON.

THE BIOGR-\PHICAL RECORD.

the improvement and cultivation of which
lie devoted his attention until 1865, when
he sold that place and bought one hundred
and sixty acres of wild prairie land in Es-
men township, where he now resides. He
has since added to it an eighty-acre tract,
making a fine farm of two hundred and forty
ores, which he has ])laced under a high state
I cultivation. He has erected a modern
and commodious residence some distance
from the road, and leading up to it is a nice
driveway thrt)ugh grounds shaded by lovely
evergreen and other shade trees. The land
i; well tiled, there are two good orchards
ui)on the place and a flowing well, which,
operate<l by a windpump. supplies the water
both for house and stock. Besides tliis valu-
able property Mr. Pearson owns two well-
unproved farms near Hartley. O'Brien
county, Iowa, one of two hundred and forty.
[ the other of eighty acres, and has two farms
of one hundred and sixty acres each in Col-
rado and one of three hundred and twenty
acres in Kansas, used as cattle ranches. In
connection with farming he has been en-
gaged in buying and selling real estate. He
is an energetic and progressive business man
who carries forward to successful completion
whatever he undertakes, anti his prosperity
due entirely to his own well-directed and
riiergetic efforts. He was one of the orig-
. inators and charter members of the Pontiac
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, organized
ii! 1892, and was elected its first president,
which position he has filled most satisfac-
torily since that time.

Returning to his old home in Miami
county, Ohio, Mr. Pearson was married
there, October 28, 1858, to Miss Rachel
Sheafer, who was lx)rn in Pennsylvania, but
was reared in that county, and is a daughter
of Eckert Sheafer. Bv this union were born

six children, namely: Rachel, at home:
Abraham L.. who is marrieil and engaged in
farmin?^ and fruit raising in California:
Arthur, who is married and follows farming
in Esmen township. Livingston county, Illi-
nois: Emma, wife of R. E. Knapp. of Ponti-
ac: Anna, wife of Robert Brunskill. a farm-
er of Esmen township: and Ida M.. who
was graduated at the State Normal School
and has successfuUv engaged in teaching for
some years, beinp" first assistant principal
of the Jefferson Park high school at El Paso
at the present time.

Politically Mr. Pearson was formerly
identified with the Republican party and cast
l.is first presidental vote for John C. Fre-
tront in 1856. but of late years has been in-
ciependent in politics. He is a stanch friend
of education, was elected a member of the
school board of Odell when nineteen years
of age antl filled that jKisition almost con-
tinually until moving to Esmen township,
he has served as township treasurer since
1870 and at intervals has been a member of
the county board of su])ervisors for about
fifteen years, during which time he was a
member of various committees and chairman
of the building committee in charge of build-
ing the poor house after the death of Mr.
Morrow. He has been a delegate to nu-
merous county, congressional and state con-
ventions of his party and to two national
conventions, helping to nominate J. B. Weav-
er at the first Populist convention, and at the
St. Louis convention, in 1896. helping to
nominate Bryan and Watson. He is always
to be found on the Populist county commit-
tee, having served as its chairman, and is
popularily known as the father of the party
in this county, and he has always taken an
active and commendable interest in public
affairs. He is pre-eminently jniblic-spirited

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and priigressixe. and as a citizen has always
Ijeen found true to every trust repi.ised in
liim.

THOMAS JOHXSTOX

Tlionias Johnston, the well-known super-
intendent of the Puntiac Diamond Co-opera-
tive Coal Company of Pontiac Illinois, is a
native of England, born in Staffordshire,
April JO, 1884, and is a son of Thomas and
Mary Ann (Brown) Johnston. The father
was born in Ireland, but wdien quite young
\\ent to England, where he continued tcT
make his b(jme throughout life, d}'ing
]\Iarcb 12, 1878, at the age of sixty-seven
years. Tlie mother died on the 21st of the
same month He was always a hard work-
ing man and for many years was foreman of
an iron works in Staffordshire.

Oor subject is the sixth in order of birth
in a family of eleven children, nine of wdiom
are still living, but he is the only one in this
country. -He obtained his education in the
common schools of Staffordshire and
learned the trade of an engineer in the em-
ploy of the Apedale Coal & Iron Company
of that place, remaining with them five years.
In the fall of 1880 he came to the United
States, and first located in Streator, Illinois,
where he engaged in coal mining, and after-
ward became engineer for the Chicago,
Vermilion & Wilmington Coal Company at
that place, but only remained with tliem a
year or two. He was next employed as en-
gineer with the Star Coal Company of
Streator for three or four years, and for
eleven years was with the Richard Evans
Coal Company of the same place. In De-
cember, 1895, he came to Pontiac to take
charge of a shaft at this place as engineer,

and was thus employed until 1897, wdien the
shaft was leased by the present co-operative
company, of which Mr. Johnston is manager,
being associated with five others : Thomas
Velvin, president : Charles F. Acklin, treas-
in"er ; Walter H(_)gan, mine manager, and
^lathew Dickman and William Schress, di-
rectors, all of whom reside in Pontiac. The
shaft was leased for a period of fifteen years
from October, 1899, and the entire man-
agement is with the six men mentioned. Ac-
cording to the present law only six men can
work in one shaft, but the company has now
sunk another escape shaft and can put more
men to work so that they will be able to take
nut from two hundred and fifty to three
liundred tons of coal per day.

Before leaving England ^^Ir. Johnston
was married, July 8, 1878, to Aliss ]Mary
Ann Pickerill, of Staffordshire, a daughter
of Robert and Sarah (Eccles) Pickerill The
father was a shoe manufacturer and fol-
lowed that occupation throughout his active
business life, but is now living a retired life
in Staffordshire, at the age of seventy-seven
years. The mother died in 1893, at the age
of sixty-six. Only two of their family came
to America: !Mrs. lohnston and Anna, wife
of Benjamin Copeland,a conl miner of Strea-
or, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have a
family of four children, namely : Thomas
Bowyer, born in Staffordshire, England, De-
cember 29, 1878, was educated in Streator,
and is now living in \\'enona, Illinois, where
he is a hoisting engineer for the \\'enona
Coal Company. Sarah Ann, born in Staf-
fordshire, June 9, 1880, is at home; Fan-
nie, born in Livingston county, Illinois,
June 19, 1883, graduated from the public
schools of Pontiac in 1900. and Pearl, born
in Fulton county, Illinois. January 3, 1890,
is attending school.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

123

By liis 1)all(it ^[r. Ji'linstmi lias always
supported the men ami measures oi the Dem-
ocratic party, but has never sought nor de-
sired pul)lic office, though often urged by
his friends to become a candidate. He is a
prominent member and financial secretary
of the Episcopal church of Pontiac. which his
family also attend. He is also a memlier of
Court Pride. Foresters of America, of Pon-
tiac. of which he has served as trustee one
term ; is a member of the Court of Honor.
No. 18^, of Pontiac. and the National
Brotherhood Association of Coal Hoisting
Engineers. As a 1)usiness man he is thor-
oughly reliable and the success that he has
achieved in life is justly merited, for it is
tlue entirely to his own industry, enterprise
and good management. He has a good
home. 411 East Prairie street, which he
bought in 1898.

WILLIAM WOODING.

William Wooding, a retired farmer
• ■\ Pontiac, who came to this country in
the spring of 1869, is a typical self-made
num, and in the following record of his ca-
reer there is much to arouse respect and es-
teem. He has placed his reliance upon in-
dustry and perseverance, and by making the
most of circumstances, however discourag-
ing, has made his way to substantial suc-
cess, his fine farm in Pike township being a
tangilile evidence of prosperity.

Mr. Wooding is a native of England,
born in Yarley Hastings, Northamptonshire,
November 17, 1831. and is a son of Jesse
and Ann (Rainbow) Wooding, who were
married September 13, 18 j8. The father
was born m the same place in 1805. and

there maile bis home until coining l() this
country two years after our subject crossed
the Atlantic, but died the ninth day after
landing at the home of our subject in New
Jersey. The mother came to America with
her husband and died here in 1871.

William Wooding acquired his educa-
tion in the public schools of his nati\e land.
As a young man of nineteen years he emi-
grated to the United States and located first
in Salem county. New^ Jersey, where he
v,i irked on a farm and also in a tile factory,
which was probably the first started in the
L'nited States, the proprietor ha\ing sent
to England for the machinery. Our sub-
ject and his brother worked for him five
years and then came to Illinois, in 856,
with the intention of starting a factory of
their own. but finding land so cheap they re-
solved to engage in agricultural jjursuits.
After looking over the field Mr. Wooding
located near Farmington, Fultiin county,
where he engaged in farming for nine years.

In the spring of 1869 he came to Li\ing-
ston county and in partnership with his
brother purchased a farm of two hundred
and sixty acres in Pike township, which they
improved and operated together for 1 time,
but finally divided the property. Our subje ct
still owns an excellent farm of one hundred
and eighty-one acres in that and Eppards
Point township, which he has thoroughly
tiled and transformed into one of the most
highly cultivated and productive tracts in
the locality. It is hedged and cross hedged
and improved with good and substantial
buildings, which stand as a momiment to his
thrift and enterprise. In connection with
general farming he engaged in stock raising
quite extensively, and usually had a carload
of hogs for shipment each fall. I'esides his
farm in this count v, he owns land in Indiana,

124

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

\\hicli lie is now improving; lie built a good
home at No. 303 West Moulton street, at
the corner of Plum street, Pontiac, where he
has resided since the spring of 1896, having
retired from active labor to enjoy a well
earned rest.

Mr. Wooding has been twice married,
his lirst AN'ife being Amanda Humphry, a
native of Washington county, Indiana. He
tootook her to Kearney, Nebraska, in 1885,
with the hope of benefiting herhealth, but
she died there the same fall, leaving three
children, namely: Mary, now the wife of
Perry Morton, of Pontiac, ]\v whom she has
two children, Mabel and Leonora; Lucy,
wife of Wesley Porter, of Owego township,
I)y whom she has two sons, Harry and
Charles; antl \\'illiam, who married Leona
Perry, and has two children, Orville and
Hazel Lorena. He lives on the home farm
in Pike township.

Returning to England in 1887, Mr.
Wooding there married Miss Mary Berrill,
of Yardley Hastings, a daughter of John and
Elizabeth (Morris) Berrill, and by this
union has been born a daughter, V- mifred.
For twenty-five years Mrs. Wooding's sis-
ter, Sarah Berrill, has held the position of
maid with Lady Southampton, who is a lady
in waiting on Queen \'ictoria, and as such
makes all the trips with the Queen's escort.
Pier father, John Berrill, was a native of
Northampton, where his ancestors have re-
sided for at least three or four generations,
and on the maternal side Mrs. Wootling is
of an old and respected family that for many
generations have been born on the Martpiis
of Northampton's estate. Her grandfather
Morris was a shepherd by occupation. The
records of the family are to be found in the
parish church. In tracing his ancestry back
five or si.\. generations, Mr. Wooding finds

that he springs from the same family as his
wife. His mother, Elizabeth Rainljow, was
a daughter of James and Elizabeth Ratley,
and the latter was a daughter of John and
Ann Berrill, who were the great-grandpar-
ents of Mrs. Wooding. Her grandfather
was Richard, who in turn was a son of John
and Ann Berrill, previously mentioned. All
were residents of Yardley Hastings.

Mr. and Mrs. Wooding have traveled
quite extensively, and visited their native
land again in 1890. He has ever taken an
active interest in educational affairs and
most efficiently served as school director of
his township while residing in the country.
He is a consistent and faithful member of
the Baptist church, and one of the highly re-
spected and honored citizens of the com-
munitv.

JAMES MURPHY.

James Murph}', the well-known engineer
of the water works in Pontiac, Illinois, was
born in Campbellford, Northumberland
county, Ontario, Canada, August 7. 1854,
and is a son of Peter and Ann (Spence)
Murphv. The father was born in Xewray,
County Down, Ireland, about 1822. and
there gained a thorough knowledge of the
shoemaker's trade. When a young man
he emigrated to Canada, where he married
Ann Spence, a native of Nottingham. Eng-
land, who had moved to Canada with an
aunt after the death of her prents. In 1864
they came to Pontiac and were among the
early property owners of the city, building
their own house on west W ater street.
Tluoughout the greater part of his life the
father engaged in mining. He died in

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

125

April, 1895. the mother April 16. 1899.
Both were devout members of St. Mary's
Catholic church, and were hjohly respected
hv all who knew them.

Tills wortiiy oiui)le left a family of eight
children, of whom our subject is the second
in order of birth. He began his education
in Canada and after the remo\al of the fam-
ily to Pontiac attentled the public schools
here for a time. After the completion of
his education he was variously employed
for a time, but for the past twenty-five years
he has l>een principally engaged in running
stationary engines, operating some of the
first ever brought to Pontiac. In 1884 he
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of
wild land in York county. Nebraska, wliicli
he converted into a well improved farm,
and there he successfully engaged in mixed
farming for some time, during which period
the country was well settled up and became
a thriving agricultural district. He was one
of the school directors in his township for
four years, during which time a school house
was built in his district. Renting his farm
he returned to Pontiac in 1896 and was
appointed engineer of the water works,
which position he has since filled in a most
efficient and satisfactory manner, having
charge of two Gordon pumps with a capac-
ity of one million and five hundred thousand
gallons daily, which are fully taxed most of
the time. These are kept running day and
night, his son serving as night engineer.
Fraternally he is a mem1)er of the Modern
\\oodmen of America.

On the 14th of September. 1881, Mr.
Murphy was united in marriage with Miss
Bridget Sullivan, and to them have been
born four children, namely : James, who
is an engineer with his father: Katie. Joseph
and Mary. Michael Sullivan, Mrs. Mur-

phy's father, was born in Limerick. Ire-
land, and as ayoung man came to America.
After some time spent in New York state
he came to Chicago, and entered the employ
of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, aiding in
its construction from Dwight to Blooming-
ton. P)eing pleased with tliis locality he
located in Pontiac when it was a very small
\illage;. being among its early residents,
building a home on North ^'ermillion street.
At Lake Station he had previously married
Catlierinc .\nnan. of Chicago. \vho was
born in W'aterford. county Cork. Ireland,
and jirior to her marriage worked in New
York and latter in Chicago. They were
memljcrs of the Catholic church, and before
a church was established in Pontiac mass
was said at the homes of the different mem-
bers. In 1880 they. too. removed to York
county. Nebraska, and purchased a tract of
one hundred and sixty acres adjoining our
subject's farm, and upon that place Mr. Sulli-
van died June 2. 1885. his wife, February
2\. 1896. In their family were only two
children, William, a resident of Nebraska ;
and Bridget, wife of our subject.

LARS EXGELSEN.

Lars Engelsen, a well-known agricult-
urist residing on section 10, Esman town-
ship. Livingston county, was born in Nor-
way, July 12, 1845, and is the only child of
Engel and Ella (Mickleson) Engelsen. also
natives of that countr}-. where the father
followed farming until his death in 1852.
Five years later the wife afid son came to
America on a sailing vessel, and were about
three weks in crossing the Atlantic from Ber-
gen to Quebec. They proceeded at once to

126

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Morris. Grundy county, Illinois, and in the
fall of the same year moved to La Salle
ci^untv. where Mrs. Engelsen was married,
in 1859. to Torris Johnson, also a Xnrwe-
. gian by birth and a cooper by trade, follow-
ing that ocupation in Dayton. Illinois, f in-
many years. Later they moved to Indian
Creek, the same county, where Mrs. John-
son died.

Lars Engelsen lived with his mother and
step-father until grown, and received a fair
education in the schools of La Salle county.
He l-jegan life for himself as a farm hand
and was thus employed for several years
before and after his marriage. He subse-
quently rented land. In 1868 he came to
Livingston county and located upon his
present farm in 1880, it being a part of the
large tract of land owned by Apollos Camp
of Pontiac, for whom our subject w(.irked
about seven years and wdio virtually ga\-e
him the place. Mr. Engelsen has erected
thereon a large and substantial residence,
a good barn and other outbuildings, and
has made many other impro\-ements upim
the farm. In connection with its (opera-
tions he also cultivates about one Inuulred
acres more, and has been quite successful
in his farm business.

On the 14th of February, 1865, Air.
Engelsen was married in La Salle county,
to Miss Anna Dora Engelsen, who was
born and reared in Norway, and when a
young lady came to America, where she
attended the English schools for a short
time. By this union were born six chil-
dren who are still living, namely : Engle
B., a resident of Iowa; Elmer T., of Xorth
Dakota; Joseph E., who is in this county;
Milton L., Bertha E. and Ellen M.. all at
home. Those deceased were James M.. who
died at the age of seventeen years; Lilly .\.,

who died at the age of eighteen ; Bertha and
Angeline. who died of scarlet fever at the
age of f(jur and two }-ears. respectively,
and one who died in infancy.

]Mr. Englesen has been a stanch Repub-
lican since casting his first vote for General
U. S. Grant in 1868, but he has never cared
for political preferment. In the spring of
1900 he was elected township assessor, and
for some years was a member of the school
board in Pontiac township. Religiously, he
and his wife and daughters are members of
the Lutheran church, while some of his sons
hold memliership in the i\Iethodist Episco-
pal church. His life has been one of indus-
try and perseverance and he is deserving of
the hioh reeard in which he is held.

PATRICK H. KANE.

Patrick H. Kane, the genial and popular
proprietor of the Transient House of Pon-
tiac. which is conveniently located near the
Chicago & Alton Railroad depot, was born
in Holyoke, Massachusetts, March 14, i860.
a son of John and Mary (Lannan) Kane. m

The father was a native of Ireland and as a il
young man came to America, locating first
in ^Massachusetts, where he worked in the
woolen mills for many years, being night
foreman for some time. On leaving that
state in 1863 he came to Illinois and set-
tled fi\e miles southwest of Ottawa. La
Salle county, where he engaged in farming, ■
later following the same pursuit in Allen • *
township, the same county. Selling out he
came to Li\'ingston county and took up his
residence in Xe\'ada township, but his last
days were spent as a farmer in Sullivan
township, where he held different township

THE BIOGRArHICAL RECORD.

127

offices. He was a Democrat in politics and
one of tlie early members of tlie Catholic
church of Dwight. He died in July. 1895.
antl his wife passed away in the fall of 1881.

During his boyhood our subject attended
the public schools of La Salle and Livings-
ton counties, and at the age of eighteen years
l)egan life for himself by working as a farm
hand. lia\ing become thoroughly familiar
with that occupation on his father's farm.
Subsef|uently he went to Xel)raska and en-
tered the emi)l(y of the L'nion Pacific Rail-
road as brakenian on the line running from
Lincoln to \'alparaiso and later to Strawns-
burg on the main line, remaining with the
company four years and four mi:)nths, after
which he returned to Illinois.

iNlr. Kane was married. July 2. 1881.
the day President Garfield was shot, to Miss
Rosa Young, a native of Lincoln, Illinois,
and a daughter of Joseph Young, one of the
early farmers of Saunders county. Nebraska.
They lived in \'alparai.so, Nebraska, early
in 1883, before returning to Pontiac, where
Mr. Kane worked for H. C. Bruner as fore-
man and burner at his tile and brick works,
doing all the burning until he severed his
connection with that gentleman in Jime.
189O. For two years he had entire charge of
the plant and Inirned eighteen or nineteen
kilns a week. Later he was with John H.
i-mith, when he run the factory, and had the
entire confidence and respect of both gentle-
men. Before leaving their employ be built a
house in River ^'iew addition to Pontiac,
which lie traded in 1895 *'"■ ^ hotel in Clav
City, Illinois, but after conducting the latter
for a year he returned to Pontiac, where he
engaged in the restaurant, bakery and con-
itctionery Inisiness until May 24, i899.when
he bought the Transient House and has since
successfully engaged in the hotel business.

It is a nice two-story frame building, and
in connection with this Mr. Kane owns a
large lot. He also has a good hou.se and
lot on Madison street and has successfully
engaged in the real estate business for him-
self, having owned a number of different
places. 'He is a good, reliable business
man, and the prosperity that has attended
his efforts is certainly justly merited.

Mr. Kane's first wife died while on a
visit to her old home, in 1888. leaving two
children, Elvira and Sadie, who are now
being educated in a convent. In 1894 he
married Mrs. Xancy Adams, of Pontiac,
a daughter of Samuel Garner, who was one
of the pioneer residents of this city and at
one time a prominent property owner.

As a Democrat Mr. Kane has e\er taken
an actixe part in local politics, but has never
been an aspirant for office, though he took a
leading part in the political affairs of the first
ward, and is to-day one of the most promi-
nent Democrats in the ward where he is
now living.

S.V-MUEL H. BOYER.

Samuel H. Boyer, a well-known livery-
man and highly respected citizen of Dwight,
Illinois, was born in Blair county, Penn-
sylvania, July 25, 1858, a son of George
W. and Mary Ann (Turnbaugh) Boyer.
The Boyer family is of German origin and
was founded in this country in early colonial
da}s. His great-grandfather. John Boyer,
was born in .\merica, and throughout life
engaged in farming in Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania. The grandfather, (ieorge
Boyer. was born in that county, in 1800,
and married Lydia Rupp, daughter of Jac<jb
Rupp, who lived near Reading, and belonged

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to a family of German origin, \\hich was
founded in Cumberland county, Pennsyl-
vania, soon after the landing of William
Penn. To George and Lydia (Rupp) Beyer
were born six children : Jacob, John, George
W., William, Samuel and Sarah. The father
of this family died in Pennsylvania, at the
age of sixty-eight years. He was a Lu-
theran in religious belief and a Republican
in politics.

George A\'. Boyer, father of our sub-
ject, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl-
vania. Februar}- 20. 1827, and accompanied
his parents on their removal to Blair county,
that state, \\here he engaged in farming se\'-
eral years. He was reared on a farm and
received a common-school education. On
the 24th of May, 1849, li^ married Mary
Ann, daughter of Henry and Catherine
(Cherry) Turnbaugh, who were of German
ancestry and lived near Altoona, Blair coun-
ty. By this union were born seven children,
namely : Henr}-, who married Nellie Mor-
ris ; Annetta, who married James B. Austin ;
Samuel H., our subject; Sarah C, wife of
Dwight P. Mills; Climenia E., now Mrs.
Muro Bertholic; Alfred A., of Dwight; and
George W.. who died at the age of twelve
years. The father was a member of Company
E, One Hundred and Fourth Pennsyh'ania
Volunteer Infantry, during the latter part
of the Civil war, and was honorably dis-
charged at Philadelphia, after which he re-
turned to his home in Blair county. In 1867
be came to Lix'ingston count}-, Illinois, and
purchased a farm on section 20, Dwight
township, where he resided until a few years
ago, when he retired to Dwight. He has
always affiliated with the Republican party
and has held several township offices, in-
cluding those of school director and road
commissioner. Both he and his wife are

members of the Lutheran church and are
highly respected and esteemed by all who
. know them.

Samuel H. Boyer was only nine years
of age on the removal of the family to this
county, and in the schools of Dwight town-
ship he acquired his education. He remained
at home until twenty-five years of age. On
the 30th of January, 1884, Mr. Boyer was
united in marriage with Miss Jennie Lower,
also a native of Blair county, Pennsylvania,
and a daughter of Samuel and Mary E.
(Downs) Lower, who were born in the
same state. In early life her father learned
the lilacksmith's trade, which he continued
to follow until his retirement recently from
active labor. He brought his family to Illi-
nois in i86s and first located in Lanark, but
a few years later came to Dwight, where
he has since made his home, with the excep-
tion of a short time spent in farming in
Broughton township, this county. In 1891
he built a hotel in Dwight, to which he gave
the name of Pennsylvania House, and which
he conducted for seven years, and where he
still resides. In his family were ten chil-
dren, of whom seven are now living, !Mrs.
Boyer being the second in order of birth.
Her mother died in February, 1898. To our
subject and his wife have been born five
children, namely : Harvey, Ehvood, Clar-
ence, Ira and Ralph.

After his marriage Mr. Boyer engaged in
farming upon rented land for a time and
then operated Mr. Lower's farm in Brough-
ton township for six years. In the fall of
1 89 1 he built a large livery stable in Dwight
and to tliat place he removed in January of
the following year, and has since devoted
his time and attention to the livery business
with good success.

In politics Mr. Boyer is a Reijublican, but

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

129

has never l»een an as])irant tor ctffice. He
attends tlie Metliodist Ejjiscdpal church and
affihates with Dwight Canii>. Xo. jjo, S.
(if \'.. of which lie is captain ; Hebron Lodge,
Xo. 513. I. O. O. ¥.. and Dwight Court of
Honor. X<i. :;oS.

JOHX ck.\r,r..

Jolin Craljl). who is industriously en-
gaged in agricuhural pursuits upon a good
farm of one hundred and twenty acres on
section 9, Pike townsliip. Livingston coun-
ty. Ilhnois. was l)orn in Forfarshire. Scot-
land. July I. 1)^39, a son of James and Ce-
celia ( Monroe ) Crabb, also natives of that
country, where the mother died. The fa-
ther was of English descent.

Our subject was reared and educated in
his native land and for three years prir)r
to his emigration to America he worked in
a foundrA-. At the age of eighteen he de-
cided to try his fortune on this side of the
Atlantic and took passage on a sailing ves-
sel at Montrose. The voyage lasted six
weeks, during which time they encountered
two severe storms, but finally landed at Que-
bec in safety in .\ugust. 1857, and proceeded
at once to Tazewell county, Illinois, where
his brothers, Henry and Archie, had pre-
\iously located. They were joined b\' their
father two or three years later and he made
his home in this country throughout the re-
mainder of his life, dying in 1875 ^^ ^''^ '''1"^
old age of eighty-one years.

.\t first John Crabb worked on a farm by
the mouth and later he and his brother,
Archie, rented land and engaged in farm-
ing together for seven years. At the end
of that period the ])ro]>erty was divided and
our subject came to Livingston county and

])urcha.sed a tract of raw prairie land in
Pike township, to Ihe improvement and
cultivation of which he devoted his energies
until 1889, when he sold that place and
bought his present farm of one hundred and
twenty acres of land on section 9, the same
township. At that time it was only .slightly
improved, but he has remodeled the resi-
dence, tiled the land, erected good outbuild-
ings and made many other improvements,
transforming it into a most ilesirable farm.

On the J5th of December, 1865. in Liv-
ingston county. Mr. Crabb was united in
marriage with Miss Hannah E. Capes, a
sister of I)a\id D. Capes, whose sketch ap-
pears on another i)age of this volume. She
was born in Lincolnshire. England, but was
only three years old when brought to this
Country by her father, Willoughby Capes,
who first settled in Tazewell county, Illi-
nois. I)ut later came to Livingston countv.
^Ir. and Mrs. Crabb have a family of seven
children, namely: Charles, who is married
and engaged in farming in this county : Wal-
ter, at home; Ada, wife of Henry Beeks.
a farmer of Benton county, Indiana ; Eliza-
beth, wife of Lucius Phillips, a farmer of
Pike township, this county; Dora, Ethel and
Zephyr, all at home.

Politically, Mr. Crabb was originally a
Rejiublican, but of late years has supported
the Democratic party, and being a friend of
temperance he takes an interest in the Pro-
l-.ibition movement. He was an efficient
member of the school board for some vears
and gives his support to every enterprise
which he believes calculated to advance the
moral, educational or social welfare of the
community in which he lives. Religiously,
both he and his estimable wife are earnest
and consistent members of the Bethel Meth-
odist Episcopal church.

I30

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHARLES A. McGKECOR.

Few men are more ])n)minent <>i" nmre
■\videlv known in tlie enterprising city of
Pontine than the gentleman whose name
introduces this sketcli. He was born in WW-
mington, CHnton county, Ohio, IVIarch 14.
1843. and is a son of John H. McGregor,
who was born in Orange county. North
CaroHna, August 30, 181 4. The grandfa-
ther, John McGregor, a native of the higli-
lands of Scotland, settled in North Caro-
Hna on his emigration to this counry, and
there he was a professor in an educational
institution and also a land owner. \Vhen his
son, John H., was three years old he re-
moved with his family to Green River, Ken-
tucky, where he purchased a large amount
of land, but seven years later disposed of his
property there and moved to Clinton coun-
ty, Ohio, where he bought more land, mak-
ing his home there throughout the remainder
of his life.

John H. McGregor, father of our sub-
ject, was educated in Lcjuisville, Kentucky.
and was admitted to the Ijar in Clinton coun-
ty, Ohio. In Wilmington, Ohio, he was
married, October 3, 1838, by Rev. Joseph L.
Irvin, to J^Iiss Mary J. Buxton, who was
born in W'arren county, that state, March
27, 1 82 1, a daughter of Charles and Eliza
(Vandoren) Buxton. Her father, who was
of English birth, died when she was only
four years old. At an early day the father
of our subject removed to the territory of
Iowa and located in Davenport, owning the
original claim on which that city was
founded in partnership with his^jrother and
another gentleman. In 1850 he remo\ed to
Ottawa, Illinois, where he engaged in the
practice of law, having his ofifice with Dr.
Stout, the noted abolitionist, and in Octo-

ber, 1852. before the railroad was built,
came to I'ontiac. where he was first engaged
ii; practice with Mr. DeW'itt. the earliest at-
torney of the ])lace. but later was a member
of the firm of McGregor & Dart. He
erected one of the first buildings of any
size in the town, the lumber being hauled
from Ottawa, a distance of forty miles, and
was one of the most prominent citizens of
tontiac in that day, as well as one of the
leading lawyers of this section of the state,
being engaged in practice with Lincoln,
Caton and other illustrious men. He died
Januarv 5, 1856, honored and respected by
all who knew him. His wife is still living
and is one of the two surviving charter mem-
bers of the Presbyterian church of Pontiac.
He left five children, namelx' : Elizabeth,
who married A. J. Laws, but is now de-
ceased ; Emma, Charles A.. Alonzo H. and
H. Burton, all residents of Pontiac.

The early education of Charles A. Mc-
Gregor, acquired in the public schools, was
supplemented by a course at Dickinson Col-
lege, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He left col-
lege to return home and enlisted in the spring
of 1863, joining Company C, Thirty-ninth
Illinois \'olunteer Infantry, which was then
stationed in front of Richmond. From that
time on he was in all the engagements in
which his regiment took part, including the
battles around Richmond and Petersburg,
and after Lee's surrender did provost duty,
remaining in the service until December,
1865, when he was honorably discharged.

Returning to Pontiac Mr. ^IcGregor was
interested in a grocery store one year. He
had been practically brought up in the drug
business, as from the age of thirteen years
he had worked in a drug store when not in
school until he entered the army, and so
had acquired a very good knowledge of that

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

'31

business. As a clerk lie had charge (if the
grocery store of Mr. Turner, but also re-
ceived a percentage of the profits, and so
was really interested in the business. In
1807, in partnership with [. A. Caldwell,
under the firm name of Caldwell & McGreg-
or, he embarked in the drug business on his
own account on Mill street, where business
was carried on for a number of years, but
in 1S72 they built a fine block on the corner
of Mill and Madison streets, which at that
time was the best business house in the city,
it being 20x1 10 feet in dimensions and two
stories in height. Here Mr. McGregor is
still engaged in business, occupying all of
the main floor, part of the second and most
of the liasement. The firm built up the
largest drug trade in this section of the state
and about twenty years added to their stock
a fine line of jewelry and silverware, which
])roved quite i)rofitable. They also dealt in
books, stationery, wall paper, etc. They
erected the building adjoining their store and
also owned another where the Sterry block
now stands. In February. 1895, Mr. Mc-
Gregor purchased his partner's interest and
has since been alone in business. He has
erected a number of business blocks, owning
five buildings on the main business streets
of the city besides the one he occupies, and
also has considerable residence property and,
with his children, owns several farms. He
was one of the early stockholders of the
Livingston County National Bank and an
original stockholder of the Pontiac Nationni
Bank, as well as a director of both. In
business affairs he is energetic, prompt and
notably reliable and carries forward to suc-
cessful completion whatever he undertakes.
On the 23d of November, 1871, Mr.
McGregor married Miss Eunice J. Johnson,
a native of Tohnson's Cross Roads, Green-

brier county, \'irginia, and a daughter of
Morris Johnson, who came to Pontiac about
i860 and was here engaged in general mer-
chandising and the stock business for man}'
years. By this union were born five chil-
dren, of whom three still live: Bernice E. ;
VJWs J., now a student in the law depart-
ment of the L'nivcrsity nf Michigan; and
Lewis C. at home. I'hc wife and mother,
who was a consistent member of the Meth-
odist Episco])aI church and a most estimable
woman, died in January, 1888. Mr. Mc-
Gregor hi lids nienil)crship in the Presby-
terian church and for many years has been a
trustee of the same. He also took an active
])art in Sunday school work for some years.
He has never had time nor inclination for
])olitical affairs, though he has served as
alderman from his ward and ever stands
ready to discharge any duty devolving upon
him.

HON. LAB.\X M. STROUD.

Hon. Laban M. Stroud, who is now
living a retired life on his farm near Pon-
tiac, has been a resident of the state since
1830. He is a native of Tennessee, born
near the city of Nashville, Di.xon county,
September 27, 1822, and is the son of
'I'homas and Sally (Thompson) Stroud, the
former a native of North Carolina, born in
1791, and the latter a native of Virginia
and daughter of Neal Thompson, who lo-
cated in Tennessee in 1789, and there be-
came a large and wealthy planter and where
the remainder of his life was passed. Thomas
Stroud was a son of Jesse and grandson of
Peter Stroud, both of whom were natives
of North Carolina, but of English and Irish
ancestry. Jesse Stroud moved from North

^y-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Carolina to Tennessee and located in Obion
county, where he owned a large plantation
and a number of slaves.

Thomas Stroud grew to manhood in
Tennessee and in 1812 married Sally
Thompson, by whom he iiad a family of
two sons and seven daughters, two only of
the number now living, our subject and his
sister, Mrs. Artimissa Higgs, now living
with our subject. The other members of
the family were Cassa R.. Fanetta, Sinia
Sabury, l{!llen. Obedience Lee, Mourning
Tilford, Julian and Milton P.

Thomas Stroud was a soldier in the
war of 1812 and served under General Jack-
son. He was a planter in Tennessee for,
some years after his marriage, but. with the
desire to better provide for his family, he
came to Illinois in 1830. tirst stopping in
Sangamon county, where he spent one sea-
son, and then moved to that portion of Taze-
well county which was later detached and
now forms the county of Logan. On settling
in the latter county he took up a claim of one
hundred and sixty acres, a part of which was
government land, which he improved and on
which he continued to live until his death,
March 7, 1858. His wife passed away in
1857.

The subject of this sketch was eight
years of age when he came with his parents
to Illinois. His educational advantages
were limited, but his advantages for work
were not. The farm was to be improved,
crops were to be planted and harvested, and
he must do his share of the work. In his
youth, however, he learned the carpenter's
trade with his uncle. Colonel S. M. Thomp-
son, but he continued to make his home with
his parents until some years after attaining
his majority.

On the 7th of April, 1847. ^Ir. Stroud

was united in marriage with Miss Eh'v
Adams, who was born in Bedford county,
Tennessee, January 9, 1826, and daughter
of Captain John G. Adams, a native of one
of the Carolinas. but who came to Illinois
and located in Tazewell county in 1828,
when his daughter was but two years old.
He was in command of a cavalry companv
in the Black Hawk war and was killed by
the Indians. His wife was so shocked by the
death of her husljand that she lost her mind
and never recovered, though she lived many
yeard afterward., dying when seventy-five
years old. The family were of Scotch an-
cestry and were early settlers of North Caro-
lina, from which state they moved to Ten-
nessee and later to Illinois.

After his marriage Mr. Stroud bought
one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved
land, which he improved and on which he
continued to live until 1879, in the mean-
time adding to its area until it comprised a
well improved farm of four hundred and
twenty-five acres. Renting his place he
moved to Minier, where he bought residence
property and wliere he made his home for
ten years. He then came to Livingston
county and took up his residence on his
farm adjoining the city of Pontiac, which he
purchased at that time, comprising one hun-
dred and sixty-three acres, all of which is
under improvement. He had previously, in
1885, purchased a farm of four hundred
acres lying northeast of 'the city of Pontiac.
To Mr. and Mrs. Stroud seven children
were born. Louisa is the wife of H. H.
Darnell, of Tazewell county, Illinois. Mar-
tha is the wife of William Neal Mountjoy,
of Logan county, Illinois. Thomas Frank
resides in Omaha, Nebraska. Mrs. Sarah
Jane Livesay is a resident of Livingston
countv. Parmelia Annie resides at home.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

•33

Joliii (I. is marriecl aiul is entjageil in farm-
ing in Livingston county. Warren M. is
carrying on the home farm, .\fter fifty-twi)
\-ears of a happy wedded life Mrs. Stroud
passed to licr reward December 5, iSgt),
while on a visit to the old neighborhuod in
Logan county, where so many years of her
life were s])ent. Her remains were laid tn
rest in the Xiblack cemetery, there tn wait
the resurrection day. She was a faith fvU
heliimeet to her husband, to whom she was
greatly attached, and was a most loving
mother. The familv and all who knew her
in tliis life will always hold her in gr;iteful
remembrance.

I'olitically Mr. Stroud isa Jack.s<!n Dem-
ocrat and he has been an earnest advocate
of the principles of his party throughout
life. His first presidential vote was cast for
James K. Polk in 1844, and from that time
to the present the nominee of his party lias
always received his ballot. By his fellow-
citizens he has been honored with \arious
local ofHces. ser\ing for many years as a
member of the coiuuy bnard of supervisors.
In 1872 he was elected by his party a mem-
ber of the Cieneral.\ssembly,the district com-
prising the counties of Tazewell and Logan,
and ser\ed two years, during which time he
served on several inijjrotant committees and
was known as a working member. Believ-
ing that iithers shoidd serve, he declined
further political honors. Since he was eigh-
teen iif age Mr. Stroud has been a member
of the Christian church and has e\er taken
an interest in the work of the church and in
the evangelization of the world. His good
wife was also-a member of the same church.
At the ])resent time his membership is with
the church in Pontiac.

Like thousands of the well-to-do luen of
this countrv, Mr. Stroud began life with but

little means, but he had health, a gond con-
stitution, a stiiut heart and willing hands.
lie was not afraid nf work, and with tem-
])er;ile habits and an earnest desire to do
right with his fellnw men. he has labored on
until to-dav he is the owner of si.x well ini-
l)ro\ed farms, comprising about two thou-
sand acres, and is well content to live a (|uiet
life, enjoying the fruits of his labor in the
past, while others shall take up the more
active duties. Well knuwn ;m<l universally
respected, he can quietlv re\iew the jiast w ith
the satisfaction nf cme wlm has nut lived in
\ain. while those that know him can feel
that the world is better for the life that he
has li\'ed.

WILLIAM T, CR.VWl'ORl).

William T. Crawford, a prominent horse
dealer, who has since 1875 been an active
factor in the business life of I'lntiac, Illi-
nois, was b(jrn in \'ew \'iirk City October
13, i8_^_'. and is a son of .\ndrew and Eliz-
abeth (Turner) Crawford, the former a
native of Ireland, the latter of .Xew N'ork,
where their marriage was celebrated, the
father having come to this country when a
voung man. Meeting with business reverses
in the metroplis, he removed to Harrison
count V, ( )hio. where he to(]k up laml and
Commenced life anew in very limiteil cir-
cumstances. Though the country where he
settled was hilly and stonv and covered with
a heavy growth of timlier. he steadily ])ros-
pered, and by hard work, good management
and close econ«)my he became possessed of
considerable land, being (piite well off at
the time of his death, which occurred in
.Xovember, i88(>. The mother died on the
old home farm in 1897. Both were faithful

134

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

meml)ers of tlie Methodist Episcdpal church
and were higlily esteemed in the cir.nniunity
where they made their home.

The subject of this sketch began his edu-
cation in the schools of New Yori< Cit}',
but was only eight years old when the family
removed to Ohio. The school house nearest
his father's home was two miles distance
and the ]3ath lay through the wnods. His
mother went \vitli him the first day, carry-
ing a hatchet, with which she marked the
trees that he might find his way lionie again
at night. The school proved quite different
from the one he had attended in the city,
but he managed to acquire a good practical
education. On leaving home, in 1 854, at the
age of twenty-one years, he went to Scott
county, Iowa, and spent one year on a farm
some twentv miles west of Davenport.

]\Ir. Crawford then returneil home and
■was married, February 14, 1856, to Miss
Sarah Johnston, daughter of Andrew John-
ston, who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and
to them have been born six children, namely :
Elizabeth, now the wife of Charles Strevelle,
of Salt Lake City, Utah ; George A., who is
in business with his father and has served
as alderman in Pontiac; Ada, wife of Albert
Dolde; Elmer, a resident of Montana; Will-
iam, who has been connected with the Na-
tional Bank of Pontiac for some years; and
Maude, at home.

In the spring of \H^('>. a short time after
his marriage, Mr. L'rawford mo\-ed to
Bloomington, Illinois, where he followed
farming for three years, and then bought a
farm in Tazewell county, which he operated
six years. His ne.xt home was a farm north-
west of Bloomington, nn which was laid out
the town of Yuton, and on selling that place
he mo\-ed to Bloomington. where he was en-
gaged in the horse and cattle business for a

number of years, beciuning a \-ery extensi\'e
shipper of cattle and hogs. He was among*
the first from that city to send cattle to the
Union stockyards, Chicago, to be sold on
ci^mmission, and was the first to ship horses
there fur that purpose. He owned- the first
car-load of horses e\er put in the old brick
barn knuwn as the G:ioper barn, and has
handled those animals on quite an extensive
scale e\er since. He buys mainly in Iowa
and Montana, and sells from three to five
hundred western h(.irses ex'ery year, dealing'
in draft horses and fine drivers. No one in
this section handles as many as the Craw-
fords — father and son — and they have met
with most excellent success. Although he
has traveled so extensively in the interests
of his business and been brought in contact
with all classes of iieople, Mr. Crawford has
ne\-er tasted intoxicating drinks, and has
led a most exemplary life, commanding the
respect and confidence of all who know him.
He has never taken an active part in poli-
tics, ]ireferring" to give his undix'ided atten-
tion to his business interests.

JOHN DENEHE.

It is said that biograjihy yields to no
cither su1)ject in ])oint of interest and profit
and is is especially interesting to note the
])rogress that has been made along various
lines of business by those of foreign birth,
who have sought homes in America — the
readiness with which they adapt themselves
to the different methods and customs of
America, recognize the advantages offered
and utilize the o])portunities which the new
world attords. \\'e find a worth}- repre-
sentative of this class in John Denehe, the

THE LiOGRAPniCAL RECORD.

135

present foreman of the locomotive and car
dei)artnient at tlic rouiul house in Dwiglit.
whicli is the end of the Peoria (U\ ision of
tlie C'liicagfo & Alton Railroad.

Mr. Henehe was I>orn in ci>unty Water-
ford, Ireland, Decemher 23, 1846, a son of
Edward and Margaret Denelie, farming peo-
l>le, wliii spent their entire lives in that coun-
trv. ( )ur suhect grew to manhood on the
lK>me farm with \-ery limited educational ad-
vantages. At the age of twenty years he
crossed the ocean alone anil landed on .\mer-
ican soil, a stranger in a strange land, lie
stopped first in Xew \'(irk, and remaineil
ahont three vears in that city and \icinity.
where he \\:is eniplciycd as a gardener and
farm lahorcr.

.\t h'lathusli, Xew \i<vk, Mr. Denehe was
marrie<l. .\ugust J, iS()8, to Miss Briilget
Taylor, a nati\e of count}' West Meath, Ire-
land, who came to this country ahont the
same time as her husband. They have three
sons: 'i'homas ]•".., inspector and repairer of
cars at Dwight: William, who married
limma Smith, of JJwight, and is now a tire-
man on the Chicago & Alton Railroatl, and
John E., at home.

After his marriage Mr. Denehe moved
to \ alparaiso, Indiana, where he worked in
a saw-mill one season, and then went to Ee-
mont, Illinois, where he was employed on
the construction of the canal two years. In
1871 he took up his residence in Blooming-
ton and entered the shops of the Chicago &
Alton Railroad, where he worked as car
truck builder until the fall of iS/j. Xeed-
iiig a reliable man at Dwight, the company
sent Mr. Denehe there in September of that
year to take charge of the car department.
He held that jHisition until 1885, when he
was promoted to foreman, in which capacit}'
he has since served the road to their entire

satisfaction. He has under him four men
in the car department and seven in the lo-
comotive de[)artnient, besides seven regular
train crews. He also has charge of their
shop at \\'ashington, Illinois, and for some
lime had charge of those at Eacon and
Streator. He came U< the new world with
the hope of making his fortune and his
lireams have been more than realized, and
he is to-day a well-to-do man. Besides his
])leasant residence in Dwight, erected by
him in 1874, he has a fine farm of six hun-
dred and twenty acres in Trego county, Kan-
sas. He is intelligent and well informed
and that he has pro\-ed an efficient and x'alued
cniplciyee is proxed by his long retention
with one company, for he has now been with
liie Chicago iS; Alton Railroad Com])any for
twenty-eight years. His success in life is
(hie entire!}' to his own well-directed and
energetic efforts, for he came to this coun-
try empty-handed and has had to make his
own way in the world unaided. He and his
family are communicants of the Catholic
church, and he is identified w ilh the Republi-
can i^art}'. He takes an acti\e interest in
public affairs and has efticiently servetl as
.school trustee. Eratcrnallv, he is a mem-
ber of the Ancient (_)rder of Hiijernians,
and was one of the charter members of the
lodge in Dwight. He has held all the offices
in the lodge, l)eing active in the order as
\\ell as in public affairs.

Hi:RM.\X EOM.M.VTSCH.

Many of the most enteri)rising and pri/-
gressive farmers r)f Livingsttjn cciunty have
come from the land beyond the sea. and al-
though they had no capital when the}' lo-

136

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cated liere they are now prosperous and suc-
cessful. Among the most prominent of tliese
is Herman Lommatsch, wlio owns and oc-
cupies on excellent farm of three hundred
and twenty acres on sections 23 and 24, I'ike
township, and also has property elsewhere
in the county.

He was horn in Saxon\-. (ierniany, Oc-
tober. 27. 1835. '^''"' ^^'^^ reared on a farm
in his native land, at the same time attentl-
ing school for eigljt years. In 1854, at the
age of nineteen, he came to America with
his father. \\'illiam Lommatsch. taking i)as-
sage on a sailing vessel at Bremen and ar-
riving in Xew ^'ork after a \i)\age of six
^\'eeks. They ])roceeded at once to Cincin-
nati, and from there went to Riple\' county.
Indiana, where for fi\e ^■ears our subject as-
sisted his father in opening up a farm.

There !Mr. Lommatsch was married, in
June, t8^C), to Augusta I'ellwock. also a
native of Saxony, who came to the new
world when a girl of tweKe \ears and grew
to womanhood in Indiana. Ily this union
ha\e been born nine children. namely :Kmma.
Wife of Jonathan Chicodanse. a farmer of
Pike township, Lixingston county: Laura,
wife of Fred Altnian, of the same comity;
Theodore, who is married and li\es on the
farm in Pike township, where Mr. Lom-
matsch first settled: Louis, w lio is married
and follows farming in the same township:
Charles, who is married and enga.ged in
business in Chenoa ; Herman 1-., a farmer
of Eppards I'tiiiU township; Melan, a
farmer, at honie : Lena and Xettie, both at
home.

After his marriage ^Ir. Lommatsch con-
tinued to engage in farnnng upon his fa-
ther's place in Ripley county. Iniliana, for
two years. In 1861 he came to Livingston
county, Illinois, and purcha.sed eighty acres

f)f land in Pike township, but for two years
he operated a rented farm in Eppards Point
townshi].). and then located upon his own
place, which he impros'ed by the erection
of a comfortable resilience. That farm was
his home for several years, during which
time he added to it a tract of one hundred
and forty acres adjoining, so that he had
two hundred and twenty acres in all. Sub-
scc|uently he purchased eighty acres wdiere
he now resides, and located thereon in 1878.
He has extended the boundaries of his place
until the\' now include three hundred and
twenty acres, and to its improvement and
cidtivation he has devoted his energies with
excellent results. He has erected a large,
neat residence, a commodious barn, cribs and
sheds, has tiled the land, set out shade and
fruit trees, and has converted it into one
of the most desirable farms in the township,
i'.esides his valuable property he has an-
other farm of one hundred and si.xty-seven
acres in Eppards Point township. His suc-
cess is due to his industry, energy and i)er-
severance. and c<imes as a fitting reward for
honest toil. J'olitically, ]\lr. Lommatsch is
a stanch Republican, and religiouslv he and
l-.is famil\- are members of the I'^-vangelical
cluu'ch.

JOSIAH X. I'..\RR.

For forty-five years this gentleman has
been identified witli the agricultural interests
of Livingston county, and now owns antl
operates a well-improved farm of one hun-
dred and eighty acres on section 17, F'lsmen
township. He was born in Lancaster coun-
ty, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1833, and is a son
of Jacob and Susan (Rarr) Barr. also na-
tives of Pennsvlvania and of German de-

J. N. BARR.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

139

scent. Our subject's paternal grandtatlier.
Jacob Barr. Sr.. was one of the pioneers of
I ancaster county, wbere tlie family con-
tinued ti> make their home until 1836, when
tiie parents of our subject moved to Clark
county, Ohio, and tliere tiie father cleared
and improved a farm. In that county they
spent the remainder of their lives, the mother
dyinji' January, 1846. and the fatlier in 1848.
At the death of the mother there were seven
children living, of whom five yet survive:
Jacob, cif Lawrence county. Illinois: Josiah
X.. oiu" subject; Cyrus, of Dwight, Illinois;
Susan, now Mrs. Kemp, of Iowa, and Laura
B., now Mrs. Foy, a widow living in Wash-
ington county, Nebraska. The oldest daugh-
ter. Elizabeth, died in November, 1846.

Josiah N. Barr was fifteen years old
<it the time of his father's death. He then
went to work for various farmers, and con-
tinued to be thus employed in that vicinity
mitil he was twentj'-one years old, in the
meantinie securing a fair common scimol e<l-
tication. and then came to Illinois, in 1834.
locating first in Kane county, where he
worked by the month as a farm hand for one
year. At llie cn<i of that time lie purcliased
one liundretl and si.xty acres of land on sec-
tion 17, Esmen township, Livingston countv,
where he now resides, to its improvement
and cultivation he has since devoted his en-
ergies with tiie e.xception of the time spent
in his country's service during the Civil war.
He broke about half of this tract before en-
tering the army. It is now a well improved
place, being tiled, fenced and under a high
state of culti\ation. The buildings are neat
and .substantial, and tiie whole farm indicates
the thrift and enterjjrise of the owner.

On the 30th of August, 1862. Mr. I'arr
enlisted in Company M, I'irst Illinois Ar-
tillery, which was organized at Camp Doug-

las and sent from there to Louisville, spend-
ing the time from October until the follow-
ing J'cbruary in Kentucky in ])ursuit of
Morgan. They ne.xt went down the Ohio
and uj) the Cumberland rivers, joining Rose-
crans at Fort Donelson, where they were
held in reserve for a time, afterward going
to Naslnille and Franklin. As a re.serve
corps tliey proceeded to Chickamauga, in
whicli engagement they took ])art. it being
their first important battle. . Later they
were in the battle of Missionary Ridge, and
were sent with Sherman to relieve the forces
at KnoxviJJe. ( )ii the Jd day of May, 1864,
they started on the .\tlanta campaign, and for
ninety da\s were under fire almost constant-
ly. They i)articii)ated in the battle of Kene-
saw Mountain and assisted in the capture
of Atlanta, after which the artillery was sent
back to Chattanooga, where thev were on
duty until the following spring, and then
])roceeded to Cleveland, Tennessee, remain-
ing there until the clnse i)f the war. .Mr.
Harr was honor;ibly discharged at Camp
Douglas July J^. 1865. He had lost but
little time on ;iccount of sickness, and, al-
though disabled for dnt_\- a sJiort time, lie w;is
ne\er in the Imspital.

-Mr. r>arr w:is married, in Livingston
county. December 24. 187J, to Miss Tinnie
.\nnis, a nati\e of London, Englanil, and a
tlanghter of .Mr. Chalmers. .\s her father
died when she was (piite small, she was
adojjted by a Mrs. .\nnis. with whom she
came to America during childhood. They
located first in \ ermont. but when she was
about nine years of age moved to Nebraska,
where she grew to womanhood. She died
.September jj. 1895, and was laid to rest
in the Esmen cemetery. By this union were
born four children, namely: Lutie, who is
now keeping house for her father; Lorenzo

140

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

N., a pliarmacist, \\'lio is now engas^ed in tlie
drug business in Idaho, and Tlieda M. and
Loren C, both at home.

Islv. Barr cast his first j^residential vote
for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and as a Re-
])ubHcan lie has since taken an active and
prominent part in local politics. He helped
organize his tnwnship and was elected first
collector, in which capacity he .served for
two years. He was township trustee six
years, and at interxals has filled the office of
supervisor for twelve years, during which
time he served on various important commit-
tees. He has also been a delegate to nu-
merous county conventions of his party, and
whate\er position he has been called upon
to fill, it duties he has always faithfull}^ and
satisfactorily performed. He was a member
of the Wesleyan Methodist church until it
was disbanded, and now attends the Method-
ist Episcopal church, to which he contributes
liberally. He takes quite an active and
jirominent ])art in church and Sabbath school
work, and is now serving as superintendent
of the Sabbath school. He has witnessed
the wonderful development and progress
made in this region in the last half-century,
has seen Pontiac grow from a cross roads
town of two stores to be one of the important
cities in this section of the state, and in the
work of advancement he has e\er borne an
active part and is numbered among the most
useful and valued citizens of his comnumitv.

XELSOX COUXTRYMAX.

Xelson Countryman, deceased, was for
several years prominently identified with the
business interests of Pontiac, where he lo-
cated in 1859, and bore an active part in the

early develnijment of the city. He was born
in St. Johnsxille. Xew York, July ir, 1832,
a son I if Jacob Cnuntrx-man. The father,
who belonged to an old Xew York family,
was a shipbuilder by trade, and also engaged
in the i^ractice of law in that state. For a
time he made his home in Syracuse and
later in Buffalo, and built many of the early
lake boats. On coming west he soon located
in Ottawa, Illinois, where he purchasetl land
and engaged in farming until 1859, which
year witnessed his arrival in P'ontiac, \\here,
as a well-to-do man he li\ed retired until his
death, which occurred ten or fifteen vears
later. He erected one of the first brick
stores on the square. Religioush", he was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

X'elson Countryman was educated in the
schools of Syracuse and Buffalo, Xew York,
and later accompanied his parents rm their
removal to Ottawa, Illinois. As previously
stated the family came to this county in
1859, and our subject bought and openetl up
the first stone quarry near Pontiac, it being-
three-quarters of a mile northeast of the
court house, and for this land he gave two
hundred dollars per acre. From his quarry
nearly the stone for the foundations of
buildings in the city were obtained. He did
a large and prosperous business, furnishing
employment to many men, and had the name
of being one of the best workmen in his line
in this seceion of the state. He c<.intracted
to put in foundaticins and also shipped rock
and sand.

On the 3(1 of October, 1854, INIr. Coun-
tryman married Miss Paskalenia Reynolds,
and to them were born two children, namely :
Mary E.. wife of D. B. Shiland, of Pontiac,
and ?ilinnie, wife of Frank Sinclair, also of
Pontiac. Beniamin B. Reynolds, Mrs.
CountrvmanV father, was born in Lewiston,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

141

Minlin county. Pennsylvania. June 10. 1810.
an<l there inarrieil rjeamn" Scut'ield. who was
horn in Clearfield. Clearfield eountv, Penn-
sylvania. August 14, 181J. He was en-
gaged in the hanlware husiness in I,e\viston
until 1833, when, with his wife and two chil-
dren, he removed to Ottawa, Illinois, being
one of its first settlers. He had lost a fort-
une of nearly fifty thousand dollars by the
I'aiiure of the state to jiav for an ac(|ueduct.
In La Salle county, he purchased six hun-
dred anil forty acres of land six miles from
Ottawa, where he made his home until 1877,
and then went to Indiana, but his last days
were passed in Texas. His brother. Dr.
John P. Reynolds, was killed at the Alamo,
and his property, consisting of four thou-
sand and forty-seven acres of land and two
thousand dollars fell to Mrs. Countryman's
father and his sister in Indiana. The fa-
ther went south to take possession ui the land
antl located every acre. The property also
included thirteen houses and lots in Wells
Point, Texas. He died in that state Febru-
ary 2, 1882, leaving eight children, his wife
passed away February 16. 1874. P)oth were
active members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and were people of prominence in
the community where they resided.

Mrs. Countryman was reared on a farm
near Ottawa and was mostly educated by her
father, who had been a professor of sciiools
for thirty years. He also served as super-
visor of his township for over forty years,
and was considered the leading man of the
community, his fellow citizens always gi\-
ing him their political support regardless of
party lines. He also took an active interest
in state affairs, and was well acquainted with
l^incoln and other prominent politici.ans cif
his day.

Mr, and Mrs. Countrvman resided for

a short time in Wisconsin, and then returned
to Ponliac. where she has since made her
home at .\'o, 313 I'.ast Lix'ingston street.
Here be died b'cbruary 23, 1886, Through
bis own well-directed efforts he acijuired a
comfortable competence, and also won by an
honorable, upright life, an untarnished name,
and the record which he left behind is one
well worth)' of emulation. Since her hus-
band's death Mrs. Comitryni:ui has carried
on the business and (|uarry interests and has
met with marked success. ba\ing more or-
tlers than she can till, although she knew
nothing of the business when it came under
her management. She gives employment
to ten men, and ships stone quite extensively,
having the only quarry in this neighborhood.
Jt is a \-ery valuable piece of property, co\-
ering two acres of the eighteen and a half
tract which she owns. She is a member of
the liaptist church, and is honored, mU alone
for her business ability, but for her straight-
forward, womanly course and true nobility
of character. Her circle of friends and ac-
iiuaintances is e.\tensi\'e.

WALTER HART,

Walter Mart, a successful florist now en-
gaged in business at a'o, 507 North Ladd
street, Pontiac. Illinois, was Ixjrn near Xor-
age, England, February 27, 1833, and when
eighteen years of age emigrated to Amer-
ica with his i)arents, Ceorge and Mary Ann
(Locke) Hart, also natives of England,
where the father earned a livelihood as
a fisherman. The family settled near
Aurora, in Kane county, Illinois, where
the father engaged in farming until a
few vears before his death, when he came

142

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to Pdiitiac, w here he passed awa}- SeiJteniber
15. 1884. at the age of seventy-three years.
After his death the mother lived with our
suhject and at his home she died Decemljer
9, 1884, at the age of nearly eighty-four.
They had a family of nine children, all Ixiru
in England, but only three are now li\ing.
namelv: Dennis, a farmer of Sac county.
Iowa : George, a machinist of Des Moines.
Jowa, and Walter, our suhject. The others
all (hed in England, with the exception of
^Irs. Alehalah Huggins. who died in Dwight,
Illinois.

^\'alter Hart never left the home of his
parents until his father's death. He ob-
tained the greater part of his literary educa-
tion in the evening schools of Norage, Eng-
land, and for a brief time after coming to
this country attended school in Bristol, Ken-
dall county, Illinois, where his father was
engaged in farming. In November, 1875,
he came to Pontiac with his parents and
entered the employ of the Illinois State Re-
formatory as gardener, remaining in their
employ for two years, after which he leaseil
a greenhouse on Maplewood avenue, and en-
gaged in business there as a florist for fi\e
years. The following eight years he carried
on business in the northern part of the cit}-.
and then purchased his present place at Xo.
507 North Ladd street. Here he constructed
:i greenhouse, but his business has increased
50 rapidly that it is fast outgrowing his pres-
ent (|uarters. A man of artistic tastes and
go(vd Imsiness ability, he has met with suc-
cess in his chosen calling. He lias been a
life-long member of the Methodist church,
and his career has ever been such as to com-
mend him to the confidence and high regard
of all with whom he has come in contact,
either in business or social life. In his po-
litical views he is a Republican.

In i860, in Kendall county, Illinois, was
celebrated the marriage of ]\Ir. Hart and
;\Iiss Sarah Springer, of that county, the
sixth child of James and Katherine Springer.
She was bi un in Indiana and came to this
state with her parents when quite young.
Tn Mr. and ISIrs. Hart were born seven chil-
dren, namely: Anna C., who died at the age
of one year and eleven months; Sebina, who
died in Pontiac at the age of five months;
one who died in infancy unnamed; James
\\ .. who married Laura McKinsev. of Mc-
Dowell, Illinois, and is an electrician in the
emplo)' of the Electric Light Company of
I'ontiac ; Marv Ann, wife of Pearl Carrier,
a farmer of Chenoa, Illinois; .\deline, wife
I if Charles Page, a painter and paper hanger
of I'ontiac, and George R., who is employed
i:; a shoe factor^• in Pontiac.

JOHN H.KNCOCK.

John Hancock, whose home is on section
25, Pike townshii), Li\ingston county, is one
of the most preeminent and influential citi-
zens of his commimity. He takes an active
and commendable interest in public affairs,
and gives his support to all enterprises which
he believes will prove of public lienefit or
will in any wa_\' ad\ance the interests of his
adoptetl county.

Mr. Hancock was born in Franklin coun-
ty, Pennsylvania, January 13, 1839, a son of
John and Catherine (Mooney ) Hancock, na-
li\es of iMaryland and Pemisylvania, re-
s]iectively. Throughout the greater por-
tion of his life the father made his home in
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, his time and
attention being devoted to agricultural pur-
suits, and he died there in 1875. His wife,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

143

who still survives him. a liale and hearty nld
lady of seventy-five years, continues to re-
side on the old homestead with lier xnunt^-
est son, Solomon Hancock.

During^ his boyhood our suhject attended
the common schools and remained in his na-
tive county until eighteen years of age. when
he came to Illinois, locating in McLean
county. March i, 1857. There he worked
by the month tor two years, and then came
to Livingston county, operating rented land
in I'ike township until the imtbreak of the
Civil war. On the 14th of June, 18O1, he
enlisted for three years, in Company .\.
First Illinois Cavalry, which was assigned
to the western army, and his tirst engagement
was at Lexington, Missouri. He partici-
pated in numerous skirmishes in that state
and .\rkansas, and was in active service two
years, being mustered out and honorably
discharged at Benton Barracks, St. Louis,
in 1863. After his return from the war Mr.
Hancock continued to engage in farming
upon rented for several years, after which
he speculated in farm property quite exten-
sively, buying and selling several places. In
1878 lie purchased his. present farm of one
hundred and sixty acres, on section 25, Pike
township, and has since successfully engaged
in its operation. He has erected thereon
good and substantial buildings, and has made
many other improvements, which add greatlv
to the value and attractive appearance of the
place, making it one of the best farms of its
size in the township. By untiring industry
and sound judgment he has won a merited
success in his undertakings, and is in all re-
spects worthy the high regard in which he
is held by his fellow citizens.

On the 2d of June, 1863, in Livingston
county, while home on a furlough, Mr. Han-
cock was united in marriage with Miss

Rachel Campbell, who was born antl reared
in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and
is a daughter of Archibald Campbell, a
teacher by profession, and a life-long resi-
tlent of the Keystone state. To Mr. and
Mrs. Hancock were \x)t\\ five children,
namely: Ida, wife of Harry Reed, of Pon-
tiac; Lettie, Charles, Josephine and Bessie,
all at home. Josephine was educated at the
Pontiac high school and is now one of the
successful teachers of the county, and Bessie
is now a student at the Chenoa high school.
Formerl}- Mr. Hancock was identified
with the Republican party and cast his first
presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln, in
i860, but is now a stanch Democrat, and
takes quite an active and prominent part in
local politics and public affairs, having served
his fellow citizens as township collector, com-
missioner of highways and a member of the
school board. He has filled the last position
for some \cars and is now president of the
board. As a citizen he ever stands ready
to discharge any duty devolving upon him,
and has taken an active interest in promot-
ing the welfare of his township and county,
his patriotism being manifest in days of peace
as well as when he followed the old flag
to victory on southern battle fields. He is
an honored member of the Grand Army Post
of Chenoa, and both he and his wife hold
membership in the Presbyterian church of
that place, with which he has been connected
since I8^8.

JOHN STEWART.

John Stewart is a well known rejjre-
sentative of the business interests of Dwight,
Illinois, where he is extensively engaged in
contracting and building, and also deals in

'44

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lunilier and cual. Of excellent business abil-
ity and bniad resources, he has become one
of the well-to-do citizens of tiie place. He
has won success by his well-directed, ener-
getic efforts, and the prosperit)- that has
come to him is certainly well deserved.

Mr. Stewart was born in the north of
Ireland June ii. 1846. and is a son of John
and Mary A. (McKelvey) Stewart, also
natives of Ireland, but of Scotch parentage.
There the father learned the weaver's trade,
A\hich he followed until his emigration to
America in 1850, bringing with him his
family, consisting of wife and eight children.
He located in Warrensburg. Warren coun-
ty. New York, and accepted a position as
finisher in a tannery, but he was not long
permitted to enjoy his new home, for he
died five years after his arrival, at the age
of sixty-three. He had ten children : Jane,
\\'illiam, Mary A., Robert, Thomas, Eliza-
beth. Ellen, Margaret, John and Rosa, all
still living, but none residing in this county
with the exception of our subject. He has
one brother and three sisters in Aurora,
Kane county; one sister in Kendall county,
Illinois; a brother in Missouri, and the
others are in New York state.

Our subject was only four years old when
brought by his parents to this country, and
he received his education in the common
schools and seminary of Warrensburg, New
York. After leaving school he worked in
lumber mills for four years, and on the 1 5th
of March, 1865, came to Aurora, Illinois,
working one year on a farm in Sugar Grcne
township, Kane county. He then entered
the car shops of the Chicago, Burlington &
Ouincy Railroad, where he followed the
trade of a carbuilder four years, but on the
advice of his physician he again turned his
attention to agricultural pursuits. Going to

Grundy county, Illinois, he rented a farm for
a vear and a half, and then came to Livings-
tun county, pm-chasing a farm of eighty acres
(if im])rii\-ed land in Ne\:i la tciwnship, to
the culti\ation nf which he at once turned
his attention. About six years later he
bought another eighty-acre tract, making in
all a fine farm of one hundred and sixty
acres on section 12, Nevada township, which
he thoroughly tiled and placed under a high
state of cultivation. He gave the greater
[jart of his time and attention to the raising
of st(_ick, feeding from two to three car-
loads of cattle per year and one of hogs. In
this way he more than used all of the grain
raised upon his own land. After fourteen
years devoted to agricultural pursuits, Mr,
Stewart moved to Dwight in the spring of
1890 and commenced working at the carpen-
ter's trade. Since the fall of 1891 he has en-
gaged in contracting and building on his
own account and has erected many of the
fine residences in the place. In 1900 he
])urchased the coal business of F. B. Chester,
known as the Dwight Coal Company, and
now carries it on in connection with his
other Ijusiness.

On the 14th of September, 1870, Mr.
Stewart was united in marriage with Miss
Mary E. \^eale, a native of Grundy county,
Illinois, and a daughter of Charles and Mary
\'eale, who were born in England and came
to this country in early life, settling in Grun-
dy county, where Imth died when Mrs. Stew-
art was a child of four years. She then
made her home with her uncle, John Vick-
erv. Thev were among the first settlers
i)f Grundy count}- and while improving his
l;:nd ^Ir. A'eale lived in a wagon. To Mr.
and ^Irs. Stewart were born three children,
namely: Ernest P., who died on his thir-
teenth birthday and the anniversary of his

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

145

parents" marriage: Xellie O.. who was grad-
uated from the Dwight h'gli school in tlie
spring of 1899 and is at home; and Roliert
Earl, aged ten vears. is still in school.

Mr. Stewart is an earnest memher of
the .Methodist Episcopal church, has always
Ined up ti) his jirofessions and taken an ac-
tive part in churcli work. He lias heen an
official nieniher for the past si.xteen years
and is now trustee of the church and super-
intendent of the Sunday school. Eraternally
he is a memher of Dwight Lodge. Xo. 513,
I. (). (). E., of which he is deputy, and po-
litically is a Prohihitionist and served as
a delegate to the county conventions of his
])arty and as chairman of the township Pro-
hihition committee. When there is no Pro-
hihitinn ticket in the field he sup])iirls the
Repuhlican party. Eor the last four years
he has heen an active and efficient mem-
ber of the village hoard of trustees and has
been chairman of the water works committee
for the past three years, during which time
the system has been im])roved and a stand-
pipe placed. He has the entire confidence
and respect of his fellow citizens and is held
in high regard I)y all with whom he comes in
contact, either in business nr scKial life.

SAML"I:L (iOODWILL .MORKISOX.

.Samuel (inodwill Morrison, a promi-
nent farmer of Avoca townshi]) and a worth}'
representative of one of its old and honored
families, was Ijorn in the house he now oc-
cupies October 20, 1857, a sou of Samuel
and Mary A. (Rockwood) Morri.son, both
of whom were born near Buffalo, Xew
^'i>rk. and with their respective parents came
tci Illinois when children, being married in
this state. Our subject's paternal grand-

father only lived a few years after settling
in Livingston county, and his wife did not
long survive him. They were pioneers of
the county and made their home near where
our subject now resides. The Rockwood
lamily were also among the early settlers,
who. by persistent labors, subdued the wild
l)rairie lauds and made homes for their de-
scendants. The grandparents both died in
Livingston county. The father was one of
the most successful farmers of .\\oca town-
ship, where at one time he owned five hun-
dred acres of land, but later sold all but two
hundred and forty-four .-icrgs. which he re-
tained as a home ])lace. This was .school
land when he ])urchased it and abounded
with pniirie grass and rattle snakes, but he
impro\e<l and ci>n\erle(l the same into one
of the most fruitful and valuable farms of
his locality. In politics he was a Republican
and held minor offices in the township, which
were thrust upon him, as he never sought
political honors. His first wife died in 1866.
Si.x children were born to them, four sons
and two daughters, namely: Betsy, who
died in infancy: Susan .\., wife of C. D.
Hering. of Indiana; John O., an employee
of H. O. Babcock. of Pontiac ; George D.,
a successful farmer of .\voca township;
James ).. a resident of Spear, Xebraska;
and Samuel G., our subject. For his second
wife the father married Maria Phillips, of
Livingston county, by whom he had seven
children: Xellie. wife of Joel W. Banker,
of Pontiac ; Joseph C, of I'age county. Iowa ;
Lenora. wife of Charles Friant, of .Avoca
township; \\'illiam R., of Owego township;
Harry L., of Lodemia; iMary, who lives
with our subject; and Charles, a farmer of
.\voca township, .\fter a successful and
hou(jrable career the father died at home
May I, 1884, at the age of sixtv-five vears.

146

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

During liis Imyliorid Samuel (i. Morri-
son pursued liis studies in tlie district scliool
near his home and when his efhication was
completed he worked witii his father on the
farm until the latter's death, when he was
appointed administrator of the estate. He
purchased the interests of the other heirs
in the home farm and now has one hundred
and eighty acres, on which he is successfully
engaged in general farming and raising stock
for market.

On the 1 8th of February, 1892, Mr.
Morrison was united in marriage with Miss
Rose Gregg, who was born in Osceola coun-
ty, Iowa, in 1868, and he brought his bride
to the farm which has since been their home.
Two children bless their union : I\-an G.
and Samuel \\'.. both bright boys. ]Mrs.
Morrison is a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal church and her husband is a supporter
of the same. He holds membership in the
Modern Woodmen Camp, Xo. 6, of Fair-
bury, and n politics always affiliates with
the Republican party, though he would never
accept public office other than school di-
restor, a position he acceptably filled for
twelve years. He has led a quiet, uneventful
life in the same neighborh(X)d where there
are many who were his boyhood friends, and
those who know him best hold him in the
highest regard. His genial, pleasant man-
ner makes him quite popular, and he is rec-
ognized as a valued citizen of the com-
munitv.

DAVID E. CAPES.

David E. Capes, a successful ice dealer
of Pontiac, is a native of Illinois, his birth
occurring June 16, 1862,, six miles south
of Washington, in Tazewell county. His

parents, Willoughby and Elizabeth ( Milner)
Capes, were born, reared and married in
Lincolnshire, England, where they continued
to make their home until after the birth of
three of their children. Then the family, in
1852, came to the new world and settled in
Washington, Illinois, where for two years the
father supported his wife and children by
workingasadaylaborer at fifty cents per da\-.
The second year he was able to purchase a
horse, and the following year bought another,
after which he engaged in farming on his
own account, operating rented land for
eleven years. At the end of that period he
purchased one hundred and si.xty acres of
raw prairie land on section 9, Pike township,
Livingston county, for which he paid se\en
dollars and a quarter per acre. He located
thereon in the spring of 1864, aiid at once
turned his attention to the improvement and
cultivation of his place, soon converting it
into a most desirable farm. In connection
with general farming he was also engaged
in stock raising, and each fall shipped a car-
lod of hogs to market. He built a fine house
upon his place and made many other im-
provements, costing as much as two sections
of land would have cost when he purchased
his property. As an agriculturist he met
with marked success and was able to assist
his sons in getting a start in life. He was
one of the early members of the Bethel
Methodist Episcopal church at Greymont,
which he helped to establish, and was one
of the main standbys in the erection of the
house of worship. From the first he served
as steward of the church, and was recognized
as one of the most honest, honored and
highly respected men of his community.
He was never an aspirant for ofifice, but was
always a consistent and earnest Republican,
and never failed in his duties of citizenship.

WILLOUGHBY CAPES.

D. E. CAPES.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

151

He was lidrn at Mar's Chapel, near (irimsey,
Lincolnshire, England, October 18, 1819.
and died October 4, 1899. He was united
in marriage with Elizal)eth Milner. in 1844,
and they became tiie parents of thirteen chil-
dren. She was born in Yorkshire, England,
March 13. 1827. in her seventeenth year
she was converted and joined the Methodist
Episcopal church, and iicr lite was freely
given to the labors of the church, and her in-
fluence upon Bethel community will be felt
in the years tt) come. After a long illness
she fell asleep September 4, 1898.

Our subject was the eighth in order of
birth in the family born to this worthy
ci luple. 1 )uring his boyhood he attended the
l>ublic schools of Pike township, and aided
his father in the work of the home farm vmtil
he attained his majority. On the 28th of
December, 1882, he was united in marriage
with Miss Alice A. i'iper, of Rock Creek,
Illinois, and they now have two children;
Delbert R., born January 8, 1884, and Cora
Belle, born February i, 1886. Both are now
attending the high school of Pontiac.

After his marriage Mr. Capes remained
at home until the fall of 1883, when he pur-
chased eighty acres of raw prairie land only
three miles from Pontiac — a rare thing for
that late date. He had no money and it was
only with the help of his father as security
for the first payment that he was able to pur-
chase it. That fall he built a house and com-
menced breaking the land. He tiled it the
next spring and continued the work of im-
provement and cultivation until he had one
of the best farms of its size in the locality,
raising as nuich on it, b)' working it thor-
oughly, as many did who owned twice the
number of acres. At the age of sixteen he
commenced rutming a threshing machine,
which he operated thirteen years, and this

helped him out considerably in paying for
his lands which was soon free from debt;
He was one of the youngest threshers in the
county and made a success of the business.'
He continued to carry on his farm until
1893. when he sold it for ninety-tive dollars
per acre, having paid forty dollars for it.
Mr. Capes then moved to Pontiac, where
he was engaged in different lines of trade
for a time, including the implement and milk
business. In Jul\-, 1895, he turned his
attention to the ice business. At that
time there were two tirms of the kind
in the city ; one of these he got his
brother to bu)', while he purchased the
other and then, buying his brother's business,
he had entire control of the ice trade. His
ice houses were located on the Vermilion
ri\er near the Wabash Railroad, where he
owns two acres of land, (jn which are six
houses, with a storage capacity of eight
thousand tons. He puts up a full supply
and gives employment to many men in cut-
ting the ice. During the summer he runs
iour teams and employs nine men in its dis-
tribution to his customers, and for the past
three years has controlled the ice trade of
tlie cit)- and done a good business. He has
a fine property on the south side of the river,
opposite the Chautauciua grounds and ex-
tending to the river. Here he has a nice
home where he can enjoy the results of his
labor. He belongs to that class of men
whom the world terms self-made, for, com-
mencing life empty handed, he has con-
quered the obstacles in the path to success,
and has not only secured a comfortable com-
petence, but by his efforts has materially
advanced the interests of the community
with which he is associated. Politically, he
is identified with the Republican party and
fraternally affiliated with the Knights of

152

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Pythias. Modern Woodmen of America,
Royal Neighbors and Toilers Fraternity. He
attends and aids in the support of the
Methodist Episcopal church, of which his
wife is a member.

SAMUEL J. PRISK.

Samuel J. P'risk. a well-known nursery
man and highly respected citizen of Pontiac.
who has made his home in this county for
the past eighteen years, was born in Corn-
wall, England, December 20, 1836, a son of
Samuel and Grace (Williams) Prisk, na-
tives of the same place, where the father
engaged in mining until his emigration to
America in 1840. The grandfather, Joseph
Prisk, had previously crossed the Atlantic
and located on a branch of the East Fork
river, four miles southeast of Galena, erect-
ing one of the pioneer homes of that lo-
cality. With his two sons, William and
Paul, he built the first ?\Iethodist Episcopal
church east of Galena, a log structure, also
laid out a cemetery and a mound there, which
is still known as Joseph Prisk mound. He
owned and operated a farm of forty acres
and also engaged in mining. He was a
very active member of the Methodist Epis-
copal church and his home became the stop-
ping place for all the ministers. The fa-
ther of our .subject bought a farm of eighty
acres between Scales Mound and Council
Hill, Jo Daviess county, and built 'the first
stone house in that part of the country, it
being also the first good house. During the
construction of the Illinois Central Rail-
road through that locality be boarded the
hands, and throughout his active business
life engaged in farming and mining. He

finally sold his farm and bought a two-hun-
dred-and-twenty-acre farm on Rush creek in
Woodbine township, living on it unt'l his
death, which occurred in July, 1861. His
wife died June 14. 189J. at the ripe old age
of seventy-seven years. Both were earnest
and consistent members of the Methodist
Episcopal church.

At a very early age our subject began
work, and all the education he acquired was
obtained at Sunday school, which he at-
tended about three hours every Sunday, but
Ijy reading and observation in later vears
he has become a man of broad practical
knowledge. He worked with bis father in
the lead mines from the age of eight years
until he attained his majority, when he
started out in life for liimself. Going to La
Salle, he found em])loyment in the coal
mines, where he worked fifteen years.

There Mr. Prisk was married, December
31, 1859, to Miss Mary Ann Case, who was
born in Preble county, Ohio, in 1843. Her
father, Conrad Case, was a native of Penn-
sylvania and went to Preble county, Ohio,
when a young man, locating eighteen miles
from Dayton, where he married Sarah Ann
Combs. He engaged in farming there until
1854, when he came to Illinois and settled at
Jericho, near Aurora, where he followed
the same occupation two or three years. His
next home was four miles from De Witt,
Iowa, where he located when the country
was all wild and unimproved, but he bought
land, built a house and engaged in the cul-
tivation of his farm for three years, at the
end of which time he sold out and returned
to Illinois, this time locating in La Salle,
but his last days were spent in Ohio, where
he died in 1863. His wife had died in Jeri-
cho, Illinois. Both were members of the
Lutheran church. He was a cooper by trade.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

"53

Mr. and Mrs. Prisk have eight children
hving, while Mary Jane, wife of Albert Ber-
nell, of Streator, died at the age of twenty-
four year.s. Allen, a re.-;ident of Poiitiac,
married Maggie Lampkin and has four chil-
dren, Robert. Marguerite. Allen and Levi.
William J- is now living in Springfield.
Samuel, a resident of Pontiac, married Ida
Block, and has four children. May, Lloyd
Lincoln, Lillian and Dewey, Lillie is at
home. Mrs. Estella McGill has one child.
Pearl, and lives with her parents. Wesley
married Emma Laycock, now decea.sed, and
is serving as corpciral of Company H, Thir-
ty-ninth United States Volunteer Infantry,
in the Philippines. Clara and May are both
at home.

After President Lincoln's first call for
seventy-five thousand men at the opening
of the Civil war, Mr. Prisk was the eight-
eenth to enroll his name among the volir
teers at La Salle, and was a member of the
first company to leave that place, it being
Comj)any K, Eleventh Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry. They went to Springfield, Illinois.
April 20, 1 86 1, and from there proceedeil
to Villa Ridge, near Cairo, where they were
detailed to guard a bridge. They were next
ordered to Bridge Point, Missouri, and when
their term of enlistment expired were honor-
ably discharged.

Returning to La Salle. Mr. Prisk en-
gaged in mining and farming there for some
time and then devoted four years to the latter
inirsuit at Rush creek, Jo Daviess count}',
after which he returned to La Salle, where
he again followed farming. Sul)sequently
he engaged in mining at Streator until com-
ing to Livingston county in 1882, when he
U-cated northwest of Pontiac and engaged
in agricultural pursuits until 1889, in the
meantime serving as roadmaster two years.

He then came to Pontiac and has since de-
voted his attention to the nursery business,
becoming one of the best known and most
successful nursery men of this section. In
1895 he built a fine home at No. 117 Park
street, facing River \'iew Park. He was
the first to build on that street and the peo-
ple laughed at him for going so far out, but
it is now well built up and is one of the most
pleasant parts of the city, being advan-
tageously located near the park and river.
Mr. Prisk has charge of the park, in which
the Chautauqua Association is held. He
is a member of T. Lyle Dickey Post, No.
105, G. A. R., of which he is now officer
of the guard, and both he and his wife are
active and faithful members of the Methodist
Lpisco])al church, in which he has served as
steward, class leader and suijcrintendent of
the Sundav school.

JOHN C. TAYLOR.

John C. Taylor, who resides on section
36, Pontiac township, Livingston county, is
the owner of a fine farm of two hundred
and thirty-six acres, within three and a half
miles of the city of Pontiac. He is a na-
tive of Saratoga county. New York, born
near the great Saratoga springs October 5.
1843, and is a son of George C. Taylor, a
native of the West Indies, born on the island
of St. Bartholomew January 30, 181 7. The
grandfather, George W. Taylor, was a pro-
fessional sailor and followed the sea for
many years, but later settled in Saratoga
county. New York, where his last days were
spent. George C. Taylor was reared in Sar-
atoga county and there married Miss Uretta
Bentley, a native of Saratoga county and

'54

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a daughter of Otis Bentley. one of the pin-
neers of Saratoga count}-, who lived to the
remarkable old age of ninety-nine years and
six months, and whose faculties were pre-
served to tlie last. He continued to vote
at every election until within one month of
his death, voting at an election in March and
dying the next April. He never wore glasses
and could see to read until near the last.

In Saratoga county George C. Taylor
engaged in agricultural pursuits until his
removal to Livingston county in 1858. Here
he purchased an undivided half of a half-
section of land which had !:>een entered by his
brother. John J. Taylor, and which had been
partially improxed. In partnership with his
brother he commenced the further improve-
ment of the place and in due time had one of
the best farms in the township. He later
jxirchased the interest of his brother in the
half-section and continued to li\'e on that
homestead until his death. Decemlier 9. 1893,
' at the age of seventy-six years. He was
twice married, liis^ first \\ife d}-ing ]\Iarch
8, 1877. The second wife is )-et living. By
the first wife three sons were born. Otis B.
was a soldier in the Civil war and died in
1862, at Buck's Lodge, Tennessee, while in
the service. John C, of this review, was the
second in order of birth. George W. died
at the ag-e of twenty-one years. He died
in Saratoga county and at his death was
just the same age as his brother when he
died.

John C. Taylor came to Livingston coun-
ty in his fifteenth )-ear. His educatit)n,
which was begun in the common schools of
his native state, was completed in the com-
mon schools of Livingston county. While
he gave the greater portion of his time in
assisting his father with the farm work,
he spent a short time in teaching in the dis-

trict schools, in which line he met with a
reasonable degree of success. He was first
married, April 22, 1866, to Miss Cecelia
Zeph, a native of W'urtemberg, Germany,
but who came to this country in early life
and was reared to womanhood in Livingston
county. By this union were three children,
as follows : Hattie, now the wife of Grant
McCormack, of Livingston county; Zephyr,
wife of Lincoln Tuttle, of Graymont, Illi-
nois : and \Villiam, who married Daisy
I'earre, and now resides in Arkansas, where
he is engaged in farming.

After his marriage Mr. Taylor continued
tc operate the home farm, on which he made
many improvements, including the erection
of a large barn. For some years he engaged
quite extensively in the stock business, in
which he met with good success. His wife
died in 1872 and October i, 1873, '''^ mar-
ried Miss Eliza McManis, a native of Ohio
and daughter of Joseph McManis, who was
born in Pennsylvania, but who removed to
Ohio and later to Illinois. He was married
three times and was the father of nineteen
children, sixteen of whom grew to mature
years. Mrs. Taylor was mostly reared in
Livingston county.

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor ha\-e five children :
George, who is assisting in the cultivation
of the home farm ; John, a teacher in St.
Alban Academy, Knoxville, Illinois; Ar-
thur G., a student at Zion College, Chicago;
-Mice, a student in the Pontiac high school;
and Harry, in the home school.

Politically Mr. Taylor was originally a
Republican and supported the men and meas-
ures of that party for many years. Of late
he has given his support to the Prohibition
jiarty. He never sought or desired public
office and declined several that were offered
him ; however, he served for a time as a

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

155

nieniljer of tlie scIkidI Ixianl and as president
of his school district. Reared a Baptist, lie
lias since undergone a cliange of faith and is
now a member of the Christian CatlioHc
ciiurch in Zion, of whicli body liis wife is
also a member. As a citizen lie has always
enjoyed the resided and confidence of those
l.v whom he is surrounded and by those who
know him best.

WILLI. \.M II. P,K.\CK.

William II. I'race. who is now success-
fully engaged in the milk business in Ponti-
ac, Illinois, was born in Baldwinsville. Xew
York. February 21, 1845. a son of Moses
and Frances (Sibbelds) Brace, also natives
of the Empire state. His paternal grand-
father. Benjamin Brace, was born in Eng-
land and on his emigration to this countr\-
settled in Baldwins\ille. \\ hen our subject
was eight years old his father remove<l to
Chicago and shortly afterward located in
Will county. Illinois, where he engaged in
farming throughout the remainder of his
life.

William II. Brace was reared on the
home fartii in Manhattan townshiij, \\ ill
county, and was educated in the local schools.
In .\ugust, i86j. he enlisted in Company
E, One Hundredth Illinois X'olunteer Infan-
try, being one of the youngest to serve for
three years as a regular soldier. His regi-
ment, which was assigned to the Army of
the Cumberland, went first to Louisville and
spent some time in Kentucky following
Bragg's army. Mr. Brace's first battle was
that of Perryville, followed by the engage-
ments at Stone River, Nashville and Chick-
amauga. He i)articipatecl in the siege of
.\tlanta and went with Sherman on the

march to the sea. He was mustered out at
Chicago in .\ugu.st, 1865. At Chickamauga
he received two fiesh wounds, but was never
seriously injured.

While home on a furlough, in 1864; Mr.
Brace married Miss Adeline Mosscnv, of
Manhattan, Illinois, who came here fnmi
Xew ^'ork. .\fter the war our subject en-
gaged in farming in Will county on his own
account for two years, and then went to
Chicago, where he had charge of the team-
ing business of .\. II. Andrews & Company
for eight years. On leaving there he came
to Chatsworth, Livingston county, where he
followed farrming one year, and engaged in
the same pursuit in Eppards Point township,
successfully operating a farm of one hundred
and si.xty accres for eight years. On sell-
ing out, he mo\ed to Pontiac and bought
thirteen lots on West Washington street,
where he has a nice home surrounded by a
beautiful lawn. He also has a house and lot
elsewhere. For four years, under Dr.
Scouller, he held the position of night of^
ficer at the reform school, having charge of
a dormitory, but on account of ill health he
was obliged to resign, and after a six-months'
rest he became night police in I'oniiac, serv-
ing as such for ten years with credit to him-
self and satisfaction of all concerned, being
one of the best-known and most highly-re-
spected ofificials the city has e\er had. lie
resigned that position in 1898 and embarked
in the dairy business, keeping cows and sell-
ing his own milk, but on account of his wife's
health he sold his dairy, though he still re-
tains his milk route, which is the largest in
the city. He is a good business man, being
energetic and nrogressive, and has met with
success in this undertaking.

Mr. Brace lost his first wife May 30^
1894. and on the 7th of October, i8g6, he

156

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

married Miss Lizzie Krell, of Pontiac, a
daughter of John Krell, of Havana, Illinois.
In his political views he is a stanch Repub-
lican, and while living in the county served
as deputy under three different sheriffs.
Fraternallv he is a member of T. Lyle
Dickey Post, G. A. R. A pleasant, genial
gentleman, he makes friends and is held in
high regard by all who know him.

PETER BAUMAN.

Peter Bauman, one of the representative
German-American citizens of Livingston
county and a prosperous farmer, residing on
section 26, Pike township, two miles from
Chenoa, was born in Luxemburg, Germany,
April 30, 1834, and there grew to manhood.
He had good educational advantages, at-
tending school eight years, becoming familiar
with the German language, but his knowl-
edge of English has been acquired through
his own unaided efforts since coming to the
new world. In 1854 he was one of the pas-
sengers on a sailing vessel, which left the
harbor of Havre, France, and arrived in
New York after twenty-eight days spent upon
tlie water, which was considered a quick
trip at that time. He proceeded at once to
Chicago, joining his brother, Michael Bau-
man, who had located in Illinois in 1849.

Our subject found emploment on a farm
in ^\'oodford county, working by the month
several years there and in Marshall county.
His first purchase of land was a partially im-
proved farm of one hundred acres in the lat-
ter county, on which was standing a small
house, and there he made his home for sev-
eral years. In 1888 he bought the farm of
one hundred and si.xtv acres on section 26,

Pike township, Livingston county, where he
now resides, and to its further improvement
and development he has since devoted his
time and attention, success attending his well-
directed efforts.

While a resident of Woodford county,
Mr. Bauman was married, in January, 1861,
to Miss Helen Balbach, who was born and
reared in Bavaria, Germany, and is a daugh-
ter of August and Anna Elizabeth (Keeler)
Balbach. The mother died in that country,
and in 1854, the father, with his three daugh-
ters and one son, came to America, joining
his older son, Jacob Balback, who had been
a resident of W'oodford county, Illinois, since
1852, and who is now a merchant of Chenoa.
The other son, Paul Balbach, is a farmer of
Pike township, Livingston county. The fa-
ther died in Woodford county, in 1856. Mr
and Mrs. Bauman have a family of eight
children, namely: ]\Iar\-. wife of Chris
Pfeffinger, of Waldo township, Livingston
county; Lizzie, at home; Effie, widow of
Alaxander Black, and a resident of Wood-
ford county ; Peter, who is married and lives
in Pekin, Illinois; Lena, Anna and Clara, all
at home. The last named was educated at
Chenoa and the normal college at Valpar-
aiso, Indiana, and is now one of the success-
ful teachers of Livingston county.

Politically Mr.- Bauman is a stanch Dem-
ocrat, and cast his first presidential ballot
for Stephen A. Douglas, in i860. He has
never cared for public office, but has pre-
ferred to devote his undivided time and at-
tention to his business interests. His life
has been one of industry and due success has
not been denied him. His honorable, upright
course commends him to the confidence and
respect of all, and he is well worthy of rep-
resentation in the history of his atlopted
countv.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

"57

W ILLIA.M I. St. JOHX.

\\'illiam I. St. Juliii. an lionored veteran
of the Civil war. \\ Iki is ncnv living a retired
life in Pontiac, was horn in \\ arren connty,
Indiana, July 20, 1844, a son of Samuel and
Margaret (Coldren) St. John, both of whom
were horn in Ohio, the latter near Zanesville,
but were married in Indiana, where the fa-
ther located when a young man, and where
he engaged in farming until coming to Liv-
ingston county, Illinois, about 1853. He
settled near Ocoya, in Eppards Point town-
ship, where he purchased one hundred and
si.xty acres of unimproved land. That lo-
cality was then all wild, there being but four
houses scattered through the timber, and his
nearest neighbor was some ilistance away.
He devoted his time and attention to the im-
])rovement and cultivation of that farm until
1866, when he rented it and moved to
Chenoa, where he worked at wagonmaking
until called to his final rest. He was one
of the early members of the Methodist Epis-
copal church in this county, and was a Re-
j)ul)lican in jjolitics.

IJefore k'a\ing Indiana, \\'illiam I. St.
John attended school a term or two. but there
was no school hou.se in his district when the
family came to Illinois, and he was well
grown before a school which he could at-
tend was built. His educational advantages
were therefore limited, but he has become
a well informed ni.ui by reading and ob-
ser\ation in later years. He remained on
the home farm until after the Ci\il war broke
out, when he enlisted, August 6, i86j, in
Company (i. One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The regi-
ment spent much time in Louisville, hut par-
ticipated in the engagements at Frankfort,
Crab Orchard and Bowling Green, and did

garrison duty at Mitchellville, Tunnel Hill
and Gallatin, Tennessee. From there they
went to Nash\-ille and participated in the bat-
ties of Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge,
being on the march most of the time during
that campaign. They were also with Sher-
man on his celebrated march to the sea, and
at Peach Tree Creek, in front of .\tlanta,
Mr. St. John was wounded He was sent to
the hospital at Chattanooga, was later trans-
ferred to Xashville, and from there was sent
home. At the end of three months he was
able to rejoin his regiment in time to take
part in the Carolina campaign. He was in
the battle of Goldsl)oro, and was at Raleigh
when lobnston surrendered. He then
marched to Washington. D. C, and partici-
pated in the grand review, after which he was
mustered out at that place and discharged at
Chicago, after almost three years of faithful
service on .southern battle fields.

Returning to his home, i\Ir. St. John
engaged in farm work one year, and then
went to Chenoa, where he worked at the
carpenter's trade four years. On the fjth of
September. 1866, he was united in marriage
with Miss Amelia Stone, a daughter of Will-
iam Stone, a farmer of Ohio. By this union
were born two children : William Seth, who
now operates his father's farm, married
Minnie Talbot and has four children : Mabel,
Roy, Bert and an infant. Burton G. is a
resident of I'ontiac.

On leaving Chcn(}a Mr. St. John pur-
chased a farm of forty acres in Ejjpards
Point township, which he sold three years
later and boughtfi fifty acres of land in .\mity
township, but this he disposed of a year later
and bought an eighty-acre tract in the same
township, where he successfully engaged
in farming for twelve years. At the end of
tha ttime he traded it for a farm of two hun-

TSi

THE • BIOGRAPHICAlL RECORD.

dred and thirty-fi\e acres in Amity town-
ship, which lie has greatly improved and
still owns. In 1880. he- moved to Pontiac
and bought property at No. 2 1 1 South Ver-
milion street, where he has a large and nicely
kept place. Here he worked at the carpen-
ter's trade for a time, but is now living re-
tired, enjoying a well-earned rest, tree from
the cares arid responsibilities of business life.
Religiously both he and his wife are members
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he
'also belongs to T. Lyle Dickey Post, G. A.
R., of which he is junior vice commander.
He has always been a stanch supporter of the
Republican party and its principles, and he
has ever been a loyal citizen, co-operating
in all that is calculated to promote the inter-
ests of his state or nation, his patriotism
being manifest in times of peace as well as
in war.

BEXNET HL'MISTOX.

Bennet Humistcjn. deceased, was one of
the leading business men of Pontiac, Illi-
nois, who in his successful career showed
that he had the ability to plan wisely and
execute with energy, a combination which,
when possessed by men in any walk of life,
never fails to effect notable results.

Mr. Humiston was born in I'lyniouth
Hollow, Connecticut, September 6, 1830. a
son of Bennet and Emily ( Warner) Humis-
ton, representatives of old and honored fam-
ilies of that state. On attaining to man's
estate the father started out in life for him-
self as a peddlet, traveli'ig tiirough the
south for many years, but after his marriage
he settled on a farm in Plymouth and de-
\()ted the remainder of his life to agricult-
ural ]jursuits.

Our subject grew to manhootl on the
home farm and was provided with better
educational- privileges than most farmer
boysi attending school at Warren, Litchfield
county, Connecticut, for two years. He then
followed farming in his native state until
the fall of 1852, when he came west with
Apollos Camp, and together they took up
a section of land in Esmen township, Liv-
ingston county, Illinois. May 22. 1856. he
married his partner's daughter. Miss Harriet
Camp, and they made their home on his half-
section of land until 1876. In the mean-
time he erected good and substantial build-
ings thereon and placed the land under a
high state of cultivation. He introduced
some of the first fine horses into the countv
and at the time of his death, which occurred
Xo\-eml)er 15. 1883. '^^ '''^'' ""^ hundred
heatl. He and Mr. Cam]) were always in
business together and owned in the neigh-
borhood of two thousand acres of \'aluahle
land. The}- expended larse anmunts in til-
ing and con\erting their land into highl_\-
productive tracts. They were among the
original stockholders of the Pontiac Xa-
tional Bank, of Pontiac, of which Mr, Camp
was also a director. In his political views
Mr. Hinniston was a Democrat. He was a
member of the Masonic fraternit}- anil a
Uian of high standing in the community.
Of keen perceptit)n. of unbounded enterprise,
his success in life was due to his own well-di-
rected efforts, and he deserves jjrominent
mention among the leading and representa-
ti\e business men of the coimt\'.

Since her husband's death Mrs. Humis-
ton has successfully carried on the vast es-
tate, and has displayed most excellent busi-
ness and executive ability in its management.
She was one of the heavy original stock-
holders of the Pontiac State Bank, and from

BENNET HUMISTON.

THE BIOGiiAPHICAL RECORD.

i6i

its i_)rganization has been a director. She
t.wns a good deal of property in Pt)ntiac.
also in Odell. Illinois, and Eldorado. Mis-
souri, wliere she has a business block. She
has been a liberal donator to the public li-
brarv of Pontiac and other charitable insti-
tiitions. and never witliholds her liberal sun-
port from any enterprise which she Ijeheves
will i)rove of benefit to the community. In
1876 Mr. Humiston built a lieautiful resi-
<lence on North Main street. Pontiac. which
is still owned and occupied by his widow.
I: occupies a whcjle block on the hill and is
one of the most attractive places in the city.
Over this home Mrs. Humiston presides
with fjiacious dignity and its hospitable
<loors are ever open for tlie reception of lier
manv friends.

JOHN T. ARMSTROXC;.

The subject of this personal narrative is
one of the most successful and prosperous
farmers of Eppards Point township.hishome
being on section 16, five miles .south of Pon-
tiac. He has made his special field of in-
dustry an eminent success, and is highly re-
spected and esteemed by those who know
him.

Mr. Armstrong was born in Madiscjn.
Ohio. April 28. 1839. and there grew to man-
hood, receiving a common-school education.
In April. 1864. during the dark days of the
Civil war, he enlisted in the one-hundred-day
service, as a private in Company C, One
Hundred and Forty-fourth Ohio National
Guards. The regiment went to Virginia and
took jiart in the battle of New Creek and
several skirmishes, but only one man died
in the service, his death occurring in a hos-
pital. On the expiration of his term of en-

listment. Mr. Arnistrong was honorably dis-
charged at Camp Dennison, in August. 1864,
and returned to his Ohio liome.

Jn. the spring of 1865 he came to Liv-
ingston county, Illinois, and located upon lus
present farm in Ei)pards Point township,
purchasing four hundred acres, about half
of which had been broken and a small house
erected thereon. He has since purchased
more land, and to the further improvement
and cultivation of his place he has devoted
his energies with most gratifying results, so
that he now has one of the best farms in the
township. In connection with general farm-
ing he is engaged in feeding and dealing in
slock, and in this branch of his business he
has also prospered.

Returning to his old home in Madison
county. Ohio, in March. 1869. Mr. Arm-
trong married Lydia Cousins, who was
born in Pickaway, that state, but was reared
in the same neighborhood as her husband
and educated in the same .school. They
became the parents of six children, but only
three are now living ;.\rchic ]•... a pharmacist
of Dwight: Lida W. and (irant C, both at
iinine. Bernard C. and jolm Ixith died in
childhood, and Sarah L.. wife of O. I. Ellis,
died in Ancona. Illinois, at the age of twenty-
two years, leaving two children. (). 1. and
Sadie Ellis.

Mr. .Xrmstrong cast his first presidential
vote for .\hraham Lincoln, in i860, and has
since been an ardent Republican. Although
he has never sought i)olitical preferment, he
was elected and served three years as high-
way commissioner and was a member of the
school hoard f(jr a number of years, during
which time he did all in his power to secure
competent teachers and advance the educa-
tional interests of his community. Relig-
iouslv. both he and his wife are active mem-

1 62

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

bers of tlie Centre Methodist Episcopal
churcli and they give their support to every
worthy enterprise which they lieheve calcu-
lated to advance the moral, social or material
welfare of the township and county in which
thev live.

JARVIS C. SUMXER.

Jarvis C. Sumner, one of the l)est known
citizens of Pontiac, was born in Elkhart, In-
diana, November 7, 1843. '^ *'"! '^f John M.
and Ann (Strong) Sumner. The father
was born in New York, March 3, 181 2, and
was a son of Harvey and Sally (Sherwin)
Sumner, who were born, reared and married
in \''ermont. The latter was a daughter of
Ahamaz Sherwin, a drum major from \'er-
niont in the Revolutionary war. At an early
day Harvey Sumner and wife moved to
Westport township, Essex C(junty, New
York, and in 181 8 went to Ohio, .sailing out
of BufYalo on the first steajner that ever navi-
gated the great lakes. They located four
miles east of Cleveland, where Mr. Sumner
followed farming for some time, but spent
his last days in Elkhart, Indiana. His wife
died in Cleveland about 1825.

John M. Sumner, father of our subject,
accompanied his parents on their removal to
Oiiio, and later went with his father to Elk-
hart, Indiana, in the fall of 1834, when that
place contained but few inhabitants. On his
arrival there he had but six and one-fourth
cents, but he soon found employment and
the next summer was able to purchase forty
acres of land. ^ There he married Ann Strong,
a daughter of Walter Strong, who went to
Indiana from Ohio, but was born in Con-
necticut. He gave his daughter forty acres
of land, and upon that place Mr. and Mrs.

Sumner lived until 1850, when they moved
to Wisconsin, but a year later returned to
Indiana, He followed farming throughout
the greater part of his active business life,
but is now living retired with our subject.
The wife and mother, who was a member
of the Universalist church, died November
24, 1886.

Our subject acquired his education in the
common and high schools of Elkhart, and
assisted his father in the operation of the
home farm until twenty-one years of age.
He manifested his patriotism by enlisting in
the Civil war, but was discharged on account
of illness and sent home before leavinv the
state. He was a member of the Chandler
Horse Guards of Coldwater.

In 1864 Mr. Sumner moved to Eureka,
Illinois, where he engaged in farming on his
own account. Prior to his removal, he was
married, in Cass county, Michigan, to Miss
Sarah ■Martin, who was born in Elkhart
county, Indiana, February 6, 1846, a daugh-
ter of A\'illiam and Mary .A. (^Clinger)
Martin, nati\es of Ohio, whose home was
five miles east of Middlebury, in La Grange
county, Indiana. The mother died when
Mrs. Sumner was only two years old, and the
father departed this life at Benton Harbor,
^Michigan, September 27, 1872. ]\Ir. and
Airs. Sumner have three children, namely :
Charles M., May Belle and William Roy.
The last named was a member of the state
militia, but was not accepted into the United
States service during our recent war with
Spain.

\\'hile at Eureka, Mr. Sumner served as
constable and deputy sheriff under Frank
Roman and Garman Gish for eight years.
He attended to all the sherifif's business in
his part of the county and served all the pa-
pers in the Workman murder case. He also

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

163

carried on the largest and most imjxsrtant
livery business in the town. He finally sold
out and moved to Livingston county, in
tiie spring of 1881. For two years he was
engaged in farming in Pontiac township,
and then mo\ed to the city of Pontiac that
lie might provide his children with better
educational advantages, but was mostly en-
gaged in farming and teaming until ap-
jK)inted deputy by Sheriff Reed. He was re-
appointed by SheritY Talbot and most cred-
itably and satisfactorily filled that jMsition
for seven years. He did a good deal of work
in connection witii the bank robbery case
of Cornell and the Rightsel murder case of
Fairbury, besides a large amount of civil
business and collecting. In November,
1896, he was elected constable, and is still
filling that office in a most capable manner.
He also has considerable property in his
Jiands to rent, and does a good life insurance
business. He owns a lovely home situated
on a large lot at the corner i>f Plum and ,
Cleary streets, surrounded 1)y Iteautiful trees
and shrubs and is one of the l)est kept
places of the city. Since attaining his ma-
jority Mr. Sumner has affiliated with the
Republican party, and both he and his wife
are members of the Presbvterian church.

WTLLI.VM H. KFiTCH.X.M.

One of the lousiest, most energetic and
most enterprising men of Dwight, Illinois,
ii the subject of this sketch, w ho is success-
fully engaged in the real estate and loan busi-
ness, as well as the practice of law. He was
born in that place, February 9, 1861, and
there the greater part of iiis life has been

spent — an important facti>r in business and
])ublic affairs.

William H. Ketchani. Sr., father of our
subject, was born in Fishkill. Dutchess coun-
ty. New ^'ork, November 28, 1821. He re-
ceived a good English education and re-
mained at home until 1852, when he set sail
for California, leaving New York, February
4, and arriving in San Francisco Auril i.
He was shi])wrecked ofY the coast of Mexico
and delayed five weeks. He was success-
fully engaged in mining about three years
and a half near Marys ville, and then returned
to his native state by way of the Isthmus of
P'anama. In Dutchess county, he was mar-
ried, November 30, 1840, to Miss Mary E.
Losee, who was born there May 2^, 1822,.
and was a daughter of John Losee, whose
ancestry can be traced back to \\'ilbur Weber,
King of Holland and a son of the Prince of
Orange. His daughter, Anna Kanjanse
\\ eber, married Everetus Bogardus, the first
])reacher who came to New York Cit\'. Mrs.
Ketcham was the se\'enth generation from
this king, wlio left an immense fortune, now
amounting to ajjout five million dollars, and,
which is in litigation at present. In the fall
of 1855, shortly after his return to New
York from California, Mr. Ketcham mi-
grated to Dwight, Illinois, which place then
contained only eight families. Here he at
first worked at anything he could find to do,
and for a time engaged in farming and op-
erated a corn sheller a number of years. He
was a public-spirited man and did much to
advance the interests of his adopted town,
taking ([uite an active part in public affairs,
and serving as justice of the peace fourteen
}ears. school director a number of years,
and also village trustee some time, and dep-
uty sheriff of the county in early days. In
1874 he joined Dwight Lodge, No. 513,

•164

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

I. O. O. F., and later became a member of
Pacific Encampment, No. 126. He died,
April 19, 1882.

The subject of this sketch is the young-
est in a family of seven children, the others
being as follows: Berwin L., the eldest, died
in infancy. John L., a member of the One
Hundred and Twenty-ninth Infantry, was
wounded in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain,
and died in the hospital at Chattanooga, June
25, 1864. Jane E. married J. J. Smith and
both are now deceased. Frank is the wife
of Hugh Thompson, of Poatiac. Mary H. is
the wife of George Hoover, of Chicago.
Emma Y. is the widow of W. A. Chamberl-
lain and resides with her children, Marietta
and Frank William, who live in Chicago.

William H. Ketcham, Jr., was reared and
educated in Dwight, and began his business
career as bookkeeper in the grain elevator
of Hugh Thompson, of that place, remain-
ng with him one year. He then became in-
terested in the stock business, which he car-
ried on alone for one year, buying cattle in
Livingston and Grundy counties. .\t the
end of that time he formed a partnership
with John Thompson in the same business,
shipping stock to the Chicago market. This
connection lasted two years, and Mr. Ketch-
am ne.xt purchased the real estate business
of Alexander McKay, which he conducted
from December, 1886, until April, 1887,
when he sold out to Hetzel & Romberger.

After disposing of his real estate busi-
ness, Mr. Ketcham moved to Marion county,
Kansas, where he was interested in the same
pursuit until the fall of 1887, when he en-
tered the law office of Kellar & Dean, study-
ing under their instruction and at the same
time doing office work. Before his admis-
sion to the bar he drew up the papers for
twenty-one forclosures in one week. He

v.as admitted to practice by examination be-
fore Judge Doster, the present chief justice
of the state of Kansas, August 20, 1888,
and before the supreme court at Topeka,
June 2, 1891. He was associated in prac-
tice with W. H. Carpenter, of Marion, Kan-
sas, from 1889 to July, 1891, when he re-
turned to Dwight and resumed business as
a real estate dealer, in partnership with Frank
1. Smith, under the firm name of Ketcham
& Smith. On the 23d of March, 1892, he
was admitted to practice in lUinois, and later
in the state of Indiana. By mutual agree-
ment the partnership between Mr. Ketcham
and Mr. Smith was dissolved in October,
1895, since which time our subject has been
alone in business. He gi\'es the greater part
of his attention to real estate, but is also en-
gaged in the practice of law in the courts of
this state and Indiana. He carried the
Clauson case through the supreme court of
Illinois.

On the 19th of .April, 1893, Mr. Ketcham
was united in marriage with Miss Nora A.
Taylor, a native of Grundy county, Illinois,
and one of a family of four daughters, all
living. Her father, G. L. Taylor, was one
of the first settlers of Grundy county, but
is now a resident of Dwight township, Liv-
ingston county. Mr. and Mrs. Ketcham
have three children, namely : Mary Emma,
Gertrude Nora and Nellie Maurine.

Fraternally, Mr. Ketcham is a member
of Dwight Lodge, No. 513, and Pacific En-
campment, No. 313. I. O. O. F., and Liv-
ingston Lodge, No. 371, F. & A. M. Since
reaching his majority he has always affil-
iated with the Democratic party and taken
an active interest in politics. He is now an
advocate of the free coinage of silver, and in
1896 took the stump, speaking in Chicago
and other parts of the state. \Mule engaged

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

165

in the i)ractice of law in Kansas lie assisted
tiie county attorney and during liis residence
in Dwight has taken an active part in puhlic
affairs. He was elected mayor in 1896 and
efficiently tilled the office one term, during
which time the park ordinance was passed
and Udtahle improvements made. He was
once a candidate hefore the Democratic con-
vention, f<ir judge on the Democratic ticket,
but was defeated. In 1886 he was elected
village treasurer and was filling that office
when he moved to Kansas, and in April,
1900, was elected village trustee, in which
capacity lie is now serving in a most credit-
able and satisfactory manner. A man of
keen perception, of unbounded enterprise, his
success in life is due to his own efforts, and
he deserves prominent mention among the
leading representative business men of the
county. His genial, pleasing manner makes
him quite popular in both business and social
circles, and as a pul)lic-si)irited, enterpris-
ing man he is recognized as a valued citizen
of the communitv.

JOHN R. OUGHTOX.

To the ])rcscnt mayor of Dwight. Hon.
John R. (Jughton. the city owes a deep
debt of gratitude, for through many years
he has been an important factor in its prog-
ress and ad\ancement along social, educa-
tional, material and moral lines. His active
co-operation has been given to every move-
ment for the public good, and his support has
been withheld from no movement calculated
to advance the general welfare. His aid,
too, has been of a practical nature and the
substantial growth of the city is the out-
come of his well-directed and discriminat-
ing effort.

It is not an easy task to descrilje ade-
<|uately a man w ho has lead an eminently act-
ive and busy life and who has attained to a
position of high relative distinction in the
more important and exacting fields of human
endeavor. But biography finds its most
perfect justification, nevertheless, in the
tracing and recording of such a life historv.
It is, then, witii a full a])])reciation of all
that is demanded, and oi the painstaking
scrutiny that must be accorded each state-
ment, and yet witli a feeling of significant
satisfaction, that the writer essays the task
of touchinbg brietly upon the details of such
a record as has ben the voice of the char-
acter of the hoiKired sulijcct whose life no\v'
comes under review.

John R. Ougluoii was burn in County
Tip])erary, Ireland, in 1857. and resided in
his iiati\e land until sixteen _\ears of age,
when he crossed the Atlantic U) America, lo-
cating in Chicago, Illinois. He acquired his
preliminary education in the schools of Ire-
land and there took up the study of chemis-
try: After reaching Chicago he resumed
his studies along that line in the Chicago
College of Pharmacy and later in the Rush
Medical College. Previous to entering col-
lege, however, he engaged as a clerk in the
drug store of his cousin, Mr. Lee, who was
doing business on the west side of the city.
After completing his collegiate course he
came to Dwight and soon afterward formed
an association with Dr. Keeley in the work
which has since made, them and the city of
their residence famous throughout the land.
For many years Mr. Oughton was vice-
president and chemist of the Leslie E.
Keeley Company, but after the death of Dr.
Keeley he was elected president and has since
served in that capacity. The history of the
institution is too well known to need further

1 66

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

comment liere. Its splendid work is shown
by thousands of reformed men to wiiom
manhood has been restored and who now oc-
cupy Iionored positions in society and in
business life. The volume of their business
has constantly increased and has assumed gi-
gantic proportions. Their extensive insti-
tution is fitted up with one of the most com-
plete laboratories of the country, and the
work is progressing with undiminished
strength, its beneficent purpose resulting in
good immeasurable.

Mr. Oughton has two children, sons,
James H. and John R. Socially he is a Ma-
son and has taken the degrees of the blue
l(jdge, chapter commandery, consistory and
the Mystic shrine. He belongs to the Epis-
copal church, and in his political affiliations
is a Republican, ardent and earnest in his ad-
^'ocacy of the principles of the party. He
has served as a member of the school board,
has held a number other city offices, and in
the spring of 1896 was elected mayor of
Dwight, to which position he has been re-
elected each succeeding spring. In 1898
Mr. Oughton, Major Judd and Dr. Leslie E.
Keeley erected and gave to the city of
Dwight the present standpipe and water-
works, built at a cost of twenty thousand
dollars and unequalled by any system in the
state in a town approaching the size of
Dwight. The cement sidewalks of the city
have been constructed during the mayoralty
of Mr. Oughton and the town now has bet-
ter sidewalks in proportion to its size than
any other in the state. Many other im-
provements have received his co-operation
and Dwight owes much to his progressive
spirit.

In 1895 Mr. Oughton erected his pala-
tial residence at a cost of about one hundred
thousand dollars — one of the finest homes in

Illinois and the best in this section of the
state. He is the owner of a very fine ken-
nel, having some very fine dogs, including
the famous prize winner, "Heather Lad,"
valued at six thousand dollars. This fine an-
imal has taken prizes at all of the bench
shows, and in 1893 and 1894 carried off first
prize at everv bench show in the United
States. Mr. Oughton also has a deer park
upon his place, containing some fifteen or
twenty head of fine deer. His saddle horses
are noted throughout this section of the state
and for a number of years Mr. Oughton
was extensively engaged in breeding fine
Kentucky stock. He owns over four thou-
sand acres of land in Livingston and Grundy
counties, and with the exception of eight hun-
dred acres, all is in Dwight township and is
under a high state of cultivation. While
intensely devoted to business and a man of
very decided views and strong convictions,
he is, by nature, of a very gentle and affec-
tionate disposition. His moral standing is
high and he lives up to it. His genial com-
panionship, his tenacious regard for the sim-
l)le truth, his unostentatious generosity and
his large-hearted Christian benevolence are
among the qualities which have greatly en-
deared him to his fellow men. His wealth
has made no difference in his friendships and
the humblest can obtain from him an
audience.

FRANCIS FREMONT FRAKES

Francis Fremont Frakes, a well-known
carpenter of Pontiac, Illinois, was born in
Avoca township, September 12, 1856, a son
of Labin and Mary A. (Tracy) Frakes.
The mother was born at Sandy Creek, New
York, not far from Syracuse, a daughter of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

167

A. E. Tracy, and came liere alioiit tlie same
time as her sister, Mrs. Maria Owens, a
pioneer of Pontiac. wliose sketcli appears on
another page of tiiis volume.

Labin Frakes, father cif our subject, was
born in the southern part of this state, near
the Missouri line, and as a young man came
to Pontiac, where he purchased property. He
was a tailor by trade, but here he engaged
ii\ the real estate business and also con-
ducted a liverv stable and stage and transfer
line between Pontiac and Bloomington. He
was married here and later moved to Ne-
vada City, Missouri, where he owned proper-
ty. He also built a large livery stable at that
place and ran a stage between Sadlia to Fort
Scott. After the railroad was built he re-
moved to Sullivan county, Indiana, and
while there the Civil wr broke out and he
enlisted. He participated in the first and
second battles of Bull Run, and was wounded
in the latter engagement, being taken to
Beverly, West \'irginia, where he died from
the effects of his wounds. His wife then
returned to Pontiac, where she spent the re-
mainder of her life.

After the death of his lather Francis F.
Frakes lived witii his aunt, Mrs. Maria
Owens, in Pontiac, for seven years, and at-
tended school. The only schot)l house then
in the place stood on the banks of the river
near the jail. He served a two years' ap-
prenticeship to the carpenter's trade with
Andrew Pierce, and later was with William
Holmes, during which time he helped erect
many of the early buildings of Pontiac. .Vs
a journeman he worked in most of the build-
ings erected at that time, and also those built
in later years, including the Sterry block.
He is now one of the oldest carpenters erf the
city in years of continuous .service, and is
an expert and skillful workman.

On the _'4th of March, 1878. Mr. Frakes
was united in marriage with Miss Orilla
I'.ngland, a native of Pontiac and a daugh-
ter of Rue I'jigland, who came here from
Ohio in ])ioneer days. P.y this union were
born six children, namely: Orxille Leon
and Rud\' Rue, who are both emploved in
the shoe factory in Pontiac; Coral, who was
graduated from the public schools in 1900;
Lorene. Fremont and Emma Susan, who are
all attending school. Mrs. Frakes and the
children are members of the Episcopal
church, while our subject leans toward the
Methodist E])iscoi)al church in religious be-
lief. The family is tpiite well known and
highly respected. Mr. ]->akes purchased
over a half-acre of ground ;it 1003 West
^Ladi.son street, and has erected thereon a
nice residence which has now been his home
for se\en years, though he is one of the
oldest property holders of the citv.

JEAX 1". A. \L\CEXT.

Jean P. A. X'incent, deceased, for many
years one of the honored and highly-re-
spected citizens of Pontiac, was born in De-
troit, Michigan, January 9, 1827, a son of
Xarcis.se and Clotilda (Prevolsel) Vincent,
both of French descent. He died the .same
year at Detroit when our subject was about
eleven years of age, and he was then ap-
l)renticed to Charles Buhl, a hat manufac-
turer of that city, with whom he remained
until attaining his majority. There he re-
ceived his education in the public schools.

At the age of twenty-one, Mr. \'incent
was sent by the firm of Buhl Brothers to their
Chicago store, where he clerked for one year,
and then was employed on a railroad survey

1 68

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tlirougli Bureau 'county.' Illinois. In 1859
lie entered' the service of the government
to go to the northAve'st with a party to take
meteorological observations, receiving his ap-
pointment to this position through the influ-
ence of General Lewis Cass, of Michigan,,
who always took a warm personal interest in
our subject and befriended him in many
ways. Remaining with this expedition
over a year and a half, Mr. Vincent returned
to Illinois in the fall of i860, and went to
Cairo and also to Vicksburg, where he was
in government employ. While at the lat-
ter place he was drafted, and served in Com-
pany C, Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteer In-
fantrv. until the close of the Civil war, when
he returned to Illinois and passed the winter
in \\'enona. In the following spring he
mo\-ed to Pontiac, where he was engaged in
the sale of pumps, etc., for about five years,
when, on account of failing health, he re-
tired from active business.

In Lacon, Illinois, August 17, 1861, Mr.
Vincent was united in marriage with Miss
Emma Stevens, a daughter of Nathaniel W.
and Mary (Mix) Stevens. In early life her
father was a resident of Lowell, Massa-
chusetts, but shortly after his marriage re-
moved to Lacon, Illinois, where his death oc-
curred. His wife died at Spring Valley,
this state, in 1888, at the age of seventy-
four years.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Vincent. Lewis Cass, the elder, died in
Henry, Illinois, at the age of fifteen months.
He was named for General Lewis Cass, of
Detroit, previously mentioned as a friend of
Mr. Vincent. Nathaniel N., born in Stark
county, Illinois, April 8, 1864, is now a resi-
dent of Spring Valley, where he is engaged
in the manufacture of cigars. He mar-
ried Lucy O'Keef, by whom he had two chil-

dren, Pauline and Gwendoline, who, since
the death of their mother, have made their
home with Mr. X'incent in Pontiac. For his
second wife Nathaniel married Agnes Weir.
The only child born of this union died in
infancy.

Mr. Vincent died at his home in Pontiac
from a stroke of paralysis January 16, 1898,
at the age of seventy-one years. He had
drawn a pension since the close of the war.
He was always a stanch supporter of the
Republican party and its principles, and was
an honored member of the Grand Army of
the Republic and the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, belonging to the latter fra-
ternity in Chicago. An honest, upright man.
he was highly respected by all who knew
him, and was a faithful and consistent mem-
ber of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Vin-
cent, who is a most estimable lady, resides
in a pleasant home on North Hazel street,
Pontiac.

JOEL D. FOSDICK.

Joel D. Fosdick. familiarly known as
Squire Fosdick, owns and operates a valu-
able farm of four hundred acres on sec-
tion 20, Pike township, whose neat and
thrifty appearance well indicates his care-
ful supervision. Substantial improvements
are surrounded by well tilled fields and all
the accessories and conveniences of a model
farm are there found.

Mr. Fosdick was born in Allegany coun-
ty. New York, October 4, 1832, a son of
Aaron C. and Olive (Moon) Fosdick, also
natives of that state. The father, who was
Ijorn in 1808, was a carpenter by trade and
was also engaged in the manufacture of lum-
ber for a quarter of a century. In 1844 he

J. D. FOSDICK.

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MRS. J. D. FOSDICK.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

173

came to TUinciis. niaking- tlie tri]i with a team
in twenty-two days, and locating in Mar-
shall county, where he bought one hundred
and sixty acres of land and opened u[i a
farm. He sul)sequently purchased two hun-
tlred acres, and was engaged in the manu-
facture of lumber in Peoria county for al)Out
six years, after which he returned to his
farm in Marshall county, but spent his last
years with a daughter in Weston, where he
died April 5. 1885.

Our subject was a lad of twebe years
when he came with the family to Illinois,
and in Marshall county he -^rew to manhood,
his education being obtained in the common
schools. He remained at home assisting in
the operation of the farm until twenty-the
years of age, and was then married, in
Boyd's Grove church. Bureau covuity. May
24, 1857. to Miss Caroline C". (;riswi>ld, a
native of that county and a daughter of
Henry Griswold, one of its early settlers.
Of the five ciiildren born of this imion three
are living, namely: Olive, wife of John
Scanlan; and Charles and Albert, who are
l)oth married and live on the home farm.
L'elphi E. died at the age of eighteen years,
and Joel C. died at the age of eleven.

After his marriage Mr. Fosdick pur-
chased a farm of eighty acres in Saratoga
township, Marshall county, but operated one
hundred and sixty acres, and on disposing
of that place bought eighty acres adjoining
his fatiier's place and thirty acres along the
creek. This lie broke, fenced and improved,
and continued its cultivation until 1875,
\\hen he traded it for three himdred and
twenty acres of his present farm in Pike
township, Li\ingston county, to which he
lias since added an eighty-acre tract, making
a valuble place of four hundred acres. He
also owns eighty acres in Odell township.

He commenced life for himself in limited
circumstances, but being industrious, enter-
l)risiug and of good business ability and
.sound judgment he has steadily prospered,
and is to-day one of the most substantial and
prosperous men of his community, as well
as one of its highly honored and respected
citizens. In connection with farming he
iil)crated a threshing machine during season
fur fort}' \-ears. and in that iniderlaking was
also successful.

.Since casting his first ]>residcntial ballot
for Abraham Lincoln in i860 Mr. Fosdick
has been a stanch Republican, but has never
sought nor desiretl public office. He has,
howe\er, taken an active interest in educa-
tional afl'airs and has been an efficient mem-
ber of the school board for twenty-five
years. Without his knowledge he was
elected justice of the peace and filled that
office to the satisfaction of all.

EPHRAIM HOUDER.

Ephraim Houder, an industrious and
skillful farmer who is now practically liv-
ing a retired life on section 13, Eppards
I'oint township, Livingston county, was born
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, Decem-
ber 24, 1822, and is a son of Jacob and Bar-
bara (Kurtz) Houder, the former also a na-
tive of that county, the latter of Germany.
Our subject'o paternal grandfather, David
Houder, was of German descent. In 183 1
the fatlicr, with his family, moved to Mont-
gomery county, Ohio, where he cleared and
improved a farm, making it his home until
his emigration to Ilinois in 1856, when he lo-
cated in Livingston county, buying a farm
three miles southeast of Pontiac, upon which

174

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lie spent t!ie remainder of his life. He died
in i86j. his wife the year following. In
their family were six children, three sons and
tnree daughters, of whom Ephrann is the
oldest : David is a resident of Pontiac ; Eliz-
abeth and Mary both died luimarried ; Henry
was killed in the Civil war; Martha is the
wife of Joseph Thomas, of Pontiac; and
Nancy is the wife of Daniel Shafer, of Mont-
gomery county, Ohio.

Oiu- subject received a fair common-
school education in Montgomery county,
Ohio, and there grew to manhood. He
c.'ime with the family to this state in 1856,
and in October, 1861, enlisted in Company
C, Thirty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
which was assigned to the Army of the Po-
tomac and was first under the command of
General Butler. They participated in the
battles of Hancock, Virginia, Winchester,
Chapins farm and Weirbottom Church,
where Mr. Houder received a gun shot
wound through the ankle and was disabled
for a time. His next engagement was at
Fort Wagner, followed by the battle of
Drury Bluff, and many others. He enteretl
the service as a private, but was promoted
to corporal; and as such was honorably dis-
charged December 6, 1865. After his re-
turn home he helped carry on the farm for a
few years.

In Joliet, Illinois, May 15, 1867, Mr.
Houder was united in marriage with Miss
Hannah F. Harder, who was born near Port
Byron, Wayne county. New York, where
she was reared and educated, and when a
young lady came to Ilinois. Her father,
John I. Harder, was a native of Hudson,
New York, and from that place to Wayne
county, where he espent the remainder of his
life." Mr. and Mrs. Houder began their do-
mestic life upon his father's farm near Pon-

tiac, w here they remained several years, and
then moved to a farm in Eppards Point
township, which was their home three years.
The following year was spent in McLean
county, and at the end of that time our sub-
ject purchased his present farm of eighty
acres on section 13, Eppards Point township,
Livingston county, which at that time was
only partially improved. He has tiled the
place, built a barn and niaile" other substan-
tial improvements, but is now living retired,
while his only son, Leroy G. Houder, oper-
ates the farm. Besides this property he
owns another farm of eighty acres in Owego
township.

In 1852 Mr. Houder suppported Frank-
lin Pierce for the presidency, but since the
organization of the Republican party four
years later he has been one of its stalwart
supporters and earnest advocates of its prin-
ciples. He w'as formerly a member of the
school board, but has never sought nor de-
sired public office. At one time he and his
family were members of the Christian church
at Pontiac, but since it broke up they attend
the Baptist church. They are well and
favorably known throughout the community
in which they reside and justly deserve the
high regard in which thev are held.

ORLIX CONVERSE.

Orlin Converse, a worthy representative
of the agricultural interests of Livingston
county, owns and occupies a fine farm of two
hundred acres of well-improved and valuable
land on section 33, Owego township, and
also has an eighty-acre tract two miles from
his home. A native of Addison county,
Vermont, he was born on Lake Champlain,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

175

under the shadows of tlie Green mountains,
Xoember i, 1834, and is a son of Heman
Converse, who was born in the same state in
1799, his ancestors being among the pioneers
of Vermont. There his grandfather, Pain
Converse, spent his entire life. He was a
soldier of the war of 181 2. The father grew
to manhood in his native county, and married
Hannah Crampton, who was born in the
same house where our subject's birth occur-
red, and where both parents died, the fatiier
in 1870, at the age of seventy-one years, tlie
mother in 1888.

Oriin Converse passed his boyhood and
youth on the home farm, aiding in its opera-
tion and attending the common schools of the
neighborhood. He came west in 1855, join-
ing his sister Emily, wife of Robert Smith,
who had located in Livingston county, Illi-
nois, a year or two previously. He en-
gaged in farming in partnership with his
brother-in-law until August. 1862, when he
enlisted for three years or during the war in
Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth \'olunteer Infantry, which was as-
signed to the Army of the Cumberland. He
participated in the battles of Resaca and
Kenesaw, and all the engagements of the
Atlanta campaign, being under fire every
day for a month. After the capture of the
city the regiment went with Sherman on the
march to the sea, and was in the Carolina
campaign, taking part in the last battle of the
war — that of Bentonville, North Carolina.
Marching through Richmond, they proceed-
ed to Washington, D. C, and participated in
the grand review in that city. Hostilities
having ceased, Mr. Converse was honorably
discharged and returned to his home in Illi-
nois. He had lost no time from illness or
other causes, with exception of the twenty
days' furlough he was given in 1864.

Before entering the service Mr. Con-
verse was married, in this county, January
7. 1862, to Miss Rebecca Rockwood, who
was born here. Her father. Daniel Rock-
wood, was a native of Massachusetts and one
of the pioneers of Livingston county, hav-
ing located here in 1834. He helped to lay
out tlie county seat and organize Owego
township, where he took up a claim and en-
tered land, making it his home until his
death. Two children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Converse, but Rollin P. enlisted in the
Third United States Infantry during the
Spanish-.Vmerican war, and was taken ill
and died at Atlanta, Georgia, September 2^,
1898. His remains were brought back and
interred in Patty cemetery. Jessie, the only
daughter, died in 1870, at the age of nearly
three years.

Mr. Converse's first purchase of land
consisted of forty acres in Owego township
where he now resides, and as his financial
resources increased he added to it from time
to time until he now has over two hundred
and eighty acres oi fine farming land, which
he has placed under a high state of cultiva-
tion and improved with good and substantial
buildings. He commenced life here in lim-
ited circumstances, and the success that he
has achieved is due entirely to his own well-
directed and energetic efforts.' After resid-
ing here for five years he returned east in
1861 to visit his mother, friends and scenes
of his youth. By this time he had accu-
mulated three hundred and fifty dollars in
the old George Smith money of Atlanta,
Georgia, but one week after his return home
it was worth only fifty cents on the dollar,
and at the end of another the entire amount
was not worth a dollar. He was thus forced
to walk back and was six weeks in reaching
this county.

176

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Since casting his first presidential vote
for John C. Fremont in 1856, Mr. Converse
has been a stanch supporter of the Repubh-
can party, and he most acceptably served as
supervisor of his township two terms, during
which time he was a member of some import-
ant committees. He has ever taken an
active and commendable interest in educa-
tional affairs, has been a member of the
school board twenty years, and clerk of the
district during that entire time. He has
watched with interest the wonderful devel-
opment of this region during his residence
here and has always borne his part in its up-
building and advancement.

JUDGE NATHANIEL J. PILLSBURY.

During the last half century the lawyer
has been a pre-eminent factor in all affairs of
private concern and national importance. He
has been depended upon to conserve the best
and permanent interests of the whole peo-
ple and is a recognized power in all the ave-
nues o5 life. He stands as the protector of
the rights and liberties of his fellow men,
and is the representative of a profession
whose followers, if they would gain honor,
fame and success, must be men of merit and
ability. Such a one is Judge Pillsbury,
who served three terms as circuit judge and
is to-day a prominent citizen of Pontiac.

He was born in Shapleigh, York county,
Maine, October 21, 1834, a son of Stephen
N. and Susan (Averill) Pillsbury, also na-
tives of that county and representatives of
good old New England families. He is of
the ninth generation in direct descent from
William Pillsbury, who came to the new
world in 1640 and settled in Dorchester,

Massachusetts, where he lived until 185 1,
and then moved to Newburyport, the same
state, where he purchased land that is still in
possession of his lineal descendants. From
him all the Pillsburys in this country are
descended. The father of our subject, who
was a farmer and machinist by occupation,
continued his residence in York county,
Maine, until after the birth of all of his six
children, and held different local offices
there, including those of selectman and
school agent. In the fall of 1855 he re-
moved to Bureau county, Illinois, where our
subject had located the previous spring, and
engaged in farming near Princeton for three
3-ears. In 1857 both father and son pur-
chased raw land in Nebraska township, Liv-
ingston county, where the former made a
good home, living there until 1884, when he
moved to Pontiac and built a residence. This
continued to be his home throughout the re-
mainder of his life, though he died in Iowa.
In politics he was first a Whig and later a
Republican, and he held doflerent township
offices here. He was born July 12, 1812,
and died in November, 1890, while his wife
was born in August, 18 12, and also died in
Iowa, in the fall of 1885. She was a daugh-
ter of Joseph Averill.

Judge Pillsbury received a good common
school education and also attended an acad-
emy in his native county for one term. He
remained on the home farm with his parents
until 1 85 1, after which he engaged in teach-
ing school for two years. He accompanied
tlie family on their removal to Saco, Maine,
where he was in the employ of the York
Manufacturing Company for a time and also
taught school until 1855. On the ist of Jan-
uary, that year, he married Miss Eliza J.
Cole, and the same spring, being threatened
w ith consumption, he came to Illinois.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

177

Thougli the journey was made by rail it
])roved a long and tedious one. taking six
days to reach Chicago.

As previously stated the Judge first lo-
cated in Bureau county, and in 1857 bought
a farm in Nebraska township, this county,
which he operated until the spring of 1863.
Moving to Pontiac he entered the office of
Samuel Fleming, and after studying law for
some time was admitted to the bar by e.xami-
nation. He then formed a partnership with
Mr. Fleming and in a short time had ac-
(;uired a lucrative practice and excellent rep-
utation as a sound and honest lawyer. In
1869 he was elected a meml)er of the consti-
tutional convention which met the following
year, and in 1873 was elected judge of the
thirteenth judicial circuit, then composed of
Livineston, Kankakee and Iroquois counties.
I'our years later the circuit was enlarged by
adding McLean and Ford counties and be-
came the eleventh. He was re-elected in
1879 and again in 1885. serving in all eight-
een years to the entire satisfaction of all con-
cerned. He was also one of the first judges
of the appellate court, being on that bench
fen and a half years from 1877, and an un-
deniable proof of his popularity is found in
his re-elections He wrote many opinions
that are to be found in the first sixteen vol-
umes I if the appellate court rejiorts of the
state of Illinois

In 1891 Judge Pillshury was urged to
become a candidate for a fourth term by the
bi.r and people generally, but on account of
injuries recei\ed during his second term he
did not feel physically able to undertake the
work. On the ist of June. 1882, while re-
turning to his home from Chicago the train
on which he was a passenger was besieged
by a mob of union strikers who desired to
capture and beat certain non-union lalx)rers

who were being carried to their homes by
the railroad company. The rioters began
firing in and about the cars and the Judge
received a painful wound from which he has
never recovered. He held the railroad com-
pany liable and brought suit to recover dam-
ages. After a long and tedious litigation
he carried it to a successful conclusion, al-
tluiuo-h the great majority of the bar of the
state, who knew of the circumstances, were
against his views. The case is reported in
volume 123. rejjorts of the supreme court,
being written by Judge John M. Scott, of
P.loomington.

For some time after his retirement from
the bench Judge Pillshury attended to some
selected cases, but "was not able to do a
heavy general practice. He owns consider-
heavy general practice. He owns consider-
able real estate in Pontiac and built the first
two-story double flat building ever erected
ii; the city, it being planned by himself. At
one time he had a valuable farm of four
hundred and fifty acres south of the city,
and at different times has owned consider-
able real estate in Nebraska, Kansas and
California. He still has a fine ranch in south-
ern California, devoted to oranges and
lemons, and has spent a number of winters
on the Pacific coast on account of his health.
He has traveled (piite extensively and
crossed the continent a dozen times.

The Judge and his wife have a family
of three children, namely : Clara .\. is the
wife of S. E. Sims, of Pontiac, and they
have one child. Gladys ; C. .Xvis is the wife
of E. J. Walker, of Sheridan, Indiana, and
tl.ey have one son, Ernest P. ; and Dale E.,
at home, is engaged in the real estate and
loan business. Mrs. Pillshury is a member
of the Presbyterian church.

In his j)olitical affiliations Judge Pills-

178

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

bury is a Republican and has been a delegate
to different state, county and judicial con-
ventions. Socially he is a Knight Templar
Mason, a member of Pontiac Lodge, No.
344, F. & A. M. ; Fairbury Chapter, R. A.
M ; and St. Paul Commandery, No. 34, K.
T. He is also a member of the Odd Fel-
lows lodge and encampment, in which he
has held all the offices and has been a mem-
ber of the grand lodge and grand encamp-
ment since 1868. He was chairman of the
building committee and of the trustees that
erected the Odd Fellows block, but gave up
liis official position when elected to the Ijench.
He is a man of high intellectuality, broad
human sympathies and tolerance, and is im-
bued with fine sensibilities and clearly de-
fined principles. Honor and integrity are
synonymous with his name and he enjoys
the respect, confidence and high regard of
the people of this section of the state.

NELSON D. LAWRENCE.

Nelson D. Lawrence, one of Livingston
county's thrifty and prosperous farmers re-
siding on section 26, Pontiac township, with-
in a mile of the city of Pontiac. was born in
Warren county, Indiana. June 26, 1850, and
is a son of Richard Lawrence, whose birth
occurred in Ohio March 8, 1826. His grand-
father, William Lawrence, a native of Del-
aware, was one of the early settlers of Ohio
and also of Warren county, Indiana. In
the latter state Richard Lawrence grew to
manhood and in Vermillion county, Indiana,
he married Amanda Deyo, a native of that
county. In 1854 they came to Livingston
county, Illinois, and settled on a tract of one
hundred and sixty acres of wild land near

Pontiac, which Mr. Lawrence transformed
into a good farm. While a resident of Indi-
ana he conducted a wagon shop, but he soon
became a thorough farmer and acquired a
comfortable competence. He was a man of
fair education and sound judgment and
was well and favorably known. He spent
liis last years in this county, but died while
at Kirksville, Missouri, March 16, 1894. His
first wife had passed away many years be-
fore, dying October 24, 1858. She was
born February 6, 1830.

On the home farm Nelson D. Lawrence
grew to manhootl, assisting in the oi>eration
of the same and attending the local schools.
He remained with' his father until grown
and then worked by the month as a farm
hand for seven or eight years, after which
he rented land and engaged in farming on
his own account. In 1880 he purchased his
present farm and since his marriage, in
1885, he has resided thereon, having im-
proved the place with a good residence and
substantial outbuildings. He has broken
thirty acres of virgin soil, has laid many rods
of tiling and converted the farm into one
of the most valuable of its size in this sec-
tion of the county.

Mr. Lawrence was married, April g,
1883, to Miss Caroline M. McKee. a daugh-
ter of James and Nancy ( Sterrett ) McKee.
natives of Ohio. Her father was born in
Brown county, that state, June 19, 1813,
and brought his family to Illinois in 1856,
locating in Livingston county, where he i^-
chased land and successfully engaged in
farming for some years, Init for the j^ast
five years has lived retired with Mr. and
Mrs. Lawrence. His first wife, who was
the mother of Mrs. Lawrence, dietl Sej)-
tember 5, 1868. She was born July 14,
1822, and married ]\Ir. ]\IcKee ]March 17,

1
1

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

'79

184 J. Ten cliiklreii were Iiorn of tliat union,
five sons and five daughters, of whom nine
readied mature years, and five sons and two
dausnters are still living. Mr. McKee was
])ostniaster of Rook's Creek postoffice for
manv years. Mrs. Lawrence was reared and
educated in tliis county and hy her marriage
to our suhject lias become the mother of
four children, one of whom died in infancy.
Octa 1). antl James are students in the home
school. Alethea M. died June 29. 1900.

In jxilitics Mr. Lawrence is independent,
\oting for the men he believes best (jualified
to fill the offices, regardless of party lines.
He takes an active interest in educational
affairs and for fifteen years has been a most
efficient member of the school Ixiard. serving
as clerk of the board five or six years. His
estimable wife is a member of the Presby-
terian church and both are held in high re-
gard 1) \all will) lia\e the ]ileasure of their
• accptaintance.

CH.\RLES R. TRL'ITT.

Charles R. Truitt. the well-known and
j)opular editor and proprietor of the Sentinel
of Pontiac. was born near HillsbDrn, Mnut-
goniery cnunty. Illinois. Juh- 22. ICS58, a
>on of .Samuel and Cynthia Ann ( Carr )
Truitt. The father was born aliout 1S18.
not far from Louisville. Kentucky, where
he grew to manhood aiul married. On com-
ing to Illinois he first located in Greene coun-
t}-, where he spent a few years, and then
made an overland trip to California during
the early days of the gold excitement, re-
maining there three years and meeting with
fair success. He thus obtained a goo<l start
in life, and on his return to this state pur-
chased land in Montgomery county, becom-

ing one of its early .settlers and extensive
farmers, owning and operating some five
hundred acres of land. There he spent the
remainder of his life, dying in February,
1863. He took cpiite an active interest in
educational affairs, but was never an as-
])irant for political honors. His wife sur-
\i\ed him for many years, dying in the sum-
mer of iS<;4. Se was a faithful member of
the Christian cluu-ch and a most estimable
woman.

In the county of his nativi^*- Charles R.
Iruitt was reared, accpiiring his early edu-
cation in its common schools. He is a grad-
uate of the W'illiston Seminary, a prepar-
atory schmil of East Hamjiton, Massachu-
setts,and for three years attended La Fayette
College at Easton, Pennsyhania. Later he
successfully engaged in teaching for .some
years, being assistant princi|)al of the ]niblic
schools at Hillsboro. He next became in-
terested in newspaper work in the office of
the Hillsboro Journal and later purclia.sed
the pai)er, which he conducted about four-
teen years with good success. While there
he took an active part in Re])ublican politics,
was a member of the county and township
central committees and served as a delegate
to the state convention of his party. L'nder
1 resident Harrison he served as <leputy col-
lector of internal re\enue in the eight of
Springfield district for two years.

.\fter selling the llillsboro Journal, in
1895. Mr. Truitt was out of business one
year and then went to Belvidere, Illinois,
and ])urcha.sed a half interest in the Belvi-
dere Xorthwestern, which he sold in the
sjiring of 1897. In July of that year he came
to Pontiac and bought the Sentinel, which is
the oldest paper in the county, being estab-
lished in 1857. and which has always been
the official Republican \y.\\>cx of the county.

i8o

THE BIOGRAPHiCAL RECORD.

It is an eijsi'ht-page weekly journal with a
large circulation, which extends all ov?r the
county, and is in a flourishing comlition
under the ahle management of our suhject,
who has entire charge of its publication.
Socially he is a member of the Modern
Woodmen of America and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and is past grand in
the latter lodge at both Hillsboro and Belvi-
dere. He attends and supports the Presby-
terian church, of which his wife is a mem-
ber.

On the ist of October, 1882, Mv. Truitt
n arried Miss Libbie E. Webber, whc^ was
born near Collinsville, Madison county, Illi-
nois, a daughter of Nicholas W'ebber, and
they have become the parents of three chil-
dren : Ora, Albert and Beulah.

JEREMIAH COLLI XS.

Jeremiah Collins is one of the representa-
tive agriculturists of Esmen tiiwnship, his
fine farm of two hundred and forty acres be-
ii'g con\eniently located on sections 23 and
2S, w.ithin two miles and a half of CayUga.
He was born in Miami county. Ohio. Jan-
uary 22, 1 83 1, find is a son of Daniel Col-
lins, a native of Darke county, the same
state. His grandfather. Captain Jeremiah
Collins, was born and reared in Erance and
came to the United States with La Fayette
to fight for American independence. He
held a captain's commission in the Revolu-
tionary war. His last days were spent in
Darke county, Ohio, where he opened a
farm. There Daniel Collins grew to man-
hood and married Nancy Penney, a native
of Kentucky and a daughter of James Pen-
ney, who was born in Virginia and was later

one of the pioneers of Kentucky, In early
life the father of otn- subject followed black-
smithing in his native state until 1835. when
he moved to Michigan and settled at St.
Joseijh, but three years later he crossed the
lake and came to La Salle county, Illinois,
becoming one of the first blacksmiths of Ot-
tawa, where he arrived July 16, 1838; and
where he made his home' for some years. In
1844 he located on a farm in Rutland town-
ship and resided there until crossing the
])lains to California in 1850. After two
vears spent in the mines he returned east
l)-"" wav of the Panama route and New York.
He continired to live on his farm for many
years, but died at the home of a daughter
ir Seneca about 1890. His wife had passed
a wav some years previously. Of their thir-
teen children, six reached years of maturity,
but only Jeremiah and Maria, wife of
(leorge Pope, of Seneca, Illinois, are now
In-ing.

Our subject grew to manhood in La
Salle county and obtained a rather limited
education in the district schools. In 1852
h.e, too, crossed the plains to the Pacific slope,
being six months upon the road, anil arriv-
ing in \"olcano, California, September 16,
that )ear. He spent three years in that state,
but only engaged in mining for a short time.
He raised a crop of fall wheat, worked in
the lumber wocxls over two years and in the
fall of 185^ operated a threshing- machine.
In- way of the Panama route he returned
home and saw the first railroad train he ever
saw on the isthmus. From New York he
proceeded to Chicago and arrived home in
October, 1855. He purchased a farm in
La Salle county, which he operated until
1872 and then sold, coming to Livingston
county. He bought one hundred and sixty
acres of land where he now resides ; not a

JEREMIAH COLLINS.

MRS. JEREMIAH COLLINS.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

-^ 185

tree or shrul) adorned tlie place, with tlie
exception of a wild rose, and the house was
small, hut to its improvement and cultiva-
tion he has since devoted his energies and
now has one nt tlic most desirahle farms of
its size in the township. He has erected
thereon a pleasant residence, two good harns
and other outhuildings, lias tiled the land
and placed it under a high state of cultiva-
tion and has set out both fruit and shade
trees, which add not a little to the attractive
appearance of the place. He has also added
an eight}--acre tract to his first purchase.

In La Salle county, November 19, 1865,
Mr. Collins married Miss Eliza J. Turner,
a native of England and a daughter of
George Turner, who came to the L'nited
States in 1844 and started as operator in
the first woolen mills at Dayton, Illinois.
Mrs. Collins died in La Salle county Feliru-
ary 6, 1872, leaving five children: (jeorge;
William; Martha J., wife of Simon Slyder,
of Owego township. Livingston countx';
Charles; and Warren. Mrs. Slyder is the
owner of a can of cherries jiut up by her
mother in July, 1859, and they arc still in
a perfect state of i)reservation an<l which
are claimed to be the oldest in the state. .Ml
of the sons are married and li\'e in Esmen
township with exception of A\'arren, who
makes his home in Pontiac township. Mr.
Collins was again married, in Livingston
county, October 20, 1872, his second union
being with Miss Rachel \\'ilkerson, who was
born and reared in Bixinesboro, Kentucky,
and came to McLean county, Illinois, with
her parents, John and Mary Wilkerson. P.y
this marriage four children were born,
namely; Mary, wife of Samuel Spears, a
farmer of Pontiac township; Grace, wife of
Arthur Donahue, a farmer of Miimesota ;
John E. and Sadie, both at home.

Politically IMr. Collins and all his sons
are stanch supporters of the l\ei)ublicau
party. He was originally a Democrat and
cast his first presidential vote for Franklin
Pierce in 1852. On the 5th of August, 1862,
he enlisted in Company C, Eighty-eighth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and participated
in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, Init
was soon discharged for disability, after
being confined in the hospital at Xashville
for some time. He is now a member of the
T. Lyle Dickey Post. Xo. 105, G. .\. R., at
pontiac. -Mways a friend of education and
our public schools, he was for some years
an active member of the school board both
ir La Salle and Livingston counties. He
lias been a resident of this state for sixty-
two years and has therefore witnessed al-
most its entire develoi)ment, at the same time
aiding in its advancement and progress.

.\LBERT L. Y.\TES.

Albert L. Yates, a successful veterinary
surgeon of Dwight, Illinois, was born in
this county November 21, 1868, a son of Dr.
Chri.stopher and Almira (Beal) Yates, l)oth
natives of New York, the former born in
Montgomery county December 25, 1837, the
latter in Yates county December 23, 1842.
The father, who was also a prominent
veterinary surgeon, enlisted in the govern-
ment service in that capacity during the
Civil war and served over three years.
-Vfter the w;vr he located in Livingston
cotmty, Illinois, and engaged in farming on
the Smith farm in Dwight township for
some time, then removed to Kankakee coun-
tv and from there to Inxjuois county, but
in 1880 he returned to this county and again

1 86

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

took up his residence on a farm in Dwight
townsliip. His s^ns then l)eing; old enough
to carry on the farm work, he devoted his
time to the practice of \eterinary surgery.
In 1885 lie moved to tlie village of Dwight
and from that time until his death he gave
his entire attention to practice. Politically
he was an active worker for the Repuhlican
party and held a number of local ofifices in
Livingston count v. He was a man of fine
phvsi(|ue, being over six feet in height, was
well informed, intelligent and generous to
a fault, and possessed a kindly disposition.
Fraternally he was a member of the Masonic
order and Grand Army of tiie Republic. His
wife died in Dwight township October 27.
1 88 1, and iiis death occurred in the village
November 17, 1892.

After the death of the mother the eldest
daughter took her place as far as possible,
and the family remained together on the
farm, which the boys operated. There were
eight children, namely : George C. and
^Viliiam E.. who are now farmers of South
Dakota: Albert L., our subject: Nellie M.,
wife of John Perkins, of Montgomery. Kane
county, Illinois : Bert, a farmer and school
teacher of South Dakota : Harry, who was
born July 2. 1877, and died December 21.
1880: Alice, wife of \\'illiam Neel, of Kane
county; and Lefa M.. wife of Fred Neel. a
brother of William.

The boyhood and ynuth of iiur subject
were passed u]ion the home farm and as he
grew up he receixed excellent practical train-
ing and experience in ^■eterinary work from
association with his father. He assisted
him in his work and also pursued a course
of study untler his direction. He then passed
a creditable examination and was granted
a license by the state board. After his fa-
ther's death he succeeded to his practice and

was alone until 1895. \^hen he formed a
partnershij) with M. L. Livingston, a grad-
uate of the Ontario \'eterinary College, but
after being associated with him in practice
for two years he purchased his interest and
has since been alone. Possessed of excellent
ability and skill in his chosen profession he
has built up a large practice, and by his
straightforward course has won the esteem
of the community in which he lives. Po-
litically the Doctor is a stanch Republican,
and fraternally is a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Sons
of Veterans.

Mr. Yates was married. May 29, 1900,
to Miss Agnes Chalmers, of Dwight, which
was her home from childhood. She is a
member of the Congregational church of
Dwight.

SAMUEL H. NICHOLS.

Samuel H. Nichols, a dealer in paints,
wall paper, etc.. at No. 1 13-1 15 West Water
street, Pontiac, and one of its leading busi-
ness men, was bom in that city January t,
1863, a son of Samuel B. and Lucretia
( Fox) Nichols. The father was a native
of Norwich, England, where he was reared
and educated. At the age of twenty years
he crossed the broad Atlantic and settled
in Hamilton. Canada, where he was engaged
as a sailor on the great lakes and followed
that life for some years. He came to Pon-
tiac, Illinois, on the 4th of July, 1853. ar-
riving in this city on the first train that came
over the Chicago & Alton Railroad. He
had been previously married, at Cincinnati.
Ohio, to Miss Lucretia Fox, a nati\e of
Keene. New Hampshire, and a daughter of
Samuel and Dorothv Fox, and bv this union

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

187

were born two cliildren : Mrs. L. G.
Sdiwartz. i)t Cliicago, and Samuel H., our
subject. After coming to Pontiac the fa-
tlier engaged in the restaurant business,
which lie continued until his death, wliich oc-
curred September 30, 1865. He was a sol-
liier of the Me.xican war and a man liiglily
respected and esteemed by all who knew
him. His wife survived him many vears,
dying at Pontiac. in 1887. at the age of six-
ty-three years.

The subject of this sketch is indebted
to the public schools of Pontiac for his edu-
cational advantages. During his youth he
learned the painter's and paper hanger's
trade and worked as a journeyman until
1884. when he embarked in the same busi-
ness on his own account, and has succeeded
in building up a large and lucrative trade.
He has the only exclusive wall paper and
jiaint store in the city or in fact in the coun-
ty, and occupies two large sales rooms. Xo.
1 13 and 1 15 West Water street, keeping on
hand a large stock of paints, oils, brushes,
wall paper, room moulding, etc. Mr. Nich-
ols devotes his entire time to the store, tak-
ing contracts for large jobs of painting and
paper hanging, and furnishes emplovnient
to a large force of skilled workmen.

On the 8th of September, 1888, in Pon-
tiac, Mr. Nichols married Miss Mollie Har-
rison, of Carthage, Missouri, a daughter of
John W. and Mary Ann Harrison, of that
city, where her father is engaged in business
as a dealer in staple and fancy groceries at
731 West Chestnut street. At present Mr.
Nichols is living at 705 West Howard
street, Pontiac, in a modern two-story frame
dwelling erected by him in 1898.

He is an active and prominent member
of Pontiac Camp, No. 5, M. W. .A., of which
he is at present banker, antl a member of

the Pioneer Reserve .Association, in which
order lie is serving as local deputy. Re-
ligiously he is a member of the Presbyterian
church. By his ballot he supports the men
and measures of the Republican party, and
in the spring of 1900 was its candidate for
alderman from the secontl ward, where he
is so well anil faxorably known, it having
always been his home. As a business man
lu ranks among the ablest in the city, being
enterprising, energetic and industrious, and
the success that he has achieved in life is due
to his own well-directed efforts, for in start-
ing out in life for himself he was without
capital or influential friends to aitl him, but
to-day is a prosperous and successful busi-
ness man.

JOHN MUNSON.

John Munson. one of the honored vet-
erans of the Civil war and a well known
tarmer residing on section 20. Owego town-
shi]), four miles from Pontiac. was born
Xo\ember _'8, 184J. in Denmark, where he
was reared and educated. He worked on a
farm and learned the carpenter's trade l)e-
forc bis emigration to .\mcrica in i860.
On landing in this country he proceeded to
]-a Salle county. Illinois, where he found
employment as a farm hand for one year.
In i86j he enlisted in Company B, One
Hundred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry, which formed a part of the .Vrmy of
the Tennes.see, and he participated in the
battle of Hartsville, Tennessee, where he
was taken prisoner with his regiment. He
was held a captive at Murfreesboro until
])aroIed and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, and
later to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he
was exchanged at the end of si.x weeks. In

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the meantime he contracted inflammatory
rheumatism and was sent to the hospital.
When lie had sufficiently recovered his
health to he about he was placed on hospital
duty and served in that capacity until hon-
orably discharged at the close of the war, in
1865. He has never yet full}- reco\-ered
from the effects of his army service.

On receiving his discharge Mr. Munson
joined a brother in Livingston county, but
later returned to La Salle county, where he
spent one year. At the end of that time he
located permanently in this county, where he
and his brother operated a rented farm fur
two or three years, and for three years he
clerked in a store in Pontiac. Subsecjuently
he engaged in the clothin.o- and gents fur-
nishing business in that city for fi\-e years,
and at the end of that time traded his stock
of goods for a farm west of Pontiac, but
sold that place at the end of a year and
bought the farm in Owego township where
he now resides. At that time it was but
slightly improved, but he has planted an
orchard, erected a neat and substantial resi-
dence and a good l)arn, and to-day has a
well-improved and valuable farm of eighty
acres. He also has another eighty acres on
section 18. the same township. This prop-
erty has all been acquired by industry, per-
severance and good management, for be
came to this county empty-handed and has
had to make his own way in the world un-
aided.

On the 30th of Decemlier, 1874, Air.
Munson was united in marriage with Miss
Elizabeth Dufif, a native of Huntingdon
county, Pennsylvania, who came to Illinois
with her father, Charles Duff, in 1866, at
the age of about fifteen years, locating on a
farm in P*ontiac township, this county. Bv
this union were Ixirn two children. Eva, the

elder, is now the wife of Benjamin Miller,
a farmer of Owego township, and they have
two children. AN'ilbur John and Frances Eliz-
abeth. Louis D., the only son of our sub-
ject, assists in the operation of the home
farm. Mr. and Mrs. Munson have given
a home to a little girl, Toleto Hansen, whom
they are now rearing.

Politically Mr. Munson is a stanch sup-
p<:irter of the Republican party, having cast
liis first presidential vote for U. S. Grant in
1868, and for every nominee of the party
since that time. Socially he is a Master
Mason, and religiously both he and his wife
are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church of Pontiac. They are widely and
favorably known and ha\'e a host of warm
friends in the communitv where they re-
side.

HORATIO N. VAUGHAN.

Horatio N. Vaugban, whose home
is at No. 522 North Chicago street, Pontiac,
Illinois, is one of the prominent citizens of
that place, a leader in musical circles. He
is a native of Springfield, Sullivan county,
New Hampshire, and a son of John
and Mary (Moran) Vaughan. Her paternal
grandparents were Samuel and Elizabeth
(Rider) Vaughan, natives of Halifax, Nova
Scotia, who moved from there to St. Mar-
tin's, New Brunswick, where the grandfa-
ther died at an advanced age. He followed
the ship carpenter's trade throughout life,
but also devoted a great deal of time to the
study of music and was a proficient player
on several instruments, his favorite being
the violin. He was a member of an orches-
tra antl band in St. Johns, New Bruns-
wick.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

189

Jolin \*aughan, the father of our subject,
was also born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and
was married at St. Martin's, New Bruns-
wick, but soon afterward lie left Canada and
removed to Sullivan ciuiniy. New Hamp-
shire, where all of his ten children were
born, our subject being the youngest. There
he engaged in fanning on quite an extensi\e
scale, though, during his early life in Nova
Scotia, he had followed the ship carpenter's
trade. In 1837 1'^ came to Illinois and was
one of the first settlers of Princeton, where
he conducted a hotel for ten years and then
lived retired until his death, which occurred
in 1877, when he was eighty-seven years
of age. Only two of his family are now
living, our subject and his brother, John, a
retired merchant of Seattle, Washington.

Until he attained his majority, Horatio
N.A'aughan remained under the parental roof
and was educated in Illinois by private
tutors. At the age of twelve years he com-
menced the study of music and received in-
struction on the violin from some of the
best local teachers of that day. He contin-
ued his studies for a number of years and
he has since given his time and attention to
that art as a profession. About 1862 he
became connected with the band and orches-
tra of a theatrical company, and, as leader
of the orchestra, traveled with some of the
leading theatrical and show companies as
the Van Amberg, and others, at that time.
Leaving the road in 1872, he taught music
as a band instructor in various cities of Illi-
nois and Wisconsin until locating in Ponti-
ac in December, 1877. Here he formed a
class on the violin, and with the exception
of a few years spent in Seattle, Washington,
he has since taught music at this place.
About nine years ago he organized and be-
came leader of the Vaughan orchestra of

Pontiac, consisting of fourteen pieces, which
still exists and is the leading musical organi-
zation of the city, its services being in great
demand. Most of the players were former
pupils of ]\Ir. Vaughan.

In May, 1880, at Pontiac, Mr. \'aughan
married Miss Margaret A. Stites, a daugh-
ter of Dr. J. J. Stites, one of the prominent
physicians of this city. She is a highly ed-
ucated lady and also an accomplished mu-
sician, receiving her musical education at the
College of Music in Cincinnati, under the
management of Theodore Thomas, one of
the most noted musicians this country has
produced. She plays first violin in her hus-
band's orchestra, and as teacher of the piano
forte has a large private class. She is also
supervisor of music in the public schools of
Pontiac, a position she has most creditably
tilled for a number of years, and which re-
quires much of her time and attention every
day. As will be seen Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan
are among the most prominent musicians of
the city and are entirely devoted to their
art.

OWEN PEEHAN.

Owen Feehan, one of the most popular
and influential citizens of Nevada township,
Livingston county, whose home is on sec-
tion 20, was born in Grundy county, Illi-
nois, June 15, 1861, and is a son of Owen
and Maria (Killian) Feehan, natives of
Kings county, Ireland, where the father
followed the occupation of farming. Soon
after their marriage they emigrated to the
United States and took up their residence
in Grundy county, Illinois, where he pur-
chased land, making their home there until
1869, when they removed to Nevada town-

ipo

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ship, Livingfston county. Here he liad pre-
viously purchased the south half of section
20, which at that time was unimproved land,
but was soon transformed by him into one
of the most desirable farms in the locality.
He continued to reside there until the spring
of 1892, when he moved to Odell and has
since lived in retirement from active labor,
enjoying a well-earned rest. He and his
wife are members of the Catholic church of
that place, and are highly respected and es-
teemed by all who know them. To this
worthy couple were born ten children, eight
of whom reached man and womanhood,
namely : Patrick, a resident of Nevada town-
ship; John, of Seward county, Nebraska;
Lawrence, of Nevada township, this county;
Ellen, wife of J. C. Lennan, a merchant
of Odell; Charles, a molder by trade and a
resident of Morris, Illinois; Lizzie, wife of
John Carey, a farmer living near Kinsman,
Grundy countv; Owen, our subject, and Ed-
ward, who was accidentally killed by the
train at a crossing- at Kinsman.

The subject of this review began his ed-
ucation in the schools of Grundy county,
and after coming to this county, at the age
of eight years, continued his studies in the
schools of Nevada township. When he first
located here the nearest school was three
miles from his home. He continued to at-
tend school at intervals until he attained his
majority, and acquired a good, practical ed-
ucation.

On the 1st of June, 1887, Mr. Feehan
married Miss Julia A. Feehan, who was born
in Grundy county, June 18, 1861, and suc-
cessfully engaged in teaching for seven years
prior to her marriage, having charge of the
school in district No. 4, where she now re-
sides, besides six years in other counties.
She was educated in L^tica, La Salle countv,

Illinois. Her father, John Feehan, was a
nati\e of Ireland and came to the new world
in early youth. He resided in La Salle
county for many years, but his last davs
were spent in Grundy county, where he died
in 1891. He had a family of seven chil-
dren, six of whom grew to maturity, and in
order of birth these are as follows : Sarah,
wife of M. J. Dempsey, who is engaged in
the shoe business in Chicago; Kate, widow
of J. M. Dempsey, who was engaged in the
grocery and meat business in that city, where
she still resides; John, a detective and ser-
geant on the Chicago police force; Thomas
I'., who conducts a grocery and meat mar-
ket in the same city; Julia A., wife of our
subject, and Vincent, who is in the employ of
the Cuhady Meat Company, pf Chicago.
To Mr. and Mrs. Feehan were born five chil-
dren, namely: Edith Balbina, who died at
the age of eleven months; Mary Alice, Grace
Agnes and Julia K., all in school, ^nd Eliza-
beth Veronica, a bright baby of two and a
half years.

After his marriage, Mr. Feehan moved
to Chicago, where he was engaged in busi-
ness for two years, but at the end of that
time he returned to Livingston county. He
operated rented land for a time, and then lo-
cated on the old homestead, where he is op-
erating one hundred and sixty acres of well
impro\ed and highly cultivated land, and is
meeting with good success.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Feehan are members
of the Catholic church of Odell, of which
Father Griffey is pastor, and he also belongs
to St. Paul's Court, No. 618, Catholic Order
of Foresters, of the same place, of which he
is one of the trustees, and is a member of
Nevada Camp, No. 4070, Modern Woodmen
of America, of which he is advisor. As a
Democrat he has always taken an active part

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

191

in politics; has been a delegate to county
conventions a number of times, and is now a
member of the township central committee
of his party. On attaining^ his majority, he
was elected school director, which office he
held for six years, and for one year he
served as collector. He was road commis-
sioner the same length of time, and assessor
six years. In the spring of 1900 he was
elected supervisor of his township and re-
signed the office of assessor.

His public service has been most exem-
plary and his private life has been marked
by the utmost fidelity to duty. He has
given his supixjrt to all measures for the pui>
lic good, and is justly numbered among the
valued and useful citizens of his communitv.

\\1LL1A.M F. C. LEHAIAXN.

Germany has furnished to the new world
many of its most enterprising and progres-
sive citizens — men who have taken an active
part in the development of the locality in
which the}- make their home, and have ex-
erted a great influence for good in the com-
munity. Mr. Lehmann is a worthy repre-
sentative of this class. He has met with
well deserved success in his adopted country,
and is now the owner of a valuable farm of
four hundred acres on section 29, Owego
townshi]), Livingston county, Illinois, four
miles and a half east of Tontiac.

Mr. Lehmann was born in Mecklenburg,
Germany, May i, 1853, and attended the
schools of his native land, but is wholly
self-educated in English. In 1871, at the
age of eighteen years he emigrated to the
United States and first located in Peoria
county, Illinois, where some friends from

the fatherland were living. He obtained
work on the farm of William Spicer, a sub-
stantial farmer of that county, wlm proved
a good friend to the German hul, and he re-
mained in his employ four years. In 1876
he came to near Clienoa, in Livingston coun-
ty, where he commenced life for himself
upon a rented farm of one hundred and sixty
acres, which he successfully operated for
seven years. At length, in 188 J, he was
able to purchase one hundred and twenty
acres of land in Owego township, where he
now resides. At that time it was only par-
tially improved, and the house standing
thereon was quite small, but it has since been
replaced by a more commodious and sub-
stantial residence, the land has been tiled,
fences built, also a good barn, and water
works and stock scales addetl, making it one
e)f the best ecpiipijcd farms in the locality.
He has also extended the boundaries of his
farm until they now include four huiulred
acres of rich and fertile land. This prop-
erty has all been acquired through his own
well-directed efforts, and he is to-day one
of the substantial men of Owego township.
In this county, Mr. Lehmann was mar-
ried, January 22, 1877, to Miss Augusta,
Louise Leduc, who was born in New York
City. Her father. General Louis Leduc,
was a native of France and a highly edu-
cated gentleman, .speaking eight different
languages. He was an officer in the French
army and took part in several wars. Later
he came to America and was married in New
York city, where he made his home for some
time, but subsequently came to Livingston
county, Illinois. Here Mrs. Lehmann was
reared and educated by her father. Of the
ten children born to our sul)ject and his wife,
two died in infancy. Those living are : Lena,
now the wife of George Rights, a farmer of

192

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Owego townsliip, by wliom she liad a son,
William; Albert, who assists his father in
the operation of tlie farm; Emma, William,
Mattie, Julius, Rudolph and Willis Ellis, all
at home.

By his ballot Mr. Lehmann supports the
men and measures of the Repviblican party,
but has never cared for official honors. He
is now serving as Canada thistle commis-
sioner and as school director, having been
president of the district board for fourteen
years. He and his wife are prominent and
influential members of the German Baptist
church,and he takes a very active part in Sun-
day school work, serving as president of the
township Sunday school society seven years.
For some years he was superintendent of the
Methodist Episcopal Sunday school, and
now holds the same position in the Swigart
Sunday school. For a few years he was su-
perintendent of both Sunday schools at
the same time. In all the relations of life
he has been found true to every trust reposed
in him, whether public or private, and justly
deserves in the high regard in which he is
uniformly held.

JOHN KLEIN.

John Klein, one of Pike township's most
progressive and public-spirited citizens,
owns and operates a well-improved and val-
uable farm of two hundred and forty acres
on section 22. He is a native of Germany,
born in Rheinpfalz, Bavaria, August 24,
1833, and is a son of Jacob and Margaret
(Weiser) Klein, also natives of that coun-
try, where the father followed the weaver's
trade. In 1855, accompanied by his family,
he emigrated to America and located in

lazewell county, where some of his friends
from Germany had previously settled and
where he rented a little house. At that time
he had four sons and one daughter, all of
\\hom worked and it took their wages for
one year to pay their passage across the At-
lantic and the expenses of their trip to this
state. The second year the father rented a
farm in Deer Creek township, Tazewell
county, for one-half the crop raised, and in
1864 purchased, a farm in Pike township,
Livingston county, tipon which he spent the
remainder of his life, dying there in Decem-
ber, 1878, his wife in 1874. In their family
were seven children, of whom four sons and
one daughter are still living.

Our subject acquired a good practical
education in the common schools of his na-
tive land, which he attended for eight years,
but his knowledge of the English language
has been self-acquired. At the age of four-
teen he commenced earning his own liveli-
liood. working out while in Germany, and
for four years after coming to this country
he worked for and assisted his father in get-
tmg a start. He then began life for him-
self as a farmer upon rented land.

In Tazewell county Mr. Klein was mar-
ried, January 25, 1864, to Miss Margaret
Moschel, also a native of Bavaria and a
daughter of Christian and Margaret
Moschel. Her father, who was a cabinet-
maker by trade, died in Germany, and sub-
sequently she and her mother and seven
children came to the new world in 1862, lo-
cating in Tazewell county, Illinois, where
she lived for several years and then came to
Pike township, Livingston county, where
she purchased a farm and there died Octo-
ber 4, 1886. IMr. and Mrs. Klein are the
parents of seven children, namely : Katie,
wife of Theodore Lommatsch, of Pike town-

JOHN KLEIN.

MRS. JOHN KLEIN.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

197

ship, lias two children. Clara and Raliili ;
Lena, wife (if Louis Lommatsch. uf the
same township, has one son. Elnier ;
-\nna, at home; John married Miss Katie
Schocn])eck, and they liave one daughter,
Mahcl, and he operates a part of his father's
farm; Matilda. August and I'.melia, at
liome; one, the oldest of the family, died in
infancy.

For finir years after his marria.<;e Mr.
Klein cnntiuued to rent land in Tazewell
county, and in 1869 came to Livingston
county, locating upon a partially impro\ed
tarm of forty acres in Pike township, which
he had ])urchased a year or two hefore. As
his financial rest)urces have increased lie has
added to his landed possessions from time
to time until he now lijis two hundred and
forty acres of rich and arahle land, which
he has placed under excellent cultivation and
unproved with a gtiod set of farm huildings.
His success in life is due to his industry,
enterprise and good management. He is
a man of good husiness ahility and sound
judgment, and carries forward to successful
completion whatever he undertakes.

Originally Mr. Klein was identitied with
the Democratic party and cast his first pres-
idential vote for Samuel J. Tilden in 1876.
but of recent years has been independent in
politics, supporting the best men, regardless
of party affiliations. He has taken a very
active and influential part in public afifairs,
has been a delegate to many county, sena-
torial, congressional and state conventions,
and has been honored with a number of im-
portant official positions, having ser\ed as
township clerk fourteen years, supervisor
two years, assessor two years, justice of the
peace eight years, a member oi the school
board, and president ami clerk of the dis-
trict many years. His official duties have

always been most faithfully and satisfac-
torily performed, winning the commenda-
tion of all concerned. In 1885 Mr. Klein
and X. J. Myer antl others established the
Eppards Point Fire Insurance Company,
and the former was made i)resident, the
latter secretary of the same. Our subject
is one of the most public spirited and enter-
prising men of his community and has done
much to aid in the development and further
the interests of Pike townshi]). Religiously
he and his wife are members (jf the Lu-
theran church.

CHARLES l-:i)\VAR]) WATSOX.

Charles Edward W^atson, now deceased,
was born in Indiana, in which state he was
reared and educated. In his youth he learned
the trade of wagonmaker and when a young
man he came to Pontiac, first, in 1857, and
for a time engaged in his chosen occupation.
He later returned to his native state, but in
1862 again came to Pontiac, which continued
his home until his death.

On the 19th of April, 1864, Mr. Watson
was united in marriage with Miss Cordelia
JUick, by whom he had three children. Clara
\\'. is now the wife of Ale.xander Algeo, a
frn-nier of Rooks Creek township, and they
have two children, .Anna Louise and Walter
Samuel. Jesse X., born January 13, 1870,
married April 14, 1897, Miss Mary Lorena
Cross, of Peoria, and they reside in Chicago,
where he is engaged as a draughtsman.
Willim A., born September 4, 1872, is a
contractor and builder in Larkin, Kansas.
While still residing in Pontiac, he did a
good deal of architectural work.

Mr. W'atson was called to his reward
May 4, 1887. Fraternally he was a member

198

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Politically he was a Repuhlican, and for a
time held the office of street cnnimissioner
of Pontiac.

Mrs. Watson still makes her home in
Ptjntiac, where she is well known and great-
ly esteemed. She inherited the musical
talent of her father and has sung in the
choirs of the Methodist Episcopal, Baptist
and Presbyterian churches of Pontiac, thus
aiding bv her voice the worship in song in
the various churches.

JOHN H. OLESOX.

Among the prospert)us and successful
farmers of Esmen township, Livingston
county, who have made their own way in the
world imaided and have succeeded in ac-
cumulating a handsome competence, is John
H. Oleson, whose home is on section 30.
He was born in Norway, in 1850, and when
seven years of age was brought to the United
States by his father, Ole H. Oleson. who
first settled in La Salle county, Illinois, and
came to Livingston county five years later,
locating in Esmen township, where he is
now living a retired life with his youngest
son, at the age of seventj'-eight years. He,
too, was an agriculturist anil met with ex-
cellent success in his labors.

Since the age of twelve years John H.
Oleson has been a resident of Livingston
county and is indebted to her public schools
for his educational advantages. The old
homestead adjoins the farm where he now
lives, and he aided in its operation until
twenty-four years of age. He was then
married, in this county, June 10, 1874, to
Miss Isabel Highland, who was also born

in Norway, and came to this country at the
age of six years with her father, Ole High-
land. The}" settled in Li\ingston cnuntv,
where she grew to womanhood. The chil-
dren born to our subject and his wife are:
Elsie, wife of Benjamin Peterson, of Liv-
ingston count}- : Cordelia, wife of Oscar
Hetland ; Ida, wife of George Thompson;
Clara and Obeil. both at home.

For two years after his marriage Mr.
Oleson engaged in farming upon rentetl land
and then purchased eighty acres of raw-
prairie land, on which he now resides, and to
the improvement and cultivation of which
he has since devoted his energies with most
gratifying results. As he has prospered he
has added to his farm two eighty-acre tracts,
and now- has a fine place of two hundred antl
forty acres, which he has tiled, fenced and
placed under a high state of cultivation.
In addition to this he has an eighty-acre
tract, given him by his father, making a total
of three hundred and twenty acres. He
j)ossesses many of the admirable character-
istics of the Norwegian people, being in-
tlustrious, economical and persevering, anil
to these may be attributed his wonderful suc-
cess. By his ballot he supports the men and
measures of the Republican party, and has
served as school director in his district. He
and his wife are members of the Lutheran
cliUrch and are widely and favorably known
throughout their section of the countv.

CHRISTIAN VERCLER.

For over a quarter of a centur}- this gen-
tleman has been prominently identified with
the agricultural interests of Livingston coun-
ty, and now owns and successfully operates
a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

199

acres on sections 27, 31 and 33. Pike town-
ship. He was born July 14. 1852. in the
jjrovince of Lorraine, France, now a ])art of
Germany, and is a son of Christian X'ercler,
Sr.. one of the most prosperous and pro-
gressive farmers in that part of the county.
He was echicated in Imth the Frencli and
Cierman languages, but has acquired iiis
knowledge of English since coming to Amer-
ica. He sailed from Havre and landed in
Xew York. September 2"^, 1872, and came
direct to Livingston county, Illinois. Two
}ears later he was joined by his father, who
bought two hundred and forty acres of land
in Pike township, but was not long permitted
to enjoy his new home, as he died the same
year.

On liis arrival here uiu' subject com-
menced working Ly the month at farm labor,
and was thus employed for a year and a
half. He then assisted his father in the im-
provement and cultivation of the place, and
after the latter's tleatb, he and his brothers,
Andrew, Joseph, Jacob and Peter, continued
its t)peration fur three years. In 1881 our
.subject purchased eighty acres of his present
farm, and to it he has since added until be
now owns an excellent farm of three hun-
dred and twenty acres, wliicli he has jjlaced
under a high state of cultivation and im-
proved with good and substantial buildings.
He has made for himself an honorable rect)rd
in business and by bis well-directed efforts
has acquired a handsome competence.

On the 1st of January, 1881, in Pike
township, Mr. \'ercler was united in mar-
riage with Miss Emma B. Le Due, a native
of that township and a daughter of one of its
most prominent old settlers. Louis Le Due.
I'ive children blessed this union, but Bertha
died in childhood. Those living are, Will-
iam, Alice, Rudolph and Nettie.

By bis ballot Mr. \'ercler usually sup-
ports the men and measures of the Demo-
cratic party, but at local elections votes in-
dejjendent of party lines, supporting the men
whi>m he believes best qualified to fill the
offices. He served some years as township
clerk, collector of taxes one year, highway
commissioner si.x years, and a member of the
school board and district clerk nineteen
years. He is a worthy representative of
that class of citizens wlu) lead (juiet. in-
dustrious, honest and useful lives, and con-
stitute the best portion of the community.
Religiously he is a member of the Mennonite
church. Mrs. Vercler is a member of the
German Baptist church.

JOHN W. r.KLXER.

Jiijni W. liruner, a ijrominent and repre-
sentative business man of P<Mitiac, residmg
on East Water street, was born in Greene
county, Ohio. July 8, 1837, a son of Peter
and Elizabeth (Tytusj Bruner. The father
and mother were both born in Loudoun
county, Virginia, and about 1835 removed
to Ohio, locating near Xenia, where he en-
gaged in milling and mercantile business.
J-ater be carried on the dry-goods business
in Butler county and at Germantown, Mont-
gomery county, Ohio, and from that state
he inoxed to Wabash county, Indiana, where
he purchased a large tract of land and en-
gaged in farming throughout the remainder
of his life, dying there in 1852. His widow-
continued to reside on the farm until 1855,
when she went to live with her brother, F.
J. Tytus a prominent merchant and pork
packer of Middletown, Butler county. Ohio,
and a \ ery wealthy and benevolent man, who

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

was born February 5, 1806, ami died at the
age of sixty years. After li\ing' with him
two years, Mrs. Bruner made Iier home with
her son-in-law, Dr. Samuel Stew art, in Ham-
ilton, Ohio, where she died at the age of
about sixty years. The Bruner family is of
German descent, tlie grandfather of our sub-
ject having come to this country from Ger-
many with three brothers and settled m the
west. Peter Bruner. who was born Decem-
ber 2, 1791, was a son of George Peter
Bruner. His wife, Elizabeth, liorn Febru-
ary 23, 1801, was a daughter of Tunis and
Jane Tytus.

To Peter and Elizabeth (Tytus) Bruner
were born five children, four of whom
reached years of maturity, namely : ( i )
Francis J., who owned a large sugar plan-
tation in Louisiana, was a Confederate sol-
dier in the Civil war, and died in that state
in 1899. Three of his children are still liv-
ing on the plantation. [2) Jennie E. is the
widow of Dr. Samuel Stewart and is now
living in Pontiac, Illinois. She has three
children : Frank, a tinisher in the shoe fac-
tory of that place; Lizzie, wife of S. W.
Strong, assistant superintendent of the Illi-
nois state reformatory, and John R., who
is employed in the shoe factory. (3) Will-
iam H. married Elizabeth Cook, of Pontiac,
and is engaged in the grocery business in
that city. (4) John W., our subject, is the
youngest of the family.

During his boyhood John W. Bruner at-
tended the common schools of Butler county,
Ohio, and completed his education at Den-
nison University, Granville, that state. He
remained at home tintil 1852, and after leav-
ing college entered the dry goods business
at Cincinnati and later at Middletown, in
1861, where he remained until the fall of
1864, when he sold out and came to Pon-

tiac, Illinois. For nine years he carried on
farming in Pontiac township. Livingston
county, where he owned twci hundred and
sixty acres, and also three hundred and
t\\ enty acres in Eppards Point townshi]), and
also raised, bought and sold stock. At the
end of that period he removed to the city of
Pontiac, where he has since engaged in the
real estate and stock business, meeting with
marked success. He has also three thousand
acres of land near Stuttgart, Arkansas,
w hich is devoted to stock raising at the pres-
ent time. He is an enterprising and pro-
gressive business man, energetic and reliable,
and easily wins the confidence and good will
of all with whom he comes in contact. Po-
litically, he is a stanch Republican, but has
never cared for official honors, while re-
ligiously he is a member of the Baptist
church, and socially affiliates with the
Knights of Pythias, being one of the older
members.

On the 15th of August, 1861, Mr.
Bruner married Miss Eliza J. Crane, a
daughter of Stephen C. and Elizabeth
(Simpson) Crane. Her father, a native of
New York, moved to Butler county, Ohio,
at an early day and there engaged in farm-
ing with most gratifying success, becoming
the owner of a large aniou;''*^ of both farm
and city property. About 1865 he brought
his family to Pontiac, where he engaged in
the real estate business cjuite extensi\ely.
He was a large stockholder in the first coal
shaft sunk at this place, and was also con-
nected with the first woolen mill established
here. He seemed to prosper in all his lui-
dertakings and accumulated considerable
wealth. He died in Pontiac, in 1880, leav-
ing over two thousand acres of improved
farming land in Livingston county, besides
a large amount of city property and a thou-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sand acres of land in otlier parts of the
west. Mrs. Bruner was born in Butler coun-
ty, Ohio, January 25, 1843. Of the four
children born to our subject and his wife
only one is living. Hal C, residing at 208
East Water street, is engaged in the tile
business in Pontiac, and is also interested
in a manufacturing , business in Chicago.
He married Carrie S. Sims, of Pontiac. and
they liave three cliiklren. namely: E\a.
Eeonora and Crane.

JOHX BALMER. Sr.

A brilliant example of a self-made .Amer-
ican citizen and a grand examplification of
the progress that an ambitious foreigner can
make in this country of unbounded oppor-
tunities, is shown in the ca.se of John Balmer.
one of the most successful and prosperous
farmers and stock raisers of Livingston
county. He resides on section 26, Pontiac
township, within one mile nf the city of Pon-
tiac.

Mr. Balmer was Ixirn in Switzerlanil, Oc-
tober 31, 1829, and came to .\merica with
his father. Christian Balmer, in 1840. ln-
cating first in Hancock county. Ohio, near
the present city of Findlay, where the father
bought land. With the assistance of his
sons he cleared and improved his place, trans-
forming it into a good farm. There he died
about 1853.

Our subject attended the public schools
of his native land, but his knowletlge of Eng-
lish has been acquired through his own ef-
forts since coming to the new world, at the
age of eleven years. He aided his father in
tl;e arduous task of clearing the home farm,
and remained with him until grown. It was

in 1852 that he came to Livingston county,
Illinois, and the following year he purchased
the farm where he now resides, consisting of
t)ne hundred and thirty-seven acres, which he
bought in partnership with his brother-in-
law, but since 1861 he has been sole owner
of the place. As an agriculturist he has
steadily prospered, and has added to his
landed possessions from time to time imtil
he is now the owner of eleven hundred acres
i)f valuable land in this county, besides his
investments in Nebraska and Kansas. In
connection with general farming he has en-
gaged extensively in the raising and feeding
(if cattle for market.

In the fall of 1854. Mr. Balmer tlrove
back to Ohio, and was there married to Miss
Xancy .\tlkins, a native of Pickaway county,
that state, and a daughter of David .Adkins.
By this union four children have been born,
namely: Melissa is now the wife of Allen
Scott, of Joplin, Missouri, and they have
two children, John and Pearl; J. P., who
assists in the operation of the home farm,
married Anna Belle Blair, and they have
two children living, Everet and .Angle, two
ha\ing died ; Leonard S. is at home, and
-Anna is the wife of Madison Phipps, a
farmer of this county, and they have one
child, Jesse R.

In his ])olitical views Mr. Balmer is a
stanch Republican, but at IcKal elections he
endeavors to support the best man, regard-
less of part affiliations. He has never cared
for public office, preferring to devote his
entire time and attention to his extensive
business interests. Socially he is a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows society at Pontiac.
and has filled all the chairs, being at present
past grand of his lodge. For almost a half-
century he has made his home in Livingston
county, and has bore his part in its develop-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ment during; that period. He lias seen the
swamps drained, and a large tract of what
at first appeared to be waste land trans-
formed into rich and fertile fields. The
career of Mr. Balmer seems almost phe-
nomenal, yet his success is by no means the
result of fortunate circumstances. It has
come to him through energy, labor and per-
severance, directed by an evenly balanced
mind and honorable business principles. He
has always made the most of his opportuni-
ties.and his successful life excites the admira-
tion of all.

\\ILLIAM ARAIITAGE.

\\ illiani Armitage, deceased, was born in
Tipperary, Ireland, on the 13th of Decem-
ber, 1826, and when twenty-two years of age
came ti.i the United States with his father,
Richard Armitage, who settled in Wayne
county. New York, where he died at an ad-
vanced age. Our subject located in Roch-
ester, New York, where he engaged in the
manufacture of brick for a short time, and
in 1865 came to Illinois, settling near Odell,
Livingston county, where he engaged in
farming for a few years and then established
himself in the brick and tile lousiness in
Odell. in which line he was engaged for
over twent}' years. He commenced life as a
poor boy, but by his industry, perseverance
and upright dealing with all with whom he
came in business contact, he soon became a
thrifty business man, and one who had the
respect of all his fellow citizens.

When Mr. Armitage first settled in Odell
there was no church or cemetery in the place,
and he helped build the first church and was
always a large contributor to its support.
His business constantly increased under his

al)le management until it became one of the
leading industries of that part of the coun-
try, furnishing employment to a large num-
ber of men and turning out a product all
knew as excellent. Later he sold the tile
and brick business to Trecker Brothers and
mo\ed to Iowa, but after spending two years
in that state he returned to Odell, where he
made his home until the fall of 1899 and
then came to Pontiac to live quietly after
the labors of a well-spent life, during which
he had prospered. He had surrounded him-
self by all the comforts of life and was en-
joying the rest which comes to the faith-
ful worker, when he was called to that long
and peaceful rest, February 25, 1900, after
an illness of only a few days, leaving a
widow and four children to mourn the de-
parture of a devoted husband and a kind and
mdulgent father.

Mr. Armitage was married, in Tyre.
New York, in 1854, to Miss Ann M. Thorp.
a daughter of Munson and Ann Eliza (Ar-
mitage) Thorp. Her father was a native
of New Hampshire, but at an early age
moved to New York and located in Onon-
daga county, where as a mechanic he spent
over sixty years of his life, dying there at
the age of eighty-seven. His wife died in
Wayne county, the same state, when Mrs.
Armitage was only four years of age. Mrs.
Armitage has only a brother living. Rev.
\\'allace W. Thorp, a Presbyterian minister
of Poughkeepsie, New York.

To our subject and his wife were born
eight children, three of whom died in New
York state and one in Odell, this county.
'i"he living are as follows : ( i ) Clara Belle
is the wife of Alfred Burns, a farmer of this
county, and they have two daughters : Ruth
A. and Charlotte. (2) Wesley L., of Odell,
married Edith Bockman, and thev have three

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

203

cliildren. \\'illiam S.. Lucile and Floyd B.
(3) Elton C, an attorney of Chicago, mar-
ried Alice McConnell. and tliey have one
child. Edna. (4) Lillian F. is the wife of
S. X. Donahue, who has a large restaurant
and bakery in Pontiac.

Mr. Arniitage was converted antl united
with the Methodist Episcopal cinirch at tlie
age of twenty-three years. He was soon
elected superintendent of the Sunday school,
and was also a class leader. .\ devoted
Christian, an upright citizen and business
man, he was always t\)und on the right siilc
of every moral issue, and was strictly tem-
perate and a faithful worker in the temper-
ance movement, and was a constant reader
( f tlie best literature, having a well-stocked
library. \\ bile devoted to his business and
the accumulation of property, be found time
to gratify bis fondness for field sports with
rod and gun. In politics be was a Republi-
can. l)ut took no active part in political mat-
ters, yet was always interestetl in all public
afifairs that tended to advance the wlfare of
the community in which he lived. Mrs. Ar-
niitage laid the remains of her beloed luis-
band to rest in the cemetery at Odell, where
so many years of their happy life bad been
passed, near the church be had helped to
build, and of which he had been such a de-
voted member and constant attendant. Mrs.
Arniitage has bought a large, pleasant home
on East North street, Pontiac. where she
e.xpects to spend her remaining years be-
loved and resi)ected by all wliu know her.

JOHX FKAXCIS SULL1\".\X.

John Francis Sulli\an, a well known
and prominent ilruggist, of Cbatswortli, was
born in Peoria, Illinois, March 10, 1868, a

son of John and Ellen Sullivan. The fa-
ther, who was Ixirn in county Cork, Ireland,
came to America in 1862, and after .spend-
ing five years in New York City, became
a resident of Peoria, Illinois, Where for two
years he was employed as section foreman
on the Toledo, Peoria & Wabash Railroad.
His wife died in 1873, leaving three chil-
tlren : Mary Ellen, who died in Sciota, Illi-
nois, in 1893; Julia, a resident of Xew
York Citv, and John F., our subject. Shortly
before the death of bis wife Mr. Sullivan
moved to Sciota, McDonough county, Illi-
nois, where he made his home for twenty-
rive years, being in the employ of the rail-
road as section foreman nearly all of that
time. He owned a farm, which he improved
and operated for about two years. He is
now a resident of Chatsworth and is still
in the employ of the railroad, having been
connected with section work for thirty-one
years. For his second wife he wedded
Mary Laverv. by whom be has four chidren :
Cornelius, who is married and lives in Ma-
comb, Illinois; Sarah, Annie and Elizabeth,
all at home with their parents.

Our subject received his educatiun in the
public schools of Sciota and at the Macomb
Xormal School. He remained at home
witii his father until sixteen years of age,
and then entered the Chicago College of
I'barmacy, where be took a two-years course
and was graduateil in 1884. He found em-
ployment as prescription clerk in different
drug stores of Chicago for nine years, and
in 1893 came to Chatsworth, where there
appeared to be a good opening and purchased
the old established business of H. M. Bangs.
Since the store came into his possession he
has increased the stock to double the amount,
and the volume of business is several times
what it was. He carries a complete line of

204

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

drugs,clruggists| sundries, wall paper, paints,
oit§,..etc., and is meeting with well deserved
snccess.

Mr. Sullivan was married, Tune 28, 1895,
to Miss Mary Eva Smith, a native of Chats-
worthj and the oldest daughter of James
A. Smith. They have one son, Richard
Francis, born June 19, 1896. In his po-
litical affiliations, Mr. Sullivan is a Repub-
lican, but has never accepted office, though
he has been tendered public position, pre-
ferring to give his entire time and attention
to his business interests. He is a communi-
cant of the Catholic church, and a member
of the Modern Woodmen Camp, No. 1829,
of Chatsworth.

NELSON BUCK.

Nelson Buck, deceased, was a well
known citizen of Pontiac from 1850 to 1869.
He was born in Chemung county. New
York, April 10, 1808. and was a son of
Aholiab and Annis (Drake) Buck, natives
of Chemung county. New York, Init who
at a verv early da_\' came west and located in
Peoria county, Illinois. On his removal to
Illinois, on the present site of the city of
Peoria there was only a block house and the
place was known as Fort Clark. Aholiab
Buck took up a tract of land from the gen-
eral government about eleven miles from the
present city, which he improx'ecl and on
which he resided until his death. His wife,
who was a memlier of the Presbyterian
church, survived him for some years, dying
in i860, at the age of nearly eighty-three
years. She was a daughter of Benjamin
Drake, a native of one of the eastern states.

Nelson Buck grew to manhood in his
native coimty and there received a gCKxl

literary and nnisical education, ])eing for
Some years a teacher of vocal music. He
first married Miss Fidelia W'ithey. of Port
Bvron, New York, and they made their
home in that place until her death. \\'ith
his father's family he then came west to
Peoria county, and later married Miss Annis
Knapp, daug'hter of James and Margaret
(Drake) Knapp, also eastern people from
near Homer, New York. She was born in
1812.

After his arrival in Peoria county Mr.
Buck learned surveying and followed the
occupation of a surveyor during the re-
maintler of his residence in that county, do-
ing nnich of the early survey work, and
being a careful and methodical man the cor-
rectness of his lines was seldom cjuestioned.
He continued to reside in Peoria county
until about 1840, when he moved with his
family to Bloomington, McLean county,
where he continued to follow his chosen
occupation. He also established one of the
first nurseries in that vicinity, in which line
of business he was quite successful. While
residing in Bloomington, in 1844, his wife
(lied, leaving five children, Clarissa died, a
ytiung, lady, in 1854, in Pontiac. Willard
P. was a member of the Forty-seventh Illi-
nois \*olunteer Infantry during the Civil
war, and faithfully served his country in
that terrible struggle for the preservation of
the Lnion. He is now a resident of Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Cordelia is now the
widow of Charles Watson and resides in
Pontiac. Alice and Edwin died young.

iMr. Buck lived in Bloomington and con-
tinued his business there until his marriage,
in 1850, with Mrs. Maria Fellows, of Pon-
tiac. when he removed to the latter city and
t<x:)k charge of her estate, which consisted
of a farm, hotel and many town lots and

NELSON BUCK.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

207

undivided real estate in that place. By his
sound business judgment he put the estate
into good shape antl which later reali2e<l a
handsome return. He never would permit
a bar to be run in connection with the hotel,
but run it on strict temperance principles,
li burned down July 9. 1856.

Mr. Buck's skill as a surveyor secured
him the appointment as government sur-
veyor in 1869, and he was sent to resurvey
the line between Kansas and Nebraska. He
left Plattsmouth, Nebraska, July 5. 1869,
and was last heard from at Fort Kearney,
from which place he started for Fort Mc-
Pherson, Init never reached the latter place,
being killed by the Indians while <•» route.

In the various places where he made his
home. Mr. Buck became somewhat promi-
nent in business, social and musical circles.
He was one of the early trustees of the vil-
lage of Pontiac, before the present thriving
place put on city airs. He tix^k an active
part in the prosecution of every moN-ement
for the improvement of the village, and
much credit is due him for its substantial
growth just prior to and after the close of
the C"i\il war.

Mr. Buck never lost his interest in nm-
sical affairs and while residing in Bloom-
mgton he was one of the most ])rominent
musicians of the place. He was a luember
of the Presbyterian church, connected with
its choir and early introduced a violin as a
help to the musical exercises of its services,
much to the horror of some of the good,
staid old members of the church, a few of
whom arose and walked out of the church.
On his removal to Pontiac he became prom-
inent in musical circles here, as well as lead-
er of the choir in the Methodist Episcopal
church. Fraternally he was a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Few men in Livingston county were bet-
ter known or held in higher esteem than
Nelson Buck, arid his untimely death was
mourned not alone by his immediate family
but the entire cominunitv as well.

WILLIAM ROOK.

William Rook, a thrifty and prosperous
farmer residing on section j6. Forrest towu-
ship. Livingston county, Illinois, was born
October jo, 1821, in Lincolnshire. England,
where his [jarents, Thomas and Mar\- (Sut-
ton ) Roi^k, sjient their entire li\-es. The
father was a prosperous farmer, was a hard
working, industrious man. and highly re-
siiected by all who knew him. P)oth he and
his wife held membership in the church ni
England. He died at the age of seventy-
five years, and his wife, who passed away
several years ])re\ious. died at the age of
sixty. ( )ur subject was the oldest of their
eight children, four of whom came to this
country.

William Rnuk dbtained his early educa-
tion in the cumnmn sclmols of his birth -
])!ace. and reni;iined at home assisting his
lather on the farm until 1851. when he
emi<''rated to .\nicrica. landing in Phila-
delphia July i^). lie first went to Delaware,
where he worked on a farm two summers,
and then removed to New York state, but
remained there only a few months, not being
pleased with the outlook in that state, and
hearing of the cheap lands in Illinois, he
decided to locate here, and on the 8th of
October, 1853, he arrived in Peoria comity,
where he rented land and engaged in farm-
ing for twelve years. For two years he
worked bv the month and in 1868 came to

208

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Livingston county, where lie purchased
eighty acres of raw land on section 27. For-
rest townsliip. This he broke, tiled and im-
proved, by the erection of a good residence
and large barn, and he still owns the prop-
erty. It was his home until 1882. when he
purchased one hundred and sixty acres on
section j6, the same townshij). and erected
another set of farm buildings. He has added
other impnn'enients from time to time and
now has one of the best farms in his local-
itv. He has a pleasant home. Avhich is pre-
sided over by his daughter. Mrs. Spray.

On the 5th of May, 185 1, Mr. Rook was
united in marriage with Miss Mary Bickett,
also a native of England and the only child
of very highly respected parents. She died
September 2. 1873. at the age of forty-seven
years, and was laid to rest in Forrest cem-
eterv. She was a consistent member of the
Methcxlist Episcopal church, a woman of
many excellent finalities, a devoted wife and
loving mother. Hers was a well-spent life
and Mr. Rook gives her credit for a large
share of his success. She was indtistrions
and amljitious and was ever a cheerful help-
meet.

To Mr. and Mrs. Rook were born ti\-e
cbiUlren. namely: ( 1 ) Marry, bcjrn in Del-
aware, in .Kugust. 1852, is now the wife of
George Swartz. a prosperous farmer of Ne-
braska, and they have five children. Emma.
William. Harry. Clara and OUie. all torn in
Livingston county. Illinois, except Ollie,
who was born in Nebraska, (j) J- ^^'ill-
iam, Iiorn in Peoria countw Illinois, in
]March. 1854, wedded Mary Gouldsbury, and
li\-ed on the original homestead of the fam-
iiv on section 27, Forrest townsliip. I)ut is
now working by the month on a farm in
McDonough county, this state. His wife is
now deceased, leaving one son, Frederick,

who was born in F(~irrest townshi]i. and is
now sixteen years of age. He is working on
l"iis uncle's farm on section 27, that town-
sliip. (3) Eliza, born in Peoria county,
March 6, 1S36, was educated in the common
schools of Livingston county, and was mar-
ried. February 4, 1875, to Ephraim R.
Sprav, who was born in Fountain count\'.
Indiana. February 18, 1850, a son of J. T.
and Mary Spray, and died October 18, 1881.
He was conscious up to the time of his death
and expressed a willingness to die. He was
aware of the approach of the end, saying.
"Oh. motiier. the great transaction is done,
it is all well with me." His remains were
interred in Forrest cemetery. He was a de-
voted husband and father, and left a wife
and three children to mourn his loss. Of
the children Mary, born in Livingston coun-
ty April 12. 1876. was married. January 12.
1898, to Robert McKinley. who is engagetl
in farming on a quarter-section of land in
Charlotte township. Living'ston county, and
they have one child. Clarence, born Decem-
ber 26, 1899. John, born June 3, 1878, and
Charles, born .\ugust 18, 1880, were edu-
cated in the district schools of Forrest town-
ship, and are now working u]ion our sub-
ject's farm. (4) Thomas, born in Peoria
county in October. 1858. married Katie
Faragher, of Forrest township, and lives
on his father's farm of eighty acres on sec-
tion 2/. although he owns a farm of bis
own. (5) Sarah, born in Peoria county,
died at the age of three years and was buried
there.

Since casting his first presidential vote
for Stephen A. Douglas Mr. Rook has af-
filiated with the Democratic party, and as a
public-spirited citizen he takes an active in-
terest in all that tends to the improvement
and advancement of the ciMiimunitv in which

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

209

lie lives. He li.is always lieen a hard work
irsf and persevering man. whose spirit was
not cast down l)y the hardships of his early
pioneer life, and his determination to suc-
ceed .soon enabled him to accumulate prop-
erty, so that he is to-day one of the pros-
perous as well as one of the highly respected
citizens of the township. He has many
friends and no enemies, and now, at a ripe
old age. is enjoying the fruits of his early
industry.

JACOB E. BROWX.

Jacul) K. Mrown, who is engaged in the
general banking business, together with the
ii surance and loan business, has been a resi-
dent of Li\ingston county since 1857. dur-
ing which time he has been an imjxirtant
factor in its material growth and j^rosperity.
He was born near W'atertown, Jefferson
county. New \'nrk, Se])tember 29, 1838,
and is the son of 'i'honias Y. and Mary A.
(Everett) i'rowu, both of whom were na-
tix'es of Xew \ drk, born in the same local-
ity, near llrownsville.

The paternal grandfather of our subject,
Ilenr}' county, was born in Bucks county,
I'ennsylvania, near the city of f'hiladel])liia,
but in an early day moved to Jefferson coun-
t\-. Xew York, where he cleared the land of
timber and made a farm of eight lumdred
acres. The city of Brownsville was named
in his honor. There he lived and died. Dur-
ing the boyhood of our subject there were in
the neighborhood of Brownsville about eight
hundred peo])le. o\er three-fifths of whom
bore the name of Brown, and all related.

Thomas Yarley Brown, the father of
our subject, was engaged in farming in his
native state, a portion of the time in partner-

ship with his father. For some years he
was a brigade commander in the Xew York
militia, serving with credit to himself and
the state. In 1855 he came west and piu"-
chased a large tract of land in what is now
(ierman\-ille township. Livingston county,
and in 1856 he came out with the intention
o* making it his permanent abode. In 1857
his wife and family joined him and they took
up their residence in a story and a half
frame cottage which he had erected for the
l)urpose. It was 16.X24 feet and ser\ed as
the home for the family a few years, when
ii was added to. making a larger residence.
On that farm he continued to reside until
1S70. when be mo\ed into the village of
Chatsworth. where he lived a (|uiet. retired
life until his death. February 4. 1899. H's
wife is yet li\ing and makes her home with
our subject. They were the parents of three
children, of whom our subject is the oldest.
Sarah .\. is the wife of J. C. Shear, of
Onarga. Illinois, where he is living a re-
tn-cd life. Mary Frances is the wife of Joel
R. .Strawn, who for many _\'ears was en-
gaged in I'arming in b'orrest townshi]). but
is now li\"ing retired in the \illage of For-
rest. Mrs. Mary .\. Brown is now eighty-
three years of age and is a well preserved
woman. She was a member of the Episco-
pal church. Her husband was past e'ghty-
eight years old at the time of his death, his
father. Henry Brown, also dying at the
same age. In politics he was originally a
Whig, but later a Republican. In the early
days he ser\ed as assessor for some years,
and was also a member of the school board
for many years, and served for a time as a
member of the board of trustees of the vil-
lage of Chatsworth. He was a member of
the board in Chatsworth when the present
school house was erected.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Jacob E. Brown, our subject, was named
for General Brown, who was commander-in-
chief of the United States army for a time,
a man of more than ordinary abiHty. His
boyhood and youth were spent in his native
county and state, and in the pubHc schools of
Brownsville he took his primary course,
after which he entered Brownsville Acad-
emy, and after pursuing the regular course
he graduated therefrom. After coming
west he took a commercial course at East-
man's Business College, Chicago.

Coming west with the family Mr. Brown
remained with his parents, assisting in the
management of the farm until in .\ugust,
1862, when he enlisted in Company M. Ninth
Illinois Cavalry, and was mustered into the
service at Springfield, Illinois. The regi-
ment was sent to Chicago, and in November,
1862, was sent south, having its first brush
with the enemy at Pilot Knob, Missouri.
From that time until the close of the war
it was in active service. Crossing the Mis-
sissippi river at Helena. Arkansas, it took
]iart in many shirmishes from Cairo to
A'icksburg, and also around Little Rock,
Arkansas, and up the White river, the na-
ture of the service partaking of a guerrilla
■warfare. This was the case until the spring
of 1864. It was then with the main army
through Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama,
and all through that section until the close
of the war. During its term of service it
enlisted oxer eight thousand men, but only
about six hundred returned home at the close
of the war. It was in some very severe en-
gagements. .\t La Grange. Arkansas, the
division with which it was connected lost
o\er two thousand men in an hour and a
lialf.

Mr. Brown entered the service as a
pri\ate, but in a short time was appointed

corporal and later sergeant in his company.
On the 19th of November, 1864, with forty-
two other men. he was taken prisoner at
Shoal Creek, Tennessee, while reconnoiter-
ing in front of Hood's army, which was
making its advance on Nashville, Tennes-
see. He was held a prisoner until March,
1865. when he was paroled and sent to the
parole camp at Vicksburg. He was impris-
oned at Cahaba, Alabama, where ten thou-
sand LTnion prisoners were held. While
yet a prisoner he was commissioned second
lieutenant and was later assigned to the
staff of Cienera] Hatch. He was honorably
discharged from the service in May, 1865,
with the rank of second lieutenant.

After receiving his discharge Lieutenant
Brown returned home and shortly after-
ward took the course in Eastman's Business
College, as already stated. Completing the
course he returned to the farm and continued
to be actively engaged in farm labor until
1875, having the management of the home
farm of over twelve hundred acres. The
hard work necessary to the management of
such an estate told upon his health, so much
so that he was compelled to abandon it, and
in January. 1875, he moved to the village of
Chatsworth and for a time engaged in no
active business.

On the 16th of January, 1868, ]\Ir.
Brown was united in marriage with Miss
Elizabeth B. Pope, a native of Kentucky and
fourth in order of birth in a family of seven
children. Her father, Thomas A\'. Pope,
moved from Kentucky to Illinois in 1856.
locating in a grove in Ford county, now
known as Pope's grove, and which was
named for him. There he engaged in farm-
ing for many years and then mo\'ed to Piper
City, Ford count}', Illinois, where he lived
retired and where his death occurred.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born tliree
children. R. Finley, who is engaged with
I. IS father in tlie banking business, and who
is vice-president of the bank, was a mem-
ber of Troop K, First IlHnois Ca\alry. dur-
ing tlie Spanisli- American war. W'itli his
regiment lie was sent to Chickamauga Park,
where he was taken ill and returned home.
Later he was sent to Fort Sheridan, where
he was honorably discharged and mustered
out of the service. He is a graduate of
Peeksville, Xew York. Military .\cademy,
and also of the Xew \'ork Military .\cadcmy
at Cornwall, Xew York. Elizabeth McKee,
at home, is a graduate of a female seminary
near Peekskill. Xew York. Madge Everett
is attending O.xford College at Oxford.
Ohio.

On bis restoration to health, about one
year after his removal to Chatsworth, Mr.
Bnjwn went into the bank of C. .\. \\'ilson
& Comj)any as cashier, and held that posi-
tion until 1885, when he purchased the
business, and under the firm name of J. E.
Brown & Company it was continued until
January, 1900, when it was re-organized as
the Bank of Chatsworth, with Mr. Brown
as president, R. Finley Brown, vice-presi-
dent, and Ed M. Reesing. cashier. The
bank is doing a verj" satisfactory business
and has the confidence of the entire com-
munity. In addition to his regular banking
business Mr. Brown is agent of some of the
leading fire insurance companies of the
L'nited States, in which he has placed many
policies. He is also interestcfl in farm lands
in Illinois, Indiana and Xorth Dakota, and
in the latter state has two thousand, five
hundred and sixty acres in the counties of
Steele and Cass. He was formerly largeiv
interested in the Ogallala Land & Cattle
Company, importers of Hereford cattle, but

o'. late years he has confined himself to his
private business.

Mr. Brown is a worker in the Presby-
terian church of Chatsworth. in which for
many years he has been one of the trustees.
Fraternally he is a member of Chatsworth
Lodge. Xo. 538, A. F. & .\. M. ; Fairbury
Chapter, Xo. 99, R. .\. M.. and St. Paul's
Commandery, Xo. 34, K. T.. of Fairbury.
He is also a member of E. C.. Trask Post,
Xo. 388, Ci. A. R., and was its first com-
mander, and has since almost continuously
served in that office. In politics he is a
Republican and cast his first presidential
vote for the great Abraham Lincoln. He
has served as a member of the village board
of trustees and has been ])resitlent of the
same. He also served on the school boanl
while residing on the farm. He has, how-
ever, ne\ er been a seeker after office.

As a citizn Mr. Brown has always been
enterprising, ready to do his duty when that
duty is presented to him. He shipped the
first car-load of corn from Chatsworth, go-
ing to Oilman to order the car. At that time
corn was shelled with a hand sheller, there
being no others in use. In the forty-three
years in which he has been a citizen of Liv-
ingston county rapid changes have been
made, the county n(jw ranking with the
best in the entire state, with improvements
second to none. In all that has been done
he has borne well his yrnvt.

JOSEPH F.\RXEY.

Joseph Farney, who is successfully en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits on section
28, Forrest township, Livingston county,
Illinois, was born in Lewis county, Xew
York, March 16, 1842, a son of John and

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Annie (Zehr) Farney. The father, a native
<if Germany, came to the United States at
the age of sixteen years and located in Lewis
cmmty. New "S'ork, becoming- one of its well-
ti >-tlo and prosperous farmers. He died
there at aljout tlie age of sixty-three years.
His wife is stih living near the old home-
stead at the age of eighty years. Our suh-
iect is the oldest of their nine children, six
of whom survix'e.

Josepli h'arney remained at home with
his parents, assisting in the work of the farm
until 1868. when he came to Livingston
county. Illinois, and purchased a farm of
eighty acres in Forrest township, which he
t iperated for ten years. He then bought one
hundred and forty acres of h's present farm.
which at that time was only partially im-
pn)\ed. and to its further development and
culti\-ation he has since devoted his energies
with most gratifying success. He has ex-
tended its boundaries until he now has two
hundred and forty acres, upon which he has
built a substantial residence, a commodious
barn and other outbuildings, and now has
line of the best impro\-ed farms in the local-
it}-. His success is well deser\-ed. as he is
an industrious, enterprising n-ian — (ine who
lias helped to make the county what it is
to-day, one of the richest farming districts
in the state. Besides the \'aluable farni al-
ready mentioned he now owns fort)' acres
on section 21 and eighty acres on section
16, Forrest township. For several years he
has held the office of school trustee and has
done n-iuch to improve the schools of district
Xo. 8.

On the 1.2th of April, 1871, Mr. Far-
ney married Miss Lena Yoder, one of a
familv of six children, whose parents were
Joseph and .\nnie (Kempf ) Yoder. The fa-
ther was l)orn in .\lsace, France, in 182J,

and when a boy came to America, residing
in the New England states until he reached
luanhood. Subsequently he made his home
in New York state for a number of years,
and in the spring of 1867 came to Livings-
ton County. Illinois, and purchased a farm
in F"orrest township, which he improved and
culti\-ated for S(irne time, but the last three
V'ears of his life were spent in retirement
from active labor in Fairburv. He became
(|uite a prominent and prosperous man of his
community. He died May 23. 1888, leaving
a widow, who is still living, three sons, three
daughters and twenty-seven grandchildren.
Mr. and Mrs. Farney are the parents of
seventeen children, all li\ing with the ex-
ception of Lydia, who died at the ag;e of
eight weeks. John, the eldest, now twenty-
seven years of age, is a farmer in the em-
ploy of Mr. Watson, of Forrest township;
Samuel works on his father's farm ; Edward
operates eighty acres belonging to his fa-
ther : Joseph is engaged in farming near the
homestead ; Andrew is also an agriculturist ;
Rachel, now residing with her father, is the
widow of Andrew Weisser, a carpenter,
who died May 24, 1899, leaving one child.
Aldine, born March 3, 1899; Mina is the
wife of Conrad Wenger, a farmer of Fair-
bury, and they ha\-e one child, Roy ; Annie,
Emma and Elmer, twins, Fred, Malinda,
Orviile, Walter, Jess and Arthur are all
at home. All were born in Livingston coun-
ty, educated in the local schools and live on
the home farm or near it.

A BR AM LOWER.

,\hram Lower, a prominent and intluen-
tial citizen of Broughton township, residing
on section 10, has been a resident of Liv-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

213

ineston county since tlie spring of i860,
and has been actively ident tied with its as;-
ricuhural and polit cal interests. He was
born in Blair comity, I'eiinsyhan'a, Octo-
I)er 10, 1835, a son of Da\ id and Susan
(Rhodes) Lower. Tliough in early life the
fatiier learned the trades of weaver, carpen-
ter and joiner, he followed fanning prin-
cipally. On coming to Illinois in 1861 he
settled in Livingston county, but two years
later moved to Carroll county, and dieil at
his home in Lanark, in i88j, at the age of
eight V years. His wife surxixed him for
some time, dying in December, 1898. at tliL
age of eighty-eight years. To them were
born ten children, of whom one died in in-
fancy. The others were Levi, a \eteran of
the civil war, who now li\es in Kansas and
whose sons are prominent in banking cir-
cles; Samuel, a resident of Dwight. Illinois:
Abram, our subject; Catlierine, wife of
Samuel McCoy, of Lanark; Kel)ecca. who
died in 1864; Martin, who died from disease
contracted in the army during the civil war:
Anna, wife of John Chestnut, of Adair,
Iowa; Leah, wife of (jeorge Weed, of La-
n.ark; and Eli L.. who was also one of the
boys in blue during the civil war and is now
a resident of Lanark.

.\bram Lower received his education in
the common schools of his nati\e state and
was reared upon his father's farm. In 1858
he came to Illinois and settled on the pres-
ent site of Lanark, the locality at that time
being unbroken prairie. In i860 he came to
Livingston county, where his father had jnir-
cliased land, and he undertook the arduous
task of opening up the farm, on which not
a furrow had been turned nor an improve-
ment made. For some time he operated a
half-section of land and still owns one hun-

dred and si.xty acres in the home place on
section 10, Broughton township, and eighty
acres on section 14, all of which has been
under cultivation fur many years and is
well imi)ro\ed. In connection with general
farming he carries on stock raising and has
made a decided success of his life work.

October 16, i860. Mr. Lower married
Miss Catherine Miller, a daughter of George
and Margaret (Davis) Miller, natives of
Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively.
The Miller family made their home in Penn-
sylvania until 1834, when the_\- came ti 1 Illi-
nois and settled in Carroll comity, where the
]jarents spent the remainder of their lives,
the father dying in June, 1877, the mother in
December, i8gi. They had thirteen chil-
dren, of whom twii died in infancy. The
others are still living, uameK' : Mar\- .\..
wife of C. v.. Cross, a veteran (if the ci\il
war and a railroad engineer residing in
Marion, biwa; Catherine, wife of our sub-
ject, who was born .Vugust 7. 1842; Samuel
E., a resident of Chenoa. Illinois; Emma
R.. wife of Philip Galwicks, of Butler coun-
t\'. .X'ebraska ; William .\., a hotelman of
Streator; John L., of Beatrice, Nebraska;
Martin 1... twin iirother of John L. and a
resident of Mt. Carroll; Upton, a magnetic
healer; Gertrude, wife of Edward Sullivan,
of .Aurora; .\. L., a physician of Dixon;
and Margaret, a resident of Rockford. The
three \-omigest were biu'n in lllinnis. the
others in Peimsylvania.

Of the twelve children born to Mi", and
Mrs. Lower three died in infancy. The
others were as follows: ( i ) Maggie is the
wife of Walter Morrison, a railroad man of
Omaha. Nebraska, and they have four chil-
dren : Clarence. Lillie, Eethel and Clara.
(2) Augusta is the wife of P. D. (ilnver.

214

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a farmer of Custer county, Nebraska, and
they have seven cliildren : Earl, Fay, Guy.
Ruth, Lloyd, Glenn and Rex. (3) Albert,
who lives on his father's farm, is extensively
engaged in general farming on a half -section
of land and also carries on stock raising.
He married Mary E. Lorigan, and has five
children : Abram, Salisbury, Bernice. .\1-
bert and ]\Iadeline. (4) Le Roy, a pros-
perous farmer and stock raiser, operating a
farm of one hundred and sixty acres in
Broughton township, married Hannah E.
Morris and has two children, Arthur and an
infant. (5) Frank D., also a farmer and
stock raiser of Broughton township, married
Mary E. \\'eller and has one daughter,
Eulalia. (6) ^^Larriette is the wife of Cyrus
Hiddleson, of Broughton township, and they
have two children. Vera and George. (7)
Lillian is a dressmaker residing at home.
(8) Grace is the wife of Benjamin Morris,
of Round Grove township, and they ha\e
one daughter, Lila. {9) Gertrude is at
home.

In politics Mr. Lower is a stanch Dem-
ocrat, and his fellow citizens, recognizing his
worth and. ability, have often called him to
office. He has served as supervisor fi\-€
vears, road commissioner seventeen years,
and after assisting in organizing the school
district in i860 was made one of the first
directors, which office he held for fifteen
vears. He assisted in layino- out all of the
njads of Broughton township, and did not
resign his [KJsition as commissioner until
the last mile had been opened up. He is one
of the best known men of his community,
and that he has the entire confidence and
respect of his fellow citizens is manifest by
his being called upon to act as guardian for
se\'eral children and as administrator of sev-

eral estates, which were settled up most sat-
isfactorily. Since 1894 he has lived a
retired life u])<in his farm, surrounded by all
the comforts which earnest toil in former
vears have Ijrought him.

ROBERT RUMBOLD.

Robert Rumbold, who is engaged in the
insurance business in Chatsworth, dates his
residence in Livingston county from 1856,
almost half a centur}'. He was born in
Hampshire. England, July 23, 1831, and
is a son of Joseph and Martha (Sherman)
Rumbold, both of whom were also natives
of England, the latter dying there about
1845. They were the parents of seven chil-
dren, three of whom died in infancy, while
the family were yet residing in England,
and three died after coming to the United
States, so that our subject is the sole living
representative of the family. Joseph Rum-
bold became a veterinary surgeon in Eng-
land, and followed that profession, in con-
nection with farming, after coming to this
country. Shortly after the death of his
wife Joseph Rumbold, Sr., came with his
family to the United States, and first lo-
cated at Lock-port, Will county, Illinois, but
shortly afterward moved to Livingston
county and commenced farming near Fair-
bury, an occupation in which he success-
fully continued until his death, in 1868.

Robert Rumbold, the subject of this
sketch, received his education in the board-
ing schools of his native country, and was
twenty-one years old when he accompanied
his father to the United States. On his ar-
rival he engaged in farming, in connection
with his father, and thev were extensively

ROBERT RUMBOLD.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

217

enjjag^eii in tariiiiiig on rented land in Ken-
ilall cnunty, until 1836. when they came to
Livingston county. Our subject here i)ur-
cliased an interest in a quarter section of
land near Fairbury and was successfully en-
gaged in farming there until iHfxj, when he
dis[)ose(l of his interest in that farm and pur-
chased eighty acres of his present farm in
Chatsworth township, which was then un-
improved prairie lantl. This he began to
improve and soon had it all under cultiva-
tion, and on that farm he has since contin-
ued to reside. For some years he continued
to superintend the work ot the farm, but has
now given its management into the hands
ot his son, who is a thorough and practical
farmer.

in 1859, after he had made a start in
this new ccnuUr}', .Mr. Rumbold visited his
nati\e laud, and while there was united in
marriage with Miss Sarah Osmond, who
was born, in 1830, in Hampshire, England.
With his bride, he returned to his new
home, since when he has been identified with
the county in many ways. Se\en children
came to bless their union, two of whom
died in infancy. Of the five living chil-
dren, Edward H. resides in West Pullman,
where he is engaged in the real estate and
insurance business, in which he is making
i. success. He is married and lias unc
daughter, Esther. Alice M. is the wife of
Samuel M. Wilson, and they have one
ilaughter, Edna. Their home is also in West
Pullman, where he is assisting his brother-
in-law in the real estate and insurance busi-
ness. .\nn Elizabeth is cashier for her
brother in his ofifice at West Pullman. Cecil
Robert is assisting his father in the insur-
ance business in Chatsworth. Joseph B.,
who, after leaving school, engaged in teach-
ing for one year, is now managing the farm

of his father, and is doing a successful busi-
ness.

.Mr. Rumbold comnicnccd the insurance
business in 18O9 and is now one of the old-
est in point of service in this line of busi-
ness of any in Livingston county. He has
the agency of fourteen of the best tire and life
insurance companies in the country, including
the Aetna, of Hartford, Connecticut; Home,
of Xew York; Continental, of New York;
Insurance Company of North America, of
Philadeli)hia : Underwriters, of Philadelphia;
.\merican, of Philadelphia, and the Wash-
iiigton Life Insurance Company. For the
last twenty-five years, Mr. Rumbold has
given bis entire time to the insurance busi-
ness and has built up an excellent trade,
ha\-ing many patrons, not only in Livings-
ton, but in adjoining counties. He has
made a success of the business and deserves
all that he has made.

Mr. Rumbold came to this country at
a time when the slavery question was the
all-absorbing topic of interest and he be-
came a voter just about the time of the or-
ganization of the Republican party. With
that party he became identified and has since
been an earnest advocate of its principles.
While he has always manifested a com-
mendable interest in the c[uestions of the
day, he has never been a politician as the
term is generally understood. By his friends,
be has been elected and served as assessor
of his township, collector, justice of the
peace, and is now serving as trustee of
schools. He has been a delegate to many
county conventions, and also to the con-
gressional convention of his party. He is
a man ever ready to take his share of re-
sponsibility and to advocate any good cause
beneficial to the community in which he
lives.

2l8

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Fraternally. ^Fr. Rumhokl is a Mas(in.
first becoming identified with the t)rder
while livingr in (irundy county. He is now
a member of Chatsworth Lodge, No. 339.
A. F. & A. M.: of Fairbury Chapter. Xo.
()g, R. A. M.. and oi Fairbury Command-
erv. No. 34. K. T. He is the only living
charter member of the blue lodge in Fair-
bury. In the ])rincii)les of the order he has
ever had an abiding faith, believing them
to be beneficial to mankind. On the occa-
sion of Mr. Rumbold's" re-election for the
twenty-first time as treasurer of the Chats-
worth Lodge, he was presented with a beau-
tiful gold headed cane bearing the inscrip-
tion :

"Presented December 16, 1S98, to
Robert Rumbold at his twenty-first election
as treasurer of Chatsworth Lodge, No. 539,
A. F. & A. M."

It is needless to say J\Ir. Rumliold \alues
the gift very highly, not for its intrinsic
\alue, but from the associations surrountl-
ing the gift. Mr. Rumbold has passed
through all the chairs of the lodge and is
now hokling the office of worshipful master.
Reared in the Episcopalian faith, he has al-
ways adhered to the teachings of that de-
nomination. As a citizen, no man in Li\-
ingston county is held in higher esteem.
Of a social nature, it is easy for him to make
and retain friends.

:^IICHAEL REISING.

Michael Reising. engaged in the general
mercantile business. Chatsworth. Illinois, is
a natixe of Hanover. Bremen, Germany,
and was born July 17, 1838. He is a son of
George A. and Margaret ( Reising) Reis'ng.

who, although of the same name, were not
related. Both were natives of Bavaria. Ger-
many, where they were married. By occu-
pation Georp^e A. Re'sing was a farmer in
his native land, a xncatum which he follmved
throughout life. \\'ith a \'ew of bettering
l;is Condition he left the old world, with his
familv, when our subject was but a few
weeks old. coming to the L'nited States and
direct to Woodford coiuUy. Illinois. On his
arrival in the latter cnuntx' he jjurchased
one hundred and sixty acres of land, only
one acre of which had been j)lowed. Clear-
ing the land of its timber he commenced the
improvement of the farm and later added to
its area by the purchase of eiglity acres from
the government and forty acres from an-
other man. W'itli the exception of two years
.spent in Peoria. IlHnois, he spent the re-
mainder of his life on that farm, dying when
sixtv-one years old. His wife died when
she was fortv-seven vears old. They were
the parents of six children that grew to ma-
turity and two that died in early childhood.
Those who grew to man and womanhood
were Peter. Adam P.. Mary, iMichael. Eliz-
abeth and Annie. All are yii li\ing save
I"ilizabeth.

The subject of this sketch grew to man-
h(;od on his father's farm in Woodford coim-
t\-. Illinois, aiul as the opportunity was af-
forded him attended the common suliscrip-
tion school, having to walk a distance of
two miles to the school house. He could
onlv attend a few weeks in the winter, as
his services were needetl on the farm at other
times. He remained at home until he at-
tained his majority, when he rented land
and engaged in farming for himself. After
the death of his father he went to Tazewell
coimtv. where he rented a farm and engaged
in its cultivation for two vears. bVom

THE BIOGRArHICAL RECORD.

219

Tazewell he returned to Woodford county
and hoiiijlit eighty acres of land near El
I'aso. which he farmed for ahout three years.
SelKng this place he moved to Claremont
county. Ohio, where he remained for four
years. He then returned to Woodford coun-
ty. Illinois, and engaged in farming f »■
two years. We next came to Chatsworth.
Illinois, and purchased the general store of
Mrs. Barhara Scherer. and here he has since
continued to reside. In 1883 Mr. Reising
met with a serious misfortune that left h'm
thirty-five hundred dollars worse than pemii-
Ifss. hut with that sturdy determination that
characterizes the German race he would not
own that he was beaten, but jmshed forward
ir the face of obstacles that wnuld have dis-
mayed almost any other man, and by dint of
hard work and perseverance succeeded in
again establishing himself in business, .\fter
a few years, however, seeing that he was
paying out his pnjfits for rent, lie assumed
fresh indebtedness and built the fine store
building that he now owns. F"ew men could
have accomplished what Mr. Reising has.
being forced as he was to start over the bat-
tle of life at almost fifty years of age. For
the i)ast twenty years Mrs. Re'sing has been
engaged in the millinery business in connec-
tion. She has a good trade and gives sat-
isfaction to her patrons.

On the 24th of January, i860. Mr. Reis-
ing was united in marriage with Miss Mar-
garet FM'arr. a native of Claremont county,
Ohio, and daughter of George I'farr. a na-
tive of Germany, who came to this country
when a young man, locating in Claremont
county, and later moving to Woodford coun-
tv. Illinois. Mrs. Reising is one of a family
of si.x children, the others being Barbara.
Mary. Peter, Kate and John. Of these Bar-
bara and Peter are now deceased. Mr. and

Mrs. Reising have no children of their own.
but have an ado])ted .son, Joseph, who bears
their name.

Mr. and .Mrs. Reising are members of the
Catholic church, and in politics he is a Dem-
ocrat, having voted the party ticket since at-
taining his majority. He has served sev-
eral terms as a member of the village board
of trustees of Chatsworth. but has no in-
clination for office holding. He prefers to
give his time and attention to his business
and work for the interests of the people in
selling them goods at living prices. He
aims at all times to carry as complete a
stock of goods as the wants of the commun-
ity will warrant. His residence of twenty-
seven years in Chatsworth has made him
manv friends.

RE\'. S.\MUEL ELBRIDGE \'AXXE.

Rev. Samuel Elbridge Vance, who is now
living a retired life in Pontiac. enjoying a
well-earned rest, was for many years actively
engaged in religious work as a Presbyterian
minister. He was born in Paris, Edgar
county, Illinois, July 29, 1835, a son of .An-
drew Milton and Esther ( Shelledy ) Vance,
who were married in that city, of which city
iiis paternal grandfather, Samuel Vance,
was a prominent pioneer. He was a native
of Abingdon. Virginia, and on leaving that
state removed to east Tennessee, but as
earlv as 1822 he came to Illinois and took
u]) his residence in Paris, erecting the sec-
ond house in that place. There he engaged
in farming throughout the remainder of his
life, dying about 1857. at the age of eighty-
five vears. He was an elder in the Presby-
terian church of Paris for a great many
vears, and donated all the brick for the first

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

church of that denomination erected there.
He was a life-long Democrat, and in the
south liad been a slave owner, but freed al^
his slaves on coming to this state. The fa-
ther of our subject was born in \'irginia.
in 1809. In 1826 he came to Illinois and
followed merchandising in Paris through-
out his active business life. He died there in
1874, at the age of sixty-four years. He held
some minor offices, but never sought political
honors, and in politics was a Democrat until
the organization of the Republican party,
when he joined its ranks, becoming a stanch
supporter of its principles. He, too, was an
elder in the Presbyterian church for many
years, and was a man honored and respected
bv all who knew him. The mother of our
subject died when he was only twelve years
old, leaving three children, of whom he
was the oldest. Julia married J. C. CoUom,
a merchant of F'aris, and died leaving a
family. James A., a resident of Pierce City,
Missouri, was a soldier of the civil war
and is an attorney by profession. He is
married and has a family.

Our subject remained at home until
twenty vears of age, and was prepared for
college at Edgar Academy, in Paris. Later
he spent one year in Hanover College, In-
diana, and then entered Jefferson College
(now known as Washington and Jefferson
College), Pennsylvania, where he pursued
a literary course and was graduated in i860.
He was next a student at the Northwestern
Theological Seminary, Chicago, and was
graduated at that institution in the spring
of 1863. He was licensed and ordained by
the Presbytery of Palestine, now known as
the Presbytery of Mattoon, and his first
charge was John Knox church, in Knox
county, Illinois. At the same time he also
preached in the village of Oneida, the same

ctiunty. remaining there six years. Subse-
(juently he was at Lexington, Illinois, for
five and a half years, and from there went to
Wisconsin, where he spent sixteen years in
the work of the ministry. His health fail-
ing him, he went to Kansas, where he re-
mained some years, and in 1895 came to
I'ontiac, Illinois, where she has since lead a
retired life, having never recovered his usual
health.

On the 22(1 of December, 1863, at Mor-
ris, Grundy county, Illinois, Mr. Vance was
united in marriage with Miss Catherine
Erame, a daughter of Rev. Reuben and Mar-
garet Stewart (Selby) Erame, and grand-
daughter of Captain Selby, who followed
the sea throughout life. Eor many years
her father was in charge of the Presby-
terian church in Morris, but died in Chi-
cago, in 1 89 1, at the age of eighty-seven
years. His widow is still living in that
city at the advanced age of ninety-two years,
making her home with a daughter.

Mr. and Mrs. Vance have a family of
live children, three sons and two daughters,
(i) Selby Erame, born in Knox county,
November 17, 1864, was ordained a Pres-
byterian minister and preached for some
years, but is now professor of Greek at
Wooster University, Ohio. He is married
and has one child. (2) Harriet Shelledey,
a native of Knox county, is a graduate of the
classical department of Lake Forest Uni-
versity, and once held a position in a young
ladies" seminary, but for the past five years
has been one of Pontiac"s best photog-
raphers, having won special praise for her
artistic work, especially of babies and chil-
dren. She was the first to introduce the
platinum finish in the city. (3) Edward
Elbridge, a native of Illinois, is a Presby-
terian minister of Cooksville, McLean coun-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ty, Illinois, and is now traveling in tlie west
on account of ill health. (4) James Milton,
born in Lexington, Illinois, is also a gradu-
ate of Lake Poorest L'niversivty, and fnr
three years taught Latin and Greek in the
township high school of Pontiac, but is miw
attending the Theological Seminar}' at
Princeton, New Jersey, studying for the
ministry. (5) Catherine Stewart, Ixnn in
ortage county, Wisconsin, is now fourteen
years of age and is attending the high school
of Pontiac.

GEORGE ERV.

(jeorge Fry, the owner nf a good farm of
eighty acres on section 29, I'orrest town-
ship, Livingston county, is a native of Eng-
land, born in dJevonshire, in 1834, and is
a son of John Fry. He lost his mother
when quite young, but his father, who was
also a farmer by occupation, lived to the ad-
\anced age of ninety-two years, and was
still very active at the time of his death,
having a short time before walked a dis-
tance of nine miles and sheared forty sheep.
Our subject is the youngest of a family of
ten children, and he and his brother, Ricii-
ard. were the only ones to come to this ci>un-
irv.

George Fry remained in his native land
until seventeen years of age, when he crossed
the ocean and settled in Lisbon, Kendall
county, Illinois, where he worked on a
farm and then oprated rented land for seevral
years. In 1866 he became a resideiU of
Livingston county, and after farming for si.K
years in Belle Prairie townshi]), he came to
I'orrest township and boui;ht the eighty-
acre farm which has been his home ever
since. He started out in life as a poor boy.

but by industry and good management has
secured a comfortable competence.

Mr. Frve married Mrs. Susan Evans,
also a native of England, who died nine
months later, leaving one child, by her
former marriage — William h'vans — now a
resident of Kansas. Mr. Fry was again
married at the end of four years, his second
union being with Mrs. Susan Gas, of Penn-
sylvaia, whose first husband was killed in
the civil war. She is now seventy-seven
ysar of age and although nearly blind and
tpiite deaf, she bears up patiently under her
afflictions. She and her husband have many
warm friends and are highly resi)ected and
esteemed bv all who know them.

HXRV RIXGLER.

Henry Ringler, a ])rominent business
man of Strawn, Livingston county, Illinois,
was born in the province of Hersfeld, Ger-
many, June 16, 1844, a son of Peter and
Gertrude (More) Ringler, who were of
pure German ancestry. The mother died
in that country at the age of thirty-eight
years. She was the third wife of Peter
Ringler and the mother of eight sons : Peter;
George; one who died in infancy unnamed;
Henry and John, twins; William; Fritz and
August. With the exception of the one who
died in infancy, all came to this country
and fi\e are still living. It being the custom
from time immemorial for the Kurfusten-
tlnim Hessen to give the father of seven suc-
cessive sons forty-two dollars, Mr. Ringler
received that amount from Em])eror Will-
iam, the grandfather of the present ruler of
Germany. Of this family Fritz and August
are residents of Xew York Citv, and com-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

posed the firm of F. A. Ringler & Company,
who have the largest electrotype toiuKlry
in the world, employing over one hundred
and fifty hands, and are prominent business
men of that city. Two years ago they cele-
brated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the es-
tablishment of their business, and at the
World's Fair, in 1893, received the first
prize for an engraving of Columbus dis-
covering America. They came to the United
States in 1867. George Ringler, another
brother of our subject, emigrated to Amer-
ica in 1858, and also located in New York
City, where he was foreman of a brewery
for some years, and then, in partnership
with another gentleman, engaged in that
business on his own account. The business
established by him is still carried on under
the firm name of George Ringler & Com-
pany, its present officers being his son, Will-
iam G. Ringler. president : George J. Jetter,
vice-president: J. Edward Jetter, secretary
and manager, and Henry Hachemeister,
treasurer — one of the largest in New York
City — and have a large and elegant office
at the corner of Ninety-second and Third
a\-enue. while their brewery is fitted up with
the latest improved machinery and was one
of the first to put in operation an ice plant.
George Ringler died about ten years ago,
leaving an estate valued at over one million
dollars. He had two children : William G.,
mentioned above, and Rose, wife of George
J. Jetter.

In 1869 Peter Ringler. the father of our
sul)ject, came to the Uniteil States, and after
residing for a time in New York state, came
to Livingston county, Illinois, locating in
Belle Prairie township, where he engaged in
farming, and also contracting and building
for a time. He had previously done e.x-
tensive business as a contractor and builder

ol roads and railroads and accumulated a
large fortune, which he lost through the
schemes of a railroad company. He died
in Belle Prairie township, in 1875, at the
age of se\enty-two years, and was laid to
rest in the cemetery at Fairbury. He was
four times married, his last wife being Cath-
erine Shirteruff. by whom he had four chil-
dren : Peter, now a prosperous farmer of
Iowa: Catherine, wife oi Conrad Heppe, a
farmer of Chatsworth, Illinois: Anton, a
farmer of Cullom. and Lizzie, wife of A.
M. Marks, of New York City.

Henry Ringler was educated in the
schools of his native land, and later spent
about five years in traveling. He worked
for a year and a half at the blacksmith's
trade in Germany, and after coming to this
country followed the same occupation for
several years. He crossed the broad At-
lantic at the age of eighteen years, and in
1866 became a resident of Livingston coun-
ty. Illinois, locating first in Indian Gro\'e
township, where he leased a farm of one
hundred and twenty acres for six. years
Later he rented a farm in Forrest township
for four years, and at the end of that time
came to Strawn, where he purchased prop-
erty, embarking in the grocery business at
that place in 1877, and carrying it on seven
years. He then purchased a half-section of
land on section 3. Fayette township, which
he operated eleven years, and then sold, re-
turning to Strawn to resume the grocery
business, which he has since successfully car-
ried on. He is one of the prosperous men
of his community, whose success in life is
due to his own unaided efforts, good man-
agement and sound judgment.

On the 1st of March, 1868, in Belle
Prairie township, Mr. Ringler was united
in marriage with Miss Catherine Fox, also

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

223

a native of (ierinany. and a daugliter of
Jacob and Elizalieth (Fry) Vox. who emi-
grated to America about 1866, and lived in
Cliicago until 1870. Tbeir last years were
spent witli oiu' suliject in Livingston cnun-
ty, where tiie mother died in 187 J. the fa-
ther in 187S. leaving a large family of chii-
<lren. To Mr. and .Mrs. Ringler were burn
eight children, all of whom are slill living.
namely: ( i ) Fritz, who is now foreman of
iiis uncle's electrotype foundry, in Xew
York, and commanding a high salary, mar-
ried Lizzie Shutt, and had one child that
tlied in infancy. ( j ) Lizzie is the wife of
Thomas Dolan. secretary of the Western
L nion Newspaper C(iin])any. nf Denver. Col-
orado, and they have twn children, \irgil
and Gertrude. ( 3 ) .\ugusl, a successful
contractor and builder of Strawn, married
Rosa Kuntz. ancl they have four children,
Raymond, Dora, Ellen and August. (4)
Mary is the wife of D. F. Keller, a printer,
of Chicago, and they have one child, \'ert>n-
ica. ( 5 ) Henry married Hermine Bousand
and is engaged in the saloon business in
I'ontiac. (6) George is engaged in the
brewery business in Hrookyln, Xew York.
( 7 ) Katie it at home, and ( 8 ) William, also
ai home, is clerking in his father's store.
All (if the chililren were born in Livingston
County, and educated in the townshi])
schools.

As one <if the leading business men and
ir.tluential citizens of Strawn, .Mr. Ringler
lias been called upon to fill several imixirtant
official positions, the duties of which he has
always faithfully and satisfactorily ])er-
formed. lie was supervisor of b'ayette
township foiu" vears : school director, ten
years; a member of the town board a num-
ber of years, and is at present police magis-
trate of the village, being elected in the

spring of i()(")o. In politics he is intle-
jiendent, voting for the man and not the
party, and in his religious connections he
and his familv are members of the Reformed
Lutheran church, l-'or thirteen vears he
was a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, but recently withdrew from the
order, though he still holds membership in
Sibley Lodge. Xo. j()i. !•". cV A. M. I'ro-
gressive and [jublic spirited, he takes a deep
interest in i)ublic affairs, and is justly num-
bered among the valued citizens of his town
and countv.

REV. j.V.MES j. (Jl"L\X.

Rev. James J. Ouinn, resident pastor of
St. J(^hn's Catholic church, of Chatsworth,
\v as born in Tolono, Chami)aign county, Illi-
nois, May 16, 1857. and is the second chilil
of Patrick j. and Margaret (Doheney)
(Juinn, both of whom were natives of coun-
ty Tijjperary, Irelantl, and came to the
United States when young. For several
years the father was successfully engaged in
the mercantile business in .Xew N'ork. and
while a resident of that city was married,
a't St. Peter's Catholic church, ami llarclay
street. June 1 1. 1854. Shortly afterward he
came to Illinois and located in Tolono. where
he opened a general store, being one of the
first merchants of that village. While liv-
ing there he assisted in building the Catho-
lic church and in securing twenty-two acres
of land adjoining for church use. Since
1883 he has lived a retired life, and has
made his home in Danville the last few
years. In his family were si.x children, four
.sons and two daughters, but the daughters
are both deceased, and I'Vank, a successful
physician and surgeon, of Peoria, died in

224

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1896. Of those living, James J. is the old-
est. John P. is now pastor of St. John's
Catholic church of Peoria, where he has be-
come prominent as a snccessfnl organizer
and builder of churches. Joseph W. is
station agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee
&• St. Paul Railroad at Milwaukee. The
sons were all graduated at Xotre Dame,
('ollege. Indiana.

Father Quinn. of this review, remained
at home until fifteen years of age attending
the public schools and worked with his fa-
ther in the mercantile business. He also
spent two years with a large wholesale firm
in Chicago. At the age of seventeen he en-
tered Notre Dame College, where he was
graduated in law in 1878. and in the clas-
sical course in 187Q. For one vear he en-
gaged in the practice of law, and then en-
tered the Theological Semilary, where he
was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal
Gibbons, in 1882, The following year he
served as secretary to Bishop Spalding of
Peoria, and in 1884 as assistant to Rev. T.
S. Ketling of Champaign. From 1884 to
1887 he was assistant to Rev. W'eldon. of
Holy Trinity church, Bloomington, and dur-
ing this time aided in building -several
churches, being especially (|ualified for that
Avork by the business training he had re-
ceived. From 1887 to 1889 he was pastor
of the churches at Chebanse and Clifton,
Iroquois countv, and the churches at both
places were built under his pastorate. In
1889 he was given his present charge in
Chatsworth, and there again his business
ability has been called into play. He pur-
chased property and erected a modern brick
edifice, also a parsonage and academy, which
are now valuetl at o\-er sixty thousand dol-
lars. The church is a model affair, being
the most substantial and beautiful, as well

as valuable property, in the Peoria diocese.
The furnishings were all imported and the
\ery best obtainable.

The school organized bv Father Uuinn
is one of the best in the county, is supported
by money collected irom the i)arishioners,
and is open to the children of the town and
county, while the teachers are among the
l)est in this countrv, all talentetl ladies of the
Order of Sisters of the Holy Cross of Notre
Dame. Father Quinn began work on the
church in 1889, and in 1894 the debt was
lifted through his skillful management. He
also erected the church at Forrest, which
property is valued at twenty-five hundred
dollars, and in eight months it was dedi-
cated and free from indebtedness. He is
ri;\ered l)y all his people and is their chosen
leader. Through his early experiences and
business education he has acijuired a knowl-
edge which is invaluable to him as a pastor,
bringing him in touch with his congrega-
tion, of whom he has the entire confidence.
He is also one to whom the town owes much
of its advancement, both in business and
social life, and his advice is sought by all
who know him, both Protestants and Catho-
lics. His familiarity with the law and busi-
ness affairs gives him a decided advantage,
and he interests himself in any enterprise
which he believes will benefit the jjcople of
his town or countv.

JOHN A. PETTETT.

John A. Pettett, a well-known postal
clerk in charpe of the sixth division on the
Chicago & Alton Railroad, from Chicago to
St. Louis, and a prominent citizen of
Dwight, Illinois, who has always been es-
peciallv acti\e and jirominent in fraternal

J. A. PETTETT.

MISS MATILDA F. PETTETT.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

229

societies, was born in Hastings, Sussex,
I'lngland, December 20, 1846, and is a son of
Hein'v and Mary .Vnn (Standin) Pettett,
representatives of old EngHsb families. On
crossing' tlie Atlantic, the jjarents first
located in Canada, but after a sh(M-t time
spent there, they went to Tonica, Illinois,
and from there came to Dwight, where the
father followed his trade of mason until
called to his final rest, February 2, 1 892.
Jn politics he was a Republican and in re-
ligious belief a Methodist. His wife died
January 26, 1892. To this worthy couple
were born se\en children, three of wluMn
died in England during childhood. The
others are (ieorge T., a resident of Dwight :
John .\., our subject; Henry S., who is
living a retired life in Lacon, Illinois, and
Howard C, Republican nominee for states
attorney of Peoria county, Illinois, in 1900,
antl a resident of Chillicothe.

The boyhood and youth of our subject
were passed under the parental roof, and
his education was obtained in the common
schools. At the age of thirteen he worked
in a tailor's shop in his native town of
Hastings, and followed that occupation until
coming to America, in 1868. Before leav-
ing England he was married, in October,
1865, to Miss Fannie I-'recnian, a native of
Biddenden, England, and a daughter of
James Freeman. By this union were horn
four children, namely: Matilda F., her fa-
ther's faithful and efficient housekeeper;
Henry J., who married Xellie Lutz, and is
now an employee of the Santa l'"e Rail-
road, residing in Streator, Illinois; (Ieorge
T.. who is engaged in the InUcher and mar-
ket business in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and
Alice E., who died at the age of two and a
half years.

Coming to the United .States in iSdS,

Mr. Pettett located in Tonica, Illinois. He
concluded to try some em])loynient which
would give him more outdoor exercise than
his trade, and being willing to accept and hon-
est and honorable work, he tocik that which
was most available, and for some vears was
engaged in farm labor, which he found,
when i)ursued on the hustling, hurrving
[dan of the Illinois farmer, to jiresent (|uite
a Contrast to his previous sedeiUary occupa-
tion. On the 20th of March, 1870, he came
to Dwight and entered the service of the
Chicago & .\lton Railroad, being employed
for ;il)out ten years in \arious capacities
in the round house and as fireman on the
road. In 1880 he entered the general bag-
gage otifice of the same road at Chicago,
where he spent two years, and in 1882 was
appointed railway postal clerk from Chicago
to Peoria, but after a few weeks was trans-
ferred to the Chicago and St. Louis run
in the sixth division, which position he has
faithfully and efficiently filled for eighteen
years. J'"or sexeral years past he has served
as clerk in charge of the force on this di-
\ision, which is com])osed of three men Jie-
sides himself. This dixision is one of the
most imporl.mt in the state, being between
the two principal cities of the .Mississii)pi
valley.

The greatest misfortune that lias be-
fallen Mr. Pettett was the fleath of his wife,
who was to him a faithful companion and
helpmeet and was beloved by all who knew
her. She passed away September 19, 1874,
and his ])arents then made their home with
him until they, too, were called to their final
rest. ]'"or three years he has now been a
resident of Dwight and is numbered among
its honored and highly respected citizens.
His present responsible position indicates
the character of his .service and its apprecia-

!30

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tion Ijv tliose cner him. His exacting du-
ties have always i)revente(l him fmm taking
any active part in nolitical affairs, and al-
thdugli lie is an uncompromising siippt)rter
of ReiHihlican principles and a worker in the
ranks of his party, he has never aspired
to political honors. The only public office
he has ever accepted has been in connectidu
with educational work as a member of the
school board, and he resigned that position
after serving five years. He is a member
of the Hamilton Republican Club, of Chi-
cago, and is an active and official member
of the Methodist E])iscopal church, of
Dwight.

It IS in social and fraternal matters that
Mr. Pettett is Ijest known to the public, hav-
ing always taken an active part in such work.
He is a thirty-second-degree Mason, a mem-
ber of Livingston Lodge, No. 371. F. &
A. M.. of Dwight; Wilmington Chapter,
No. 142, R. A. ;\I.; St. Bernard Command-
ery. No. 35, K. T.. in which he has served
as commissary and quartermaster; Chicago
Council, No. 4, R. & S. M. ; Oriental Con-
sistory, of Chicago, and Medinah Temple
of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member
of the St. Bernard Drill Corps, which is
conceded to be the best in the United States
and has wt)n many honors in competitixe
exemplification of the work, antl in 189 1
he organized Dwight Chapter, No. j66, O.
E. S., of which both he and his daughter
are charter members, and take an acti\e
part in its work. He first joined Blooming-
ton Chapter, No. 50, but on account of dis-
tance and inconveniences, he set on foot
measures which resulted in the organiza-
tion of Dwight Chapter, with himself as
wt)rthy patron. In this, as in other fra-
ternity work, Mr. Pettett has taken much
pains and is given high praise by the

founder of the floral work of the order,
tor his inimitable manner of exemplifying
the work. His daughter is at present hold-
ing the office of worthy matron, antl like her
father takes a deep interest in the order,
as well as in other society and church work.
Both are charter members of Prairie Queen
Chapter, No. 370, Daughters of Rebecca,
and she has twice served as presiding officer
and as representative to the grand lodge.
Mr. Pettett is a prominent member of
Dwight Lodge, No. 513, I. O. O. F., of
which he is past noble grand, and is also
past chief patriarch of Pacific Encampment,
No. 126. He is a charter member of
Hebron Lodge, No. 175, K. P., of Dwight,
and for twenty years has been a member of
the Independent Order of Mutual Aid. He
is the organizer of Pettett Lodge, No. 347,
A. O. U. W'., of Dwight, which was named
i:i his honor. He was elected the first
master xvorkman at its organizatit)n, in
March, 1888, and since then has served con-
tinuously as deputy grand master and rev)-
resentative to the grand lodge. In the work
of all these orders he has taken an active
and prominent part and stands deservedly
high in the esteem of his fraternal brethren.
Probably no man in the state is better or
more fa\-oral)ly known in fraternal circles
than he, and he is also numberetl among
the representative citizens of Dwight — one
whose genial, cordial nature has made him
hosts of friends.

JOSEPH S. FRANCIS.

One of the most straightforward, ener-
getic and successful business men of Liv-
ingston county is Joseph S. Francis, who is

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

23'

now ])n)niinently and actixely cnnnected
witli the commercial iiuerests of Forrest.
In the field of husiness opportunity is un-
limited. Military and ])olitical life have
high honors for hut few. hut in tlie field of
trade the possibilities are many, and tlie am-
bitious, energetic and determined man ma\
work his way steadily upwaid, attaining a
position of affluance and prominence that
camniands the respect and admiration of all.
This Mr. Francis has won. and the salient
features in his success are indefatigalile
energy, unt.'ring labor and sound bu.siness
judgment.

He was horn in Jackson township.
Brown count}-. Ohio. August iC), 1845. '^
son of John and Margaret ( Ross) h'rancis.
The father was horn in county Ca\an, Ire-
land, in F'ebruary. 1H12. and when five years
of age came to the United States in com-
pany with his father. Edward FVancis, who
brought his family to this country. The
grandfather of our .subject was born in Scot-
land and on account of the feudal wars went
to England, where he married. He after-
ward removed to the luncrald Isle, where
he carried on farming. On crossing the
Atlantic he located in Brown county. Ohio.
where he purchased a farm at a place called
Ash Ridge. There he built a good home and
became one of the leading residents of the
community. He belongetl to the Presby-
terian church and died in that faith in 1852.

John F"rancis was one of a familv of four
sons and three daughters. He was reared
in Brown county. Ohio, there learned the
coo])er's trade, and after his marriage also
engaged in farming, making his home in
Ohio until i860. In early life he joined the
Methodist Episcojjal church and became one
of the leading members of his congrega-
tion — the Mount Olivet church. The house

of worship was located on his farm. He
ser\eil as class-leader and steward and his
home was always the place of entertainment
for the ministers who visited in that locahty.
.Ml of his seven children were also mem-
bers of ih.it church. In his farming opera-
tions he was also very successful. He was
also recognized as one of the public-spirited
men of the community, held a number of
offices, including those of school tlirector
and supervisor, and faithfuhy discharged
every trust reposed in him. On the 16th
of .\ugusi. i8_^7, he married Miss Margaret
Ross, a nati\e of Ohio and a daughter of
Lazarus Ross, who was born in X'irginia
and at one time was engaged in packing
salt across the mountains to Cincinnati,
where he traded it to tiie settlers. He finally
located in Claremont comity. Ohio, where
his daughter Margaret was horn. Subse-
(|uently he moved to Brown county, Ohio,
and lived with his children for some time,
hut his death occurred in (irant county. In
(liana.

.Ml of the children of Jdjni and Miu"-
garet brancis were born in Brown county.
( Jliio. and in i860 the family removed thence
to Illinois, the father purchasing two hun-
ilred and forty acres of laiul adj(jining the
town of I'orrest on tlie south. I lis pioneer
home was only ij.\i4 feel, but as time
pased he made many sul)stantial improve-
ments on his place, erected a more commo-
dious residence, and. by additional pu'"-
chase. extended the boundaries of his farm.
When he came to the county there were but
five or six members of the Methodist Epis-
a>\rd\ church in tlie locality. He at once
identified himself with the earnest little band
of Christians, was one of the most liberal
contributors toward the building of the new
house of worship and was o-ie of the four

232

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

who guaranteed t'^e payment f,>r the huild
iug (it ;he chLiroh. His contrihutions to the
Avtjrk amounted to three thousand dollars.
He ser\-ed as class leader and steward and
did all in his power to promote the growth
«)f the church. For several years prior to
his death he li\-ed in town and devoted most
of his time to church work. He was one
of the first justices of the peace of his neigh-
horhood. elected in 1861, and in that office
he served through the exciting period of the
war. He was also school treasurer for sev-
eral years, and held that office at the time
of the erection of the new building. He
died September 5, 1893, respected by all who
knew him. His widow, who was born
January 14, 1814, still survives. They had
five sons and two daughters, all of whom
are lixing, namely: James G., now of Fair-
hury : Edward R.. of Forrest; \\'illiam W'.,
of Monticello, Indiana; J. S., of this re-
\iew : Albert, who is living on the old home-
stead ; Emma J., now the wife of H. B.
Watson, of Forrest ; and Lydia F., wife of
Xathan Hurt, of Oakland, California.

Mr. Francis, whose name introduces this
review, began his education in Ohio. He
worked on the home farm through the sum-
mer months and in the winter attended the
<listrict schools. \\'ith his parents he came
to Livingston count}- in i860, and in 1864,
at the age of nineteen, he enlisted in Com-
pany E. One Hundred and Twenty-ninth
Illinois Infantry. He was sent to Chatta-
noga and joined his regiment at Atlanta,
just before Sherman started on the march to
the sea. He took part in that celebrated
movement, participated in all the engage-
ments of that campaign and was in the
(jrand Rex'iew at Washington. He was dis-
charged from Company E and assigned to
the Forty fifth Illinois Regiment, sent to

Springfield, and was there paid off anil dis-
charged, in June, 1865.'

For two years thereafter iNIr. Francis
remained on the home farm. In 1869 he
came to Forrest and was employed as a clerk
in a general store until 1871, when he began
dealing in general merchandise on his own
account, continuing in the business until
1876, when he returned to the farm. He
then engaged in agricultural pursuits, and
in connection with his lirother Albert he es-
tablished the first tile factor)- in this part of
the state, continuing its operation with
marked success until the fall of 1885, when
he sold his interest to his brother and came
to Forrest. Here he began dealing in coal
and feed at his present location. He soon
seciu'ed a large trade, and in 1892 he e.x-
tended the held of his operations by pur-
chasing a half interest in a grain warehouse
and elevator. He began buying and ship-
ping grain, carrying on a verv extensive
business, with Chicago as his market. He
afterward became sole proprietor of the en-
terprise, which he carried on very prosper-
ously until April, 1900, when he sold out.
He still deals in coal, feed and stone and
takes contracts for stone work and building.
His business interests are always carefully
directed, and his sound judgment and un-
faltering energy ha\-e enabled him to work
his way continuously upward. For seven
or eight years he has been a director in the
Building & Loan Association of Forrest.

On the 16th of August, 1881, Mr. Fran-
cis was united in marriage to Miss Ella S.
Williamson, a daughter of William J. and
Xancy (Snedeker) Williamson. Her father
was from Russellville, Brown county, Ohio,
where he spent his entire life, engaged in
farming. Both he and his wife were very
earnest and ardent members of the Presby-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

233

terian clnircli of Russellvilie. Unto Mr. and
Mrs. Francis liave been born nine cliildren,
seven of wliom are livinsj : Luln \\ .. 15erth:i
J.. Xancv M.. Mary E.. Josie. La\\ rence 1).
and Morris L. l lie two deceased were
Walter, who died at the age of fonr years;
and Homer, who died when two montlis old.
Tiiey have a beautiful three-story brick resi-
dence in Forrest — tlie first brick house in
the city, anil the household is noted for its
charming hospitality.

His fellow townsmen, recognizing his
worth and ability, have frequently called
upon Mr. Francis to serve in positions of
jiublic trust. He served as highway com-
missioner from 1884 until 1898, during
which time all of the iron and steel bridges
of the township were built. He was a mem-
ber of the board of education three terms
and was on the building committee when the
school-house was enlarged. He and his
wife are members of the Congregational
church, and he also served on its building
committee at the time of the erection of its
house of worship. He has twice served as
sui)erintendent of the Sunday-school and
has always taken an active part in the work
of .the church, contributing most liberally
to its support, lie belongs to Forrest Post,
\o. 114, (]. A. R., has several times been its
ctimmander and has been its representative
U> encampments. He is a charter member
of the Modern Woodmen Camp at Forrest,
has six times been its principal ofificer and
has twice been delegate to the grand lodge.
As has been indicated in this sketch, Mr.
Francis is a prominent factor in business,
social and political life in Forrest. He
withholds his support from no movement
or measure calculated to prove of public
good, and is indeed a public-spirited and
valued citizen; in business his word is as

good as any bon<l that was ever solemnized
by signature or seal; and in private life he
has an unassailable reputation, which com-
mands the respect and has won him the con-
htlence of all.

WILLIAM LARGE.

William Large, a representative farmer
of Pleasant township, Livingston county,
who owns a good farm of one hundred and
twenty acres on section 14, was born in
England, March 15, 1856, and when a year
and a half old was brought to America by
his parents, Leonard and Sarah (Mitchell)
Large. The family first located in W'ood-
ford count}', illinc^is, where the father pur-
chased land and engaged in farming for a
time, but about 1873 sold that property and
bought eight)' acres of land in Pleasant
Ridge township, Livingston county, south
of our subject's present farm. He im-
proved that place and made his home there
until death. There the mother is still living
at the age of seventy.

1 he greater part of the education of our
subject was ac(|uired in the public schools
of Woodford county, though after coming
to Livingston county he atended school
for four or five winters, his advantages
along that line being beter than the aver-
age boy of that time. When not in school
he assisted in the work of the farm, and at
the age of twenty-one commenced operating
a farm on his own account, meeting with
success from the start. Prior to his mar-
riage he purchased his present place, which
at that time was only partially improved.
He has since built a good house and barn,
set out trees and placed the land under a
high state of cultivation. In connection'

234

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

with general farming he is engaged in stock
raising, making a specialty of hogs. Besides
his property here, he owns land in White and
Jasper counties. Indiana, wh.'ch he has im-
])r()\ed. and he is acknowledged as one of
the most successful farmers of the county.
On the 20th of September, 1881, Mr.
Large married Miss Clara Sutton, a daugh-
ter i)f J. B. Sutton, whose sketch appears on
another page of this volume. She died
July 3. 1893, leaving four children: Maude,
Dw.ght, Marion and Ethel, who have been
given good school advantages and are still at
home. Mr. Large is an active member and
liberal supporter of the Methodist Episco-
pal churcli. of which his wife was also a
member. He is alst) connectetl with the
Court of Honor and affiliates with the Re-
publican party. \\'here\er known he is held
in high regard and his friends are many
throughout the count\'.

GEORGE W . McCABE.

George W. McCabe, tiie leading Ijanker
of Chatsworth antl one of the representa-
tive business men of Li\ingston county, is
a native of Illinois, born in Brimtield, Peoria
county, March i, 1863. His father, Pat-
rick McCabe, was a native of Ireland, and
in 1845 came to the United States, landing
in New Orleans. During this time he en-
listed and served aboiu eighteen months in
tlie Mexican war. He settled in Peoria
county, Illinois, three x'ears later, but in Xew
Orleans he was married, in 1850, to Cath-
erine F(l^, who was also born in Ireland
and came to America about the same time as
her husband. Since his marriage he has
made his home permanenty in this state.

and until 1894 carried on farming very suc-
cessfully, though devoting most of his time
to the stock business. He came to this
ct)untry with the hope of securing a home,
and w:th the characterist.c energy of his
race he succeeded far beyond his expecta-
tions, and was the owner of a well-
improved farm of two hundred and forty
acres in Peoria county. In 1894 he re-
tired from acti\"e labor and moved to the
city of Peoria, where he purchased a com-
fortable home and resided there until his
death, August 14, 1900, at the age of sev-
enty-eight years. HiS widow survives him,
being se\'enty-one vears of age. To this
worth}- coupie were born eight children, of
whom fi\'e are st.ll living, namely: Alice
is now the widow of J. McClary, of Chicago.
Edward D., a graduate of the Michigan
L'ni\ersity at Ann .Arbor, and now a promi-
nent attorneys of Peoria, has been success-
full\' engaged in practice for several years
and is one of the best probate and chancery
attorneys in the city. He served four years
under President Cleveland as government
storekeeper at Peoria. Elisha B. follows
farming on the old home place in Peoria
county. George \\'., our subject, is next
in order of birth. Kate E. is at home with
her parents in Peoria.

'1 he early education of George W. Mc-
Cal)e was acquired in the common schools
of Brimfield, and he later took a commer-
cial course at St. Viatur's College at Kan-
kakee, and a business course at Bryant &
Stratton"s College, in Chicago. During the
vear of 1892 he read law with his brother
in Peoria, but the following year came to
Chatsworth and purchased a lot, upon which
he erected a modern fire-proof bank building,
beginning work in April and opening for
business in October of that year. Almost

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

235

immetliatcly he secured a liberal patronage,
and is nnw dning the leading general hank-
ing business nf the community, having as his
assistant H. S. Cowling, a jjrominent young
man of Chatsworth. He is enterprising,
energetic and progressive and has conducted
the business for seven years w ithout the loss
of a dollar. He is also (juite extensively
interested in real estate and loans, and is
president of the Peoria & ICastern Telephone
Ciim])any. a growing concern, having sev-
eral exchanges in the system. In iHqj Mr.
McCahe purchased a l<it at the corner of
Fourth and Hickory streets and erected a
modern residence, fitted with all improve-
ments, and one of the handsomest and most
con\enient houses in Chatsworth. On the
jd of -August, 1900, was incorporated the
Com'mercial National Bank of Chatsworth.
with capital stuck amounting to twenty-tive
thou.sand dollars. i>\ which amount Mr. Mc-
Cabe took nineteen thousand dollars. To the
new institution he turned over the entire as-
sets of his private bank, and it w ;is mainly
through his efforts that the bank was organ-
ized. Believing that a National bank afforded
more security to the depositors of the bank,
and would the lietter secure the confidence of
the community, he undertook the wf)rl; cf or-
ganization and incorporation. This new in-
stitution w'ill afford to the citizens of Chats-
worthand vicinity every facility for safe
banking, and under the general management
of Mr. McCabe it will secure the confidence
of the community, as he occupies the po-
sition of cashier anil general manager. The
other officers of the bank are Stei)hen Herr.
j)resi(lent; John F. Ryan, \ice-])resident ;
and H. S. Cowling, assistant cashier.

On the jcjth nf September. 1897. Mr.
Cabe married Miss Thresa M. Kehoe. a na-
tive of Chicago, of which city her father has

been a ])rogressive merchant for several

vears. I'v this uninn have been Imrn two
children: Katherine (i. and (ieorge K. In
polit cs Mr. McCabe is a Democrat '<n na-
tional issues, but in local affairs always sup-
ports the men best iiualified to fill the offices
regardless of party lines. He is a member
of the State Rankers" .\ssociation of Illinois,
and fur ci\er six years has been a member
of the Knights of Pythias Lodge of Chats-
worth. in which he has held the office of
chancellor commander fur some time. Re-
ligious] v he is :i member of Sts. I'eter's and
Paul's Catholic church. In manner he is
l)leasant and genial, and is (juite ])opular both
in social and business circles.

JOHN' w. i-]:llo\vs.

John W. b'ellows. one nf the oldest resi-
dents of Pleasant Ridge township, Livings-
ton county. Illinois, was born in Otisco,
Onondaga county. Xew ^■ork, September
13, i8jo, a son of Daniel and Jerusha ( Ful-
ler) I'elhjws. The father was a native of
(ierman\- and a farmer by occupation. In
the ciiunty nf his nati\ity nur subject was
reared and educated in much the usual man-
ner of farmer boys of his day.

There Mr. I'ellows was married. Oc-
tober _'o. 184^1. to Miss Margaret M. Len-
son. who was born September 5. 1828. Her
father, Nicholas Lenson, was also a native
(■f (iermany, and on his emigration to the
L'nited States settled in Tully townshi]),
Onondaga county. New York. Mr. and Mrs.
I'ellows have four children living, nanielv:
lames II.. a wholesale dealer and manu-
facturer of cand\- in Kankakee. Illinois;
Stephen, resident of Watseka; Daniel D., of

23*5

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Wing, and Alfred W'.. who weddeil Mary
Tobenski and li\es at liume with his parents.
Nicholas A. went south as a foreman in
1869 and is supposed to have died of yellow
fever, and J. Henry died in W^ing, Illinois,
at the age of forty-two years, leaving five
children.

After theif marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fel-
lows continued their residence in New York
until 1852, when they started west. They
made the journey by boat from Bufifalo to
Chicago, where they arrived on the 2d of
November, that year, when that city was
(|uite small, and then drove across the coun-
try with a team to Plainfield, Will county,
Illinois, where Mr. Fellows engaged in farm-
ing upon rented land for seven years. The
following two years were spent in McLean
county. Determined to have a home, Mrs.
Fellows worked hard until she had earned
enough to purchase eightv acres of land in
Pleasant Ridge township, Livingston coun-
ty, to which she still holds the deed. The
family located here in 1862, and the logs for
their first home were hauled from Avoca.
In 1 78 1 a good frame residence was built
and is still the home of the family. Mr.
Fellows purchased eighty acres of land ad-
joining his wife "^property, has tiled the en-
tire amount and placed it under a high state
«if cultivation. They have planted shade
trees and converted the place into a pleasant
home. He has always engaged in general
farming and has been quite successful. Al-
tliough he has never taken a very active
part in public affairs, he has served as school
director and takes an active interest in all
enterprises for the public good.

Since the age of twelve years Mrs. Fel-
lows has been an earnest and consistent mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and
has been a subscriber to the Christian Advo-

cate since the first number of that paper
was issued. She is quite fond of reading
and is a most estimable lady. She and her
luisband have watched with interest the won-
derful changes that have taken place in this
region since locating here, have seen the
wolves, deer and wild turkeys disappear,
the railroad, telegraphs and telephones in-
troduced, and towns and villages spring up.

0\VEX MURTAUGH.

Owen Murtaugh, an honored and highly
respected citizen of Chatsworth, is the pos-
sessor of a handsome propert}- which now
enables him to spend his declining years in
the pleasurable enjoyment of his accumula-
tions. The record of his life, jjrevious to
1890, is that of an active, energetic, meth-
odical and sagacious business man, who bent
his energies to the honorable accpirement
of a comfortable competence for himself and
family.

Mr. Murtaugh was born in county
Louth, Ireland, June 8, 1826, and belongs to
a race of people who have been renowned
for their energy and willingness to brave
any danger that they may better themselves.
He received his education in the common
schools of his native land and remained in
Ireland until twenty-six years of age, when
he resolved to try his fortunes on this side
of the Atlantic. Coming to what was then
considered the far west, he located in Bing-
hamton, now Aniboy, Lee county, Illinois,
befnre the Illinois Central Railroad had been
surveyed. He purchased eighty acres of
raw prairie land near Sublette, that county,
which he partly improved and then disposed
of at a profit. He had previously worked as

OWEN MURTAUGH.

E '^^^^H

REV. WILLIAM M. MURTAUGH.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

241

a farm hand for some time, and with tiie
money tlius obtained he purchaseil that prop-
erty. Eater lie purcha.sed a tract oi nuim-
proxcd land in Marshall county, where he
made his home for .some time.

While residing there, Mr. Murtangh was
married, in 1855. t" Miss Bridget Lawless,
also a native of Ireland, and an only daugh-
ter, who came to America with her parents
in 1849. ''"'1 <l'cd in i8()4. By this union
were horn two s(_)ns : William Matthew,
horn in i860, took a business course at St.
\'iateur"s College, in Kankakee, and began
studying for the priesthood at Watertown,
Wisconsin, where he remained three years.
Later he attendeil school in Montreal, Can-
ada, for a year, and was graduated from St.
Mar)"s in P>altimore, ^larylainl, being or-
tlained to the priesthood at Peoria, Illinois,
in 1888, by Bishop Spalding. He served
as assistant to l-'ather Hedges, of Pontiac,
llliniiis. for cme \car. and for nine years was
stationed at Keithsburg, Illinois, where by
his business ability and good management
he built a fine church and parsonage. In
i8y8 he was transferred to Sheffield, and is
now doing a good work in improving that
parish. Erancis, the younger son, owns and
operates a valuable farm of one hundred and
si.xty acres in Charlotte township, Liv--
ingston county. He married Sarah Har-
rington, and they have four children:
Agnes M., Hazel C., Owen W'. and James
J. E., all attending the district schools.

Soon after his marriage, upon seeing the
men who were returning from the gold
fields of California, and hearing the reports
they made, Mr. Murtaugh decided he coidd
make money there, being young and strong,
as well as willing to brave any dangers that
he might add to the comfort of himself and
his young wife. After making prepara-

tions for the journey he went to New Or-
leans by way of the Mississippi river, and
then crossed the Isthmus, and by steamer
proceeded to San Erancisco, where he landed
after an interesting voyage of four w'eeks.
Eor eighteen months he followed mining antl
prospecting, meeting with hardships and
encountering many Indians and wild beasts
in the mountains. Eeeling abundantly re-
paid lor his labors, his thoughts turned to-
ward hiime and the bride he had left in Illi-
nois, in 1857, by way of the I'anama
route, he returned to Marshall county, Illi-
nois. In March of the following year, with
his family, he came to Livingston county
anil purchased a (juarter-.section of land in
Charlotte township, which at that time was
all swamp and prairie land. The nature of
the country is shown by the following ad-
\enture which one ilay befell him. He
started from Pontiac with alnnU eight him-
tlred feet of lumber, but owing to the poor
condition of the raods was obliged to throw
about half of the load off when half way
home, and nearly all of the remainder when
within five miles of home, where he arrived
on horseback with only a few boards, find-
ing that an empty wagon was a load of
itself through the swamps. The family
camped out for a few weeks until he could
erect a cabin. After eleven years of hard
labor he succeeded in getting his land well
improved. Not having enough land, Mr.
Murtaugh sold his farm in Livingston
county, in iSOg, and Ijy moving about a mile
away purchased four hundred and forty
acres in Ford county, which was then but
poorly improved, but he soon transformed it
into a most desirable farm, and successfully
engaged in farming there until 1890. He
made a specialty of stock raising, and also
bought and fattened stock for the Chicago

242

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

markets, shipping on an average of two car-
loads of cattle and the same amount of hugs
per year. He met with success in all his
undertakings and became one of the well-
to-do men of his community. He sold one
hundred and twenty acres of his farm and
gave the proceeds to his son Francis to give
him a start in life, but still retains three
hundred and twenty acres, which he rents,
it bringing him a snug income. In 1890 he
purchased a pleasant home in Chatsworth,
for which he paid one thousand dollars, and
which he has since greatly improved, and
there he is now ii\-ing a quiet, retired life,
free from all care and responsibility.

In 1865, ]\Ir. ]\Iurtaugh was again mar-
ried, his second union being with Miss Alice
Cleary, who was born in Ireland in 1828,
and came to America in 1852. After lix'ing
in the east for a time, she came to Will
county, Illinois, in 1859, and was living
there at the time of her marriage. Three
children were born to them, namely : ^lary,
who died in 1889; Eugene P., who was
killed by the kick of a horse, June 8, 1891 ;
and Alice E., an accomplished young lady,
at home with her parents.

In politics Mr. Murtaugh is a Democrat,
though he cast his first vote for Abraham
Lincoln, and at local elections supports the
men whom he considers best qualified to
fill the offices regardless of party lines. He
has never been radical in his views. Dur-
ing his early residence in this county he
served as school trustee, and filled the same
oiifice in Ford county for twenty-one years,
also road commissioner for several years.
He is a member of the Catholic church of
Chatsworth, and is highly respected and es-
.esteemed by all who know him, his pleasant,
genial manner wimiing him many friends.
In 1873 Mr. Murtaugh returned to Ireland

to visit the scenes 6i his boyhood, and un his
arrival there found that his father. Matthew
Murtaugh, had been dead about three
months. He spent three months in renew-
ing early acquaintances and traveling over
Ireland and Wales, and also visiting several
places of interest in Scotland. As he ex-
presses it, he "went for a good time and had
one."

HARVEY BUTTON.

There is no rule for achieving success,
^ et certain elements are always found in the
accjuirement of prosperity and these are
close application, indefatigable energy and
sound judgment — -qualities which ha\-e
prcjven salient features in the success which
has attended the efforts of Mr. Button anil
made him one of the substantial citizens of
Forrest. From a humble apprenticeship, he
has adxanced steadily step by step, until he
has long since left the ranks of the many
to stand among the prosperous few, and at
all times his career has been such as to
command the public adimralion and the re-
spect and confidence of those with whom
he has been associated. He is now engaged
in looking- after his real estate investments,
including both city and country property,
but for many years he was a well known
figure in railroad circles.

Mr. Button was born at Palatine Bridge,
Montgomery county, New York, November
II, 1838, a son of Jesse and Nancy (\'an
Slyke) Button. His father was born in
Syracuse, New York, in Marcli, 1820, and
the grandfather was Jesse Button, who was
probably a native of Syracuse, but was born
of English parentage. He became a promi-
nent farmer near Syracuse and died in that

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

243

citv at tlie a(l\ance(l age of eighty vears.
The lather of our subject was reared at
Syracuse and in early manhood went to Pala-
tine Bridge, where he engaged in contract-
ing and building. There he married Miss
\ an Slyke, a daughter of William \'an
Slyke, who was born at Palatine Bridge or
in that locality. He was a farmer and a
member of the Lutheran church. His father
was a native of Holland, but came to .Amer-
ica in colonial days and served in the Revo-
lutionary war with the colonial army.

The father of our subject removed to
Little Falls, Xew York, about 1849. and
there continued contracting and building
ifntil he was killed while raising a building,
in 1861. He left seven children, of whom
our subject was the eldest son and second
child. The mother, who lived in Illinois
for Slime years, died at Palatine Bridge, in
January. i8y8. at the age of eighty, her
birth having occurred on the ist of March,
18 18. The parents were worthy members
of the L'niversalist church.

Mr. Button, of this review, was edu-
cated in his native town and at Little Falls,
spending two years in an academy. He
then learned the trade of a machinist, serv-
ing regular apprenticeship of three years.
In 1856, soon after its completion, he went
to Detroit, Alichigan, and there began rail-
road work, being employed near ^\'indsor,
on the construction of the old Great Western
Railroad. He was then working on the
Michigan Central from Detroit, filling the
position of fireman until i860, when he was
made an engineer, and ran from Detroit ta
Marshall. He served in that capacity for
two years, after which he spent si.x months
on the construction engine of the Chicago,
Burlington & Onincy, running from Men-
<lota, Illinois. After the expiration of that

period he ran from Aurora to Galesburg
and Ouincy, being thus engaged until the
fall of 1865. He hauled nianv of the sol-
diers proceeding to the south. He carried
eighteen cars of soldiers out of Quincy one
day and another train of eighteen cars fol-
lowed. They stopped at Keokuk Junction
for water and the second train oertook them.
Ihe soldiers had been fooling with the hand-
brakes, and Mr. Button told the officers if
they did not keep the men away from the
brakes they woukl be stopped and the other
train would run into them. This did little
good and after si.x or seven more miles had
been passed, as they were going around a
curve near Augusta, the soldiers again
.'.topped the train. Mr. Button then jumped
off and told the conductor to start the train
as soon as he coulil get the brakes ofif, and
lie (Mr. Button) would crawl over, the train
and into his engine, liis object being to get
the brakes off as soon as possible and get
out of the way of the other train. He just
succeeded in this when the other train came
around the curve, and he signalled to the
fireman to go ahead and get out of the way,
thus saving the lives of many soldiers. Mr.
Button then again saw the officers in charge
and told them he would not pull out until a
guard was put at the brakes. This was
done, after which all went well.

In the fall of 1865 Mr. Button went to
Springfield, Illinois, and ran an engine on
the Wabash road until the fall of 1880, when
he was sent to Forrest to take charge of the
shops as general foreman, holding that posi-
tion until January, 1893. This is an im-
portant shop, in which many men are em-
ployed. It was not then finished and he
put in the machinery, placing everything in
working operation. He had charge of about
sixty men and continued as superintendent

244

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of the shops and his retirement from active
business labor, other than the supervision of
his property interests. Working his way
steadily upward, he was familiar with e\ery
branch of the work and was therefore very
competent to direct the labors of others.
He was one of the most trusted representa-
tives of the road, enjoying the confidence
of the corporation and the respect of all
v>'hom he superintended.

In the meantime Mr. Button had be-
come the owner of both farm and town pri_)p-
erty, and in addition to his realty in Liv-
ingston county, he owns farms in McLean
county, Illinois, and also in Indiana. He
erected the business block at the corner oc-
cupied by the drug store and by the Masonic
lodge — one of the best blocks in the town.
He has also built a large two-story brick
building on the next corner — one of the most
modern and improved in the city. Since
1893 his attention has been given to the
management ui his investments and to real
estate dealing.

While in Mendota Mr. Button was mar-
ried on the 24th of December, 1863, to
Miss Jennie Jewitt, daughter of Charles
Jewitt, who removed to Mendota from De
Kalb county, where he had engaged in farm-
ing until 1849, ^vhen he went to California,
where he remained until 1852. He then
engaged in the grain business in IMendota.
He had come to Illinois from Yorkshire,
England. After his first residence in Cali-
fornia, he aeain spent two years there, and
then once more livetl in Mendota for a time,
Init ultimately removed to Remington, In-
diana, where he purchased a farm. The
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Button has been
blessed with one child, Clara, now the wife
of David T. Torrence, of Chicago. Mr.
Button is a Republican in his political views

anil votes for the men and measures of the
party! but has never been an aspirant for
ofiice. He belongs to Forrest Lodge, No.
614, F. & A. ]\I., and attends and supports
the Congregational church. In politics he
is recognized as an important factor in local
party ranks and has frequently been a dele-
gate to county and state conventions. He
aided in nominating Governor Fifer, was
again a member of the state convention in
1892, and supported Governor Tanner's
candidacy in 1896. His life has been one
of marked industry and usefulness, and in
every relation of life he has commanded the
respect, confidence and esteem of his fellow
men. Always just and upright, ofttimes
generous and liberal, ever an advocate of the
right, his life stands in exemplification of
our highest ty]je of .American manhood.

\\ILLIA-M A. WILLIAMSON.

William A. Williamson, one of the high-
ly respected and honored citizens of Saune-
min township, Lixingston county, Illinois,
was born near Russellville, Brown county,
Ohio, March 18, 1858. His father, William
Williamson, was a native of Fleming coun-
ty, Kentuck}-, and a son of John William-
son, a Revolutionary soldier, who removed
to southern Ohio when his son was only ten
}-ears old and there followed farming through-
out the remainder of his life. He died at
the advanced age of eighty-nine years. The
father grew to manhood in Ohio and also
followed the occupation of farming in that
state until his death, which occurred October
20, 1889. He was quite an extensive farmer
and served as justice of the peace. In early
life he married Nancy Snedaker, a native of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

245

southern Ohio and a (laughter of Garrett
Sne<laker. who moved from Pennsylvania
to tiiat state and was also an agriculturist.
Mrs. Williamson now makes her home with
our subject. She is a consistent member of
the Presbyterian church, of which her hus-
band was an elder f(;r twenty years and a
Sunday school teacher many years, always
liaving taken an active part in church affairs.

During his boyhood and youth William
A. Williamson obtained a good education
in the common schools near his home and
;'t Russellville. Ohio. At the age of twenty
years he left home and commenced life for
himself as a farmer. In 1884 he came to
Livingston county, Illinois, and rented a
farm in Forrest township for eight years.
In the fall of iSgi he purchased his present
fiirni III one huntlred and sixty acres in
Saunemin township, but did not locate there-
on until the spring of 1893. It had pre-
\iously been used as a pasture and there was
ni)t a single improvement upon it. but he
erected a pleasant residence, a good barn
and windmill, set out trees, and made many
other improvements which add greatly to the
value and beauty of the place.

On the 4th of September, 1884. Mr.
W illiamson was united in marriage with
Miss Ella Heckert of Forrest, a daughter
of Joseph and Margaret (Miller) Heckert.
She was reared by E. R. Francis, as her
mother died when she was quite young. By
this union have been born five children : Ed-
ward. Susie and Harry, living, and Morris
and Ada. deceased. The parents are both
members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and the family is one of high standing in the
community where they reside. Socially,
Mr. Williamson affiliates with the Modern
W'odmen of .\nierica. and politically, is
identified with the Republican party. For

si.x years he has served as school director,
and in 1900 was elected road commissioner,
in which capacity he has assisted in making
many improvements in his township, includ-
iiig the construction of a new bridge over
the \'ermilion river at a cost of three thou-
sand dollars.

WILLIAM r. GOEMBEL.

When after years of long and earnest
labor in some honorable field of business, a
man puts aside all cares to spend his re-
maining years in the enjoyment of the
fruits of his former toil, it is certainly a
well deserved reward of his early industry.

•' How blest is he who crowns in shades hke these
A youth of labor with an age of ease,"

wrote the poet, and the world everywhere
recognizes the justice of a season of rest
following an active period of business life.
Mr. Goembel is now living retired at his
home on section 4, Fayette township. Liv-
ingston county, and his history is one that
shows the accomplishment of well-directed
labor.

Mr. Goembel was born in Hesse-Cassel,
Germany. February 20. 1833. a son of Philip
and Caroline Eliza (Stoeber) Goembel, also
natives of that country, where the father
carried on a damask manufactory for a pe-
riod of thirty years. He then came to the
United States in 1851, and first settled in
Tazewell county. Illinois, where he followed
f;irming five years. At the en'd of that time
he came to Livingston county, and made
his home in the extreme southea.stern part
of what was then known as Oliver's Grove,
but is now Germanville township, until his
death in 1875. In early life he was an in-

246

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

(lustrious. energetic man, hut spent liis last
years in retirement from active labor. His
wife also died in Germanville township in
1872, and they now sleep side by siile. In
their family were only two children : ^\'ill-
Kim P., our subject; and Caroline, also a
native of Germany, and now the wife of
Nicholas Froebe, a well-to-do farmer of
California, who still owns over two hundred
acres of land in Germanville township, Liv-
ingston county, Illinois, which he leases.
They had six children, namely: William
P., a farmer of that township, who died at
the age of thirty-eight years, leaving a
widow and five children, the former now de-
ceased ; Caroline, wife of Plenry Hendricks,
a prosperous farmer of Germanville town-
ship, by whom she has six chiklren ; ]\Ia-
tilda. who married Henr)- Huhimel, a well-
to-do farmer of the same townshi]), and
diet! in 1896, leaving four children; Eliza-
beth, wife of John Hummel, of German\-ille
township, by whom she has several children;
Emma, who is with her parents in Califor-
nia; and Charles, a farmer of that state, who
is married and has one child.

William P. Goembel was educated in
private schools of his native land, and ac-
companied the family on their emigration
to America, remaining with his parents un-
til twenty-three years of age, when he com-
menced farming for himself in Tazewell
county. In the fall of 1S56 he came to Liv-
ir.gston coiuit)- and purchased one hundreil
and four acres of raw prairie land in (ier-
manville township, which he tiletl, broke
and improved, making it one of the best
farms in that locality. He resided there
twenty-four years, during which time he
bought a large amount of land, including
two hundred and fnrt}' acres in Charlotte
township; one hundred and sixty acres ad-

joining his home farm in (iermanville town-
ship, and also property in Chatsworth and
Fayette townships, Livingston county. In
connection with general farming he devoted
considerable attention to the raising of stock.
In November, 1880. he moved to the village
of Strawn, where he successfully engaged
in business as a dealer in grain, lumber, coal
and farming implements until 189 1, when
he located upon his present farm on section
4, Fayette township, making it his home
ever since. It consists of three hundred
and twenty acres of rich and arable land, and
is successfully operated by his sons. After
his removal to the farm, Mr. Goembel con-
tinued to carry on his business in the vil-
lage for a few years, but for the past six or
se\en years has lived a retired life.

On the 13th ni December, 1863, Mr.
Goeml)el married IVliss Elizabeth Shroen,
also a native of Hesse-Cassel, Germany,
born in 1844, on the farm of her father,
who spent his entire life on his nati\-e S(_)il,
dying there in 1852. Her mother came to
this country and died in Fayette township,
Livingston county. To Mr. and Mrs.
Goembel were born the following children :
Catherine is the wife of Nelson Kiner, a
prosperous farmer of Marseilles, Illinois,
and thev ha\e two children. Earl and Eva;
!Mollie is the wife of F. M. Cur3-ea. a farmer
of Fayette township; Maggie is the wife of
J. I\I. Mahon. station agent for the Big Four
Railroad Company at Mansfield, Illinois;
John, a farmer of Fayette township, married
Laura Welling, and they have two children,
^Marguerite and William P.; Charles N. is
living on the home farm; Mary is the wife
of C. J. Bartlett, station agent on the Wa-
bash Railroad at Mansfield, and they have
two children, Clinton and Elizabeth; Will-
iam, a farmer of Belle Prairie township,

THE BlOCiKAl'HlCAL RECORD.

247

Livingston county, married Ida Vmniger.
;iiul they liave one child: Paulina and Min-
nie are Imth at home: and Delia died in Fav-
ette township, Septemher 17, 1889.

The family are members of tlie Clerman
Lutheran ciuirch, and Mr. Cloemhel is also
a member of Sibley Lodge, V. & .\. M.. ami
the Ciiapter and Commandery at I-'airliury.
In his political affiliations he is a Democrat,
and has taken ciuite an active and influential
[)art in local politics. During his entire
residence in Strawn he was a member of the
village boarol ; was the first supervisor of
dermanville township, which office he held
for a number of j'ears in that township, and
for some time in F"ayette township. He has
also served as township treasurer several
\-ears and as justice of the peace, and lakes
a tleep and commendable interest in i)ublic
affairs, doing all in his power to promote
the general welfare.

jOUX THOMAS LOX'I'.LI,.

Jcilin Thiimas Luvell, nne i>i the most
sr.ccessful agriculturists of Broughton t">wn-
shi)), Livingston county, and one of its rcj)-
resentative citizens, was liorn in ISarnwell,
Nortbamiitonshire, England, .\pril 3. 1837,
and is a sou of Moses and Mary ( Bowen )
Lovell. Throughout life the father was em-
pl('yed as a shepherd in thai cnuiUry. and
also as a stacker during barxest. After a
long and useful life he died, in 1888. and
I'lis wife passed away in 1883. In their f:nn-
ily were five chiklren, namely: William,
who died at the age of nineteen years:
jdhn T., our .subject; James, a farmer of
Kniix county, Nebraska: Samuel, a resident
of England: and Elizabeth, wife of Henry

(iolden. a cabinetmaker of that country.
Only our subject and James came to the
I'nited States.

John T. Lo\ell was reared on a farm and
attended the public schools of his native
land. .\t the age of eighteen years he came
to America, landing in Xew \'ork, and first
settled in Castleton, Rutland county, \'er-
mont, where he was in the employ of Dr.
Joseph Perkins, a professor in the Burling-
t(.n Medical Callege for eight years, work-
ing at first for twelve dollars per month. He
remained with him until after the civil war,
and in 1866 came to Illinois, spending a year
and a half in Cirundy county, where he
herded cattle or w< irked at anything he could
find to do. Sulise(|ueiuly he rented a farm
and began life for himself.

In 1867 Mr. Lovell married Miss Caro-
line Coskey, a daughter of John and Eliza-
beth (Xooks) Co.skey. The m<ither is now-
deceased, but the father is still living at the
age of seventy-eight years and makes his
h.ome in Braceville, CJrundy county. Mrs.
Lovell was born in Lockjxirt. Illinois, in
May, 1850, but was li\ing in (irundy county
at the lime of her marriage. She is the
oldest of a family of eight children, the
others being .Mice. Lmm;i. .\larth:i. Louisa,
Marv, b'rederick and Charles, a farmer of
Sullivan lownshi]), Livingston county. Our
subject and iiis wife bad four children, of
whom .\lvin died at the age of six-
teen years, William, a farmer of Broughton
lownshi]). married Lena Trecker and they
have two children, John and Frederick,
lierlram operates the home farm for his fa-
ther. Ollie Mae is the wife of (ieorge Ker-
sev, a farmer of Cardriff, Illinois.

On coming to Livingston county in 1867
Mr. Lovell jnirchased forty acres of wild
prairie land in Broughton township and has

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

made every improvement upon tlie place, in-
cluding the erection of a barn and resi-
dence, the planting of an orchard and the
tiling of the land. So successful has he been
that he has added to his landed possessions
from time to time until he now owns six
forty-acre tracts, all under a high state of
cultivation. In June. 1887, he had the mis-
fortune to lose his barn, which was struck
by lightning, killing his horses and destroy-
ing his hay. His loss, which amounted to
about one thousand dollars, was imi1\- partlv
covered by insurance. With characteristic
energy, however, he at once erected a larger
and better barn. He carries on botli farming
and stock raising, and has prospered through
his own unaided efforts. He is a man of
good business ability and sound judgment
and well deserves the success that he has
achieved. Since 1898 he has practicallv
lived a retired life, and has recentlv pur-
chaseil a comfortable residence in Cabery,
where he e.xpects to make his home and
enjoy a well-earned rest.

In his political views Mr. Lovell is a Re-
publican and during almost his entire resi-
dence in this county has filled the office of
school director in a most acceptable man-
ner, having always taken an active interest
in maintaining good schools. He also served
as constable four vears.

GEORGE H. CHAPMAX.

George H. Chapman, a progressive, en-
ergetic and successful agriculturist, whose
home is on section 12, Odell township, Liv-
ingston county. Illinois, is a native of New
York, his birth occurring in Ontario coun-
ty, January 4, 1851. His parents, Hiraiu

W. and Ann E. (Davis) Chapman, were
born in the same county of good old New
England stock, and were farming people,
who continued to reside in New York until
1855, in which year they moved to La Salle
county, Illinois, the father purchasing a
quarter-section of land near Marseilles, to
which he subsecpiently added another cjuar-
ter-section. He speculated in land quite ex-
tensi\'ely, and was very successful in his
operations, t>wning at the time of his death
about fi\-e hundred acres. In political senti-
ment he was a Republican, but at local elec-
tions \-oted for the man and not the party.
Although he was not a member of any
church, he gave to their support, and his
wife was a member of the Methodist Epis-
copal church. She died on the old home
farm in 1882, at the age of fifty-nine years.
'I hree years later he retired from active
labor, and died March 2, 1897, at the age of
se\'enty-se\en. In their family were six
sons and one daughter, of whom two died in
infancy. The others are George H.. our
subject ; Osmer, who was born in New
^ Ork, and is now engaged in farmmg near
the old homestead in La Salle county : Frank
O.. who is engaged in farming and the rais-
ing of full-blooded Poland China hogs and
Short-horn cattle near the homestead: Lu-
cina, who died in 1878. sot>n after grad-
uating at a school in Battle Creek, Michigan;
and Otis, who also lives on the old home
farm. Those living are married and have
families of their own.

During his boyhood anil youth George
H. Chapman aided in the work of the farm
through the summer season and attended
school in winter. He remained under the
parental roof until he was married. January
24. 1877. to Miss Roselle Olmstead, who
was bom in Grundv countv, Illinois. Mav

G. H. CHAPMAN.

MRS. G. H. CHAPMAN.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

253

I, 1S55. a daughter of Andrus and Ann
E. (Arcliibald) Olmstead, residents n{ La
Salle and C.rundy counties for over fifty
years. The mother, who was of Scotch
descent, dietl in 1884. but the father is still
living at the age of sixty-eight years and
finds a pleasant home with our subject, lie
hatl four daughters besides Mrs. Chapman,
namelv: Mrs. J. E. Fingston. whose hus-
bend is a liutcher of Odell ; Mrs. Eliza Lay-
man, a resident of Scandia. Kansas ; Mrs.
Helen Duttenhavor, who lives near Kent-
land. Indiana ; and Mrs. Esther Pope, who
died in Odell. in 1883. Of the seven chil-
dren, four sons and three daughters, born
to Mr. and Mrs. Chajiman. ime died in in-
fancy, and Harr\- at the age of nineteen
years. Those living are Fred; .Annie: Hat-
tie, twin sister of Harry; Ernest and Gracie.
They were educated in the Odell high school
and the sons are now assisting their father
on the farm.

For one year after his marriage Mr.
Cha])man was employed as a traveling
salesman. ha\ing previously followed that
occupation during the winter for eight years
with good success. He lived upon a part
of his father's land in La Salle county until
the 1st of January, 1883. when he came to
Livingston county and purchased one hun-
dred and si.xty acres of land in Odell town-
shi]), which he improved and transformed
into a good farm. Later he bought one
hundred and sixty acres of land near
Dwight. which he fully improved and after-
ward sold, and at one time owned a similar
amount in Iowa, which he sold at a good
profit. Upon his fine farm in Odell town-
ship he has now (in the summer of 1900)
erected a commodious and beautiful resi-
dence at a cost of thirty-five hundred dol-
lars, fitted with all modern improvements

and finished in natural woods, mostly
cypress. It is beautifully located and will
he one of the finest homes in the township.
In connection with general farming Mr.
Chapman has carried on dairying and has
also dealt in short-horn cattle, for which he
finds a ready sale in the local markets. For
the past three years he has lived retired from
active labor, but still superintends the opera-
tion of his farm.

.\t notional elections Mr. Chapman sup-
ports the Republican party, but in local
affairs he votes independent of party lines,
sui)porting the men whom he believes best
(jualified for office. lie has served as
])athmaster and school director, hut ha:5
never cared for political preferment. So-
ciallv he is a member of the Independenc
Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern
Woodmen of America, being chief consul
of his camp three years and a charter mem-
ber of the same. He is a man of high
standing in the community where he lesides,
and has many friends both in La Salle and
Livingston counties.

EL\'U-: T. POTTER.

I':ivie T. Potter, a i)rosperous farmer
an<l one of the most popular and in-
rtuential citizens of Round Grove township.
Livingston county, Illinois, his home being
on section 15. was born March 9. 1857. in
the house where he still resides, a son of
Stephen and Mary .\. ( Killmer) Potter, na-
tives of Washington county. New York,
the former born .\i)ril 1. 1806. the latter
February 2;^. 181 4. In the county of his
nati\ity the father was reared on a farm
and educated in the common schools until

= 54

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

fourteen years of age,, when he went to Es-
sex county. New York, and was tliere mar-
ried August 25. 1834. Immediately after
his marriage he removed to Cuyahoga
ctiunty, Ohio, where he Ijouglit one hun-
dred acres of liea\ilv timheretl lanch to
tlie imprcn-ement autl cu1ti\ation of wliicii
he tle\oted his energies until 1844. when
he sold the place and moved to Joliet,
Illinois, becoming one of its earl\- pio-
neers. Leaving his family in that city he
went to California in 1849, ^'""1 engaged in
mining for five years with good success.
He returned to Joliet in 1854. and in the
spring of 1855 came to Livingston county,
wliere he purchased a claim, consisting of
the south half of section 15, Round Grove
township, which at that time was all raw
prairie. He erected thereon a story and a
half frame house, eighteen by eighteen feet,
it being the fifth house in the township and
the first frame house, the rest being built
of logs along the east branch of the Mazon.
He made his home there until his death,
which occurred August 31, 1889. and his
remains were interred in Round Gro\e cem-
etery. He tnnk an actix'e part in public
affairs and always supported the Democratic
party. He was one of the leaders in organ-
izing his town, and held most of the town-
ship offices. He was especially actixe
in school matters, having assisted in
organizing the school districts and build-
ing the first frame house. Inuring the
most of his life he was a meiuber of the
school board, serving as either director or
trustee. His wife is still lixing antl now re-
sides with a daughter in Dwight. His
parents, Thomas and Wealthy ( W'eller)
Potter, were also natives of New York,
while the former was of English and the
latter of German extraction.

The subject of this sketch is the }-(iung-
est in a fanfily of eight children, the others
being as follows: Charlotte B., born Octo-
ber 17, 1835, married Jesse Eldred, of
Round Grove township, and died leaving
fi^ur children : Cora, wife of Anthony Kern.
of Streator, Illinois: L. J., a resident of
Stockton, California ; Stephen, of San Fran-
cisco ; and Minnie, wife of William Farrar,
of Peru, Indiana. (2) Mary died in chikl-
hood. (3) George W., born October ly,
1839, is connected with the Enterprise Man-
ufacturing Company, of Joliet. He married
Emma Godfrey, of Du Page county, IIli-
niiis, and they have three children : Edna,
wife of Roy Hess, of Joliet ; Pearl and Ciaire.
(4) ^largaret S. is living with her mother
in Dwight. (5) Reuben K.. horn September
26, 1844, was telegraph operator and sta-
tion agent at Dwight and Joliet for many
years, and died July 7, 1885, unmarried.
(6) Albert, born December 3, 1847, wa^
engaged in detective work for some years,
and is now servmg as deputy sheriff of
Miami county, Indiana, his home being in
Peru. He married Louisa Hubbanl. of
Round Grove township, this county, and
has tme son, Guy E. (7) Alanson, born Oc-
tober 2-j, 1855, died January 28, 1858.

Elvie T. Potter grew to manhood on the
old homestead and was educated in the dis-
trict schools of the neighborhood. His
brothers had all left home by the time he
was fifteen years old, and he was therefore
his father's (_)nlv assistant in his extensive
farming and stock raising operations. For
ten years prior to his father's death our sub-
ject had entire charge (.>f the place, and
since then has purchased the interests of
the other heirs in the farm, consisting of
two hundred anil forty acres of rich and
arable lanil. He has engaged extensivelv

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

255

ill feeding cattle and raising Hambletonian
liorses, and was actively engaged in agricult-
ural pursuits up to within the last two years,
when he leased his land, though he still re-
sides thereon.

.\t the home of his father. .-\])ril 22.
188C), Mr. Potter wedded Miss Mary (ilover,
a popular and successful teacher, who taught
school in this and Grundy counties for ten
\'ears jirior to her marriage. Her parents
were Samuel L. and Martha J. (Dunn)
(ilover. also early settlers nf this county.
their home being in Broughton township.
Her father was a native of Xew \'nrk. her
mother of Pennsylvania, where their mar-
riage was celebrated. They are now resi-
dents of Xel)raska. and Imth here and in
that state. Mr. Glover has taken an active
part in jniblic affairs, serving as sujiervisor
and school trustee. He is a Republican in
politics, and in early life was a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
was active in organizing the (irange. In
his family were the following children :
Deett. wife of Warren McKae. a tarmcr of
Custer county. Nebraska; Mary, wife of
our subject : Grace, wife of E. \' . Sparks,
a ranchman and teacher of Trapahoc c unity,
Colorado; Henry B., who is at home with
his ])arents in Custer county, Nebraska ;
Percy 1)., who married Augusta Lower, of
Broughton township, this county, and is
now living in Custer county, Nebraska; and
Sidney L., a carpenter, who is li\ing with
our subject.

Mr. Potter las always taken an active part
in political affairs and is a stanch supporter
of tlie Democratic party. The first office he
was called u])on to fill was that of township
collector, in which capacity he served his
fellow citizens from 1887 to 1894, inclusive.
Pie was also elected supervi.sor of his town-

ship in 1887 and held that office for eight
consecutive years, at the end of which time
he declined a re-nomination. For several
years there had been no opposing candidate,
antl when there was he was always elected
by a large majority. I ie served on the equali-
zation ccinimittee his entire term; was chair-
man of the judiciary committee two years,
and was also a member of the committees
on education, fees and salaries, auditing,
jail and jail acounis. During his admin-
istration the new county house was erected.
I'or sixteen years he has served as school
director in district No. 5. In 1892 he re-
ceived the Democratic nomination for the
legislature, and. notwithstanding the large
Republican majority in other nortions of the
district, he received a \ 1 ite sut^icient tt) make
his campaign a wortliy one as an inde.x to
his popularity and ab-lity. In all the rela-
tions of life he has been found true tt) every
trust reposed in him, and commands the
respect and confidence of all with wliom he
comes in contact, either in jnililic or private
life. Socially he is a charter member of
Campus Camp. No. 2019, Modern W oodmen
of America.

ALI'.KRT J. SXb:VD.

Albert J. Sneyd. one of Clial>wi;rtir-;
representative business men and most pro-
gressive citizens, was born in Lockport, Illi-
nois, July 19, 1867, a son of Josei)h and
Mary ( Kobliska) Sneyd, natives of .\ustria,
who came to America with their resi)ective
parents when about fourteen years of age.
The families settled near Lockport. Illinois.
where the grandparents of our subject d-x<\
soon afterward. There the father worked
as a farm hand for eleven years, and after
his marriage moved to Ashkuni. Illinois.

256

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wliere he ]nircl:ase(l and iniprcned a lialf-
secticm (if land. He was successfully en-
gaged in general farming and stock raising
until his death, which occurred in 1890.
His wife died at the home of our subject in
Chatsworth in 1896. Both were members of
the Catholic church and he was a Democrat.
l)ut never took any active part in politics
aside from x'oting.

Albert J. Snevd grew to manhncid on the
home farm, aiding his father in its opera-
tion and attended the public schools of Ash-
kum. On leaving the farm in 1893 '''^ came
to Chatsworth. where, in partnership with
Charles Burns, he embarked in the hardware
business, purchasing the stock of E. A. Jack-
son. Under the firm name of Sneyd & Burns
they successfully carried on business for six
years, during which time they enlarged their
stock, as well as increased the volume of
trade. In the spring of 1899 Mr. Sneyd
sold his interest to Mr. Burns, who still
continues the business, and for a year lived
retired, but in the spring of 1900 he pur-
chased a lot, upon which he erected a com-
modious warehouse and stocked it with a
full line of buggies, wagons, planters, and in
fact all kinds of heavy and light farm ma-
chinery and implements. He has made a
decided success for the first season's venture
in the new enterprise, for, being among
the well-known and reliable business men of
the town, he has secured a liberal share of the
public patronage. He not only owns his
present place of business, but has a half
interest in the building where he was for-
merly engaged in the hardware trade, his
home property in Chatsworth and a fine
farm of one hundred and ten acres on sec-
tions 16 and 17. Ashkum township, Iro-
quois county, which was part of the old
homestead.

On the J^i\ of May, 1894, Mr. Sneyd
was united in marriage with Miss Annie E.
Phillips, who was born in Chebanse, Illinois,
October i, 1869, a daughter of Thomas and
Kate (McGlone) Phillips. Her father is
now deceased, but her mother is still living
and resides on the old liome farm near Ash-
kum. To Mr. and Mrs. Sneyd have been
born two children : Francis and Leo Al-
bert, bright children, who are the jov of the
home. The parents are both members of
the Catholic church and Mr. Sneytl is also
a member of the Modern Woodmen Cam]),
No. 1829, of Chatsworth. Politically he
affiliates with the Democratic party. He
is wideh' and favorably known and in social
as well as business circles stands deservedly
hieh.

WILLIAM D. McMILLAX.

William D. McMillan, the well-known
Forrest, Illinois, and a member of the vil-
lage board of trustees, is a native of Liv-
ingston county, born in Rooks Creek town-
ship October 5, 1846, and is a son of Will-
iam and grandson of Andrew McMillan.
The father was born in Jonesville, Lee coun-
ty, Virginia. September 27. 1802. and there
grew to manhood upon his father's farm.
He came to Livingston county, Illinois, as
early as 1834, and located in Rcxiks Creek
township, when the Indians were still liv-
ing in this region. Here he took up a large
tiact of government land, about four hun-
dred acres, which he improved, retaining
most of it until his death. He became one
of the most prominent and influential citi-
zens of his community, in politics was first
a Whig and later a Democrat, and held the
office of justice of the peace from the earliest

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

257

recollection of our subject. In 18.^8 he mar-
ried Eliza Breckenridge. a daughter of Rob-
ert Breckenridge, who was also one of the
pioneers and land holders of Rooks Creek
township, ha\ing come here from near Sar-
dinia. Brown county. Ohio, about the same
time as Mr. .McMillan. By this marriage
were horn four chiklren. three nf whom
are still li\ing. one of these being our sub-
ject. The mother, who was a member of
the Methodist church, died in 1849. ''"^l ^lie
father subse(|uently married her sister. Mrs.
Anna .\nderson. He died in June. 1864.
honored and respected by all who knew him.

The earl}- education of William D. Mc-
I^Iillan was acquired in the common schools
of RcK)ks Creek township, and he remained
at home until his father's death. Desiring
a better education he sold forty acres of the
iiomc farm, and after gi\ine his mother
her dowry used the remainder in paying
his expenses at Eureka College. Having
thus secured a good practical education he
returned home and engaged in farming until
1870. when he went to Pontiac. The fol-
lowing year he commenced learning photog-
raphy and devoted iiis attention to that art
until 1874, when he entered the service of
the United States Express Company at Pon-
tiac. A year later he was transferred to
SpringficUl, and in 1880 was made express
messenger on the Forrest and Streator train
of the Wabash Railroad. On the ist of
June. 1893. he was appointed agent at For-
rest, where tlie company does a large lousi-
ness, as the town has two lines of railroad.
The position is therefore one of much re-
sponsibility, and he discharges his duties
in a most creditable and satisfactory man-
ner.

On the 8th of .April, 1876. Mr. McMillan
married Miss Laura Harper, of Livings-

ton county, who was born in Waynestown,
Indiana, a daughter of John Harper, an old
resident here, who settled in this county
w hen Mrs. McMillan was only six years old.
By this union have been born five children :
Ira Douglas (decea.sed). Frederick \V.,
-Artie Ray (deceased). Leslie C. and I'.dna
E. The parents are both members of the
.Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr.
McMillan is now serving as steward. He
cast his first vote for the Democratic party,
but since then has been a stanch Republican,
though he has taken no active part in politi-
cal affairs. While a resident of Rooks
Creek township he filled the office of col-
lector, and without his knowledge he was
nominated as a member of the city council
on the no-license board in 1899 ''"'-1 elected
l)y a good majority, though he made no ef-
fort to secure the ofifice. During his term
the board has done considerable toward
street improvements, which have greatly
pleased the people of the town. Fraternally
Mr. McMillan is a member of the Modern
Woodmen of America and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows.

JOHN ELLIXGER.

John I'Jlinger, a ])rominent tarnicr of
section 35, Pontiac township. Livingston
county, comes from the fatherland, and
the strongest and mostcreditable character-
istics of the eutonic race have been inarked
elements in his life and have enabled him
to win success in the face of opposing cir-
cumstances. He posses.ses the energy and.
determination which mark the i:)eople of Ger-
many, and by the exercise of his powers
has steadily progressed, and has not onl}-
won a handsome competence but has com-

258

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

manded universal respect liy his straight-
forward business methods.

Mr. Ellinger was born in \\'urteniluu-o-,
Germany, October i6, 1849, ^ son of George
and Carrie D. (Keibler) Ellinger, life-long
residents of that place and active members
of the Lutheran church. The father was a
farmer and -land owner and was one of the
highly respected men of his community.
He died in 1893, the mother about eight
years before.

Our subject obtained a good practical ed-
ucation in the public schools of his nati\e
land, and at the age of fifteen went into
the \illaee of Oppenweiler, which was near
lus father's home, devoting a year and nine
months to learning the baker's trade. Not
liking the business, he decided to try his
fortune on this side of the Atlantic, and
celebrated the seventeenth anniver:-ary of his
birth on board a vessel bound for America.
His ticket ttiok him to Washington. Illinois,
where he borrowed three dollars with which
to proceed to Peoria, from a fellcv.- passen-
ger, his own means being exhausted by this
time. He secured work on a farm near that
city, \\h.ere he remained for some time, and
with his employer went to Peoria, work-
ing for him two years, but his wages v,ere
never paid for the last six months. Secur-
ing an old h.orse he again started for the
country and after spending a few weeks in
El Paso, he hired out to a farmer north-
west of that place for one }-ear. Later,
being refused the privilege of attending
church, he entered the employ of a neighbor,
for whom he worked until fall. He was
employed in that neighborhood for five
years during which time he managed to
save enough money to start in life for him-
self, renting eighty acres of land in Ford
county for two years.

In the meantime Mr. Ellinger was mar-
rried, July 27, 1870, to Miss Sophia Muel-
ler, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daugh-
ter of George Mueller, who with his family
moved from that state to Indiana and later
to Illinois. To our subject and wife have
been born twelve children, namely : Carrie,
now the wife of John Schaffer of Eppards
Point township, Livingston county; Lizzie,
wife of William Schaffer, of the same town-
ship; George, wlio married Maggie Young,
and also li\es in Eppards Point township;
John, who married Alta Porter and resides
in Pontiac : Emma, wife of Edward Greid-
ner of that city ; Katie, William, Christian,
Arthur, .\lbert, Frank and Robert, all at
home.

In 187J Mr. Ellinger came to Living-
ston county and successfully engaged in
farming upon rented land in Saunemin
township two years, at the end of which
time he purchased eighty acres of land in
that township, but hard times coming on,
he lost it, and again rented a number of years,
one year being spent in Sullivan township.
and ten on one farm in Owego township.
Subsequently he bought eighty acres in Char-
lotte township, which he soon sold to ad-
\antage, and then came to Pontiac town-
ship, where he rented a half-section of land
one }-ear. It being sold at that time he had
to UKive, and in 1893 he purchased his pres-
ent fine farm of two hundred and forty
acres, one and a half miles from Pontiac,
for which he paid ninety-two dollars and a
luilf per acre. It is one of the finest and
most productive farms in the county, and
is well improved with good buildings. In
connection with general farming, Mr. Ell-
inger gives considerable attention to the
raising of cattle and hogs. While a resi-
dent of Owego township he bought a half-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

259

section of land in Minnesota, for which he
paid cash, and whicli he held until 1899.

In 1899 Mr. Ellinger returned to his old
home in Germany to visit his father. Since
the age of nineteen years he has been a mem-
ber of the Evangelical church, and he and
his family are now connected with the church
at Eppards Point. He is a Republican in
politics but has never been an aspirant for
office, thougii he served as school director
three vears.

Cll.VRLES T. BURNS.

Charles T. Burns, who is engaged in
the hardware business in Chatsworth,
Livingston county, has been one of the
leading business men of the city since
1893. He commenced business as a junior
member of the firm of Sneyd & Burns, Xo-
\ ember 29, 1893, and that relation was con-
tinued until 1899, when his brother, Thom-
as, purchased the interest of Mr. Sneyd, and
the business has since been conducted under
the firm name of Burns Brothers.

Charles T. Burns was born in Chicago,
Illinois, June 11, 1863, and is the son of
Thomas and Eliza (Gallagher) Burns, both
of whom were born in Ireland, and both
coming to this country in childhood, the
former locating in Boston, ^lassachusetts,
and the latter in Chicago, Illinois. In his
youth Thomas Burns learned the ship car-
penter's trade, which he followed for some
j^ears, and until coming west and locating
in Chicago, where his marriage with Miss
Gallagher was celebrated. He is now en-
gaged in farming in Iroquois county, Illi-
nois, which has been his home for some
years, and where he owns a farm of two
hundred acres of well improved land. In

his family were nine children: Charles T.,
the subject of this sketch ; James, living on
a farm in Iroquois county; Anna, living at
home; Mary, who resides in Chicago;
1 homas, now in partnership w.th our sub-
ject; Kate, wife of O. Ergang, who is in
the postal service in Chicago, which is their
home; Walter, in a grain office in Ashkum,
Illinois; Terrence and William, at home with
their father. The mother of these children
died in 1886. She was a devout member of
the Catlii)lic church, in which faith she died.

The subject of this sketch grew to man-
hood on the farm in Iroquois county, and in
its public schools received his education,
which was supplemented by one term in the
commercial department of the Northern In-
diana Normal School at \'alparaiso, Indi-
ana. He remained at home until he came
to Chatsworth in 1893 and embarked in his
present business. Success has crowned his
efforts, and in addition to his stock of hard-
ware, paints, oils, etc., he owns residence
property in the city and an interest in the
store building occupied by himself and
brotlier. The firm carry a fine stock of goods
and have an excellent trade, wdiich e.xtends
many miles into the surrounding country.

In politics Mr. Burns is a Democrat in
national affairs, but in local matters he votes
for the best man for the office regardless of
party ties. By his fellow citizens he has
been honored with local office, having served
as alderman for five successive years. As a
member of the board he has shown himself
a progressive citizen, advocating every meas-
ure proposed that seemed beneficial to the
best interests of the place. He was interested
in the putting in of brick walks, the building
of the bell tower, the improvement of the
water works, and the erection of the new
brick city hall. He is chairman of the fire

26o

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and water committees and a member of the
finance committee and other committees. He
is also a member of the volunteer fire com-
pany.

Eraternally Mr. Burns is a member of
Camp No. 1829, Mcodern Woodmen of
America, and religiously he is a member of
the Catholic church. As a citizen he is en-
terprising and loyal to his adopted city and
county.

CAPTAIN HENRY FOX.

Captain Henry Fox, a gallant ana fear-
less officer of the civil war, and now a prom-
inent citizen of Dwight, Illinois, was born
in Wurtemburg. Germany, October 4, 1833.
He was educated in a college near Stutt-
gart, taking a literary course, and on leav-
ing school entered a general mercantile
establishment, where he served a three-
years' apprenticeship and was then granted
a diploma. He remained with that firm
two years longer and then entered the em-
ploy of a commission house, where he con-
tinued to work until his emigration to the
United States in 1854, landing in New
York city on the day he attained his ma-
jority.

Business being dull there, Mr. Fox pro-
ceeded to Milwaukee, \\'isconsin, where he
clerked in a wholesale dry-goods house for
two years, and while there served as second
lieutenant in the \Visconsin Mihtia. His
company was sent to Madison on the in-
stallation of a new governor, in January,
1856, they having much the same trouble
as has recently been experienced in Ken-
tucky. The incumbent of the office denied
the validity of the claimant and who had
the certificate of the canvassing board and

refused to give up the office. This was the
Bash ford and Barstow contest which cre-
ated great excitement throughout the coun-
try at the time. In September, 1856. Mr.
Fo.x went to St. Louis, where he engaged
in clerking for a short time, and then re-
moved to Mt. Pulaski, Logan county, Illi-
nois, where he was employed in the general
store of John ^Mayer, who was engaged in
business there for many years, and was one
of the first settlers of Logan county. While
there Air. Fox married his empkiyer's
daughter. Miss Alagdalene Alayer, Septem-
ber 10, 1857. After his marriage he was
engaged in business for himself at Mt. Pu-
laski a short time, but in the spring of 1861
removed to Lincoln, Illinois, where he was
living at the outbreak of the civil war.

In August, 1862, Mr. Fox enlisted as
sergeant in Company H, One Hundred and
Sixth Illinois \'olunteer Infantry, and was
mustered in at Lincoln, being ordered to
Jackson, Tennessee, in September. In refer-
ence to his service we quote the following
from the Chicago Inter-Ocean : "A Sol-
dier's Brave Deed. In the later part of
December, 1862, when a small detachment
of soldiers was scattered along the line of
the railroad from Columbus, Kentucky, to
Holly Springs, Mississippi, guarding the
bridges and trestle work, the following in-
cident took place, which for cool coiu'age
excelled anything that came to my attention
during my three years' service. After the
capture of Holly Springs, Mississippi, Gen-
eral Forrest's cavalry made a raid north-
ward upon this line of railroad and captured
every station between Jackson, Tennessee,
and Columbus, Kentucky, exceut a small
detachment of about seventy-five men who
were guarding the bridge and the long tres-
tle work across the Obion river about ten

HENRY FOX.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

263

miles north uf Jackson. This detachment
was composed of parts of Companies H and
I, One Hundred and Sixth lUinois Infantry,
and commanded l)_v Captain 1'. \\ . Harts,
now of Springfield, Illinois, and Captain
John Slmckey. now of Pappinsville, Mis-
souri. Alter the attack on Jackson and the
capture of Colonel Ingersoll and a part of
the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, a detachment
of some five hundred of Forrest's cavalry,
with two pieces of artillery, was sent by
General Forrest against this handful of men
guarding the Obion bridge. The Federal
guard had hastily made rude breastworks
directly under the bridge, determined to
make the best possible defense. Promptly
at I o'clock on December 23, before the
l)reastw(_)rks were completeil, this station
north of the river were surroundetl by these
five hundred rebel cavalry, who, after mak-
ing a great display on horseback, riding
round in a circle three or four times, thus
making believe that the whole of Forrest's
cavalry was present, dismounted and made
a desperate etYort to capture the guard and
destroy the britlge and trestle-works in order
to break the railroad communication with
Jackson, Tennessee. Here the unequal bat-
tle raged until the middle of the afternoon,
the shrieking shells and the swishing bul-
lets crashed through the heavy bridge tim-
bers with which the breastworks were made.
Capture seemed inevitable. Reinforcements
could only be hoped for from Jackson. It
was decided that some one should venture
to leave the fort, climb the open trestle some
fifteen feet high and run over this, about
one hundred and twenty rods, then through
the timber toward Jackson, to secure rein-
forcements. This task was solicited by
Sergeant Henry Fox, of Company H. Hand
over band he gained the top of the bridge,

and then with a regular double-cjuick step,
he ran from tie to tie across this dreadful
line, the enemy from both sides of the road
sho(jting at him, but while his cl()thes bore
ample evidence of the danger he had run,
he was untouched. Fortunately, the fire
from the breastworks was too dangerous to
permit the enemy to bring then" artillery
through the woods within close range of the
fort and from the distance the heavy tim-
ber olistrucied the effectiveness of the
shot and shell. The station was not cap-
tured, the bridge was saved, reinforcements
arrived after dark, and after the enemy had
withdrawn and left their dead in the farm-
iiouse on the hill. Sergeant Fox, after call-
ing for reinforcements, returned alone, mak-
ing the run of nine miles in one hour and
forty minutes." This article was written and
signed by David Harts, captain of Company
C, One Plundred and Sixth Illinois Volun-
teer Infantry. For this gallant service our
subject received a medal from congress with
the following inscription; "The congress
of the United States to Serg't Henry Fox,
Company H, One Hundred and Sixth Illi-
nois Infantr)-, for gallantry near Jackson,
Tennessee, December 23, i86j." In Janu-
ary, 1863, he was detailed as recorder of
military commission at Memphis, and in
May was appointed by General Hurlbut as
captain of the Fifty-ninth Regiment United
States Colored Troops, being mustered in
as such June i, 1863. He participated in
the battles of Parker's Cross Road, Gun-
town and Tupolo, and went on to the ex-
pedition of Oxford. In April, 1865, l^c was
detailed as acting assistant inspector gen-
eral of post and defenses at Memphis, Ten-
nessee, and was on the staff of Brevet Major-
General A. L. Chetlain. In July, 1865, he
was detailed on the staff' of Major-General

264

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Jolin E. Smith, United States Army, in the
same capacity, for the district of Tennessee,
and was finally mustered out on the last day
of January, 1866.

Returning to liis home in Lincoln, Illi-
nois, Captain Fox worked in the lumher
office of BufYham & Company for a year and
a half, then for Elliott & Company in the
same business until New Year's Day, 1869.
By his doctor's advice, he then removed to
a farm in Logan county, which he had pur-
chased alxuU a year previous, hut as his
health did not improve, in May, 1874, he
nioxed to Dwight. Illinois, where he has
since had charge of William Ccully's lands,
consisting of several thousand acres, which
he has managed in a most creditable and
satisfactory manner.

To the Captain and his wife were born
eight children, namely : Frederick W.,
whn died in February, 1897, at the age of
forty years, leaving a widow and two chil-
dren : Henry, who has charge of a large
tract of land for Mr. Scully in Nelson, Ne-
braska; Anna E.. wife of Benjamin Show-
waiter, of Davenport, Nebraska; Lydia L.,
who is teaching in the public schools of
Dwight; Louis E., a resident of Kansas
City, Missouri; Susan M., who is an artist
of superior ability and is now giving paint-
ing lessons in Dwight and neighboring
cities : Pauline E., bookkeeper and cashier
for Miller Brothers, at Dwight; and Daniel
S. Fox, who was born in Dwight, Illinois,
January 27, 1876, and was educated in the
city and high school. He was then with
his father until the time of his enlistment,
April 26, 1898. in Company A, Third Illi-
nois Cavalry, for a term of two years. The
regiment was organized at Springfield, Illi-
nois, from which place it was sent to Chick-
amauga, where, on the 6th of July, 1898, he

was appointed corporal. From Chicka-
mauga the regiment was sent to Porto Rico
with Alajor-General Brooks, it being his
guard. With his regiment Daniel S. re-
mained until after the close of hostilities,
when it returned, and he was honorably dis-
charged at Streator, Illinois. January 20,
1899. and returned to his home, and is as-
sisting his father in the business. The
mother of these children died October 7,
1879, and was buried in Dwight. Captain
Fox was again married, October 28, 1880,
his second union being with Miss Hattie A.
Chamberlain, who was born near Syracuse,
New York, and came to Illinois in 1873.
Her father, William Chamberlain, never
came west. She has proved a true helpmeet
to her husband and a devoted mother to his
children, who were young when she married
him.

Captain Fox is a prominent member of
several civic societies, including Livingston
Lodge. No. 371, F. & A. M. ; Wilmington
Chapter, No. 142, R. A. M. : Streatur
Council, R. & S. M. : Blaney Command-
ery. No. 5, K. T., of Morris, Illinois ;
Dwight Lodge, No. 513, and Dwight En-
campment. No. 126, I. O. O. F., of which
fraternitv he has been a member for forty-
two years. In the subordinate lodge he has
served as noble grand, and is now past chief
patriarch of the Encampment. He is also
an honored member and past commander of
Dwight Post, No. 626. G. A. R., and a
member of the Military Order of the Loyal
Legion. Politically he is a stanch Repub-
lican, but at local elections, when no issue is
involved, he votes independent of party
lines. He has ever taken an active and
prominent part in local politics, and has been
a member of the town board four times and
served as mavor of Dwight two terms. He

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

265

has ever manifested tlie same loyalty in days
of peace as in time of war, and by all who
know liini is held in high regard.

SAML'EL A. LEISEROW ITZ.

Samnel A. Leiserowitz. a prominent
citizen of Cnllom. and a member of the well-
known firm of Leiserowitz Brothers, general
merchants of Cnllom, Herscher and Cabery,
Illinois, was born in Sarle, State of Korne,
Rnssia, Jnne 21, 1861. His father. Mendel
Leiserowitz, a rabbi and school teacher of
that country, has been active in church work
since seventeen years of age and for the
])ast fifty-three years has engaged in preach-
ing and scluM)! teaching. He is very well
educated and is a well known expounder of
the Hebrew faith. He has preached in
Sarle, Moscow, and manv smaller ]jlaces in
Russia, and while visiting in this country
])reached and taught school in South Chi-
cago for four years. His father, Moses
Leiserowitz, was also a rabbi and school
teacher, and died while reading the Bible
at his home in Yurgenborg, Russia, at the
age of eighty-three years. To the parents
of our subject were born eleven children,
six of whcim are living, and one of the
numl)er is still living in Russia taking care
of the parents. Those in .\nicrica are :
Tane L.. who is engaged in general mer-
cantile business in Kempton, Illinois: L. L.,
who is engagetl in the painting business in
Chicago ; Samuel .\., our subject ; Wolf,
]>artner of our subject and a resident (i
Herscher, Illinois; and Simon, who conducts
the store for his Ijrothers at Cabery.

Samuel .\. Leiserowitz attended school
in his native land, but his earlv education

has been greatly supplemented by reading
and observation in later years. .\t the age
of twehe years he began his business career,
being employed in the office of a dealer in
grain and all kinds of produce until he at-
tained his majority. He then entered the
Russian army. December i. 188 1, and served
until August I. 1886. He was first a mem-
ber of the Twentieth Foot Division, but on
the 1st of August. 1882. was transferred to
the brass band, his instrument being a
French horn. .\s a common soldier he re-
cieved ninety cents pay every four months
or two dollars and seventy cents per year,
but being promoted to what corresponds
to our corporal his salary was raised to
four dollars per year. In giving a dcs-
cri])tion of the Russian army Mr. Leisero-
witz says: "Besides their high salary the
.soldiers were given their clothes, consisting
of one overcoat made of material resembling
horse blankets, an under coat of a finer
grade of goods, a cap and trousers made of
t^ie same material. These were supposed
to last two years with exception of the trous-
ers which were worn a year. Vests were
not worn in the scr\ice. Each .soldier re-
ceived a pair and a half of leather boots
each year, the leggings of the first pair do-
ing service for the second. For under and
o\er wear linen similar to course towling
was furnished. For hosiery the same kind
of goods was used, and instead of being
drawn on the feet was wrapped around. Mit-
tens and neckties were of black blanket
goods, and the ties were worn as Catholic
l)riests wear them. Out of their salaries
the soldiers have to pay for making their
boots and underwear . buying blackening for
shoes and belts and oil for guns. Each are
given .seventy cents extra for incidentals, but
this with their salarv does not half cover

266

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

their expenses. They are given three pounds
of rye bread a day and six cents in money
to pay for other food, but when a company
is stationed at one place the money goes
into the general fund for cooking purposes,
amounting to six dollars for one hundred
men per day. Each soldier gets about a
half pound of beef and soup, which is made
of barley broken up and boiled with the
meat. This they have for dinner and sup-
per, while for breakfast they have only
bread, salt and water — plenty of water but
not always salt. A mess of ten or fifteen
men arc given a wooden pail in which the
soup is served. They carry a red wooden
spoon in their boot leg and with these each
dip into the bucket as they have no other
dishes, knives or forks. After the meal
however, they are generally as happy as
larks, singing and dancing. The higher
officers are treated as ours are.

When his term of service expired, Mr.
Liserowitz received a recommndation from
his general testifying to his conduct, temper-
ate habits, and general behavior and that
should he again desire to enter the army he
was to be taken back at one hundred and
twenty dollars per year. Returning to his
home, he remained there until January i,
1887, when he sailed from Hamburg by way
of Li\'erpool for New York. He proceeded
at once to Chicago and on the train met a
conductor, who was a relative of his father
and who took charge of him, seeing that
he got to his brother all right. He remained
about twenty-four hours in Chicago. His
money by this time was exhausted but he
finally found a relative who let him have
enough to go to Danforth, Illinois, where
his brothers Wolf and Tane were then liv-
ing. A week later the brother Wolf ordered
for him a stock of goods amounting to little

over forty-nine dollars, and with this he
started out as apeddler with his pack upon his
back. His brother drove a team and went
a couple of miles ahead toward Cullom their
destination. Our subject met with most
excellent success from the start and at the
end of three weeks was able to buy a horse
from Frank Drendel, living east of Cullom.
for which he paid eighteen tlollars, to be
taken out in trade. He then went to Dan-
forth where his brother Tane was living
and bought a wagon. With horse and
wagon he traveled for one year, and at the
end of that time he and his brother Tane
bought property in Cullom, where they suc-
cessfully conducted a pool and billard hall
one year. On selling out, in 1889, he and
his brother Wolf started a store with a small
stock of goods costing about two thousand
dollars, and later took in another partner
B. Brode, who was a member of the firm
for about a year, but this venture did not
prove a success, as three families could not
live oiT the profits of the small store. The
brother then went to Herscher, where he has
since prospered, but our subject remained
in Cullom, where he rented a building of
J. \y. White for two years, and then of
Walter Rider of Saunemin for five years,
but at the end of five months he purchased
the latter, which he subsquently enlarged.
Later he bought a house and lot adjoining,
sold the house and moved the oldest store,
and erected a double store building, 40x120
feet, and half of which is two stories in
height, the other one story. He has stead-
ily prospered and has never yet had occasion
to regret his emigration to the new world.
In March, 1899, he and his brother W'oli
formed a partnership, and under the firm
name of Leiserowitz Brothers have the larg-
est stores at Cullom and Herscher, and also

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

267

have a good store in Caherry, the building
also being owned by them. To-day they are
numbered among the most successful and
progressive business men of this section.
The Cullom store is in use as a department
store, having added hardware, paints, wail
paper and undertaking in addition to the
general line handled before. There is a
special department of silverware, jewelry,
clocks and watches. A watchmaker of thirty
years experience. Mr. Lawrence Holland,
is in charge of this department. He for
the past twelve years has been a resident of
Cullom.

In August, 1886, Mr. Leiserowitz mar-
ried Miss Golda S. Cohn, and to them were
born se\-en children, but tlie three oldest
died in infancy. The other.-;. Joseph, Jane,
Isadore and Esther, are all attending school.
In politics Mr. Leiserowitz is a Republican,
and in his social relations is a member of
Saunemin Lodge, Xo. 728. I. O. O. P., and
is a charter member of Star Camp, Xo. 1886,
M. \V. A. of Cullom.

SHERMAX H. JOKXSOX.

Sherman H. Johnson, who is ])rominently
identified with the agricultural interests of
Germanville township, Livingston county,
owns and operates a fine farm of one hun-
dred and twenty acres on section 15. The
neat and thrifty apjiearance of the place
testifies to his careful supervision, and shows
him to be not only a thorough and skillful
farmer, but also a man of good business
ability.

Mr. Johnson was born in the town of
Peru, Clinton county, Xew York, September
13, 1847. ^ son of Jeremiah and Harriet

(Bridges) Johnson. The father was born
in Hartford, Connecticut, and resided there
for some years. He enlisted in the war of
1812, and served for five years under Gen-
eral Scott, coming out of the service as first
lieutenant. After receiving his discharge
at Plattsburg, X'^ew York, he remained at
that place and engaged in the lumber busi-
ness, which he carried on until sixty-eight
years of age, when meeting with loss from
fire, he retired from active business. He
died in 1872, at the age of ninety-two years,
his wife in the same year at the age of
eighty-two. In their family were twelve
children, eight of whom are still living. Our
subject is the youngest son, but has two
younger sisters.

In the common schools of his birthplace
Sherman H. Johnson ac(|uired his educa-
tion, and remained at home until eighteen
years of age, when, in 1865, he came toLiv-
ingston county. Illinois. After sjjending a
few months in Belle Prairie township, how-
ever, he went to Minnesota, where he worked
by the month two years, and then returned
to this county, being engaged in farming
upon rented land in Belle Prairie township
for a number of years. Subseciuently he
leased a farm in McLean county, whicli he
afterward bought, and on selling that prop-
erty in 1876 went to Bates county. Missouri,
where he followed farming one year. Re-
turning to Belle Prairie township. Livingston
county, he rented a farm for three years,
and then moved to Forrest township, where
he leased a half section of land for the same
length of time. During the following three
years we again find him in Belle Prairie
township, and in 1888 he located upon his
present farm in Germanville township^ He
purchased two hundred and eighty acres,
and two vears later sold one hundred and

26S

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sixty acres to Henry Nettleton. but still owns
the remainder, which was only partially im-
proved w'hen it came into his possession, but
he has since erected a lar^^e and substantial
barn, improved the house, and tiled the land,
placing it under excellent cultivation. In
connection with general farming he raises
considerable stock, including short-horn
cattle and Poland China hogs.

On the 7th of October, 1869, in Belle
Prairie township, Mr. Johnson led to the
marriage altar Miss Emeline Alford, a
daughter of Wesly J. and Emiline C.
(Randall) Alford. The father was born
in Vermont, but when a small child moved
with his parents to New York state, where
he continued to make his home until Mrs
Johnson was two years old, and then brought
his family to Illinois, locating in Kendall
county, where he engaged in farming for
some time, but is now living a retired life in
Rose Lawn, Indiana. He was a very prosper-
ous man and highly respected. His wife died
six years ago, leaving a family of seven
children, of whom Mrs. Johnson is the fifth
in order of birth. Ten children have been
born to our subject and his wife, namely :
William H.. a well-driller of Strawn, -who
married Clara Johnson and has four chil-
dren. Myrtle. Pearl. Elmer and Clarence
Sherman ; Cornelia, wife of William Day, a
farmer of Ford county, Illinois, by whom
she has five children, Myron William. Sarah,
Annie and Hershal A. ; Lorenzo. Hannah
and Bertha, all at home; Myron, who died
at the age of sixteen years ; Myra, who died
in Missouri, at the age of three years ; and
three, who died in infancy.

Mr. Johnson is a supporter of the Repub-
hcan party, and as a public-spirited and pro-
gressive citizen is an advocate of those en-
terprises that tend toward public develop-

ment. He filled the ofifice of school director
during the first seven years of his residence
in Germanville township, and has efficiently
served in the same capacity for the last three
years, during which time he has done much
toward bettering the schools in his locality.
He is an active member of the Methodist
church, in which he served as deacon four
vears.

JAMES J. BROADHEAD.

James J. Broadhead, a prominent repre-
sentative of the business interests of Forrest
is a native of Illinois, his birth having oc-
curred near Mackinaw, September 22, 1857.
His father, Edward Broadhead, was born
July 2, 1827, in Manchester. England, where
he grew to manhood and learned the trade
of a machinist. There he was married,
March 6, 1847, to Miss Nancy McDonald,
also a native of Manchester, and in 1855
they came to the United States, locating first
in Tazewell count}-, Illinois, where he found
employment on a farm. In 1859 he settled
near Danvers, McLean county, and com-
menced farming on his own account. In
1867 he purchased a farm of one hundred
and sixty acres of wild prairie land in For-
rest township, Livingston ccnuity, for which
lie paid fifteen dollars per acre, and for
w hich he was later offered one hundred dol-
lars per acre. He made all of the improve-
ments upon the place, erecting a good set of
farm buildings, tiling the land and placing
it under excellent cultivation, and dividing
it into fields of sufficient size by good hedge
fences. He also planted trees and ornament-
al shrubs, and made his farm one of the best
in the locality. He continued to actively en-
gage in agricultural pursuits until six or

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

269

seven years before his death, wlien he nioveil
to Forrest and hved retired, dying there
Marcli 8, 1896. He purciiased a good resi-
dence in that town, wliich is now the home
of his widow. On coming to this country
lie was in \ ery limited circumstances and his
success tliat he acliieved in Hfe was due en-
tirely to his well-directed labors. Politically
he was always identified with the Republican
party, and religiously was a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, to which his
wife also belongs. To them were born eight
children. sc\en of whom are now liv-
ing, namely : William, a resident of
Xiinnal. Illinois ; John, of Chatsworth ; Mary
J. resides with her nif^ther ; James J., our sub-
ject; George H.. of Indiana; Cornelia, wife
of W. B. Moyer, of Galva, Illinois; and
Loxina, wife of J. L. Moyer. of Forrest.
I he subject of this review was a lad of
ten years when the family came to Liv-
ingston county, and he attended both the
country schools and those of Forrest.
On the home farm he acquired an ex-
cellent knowledge of agriculture, and on
starting out in life for himself at the
age of twenty-one years comiuenced
farming, which occupation he fe)llowed
with good success until his removal to
Forrest, in 1897. He had previously spent
two winters in town, those of 1893 and
1894. He now conducts the only real estate
office in the place, ar.d handles a large amount
of city and farm property. He is also en-
gaged in merchandising and the fire and life
insurance business, and is a director of the
Peoria Eastern Telephone Company, of
which he was one of the original incorpora-
tors and was an active member of the com-
pany when the lines were put in operation.
As a business man he is reliable, energetic
and progressive, and generally carries for-

ward to successful completion whatever he
undertakes.

On the 20th of March, 1884, Mr. Broad-
head was united in marriage with Miss Ella
Rose, of Fairbury, a daughter of I. V. Rose,
a farmer of Indian Grove township. Living-
ston county, and to them have been born
two children; Ralph R. and Ray V. The
family have a pleasant home in Forrest and
attend the Methodist Episcopal church, of
which Mrs. Broadhead is a member. So-
cially Mr. Broadhead is connected with the
Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen
ot Amreica, and the Court of Honor, and is
now keeper of records and seals in the first
named order. Since attaining his majority
he has affiliated with the Republican party,
and although he has never aspired to office
he was elected trustee of the village, taking
his seat May i, 1900. He is public-spirited
and progressive and as a citizen ever stands
ready to discharge any duty devolving upon
him.

THRONE & HATFIELD.

Throne & Hatfield is the name of a well-
known firm of Cullom, Illinois, comixtscd of
Charles H. Throne and George H. Hatfield,
tw(3 of the most enterprising and progress-
ive business men of that town. They are
successfull)' engaged in the livery business
and also have control of the dray line.

Mr. Throne is a native of Livingston
county, born in .Sullivan township. Septem-
ber 23. 1876, an<l is a son of W . H. and
Laura E. ( Edwards) Throne, who were
also born in this state. The father, who is
a farmer by occupation, lived in Sullivan
township many years, but for the jiast
eighteen years has made his home in Cullom.

270

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

His children are : Maggie, wife of B. A.
Park, of Fisher, Illinois; Calvin, a general
merchant of McCook, Nebraska; Bertha,
wife of S. M. Boeman, of Cullom, Illinois;
Nellie, wife of Frank Copp, of Fisher;
Charles H., our subject; and Reta, at home.

Mr. Throne was educated in the schools
of Cullom, and at the age of thirteen years
began his business career as clerk in the
general store of Enos Flessner, of that place,
remaining with him six j-ears, and with the
firm of Flessner & Amachee four years. In
1896, in connection with John Tyrrell, he
purchased the livery stable and dray line
of John Fritzon, and at the end of four
months George H. Hatfield purchased Mr.
Tyrrell's interest in the business, which has
since been successfully conducted imder the
firm name of Throne & Hatfield. In 1898
Mr. Throne and B. A. Park purchased a
livery and sale stable in Fisher, Illinois,
which they carried on together until the
spring of 1900, when our subject sold out
to his partner. During all this time Air.
Throne was still employed in the mercantile
establishment of Flessner & Amachee, but
in March, 1900, concluded to give his whole
time and attention to the livery and dray
business, which he has since done.

On the 6th of September, 1899, Mr.
Throne married Miss Jennie Kewley, a na-
tive of Ford county, Illinois, and daughter
of Thomas Kewley, one of its old settlers.
She is second in order of birth in a family of
five children. Politically Mr. Throne is a
Republican, and socially is a member of
Cullom Camp, No. 1886, M. W. A.

Mr. Hatfield, the junior member of the
firm, was born in Mona township. Ford
county, Illinois, September 12, 1876, a son
of Jesse S. and Sarah (Cart) Hatfield, na-
tives of Indiana. The father carried on

blacksmithing in Ford county until 1880,
when he removed with his family to Cul-
lom, where he opened a shop and has since
conducted a successful business. He is a
veteran of the Civil war. In his political
^■iews he is a Democrat. He has two chil-
dren : George H., our subject; and Edward,
at home with his parents.

George H. Hatfield received his educa-
tion in the public schools of Cullom. When
about twenty-one years of age he embarked
in the livery business with Mr. Throne ami
has since devoted his energies to that en-
terprise. They are wide-awake business
men of known reliability, and are meeting
with well-deserved success. Mr. Hatfield is
a Republican in politics, anil is an acti\-e
member of Star Camp, No. 1886, M. W.
A., of Cullom, and Livingston Cnuntv
Lodge, No. 264, K. P., of Chatsworth.

ALPHA BAKER.

Alpha Baker, an honored and highly
respected citizen of Dwight, Illinois, who
is now living a retired life, was born in
Oneida county. New York, September 19,
183 1, and is a son of Samuel A. and Sophia
(Porter) Baker, who spent their entire lives
in that county, where the father cleared and
improved a good farm of one hundred and
sixty acres. He was a most progressive and
enterprising man and an excellent judge of
good stock, to the raising of which he de-
voted considerable attention. He died at
about the age of sixty years, his wife at the
age of seventy-seven. His father was Henry
Baker, a ship carpenter in early life. Our
subject is the second in order of birth in a
familv of three children. Ellis, the oldest,

A. BAKER.

MRS. A. BAKER.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

now seventy-two years of age, followed
farming, and is now living on his old home
farm in Xew York state. Hope, the young-
est, died in girlhood.

In the county of his nativity. Alpha
Baker was reared and educated, and re-
mianed under the parental roof until twen-
ty-three years of age, when he Aent to Con-
necticut, working three years in Hartford
and New Haven counties. At the end of
that time he moved to Warren, Ohio, where
he worked about a }ear at anything lie
could find to d6, and then cafne to Illinois,
stopping in Grundy county from 1856 until
1890. The winter of 1856-7 was spent in
the lumber woods on the Eau Claire river,
Wisconsin, but the following spring he re-
turned to Grundy county. Illinois, where he
worked by the month one year. He next
rented a farm in Mazon township, which
he operated three years, and then purchased
a wild tract of one hundred and sixty acres,
which he commenced immediately to im-
prove and cultivate, erecting first a house,
22x22 feet in dimensions and containing
three rooms.

Mr. Baker was married, September 25,
1861, to Miss Sarah J. Collar, a native of
St. Lawrence county. New York, and a
daughter of Lyman and Eliza Jane (Crabb)
Collar, also natives of that state. The
father engaged in farming and also followed
the wagon-maker's trade in St. Lawrence
county until Mrs. Baker was eight years of
age. when he came to Illinois with his fam-
ily, locating in Grundy county, when it con-
tained only a few houses and these widely
scattered. He took up a tract of govern-
ment land, to which he later added by pur-
chase. He lived to the advenced age of
ninety years. In his family were ten chil-
dren, of whom five died young, namely:

Addison. Jessie, Reuben, Frank and Har-
riet. Those living are Norman, a resident
of Iowa; George, of Joliet, Illinois; Alfred,
of Iowa; Malinda, ' of Mazon township,
Grundy county. Illinois; and Sarah J., wife
of our subject. Eight chiitlren were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Baker, but four died in in-
fancy. The others are Frank, who is now
engaged in farming in Storm Lake, Iowa;
Emery, a stock raiser of Lincoln county,
Nebraska ; Stella and Ada Sigourney, at
home.

After his marriage Mr. Baker took up
his residence upon the farm which he had
previously purchased, and five years later
added to it a tract of eighty acres and after-
ward one hundred and twenty-six acres
more. His landed possessions in Grundy
county now aggregate six hundred and
sixty-two acres, consisting of two hundred
and forty acre's on section 12 and one hun-
dred and sixty acres on section 24, High-
land township; and one hundred and twen-
ty-six on section 7, and one hundred and
thirty-six acres on section 19, Goodform
township. He also owns one hundred and
ninety acres of improved land in York coun-
ty, Nebraska, and ten lots in Dwight. In
connection with general farming he always
engaged in stock raising, but since Febru-
ary, 1890, he has made his home in Dwight
and lived retired, la3'ing aside all business
cares.

Fraternally Mr. Baker is a member of
\'erona Lodge, No. 757, F. & A. M., of
Verona, in which he has held office. He
is idejjendent in politics, voting for the man
whom he believes best qualified f(jr ofiice re-
gardless of party lines. He efticiently
served as commissioner of highways for
two terms of three years each and put up
the first iron bridges and stone abutments

2/6

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in Highland township during his term. For
a number of years he and his wife have
traveled in the west quite extensively, and
can now take life easy after their earh' years
of toil and privations. As a business man
Mr. Baker has been remarkably successful,
and his career affords an excellent example
to the young in that he commenced life
without capital, but having a determination
to succeed he industriously applied himself
until he has acquired a handsome property,
and has also won the confidence and respect
of his fellow men in a marked desfree.

JAMES BROWN.

The career of him whose name heads
this review illustrates most forcibly the pos-
sibilities that are open to young men who
possess sterling business qualifications. It
proves that neither wealth or the assistance
of influential friends at the outset of his
career are necessary to place him on the road
to success. It also proves that ambition,
perseverance, steadfast purpose and inde-
fatigable industry, combined with sound
business principles will be rewarded, and that
true success follows individual effort only.
For many years Mr. Brown was actively
identified with the agricultural and stock
raising interests of Livingston county, but
is now living a retired life in Dwight. hav-
ing accumulated a handsome competence
through his own well directed efforts.

He was born in Oneida county. New
York, September 14, 1828, a son of David
and Sophia (Mumford) Brown, the former
a native of Scotland, the latter of Connecti-
cut. When David Brown was ten years of
age he was brought to America by his fa-

ther, David Brown, Sr., a stocking weaver
by trade, who settled in Herkimer county,
New York, and in the midst of the forest
cleared and developed a farm of one hundred
acres, upon which he set out one of the finest
orchards in the country. In those early
days it often happened that he sold his best
apples for six cents a bushel and farmers
would come from miles around to get them.
He also owned and operated a cider mill,
maiuifacturing from two to three hundred
barrels of cider in one season. He died at
the age of si.xty-six years, his wife at the age
of eighty. In their family were twelve chil-
dren. Our subject's maternal grandfather.
Captain William Mumford, of the Revo-
lutionary war, died at the age of about sev-
enty, while his wife lived to the advanced
age of ninety-five years. To them were also
born twelve children. After reaching man-
hood. David Brown, Jr.. also followed
farming and became quite well-to-do, being
able to give his children good educational
advantages. He died at the age of ninety
years, while the mother of our subject de-
parted this life at the age of forty-four. For
his second wife he married Cornelia ]\Iarvin,
but had no children by that marriage. By
the first union nine children were born,
seven of whom reached years of maturity,
namely: Charlotte. Jeanette, Mary. David,
James, John and Elizabeth. All are living
with the exception of Jeanette, and all are
residents of New York state except our sub-
ject.

During his boyhood James Brown at-
tended the public schools of his native coun-
t\- until fifteen years of age, when he went to
live with his uncle. James Brown, a lawyer
of Oswego, New York, who sent him to
school and also assisted him in his algebra,
geometry, trigonometry, philosophy and as

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

2-n

tniiiomy at home during the evenings, in
this way acquiring a good education. He
was a student at tlie W'hitesboro Academy,
L'tica, New York, for a time, and after
leaving that institution tauglit scliool for six
winters, while tlirough tlie summer montlis
he engaged in farming.

At the end of that time Mr. Brown liad
saved one thousand dollars, which he invest-
ed in cattle, and for fi\e years was success-
fully engaged in the butcher business. He
then went to Wayne county. New York,
where he bought some dairy stock, which
he shipped to Herkimer county, and from
that time on was extensively interested in
the stock business, traveling all o\er w estern
New York and Canada buying dairy stock
most of the time and shipping the same to
every station from Bufifalo and Erie.

Coming to Livingston county, Illinois,
in 1867. Mr. Brown purchased an improved
farm of one hundred and eighty acres in
Nevada township but did not locate thereon
until 1869, and the first year raised nothing
as the season was so wet. He had married
July 2"^, 1866, Miss Eudora Wood, a native
of Oswego county. New York, and a daugh-
ter of Moses Wood, one of the early settlers
of that county and a successful farmer and
cattle dealer. She was the second in order
or birth in a family of twelve children, nine
of whom grew to maturity. Mr. and Mrs.
Brown had one son on coming to this coun-
ty, and here the family circles was increased
by the birth of seven other children. They
were as follows : James, who died at the age
of eighteen months ; Eva, who married Wil-
bur Reed, a business man of Chicago, and
has two children. James and George; Ade-
laide, at home ; George, who is engaged in
the stock business and resides at home : Ma-
bel, who died at the age of three years : Da-

vid, who died at the age of five years;
Blanche, who is attending school in Dwight;
and one who died in infancy.

When he located here Mr. Brown had
about one hundred steers, and being unable
to buy corn to feed them he went to Mason
county, where he purchased five thousand
bushels and shipped to his home. He con-
tinued to feed from one hundred and fifty
to two hundred head of cattle each year un-
til 1888, when he turned his attention to the
raising of blooded stock, making a specialty
of Norman draft horses, starting in this
business with a capital of seven thou.sand
dollars. He was interested in that enterprise
until 1897, when he retired from business,
having at that time ninety-five head of
horses. He had previously given considera-
ble attention to the raising of Poland China
hogs, shipping about two hundred each year.
He never sold any of the ^raiu Xhat he
raised upon his land, but fed it all to his
stock. He still owns eight hundred acres
on sections 12, 13 and 24, Nevada township,
and also has fourteen hundred acres of land
in LaPorte county, Indiana, which he pur-
chased in 1897. and which is partly improved
and cultivated. He formerly owned lands
in Kansas and Nebraska, but has since dis-
posed of them. He has building ])roj>erty in
l^wight. where he removed in November,
1899, 'I'l'l 'i^s since made his home. Start-
ing out in life for himself with no capital
his success seems almost phenomenal, but it
is due to his own industry, enterprise, per-
severance and good management.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown hold membership
in the Methodist Episcojial church, and he is
identified with the Republican party, but
has never taken an active part in politics
aside from voting. ])referring to give his
entire time and attention to his business in-

278

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

terests. He and his wife have returned to
New York on visits several times. After
a useful and honorable career he can well
afford to lay aside all business cares and
live in ease and retirement, enjoying a well
earned rest.

SAMUEL HOKE.

Samuel Hoke, deceased, was for many
years prominently identified with the agri-
cultural and business interests of Livingston
county, and also took quite an active and in-
fluential part in pubHc affairs, especially
along educational lines. He became a
resident of the county in 1859, coming here
from Williamsburg, Blair county, Pennsyl-
vania, then a part, of Bedford county, and
spent his last days in Odell.

Mr. Hoke was born in Bedford county,
Pennsylvania, April 24, 1827, a son of
Jacob and Margaret Rebecca Hoke, natives
of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, whose parents
came from Germany to America sometime
during the eighteenth century. The father
of our subject was a soldier of the war of
18 12, and was a potter by trade, following
that occupation in Gettysburg and McCon-
nellsburg, Pennsylvania. Samuel was the
youngest in his family c)f ten children, six
sons and four daughters, of whom ^Irs.
Julia Phenice, of Tacoma, Washington, is
now the only survivor.

In the common schools of his native
county Sanuiel Hoke acquired his education
and remained with his father until reach-
ing man's estate. In early life he learned
the trade of paper hanger and cabinet-maker
in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and for
eleven years worked at the same in that
state. Taking an active part in political

affairs, he sered as deputy sheriff of his na-
tive county, school director and trustee.

On the i8th of April, 1850, Mr. Hoke
was united in marriage with Miss Laura
M. Kenney, who was also born in Bedford
county, November 22, i8ji, a daughter of
Alexander W. and Hannah E. (Harvey)
Kenney. Her ancestry were residents of
Pennsylvania for many generations, and
were among the first settlers of Philadel-
phia. She is only one of a family of seven
children now living.. Having received a
good common school education, she success-
fully engaged in teaching for several years,
and also served as assistant in the postoffice
at Williamsburg, of which her father was
postmaster for twenty-five consecutive years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hoke were born si.x
sons and one daughter, namely : ( i ) Alex-
ander R. took a course at the Wesleyan Nor-
mal School, of Bloomington, Illinois, and
followed teaching for some time, but is now
employed at the State Reformatory in Pon-
tiac. He is married and has two children,
Frank F. and Samuel L. (2) Hannah M.
is the wife of J. W. Houchins, who was
graduated at a college in Chicago and en-
gaged in teaching during his active business
career, but is now living retired in Odell.
He owns a large amount of land in Illinois
and Nebraska. (3) William E. is repre-
sented on another page of this volume. (4)
Charles H., who is now living in Pontiac
and serving as deputy sheriff of the county,
was formerly engaged in the undertaking
business in Odell for some time, and has filled
the offices of constable and collector. He
is married and has one daughter, Georgetta
D. (5) George K., a farmer and liveryman,
died at his home in Odell from the effects
of injuries received in the collapse of a
brick Iniilding during a cyclone in 1886.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

279

He was married and had one daughter,
Laura R. (6) Samuel L., deceased, was
graduated at the Odell high school in 1885,
and the Xorthern Illinois Normal School at
Dixon in 1886, and followed teaching for
several years, but was preparing to enter the
ministry at the time of his death in 1887.
(7) Frank Lincoln, who lives at home with
his mother, has a good education and is a
harness maker by trade. He took the gov-
ernment census in Odell in 1900.

After his marriage Mr. Hoke continued
to reside in Pennsylvania until 1859, when
he sold his property there and came to
Dwight, Illinois, where he was engaged in
the furniture and undertaking business for
six months. He then located on the farm
i)-^ Odell township, which he had previously
purchased, it being a tract of eighty acres
of wild prairie land, whicli now forms a
part of Union township. He erected build-
ings thereon, made many other improve-
ments, and added to his property until at
one time he had five hundred acres of val-
uable land, nearly all improved by himself.
During the civil war he was drafted but hired
a substitute, and met with excellent success
in his business affairs during that period.
Although his early training fitted him for
far different work, he prospered in his farm-
ing operations, being a man of sound judg-
ment, observant and energetic. He made a
specialty of the raising of horses and cattle,
and was wonderfully successful.

Mr. Hoke was one of the men who laid
out the school districts of Union township,
and his wife was one of the first teachers,
conducting a school in their own home, in
addition to taking care of her three chil-
tiren. She taught six months for twenty
dollars pkr month and with the money
thus earned purchased their first horse.

I'heirs was the third school house of the
township, and was built on land donated by
Mr. Hoke for that purpose. He served as
school director and school trustee for many
years, and was one of the influential Repub-
licans of his community, with which party
his sons also affiliate. For over twenty
years he successfully engaged in farming,
and in 1880 moved to Odell, purchasing the
house now occupied by his widow. He
sold one hundred and sixty acres of his
land and engaged in the loan and real es-
tate business, still retaining two hundred
and forty acres of the original farm, which
is all under a high state of cultivation. At
the age of eighteen years Mr. Hoke joined
the Sons of Temperance, and was also a
member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Presbyterian church, though
he later in life attended the Congregational
church. He died at his home in Odell, May
23, 1898, honored and respected by all who
knew him. His estimable wife still carries
on the business left by him, and has met
with excellent success in all her business
ventures, being a woman of more than or-
dinary business ability and sound judgment.

JAY G. BARXHIZER, M. D.

Jay G. Barnhizer, M. D., a prominent
and successful homeopathic physician of
Forrest, IlUnois, was born in Thornburg,
Iowa, January 11, 1875, and is a son of
Joseph and Samantha (Stout) Barnhizer.
His paternal grandfather was Joseph Barn-
hizer, a native of Holland and a soldier of
the Revolutionary war, who lived to the ex-
treme old age of one hundred and six years.
The father was born, reared and educated

28o

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in Pennsylvania, and in early life went to
Ohio, where he married Samantha Stout,
a native of Leipsic, that state, of which place
her father, Elisha Stout, was one of the
pioneers and a wealthy farmer and miller.
He was also one of the early members and
a minister of the Christian church. In 1874
the Doctor's parents moved to Coal Creek,
Iowa. His father had been successfully
engaged in milling in Ohio, and traded his
milling property there for a half section of
land near Thornburg, Iowa, which place he
improved and operated with marked success
until 1888, when he sold out and moved to
California. After a short time spent in
Pasadena, he returned to Iowa and pur-
chased a farm adjoining Sigourney, in which
town he lived until his death, which occurred
April 9, 1898. He was quite wealthy, his
capital being largely invested in stock. Re-
ligiously both he and his wife were promi-
nent members and active workers in the
Christian church, and practically building
the church at Sigourney. She died Decem-
ber 9. 1893.

Dr. Barnhizer obtained a good common -
school education, graduating at the high
school of Sigourney in the class of i8qi.
and he then read medicine with Dr. F. A.
Strawbridge, of that place in 1893 and 1894
He took his first course of lectures in the
medical department of the Iowa State Uni-
versity at Iowa City, in the latter year, and
was graduated at the Chicago Homeopathic
Medical College in 1898, the same year tak-
ing a post graduate course at that institu-
tion. For a year he was engaged in practice
at Oilman, Illinois, and in April, 1899, came
to Forrest and opened an office. Although
he has been here only a short time, he has
already built up a large and constantly in-
creasing practice, and the liberal patronage

he enjoys attests his skill and ability in his
chosen calling. He is examiner for the
Court of Honor. On the 24th of October.
1899, Dr. Barnhizer married Miss Eliza-
beth D. Bond, of Sigourney, Iowa, a daugh-
ter of Lorenzo D. Bond, and the young
couple have already made many warm
friends in their adopted city.

WILLIAM T. GARDNER.

William T. Gardner, dealer in hard-
ware, stoves, tinware, staple and fancy gro-
ceries, Chatsworth, Illinois, was born near
Lawrence, Kansas. June 6, 1862, and is a
son of John J. and Mary (Lambourne)
Gardner, the former a native of Scotland and
the latter of England. She is a sister of
Mrs. D. B. Puffer, of Chatsworth. John
P. Gardner emigrated from Scotlantl to
Canada, where he resided for a time. He
was a coal miner in the old country, and was
engaged in that occupation for some years.
From Canada he removed to Kansas where
he engaged in farming, but later came to
Illinois and located near Streator. where he
remained a short time and then removed to
Deer Park township. La Salle county : James,
engaged in farming. He yet makes his
home in that township, where he owns a
farm of two hundred and fifty acres. His
wife died in 1898. They were the parents
of fourteen children, eight sons and six
daughters, of whom two died in childhood,
and Emma, in 1898, at the age of nineten
years. The living are Matthew T., a farmer
of Pleasant Ridge township. Livingston
county; William T., the subject of this
sketch: Mary, wife of Emerson Calkins, of
La Salle ceuntv : lohn. living in Iowa Falls,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Iowa; Jennie, wife of Thomas Nicholson,
hving in Iowa Falls, Iowa ; Fred, also of
Iowa Falls ; Nellie, wife of L. Calkins, of
Der Park township. La Salle county ; James,
of Vermillonville, La Salle county: Char-
lotte, wife of Roy Logfan. of La Salle county ;
Sadie and George, residing at home witli
their father. In politics John P. Gardner
is a Democrat, hut has never sought or would
serve in any official capacity. Religiously
he is an Adventist. For several years he
has heen living a retired life in X'ermillion-
ville.

The suhject of this sketch was but a
small child when his parents removed to
La Salle county, Illinois, and on his father's
farm in that county he grew to manhood,
and in the district schools he received his
education. He remained at home until he
was twenty-one years of age, when he came
to Charlotte township, Livingston county,
where he engaged in farming for himself.
After remaining on that farm for two years
he went hack to La Salle county, and, in 1885,
was married to Miss Anna Hampson, who
was horn near Washington. PennSyKania.
and a daughter of Lindsey and Martha
(Earl) Hampson, both of whom were also
natives of Pennsylvania, where their mar-
riage occurred. Tliey later moved to La
Salle county, Illinois, but are now deceased.
They had a family of three sons and three
daughters, all of whom are living, as fol-
lows: Mary, wife of William Eaton, ol
Deer Park township. La Salle county; .\nna,
wife of our subject : William. Clara, James
and Minor, all of whom are living in La
Salle county.

After his marriage, Mr. Gardner engaged
in farming on a forty-acre tract. He re-
mained there for three years, left it, but re-
turned and remained there five years longer,

when he was compelled to give up farming.
He then moved to Chats worth, purchased
a lot, erected a building and opened up in
the restaurant and hotel business on the
15th of August, 1893. He continued in
that business very successfully until Novem-
ber. 1898. when he closed out and put in
a stock of hardware and groceries. He
now carries a full line of shelf and heavy
hardware, stoves and tinware, staple and
fancy groceries, and is doing a good business.
Owning the building in which his store is
located, his expenses are light, and he can
and does compete with stores in the larger
towns.

To Mr. and Mrs. Gardner ha\e l)een
born five children, as follows: Gertrude,
Edith. Edna. Ola and Leslie J., all of
whom are jmpils in the public schools, with
the e.xception of the last named.

In politics Mr. (lardner is a Denii crat,
and while he has in\ariably refused to ac-
cept public office, was elected a memljer ;)f
the board of education in 1900. Fraternally
lie is a member of Camp No. 1829, M. W.
.\. He is on the working team in his camp,
and takes great interest in its proceedings.
.\s a citizen he is enterprising and progress-
ive, ever willing to do his share in advancing
the welfare of his adopted city and county.

WILLI. \M S. SKIXXER. M. D.

William S. Skinner, M. 1).. a prominent
and successful i)hysician and surgeon of For-
rest, Illinois, was born in London. Ontario,
Canada, January 20. 1872, and is a son of
George R. and Dina (Reeves) Skinner, na-
tives of the same place. His paternal grand-
father. Rev. James Skinner, a Presbyterian
minister, removed from Scotland to Canada

282

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in 1837, and for twenty-six years was pas-
tor of a church in the township of London,
Ontario. He also served as superintend-
ent of schools for Middlesex county a num-
ber of years, and died there about 1866.
The Doctor's maternal grandfather, \\'ill-
iam Reeves, was a native of England, an
early settler of London, Canada, where he
followed the occupation of farming through-
out life. The father of our subject engaged
in the same pursuit, and became quite an
extensive dealer in real estate in Dakota.
He is now a resident of Manitoba, where he
conducts a large stock and grain farm. In
his family of seven children the Doctor is
the second in order of birth.

Dr. Skinner began his education in the
public schools of London, Ontario, and spent
three years at the Collegiate Institute. He
next attended the AVestern Medical College,
of London, one year and then entered the
medical department of the Northwestern
University, at Chicago, where he took a full
three-years" course, during which time he
was assistant to Professor McDiarmiel, who
occupied the chair of gynecology and ob-
stetrics in the Post-Graduate School. He
was graduated in 1899 and took a competi-
tive examination fur a position in the Ly-
ing-in Hospital, and standing third highest
was resident physician there for a time. He
then came to Forrest and opened an office,
buying the practice of an old physician. He
has had a remarkably successful career for
so young a man and his practice is steadily
increasing. His practice now is of a general
character, tending toward a specialty in sur-
gery. The Doctor is now a member of the
board of health of Forrest and assistant
physician for the Wabash and Toledo, Pe-
oria and Warsaw Railroads, in which ca-
pacity he does much work.

On the 4th of Xovember, 1899, Dr.
Skinner was united in marriage with Miss
Mabel Cracraft, of Forrest, formerly of
Wilmington, Illinois. She is a well-edu-
cated lady and has successfully engaged in
teaching school. Both the Doctor and his
wiie are active members of the Congrega-
tional church, and she is now serving as sec-
retary of the Ladies" Aid Society and holds
the same office in the Eastern Star. Fra-
ternally the Doctor is a member of the }iIod-
ern Woodmen of America. He is the med-
ical examiner for the Laiion Central Life In-
surance Company, of Cincinnati.

WILLIAM LOUIS RABE, M. D.

William Louis Rabe, M. D., is a skilled
ph}'sician and surgeon of Dwight, whose
knowledge of the science of medicine is
broad and comprehensive, and whose ability
ill applying its principles to the needs of suf-
fering humanity has gained him an enviable
prestige in professional circles.

The family to which the Doctor belongs
was founded in America by his paternal
grandfather, Jacob Rabe, a native of Ger-
many, who came to this country when a
young man prior to the war of 1812. His
ancestors had for many generations been
widely known throughout Prussia, and two
of his brothers were publishers at Berlin.
On his arrival in America he located on a
tract of land near what was then the unim-
portant little town of Monongahela, Penn-
sylvania, where he spent the remainder of
his life as a farmer. There he married
and reared a family of three children, and
was a soldier of the war of 188 12. Being
a temperate man and of good habits, he

WILLIAM LOUIS RABE, M. D.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

285

lived to the extreme old age of one Inindred
years and three months, and preserved his
mental and physical strength tn a rcniark-
ahle decree. He was noted tHr his indns-
try and intet^rity. and whether at home or
ami)n<j his neighhors nreserxcd that C(|na-
nimity of temper and welUhred manner
w hich at once singled him out as a gentleman
hy birth and breeding. The celebrated
opera singers, the Rabe sisters, belonged
to the same family, and were widely known
throughout Europe, where they made a for
tune l)y their talent, who in the early '30s an<l
"4OS twice crossed the Atlantic to ]>lcasc and
delight the (iothaniilcs with the songs and
melodies of h'atlierland.

John Rahe, the Doctor's father, was
born on the old homestead near .Mmionga-
hela, Pennsylvania, and in the schools of
tliat locality iitted himself for the teacher's
profession, which he followed for some
lime, also farmed during .summer. On
reaching manhood he married i\liss Eliza-
beth Luce, also a nati\e of Pennsylvania,
and to them were born the following chil-
li ren : Melesendra, wife of Dr. Henry Mor-
rison, of Pittsbure; Amanda, wife of Samuel
A. Erederick, of Ohio; Maria, who diet! at
tiie age of sixteen years: Hiram, a capitalist
of Clyde, Ohio; John, a physician of Mo-
nongahela, Pennsyhania ; and William L.,
our subject. In 1820 the father moved with
his family t(j Jefferson county, Ohio, and
I'urchased a farm, which continued to be his
home until called to his final rest in 1872.
1 le was a man of more than ordinar\- abilitw
and was at once recognized as a valuable
addition to the community. Religiously
he was a prominent member of the Presby-
terian church, and politicall_\- was first a
Whig and later a Republican. As one of

the leading citizens of his township he was
16

called u])on to fill \arious local offices. He
sought to wield a healthy influence over his
children, to whom he gave a liberal educa-
tion and encouraged them in the e.xercise
oi those virtues by which they became valued
and reputable citizens.

William J-ouis Rabe was born near
Steubenville, Ohio, May 8, 1839. His ele-
mentary education was conducted chiefiy by
his father, an intelligent farmer and teacher.
■Snb.sequently he was thoroughly trained in
the higher branches, first taking a course in
Richmond College and then matriculating in
the Cleveland Medical University. He be-
gan the practice of his profession at Wells-
ville, Ohio, the larger portion of w Inch was
on the Virginia side of the Ohio river. Dur-
ing the ci\il war he served as assistant sur-
geon with the Union forces, and was
wounded upon the occasion of General Mor-
gan's capture in Columbiana county. As
hostilities drew to a clo.se, in common with
other industrious citizens he prepared to re-
sume the occuijations of peace. Eor a time
his decision wa\ered between the adoption
of the clerical and the medical professions.
In 1862 he was chosen president of the Rich-
mond (Ohio) College, which position he
resigned after filling it two terms. In iS()5
he entered both the McCormick Theological
Seminary and Rush Medical College, of
Chicago, two years thereafter receiving a
diploma from each of the institutions named.
After his graduation he was honored with
calls from the First Presljyterian church, of
Hloomington, Illinois, Ahuioon. Illinois, an.]
LaPorte, Lidiana. In i^()j he located at
the place first named and remained there
nine years, when he removed to Dwight to
engage in the practice of medicine. Here
for more than twenty years he has given
faithful and effective attention to his pro-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

fessional duties, and has esta1)lished one of
the largest and most hicrative practices to
be found in the interior of the state. He is
a constant reader of the best medical litera-
ture of the (lay. to which he is also a valued
contribute ir. He is a member of the state,
inter-state and national societies, and cor-
respondent of the World's Medical Con-
gress. He has repeatedly deliveretl ad-
dresses before medical associations. The
following is an e.xtract from an adilress
made before the Inter-State Association:
•'Gentlemen or Brothers — Wise and learned
as we are supposed or ought to be — walking
or moving thesaurus of medical knowledge,
can anyone answer satisfactorily why nr of
what a pain is? Why are so many so se-
riously sick? Or most of all, why do so
many die?"

Conservati\-e in medical practices as he
is, in theory he is always respecting and try-
ing a new remedy. He never discharges an
old soldier (so to speak) in old attire for a
recruit in costlier dress, until he knows the
latter can mure quickly wound or kill one
or more of the twenty-five hundred diseases
that not nnlv afflict hut by which mankind
ultimately dies. He has a bitter hatred of
artful or underhanded dealing of any kind;
is in fact an uncompromising but honest
fighter when he believes he is in the right or
has been unjustly assailed. A case in point
was the protracted contest which was waged
against him by the Keeley Company. A
jjost graduate of the Keeley Institute, and
at the same time an attorney for the same,
had him called before the United States
court fi>r a technical violation of the reve-
nue laws. The Doctor was asked to plead
for himself and in ten minutes his case was
dismissed, the United States district at-
torney emphasizing the fact by the remark ;

"This is a vindication of a noble man." The
closing period of Dr. Rabe"s address was as
follows: "If there is any secret oath re-
corded as I know on earth, and I trust in
heaven, it is that I am a good Templar. And
more: I have on my body the mark .of a
wound out of which blood fiowed. more
than several drops of l)lood. over thirty
years ago, in defense of a country the best
of which history gives any record. Now
please do not even intimate when I am get-
ting old and gray and feel I am verging to-
wards the close of active life, that I should
for any cause be forgetful of the past, recre-
ant to sacred duty; in a word, be a semi-
traitor to tlie strong, lasting, lienefiicent
government that not only protects mj- prop-
erty, but graciously shields and preser\-es
my person." The secjuence of the case was
the dismissal of the attorney by the ctmi-
pany, and they in turn were siuiimoned by
the people to appear before the bar of one
of the lower and higher courts of the com-
monwealth of Illinois for actual violation of
law and good order.

In 1S67 Dr. Rabe was married to Miss
Emma Clay Temple, of Bloomington, Illi-
nois, whose parents were natives of Vir-
ginia, and lineal descendants of the I'arke
Curtis (Martha Washington) family. Mrs.
Rabe died in August, 1888, leaving four
children: Mildred T., born July 17, 1868,
is the widow of Leonard How lett, of Syra-
cuse, New York, ' anil a resident of that
place; William L., born October 8, 1869, is
connected with the Chicago & Alton Railroad
and is a resident of Washington, Illinois;
Clarence Parke, born January 10, iSjJ, is
connected with the firm of Nicolas Cramer
& Company, dealers in real estate, insurance
and loans, of Chicago: Lucy E., born Jan-
uary Ji, 1S74. is at home. All lia\e l>een

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

287

provided with good educational advantages,
and Mrs. Howlett studied music for two
years under Professor Phelps, of Chicago.
Both she and her sisters are singers of unu-
sual ahility. The former is and has been
for several years a salaried soloist in the
First Presbyterian church, of Syracuse. Xew
York, devoting herself to concert and church
service, or engagements.

J.XMES .McCOK.MICK.

James McCormick. one of the early set-
tlers and highly respected citizens of Living-
.stnn county, who is now living a retired life
in the village of Strawn. Fayette township,
is a native of this state, born in La Salle
county, October 21, 1837. and is a son of
Alfred and Amanda ( Downerd ) McCor-
mick. His paternal grandfatlier was Charles
McCormick, a native of County Tyrone.
Ireland, who, on coming to this country at
an early day, settled in Fayette ounty, Penn-
sylvania, where his three sons and two
daughters were born and reared. He went
to La Salle county. Illinois, with the father
of our subject, and engaged in farming in
Farm Ridge township for many years, but
died in Bruce township at the age of
se\enty-three years. His wife, who
survived him several years, died in
the same place and was laid to rest by his
side. Alfred McCormick was born in Fay-
ette county, Pennsylvania, about 1808, and
remained there until twenty-five years of
age. assisting his father in the work of the
farm. In 1833 he moved to La Salle coun-
ty. Illinois, and purchased one hundred and
sixty acres of. government land in Farm
Ridge township, wJiich property he improved

and made his home for about eight years.
On selling out he bought another farm in
the .same township, and lived there for a
number of years, when he disposed of that
place and moved to Streator. where he spent
the last ten years of his life in retirement
from active labor, dying there in 1886. He
was a consistent member of the Methodist
church, which his family attended, and was
a life-long Democrat, but never sought nor
held ])ublic oftice. He was a public-spirited
man, an advocate of ail that would tend to
advance or im])rove the community in which
he lived. His wife survived him about three
years, and also died in Streator. Of their
eleven children, eight are still living, our
subject being the second in order of birth.

Until he attained his majority James Mc-
Cormick lived with his parents, assisting in
the farm work and attending the common
schools of La Salle county. He then en-
gaged in farming for himself upon rented
land in that county until after the Civil war
broke out. when he enlisted at Ottawa, in
.\ugust. 1862, in Company E. One Hundred
and Fourth Illinois V'olunteer Infantry.
At Hartsville. Tennessee, he was taken
prisoner, and held for about si.\ months
before being exchanged. Returning home
sick, he was finally discharged at Ottawa, in
the winter of 1863.

-After recovering his health Mr. McCor-
mick came to Livingston county, where for
a year he worked by the month for Mr.
Morgan, one of the earliest settlers of the
county, and for the same length of time
herded cattle where the town of Strawn now
stands. He next engaged in farming for
himself in Fayette township, and followed
that occupation continuously for twenty
years. For four years he was then engaged
in the liquor business in Strawn, and at

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Kangley. La Salle county, ten years, after
which he returned to Strawn. where he con-
tlucted a saloon one year, but since tliat time
has lived a retired life, enjoying the fruits
of former toil. Since attaining his major-
ity Mr. McCormick has always affiliated
with the Democratic party, and is a member
of the Roman Catholic church of Strawn, to
which his family also belong. He is widely
and favorably known and has many friends
throughout Livingston and La Salle coun-
ties.

In Farm Ridge township. La Salle coun-
ty, Mr. McCormick was married. February
4, 1858, to Miss Jane Conelly, a native of
Oswego, New Ynrk, and the thirtl in order
of birth in a family i)f ten children, seven of
who are still living. Her parents were
Michael and ALirgaret (Coregan) Conelly.
Her father, who was a miller by trade, died
in Oswego, at the age of thirty years, but
her mother li\-ed to the advanced age of
ninety and died in Fayette township. Living'-
ston county. September 24. 1899.

To Mr. and Mrs. McCormick were born
the following children: (i) Thomas P.
died at the age of two months. (2) Ed-
ward, an engineer on the Union Pacific Rail-
road and a resident of Pittsburg, Kansas, has
been married three times, his first wife being
Mary Saughnessey, by whom he had four
children : James ; Thomas, who died at the
age of sixteen years; William and Edna
Jane, who both died in infancy. His second
wife was Florence Lossing and to them were
born two children, Ruth and Edith. His
present wife was Delia Otterman. (3)
Maggie is the widow of Thomas Smoot, a
telegraph operator of Strawn, where she is
now keeping a boarding house. She had three
children : Robert, Maude and Thomas, all
living; and Catherine, deceased. (4) Min-

nie is the wife of William A. Somers, of
Strawn. and they had nine children, namely :
Frank, Elizabeth J., Geneva, Wiliiarii. Peter,
Katie. Cora. Alarie and William. 2nd. (5)
Rose, the first white child born in Fayette
township, Livingston county, is the wife of
James Keeley, a farmer of Forrest township,
and they have seven children : Edward,
Maggie. Thomas, May, Agnes, Teresa and
James. (6) Cora died at the age of nine
months. (7) Agnes is the wife of W. A.
Myers, of Chicago, superintendent of the
Harlem race track. (8) Lizzie is at home.
(9) Teresa is now teaching in the public
schools of Sibley, and also taught in Kangley
five years. ( 10) Katie dietl at the age of
two years and four months. (.11) Martha
is the wife of Elmer Davis, a farmer oi For-
rest township, and they have two children,
Josephine and Jane Frances.

AUGCSTl-S ROBINSON.

Augustus Robinson, who for a third of a
century has been prominently identified with
the agricultural interests of Broughton town-
ship, Livingston county, his home being on,
section 30, is a native of Illinois, born in La
Salle county, October 24, 1840, and is a
son of James and Sophia (Richey) Robin-
son, who were born in Ohio, in 181 5 and
1 818, respectively, and when young came to
this state with their parents, settling in La
Salle county during the Indian troubles.
There the families engaged in farming un-
der great difficulties, hauling their wheat
to Chicago markets. The grandparents of
our subject all died in La Salle county upon
land which they had taken up from the gov-
ernment. His grandfather, Nathaniel Richey.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

289

served as a private in the war of 181 2. Our
subject's parents were married in La Salle
county and settled on government lantl
where they made their home throughout life,
the father dying June 2, 1899, the mother
in 1864. He was a radical Republican in
politics, but never took an active part in po-
litical affairs, however, and both were earn-
est and consistent members of the Congre-
gational church. Augustus was their old-
est child, the others being Priscilla. wife of
Ellison Shepherd, a farmer of La Platte,
Missouri; Alexander, a farmer of High-
more, South Dakota: Andrew J., a resident
of Granville, Illinois; Eva S., wife of R. N.
West, of Mexico, Missouri; Jolin 11.. who
is living near that place; James \'., wim lives
near Geneva. Nebraska; and Sophia, wife
of William E. Hoke, of Odell.

Augustus Robinson is indebted to the
public .schools of La Salle county for his
early educational advantages. He remained
upon the home farm until he attained his
majority, and then enlisted in 1862 in Com-
pany B, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois
Volunteer Infantry. He followed his regi-
ment to the Cumberland mountains, where
he was taken ill and assigned to other duty.
He participated in the battle of Nashville,
and was honorably discharged in July, 1865.
After his return home he rented land and
lived near his parents until his marriage. In
1866 he purchased one hundred and sixty
acres of unimproved land in Broughton
township, Livingston county, but did not lo-
cate thereon until two years later. It was
canal land, which by hard work and skill-
ful management he has transformed into one
of the most productive and best improved
farms n{ the locality. .\s he succeeded he
added another one hundred and eighteen
acres to his farm, and now has two hundred

and seventy-eight acres on section 30 under
a high state of cultivation. He has made
a specialty of stock raising, devoting his at-
tention principaljy to hogs.

Mr. Robinson was united in marriage
January 9, 1868, with Miss Alice Hayward,
who was born in county Kent, England.
August 25, 1842, and about 1850 emigrated
to Toronto, Canada, with her parents, John
and Mary (Waghorne) Hayward. In 1866
she came to La Salle county, Illinois. Her
parents made their home in Saugatuck,
Michigan, but her father died while on a
visit at the home nf our subject. Mr. and
Mrs. Robinson have live children : ( i )
William A., who lives near Kirksville. Mis-
souri, married Edith Gilbert, daughter of
C H. Gill)ert. of Emington, Illinois, and
they have four children. Elsie G., Lael F.,
Clyde A. and Mary A. (2) Mattie 1.. who
was educated at 01)erlin College, is the wife
of Dr. C. P. Wikoff. a prominent physician
of Emington. and they have one daughter,
Alice F. (3) Gertrude took a course of
music at Wheaton College, and is ncnv at
home. (4) Horace E., who operates a
part of his father's farm, married .Alice
Drew, (laughter of Thomas Drew, of Eming-
ton. and they have two ciiildren, Harland
Drew and Irving Clare. ( 5 ) Charles .\.
is at home.

Politically Mr. Robinson is a stanch Re-
publican, and has held nearly every office
in the township, serving as collector, assessor
and supervisor one term each, and school
treasurer .since 1875. He takes quite an
active and prominent part in local politics,
and has been a delegate to state and county
conventions of his party. Fraternally he is
a member of the Grand .\rmy Post of Saune-
min; and religiously is a member of the
Congregational church, of which he is treas-

>90

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

urer and trustee. He is a worthy Christian
gentleman, well liked by all who know
him.

ELIAS HARTMAN.

Elias Hartman, a prosperous and sub-
stantial farmer residing on section 23, Sulli-
van township, Livingston county, Illinois,
was born in Tazewell county, this state, July
20, 1842, a son of Peter and Agnes (Hart-
man) Hartman, who, though of the same
name, were not related prior to their mar-
riage. They were natives of Germany, and
shortly after their marriage emigrated to
the new world, locating first in Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania. Not long afterward
they went to Ohio, and after a short time
spent in that state came to Tazewell county,
Illinois, where they were numbered among
the early settlers. There the father pur-
chased land and engaged in farming until
his death. In the family were si.x children :
Ann, who died young; Henry, a resident of
Tazewell county; Elias, our subject; Ben-
jamin, deceased, who spent his entire life in
Tazewell county; Sarah and Emanuel, still
residents of that county.

The subject of this review began his edu-
cation in an old log school-house in Tazewell
county, one mile from his boyhood home,
where he pursued his studies for two months
tluring the winter, and later walked two
miles to school through timber, over hills
and hollows. At intervals he attended
school through the winter as he had oppor-
tunity until about twenty years of age, and
thus acquired a good practical education.
His father had died when the family was
young, and he remained at home with his
mother until he attained his majority, and

then commenced farming on a small tract
of land for himself, at the same time assist-
ing in the management of the home jjlace.
In 1866 he came to Livingston and bouglit
a forty-acre tract of land adjoining the
eighty acres of raw prairie land purchased
by his mother, and that year broke both
places. As he was unmarried he returned
to the old home in Tazewell county each
winter for four years., and in the spring
would resume his farming operations here.
On the _'4th of January, i8ji. Mr. Hart-
man was united in marriage with AIiss Sarah
Shell}', a native of Butler cinint}-, Pennsyl-
\ania. and a daughter of Henry and Marga-
ret ( Drushel ) Sholly who was also born in
that county, and spent his last days in Kan-
kakee county, Illinois. She is the second in
order of birth in a family of five children,
the others being Elizabeth, wife of Emanuel
Hartman, of Tazewell; Reinhard, a resident
of Round Grove township. Livingston coun-
ty; Matilda, wife of Albert Wild, of Ogle
count}-, Illinois; and Mar}-, who died at
about the age of ten years. Of the twelve
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hartman
one died in infancy. The others are Mar-
tha, wife of Elias Christophel, residing on
section 12, Sulli\'an township, Livingston
county; Henry, who married Ida Engle and
lives in Tazewell county; Peter, a resident of
Li\ingsti)n county; Margaret, wife of John
Diebel, li\ing on section 22. Sullivan town-
ship; and John, Emanuel. Levi, .\manda,
Ilarvev, Reuben and Lewis, all at home.

After his marriage Mr. Hartman moved
into a house on his mother's' eighty-acre
farm in Livingston county, and three years
later built his present residence on his own
land. A year or two after making the first
purchase he bought another forty acres, and
in course of ten vears bought the eighty

THE BlOGRArHlCAL RECORD.

291

acres lielonging to his mother, so that hs
owned all of the northeast quarter of sec-
tion 23, Sulhvan townsliip. lie lias since
hought eighty acres on section 14, and the
southwest quarter of section 22. making-
four hundred acres, lacking one acre, un
which the school-house is located, and the
track (if the Illinois Central Railroad, which
runs through one quarter-section, lie is a
thorough and skillful farmer, a man of good
business ability and sound judgment, and
has met with well-merited success in his
farming operations. Both Mr. antl .Mrs.
llartman are members of the .Mennoniic
church, of Cullom, and he is indepenilcnl
in politics, voting for the men best (jualitied
for the ])ositii)ns regardless of party lines.

JOSEPH KLXTZ.

Joseph Kuntz, a highly esteemed and
hiinored citizen of Strawn, Livingston coun-
ty, Illinois, was born in Alsace, France,
July I'l, 1825, and is a son of Michael and
r>;irl);u"a (I'mcli) Kuntz, who spent almost
their entire li\es as farming penpk- in Ba-
\aria, (iermany, going there in iSjy.
in their family were ti\e children, namely;
Jacnl). h'rederick, Joseph, Alagdalena and
Barbara.

The early life of owv subject was spent
in his native land, but in 1865 he crossed
the broad Atlantic and took up his residence
in Tazewell county, Illinois, where he en-
gaged in farming until coming to Livingston
county, in 1868. He then purcha.sed one
lunidred and sixty acres on section 18. Fay-
ette township, to which he added from time
to time until he became the owner of seven
hundred and twentv acres of rich and arable

land, having one of the largest and best
improved farms in the county. In connection
with general farming he engaged in stock
raising quite e.xtensivel}', and in all his un-
dertakings met with most gratifying suc-
cess. He has c\er been found upright and
honorable in all his dealings, and the pros-
[jcrity that has ct)me to him is certainly
well (leser\ed.

On the jth of .\pril, 1836, Mr. Kuntz
married Miss Barbara Meister, who was
;dso horn in (iermany, September 17, 1837,
and to them were born the following chd-
dren : ( i ) Peter, a resident of Fayette town-
ship, married Elizabeth Garboge, and they
have six children, Joseph, William, Her-
mann, Clara, Catherine, llallie and an in-
fant daughter. ( _' ) Joseph, a resident of
Ford county, Illinois, married j-'lizabeth
Kanauer. and has one son, I-'rank. (3) Hen-
ry, a farmer of McLean county, married
Emma l-'nday. (4) .Mary is now the wife of
liric .\. (lullberg, mentioned below. (5)
Susan is the wife of Henry W'itzburger, a
farmer of P'ayette tow^nship, Livingston
county, and they have one daughter, Stella.
( ()) -Mbert married .Sarah .Schrine and re-
sides in Ford county, (j) John married
Lena .Schrine and resides on the home farm
of .Mr. Kuritz. (8| Kiltie married Andrew
Roth and the_\- li\e in b'ord count)-. ( <; ) Rosa
married dustolph Uingle, and resides in
.Straw n.

.Mr. Kuntz and his family are dexout
members of the Catholic church, and are
people of jiromincnt-e in the communities
where they reside. Politicaly he is identi-
fied with the Democratic [)arty, and has ever
taken a deep and commendable interest in
public affairs. He lilled the oftice of road
commissioner two terms and school director
for the same length of time.

292

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Eric N. Gullberg, one of the leading
business men of Strawn, was born in the
southern part of Sweden, January i8, 1858,
a son of Nels and Anna (Olson) Erickson.
For about eighteen years the father was en-
gaged in the manufacture of shoes, conduct-
ing a large shop and emploj'ng seven or
eight hands. On retiring from that business
he turned his attention to farming, which he
followed for many years. He died at his
home in Sweden, in 1881, at the age of
sixty-five years, and tiie mother departed
this life in 1895, ^t the age of eighty-one.
In their family were six children, three of
whom are still living, namely : Peter N.
Erickson, who is now engaged in the shoe
business in St. Paul, Minnesota : Nellie
Erickson, who is unmarried and still resides
in Sweden ; and Eric N. Gullberg, our sub-
ject.

Mr. Gullberg was reared and educated in
Sweden, attending the high school of his
birth-place. He worked on his father's
farm until seventeen years of age, and then
entered the Swedish army, serving five years
as a corporal in a cavalry regiment, and
during his vacations was employed in a
wholesale house in Sullvesburg. On enter-
nig the army he changed his name from
Erickson to Gullberg, which was the name of
one of his cousins, and has since retained
the latter. In 1883 he embarked in the gro-
cery business in Pukawic, but his store was
destroyed by fire in August, 1885, and he lost
all he had. He then worked in a grocery
store until coming to the United States
April 15. 1890. He made his home in Chi-
cago until March, 1891, and then went to
Goodland, Indiana, where he worked on a
farm for nearly a year. On the 3d of Febru-
ary, 1892, he came to Strawn, and after
being employed as a farm liand for about

four years, he embarked in the liquor busi-
ness in that village, which he still carries on
with good success.

On the 23d of August, 1898, in Strawn,
Mr. Gullberg was imited in marriage with
Mrs. Mary L. Benway. daughter of Joseph
Kuntz. and widow of Joseph Benway, by
whom she had three children, all still liv-
ing, namely : Albert J., Oscar W. and Will-
iam J. In his political views Mr. Gullberg
is a Republican, and in his social relations is
a member of Payson Lodge, No. 705. 1. O.
O. F.. and Fayette Lodge, No. 458, K. P.,
of Strawn. He has passed all the chairs in
both orders, and is now secretary and repre-
sentative in the former and master of ex-
chequer in the latter, having held the last
named office for the past three years. He is
also a prominent member of the Living-
ston County Liquor Dealers' Association,
and has been treasurer of the same since its
oroanization.

CHARLES H. HOKE.

Charles H. Hoke, chief deputy sheriff
of Livingston county, and one of the lead-
ing citizens of Pontiac, was born in Union
township, this county, June 28, 1861, a son
of Samuel and Laura X. (Kenney) Ploke.
The father was born in Bedford county.
Pennsylvania, and there grew to manhood
and learned the cabinet-maker's trade. The
mother was a native of Williamsburg, the
same state, and a dughter of a Mr. Kenney,
a well-kn(3wn attorney of that place. Three
of their children were born in Penn.sylvania
before the family came to Illinois. There
the father conducted a large furnture and
undertaking establishment, but on account of
failing health be was obliged to discontinue

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

293

tlie lousiness. Selling" his store, lie came to
Livingston county, Illinois, in 1859, and
purchased eighty acres of land in Uninn
township for eight dollars per acre. In tlie
house he erected thereon his wife taught the
first school in the township, having pre-
viously eneaged in teaching in her nati\e
state. He turned his attention to the im-
provement and cultivation of his land, and
so successful was he in his farming opera-
tit)ns that he added to his place until he had
four hundred acres, two hundred and forty
acres of which is still in possession of the
family. He tiled the land and converted it
into < )ne of the hest farms of the county. He
took a prominent and active part in puhlic
atYairs. especially along educational lines,
serving as a school directt)r and memher of
the hoard for many years. He also filled
the office of assessor for a nuniher 0/ years,
and was a stanch Republican in politics. In
18 — he left the farm and moved to Odell,
v.here he lived retired until his death, in
i8y8. He was a faithful memher of the
Congregational church, to which his wife
also belonged. She is still a resident of
Odell. In their family were five children,
namely : Ale.xander R., a teacher who lives
in the Illinois State Reformatory: Mrs.
Margaret Houchin: William E.. a real es-
tate dealer of Odell; Charles H., our sub-
ject: and I""rank L., a harness-maker of
Odell.

Our subject commenced his education in
the district schools of Union township, and
later attended the Odell high school. On
leaving the home farm at the age of twenty-
two years, he went to Odell, where he suc-
cessfully conducted a livery, sale, feed and
e.xchange stable, building up a large and
I)rofital)le business and shipping in car-
load lots to Xew York, Chicago and other

markets. He was a fine judge of horses
and was thoroughly conversant with e\ery
department of the business.

While engaged in business at OtlcU Mr.
Hoke became interested in Republican pcjli-
tics, and was elected constable, which posi-
tion he acceptably filled for twelve years.
He was a delegate to most of the county and
state conventions of his part\-, and served
as deputy sheriff for Odell under Sheriff
Wilson for two years; four years under T.
W. Coe, and four years under E. O. Reed,
the present county treasurer. He was also
prominently mentioned as candidate for
sheriff in 1897, and received the second
highest number of votes, W. L. Talliott
being the successful candidate of the seven
in the field. Mr. Hoke made a thorough
canvass and after the election was at once
a])pointed chief deputy by Sheriff Talbott.
Since then he has been a resident of
Pontiac, and now owns a beautiful home
at No. 610 East Madison street. In his
present position he has had charge of a
number of noted criminals, including Sam-
uel Rightsel, convicted of murder at Fair-
bury; and the six bank robbers who looted
the Cornell Piank. He has prosed a most
efficient and satisfactor\- otiicer. being
prompt and faithful in the discharge of his
duties and true to e\er_\' trust reposed in
him. whether public or ])rivate.

On the _'2d of .\\n-\\. 1893. Mr. Hoke
was united in marriage with Miss Minnie
G. Worthley. of Harvey, Illinois, a daugh-
ter of Daniel Worthley, a veteran of the
Civil war and an early settler of this state
from Ohio, who is now living retired in
Pontiac. By this union lias been born one
child, Georgetta D. The}- attend and sup-
])ort the Presbyterian church, of which Mrs.
Hoke is a member. I'raternalK- Mr. Hoke

294

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

is an honored member of the Odd Fellows
Lodge, No. 464, of Odell, of which he is
past grand ; also a member of the encamp-
ment : the Court of Honor at Pontiac. and
one of the charter members of the Toilers"
Fraternit\'.

ALBERT GRAXT TUTTLE.

Albert Grant Tvittle, one of the most en-
terprising agriculturists of Livingston coun-
t}', now owns and operates the northwest
Cjuarter of section i, Saunemin township,
\\ hich he has converted into one of the best
improved farms of that locality. He was
born in \'erona township, Oneida county,
New York, June 28, 1845, ^^^'^ is the only
child of Solomon and Emeline (Page) Tut-
tle. The father was born near Camden,
New Yoi;k, August 15, 18 15, and is a son
of Zopher Tuttle, a soldier of the war of
181 2, who was born in England and on first
coming to this country located in Connecti-
cut, where he married, but later moved to
Oneida county. New York. He followed
farming and reared a large family of chil-
dren, one of whom, Zopher Tuttle. became
a prominent pioneer of Illinois and a large
land owner, who recently dietl in Wichita,
Kansas.

The father of our subject grew to man-
hood in Oneida county, New York, and in
early life was a successful boat builder on
the Erie canal. He invested his capital
largely in real estate and the dairy business
and made quite a fortune. He was one of
the early land owners in La Salle cnunt}',
Illinois, and for years was a director and
large stockholder of the First National
Bank, of Rome, New York. He was une
of the most influential men in his commu-

nity in raising money and soldiers fnr the
Civil war, and has always been a stanch sup-
porter of the Republican party. He served
as supervisor of liis township for some years,
and is one of its most highly esteemed citi-
zens. Religiously he is an active member of
the Methodist Episcopal church, to which
the mother of our subject also belonged,
has e\er taken an active part in its work,
and is one of its most liberal supporters.
The mother died when our subject was only
a few days old. She was a native of Oneida
county. New York, and a daughter of Na-
thaniel Pase, who at one time was a prom-
ment boat builder and real estate owner of
that county.. He was born in England, and
before his removal to Oneida county lived
in Herkimer, New York, for a time. When
our subject was two years old his father
married Sarah Bailey, by whom he had
three sons.

During his boyhood Grant Tuttle at-
tended the common schools of New London,
New York, and remained at home until he
attained his majority, when he started out
to make' his own way in the world, working
as a dri\er on canal boats for si.x months.
The following year he steered, and then ran
a boat for one man two seasons, at the end
of which time he bought a boat and success-
fully engaged in the same business fur him-
self, making seven trips each season between
Buffalo and New York. He became well
acquainted with the boatmen along the canal,
and, when business began to drop off and
he sold his boat, he was offered a position
with a commission house in Buffalo, at good
wages, the firm trying hard to get him. In
September, 1882, Mr. Tuttle came tn Li\-
ingston county, Illinois, and purchased his
present farm in Saunemin township, which
at that time was entirelv unimproved. Af-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

295

tor building a small house he was joined by
his family, December 12, i88j. He has
thoroughly tiled his land, which was at first
swampy, has buiU fences, a good set of farm
buildings, and a beautiful country hduie in
iS()3 — one of the finest in the townshi]). He
has been (|uite extensively engaged in horse
r.iis'ng. hut now devotes most of lii,s atten-
tion to general farming, in which he has
met with well-merited success.

Mr. Tuttle was married. Octolier i. 1S7J.
ti' Miss Henrietta Belcher, a native of \'c-
rniia. .\'cw York, and a daughter ni Alex-
ander I'iclcher. ;i well-km iwn farmer and
mill iiwncr of that place. ( )i' the se\en
children born to them two are deceased.
Tlio.se li\ing are .Marcia. Wells. .Morris,
Julia and iCllis, all at home, .\lthough f;rm-
erly Methodists. Mr. and ^lr^. Tuttle now
attend and support the Ennngton Congre-
gational church. He is a stanch supporter
of the Republican jiarty. but has never been
an aspirant for ofiice. preferring to devote
his undivided attention to his business in-
terests. He is. however. public-s])iritcd an 1
progressive, and gives his inthience toward
advancing ;uiy enterprise which he believes
Vvill pro\e of i)ublic lienefit.

GEORGE J. \\ALTER.

George J. Walter, who has success-
fully engaged in the manufacture of
brick and tile for the past twenty \ears, is
numbered among the leading and most suc-
cessful of the business men of Chatsworth,
of which city he has been a resident since
September, 1S66. He was born in Xew
"^'ork city, December 5, 1852, and is tlie son
of John and Elizabeth (Reille) Walter, the

former a native of Baden, Germany, and the
latter of Wurtemburg, Germany, but who
came to this country in early man and wom-
anhood and were married in New York city,
wliere they lived for some years.

In his youth John Walter learned the
shoemaker's trade which he followed for
twentv-five years, after which he engaged
in the mercantile trade, in which lie con-
tinued until about uSc/). since which time he
has lived a retired life. After leaving Xew'
\'ork he remained for a time in Indiana,
and then came with his family to Chats-
worth, in 1866, and here has since con-
tinued to reside. Eor many years he was
one of the leading business men of the city,
and carried a general stock of goods. For a
number of years he' served on the school
board of that city, and was also for sev-
eral years a member of the village board of
trustees. John and Elizabeth Walter were
the parents of six children, two of whom died
in infancy, while Elizabeth died at the age of
twenty-one years. GeorgeJ. is the subject of
this .sketch. Louis .\ . is in the lumber busi-
ness in Chatsworth. while .\lbert F. is in
the dry goods business in the same cit\'.

George J. Walter was fourteen \ears old
when he came to Chatsworth. His educa-
tion, begun in the public schools of his native
city, was continued in the public schools
of Indiana, where, as stated, the family re-
sidetl for a time. On coming to Chatsworth
he entered the public schools of the place and
for about three years attended the high
school. The education received in the
schools was a practical one. and on lea\;ng
school he entered the store of his father,
and later, in com]ian\- with his brother
1.1 nis. took cha.rge of the business foi- .about
tw o years.

In September. 1877. .Mr. Walter was

296

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

united in marriage with Miss Lena Heil-
mann, who was born in Baden, Germany, in
1857, and who came to this country with her
parents when but two years of age. By this
union tliere have been born si.x children,
one of whom died in infancy. Edna E. is at-
tending Northwestern College, Naperville.
Illinois, where she is taking a commercial
course, and als(j the music and art course.
Lydia is at home attending the high school
of Chatsworth. Clara, Arthur and Esther
are all at home.

After his marriage. Mr. Walter eml)arked
in the bakery business in which he remained
about two years with a fair degree of suc-
cess. He was then one year in the furniture
business, and in 1880 sold out and broke
ground for his present plant for the manu-
facture of brick and tile, and at once engaged
in the business. He has four kilns for burn-
ing brick and tile, and has erected large
buildings and sheds for drying, with a floor
space of nine thousand scjuare feet. In 1881
he put in an engine of eighty-five horse
power, and also two boilers of one hundred
and ten horse power. The plant has a ca-
pacity for thirty thousand brick and Mr,
Walter does the largest business of any firm
in the county, shipping his product by rail
to nianv points in and out of the county.

In politics Mr. Walter is a Republican,
and has taken an active interest in the politi-
cal affairs of his country, though never an
active politician. He has been a member of
the school board in Chatsworth for seven
years, and has taken great interest in main-
taining good schools. Religiously he and
his wife are members of the Evangelical
Association.

In his business life Mr. Walter has been
verv successful. For a short time he had
a i)artner. and fi ir aliout five years his fa-

ther was associated with him in business,
but for the greater part of the time he has
managed it alone, and as stated does the larg-
est business of any firm in the county in
like business, and he has the largest plant in
the county. In addition to the plant which
covers two and a half acres of ground, he
owns eighty acres adjoining the city on the
east. As a citizen no one is willing to do
more to advance the interests of his adopted
city and county, and as friend he is kind
and obliging, ever willing to do a good turn.
.\s such as he is entitled to a place in the
historical annals of his countv.

WALTER LEGGATE.

Walter Leggate, one of the leading agri-
culturists of Germanville township, whose
fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres is
pleasantly situated on section 14, was born
in the city of New York, December 7, 1853, a
son of John and Elizabeth (Fleming) Leg-
gate. The father was bom on the 25th of
August. 1816. in Lanarkshire, Scotland,
through which county flows the far-famed
and beautiful ri\er Clyde, and is a sun oi
James and Margaret (Dalgleish) Leg-
gate, who had three children : Robert, who
served for twenty years in the British army,
and died at his home in Scotland in 1885;
John, father of our subject ; and James, who
came to America when a young man and is
now living in New Jersey. In early life
John Leggate learned the weaver's trade,
and in 1837 married Elizabeth Fleming, also
a native of Lanarkshire. In 1848, witli their
family of four children, the}' took ])assage
on a sailing vessel at Glasgow, and after ten
weeks si)ent upon the water landed in .\e\v

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

297

^t)^k city, where the father worked at liis
trade three years, and in a glass factory the
^ame lengtli of time. Later he moved to
Canada, and made his home near London,
until 1857. being employed in a brickyard
most of the time. Having saved a little
money by close economy and untiring in-
dustry, he resolved to invest it in western
land and came to Livingston county. Illi-
nois, where he jnirchased eighty acres in
( iermanville township. He prospered in his
new home, and at length became the owner
lit two hundred -.uul forty acres of valuable
hind on section 10. where he is now living
a retired life enjoying the fruits of former
toil. He is a man of many noble traits of
character, and is highly respected and es-
teemed by all who know him. Religiously
lie is a faithful member of the Presbyterian
church, and has always taken an acti\e part
in church and Sunday school work. In
h.is political views he is a Republican, and
filled the ofiice of justice of the ]ieace in his
tiiwnship for nian_\- yern"s. His wife died in
May. 1893. at about the age of seventy-
eight years, and was laid to rest in German-
ville cemetery. She, too. was a devout member
of the Presbyterian church and a most es-
tinicible lad v.

To this worthy coujjle were Ijorn nine
children, of whom four are now living;
James, a brick manufacturer of Chicago,
who first married Matilda Linn, and second
.\nna Smith, of Chicago; John, an engineer
of Chicago, who married Xancy McKav;
Walter, our subject; and Sarah, wife of
Owen McMahon. who operates his father-
in-law's farm in Germanville township.
Of those deceased Marion died when a small
child in Scotland ; Margaret married John
Beckman of Germanville township, and died
ii", Iowa, where her husband is now engaged

in farming; Robert served three years in
Company E. Eighty-ninth Illinois Volunteer
Infantry, and died in Iowa, leaving a wife
and two children; (jecirge. born in Scotland,
married Dora Lutson, of Germanville town-
slii]). where he followed farming for some
tune, but about fourteen years ago moved
t'l Iowa, where he died in March, 1898, leav-
ing a widow and four children; and Archie
died in Germanville, at the age of four
years.

Walter Leggate was only a year old
w hen the family mo\ed to Canada, and came
with them to Illinois, in the spring of 1857.
At the age of nine \ears he entered the pub-
lic schools of Germanville township, where
he was educated. He continued to assist in
the operation of the home farm until four-
teen yearge ago, when he located upon his
present place, and has since devoted his en-
ergies to its further improvement and culti-
vation. Politically he is identified with the
Republican party, and he has been called
u])iin III scr\c his fellow citizens as town-
ship collector several terms and also as con-
stable. He is widely and favorably known
in his ado|)ted county, and those who know
him best are numbered among his warmest
friends.

On the 25th of December. 1876, in Ger-
manville township, Mr. Leggate was united
in marriage with Miss Ruth Ellen Mahood,
a daughter of .Me.xander and Mary (Sum-
ney) Mahood. The father, who was a
prominent and prosperous farmer of that
township, died in 1874. and was buried there,
but the mother is still living at the age of
seventy-one years, and makes her home with
our subject. Mr. Leggate has been called
upon to mourn the loss of his estimable wife,
who died June i, 1897. leaving four chil-
dren, namely: John Alexander, born March

298

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

30, 1878; Laura, August 26, 1880; Walter
F., July 12, 1884; and Eva May, January
26, 1889. All were born in Livingston
countv. and the family is one of prominence
in the community where they reside.

HON. CHARLES M. BARICKMAN.

Hon. Charles M. Barickman, judge of
the county and probate courts of Livingston
county, is a native of the county, and was
born in Newtown township, December 28,
1862. His father, Benjamin Barickman, is
one of the oldest living settlers of the county,
having located here in 1832, when a lad of
eight years. (See sketch on another page
of this work.)

On the home farm Charles M. grew to
manhood, and in the common schools of
the neighborhood he received his primary
education, while during his vacations he as-
sisted in the operation of the farm. \\'ith
the desire to obtain a more liberal education
than that afforded by the public schools, he
entered the Illinois Wesleyan University,
Bloomington, Illinois, from which institu-
tion he was graduated with the class ol
1887.

Lea\-ing the university for the next two
years, Mr. Barickman was engaged in teach-
ing, first at Ancona and later at Cornell,
spending one year in each place. During
that time, in his leisure linurs and during his
vacations, he read law and made such prog-
ress in his studies that in 1889 he was ad-
mitted to practice in all the courts of the
state bv the supreme court in session at Ml.
Vernon, Illinois.

On his admission to the bar, Mr. Barick-
man located in Pontiac and at once entered

upon the practice of his profession. He
very soon took rank with the leading prac-
titioners of the place, and became well
known throughout the county. His ability
as an attorney was recognized, and in 1894
he was nominated for the office of county
judge, and at the election in November of
that year he was elected by a majority of
about eight hundred over his Democratic
opponent. So well did he transact the
business of the olifice that in 1898 he was re-
nominated and elected by a largely increased
majority, receiving the largest number of
votes of any candidate upon the ticket, his
majority being twelve hundred and twenty-
six votes. He is now serving his second
term, and to say that his management of the
ofifice is satisfactory to the people goes with-
out question.

On the 1 6th of April, 1890, Judge Ba-
rickman was united in marriage with Miss
Rena M. Ten Eick and daughter of ^Matthew
and Mary (Means) Ten Eick, of Blooming-
tun. Illinois. The judge and his wife attend
and support the Methodist Episcopal church,
cf Pontiac, and socially they are held in the
highest esteem. They occupy a fine resi-
dence on Maplewood avenue, erected by the
Judge, and their home is ever open to their
many friends.

Judge Barickman was born during the
time of the civil war, and grew up a loyal
citizen and an ardent Republican. His
first presidential vote was cast for James
G. Blaine in 1884, and since that time he
has ever taken an active interest in politics,
and his influence has been felt in the councils
of his partv and in the county of which he
has been a life-long resident. Eratcrnally
he is a member of Pontiac Lodge, No. 294,
A. F. & A. M. ; and of Crescent Lodge, No.
118, K. P. In the latter lodge he has held

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

299

all the chairs, and has been a representative
to the Grand Lodge of the state. He is
also a member of the Uniformed Rank, K.
P., and has served as captain two terms.
As a citizen he is alive to all that has a tenil-
ency to make the city of his adoption and
the connty of his birth take rank with the
best in our fair state.

LEONARD LARGE.

Leonard Large, deceased, was for many
years identified with the agricultural inter-
ests of Pleasant Ridge township, Livingston
county, Illinois, and was numbered among
its highly respected citizens. He was born
May 3, 1818, in Farrington, five miles from
Lynn, England, and there grew to manhood
on a farm, his father being employed as a
farmer on an estate there. In 1853 he mar-
ried Miss Sarah F. Mitchell, who was born
near the same place. May 4, i8_'(j. Her
father was Freeman Mitchell, a native of
W ispich, England, and a blacksmith by
trade, who died when she was eight years
old, leaving a widow and four children.

For one year after their marriage Mr.
and Airs. Large made their home in Rose-
berry, Topham, Yorkshire, England, and
then came to the United States, settling first
in Stony Rocks, New York, not far from
Auburn, where they spent four years. At
the end of that time they came to Illinois
and bought a small tract of ten acres of land
five miles from Eureka, on which a log house
was built. As his financial resources in-
creased Mr. Large added to his property
little by little until he had forty acres, which
he subsetiuently sold for eleven hundred
<l(illars. In 1870 he came to Pleasant Ridge

township, Livingston county, and purchased
eighty acres of land on which the family
still reside. At that time not a fence had
been built or an improvement made, but he
erected a good house and barn, planted fruit
and shade trees, tiled the land and placed it
under a high state of cultivation, so that it
ii now a valuable farm.

Mr. Large died September 11, 1880,
houiired and respected by all who knew him.
J>oth be and his estimable wife held mem-
bership in the Episcopal church. In their
family were the following children : \Vill-
iam; Sarah A., deceased; Leonard, Isaac,
Thomas, Mrs. Rebecca Minear, Mrs. Martha
Bruner and John, all living near Lexington,
Nebraska; Rachel and Robert, both at home.

MILES DESIRE.

Miles Desire, a farmer and stock raisir,
residing on section 28, Chatsworth townshi]),
while not numbered among the earlv settlers
is a well known citizen of the county, which
has been his home since 1876. He is a na-
tive of iM-ance, born March r, 1853, and is
a son of Casimer W. and Mary (Savorvin)
Meillian, both of whom were also natives of
b'rance, where their entire lives were spent,
and where they died about 1896. They were
the parents of eight children, of whom one
(lied in infancy. The living are Desire, the
subject of this sketch: Marrius, Dennis,
Ferdinand, Julius, Mary and Susan. Of the
children none came to this country but our
subject and Dennis. The latter is living in
Colorado, where he is engaged in mining.

The subject of this sketch grew to man-
hood and was educated in the public schools
of his native land. He was reared to farm

300

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

life and assisted his father on tlie home farm
until \SyT,. when he came to the United
States, with a \iew of bettering his condition
m life. On his arrir\al he took up his resi-
lience in Marshall county, Illinois, where
worked as a farm hand for three years. He
then came to Livingston county, rented land
in Germanville township, and commenced
farming for himself. Two years later, Sep-
tember 21, 1878. he was united in marriage
with Miss Martha Be\-ins, who was born in
Bureau county, Illinois, in i860. After his
marriage he continued to farm rented land
in Germanville township until 1881, when he
moved to Chatsworth township, where he
also rented and continued to farm until 1889,
when he purchased one hundred and sixty
acres on section 30, a partly improved farm.
To that farm he mo\-ed and put it under an
excellent state of cultivation.tiling and other-
wise improving the place. He remained on
that farm for six years and then purchased
three hundred and sixt}- acres of swamp
and timber land on section 28. This land
was entirly unimproved, havinj^- neither
building or fence on the place. He has since
cleared about two hundred acres of timber,
drained the swamp, and now has a good
farm. The first year he raised ninety bushels
of sod corn to tlie acre.

Mr. and Mrs. Desire are the parents of
three children : ]\Iary Ann. who is engaged
in dressmaking" in Chatsworth ; and Lizzie
and Joseph, at home. Mrs. Desire was one
of a family of four daugliters and one son.
as follows : Annie, wife of Carl Drake, liv-
ing in Chicago; Martha E., wife of our sub-
ject; Sarah E., wife of George Pyles, now
living in Missouri; Mary A., wife of M.
Krebb, of Chicago; and Caleb E., living in
Whiting, Indiana.

When Mr. Desire came to the United

States he could not speak a word of the Eng-
lish language, anil he was se\enteen dollars
in debt when he landed in Chicago. He
came here, howe\-er. with the intention of
overcoming all obstacles, and that he has
overcome them this record of his life will
attest. By his industry and enterprise he has
become the owner of a fine farm, well
stocked, and the future is bright before
him. In addition to general farming he has
usually engaged in the stock business, not
onlv raising but buying and shipping as
well, and in this he has met with a reasonable
degree of success.

Mr. Desire cast his first presidential vote
for Samuel J. Tilden, but now votes the
Republican ticket straight. He has served
as commissioner of highways for ten years,
urer of the commissioner of highways for
school director nine years, and has been tras-
the last three years. Fraternally he is a
member of the Knights of Pythias of Chats-
worth, and has lieen trustee of the same.
He is also a member of the Modern Wood-
men of America of Chatsworth. Religiously
he is a member of the Catholic church of
Chatsworth. He has been a successful man,
is well esteemed in the community which
lias been his home for nearly a (|uarter of a
century and has many warm friends.

DA\TD SHANTZ.

David Shantz, who owns and operates
a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty
acres on section 2/. Sullivan township, Liv-
ingston county. Illinois, is a native of Can-
ada, born in Berlin, Waterloo county, Jan-
uarv 30, 1846, and is a son of Isaac C. and
Elizabeth (Snyder) Shantz, both natives of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

301

reniisylvania. Tlie Sliaiitz family came
<>rigiiiall\' from Switzerland, and were
among the tir.-it settlers of Bucks county.
Pennsylvania. Tlie great-grandfather of
our subject was Isaac Shantz, who was ■horn
in .Montgomery county, that state, January
14, 174S, anil was married, in 1774. to Piar-
hara Reiti'. who was born in September,
1753. When our subject's father was only
three years old, the grandfather. Christian
Shantz, took his family to Waterlot) county.
Canada, locating there when the Indians
were far more nuiuerous than the wliite set-
tlers. There he and his wife spent their re-
maining days. The father grew to manhood
in Canada and in early life learned the cab-
ir.ctmaker's trade. I'^or many years he ran
a sawmill and furniture factory at Man-
heim. manufacturing all kinds of furniture,
l)ut misfortune overtook him and he sold
out. In 1858 he removed to (iardner, Grun-
dy county. Illinois, where he engaged in
farming upon rented land for two years,
ar.d for the same length of time rented land
in Round Grove and Dwight townships. Liv-
ingston county. Coming to Sulli\an town-
ship in 1864 he purchased one hundred and
si.xty acres of land, for which he paid twenty
dollars per acre, it being the farm on which
our subject now lives. At the time of his
death he owned two hundred acres, a part of
which was wild prairie when he purchased
it. His first home here was a small struc-
ture. 14x16 feet, the lumber for which he
hauled from Pontiac, a distance of twenty
miles. While a resident of Dwight town-
ship he sold one horse for war purposes for
two hundred dollars. On first coming to
this county our subject herded cattle on the
prairies, bringing them from Ottawa each
s])ring and taking them back in the fall. For
this he received one dollar and a half per head

for the season, and has cared for as many
as .seven hundred at one time. The father
died September jo, 1885, at the age of
eighty-two years, and was laid to rest in
Sullivan Center cemetery, while the mother
died in December, 1892, at the age of eighty-
five years. Tn their familv were the follow-
ing children: Daniel, who died in Round
Grove township, at the age of twenty-eight
years, leaving two sons, who are still living;
Lena, wi(Unv of Jacob .\macher and a resi-
dent of Cullom. Illinois; Christian S., who is
now living retired in the same place; Eliza-
beth, wiio died at the age of two years;
David, our subject: and Isaac, a farmer of
Sulli\an t<»\\nship.

During his boyhood and youth David
Shantz attended school for two or three
months during the winter seasons, and re-
mained at home until he was married, Feb-
ruary 25, 1893, to Miss Elizabeth Wenger.
who was born in the Shenandoah valley, Ef-
fingham count}', \'irginia. Her parents,
Daniel and Sarah (Coffman) Wenger, were
natives of the same state, and her grandfa-
ther. Benjamin Wenger, was also a Virgin-
ian by birth and a planter, who in the midst
of the timber cleared and improved a farm.
The father, who also followed' the occupa-
tion of farming, died in 1889, the mother
in 1896. They had twelve children, namely:
Gideon, Benjamin, Samuel. Daniel, Annie,
David, Elizabeth, Sarah, Solomon, Mary,
Moses and John. With one exception all
reached years of maturity. One is now liv-
ing in Kansas, amjther in Michigan. Mrs.
Shantz in Illinois, and the others in Vir-
ginia, lohn and two sisters live on the old
homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Shantz have five
children: John and Sarah, who arc now
attending .school: Alvin and Earl, twins;
and Mary.

302

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In 1885 Mr Shantz purchased the inter-
est of the other heirs in his father's farm,
and in 18Q9 liought an adjoining tract of one
hundred and sixty acres, so that he now has
a fine farm of three hundred and twenty
acres, which is under a high state of cuhi-
vation and well improveil. He makes a
specialty of raising thoroughhred hrown
Swiss cattle, and also keeps a thoroughbred
shire stallion, "Barnie," for breeding pur-
poses. Since casting his first presidential
vote for U. S. Grant Mr. Shantz has always
supported the Republican party, hut would
never accept office, preferring to devote his
undivided attention to his business interests.
He and his wife are members of the ^len-
nonite church, and are hip-hly respected and
esteemed bv all who know them.

\VILLIA!\I :\I. MILLER.

U'illiam M. Miller, the well-known en-
gineer of the city water works of Dwight,
was born in Aurora, Illinois, October 25,
1855, and is a son of John S. and Celia J.
(Kennedy) Miller, natives of Fulton county.
New York, where they were reared and mar-
ried. In 1854 they came west and located m
Aurora, Illinois, where the father followed
his trade oi stone mason until 1S66, when he
removed to Dwight. Here he engaged in
■contracting and did a great deal of the stone
work in Dwight and vicinity for many years,
but is now living a retired life, in his eighty-
eighth year. His wife died January 14,
1899, aged eightv years. Our subject's
paternal grandfather Miller came of a titled
Holland family. He was i)res,sed intu the
British army during the Revolutionary war
and brought in .\merica.

The subject of this sketch is the eighth
in order of birth in a family of eleven chil-
dren, ten sons and one daughter, of whom
the eldest, a son, died in infancy : James A.
enlisted, at Aurora, in the Forty-third Illi-
nois \'olunteer Infantry during the ci\il war,
and after two years re-enlisted as captain
in the One Hundred and Si.xty-si.xth regi-
ment, was captured at Fort Donelson and
(lied in .\ndersonville prison: Charles is a
contractor and builder of Chicago; .\ndrew
has been an engineer on the W'abast Rail-
road for thirteen years, and is now a resident
of Decatur, Illinois; Amos is a prominent
farmer of Ford county. Illinois : Robert was
for several years yard master for the Wis-
consin Central Railroad at tiie Roby street
yards, Chicago, in which city he died in Sep-
temlier, 1S95; Alfred was for eleven years
a conductor on the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa
Railroad, and was killed near \\'alkerton,
Indiana. April ^o, 1899, leaving a widow
and three children, who reside in Chicago ;
Jennie is the wife of Zerum Johnson, a resi-
dent of Dwight ; Joseph and Dewitt both
died of diphtheria, aged, respectively, seven
and four years.

^^'illiam B. Miller was but a lad of eleven
}'ears when the family removed to Dwight,
which has been his home ever since. He
assisted his father in stone work until si.x-
teen years of age, when he entered the em-
plo)" of the Chicaeo iS: .\Iton Railroatl as
section hand, and in less than a year was
made foreman. Two years were sjient in
the round hou.se at Dwight, and he was then
promoted to engineer, running a local
freight from Dwight to Washington, Illi-
nois, for three years and a half. During
the big strike of 1892 he left the railroad
and for one year was ene\age(l in running
a stationary engine. In i8t\^ lie accejned his

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

303

])resent position as engfineer of tlie city water
works at Dwight. and has since given his
entire attention to that work. The construc-
tiiMi of tile plant was commenced in 189J
and finished the following year, and at that
time was run by steam, but in 1897 tlie
Leslie E. Keeley Company donated to the
city a modern Fairbank & Morse gas engine
of twenty-five horse power, two Gould seven-
inch pumps with a lift capacity of seven
thousand gallons per hour, and a stand pipe
one hundred and twenty feet high, the upper
l)art of which is a still tank, fifty-two feet,
with a capacity of fifty thousand gallons.
This furnishes an ample fire protection as
well as supply for general use.

On the 18th of February. 1881. Mr.
Miller was united in marriage with Miss
Jennie Heffner. daughter of .Xndrew and
Jane ( Vocum) Heffner. Her lather was a
])rominent citizen and miller of Huntingxlon
county. Pennsylvania, and was nct.d for his
l)ene\olent and charitable disposition. iMrs.
iMiller was born in that county October 27,
i860, and there our subject met her, while
on a visit to Pennsylvania. She is the fourth
in. order of birth in a family of si.x children,
the others being Mary, wife of Stewart
Africa, of Huntingdon county. Pennsyl-
vania ; Rachel, who is at home with her
mother ; John, who succeeded his father in
business; Rebecca, at home; and Thomas,
who is living on the old homestead. To
Mr. and iMrs. Miller were born eight chil-
dren, namely: Lawrence A., who died at
the age of twelve years; Celia J., Francis
J.. Ralphus A., Milton J., iMary R., Rachel
and Rebecca.

I-'raternally iMr. iMiller is a charter mem-
l;er of the Independent Order (jf Mutual
.Aid; of Hebron Lodge. Xo. 175. K. P., in
which he has filled most of the offices, and a

charter member of the Knights of Macca-
bees of Dwight. and finance keeper of the
same. He takes an active interest in the
progress and growth of his town, and by
his ballot supports the men and measures
of the Republican party.

JOHX LEGG.VTE.

John Leggate. one nf the highly honoretl
and respected citizens of Germanville towiv
ship, Livingston county, owns and occupies
a well-improved and highly cultivated farm
of one hundred and si.xty acres on section
10. and has most efficiently served as justice
of the peace for many years. He was born
in Lanarkshire, near (ilasgow. Scotland, Au-
gust 25, 1816, and is a son of James and
Margaret (Dalgleish) Leggate. who si>ent
their entire lives in that country. The
mother died when mir subject was only four
years old, and the father afterward married
Esther Cooper, also a nati.\e of Scotland.
He followed the occupation of weaving
throughout life and died at the age of forty-
seven years. IW his first marriage he had
three childrlcn, of whom our subject is the
oldest. James, who is now living retired
in Patteron, New Jersey, alsi^ followed
weaving during his active life and has ac-
cumulated considerable property. He mar-
ried Elizabeth Watson, of Scotland, and to
them have been born six children. Robert,
the other brother of our subject, served
twenty years in the British army, and died
at his home in Scotland at the age of fifty
years, leaving a family of children, none of
whom ever came to this country. By his sec-
ond marriage the father had four children:
Esther. George. William and William, all
of whom died when (luite \iiung.

304

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

John Leggate was educated in the pub-
lic schools of his birthplace, and in early life
learned the weaver's trade with his father,
following that occupation continuously un-
til coming to tlii United States at the age
of thirty-two years. In his nati\-e land he
was married, December 29, 1837, to Miss
Elizabeth Fleming, a daughter of John and
Marian (Stuart) Fleming, life-long resi-
dents of Scotland. Her father was also a
weaver.

In 1848, with his wife and children, Mr.
Leggate sailed for America, and spent the
first six years of his residence here in New
York City, where he followed his trade three
years, and also worked in a stained glass
factory the same length of time. Subse-
quently he spent two years near London,
Canada, where he was engaged in the manu-
facture of brick, and in 1857 came to Liv-
ingston county, Illinois. He had previously
accjuired some capital, being economical and
industrious, and this he invested in land on
section 10, Germanville township, where he
now resides. As his financial resources have
increased he has added to his landed posses-
sions, and now owns two hundred and forty
acres of land, eighty acres of which are on
section 14, the same township. When it
came into his possession it was wild prairie
land, but acre after acre were soon placed
under the plow, a comfortable residence was
erected, good barns and outbuildings were
also built and many other improvements
made, so that it is now one of the most de-
sirable farm of that section of the county.

Of the nine children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Leggate only four are now living,
namelv : James, born in Scotland, is now
a brick manufacturer of Chicago. He mar-
ried Matilda Linn, by whom he had four
children, two still living, Lillie and Mancel.

His second wife was Anna Smith, of Chi-
cago. (2) John, born in Scotland, is an
engineer of Chicago. During the civil war
he enlisted in Company D, Eighty-ninth Illi-
iiois A*,)lunteer Infantry, but was wounded
shortl}- after entering the service and hon-
orably discharged. He married Nancy Mc-
Kay and has three children, Rebecca, Liz-
zie and ]\Iaggie. (3) \\'alter, a farmer
of Germanville township, is represented on
another page of this work. (4) Sarah is
the wife of Owen McMahon, who operates
iiur subject's farm. Of those deceased,
Marion died in Scotland when cjuite young.
Alargaret married John Beckman, of Ger-
manville township, and died in Lnva, at the
age of twenty-seven years. Robert, born in
Scotland, was a member of the same com-
]iany as his brother John, and ser\-ecl until
the end of the war. He married Mary Sher-
man and died at the age of thirty-eight years,
lea\-ing two children. Viola and Etta.
George, born in Scotland, married Dora Lut-
son and lived in Germanville township for
some time, but spent his last days in Iowa,
where he died, leaving four children. Nancv
James, Viola and Martha. Archie died in
Germanville at the age of four years.

Since becoming an American citizen Mr.
Leggate has afiiliated with the Republican
party, and has taken quite an active interest
in public affairs. Since 1869 he has most
creditably and acceptably filled the ofiice of
justice of the peace, and at different times
has held all of the township offices, being
school treasurer twelve years. Lpright and
honorable in all things, he has been found
true to every trust reposed in him, whether
jjublic or private, and is accounted tme of
the most valued and useful citizens of his
comnnuiitv. In religious faith he and his
familv are Preshvterians. His estimable

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

30:

wife died in May, 1893, at the age of sev-
enty-eiglit years, and was laid to rest in the
Ciermanville cemetery. He is now practi-
cally living retired. surrc;)unded 1)y a large
circle of friends and ac(|uaintances, who es-
teem him higfhlv for liis sterline: worth.

A1).\M S MAKER.

Adam Shafer, who resides on section 27.
Chatsworth township, has been a resident of
Ei\'ingston county since 1863. He was born
in Koor, Hessen, German}-, September 26,
1S47. His father dying when he was but an
infant and his mother marrying again, he
Mas reared by an aunt until twelve years of
age, when he went to live with his mother
and .step- father, Jacob Gabriel. In 1857
tiie family came to the United States and lo-
cated in Tazewell county, Illinois, where
they remained for five years, and in 1863
moved to what was tiien the southern part
of Chatsworth township, but is now Ger-
manville township. On the farm of iiis step-
father our subject grew to manhood, in the
meantime receiving a limited education in
the pul)iic schools. From the time he was
old enough to follow a ])lmv he had to do
his share of the farm work, and therefore
he became a tlKjrough, practical farmer.
\\'hen twenty-one years old he left home
and for the next three vears worked as a
farm hand, during which time lie saved up
the greater jjart of liis earnings and was
enabled to commence farming for himself.

In December. 1870. Mr. Shafer was
united in marriage with Miss Kathrina
Xeiding, who was born in Germany in 1845.
She came to this country when twenty-three
years of age, after the deatli of her parents.

She had one brother and three sisters in this
country, but of the five her brother John
and her sister Martha are the only ones now
living. The latter is the wife of Henry
Brents, of Brule, Nebraska. The former is
engaged in farming in Chatsworth town-
ship. To Mr. and Mrs. Shafer were born
nine children, two of whom died in early
childhood. Those living are Christ, a pros-
perous young farmer ;n Chatsu'orth town-
shi]), who is married and has three children.
He is living on his father's farm in that
township. Lizzie is the wife of Henry
Klehm, and they ha\-e two children. They
reside on a farm in Ford county. Katie is
the wife of I'hilip Keosner, and thc\- live
near Chenoa, McLean county. They ha\e
one son. Edward, Charles, Bert'e and Lena
yet remain at home with their fath:r, the
sons assisting- in the farm work, while the
daughter attends to the housekeeping.

-After their marriage Mr. and ]\lrs.
Shafer continued to reside on rentd land in
Germainillc lownshi]) for five years, during
which time he succeeded in accunnilating
sufficient means to purchase eighty acres of
partially improved land in Chatsworth town-
ship, south of the city. To that farm they
removed, and here he has continued to reside
imtil the j^resent time. From time to time
he added to his possessions nnt 1 he now
owns two hundred acres on section i". one
hundred and twenty acres on section 2}^ and
one hundred and sixty aci-es on section 16.
Chatswiirtli township, all of which is inider
a high state of cultivation. When twenty-
one years old he had to face the world, a
young man without means and the owner
of not an acre of God's green earth, but by
industry and the help of his wife, and also
that of Iiis children in later years, he is now
possessed of a competency and can Jirne no

3o6

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

fear of the future. During the greater part
of tlie time in which he has been accumulat-
ing his wife was in ill health, and for much
of the time under the care of a physician.
He never went into the field without fear in
his heart for the good wife at the house.
Notwithstanding her illnefs she was to him
a true helpmeet and an inspiration, and no
sacrifice but was cheerfully made to secure
her happiness. By her cheerful disposition
and loving counsel she assisted him in the
toils of the day. The improvements on his
farm, including the residence, and the barns,
the fences, the tiling and the orchard, is
the result of his own labors, and he has rea-
son to be proud of what has been accom-
plished. For a number of years he owned
and operated a corn sheller and a thresher.
which added materially to his income.

On the 24th of April. 1899. ]\Irs. Shafer
passed from her earthly cares to the haven of
rest. In the old country she was a number
of the Lutheran church, but after her ma
riage she united with the Evangelical Asso-
ciation, with which body she remained a
faithful and consistent member until her
death. She was a lo\'ing wife, a kind
mother and a deserving Christian woman,
beloved by all who knew her. With the
hope of a restoration to health she was taken
tu a hospital in Chicago, and there under-
went a severe surgical operation, but it was
without avail. Death claimed her, but she
was read}' to go. During her lung illness
she bore it all uncomplainingly, and when
the dread summons came she was ready, hav-
ing an abiding hope in her blessed Savior,
and with the full assurance that in the home
beyond she would meet her loved ones, for
they are all followers of the meek and lowly
one. In her life she was an earnest and
willing supporter of the church, and when

able a worker in the Sunday school. Her
life was a life of good works, and it can well
be said of her, "Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord, for they shall rest from their
labors and their works do follow them."

Like his wife, Mr. Shafer is a member of
the Evangelical Association and a firm be-
liever in the Christian religion. Politically
he is a Repulilican, but he is not an office
seeker. Time and again has he refused local
office that would be forced on h'm liy well
meaning friends. His taste, however, did
not run in that direction. He preferred to
attend to his duties as a husband and father
and to his farm work. However, he served
as a school director for several years, but
only for the reason that he was interested
in the public schools and the cause of educa-
tion. He is a citizen deservedly held in high
esteem.

RE\'. GEORGE HERTLEIX.

Rev. George Hertlein, who is now liv-
ing a retired life in the village of Cullom,
Livingston county, Illinois, was born in
Bavaria, Germany, November 30, 1849, ^"^
is a son of Lawrence and IMar)' Hertlein,
both of whom \\ere natives of the same
country and there spent their entire lives.
Thev were the parents of three children, one
of whom, Christ, died in 1897, at the age
of forty-five years. Elizabeth lives in Ba-
varia, and George is the subject of this
sketch.

George Hertlein grew to manhood in
his native country and was educated in the
parochial schools, supplemented by a four-
years' course in a theological seminary, pre-
paring for the ministry. He was graduated
from the seminarv and ordained to the min-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

307

istry in liis native country. In 1877 lie
came tu tlie I'nited States and located in
liiwa Cilv. Iowa, where he ser\ed as assist-
ant pastor of a ciiurch for six niontlis ami
was then called to the church at Sharon
Center. Iowa, and for two years served as
its pastor, tilling the duties of the sacred
office to the entire satisfaction of his pa-
rishioners, while enjoying the confidence of
the coniniunity at large. He was then taken
sick with inflammation of the lungs and was
compelled for a time to abandon the minis-
try. While yet resitling in his native land
he .served three years and a half in the Ger-
man arm\-, and his disability dates back to
that time. A half-brother. Rev. Lorenz
Schorr, preceded him to the United States,
coming in 1861. He died in 1871. and our
subject took up the work where his brother
left oft".

In 187S. aliout one year after his ar-
rival in this country. Mr. Hertlein was
unitetl in marriage with ^liss Mary Laub-
pender, a native of Ohio, born in 1856, but
who was then living in Sharon Center, Iowa,
where the wedding ceremony was solemn-
ized. By this union ten children have been
born, two of whom died in infancy. Of
those living, Sophia is now the wife of Pro-
fessor L. Sheldahl, professor of history ami
languages in the Iowa Synod College, at
W'averly, Iowa. They have one child,
Guido. Emma, at the age of eighteen,
graduated from Iowa College, having taken
the classical course. Matilda. Mary, Ame-
lia, Ruth and George are attending school
in Cullom. Hans is the youngest of the
chililren.

When comi)elled to relim|uish his charge
at Sharon, Iowa, Mr. Hertlein embarked in
the mercantile business at that place, in
which he remained some vcars. He was

also commissioned as postmaster and served
as such until 1883. Regaining his health,
he notified the Evangelical Lutheran Synod
of Iowa, with which he was connected, that
he was again prepared to take up his life
w ork, and receiving a call from the church
at Cullom, he moved to the place and for
six months engaged in his chosen calling.
He soon found that it would be impossible
to continue in that wt)rk, and. resigning,
again entered into the mercantile business,
carrying a general stock. Purchasing a
lot, he erected a building and commenced
what proxed a successful mercantile career.
In 189^) he sold out his stock, having in the
meantime, bv good management and the
exercise of good business ability and
sound judgment, acquired enough of
this world's goods to enaljle him to
live in comfort. He has now one hun-
dred and twenty acres of land in Indiana
and one hundred and sixty acres in Sulli-
van township. Livingston county, together
with some \illage property. In 1897 ha
erected on his business block a good two-
story brick building, well suited to the
wants of the place, and which adds mate-
rially to the business section of the town.

When Mr. Hertlein came to Cullom it
had only about one lnindre<l inhabitants, and
to him much of the credit is due for the
advancement it has made in jjopulation and
wealth. He assisted in securing the tile
factory for the place, and went into part-
nership with E. .\. Ortman in the business,
and they together operated it for seven years
with good success. In 1898 he sold his in-
tere.st to Mr. Ortman, since which time he
has li\ed a (luiet, retired life, .giving his at-
tention only to his farm and his village
property.

In ])olitics Mr. Hertlein was a Democrat

308

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

until 1896, since wiiich time he has voted
independently of party lines. For two
terms he served as treasurer of the village,
and was elected \'illage trustee, but after
serving six months he resigned. He also
ser\-ed as a member of the school board for
se\'eral terms, and while no the l)oard he
succeeded in hax'ing consolidated districts
No. 6 and 7, and also secured the erection
of a fine school building, which is an honor
to the place. The first class to be grad-
uated from the school was in June, 1900,
and his daughter Mar}" was one of the grad-
uates.

I\lr. Hertlein was reared in the Evan-
gelical Ltuheran church and has e\'er been
an earnest ad\-ocate of its doctrines and its
polity. Since 1883 he has served as an
elder in the church, and until recently he
was treasurer of the chuich in CoUum.
When he came to the church as its pastor
there was a debt of thirteen hundred dol-
lars on the building and he made it his first
duty to clear that, which he did in a short
time by securing subscriptions from its
members and friends. He later as-
sisted in the erection of the parson-
age, and since the death of its last
minister he has had the financial man-
agement I if it, and has placed it in good
financial condition. He has always taken
an active interest in the Sunday-school
work, and is at present superintendent of
the school and also serves as teacher.
Acti\c in whatever he undertakes, he has
met with uniform success in all things, and
to such as he the general welfare of a com-
munity depends. All esteem him as a true
Christian, a successful Inisiness man and a
giidil citizen, one hax'ing at heart the l)est
\\-elfare nf the community in winch he
li\'es.

J. E. BANGS.

Joseph Edward Bangs, a well known
educator of this state, and the subject of'
this sketch, was born in Bureau county,
Illinois, and is the seventh in a family of
eight children, five of whom are now living.
His parents were Samuel L. Bangs and
Margaret (Howard) Bangs.

The father was a native of Massachu-
setts, where his ancestors had resided since
1624. They were originally from England.
Our subject's paternal grandfather served in
the Re\-olutionary war and Professor Bangs
is therefore a veritable "Son of the Revolu-
tion."' In the '50s Samuel L. Bangs came
to Illinois and settled in Bureau county,
liut later moved to La Salle county, which
was his h(_>me for nearly forty years. He
died in 1898 at the ripe age of ninety years,
having seen Illinois transformed from a wil-
derness to a garden. His wife, who is still
living, was born in England. She bejongs
to the well-known Howard family and is a
direct descendant from the Duke of Nor-
folk. She possesses an unusually bright in-
tellect and now, at the age of eighty-one,
is an interesting and lovable character.

Mr. Bangs is essentially a self-made man.
His boyhood was spent on the farm in La
Salle county, where he early learned self
sacrifice and endurance through the disci-
pline of hard work. At seven years of age
he was put to driving a team, at nine he
drove a four-horse reaper, at fourteen he
was making a "hand," regularly, binding be-
hind a I\IcCornnck harvester. From earli-
est boyhood he was a great reader and e\-er
anxious to secure an education, but, for manv
years, necessity compelled him to be content
with the schooling which the three months
Vv"inter school afforded. V>y studving at

ir"-.

PROF. J. E. BANGS.

MRS. J. E. BANGS.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

311

night and by improving odd moments, how-
ever, he was able to keep up with his more
fortunate companions, who could attend
school the year around. From the age of
sixteen he earned his own spending money,
paid for his clothes and books, and later
made his own way through school.

On leaving college, he immediatel}- began
to teach, and after several years of successful
experience, he took the rigid four days' ex-
amination for a state license. This he suc-
cessfully passed and received the state's seal
upon his ability as an instructor in the form
vi a state certificate, good for life.

In the same year he took charge of the
schoL>ls of Washburn, Illinois, where he es-
tablished a course of study, doubled the en-
rullmeni of the high school, drawing in pu-
pils from outside tne district until one-half
of the high school was composed of tuition
pupils, who brought into the district enough
money to pay a goud teacher's salary. He
was especially successful in holding the boys
i;i school and in sending his graduates to
college. Here he graduated a class com-
posed entirely of boys, nearly all of whom
later entered college. His school became
the inspiration of the schools of the county,
w hile the results of the influences for higher
education which he set at work among the
people, can scarcely be estimated.

After four years at Washburn. Mr.
Bangs was called to a wider field of action
at Fairbury, where he remained eight years,
as superintendent and principal of the city
schools, and a similar result is found. Dur-
ing his administration, while the city in-
creased but a few per cent, in population, the
average daily attendance of the high school
increased over one hundred and fifty per
cent. A large increase was also found
in the amount of tuition received. At the

close of his work his patrons declared. "He
left the schools on a practical and firm basis,
second to none in the state."

In 1894 Fairbury reluctantly yielded Mr.
Bangs to Pontiac, where the buikling of a
township high school had opened a larger
field for the exercise of his executive ability.
Here his practical methods, his capacity for
details and his organizing talent brought the
school very soon into a creditable and con-
spicuous place among the educational insti-
tutions of Illinois. Every year has shown
a marked increase in the power and popu-
larity of the school,in the amount of the tui-
tion received from foreign students and in the
enrollment of boys. In 1900 there were en-
rolled one hundred and fourteen boys and
one hundred and four girls, and a class com-
posed of thirteen boys and six girls was grad-
uated, while over twelve hundred and fifty
dollars tuition was collected outside of the
thirty-six miles of free territory. During
the six years of ]Mr. Bangs' administration
he has collected and paid into the lowiisliii)
treasury' between fixe and six thousand
dollars of tuition money. If tlie same
average increase continues, it can be
expected that the high school building
will be paid for by outside tuition in a little
over a score of years. Tlie best test of any
school is found in what its product accom-
plishes after leaving school, judged by thi>
test, the township high school stands in the
front rank. Its graduates are making a
good record. In six years fifty graduates
have become teachers and as man\' more
uf its undergraduates. A large number
have gone to college and an unusually large
number are succeeding in business.

By conscientious effort, the grade of the
school has been steatlily raised until the in-
stitution is now recognized bv our leading

312

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

colleges and universities and has a place
upon their lists of accredited schools. It is
doubtful if any township high school in the
state has made a better record in the first
six years of its existence than the Pontiac
high school under the direction of Mr. Bangs.
He has ever been found faithfully discharg-
ing his duties in the least pretentious posi-
tions as in the most important ones and his
efforts ha\'e in\'ariabl\' benefited the school
permanently. It has been well said that
"few men naturally possess the executive
ability and talent for organization that we
find in Mr. Bangs." This is amply proven
by the fact that he has built up every school
with which he has been connected.

In addition to his w^ork as principal antl
superintendent, during the past sixteen
years, Mr. Bangs has spent from three to
twelve weeks of his summer vacations, each
year, as an institute instructor or conductor,
so that his name is a familiar one in many
counties of the state, and he has justly
achieved the reputation of being a strong in-
stitute worker. In one county he has been
engaged twelve consecutive years.

Few men count more friends among
their fellow workers than does Mr. Bangs,
for teachers recognize in him an earnest,
sincere, loyal, helpful co-laborer — one who is
working for the best in education e\'ery-
where. This was markedly shown liv the
resolution of endorsement for state superin-
tendency given him by the Teachers' Asso-
ciation of Livingston county, in 1898. This
resolution w-as seconded by teachers of every
political party and unanimously adopted with
cordial enthusiasm. ]\Ir. Bangs is an ardent
Republican, and ever has been, but he never
lets party come befure principle ;ind where
he is known he commands the respect of all
parties.

He was for several years president of the
Livingston County Teachers' Association ;
has served in an active manner on various
committees in the state associations ; was
vice-president of the Northern Illinois
Teachers' Association in 1896, and is now — ■
1900 — one of the vice-presidents of the Illi-
nois State Teachers' Association.

In 1898 Mr. Bangs was urged by his
friends to become a candidate for nomina-
tion for state superintendent of public in-
struction. Being engaged in teaching, he
made no canvass, but the race he made was
declared by old politicians to have been most
creditable. Starting with but twenty-seven
pledged votes, by the time the first ballot was
taken he had three hundred and sixty-five
recorded for him. A ijrominent jiaper in
speaking of the convention, said: "Xo can-
didate ever overcame odds more rapidly or
made friends faster than did Mr. Bangs.
His headquarters were always crowded.
Had he started on equal terms with the suc-
cessful candidate there is little doubt but that
he would ha\'e been nominated."

]\Ir. Bangs is deeplv interested in all the
great moral, social and economic questions
of the day and is ever ready to help in any
good cause. He has been a teacher in Sab-
bath school nearly all his mature life, was
for some seven years superintendent of one,
and is a regular attendant on di\'ine service.
He is a stockholder and director in the Pon-
tiac Summer Chautauqua and has interests
in other public enterprises.

The principal fraternal societies claim him
as an active member. He belongs to the
Woodmen, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias,
the various orders of Masonry and has
passed through the "chairs" and licen jjre-
siding officer in the mai<>rit\- (if them. He is
past commander of St. Paul commandery,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

313

Knights Templar, a member of the grand
commandery of Illinois and of the Past
commanders' Association of Chicago. He
was active in working up the uniform rank,
K. P., in the county and was successively
elected first lieutenant, then captain of divis-
ion No. 63, and later, in 1893, he was unani-
mously elected lieutenant colonel of the
Third Regiment, L'nifurm Rank. K. P.,
which is composed of companies located at
J<.>liet, Seneca, Lemont. Ottawa, Kankakee,
Mazon, Streator, Pont^ac, Peoria. Fairljury.
In 1897 he was re-elected to this office and
has been for nearly eight years a held officer
of the Illinois brigade. In each of these po-
sitions he has served h!s brethren well and
faithfully, and they, in turn, have shown
their appreciation on various occasions, bv
testimonials of esteem and confidence.

Mr. Bangs is a member of the Marquetl;
Club and also of the Hamilton Club, both
of Chicago, and takes an active part in ad-
vancing their interests. Without e.xceptinn,
those who know Mr. Bangs best have always
said, "He is the right man in the right place,"
and if his friends were to name his leading
characteristics they would say, "Executive
ability, industry, kmdness. honesty and strict
integrity." Some one has said of him,
"Having successfully fought his own way
through the difficulties which beset the poor
boy's path, he is eminently fitted to sympa-
thize with others similarly situated and to
guide them to a like profitable course of
action." As Mr. Bangs is yet in the prime
of life we may expect still greater service in
the years to come.

Mr. Bangs was married August i. 1894,
to Margaret R. Maloney. daughter of Dr.
X. \'. and Anna (Krater) iMaloney, ui
Washburn, Woodford county, Illino's. of
which her father was one of the pioneers

and prominent physicians. Both parents are
now dead, the father dying in 1892 and the
mother in 1898. Mrs. Bangs is a graduate
of Monticello Seminary and was valedic-
torian of her class. She was a remarkably
successful teacher, her work being in the
grammar school at Washburn, as superin-
tentlent of schools at Rutland, La Salle coun-
tv, for seven years, as i)rincipal (^f the Fair-
bury high school, with Mr. Bangs as superin-
tendent, and also in the I'ontiac townsliip
high school.

Mrs. Bangs was also a successful insti-
tute instructor, and was at one time the Re-
publican candidate for county superintendent
of schools in Woodford county. Her popu-
larity as a teacher was great and many
a boy and girl marks a mile stone in true
progress from the time they came under her
influence. Some one has said. "She thinks
of every one else first, herself last, or not
at all." She is a member of the Presby-
terian church, a teacher in the Sal)bath
school, an officer in the county Sunday
school (organization, secretary of the Asso-
ciated Charities and an active sympathizer
with the unfortunate everywhere. She is a
woman of excellent literary attainments, is
a ready writer, an able critic, has occasion-
ally contributed to 'eading periodicals and
has assisted in the ])reparatioti of several
text-books.

JOSEPH BROWX.

Joseph Brown, a prominent farmer, who
owns and operates one hundred and sixty
acres of \'aluable land on section 19. Pleas-
ant Ridge tow'nshi]>, Livingston county, Il-
linois, was born in Camillus, Onondago

314

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

county, Xew York, September 7, 1840.
His father, Jolm Brown, was lx>rn in Edin-
btirg, Scotland, January 2, 1810, and when
twenty \ears of age crossed the broad At-
lantic and settled in Onondago county, Xew
York, where he worked on a farm for a
time. There he married Rebecca Conklin,
a native of Fulton county, Xew York,
and they continued to make their home
in Onondago county until 1856, when
the_\- came to Peoria, Illinois, where
tlie father engaged in farming until
the spring of 1868. On our sub-
ject purchasing a tract of wild prairie
land in Eppards Point township, Liv-
ingston county, he came with him and
made his home there with our subject
in Pleasant Ridge township until his death,
which occurred November 27, 1897. The
mother, who was a consistent member of
the ^lethodist Episcopal church, died in
1852.

The greater part of the early education
of our suliject was obtained in the schools
of Xew' York, though for a short time he
attended school in Peoria. In early life he
worked by the month as a farm hand for
six years. On the 2d of August, 1862, he
joined the boys in blue as a member of
Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-
second Xew York X'olunteer Infantry, and
went first to \Vashington, D. C. He par-
ticipated in the battles of Antietam, the
^\'ilderness, Spotts_\-l\-ania, Cold Harbor,
Gettysburg, INIine Run, and the engage-
ments in the Shenandoah valley, being with
Sheridan at Winchester, Strasburg and
Fisher's Hill. They then joined Grant's
army at Deep Bottom, and from that time
until the close of the war were near the
Potomac. Mr. Brown was in the front line
of battle when Lee surrendered and par-

ticipated in the grand review at Washing-
ton, l)eing mustered out July 2, 1865.

Returning to Peoria, he worked in the
ciial mines there for two years, and then
purchased a farm of eighty acres in Ep-
pards Point township, Livingston county,
upon which he made all of the improve-
ments, but in 1883 he traded that property
for his present farm of one hundred and
sixty acres in Pleasant Ridge township,
which at that time was only partially im-
prLsxed. He has since thoroughly tiled the
place, using from twenty-five to thirty thou-
sand tiles, has planted an orchard and erected
a good residence and barn, so that he now
has one of the most desirable farms of its
size in the township. Every foot of space
is now available for cultivation. Besides
this valuable farm. ]\Ir. Brown owns another
one hundred and sixty-acre tract in Ford
county, all of which has been acquired
through liis own well-directed and ener-
getic efforts since 1865.

On the 24th of October, 1865, "Mr.
Brown married Miss Emily L. Archdale,
of Peoria. Her parents, XN'illiam and Sarah
(Lacey) Archdale, who were born, reared
and married in Yorkshire, England, came
to the L'nited States in 1837, being among
the pioneers of Peoria. The father died
there August 15, 1870, the mother Xovem-
ber 1, 1872, lo Mr. and Mrs. Brown were
born eight children, namely: William L.,
born December 6, 1866, is a resident of
Ford county, and has filled the office of
school director. Alice M., born October
29, 1869, is ow the wife of Edison Howe,
of Windom, Minnesota, and they have three
children: Joseph, born Februarv 16, 1894;
Francis, born June 22, 1898; and Harry,
born December 7, 1899. Charles R., born
X"o\ember 24, 1872, lives in Ford count v.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

315

He married Nellie Day and has two chil-
dren: Emily P., born November 5. 1897;
and ora, born September 20, 1899. Jo-
seph, born March 26, 1878, is living at home
and ser\ino- as school tlirector. Edwin,
born February 6, 1881, and P'lorence. born
May ig, 1883, are both at home.

Mr. Brown is a member of Fairbury
Post, No. 75. Cj. A. R., antl attemls and
supports tlie .Metliodist Episcopal church.
In bis political views be is a Republican, and
has filled the offices of road commissioner
and school director, serving in the latter
position ten or fifteen years and always tak-
ing a deep and conimendal)le interest in edu-
cational affairs. In all the relations of life
be has been found true to everv trust reposed
in him, and has manifested his loyalty and
patriotism in days of peace as well as in
tune of w ar.

CONRAD TRECKER.

Among the representative business men
of Livingston county none are more de-
serving of representation in this volume
than Conrad Trecker, the well-known tile
manufacturer of Odell, who, through his
own well-directed efforts, has gained a
comfortable competence that numbers him
among the substantial men of his commu-
nity. He was born in Prussia, Germany,
October 2, 1850, a son of Theodore and
Elizabeth (Franken) Trecker, natives of the
same place where the father followed the
carpenter's trade, which he had learned when
a young man. In 1852 he brought his
family to America and first located in P-?ru,
Illinois, where he lived four years, later
making his home in Mendota, and following

his trade in each place. In 1868 he i)ur-
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land
in Union township. Livingston county,
which he (leve!<>])ed fmm raw land into a
good farm and which he successfully oper-
ated until his death, dying in 1886, at the age
of si.xty-three years. He was a self-made
man, lia\ing no capital when he came to this
country. In politics he was a Democrat, and
in religious views both he and his wife were
Catholics. She died in 1897, at the age
of sixty-nine years, and the property in
L'nion township was then divided among
the children. The family consisted of the
following named : William, a shoemaker of
Cabrey, Illinois, died in 1884; Conrad is next
in order of birth ; Peter, a farmer, died in
Union township in 1881 ; Joseph is engaged
in farming in that township, and owns a
half interest in the tile works of which our
subject has charge; Katrina is the wife of
Charles Sieberg. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin ;
Elizabeth is the wife of John Cheslie, of the
same city: lillen died at the ln)me of her
sister in Kankakee, in 1887; Christina is
the wife of Peter Kettwich, of Peru, Illi-
nois: and riicodorc is the owner of a ma-
chine shop in -Milwaukee, ha\ing learned
the trade when young.

Conrad Trecker received only a limited
common-school education, and during his
boyhood he worked at farming and at the
carpenter's trade with his father. After the
latter purchased a farm our subject devoted
his entire time and attention to its cultiva-
tion until twenty-two years of age, and then
commenced operating rented land on bis
own account. He was married, in i>>j^, to
Miss Nettie Meyer, who was born near
Sandwich, Illinois, September 29, 1855.
Her parents, Henry and Elizabeth Meyer,
natives of Germanv, moved to Livingston

3i6

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

county when she was but a small child. She
was the eldest of their eight children, the
others being William and Herman, both
farmers of Union township, Livingston
county; Albert, of Odell township; x\deline,
wife of George Miley, of Odell; Martha,
wife of William Bowers, of Odell; Norman,
who died at the home of his father in Iowa,
in 1898; and Frank, a resident of Sunbury
township, Livingston county. The mother
is deceased, but the father is still living and
makes his home in Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs.
Trecker have been born the following chil-
dren: Theodore, who assists his father in
his business; Elizabeth, who died in infancy;
Katie and Nettie, both at home; Joseph,
who died April 30, 1900; Addie, at home;
Henry, who died in infancy; Annie, Marr
and Conrad William, all at home. The
children have had the advantages of a high-
school education.

After his marriage J\Ir. Trecker con-
tmued farming and also managed and owned
a corn sheller and threshing outfit. He
commenced handling machinery at the age
of eighteen years, and met with excellent
success in that branch of his business, doing
more work along that line than any other
man in the community. He still owns an
interest in an outfit, but does not personally
attend to the business. In 1881 he pur-
chased eighty acres of land i" L^nion town-
ship, which he sold two years later on his
removal to Odell, and bought a half interest
in the old brick and tile yard, then operated
by horse power. New buildings were
erected, steam power put in, as well as pat-
ent kilns, and the manufacture of tile was
carried on on an extensive scale for five
years. During the following two years
Mr. Trecker engaged in the hardware and
implement business, and at the end of four

years he and his brother Joseph purchased
the tile factory, which he now conducts in
a most profitable and satisfactory manner,
doing a business which has amounted to as
much as twenty thousand dollars per year.
In the meantime he added to his land posses-
sions until he now owns two hundred and
eighty acres of land, all under cultivation,
and now divides his attention between tile
manufacturing and farming. When he
started out in life for himself he
had no capital, but being a good man-
ager, he has met with excellent suc-
cess in his labors, and he is today
one of the substantial citizens of his com-
munity. For the past three years he has
given considerable attention to the raising
of brown Swiss cattle for dairy and beef
purposes, owning some of the first brought
to this part of the country. They were pur-
chased by him at Roberts, Illinois, being
imported stock from Switzerland. Mr.
Trecker is a Democrat in politics, but has
never found time to accept or hold any
office. He and his family are members of
the Catholic church of Odell, and he is also
connected with the ^Mutual Aid Insurance
Company.

HERMAN' E. SIEGERT.

No better illustration of the character-
istic energy and enterprise of the typical
German-American citizen can be found than
that afforded by the career of this gentle-
man, the well-known proprietor of the elec-
tric light plant of Dwight, Illinois. Com-
ing to this country with little capital except
his abilities, he has made his way to success
through wisely-directed effort and he can

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

317

now look back with satisfaction upon past
struggles.

yh. Siegert was born May 26, 1830, in
Xeudam, Badenburg, Germany, in which
country his parents, Gotlieb and Sophia
(Siegert) Siegert, spent their entire lives.
His father was a paper manufacturer of
Xeudam-by-Custrin, where he was born, and
he inherited the factory from the grand-
father of our subject. He did quite an im-
portant business, which he continued up to
the time of his death. He died in 1836,
at the age of forty-five years, and his wife
departed this life in 1861, at the age of
about sixty-one. There were two other
children in their family, namely : Amelia,
who married and died in Germany ; and
Hannah, who is the wife of Frederick Mil-
ler, a printer of that country, near the old
home.

Herman E. Siegert, the only son, re-
mained with his mother until twenty-two
years of age. At the age of sixteen he com-
menced learning the millers trade at Quart-
shan, where he spent four years, and then
workeil as a journeyman miller and mill-
wright in various places for seven years.
In June, 1857, he sailed from Bremen on
the Asia, a sailing vessel, which, after a
\oyage of se\en weeks, landed him in New
York. He proceeded at once to Chicago,
and from there to Somonauk, Illinois, where
he was engaged in erecting a steam gristmill
for a Mr. Bliss, and remained in that town
for two years, working at the carpenter's
trade. From there he went to Morris, Illi-
nois, where he engaged in building a mill
and operating it for five years.

While there Mr. Siegert was married,
in October, 1863, to Miss Magdalene Born-
man, a native of Hohenvard, Saxon Wimer,
Eisenher, the place where Martin Luther

was imprisoned. She came to America
with her cousin and lived with relatives in
Morris, Illinois, until her marriage. By
this union were born seven children, of
whom five li\e, namely : Sophia, who was
born in 1864, and is now the wife of Leon-
ard G. Hahn, a grain dealer of Dwight;
George, who was born in 18O5, and is now
a resident of Los Angeles, California : John
C, born in 1868, and Henry E., born in
1 870, who now have charge of their father's
business; and Herman C, born in 1872, a
minister of the Lutheran church at Pipe
Stone, Minnesota; Anna and .Mary, twins,
born in July, 1869, died at the age of about
six months.

On leaving Morris, Mr. Siegert moved
to Channahon, Will county, Illinois, where
he leased a gristmill and successfully oper-
ated it for two years and a half. On the i:t
of April, 1867, he came to Dwight, and in
company with ^lichael Hahn bought the
old stone mill at that place, where he car-
ried on business in partnership for ten years,
at the end of which time Mr. Siegert pur-
chased his partner's interest and operated
it alone until 1891, when he put in an elec-
tric light plant, the first in Dwight. As the
latter business increased in importance and
the demand for more light, he ga\e up mill-
ing at the end of tliree years and converted
the old stone mill into his jiresent electric
light plant. This is supplied with a Cor-
liss engine of one hundred and seventy-five
horse-power, three dynamos, one for arc
and two for incandescent lights, there being
thirty arc lights used in the town and
tv.elve hundred incandescent lights. His
sons, John C. and Henry E., now attend to
the active business.

Mr. Siegert has a comfortable home in
Dwight, erected by him in 1871. In poll-

3i8

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tics he is independent, and in his social re-
lations is connected with the Independent
Order of Mutual Aid. He and his family
hiikl membership in the Lutheran church,
and he has ever taken an active part in its
\vork. serving as an officer of the church
for many years. For the success that he
has achie\-ed he deserxes great credit, it
being due entire!)' tn his own industry, per-
severance and good management, and he has
not only won a comfortable competence, but
has secured the high regard of all with whom
he has come in contact by his upright, hon-
orable life. He spent the spring of 1900
in visiting old friends and the familiar
scenes of his bovhood home in Germanv.

EXXO FLESSXER.

Enno Flessner, who is engaged in the
general mercantile business in the village of
Cullom, Livingston county, has been a resi-
dent of the county since 1888. He was born
in Ostfriesland, province of Hanover, Ger-
many, February 15, 1856, and is a son of
Joannes and Almuth Flessner, both of whom
were born in the same province and there
spent their entire li\es. They were the par-
ents (if ti\e children, of whom one died in
childhiKid. Helena is the wife nf Jerre
Gulmers, and they li\e in Charlotte town-
ship. Li\'ingston county, where he is en-
gaged in farming. Gretchen died in the old
country. Enno is the subject of this sketch.
Herman died in Germany. The father was
reared to the mercantile business, which he
followed during life and in which he met
with gratifying success. He was also the
owner of a farm, which was operated by
hired help, he devoting his time to his mer-
cantile business.

The subject of this sketch was reared in
his native coimtry and received a good high-
school education. At a \ery early age he
entered his father's store, and when not in
school was generally assisting in the store.
At the age of twenty he went into the
army and served three years with his regi-
ment in Berlin. Returning home at the
expiration of his term of service, he there
remained until 1883, when he resoh'ed on
emigrating to the new world.

Leaving his native land, Mr. Flessner
crossed the ocean and came direct to Liv-
igston county, Illinois, to first visit a sister.
He remained here for two years, and then
went to Iroquois county, Illinois, where he
engaged in farming for two years. \Miile
residing in that county, in 1886, he was
united in marriage to ]Miss Sarah Ricken,
a native of Illinois, born in 1865. of Ger-
man parents. Six children have come to
bless their union : — John, George. Alma,
Fred. Charles and ^larie. The four first
named are attending the public schools of
Cullom.

After his marriage, Mr. Flessner con-
tinued on the farm in Irocpiois county
until 1887. when he returned to Li\ingston
county and located in the village of Char-
lotte, where he formed a partnership with
Mr. Bruns erected a store building and put
in a general stock of merchandise. The
business was conducted one Aear by the firm
with good success, when Mr. Flessner s^ild
out to his partner, and in 1888 moved to
Cullom, where he rented a building and put
in a small stock of goods. As the volume
of his trade increased he enlarged his stock,
and now carries a \ery complete line of
dry-goods, groceries, ladies' and gents' fur-
nishing goods, queensware. and in fact
everything contained in a general store

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

3>9

suited to tlie wants of tlie community. He
lias met with gratifying success and iias a
trade of wliicli the more ])retentious mer-
chants of a larger town might well be
proud, lie owns a neat, modern residence,
which he has lately erected, and is acknowl-
edged as one of the leading and successful
husiness men of the place, one worthy of
the coiitidence and respect in whicii he is
held.

In politics ^Ir. Flessner is a Republican.
He has been a member of the town board for
se\eral terms, and as a member of the board
has taken ad\aiiced \iews in everything
where the l;)est interests of the peo[)'e were
at stake. He was on the coniniittee on per-
manent sidewalks and advocated the polic;'
of ha\ing the best suitable for tlic place,
in the spring of 1900 he was elected r. mem-
ber of the school board. He is a member
t)f the Evangelical Eutheran church of Cul-
loni, and has been one of its trustees, and
is now serving as treasurer of the church.
Interested in the work of the church, he has
always contributed generously of his means
for its support.

JOEL WALLACE WHITMIRE, M. D.

Joel Wallace Whitniire, M. D.. of Forrest,
Illinois, is one of the leading physicians of
Livingston county and surgeon for both the
Wabash and Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw
Railroads. He was born in Metamora,
Woodford county, October 25, 185 1, and
is a son of Dr. James S. and Sidney (Rob-
inson ) Whitniire. The father was born in
\'irgiiiia. in 1821, and in childliood removed
to Ohio with his parents. The grandfa-
ther Whitniire was a tanner and currier by

trade, and on his removal from Sidney,
Ohio, to \'irginia, Cass county, Illinois, look
with him a stock of leather, whicli he con-
verted into boots and shoes for the early
settlers. As a minister of the New Light
church, he also preached at that place for
some time. Later he became identified
with the Lliristian church, and always took
an active part in church work. His last
days were spent in Johnson county, Texas.
Our subject's father. Dr. James S. Whit-
mire, began the study of medicine with Dr.
Kyle, of Macomb, Illinois, and later was
graduated at the old Illinois Medical Col-
lege, in Jacksonville. In 1846 he settled at
Metamora, Illinois, where he engaged in
practice until 185 1, when he took his degree
at Rush Medical College, Chicago. He
returned to practice in Metamora, and later
took a third course at Jefferson Medical Col-
lege, Philadelphia. During the Civil war
he served as assistant surgeon with the Sixth
Illinois Regiment of cavalry one year, and
was then transferred to the Fifty-sixth Illi-
nois Infantry as surgeonof Greene 11 Raum's
regiment, w itli which he remained until after
the battle of \'icksburg, when he took charge
of his brother's private practice, allowing
the latter to go to Springfield and serve as
examining surgeon. He was one of the
most prominent physicians and surgeons of
his section of the state, and was also a prom-
inent charter member of tlie Woodford
County Medical Society and the North Cen-
tral Medical Society. The State Medical
Society had only been organized a short
time when he joined it. and he has served as
its vice-president a number of times, and
was i)resident for the first two, and an ex-
tensive writer for medical journals through-
out life. Socially he was a member of the
(jrand .\rniy of the Republic and the Ma-

320

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sonic order. He died in July, 1897.
On the 4th of July, 1846, he married ]\Iiss
Sidney Robinson, a native of Morgan coun-
tv. Illinois, and a daughter of Joel Rol)in-
son, an early settler of that county, for-
merly of Ohio, where the families had been
intimate. The Robinsons were also from
Virginia. At his death the father of our
subject had three living children.

Dr. Joel W. Whitmire acquired his early
education in the scliools of Metamora and
later attended the Soldiers' College at Ful-
ton, Illinois, and then Eureka College- for
two years, finishing the junior year. He
commencetl the stud_\- of medicine with his
father, and took his first course of lectures
at Rush Medical College, Chicago, in the
winter of 1874-5, graduating from that
noted institution in tlie spring of 1877. It
is a peculiar fact that the father had two
brothers who read with him and graduated
from the same school, and also three sons
and one nephew. The other sons were Dr.
Clarence L., who was engaged in practice
at Sublette, Illinois, and later at W'averly,
Iowa, where he died; and Dr. Zach-
ariah Lincoln, of L'rbana, Illinois, who died
in 1899. After his graduation our subject
was engaged in practice with his father for
eight years, and then came to Forrest, where
he has successfully followed his chosen pro-
fession for fifteen years, being acknowl-
edged one of the best and most skillful phy-
sicians and surgeons in the eastern part of
the county. For some years he has been
surgeon for the Wabash and Toledo,
Peoria and Warsaw Railroads, and his duties
•were quite arduous when their shops were
located in Forrest. He is also a member of
the examining board for pensions, of which
he is treasurer; has been a member of the
board of health sf)me years, and was the

first to inaugurate the strict quarantine of
certain contagious diseases. He is exam-
iner for all the old-line life insurance com-
panies doing business in Forrest, and for
a time was engaged in the drug business at
that place. Fraternally he is an honored
member of the \\'oodford County, the
Xorth Central and the State Medical So-
cieties.

In September, 1877, Dr. Whitmire mar-
ried Miss Laura Xorthcott, of Christian
county, a relative of Lieutenant-Governor
Xorthcott, and to them have been born two
children, ^lary ]\Iaude June and Sidney.
The family have a beautiful home in the
west part of town, and attend the Christian
church, of which ]\Irs. Whitmire is a mem-
ber. The Doctor affiliates with the iMa-
sonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, He
joined the last named fraternity at Mata-
mora and was past grand there. In politics
he is an ardent Republican, and has fre-
quently been a delegate to different con-
ventions of his party, including the state
conventions, and has served as a member
of the township board.

HOX. MICHAEL CLEAR Y.
Hon. ]\Iichael Cleary, who is represent-
in the twentieth district as a member of the
General Assembly of Illinois, and who for
more than a quarter of a century has repre-
sented his township as a member of the coun-
ty board of supervisors of Livingston coun-
ty, was born in Clonmell, county Tipperary,
Ireland. February 9, 1840, and is a son of
Philip and Mary (Hefferman) Cleary, the
mother being a cousin of Colonel Heffer-
man, of Bloomington, who ser\ed on the
staff of Governor Altgeld.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

321

Philip Cleary was a farmer in county
Tii)i)erary, Ireland, on a ]ilacc which had
hceii the home of tlie famil\- lor many gen-
erations. Hearing so much of the great
United States, and with that laudable desire
to better provide for his family, he emigrated
with them to tliis country in 1840, landing at
Philadelphia on the 25th of May, our sub-
ject being then but a few montlis old. From
Philadelphia lie went direct to Youngstown,
Ohio, where he found em])loyment. with
others, in di.eging the Hocking Valley canal.
He remained at Youngstown one year and
then came to Illinois, locating at Spring
Creek, now Spring \'alley, Bureau county,
where he engaged in farming. In 1845 he
moved to Grundy county, Illinois, and was
working on the Illinois canal when it was
opened up the second time. He continued
to work on the canal until its completion,
in 1848, when he located near Ottawa, La
Salle county, and again resumed farming.

While residing in Bureau county Philip
Clarey hauled his grain to Chicago with oxen.
There were there no bridges and all the
streams had to be forded. The grain was
development of the home farm and in due
the wagon the more easily and carried across
the sltnighs when the oxen stuck in the mud.
Clothing for the family was all home-made,
and all were thankful for what they could
get. The family were among the first Cath-
olics to locate in Bureau county, and they
had to go to Peru to attend religious services.
While residing in Ottawa, in 1861, thei
mother died, and in 1868 the father came
to Livingston county and made his home
with our subject until his death, in 1884.
He was a firm believer in the Catholic relig-
ion and gave liberally for the support of the
Catholic church.

When the familv moved to Ottawa our

subject was about eight years old. From
that time nn he was of assistance in the
time was thoroughly conversant with the
details of farm work. He was educated in
the schools of Ottawa, but the broad gen-
eral information which he now possesses was
principally obtained in the school of ex-
perience. Like a dutiful son, he remained
at home and assisted his parents until he
was twentv-one years old, when he began
life for himself, and that his life has been
a successful one is fully attested by the
recortl here given.

On the 14th of .\ugust. 1865. Mr. Cleary
was united in marriage with Miss Ellen
Burke, of Sandwich, Illinois, but a native
of county Tipperary, Ireland, and daughter
of Jeffrey Burke, who was also born in coun-
ty Tipperary. By this union ten children
were born, all of whom are yet li\ing. \Vill-
iam P. is now a druggist in Odell, Illinois.
Hon. Jnhii M. graduatetl from the law de-
partment of the \\'esleyan University, of
Bloomington. with the degree of LL. B.
He is now one of the leading attorneys of
Kansas City, Missouri, and is a member of
the legislature of that state. Katherine,
Alice, Ellen and Lillie are each graduates of
the best convent schools of the country.
Frank. .Albert, Joseph and Leo are engaged
in farming. All of them have had good ed-
ucational and other advantages.

Immediately after his marriage Mr.
Cleary rented a farm near Ottawa, Illinois,
and engaged in general farming and stock
raising. With limited capital, but with un-
bounded courage and steadfast determina-
tion, he began farming, and in three years
he accumulated means sufficient to purchase
a farm for himself. In 1868 he came to
Livingston county and purchased the south
half of section i, Odell township, and at

322

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

once began its improvement. The land was
in its virgin state and the first thing neces-
sary was the erection of a house for his fam-
ily. This done, he set out a hedge fence,
broke the ground and cammenced tilling the
soil. That first three hundred and twenty
acres he yet owns, but he has added to his
possessions until he has thirteen hundred
acres in the vicinity, all of which it under
the highest state of cultivation. Being a
broad guaged man he has ever been willing
to learn and to adopt any theory or sugges-
tion that seemed best, and which would in-
crease the value of his farm and possessions.
He constructed the first ditches for drain-
ing in his vicinity, and also laid the first
tile, hauling the same a distance of fifteen
miles. In 1879 he moved "out of the old
house into the new." At that time he built
and now occupies one of the finest houses in
Livingston county, and which, when erected,
was far superior to any. The large elegant
parlors, with their furnishings, would grace
a modern city home.

Mr. Cleary has also one of the finest
barns in the state, which was erected about
the same time that his house was built. It
is occupied by grain bins and by his horses,
being used for cattle, while the second story
is occupied by grain bins and by his hoi'Ses,
and the third floor for agricultural imple-
ments and hay. He has bins for six thou-
sand bushels of oats, and from the bins,
b)- means of spouts, the grain is carried
to the basement. He has also large cribs for
corn, of which a great quantity is always
kept on hand for feeding purposes.

While carrying on general farming Mr.
Cleary has been especially interested in the
importation and breeding of the best grades
of cattle and hogs. He had the first Poland
China hogs in the countv, and did much to

secure the general introduction of this breed,
to the great benefit of all farmers. He al-
ways has upon his place a large number of
short-horned cattle, which he feeds and pre-
pares for the market. He has been one of
the most successful farmers in the county,
being thoroughly progressive in all things.
While others complained of the times and
of Providence, he worked, and the result
is plainly to be seen. In addition to his Liv-
ingston county property he owns a half-
section of well improved land in Iowa, and
a full section in South Dakota.

In politics Mr. Cleary has always been
a Democrat and since he attained his ma-
jority he has always taken an active interest
in political affairs. He has never been able
to see the necessity of leaving political af-
fairs to the professional men and to the ward
politician, but believes that every man should
take such interest in public matters as will
elevate politics and make better citizens.
Since coming to Livingston county he has
had large influence in moulding public opin-
ion and in the dissemination of Democratic
jirinciples. He has served on the county cen-
tral committee of his party and has repeat-
edly been a delegate to its state conventions.
In 1892 he was one of the Cleveland electors
and had the honor of being a member of the
electoral college that elected a president, an
honor that comes to but few.

Although in a Republican township Mr.
Cleary, in 1874, was elected to represent it
as a member of the board of supervisors,
and from that time to the present has been
continuously re-elected, and is now the old-
est member of the board in point of serxice.
His influence on the board has always been
felt and for many years he served as its
president. When not chairman of the gen-
eral board he has usuallv serx'ed as chairman

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

323

of some of its most important committees.
During his first year the e<-ection of the pres-
ent court house of tlie county was com-
menced, tlie old building having been de-
stroyed by fire July 4, 1874. He has been
chairman of the county farm committee, and
of the public projierty committee, and in
every position he has acted for the best gond
of the public. Under the new re\enue law
creating a l)()ard of public review, he was
chairman of that board in 1899.

In iS8j Mr. Cleary was elected a mem-
ber of the legislature and was re-elected in

1884 and in 1886. During his first term
he introduced into the bouse the present
tarni drainage law, which was supported in
the senate by Hon. George Torrance. In

1885 he secured the passage in the house of
a bill to regulate charges in the stock yards,
which was known as the stock _\-ards l)ilh
but it was defeated in the senate, for the
reason that that lxidy seemed more friendly
to corporations. In 1887 he secured the pas-
sage of the game bill for the protection of
wild fowl, which liill passed the senate and
became a law. .\fter an interval of ten
years Mr. Cleary was again nominated by his
l)arty and was elected to the legislature. In
the session of 1898-99 he introduced a l)ill
into the house limiting the rate of interest
in the state to five per cent. The monied in-
terests were too strong for him and the bill
failed of passage. It will be seen, however,
that when a member of the General Assem-
bly Mr. Cleary was an active one, and all
his acts were in the interest of the people.
His princi])al work has been in the committee
room, but whether in committee or on the
lloor of the house he has always exerted
a commanding influence.

Realizing the benefits of a good educa-
tion Mr. Cicarv has alwavs been a friend

of the public schools, and for many years
served as a member of the school board,
and it is safe to say that his influence was
always for the general grxxl and for im-
proved methods. While Catholic in re-
ligion, he is liberal in his views, and is will-
ing to grant to others the same liberty he
asks for him.self in religious afifairs, and he
numbers among his strongest friends those
of the J'rotestant religion. For the erection
of churches he has ever been a liberal con-
tributtjr, it mattered not what the denomina-
tion represented, lie is a member of St.
I'aul's Catholic church of Odell, and was
the treasin-er oi the committee of five who
built and paid for the church before even a
priest hatl locatetl there. He was one of
the first members of the Catholic church in
his vicinity. His wife and family are also
members of the same church.

For nearly a third of a centurv Mr.
Cleary has been a citizen of Livingston
count}', and no man within its borders is
better known, or who has more earnest,
steadfast frientls. With few advantages in
his youth, and starting in life for himself
with very limited means, he has labored
early and late, in sunshine and in shade,
initil to-day he is numbered among the most
prosper(nis residents of the county, sur-
rounded by all the comforts and many of the
lu.xuries of life, and more than all, by a
contented and happy family, a loving wife;
who has been a helpmeet indeed to him, and
children hel])ful to him as age creeps on.
In the years that ha\e pasesd he has not
selfishly given his entire time and best ener-
gies to the material welfare of himself and
family, but has given much time and his
best thoughts to the general good of the
community in which he has lived. As a
member of the county board o^ supervisors,

324

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and legislative halls, he has made his mark,
and the confidence and respect in which he
is held by those who knriw him best is at-
tested by his continual re-election to office.
A thorough, progressive and energetic
farmer, a wise legislator, a good, substan-
tial citizen and a faithful friend, such, in-
deed, is Hon. jNIichael Cleary, of Living-
ston county.

AAROX JAAIES BEXXETT.

Aaron James Bennett, a representative
farmer of A\'oca township, Livingston coun-
ty, was born in the house now occupied by
him, February 28, 1865, and is a son of
John and Rachel (Shaw) Bennett, both of
whom were born in Cape May, X^ew Jerse\',
and in early life moved with their respective
parents to Ohio, but after spending one
winter in that state the families went to
Indiana, settling near Rossville. It was
there that the parents of our subject were
united in marriage, and there the father be-
gan a successful career as a farmer and also
did teaming from Chicago to Lafayette, In-
diana. In 1852 he came to Livingston
county, Illinois, and rented land in Avoca
township for three years. He then pur-
chased one hundred and twenty acres of
government land, which is now a part of the
old homestead farm. By hard work and
untiring perseverance he converted this wild
tract into a fine farm, adding to its value
by erecting modern buildings, fencing, til-
ing and otherwise improving the same. He
also purchased other land until he now owns
a half-section, which has nearly all been
improved by himself or under his direction.
In 1888 he purchased a comfortable home

in Fairbur}', where he now resides, and
where his wife died in 1890. lu politics
he is a stanch Republican, and being a well-
educated and popular man, has been elected
to numerous offices in his township, serving
as collector some time, supervisor six years,
and trustee of the school district a number of
}'ears.

The suliject of this sketch is the seventh
in order of birth in a family of eight chil-
dren, the others being as follows : Sarah,
who lives with her father in Fairbury; Ma-
rian, wife of Joshua Mills, of Springfield,
Ilhnois; W. Scott, also at home; John E.,
a resident of Thawville, Illino.s; George
H., a resident of Bell Prairie township;
Emma, wife of John Mitten, an employe of
Walton Brothers, of Fairbury; and Alary
D., at home.

Aaron J. Bennett attended the district
schools near his boyhood home, also took
a course in the public schools of Fairbury,
and later was a student at Onarga for a few
months. He grew to manhood upon his
father's farm, assisting in its operation until
he attained man's estate, and he now rents
the place, being successfully engaged in the
cultivation of two hundred acres. He is
also interested in stock raising, which he
finds cjuite profitable.

In 1888 Mr. Bennett was united in mar-
riage with Miss Clara Davis, who was born
in Ohio in 1868. Her parents, Eben and
Dorothy (Maurice) Davis, still reside in
that state. Clara is the oldest of their four
children; Rose is the wife of Fred Liedolf,
of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Edward is a resi-
dent of Lima, Ohio ; and Harry is a mem-
ber of the Fourth United States Infantry,
and is now with the army in the Philippines.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have two children:
Walter R., born June 20, 1889; and Rachel

THE BIOGRArHICAL RECORD.

325

D.. born July 22, 1890. are both attending
tlie district scliool.

By liis balUit Mr. ]jennett supports tlic
men and measures of the Repulilican parly
and is an active worker at the polls, li" iking
alter the \<-)ters of his districe. Fur nine
years lie served as school director, as schno!
trustee two years, and was then apponited
school treasurer, which position he now
liolds. He has never sought office, but when
elected has served the people faithfully and
well. He is upright and honorable in all
his dealings and sujjports church work, hieing
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church
of Fairbury, as is his wife. Fraternally he
is a member of the Mutual Aid Society df
F'airburv.

THOM.\S J. O'COXXOK.

Thomas J. O'Connor, a well-to-do and
successful farmer residing on section 6,
Ciermanville tiiwnship, Livingston county,
is a native' of Illinois, born in La Salle coun-
ty. March 19, 1861, and is a son of Timothy
and Margaret (Murphy) O'Connor. The
father, a native of Ireland, came to the
L'nited States at the age of nineteen, ami
1 1 veil for some years in Xew York state
before coming to Illinois. He engaged in
farming near Ottawa, La Salle county, un-
til the fall of 1868, when he moved to Liv-
ingstDii county, taking up his residence in
Charlotte tuvvnship, where he purchased a
farm of eighty acres. Later he added to it
until he had one hundred and sixty acres,
and successfully engaged in its operation for
some years, but is now living a retired life
in Cliatsworth, where he located in the spring
of 1892. He made all of the improvements
I- on his place and transformed the wild

land into a highly productive farm. His
wife is still living, as are also five of their
six children, our subject being the oldest.

louring his boyhood and youth Thomas
J. O'Connor attended the jjublic schools, and
remained at home with his parents, assist-
ing in the work of the farm, until they re-
moved to Cliatsworth. He served as clerk
of Charlotte township seven years, and al-
wavs took a deep and commendable interest
in imblic affairs. In the spring of 1892 he
removed ti> ( lernianville township and
bought the farm nf one hundred and sixtv
acres which is now his home. He has since
made nianv improvements mi the place, and
has one of the most desirable farms of its
size in the township. He is now serving
as town clerk of (iennanville, ai!d has al-
ready become prominently identified with
the interests of that section of the county.

On the 26th of October, 1887, in Chats-
worth. Mr. O'Connor was united in mar-
riage with Miss Julia Murphy, a daughter
of Patrick .Murphy, of La Salle county, who
is now engaged in farming in Cliatsworth
township, hour children bless this imion,
who.se names and dates of birth are as fol-
lows : lunniet, .\pril 17, 1889: \era. De-
cember 27. i8(jo: Lucile, April 2. 1892;
and Julia, Septemljer 8, 1898. The first
two were born in Charlotte township, the
others in (iermanvilie township.

THOMAS AXDKEWS.

Thomas Andrews, of Pontiac. Illinois,
is now living a retired life in the enjoy-
ment of a rest which he has truly earned
and richly deserves by reason of his indus-
trious efforts of former years. Acconi-

326

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

plislinient and progress ever imply labor,
energy and diligence, and it was these quali-
ties which enabled our subject to rise from
the ranks of the many and stand among the
successful few. He is one of the highly
respected citizens of Pontiac, and his long
residence in Livingston county and the
active part he has taken in its development
well entitle him to representation in its his-
tory.

Mr. Andrews was born in Stamford,
Lincolnshire, England, October i6, 1S44, a
son of James and Elizabeth (Plowright)
Andrews, natives of the same place. In
1855 the family emigrated to the United
States and located near Tonica, La Salle
county, Illinois, where the father worked
and rented property for some time until he
accumulated enough to purchase land, ex-
periencing all the hardships and trials of
pioneer life. On landing in this state he
had hut five dollars remaining and a wife
and six children to support. They received
twenty-five ilollars at Cleveland, sent them
by Mrs. Andrews' sister, but, having lost the
address of the man who was to identify him,
Mr. Andrews found considerable troulile in
securing the money. It was during the panic
tha the located here, which made it much
more difficult for liim to secure a start, but
after a few years of hard work he was al)le
to purchase three hundred and twenty acres
of wild land from the Illinois Central Rail-
road Company by having enough money to
pay the interest on the amount, but going
in debt for the principal. He would shell
corn with a small sheller, and after hauling
it to (h'idley over very bad roads would
only recei\'e ten cents per ])ushel for the
crop. Steadily and persistently he worked
his way upward to success, paying for his
place and transforming it into a fine farm.

with good and substantial buildings sur-
rounded by trees, while the land was placed
under a high state of cultivation. He en-
gaged in stock raising in connection with
farming and became quite well-to-do, though
he at first thought he would feel independ-
ent if he ever got a good team of his own.
He was recognized as one of the leading
men of his community, and was called upon
to serve as highway commissioner, school
director and fill other local offices of honor
and trust. Religiously he was a Congre-
gationalist. He died upon his farm Au-
gust 6, 1883, leaving a family of nine chil-
dren, of whom our subject is the oldest.
He ga\'e each of his sons forty acres of
land, which they have since traded so that
it might all belong to a few of them. The
mother died October 30, 1899. She would
h.ave been se\enty-fnur years of age had she
li\-ed until the following February.

Thomas Andrews received his educa-
tion in the schools of his native land, his
school days being over when he came to this
country, for, being the oklest in the family,
he was obliged ti help in their support.
On account of his }-outh he was discouraged
from entering the armv during the civil
war. He remained with his parents until
past the age of nineteen years and then went
to Eureka, Illinois, where he worked four
months. Returning to Tonica, La Salle
county, he rented land, antl while there was
married. May i, 1866, to Miss Mary E.
Brady, a daughter of James and Elizabeth
(Moore) Brady, natives of Brown county,
Ohio, of which her paternal grandfather
was one of the pioneers. Her grandfather,
Mr)ses Moore, spent his entire life there as
a farmer, and there her parents also died,
the mother when Mrs. Andrews was only
two months old. and the father a few vears

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

327

later. He was a blacksmith by trade. She
was raised by an aunt, with whom she came
to Tonica, Illinois.

Of the seven children born to Mr. and
jNIrs. Andrews, three died in infancy. Those
living are James H., a business man of Grid-
ley, Illinois, who married Minnie Settle and
has four children, Thomas, Amy E., Henry
and an infant; Sarah Ann, who married H.
U. Grant, of EUettsville. Indiana, and has
one child, Delos Andrews; Susan Elizabeth,
who married Joseph Solon, of Graymont,
this county, and has four children, Florence,
Helen, Duane and Evaline; and Mary Eva-
line, who is teaching in the public schools
of I'ontiac. The children all received good
educations, the father having left the farm
and nii)\ed to town f(_>r that purpose.

In the fall of 1S6S Mr. Andrews bought
eighty acres of land in Rock Creek town-
ship, which he improved and paid for in six
years, and then sold, buying one hundred
and sixty acres of land east of Pontiac in
1875. ^ his land was entirely unimproved
and \ery wet, on which account it was C(.)n-
sidered very undesirable property, but he
tiled it and to-day has one of the best farms
in Pontiac township. lie erected thereon
a good residence, substantial nutluiildings,
set out shade trees, and made many other
improvements which add greatlv to its
\alue and attractive appearance. Leaving
the farm, which he still owns, he moved to
Cayuga, where he was successfully en-
gaged in merchandising for some years
and a resident for eleven years, but since
1893 has lived in Pontiac, having built a
pleasant residence on Xorth Main street.
He has owned property in Cayuga, but sold
it, autl now has two hundred acres of im-
priived rich land near Hamlet, Indiana, not
far from South Bend. In improving two

farms for him.self and aiding in the de\-elop-
ment of his father's place he has materially
ad\anced the interests of his adopted coun-
ty and promoted its prosperity. He and
his wife are active meml)ers of the Methodist
Epi.scopal church, and are honored and
highl)' respected by their fellow citizens who
appreciate their sterling wurtli and mauv
excellencies of character.

WILLIAM E. HDKE.

William E. Hoke, a well-known real-
estate dealer of Odell. Illinois, was born in
Williamsburg, I'ennsylvania, October 2,
1S56, a son of Samuel and Laura X. (Ken-
ney) Hoke, and a grandson of Jacob Hoke,
who was of old Pennsylvania stock and a
soldier of the Revolutionary war. The
father was born in McConnellsburg, Penn-
sylvania, April 12, 1824, and when a young
man learned the trades of cabinet-maker and
painter at Gettysburg. In 1859 he brought
his family to Livingston county, Illinois,
and purchased a farm four and a halt miles
southeast of Odell.

On that place our subject grew to man-
hood and atended the common schocils of the
neighborhood. Being injured at the age
of fourteen years and unable to engage in
active labor, he entered the Odell high
school two years later, and later engaged
in teaching school. At the age of twenty-
to years he became a stutlent at Lincoln
L'niversity, Lincoln, Illinois, but his health
failed before he had completed the course
antl he was obliged to gi\e up study. He
tlien taught school until twenty-four, when
he was appointed postmaster at Kmington.
during President Hayes' administration, at

328

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Avhicli time the town was started, and he
completed tlie second building in the place,
opening a hardware store there. He
also named the town in honor of the wife
of the owner of the land on which it was
located, her name lieing Emma. As the
first postmaster he installed the office and
got it in good running order, but at the end
of two years his health again failed and he
was compelled to resign his office and sell
his business. He had built up a good trade
and was doing a successful business. He
then went to Pella, Iowa, for Herbert
Spencer & Company, to open a hardware
store for \'an Houten Brothers.

^\'hi!e there Mr. Hoke was married,
J\Iarch J3, 1882, to ^liss Sophia Robinson,
who was born in La Salle county, Illinois,
March 25, i860, and was there reared and
educated. Her father, James Robinson,
of Peru, Illinois, was also a native of La
Salle county, a representative of one of its
oldest families, and spent his last days on the
homestead taken up from the government.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoke hail three children :
Laura M., who was born April 13, 1882,
and died at the age of two years : Harry
Harvey, born January 13, 1884: and Albert
E., born October 4, 1885. The .sons are
still in school. The name of Harvey is an
old one in the famil}^, it being the maiden
name of Mrs. Hoke's maternal great-grand-
mother, who traced her ancestry back to
Lord Harvey.

After eight months spent in Iowa, Mr.
Hoke returned to Livingston county, Illi-
nois, and rented his father's farm near Odell
for three years. He met with success in
his farming operations, but was crippled by
barbed wire, which resulted in blood poison-
ing, and he lost all he had in his efforts to
save his life. In 1888 he located in Odell,

where he has since engaged in the real-
estate business, and has been remarkably
successful in that undertaking. He has
handled a large amount of western property
in Iowa and ^linnesota. and his patrons, who
are mostly his frientls, have been well satis-
fied with their investments. He has sold
many thousand acres of land, in one year
disposing of twenty-one thousand acres, and
has secured good homes for hundreds of
people, whom he has sent to those states.
Since buying a home for himself in Odell
he has invested every dollar he could get
in western lands, and now has over one thou-
sand acres in two different tracts in Wright
and Hancock counties, Iowa. He is a wide-
awake, energetic business man, of progres-
sive ideas and indomitable enterprise, and
his success is certainlv well deserved, for he
has had many difficulties to overcome. In
politics he is a strong and active Republican,
and has ser\ed as a member of the school
board, though he cares nothing for political
honors. Religiously he supports the Con-
gregational church.

\\TLLIA:M H. TAYLOR.

William H. Taylor, the present well-
known and efficient highwaycommissionerof
Dwight township, and a resident of the town
of Dwight, has through his own exertions
attained an honorable position and marked
•prestige among the representative men of
his community, and with signal consistency
it may be said that he is the architect of his
own fortunes, for he started out in life for
himself at the age of nine years and has
since made his way in the world unaided.

Mr. Tavlor was born in Lancastershire,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

329

England, March 9, 1843, ^ son of James and
Betty (Mills) Taylor, also natives of Lan-
castersliire, where the father followed the
blacksmith's trade for many years. In early
days during the gold excitement in Califor-
nia, he came to America and crossed the
])lains to the Pacific slope, where he spent
two years, meeting with fair success in his
mining operations. His Ijruther-in-law,
Robert Mills, who went with him to Cali-
fornia, died a millionaire in that state a
couple of years ago. After returning to
England from California Mr. Taylor brought
his family to the United States and located
ill Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he
worked at his trade for the PennsyKania
railroad many years. There he .spent the re-
mainder of bis life, dying at the age of sev-
enty-si.x years. His wife survived him about
two years. They were the parents of eight
children: Elizabeth, William, John, Rachel,
Ellen, James. Charles and Delia, all of whom
reached mature years and all are still living
with the exception of James. Our subject
is the only one living in the west, the others
being still residents of Allegheny county,
Pennsylvania.

William H. Taylor was a mere lad on
the emigration of the family to America.
He attended school at Pittsburg, but at the
age of nine years he commenced earning his
own livelihood, and ever afterward supported
himself. In early manhood he went to In-
diana, and worked on a farm in De Kalb
county for a few years. From there he went
to Chicago, where he found employment in
the stock yards about two years, after which
he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania
and remained there about a year, when he
again went to Chicago and worked in the
stock yards a year. In 1866 he came to
Livingston county, Illinois, in the employ of

a Mr. McPherson, for whom he had worked
in Chicago, it being jiis intention to remain
only thirty days, but he has now l)een here
o\er thirty-three years. He continued to
\\(irk for Mr. McPherson four years.

On the loth of December, 1868, Mv. Tay-
lor married Miss Lydia H'. Grub, a native of
I'.lair county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter
of l)a\i(l Grub, who never came west. To
our sul)ject and his wife were born four chil-
dren, namely: ^\'illiam J., the eldest, who is
engaged in farming in Dwight township,
married, first, Maggie Jenkins,who died leav-
ing one child. Rebecca, and for his second
wife he married Catherine Del)by ]\Iorris.
Charles and .\nnic are both at lii;me. The
youngest, a daughter, died in infancy.

.A.fter his marriage Mr. Taylor rented his
present farm in Dwight township for several
years, and in 1873 purchased twenty acres,
to which he later added until he now owns
eighty acres, all now within the corporate
limits of the town of Dwight. Formerly
he gave considerable attention to the raising
of stock, making a specialty of thoroughbred
animals, and for a number of years he dealt
in stock, selling ])rincipally to the local ship-
pers.

Keligiousl}- Mr. and Mrs. Taxlor are
members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and ])olitically he is identified with the Re-
publican party. He was a member of the
\illage board during the Dwight boom, and
for the past sixteen years has most efficientlv
and satisfactorily served as road commis-
sioner of Dwight township. With one ex-
ception he has Imilt all the bridges in the
township, and has made many other improve-
ments along that line. He is public-spirited
and progressive, and takes an active part in
all enterprises calculated to prove of public
benefit.

330

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

THOMAS HUGHES.

Tliomas Hughes, now living a retired life
in Dwight, Illinois, is a man whose success-
ful struggle with adverse circumstances
shows what can he done by industry and
economy, especially if a sensible wife sec-
onds his efforts to secure a home and compe-
tence. Born of poor parents, he was obliged
to make his way in life without any of the
aids which are usually considered essential
to success.

Air. Hughes was born in county ]Mayo,
Ireland, in 1841, a son of Thomas and Mary
(Dowd) Hughes, who spent their entire
lives in that county, the father being em-
ployed as a herder on a large estate. Our
subject left home at the age of thirteen years
and came to the United States with his uncle,
James Hays, who was mate on a sailing ves-
■ sel. He landed in New York and from there
went to Long Island, where he found em-
ployment with a farmer and market gardener
near Flushing. His employer was a Mr.
Bayton, a Pennsylvanian by birth, and with
him Mr. Hughes remained until he attained
his majority, receiving little more than his
board and clothes for his seven years' labor.
At the age of twenty-one he went to Xew
York City, where he worked as a laborer
for two years, and in 1864 he came to Chi-
cago, where the following two years were
passed, during which time he assisted in lay-
ing the pipes for the city water works. He
next found employment at the docks unload-
ing vessels, and followed that occupation for
five years.

On the 25th of December, 1868, in Chi-
cago, Mr. Hughes married Miss Margaret
Higgins, a daughter of Francis and Mary
( Brady) Higgins. To them have been born
seven children, namelv : Francis, now an elec-

trician of Seattle, Washington; John H., who
married Julia Dunn and lives on the home
farm in this county; Nellie M., a successful
and popular teacher of Livingston and
Grundy counties ; Emma, who is clerking in
the store of Gordon Brothers of Dwight;
Julia, a graduate of the Dwight high school,
and now a successful teacher; and two who
died in infancy.

In the fall of 1869, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes
came to Dwight, where her father had lo-
cated some four years previous. Here, in
partnership with his brother-in-law, our sub-
ject engaged in farming for two years, and
then rented one hundred and sixty acres of
land from F. O. Caldwell in Round Grove
township, operating that place nine years.
In 1 87 1 he made his first purchase of land,
consisting of one hundred and sixty acres
on the northeast quarter of section 23, Round
Grove township, which was ail raw land, en-
tirely unimproved. Here he erected an
humble home, sixteen by twenty-four feet,
with a kitchen twenty by fourteen foet. He
planted fifty acres of flax and broke all but
six acres of his land the first year. During
the ten years he resided thereon he placed
the land under a high state of cultivation,
and in connection with general farming en-
gaged in stock raising, feeding usually from
one to two hundred head of hogs. In Feb-
ruary, 1889, he bought a tract of thirty-six
acres of land just east of Dwight, and located
there in order that his children mieht have
better educational advantages. He lived there
two years, cultivating his little farm, and in
1889 bought one acre of land in the village,
upon which he erected his present beautiful
home at a cost of five thousand dollars. It
is one of the most elegant residences in the
citv. He has added to his landed possessions
from time to time and now has three bun-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

331

dred and sixty acres of valued and well-im-
proved land. He Ts one- of the successful
citizens of the county and deserves much
creflit for what he has accomplished. Look-
ing hack tlirough the vista of the past we see
a friendless boy who came to the New World
in search of home and fortune, at present we
see his ambitious dream realized, and ct)uld
the \eil of the future 1>© lifted we wnuld
tliiubtlcss see an honored old age crowned
with respect and veneration which is ac-
cortled a well-si)ent life. In pnlitics ho is
independent, and in religious belief is a
Catholic.

WILLI A.\l L. (Jl'lX.X.

William L. Uuinn is one of the prosper-
ous citizens of Strawn, who has laid aside
all business cares and is now living a retired
life. Success has attended his well-directed
effiorts and he is ot-day in possession of a
comfortable competence which enables him
to spend his declining years in ease and re-
tirement from active labor.

Mr. Quinn was born in Ireland in 1842,
and is a son of Charles and Unity (Lyncli)
Quinn. also natives of that country, born in
county Tyrone. The father, who was a
farmer by occupation, died there at the ad-
vanced age of ninety- four years. The
mother had died at the age of twenty-four
years, and for his second wife he married
Jane Campljell, who is still living in Ireland
at the age of sevent)'-five. By the first union
there were three children, of whom our sub-
ject is the second in order of birth and the
only survivor. James died at the age of
twenty-four years, and one unnamed died in
infancy. Of the twelve children born of the
second marriage, seven came to the United

States, three locating in Living.ston county,
Illinois, tho otjiers in i.os Angeles, Califor-
nia. Michael crossed the Atlantic in 1X69,
and after six years spent in Ottawa, Illinois,
took up his residence in Livingston county,
w here he at first operated one of our subject's
farms and thon purchased three hundred and
twenty acres of land on sections 5 and 6. Ger-
nian\ille townshii). He is an industrious and
prosperous farmer, and the father of six chil-
dren. Alexandor came to America in 1874,
and also settled in Ottawa, Illinois, where
he worked for E. V. Griggs one year. Hj
then settled on a farm on sections 7 and 8,
Germanville township, owned by our sub-
ject, and there he continues to make his
home. He owns eightv acres of land on sec-
tion 8. He is married and has six children,
four sons and two daughters.

The subject of this review was reared
and educated in his native land, and in i860,
at the age of eighteen years, came to .Amer-
ica. For twenty-three years he was in the
employof Andrew Lynch, a general merchant
of Ottawa, Illinois, and at the end of that
time, in 1883, came to Strawn, He worked
on the farm with his brother Michael for one
year, but since that time has lived a retired
life in the village. In 1874, while still a res-
ident of Ottawa, he purchased three hundred
and twenty acres of land on sections 5 and 6,
Germanville township, which at that time
was all raw land and which was operated by
his brothers. He made all of the improve-
ments upon the place, including the erection
of a commodious and pleasant residence in
1879, which at that time was one of the best
in the county, and he also built a large barn
and laid over fifty thousand tiles. In due
time the land was all placed under a high
state of cultivation. In 1880 Mr. Quinn
bought one hundred and sixty acres of land

332

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

on sections 7 and 8, the same township, and
also improved that place with the assistance
of his brothers. Besides this property he
has sixty-three acres on section 7, German-
ville township, purchased by him in 1893,
and now leased to a tenant, and one hundred
and sixty acres of fine pasture land at Em-
poria, Lyon county, Kansas, purchased in
1 88 1. The same year he bought a house in
Strawn, which he has re^nodeled and made
one of the best in the village. It is a beau-
tiful place, surrounded by a large lawn, and
neat and tastefully furnished. For about
nine months Mr. Ouinn clerked in the hard-
■\vare and grocery store of Joseph Kuntz, in
Strawn, but with that exception has lived
retired during his residence here.

In Chicago, Illinois, February 20, 1884,
Mr. Ouinn married Miss Bridget Conlin, a
native of Ireland, who came to this country
in 1865. Her mother died in Ireland, after
which her father emigrated to America and
spent his last days in retirement from active
labor in La Salle, Illinois, where he died at
the age of eighty years in 1879. He had
followed farming in his native land.

Although Mr. Ouinn has been a resident
of Livingston county only seventeen years,
he has by the improvements of his property
here been identified with its development for
many years. As a Democrat he takes an
active interest in political affairs, and gives
his support to those enterprises which tend
to advance the interest of his adopted coun-
try. He has served as trustee of the village
of Strawn for fourteen years, and village
treasurer nine years, and his official duties
were always most faithfully and conscien-
tiously discharged. Religiously both he and
his wife are devout members of the Roman
Catholic church, and are highly respecte-d
and esteemed bv all who know them.

WALSH BROTHERS.

\\'alsh Brothers, consisting of L. F. and
T. AI. Walsh, are the leading merchants of
Campus, Illinois, carrying a large and well
selected stock of general merchandise, furni-
ture, hardware, agricultural implements, car-
riages, wagons, coal, lumber, lime, cement,
and all kinds of building materials. They
also do a large undertaking business, keep-
ing a hearse and full equipments for the
same. In size and quality of stock and char-
actor of the building, their department store
would grace a much larger town, it being
something not often found in a place the size
of Campus, though Campus cannot be
judged by the average Illinois village of
three hundred population, possessing as it
does a standpipe and good water works; a
church and Sisters' school, both fine brick
structures ; and numerous elegant residences.
The people are enterprising and progressive
and give to the place an air of thrift.
Walsh Brothers have an elegant and com-
modious two-story brick beuilding, fifty by
eighty feet, with a basement, which was
erected by them in 1897 to take the place of
the old frame building recently destroyed by
fire. Forming a partnership, they pur-
chased the business of J. J. Foltz & Son, in
1 89 1, and continued business at the old stand
until it was reduced to ashes. Besides their
store building they have another large build-
ing in which seasoned lumber is kept. They
do an extensive business as contractors and
builders, and have erected many of the
buildings in Campus and vicinity, including
nearly all those in the new mining town of
Cardiff, where in the spring of 1900 they put
up a large store, which will be conducted as
a branch store of the one at Campus, and be
in charge of J. H. Walsh, another brother.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

333

Thomas J\I. \\'alsli, the junior member
of the firm of Walsh Brothers, is a native of
tliis county, born in Broughton township, ,
February 15, 1866, and is a son of Patrick
and Ann (Smith) Walsh, both natives of
Ireland. The father emigrated to America
in 1849, 'i'ltl six years later took up his res-
idence in Livingston county, Illinois, being
one of its early settlers and successful farm-
ers. He is now living a retired life in Cam-
pus. In his family are nine children, name-
ly: John P., a resident of Chicago; L. F.,
the senior member of the firm of Walsh
Brothers; Kate E., at home; Thomas M.,
the junior member of the firm ; Mathew, who
is in the employ of his brothers; James H.,
who has charge of the branch store in Car-
diff; Mary A., wife of William Mortison of
Chicago; George C, who is with his broth-
ers, and Blandina, bookkeeper for her
brothers.

On the home farm Thomas M. Walsh
grew to manhood, his early education being
obtained in the common schools and the high
sdiool of Dwight. Subsetpiently he took a
literary course at St. Viature's College, and
a commercial course at Dixon College, from
which he was graduated in 1890. The fol-
lowing year he formed a partnership with
his brother L. F., as previously stated, and
has since successfully engaged in active busi-
ness at Campus. Fraternally he affiliates
with Campus Camp, No. 2619, M. W^ A.,
and politically is identified with the Repub-
lican party. He has served as postmaster of
Campus since 1897; has filled the office of
justice of the peace since 1892, and has been
a member of the board of education for tho
past six years. As a business man he is
wide-awake, progressive and energetic, and
carries forward to successful completion
whatever he undertakes, while as a citizen he

has promptly and faithfully discharged every
duty that has devolved upon him. On the
9th of February, 1892, he married Miss Mag-
gie Steger, who was born and reared in
Round (Jroxe township, this county, a daugh-
ter of Christian and Louise Steger. By this
union were born three children, namely :
Francis Herbert, Clyde A., and Philomean,
who died at the age of seven years.

]-. !•". Walsh, the senior member of the
firm of Walsh Brothers, is also an enterpris-
ing business man of known reliability. He
was born March 18, i860, was reared on the
home farm and attended in the local schools,
completing his education, however, by a
general course at the Northern Indiana Nor-
mal School at Valjiaraiso, Indiana. He was
married, November 2-, 1896, to Miss Lena
Flynn, a daughter of Patrick Fl\nn, and to
them have been burn three chiklrcn, \'iola,
Leo and Bernice.

JAMES P. GOURLEY.

James P. Gourley, a representative
farmer and highly esteeme-d citizen of Esmen
township, residing on section 17, was born
in Harrison county. West Virginia, October
8, i860. His father, Alfred Gourley, was
born and reared in the Old Dominion, and
when a young man went to West \'irginia,
locating in Harrison county, where he mar-
ried Rebecca Jane Farris, a native of that
state. There the father continued to carry
on farming for some years, but in 1865
moved to Livingston county, Illinois, where
two of his brothers had previously located.
He first came to the county in 1855. but soon
returned to \\'est \"irginia and did not locate
permanently here luitil ten years later, when

334

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

he purcliased land in Amity township. He
prospered in his new home, being a thorough
farmer and good business man. and became
the possessor of a vahiable farm of four hun-
dred and forty acres. Upon that place he
continued to make his home throughout life,
dying there May 30, 1898. His wife sur-
vives him, and continues to reside on the old
homestead with her son Charley.

In Amity township James P. Gourley
grew to manhood, and was educated in the
country schools near his home. He as-
sisted his father in the operations of the farm
until nineteen years of age, and then worked
on the farm of a cousin for two years. On
the 24th of December, 1882, in Livingston
county, he was united in marriage with Miss
Ida Buren, who was born and reared in
Grundy county, Illinois, and they have be-
come the parents of seven children, namely :
Ray, Fay, Clarence, Earl, Flavins, Florence
and Edith. All are living with the excep-
tion of Fay, who died at the age of eight
years, and the sons aid their father in carry-
ing on the farm.

After his marriage Mr. Gourley located
on the farm where he now resides, but after
operating it for four years he moved to the
Buren farm in Grundy county, in 1886, and
lived there for the same length of time. In
1 89 1 he returned to the farm in Esmen town-
ship, Livingston county, on which he now re-
sides. Here he owns sixty acres, and also
operates an adjoining one hundred and sixty
acre tract belonging to the Gourley heirs,
and eighty acres more near by. He also
rents one hundred and sixty acres of pasture
land. He owns a valuable farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres in St. Joseph county,
Indiana, and in connection with his brother
Charles has a piece of three hundred acres in
LaPorte county, that state. In connection

with farming he is engaged in stock raising,
his specialty being hogs, but he also keeps a
good grade of cattle, including some full-
blooded registered Durhams. He is ac-
counted one of the most successful farmers
and stock men in his part of the county, and
is numbered among its most reliable and pro-
gressive business men.

In politics 'Mr. Gourley is independent
and cast his first presidential vote for Grover
Cleveland, the Democratic nominee, his last
for William McKinley, the Republican can-
didate. Fraternally he is a member of the
Cornell Camp of Modern Woodmen, and he
is held in high regard by all with whom he
comes in contact either in business or social
life.

ARTHUR MARSHALL.

Arthur Marshall, a prominent and rep-
resentative farmer of Livingston county, was
born near Sandy Hill, Washington county.
New York, March 16, 1834. and died in
Dwight, May 30, 1899. As his parents died
when he \\'as quite small, he remembered
nothing of his mother and but little of his
father. His early life was spent in western
New York and Pennsylvania, and in 1857
he came to Illinois, locating first in Bureau
county, but in March of the following year
he drove across the country to Livingston
county, where he continued to make his.home
until his death. He purchased one hundred
and sixty acres of land in Union township,
to the cultivation and improvement of which
he devoted his energies until 1898, and in
his farming operations was quite successful.
He was a lover of good stock, especially
horses, and he fed cattle and hogs exten-
sively. In politics he was a strong Repub-
lican, verv radical in his views, but would

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

335

never accept any public office whato/er. say-
ing that lie would not be president if lie was
capable and the position was offered him.
Until late in life he was a nieniljcr nt tlio
Presbyterian church, but in 1895, with his
wife, he united with the Congregational
church of Dwight. As in other affairs he
never would accept office, though ho took an
active interest in church and Supnday school
work and was an efficient and and able leader
in the Sunday school, lie was noted for his
kind and obliging disposition anil was alw ays
willing to assist those in neo;l even at an in-
convenience to himself. Surely the life rec-
ord of such a man is wurtli)- of perpetuation
anil will be read with interest by his many
frienils and aciiuaintances throughout the
County.

Mr. Marshall was three times marrieil,
first on the 24th of January, 1861, to Miss
Mary Thompson, a nati\e of Guernsey
count}'. Ohio, and a daughter of Mitchell and
lane riiompsdu. At an early age she and
her threo brothers were left motherless.
She came to Livingston county to keep house
fur Iwi) of them, William and Hugh, and
the other, Jefferson, located here later. The
first two were soldiers of the civil war, and
after their return from the war lived in
Union township, this county, but Hugh is
now a resident of Pontiac, while Jefferson
resides in Miles City, Montana. Mr. Mar-
shall made the acquaintance of his wife while-
she was keeping house for her brothers, but
she removeil to her father's hoiiie to be mar-
ried, and came as a bride to this county the
second time. She died June 12, i86g, leav-
ing three children: (i) William E., born
October 8, 1861, died June 5, 1895. (2)
Mary J., born January 23. 1864, is a gradu-
ate of the Dwight schools, and for some time
was a teachor of Livingston countv. She

had charge of an Indian agency school in the
west for a time, and was also connected with
the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas,
but is now teaching in Glendive, ]\Iontana.
(3) .\nna L., burn October 14. 1866, is the
wift.. of James W. McKinzic, of Glendive,
Montana.

Mr. Marshall was again married, March
7, 187 1, his second union being with Margaret
Ci. George, who was born in Belmont county,
Oliiii. April 9, 1831, a daughter of John and
.\nn (Cross) George, the former a native
of Ireland, the latter uf Maryland. Being
loft an orphan, her father came to America
at the age of nine years and grew to man-
hood in Ohio. He owned and operated a
farm of one hundred and sixty acres in
Dwight township, this coijnty, where he
made his home until 1864, and then moved
to Dwight, where his death occurred in 1872.
He was a liljeral supjjorter and active worker
in the Presbyterian church, in which he
ser\ed as elder for many years. In bis fam-
ily were twoKe children, ten of whom grew
to maturity, and four are still living, namely;
Sarah A., wiilow of Benjamin Ogg, and a
resident of Parker, Alissouri; James C, a
retired farmer of Washington, Kansas; Liz-
zie M., the third wife of our subject, and
Rebecca, widow of Henry McDonald, of Al-
gona. low a. Those deceased are as follows :
Wm. C, born October 29, 1826, died No-
vember 29, 1826; Mary, born May 17, 1842,
died the same day ; Leathy, born October 5,
1835, married Jesse Cowgill, and died May
2^, 1862, leaving two children, John Mc-
Daniel and Margaret A. ; Priscilla, born Oc-
tober 12, 1829, married John Cowgill, of
tiuernsey, Ohio, where she die-d in 1868,
leaving si.x children ; John C, born October
19, 1833, served three years in the Union
army during the civil war, and made his

336

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

home in Dwight township, this county, where
he died September 17, 1899; Louisa, born
June 15, 1837, died unmarried at the age
of twenty-nine years and thirteen days ; and
Benjamin Cross, born May 22, 1839, married
Olhe Burr, and died in Nevada, lUinois, in
1866, leaving two children, John and Mary.
The father of these children was born De-
cember 25, 1796, and died August 12, 1877,
while the mother was born May 25, 1804,
and died May 25, 1885. Mrs. Margaret C.
Marshall, the second wife of our subject, died
January 10, 1887, leaving one daughter,
Minnie 2\I., now the wife of George Crandell,
residing on the old homestead in Union town-
ship, I hey had three children, but Olive,
born February 25, 1895, died April 27, 1897.
Those living are Mary M and John M.

On the 29th of October, 1888, Mr. Mav-
shall married Lizzie ^I, Brown, a sister of
his second wife, who was an invalid for sev-
eral years prior to her death, and Lizzie had
made her home with them for two years.
She was Ixirn October 2t,, 1844, and was
first married ^Nlay 7, 1868, to Edgar D.
Brown, by whom she had four children,
namely: Edgar C, a resident of Schoolcraft,
Michigan; Frank, a soldier in Porto Rico;
and Eleanora M., who is attending school in
Peoria, Illinois. By her second marriage,
Mrs. Marshall has one child, George A,, born
December 14, 1889, She has [made her
home in Dwight since 1898, and is highly
respected and esteemed by all who know her.

PETER G, XELLIS.

Peter G. Nellis, who for many years was
auditor of the Chicago & Alton Railroad,
but is now practically living a retired life in

Pontiac,. Illinois, is a man whose worth and
ability have gained him success, honor and
public confidence. He enjo\s the well-
earned distinction of being what the world
calls a "self-made man," and an analyzation
of his character re\-eals the fact that enter-
prise, well-directed eft'ort and honorable
dealing have been the essential features of
his prosperity.

Mr. Xellis was born in Fort Plain, Xew
York, April 11, 1825, a son of Gerritt and
^Madeline (Ehle) Nellis. both natives of
Palatine Bridge, New York, His paternal
great-grandfather was a bishop of the Lu-
theran church, and a resident of Schenec-
tady, New York. The maternal grantl-
father, Peter Ehle, was descended from
German stock and was a farmer by C)ccupa-
tion. When a x'oung man the father of our
subject moved to Fort Plain, of which place
he became a well-known and prominent
farmer. In religious belief both he and his
wife were Lutherans, He died at Fovt
Plain, while his wife, who was born in 1800.
died December 22. 1889.

Of the three children liorn to this worthy
couple our subject is the oldest. He at-
tended the common schools of his native
town and completed his education by an
academic course. He remained on the home
farm until he attained his majority and about
1848 came west by boat from Buft'alo to
Detroit, by rail to Kalamazoo, then the west-
ern terminus of the Michigan Central Rail-
road, and from there crossed the lake to
Chicago, After spending a short time in
that city, he made a prospecting tour through
northern Illinois and Wisconsin, and finally
located in Lockport, Illinois, where he en-
gaged in merchandising, being one of the
first merchants of that place, which at that
time was a competitor of Joliet,

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

337

Mr. Xellis spent two years in Lnckix^rt,
and tbo'e l:e was n:arriecl, Feliruary ji. 1850,
to Miss Louise Jennison. wlio was lioni anil
reared in Dundee. Scotland, and is a daugh-
ter of Captain Robert and Susan (Clarke)
Jennison. the former a nativo of Weymouth.
England, the latter of Dundee. Scotland,
here the family made their home until
coming to the United States in 1846. at
which time the father was a retired officer
of the Royal navy. They located in Chi-
cago, but later removed to Lockport. where
Captain Jennison owned a section of land.
though he never acti\ely engaged in its
operation. He spent his last days in Os-
wego. Illinois, where his wife also ilied.
Mr. and Mrs. Xellis have thri..; children :
Gerritt John, a resident of Chicago: Rufus
L.. of Denver; and Mrs. Loui.se Slocum, of
I'ontiac.

After his marriage Mr. Xellis disposed of
I'lis business in Lockport and accepted the po-
sition of paymaster for the Illinois Central
Railroad, then being built at Cairo. The
rails were brought from England, and from
Xew Orleans were towo:l up the Mississippi
river on flatlioats. He handled large sums
of money for the road at a time when banks
and checks were fow and robbers plenty.
He remained with the company during the
entire construction of the road, General Mc-
Clellan being chief engineer and later vice-
president. After its completion Mr. Xellis
served as the first agent at Vandalia. and
later was trans f«;rred to LaSalle, being three
years at each place. He was next ajjpointed
traveling auditor for the Chicago & Alton
Railroad with home and headtjuarters at
Chicago, receiving his appointment when
Roswell B. Mason was president and general
manager of the road, and J. C. McMullen
general superintendent. He remained with

the company thirty-five years, traveling the
whole e.xtent of the road, which in extent of
time is un])aralleled by any case in railroad
h;story. Me was also considered one of the
finest accountants in the United States, and
most accountably filled the jjosition of auditor
until the retirement of T. B. Blackstone. the
pre.sident, in 1900, though he is still with the
road in a local way. For years he has made
his home in Pontiac. where, in 1890. he
erected the present residence where he now
lives. He is widely and favorably known
throughout the state and has a host of warm
friends in his adopted city.

•DEXJ.\.MIX BARICKM.\X.

Benjamin Barickman, who resides on
section 30. Xewton township, is numbered
among the pioneers of 1832, the date of his
arrival being at the time of the celebrated
Black Hawk war. He was a lad of eight
years at the time, and has a vivid recollec-
tion of the stirring events of that day. He
is a native of Atlanis county, Ohio, born De-
cember n, 1824, and is the son of Daniel
and Mary ( Pitchenger ) Barickman. both of
whom were natives of Maryland, where they
were united in marriage, and which was
their home until their removal to Ohio in
an early day. They made their home in
Adams county, that state, until 1832. when
they came to Illinois, making the journey
in a large "prairie schooner" drawn by oxen.
On their arrival they located on what is now
section 30, Xewton township, the farm yet
being in the jxissession of our subject.

Securing his location, Daniel Barickman
set about the erection of his house, the typi-
cal log ca1)in so well remembered bv the

338

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

older resivlonts of the county. At that time
there were but few persons residing in what
is now Livingston county, but prairie wolves,
deer and other wild game were in abundance.
Our subject has counted as many as fifty
deer in one drove in the early day, and it was
many years before they were all extinct in
this section of the country. Prairie chick-
ens were so numerous they at tmies destroyed
tlie growing corn.

Daniel Barickman was a son of Daniel
Barickman, a native of Germany, wIki came
to this country with his wife early in their
married life, locating in Maryland, which re-
mained their home during the romainder of
their lives. Daniel and Mavy Barickman
were the parents of nine children. Bartley,
James, Prudence, Daniel, Harriot, Benja-
min, Jacob, Mary Ann and Upton. Of
these, four are yot living. Prudence, the
widow of Wesley Bishop, is living in Wel)-
ster Citv, Iowa. Daniel is living a retired
life in the city of Streator, LaSalle county.
Harriet is the wife of Preston Bishop and
they make their home in Towanda, Illinois.
The death of the father occurred when he
was seventy-four years old, and the mother
when she was seventy-one years old. In
politics, he was originally a Whig, but later
a Republican, and in political affairs he
always manifested a commendable interest.

The first purchase of land by Daniel
Barickman was of two hundred and forty
acres on which he erected his cabin and at
once commenced to improve. Xot a fur-
row had I)eon turned, and there was no sign
of civilization. Indian wigwams were to be
seen in the timber, and there was nothing
but the Indian trail and the path made bv
the deer as they came out of the timber.
Commencing the impro\ement of the place,
he soon had (|uite a large tract under culti-

vation, and in due time he added to his
original purchase and became a well-to-do
farmer. He continued to reside on his
original farm until his death.

The primary education of our subject
began in the common schools of his native
state, and soon after the arrival of the fam-
ily in Livingston county his father employed
a man named Button to teach school in an
out-house on his place, and to that school
he went, and later in a log school house
erected aljout two miles from their home.
There were yet no roads located and the
children went through the timber to the
school. In winter time it was \'ery hard to
make their way through the snow, which
sometimes was very deep. An education,
however, obtained under such circumstan-
ces is apt to be appreciated.

The early life of our subject was one of
hardship. The farm must be improved,
and e\ery member of the family must do
liis part. With his parents he remained,
assisting in the development of the place
until he was about twenty-two years of age,
when he was united in marriage with iMiss
iMary A. Latham, a native of Connecticut,
and daughter of Lyman S. Latham, one of
the early settlers of the county, who came
from the Xntmeg state about 1845. locating
in what is now Reading township. By this
union eight children were born, of whom
three — Augusta, Franklin and Benjamin —
died in childhood. The living are : Daniel,
a farmer of Xewtown township; Prudence,
wife of Joseph Coe, living in Chicago; Car-
rie, wife of Cephas Coe, living in Reading
township : Charles M., county judge of Liv-
ingston county, residing in Pontiac; and
Willis H., who is married and living on and
operating the home farm.

After his marriage i\Ir. Barickman con-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

339

tiiuied to reside on tlie home place, which he
managed for his father for some years, and
of whicii he later hecame the owner. To the
original farm he added eighty acres, whicli
he lias since deeded to one of his sons. As a
farmer he ranked among the best in the conn-
ty, and was fairly successfnl. He continued
to actively engage in the management of tlie
farm until 1898. since which time he has
been living a retired life.

For many years Mr. Barickman has been
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and for the greater part of the time he
served his church as a member of the official
board. He has always taken an active in-
terest in church work, and is a strong be-
liever in the teachings of the lowly Xaza-
rene. In politics he was originally a Whig,
with which party he was identified until its
dissolution, since which time he has been an
ardent Republican. He was never an office-
seeker, but believed in every man doing his
duty, politically, in the advocacy of the prin-
ciples and the proper support of his party.

For sixty-eight years Mr. Barickman
has been a citizen of Livingston county. As
already stated, when he came here the coun-
try was almost an unbroken wilderness.
Wolves, deer and wild game of all kinds
was in abundance. One could scarcely
look out from the door without seeing wolves
or deer. His brother was a great hunter.
and was considered the best shot on the river.
Our subject was a hunter of no mean ability,
and has in his time killed many deer in the
vicinity of his home. He remembers on
one occasion that a party of hunters were out
with their hounds on a deer hunt, and one of
the number shot a buck, which plunged into
the river. The dogs were sent in after him,
but the deer, fighting for his life, almost
drowned the dogs before an end was put to

his e.xistence. Many anecdotes and incidents
of pioneer life are related by Mr. Barick-
man, to the wonder and amusement of the
younger generation. But in the almost
three-score years and ten that he has lived in
this county he has witnessed many changes
indeed. He has seen the old plow, with its
wooden mold-board, give place to the mod-
ern implement of steel, the sickle and the
tlail superseded by the reaper and the steam
thresher; the log cabin replaced by the
stately farm house with all the comforts of
the nineteenth century. He has seen the
coming of the 'railroad, the telegraph and
the telephone. He has seen town and cities
spring up, and churches and school houses
find a place on almost every hillside, and in
every hamlet. Aladdin, with his lamp,
could never unfcild greater wonders than he
has witnessed since becoming a citizen of
Livingston, one of the best and most pros-
perous of the counties in Illinois. In the im-
provements that have here been made he has
borne his part, and he has a right to the
years of rest which it is hoped that he may
be able to enjoy.

JOSEPH O. ALBRECHT.

Josei)h O. Albrecht, one of the foremost
men of Waldo township, Livingston county,
is a native of Illinois, born in Princeton. Bu-
reau county, December IQ. 1859, and is a
sr)n of John and .\nnie ((lacho) Albrecht,
natives of Germany. In 1838. at the age of
four years, John Albrecht was brought to
this country by his parents, who settled in
Bureau county, Illinois. In the early days
of Chicago, the grandfather, Jacob Albrecht,
hauled his wheat to that citv from Bureau

340

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

county in a wagon which he hewed out of
logs. Throughout Hfe he followed farming,
and at one time also owned and operated a
brewery at Princeton. He died in 1877.
In his family were eight children, five sons
and three daughters, of whom two, Christo-
pher and J(.)hn Albrecht, are prosperous
farmers li\ing at Tiskilwa, Bureau county.

The father of our subject followed farm-
ing in Bureau county until 1865, when he
came to Livingston county and bought the
west half of section 3, Waldo township, for
which he paid ten dollars per acre. Here
he prospered, and at the time of his death
owned seventeen hundred and twenty acres
of land besides several business blocks in
Flanagan. He died February 12, 1900, at the
the age of sixty-six years, two months
and twent\--two days. He was well
known and highly respected, and had
many friends throughout this section
of the state. O n the 8th of March,
1859, he married Anna Gacho, and
to them were born the following children :
Joseph O., our subject; August, who was
born June 16, 1861, and died February 16,
1892; John, who was born Mav 12, 1863,
and died February 21, 1885; Christopher,
v.ho was born December 24, 1865, antl died
October 20. 1890; Jacob, who was born
February 20, 1869, and died April 16,
1889; and Benjamin, who was born Novem-
ber 23, 1 87 1, and now resides in W'aklo
township, Livingston county. The mother
of these children departed this life Decem-
ber 2^. 1873, and on the 22d of November,
1874, the father married Barbara Nafciger,
also a native of Germanv. by wlmm he had
eight children, whose names and dates of
l)irth are as follows : Magdaline, Septem-
lier 18, 187;; Peter, February 17, 1877:
Annie, March 5, 1879; Samuel, August 'i.

1883; Lydia, \\\y 5, 1886: William, Septem-
ber 12, 1888; and Daniel, February 16, 1894.
The oldest daughter is now the wife of Peter
Good, of Waldo township.

The early education of Joseph O. Al-
brecht was acquired in the public schools near
his bo}-h(i(id home, and under the aljle direc-
tion of his father he soon acquired an ex-
cellent knowledge of e\'ery department of
farm w(.>rk. He has made agriculture his
life occupation, and now owns and operates
a quarter-section of land on section 9, Waldo
township, and also has eighty-two acres on
section 2, besides one hundred and sixty
acres in Iowa. He is a wide-awake, pvo-
gressi\e farmer, of good business abilitv and
sound iudpment, and is meeting with re-
markalile success in life.

On the loth of February, 1884, Mr. Al-
brecht was united in marriage with ISIiss
Lizzie, daughter of Christopher and Mary
(IngokD Ringenberg. of Tiskilwa, Bureau
county, and they now have one child, John
W., born December i, 1885. Mr. Albrecht
has held several local offices and takes a keen
interest in the welfare of his township and
countv.

JAMES E. GRAHAM.

James E. Graham, who is now living a
retired life in the village of Long Point, and
is efficiently serving as assessor of his town-
ship, has made his home in Livingston
county for over a third of a century, having
come here from near \\'enona. La Salle
county, in 1865. He was born at Port
William, Clinton county, Ohio, in 1842, a
son of Thomas B. and Elizabeth (Ellis)
Graham, also natives of Ohio. The father
was of Scotch ancestrv, the mother of Ger-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

341

man and English tiescent. W'lien a t-oung
man Tliomas B. Graham learned the trade
of a millwright and cabinet-maker, which he
I'ollowed throughout life, dying in Ohio in
1884. He left four children who reached
years of maturity, namely : Lydia, who
married Thomas Greer and died in Ohio
about 1855: John W"., an attorney and jus-
tice of the peace of Harrisonville, Cass
county, Missouri; Asa A., an attorney and
real estate dealer of Topeka, Kansas; and
James E., the subject of this sketch. After
the death i>f the father, the mother married
Absalom Kinsey, by whom she had five chil-
dren, but only two are now living: Isaac
\\'.. a farmer of Long Point township, Liv-
ingston county; antl Malinda. wife of James
Merrill, in the emplo\- of the L'nion Tea
Company at Champaign. In 1S54 the fam-
ily moved to Marshall county, Illinois, and a
year later to La Salle county, where Mr.
Kinsey followed farming, but both he and
his wife spent their last days in Long Point
township, Livingston county. She was
born June 11, 1813, and died July 19, 1894.
James E. Graham was educated in the
schools of La Salle county, and remained
with his mother until he entered the L'nion
army during the ci\il war, at the age of
eighteen }ears. He enlisted as a private
July I, .1861, in Company C, Forty-fourth
Illinois \'olunteer Infantry, and remained
with his regiment all through the war, tak-
ing part in the battles of Pea Ridge, P'erry-
ville, Stone River, Chickamauga and Mis-
sionary Riilge, and in all the engagements
of the Atlanta campaign. Although he had
many narrow escapes, he was never wound-
ed, and was ne\er in the hospital but for a
single night. At the close of the war he
was honorably discharged as commissary
sergeant September 26, 1865.

After being mustered out ]\Ir. Graham
located in W'enona, Illinois, and in 1866
came to Long Point township, Livingston
county, where he has since made his home
with the exception of one year. On the
29th of November, 1868, he was united
in marriage with Miss Emma Long, who
was born near Danville, \'ermilion county,
Illinois, Xoxember 30, 1843, ^ daughter of
Reuben and Phema (Lucas) Long, natives
of Ohio. Mr. Long was born June 18, 1813,
and died September 29, 1885. He was of
Irish and German and his wife of German
and English extraction. She was born July
5, 1816, and is still living on the home place
near Cornell. She became a resident of
\'ermilion county in 183 1, her husband in
1839, and in 1852 they removed to Living-
ston county, being among the early .settlers
of Amity townshii). Both held membership
in the Christian church, and has always af-
filiated with the Democratic party. In their
family were eleven children, eight of whom
are still living: Emma, wife of otn- sub-
ject; Clarissa, who is the widow of Ellis
Kinsey and lives near Flanagan, Illinois;
Orlean, who lives near Cornell, in Amity
townshi]); Joseph, who lives near Long
Point; )(ihn {twin of Joseph), who is a
carpenter and lives with his mother near
Cornell; Charlotte, who is a widow and also
lives with her mother; Lucretia, wife of Les-
lie Lawrence, living near Flanagan; and
Samantha, wife of Charles Talbott, of Amity
townshij). To Mr. and ]Mrs. Graham were
born three children, of whom one died in
infancy. Leon, born .August 30. 1872, was
educated at Eureka College, and is engaged
in school teaching. He married Laura
l-'ilby, and has one son, W'i-lbur. .\rvilla
Mae, born October 7, 1876, is the wife of
Louis Stilson, a prosperous farmer of Han-

342

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cock county, Iowa, and tliey liave two chil-
dren. Gladys and Milliuni.

After his marriage Mr. Graham took up
his residence upon a farm in Long Point
townsliip, and successfully engaged in gen-
eral farming until his removal to the village
of Long Point in March, 1898, since which
time he has practically lived a retired life.
He pnrcliased a pleasant home, and also
eighteen li)ts within the corporation limits.
In politics he is a pronounced Republican,
and has served the people faithfully and
well as cr)nstal)le: school director for sev-
eral years, and assessor for the past five
years. He is a prominent member of the
Grand Army Post. No. 784, of which he
is chaplain, and both he and his wife are
active members of the Christian church of
Long Point, of which he is an elder.

GEORGE W'HITHAM.

George W'hitham is a prominent busi-
ness man of Cornell, where he is now suc-
cessfullv carrying on operations as a dealer
in hardware, agricultural implements and
grain. In all nf his undertakings he has
steadilv i)n)si)ered, his excellent success l)e-
ing but the logical result of liis careful and
correct business methods.

Mr. Whitham is a native of Washington
county, Pennsylvania, born near Wheeling.
West \'irginia, Januarv 30, 1834. His
father. Alexander B. Whitham. was born in
Brown county. Ohio, and when a young man
went to Washington county. Pennsylvania,
where he married Martha J. Davis. In early
life he folowed the shoemaker's trade, but
later devoted his attention to agricultural
pursuits. On first coming to Illinois, in Feb-

ruary. 1857, he settled in Marshall county,
and did not locate in Livingston county un-
til 1876. Here he spent his last days on a
farm and died October .22, 1886.

Our subject grew to manhood in Mar-
shall county and was educated in the Lacon
high school. After the remo\al of the
family to Livingston county, he aided his
father with the farm work, and continued to
engage in agricultural pursuits in Esmen
township, until coming to Cornell in 1893.
when he purchased an established hardware
and implement business, which he has since
carried on with marked success. Since 1895
lie has also tlealt in grain and now ships
large quantities from Cornell. He is one of
the most active, enterprising and progressive
business men in his section of the county.

On the 1st of October, 1879. in Esmen
townsh'p. Mr. Whitham married Miss Emma
A. Rhodes, who was born near Lake Geneva,
iri Walworth county, Wisconsin, her father,
Leiand AI, Rhodes, being one of the pio-
neers of that county, and a native of New
York. He lironght his family to Li\-ingston
county, this state in 1876. Mr. and Mrs.
Whitham have five children, namely: Mil-
ton A.. Charles E.. Mina May. Gracie and
Carrie. Mrs. Whitham is a member of the
Baptist church and takes an active part in
the work of the church and Sabbath school.
Fraternally Mr. Whitham is a member of
the Modern Woodman Camp at the same
place, and has serveil as clerk a number of
years. In his political affiliations he has been
a life-long Democrat, and has taken quite
an. active and prominent part in local politics.
He has filled the otifice of assessor, collector,
township clerk and president of the village
board. In 1895 he was elected supervisor
and has served as such for six consecutive
years, .\lthough he has not met with strong

GEORGE WHITHAM.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

345

opposition lie was re-elected by an increased
majority at each election. Me lias most
ably and satisfactorily represented his town-
ship on the board, has lieen appointed a mem-
ber of a nnmber of important committees,
and is now chairman of the one on rules.
His pul)lic and private life are alike above
re])roach, and he well deserves the success
that has come to hir.i.

EUGEXE A. \'AHEV.

luig'cne A. \'ahey. a piipular conductor
on the Wabash Railroad and a prominent
citizen of Forrest, Illinois, was born in Mt.
Carmel, Pennsylvania. August 31, 1851. and
is a son of Eugene and Julia ( Cosgrove) \'a-
hey. The father was alsi > a native of that
state and a contractor on railroad work,
doing an extensive business. He helped in
the construction of the Erie Railroad, Dela-
ware, Lackawanna & Western, and Lehigh
Valley Railroads, but during the last twenty
years of his life lived retired from active
business. He made his home in Pittston,
] Pennsylvania, during the greater part of his
life, and died there January 10, 1892, while
his wife passed away September 15, 1882.
Both were meinbers of St. Paul's Catholic
church of that place, and in politics the fa-
ther was a Democrat.

Our subject was educated in the common
and high schools of Pittston, and for two
years was engaged in the grocery business
at that place. Selling out his interest, he
became connected with railroad work, in
1873, as brakeman on the Wyoming divis-
ion of the Lehigh \'alley Railroad, with
which he was connected three years. He
then went to Jersey City, Xew Jersey, and

entered the employ r)f the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, and remained with them
until March 15, 1882, making up passenger
trains in the yards at that place. Coming
west, Mr. Vahey entered the service of the
^^'abash Railroad on the 27th of that month,
as switchman at Forrest, Illinois, and six
months later was appointed yardmaster, at
a time when all freight stopped here. He
served in that capacity until September,
1888, when he went upon the road as con-
ductor, running at first from Forrest to
Chicago. Later he w;is assigned to the
Streator run, which is one of the best on the
road, as he gets home every night. In point
of service he and Mr. Stewart are the oldest
emi)loves of the Wabash Railroad living in
Forrest, and have the entire confidence and
respect of the comiiany.

On the 25th of November, 1875, Mr.
\'aliey was united in marriage with Miss
Mary J. Garri.son. of Paterson, Xew Jer-
sey, a native of that place and a daughter
of David and Mary A. (Garrettson) Garri-
son. The father, who was a carpenter and
a son of Henry Garrison, spent his entire life
in that city, and Mrs. Vahey's maternal
grandfather, Henry Garrettson, was also an
old resident of Paterson. Our subject and
his wife have two children : Marguerite, and
Charles E., a teacher at Reading, Illinois.

Mr. Vahey owns a nice home and other
])ro])ertv in Forrest. He has been very suc-
cessful in business affairs, and was one of
the promoters, incorporators and member
of the first board of directors of the Forrest
Building & Loan Association. Originally
he was a Democrat in politics, but in 1896
voted for McKinley, and still affiliates with
the Republican party. He served as city
clerk one term, and as alderman of Forrest
two vears. I-"raternally he is a prominent

346

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and influential memlier of W'aljasli Division,
No. 260, O. R. C, of wliich he has been sec-
retary- and treasurer, and was a representa-
tive to the conventions held in Atlanta in
1895 and Detroit in 1899. He has always
taken a leading part in the affairs of his di-
vision. Mr. Vahey is also connected with
Forrest Lodge, No. 614, F. & A. M., the
Chapter and Commandery at Fairbury ; and
Olive Branch Lodge, No. 154, K. P., of
which he has been chancellor commander
and deputy grand chancellor of his district,
instituting new lodges, including" the one at
Long Point, and installing the new officers
at each election. In all the relations of life
he has been found true to every trust re-
posed in him, and is justly regarded as one
of the valued citizens of Forrest. Mr. and
Mrs. Vahc}' are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church at Forrest.

THOMAS K. BARTON.

For a quarter of a century Thomas K.
Barton has dwelt in Livingston county, and
during this period has become well-to-do
and prominent. His life has been exempla-
ry and worthy of emulation, and unbounded
confidence in his integrity and high stand-
ard of honor is felt b}' the friends and neigh-
bors who ha\-e long enjoyed his acquaint-
ance.

A native of Juniata county, Pennsylva-
nia. Mr. Barton is a descendant of sterling-
German pioneers of that state. His pater-
nal grandfather, Ephraim Barton, was born
in Germany, and at an early day in this
country's history cast in his lot with our
people. He participated in some of the In-
dian wars, and also fought in the war of

181 J. David B.. one of his sons, and fa-
ther of our subject, was born in Juniata
county about 1818, and departed this life in
1863. at his old home in the Keystone state.
His wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Thomas
Knox, also of Pennsylvania, and of Irish
extraction.

The birth of Thomas K. Barton oc-
curred December 15. 1844, and for twenty-
two years he resided on his father's farm in
Juniata county. In 1866 he determined to
seek his fortune in the west, and, coming
to Illinois, he found employment with farm-
ers in La Salle county. At the end of a
year he leased a farm, and soon afterwards
returned to the old home, with the purpose
of escorting his mother and younger brothers
and sisters to the new home he had loyally
provided for them, as the father had passed
to his reward. Mary, the eldest sister, be-
came the wife of George Vanata, and died
in 1897. Nancy, the next in order of birth,
wedded Joshua Frazer and lives in Ne-
braska. Samuel Barton is a citizen of \'er-
milion comity, Illinois, and Susan, the
youngest of the family, is deceased.

For five years subsequent to his return to
this state Thomas K. Barton and the other
members of the family dwelt together, the
circle being unbroken. His home was upon
a farm in La Salle county, and he continued
to lease the place until 1875, when he re-
mo\ed to another homestead, this being lo-
cated in Long Point township, Livingston
Cdunty. In 1883 he bought eighty acres in
section 30, Amity township — his present
home, and here he found a great task be-
fore him, for the improvements were very
poor, a log cabin and a few acres of broken
prairie constituting them. With character-
istic energy he commenced the work of mak-
inp- this a model farm, draining low lands

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

347

liy means of tiling, building fences, a large,
convenient house and good barns and other
necessary buildings. He also expended
some time and means in planting fruit and
shade trees, and at length he bought forty
acres of adjoining property, thus increas-
ing his possessions to one hundred and
twenty acres.

In all of his cares and joys. Mr. Barton
has been cheered and aided by his devoted
wife, formerly Miss Sarah E. Smith. They
were married in La Salle county, February
14. 1872, and have been numbered among
the upright, worthy inhabitants of this state
since they reached maturity. Mrs. Bar-
ton was born in Juniata county, Pennsylva-
nia, and was reared and educated there. Of
the five children born to our subject and
wife four are living, their little Jesse having
died when young. The eldest. Frank D., is
married and resides in Cornell, where he is
engaged in mercantile pursuits. Laura,
who received an excellent education, com-
pleting her studies in the Dixon (Illinois)
College, is one of the successful teachers of
this county. Leroy, an enterprising young
man. is at home, assisting in the manage-
ment of the farm. Frederick Carl, the
youngest, also is with his parents.

The first presidential ballot of our sub-
ect was cast for Lincoln in 1864. In na-
tional affairs, he supports Democratic nom-
inees, while in local elections he is inde-
pendent of party lines. For fifteen years
he served as a member of the school Iward,
thus evincing the genuine interest which he
feels in the vital matter of educating the
young. He had the honor of being presi-
dent of the board during the greater share
of that period, and to his heartfelt concern
in the subject much of the prosijerity of our
school system may be attributed. With his

estimable wife he holds membership in the
Methodist Protestant church. Fraternally
he is identified with the Cornell Lodge of the
Modern Woodmen of America, and is a
trustee of the lodge building.

CilBSOX B. BROWXSOX.

(iibson B. Brownson. the present super-
visor of Indian Grove township, in which
the city of Fairburg is located, was for
many years one of the leading contractors
and builders of that place, and many notable
examples of his skill are to be seen in this
section of the county, but he is now living
a retired life. Thoroughly reliable in all
things, the (|uality of his work is a convinc-
ing test of his own personal worth and the
same admirable trait is shown in his con-
scientious discharge of the duties of different
]K)sitions of trust and resixinsibility to which
he has been chosen in jjolitical life.

Mr. Brownson was born in Bradford
county.' Pennsylvania. July 30, 1832. a son
of Elisha Brownson, whose birth occurred
in Massachusetts, May 27, 1791. The pa-
ternal grandfather. Isaac Brownson. was also
a native of the old Bay state and a soldier
of the Revolutionary war. being with Wash-
ington wlien he crossed the Delaware at
Trenton. When Elisha was eight years old
the family mo\ed to Sus(|uehanna county.
Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood,
and was married. Octol:)er 20. 1823. to Mary
Titus, who was born December 27,. 1803.
.\fter his marriage he moved to Bradford
county. Pennsylvania, where he cleared a
heavily timbered tract of land and trans-
formed it into a good farm. There the
grandfather lived retired until his death.

348

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

which occurred when our sul^ject was Ijut
twenty-one years of age. In 1856 the father
brought liis family to IlHnois and took up
his residence in Livingston county, where
he spent the remainder of his hfe, dying-
June 22. 1874. During the war of 181 2,
he tried to enhst, but on account of his health
was not accepted. In politics he was an
old-line \\'hig. a stanch Abolitionist, and
later a Republican. His wife died Novem-
ber 20. 1869.

Our subject had but a limited opportun-
ity to acquire an educatidU. not being able
to attend school more than one year during
his boyhood, but in later years he devoted
considerable time to reading and study, and
in this way obtained a good practical edu-
cation. During his youth he served a three
years' apprenticeship to the carjienter's trade
in New \ ork. only a short distance from his
liome. and received one hundred and fifty
dollars for his three years' work, out of
which he had to clothe himself. In 1854
he came west 1 m a prospecting tour and
passed through this county before the rail-
road was built, and not a house marked the
present site of Fairbury, while Pontiac was
a mere hamlet. Being homesick he did not
remain here long, but spent two years trav-
ing over the west. Being a good carpenter,
he could alwa}-s find employment, and spent
one summer working at his trade in Miss-
issippi. In this way he saw much of the
country. In December, 1856, he located in
this county, which has since been his home.
One year was spent in Avoca, which was
then ciuite a thriving little village, while
Fairbury was unknown, and he was one of
the few to vote on the township organization.
On leaving Avoca he took up his residence
on a farm and in connection with its opera-
tion worked at his trade in Fairburv, assist-

ing in the erection of one of the first houses
of that jjlace.

In September, 1861, Mr. Brcwnson
joined the boys in blue, becoming a member
of Company K, Third Illinois Cavalry,
which was sent to Springfield to organize
and from there to Missouri, being with
Fremont when he made his raid on Spring-
field, that state. Our subject was with his
company until they reached Helena, Arkan-
sas, and was then sent to the hospital. On
his recnxery he joined the ^lississippi Marine
Brigade, which was located on the river,
being in the cavalry department going up
and down that stream with horses on boats,
and whenever they discovered any scouts
landed and chased them. Mr. Brownson
was mustered out at Vicksburg, August 2Cj.
1864, with the rank of sergeant.

After his return north he worked for a
time at his trade in St. Louis, and then re-
turned to Fairbury, which had continued to
be his home. In partnership with liis brother,
he did an extensix'e business as a contractor
and builder and gave employment to four-
teen or fifteen men at one time. He erected
many of the residences, business blocks and
other houses of Fairbury, also built the
Catholic church — the first in the place: the
Presbyterian church which is still standing;
and other churches throughout the county.
Not a man li\ing here has had as much to
do with the construction of buildings as
has practically lived retired. His own
our subject, but for the past year or two he
pleasant residence was erected the year of
his marriage.

On the I ith of March, 1868, Mr. Brown-
son married Miss Susan Ormsby, of Brad-
ford county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of
Levi Ormsby, and to them have been born
two children, both of whom were provided

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

349

witli «(o(xl educational advantages, .\lice.
the older, attended school in Dixon, and
prior to her marriage engaged in leaching in
Fairhury. She is now the wife of John D.
Watkins, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they have
line son, John. Nellie I. was educated at
the W'esleyan University, at Blooniington.
and is now a successful teacher in the public
schools in Fairhury. The family attend the
Presbyterian church.

By his ballot Mr. Brownson has always
supported the Republican party, and in i<SOS
ser\e<l as assessor of Pleasant Ridge town-
ship. For nine years he was an active and
efficient member of the school board of Fair-
bury, during which time the first brick
school house was erected there, and was a
member of the board of village trustees when
the water works was put in. In Xovember,
1895. he was appointed to fill a vacancy as
supervisor, and at the ne.xt election was
elected to that office. He has since been re-
elected and is still filling that office in a
most creditable and satisfactory manner.
He has taken an important part in the work
of the Ixiard. and has proved a most com-
petent and trustworthy official, his duties
having always been most faithfully dis-
charged. Fraternally he is a member of
Aaron Weider Post, G. A. R. : Tarbolton
Lodge, Xo. 351, F. & A. :M., and the Inde-
pendent Order of Mutual Aid, in all of
v.liich he has held office.

WILLIAM ROBERT :\IORRlS.

William Robert Morris, a jjrogressive
member of the agricultural class of Living-
ston county, is one of the most successful
young farmers of Amity township. His

entire life has been spent in this immediate
1( cality, and here, where he is so well known,
ht l^ears a reputation for uprightness and
justice and a conscientious regard for the
rights of others and his duty as a citizen and
head of a household.

William R. Morris, more familiar known
as Robert Morris, comes from an old and
honored \'irginia family, and his grand-
father. Henry Morris, possessed that spirit
which has filled the hearts of all of the sturdy
brave pioneers who laid the foundations of
future civilization and prosperity. Henry
Morris first removed from the Old Dominion
to the wilderness of Ohio, subsequently lo-
cated in Indiana and as early as 1837. when
this country was new and sparsely settled,
cauie , to Livingston county. Choosing a
tract of land in Amity township, he spent the
remainder of his life here, his death oc-
curring in 1841. His homestead, which he
had partially cleared and prepared for culti-
vation, is the identical one now in the pos-
session of our subject.

C. F. Morris, father of William Robert
Morris, was I)orn in Tippecanoe county, In-
diana. December 12. 1828, and from his
tenth year until his death, February 10,
1900, he dwelt in Amity townshi]) — one of
her most esteemed citizens. His death is
felt to be a public loss in this community,
where so long and faithfully he used his in-
fluence for its i^ermanent welfare. In early
manhood he wedded Susanna, daughter of
Joseph Springer, who was an early settler in
this locality, also. The ycjung couple com-
menced keeping house in this township, and
in the course of time came to live on the old
Morris homestead, in section 17, having
bought the interests of the other heirs. Un-
der his management the place was wonder-
fully improved, and a well-lKiilt house and

35°

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

barns added mucli to tlie value and desir-
ability of the farm. Mr. Morris was en-
gaged in the actual work of the farm until
about fifteen years ago, and in 1892 he re-
moved to Cornell, where he had purchased a
pleasant residence. His long and useful life
closed in peacefulness, and. surrounded by
his loving relatixxs and numerous sincere
friends he breached his last and passed to his
reward. His mortal remains were tenderly
laid away in the old Morris cemetery, on
the homestead, with which the name has been
associated for more than three-score years.
His first wife, the mother of our subject,
died in 1874, and he afterward married
again. Joseph C, his eldest son is a resi-
dent of Kansas City, and Gene\-a, the only
daughter, is the wife of William Gregory,
a farmer of this township.

The birth of William Robert Morris oc-
curred on the old homestead, May 20, 1868,
and here his boyhood days were passed in
tlie usual quiet pursuits of country lads.
After completing the curriculum of the com-
mcjn schools, he further qualified himself for
life's duties b}- attending c(_)llege at Dixon,
Illinois, where he was a student for two
years. He then returned home and assidu-
ously de\-oted himself to the cultivation of
the farm, deciding t'j make agriculture his
chief business in the future. Since 1890
he has had entire charge of the old farm,
and now manages about four hundred acres
of well cultivated and highly desirable land.
He is practical and in sympathy with the
progressive spirit of the age, and it is safe
to predict for him wealth and prominence,
though these things are not his chief aspira-
tions.

On the 27th of 2^Iay,, 1887, Ih. Morr.s
married Ella G. Blake, daughter of Daniel
Blake, of Cornell, her native place. Se\'en

children bless the union of this sterling
couple, namely: Fred, Lena, Robert B.,
Gertrude. Chester Warner, Daniel B. and
Marv Geneva.

In his political faith 'Sir. Alorris is a
Democrat. For himself he has ne\er as-
pired to public otifice, as he finds his time
fully occupied in attending to his manifold
business affairs. Yielding to duty and the
desires of iiis neighbors, he has officiated as
district clerk and on the board of education,
giving his influence to all measures calcu-
lated to benefit the community permanently
in his opinion.

HEXRY J. SAXTELMAN.

Henry J. Santelman, one of the leading
agriculturists of Newton township, whose
home is on section 14, has been a resident of
Livingston county since 1884. He is a na-
tive of Illinois, born in La Salle county, De-
cember 21, 1862, and is a son of Henry and
Sophia (Freeman) Santelman, natives of
Germany, who came to this country in early
life and were married in La Salle county.
B}- trade the father was a glazier, but here
he devoted his attention to farming, and
although he had no capital with which to be-
gin life, he worked hard and at the time of
his death, which occurred March 12, 1898,
he owned two hundred and forty acres of
valuable land, acquired through his own
well-directed efforts. He was seventy-three
years of age at the time of his death. In
politics he was always a Republican, and
both he and his wife were, members of the
German Evangelical church. She is still
living at the age of sixty years, and makes
her home in Sunbury township, Livingston
countv. In their familv were nine chil-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

351

dren, namely : Charles, who owns and op-
erates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres
in Sunbury township; Amelia, wife of Will-
iam Russow, who has a farm of two hundred
and eighty acres in Xewtnwn township;
Henry J., our subject; Mary, wife of Chris-
tian Cates, of La Salle county; Eretlerick, a
resident of Sunbury township; William, wlm
lives on the home place in La Salle county ;
Edward, who works for his brother Charles;
Albert, who is with his mother: and Joseph,
will I is with his brother Charles.

The subject of this re\ iew received his
education in the common schools of La
Salle Count}', and remained at home until
attaining- his majority. On janu;u-y i, 1SS5,
he married .Miss Sophia Heckman, who was
born in (iermany, December 3. i8(),v and
when se\ cnteen years of age came to Amer-
ica with her mother and the other children
of the family, the father haxing ilied pre-
viously. She has one brother, John, who
owns and operates a farm in Rock comity,
Minnesota, and a sister, Mary, wife of
Charles Santelman. The mother is still liv-
ing with her cliiklren at the age of se\enty-
lliree years. ?klr. aiul Mrs. Santelman have
six children: Hilda, born September 27,
1885; Ella, September 17, 1889; Walter,
December 7, 1891 ; Laura, September 7,
1894; Fred, January J3, 1897; and Roy,
l-ebruary 12, 1900.

On starting out in life for himself Mr.
Santelman's father gave him hve hundred
dollars, a team and some farming inii)le-
ments. For nine years he successlullv en-
gaged in farming in Sunlniry township, ;md
on selling his property there bought his
present farm of one hundred and ninety
acres in Xewtown township, for which he
paid fifty-eight dollars per acre. This he
has tiled and further improveil, ami as a

thorough and practical farmer he is meeting
with well-deserved success. He possesses
many of the admirable characteristics of his
( ierman ancestors, being industrious, ener-
getic and persevering, and is highly re-
spected by all who know him. As a Repub-
lican he takes (juite an active interest in po-
litical affairs, but has ne\er cared for office,
though he is ser\ing as school director in
his district. Religiously he is a member of
the Evangelical church, as is also his wife.

IIA.M.MO.M) A. l'l':.\RSO.\.

Ilamniond A, I'earsoii, a prominent
farmer of Nebraska township, and a worthy
rei)reseiitative of one of the honored pioneer
families oi Li\iiigston county, was born
here, October 5, 1857, a son (>i Abel and
Mary .\. { liloodworih ) I'earson, both na-
tives of Engiand, the former born at 'i'ydd,
St. Mary's. Lincolnshire, .\ugust 24. 1826,
the latter at Tidd, St. Ciles, January 15,
1823. Jt was in 1849 that the father crossed
the broad Atlantic, and after spending one
season in Rochester, New York, came to
Illinois, settling at Walnut Grove, now Eu-
reka, Woodford county, in May, 1856, he
located on the west half of the northeast
(|uarter of section 21, Nebraska township,
Livingston county, for which he ])aid
se\-ent_\--five cents per acre, and the grant for
which he received from President Buchanan,
.\pril 15, 1857. ( )n the 12th of February,
J870, he bought the east half of the north-
west (|uarter from Jo.seph H. Stitt, at thirty-
fi\e dollars per acre, and the west half of the
northwest cpiarter from Thomas Ward, Jan-
uary 24, 1876. There he successfully en-
gaged in farming until 1889, when he moved

35^

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to Flanagan and laid aside all business cares,
living retired until his ileatli. which occurred
December 31, 1S93.

On the 26th of October, 1S51, Abel Pear-
son married Alary A. Bloodworth, the cere-
mony being performed by William Martin,
justice of the peace, at Metamora, Illinois.
She came to this country in that year, and
died April 9, 1826. In their family were the
following children: Susan A., born Sep-
tember 18. 1852, was married December 24,
1872, to Thomas Bennett, of Nebraska town-
ship, Livingston county: Abraham W., born
January i, 1854, died the following Octo-
ber: Mahala, born March 4, 1855, was mar-
ried February 16. 1875. to F. H. Martin, a
native of Li\ingstiin countx'. but n<i\v of
Goldfield, Iowa; Alatilda J., born May 3,
1856. was married September 16, 1885, to
George Woodworth, of Nebraska township;
Hammond A., our subject, is next in order
of birth; Clark, born November 7, 1859. died
September 20, 1880; and Abel, born May 3,
1 86 1, died October 6, 1862.

During his boyhood and youth Ham-
mond A. Pearson attended the district
schools, and on the home f&rm acquired an
excellent knowledge of all the duties which
fall to the lot of the agriculturist. Since
starting out in life for himself he has devoted
his time and energies to farming, and has
met with good success in his chosen occu-
pation. He was married, January 18, 1883,
to Miss Fannie Wadsworth, a daughter of
William Wadsworth, of El Paso, Woodford
county, who was residing in McLean county
at the time of their marriage. They have
two children : Ernest B., born May 6, 1886;
and Myrta Maud Lucile, born August 10,
1892.

Mr. Pearsn is president of the Nebraska
Alutual Insurance Company, and has effi-

ciently serveil as school director in his dis-
trict fiir ten years. He and his familv are
all members of the Christian church, and are
held in high regard bv all who know them.

ELIJAH DEFENBAUGH.

Elijah Defenbaugh. deceased, was for
many years a well-known and honored citi-
zens of Reading township, Livingston coun-
t}', Illinois. He was Ijorn in Ross county.
Ohio. Alarch 9, 1828, a son of Daniel and
Nancy ( .\rmstrong) Defenbaugh, natives of
Berks county, Pennsylvania, the latter be-
ing of Scotch-Irish descent. The Defen-
baugh family is of Holland extraction, and
was founded in the United States at a very
early day. Our subject's grandfather,
George Defenbaugh, moved from Pennsyl-
vania to Ohio, when the latter state was al-
most an unbroken wilderness, and in the
midst of the forest lie made for himself a
home. There the father, Daniel Defenbaugh,
spent his entire life as a millwright. He
died and was buried in Ross county. In
his family were ten children, namely : James,
George, Elijah, Thomas and Caroline, all
now deceased ; Isaac, Allen, Martin, Mar-
garet, and Angeline, now living.

In the county of his nativity, Elijah Def-
enbaugh grew to manhood, receiving a com-
mon-school education, and in early life work-
ing as a farm laborer for eight or ten dollars
per month. On October 5, 1851, he married
his cousin. Miss Catherine Defenbaugh, a
daughter of Joseph and Catherine -(Good-
man) Defenbaugh, also natives of Penn-
sylvania. The father was the oldest son
of George Defenliaugh previously referred
to. He was killetl bv a fall which broke his

ELIJAH DEFENBAUGH.

MRS. CATHERINE DEFENBAUGH.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

357

hack. By trade lie was a tanner. Xeither
lu- nor liis wife ever came west to live.
Tlieir children were John, Daniel. F'eter.
Elizal)eth. Henry, Catherine. Adam. Dnma.
l-'sther, Joseph, .\mos and Maria, six of
whom are still living. Of the ten children
horn to our subject and his wife the oldest
died in infancy; .\mmon and Alfred are
l)oth at home with their mother; Harvev is
runninjj an elevator in Reading. Illinois;
Lucretia is the wife of Gideon Slaughter-
hack, of Indiana; Milton is a resident of
Reading tnwnship, Livingston county. Illi-
nois; Ei)hraim dietl at the age of eighteen
years; I>)ra died at the age of three years:
( ieorge died at the age of one month ; and
I.t)na did at the age of four years.

Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Defenbaugh came to Livingston county, Illi-
nois, and entered eighty acres of land in
Reading township, for which he paid one
dollar antl a (|uarter i)er acre. At that time
it was all wild prairie land, deer and wolves
were still to be seen in this region, and the
early settlers would get U]j parties to go out
and kill the latter to keep them from destroy--
ing their stock. From time to time Mr.
Defenbaugh added to his landed possessions
until he had over twelve hundred acres of
land, and throughout his active business life
was successfully engaged in general farm-
ing and stock raising. On coming to this
state he had only three hundred dollars in
money, a team and wagon; but being indus-
trious, energetic and progressive, as well
as a man of good business and executive
ability, he prospered in his undertakings and
ac(iuired a handsome competence. He and
his wife experienced many of the hardships
and privations incident to frontier life. It
took them four weeks to drive across the
country to their new home in Illinois, there

being no railroads at that time, and from
their dotirway they could look for miles over
what seemed t<J be boundless prairie with
no habitations. Mr. Defenbaugh hel])etl to
haul ties for the first railroad built through
h.is section, and his wife spiui woo! and made
clothes for her family. He died December
19. 1886, and was laid to rest in Defenbaugh
cemetery, Reading township. In his polit-
ical views he was a Democrat, but never
cared for official honors, though he served
as school director in his district. His aid
was never withheld from any enterprise
which he beliexed calculated to pnn-e of
public benefit, and in his death the com-
munity realized that it had lost one of its
most valuable and useful citizens.

SIMOX JAMISOX.

Simon Jamison has been a resident of
Livingston county since the fall of 1868,
and was for many years acti\ely engaged in
agricultural pursuits, but is now living a
retired life in the village of Cornell. He
was born in Ross county, Ohio, May 31,
1837, a son of William and Sarah C. (Ad-
ams) Jamison, the former a native of Wash-
ington county, Pennsylvania, the latter of
Ross county, Ohio. His paternal grand-
father was AX'illiam Jamison, Sr., who was of
Irish parentage and died in Ohio in 1821.
The father was born about 1813, and was
only six years old when the family removed
to the Buckeye state, his early life being spent
in Ross county, where he and his six brothers
cleared and improved a farm. Later he
li\ed in Fayette county, Ohio, and spent
his last days upon a farm in Mercer countv,
that state, where he died in 18S2. His wife

358

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

survived him a number of years, dying in
December, 1894.

Simon Jamison grew to manhood upon
a farm in Fayette county, Ohio, and at-
tended the pubHc schools to some extent,
but at the age of fourteen commenced earn-
ing his own HveHhood by working by the
month as a farm hand, and later was em-
ployed as engineer in a grist-mill at Jasper
for six years. In Fayette county he mar-
ried, January 6, 1859, to Miss Mary E.
Cline, a native of that county and a daugh-
ter of George Cline, who was born in Cul-
peper county, Virginia, in 1809, but was
reared in Clinton county, Ohio. In Fayette
county, that state, Mr. Chne married Cather-
ine Figins, who was born in that county
March 7, 1813, and belonged to one of the
early families of Ohio. He followed farm-
ing in Fayette county until his death, which
parted this life Janurry 29, 1894, both being
laid to rest in Bush cemetery, where a sub-
stantial monument' has been erected to their
memory. Mrs. Jamison's paternal grand-
father, Philip Cline, was also a native of Vir-
ginia. Our subject and his wife are the
parents of three children, namely : . Edward
A., a business man of Pontiac and Cornell,
married and has one son, Clarence, who lives
with his grandparents; Cary A., a farmer of
Amity township, is married and has three
children, Stella, Harold and Ross ; and Cath-
erine is the wife of Professor Clarence E.
De Butts, superintendent of the Fairbury
schools, and they have two children, Cary
and Dean.

Mr. Jamison engaged in farming on
rented land in Fayette county, Ohio, until
1868, and then came to Livingston county,
Illinois, locating on a rented farm in Amity
township, which he purchased afterward,
after living; there for four vears. It con-

sists of one hundred and sixty acres of land,
and to its further improvement and culti-
\"ation he devoted his time and attention for
many years. He erected a good residence,
barn, granary, cribs and sheds, set out an
orchard, and otherwise improved the place
until it is now a valuable farm. In 1888
he rented it and moved to Cornell, where he
has built a large, neat residence, one of the
nicest in the village. He was in the store
of his son for about six years after coming
to this place, but is now practically living
retired, though he oversees the management
of his place. His success in life is due en-
tirely to his own well-directed efforts, for he
came to this state empty-handed and has
made what he has by industry, perseverance
and good management.

Air. Jamison cast his first presiilential
vote for Stephen A. Douglas, the Little
Giant, and has since been an ardent Demo-
crat, and has been a delegate to the county
conventions of his part. He served fifteen
yeiws as highway commissioner and nine
as township trustee with credit to himself
and to the entire satisfaction of all con-
cerned. His estimable wife is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal church of Cornell,
and both are held in high regard by all who
know them.

IRA AI. KXIGHT.

Ira AI. Knight, a well-known farmer of
section 13, Germanville township, Living-
ston county, is a native of Illinofs, his birth
having occurred in \\'ill county, August
23, 1861. His father, Alarshall B. Knight,
was l)(irn in Susi,|uehanna county, Pennsyl-
\ania, April 5, 1S31, and was a son of
Amasa and Lovina Knight, natives of \'er-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

359

ir.(;nt, who in 1845 'jrougflit their family to
Illinois, locating first near Ottawa, where
they engaged in farming, .\masa Kniglu
(lied in 1S50. when well adxanced in life.
and his wife, who survi\ed him some years,
died of smallpo.x in Bureau county, this state.
Marsliall B. Knight grew to manhood upon
his fatlier's farm, and after the latter's death
(.operated the place for some vears. In 1851
he married Miss Althere C. Tillot.son and
they made tlieir home in La Salle cunty
for a time. Suhsequently he was thus en-
gaged in farming in Will cuuntx' fur about
ten years, and then nrnved X>< the northern
part of Kurd county, where he followed the
same occupation five years. Selling his
farm of one himdred and sixty acres, in
1874, he came to Livingston county, and
purchased three hundred and twenty acres
on section 13. Germanville township, to
the improvement and cultivation of which
he devoted his energies until his death.
which occurred December 4, 1895. He was
a public-spirited and enterprising man. who
advocated all measures tending to the ad-
vancement and improvement of the locality,
and was a stanch supporter of the Repub-
lican party. He served as school director two
of three terms, but never cared for political
preferment. His widow, who still survives
him. continues to reside on the old home-
stead on section 13, Germanville township.
To them were bom nine children, namely:
Mary, wife of Fred D. Pettis, of Nebraska;
Almeda, wife of Charles Rudd, a carj^enter
of Joliet. Illinois ; George, twin brother of
Almeda, who died at the age of one year and
a half; Warren, who resides i>n the home
place: Ira M., our .subject: Elmer, wlm mar-
ried Ella Xagle and lives on section 13. Gev-
manville township; Ellen, twin sister of
Elmer and wife of William Marsh, a well

driller of Buckingham, Illinois; Alice, who
first married M. J. Davis, and second Hil-
dred Cami)bell, veterinary .surgeon and post-
master uf Roberts. Illinois; Eva. wife of
Tiiadeus Hedger of the .same place.

Ira M. Knight was educated in the pub-
lic schools of Fonl and Livingston counties,
and remained under the parental roof until
twenty-eight years of age, when he located
u\K>n his ])resent farm of eighty acres on
section 13. Germanville township, given him
by his fatiier. He has since made many
improvements u])on the place, and it is now-
one of the most highly cultivated tracts of
l;;nd in that locality. The Knight family
have been prominently identified with the
development of the county, and have been
instrumental in transforming the wild prairie
into one of the richest agricultural districts
of the state.

On the 13th of X"o\ember, 1889, in
Brenton township. Ford county, Mr.
Knight was united in marriage with Miss
Hannah Holmes, one of a family of nine
children, all li\ing. whose parents are Chris-
tian ;ui(l Maria (Hanson) Holmes, promi-
nent agriculturists of that county. Our sub-
ject and his wife have two children: Al-
there C. born on the home place in Livings-
ton county April 4. 1890, and Gladys M.,
born January 12. 1899.

Christian Holmes was born in Denmark
February 19, 1842. He was educated in his
native land and at the age of twenty-five
years emigrated to America. He was a
carpenter by trade, having served his ap-
prenticeship in the land of his birth. \\'hen
he came to this country he first located in
Xashville, Washington county, Illinois,
where he worked at his trade a few years,
when he removed to Normal, Illinois, where
he also wi'rked at his trade until he was ob-

36o

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

liged to discontinue it on account of failing
liealth, in 1875. At this tmie he conchuled
to engage in the more liealthful pursuit of
tilling the soil. He accordingly purchased
eighty acres of land in Brenton townshii),
Ford county, Illinois, where he immediately
moved with his family and still resides on
this farm of his first purchase. He also
has purchased one hundred and ninety-two
acres more since that time, which is under
a fine state of cultivation and which ranks
Mr. Holmes among the extensive land own-
ers of that prosperous community. He was
married, at Chicago, Illinois, in April. 1869.
to Miss Maria Hansen, who was also a na-
tive of Denmark. She came to this country
in 1869 and they were married upon her
arrival here. They reared a family of nine
children, seven of whom are living, viz. :
Hannah C. ; Mrs. I. M. Knight ; Louis, who
resides near Pii>er City. Illinois; George,
same place ; Minnie, at home : John, at home :
Freddie, at home ; Willie, at home. ^Ir.
Holmes has never aspired to political office,
but has served his township on several oc-
casions as school director. He is a stanch
Republican, and the family are adherents
to the Presbyterian faith.

HENRY M. CORNELL.

Henry ]\I. Cornell, one of the honoretl
pioneers of Livingston county and a veteran
of the Civil war, is now living a retired life
in the village of Cornell, quietly enjoying
the income which he accumulated in former
years. He has made his home in this coun-
ty since the spring of 1840 and can relate
mau}^ interesting incidents of the days when
this region was all wild and unimpmved.

He has seen towns and villages spring up
and all the cnmforts of civilized life intro-
duced, and in the work of advancement and
progress he has ever borne an important
part.

Mr. Cornell was born in Newport,
Rhode Island, September 4. 1836, and be-
longs to a family of English origin founded
ir. this country by three brothers, one of
wlmm settled in Canada, the second in New
Ynrk and the third in Rhode Island. All
were members of the Society of Friends,
to which faith the ancestors of our subject
have adhered for many generations. His
grandfather. Walter Cornell, was a life-long
resident of Rhode Island. The father. Wal-
ter Cornell, Jr., was born in Newport, that
state, April 3, 181 1, -and there married
Sarah C. Eldred. a native of Connecticut,
and a daughter of John Eldred, who be-
longed to an old New England family. The
original Eldred homestead is still in pos-
session of the family and adjoins the birth-
place of Comriiodore Perry. In early life
the father of our subject was interested in
the manufacture of cotton goods and was
superintendent of factories. He came west
in 1838 and first located in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, but in the fall of the same year
came to Illinois to take charge of a stationary-
engine used in digging the canal. In 1837
he entered two hundred acres of government
land in Amity township, Livingston, which
he commenced to improve, and in 1840 re-
turned to Rhode Island and brought his fam-
ily ti) the home he had prepared for them,
the journey lieing made by way of the great
lakes. In connection with farming he en-
gaged in raising stock, fattening cattle and
hogs, which he drove to the Chicago mar-
kets. He was one of the best educated
and well informed men of the countv, as

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

36r

well as one of its most prominent and in-
fluential citizens, and was honored with im-
portant official ix)sitions, serving as super-
visor, superintendent of schools and county
treasurer three years. He died in 1895.
highly respected hy all who know him.
Of his family two sons are still living:
Henry M.. our subject, and Walter B.. a
resident of Great Bend. Kansas.

Henry M. Cornell was only four years
old when the family settled in Livingston
county, where he grew to manhood upon a
farm. His educational advantages were
rather limited, as the schools of this region
at that day were much inferior to those of
the present time. At the age of twenty he
started out in life for himself as a farmer.
I)Ut later renteil his farm and traveled .some.
In 1861, at the opening of the Civil war, he
enlisted in Company H, Eleventh Illinois
Cavalry, which was assigned to the .\rmy
of the Tennessee, and his first battle was that
of Shiloh, followed by the siege of Corinth.
He was in five important battles and a num-
ber of skirmishes, being under fire twenty-
eight times. He was taken prisoner by For-
est at Lexington, Tennessee, but was soon
paroled, when he came north and was put
in charge of paroled men until exchanged.
He was put on detached dutv as pro-
vost marshal at Grand Junction. Missis-
sippi, for a time, and was promoted from
orderly sergeant to first lieutenant. He
lost no time except when granted a short
furlough, but was at length forced to resign
and was mustered out on account of disabil-
ity, being taken home on a bed. When he
had sufficiently recovered he resumed farm-
ing, but sold his farm a few years later and
moved to the southern ])art uf the state.
In T871, however, he returned ti> Li\ingsti)n
county, and purchased his 1 ild place in .\mity

township, which he has since greatly im-
proved. 1 le laid out that i)art of the village
of Cornell north of Main street and which
was named for the family, and has since de-
voted considerable attention to the real es-
tate business, but is now living retired.

On the 1st of January. 1861. in Livings-
ton county. Mr. Cornell married Miss Mary
S. Coe, a daughter of William Coe. She
was born in Covington, Indiana, but was
principally reared in Illinois, and died in
this county January 3, 1890, leaving nine
children, two sons and seven (laughters,
namelv: Dick H., who has successfully
engaged in teaching school and served as a
soldier of the Spani.sh-American war, being
with the army in Porto Rico; Walter, who
is now among the Indians in northwestern
Minnesota: S. Lillian, who is a graduate of
Eureka College, and was formerly engaged
in teaching school, but is now a resident of
Great Bend, Kansas; Lora L., who taught
school five years, and is now the wife of C.
W. Hadley. of Cuba, Missouri ; Mattie E.,
who also taught five years, and is now the
wife of Stephen Dunbar, of Cornell; Ber-
tha E.. who followed the same profession
five years, and is now the wife of Irwin
Finley. who was deputy sheriff of Livings-
ton county four years and is now a resident
of Estherville, Iowa ; Toe D.. a teacher re-
siding at home; Lulu, also a teacher: and
Ada. at home.

Politically Mr. Cornell has been a life-
long Republican, and has been a delegate
to a num1)er of county conventions, but has
never sought office, though he served one
term as supervisor. Fraternally he is a
member of Cornell Post. G. A. R.. and is
a Rnyal .\rch Mason, who served three
years as master of the blue lodge at Cor-
nell. As a liberal-minded and progressive

362

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

citizen he has aided materially in the de-
velopment of his adopted county, has given
his support to all enterprises calculated to
prove of public benefit, and is justly entitled
to prominent mention among her most hon-
ored and useful citizens.

CHRISTOPHER C. LEONARD.

Christopher C. Leonard, an honored vet-
eran of the Ci\-il war, and a successful agri-
culturist of Newtown township, has been
identified with the interests of Livingston
county for almost half a century, having lo-
cated here in 1852. He was born in Brad-
ford county, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1836,
and is a son of Edmnud D. and Elizabeth
H. (Remington) Leonard, natives of Mas-
sachusotts and New York, respectively. In
early life the father followed different occu-
pations, but after coming to Illinois, in 1852,
he devoted his attention to farming exclu-
sively. He took up one hundred and sixty
acres of government land in Newton town-
ship, Livingston county, which was wild
]M-airie land, entirely unimproved, and he
and (lur subject at once began to break it
and continuod to work together for some
time. The family enilured many hardships
and prix-ations incident to ])ioneer life, and
at first had to haul all their produce to Ot-
tawa, which was the nearest market place.
The two olde-st sons worked out at twelve
dollars per month and ])aid for the land,
while the father and our subject devoted
their energies towards its improvement.
The father died in i860, but the mother,
who was born January 24, 1808, is still liv-
ing. To them were born nine children, of
wlmm one died in infancv; Franklin, the

oldest son, died in the service of his country
during the civil war, being a member of
Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-
ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry; Mrs.
Harriet Jacobs died in Ford county, Illinois;
and Mrs. Mary Ide in Aconda, Livingston
county. Those living are Myra, wife of
Andrexv Stewart, of Kempton, Ford coun-
ty; Roscoe, who owns a part of the old home
farm in Newton township; Christopher C,
our subject; Sarah, wife of Andrew Hoob-
ler, of Streator; and Isabelle, wife of John
L. Cusick, of Newton township.

Christopher C. Leonard began his edu-
cation in the schools of his native state,
and after coming to Illinois, at the age of
ten years, attended school in Li\ingston
county for a time. He remained under the
parental roof until he was marrie-d, in 1858,
to Miss Mary Mason, who was born in
Michigan, in August, 1838, a daughter of
Enoch and Elizabeth Mason. Her family
came to Livingston county in 1852 and set-
tled on the farm in Newton township now
occupied by our subject, where her parents
died. She has one brother, George, a
farmer in Iowa.

For a year and a half after his marriage
]\Ir. Leonard engaged in farming in Amity
township, Livingston county, and then re-
turned to Newton township. After the
civil war broke out he laid aside all per-
sonal interests, and enlisted, in August,
1862, in Company A, One Hundred and
Twentv-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
with which he served until the close of the
war. being all through the Atlanta cam-
paign and taking part in many battles. He
entered the service as a private, and when
discharged. June 17. 1865. held the rank of
corporal. After his return home Mr. Leonard
operated his mother's farm until the death

THE LIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

363

of his wife's parents, wlieii lie purchased
tlie interest of tlie heirs in the farm whicli
he now occupies. It consists of one hun-
dred and forty-two acres of rich and arahle
land on section 34. Xewtown township, upon
whicli he has iiiatle all of the improvements,
and he also owns forty acres in Amity town-
ship. In 1898 he purchased a general store
in Manville, which he now operates in part-
nership with his son. This property has all
been accpiired through his own well-directed
and energetic efforts, for he started out in
life for himself with no capital save a pair
of willing hands and a determination to
succeed.

Of the nine chiklren burn h> .Mr. aiul
Mrs. Leonard, one died in infanc}'. The
others are as follows : ( i ) Edwin, a
farmer of Xewton township, married Effie
Hoenshell. and they liavo three children,
Lloyd, David C. and Lela. (2) Olivia is
with her parents. (3) Emily is the wife
of John W'eidman, a farmer of Mc Henry
county, Illinois, and they have six children,
Ervie, Arthur, Lawrence, Bertha. Mary and
Roy. (4) Clora is the wife of Alvin Gil-
man, of Xewtown township, and they have
three children, Mary, Alma and Lula 13.
(5) Ira. a resident of Amity township,
married Lizzie Oilman, and they have two
children. Alma and Ralph. (6) Andrew,
also of Amity township, married Ada
Walker, and they have one daughter, Flor-
ence. (7) Frank is at home with his i)ar-
ents, (8) Fred married Ine I. Davis, and
is now a partner of his father's store in
Manville.

Since casting his tirst presidential vote
for John C. Fremont. Mr. Leonard has
been a stanch supporter of the Republican
party, anrl has taken quite an active and
prominent part in local politics, holding

some offices for several years. He has
served as road commissioner six years,
school director, ten years; collector, three
years, and assessor, two years, being elected
to the last named office for 1901. In 1890
he was appointed census enumerator, and
has been a delegate to the county conven-
tions of his party. He is an honored mem-
ber of the Grand Army Post, Xo. 769, at
Cornell, in which he has held all the offices,
and is an active member of the Mehtodist
Ejiiscopal church, to which his estimable
wife also belongs. His useful and well-
spent life has gained for him not only a
comfortable competence, but also the re-
spect and confidence of all with whom he
has come in contact either in liusincss or
social life.

G. E. ROIIRKR.

G. E. Rohrer, a popular and successful
photographer of Flanagan, was born in
Rutland, La Salle county, Illinois, Septem-
ber 20, 1866, and is a son of Emanuel and
Harriet ( Koontz) Rohrer, natives of Mary-
land, who came to this state in 1844,
and first located in Chicago, which at
that time was a mere village. Six years
later they moved to Champaign, where the
father died X'ovember 22, 1869. Since
then the family have made their hcjiue in
Rutland. The children are as follows :
John, a harness-maker of Rutland; Henri-
etta, wife of G. B. Horner, of Lincoln, Illi-
nois : Aaron, a machinist of Rutland ; Will-
iam, a grocer of that place; Elizabeth, wife
of L. W. Kelly, of Rutland: Silas, foreman
of the Kansas City Transfer Company;
Charles, a l)arber of Rutland ; and G. E.
our subject.

364

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In his native town G. E. Rohrer grew
to manhood and is indelited to its pnblic
schools for liis edncational adventages. At
the age of seventeen lie commenced working
at the bar1)cr"s trade there, and on coming
to Flanagan in 1885, opened a barber simp.
which he snccessfnlly conducted until Alarch,
1899, when he sold out. In connection
with the barber business he had lieen en-
gaged in photography for ten years, and
since disposing of the former he has de-
voted his entire time and attention to the
latter. He is well known for the excellency
of his wiirk and receives a very extensixe
patronage.

On the 28th of May, 1880, Mr. Rohrer
married Miss Carrie W'illoughby, of Rut-
land, will I presides with gracious dignity
over their home. As a public-spirited and
progressive citizen, he takes considerable
interest in the welfare and progress of his
tow-n, and has ser\-ed several years as a
member of the board of trustees of Flana-
gan. Politically he is identified with the
Re.pul)lican party.

WILLIAM H. ROTH.

\\'illiam H. Roth, owner and proprietor
of the leading machine and repair shop of
Pontiac, was born in Lacon, Illinois, Sep-
tember 3, i860. His father, Henry Roth,
was born in 1822, near Cologne, Germany,
where he was reareil and educated, and for
some time he was a soldier in the German
army taking an active ])art in the war of
1848. In 1852, on the expiration of his
term of enlistment, he came to the United.
States and located in La Salle county, Illi-
nois, where he worked on a farm, having

become thoroughly familiar with agricultural
pursuits in his native land. While in La
Salle he was married to Elizabeth Weber,
w ho was also born in Cologne, Germany, in
1 83 1. After his marriage he settled near
Lacon, where he operated a rented farm two
years, and then, having been able to save
some money, he purchased eighty acres of
raw prairie land, which he at once com-
menced to impro\-e and cultivate. He has
since added to his farm and now has a
c|uarter-section of land in Bennington town-
ship, Marshall county, all tiled and under
a high state of cultivation, it being one of the
best kept farms in the township. There
the father still resides and continues to en-
gage in acti\"e farming. He came to this
countrv with no capital and the first year
worked for twelve dollars per month, but
his ability and fixed purpose have brought
him independence, and he is now one of the
successful and highly respected men of his
locality. He and his wife are members of
the Catholic church at Minonk, were among
the first to unite with the same, have con-
tributed liberally to its support and helped
to build the church edifice. The father also
h.elped l.uiild the first school house in his dis-
trict. In his family are se\-en children who
are still living.

During his boyhood William H. Roth
received a good practical education in the
common schools, and being an inveterate
reader he has stored up a large fund of use-
ful information and has acquired a fine li-
brary. He assisted his father in the opera-
tion of the farm until twenty-four years of
age, and after working for others one year,
he traveled through the west or. a sort of
inspection tour. On his return to Marshall
county, Illinois, he v/orkcd on a farm in
Bennington township four }-ears, and then

WILLIAM H. ROTH.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

367

came to Union townsliip. Living'ston county,
wliere lie was .similarly employed.

On Thanksgiving day, November 27.
i88i,Mr. Roth married Miss Catherine Hor-
bach, a daughter of John Horbach, who
who was born nea'r Cologne Germany, and
they have became the parents of fuur chil-
dren, namely: Margaiet. William, Mary
and Bercha.

For four years after his marriage, Mr.
Roth engap'ed in farming near Emington.
and then came to Pontiac, where he was em-
ployed as engineer at the tile factory two
years, having previnusly become familiar
with the duties of that position. Liking the
work he decided to follow the Uiachinist's
trade and opened a shop of his own, buying
his present property at N'o. 417 West
Howard street. He now has the principle
machine shop in Pontiac antl has met with
marked success in this venture, being em-
inently fitted for that line of work. Besides
his business property Mr. Roth now owns a
good house and two lots in the west part
of the town. His success in life is due en-
tirely to his own well-directed efforts and
good business ability. He and his family are
members of St. Mary's Catholic church, and
he also belongs to the Modern Wcjodmen
of America and the Toilers FraternitN'.

THOM.XS (;. RVKkSOX.

Thomas G. Ryerson has witnessed al-
most the entire development of Livingston
county, and has contributed his full share
to this grand work. By concentrated effort
and indefatigable energy he has wrought
out success, and now, in his declining years,
is reaping the just rewards of his long years

of toil. Commencing life, a stranger in a
strange land, without a dollar, and, indeed,
in doht for the ci>st of his voyage across
the Atlantic, he certainly has displayed a
fortitude and application to business' amount-
ing to heroism.

The career of Mr. Ryerson po.ssesses
much that is worthy of emulation by his
posterity, and his many friends will take
pleasure, in tracing this record. Born in
Stavanger, Norway, Se])tember 8. 1834. he
grew to manhood there, and obtained a fair
education in his mother tongue. In com-
pany with an older brother. (_)le Rverson.
he oniigrated to America in 1835. and. at
the end of a ^'oyage that consumed si.K
weeks and six days, they arrived at their
destination — Ouebec. Coming to Chicago
by wa}- of the great lakes, our subject then
proceeded to Ottawa, where he witnessed
the celebrations attendant on the fourth of
July. He was stricken with the typhoid
fever, and during that summer was in very
poor health in consequence. As soon as
he was able to work tho Itrave youth ob-
tained a position on a farm, and for sev-
eral years thereafter worked for others.

On the 14th of .\ugust, 1S62. Mr. Ryer-
son enlisted in the defen.so of his adopted
country, becoming a member of Company
F, One Hundred and Fourth Illinois In-
fantry, which was placeil in the Army of
the Tennessee. At the first sc-vere engage-
ment in which our suljject was engagetl he
was wounded l)y a shell in the right hip,
and being so disabled, was sent to the hos-
pital at Cjallatin, Tennessee. Subsequently
he was transferred to the hospital in Nash-
ville, and thence to one in Chicago. When
he was convalescent he was honorably dis-
charged from the army and returned to La
Salle county in April. 1863.

368

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

When lie had recovered a measure of
his usual health, Mr. Ryerson resumed agri-
cultural labors, and in 1865 came to Living-
ston county. Here he bought eighty acres
in -\mitv township, only thirty acres of
w liich property had been liroken and placed
under the plow. A small cabin served as
a home for a period, but in time this was
supplanted by a large, pleasant house, which
was built under the owner's supervision.
He also built barns, sheds and fences, and
planted an orchard and fine shade trees.
As he could afford it, he invested his surplus
funds in more land, and to-day is the owner
of four hundred and seventy acres. Most
of this is productive and valuable- land,
yielding a generous return for the labor ex-
pended upon it.

The marriage of Mr. Ryerson and Liz-
zie Larson, a native of Norway, took place
in La Salle county in 1863. Ihe wife was
a child of, yorhaps, twelve years, when she
came to the United States, and, with her
husband, she has been a faithful member
(if the Lutheran church since youth. To
her helpfulness and brave spirit during the
years of their struggle for a home and com-
petence, Air. Ryerson attributes much of
his success in life. Tw(_) of their children
died in infancy, but nine survive. Louis
is married and is a prosperous farmer in this
district. Anna Belle is the wife of Rasmus
Aarvig. of Pontiac. Theodore is the agent
and telegraph operator for the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad Company at Cullom, Illinois.
The younger children who are at home are
namel as follows: Oliver, Adolph. Mil-
dred. David, Clara and Mabel.

Mr. Ryerson is especially desirous of
giving his children good educations, know-
ing that thereby they will be fitted for the
battle of life. He is deeply interested in

the maintenance of schools of a high stand-
ard, and for three terms has officiated as a
member of the school board, doing all within
his power to increase the efficiency of our
educational system. In political creed he
is a true-blue Republican, and since casting
his first presidential ballot for Lincoln, in
1S64, he has ardently supported the party
of his choice.

ADAM F. MORRISON.

Lixingston county attributes its wonder-
ful growth and tlourishing state to the fine,
enterprising citizens classed among its agri-
culturists, and in Amity township the sub-
ject of this article is one of the foremost.
He is a native of Illinois, his birth having
taken place in La Salle county. May 27,
1858.

His father. Adam Morrison, one of the
honored pioneers of the county mentioned,
was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1827,
and when he was in his eighteenth year he
sailed for America, his future home. He
accompanied his father, ^ames Morrison,
who likewise was a native of the land of the
thistle and heather, and their first location
in this country was at Fall River. Massa-
chusetts. In 1844 they removed to the
west, and thenceforth were identified with
this prairie state. Adam Morrison, who
for the past four years has been living re-
tired at his home in Streator, was actively
engaged in farming in La Salle county for
manv years. He made a success of the
business and accumulated considerable ex-
cellent land, about three hundred acres being
comprised in two or three farms situated
near Streator. His wife. Fanny, a daugh-
ter of William Dickenson, was born in Man-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

369

cliester, Eneland. and with the ]iarental
family came tn tlie new world fifty-nine
years ago, and. like the .M<irrisiins. first set-
tk'l in the pretty town of Eall Ri\er. Mas-
sachusetts.

Adam F. Morrison, whose entire life
has heen spent in Illinois, became familiar
with the varied ditties hi a farmer when h."
was a mero child, and it was n<jt until he
had fully arrived at mature years that he
left home and started upon his iiulependent
career. The most important step in his
life, perhaps, was his marriage. Jul}- 23,
1880, to Miss Mary Welch, whose birth
had occurred in Marshall county, Illinois.
The young couple commenced keeping house
upon one of the farms belonging to the
senior Morrison, but by industry and econ-
omy they managed to make a good start to-
ward financial success within three or four
years.

In 1884 Mr. Morrison purchased a
homestead of some eighty acres, situated in
Livingston county. From time to time, as
his means afforded, he bought additional
land, until his farm comprises two hundred
and five acres. By judicious expenditiu'e
of money he has greatly increased the value
of his land, and by tiling, fencing and rota-
tion of crops, he has proved his enterprise
and wisdom. For a period the family i;sed
an old house and barn. biU now all is differ-
ent, and a commodious new house and aaiiis
antl granaries bespeak the thrift of the pro-
prietor. An orchard, in which a great va-
riety of fruits m.'iy be f<iund. and an abund-
ance of well-trimmed shade trees about the
farm, atld much to the beauty and desira-
bilitv of the i)lace.

In all of his efforts to gain a livo'.ihood
and pleasant home. Mr. Morrison has found
a true helpmeet in his wife. She is a daugh-

ter of Xoah Welch, a native of Kentuckv,
and from his foiuneenth year a resident of
Po;insvl\-ania, Missouri ;uid Illinois, his ar-
rival in this state occurring in the earlv part
of the C\y\] war. His wife, Jane, was a
daughter of Jareil Ely, and both were Penn-
sylvanians b\- birth. 'I hey were married
near St. Joseph, Missouri, whero the Welch
family were then living. The four chil-
dren born to oiu' suliject and wife are Will-
iam M.. Lee X.. Frank and Helen, all of
whom are iirouiising students in the l(jcal
school. Mr. M(_irrison is a Democrat, but
be ne\er has been an aspirant lo puljlic
honors, lie commands the respect of this
community, and his friends are legion
throughout the northern part of this county,
and wherever he is known. The family at-
tend the Methodist Episcopal cluuxdi.

DEXXIS GLIXXEX.

Dennis (ilinnen, one of the old settlers
and much respected citizens of .\voca town-
ship and a resident of Livingston county
for over half a century, was born in comity
W'estmeath, Ireland, May 9, 1833, a son
of Tames and Mary (Dunn) Glinnen, who
emigrated to America in 1838 to luake a
home for themselves and children. In Ire-
land the father worked as a laborer an<l
farmer, and on first coming to this coinitry
found emplo_\moit in an iron foundry in
Sussex count}'. • M;u viand, where he re-
maineil a number of years. In Xovember,
1844. he came to Illinois, and six years later
purchased a claim and also some govern-
mont land in Livingston county, owning at
the time of his death, in 1858, two hundred
and forty acres of land in Avoca township.

370

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

He was a self-made man, wlio started out
in life as a poor laborer, and Ijy hard work
and good management, as well as honest
dealings, not only won a comfortable com-
petence, but also commanded the respect of
all with whom he came in contact. Of his
seven children three died young, and four
are still living, namely : Dennis, the sub-
ject of this sketch; Mary, wife of John
Monahan, who li\es north of Chatsworth.
in Charlotte township; Christopher, a resi-
dent of Avoca township; and Matthew, who
owns and occupies the old home farm.

During his boyhood Dennis Glinnen
received a very limited education, which
was mostly acquired in the home schools.
but schools wero scarce in those days and
boys had no such opportunities as are now
offered. After the death of his father he
assumed control of the farm work, being
the oldest son, and for a number of years
carried it im vory successfully. At length
the property was di\ided among the heirs
and the homestead fell to the youngest son,
with whom our subject lives. They have
made extensive improxements upon the
place, erecting barns and feeding sheds for
the accommodation of their stock, and have
fully tiled the land and placed it under a
high state of cultivation. They make a
specialty of the raising of cattle and hogs.
Our sul)ject is the owner of eleven hundreil
acres of land in the belt of the most fertile
land in the township, uptju which he super-
intends the raising and feeding of stock,
\vhich enterprise he has carried on most
successfully for some years. Since 1885
he has lived retired from active labor and
now rents a part of his land, though he still
has general supervision of the same and
attends to all repairs.

Religiously Mr. Glinnen is a devout

member of the Catholic church and a liberal
su])porter of the same. On national issues
he is a Democrat, but at local elections votes
for the men whom he considers best quali-
fied to fill the offices regardless of party
lines. He has served as school director in
his district for twenty years, and also filled
the oflice of road commissioner in a most
creditable and satisactory manner. Though
c|uiet and unassuming, he makes many
friends, and is held in high regard by all
with whom he comes in contact.

HEXRY GRIESER.

Henry Grieser, one of the industrious,
enterprising and successful citizens of ^^'aldo
township, who has done his part toward
making Livingston county one of the fore-
most agricultural counties of the state, was
born in German}-. May 12, 1848, a son of
Christian and Catherine Grieser. He lost
his mother when only two years old, and
his father died two years later. He was
thus left an orphan at the early age of four
years. He was reared and educated in his
native land, and e^migrated to America in
1868, locating in W'oodford county, Illinois,
where he made his home for four years.
In 1872 he came to Livingston county and
located in Waldo townhsip. with whose
farming interests he has since been promi-
nently identified. Throughout his active
business life he lias engaged n agricultural
pursuits, and his labors have met with well-
deserxed success.

In 1873 Mr. Grieser was united in mar-
riage with Miss Elizabeth Smith, of Lowa,
a daughter of John P. Smith, who now re-
sides in Waldo township, and is one of the

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

371

prominent farmers of that section of Living-
ston county and to them have l)een born
four children, namel\' : julm, Henry. Au-
gustus and Cliristian. In his political views
Mr. Grieser is decidedly a Democrat, and
takes a commendable interest in the success
of his oarty. He is one of Waldo town-
ship's most reliable citizens, and is a man
highly repectetl and esteemed wherever
known.

FRANK R. STEWART.

One of the oldest employees in years of
continuous service on the lines with which
he is connected is Frank R. Stewart, who
is agent for the Wabash and the Toledo,
Peoria & Warsaw Railroads at Forrest.
Long connection with the extensive corpora-
tions which contr(jl the lines of transporta-
tion in our country indicates marked faith-
fulness, ability and fidelity on the part of
employes, and therefore Mr. Stewart's ex-
tended connection with railroad interests is
a high testimonial of his ability. He has the
trust and confidence of the company and is
a most popular agent, owing to his uniform
courtesy, obliging manner and his fitlelity to
duty.

A native of Dixon, Illinois, he was born
on the i6th of March, 1856, a son of Lewis
Henry and Sarah E. (Appier) Stewart.
His father was a native of Uniontown, Car-
roll county, Maryland, born August 28,
183 1. The grandfather was also born there
and the great-grandfather was the owner of
large landed property in that locality. He
belonged to one of the old and prominent
families of the state and at the time of the
Revolutionary war loyally aided the colonies
in their struggle for independence.

The father of our subject was educated
in the place of his nativity and was recog-
nized as a man of considerable influence in
that locality. He married Miss Ai)pler,
who was born in Carroll county, in May,
1834, a daughter of Isaac Appier, who lived
to be ninety years of age, dying in 1895.
His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Judith ^\'inters, is now living at the ad-
vanced age of ninety-four years. Both he
and his wife were natives of England. He
became one of the wealthy landholders of
Carroll county, Maryland, where he resided
luitil his removal westw^ard, in 1859. He
located in Hannibal, Missouri, and there re-
sided until called to his final rest. The fa-
ther of our subject left Maryland in Jan-
uary, 1856, cii route for Hannibal, Mis-
souri, and while on the way, during a tem-
porary residence of the family at Dixon,
Illinois, Frank R. Stewart was born. The
family soon afterward proceeded to Han-
nibal, where the father remained until 1859,
when he went with his family to Ouincy,
Illinois, and there engaged in merchandis-
ing.

During the time when much of the traffic
of the Mississippi valley was transported by
means of the river, he was one of the leading
representatives of commercial interests
there, and he carried on business until 1875.
He then retired to private life, and seven
years later, in 1882, was called to the home
beyond. He was a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and at all
times he commanded the respect and es-
teem of his fellow men. His widow still
survives and is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, taking an active part in its
work. In their family were f<iur children,
of whom our subject is the eldest son. He
has one brother still living, Charles A., who

372

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

is a conductor on the Missouri Pacific Rail-
road, running between Sedalia. Missouri,
and Kansas City.

Mr. Stewart, whose name introduces this
review, obtained his education in the schools
of Ouincy, and received his business train-
ing in his father's store, where he spent the
months of vacation. In 1878, however, he
entered the employ of the Wabash Railroad
as brakeman on a passenger train, running
between Springfield and Ouincy. In 1879,
when the Chicago division of the Wabash
road was opened, he came to Forrest as
brakeman on a freight train, and in Feb-
ruary, 1880, was promoted to the position
of conductor on a freight train, while in
March, 1883, he was made a passenger con-
ductor. In November, 1884, he was injured
at Cornwell, Illinois, losing one of his legs.
In 1885, after his recovery, he was made
clerk in the agent's office, at Forrest, in
1886 was promoted to the position of super-
intendent's clerk, and on the 30th of Xo-
ember, 1888 he was appointed agent of both
the Wabash and the Toledo, Peoria iS: \\'ar-
saw roads. The junction of the roads is at
this place and the station is a very important
one, his dut}^' embracing a general oversight
of the business of Ijoth roads, passenger,
freight and also includes the supervision of
the trainmen, numbering thirty. The busi-
ness of these roads at this point is constant-
ly increasing, due in no small measure to
the efforts of the obliging agent at Forrest.
Among all the officials and employees of
the road there are but two his senior in
years of continuous service. He neglects
no duty or detail, no matter how slight it
may seem, is extremely accurate and care-
ful, and is at all times courteous to the
patrons of the road. Those qualities have
won him favor with the company and with

the public and he has gained the esteem of
all with whom he has been brought in con-
tact.

Mr. Stewart is a member of. Olive
Branch Lodge, K. P., in which he has passed
all the chairs. He is one of the oldest rep-
resentatives of the fraternity in the state,
his connection therewith covering a period
of twenty-three years. He has six times
represented his local lodge in the grand
lodge, has many times been district deputy
and thus has instituted new lodges and in-
stalled many officials. He is also a member
of the Order of Railway Conductors, which
lie joined in 1882 — one of the first to be-
come identified with the society. As a
member of the board of education he has
done efficient service in the interests of the
schools, supporting many measures which
have proven of value to the schools. He has
acted as treasurer of the board and was fill-
ing that office at the time the school build-
ing was r-emodeled, and also serving as chair-
man of the building committee. He has
likewise been treasurer of Forrest, and is
a citizen whose earnest support and co-op-
eration are gi\en to all measures for the
public good.

]\Ir. Stewart was married on the j8th
of November, 1883, to Miss Cordelia Wil-
son, of Forrest, a daughter of Nicholas and
Nancy Wilson. She was born in this city,
in i860, and by her marriage has become
the mother of two daughters, Iva Mildred
and Greta Rodell. Mr. Wilson, her father,
was born in Sweden and became one of the
pioneer settlers of this part of the state,
being well known at an early day as a ped-
dler and later as a farmer. His wife was a
native of Ohio, and with her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Thompson, came to Livingston
county, in 1837, the family here entering

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

373

land from the government. Mrs. Wilson
knew Shabbona, the noted Indian chief and
saw many of the red men in this section of
the state. Mr. Wilson passed away in 1S77.
and his wife, long surviving him, was called
to her final rest November 15. 1S98.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are members
of the Congregational chinch and in the
community where they reside they are high-
ly^ esteemed for their many excellencies of
character. They have a i)leasant home in
Forrest, which was erected Ijy Mr. Stewart.
He is also the owner of considerable farm-
ing land in Texas. He was one of the or-
ganizers of the Building & Loan Associa-
tion, of Forrest, whereby many of the com-
fortable homes of the place have been
erected. In his political affiliations Mr.
Stewart is a Republican, and is recognized
as one of the leading members of the party
in Forrest. For twelve consecutive years,
prior to 1898, he was a delegate to every
county, state, ji;dicial, congressional and
senatorial convention and was an alternate
to the national convention at St. Louis. He
is a recognized fact(jr in political circles and
is a man of influence, active and prominent
in the community, his labors resulting to the
public benefit along social, material, intel-
lectual and moral lines.

PAUL HEISXER.

Paul Heisner, one < >f the must prosperous
agriculturists of Pontiac township, whose
home is on section 20, has been identified
with the upbuilding and development of
this county for over a third of a century.
He comes from across the sea, being born
in Castle Dume, Prussia, Germany. June 27,

1837, and in that country grew to manhood
and served for three years as a soldier in
the German army. In the spring of 1864
he emigrated to America, and came direct
to Illinois, joining some German friends in
Cook county, where he worked as a farm
hand by the month for a short time. In
October, 1864. he enlisted in Company B,
Thirtieth Illinois \'olunteer Infantry, and
joined his regiment at Atlanta. Georgia, in
time to take part in Sherman's celebrated
march to the sea. He participated in the
engagements at Savannah, anil through to
Raleigh, and after the surrender of the last
named city marched through Richmond on
his way to Washington, D. C, where he
took part in the grand review. Returning
to Illinois, he was honorably discharged at
Springfield, in July. 1865.

In the fall of the same year Mr. Heisner
came to Livingston county, anil purchased
forty acres of raw prairie and swamp land
three miles south of Pontiac, upon whicli
he built a little shanty. For three years he
devoted his energies to the improvement and
cultivation of that place, and on selling it
bought eighty acres in Rock Creek town-
ship, of which a few acres had been broken
and a small house erected thereon. That
farm was his home for about four years,
at the end of which time he purchaseil an-
other eighty-acre tract adjoining, and lived
there for six years. On disposing of that
jilace he bought one hundred and forty acres
of partially improved land on the river in
Pontiac township, where he now resides, and
to its further improvement and cultivation
he has since devoted his energies with most
gratifying results. As his financial re-
sources have increased he has added to his
property from time to time until he now
owns four hundred and eighty acres of val-

374

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

uable and productive land, wliich he has
tiled and placed under a high state of culti-
vation. Upon this land he has built four
good residences, barns and other outbuild-
ings, and was actitvely engaged in agricult-
ural pursuits until 1900, when he rented his
lantl and is now living retired. enjo3-ing a
well earned rest upon his farm, which is
pleasantly located within two miles of Pon-
tiac. He built a residence and lived in the
city for two years, but in 1898 he returned
to the farm. He now owns two residences
in the citv.

Before leaving his native land, Mr.
Heisner w'as married, in February, 1864, to
Miss Catherine Trender, also a native of
Prussia, and to them have been born five
sons, namely: Philip, a resident of Pontiac;
Frederick, William and Frank, who are en-
Paul, Jr., who travels.
gaged in farming on the iiome place, and

Since casting his first presidential vote
for General U. S. Grant, Mr. Heisner has
been unswerving in his allegiance to the Re-
publican party, and in this regard his sons
all follow in his footsteps. He has never
cared for political ofiice, preferring to de-
vote his undivided attention to his business
interests, but for six years most acceptably
served as school director. Fraternally he
is an honored member of T. Lyle Dickey
Post, G. A. R., at Pontiac. As a young
man he came to America, and with no capi-
tal started out in a strange land to overcome
the difficulties and obstacles in the path to
prosperity. His youthful dreams have been
realized and in their busy fulfillment he sees
the fitting reward of earnest toil. He is not
only one of the most successful men of his
community, but is also highly respected and
esteemed bv all who know^ him on account
of his sterling worth.

LIBERTY LOUDERBACK.

More than sixty-three years ago this gen-
tleman came to Livingston county, and dur-
ing this long period, which covers nearly
the whole span of the county's development
from a primitive state to its present flourish-
ing condition, he has been identified with its
interests. For over half a century he car-
ried on farming in Amity township, but is
now living retired in the village of Cornell.

Mr. Louderback was born in Brown
county, Ohio, July 4, 1824, and was given
the name of Libertv by his grandfather,
Uriah Springer. Michael Louderback, the
paternal grandfather, was a native of Ger-
many, who came to this country with two
brothers at the close of the Revolutionary
war. He settled in Ohio, while one brother
located in Virginia, the other in Pennsylva-
nia. Our subject's father, Thomas Louder-
back, was also born and reared in Brown
county, Ohio, and there married Sarah
Springer, a daughter of Uriah Springer,
who at an early day moved from Virginia to
Ohio. There Mr. Louderback followed
farming until 1S31, when he came to Illi-
nois and settled in \^ermilion county, near
the present city of Danville, then a cross-
roads village. He bought land and resided
there a few years, but in 1837 moved to
Amity townsliip, Livingston county, where
he entered a tract from the government and
opened up a farm, on which he spent the re-
mainder of his life, dying there March 6,
1854. His wife had passed away October
25, 1842. In their family were five sons
and three daughters who reached mature
years, and four sons and one daughter are
still living.

Liberty Louderback, who is the oldest of
this family, grew to manhood in Amity

LIBERTY LOUDERBACK.

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

townsliij). only attending scli<"il a few
months during the winter. l)ut early becom-
ing familiar with every department of farm
work. On attaining his majority he began
life for liimself by working as a farm hand
or at any occupation which he could find.
He took up a claim of about one hundred
and twenty acres of land, broke fourteen
acres, and commenced farming. On the
26th of April, 1849, in Livingston county,
he married Miss Mary Jane Corbin, who was
born in Virginia, in 1827, but was reared
in this county as her father, David Corbin,
with his family, located here in 1831.

Mr. and ]\Irs. Louderback began their
domestic life on his farm in a primitive log
cabin with furniture of his own manufacture.
His first land he purchased from the Illinois
Central Railroad Company, and to the origi-
nal tract he added until he had two hundred
and twenty-two acres of valuable land on
section 20, Amity township, which he placetl
under a high state of cultivation and im-
proved with good buildings. He continued
to actively engage in farming until 1S77,
when he moved to Cornell and purchased
the property where he has since made his
home. He was interested in the real estate
and insurance business for a time, but is
now living a retired life.

]\Ir. Louderback has been calletl u[)on to
mourn the loss of his estimable wife, who
died May 11, 1900, and was laid to rest in
Cornell cemetery. Six children were born
to them, namely : John H., who is married
and now operates the old homestead farm;
George W'., who owns and operates a farm
adjoining the homestead ; Chester W'., who
is married and lives in St. Louis; Julia,
widow of Thomas J. Gregory, and a resident
of Cornell; Hersey J., wife of Harry L.
Manley, of Streator, Illinois; Hattie C, wife

of W. H. Graser. of Luverne. Rock county,
Minnesota.

In 1S54 Mr. Louderback was elected
justice of the peace, and most cretlitably
and acceptably filled that office for nearly
thirty-five years. He is familiarly known as
Squire Louderback. He also served as su-
pervisor five years, township treasurer, col-
lector and school trustee, and always per-
formed his duties in a faithful and satisfac-
tory manner. He cast his first presiden-
tial vote for James K. Polk, in 1844, ^nd
became identified with the Republican party
on its organization, voting for Fremont in
1856, but since 1878 he has been a Prohi-
bitionist, having always been an earnest ad-
vocate of temperance. He is an active mem-
ber of the ^lethodist Episcopal church, of
Cornell, and his upright coursein life com-
mends him to the respect and confidence of
all who know him. His labors as one of
the founders of the county justly entitle him
to a prominent place in its annals.

CHRISTIAN WELTE.

Christian \\elle, a prosperous and pro-
gressive farmer residing on section 31, Ne-
braska township, Livingston county, Illinois,
was born in \\'urtemburg, Germany, De-
cember 20, 1842, and is a son of Vincent
and Elfans (Strubb) Welte. When he was
five years of age the mother died leaving
a family of six children, namely : Marcellus,
now a resident of El Paso, Illinois; Bertha,
wife of John Rover, of Iowa; Ansileni,
deceased ; Joseph, who was a member of
Company F, Fifty-sixth Xew York \'olun-
tcer Infantry, and during the Civil war was
killed at the battle of the \Vilderne.ss; Ma-

378

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tilda, wife of Christian Reust, of Kansas;
Christian, the subject of this biography;
Sebastian, of Panola, Illinois, and Peter, uf
Wurtemburg, Germany. Under the guar-
dianship of the father the family emigi-ated
to America in 1855 and settled near the
Catskill mountains, in New York, where
they resided two years and then came to
Illinois, finally locating in Woodford coun-
ty. The father died in 1872, in Nebraska
tcnvnshii).

The same year Christian W'elte came to
Livingston county and purchased the farm
where he now resides. Its neat and thrifty
appearance shows conclusively that he is a
man of good business ability and sound
judgment, as well as a thorough and scien-
tific farmer. On the 7th of Noxemlier,
1867, he married ^liss Margaret Ingeler, of
^^'oodford county, and to them have been
born eight children, namely : Staffan, wife
of William Kalwarf, of Flanagan ; Thomas,
a resident of Woodford county; Joseph and
Christian, both of Flanagan; Effie, wife of
R. C. Evans, of Chalmers, Indiana; John,
Margaret and Clara, all at home.

\\'hen the war of secession threatened to
destroy the Union, Mr. ^^'elte turned from
the quietude of home to join the awful scenes
of death and carnage south of the Mason
and Dixon line. He enlisted at Minonk,
August 16, 1 86 1, in Company I, Forty-
seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and
participated in the engagements of New
Mardid, Island No. 10, Shiloh, Farmington,
Corinth, Jackson, Black River, Pleasant Hill
and the siege of Vicksburg. In the Red
river expedition he took part in the engage-
ments at Fort Berusha, Alexander, Grand
de Core, Shreveport, Mansville, Lake Chi-
coch, Tupelo and several minor skirmishes.
He was wounded in the second battle of

Corinth. His term of enlistment having ex-
pired, Mr. Welte was discharged at Spring-
field, Illinois, October 11, 1864, and is now
an honored member of the Grand Army
Post at Minonk. .\lthough born on the
other side of the AtJantic he has become
a thorough American citizen in thought and
feeling, and is as true to his duties of citi-
zenship in times of peace as when he fol-
lowed the old flag to victory on southern
battle fields.

CYRUS S. ELLIS.

Cyrus S. Ellis, a well-known farmer re-
siding on section 22, Long Point township,
has been a \alued citizen of Li\ingston
county, since December, 1879, Coming
from near Magnolia, Marshall county,
thus state. He was born in Greene coun-
ty, Ohio, February 11, 1829, and is a
son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Venamon)
Ellis, natives of \'irginia, who spent the
greater ])art of their lives in Greene county,
Ohio, where the father followed farming
diu-ing his acti\e business career. He died
on the home place at the age of fifty-seven
subject several years. She died at the age
years, having survived the mother of our
of thirty-nine, after which he was again
married, his second union being with Aman-
da Aldridge, a widow, by whom he had three
children, namely: John, a member of an
Ohio regiment during the Civil war and
now a resident of that state; Jesse, who lives
in southern Illinois, and James, who died at
the age of thirty-five years. By the first
marriage there were ten children, of whom
one died in infancy. Three sons and two
daughters are still living: Cyrus S., our
subject; Milton W., a retired farmer of

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

379

Nebraska; Henry R., who served three years
as a member of Company H. One Hiinch-ed
and Fourtli lUinnis XHIunlecr Infantry,
<Un"ing the Civil war, and is nn\\ V\\'\ng in
Idwa, but was formerly a resident of Cor-
nell, Illinois; Hannah, the wife of John
Hay, who li\es in northern Oliio; and Emily,
wife of Thomas Brenn, of I, a Salle ooimty.
Illinois.

Cyrus S. Ellis was but two years old
when the family left Xenia, CJreene county,
Oliio, and moxetl to Clinton, the same comi-
ty, wliere he attended the connnun schools,
remaining with his father on the home farm
until the latter's death. At the age of sev-
enteen he started out in life for himself, and
in 1854 removed to Indiana, where he op-
erated a rentetl farm for two )ears. .\t the
end of that time he came to Illinois and
matle his home in Marshall county for twen-
ty-two years, his time and attention being
devoted to general farming. In the mean-
time he jnirchased land in Nebraska, and on
selling it bought his ])resent farm of one
liundreil antl sixty acres on section 22, Long
Point township, Livingston county, Illinois,
but did not locate thereon initil two years
later, in 1879. At tliat time is was not im-
proved to any extent, but he has since tiled
it, erected a house and other buildings,
planted an orchard and otherwise imi)roved
the place.

On the 2^d of January, i85[, .Mr. b^llis
married Miss Martha J. Curtis, who was
born in Clinton, Ohio, ]\Iay 23, 1834, a
daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (Lyons)
Curtis, who after her marriage moved to
Indiana, where they spent the remainder of
their lives. She has two brothers .still liv-
ing, namely: Edward, a resident of Marshall
county, Illinois, and James, of Savamia,
Ohio. Of the twelve children born to Mr.

and Mrs. Ellis three died in early childhood,
while Mary F.. wife of Amos Lake, of
Toluca. Illinois, died .\pril jS, 1900, leav-
ing one daughter, Blanche. 'J'hose living
are Luemma, who is the wife of William
(jill, a representative farmer of Long Point
township, and has one son, Frank; Laura,
at home ; Frank, a general farmer of Long
Point township, wlio married Lyda Cole-
man and has three children, Bessie, Ora and
\'era ; Albertine, who married Frank Clark,
of Reading township, and has oneson, Elmer ;
Cora, wife of Carl Stratton, of Long I'oint
townshij); Edwin, a barber of Managan, who
married .\lta iinsign and has one daughter,
F.lita; .\l\a C. and Ray, both at home as-
sisting in the farm work. The children
were educated in the common schools and
are well fitted for the positions they fdl.

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are acti\e members
of the Methodist Epi.scopal church, of which
lie is now one of the trustees, and has held
other offices. In his jxilitical affiliations he
is a Republican, but has never cared for
public preferment, though he has efificiently
served as school director for a number of
jears.

REV. PIORACE TIFFAXA'.

For two-score years the Rev. Horace
TifYany has dwelt in Livingston county, and
few citizens of this portion of Illinois are
better or more favorably esteemed by the
inhabitants. His devotion to the people and
his long years of indefatigable labors for
their welfare, have met with a just reward
in one respect, at least — that his name has
been a household word iov goodness and
self-sacrifice, and to his posterity he will
leave a record of which they must be i)roud.

380

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Tlie Tiffany family is of Englisli origin
and early in the history of Connecticut they
were numbered among her pioneers.
Horace Tififany, for whom our subject was
named, was born in Connecticut, whence he
remo\ed to Delaware county, New York,
in its infancy, and there became influential
and prosperous. His son. Walter, father of
our subject, was Ijorn on the old homestead
in Delaware county, and for three decades
or more he was actively engaged in agri-
culture there. In 1856 he came to Illinois
and for twenty-one years was successfully
occupied in farming near Victoria. Knox
county. In 1870 he removed to a home-
stead in the vicinity of Cambridge, Illinois,
and February 27, 1872. he as summoned to
his reward. His first wife, the mother of
our subject, died when the son was young,
and the father subsequently married again.
The wife of his youth bore the maiden name
of Jane Hammond, and her father, Jonathan
Hammond, was an early settler in Dela-
ware county. New York, in which state her
birth took place. He was from the old
Green Mountain state, and was prominently
connected with the founding of Delaware
county.

The birth of the Rev. Horace Tiffany
occurred upon the parental Iioniestead in
Delaware county, September 4, 1831. He
received the benefits of the public schools
of that period and later attended the New
York Conference Seminary at Charlottes-
ville for two years. Thus thorough!}'
equipped for the arduous duties of life, the
young man commenced his career as a
teacher and for sex'en consecuti\'e vears de-
voted Iiimself to educational work.

In 1855 Mr. Tiffany remo\-ed to \'ic-
toria, Illinois, and for three years subse-
quent to his arrival here he taught school.

In 1858 he began preaching the gospel
as a local preacher and in September,
i860, he joined the Central Illinois con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and was licensed to preach the gospel.
In 1862 he was ordained to the office
of deacon and two years later was con-
stituted an elder in the church. For forty
years he has dwelt in Livingston and other
counties and for a score of years he was
one of the regular circuit riders, five con-
gregations being under his charge during a
part of this period. In many a humble home
he conducted funeral services, ofiiciated at
weddings, participated in happy reunions
and gatherings of the country people and
old settlers, and wherever he went he found
the genuine, hospitable welcome, character-
istic of our pioneers. He is greatly loved
in hundreds of tliese homes and no one in
this section of the state is more certainly en-
shrined in the hearts of the young and old.
He has dwelt in Cornell for several years
and previously lived in Reading and Rooks
Creek townships, this county. For some
four years he devoted his time as county
missionary in Livingston county in Sunday
school work and was greatly blessed in the
noble enterprise. In accordance with his
con\-ictions of duty, he has given his influ-
ence to the Prohibition party for the past
quarter of this century, but in his early
manhood he was a Republican.

In Otsego county, New York. Air.
Tift'any and Lucy J. Teel, a native of that
county, were united in marriage. March 2"/,
1 85 1. She was called to the better land,
June 12, 1897. and her place in this com-
munity can never l)e filled. Seven children
mourn the loss of their revered mother, and
her lovely life and high examiile will al-
ways prove an inspiration to them, as to all

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

381

who knew her. O. M. and Artliur E. are
engaged in newspaper work, tlie latter being
the editor of the Cornell Journal. O. M.
and L. H. Tiffany are residents of Tama
county, Iowa; W. B. is enaged in the grain
business at Oneida, Illinois.; Orrin S. is a
carpenter of Streator, Illinois, and William
S., of Cornell, is one of the street commis-
sioners. Rosa is the wife of U. G. Connett,
who owns a jewelry establishment in Cor-
nell.

WILLIAM BIDDLE.

William Biddle, a prominent and well-
to-do farmerof Xewtown township, Livings-
ton county, is an Englishman by birth and
training. He was born in Staffordshire Xo-
vember 7, 1833. and is a son of Lionel and
Elizabeth (Cumberbach) Biddle, who spent
their entire lives in that county, where the
father followed the occupation of farming.
In the family were ten children, but two
died before attaining the age of twenty
years, and all are now deceased with the
exception of Jane, wife of James Sjiffer-
botham, of England, and William, the sub-
ject of this sketch.

In the schools of his native land Mr.
Biddle acquired his education, and when a
young man commenced working in the
mines, following that pursuit for forty years.
He was married, in England, in 1853, to
Miss Harriet Barnett, and they have be-
come the parents of three children, two born
in that country and one in Illinois. ( i )
\\'illiam, the eldest, is now engage<l in min-
ing in Missouri. He is married and has
three children : Albert, who lives with our
subject; John and Herbert. The wife and
mother makes her home in Streator. (j)

John A., who is living upon a part of his
father's farm in Xewtown township, is mar-
ried and has two children, Lyle and Cecil.
(3) Walter, who is engaged in farming
near Walnut, Lee county. Illinois, is mar-
ried and also has two children, Bertha and
(iuy.

It was in 1869 that Mr. Biddle came
to the L'nited States and first located in
Pennsylvania and later in Ohio, but in the
spring of 1870 came to Streator, La Salle
county. Illinois, where he followed mining
for twenty years, and then came to Livings-
ton county. In 1889 he purchased his pres-
ent farm of one hundred and twenty acres
on section 28, Xewtown township, and has
since devoted his time and energies to agri-
cultural pursuits. .\s he was a good miner,
he is also a good farmer, and is meeting
with most excellent success in his opera-
tions, carrying on general farming and
stock raising. He has tiled, fenced and im-
proxed his land, making it a most desirable
farm. Religiously I\Ir. Biddle and his fam-
ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and politically he is identified with
the Democratic party, but has never been
prevailed upon to accept office, though he
takes an active and commendable interest
in public affairs, and does all in his power to
ad\ance the interests of his township and
countv.

JACOB GIXGRICH.

Jacob Gingrich, whi), tluring the entire
span of his life, nearly three-score years, has
been associated with the development and
rapidly increasing prosperity of Livingston
county, is honored and respected by all who
enjoy his acquaintance. He always has

382

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

gi\-en his earnest support to scliools and
pulilic enterprises calculated to benefit this
community and the state in general, nor has
he been remiss in the wider duties of a
patriotic son of America.

The subject of this review is of German
ancestry, though his father. John Gingrich,
was born within the borders of France. For
a wife the latter chose Barbara Garber, a
German lady, and together they came to the
hospitable shores of the United States sixty
years ago. They settled in Woodford coun-
ty, Illinois, cleared and improved a farm
and extended their possessions until eight
hundred acres comprised their landed es-
tates. The father departed this life in 1845,
and to his widow was left the task of rear-
ing their nine children. All lived to matur-
ily and four of the number still survive.

- The birth of Jacob Gingrich took place
in Wcjodford county. Illinois. July 28, 1842.
and it was not until during the last year of
the Ci\'il war that he remo\-ed from his na-
tive county. He aided his mother and
brothers in the management of the home-
stead, and when he was a mere youth he
mastered the carpenter's trade and gave his
attention to that calling exclusively for two
or three years. When the president issued
his first call to the lovers of the Union, he
was one of the first in his countv to respond:
He enlisted in April. 1861, and served for
three months, in the meantime assisting in
taking Columbus, Kentucky, and particijjat-
ing in various campaigns. He was seriously
ill about the time that his three months' en-
listment was completed, and he was honor-
ably discharged from the service. Return-
ing home he took up the duties of the old
homestead when he had sufficiently re-
covered and remained there about three
years.

In 1864 Mr. Gingrich and Susan Far-
rell were joinetl in wedlock. She was born
ir Ohio and is of German parentage. Eleven
cliildren bless their union, namely : Gusta-
vus, who is married and is engaged in farm-
ing in Iowa : John : David, who is married
and lix'ing in Flanagan, . Illinois; Peter;
Eunice, wife of Leonard Harris, of this
county : Emma ; Lizzie and Priscilla, who
are successfully engaged in teaching in this
county ; Manuel ; Jacob, Jr. and Susie. All
ha\-e recei\-ed excellent educational advan-
tages and are well qualified for the battles
of life.

Ruring the first year of their married
life our suljject and wife lived upon a rented
farm near Chenoa, McLean county, Illinois.
Subsequently they removed to Waldo town-
ship, Livingston county, and for fourteen
years resided upon two farms in that local-
ity. Then, coming to Amity township, Mr.
Gingrich rented land for a period, and in
1888 invested his carefully saved funds in
the property where he now dwells. Here he
owns two hundred and ninety acres, about
twn-thirds of which is under the plow and
producing good crops each year. The land
was timbered, £a\'e a tract of swamp and
twenty-seven acres of cleared land, at the
time that it came into his possession, and
there was no improvements in the shape of
buildings. He built a small house and in-
dustriously began the great task of clearing
and developing the farm, and to-day the
place bears little resemblance to that of long
ago. Substantial fences and farm buildings
speak well for the enterprise of the owner,
and the numerous fruit and shade trees add
greatly to the beauty of the place.

In p(jlitical matters Mr. Cjingrich is a
Democrat, though he has no aspirations to
occupv public positions. He belie\'es in lo-

THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

383

cal i;ii]irMVL-nK'nts ami lias materially aided
in the inaintenance of ,i;ni)(l tvovernnient,
well-cared-for liridges aii<l ijmper educa-
tiimal facilities for tlie young. He enjoys
the confidence of his neighbors and all with
whom he has had dealings, and to his chil-
dren he will leave the priceless heritage of
an untarnished name.

CHARLES ALBERT 1)1 XOX.

Charles .Mhert Dixon, one of the repre-
sentative citizens of Xewtown townshii).
residing on section 5. is a nati\e son of Li\'-
ingston county. Ijorn May 18. i<^5-2. His
parents, Charles and Sarah (Hodges) Dix-
on, were born, reared and married in Eng-
land, and on their emigration to .America
first settled near Dixon, Lee county. Illinois.
In early life the father followed the mason's
trade, hut after coming to this state engaged
in farming and the manufacture of lirick
ill connection with work at his trade. From
Dixon he removed to Magnolia, Putnam
county, and in 1848 came to Livingston
county, where he purchased one hundred
and sc\'enty-five acres of land at the govern-
ment ])rice of one dollar and a (|uarter per
acre. Our subject now holds the original
deed for the same. .\t that time it was all
wild prairie, and the first hf)me of the fam-
ily in this ccjiinty was a rude structure built
of rails, the cracks l)eing stopped up with
mud. They endured many hardships and
j)rivations; all grain had to be hauled to Chi-
cago with ox team, the trip consuming two
weeks, while the driver had to camp out
at night by the side of the road. Chicago at
that time was (|uite a small place. In his
new home the father met with well merited

success and was able to spend his last days
in retirement from active labor at Streator,
where he died in 1879. His wife departed
this life in 1871. He was an ardent worker
in the United Brethren cluirch. helped to
erect many churches of that denomination
and contributed liberally to their support. In
his political views he was a Republican and
did all in his power to advance the interest
of his party.

Our subject grew to manhood u])on his
father's farm and was