I B RAR.Y
OF THE
UNIVERSITY
or ILLINOIS
977.354
P83&
ILLINOIS HISTDRICAl SURVEY
/ y*
RECORJD
Tazewell and Mason Counties,
{ ILLINOIS, -f
Containlnn Biographical Sketches of
Prominent and Representative Citizens of the Counties,
Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the
Governors of the State and the Presidents of the United States,
CHICAGO:
PIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING CO.
1894,
FIE greatest of English historians, MACAULAT,and one of the most brilliant writers of
the present century, has said: "The history of a country is best told in a record of the
lives of its people." In conformity with this idea the PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAI
KEIORD of this county has *;3en prepared. Instead of going to musty records, and
taking therefrom dry statistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, out
corps of writers have gone to the people, the men and women who have, by then
enterprise and industry, brought the county to 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 intelli
gent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy .the
imitation of coining 'generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by
industry 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 length 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 usually 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," contend
to have it said of them as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy "they have done what
- they could." It tells how that 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 profession, 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 sacred 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 them-
selves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition to the biograph
ical 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 refused 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 could never be found, though repeated calls were made
at their residence or place of business.
July, 1894. BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING Co.
portraits and J||iographies
OF THE
GOVERNORS OF ILLINIOS,
AND OF THE
Presidents of the United States.
LIBRARY
Of THE
UNIVERSITY OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
HE Father of our Country was born in West-
moreland County, Va. , February 22, 1732.
His parents were Augustine and Mary (Ball)
Washington. The family to which he belonged
has not been satisfactorily traced in England.
His great-grandfather, John Washington, emi-
grated to Virginia about 1657, and became a
prosperous planter. He had two sons, Lawrence
and John. The former married Mildred Warner,
and had three children, John, Augustine and
Mildred. Augustine, the father of George, first
married Jane Butler, who bore him four children,
two of whom, Lawrence and Augustine, reached
maturity. Of six children by his second mar-
riage, George was the eldest, the others being
Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and
Mildred.
Augustine Washington, the father of George,
died in 1743, leaving a large landed property.
To his eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an
estate on the Potomac, afterwards known as Mt.
Vernon, and to George he left the parental resi-
dence. George received only such education as
the neighborhood schools afforded, save for a
short time after he left school, when he received
private instruction in mathematics. His spelling
was rather defective. Remarkable stories are
told of his great physical strength and develop-
ment at an early age. He was an acknowledged
leader among his companions, and was early
noted for that nobleness of character, fairness and
veracity which characterized his whole life.
When George was fourteen years old he had a
desire to go to sea, and a midshipman's warrant
was secured for him, but through the opposition
of his mother the idea was abandoned. Two
years later he was appointed surveyor to the im-
mense estate of Lord Fairfax. In this business
he spent three years in a rough frontier life,
gaining experience which afterwards proved very
essential to him. In 1751, though only nineteen
years of age, he was appointed Adjutant, with the
rank of Major, in the Virginia militia, then being
trained for active service against the French and
Indians. Soon after this he sailed to the West
Indies with his brother Lawrence, who went there
to restore his health. They soon returned, and
in the summer of 1752 Lawrence died, leaving a
large fortune to an infant daughter, who did not
long survive him. On her demise the estate of
Mt. Vernon was given to George.
Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie as Lieu-
tenant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the militia
was reorganized, and the province divided into
four military districts, of which the northern was
assigned to Washington as Adjutant-General.
Shortly after this a very perilous mission, which
others had refused, was assigned him and ac-
cepted. This was to proceed to the French post
near Lake Erie, in northwestern Pennsylvania.
The distance to be traversed was about six hun-
dred miles. Winter was at hand, and the journey
was to be made without military escort, through
a territory occupied by Indians. The trip was a
perilous one, and several times he nearly lost his
life, but he returned in safety and furnished a full
and useful report of his expedition. A regiment
of three hundred men was raised in Virginia and
put in command of Col. Joshua Fry, and Maj.
Washington was commissioned Lieutenant-Colo-
nel. Active war was then begun against the
French and Indians, in which Washington took
20
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
a most important part. In the memorable event
of July 9, 1755, known as" Braddock's defeat,"
Washington was almost the only officer of dis-
tinction who escaped from the calamities of the
day with life and honor.
Having been for five years in the military serv-
ice, and having vainly sought promotion in the
royal army, he took advantage of the fall of Ft. Du-
quesue and the expulsion of the French from the
valley of the Ohio to resign his commission. Soon
after he entered the Legislature, where, although
not a leader, he took an active and important
part. January 17, 1759, he married Mrs. Martha
(Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy widow of John
Parke Custis.
When the British Parliament had closed the
port of Boston, the cry went up throughout the
provinces, ' ' The cause ot Boston is the cause of
us all! " It was then, at the suggestion of Vir-
ginia, that a congress of all the colonies was
called to meet at Philadelphia September 5,
1774, to secure their common liberties, peaceably
if possible. To this congress Col. Washington
was sent as a delegate. On May 10, 1775, the
congress re-assembled, when the hostile inten-
tions of England were plainly apparent. The
battles of Concord and Lexington had been fought,
and among the first acts of this congress was the
election of a commander-in-chief of the Colonial
forces. This high and responsible office was con-
ferred upon Washington, who was still a member
of the congress. He accepted it on June 19, but
upon the express condition that he receive no sal-
ary. He would keep an exact account of ex-
penses, and expect congress to pay them and
nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch
to trace the military acts of Washington, to whom
the fortunes and liberties of the people of this
country were so long confided. The war was
conducted by him under every possible disadvan-
tage; and while his forces often met with reverses,
yet he overcame every obstacle, and after seven
years of heroic devotion and matchless skill he
gained liberty for the greatest nation of earth.
On December 23, 1783, Washington, in a parting
address of surpassing beauty, resigned his com-
mission as Commander-in-Chief of the army to the
Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He
retired immediately to Mt. Veruon and resumed
his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning
all connection with public life.
In February, 1789, Washington was unani-
mously elected President, and at the expiration
of his first term he was unanimously re-elected.
At the end of this term many were anxious that he
be re-elected, but he absolutely refused a third
nomination. On March 4, 1797, at the expiration
of his second term as President, he returned to his
home, hoping to pass there his few remaining
years free from the annoyances of public life.
Later in the year, however, his repose seemed
likely to be interrupted by war with France. At
the prospect of such a war he was again urged to
take command of the army, but he chose his sub-
ordinate officers and left them the charge of mat-
ters in the field, which he superintended from his
home. In accepting the command, he made the
reservation that he was not to be in the field until
it was necessary. In the midst of these prepara-
tions his life was suddenly cut off. December 1 2
he took a severe cold from a ride in the rain,
which, settling in his throat, produced inflamma-
tion, and terminated fatally on the night of the
1 4th. On the i8th his body was borne with mili-
tary honors to its final resting-place, and interred
in the family vault at Mt. Vernon.
Of the character of Washington it is impossible
to speak but in terms of the highest respect and
admiration. The more we see of the operations
of our government, and the more deeply we feel
the difficulty of uniting all opinions in a common
interest, the more highly we must estimate the
force of his talent and character, which have bee:i
able to challenge the reverence of all parties,
and principles, and nations, and to win a fame as
extended as the limits of the globe, and which we
cannot but believe will be as lasting as the exist-
ence of man
In person, Washington was unusually tall, erect
and well proportioned, and his muscular strength
was great. His features were of a beausiful sym-
metry. He commanded respect without any ap-
pearance of haughtiness, and was ever serious
without being dull.
LIBRARY
Of TH
of IUJNOIS
.
JOHN ADAMS.
(TOHN ADAMS, the second President and the
I first Vice-President of the United States, was
Q) born in Braintree (now Quincy) Mass. , and
about ten miles from Boston, October 19, 1735.
His great-grandfather, Henry Adams, emigrated
from England about 1640, with a family of eight
sons, and settled at Braintree. The parents of
John were John and Susannah (Boylston)
Adams. His father, who was a farmer of limited
means, also engaged in the business of shoe-
making. He gave his eldest son, John, a classical
education at Harvard College. John graduated
in 1755, and at once took charge of the school at
Worcester, Mass. This he found but a ' ' school
of affliction," from which he endeavored to gain
relief by devoting himself, in addition, to the
study of law. For this purpose he placed himself
under the tuition of the only lawyer in the town.
He had thought seriously of the clerical profes-
sion, but seems to have been turned from this by
what he termed ' ' the frightful engines of ecclesi-
astical councils, of diabolical malice, and Calvin-
istic good nature, ' ' of the operations of which he
had been a witness in his native town. He was
well fitted for the legal profession, possessing a
clear, sonorous voice, being ready and fluent of
speech, and having quick perceptive powers. He
gradually gained a practice, and in 1764 married
Abigail Smith, a daughter of a minister, and a
lady of superior intelligence. Shortly after his
marriage, in 1765, the attempt at parliamentary
taxation turned him from law to politics. He
took initial steps toward holding a town meeting,
and the resolutions he offered on the subject be-
came very popular throughout the province, and
were adopted word for word by over forty differ-
ent towns. He moved to Boston in 1768, and
became one of the most courageous and promi-
nent advocates of the popular cause, and. was
chosen a member of the General Court (the Leg-
islature) in 1770.
Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first dele-
gates from Massachusetts to the first Continent-
al Congress, which met in 1774. Here he dis-
tinguished himself by his capacity for business
and for debate, and advocated the movement for
independence against the majority of the mem-
bers. In May, 1776, he moved and carried a res-
olution in Congress that the Colonies should
assume the duties of self-government. He was a
prominent member of the committee of five ap-
pointed June 1 1 to prepare a declaration of inde-
pendence. This article was drawn by Jefferson,
but on Adams devolved the task of battling it
through Congress in a three-days debate.
On the day after the Declaration of Independ-
ence was passed, while his soul was yet warm
with the glow of excited feeling, he wrote a letter
to his wife, which, as we read it now, seems to
have been dictated by the spirit of prophecy.
"Yesterday," he says, "the greatest question
was decided that ever was debated in America;
and greater, perhaps, never was or will be de-
cided among men. A resolution was passed
without one dissenting colony, 'that these United
States are, and of right ought to be, free and in-
dependent states.' The day is passed. The
Fourth of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch
in the history of America. I am apt to believe it
will be celebrated by succeeding generations as
the great anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as the day of deliverance by
solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It
ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games,
sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations
from one end of the continent to the other, from
this time fonvard forever. You will think me
transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I
am well aware of the toil and blood and treas-
ure that it will cost to maintain this declaration
and support and defend these States; yet, through
all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and
glory. I can see that the end is worth more than
all the means, and that posterity will triumph,
JOHN ADAMS.
although you and I may rue, which I hope we
shall not."
In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed
a delegate to France, and to co-operate with Ben-
jamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were then
in Paris, in the endeavor to obtain assistance in
arms and money from the French government.
This was a severe trial to his patriotism, as it
separated him from his home, compelled him to
cross the ocean in winter, and exposed him to
great peril of capture by the British cruisers, who
were seeking him. He left France June 17,
1779. In September of the same year he was
again chosen to go to Paris, and there hold him-
self in readiness to negotiate a treaty of peace and
of commerce with Great Britain, as soon as the
British cabinet might be found willing to listen
to such proposals. He sailed for France in No-
vember, and from there he went to Holland, where
he negotiated important loans and formed im-
portant commercial treaties.
Finally, a treaty of peace with England was
signed, January 2 1 , 1783. The re-action from the
excitement, toil and anxiety through which Mr.
Adams had passed threw him into a fever. After
suffering from a continued fever and becoming
feeble and emaciated, he was advised to go to
England to drink the waters of Bath. While in
England, still drooping and desponding, he re-
ceived dispatches from his own government urg-
ing the necessity of his going to Amsterdam to
negotiate another loan. It was winter, his health
was delicate, yet h immediately set out, and
through storm, on sea, on horseback and foot, he
made the trip.
February 24, 1785, Congress appointed Mr.
Adams envoy to the Court of St. James. Here
he met face to face the King of England, who
had so long regarded him as a traitor. As Eng-
land did not condescend to appoint a minister to
the United States, and as Mr. Adams felt that he
was accomplishing but little, he sought permis-
sion to return to his own country, where he ar-
rived in June, 1788.
When Washington was first chosen President,
John Adams, rendered illustrious by his signal
services at home and abroad, was chosen Vice-
President. Again, at the second election of Wash-
ington as President, Adams was chosen Vice-
President. In 1796, Washington retired from
public life, and Mr. Adams was elected President,
though not without much opposition. Serving
in this office four years, he was succeeded by Mr.
Jefferson, his opponent in politics.
While Mr. Adams was Vice- President the
great French Revolution shook the continent of
Europe, and it was upon this point that he was
at issue with the majority of his countrymen, led
by Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Adams felt no sympathy
with the French people in their struggle, for he
had no confidence in their power of self-govern-
ment, and he utterly abhorred the class of atheist
philosophers who, he claimed, caused it. On the
other hand, Jefferson's sympathies were strongly
enlisted in behalf of the French people. Hence
originated the alienation between these distin-
tinguished men, and the two powerful parties were
'thus soon organized, with Adams at the head of
the One ' whose sympathies were with England,
and Jefferson leading the other in sympathy with
France.
The Fourth of July, 1826, which completed the
half-century since the signing of the Declaration
of Independence, arrived, and there were but
three of the signers of that immortal instrument
left upon the earth to hail its morning light.
And, as it is well known, on that day two of
these finished their earthly pilgrimage, a coinci-
dence so remarkable as to seem miraculous. For
a few days before Mr. Adams had been rapidly
failing, and on the morning of the Fourth he
found himself too weak to rise from his bed. On
being requested to name a toast for the cus-
tomary celebration of the day, he exclaimed
"Independence forever!" When the day was
ushered in by the ringing of bells and the firing
of cannons, he was asked by one of his attend-
ants if he knew what day it was ? He replied,
' ' O yes, it is the glorious Fourth of July God
bless it God bless you all!" In the course of
the day he said, "It is a great and glorious
day. ' ' The last words he uttered were, ' ' Jeffer-
son survives." But he had, at one o'clock,
resigned his spirit into the hands of his God.
LIBRARY
Of THf
UNIVEKSm Of ILLINOIS
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
'HOMAS JEFFERSON was bom April 2,
1743, at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Va.
His parents were Peter and Jane (Ran-
dolph) Jefferson, the former a native of Wales,
and the latter born in London. To them were
born six daughters and two sons, of whom Thomas
was the elder. When fourteen years of age his
father died. He received a most liberal educa-
tion, having been kept diligently at school from
the time he was five years of age. In 1760 he
entered William and Mary College. Williams-
burg was then the seat of the Colonial court, and
it was the abode of fashion and splendor. Young
Jefferson, who was then seventeen years old, lived
somewhat expensively, keeping fine horses, and
going much into gay society; yet he was ear-
nestly devoted to his studies, and irreproachable in
his morals. In the second year of his college
course, moved by some unexplained impulse, he
discarded his old companions and pursuits, and
often devoted fifteen hours a day to hard study.
He thus attained very high intellectual culture,
and a like excellence in philosophy and the lan-
guages.
Immediately upon leaving college he began the
study of law. For the short time he continued
in the practice of his profession he rose rapidly,
and distinguished himself by his energy and
acuteness as a lawyer. But the times called for
greater action. The policy of England had awak-
ened the spirit of resistance in the American Col-
onies, and the enlarged views which Jefferson had
ever entertained soon led him into active politi-
cal life. In 1 769 he was chosen a member of the
Virginia House of Burgesses. In 1772 he mar-
ried Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beautiful,
wealthy, and highly accomplished young widow.
In 1775 he was sent to the Colonial Congress,
where, though a silent member, his abilities as a
writer and a reasoner soon become known, and he
was placed upon a number of important com-
mittees, and was chairman of the one appointed
for the drawing up of a declaration of independ-
ence. This committee consisted of Thomas Jef-
ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger
Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson,
as chairman, was appointed to draw up the paper.
Franklin and Adams suggested a few verbal
changes before it was submitted to Congress. On
June 28, a few slight changes were made in it by
Congress, and it was passed and signed July 4,
1776.
In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to
Patrick Henry as Governor of Virginia. At one
time the British officer Tarleton sent a secret
expedition to Monticello to capture the Governor.
Scarcely five minutes elapsed after the hurried
escape of Mr. Jefferson and his family ere his
mansion was in possession of the British troops.
His wife's health, never very good, was much
injured by this ' excitement, and in the summer
of 1782 she died.
Mr. Jefferson was elected to Congress in 1783.
Two years later he was appointed Minister Pleni-
potentiary to France. Returning to the United
States in September, 1789, he became Secretary
of State in Washington's cabinet. This position
he resigned January i, 1794. In 1797, he was
chosen Vice-President, and four years later was
elected President over Mr. Adams, with Aaron
28
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Burr as Vice-President. In 1804 he was re-
elected with wonderful unanimity, George Clin-
ton being elected Vice-President.
The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second ad-
ministration was disturbed by an event which
threatened the tranquillity and peace of the Union;
this was the conspiracy of Aaron Burr. Defeated
in the late election to the Vice-Presidency, and
led on by an unprincipled ambition, this extraor-
dinary man formed the plan of a military ex-
pedition into the Spanish territories on our south-
western frontier, for the purpose of fprming there
a new republic. This was generally supposed
to have been a mere pretext; and although it has
not been generally known what his real plans
were, there is no doubt that they were of a far
more dangerous character.
In 1809, at the expiration of the second term
for which Mr. Jefferson had been elected, he de-
termined to retire from political life. For a period
of nearly forty years he had been continually be-
fore the public, and all that time had been em-
ployed in offices of the greatest trust and respon-
sibility. Having thus devoted the best part of
his life to the service of his country, he now felt
desirous of that rest which his declining years re-
- quired, and upon the organization of the new ad-
ministration, in March, 1809, he bade farewell for-
tver to public life and retired to Monticello, his
famous country home, which, next to Mt. Vernon,
was the most distinguished residence in the land.
The Fourth of July, 1826, being the fiftieth an-
niversary of the Declaration of American Inde-
pendence, great preparations were made in every
part of the Union for its celebration as the nation's
jubilee, and the citizens of Washington, to add to
the solemnity of the occasion, invited Mr. Jeffer-
son, as the framer and one of the few surviving
signers of the Declaration, to participate in their
festivities. But an illness, which had been of
several weeks' duration and had been continually
increasing, compelled him to decline the invita-
tion.
On the ad of July the disease under which he
was laboring left him, but in such a reduced
state that his medical attendants entertained no
hope of his recovery. From this time he was
perfectly sensible that his last hour was at hand.
On the next day, which was Monday, he asked
of those around him the day of the month, and
on being told it was the 3d of July, he ex-
pressed the earnest wish that he might be per-
mitted to breathe the air of the fiftieth anniver-
sary. His prayer was heard that day whose
dawn was hailed with such rapture through our
land burst upon his eyes, and then they were
closed forever. And what a noble consummation
of a noble life! To die on that day the birth-
day of a nation the day which his own name
and his own act had rendered glorious, to die
amidst the rejoicings and festivities of a whole
nation, who looked up to him as the author, un-
der God, of their greatest blessings, was all that
was wanting to fill up the record of his life.
Almost at the same hour of his death, the kin-
dred spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear
him company, left the scene of his earthly honors.
Hand in hand they had stood forth, the cham-
pions of freedom ; hand in hand, during the dark
and desperate struggle of the Revolution, they
had cheered and animated their desponding coun-
trymen; for half a century they had labored to-
gether for the good of the country, and now hand
in hand they departed. In their lives they had
been united in the same great cause of liberty,
and in their deaths they were not divided.
In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, rather
above six feet in height, but well formed; his eyes
were light, his hair, originally red, in after life be-
came white and silvery, his complexion was fair,
his forehead broad, and his whole countenance
intelligent and thoughtful. He possessed great
fortitude of mind as well as personal courage, and
his command of temper was such that his oldest
and most intimate friends never recollected to
have seen him in a passion. His manners, though
dignified, were simple and unaffected, and his
hospitality was so unbounded that all found at
his house a ready welcome. In conversation he
was fluent, eloquent and enthusiastic, and his
language was remarkably pure and correct. He
was a finished classical scholar, and in his writ-
ings is discernible the care with which lie formed
his style upon the best models of antiquity.
LIBRARY
OfTHE
UNIYERSIIY Of ILUNttS
.
JAMES MADISON.
(TAMES MADISON, "Father of the Consti-
I tution, ' ' and fourth President of the United
G) States, was born March 16, 1757, and died
at his home in Virginia June 28, 1836. The
name of James Madison is inseparably connected
with most of the important events in that heroic
period of our country during which the founda-
tions of this great republic were laid. He was
the last of the founders of the Constitution of the
United States to be called to his eternal reward.
The Madison family were among the early emi-
grants to the New World, landing upon the shores
of the Chesapeake but fifteen years after the settle-
ment of Jamestown. The father of James Madison
was an opulent planter, residing upon a very fine
estate called Montpelier, in Orange County, Va.
It was but twenty-five miles from the home of Jef-
ferson at Monticello, and the closest personal and
political attachment existed between these illustri-
ous men from their early youth until death.
The early education of Mr. Madison was con-
ducted mostly at home under a private tutor. At
the age of eighteen he was sent to Princeton Col-
lege, in New Jersey. Here he applied himself to
study with the most imprudent zeal, allowing him-
self for months but three hours' sleep out of the
twenty-four. His health thus became so seriously
impaired that he never recovered any vigor of
constitution. He graduated in 1771, with a feeble
body, but with a character of utmost purity, and
a mind highly disciplined and richly stored with
learning, which embellished and gave efficiency
to his subsequent career.
Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study
of law and a course of extensive and systematic
reading. This educational course, the spirit of
the times in which he lived, and the society with
which he associated, all combined to inspire him
with a strong love of liberty, and to train him for
his life-work as a statesman.
In the spring of 1776, when twenty-six years of
age, he was elected a member of the Virginia Con-
vention to frame the constitution of the State. The
next year (1777), he was a candidate for the Gen-
eral Assembly. He refused to treat the whisky -lov-
ing voters, and consequently lost his election; but
those who had witnessed the talent, energy and
public spirit of the modest young man enlisted
themselves in his behalf, and he was appointed to
the Executive Council.
Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were
Governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison re-
mained member of the Council, and their apprecia-
tion of his intellectual, social and moral worth
contributed not a little to his subsequent eminence.
In the year 1780 he was elected a member of the
Continental Congress. Here he met the most il-
lustrious men in our land, and he was immediately
assigned to one ot the most conspicuous positions
among them. For three years he continued in Con-
gress, one of its most active and influential mem-
bers. In 1784, his term having expired, he was
elected a member of the Virginia legislature.
No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison the
utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, with no
national government, and no power to form trea-
ties which would be binding, or to enforce law.
There was not any State more prominent than
Virginia in the declaration that an efficient na-
tional government must be formed. In January,
1786, Mr. Madison carried a resolution through
the General Assembly of Virginia, inviting the
other States to appoint commissioners to meet in
convention at Annapolis to discuss this subject.
Five States only were represented. The conven-
tion, however, issued another call, drawn up by
Mr. Madison, urging all the States to send their
delegates to Philadelphia in May, 1787, to draft
a Constitution for the United States, to take the
place of the Confederate League. The delegates
met at the time appointed. Every State but
Rhode Island was represented. Georp e Washing-
JAMES MADISON.
ton was chosen president of the convention, and the
present Constitution of the United States was then
and there formed. There was, perhaps, no mind
and no pen more active in framing this immortal
document than the mind and the pen of James
Madison.
The Constitution, adopted by a vote of eighty-one
to seventy-nine, was to be presented to the several
States for acceptance. But grave solicitude was
felt. Should it be rejected, we should be left but a
conglomeration of independent States, with but
little power at home and little respect abroad. Mr.
Madison was elected by the convention to draw up
an address to the people of the United States, ex-
pounding the principles of the Constitution, and
urging its adoption. There was great opposition
to it at first, but at length it triumphed over all,
and went into effect in 1789.
Mr. Madison was elected to the House of Repre-
sentatives in the first Congress, and soon became
the avowed leader of the Republican party. While
in New York attending Congress, he met Mrs.
Todd, a young widow of remarkable power of fas-
cination, whom he married. She was in person
and character queenly, and probaby no lady has
thus far occupied so prominent a position in the
very peculiar society which has constituted our
republican court as did Mrs. Madison.
Mr. Madison served as Secretary of State under
Jefferson, and at the close of his administration
was chosen President. At this time the encroach-
ments of England had brought us to the verge of
war. British orders in council destroyed our com-
merce, and our flag was exposed to constant insult.
Mr. Madison was a man of peace. Scholarly in
his taste, retiring in his disposition, war had no
charms for him. But the meekest spirit can be
roused. It makes one's blood boil, even now, to
think of an American ship brought to upon the
ocean by the guns of an English cruiser. A
young lieutenant steps on board and orders the
crew to be paraded before him. With great non-
chalance he selects any number whom he may
please to designate as British subjects, orders them
down the ship's side into his boat, and places them
on the gundeck of his man-of-war, to fight, by
compulsion, the battles of England. This right
of search and impressment no efforts of our Gov-
ernment could induce the British cabinet to re-
linquish.
On the 1 8th of June, 1812, President Madison
gave his approval to an act of Congress declaring
war against Great Britain. Notwithstanding the
bitter hostility of the Federal party to the war, the
country in general approved; and Mr. Madison,
on the 4th of March, 1813, was re-elected by a
large majority, and entered upon his second term
of office. This is not the place to describe the
various adventures of this war on the land and on
the water. Our infant navy then laid the found-
ations of its renown in grappling with the most
formidable power which ever swept the seas. The
contest commenced in earnest by the appearance
of a British fleet, early in February, 1813, in
Chesapeake Bay, declaring nearly the whole coast
of the United States under blockade.
The Emperor of Russia offered his services as
mediator. America accepted; England refused.
A. British' force of five thousand men landed on the
banks of the Patuxet River, near its entrance into
Chesapeake Bay, and marched rapidly, by way of
Bladensburg, upon Washington.
The straggling little city of Washington was
thrown into consternation. The cannon of the
brief conflict at Bladensburg echoed through the
streets of the metropolis. The whole population
fled from the city. The President, leaving Mrs.
Madison in the White House, with her carriage
drawn up at the door to await his speedy return,
hurried to meet the officers in a council of war.
He met our troops utterly routed, and he could not
go back without danger of being captured. But
few hours elapsed ere the Presidential Mansion,
the Capitol, and all the public buildings in Wash-
ington were in flames.
The war closed after two years of fighting, and
on February 13, 1815, the treaty of peace was
signed at Ghent. On the 4th of March, 1817, his
second term of office expired, and he resigned the
Presidential chair to his friend, James Monroe.
He retired to his beautiful home at Montpelier, and
there passed the remainder of his days. On June
28, 1836, at the age of eighty-five years, he fell
asleep in death. Mrs. Madison died July 12, 1849.
LIBRARY
or rm
JAMES MONROE.
(TAMES MONROE, the fifth President of the
I United States, was born in Westmoreland
G) County, Va., April 28, 1758. His early life
was passed at the place of his nativity. His an-
cestors had for many years resided in the province
in which he was born. When he was seventeen
years old, and in process of completing his educa-
tion at William and Mary College, the Colonial
Congress, assembled at Philadelphia to deliberate
upon the unjust and manifold oppressions of Great
Britain, declared the separation of the Colonies,
and promulgated the Declaration of Independence.
Had he been born ten years before, it is highly
probable that he would have been one of the
signers of that celebrated instrument. At this
time he left school and enlisted among the pa-
triots.
He joined the army when everything looked
hopeless and gloomy. The number of deserters
increased from day to day. The invading armies
came pouring in, and the Tories not only favored
the cause of the mother country, but disheartened
the new recruits, who were sufficiently terrified
at the prospect of contending with an enemy
whom they had been taught to deem invincible.
To such brave spirits as James Monroe, who went
right onward undismayed through difficulty and
danger, the United States owe their political
emancipation. The young cadet joined the ranks
and espoused the cause of his injured country,
with a firm determination to live or die in her
strife for liberty. Firmly, yet sadly, he shared in
the melancholy retreat from Harlem Heights
and White Plains, and accompanied the dispirited
army as it fled before its foes through New Jersey.
In four months after the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, the patriots had been beaten in seven
battles. At the battle of Trenton he led the van-
guard, and in the act of charging upon the enemy
he received a wound in the left shoulder.
As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was
promoted to be captain of infantry, and, having re-
covered from his wounds, he rejoined the army.
He, however, receded from the line of promotion
by becoming an officer on the staff of L,ord Ster-
ling. During the campaigns of 1777 and 1778,
in the actions of Brandywine, Germantown and
Monmouth, he continued aide-de-camp; but be-
coming desirous to regain his position in the
army, he exerted himself to collect a regiment for
the Virginia line. This scheme failed, owing to
the exhausted condition of the State. Upon this
failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at
that period Governor, and pursued with consid-
erable ardor the study of common law. He did
not, however, entirely lay aside the knapsack for
the green bag, but on the invasion of the enemy
served as a volunteer during the two years of his
legal pursuits.
In 1782 he was elected from King George
County a member of the Legislature of Virginia,
and by that body he was elevated to a seat in the
Executive Council. He was thus honored with
the confidence of his fellow-citizens at twenty-
three years of age, and having at this early period
displayed some of that ability and aptitude foi
legislation which were afterward employed with
unremitting energy for the public good, he was
in the succeeding year chosen a member of the
Congress of the United States.
Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfections of
the old Confederacy, he was opposed to the new
Constitution, thinking, with many others of the
Republican party, that it gave too much power to
the Central Government, and not enough to the
individual States. Still he retained the esteem
of his friends who were its warm supporters, and
who, notwithstanding his opposition, secured its
adoption. In 1789 he became a member of the
United States Senate, which office he held for
JAMES MONROE.
four years. Every month the line of distinction
between the two great parties which divided the
nation, the Federal and the Republican, was
growing more distinct. The differences which
now separated them lay in the fact that the Repub-
lican party was in sympathy with France, and
also in favor of such a strict construction of the
Constitution as to give the Central Government as
little power, and the State Governments as much
power, as the Constitution would warrant; while
the Federalists sympathized with England, and
were in favor of a liberal construction of the Con-
stitution, which would give as much power to the
Central Government as that document could pos-
sibly authorize.
Washington was then President. England had
espoused the cause of the Bourbons against the
principles of the French Revolution. All Europe
was drawn into the conflict. We were feeble and
far away. Washington issued a proclamation of
neutrality between these contending powers.
France had helped us in the struggles for Our
liberties. All the despotisms of Europe were now
combined to prevent the French from escaping
from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse than that
which we had endured. Col. Monroe, more mag-
nanimous than prudent, was anxious that, at
whatever hazard, we should help our old allies in
their extremity. It was the impulse of a gener-
ous and noble nature, and Washington, who could
appreciate such a character, showed his calm, se-
rene, almost divine, greatness, by appointing that
very James Monroe who was denouncing the pol-
icy of the Government, as the minister of that
Government to the Republic of France. Mr.
Monroe was welcomed by the National Conven-
tion in France with the most enthusiastic dem-
onstration.
Shortly after his return to this country, Mr.
Monroe was elected Governor of Virginia, and
held the office for three years. He was again
sent to France to co-operate with Chancellor Liv-
ingston in obtaining the vast territory then known
as the province of Louisiana, which France had
but shortly before obtained from Spain. Their
united efforts were successful. For the compara-
tively small sum of fifteen millions of dollars, the
entire territory of Orleans and district of Loui-
siana were added to the United States. This was
probably the largest transfer of real estate which
was ever made in all the history of the world.
From France Mr. Monroe went to England to
obtain from that country some recognition of our
rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against
those odious impressments of our seamen. But
England was unrelenting. He again returned to
England on the same mission, but could receive
no redress. He returned to his home and was
again chosen Governor of Virginia. This he soon
resigned to accept the position of Secretary of
State under Madison. While in this office war
with England was declared, the Secretary of War
resigned, and during these trying times the
duties of the War Department were also put upon
him. He was truly the armor-bearer of President
Madison, and the most efficient business man in
his cabinet. Upon the return of peace he re-
signed the Department of War, but continued in
the office of Secretary of State until the expira-
tion of Mr. Madison's administration. At the
election held the previous autumn, Mr. Monroe
himself had been chosen President with but little
opposition, and upon March 4, 1817, he was in-
augurated. Four years later he was elected for
a second term.
Among the important measures of his Presi-
dency were the cession of Florida to the United
States, the Missouri Compromise, and the famous
" Monroe doctrine." This doctrine was enun-
ciated by him in 1823, and was as follows: " That
we should consider any attempt on the part of
European powers to extend their system to any
portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our
peace and safety," and that " we could not view
any interposition for the purpose of oppressing or
controlling American governments or provinces
in any other light than as a manifestation by
European powers of an unfriendly disposition
toward the United States."
At the end of his second term, Mr. Monroe re-
tired to his home in Virginia, where he lived un-
til 1830, when he went to New York to live witli
his son-in-law. In that city he died, on the 4th
of July, 1831.
LIBRARY
Of THE
UNIYERSIIY OF ILLINOIS
J.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
(JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, the sixth President
I of the United States, was born in the rural
O home of his honored father, John Adams, in
Quincy, Mass., on the nth of July, 1767. His
mother, a woman of exalted worth, watched over
his childhood during the almost constant ab-
sence of his father. When but eight years of
age, he stood with his mother on an eminence,
listening to the booming of the great battle on
Bunker's Hill, and gazing out upon the smoke
and flames billowing up from the conflagration of
Charlestown.
When but eleven years old he took a tearful
adieu of his mother, to sail with his father for Eu-
rope, through a fleet of hostile British cruisers.
The bright, animated boy spent a year and a-half
in Paris, where his father was associated with
Franklin and Lee as Minister Plenipotentiary.
His intelligence attracted the notice of these dis-
tinguished men, and he received from them flat-
tering marks of attention.
John Adams had scarcely returned to this
country, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad.
Again John Quincy accompanied his father. At
Paris he applied himself to study with great dil-
igence for six months, and then accompanied his
father to Holland, where he entered first a school
in Amsterdam, then the University at Leyden.
About a year from this time, in 1781, when the
manly boy was but fourteen years of age, he was
selected by Mr. Dana, our Minister to the Rus-
sian court, as his private secretary.
In this school of incessant labor and of ennobl-
ing culture he spent fourteen months, and then
returned to Holland, through Sweden, Denmark,
Hamburg and Bremen. This long journey he
took alone in the winter, when in his sixteenth
year. Again he resumed his studies, under a pri-
vate tutor, at The Hague. Then, in the spring of
1782, he accompanied his father to Paris, travel-
ing leisurely, and forming acquaintances with the
most distinguished men on the continent, examin-
ing architectural remains, galleries of paintings,
and all renowned works of art. At Paris he
again became associated with the most illustrious
men of all lands in the contemplation of the
loftiest temporal themes which can engross the
human mind. After a short visit to England he
returned to Paris, and consecrated all his energies
to study until May, 1785, when he returned to
America to finish his education.
Upon leaving Harvard College at the age of
twenty, he studied law for three years. In June,
1 794, being then but twenty-seven years of age,
he was appointed by Washington Resident Min-
ister at the Netherlands. Sailing from Boston in
July, he reached London in October, where he
was immediately admitted to the deliberations oi
Messrs. Jay & Pinckney, assisting them in nego-
tiating a commercial treaty with Great Britain.
After thus spending a fortnight in London, he
proceeded to The Hague.
In July, 1797, he left The Hague to go to Por-
tugal as Minister Plenipotentiary. On his way to
Portugal, upon arriving in London, he met with
despatches directing him to the court of Berlin, but
requesting him to remain in London until he
should receive his instructions. While waiting
he was married to an American lady, to whom he
had been previously engaged Miss Louisa Cath-
erine Johnson, a daughter of Joshua Johnson,
American Consul in London, and a lady en-
dowed with that beauty and those accomplish-
ments which eminently fitted her to move in the
elevated sphere for which she was destined. He
reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797,
where he remained until July, 1799, when, hav-
ing fulfilled all the purposes of his mission, he so
licited his recall.
Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen
to the Senate of Massachusetts from Boston, and
then was elected Senator of the United States for
six years, from the 4th of March, 1804. His rep-
utation, his ability and his experience placed
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
him immediately among the most prominent and
influential members of that body.
In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the
Presidential chair, and he immediately nominated
John Quincy Adams Minister to St. Petersburg!!.
Resigning his professorship in Harvard Col-
lege, he embarked at Boston in August, 1809.
While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense
student. He devoted his attention to the lan-
guage and history of Russia; to the Chinese trade;
to the European system of weights, measures and
coins; to the climate and astronomical observa-
tions; while he kept up a familiar acquaintance
with the Greek and Latin classics. In all the
universities of Europe, a . more accomplished
scholar could scarcely be found. All through
life the Bible constituted an important part of his
studies. It was his rule to read five chapters
every day.
On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe took
the Presidential chair, and immediately appointed
Mr. Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave; of
his numerous friends in public and private life in
Europe, he sailed in June, 1819, for the United
States. On the i8th of August, he again crossed
the threshold of his home in Quincy. During the
eight years of Mr. Monroe's administration, Mr.
Adams continued Secretary of State.
Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's
second term of office, new candidates began to be
presented for the Presidency. The friends of Mr.
Adams brought forward his name. It was an
exciting campaign, and party spirit was never
more bitter. Two hundred and sixty electoral
votes were cast. Andrew Jackson received ninety-
nine; John Quincy Adams eighty-four; William
H. Crawford forty-one; and Henry Clay thirty-
seven. As there was no choice by the people,
the question went to the House of Representa-
tives. Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to
Mr. Adams, and he was elected.
The friends of all the disappointed candidates
now combined in a venomous and persistent as-
sault upon Mr. Adams. There is nothing more
disgraceful in the past history of our country than
the abuse which was poured in one uninterrupted
stream upon this high-minded, upright and pa-
triotic man. There never was an administration
more pure in principles, more conscientiously de-
voted to the best interests of the country, than
that of John Quincy Adams; and never, perhaps,
was there an administration more unscrupulously
and outrageously assailed.
On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired
from the Presidency, and was succeeded by An-
drew Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected
Vice-President. The slavery question now be-
gan to assume portentous magnitude. Mr. Adams
returned to Quincy and to his studies, which he
pursued with unabated zeal. But he was not
long permitted to remain in retirement. In No-
vember, 1830, he was elected Representative in
Congress. For seventeen years, or until his death,
he occupied the post as Representative, towering
above all his peers, ever ready to do brave battle
for freedom, and winning the title of "the Old
Man Eloquent." Upon taking his seat in the
House, he announced that he should hold hiin-
,se.Lf -bound to no party. Probably there never
was a member more devoted to his duties. He
was usually the first in his place in the morning,
and the last to leave his seat in the evening.
Not a measure could be brought forward and es-
cape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr. Adams
fought, almost singly, against the pro-slavery
party in the Governmsnt was sublime in its
moral daring and heroism. For persisting in
presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery,
he was threatened with indictment by the grand
jury, with expulsion from the House, with assas-
sination ; but no threats could intimidate him, and
his final triumph was complete.
On the 2ist of February, 1848, he rose on the
floor of Congress with a paper in his hand, to
address the speaker. Suddenly he fell, again
stricken by paralysis, and was caught in the arms
of those around him. For a time he was sense-
less, as he was conveyed to the sofa in the ro-
tunda. With reviving consciousness, he opened
his eyes, looked calmly around and said ' ' This
is the end of earth;" then after a moment's pause
he added, " I am content." These were the last
words of the grand "Old Man Eloquent."
LJBfj/WY
ANDREW JACKSON.
(31 NDREW JACKSON, the seventh President
LJ of the United States, was born in Waxhaw
/ I settlement, N. C., March 15, 1767, a few
days after his father's death. His parents were
poor emigrants from Ireland, and took up their
abode in Waxhaw settlement, where they lived
in deepest poverty.
Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally called,
grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent boy. His
features were coarse, his form ungainly, and there
was but very little in his character made visible
which was attractive.
When only thirteen years old he joined the
volunteers of Carolina against the British invasion.
In 1781, he and his brother Robert were captured
and imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British
officer ordered him to brush his mud-spattered
boots. "lam a prisoner of war, not your serv-
ant," was the reply of the dauntless boy.
Andrew supported himself in various ways, such
as working at the saddler's trade, teaching school,
and clerking in a general store, until 1784, when
he entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He,
however, gave more attention to the wild amuse-
ments of the times than to his studies. In 1788,
he was appointed solicitor for the Western District
of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was then
a part. This involved many long journeys amid
dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson never
knew fear, and the Indians had no desire to re-
peat a skirmish with "Sharp Knife."
In 1791, Mr. Jackson was married to a woman
who supposed herself divorced from her former
husband. Great was the surprise of both parties,
two years later, to find that the conditions of the
divorce had just been definitely settled by the
first husband. The marriage ceremony was per-
formed a second time, but the occurrence was
often used by his enemies to bring Mr. Jackson
into disfavor.
In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee
then containing nearly eighty thousand inhabi-
tants, the people met in convention at Knoxville
to frame a constitution. Five were sent from
each of the eleven counties. Andrew Jackson
was one of the delegates. The new State was
entitled to but one member in the National House
of Representatives. Andrew Jackspn was chosen
that member. Mounting his horse, he rode to
Philadelphia, where Congress then held its ses-
sions, a distance of about eight hundred miles.
Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo-
cratic party, and Jefferson was his idol. He ad-
mired Bonaparte, loved France, and hated Eng-
land. As Mr. Jackson took his seat, Gen. Wash-
ington, whose second term of office was then
expiring, delivered his last speech to Congress.
A committee drew up a complimentary address in
reply. Andrew Jackson did not approve of the
address, and was one of the twelve who voted
against it. He was not willing to say that Gen.
Washington's administration had been "wise,
firm and patriotic. ' '
Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States
Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned
home. Soon after he was chosen Judge of the
Supreme Court of his State, which position he
held for six years.
When the War of 1812 with Great Britain com-
menced, Madison occupied the Presidential chair.
Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there
was an unknown man in the West, Andrew Jack-
son, who would do credit to a commission if one
were conferred upon him. Just at that time Gen.
Jackson offered his services and those of twenty-
five hundred volunteers. His offer was accepted,
and the troops were assembled at Nashville.
As the British were hourly expected to make
an attack upon New Orleans, where Gen. Wil-
kinson was in command, he was ordered to de-
44
ANDREW JACKSON.
scene' the river with fifteen hundred troops to aid
Wilkinson. The expedition reached Natchez,
and after a delay of several weeks there without
accomplishing anything, the men were ordered
back to their homes. But the energy Gen. Jack-
son had displayed, and his entire devotion to the
comfort of his soldiers, won for him golden opin-
ions, and he became the most popular man in the
State. It was in this expedition that his tough-
ness gave him the nickname of "Old Hickory."
Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip
Col. Thomas Benton for a remark that gentleman
made about his taking part as second in a duel
in which a younger brother of Ben ton's was en-
gaged, he received two severe pistol wounds.
While he was lingering upon a bed of suffering,
news came that the Indians, who had combined
under Tecumseh from Florida to the Lakes to ex-
terminate the white settlers, were committing the
most awful ravages. Decisive action became nec-
essary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone
just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and
unable to mount his horse without assistance,
gave his amazing energies to tha raising.;-bf "an!
army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Ala.
The Creek Indians had established a strong
fort on one of the bends of the Tallapoosa River,
near the center of Alabama, about fifty miles be-
low Ft. Strother. With an army of two thousand
men, Gen. Jackson traversed the pathless wilder-
ness in a march of eleven days. He reached their
fort, called Tohopeka or Horse-shoe, on the 2jili
of March, 1814. The bend of the river enclosed
nearly one hundred acres of tangled forest and
wild ravine. Across the narrow neck the Indians
had constructed a formidable breastwork of logs
and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, with
an ample supply of arms, were assembled.
The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly
desperate. Not an Indian would accept quarter.
When bleeding and dying, they would fight those
who endeavored to spare their lives. From ten
in the morning until dark the battle raged. The
carnage was awful and revolting. Some threw
themselves into the river; but the unerring bul-
lets struck their heads as they swam. Nearly
every one of the nine hundred warriors was
killed. A few, probably, in the night swam
the river and escaped. This ended the war.
This closing of the Creek War enabled us to
concentrate all our militia upon the British, who
were the allies of the Indians. No man of less
resolute will than Gen. Jackson could have con-
ducted this Indian campaign to so successful an
issue. Immediately he was appointed Major-
General.
Late in August, with an army of two thousand
men on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson went to
Mobile. A British fleet went from Pensacola,
landed a force upon the beach, anchored near the
little fort, and from both ship and shore com-
menced a furious assault. The battle was long
and doubtful. At length one of the ships was
blown up and the rest retired.
Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his
little army, he moved his troops to New Orleans,
and the battle of New Orleans, which soon ensued,
was in reality a very arduous campaign. This
won for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name.
Here his troops, which numbered about four
thousand men, won a signal victory over the
British army of about nine thousand. His loss
was but thirteen, while the loss of the British was
twenty-six hundred.
The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be
mentioned in connection with the Presidency,
but in 1824 he was defeated by Mr. Adams.
He was, however, successful in the election of
1828, and was re-elected for a second term in
1832. In 1829, just before he assumed the reins
of government, he met with the most terrible
affliction of his life in the death of his wife, whom
he had loved with a devotion which has perhaps
never been surpassed. From the shock of her
death he never recovered.
His administration was one of the most mem-
orable in the annals of our country applauded
by one party, condemned by the other. No man
had more bitter enemies or warmer friends. At
the expiration of his two terms of office he retired
to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. The
last years of Mr. Jackson's life were those of a de-
voted Christian man.
LIBRARY
Of FHf
UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
-.
MARTIN VAN BUREN.
|ARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth Presi-
dent of the United States, was born at Kin-
derhook, N. Y., December 5, 1782. He
died at the same place, July 24, 1862. His body
rests in the cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is
a plain granite' shaft, fifteen feet high, bearing a
simple inscription about half-way up on one face.
The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded
by shrub or flower.
There is but little in the life of Martin Van
Buren of romantic interest. He fought no battles,
engaged in no wild adventures. Though his life
was stormy in political and intellectual conflicts,
and he gained many signal victories, his days
passed uneventful in those incidents which give
zest to biography. His ancestors, as his name indi-
cates, were of Dutch origin, and were among the
earliest emigrants from Holland to the banks of
the Hudson. His father was a farmer, residing
in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, also
of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intel-
ligence and exemplary piety.
He was decidedly a precocious boy, developing
unusual activity, vigor and strength of mind. At
the age of fourteen, he had finished his academic
studies in his native village, and commenced the
study of law. As he had not a collegiate educa-
tion, seven years of study in a law-office were re-
quired of him before he could be admitted to the
Bar. Inspired with a lofty ambition, and con-
scious of his powers, he pursued his studies with
indefatigable industry. After spending six years
in an office in his native village, he went to the city
of New York, and prosecuted his studies for the
seventh year.
In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty -one years
of age, commenced the practice of law in his na-
tive village. The great conflict between the Federal
and Republican parties was then at its height.
Mr. Van Buren was from the beginning a politi-
cian. He had, perhaps, imbibed that spirit while
listening to the many discussions which had been
carried on in his father's hotel. He was in cordial
sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and elo-
quently espoused the cause of State Rights, though
at that time the Federal party held the supremacy
both in his town and State.
His success and increasing reputation led him
after six years of practice to remove to Hudson,
the county seat of his county. Here he spent
seven years, constantly gaining strength by con-
tending in the courts with some of the ablest men
who have adorned the Bar of his State.
Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mr.
Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for
beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short
years she sank into the grave, a victim of con-
sumption, leaving her husband and four sons to
weep over her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr.
Van Buren was an earnest, successful, assiduous
lawyer. The record of those years is barren in
items of public interest. In 1812, when thirty
years of age, he was chosen to the State Senate,
and gave his strenuous support to Mr. Madison's
administration. In 1815, he was appointed At-
torney-General, and the next year moved to Al-
bany, the capital of the State.
While he was acknowledged as one of the most
prominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had
the moral courage to avow that true democracy did
not require that ' 'universal suffrage' ' which admits
the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right
4 8
MARTIN VAN BUREN.
of governing the State. In true consistency with
his democratic principles, he contended that, while
the path leading to the privilege of voting should
be open to every man without distinction, no one
should be invested with that sacred prerogative
unless he were in some degree qualified for it by
intelligence, virtue, and some property interests in
the welfare of the State.
In 1821 he was elected a member of the United
States Senate, and in the same year he took a
seat in the convention to revise the Constitution of
his native State. His course in this convention
secured the approval of men of all parties. No
one could doubt the singleness of his endeavors to
promote the interests of all classes in the com-
munity. In the Senate of the United States, he
rose at once to a conspicuous position as an active
and useful legislator.
In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the
Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected
to the Senate. He had been from the beginning
a determined opposer of the administration, adopt-
ing the "State Rights" view in opposition to what
was deemed the Federal proclivities of Mr. Adams.
Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen Governor
of the State of New York, and accordingly resigned
his seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the
United States contributed so much towards eject-
ing John Q. Adams from the Presidential chair,
and placing in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin
Van Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation
or not, he certainly was regarded throughout the
United States as one of the most skillful, sagacious
and cunning of politicians. It was supposed that
no one knew so well as he how to touch the secret
springs of action, how to pull all the wires to
put his machinery in motion, and how to organize
a political army which would secretly and stealth-
ily accomplish the most gigantic results. By these
powers it is said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, Mr.
Clay, and Mr. Webster, and secured results which
:ew then thought could be accomplished.
When Andrew Jackson was elected President
he appointed Mr. Van Buren Secretary of State.
This position he resigned in 1831, and was im-
mediately appointed Minister to England, where
he went the same autumn. The Senate, however,
when it met, refused to ratify the nomination, and
he returned home, apparently untroubled. Later
he was nominated Vice- President in the place of
Calhoun, at the re-election of President Jackson,
and with smiles for all and frowns for none, he
took his place at the head of that Senate which had
refused to confirm his nomination as ambassador.
His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal
of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated
favorite; and this, probably, more than any other
cause secured his elevation to the chair of the
Chief Executive. On the 2oth of May, 1836, Mr.
Van Buren received the Democratic nomination
to succeed Gen. Jackson as President of the United
States. He was elected by a handsome majority,
to the delight of the retiring President. ' 'Leaving
New York out of the canvass," says Mr. Parton,
' 'the election of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency
was as much the act of Gen. Jackson as though
the Constitution had conferred upon him the power
to appoint a successor."
His administration was filled with exciting
events'. 'The insurrection in Canada, which
threatened to involve this country in war with
England, the agitation of the slavery question,
and finally the great commercial panic which
spread over the country, all were trials of his wis-
dom. The financial distress was attributed to
the management of the Democratic party, and
brought the President into such disfavor that he
failed of re-election, and on the 4th of March,
1841, he retired from the presidency.
With the exception of being nominated for the
Presidency by the "Free Soil" Democrats in 1848,
Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until
his death. He had ever been a prudent man, of
frugal habits, and, living within his income, had
now fortunately a competence for his declining
years. From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he
still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics
of the country. From this time until his death,
on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty
years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of
leisure, of culture and wealth, enjoying in a
healthy old age probably far more happiness than
he had before experienced amid the stormy scenes
of his active life.
LIBRARY
Of THE
UNIVERSITY OF HUNKS
I
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
fDGjILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the ninth
\A/ President of the United States, was born
V Y at Berkeley, Va. , February 9, 1773. His
father, Benjamin Harrison, was in comparatively
opulent circumstances, and was one of the most
distinguished men of his day. He was an inti-
mate friend of George Washington, was early
elected a member of' the Continental Congress,
and was conspicuous among the patriots of Vir-
ginia in resisting the encroachments of the British
crown. In the celebrated Congress of 1775, Ben-
jamin Harrison and John Hancock were both
candidates for the office of Speaker.
Mr. Harrison was subsequently chosen Gov-
ernor of Virginia, and was twice re-elected. His
son William Henry, of course, enjoyed in child-
hood all the advantages which wealth and intel-
lectual and cultivated society could give. Hav-
ing received a thorough common-school educa-
tion, he entered Hampden Sidney College, where
he graduated with honor soon after the death of
his father. He then repaired to Philadelphia to
stud}' medicine under the instructions of Dr. Rush
and the guardianship of Robert Morris, both of
whom were, with his father, signers of the Dec-
laration of Independence.
Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and
notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends,
he abandoned his medical studies and entered the
army, having obtained a commission as Ensign
from President Washington. He was then but
nineteen years old. From that time he passed
gradually upward in rank until he became aide
to Gen. Wayne, after whose death he resigned
his commission. He was then appointed Secre-
tary of the Northwestern Territory. This Terri-
tory was then entitled to but one member in Con-
gress, and Harrison was chosen to fill that position.
In the spring of 1800 the Northwestern Terri-
tory was divided by Congress into two portions.
The eastern portion, comprising the region now
embraced in the State of Ohio, was called "The
Territory northwest of the Ohio." The western
portion, which included what is now called Indi-
ana, Illinois and Wisconsin, was called "the Indi-
ana Territory." William Henry Harrison, then
twenty-seven years of age, was appointed by John
Adams Governor of the Indiana Territory, and
immediately after also Governor of Upper Loui-
siana. He was thus ruler over almost as. exten-
sive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe.
He was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and
was invested with powers nearly dictatorial over
the then rapidly increasing white population. The
ability and fidelity with which he discharged
these responsible duties may be inferred from the
fact that he was four times appointed to this
office first by John Adams, twice by Thomas
Jefferson, and afterwards by President Madison.
When he began his administration there were
but three white settlements in that almost bound-
less region, now crowded with cities and resound-
ing with all the tumult of wealth and traffic.
One of these settlements was on the Ohio, nearly
opposite Louisville; one at Vincennes, on the
Wabash ; and the third was a French settlement.
The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrison
reigned was filled with many tribes of Indians.
About the year 1806, two extraordinary men,
twin brothers of the Shawnee tribe, rose among
them. One of these was called Tecumseh, or
"the Crouching Panther;" the other Olliwa-
checa, or ' ' the Prophet. ' ' Tecumseh was not
only an Indian warrior, but a man of great sagac-
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
ity, far-reaching foresight and indomitable perse-
verance in any enterprise in which he might en-
gage. His brother, the Prophet, was an orator,
who could sway the feelings of the untutored In-
dians as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath
which they dwelt. With an enthusiasm unsur-
passed by Peter the Hermit rousing Europe to the
crusades, he went from tribe to tribe, assuming
that he was specially sent by the Great Spirit.
Gov. Harrison made many attempts to con-
ciliate the Indians, but at last war came, and at
Tippecanoe the Indians were routed with great
slaughter. October 28, 1812, his army began its
march. When near the Prophet's town, three
Indians of rank made their appearance and in-
quired why Gov. Harrison was approaching them
in so hostile an attitude. After a short confer-
ence, arrangements were made for a meeting the
next day to agree upon terms of peace.
But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted
with the Indian character to be deceived by such
protestations. Selecting a favorable spot for his
night's encampment, he took every precaution
against surprise. His troops were posted in a
hollow square and slept upon their arms. The
wakeful Governor, between three and four 'oT'clock-
in the morning, had risen, and was sitting
in conversation with his aides by the embers
of a waning fire. It was a chill, cloudy morning,
with a drizzling rain. In the darkness, the In-
dians had crept as near as possible, and just then,
with a savage yell, rushed, with all the despera-
tion which superstition and passion most highly
inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the
little army. The savages had been amply pro-
vided with guns and ammunition by the English,
and their war-whoop was accompanied by a
shower of bullets.
The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as
the light aided the Indians in their aim, and
Gen. Harrison's troops stood as immovable as
the rocks around them until day dawned, when
they made a simultaneous charge with the bayo-
net and swept everything before them, completely
routing the foe.
Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked
to the utmost. The British, descending from the
Canadas, were of themselves a very formidable
force, but with their savage allies rushing like
wolves from the forest, burning, plundering, scalp-
ing, torturing, the wide frontier was plunged into
a state of consternation which even the most vivid
imagination can but faintly conceive. Gen. Hull
had made an ignominious surrender of his forces at
Detroit. Under these despairing circumstances,
Gov. Harrison was appointed by President Madi-
son Commander-in-Chief of the Northwestern
Army, with orders to retake Detroit and to protect
the frontiers. It would be difficult to place a man
in a situation demanding more energy, sagacity
and courage, but he was found equal to the
position, and nobly and triumphantly did he meet
all the responsibilities.
In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member
of the National House of Representatives, to rep-
resent the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved
an active member, and whenever he spoke it was
with a force of reason and power of eloquence
which arrested the attention of all the members.
In 1819, Harrison was elected to the Senate of
Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presidential Elec-
tors of that State, he gave his vote for Henry
Clay. The same year he was chosen to the Uni-
ted States Senate. In 1 836 his friends brought
him forward as a candidate for the Presidency
against Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the
close of Mr. Van Buren's term, he was re-nom-
inated by his party, and Mr. Harrison was unani-
mously nominated by the Whigs, with John Tyler
for the Vice-Presidency. The contest was very
animated. Gen. Jackson gave all his influence to
prevent Harrison's election, but his triumph was
signal.
The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Web-
ster at its head as Secretary of State, was one of
the most brilliant with which any President had
ever been surrounded. Never were the prospects
of an administration more flattering, or the hopes
of the country more sanguine. In the midst of
these bright and joyous prospects, Gen. Harrison
was seized by a pleurisy-fever, and after a few
days of violent sickness died, on the 4th of April,
just one month after his inauguration as President
of the United States.
01
JOHN TYLER.
(JOHN TYLER, the tenth President of the
I United States, and was born in Charles
G/ City County, Va., March 29, 1790. He was
the favored child of affluence and high social po-
sition. At the early age of twelve, John entered
William and Mary College, and graduated with
much honor when but seventeen years old. After
graduating, he devoted himself with great assi-
duity to the study of law, partly with his father
and partly with Edmund Randolph, one of the
most distinguished lawyers of Virginia.
At nineteen years of age, he commenced the
practice of law. His success was rapid and as-
tonishing. It is said that three months had not
elapsed ere there was scarcely a case on the
docket of the court in which he was not retained.
When but twenty-one years of age, he was almost
unanimously elected to a seat in the State Legis-
lature. He connected himself with the Demo-
cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures
of Jefferson and Madison. For five successive
years he was elected to the Legislature, receiving
nearly the unanimous vote of his county.
When but twenty-six years of age, he was
elected a Member of Congress. Here he acted ear-
nestly and ably with the Democratic party, oppos-
ing a national bank, internal improvements by
the General Government, and a protective tariff;
advocating a strict construction of the Constitu-
tion and the most careful vigilance over State
rights. His labors in Congress were so arduous
that before the close of his second term he found
it necessary to resign and retire to his estate in
Charles City County to recruit his health. He,
however, soon after consented to take his seat in
the State Legislature, where his influence was
powerful in promoting public works of great
utility. With a reputation thus constantly in-
creasing, he was chosen by a very large majority
of votes Governor of his native State. His ad-
ministration was a signally successful one, and his
popularity secured his re-election.
John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed
man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of
the United States. A portion of the Democratic
party was displeased with Mr. Randolph's way-
ward course, and brought forward John Tyler as
his opponent, considering him the only man in
Virginia of sufficient popularity to succeed
against the renowned orator of Roanoke. Mr.
Tyler was the victor.
In accordance with his professions, upon tak-
ing his seat in the Senate he joined the ranks of
the opposition. He opposed the tariff, and spoke
against and voted against the bank as unconsti-
tutional; he strenuously opposed all restrictions
upon slavery, resisting all projects of internal im-
provements by the General Government, and
avowed his sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view
of nullification; he declared that Gen. Jackson,
by his opposition to the milliners, had abandoned
the principles of the Democratic party. Such
was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress a record in
perfect accordance with the principles which he
had always avowed.
Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice
of his profession. There was a split in the Demo-
cratic party. His friends still regarded him as a
true Jeffersonian, gave him a dinner, and show-
ered compliments upon him. He had now at-
tained the age of forty-six, and his career had been
very brilliant. In consequence of his devotion to
public business, his private affairs had fallen into
some disorder, and it was not without satisfac-
tion that he resumed the practice of law, and de-
voted himself to the cultivation of his plantation.
Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, for
the better education of his children, and he again
took his seat in the Legislature of Virginia.
By the southern Whigs he was sent to the
national convention at Harrisburg in 1839 to nom-
inate a President. The majority of votes were
given to Gen Harrison, a genuine Whig, much
to the disappointment of the South, which wished
JOHN TYLER.
for Henry Clay. To conciliate the southern
Whigs and to secure their vote, the convention
then nominated John Tyler for Vice-President.
It was well known that he was not in sympathy
with the Whig party in the North; but the Vice-
President has very little power in the Govern-
ment, his main and almost only duty being to
preside over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it
happened that a Whig President and, in reality,
a Democratic Vice-President were chosen.
In 1841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice-
President of the United States. In one short
month from that time, President Harrison died,
and Mr. Tyler thus found himself, to his own
surprise and that of the whole nation, an occu-
pant of the Presidential chair. Hastening from
Williamsburg to Washington, on the 6th of
April he was inaugurated to the high and re-
sponsible office. He was placed in a position of
exceeding delicacy and difficulty. All his long
life he had been opposed to the main principles of
the party which had brought him into power.
He had ever been a consistent, honest man, with
an unblemished record. Gen. Harrison had se-
lected a Whig cabinet. Should he retain them,
and thus surround himself with counselors whose
views were antagonistic to his own ? or, on the
other hand, should he turn against the party
which had elected him, and select a cabinet in
harmony with himself, and which would oppose
all those views which the Whigs deemed essen-
tial to the public welfare ? This was his fearful
dilemma. He invited the cabinet which Presi-
dent Harrison had selected to retain their seats,
and recommended a day of fasting and prayer,
that God would guide and bless us.
The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for
the incorporation of a fiscal bank of ihe United
States. The President, after ten days' delay, re-
turned it with his veto. He suggested, however,
that he would approve of a bill drawn up upon
such a plan as he proposed. Such a bill was ac-
cordingly prepared, and privately submitted to
him. He gave it his approval. It was passed
without alteration, and he sent it back with his
veto. Here commenced the open rupture. It is
said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas-
ure by a published letter from the Hon. John M.
Botts, a distinguished Virginia Whig, who se-
verely touched the pride of the President.
The opposition now exultingly received the
President into their arms. The party which
elected him denounced him bitterly. All the
members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster,
resigned. The Whigs of Congress, both the
Senate and the House, held a meeting and issued
an address to the people of the United States,
proclaiming that all political alliance between the
Whigs and President Tyler was at an end.
Still the President attempted to conciliate. He
appointed a new cabinet of distinguished Whigs
and Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong
party men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary
to resign, forced out by the pressure of his Whig
friends. Thus the four years of Mr. Tyler's un-
fortunate administration passed sadly away. No
one was satisfied. The land was filled with mur-
murs and vituperation. Whigs and Democrats
alike assailed him. More and more, however, he
brought himself into sympathy with his old
friends, the Democrats, until at the close of his
term he gave his whole influence to the support
of Mr. Polk, the Democratic candidate for his
successor.
On the 4th of March, 1845, President Tyler re-
tired from the harassments of office, to the regret
of neither party, and probably to his own unspeak-
able relief. The remainder of his days were
passed mainly in the retirement of his beautiful
home Sherwood Forest, Charles City County,
Va. His first wife, Miss Letitia Christian, died
in Washington in 1842; and in June, 1844,
he was again married, at New York., to Miss Julia
Gardiner, a young lady of many personal and
intellectual accomplishments.
When the great Rebellion rose, which the
State Rights and nullifying doctrines of John C.
Calhoun had inaugurated, President Tyler re-
nounced his allegiance to the United States, and
joined the Confederates. He was chosen a mem-
ber of their Congress, and while engaged in
active measures to destroy, by force of arms, the
Government over which he had once presided, he
was taken sick and soon died.
LIBRARY
OF f Hf
UNlVEftSllv Of
JAMES K. POLK.
(TAMES K. POLK, the eleventh President of j
I the United States, was born in Mecklenburgh
Q) County, N. C., November 2, 1795. His
parents were Samuel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the
former a son of Col. Thomas Polk, who located
at the above place, as one of the first pioneers, in
1735. In 1806, with his wife and children, and
soon after followed by most of the members of the
Polk family, Samuel Polk emigrated some two or
three hundred miles farther west, to the rich val-
ley of the Duck River. Here, in the midst of the
wilderness, in a region which was subsequently
called Maury County, they erected their log huts
and established their homes. In the hard toil of
a new farm in the wilderness, James K. Polk
spent the early years of his childhood and youth.
His father, adding the pursuit of a surveyor to
that of a farmer, gradually increased in wealth,
until he became one of the leading men of the
region. His mother was a superior woman, of
strong common sense and earnest piety.
Very early in life James developed a taste for
reading, and expressed the strongest desire to ob-
tain a liberal education. His mother's training
had made him methodical in his habits, had taught
him punctuality and industry, and had inspired
him with lofty principles of morality. His health
was frail, and his father, fearing that he might not
be able to endure a sedentary life, got a situation
for him behind the counter, hoping to fit him for
commercial pursuits.
This was to James a bitter disappointment. He i
had no taste for these duties, and his daily tasKS
were irksome in the extreme. He remained in this
uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, when,
at his earnest solicitation, his father removed
him and made arrangements for him to pros-
ecute his studies. Soon after he sent him to Mur-
freesboro Academy. With ardor which could
scarcely be surpassed, he pressed forward in his
studies, and in less than two and a-half years, in
the autumn of 1815, entered the sophomore class
in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel
Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of
scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allow-
ing himself to be absent from a recitation or a
religious service.
Mr. Polk graduated in 1818, with the highest
honors, being deemed the best scholar of his class,
both in mathematics and the classics. He was
then twenty-three years of age. His health was
at this time much impaired by the assiduity with
which he had prosecuted his studies. After a
short season of relaxation, he went to Nashville,
and entered the office of Felix Grundy, to study
law. Here Mr. Polk renewed his acquaintance
with Andrew Jackson, who resided on his planta-
tion, the "Hermitage," but a few miles from
Nashville. They had probably been slightly ac-
quainted before.
Mr. Folk's father was a JefFersonian Republican
and James K. adhered to the same political faith.
He was a popular public speaker, and was con-
stantly called upon to address the meetings of his
party friends. His skill as a speaker was such
that he was popularly called the Napoleon of the
stump. He was a man of unblemished morals,
genial and courteous in his bearing, and with that
sympathetic nature in the joys and griefs of oth-
ers which gave him hosts of friends. In 1823,
he was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee,
and gave his strong influence toward the election
of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of
the United States.
In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah
Childress, of Rutherford County, Tenn. His
bride was altogether worthy of him a lady of
beauty and culture. In the fall of 1825 Mr. Polk
was chosen a member of Congress, and the satis-
faction he gave his constituents may be inferred
6o
JAMES K. POLK.
from the fact, that for fourteen successive years,
or until 1839, he was continued in that office. He
then voluntarily withdrew, only that he might
accept the Gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In
Congress he was a laborious member, a frequent
and a popular speaker. He was always in his
seat, always courteous, and whenever he spoke
it was always to the point, without any ambitious
rhetorical display.
During five sessions of Congress Mr. Polk was
Speaker of the House. Strong passions were
roused and stormy scenes were witnessed, but he
performed his arduous duties to a very general
satisfaction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to
him was passed by the House as he withdrew on
the 4th of March, 1839.
In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk,
as a candidate for Governor, canvassed the State.
He was elected by a large majority, and on Octo-
ber 14, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville.
In 1841 his term of office expired, and he was
again the candidate of the Democratic party, but
was defeated.
On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was in-
augurated President of the United States.- The
verdict of the country in favor of the annexation
of Texas exerted its influence upon Congress,
and the last act of the administration of President
Tyler was to affix his signature to a joint resolu-
tion of Congress, passed on the 3d of March, ap-
proving of the annexation of Texas to the Union.
As Mexico still claimed Texas as one of her
provinces, the Mexican Minister, Almonte, im-
mediately demanded his passports and left the
country, declaring the act of the annexation to be
an act hostile to Mexico.
In his first message, President Polk urged that
Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be
received into the Union on the same footing with
the other States. In the mean time, Gen. Taylor
was sent with an army into Texas to hold the
country. He was first sent to Nueces, which the
Mexicans said was the western boundary of Tex-
as. Then he was sent nearly two hundred miles
further west, to the Rio Grande, where he erected
batteries which commanded the Mexican city of
Matamoras, which was situated on the western
banks. The anticipated collision soon took place,
and war was declared against Mexico by President
Polk. The war was pushed forward by his ad-
ministration with great vigor. Gen. Taylor,
whose army was first called one of ' ' observation, ' '
then of "occupation," then of "invasion," was
sent forward to Monterey. The feeble Mexicans
in every encounter were hopelessly slaughtered.
The day of judgment alone can reveal the misery
which this war caused. It was by the ingenuity
of Mr. Folk's administration that the war was
brought on.
' ' To the victors belong the spoils. ' ' Mexico
was prostrate before us. Her capital was in our
hands. We now consented to peace upon the
condition that Mexico should surrender to us, in
addition to Texas, all of New Mexico, and all of
Upper and Lower California. This new demand
embraced, exclusive of Texas, eight hundred
thousand square miles. This was an extent of
territory equal to nine States of the size of New
York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen ma-
jestic States to be added to the Union. There
were some Americans who thought it all right;
there were others who thought it all wrong. In
the prosecution of this war we expended twenty
thousand lives and more than $100,000,000. Of
this money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico.
On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired
from office, having served one term. The next
day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was
inaugurated as his successor. Mr. Polk rode to
the Capitol in the same carriage with Gen. Tay-
lor, and the same evening, with Mrs. Polk, he
commenced his return to Tennessee. He was
then but fifty-four years of age. He had always
been strictly temperate in all his habits, and his
health was good. With an ample fortune, a
choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic
ties of the dearest nature, it seemed as though
long year.= of tranquillity and happiness were be-
fore him. But the cholera that fearful scourge
was then sweeping up the Valley of the Missis-
sippi, and he contracted the disease, dying on the
1 5th of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth year of his
age, greatly mourned by his countrymen.
LIBRARY
OF THE
umvu&m
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
7ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth President of
I. the Uuiteci States, was born on the 24th of
/~) November, 1784, in Orange County, Va.
His father, Col. Taylor, was a Virginian 'of
note, and a distinguished patriot and soldier of
the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant,
his father, with his wife and two children, emi-
grated to Kentucky, where he settled in the path-
less wilderness, a few miles from Louisville. In
this frontier home, away from civilization and all
its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but
few social and educational advantages. When
six years of age he attended a common school,
and was then regarded as a bright, active boy,
rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of
character. He was strong, fearless and self-reli-
ant, and manifested a strong desire to enter the
army to fight the Indians, who were ravaging the
frontiers. There is little to be recorded of the
uneventful years of his childhood on his father's
large but lonely plantation.
In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for
him a commission as Lieutenant in the United
States army, and he joined the troops which were
stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson.
Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith,
a young lady from one of the first families of
Maryland.
Immediately after the declaration of war with
England, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then
been promoted to that rank) was put in command
of Ft. Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles
above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the
wilderness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to
Tippecanoe. It was one of the first points of at-
tack by the Indians, led by Tecumseh. Its garri-
son consisted of a broken company of infantry,
numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick.
Early in the autumn of 1812, the Indians,
stealthily, and in large nnmbers, moved upon the
fort. Their approach was first indicated by the
murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade.
Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to
meet the anticipated assault. On the 4th of Sep-
tember, a band of forty painted and plumed sav-
ages came to the fort, waving a white flag, and
informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their
chief would come to have a talk with him. It
was evident that their object was merely to ascer-
tain the state of things at the fort, and Capt.
Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages,
kept them at a distance.
The sun went down; the savages disappeared;
the garrison slept upon their arms. One hour
before midnight the war-whoop burst from a
thousand lips in the forest around, followed by
the discharge of musketry and the rush of the
foe. Every man, sick and well, sprang to his
post. Every man knew that defeat was not
merely death, but, in the case of capture, death by
the most agonizing and prolonged torture. No
pen can describe, no imagination can conceive, the
scenes which ensued. The savages succeeded in
setting fire to one of the block-houses. Until six
o'clock in the morning this awful conflict con-
tinued, when the savages, baffled at every point
and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired.
Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defense, was pro-
moted to the rank of Major by brevet.
Until the close of the war, Maj. Taylor was
placed in such situations that he saw but little
more of active service. He was sent far away
into the depths of the wilderness to Ft. Craw-
ford, on Fox River, which empties into Green
Bay. Here there was little to be done but to
wear away the tedious hours as one best could.
There were no books, no society, no intellectual
stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years
rolled on. Gradually he rose to the rank of
Colonel. In the Black Hawk War, which re-
6 4
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
suited in the capture of that renowned chieftain,
Col. Taylor took a subordinate, but a brave and
efficient, part.
For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged
in the defense of the frontiers, in scenes so re-
mote, and in employments so obscure, that his
hame was unknown beyond the limits of his own
immediate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he
was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indi-
ans to vacate that region, and retire beyond the
Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty had prom-
ised they should do. The services rendered here
secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of
the Government, and as a reward he was ele-
vated to the high rank of Brigadier-General by
brevet, and soon after, in May, 1838, was ap-
pointed to the chief command of the United
States troops in Florida.
After two years of wearisome employment
amidst the everglades of the Peninsula, Gen. Tay-
lor obtained, at his own request, a change of
command, and was stationed over the Department
of the Southwest. This field embraced Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Establishing
his headquarters at Ft. Jessup, in Louisiana, he
removed his family to a plantation which he pur-
chased near Baton Rouge. Here he remained
for five years, buried, as it were, from the world,
but faithfully discharging every duty imposed
upon him.
In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the
land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the
latter river being the boundary of Texas, which
was then claimed by the United States. Soon
the war with Mexico was brought on, and at Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Taylor won
brilliant victories over the Mexicans. The rank
of Major-General by brevet was then conferred
upon Gen. Taylor, and his name was received
with enthusiasm almost everywhere in the na-
tion. Then came the battles of Monterey and
Buena Vista, in which he won signal victories
over forces much larger than he commanded.
The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena
Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm over the
country. The name of Gen. Taylor was on
every one's lips. The Whig party decided to
take advantage of this wonderful popularity in
bringing forward the unpolished, unlettered, hon-
est soldier as their candidate for the Presidency.
Gen. Taylor was astonished at the announce-
ment, and for a time would not listen to it, de-
claring that he was not at all qualified for such
an office. So little interest had he taken in poli-
tics, that for forty years he had not cast a vote.
It was not without chagrin that several distin-
guished statesmen, who had been long years in
the public service, found their claims set aside in
behalf of one whose name had never been heard
of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de
la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said
that Daniel Webster, in his haste, remarked, " It
is a nomination not fit to be made."
Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a
fine writer. His friends took possession of him,
and prepared such few communications as it was
needful should be presented to the public. The
popularity of the successful warrior swept the
land. He was triumphantly elected over two
opposing candidates, Gen. Cass and Ex-Presi-
dent Martin Van Buren. Though he selected an
excellent cabinet, the good old man found himself
in a very uncongenial position, and was at times
sorely perplexed and harassed. His mental suf-
ferings were very severe, and probably tended to
hasten his death. The pro-slavery party was
pushing its claims with tireless energy; expedi-
tions were fitting out to capture Cuba ; California
was pleading for admission to the Union, while
slavery stood at the door to bar her out. Gen.
Taylor found the political conflicts in Washington
to be far more trying to the nerves than battles
with Mexicans or Indians.
In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor,
after he had occupied the Presidential chair but
little over a year, took cold, and after a brief
sickness of but little over five days, died, on the
9th of July, 1850. His last words were, "I am
not afraid to die. I am ready. I have endeav-
ored to do my duty." He died universally re-
spected and beloved. An honest, unpretending
man, he had been steadily growing in the affec-
tions of the people, and the Nation bitterly la-
mented his death.
LIBRARY
OHHE
UNIVERSITY Of
MILLARD FILLMORE.
FILLMORE, thirteenth President
of the United States, was born at Summer
Hill, Cayuga County, N. Y. , on the jth of
January, 1800. His father was a farmer, and, owing
to misfortune, in humble circumstances. Of his
mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, of
Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she pos-
sessed an intellect of a high order, united with
much personal loveliness, sweetness of disposi-
tion, graceful manners and exquisite sensibilities.
She died in 1831, having lived to see her son a
young man of distinguished promise, though she
was not permitted to witness the high dignity
which he finally attained.
In consequence of the secluded home and limited
means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender
advantages for education in his early years. The
common schools, which he occasionally attended,
were very imperfect institutions, and books were
scarce and expensive. There was nothing then
in his character to indicate the brilliant career
upon which he was about to enter. He was a
plain farmer's boy intelligent, good-looking,
kind-hearted. The sacred influences of home
had taught him to revere the Bible, and had laid
the foundations of an upright character. When
fourteen years of age, his father sent him some
hundred miles from home to the then wilds of
Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier.
Near the mill there was a small village, where
some enterprising man had commenced the col-
lection of a village library. This proved an in-
estimable blessing to young Fillmore. His even-
ings were spent in reading. Soon every leisure
moment was occupied with books. His thirst for
knowledge became insatiate, and the selections
which he made were continually more elevating
and instructive. He read history, biography,
oratory, and thus gradually there was enkindled
in his heart a desire to be something more than a
mere worker with his hands.
The young clothier had now attained the age
of nineteen years, and was of fine personal appear-
ance and of gentlemanly demeanor. It so hap-
pened that there was a gentleman in the neigh-
borhood of ample pecuniary means and of benev-
olence, Judge Walter Wood, who was struck
with the prepossessing appearance of young Fill-
more. He made his acquaintance, and was so
much impressed with his ability and attainments
that he advised him to abandon his trade and de-
vote himself to the study of the law. The young
man replied that he had no means of his own,
no friends to help him, and that his previous edu-
cation had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood
had so much confidence in him that he kindly
offered to take him into his own office, and to
lend him such money as he needed. Most grate-
fully the generous offer was accepted.
There is in many minds a strange delusion
about a collegiate education. A young man is
supposed to be liberally educated if he has gradu-
ated at some college. But many a boy who loi-
ters through university halls and then enters a
law office is by no means as well prepared to
prosecute his legal studies as was Millard Fill-
more when he graduated at the clothing-mill at
the end of four years of manual labor, during
which every leisure moment had been devoted to
intense mental culture.
In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, he
was admitted to the Court of Common Pleas.
He then went to the village of Aurora, and com-
menced the practice of law. In this secluded,
quiet region, his practice, of course, was limited,
and there was no opportunity for a sudden rise in
fortune or in fame. Here, in 1826, he married a
lady of great moral worth, and one capable of
MILLARD FILLMORE.
adorning any station she might be called to fill,
Miss Abigail Powers.
His elevation of character, his untiring industry,
his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advo-
cate, gradually attracted attention, and he was
invited to enter into partnership, under highly ad-
vantageous circumstances, with an elder member
of the Bar in Buffalo. Just before removing to
Buffalo, in 1829, he took his seat in the House of
Assembly of the State of New York, as a Repre-
sentative from Erie County. Though he had
never taken a very active part in politics, his vote
and sympathies were with the Whig party. The
State was then Democratic, and he found himself
in a helpless minority in the Legislature; still the
testimony comes from all parties that his courtesy,
ability and integrity won, to a very unusual de-
gree, the respect of his associates.
In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a
seat in the United States Congress. He entered
that troubled arena in the most tumultuous hours
of our national history, when the great conflict
respecting the national bank and the removal of
the deposits was raging.
His term of two years closed, and he returned
to his profession, which he pursued with increas-
ing reputation and success. After a lapse of two .
years he again became a candidate for Congress; ,
was re-elected, and took his seat in 1837. His
past experience as a Representative gave him
strength and confidence. The first term of service
in Congress to any man can be but little more
than an introduction. He was now prepared for
active duty. All his energies were brought to
bear upon the public good. Every measure re-
ceived his impress.
Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute,
and his popularity filled the State. In the year
1847, when he had attained the age of forty-
seven years, he was elected Comptroller of the
State. His labors at the Bar, in the Legisla-
ture, in Congress and as Comptroller, had given
him very considerable fame. The Whigs were
casting about to find suitable candidates for Presi-
dent and Vice- President at the approaching elec-
tion. Far away on the waters of the Rio Grande,
there was a rough old soldier, who had fought
one or two successful battles with the Mexicans,
which had caused his name to be proclaimed in
trumpet-tones all over the land as a candidate for
the presidency. But it was necessary to associate
with him on the same ticket some man of repu-
tation as a statesman.
Under the influence of these considerations, the
names of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore
became the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their
candidates for President and Vice-President. The
Whig ticket was signallj' triumphant. On the
4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated
President, and Millard Fillmore Vice-Presideut,
of the United States.
On the gth of July, 1850, President Taylor,
about one year and four months after his inaugura-
tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the
Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus be-
came President. He appointed a very able cabi-
net, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was
Secretary of State; nevertheless, he had serious
difficulties to contend with, since the opposition
had a majority in both Houses. He did all in his
power to conciliate the South; but the pro-slavery
party in the South felt the inadequacy of all
measures of transient conciliation. The popula-
tion of the free States was so rapidly increasing
over that of the slave States, that it was inevitable
that the power of the Government should soon
pass into the hands of the free States. The fa-
mous compromise measures were adopted under
Mr. Fillmore' s administration, and the Japan ex-
pedition was sent out. On the 4th of March,
1853, he, having served one term, retired.
In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the
Presidency by the "Know-Nothing" party, but
was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr.
Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terri-
ble conflict of civil war, he was mostly silent. It
was generally supposed that his sympathies were
rather with those who were endeavoring to over-
throw our institutions. President Fillmore kept
aloof from the conflict, without any cordial words
of cheer to one party or the other. He was thus
forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe old age,
and died in Buffalo, N. Y., March 8, 1874.
LIBRARY
or rw
f ILLINOIS
HRANKUN PIERCE, the fourteenth Presi-
ly dent of the United States, was born in Hills-
I borough, N. H., November 23, 1804. His
father was a Revolutionary soldier, who with his
own strong arm hewed out a home in the wilder-
ness. He was a man of inflexible integrity, of
strong, though uncultivated, mind, and was an un-
compromising Democrat. The mother of Frank-
lin Pierce was all that a son could desire an in-
telligent, prudent, affectionate, Christian woman.
Franklin, who was the sixth of eight children,
was a remarkably bright and handsome boy,
generous, warm-hearted and brave. He won
alilce the love of old and young. The boys on
th? play-ground loved him. His teachers loved
him. The neighbors looked upon him with pride
and affection. He was by instinct a gentleman,
always speaking kind words, and doing kind
deeds, with a peculiar, unstudied tact which
taught him what was agreeable. Without de-
veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural
devotion to books, he was a good scholar, and in
body and mind a finely developed boy.
When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820,
he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me.
He was one of ihe most popular young men in
the college. The purity of his moral character,
the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank
as a scholar, and genial nature, rendered him a
universal favorite. There was something pe-
culiarly winning in his address, and it was evi-
dently not in the slightest degree studied it was
the simple outgushing of his own magnanimous
and loving nature.
Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin
Pierce commenced the study of law in the office
of Judge Woodbury, one of the most distinguished
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
lawyers of the State, and a man of great private
worth. The eminent social qualities of the young
lawyer, his father's prominence as a public man,
and the brilliant political career into which Judge
Woodbury was entering, all tended to entice Mr.
Pierce into the fascinating yet perilous path of
political life. With all the ardor of his nature he
espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the Presi-
dency. He commenced the practice of law in
Hillsborough, and was soon elected to represent
the town in the State Legislature. Here he
served for four years. The last two years he was
chosen Speaker of the House by a very large
vote.
In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was
elected a member of Congress. In 1837, being
then but thirty-three years old, he was elected to
the Senate, taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren
commenced his administration. He was the
youngest member in the Senate. In the year
1834, he married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a
lady of rare beauty and accomplishments, and one
admirably fitted to adorn every station with which
her husband was honored. Of the three sons who
were born to them, all now sleep with their par-
ents in the grave.
In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing
fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took up
his residence in Concord, the capital of New
Hampshire. President Polk, upon his accession
to office, appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-General
of the United States; but the offer was declined
in consequence of numerous professional engage-
ments at home, and the precarious state of Mrs.
Pierce's health. He also, about the same time,
declined the nomination for Governor by the
Democratic party. The war with Mexico called
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
Mr. Pierce into the army. Receiving the appoint-
ment of Brigadier-General, he embarked with a
portion of his troops at Newport, R. I., on the
27th of May, 1847. He took an important part
in this war, proving himself a brave and true sol-
dier.
When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his na-
tive State, he was received enthusiastically by the
advocates of the Mexican War, and coldly by his
opponents. He resumed the practice of his pro-
fession, very frequently taking an active part in
political questions, giving his cordial support to
the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party.
The compromise measures met cordially with his
approval, and he strenuously advocated the en-
forcement of the infamous Fugitive Slave Law,
which so shocked the religious sensibilities of the
North. He thus became distinguished as a
' ' Northern man with Southern principles. ' ' The
strong partisans of slavery in the South conse-
quently regarded him as a man whom they could
safely trust in office to carry out their plans.
On the I2th of June, 1852, the Democratic con-
vention met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate
for the Presidency. For four days they contin-
ued in session, and in thirty-five ballotings no one
had obtained a two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus
far had been thrown for Gen. Pierce. Then the
Virginia delegation brought forward his name.
There were fourteen more ballotings, during which
Gen. Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at
the forty-ninth ballot, he received two hundred
and eighty-two votes, and all other candidates
eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was the Whig can-
didate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with great una-
nimity. Only four States Vermont, Massachu-
setts, Kentucky and Tennessee cast their elec-
toral votes against him. Gen. Franklin Pierce
was therefore inaugurated President of the United
State_s on the 4th of March, 1853.
His administration proved one of the most
stormy our country had ever experienced. The
controversy between slavery and freedom was
then approaching its culminating point. It be-
came evident that there was to be an irrepressible
conflict between them, and that this nation
could not long exist ' ' half slave and half free. ' '
President Pierce, during the whole of his admin-
istration, did everything he could to conciliate the
South; but it was all in vain. The conflict every
year grew more violent, and threats of the disso-
lution of the Union were borne to the North on
every Southern breeze.
Such was the condition of affairs when Presi-
dent Pierce approached the close of his four-
years term of office. The North had become
thoroughly alienated from him. The anti-slavery
sentiment, goaded by great outrages, had been
rapidly increasing; all the intellectual ability and
social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in
deep reprehension of his administrative acts. The
slaveholders of the South also, unmindful of the
fidelity with which he had advocated those meas-
ures of Government which they approved, and
perhaps feeling that he had rendered himself
so unpopular as no longer to be able to accepta-
bly serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and
nominated James Buchanan to succeed him.
On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce re-
turned to his home in Concord. His three chil-
dren were all dead, his last surviving child hav-
ing been killed before his eyes in a railroad acci-
dent; and his wife, one of the most estimable and
accomplished of ladies, was rapidly sinking in
consumption. The hour of dreadful gloom soon
came, and he was left alone in the world without
wife or child.
When the terrible Rebellion burst forth which
divided our country into two parties, and two
only, Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the prin-
ciples which he had always cherished, and gave
his sympathies to that pro-slavery party with
which he had ever been allied. He declined to
do anything, either by voice or pen, to strengthen
the hand of the National Government. He con-
tinued to reside in Concord until the time of his
death, which occurred in October, 1869. He was
one of the most genial and social of men, an hon-
ored communicant of the Episcopal Church, and
one of the kindest of neighbors. Generous to a
fault, he contributed liberally toward the allevia-
tion of suffering and want, and many of his
towns-people were often gladdened by his material
bounty.
LIBRARY
Of THf
UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
JAMES BUCHANAN.
(I AMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth President !
I of the United States, was born in a small
\~) frontier town, at the foot of the eastern ridge
of the Alleghanies, in Franklin County, Pa., on
the 23d of April, 1791. The place where the
humble cabin home stood was called Stony Bat-
ter. His father was a native of the north of Ire-
land, who had emigrated in 1783, with little prop-
erty save his own strong arms. Five years after-
ward he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter
of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride,
plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim,
reared his log hut, opened a clearing with his
axe, and settled down there to perform his obscure
part in the drama of life. When James was eight
years of age, his father removed to the village of
Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school,
and commenced a course of study in English,
Latin and Greek. His progress was rapid, and
at the age of fourteen he entered Dickinson Col-
lege, at Carlisle. Here he developed remarkable
talent, and took his stand among the first scholars
in the institution.
In the year 1809, he graduated with the high-
est honors of his class. He was then eighteen
years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health,
fond of athletic sports, an unerring shot, and en-
livened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits.
He immediately commenced the study of law in
the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the
Bar in 1812, when he was but twenty-one years
of age.
In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a
candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for
ten years he remained a member of the Lower
House. During the vacations of Congress, he
occasionally tried some important case. In 1831
he retired altogether from the toils of his profes-
sion, having acquired an ample fortune.
Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presi-
dency, appointed Mr. Buchanan Minister to Rus-
sia. The duties of his mission he performed
with ability, and gave satisfaction to all parties.
Upon his return, in 1833, he was elected to a seat
in the United States Senate. He there met as
his associates Webster, Clay, Wright and Cal-
houn. He advocated the measures proposed by
President Jackson, of making reprisals against
France to enforce the payment of our claims
against that country, and defended the course of
the President in his unprecedented and wholesale
removal from office of those who were not the
supporters of his administration. Upon this
question he was brought into direct collision with
Henry Clay. He also, with voice and vote, ad-
vocated expunging from the journal of the Senate
the vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for re-
moving the deposits. Earnestly he opposed the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia,
and urged the prohibition of the circulation of
anti-slavery documents by the United States
mails. As to petitions on the subject of slavery,
he advocated that they should be respectfully re-
ceived, and that the reply should be returned
that Congress had no power to legislate upon the
subject. "Congress," said he, "might as well
undertake to interfere with slavery under a for-
eign government as in any of the States where it
now exists."
Upon Mr. Folk's accession to the Presidency,
Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as
such took his share of the responsibility in the
7 6
JAMES BUCHANAN.
conduct of the Mexican War. Mr. Polk assumed
that crossing the Nueces by the American
troops into the disputed territory was not wrong,
but for the Mexicans to cross the Rio Grande
into Texas was a declaration of war. No candid
man can read with pleasure the account of the
course our Government pursued in that movement.
Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly
with the party devoted to the perpetuation and
extension of slavery, and brought all the energies
of his mind to bear against the Wilmot Proviso.
He gave his cordial approval to the compromise
measures of 1850, which included the Fugitive
Slave Law. Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the
Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with the mis-
sion to England.
In the year 1856, a national Democratic Con-
vention nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presi-
dency. The political conflict was one of the most
severe in which our country has ever engaged.
All the friends of slavery were on one side; all
the advocates of its restriction and final abolition
on the other. Mr. Fremont, the candidate of the
enemies of slavery, received one hundred and
fourteen electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received
one hundred and seventy-four, and was elected.
The popular vote stood 1,340,618 for Fremont,
1,224,750 for Buchanan. On March 4, 1857,
the latter was inaugurated.
Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only
four years were wanting to fill up his three-score
years and ten. His own friends, those with
whom he had been allied in political principles
and action for years, were seeking the destruc-
tion of the Government, that they might rear
upon the ruins of our free institutions a nation
whose corner-stone should be human slavery. In
this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly
bewildered. He could not, with his long-avowed
principles, consistently oppose the State Rights
party in their assumptions. As President of the
United States, bound by his oath faithfully to
administer the laws, he could not, without per-
jury of the grossest kind, unite with those en-
deavoring to overthrow the Republic. He there-
fore did nothing.
The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administra-
tion nominated Abraham Lincoln as their stand-
ard-bearer in the next Presidential canvass.
The pro-slavery party declared that if he were
elected and the control of the Government were
thus taken from their hands, they would sece:l:
from the Union, taking with them as they retired
the National Capitol at Washington and the
lion's share of the territory of the United States.
As the storm increased in violence, the slave-
holders claiming the right to secede, and Mr.
Buchanan avowing that Congress had no power
to prevent it, one of the most pitiable exhibitions
of governmental imbecility was exhibited that the
world has ever seen. He declared that Congress
had no power to enforce its laws in any State
which had withdrawn, or which was attempting
to withdraw, from the Union. This was not the
doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with his hand
upon Ms sword-hilt, he exclaimed: "The Union
must and shall be preserved!"
South Carolina seceded in December, 1860,
nearly three months before the inauguration of
President Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in
listless despair. The rebel flag was raised in
Charleston; Ft. Sumter was besieged; our forts,
navy-yards and arsenals were seized; our depots
of military stores were plundered, and our cus-
tom-houses and post-offices were appropriated by
the rebels.
The energy of the rebels and the imbecility of
our Executive were alike marvelous. The na-
tion looked on in agony, waiting for the slow
weeks to glide away and close the administration,
so terrible in its weakness. At length the long-
looked-for hour of deliverance came, when Abra-
ham Lincoln was to receive the scepter.
The administration of President Buchanan was
certainly the most calamitous our country has ex-
perienced. His best friends can not recall it with
pleasure. And still more deplorable it is for his
fame, that in that dreadful conflict which rolled
its billows of flame and blood over our whole
land, no word came from his lips to indicate his
wish that our country's banner should triumph
over the flag of the Rebellion. He died at his
Wheatland retreat, June i, 1868.
LIBRARY
Of THt
UNIVtKSIlY Of ILUflOJS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
BRAHAM LINCOLN, the sixteenth Presi-
t_l dent of the United States, was born in Hardin
| I County, Ky., February 12, 1809. About
the year -i 780, a man by the name of Abraham
Lincoln left Virginia with his family and moved
into the then wilds of Kentucky. Only two years
after this emigration, and while still a young man,
he was working one day in a field, when an Indian
stealthily approached and killed him. His widow
was left in extreme poverty with five little chil-
dren, three boys and two girls. Thomas, the
youngest of the boys, and the father of President
Abraham Lincoln, was four years of age at his
father's death.
When twenty-eight years old, Thomas Lincoln
built a log cabin, and married Nancy Hanks, the
daughter of another family of poor Kentucky
emigrants, who had also come from Virginia.
Their second child was Abraham Lincoln, the sub-
ject of this sketch. The mother of Abraham was
a noble woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created
to adorn a palace, but doomed to toil and pine, and
die in a hovel. " All that I am, or hope to be,"
exclaimed the grateful son, " I owe to my angel-
mother. ' ' When he was eight years ot age, his
father sold his cabin and small farm and moved
to Indiana, where two years later his mother died.
As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly
family was the usual lot of humanity. There
were joys and griefs, weddings and funerals.
Abraham's sister Sarah, to whom he was tenderly
attached, was married when a child of but four-
teen years of age, and soon died. The family
was gradually scattered, and Thomas Lincoln
sold out his squatter's claim in 1830, and emi-
grated to Macon County, 111.
Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years
of age. With vigorous hands he aided his father
in rearing another log cabin, and worked quite
diligently at this until he saw the family com-
fortably settled, and their small lot of enclosed
prairie planted with corn, when he announced to
his father his intention to leave home, and to gc
out into the world and seek his fortune. Littk
did he or his friends imagine how brilliant that
fortune was to be. He saw the value of educa-
tion and was intensely earnest to improve his
mind to the utmost of his power. Religion he
revered. Hie morals were pure, and he was un-
contaminated by a single vice.
Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired
laborer among the farmers. Then he went to
Springfield, where he was employed in building
a large flat-boat. In this he took a herd of swine,
floated them down the Sangamon to Illinois, and
thence by the Mississippi to New Orleans. What-
ever Abraham Lincoln undertook, he performed
so faithfully as to give great satisfaction to his
employers. In this adventure the latter were
so well pleased, that upon his return they placed
a store and mill under his care.
In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk
War, he enlisted and was chosen Captain of a
company. He returned to Sangamon County,-
and, although only twenty-three years of age, was
a candidate for the Legislature, but was defeated.
He soon after received from Andrew Jackson the
appointment of Postmaster of New Salem. His
only post-office was his hat. All the letters he
received he carried there, ready to deliver to those
he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and
soon made this his business. In 1834 he again
became a candidate for the Legislature and was
elected. Mr. Stuart, of Springfield, advised him
to study law. He walked from New Salem to
Springfield, borrowed of Mr. Stuart a load oi
books, carried them back, and began his legal
studies. When the Legislature assembled, he
trudged on foot with his pack on his back one
hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In
1836 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here
it was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839
he removed to Springfield and began the practice
of law. His success with the jury was so great
8o
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that lie was soon engaged in almost every noted
case in the circuit.
In 1854 the great discussion began between Mr.
Lincoln and Mr. Douglas on the slavery ques-
tion. In the organization of the Republican party
in Illinois, in 1856, he took an active part, and at
once became one of the leaders in that party.
Mr. Lincoln's speeches in opposition to Senator
Douglas in the contest in 1858 for a seat in the
Senate, form a most notable part of his history.
The issue was on the slavery question, and he
took the broad ground of the Declaration of In-
dependence, that all men are created equal. Mr.
Lincoln was defeated in this contest, but won a
far higher prize.
The great Republican Convention met at Chi-
cago on the 1 6th of June, 1860. The delegates
anfl strangers who crowded the city amounted to
twenty-five thousand. An immense building
called "The Wigwam," was reared to accommo-
date the convention. There were eleven candi-
dates for whom votes were thrown. William H.
Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman had
long filled the land, was the most prominent. It
was generally supposed he would be the nomi-
nee. Abraham Lincoln, however, received the
nomination on the third ballot.
Election day came, and Mr. Lincoln received
one hundred and eighty electoral votes out of two
hundred and three cast, and was, therefore, con-
stitutionally elected President of the United States.
The tirade of abuse that was poured upon this
good and merciful man, especially by the slave-
holders, was greater than upon any other man
ever elected to this high position. In February,
1861, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, stop-
ping in all the large cities on his way, making
speeches. The whole journey was fraught with
much danger. Many of the Southern States had
already seceded, and several attempts at assassi-
nation were afterward brought to light. A gang
in Baltimore had arranged upon his arrival to
"get up a row," and in the confusion to make
sure of his death with revolvers and hand-gren-
ades. A detective unravelled the plot. A secret
and special train was provided to take him from
Harrisburg, through Baltimore, at an unexpected
hour of the night. The train started at half-past
ten, and to prevent any possible communication
on the part of the Secessionists with their Con-
federate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train
had started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr.
Lincoln reached Washington in safety and was
inaugurated, although great anxiety was felt by
all loyal people.
In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave
to Mr. Seward the Department of State, and to
other prominent opponents before the convention
he gave important positions; but during no other
administration had the duties devolving upon the
President been so manifold, and the responsibilities
so great, as those which fell to his lot. Knowing
this, and feeling his own weakness and inability
to meet, and in his own strength to cope with,
the difficulties, he learned early to seek Divine
wisdom and guidance in determining his plans,
and Divine comfort in all his trials, both personal
and national. Contrary to his own estimate of
himself, Mr. Lincoln was one of the most cour-
ageous of men. He went directly into the rebel
capital just as the retreating foe was leaving, with
no guard but a few sailors. From the time he
had left Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had
been made for his assassination, and he at last
fell a victim to one of them. April 14, 1865, he,
with Gen. Grant, was urgently invited to attend
Ford's Theatre. It was announced that they
would be present. Gen. Grant, however, left the
city. President Lincoln, feeling, with his char-
acteristic kindliness of heart, that it would be a
disappointment if he should fail them, very re-
luctantly consented to go. While listening to
the play, an actor by the name of John Wilket
Booth entered the box where the President and
family were seated, and fired a bullet into his
brain. He died the next morning at seven
o' clock.
Never before in the history of the world was
a nation plunged into such deep grief by the death
of its ruler Strong men met in the streets and
wept in speechless anguish. His was a life which
will fitly become a model. His name as the
Savior of his country will live with that of Wash-
ington's, its Father.
LIBRARY
Of THE
UNIVEKSm OF ILLINOIS
/y
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Gl NDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth President
LJ of the United States. The early life of An-
/ I drew Johnson contains but the record of pov-
erty , destitution and friendlessness. He was born
December 29, 1808, in. Raleigh, N. C. His par-
ents, belonging to the class of "poor whites"
of the South, were in such circumstances that they
could not confer even the slightest advantages of
education upon their child. When Andrew was
five years of age, his father accidentally lost his
life, while heroically endeavoring to save a friend
from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew
was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by
the labor of his mother, who obtained her living
with her own hands.
He then, having never attended a school one
day, and being unable either to reader write, was
apprenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gen-
tleman was in the habit of going to the tailor's
shop occasionally, and reading to the boys at
work there. He often read from the speeches of
distinguished British statesmen. Andrew, who
was endowed with a mind of more than ordinary
ability, became much interested in these speeches;
his ambition was roused, and he was inspired with
a strong desire to learn to read.
He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet,
and with the assistance of some of his fellow-
workmen learned his letters. He then called upon
the gentleman to borrow the book of speeches.
The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only gave
him the book, but assisted him in learning to com-
bine the letters into words. Under such difficul-
ties he pressed onward laboriously, spending usu-
ally ten or twelve hours at work in the shop, and
then robbing himself of rest and recreation to de-
vote such time as he could to reading.
He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at
Greenville, where he married a young lady who
possessed some education. Under her instructions
he learned to write and cipher. He became
prominent in the village debating society, and a
favorite with the students of Greenville College.
In 1828, he organized a working man's party,
which elected him Alderman, and in 1830 elected
him Mayor, which position he held three years.
He now began to take a lively interest in
political affairs, identify ing himself with the work-
ing-class, to which he belonged. In 1835, he
was elected a member of the House of Represent-
atives of Tennessee. He was then just twenty-
seven years of age. He became a very active
member of the Legislature, gave his support to
the Democratic party, and in 1840 "stumped the
State," advocating Martin Van Buren's claims to
the Presidency, in opposition to 'those of Gen.
Harrison. In this campaign he acquired much
readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased
his reputation.
In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843,
he was elected a Member of Congress, and by suc-
cessive elections held that important post for ten
years. In 1 853 , he was elected Governor of Tenn-
essee, and was re-elected in 1855. In all these
responsible positions, he discharged his duties
with distinguished ability, and proved himself the
warm friend of the working 'classes. In 1857, Mr.
Johnson was elected United States Senator.
Years before, in 1845, he had warmly advocated
the annexation of Texas, stating, however, as his
reason, that he thought this annexation would
probably prove "to be the gateway out of which
the sable sons of Africa are to pass from bondage
to freedom, and become merged in a population
congenial to themselves." In 1850, he also sup-
ported the compromise measures, the two essen-
8 4
ANDREW JOHNSON.
tial features of which werp, that the white people
of the Territories should be permitted to decide
for themselves whether they would enslave the
colored people or not, and that the free States of
the North should return to the South persons who
attempted to escape from slavery.
Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly
origin: on the contrary, he often took pride in
avowing that he owed his distinction to his own
exertions. "Sir," said he on the floor of the
Senate, "I do not forget that I am a mechanic;
neither do I forget that Adam was a tailor and
sewed fig-leaves, and that our Savior was the son
of a carpenter. ' '
In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of 1860,
he was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for
the Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of
the Southern Democracy became apparent, he took
a decided stand in favor of the Union, and held
that "slavery must be held subordinate to the
Union at whatever cost." He returned to Tenn-
essee, and repeatedly imperiled his own life to
protect the Unionists of that State. Tennessee
having seceded from the Union, President Lincoln,
on March 4, 1862, appointed him Military Gov-
ernor of the State, and he established the most
Stringent military rule. His numerous proclama-
tions attracted wide attention. In 1864, he was
elected Vice- President of the United States, and
upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, 1865,
became President. In a speech two days later he
said, "The American people must be taught, if
they do not already feel, that treason is a crime
and must be punished; that the Government will
not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong
not only to protect, but to punish. * * The
people must understand that it (treason) is the
blackest of crimes, and will surely be punished. ' '
Yet his whole administration, the history of which
is so well known, was in utter inconsistency with,
and in the most violent opposition to, the princi-
ples laid down in that speech.
In his loose policy of reconstruction and general
amnesty, he was opposed by Congress, and he
characterized Congress as a new rebellion, and
lawlessly defied it in everything possible to the ut-
most. In the beginning of 1868, on account of
"High crimes and misdemeanors," the principal
of which was the removal of Secretary Stanton in
violation of the Tenure of Office Act, articles of
impeachment were preferred against him, and the
trial began March 23.
It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three
months. A test article of the impeachment was
at length submitted to the court for its action. It
was certain that as the court voted upon that ar- .
ticle so would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices
pronounced the President guilty. As a two-thirds
vote was necessary to his condemnation, he was
pronounced acquitted, notwithstanding the great
majority against him. The change of one vote
from the not guilty side would have sustained the
impeachment.
The President, for the remainder of his term,
was but little regarded. He continued, though
impotently, his conflict with Congress. His own
party did not think it expedient to renominate
him for the Presidency. The Nation rallied with .
enthusiasm, unparalleled since the days of Wash-
ington, around the name of Gen. Grant. Andrew
Johnson was forgotten. The bullet of the assassin
introduced him to the President's chair. Not-
withstanding this, never was there presented to a
man a better opportunity to immortalize his name,
and to win the gratitude of a nation. He failed
utterly. He retired to his home in Greenville,
Tenn. , taking no very active part in politics until
1875. On January 26, after an exciting struggle,'
he was chosen by the Legislature of Tennessee
United States Senator in the Forty-fourth Congess,
and took his seat in that body, at the special ses-
sion convened by President Grant, on the 5th of
March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the ex-Presi-
dent made a visit to his daughter's home, near
Carter Station, Tenn. When he started on his
journey, he was apparently in his usual vigorous
health, but on reaching the residence of his child
the following day, he was stricken with paralysis,
which rendered him unconscious. He rallied oc- ;
casionally, but finally passed away at 2 A. M.,
July 31 , aged sixty-seven years. His funeral was
held at Greenville, on the 3d of August, with
every demonstration of respect.
LIBRARY
of rm
UNIVEKSm OF ILLINOIS
ULYSSES S. GRANT.
HLYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth Presi-
dent of the United States, was born on the
2gth of April, 1822, of Christian parents, in
a humble home at Point Pleasant, on the banks
of the Ohio. Shortly after, his father moved to
Georgetown, Brown County,. Ohio. In this re-
mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses received a common-
school education. At the age of seventeen, in
the year 1839, he entered the Military Academy
at West Point. Here he was regarded as a solid,
sensible young man, of fair ability, and of sturdy,
honest character. He took respectable rank as a
scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated about the
middle in his class, and was sent as Lieutenant of
Infantry to one of the distant military posts in the
Missouri Territory. Two years he passed in these
dreary solitudes, watching the vagabond Indians.
The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was
sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His
first battle was at Palo Alto. There was no
chance here for the exhibition of either skill or
heroism, nor at Resaca de la Palma, his second
battle. At the battle of Monterey, his third en-
gagement, it is said that he performed a signal
service of daring and .skillful horsemanship.
At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant
returned with his regiment to New York, and
was again sent to one of the military posts on the
frontier. The discovery of gold in Califorria
causing an immense tide of emigration to flow to
the Pacific shores, Cnpt. Grant was sent with a
battalion to Ft. Dallas, in Oregon, for the protec-
tion of the interests of the immigrants. But life
was wearisome in those wilds, and he resigned
his commission and returned to the States. Hav-
ing married, he entered upon the cultivation of a
small farm near St. Louis, Mo., but having little
skill as a farmer, and finding his toil not re-
munerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering
into the leather business, with a younger brother
at Galena, 111. This was in the year 1860. As
the tidings of the rebels firing on Ft. Sumter
reached the ears of Capt. Grant in his counting-
room, he said: "Uncle Sam has educated me
for the army; though I have served him through
one war, I do not feel that I have yet repaid the
debt. I am still ready to discharge my obliga-
tions. I shall therefore buckle on my sword and
see Uncle Sam through this war too. ' '
He went into the streets, raised a company of
volunteers, and led them as their Captain to
Springfield, the capital of the State, where their
services were offered to Gov. Yates. The Gov-
ernor, impressed by the zeal and straightforward
executive ability of Capt. Grant, gave him a desk
in his office to assist in the volunteer organiza-
tion that was being formed in the State in behalf
of the Government. On the 1 5th of June, 1861,
Capt. Grant received a commission as Colonel of
the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Volunteers.
His merits as a West Point graduate, who had
served for fifteen years in the regular army, were
such that he was soon promoted to the rank of
Brigadier-General, and was placed in command at
Cairo. The rebels raised their banner at Padu-
cah, near the mouth of the Tennessee River.
Scarcely had its folds appeared in the breeze ere
Gen. Grant was there. The rebels fled, their
banner fell, and the Stars and Stripes were un-
furled in its stead.
He entered the service with great determina-
tion and immediately began active duty. This
was the beginning, and until the ' surrender of
Lee at Richmond he was ever pushing the enemy
88
ULYSSES S. GRANT.
with great vigor and effectiveness. At Belmont,
a few days later, he surprised and routed the
rebels, then at Ft. Henry won another victory.
Then came the brilliant fight at Ft. Donelson.
The nation was electrified by the victory, and the
brave leader of the boys in blue was immediately
made a Major-General, and the military district
of Tennessee was assigned to him.
Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew well
how to secure the results of victory. He imme-
diately pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then
came the terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing,
Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, where Gen.
Pemberton made an unconditional surrender of
the city with over thirty thousand men and one
hundred and seventy-two cannon. The fall of
Vicksburg was by far the most severe blow which
the rebels had thus far encountered, and opened
up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf.
Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with
Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and pro-
ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown
from his horse, and received severe injuries, from
which he was laid up for months. He then
rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas
at Chattanooga, and by a wonderful series of
strategic and technical measures put the Union
army in fighting condition. Then followed the
bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout Moun-
tain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels
were routed with great loss. This won for him
unbounded praise in the North. On the 4th of
February, 1864, Congress revived the grade of
lieutenant-general, and the rank was conferred
on Gen. Grant. He repaired to Washington to
receive his credentials and enter upon the duties
of his new office.
Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge
of the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed
National troops for an attack upon Richmond,
the nominal capital of the rebellion, and endeavor
there to destroy the rebel armies which would be
promptly assembled from all quarters for its de-
fense. The whole continent seemed to tremble
under the tramp of these majestic armies, rushing
to the decisive battle-field. Steamers were crowd-
ed with troops. Railway trains were burdened
with closely-packed thousands. His plans were
comprehensive, and involved a series of cam-
paigns, which were executed with remarkable
energy and ability, and were consummated at the
surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865.
The war was ended. The Union was saved.
The almost unanimous voice of the nation de-
clared Gen. Grant to be the most prominent in-
strument in its salvation. The eminent services
he had thus rendered the country brought him
conspicuously forward as the Republican candi-
date for the Presidential chair.
At the Republican Convention held at Chicago,
May 21, 1868, he was unanimously nominated
for the Presidency, and at the autumn election
received a majority of the popular vote, and two
hundred and fourteen out of two hundred and
ninety-four electoral votes.
The National Convention of the Republican
party, which met at Philadelphia on the 5th 01
June, 1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for
a second term by a unanimous vote. The selec-
tion was emphatically indorsed by the people five
months later, two hundred and ninety-two elect-
oral votes being cast for him.
Soon after the close of his second term, Gen.
Grant started upon his famous trip around the
world. He visited almost every country of the
civilized world, and was everywhere received
with such ovations and demonstrations of respect
and honor, private as well as public and official,
as were never before bestowed upon any citizen
of the United States.
He was the most prominent candidate before
the Republican National Convention in 1880 for
a renomination for President. He went to New
York and embarked in the brokerage business
under the firm name of Grant & Ward. The
latter proved a villain, wrecked Grant's fortune,
and for larceny was sent to the penitentiary.
The General was attacked with cancer in the
throat, but suffered in his stoic-like manner, never
complaining. He was re-instated as General of
the Army, and retired by Congress. The cancer
soon finished its deadly work, and July 23, 1885,
the nation went in mourning over the death 01
the illustrious General.
UBftAOT
OF fHt
UNIVERSITY Of IUINWS
,. \ u.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
QUTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nineteenth
|^ President of the United States, was born in
p\ Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822, almost
three months after the death of his father, Ruther-
ford Hayes. His ancestry on both the paternal and
maternal sides was of the most honorable char-
acter. It can be traced, it is said, as far back as
1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two
Scottish chieftains, fighting side by side with
Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Both
families belonged to the nobility, owned extensive
estates, and had a large following. Misfortune
overtaking the family, George Hayes left Scotland
in 1680, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son
George was born in Windsor, and remained there
during his life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter,
married Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of
his marriage until his death in Simsbury, Conn.
Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and was
a manufacturer of scythes at Bradford, Conn.
Rutherford Hayes, son of Ezekiel and grandfather
of President Hayes, was born in New Haven, in
August, 1756. He was a farmer, blacksmith and
tavern-keeper. He emigrated to Vermont at an
unknown date, settling in Brattleboro, where he
established a hotel. Here his son, Rutherford
Hayes, the father of President Hayes, was born.
He was married, in September, 1813, to Sophia
Birchard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors
emigrated thither from Connecticut, they having
been among the wealthiest and best families of
Norwich. Her ancestry on the male side is
traced back to 1635, to John Birchard, one of the
principal founders of Norwich. Both of her grand-
fathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War.
The father of President Hayes was an industri-
ous, frugal, yet open-hearted man. He was of a
mechanical turn of mind, and could mend a plow,
knit a stocking, or do almost anything else that
he chose to undertake. He was a member of the
church, active in all the benevolent enterprises
of the town, and conducted his business on Chris-
tian principles. After the close of the War of
1812, for reasons inexplicable to his neighbors, he
resolved to emigrate to Ohio.
The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that day,
when there were no canals, steamers, or rail-
ways, was a very serious affair. A tour of in-
spection was first made, occupying four months.
Mr. Hayes decided to move to Delaware, where
the family arrived in 1817. He died July 22,
1822, a victim of malarial fever, less than three
months before the birth of the son of whom we
write. Mrs. Hayes, in her sore bereavement,
found the support she so much needed in her
brother Sardis, who had been a member of the
household from the day of its departure from
Vermont, and in an orphan girl, whom she had
adopted some time before as an act of charity.
Rutherford was seven years old before he went
to school. His education, however, was not neg-
lected. He probably learned as much from his
mother and sister as he would have done at
school. His sports were almost wholly within
doors, his playmates being his sister and her asso-
ciates. These circumstances tended, no doubt, to
foster that gentleness of disposition and that del-
icate consideration for the feelings of others which
were marked traits of his character.
His uncle, Sardis Birchard, took the deepest
interest in his education; and as the boy's health
had improved, and he was making good progress
in his studies, he proposed to send him to college.
His preparation commenced with a tutor at home;
9 2
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
but lie was afterwards sent for one year to a pro-
fessor in the Wesleyan University in Middletown,
Conn. He entered Kenyon College in 1838, at
the age of sixteen, and was graduated at the head
of his class in 1842.
Immediately after his graduation he began the
study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow,
Esq., in Columbus. Finding his opportunities
for study in Columbus somewhat limited, he de-
termined to enter the Law School at Cambridge,
Mass., where he remained two years.
In 1845, after graduating at the Law School, he
was admitted to the Bar at Marietta, Ohio, and
shortly afterward went into practice as an at-
torney-at-law with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fre-
mont. Here he remained three years, acquiring
but a limited practice, and apparently unambitious
of distinction in his profession.
In 1849 he moved to Cincinnati, where his am-
bition found a new stimulus. For several years,
however, his progress was slow. Two events
occurring at this period had a powerful influence
upon his subsequent life. One of these was his
marriage with Miss Lucy Ware Webb, daughter
of Dr. James Webb, of Chillicothe; the other was
his introduction to the Cincinnati Literary Club,
a body embracing among its members such men
as Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, Gen. John
Pope, Gov. Edward F. Noyes, and many others
hardly less distinguished in after life. The mar-
riage was a fortunate one in every respect, as
everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of
our Presidents was more universally admired,
reverenced and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and
no one did more than she to reflect honor upon
American womanhood. The LiteraryClub brought
Mr. Hayes into constant association with young
men of high character and noble aims, and lured
him to display the qualities so long hidden by his
bashfulness and modesty.
In 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas, but he declined to
accept the nomination. Two years later, the of-
fice of City Solicitor becoming vacant, the City
Council elected him for the unexpired term.
In 1 86 1, when the Rebellion broke out, he was
at the zenith of his professional life. His rank at
the Bar was among the first. But the news of
the attack on Ft. Sumter found him eager to
take up arms for the defense of his country.
His military record was bright and illustrious.
In October, 1861, he was made Lieutenant- Colo-
nel, and in August, 1862, promoted Colonel of
the Seventy-ninth Ohio Regiment, but he refused
to leave his old comrades and go among strangers.
Subsequently, however, he was made Colonel of
his old regiment. At the battle of South Moun-
tain he received a wound, and while faint and
bleeding displayed courage and fortitude tt
won admiration from all.
Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment,
after his recovery, to act as Brigadier-General,
and placed in command of the celebrated Kanawha
division, and for gallant and meritorious services
in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and
Cedar Creek, he was promoted Brigadier-General.
He was also breveted Major-General, "for gallant
and distinguished services during the campaigns
of 1864, in West Virginia." In the course of his
arduous services, four horses were shot from un-
der him, and he was wounded four times.
In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to Congress
from the Second Ohio District, which had long
been Democratic. He was not present during the
campaign, and after the election was importuned
to resign his commission in the army; but he fi-
nally declared, " I shall never come to Washing-
ton until I can come by way of Richmond. ' ' He
was re-elected in 1866.
In 1867, Gen. Hayes was elected Governor of
Ohio, over Hon. Allen G. Thurman, a popular
Democrat, and in 1869 was re-elected over George
H. Pendleton. He was elected Governor for the
third term in 1875.
In 1876 he was the standard-bearer of the Re-
publican party in the Presidential contest, and
after a hard, long contest was chosen President,
and was inaugurated Monday, March 5, 1877.
He served his full term, not, however, with satis-
faction to his party, but his administration was an
average one. The remaining years of his life
were passed quietly in his Ohio home, where he
passed away January 17, 1893.
LIBRARY
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UNIYERSm Of ILLINOIS
r
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
(TAMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth President
I of the United States, was born November 19,
(/ 1831, in the woods of Orange, Cuyahoga
i County, Ohio. His parents were Abram and
Eliza (Ballon) Garfield, both of New England
ancestry, and from families well known in the
early history of that section of our country, but
who had moved to the Western Reserve, in Ohio,
early in its settlement.
The house in which James A. was born was
not unlike the houses of poor Ohio fanners of
that day. It was about 20 x 30 feet, built of logs,
with the spaces between the logs filled with clay.
His father was a hard-working farmer, and he
soon had his fields cleared, an orchard planted,
and a log barn built. The household comprised
the father and mother and their four children,
Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and James. In May,
1823, the father died from a cold contracted in
helping to put out a forest fire. At this time
James was about eighteen months old, and
Thomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps,
can tell how much James was indebted to his
brother's toil and self-sacrifice during the twenty
years succeeding his father's death. He now
lives in Michigan, and the two sisters live in Solon,
Ohio, near their birthplace.
The early educational advantages young Gar-
field enjoyed were very limited, yet he made the
most of them. He labored at farm work for
others, did carpenter work, chopped wood, or did
anything that would bring in a few dollars to aid
his widowed mother in her struggles to keep the
little family together. Nor was Gen. Garfield
ever ashamed of his origin, and he never forgot
the friends of his struggling childhood, youth and
manhood; neither did they ever forget him.
When in the highest seats of honor, the humblest
friend of his boyhood was as kindly greeted as
ever. The poorest laborer was sure of the sym-
pathy of one who had known all the bitterness of
want and the sweetness of bread earned by the
sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple,
plain, modest gentleman.
The highest .ambition of young Garfield until
he was about sixteen years old was to be cap-
tain of a vessel on Lake Erie. He was anxious
to go aboard a vessel, but this his mother strongly
opposed. She finally consented to his going to
Cleveland, with the understanding, however, that
he should try to obtain some other kind of em-
ployment. He walked all the way to Cleveland.
This was his first visit to the city. After making
many applications for work, and trying to get
aboard a lake vessel and not meeting with suc-
cess, he engaged as a driver for his cousin, Amos
Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canal.
He remained at this work but a short time, when
he went home, and attended the seminary at
Chester for about three years. He then entered
Hiram and the Eclectic Institute, teaching a few
terms of school in the mean time, and doing other
work. This school was started by the Disciples
of Christ in 1850, of which body he was then a
member. He became janitor and bell-ringer in
order to help pay his way. He then became both
teacher and pupil. Soon "exhausting Hiram,"
and needing a higher education, in the fall of 1854
he entered Williams College, from which he grad-
uated in 1856, taking one of the highest honors of
his class. He afterwards returned to Hiram Col-
lege as its President. As above stated, he early
united with the Christian, or Disciples, Church at
Hiram, and was ever after a devoted, zealoua
member, often preaching in its pulpit and places
where he happened to be.
Mr. Garfield was united in marriage, Novem-
ber 11, 1858, with Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who
proved herself worthy as the wife of one whom
all the world loved. To them were born seven
children, five of whom are still living, four boys
and one girl.
9 6
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches in
1856, in Hiram and the neighboring villages, and
three years later he began to speak at county
mass-meetings, and became the favorite speaker
wherever he was. During this year he was
elected to the Ohio Senate. He also began to
study law at Cleveland, and in 1861 was admitted
to the Bar. The great Rebellion broke out in the
early part of this year, and Mr. Garfield at once
resolved to fight as he had talked, and enlisted to
defend the Old Flag. He received 'his commission
as Lieutenant- Colonel of the Forty-second Regi-
ment of Ohio Infantry August 14, 1861. He
was immediately put into active service, and be-
fore he had ever seen a gun fired in action, was
placed in command of four regiments of infantry
and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the
work of driving out of his native State the able
rebel officer, Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky.
This work was bravely and speedily accomplished,
although against great odds, and President Lin-
coln commissioned him Brigadier-General, Janu-
ary 10, 1862; and "as he had bee.i the youngest
man in the Ohio Senate two years before, so now
he was the youngest General in the army." He
was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, in its
operations around Corinth and its march through
Alabama. He was then detailed as a member of
the general court martial for the trial of Gen.
Fitz-John Porter. He was next ordered to re-
port to Gen. Rosecrans, and was assigned to the
" Chief of Staff. " The military history of Gen.
Garfield closed with his brilliant services at Chick-
amauga, where he won the rank of Major-General.
Without an effort on his part, Gen. Garfield
was elected to Congress in the fall of 1862, from
the Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of
Ohio had been represented in Congress for sixty
years mainly by two men Elisha Whittlesey and
Joshua R. Giddings. It was not without a strug-
gle that he resigned his place in the army. At
the time he entered Congress he was the youngest
member in that body. There he remained by
successive re-elections until he was elected Presi-
dent, in 1880. Of his labors in Congress, Senator
Hoar says: "Since the year 1864 you cannot
'think of a question which has been debated in
Congress, or discussed before a tribunal of the
American people, in regard to which you will not
find, if you wish instruction, the argument on
one side stated, in almost every instance better
than by anybody else, in some speech made in
the House of Representatives or on the hustings
by Mr. Garfield."
Upon January 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was elect-
ed to the United States Senate, and on the- 8th of
June, of the same year, was nominated as the
candidate of his party for President at the great
Chicago Convention. He was elected in the fol-
lowing November, and on March 4, 1881, was
inaugurated. Probably no administration ever
opened its existence under brighter auspices than
that of President Garfield, and every day it grew
in favor with the people. By the ist of July
he had completed all the initiatory and prelimi-
nary work of his administration, and was prepar-
ing to leave the city to meet his friends at Will-
iams College. While on his way and at the
depot, in company with Secretary Elaine, a man
Stepped behind him, drew a revolver, and fired
directly at his back. The President tottered and
fell, and as he did so the assassin fired a second
shot, the bullet cutting the left coat sleeve of his
victim, but inflicting no further injury. It has
been very truthfully said that this was ' ' the shot
that was heard around the world. ' ' Never before
in the history of the nation had anything occur-
red which so nearly froze the blood of the people
for the moment as this awful deed. He was
smitten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his
life, at the summit of his power and hope. For
eighty days, all during the hot months of July
and August, he lingered and suffered. He, how-
ever, remained master of himself till the last, and
by his magnificent bearing taught the country
and the world one of the noblest of human les-
sons how to live grandly in the very clutch of
death. Great in life, he was surpassingly great
in death. He passed serenely away September
19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J., on the very bank of
the ocean, where he had been taken shortly be-
fore. The world wept at his death, as it rarely
ever had done on the death of any other great
and noble man.
LIBRARY
OF (HI
UNIVBBI!> Of ILLINOIS
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
CHESTER A. ARTHUR, twenty-first Presi-
I ( dent of the United States, was born in Frank-
\J lin County, Vt., on the 5th day of October,
1830, and was the eldest of a family of two sons
and five daughters. His father was the Rev. Dr.
William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman, who emi-
grated to this country from County Antrim, Ire-
land, in his eighteenth year, and died in 1875, in
Newtonville, near Albany, after a long and suc-
cessful ministry.
Young Arthur was educated at Union College,
Schenectady, where he excelled in all his studies.
After his graduation he taught school in Ver-
mont for two years, and at the expiration of that
time came to New York, with $500 in his pocket,
and entered the office of ex -Judge E. D. Culver
as a student. After being admitted to the Bar, he
formed a partnership with his intimate friend and
room-mate, Henry D. Gardiner, with the inten-
tion of practicing in the West, and for three
months they roamed about in the Western States
in search of an eligible site, but in the end re-
turned to New York, where they hung out their
shingle, and entered upon a successful career al-
most from the start. Gen. Arthur soon after mar-
ried the daughter of Lieut. Herndon, of the
United States Navy, who was lost at sea. Con-
gress voted a gold medal to his widow in recog-
nition of the bravery he displayed on that occa-
sion. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before Mr.
Arthur's nomination to the Vice-Presidency, leav-
ing two children.
Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal celeb-
rity in his first great case, the famous Lemmon
suit, brought to recover possession of eight slaves
who had been declared free by Judge Paine, of
the Superior Court of New York City. It was in
1852 that Jonathan Lemmon, of Virginia, went to
New York with his slaves, intending to ship them
to Texas, when they were discovered and freed.
The Judge decided that they could not be held by
the owner under the Fugitive Slave Law. A howl
of rage went up from the South, and the Virginia
Legislature authorized the Attorney-General of
that State to assist in an appeal. William M.
Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed to
represent the people, and they won their case,
which then went to the Supreme Court of the
United States. Charles O' Conor here espoused
the cause of the slaveholders, but he, too, was
beaten by Messrs. Evarts and Arthur, and a long
step was taken toward the emancipation of the
black race.
Another great service was rendered by Gen.
Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Lizzie Jen-
nings, a respectable colored woman, was put off
a Fourth Avenue car with violence after she had
paid her fare. Gen. Arthur sued on her behalf,
and secured a verdict of $500 damages. The next
day the company issued an order to admit colored
persons to ride on their cars, and the other car
companies quickly followed their example. Be-
fore that the Sixth Avenue Company ran a few
special cars for colored persons, and the other lines
refused to let them ride at all.
Gen. Arthur was a delegate to the convention
at Saratoga that founded the Republican party.
Previous to the war he was Judge-Advocate of
the Second Brigade of the State of New York,
and Gov. Morgan, of that State, appointed him
Engineer-in-Chief of his staff. In 1861, he was
made Inspector- General, and soon afterward be-
came Quartermaster-General. In each of these
offices he rendered great service to the Govern-
100
CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
ment during the war. At the end of Gov. Mor-
gan's term he resumed the practice of law, form-
ing a partnership with Mr. Ransom, and then
Mr. Phelps, the District Attorney of New York,
was added to the firm. The legal practice of this
well-known firm was very large and lucrative,
as each of the gentlemen composing it was an able
lawyer, and possessed a splendid local reputa-
tion, if not, indeed, one of national extent.
Mr. Arthur always took a leading part in State
and city politics. He was appointed Collector of
the Port of New York by President Grant, No-
vember 21, 1872, to succeed Thomas Murphy,
and he held the office until July 20, 1878, when
he was succeeded by Collector Merritt.
Mr. Arthur was nominated on the Presidential
ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the
famous National Republican Convention held at
Chicago in June, 1880. This was perhaps the
greatest political convention that ever assembled
on the continent. It was composed of the lead-
ing politicians of the Republican party, all able
men, and each stood firm and fought vigorously
and with signal tenacity for his respective can-
didate that was before the convention for the
nomination. Finally Gen. Garfield received the
nomination for President, and Gen. Arthur for
Vice-President. The campaign which followed
was one of the most animated known in the his-
tory of our country. Gen. Hancock, the stand-
ard-bearer of the Democratic party, was a popular
man, and his party made a valiant fight for his
election.
Finally the election came, and the country's
choice was Garfield and Arthur. They were in-
augurated March 4, 1881, as President and Vice-
President. A few months only had passed ere
the newly-chosen President was the victim of the
assassin's bullet. Then came terrible weeks of
suffering those moments of anxious suspense,
when the hearts of all civilized nations were
throbbing in unison, longing for the recovery of
the noble, the good President. The remarkable
patience that he manifested during those hours
and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible
suffering man has ever been called upon to en-
dure, was seemingly more than human. It was
certainly godlike. During all this period of
deepest anxiety Mr. Arthur's every move was
watched, and, be it said to his credit, that his every
action displayed only an earnest desire that the
suffering Garfield might recover to serve the re-
mainder of the term he had so auspiciously be-
gun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested in
deed or look of this man, even though the most
honored position in the world was at any moment
likely to fall to him.
At last God in his mercy relieved President
Garfield from further suffering, and the world, as
never before in its history over the death of any
other man, wept at his bier. Then it became the
duty of the Vice-President to assume the respon-
sibilities of the high office, and he took the oath
in New York, September 20, 1881. The position
was an embarrassing one to him, made doubly so
from the fact that all eyes were on him, anxious
to know what he would do, what policy he would
pursue, and whom he would select as advisers.
The duties of the office had been greatly neglected
during the President's long illness, and many im-
portant measures were to be immediately decided
by him; and to still further embarass him he did
not fail to realize under what circumstances he
became President, and knew the feelings of many
on this point. Under these trying circumstances,
President Arthur took the reins of the Govern-
ment in his own hands, and, as embarrassing as
was the condition of affairs, he happily surprised
the nation, acting so wisely that but few criticized
his administration. He served the nation well
and faithfully until the close of his administra-
tion, March 4, 1885, and was a popular candidate
before his party for a second term. His name
was ably presented before the convention at Chi-
cago, and was received with great favor, and
doubtless but for the personal popularity of one
of the opposing candidates, he would have been
selected as the standard-bearer of his party for
another campaign. He retired to private life, car-
rying with him the best wishes of the American
people, whom he had served in a manner satisfac-
tory to them and with credit to himself. One
year later he was called to his final rest.
LIBRARY
Of fHt
WHVBBI7Y Of
STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND.
(STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND, the
r\ twenty -second President of the United States,
\~J was born in 1837, ' n the obscure town of
Caldwell, Essex County, N. J., and in a little
two-and-a-half-story white house, which is still
standing to characteristically mark the humble
birthplace of one of America's great men, in
striking contrast with the Old World, where all
men high in office must be high in origin and
born in the cradle of wealth. When the subject
of this sketch was three years of age, his father,
who was a Presbyterian minister with a large
family and a small salary, moved, by way of the
Hudson River and Erie Canal, to Fayetteville, N.
Y., in search of an increased income and a larger
field of work. Fayetteville was then the most
straggling of country villages, about five miles
from Pompey Hill, where Governor Seymour
was born.
At the last-mentioned place young Grover com-
menced going to school in the good, old-fashioned
way, and presumably distinguished himself after
the manner of all village boys in doing the
things he ought not to do. Such is the dis-
tinguishing trait of all geniuses and independent
thinkers. When he arrived at the age of four-
teen years, he had outgrown the capacity of the
village school, and expressed a most emphatic de-
sire to be sent to an academy. To this his fa-
ther decidedly objected. Academies in those
days cost money ; besides, his father wanted him
to become self-supporting by the quickest pos-
sible means, and this at that time in Fayetteville
seemed to be a position in a country store, where
his father and the large family on his hands had
considerable influence. Grover was to be paid
$50 for his services the first year, and if he proved
trustworthy he was to receive $100 the second
year. Here the lad commenced his career as
salesman, and in two years he had earned so good
a reputation for trustworthiness that his employ-
ers desired to retain him for an indefinite length
of time.
But instead of remaining with this firm in
Fayetteville, he went with the family in their re-
moval to Clinton, where he had an opportunity
of attending a High School. Here he industri-
ously pursued his studies until the family re-
moved with him to a point on Black River known
as the "Holland Patent," a village of five or six
hundred people, fifteen miles north of Utica, N. Y.
At this place his father died, after preaching but
three Sundays. This event broke up the family,
and Grover set out for New York City to accept,
at a small salary, the position of under- teacher
in an asylum for the blind. He taught faithfully
for two years, and although he obtained a good
reputation in this capacity, he concluded that
teaching was not his calling in life, and, revers-
ing the traditional order, he left the city to seek
his fortune, instead of going to the city. He first
thought of Cleveland, Ohio, as there was some
charm in that name for him; but before proceed-
ing to that place he went to Buffalo to ask advice
of his uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a noted stock-
breeder of that place. The latter did not speak
enthusiastically. "What is it you want to do,
my boy?" he asked. "Well, sir, I want to study
law," was the reply "Good gracious!" remarked
the old gentleman; " do you, indeed? Whatever
104
STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND.
put that into your head ? How much money
have you got?" "Well, sir, to tell the truth, I
haven't got any."
After a long consultation, his uncle offered him
a place temporarily as assistant herd-keeper, at
$50 a year, while he could look around. One
day soon afterward he boldly walked into the of-
fice of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, of Buffalo, and
told them what he wanted. A number of young
men were already engaged in the office, but Gro-
ver's persistency won, and he was finally per-
mitted to come as an office boy and have the use
of the law library, receiving as wages the sum of
$3 or $4 a week. Out of this he had to pay for his
board and washing. The walk to and from his
uncle's was a long and rugged one; and although
the first winter was a memorably severe one, his
shoes were out of repair, and as for his overcoat he
had none; yet he was, nevertheless, prompt and
regular. On the first day of his service there, his
senior employer threw down a copy of Black-
stone before him, with a bang that made the dust
fly, saying "That's where they all begin." A
titter ran around the little circle of clerks, and
students, as they thought that was enough to
scare young Grover out of his plans; but in due
time he mastered that cumbersome volume.
Then, as ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleve-
land exhibited a talent for .executiveness rather
than for chasing principles through all their
metaphysical possibilities. ' 'L,et us quit talking
and go and do it, ' ' was practically his motto.
The first public office to which Mr. Cleveland
was elected was that of Sheriff of Erie County,
N. Y., in which Buffalo is situated; and in such
capacity it fell to his duty to inflict capital punish-
ment upon two criminals. In 1881 he was
elected Mayor of the City of Buffalo, on the
Democratic ticket, with especial reference to bring-
ing about certain reforms in the administration
of the municipal affairs of that city. In this of-
fice, as well as in that of Sheriff, his performance
of duty has generally been considered fair, with
possibly a few exceptions, which were ferreted
out and magnified during his Presidential cam-
paign. As a specimen of his plain language in
a veto message, we quote from one vetoing an
iniquitous street-cleaning contract: "This is a
time for plain speech, and my objection to your
action shall be plainly stated. I regard it as the
culmination of a most bare-faced, impudent and
shameless scheme to betray the interests of the
people and to worse than squander the people's
money." The New York Sun afterward very
highly commended Mr. Cleveland's administra-
tion as Mayor of Buffalo, and thereupon recom-
mended him for Governor of the Empire State.
To the latter office he was elected in 1882, and
his administration of the affairs of State was
generally satisfactory. The mistakes he made,
if any, were made very public throughout the na-
tion after he was nominated for President of the
United States. For this high office he was
nominated July n, 1884, by the National Demo-
cratic Convention at Chicago, when other com-
petitors were Thomas F. Bayard, Roswell P.
Flower, Thomas A. Hendricks, Benjamin F.
Butler, Allen G. Thurman, etc. ; and he was
elected by the people, by a majority of about a
thousand, over the brilliant and long-tried Re-
publican statesman, James G. Elaine. President
Cleveland resigned his office as Governor of New
York in January, 1885, in order to prepare for
his duties as the Chief Executive of the United
States, in which capacity his term commenced at
noon on the 4th of March, 1885.
The silver question precipitated a controversy
between those who were in favor of the continu-
ance of silver coinage and those who were op-
posed, Mr. Cleveland answering for the latter,
even before his inauguration.
On June 2, 1886, President Cleveland married
Frances, daughter of his deceased friend and part-
ner, Oscar Folsom, of the Buffalo Bar. Their
union has been blessed by the birth of two daugh-
ters. In the campaign of 1888, President Cleve-
land was renominated by his party, but the
Republican candidate, Gen. Benjamin Harrison,
was victorious. In the nominations of 1892
these two candidates for the highest position in
the gift of the people were again pitted against
each other, and in the ensuing election Presideat
Cleveland was victorious by an overwhelming
majority.
LIBRARY
OFFHt
UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
HENJAMIN HARRISON, the twenty-third
IC\ President, is the descendant of one of the
d/ historical families of this country. The first
known head of the family was Maj.-Gen. Harrison,
one of Oliver Cromwell's trusted followers and
fighters. In the zenith of Cromwell' s power it be-
came the duty of this Harrison to participate in
the trial of Charles I., and afterward to sign the
death warrant of the king. He subsequently
paid for this with his life, being hung October 13,
1660. His descendants came to America, and
the next of the family that appears in history is
Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, great-grandfa-
ther of the subject of this sketch, and after whom
he was named. Benjamin Harrison was a mem-
ber of the Continental Congress during the years
1774, 1775 and 1776, and was one of the original
signers of the Declaration of Independence. He
was three times elected Governor of Virginia.
Gen. William Henry Harrison, the son of the
distinguished patriot of the Revolution, after a
successful career as a soldier during the War of
1812, and with a clean record as Governor of the
Northwestern Territory, was elected President of
the United States in 1840. His career was cut
short by death within one month after his in-
auguration.
President Harrison was born at North Bend,
Hamilton County, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His
life up to the time of his graduation from Miami
University, at Oxford, Ohio, was the uneventful
one of a country lad of a family of small means.
His father was able to give him a good education,
and nothing more. He became engaged while at
college to the daughter of Dr. Scott, Principal of
a female school at Oxford. . After graduating, he
determined to enter upon the study of law. He
went to Cincinnati and there read law for two
years. At the expiration of that time young Har-
rison received the only inheritance of his life his
aunt, dying, left him a lot valued at $800. He
regarded this legacy as a fortune, and decided to
get married at once, take this money and go to
some Eastern town and begin the practice of law.
He sold his lot, and, with the money in his pocket,
he started out with his young wife to fight for a
place in the world. He decided to go to Indian-
apolis, which was even at that time a town of
promise. He met with slight 'encouragement at
first, making scarcely anything the first year.
He worked diligently, applying himself closely to
his calling, built up an extensive practice and
took a leading rank in the legal profession.
In 1860, Mr. Harrison was nominated for the
position of Supreme Court Reporter, and then be-
gan his experience as a stump speaker. He can-
io8
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
vassed the State thoroughly, and was elected by
a handsome majority. In 1862 he raised the
Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, and was chosen its
Colonel. His regiment was composed of the raw-
est material, but Col. Harrison employed all his
time at first in mastering military tactics and drill-
ing his men, and when he came to move toward
the East with Sherman, his regiment was one of
the best drilled and organized in the army. At
Resaca he especially distinguished himself, and
(br his bravery at Peachtree Creek he was made
a Brigadier-General, Gen. Hooker speaking of
him in the most complimentary terms.
During the absence of Gen. Harrison in the
field, the Supreme Court declared the office of
Supreme Court Reporter vacant, and another
person was elected to the position. From the
time of leaving Indiana with his regiment until
the fall of 1864 he had taken no leave of absence,
but having been nominated that year for the same
office, he got a thirty-day leave of absence, and
during that time made a brilliant canvass of the
State, and was elected for another term. He then
started to rejoin Sherman, but on the way was
stricken down with scarlet fever, and after a most
trying attack made his way to the front in time to
participate in the closing incidents of the war.
In 1868 Gen. Harrison declined a re-election
as Reporter, and resumed the practice of law. In
1876 he was a candidate for Governor. Although
defeated, the brilliant campaign he made won for
him a national reputation, and he was much sought
after, especially in the East, to make speeches.
In 1880, as usual, he took an active part in the
campaign, and was elected to the United States
Senate. Here he served for six years, and was
known as one of the ablest men, best lawyers and
strongest debaters in that body. With the ex-
piration of his senatorial term he returned to the
practice of his profession, becoming the head of
one of the strongest firms in the State.
The political campaign of 1888 was one of the
most memorable in the history of our country.
The convention which assembled in Chicago in
June and named Mr. Harrison as the chief stand-
ard-bearer of the Republican party was great in
every particular, and on this account, and the at-
titude it assumed upon the vital questions of the
day, chief among which was the tariff, awoke a
deep interest in the campaign throughout tin:
nation. Shortly after the nomination, delegations
began to visit Mr. Harrison at Indianapolis, his
home. This movement became popular, and from
all sections of the country societies, clubs and.
delegations journeyed thither to pay their re-
spects to the distinguished statesman.
Mr. Harrison spoke daily all through the sum-
mer and autumn to these visiting delegations,
and so varied, masterly, and eloquent were his
speeches that they at once placed him in the fore-
most rank of American orators and statesmen.
Elected by a handsome majority, he served his
country faithfully and well, and in 1892 was nom-
inated for re-election; but the people demanded a
change and he was defeated by his predecessor
in office, Grover Cleveland.
On account of his eloquence as a speaker and
his power as a debater, Gen. Harrison was called
upon at an early age to take part in the dis-
cussion of the great questions that then began to
agitate the country. He was an uncompromising
anti-slavery man, and was matched against some
of the most eminent Democratic speakers of his
State. No man who felt the touch of his blade
desired to be pitted with him again. With all
his eloquence as an orator he never spoke for ora-
torical effect, but his words always went like bul-
lets to the mark. He is purely American in his
ideas, and is a splendid type of the American
statesman. Gifted with quick perception, a logi-
cal mind and a ready tongue, he is one of the
most distinguished impromptu speakers in the
nation. Many of these speeches sparkled with the
rarest eloquence and contained arguments of great
weight, and many of his terse statements have
already become aphorisms. Original in thought,
precise in logic, terse in statement, yet withal
faultless in eloquence, he is recognized as the
sound statesman and brilliant orator of the day.
During the last days of his administration Presi-
dent Harrison suffered an irreparable loss in the
death of his devoted wife, Caroline (Scott) Har-
rison, a lady of many womanly charms and vir-
tues. They were the parents of two children.
LIBRARY
Of THE
UMVEMSin Of ILUNOB
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
HADRACH BOND, the first
Governor of Illinois after its
organization as a State, serving
from 1818 to 1822, was born in
Frederick County, Maryland,
in the year 1773, and was
raised a farmer on his father's
plantation, receiving only a plain
English education. He emigrated
to this State in 1794, when it was a
part of the "Northwest Territory,"
continuing in the vocation in which
he had been brought up in his native
State, in the " New Design," near
Eagle Creek, in what is now Monroe
County. He served several terms as
a member of the General Assembly
of Indiana Territory, after it was organized as such,
and in 1812-14 he was a Delegate to the Twelfth
and Thirteenth Congresses, taking his seat Dec. 3,
1812, and serving until Oct. 3, 1814. These were
the times, the reader will recollect, when this Gov-
ernment had its last struggle with Great Britain.
The year 1812 is also noted in the history of this
State as that in which the first Territorial Legislature
was held. It convened at Kaskaskia, Nov. 25, and
adjourned Dec. 26, following.
While serving as Delegate to Congress, Mr. Bond
was instrumental in procuring the right of pre-emp-
tion on the public domain. On the expiration of his
term at Washington he was appointed Receiver of
Public Moneys at Kaskaskia, then the capital of the
Territory. In company with John G. Comyges,
Thomas H. Harris, Charles Slade, Michael Jones,
Warren Brown. Edward Humphries and Charles W
Hunter, he became a proprietor of the site of the
initial city of Cairo, which they hoped, from its favor--
able location at the junction of the two great
rivers near the center of the Great West, would
rapidly develop into a metropolis. To aid the enter-
prise, they obtained a special charter from the Legis-
lature, incorporating both the City and the Bank of
Cairo.
In i8r8 Mr. Bond was elected the first Governor
of the State of Illinois, being inaugurated Oct. 6
that year, which was several weeks before Illinois
was actually admitted. The facts are these : In
January, 1818, the Territorial Legislature sent a peti-
tion to Congress for the admission of Illinois as a
State, Nathaniel Pope being then Delegate. The
petition was granted, fixing the northern line of the
State on the latitude of the southern extremity of
Lake Michigan; but the bill was afterward so amend-
ed as to extend this line to its present latitude. In
July a convention was called at Kaskaskia to draft a
constitution, which, however, was not submitted to
the people. By its* provisions, supreme judges, pros
ecuting attorneys, county and circuit judges, record-
ers and justices of the peace were all to be appointed
by the Governor or elected by the Legislature. This
constitution was accepted by Congress Dec. 30. At
that time Illinois comprised but eleven counties,
namely, Randolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnson,
Pope, Jackson, Crawford, Bond, Union, Washington
and Franklin, the northern portion of the State be-
ing mainly in Madison County. Thus it appears
that Mr. Bond was honored by the naming of a
i r
SHADRACH BOND.
county before he was elected Governor. The present
county of Bond is of small limitations, about 60 to 80
miles south of Springfield. For Lieutenant Governor
the people chose Pierre Menard, a prominent and
worthy Frenchman, after whom a county in this State
is named. In this election there were no opposition
candidates, as the popularity of these men had made
their promotion to the chief offices of the Slate, even
before the constitution was drafted, a foregone con-
clusion.
The principal points that excited the people in
reference to political issues at this period were local
or "internal improvements," as they were called,
State banks, location of the capital, slavery and the
personal characteristics of the proposed candidates.
Mr. Bond represented the " Convention party," for
introducing slavery into the State, supported by Elias
Ke.it Kane, his Secretary of State, and John Mc-
Lean, while Nathaniel Pope and John P. Cook led
the anti-slavery element. The people, however, did
not become very much excited over this issue until
1820, when the famous Missouri Compromise was
adopted by Congress, limiting slavery to the south
of the parallel of 36 30' except in Missouri. While,
this measure settled the great slavery controversy,
so far as the average public sentiment was tempor-
arily concerned, until 1854, when it was repealed
under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas, the issue
as considered locally in this State was not decided
until 1824, after a most furious campaign. (See
sketch of Gov. Coles.) The ticket of 1818 was a
compromise one, Bond representing (moderately) the
pro-slavery sentiment and Menard the anti-slavery.
An awkward element in the State government
under Gov. Bond's administration, was the imperfec-
tion of the State constitution. The Convention
wished to have Elijah C. Berry for the first Auditor
of Public Accounts, but, as it was-believed that the
new Governor would not appoint him to the office,
the Convention declared in a schedule that "an
auditor of public accounts, an attorney general and
such other officers of the State as may be necessary,
may be appointed by the General Assembly." The
Constitution, as it stood, vested a very large appoint-
ing power in the Governor ; but for the purpose of
getting one man into office, a total change was made,
*nd the power vested in the Legislature. Of this
provision the Legislature took advantage, and de-
clared that State's attorneys, canal commissioners,
bank directors, etc., were all " officers of the State ''
and must therefore be appointed by itself independ-
ently of the Governor.
During Gov. Bond's administration a general law
was passed for the incorporation of academies and
towns, and one authorizing lotteries. The session of
1822 authorized the Governor to appoint commis-
sioners, to act in conjunction with like commissioners
appointed by the State of Indiana, to report on the
practicability and expediency of improving the navi-
gation of the Wabash River ; also inland navigation
generally. Many improvements were recommended,
some of which have been feebly worked at even till
the present day, those along the Wabash being of no
value. Also, during Gov. Bond's term of office, the
capital of the State was removed from Kaskaskia to
Vandalia. In 1820 a law was passed by Congress
authorizing this State to open a canal through the
public lands. The State appointed commissioners
lo explore the route and prepare the necessary sur-
veys and estimates, preparatory to its execution;
but, being unable out of its own resources to defray
the expenses of the undertaking, it was abandoned
until some time after Congress made the grant of
land for the purpose of its construction.
On the whole, Gov. Bond's administration was
fairly good, not being open to severe criticism from
any party. In 1824, two years after the expiration
of his term of office, he was brought out as a candi-
date for Congress against the formidable John P.
Cook, but received only 4,374 votes to 7,460 for the
latter. Gov. Bond was no orator, but had made
many fast friends by a judicious bestowment of his
gubernatorial patronage, and these worked zealously
for him in the campaign.
In 1827 ex-Gov. Bond was appointed by the Leg-
islature, with Wm. P. McKee and Dr. Gershom
Jayne, as Commissioners to locate a site for a peni-
tentiary on the Mississippi at or near Alton.
Mr. Bond was of a benevolent and convivial dis-
position, a man of shrewd observation and clear ap-
preciation of events. His person was erect, stand-
ing six feet in height, and after middle life became
portly, weighing 200 pounds. His features were
strongly masculine, complexion dark, hair jet and
eyes hazel ; was a favorite with the ladies. He died
April n, 1830, in peace and contentment
LIBRARY
of m
UNIVERSITY Of HUNUIS
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
)>war& Coles
DWARD COLES, second
Governor of Illinois, 1823-
6, was born Dec. 15, 1786,
in Albemarle Co., Va., on
the old family estate called
"Enniscorthy," on the
Green Mountain. His fath-
er, John Coles, was a Colonel in the
Revolutionary War. Having been fit-
ted for college by private tutors, he
was sent to Hampden Sidney, where
he remained until the autumn of 1805,
when he was removed to William and
Mary College, at Williamsburg, Va.
This college he left in the summer of
1807, a short time before the final and graduating
examination. Among his classmates were Lieut.
Gen. Scott, President John Tyler, Wm. S. Archer,
United States Senator from Virginia, and Justice
Baldwin, of the United States Supreme Court. The
President of the latter college, Bishop Madison, was
a cousin of President James Madison, and that cir-
cumstance was the occasion of Mr. Coles becoming
personally acquainted with the President and re-
ceiving a position as his private secretary, 180915.
The family of Coles was a prominent one in Vir-
ginia, and their mansion was the seat of the old-
fashioned Virginian hospitality. It was visited by
such notables as Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, the Randolphs, Tazewell, Wirt, etc. At the
age of 23, young Coles founa himself heir to a plant-
ation and a considerable number of slaves. Ever
since his earlier college days his attention had been
drawn to the question of slavery. He read every-
thing on the subject that came in his way, and
listened to lectures on the rights of man. The more
he reflected upon the subject, the more impossible
was it for him to reconcile the immortal declaration
"that all men are born free and equal " with the
practice of slave-holding. He resolved, therefore, to
free his slaves the first opportunity, and even remove
his residence to a free State. One reason which de-
termined him to accept the appointment as private
secretary to Mr. Madison was because he believed
that through the acquaintances he could make at
Washington he could better determine in what part
of the non-slaveholding portion of the Union he would
prefer to settle.
The relations between Mr. Coles and President
Madison, as well as Jefferson and other distinguished
men, were of a very friendly character, arising from
the similarity of their views on the question of slavery
and their sympathy for each other in holding doc-
trines so much at variance with the prevailing senti-
ment in their own State.
In 1857, he resigned his secretaryship and spent a
portion of the following autumn in exploring the
Northwest Territory, for the purpose of finding a lo-
cation and purchasing lands on which to settle his
negroes. He traveled with a horse and buggy, with
an extra man and horse for emergencies, through
many parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri,
determining finally to settle in Illinois. At this time,
however, a misunderstanding arose between our
Government and Russia, and Mr. Coles was selected
to repair to St. Petersburg on a special mission, bear-
ing important papers concerning the matter at issue
The result was a conviction of the Emperor (Alex-
1.0
EDWARD COLES.
ander) of the error committed by his minister at
Washington, and the consequent withdrawal of the
the latter from the post. On his return, Mr. Coles
visited other parts of Europe, especially Paris, where
he was introduced to Gen. Lafayette.
In the spring of 1819, he removed with all his
negroes from Virginia to Edwardsville, 111., with the
intention of giving them their liberty. He did not
make known to them his intention until one beautiful
morning in April, as they were descending the Ohio
River. He lashed all the boats together and called
all the negroes on deck and made them a short ad-
dress, concluding his remarks by so expressing him-
self that by a turn of a sentence he proclaimed in
the shortest and fullest manner that they were no
longer slaves, but free as he was and were at liberty
to proceed with him or go ashore at their pleas-
ure. A description of the effect upon the negroes is
best desctibed in his own language :
" The effect upon them was electrical. They stared
at rne and then at each other, as if doubting the ac-
curacy or reality of what they heard. In breathless
silence they stood before me, unable to utter a word,
but with countenances beaming with expression which
no words could convey, and which no language
can describe. As they began to see the truth of
what they had heard, and realize their situation, there
came on a kind of hysterical, giggling laugh. After
a pause of intense and unutterable emotion, -bathed
in tears, and with tremulous voices, they gave vent to
their gratitude and implored the blessing of God
on me."
Before landing he gave them a general certificate
of freedom, and afterward conformed more particu-
larly with the law of this State requiring that each
individual should have a certificate. This act of
Mr. Coles, all the more noble and heroic considering
the overwhelming pro-slavery influences surrounding
him, has challenged the admiration of every philan-
thropist of modern times.
March 5, 1819, President Monroe appointed Mr.
Coles Registrar of the Land Office at Edwardsvihe,
at that time one of the principal land offices in the
State. While acting in this capacity and gaining
many friends by his politeness and general intelli-
g^nce, the greatest struggle that ever occurred in
Illinois on the slavery question culminated in the
furious contest characterizing the campaigns and
elections of 1822-4. 1 the summer of 1823, when a
new Governor was to be elected to succeed Mr.
Bond, the pro-slavery element divided into factions,
putting forward for the executive office Joseph
Phillips, Chief Justice of the State, Thomas C.
Browne and Gen. James B. Moore, of the State Mil-
itia. The anti-slavery element united upon Mr.
Coles, and, after one of the most bitter campaigns,
succeeded in electing him as Governor. His plural-
ity over Judge Phillips was only 59 in a total vote of
over 8,000. The Lieutenant Governor was elected
by the slavery men. Mr. Coles' inauguration speech
was marked by calmness, deliberation and such a
wise expression of appropriate suggestions as to
elicit the sanction of all judicious politicians. But
he compromised not with evil. In his message to
the Legislature, the seat of Government being then
at Vandalia, he strongly urged the abrogation of the
modified form of slavery which then existed in this
State, contrary to the Ordinance of 1787. His posi-
tion on this subject seems the more remarkable, when
it is considered that he was a minority Governor, the
population of Illinois being at that time almost ex-
clusively from slave-holding States and by a large
majority in favor of the perpetuation of that old relic
of barbarism. The Legislature itself was, of course,
a reflex of the popular sentiment, and a majority of
them were led on by fiery men in denunciations of
the conscientious Governor, and in curses loud and
deep upon him and all his friends. Some of the
public men, indeed, went so far as to head a sort of
mob, or " shiveree " party, who visited the residence
of the Governor and others at Vandalia and yelled
and groaned and spat fire.
The Constitution, not establishing or permitting
slavery in this State, was thought therefore to be
defective by the slavery politicians, and they desired
a State Convention to be elected, to devise and sub-
mit a new Constitution ; and the dominant politics
of the day was "Convention" and "anti-Conven-
tion." Both parties issiled addresses to the people,
Gov. Coles himself being the author of the address
published by the latter party. This address revealed
the schemes of the conspirators in a masterly man-
ner. It is difficult for us at this distant day to esti-
mate the critical and extremely delicate situation in
which the Governor was placed at that time.
Our hero maintained himself honorably and with
supreme dignity throughout his administration, and
in his honor a county in this State is named. He
was truly a great man, and those who lived in
this State during his sojourn here, like those who
live at the base of the mountain, were too near to see
and recognize the greatness that overshadowed them.
Mr. Coles was married Nov. 28, 1833, by Bishop
De Lancey, to Miss Sally Logan Roberts, a daughter
of Hugh Roberts, a descendant of Welsh ancestry,
who cams to this country with Wm. Penn in 1682.
After the expiration of his term of service, Gov.
Coles continued his residence in Edwardsville, sup-
erintending his farm in the vicinity. He was fond
of agriculture, and was the founder of the first agri-
cultural society in the State. On account of ill
health, however, and having no family to tie him
down, he spent much of his time in Eastern cities.
About 1832 he changed his residence to Philadel-
phia, where he died July 7, 1868, and is buried at
Woodland, near that city.
LIBRARY
Of tHt
UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
119
INI AN EDWARDS, Governor
from 1827 to 1830, was a son
of Benjamin Edwards, and
was born in Montgomery
County, Maryland, in March,
1775. His domestic train-
ing was well fitted to give
his mind strength, firmness and
honorable principles, and a good
foundation was laid for the elevated
character to which he afterwards
attained. His parents were Bap-
tists, and very strict in their moral
principles. His education in early
youth was in company with and
partly under the tuition of Hon. Wm.
Wirt, whom his father patronized ?
and who was more than two years
older. An intimacy was thus
formed between them which was lasting for life. He
was further educated at Dickinson College, at Car-
lisle, Pa. He next commenced the study of law, but
before completing his course he moved to Nelson
County, Ky., to open a farm for his father and to
purchase homes and locate lands for his brothers and
sisters. Here he fell in the company of dissolute
companions, and for several years led the life of a
spendthrift. He was, however, elected to the Legis-
lature of Kentucky as the Representative of Nelson
bounty before he was 21 years of age, and was re-
lectecl by an almost unanimous vote.
In 1798 he was licensed to practice law, and the
following year was admitted to the Courts of Tennes-
see. About this time he left Nelson County for
Russellville, in Logan County, broke away from his
dissolute companions, commenced a reformation and
devoted himself to severe and laborious study. He
then began to rise rapidly in his profession, and soon
became an eminent lawyer, and inside of four years
he filled in succession the offices of Presiding Judge
of the General Court, Circuit Judge, fourth Judge of
the Court of Appeals and Chief Justice of the State,
all before he was 32 years of age! In addition, in
1802, he received a commission as Major of a battal-
ion of Kentucky militia, and in 1804 was chosen a
Presidential Elector, on the Jefferson and Clinton
ticket. In 1806 he was a candidate for Congress,
but withdrew on being promoted to the Court of
Appeals.
Illinois was organized as a separate Territory in
the spring of 1809, when Mr. Edwards, then Chief
Justice of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, received
from President Madison the appointment as Gover-
nor of the new Territory, his commission bearing date
April 24, 1809. Edwards arrived at Kaskaskia in
June, and on the i ith of that month took the oath of
office. At the same time he was appointed Superin-
tendent of the United States Saline, this Government
interest then developing into considerable proportions
in Southern Illinois. Although during the first three
years of his administration he had the power to make
new counties and appoint all the officers, yet he always
allowed the people of each county, by an informal
NINIAM EDWARDS.
vote, to select their own officers, both civil and mili-
tary. The noted John J. Crittenden, afterward
United States Senator from Kentucky, was appointed
by Gev. Edwards to the office of Attorney General of
the Territory, which office was accepted for a short
time only.
The Indians in 1810 committing sundry depreda-
tions in the Territory, crossing the Mississippi from
the Territory of Louisiana, a long correspondence fol-
lowed between the respective Governors concerning
the remedies, which ended in a council with the sav-
ages at Peoria in 1812, and a fresh interpretation of
the treaties. Peoria was depopulated by these de-
predations, and was not re-settled for many vej.rs
afterward.
As Gov. Edwards' term of office expired by law in
1812, he was re-appointed for another term of three
years, and again in 1815 for a third term, serving
until the organization of the State in the fall of 1818
and the inauguration of Gov. Bond. At this time
ex-Gov. Edwards was sent to the United States
Senate, his colleague being Jesse B. Thomas. As
Senator, Mr. Edwards took a conspicuous part, and
acquitted himself honorably in all the measures that
came up in that body, being well posted, an able de-
bater and a conscientious statesman. He thought
seriously of resigning this situation in 1821, but was
persuaded by his old friend, Wm. Wirt, and others to
continue in office, which he did to the end of the
term.
He was then appointed Minister to Mexico by
President Monroe. About this time, it appears that
Mr. Edwards saw suspicious signs in the conduct of
Wm. H. Crawford, Secretary of the United States
Treasury, and an ambitious candidate for the Presi-
dency, and being implicated by the latter in some of
his statements, he resigned his Mexican mission in
order fully to investigate the charges. The result
was the exculpation of Mr. Edwards.
Pro-slavery regulations, often termed "Black Laws,"
disgraced the statute books of both the Territory and
'.he State of Illinois during the whole of his career in
ihis commonwealth, and Mr. Edwards always main-
tained the doctrines of freedom, and was an important
actor in the great struggle which ended in a victory
for his parfy in 1824.
In i826--7 the Winnebago and other Indians com-
mitted sorre depredations in the northern part of the
State, and the white settlers, who desired the lands
and wished to exasperate the savages into an evacu-
ation of the country, magnified the misdemeanors of
the aborigines and thereby produced a hostility be-
tween the races so great as to precipitate a little war,
known in history as the "Winnebago War." A few
chases and skirmishes were had, when Gen. Atkinson
succeeded in capturing Red Bird, the Indian chief,
and putting him to death, thus ending the contest, at
least until the troubles commenced which ended in
the " Black Hawk War " of 1832. In the interpre-
tation of treaties and execution of their provisions
Gov. Edwards had much vexatious work to do. The
Indians kept themselves generally within the juris-
diction of Michigan Territory, and its Governor,
Lewis Cass, was at a point so remote that ready cor-
respondence with him was difficult or impossible.
Gov. Edwards' administration, however, in regard to
the protection of the Illinois frontier, seems to hava
been very efficient and satisfactory.
For a considerable portion of his time after his re-
moval to Illinois, Gov. Edwards resided upon his
far'rij rrear'Kaslfaskia, which he had well stocked with
horses, cattle and sheep from Kentucky, also with
fruit-trees, grape-vines and shrubbery. He estab-
lished saw and grist-mills, and engaged extensively
in mercantile business, having no less than eight or ten
stores in this State and Missouri. Notwithstanding
the arduous duties of his office, he nearly always pur-
chased the goods himself with which to supply the
stores. Although not a regular practitioner of medi-
cine, he studied the healing art to a considerable ex-
tent, and took great pleasure in prescribing for, and
taking care of, the sick, generally without charge.
He was also liberal to the poor, several widows and
ministers of the gospel becoming indebted to him
even for their homes.
He married Miss Elvira Lane, of Maryland, in
1803, and they became the affectionate parents of
several children, one of whom, especially, is weli'
known to the people of the " Prairie State," namel/ v
Ninian Wirt Edwards, once the Superintendent c<
Public Instruction and still a resident of Springfield
Gov. Edwards resided at and in the vicinity of Kas-
kaskia from 180910 1818; in Edwardsville (named
after him) from that time to 1824; and from the lat-
ter date at Belleville, St. Clair County, until his
death, July 20, 1833, of Asiatic cholera. Edwards
County is also named in his honor.
LIBRARY
Of mt
UMVEftSIlT Of ILLINOkS
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
123
: OHN REYNOLDS, Governor 1831-
4, was born in Montgomery Coun-
ty, Pennsylvania, Feb. 26, 1788.
His father, Robert Reynolds and
his mother, nee Margaret Moore,
were both natives of Ireland, from
which country they emigrated to
the United States in 1785, land-
ing at Philadelphia. The senior
Reynolds entertained an undying
hostility to the British Govern-
ment. When the subject of this
sketch was about six months old,
his parents emigrated with him to
Tennessee, where many of their
relatives had already located, at the base of the
Copper Ridge Mountain, about 14 miles northeast of
the present city of Knoxville. There they were ex-
oosed to Indian depredations, and were much molest-
ed by them. In 1794 they moved into the interior
of the State. They were poor, and brought up their
children to habits of manual industry.
In 1800 the family removed to Kaskaskia, 111., with
eight horses and two wagons, encountering many
Hardships on the way. Here young Reynolds passed
the most of his childhood, while his character began
to develop, the most prominent traits of which were
ambition and energy. He also adopted the principle
and practice of total abstinence from intoxicating
liquors. In 1807 the family made another removal.
this time to the " Goshen Settlement," at the foot of
the Mississippi bluffs three or four miles southwest
of Edwardsville.
On arriving at his 2oth year, Mr. Reynolds, seeing
that he must look about for his own livelihood and
not yet having determined what calling to pursue,
concluded first to attend college, and he accordingly
went to such an institution of learning, near Knox-
ville, Tenn., where he had relatives. Imagine his
diffidence, when, after passing the first 20 years of
his life without ever having seen a carpet, a papered
wall or a Windsor chair, and never having lived in a
shingle-roofed house, he suddenly ushered himself
into the society of the wealthy in the vicinity of
Knoxville! He attended college nearly two years,
going through the principal Latin authors; but it
seems that he, like the rest of the world in modem
times, had but very little use for his Latin in after
life. He always failed, indeed, to exhibit any good
degree of literary discipline. He commenced the
study of law in Knoxville, but a pulmonary trouble
came on and compelled him to change his mode
of life. Accordingly he returned home and re-
cuperated, and in 1812 resumed his college and
law studies at Knoxville. In the fall of 1812 he was
admitted to the Bar at Kaskaskia. About this time
he also learned the French language, which he
practiced with pleasure in conversation with his
family for many years. He regarded this language
as being superior to all others for social intercourse.
124
JOHN REYNOLDS.
From his services in the West, in the war of 1812,
he obtained the sobriquet of the " Old Ranger." He
was Orderly Sergeant, then Judge Advocate.
Mr. Reynolds opened his first law office in the
winter and spring of 1814, in the French village of
Cahokia, then the capital of St. Clair County.
In the fall of 1818 he was elected an Associate
Justice upon the Supreme Bench by the General
Assembly. In 1825 he entered more earnestly than
ever into the practice of law, and the very next year
was elected a member of the Legislature, where he
acted independently of all cliques and private inter-
ests. In 1828 the Whigs and Democrats were for
the first time distinctively organized as such in Illi-
nois, and the usual party bitterness grew up and
raged on all sides, while Mr. Reynolds preserved a
Judicial calmness and moderation. The real animus
.if the campaign was " Jackson " and " anti-Jackson,"
'he former party carrying the State.
In August, 1830, Mr. Reynolds was elected Gov-
ernor, amid great excitement. Installed in office, he
did all within his power to advance the cause of edu-
cation, internal improvements, the Illinois & Mich-
igan Canal, the harbor at Chicago, settling the coun-
try, etc.; also recommended the winding up of the
State Bank, as its affairs had become dangerously
complicated. In his national politics, he was a
moderate supporter of General Jackson. But 'the
most celebrated event of his gubernatorial admin-
istration was the Black Hawk War, which occurred
in 1832. He called out the militia and prosecuted
the contest with commendable diligence, appearing
in person on the battle-grounds during the most
critical periods. He was recognized by the President
as Major-General, and authorized by him to make
treaties with the Indians. By the assistance of the
general Government the war was terminated without
much bloodshed, but after many serious fights. This
war, as well as everything else, was materially re-
tarded by the occurrence of Asiatic cholera in the
West. This was its first appearance here, and was
the next event in prominence during Gov. Reynolds'
Verm.
South Carolina nullification coming up at this time,
t was heartily condemned by both President Jackson
and Gov. Reynolds, who took precisely the same
grounds as the Unionists in the last war.
On the termination of his gubernatorial term in
..834, Gov. Reynolds was elected a Member of Con-
gress, still considering himself a backwoodsman, as
r.e had scarcely been outside of the State since he
became of age, and had spent nearly all his youthful
days >n the wildest region of the frontier. His first
move in Congress was to adopt a resolution that in
all elections made by the House for officers the votes
should be given viva zwe, each member in his place
naming aloud the person for whom he votes. This
created considerable heated discussion, but was es-
sentially adopted, and remained the controlling prin-
ciple for many years. The ex-Governor was scarcely
absent from his seat a single day, during eight ses- <
sions of Congress, covering a period of seven years,
and he never vacillated in a party vote; but he failed
to get the Democratic party to foster his " National
Road" scheme. He says, in "My Own Times" (a
large autobiography he published), that it was only
by rigid economy that he avoided insolvency while in
Washington. During his sojourn in that city he was
married, to a lady of the place.
In 1837, while out of Congress, and in company
with a few others, he built the first railroad in the
Mississippi Valley, namely, one about six miles long,
leading from his coal mine in the Mississippi bluff to
the bank of the river opposite St. Louis. Hiving not
the means to purchase a locomotive, they operated it
by horse-power. The next spring, however, the com-
pany sold out, at great sacrifice.
In 1839 the ex-Governor was appointed one of the
Canal Commissioners, and authorized to borrow
money to prosecute the enterprise. Accord' ugly, he
repaired to Philadelphia and succeeding in obtaining
a million dollars, which, however, was only a fourth
of what was wanted. The same year he and his
wife made at our of Europe. This year, also, Mr.
Reyn&lds had'the rather awkward little responsibility
of 'introducing to President Van Buren the noted
Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, as a " Latter-Day
Saint!"
In 1846 Gov. Reynolds was elected a member of
the Legislature from St. Clair County, more particu
larly for the purpose of obtaining a feasible charter
for a macadamized road from Belleville to St. Louis,
a distance of nearly 14 miles. This was immediately
built, and was the first road of the kind in the State.
He was again elected to the Legislature in 1852, when
he was chosen Speaker of the House. In 1860, aged
and infirm, he attended the National Democratic
Convention at Charleston, S. C., as an anti-Douglas
Delegate, where he received more attention from the
Southern Delegates than any other member. He
supported Breckenridge for the Presidency. After
the October elections foreshadowed the success of
Lincoln, he published an address urging the Demo-
crats to rally to the support of Douglas. Immedi-
ately preceding and during the late war, his corre-
spondence evinced a clear sympathy for the Southern
secession, and about the first of March, i86r, he
urged upon the Buchanan officials the seizure of the
treasure and arms in the custom-house and arsenal
at St. Louis. Mr. Reynolds was a rather talkative
man, and apt in all the Western phrases and catch-
words that ever gained currency, besides many cun-
ning and odd ones of his own manufacture.
He was married twice, but had no children. He
died in Belleville, in May, 1865, just after the close
of the war.
LIBRARY
OF m
Of
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
-w-
ILLIAM LEE D. EWING,
Governor of Illinois Nov. 3
to 17, 1834, was a native
of Kentucky, and probably
of Scotch ancestry. He had
a fine education, was a gentle-
man of polished manners and
refined sentiment. In 1830 John Rey-
nolds was elected Governor of the State,
and Zadok Casey Lieutenant Governor,
and for the principal events that followed,
and the characteristics of the times, see
sketch of Gov. Reynolds. The first we
see in history concerning Mr. Ewing, in-
forms us that he was a Receiver of Public
Mor eys at Vandalia soon after the organization of
tfti.s State, and that the public moneys in his hands
v/ere deposited in various banks, as they are usually
tf. tin present day. In 1823 the State Bank was
ubbed, by which disaster Mr. Ewing lost a thousand-
dollar deposit.
The subject of this sketch had a commission as
Colonel in the Black Hawk War, and in emergencies
n? acted also as Major. In the summer of 1832,
Vhen i ;-ras rumored among the whites that Black
Hawk ar.d nis men had encamped somewhere on
Rock River, Gen. Henry was sent on a tour of
reconnoisance, and with orders to drive the Indians
from the State. After some opposition from his
subordinate officers, Henry resolved to proceed up
Rock River in search of the enemy. On the ipth of
'uly, early in the morning, five baggage wagons,
camp equipage and all heavy and cumbersome arti-
cles were piled up and left, so that the army might
make speedy and forced marches. For some miles
the travel was exceedingly bad, crossing swamps
and the worst thickets ; but the large, fresh trail
gave life and animation to the Americans. Gen.
Dodge and Col. Ewing were both acting as Majors,
and composed the " spy corps " or vanguard of the
army. It is supposed the army marched nearly 50
miles this day, and the Indian trail they followed
became fresher, and was strewed with much property
and trinkets of the red-skin's that they had lost or
thrown away to hasten their march. During the
following night there was a terrific thunder-storm, and
the soldiery, with all their appurtenances, were thor-
oughly drenched.
On approaching nearer the Indians the next day.
Gen. Dodge and Major Ewing, each commanding a
battalion of men, were placed in front to bring on the
battle, but the savages were not overtaken this day
Forced marches were continued until they reached.
Wisconsin River, where a veritable battle ensued,
resulting in the death of about 68 of Black Hawk's
men. The next day they continued the chase, and
as soon as he discovered the trail of the Indians
leading icvvurd the Mississippi, Maj. Ewing formed
his battalion in orde r of battle and awaited the order
of Gen. Henry. The latter soon appeared on the
ground and ordered a charge, which directly resulted
in chasing the red warriors across the great river.
Maj. Ewing and his command proved particularly
efficient in war, as it seems they were the chief actors
in driving the main body of the Sacs and Foxes, in-
128
WILLIAM L. D. EWING.
eluding Black Hawk himself, across the Mississippi,
while Gen. Atkinson, commander-in-chief of the ex-
pedition, with a body of the army, was hunting for
them in another direction.
In the above affair Maj. Ewmg is often referred to
as a " General," which title he had derived from his
connection with the militia.
It was in the latter part of the same year (1832)
that Lieutenant Governor Casey was elected to Con-
gress and Gen. Ewing, who had been elected to the
Senate, was chosen to preside over that body. At
the August election of 1 834, Gov. Reynolds was also
elected to Congress, more than a year ahead of the
time at which he could actually take his seat, as was
then the law. His predecessor, Chailes Slade, had
just died of Asiatic cholera, soon after the elec-
tion, and Gov. Reynolds was chosen to serve out his
unexpired term. Accordingly he set out for Wash-
ington in November of that year to take his seat in
Congress, and Gen. Ewing, by virtue of his office .as
President of the Senate, became Governor of the
State of Illinois, his term covering only a period of
15 days, namely, from the 3d to the iyth days, in-
clusive, of November. On the 171)1 the Legislature
met, and Gov. Ewing transmitted to that body his
message, giving a statement of the condition of the
affairs of the State at that time, and urging a contin-
uance of the policy adopted by his predecessor ; and
on the same day Governor elect Joseph Duncan
was sworn into office, thus relieving Mr. Ewing from
the responsible situation. This is the only time that
such a juncture has happened in the history of Illi-
nois.
On the agth of December, 1835, Gen. Ewing was
elected a United States Senator to serve out the
unexpired term of Elias Kent Kane, deceased. The
latter gentleman was a very prominent figure in the
early politics of Illinois, and a county in this State is
named in his honor. The election of Gen. Ewing to
the Senate was a protracted struggle. His competi-
tors were James Semple, who afterwards held several
important offices in this State, and Richard M.
Young, afterward a United States Senator and a
Supreme Judge and a man of vast influence. On
the first ballot Mr. Semple had 25 votes, Young 19
and Ewing 18. On the eighth ballot Young was
dropped ; the ninth and tenth stood a tie ; but on
the 1 2th Ewing received 40, to Semple 37, and was
accordingly declared elected. In 1837 Mr. Ewing
received some votes for a continuance of his term in
Congress, when Mr. Young, just referred to, was
elected. In 1842 Mr. Ewing was elected State
Auditor on the ticket with Gov. Ford.
Gen. Ewing was a gentleman of culture, a lawyer
by profession, and was much in public life. In person
he was above medium height and of heavy build,'
with auburn hair, blue eyes, large-sized head and]
short face. He was genial, social, friendly and
affable, with fair talent, though of no high degree of
originality. He died March 25, 1846.
LIBRARY
or m
UNIVEfiSllY Of
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
131
- l6>
OSEPH DUNCAN, Governor
1834-8, was born at Paris,
Ky., Feb. 23, 1794. At the
tender age of 19 years he en-
listed in the war against Great
Britain, and as a soldier he
acquitted himself with credit. He
was an Ensign under the daunt-
less Croghan at Lower Sandusky,
or Fort Stephenson. In Illinois
he first appeared in a public capa-
city as Major-General of the Militia,
a position which his military fame
had procured him. Subsequently
he became a State Senator from
Jackson County, and is honorably
mentioned for introducing the first bill providing for
a free-school system. In 1826, when the redoubt-
able John P. Cook, who had previously beaten such
men as John McLean, Elias Kent Kane and ex-
Gov. Bond, came up for the fourth time for Congress,
Mr. Duncan was brought forward against him by his
friends, greatly to the surprise of all the politicians.
As yet he was but little known in the State. He was
an original Jackson man at that time, being attached
to his political fortune in admiration of the glory of
his military achievements. His chances of success
against Cook were generally regarded as hopeless,
Imt he entered upon the campaign undaunted. His
speeches, though short and devoid of ornament, were
full of good sense. He made a diligent canvass of
the State, Mr. Cook being hindered by the condition of
his health. The most that was expected of Mr.
Duncan, under the circumstances, was that he would
obtain a respectable vote, but without defeating Mr
Cook. The result of the campaign, however, was a
source of surprise and amazement to both friends
and foes, as Mr. Duncan came out 641 votes ahead!
He received 6,321 votes, and Mr. Cook 5,680. Un-
til this denouement, the violence of party feeling
smoldering in the breasts of the people on account
of the defeat of Jackson, was not duly appreciated.
Aside from the great convention struggle of 1824, no
other than mere local and personal considerations
had ever before controlled an election in Illinois.
From the above date Mr. Duncan retained his
seat in Congress until his election as Governor in
August, 1834. The first and bloodless year of the
Black Hawk War he was appointed by Gov. Rey-
nolds to the position of Brigadier-General of the
volunteers, and he conducted his brigade to Rock
Island. But he was absent from the State, in Wash-
ington, during the gubernatorial campaign, and did
not personally participate in it, but addressed circu-
lars to his constituents. His election was, indeed,
attributed to the circumstance of his absence, be-
cause his estrangement from Jackson, formerly his
political idol, and also from the Democracy, largely
in ascendency in the State, was complete; but while
his defection was well known to his Whig friends,
and even to the leading Jackson men of this State,
the latter were unable to carry conviction of that fact
to the masses, as mail and newspaper facilities at
that day were far inferior to those of the present
time. Of course the Governor was much abused
afterward by the fossilized Jackson men who re-
garded party ties and affiliations as nbove all
other issues that could arise ; but he was douut less
JOSEPH DUNCAN.
sincere in his opposition to the old hero, as the latter
fiad vetoed several important western measures
which were dear to Mr. Duncan. In his inaugural
message he threw off the mask and took a bold stand
against the course of the President. The measures
f.e recommended in his message, however, were so
desirable that the Legislature, although by a large
majority consisting of Jackson men, could not refrain
from endorsing them. These measures related
mainly to banks and internal improvements.
It was while Mr. Duncan was Governor that the
people of Illinois went whirling on with bank and in-
ternal improvement schemes that well nigh bank-
rupted the State. The hard times of 1837 came on,
and the disasters that attended the inauguration of
ihese plans and the operation of the banks were mu-
tually charged upon the two political parties. Had
any one man autocratic power to introduce and
carry on any one of these measures, he would proba-
bly have succeeded to the satisfaction of the public ;
but as many jealous men had hold of the same plow
handle, no success followed and each blamed the other
for the failure. In this great vortex Gov. Duncan
was carried along, suffering the like derqgation ; ofr.
character with his fellow citizens.
At the height of the excitement the Legislature
" provided for " railroads from Galena to Cairo, Alton
to Shawneetown, Alton to Mount Carmel, Alton to the
eastern boundary of the State in the direction of
Terre Haute, Quincy via Springfield to the Wabasli,
Bloomington to Pekin, and Peoria to Warsaw, in all
about 1,300 miles of road. It also provided for the
improvement of the navigation of the Kaskaskia,
Illinois, Great and Little Wabash and Rock Rivers ;
also as a placebo, $200,000 in money were to be dis-
jibuted to the various counties wherein no improve
ments were ordered to be made as above. The
estimate for the expenses for all these projects was
)laced at a little over $10,000,000, which was not
more man half enough ! That would now be equal to
saddling upon the State a debt of $225,000,000! It
was sufficient to bankrupt the State several times
over, even counting all the possible benefits.
One of the most exciting events that ever occurred
in this fair State was the murder of Elijah P. Love-
ioy in the fall of 1837, at Alton, during Mr. Duncan's
term as Governor. Lovejoy was an " Abolitionist,"
editing the Observer at that place, and the pro-
slavery slums there formed themselves into a. mob,
and after destroying successively three presses be-
longing to Mr. Lovejoy, surrounded the warehouse
where the fourth press was stored away, endeavoring
to destroy it, and where Lovejoy and his friends
were entrenching themselves, and shot and killed the
brave reformer!
About this time, also, the question of removing th;
State capital again came up, as the 20 years' limit for
its existence at Vandalia was drawing to a close
There was, of course, considerable excitement over
the matter, the two main points competing for it be-
ing Springfield and Peoria. The jealousy of the lat-
ter place is not even yet, 45 years afterward, fully
allayed.
Gov. Duncan's term expired in 1838. In 1842
he was again proposed as a candidate for the Execu-
tive chair, this time by the Whig party, against .Ulara
W. Snyder, of St. Clair County, the nominee of the
Democrats. Charles W. Hunter was a third candi
date for the same position. Mr. Snyder, however, died
before the campaign had advanced very far, and his
party substituted Thomas Ford, who was elected
receiving 46,901 votes, to 38,584 for Duncan, and
pqp.for -Hunter. The cause of Democratic success
at this time is mainly attributed to the temporary
support of the Mormons which they enjoyed, and the
want o. r any knowledge, on the part of the masses,
ihat Mr. Ford was opposed to any given |x>licy en-
tertained in the respective localities.
Gov. Duncan was a man of rather limited educa-
tion, but with naturally fine abilities he profited
greatly by his various public services, and gathered
a store of knowledge regarding public affairs which
served him a ready purpose. He possessed a clear
judgment, decision, confidence in himself and moral
courage to carry out his convictions of tight. In his
deportment he was well adapted to gain the admira
tion of the people. His intercourse with them was
both affable and dignified. His portrait at the Gov-
ernor's mansion, from which the accompanying was
made, represents him as having a swarthy complex-
ion, high cheek bones, broad forehead, piercing black
eyes and straight black hair.
He was a liberal patron of the Illinois College at
Jacksonville, a member of its Board of Trustees, and
died, after a short illness, Jan. 15, 1844, a devoted
member of the Presbyterian Church, leaving a wife
but no children. Two children, born to them, had
died in infancy.
LIBRARY
Of Wl
UNIYERSm Of ILLINOIS
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
'35
HOMAS CARLIN, the sixth
Governor of the State of
Illinois, serving from 1838
to 1842, was also a Ken-
tuckian, being born near
Frankfort, that State, July
18, 1789, of Irish paternity.
The opportunities for an education
being very meager in his native
place, he, on approaching years of
jud"ment and maturity, applied
himself to those branches of learn-
ng that seemed most important,
,nd thus became a self-made man ;
.nd his taste for redding and
tudy remained with him through
ife. In 1803 his father removed
jp Missouri, then a part of " New Spain," where he
Hied in 1810.
In 1812 young Carlin came to Illinois and partici-
pated in all the "ranging" service incident to the
rar of that period, proving himself a soldier of un-
daunted bravery. In 1814 he married Rebecca
puitt, and lived for four years on the bank of the
Mississippi River, opposite the mouth of the Mis-
jojri, where he followed farming, and then removed
10 Greene County. He located the town site of Car-
k'.ton, in that county, and in 1825 made a liberal
lunation of land for county building purposes. He
vas the first Sheriff of that county after its separate
organization, and afterward was twice elected, as a
Jackson Democrat, to the Illinois Senate. In the
Black Hawk War he commanded a spy battalion, a
post of considerable danger. In 1834 he was ap-
pointed by President Jackson to the position of
Receiver of Public Moneys, and to fulfill the office
more conveniently he removed to the city of Quincy.
While, in 1838, the unwieldy internal improvement
system of the State was in full operation, with all its
expensive machinery, amidst bank suspensions
throughout the United States, a great stringency in
the money market everywhere, and Illinois bonds
forced to sale at a heavy discount, and the " hardest
times" existing that the people of the Prairie State
ever saw, the general election of State officers was
approaching. Discreet men who had cherished the
hope of a speedy subsidence of the public infatua-
tion, met with disappointment. A Governor and
Legislature were to be elected, and these were now
looked forward to for a repeal of the ruinous State
policy. But the grand scheme had not yet lost its
dazzling influence upon the minds of the people.
Time and experience had not yet fully demonstrated
its utter absurdity. Hence the question of arresting
its career of profligate expenditures did not become
a leading one with the dominant party during the
campaign, and most of the old members of the Leg
islature were returned at this election.
Under these circumstances the Democrats, in State
Convention assembled, nominated Mr. Carlin for the
office of Governor, and S. H. Anderson for Lieuten-
ant Governor, while the Whigs nominated Cyrus Ed-
wards, brother of Ninian Edwards, formerly Governor,
and W. H. Davidson. Edwards came out strongly
for a continuance of the State policy, while Caritr
remained non-committal. This was the first time
that the two main political parties in this State were
unembarrassed by any third party in the field. The
result of the election was: Carlin, 35,573; Ander-
son, 30,335 ; Edwards, 29,629 ; and Davidson, 28,-
7*5-
Upon the meeting of the subsequent Legislature
(1839), the retiring Governor (Duncan) in his rues-
'36
THOMAS CARLTN.
sage spoke in emphatic terms of the impolicy of the
internal improvement system, presaging the evils
threatened, and uiged that body to do their utmost
to correct the great error; yet, on the contrary, the
Legislature not only decided to continue the policy
but also added to its burden by voting more appro-
priations and ordering more improvements. Although
the money market was still stringent, a further loan
of $4,000,000 was ordered for the Illinois & Mich-
igan Canal alone. Ch'cago at that time began to
loom up and promise to be an important city, even
the great emporium of the West, as it has since in-
deed came to be. Ex-Gov. Reynolds, an incompe-
tent financier, was commissioned to effect the loan,
and accordingly hastened to the East on this respons-
ible errand, and negotiated the loans, at considera-
ble sacrifice to the State. Besides this embarrassment
to Carlin's administration, the Legislature also de-
clared that he had no authority to appoint a Secretary
of State until a vacancy existed, and A. P. Field, a
Whig, who had already held the post by appointment
.hrough three administrations, was determined to
keep the place a while longer, in spite of Gov. Car-
lin's preferences. The course of the Legislature in
this regard, however, was finally sustained by the
Supreme Court, in a quo warranto case brought up
before it by John A. McClernand, whom the Gov-
ernor had nominated for the office. Thereupon that
dignified body was denounced as a "Whig Court!"
endeavoring to establish the principle of life-tenure
of office.
A new law was adopted re-organizing the Judici-
ary, and under it five additional Supreme Judges
were elected by the Legislature, namely, Thomas
Ford (afterward Governor), Sidney Breese, Walter B.
Scales, Samuel H. Treat and Stephen A. Douglas
all Democrats.
It was during Cov. Carlin's administration that the
noisy campaign of " Tippecanoe and Tyler too " oc-
curred, resulting in a Whig victory. This, however,
did net affect Illinois politics very seriously.
Another prominent event in the West during Gov.
Carlin's term of office was the excitement caused by
the Mormons and their removal from Independence,
Mo., to Nauvoo, 111., in 1840. At the same time
they began to figure somewhat in State politics. On
account of their believing as they thought, accord-
ing to the New Testament that they should have
" all things common," and that consequently " all
the earth " and all that is upon it were the" Lord's "
and therefore the property of his " saints," they
were suspected, and correctly, too, of committing
many of the deeds of larceny, robbery, etc., that
were so rife throughout this country in those days.
Hence a feeling of violence grew up between the
Mormons and "anti-Mormons." In the State of
Missouri the Mormons always supported the Dem-
ocracy until they were driven out by the Democratic
government, when they turned their support to the
Whigs. They were becoming numerous, and in the
Legislature of 1840-1, therefore, it became a matter
of great interest with both parties to conciliate these
people. Through the agency of one John C. Ben-
nett, a scamp, the Mormons succeeded in rushing
through the Legislature (both parties not daring to
oppose) a charter for the city of Nauvoo which vir-
tually erected a hierarchy co-ordinate with the Fed-
eral Government itself. In the fall of 1841 the
.Governor of Missouri made a demand upon Gov.
Carlin for the body of Joe Smith, the Mormon leader,
as; a"' fugitive from justice. Gov. Carlin issued th
writ, but for some reason it was returned unserved.
It was again issued in 1842, and Smith was arrested,
but was either rescued by his followers or discharged
by the municipal court on a writ of habeas corpus.
In December, 1841, the Democratic Convention
nominated Adam W. Snyder, of Belleville, for Gov-
ernor. As he had been, as a member of the Legisla-
ture, rather friendly to the Mormons, the latter
naturally turned their support to the Democratic
party. The next spring the Whigs nominated Ex-
Gov. Duncan for the same office. In the meantime
the Mormons began to grow more odious to the
masses of the people, and the comparative prospects
of the respective parties for success became very
problematical. Mr. Snyder died in May, and
Thomas Ford, a Supreme Judge, was substituted as
a candidate, and was elected.
At the close of his gubernatorial term, Mr. Carlin
removed back to his old home at Carrollton, where
he spent the remainder of his life, i.z before his ele-
vation to office, in agricultural pursuits. In 1849
he served out the unexpired term of J. D. Fry in the
Illinois House of Representatives, and died Feb. 4,
1852, at his residence at Carrollton, leaving a wife
and seven children.
LIBRARY
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UNIVEKSUY Of ILLINOIS
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
139
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^^^^^^**
HOMAS FORD, Governor
from 1842 to 1846, and au-
thor of a very interesting
history of Illinois, was born
at Uniontown, Pa., in the
year 1 800. His mother, after
the death of her first hus-
band (Mr. Forquer), married Rob-
ert Ford, who was killed in 1802,
by the Indians in the mountains
of Pennsylvania. She was conse-
quently left in indigent circum-
stances, with a large family, mostly
girls. With a view to better her
condition, she, in 1804, removed to
Missouri, where it had been cus-
tomary by the Spanish Govern-
ment to give land to actual settlers; but upon her
arrival at St. Louis she found the country ceded to
the United States, and the liberal policy toward set-
tlers changed by the new ownership. After some
sickness to herself and family, she finally removed to
Illinois, and settled some three miles south of Water-
loo, but the following year moved nearer the Missis-
sippi bluffs. Here young Ford received his first I
schooling, under the instructions of a M". Humphrey,
for which he had to walk three miles. His mother,
though lacking a thorough education, was a woman
of superior mental endowments, joined to energy
and determination of character. She inculcated in)
her children those high-toned principles which dis-
tinguished her sons in public life. She exercised a
rigid economy to provide her children an education ;
but George Forquer, her oldest son (six years older
than Thomas Ford), at an early age had to quit
school to aid by his labor in the support of the family.
He afterward became an eminent man in Illinois
affairs, and but for his early death would probably
have been elected to the United States Senate.
Young Ford, with somewhat better opportunities,
received a better education, though limited to the
curriculum of the common school of those pioneer
times. His mind gave early promise of superior en-
dowments, with an inclination for mathematics. His
proficiency attracted the attention of Hon. Daniel P.
Cook, who became his efficient patron and friend.
The latter gentleman was an eminent Illinois states-
man who, as a Member of Congress, outamedagrant
of 300,000 acres of land to aid in completing the
Illinois & Michigan Canal, and after whom the
county of Cook was named. Through the advice of
THOMAS FORD.
this gentleman, Mr. Ford turned his attention to the
study of law; but Forquer, then merchandising, re-
garding his education defective, sent him to Transyl-
vania University, where, however, he remained but
one term, owing to Forquer's failure in business. On
his return he alternated his law reading with teach-
ir.g school for support.
In 1829 Gov. Edwards appointed him Prosecuting
Attorney, and in 1831 he was re-appointed by Gov.
Reynolds, and after that he was four times elected a
Judge by the Legislature, without opposition, twice a
Circuit Judge, once a Judge of Chicago, and as As-
sociate Judge of the Supreme Court, when, in 1841,
the latter tribunal was re-organized by the addition
of five Judges, all Democrats. Ford was assigned to
the Ninth Judicial Circuit, and while in this capacity
he was holding Court in Ogle County he received a
notice of his nomination by the Democratic Conven-
tion for the office of Governor. He immediately re-
signed his place and entered upon the canvass. In
August, 1842, he was elected, and on the 8th of De-
cember following he was inaugurated.
All the offices which he had held were unsolicited
by him. He received them upon the true Jefferson-
jan principle, Never to ask and never to refuse
office. Both as a lawyer and as a Judge he. stood. .
deservedly high, but his cast of intellect fitted him
rather for a writer upon law than a practicing advo-
cate in the courts. In the latter capacity he was void
of the moving power of eloquence, so necessary to
success with juries. As a Judge his opinions were
round, lucid and able expositions of the law. In
practice, he was a stranger to the tact, skill and in-
sinuating address of the politician, but he saw through
'.he arts of demagogues as well as any man. He was
plain in his demeanor, so much so, indeed, that at
one time after the expiration of his term of office,
during a session of the Legislature, he was taken by
a stranger to be a seeker for the position of door-
keeper, and was waited upon at his hotel near mid-
night by a knot of small office-seekers with the view
of effecting a " combination ! "
Mr. Ford had not the " brass " of the ordinary
politician, nor that impetuosity which characterizes a
political leader. He cared little for money, and
hardly enough for a decent support. In person he
was of small stature, slender, of dark complexion,
with black hair, sharp features, deep-set eyes, a
pointed, aquiline nose having a decided twist to one
side, and a small mouth.
The three most important events in Gov. Ford's
administration were the establishment of the high
financial credit of the State, the " Mormon War "and
;he Mexican War.
In the first of these the Governor proved himself
to be eminently wise. On coming into office he found
the State badly paralyzed by the ruinous effects of
the notorious " internal improvement " schemes of
the preceding decade, with scarcely anything to
show by way of "improvement." The enterprise
that seemed to be getting ahead more than all the
rest was the Illinois & Michigan Canal. As this
promised to be the most important thoroughfare,
feasible to the people, it was well under headway in
its construction. Therefore the State policy was
almost concentrated upon it, in order to rush it on tc
completion. The bonded indebtedness of the State
was growing so large as to frighten the people, and
they were about ready to entertain a proposition for
repudiation. But the Governor had the foresight to
recommend such measures as would maintain the
public credit, for which every citizen to-day feels
thankful.
But perhaps the Governor is remembered more for
his connection with the Mormon troubles than for
anything else; for it was during his term of office
that the " Latter-Day Saints" became so strong at
Nauvoo, built their temple there, increased their num-
bers throughout the count-y, committed misdemean-
ors, taught dangerous doctrines, suffered the loss of
their leader, Jo Smith, by a violent death, were driven
out of Nauvoo to the far West, etc. Ha.ving been a
Judge for so many years previously, Mr. Ford of
course was non-committal concerning Mormon affairs,
and Avas therefore claimed by both parties and also
accused by each of sympathizing too greatly with the
other side. Mormonism claiming to be a system of
religion, the Governor no doubt was " between two
fires," and felt compelled to touch the matter rather
" gingerly," and doubtless felt greatly relieved when
that pestilential people left the State. Such compli-
cated matters, especially when religion is mixed up
with them, expose every person participating in
them to criticism from all parties.
The Mexican War was begun in the spring of
1845, and was continued into the gubernatorial term
of Mr. Ford's successor. The Governor's connection
with this war, however, was not conspicuous, as it
was only administrative, commissioning officers, etc.
Ford's " History of Illinois " is a very readable and
entertaining work, of 450 small octavo pages, and is
destined to increase in value with the lapse of time.
It exhibits a natural flow of compact and forcible
thought, never failing to convey the nicest sense. In
tracing with his trenchant pen the devious operations
of the professional politician, in which he is inimit-
able, his account is open, perhaps, to the objection
that all his contemporaries are treated as mere place-
seekers, while many of them have since been judged
by the people to be worthy statesmen. His writings
seem slightly open to the criticism that they exhibit
a little splenetic partiality against those of his con-
temporaries who were prominent during his term of
office as Governor.
The death of Gov. Ford took place at Peoria, 111.,
Nov. 2, 1850.
LIBRARY
Oft*
UNWiRSm Of ILLINOIS
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
143
Augustus C. French.
jUGUSTUS C. FRENCH,
Governor of Illinois from
1846 to 1852, was born in
the town of Hill, in the
State of New Hampshire,
Aug. 2, 1808. He was a
descendant" in the fourth
generation of Nathaniel
French, who emigrated from England
in 1687 and settled in Saybury, Mass.
In early life young French lost his
father, but continued to receive in-
struction from an exemplary and
Christian mother until he was 19 years
old, when she also died, confiding to
his care and trust four younger broth-
ers and one sister. He discharged his trust with
parental devotion. His education in early life was
such mainly as a common school afforded. For a
brief period he attended Dartmouth College, but
from pecuniary causes and the care of his brothers
and sister, he did not graduate. He subsequently
read law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1831, and
shortly afterward removed to Illinois, settling first at
Albion, Edwards County, where he established him-
self in the practice of law. The following year he
removed to Paris, Edgar County. Here he attained
eminence in his profession, and entered public life
by representing that county in the Legislature. A
strong attachment sprang up between him and Ste-
phen A. Douglas.
In 1839, Mr. French was appointed Receiver of
the United States Land Office at Palestine, Craw-
ford (x>unty, at which place he was a resident when
elevated to the gubernatorial chair. In 1844 he was
a Presidential Elector, and as such he voted for
James K. Polk.
The Democratic State Convention of 1846, meet-
ing at Springfield Feb. 10, nominated Mr. French
for Governor. Other Democratic candidates were
Lyman Trumbull, John Calhoun (subsequently of
Lecompton Constitution notoriety), Walter B. Scales.
Richard M. Young and A. W. Cavarly, an array of
very able and prominent names. Trumbull was per-
haps defeated in the Convention by the rumor that
he was opposed to the Illinois and Michigan Canal,
as he had been a year previously. For Lieutenant
Governor J. B. Wells was chosen, while other candi-
dates were Lewis Ross, Wm. McMurtry, Newton
Cloud, J. B. Hamilton and W. W. Thompson. The
resolutions declared strongly against the resuscita-
tion of the old State Banks.
The Whigs, who were in a hopeless minority, held
their convention June 8, at Peoria, and selected
Thomas M. Kilpatrick, of Scott County, for Governor,
and Gen. Nathaniel G. Wilcox, of Schuyler, for
Lieutenant Governor.
In the campaign the latter exposed Mr. French's
record and connection with the passage of the in-
ternal improvement system, urging it against his
election ; but in the meantime the war with Mexico
broke out, regarding which the Whig record was un-
popular in this State. The war was the absorbing
and dominating question of the period, sweeping
every other political issue in its course. The elec-
tion in August gave Mr. French 58,700 votes, and
Kilpatrick only 36,775. Richard Eells, Abolitionist
candidate for the same office, received 5,152 vots.
AUGUSTUS C. FRENCH.
By the new Constitution of 1848, a new election for
State officers was ordered in November of that year,
before Gov. French's term was half out, and he was
re-elected for the term of four years. He was there-
fore the incumbe.it for six consecutive years, the
only Governor of this State who has ever served in
that capacity so long at one time. As there was no
organized opposition to his election, he received 67,-
453 votes, to 5,639 for Pierre Menard (son of the
first Lieutenant Governor), 4,748 for Charles V.
Dyer, 3,834 for W. L. D. Morrison, and 1,361 for
James L. D. Morrison. But Wm. McMurtry, of
Knox County, was elected Lieutenant Governor, in
place of Joseph B. Wells, who was before elected
and did not run again.
Governor French was inaugurated into office dur-
ing the progress of the Mexican War, which closed
during the summer of 1847, although the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo was not made until Feb. 2,
1848. The policy of Gov. French's party was com-
mitted to that war, but in connection with that affair
he was, of course, only an administrative officer.
During his term of office, Feb. 19, 1847, the Legisla-
ture, by special permission of Congress, declared that
all Government lands sold to settlers should be 'irh-'
mediately subject to State taxation ; before this they
were exempt for five years after sale. By this ar-
rangement the revenue was materially increased.
About the same time, the distribution of Government
Jand warrants among the Mexican soldiers as bounty
threw upon the market a great quantity of good
lands, and this enhanced the settlement of the State.
The same Legislature authorized, with the recom-
mendation of the Governor, the sale of the Northern
Cross Railroad (from Springfield to Meredosia, the
first in the State and now a section of the Wabash,
St. Louis & Pacific). It sold for $100,000 in bonds,
although it had cost the State not less than a million.
The salt wells and canal lands in the Saline reserve
in Gallatin County, granted by the general Govern-
ment to the State, were also authorized by the
Governor to be sold, to apply on the State debt. In
1850, for the first time since 1839, the accruing State
revenue, exclusive of specific appropriations, was
sufficient to meet the current demands upon the
treasury. The aggregate taxable property of the
State at this time was over $100,000,000, and the
population 851,470.
In 1849 the Legislature adopted the township or-
ganization law, which, however, proved defective
and was properly amended in 1851. At its session
in the latter year, the General Assembly also pas=>ed
a law to exempt homesteads from sate on executions
This beneficent measure^ had been repeatedly utge<J
upon that body by Gov. French.
In 1850 some business men in St. Louis com-
menced to build a dike opposite the lower part of
their city on the Illinois side, to keep the Mississippi
in its channel near St. Louis, instead of breaking
away from them as it sometimes threatened to do.
This they undertook without permission from the
Legislature or Executive authority of this State ; and
as many of the inhabitants thera complained that
the scheme would inundate and ruin much valuable
land, there was a slight conflict of jurisdictions, re-
sulting in favor of the St. Louis project ; r>.nd since
then a good site has existed there for a city (East St.
Louis), and now a score of railroads center there.
It was in September, 1850, that Congress granted
to this State nearly 3,000,000 acres of land in aid of
the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad,
which constituted the most important epoch in the
railroad we might say internal improvement his-
tory of the State. The road was rushed on to com-
pletion, which accelerated the settlement of the in-
terior of the State by a good class of industrious citi-
zens, and by the charter a good income to the State
Treasury is paid in from the earnings of the road.
In 1851 the Legislature passed a law authorizing
free stock banks, which was the source of much leg-
islative discussion for a number of years.
But we have not space further to particularize
concerning legislation. Gov. French's administra-
tion was not marked by any feature to be criticised,
while the country was settling up as never before.
In stature, Gov. French was of medium height,
squarely built, light complexioned, with ruddy face
and pleasant countenance. In manners he was
plain and agreeable. By nature he was somewhat
diffident, but he was often very outspoken in his con-
victions of duty. In public speech he was not an
orator, but was chaste, earnest and persuasive. In
business he was accurate and methodical, and in his
administration he kept up the credit of the State.
He died in 1865, at his home in Lebanon, St
Clair Co., HI.
LIBRARY
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UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
iOEL A. MATTESON, Governor
1853-6, was born Aug. 8, 1808,
in Jefferson County, New York,
to which place his father had re-
moved from Vermont three years
before. His father was a farmer
in fair circumstances, but a com-
mon English education was all
that his only son received. Young
Joel first tempted fortune as a
small tradesman in Prescott,
Canada, before he was of age.
He returned from that place to
his home, entered an academy,
taught school, visited the prin-
cipal Eastern cities, improved a farm his father had
given him, made a tour in the South, worked there
in building railroads, experienced a storm on the
Gulf of Mexico, visited the gold diggings of Northern
Georgia, and returned via Nashville to St. Louis and
through Illinois to his father's home, when he mar-
ried. In 1833, having sold his farm, he removed,
with his wife and one child, to Illinois, and entered
a claim on Government land near the head of Au
Sable River, in what is now Kendall County. At
that time there were not more than two neighbors
within a range of ten miles of his place, and only
\hree or four houses between him and Chicago. He
opened a large farm. His family was boarded 12
miles away while he erected a house on his claim,
sleeping, during this time, under a rude pole shed.
Here his life was once placed in imminent peril by
a huge prairie rattlesnake sharing his bed.
In 1835 he bought largely at the Government land
sales. During the speculative real-estate mania which
broke out in Chicago in 1 836 and spread over the State,
he sold his lands under the inflation of that period
and removed to Joliet. In 1838 he became a heavy
contractor on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Upon
the completion of his job in i84r, when hard times
prevailed, business at a stand, contracts paid in State
scrip; when all the public works except the canal
were abandoned, the State offered for sale 700 tons
of railroad iron, which was purchased by Mr. Mat-
teson at a bargain. This he accepted, shipped and
sold at Detroit, realizing a very handsome profit,
enough to pay off all his canal debts and leave him a
surplus of several thousand dollars. His enterprise
next prompted him to start a woolen mill at Joliet,
in which he prospered, and which, after successive
enlargements, became an enormous establishment.
In 1842 he was first elected a State Senator, but,
by a bungling apportionment, j&Sn Pearson, a Senator
holding over, was found to be in the same district,
and decided to be entitled to represent it. Mat-
teson's seat was declared vacant. Pearson, however
with a nobleness difficult to appreciate in this day of
JOEL A. MATTESON.
greed for office, unwilling to represent his district
under the circumstances, immediately resigned his
unexpired term of two years. A bill was passed in a
few hours ordering a new election, and in ten days'
time Mr. Matteson was returned re-elected and took
his seat as Senator. From his well-known capacity
as a business man, he was made Chairman of the
Committee on Finance, a position he held during
this half and two full succeeding Senatorial terms,
discharging its important duties with ability and faith-
fulness. Besides his extensive woolen-mill interest,
when work was resumed on the canal under the new
loan of $1,600,000 he again became a heavy con-
tractor, and also subsequently operated largely in
building railroads. Thus he showed himself a most
energetic and thorough business man.
He was nominated for Governor by the Demo-
cratic State Convention which met at Springfield
April 20, 1852. Other candidates before the Con-
vention were D. L. Gregg and F. C. Sherman, of
Cook ; John Dement, of Lee ; Thomas L. Harris, of
Menard ; Lewis W. Ross, of Fulton ; and D. P. Bush,
of Pike. Gustavus Koerner, of St. Clair, was nom-
inated for Lieutenant Governor. For the same offices
the Whigs nominated Edwin B. Webb and Dexter A':'.
Knowlton. Mr. Matteson received 80,645 votes at
the election, while Mr. Webb received 64,408. Mat-
teson s forte was not on the stump; he had not cul-
tivated the art of oily flattery, or the faculty of being
all things to all men. His intellectual qualities took
rather the direction of efficient executive ability. His
turn consisted not so much in the adroit manage-
ment of party, or the powerful advocacy of great gov-
ernmental principles, as in those more solid and
enduring operations which cause the physical devel-
opment and advancement of a State, of commerce
and business enterprise, into which he labored with
success to lead the people. As a politician he was
just and liberal in his views, and both in official and
private life he then stood untainted and free from
blemish. As a man, in active benevolence, social
rirtues and all the amiable qualities of neighbor or
citizen, he had few superiors. His messages present
a perspicuous array of facts as to the condition of the
State, and are often couched in forcible and elegant
diction.
The greatest excitement during his term of office
was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, by Con-
gress, under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas in
1854, when the bill was passed organizing the Terri-
tory of Kansas and Nebraska. A large portion of
the Whig party of the North, through their bitter op-
position to the Democratic party, naturally drifted
into the doctrine of anti-slavery, and thus led to what
was temporarily called the " Anti-Nebraska " party,
while the followers of Douglas were known as " Ne-
braska or Douglas Democrats." It was during this
embryo stage of the Republican party that Abraham
Lincoln was brought forward as the "Anti-Nebraska"
candidate for the United States Senatorship, while
Gen. James Shields, the incumbent, was re-nom-
inated by the Democrats. But after a few ballotings
in the Legislature (1855), these men were dropped,
and Lyman Trumbull, an Anti-Nebraska Democrat,
was brought up by the former, and Mr. Matteson,
then Governor, by the latter. On the nth ballot
Mr. Trumbull obtained one majority, and was ac-
cordingly declared elected. Before Gov. Matteson 's
term expired, the Republicans were fully organized
as a national party, and in 1856 put into the field a
full national and State ticket, carrying the State, but
not the nation.
: "; Tlie Legislature of 1855 passed two very import-
ant measures, the present free-school system and a
submission of the Maine liquor law to a vote of the
people. The latter was defeated by a small majority
of the popular vote.
During the four years of Gov. Matteson 's admin-
istration the taxable wealth of the State was about
trebled, from $137,8^,079 to $349,951,272; the pub-
lic debt was reduced from $17,398,985 to $12,843,-
T44; taxation was at the same time reduced, and the
State resumed paying interest on its debt in New
York as fast as it fell due ; railroads were increased
in their mileage from something less than 400 to
about 3.000; and the population of Chicago was
nearly doubled, and its commerce more than quad-
rupled.
Before closing this account, we regret that we have
to say that Mr. Matteson, in all other respects an
upright man and a good Governor, was implicated
in a false re-issue of redeemed canal scrip, amount-
ing to $224,182.66. By a suit in the Sangamon Cir-
cuit Court the State recovered the principal and all
the interest excepting $27,500.
He died in the winter of 1872-3, at Chicago.
LiBRWtt
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UNIVEKSIh Of ILLINOIS
GO VKKNORS OF ILLINOIS.
-- <**SS4
ILLIAM H. BISSELL, Gov-
- ernor 1857-60, was born
April 25, 1811, in the
State of New York, near
Painted Post, Yates County.
His parents were obscure,
honest, God-fearing people,
who reared their children under the daily
example of industry and frugality, accord-
ing to the custom of that class of Eastern
society. Mr. Bissell received a respecta-
ble but not thorough academical education.
By assiduous application he acquired a
knowledge of medicine, and in his early
manhood came West and located in Mon-
roe County, this State, where he engaged in the
practice of that profession. But he was not enam-
ored of his calling: he was swayed by a broader
ambition, to such an extent that the mysteries of the
healing art and its arduous duties failed to yield him
further any charms. In a few years he discovered
his choice of a profession to be a mistake, and when
he approached the age of 30 he sought to begin
anew. Dr. Bissell, no doubt unexpectedly to him-
self, discovered a singular facility and charm of
speech, the exercise of which acquired for him a
ready local notoriety. It soon came to be under-
stood that he desired to abandon his profession and
take up that of the law. During terms of Court he
would spend his time at the county seat among the
members of the Bar, who extended to him a ready
welcome.
It was not strange, therefore, that he should drift
into public life. In 1840 he was elected as a Dem-
ocrat to the Legislature from Monroe County, and
was an efficient member of that body. On his re-
turn home he qualified himself for admission to the
Bar and speedily rose to the front rank as an advo-
cate. His powers of oratory were captivating. With a
pure diction, charming and inimitable gestures,
clearness of statement, and a remarkable vein of sly
humor, his efforts before a jury told with irresistible
effect. He was chosen by the Legislature Prosecut-
ing Attorney for the Circuit in which he lived, and
in that position he fully discharged his duty to the
State, gained the esteem of the Bar, and seldom
failed to convict the offender of the law.
In stature he was somewhat tall and slender, and
with a straight, military bearing, he presented a dis-
tinguished appearance. His complexion was dark,
his head well poised, though not large, his address
pleasant and manner winning. He was exemplary
in his habits, a devoted husband and kind parent.
He was twice married, the first time to Miss James,
WILLIAM H. BISSELL,
of Monroe County, by whom he had two children,
both daughters. She died soon after the year 1840,
and Mr. B. married for his second wife a daughter
of Elias K. Kane, previously a United States Senator
from this State. She survived him but a short time,
and died without issue.
When the war with Mexico was declared in 1 846,
Mr. Bissell enlisted and was elected Colonel of his
regiment, over Hon. Don Morrison, by an almost
unanimous vote, 807 to 6. Considering the limited
opportunities he had had, he evinced a high order of
military talent. On the bloody field of Buena Vista
he acquitted himself with intrepid and distinguished
ability, contributing with his regiment, the Second
Illinois, in no small degree toward saving the waver-
ing fortunes of our arms during that long and fiercely
contested battle.
After his return home, at the close of the war, he
was elected to Congress, his opponents being the
Hons. P. B. Fouke and Joseph Gillespie. He served
two terms in Congress. He was an ardent politician.
During the great contest of 1850 he voted in favor
of the adjustment measures; but in 1854 he opposed
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise act and
therefore the Kansas-Nebraska bill of Dougla's, and '
thus became identified with the nascent Republican
party.
During his first Congressional term, while the
Southern members were following their old practice
of intimidating the North by bullying language,
and claiming most of the credit for victories in the
Mexican War, and Jefferson Davis claiming for the
Mississippi troops all the credit for success at Buena
Vista, Mr. Bissell bravely defended the Northern
troops ; whereupon Davis challenged BisseH to a duel,
which was accepted. This matter was brought up
against Bissell when he was candidate for Governor
and during his term of office, as the Constitution of
this State forbade any duelist from holding a State
office.
In 1856, when the Republican party first put forth
a candidate, John C. Fremont, for President of the
United States, the same party nominated Mr. Bissell
for Governor of Illinois, and John Wood, of Quincy,
for Lieutenant Governor, while the Democrats nomi-
nated Hon. W. A. Richardson, of Adams County,
for Governor, and Col. R. J. Hamilton, of Cook
County, for Lieutenant Governor. The result of the
election was a plurality of 4,729 votes over Richard-
son. The American, or Know-Nothing, party had a
ticket in the field. The Legislature was nearly bal-
anced, but was politically opposed to the Governor.
His message to the Legislature was short and rathei
ordinary, and was criticised for expressing the sup-
posed obligations of the people to the incorporators
of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and for re-
opening the slavery question by allusions to the
Kansas troubles. Late in the session an apportion-
ment bill, based upon the State census of 1855, was
passed, amid much partisan strife. The Governor
at first signed the bill and then vetoed it. A furious
debate followed, and the question whether the Gov-
ernor had the authority to recall a signature was
referred to the Courts, that of last resort deciding in
favor of the Governor. Two years afterward another
outrageous attempt was made for a re-apportionment
and to gerrymander the State, but the Legislature
failed to pass the bill over the veto of the Governor.
It was during Gov. Bissell's administration that
the notorious canal scrip fraud was brought to light,
'implicating ex-Gov. Matteson and other prominent
!Sta.te,offieials. The principal and interest, aggregat-
ing $255,500, was all recovered by the State except-
ing $27,500. (See sketch of Gov. Matteson.)
In 1859 an attempt was discovered to fraudu-
lently refund the Macalister and Stebbins bonds and
thus rob the State Treasury of nearly a quarter of a
million dollars. The State Government was impli-
. cated in this affair, and to this day remains unex-
plained or unatoned for. For the above, and other
matters previously mentioned, Gov. Bissell has been
severely criticised, and he has also been most shame-
fully libelled and slandered.
On account of exposure in the army, the remote
cause of a nervous form of disease gained entrance
into his system and eventually developed paraplegia,
affecting his lower extremities, which, while it left
his body in comparative health, deprived him of loco-
motion except by the aid of crutches. While he was
generally hopeful of ultimate recovery, this myste-
rious disease pursued him, without once relaxing its
stealthy hold, to the close of his life, March 18,
1860, over nine months before the expiration of his
gubernatorial term, at the early age of 48 years. He
died in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, of
which he hart been a member since 1854.
LIBRARY
Of !Ht
UNIVEftSUY Of ILUNOiS
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
'55
;OHN WOOD, Governor 1860-1, and
the first settler of Quincy, 111.,
was born in the town of Sempro-
nius (now Moravia), Cayuga Co.,
N. Y., Dec. 20, 1798. He -was
the second child and only son of
Dr. Daniel Wood. His mother,
nee Catherine Crause, was of
German parentage, and died
while he was an infant. Dr.
Wood was a learned and skillful
physician, of classical attain-
ments and proficient in several
modern lauguages, who, after
serving throughout the Revolu-
tionary War as a Surgeon, settled on the land granted
him by the Government, and resided there a re-
spected and leading influence in his section until his
death, at the ripe age of 92 years.
The subject of this sketch, impelled by the spirit
of Western adventure then pervading everywhere,
left his home, Nov. 2, 1818, and passed the succeed-
ing winter in Cincinnati, Ohio. The following sum-
mer he pushed on to Illinois, landing at Shawneetown,
and spent the fall and following winter in Calhoun
County. In 1820, in company with Willard Keyes,
he settled in Pike County, about 30 miles southeast
of Quincy, where for the next two years he pursued
farming. In 182 r he visited "the Bluffs" (as the
present site of Quincy was called, then uninhabited)
and, pleased with its prospects, soon after purchased
a quarter-section of land near by, and in the follow-
ing fall (1822) erected near the river a small cabin,
1 8 x 20 feet, the first building in Quincy, of which
he then became the first and for some months the
only occupant.
About this time he visited his old friends in Pike
County, chief of whom was William Ross, the lead-
ing man in building up the village of Atlas, of that
county, which was thought then to be the possible
commencement of a city. One day they and others
were traveling together over the country between the
two points named, making observations on the com-
parative merits of the respective localities. On ap-
proaching the Mississippi near Mr. Wood's place,
the latter told his companions to follow him and he
would show them where he was going to build a city.
They went about a mile off the main trail, to a high
point, from which the view in every direction was
most magnificent, as it had been for ages and as yet
untouched by the hand of man. Before them swept
by the majestic Father of Waters, yet unburdened by
navigation. After Mr. Wood had expatiated at
length on the advantages of the situation, Mr. Ross
replied, " But it's too near Atlas ever to amount to
anything!"
Atlas is still a cultivated farm, and Quincy is a
city of over 30,000 population.
In 1824 Mr. Wood gave a newspaper notice,
as the law then prescribed, of his intention to apply
to the General Assembly for the formation of a new
county. This was done the following winter, result-
ing in the establishment of the present Adams
County. During the next summer Quincy was se-
lected as the county seat, it and the vicinity then
containing but four adult male residents and half
'5
JOHN WOOD.
that number of females. Sinoe that period Mr.
Wood resided at the place of his early adoption un-
til his death, and far more than any other man was
he identified with every measure of its progress and
history, and almost continuously kept in public posi-
tions.
He was one of the early town Trustees, and after
the place became a city he was often a member of
the City Council, many times elected Mayor, in the
face of a constant large opposition political majority.
In 1850 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1856,
on the organization of the Republican party, he was
chosen Lieutenant Governor of the State, on the
ticket with Wm. H. Bissell for Governor, and on the
death of the latter, March 18, 1860, he succeeded to
the Chief Executive chair, which he occupied until
Gov. Yates was inaugurated nearly ten months after-
ward.
Nothing very marked characterized the adminis-
tration of Gov. Wood. The great anti-slavery cam-
paign of 1860, resulting in the election of the honest
Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the Presidency of the
United States, occurred during the short period
while Mr. Wood was Governor, and the excitement
and issues of that struggle dominated over every
other consideration, indeed, supplanted them in a
great measure. The people of Illinois, during all
that time, were passing the comparatively petty strifes
under Bissell's administration to the overwhelming
issue of preserving the whole nation from destruction.
In 1861 ex-Gov. Wood was one of the five Dele-
gates from Illinois to the " Peace Convention " at
Washington, and in April of the same year, on the
breaking out of the Rebellion, he was appointed
Quartermaster-General of the State, which position
he held throughout the war. In 1864 he took com-
mand as Colonel of the i37th 111. Vol. Inf., with
whom he served until the period of enlistment ex-
pired.
Politically, Gov. Wood was always actively identi-
fied with the Whig and Republican parties. Few
men have in personal experience comprehended so
many surprising and advancing local changes as
vested in the more than half century recollections of
Gov. Wood. Sixty-four years ago a solitary settler
on the " Bluffs," with no family, and no neighbor
within a score of miles, the world of civilization away
behind him, and the strolling red-man almost his
only visitant, he .lived to see growing around him,
and under his auspices and aid, overspreading the
wild hills and scraggy forest a teaming city, second
only in size in the State, and surpassed nowhere in
beauty, prosperity* and promise ; whose people recog-
nize as with a single voice the proverbial honor and
liberality that attach to the name and lengthened
life of their pioneer settler, "the old Governor."
Gov. Wood was twice married, first in January,
;. i-8i6;:to Ann M. Streeter, daughter of Joshua Streeter,
formerly of Salem, Washington Co., N. Y. They had
eight children. Mrs. W. died Oct. 8, 1863, and in
June, 1865, Gov. Wood married Mrs. Mary A., widow
of Rev. Joseph T. Holmes. Gov. Wood died June 4,
1880, at his residence in Quincy. Four of his eight
children are now living, namely: Ann E., wife of
Gen. John Tillson; Daniel C., who married Mary J.
Abernethy; John, Jr., who married Josephine Skinner,
and Joshua S., who married Annie Bradley. The
last mentioned now resides at Atchison, Kansas, and
all the rest are still at Quincy.
LIBRARY
Of TW
UNIVERSITY Of IUJ&WS
"
HCHARD YATES, the "War
Governor," 1861-4, was born
Jan. 18, 1818, on the banks of
the Ohio River, at Warsaw,
Gallatin Co., Ky. His lather
moved in 1831 to Illinois, and
after stopping for a time in
Springfield, settled at Island
Grove, Sangamon County. Here,
after attending school, Richard joined
the family. Subsequently he entered
Illinois College at Jacksonville,
where, in 1837, he graduated with
first honors. He chose for his pro-
fession the law, the Hon. J. J. Har-
din being his instructor. After ad-
mission to the Bar he soon rose to distinction as an
advocate.
Gifted with a fluent and ready oratory, he soon
appeared in the political hustings, and, being a
passionate admirer of the great Whig leader of the
West. Henry Clay, he joined his political fortunes to
he party of his idol. In 1840 he engaged with great
<=.rdor in the exciting " hard cider " campaign for
Garrison. Two years later he was elected to the
Legislature from Morgan County, a Democratic
stronghold. He served three or four terms in the
Legislature, and such was the fascination of his ora-
r nry that by 1850 his large Congressional District,
extending from Morgan and Sangamon Counties
i.orth to include LaSalle, unanimously tendered him
tn^ Whig nomination for Congress. His Democratic
opponent was Maj. Thomas L. Harris, a very pop-
v-lar man who had won distinction at the battle of
Cerro Gordo, in the Mexican War, and who had
oeates. Hull. Stephen T. Logan for the same position.
two years before, by a large majority. Yates war
elected. Two years later he was re-elected, over
John Calhoun.
It was during Yates second term in Congress that
the great question of the repeal of the Missouri Com-
promise was agitated, and the bars laid down for re-
opening the dreaded anti-slavery question. He took
strong grounds against the repeal, and thus became
identified with the rising Republican party. Conse-
quently he fell into the minority in his district, which
was pro-slavery. Even then, in a third contest, he
fell behind Major Harris only 200 votes, after the
district had two years before given Pierce 2,000
majority for President.
The Republican State Convention of 1860 met at
Decatur May 9, and nominated for the office of Gov-
ernor Mr. Yates, in preference to Hon. Norman B.
Judd, of Chicago, and Leonard Swett, of Blooming-
ton, two of the ablest men of the State, who were
also candidates before the Convention. Francis A.
Hoffman, of DuPage County, was nominated for
Lieutenant Governor. This was the year when Mr.
Lincoln was a candidate for President, a period re-
membered as characterized by the great whirlpool
which precipitated the bloody War of the Rebellion.
The Douglas Democrats nominated J. C. Allen cf
Crawford County, for Governor, and Lewis W. Ross,
of Fulton County, for Lieutenant Governor. The
Breckenridge Democrats and the Bell-Everett party
had also full tickets in the field. After a most fear-
ful campaign, the result of the election gave Mr.
Yates 172,196 votes, and Mr, Allen 159,253. Mr.
Yates received over a thousand more votes than did
Mr. Lincoln himself.
Gov. Yates occupied the chair of State during the
i6o
RICHARD YATES.
most critical period of our country's history. In the
fate of the nation was involved that of each State.
The life struggle of the former derived its sustenance
from the loyalty of the latter; and Gov. Yates
seemed to realize the situation, and proved himself
both loyal and wise in upholding the Government.
He had a deep hold upon the affections of the
people, won by his moving eloquence and genial
manners. Erect and symmetrical in person, of pre-
possessing appearance, with a winning address and a
magnetic power, few men possessed more of the ele-
ments of popularity. His oratory was scholarly and
captivating, his hearers hardly knowing why they
were transported. He was social and convivial. In
the latter respect he was ultimately carried too far.
- The very creditable military efforts of this State
during the War of the Rebellion, in putting into the
field the enormous number of about 200,000 soldiers,
were ever promptly and ably seconded by his excel-
lency ; and the was ambitious to deserve the title of
"the soldier's friend." Immediately after the battleof
Shiloh he repaired to the field of carnage to look
after the wounded, and his appeals for aid were
promptly responded to by the people. His procla-;
mations calling for volunteers were impassionate
appeals, urging upon the people the duties and re-
quirements of patriotism; and his special message
in 1863 to the Democratic Legislature of this State
pleading for material aid for the sick and wounded
soldiers of Illinois regiments, breathes a deep fervor
of noble sentiment and feeling rarely equaled in
beauty or felicity of expression. Generally his mes-
sages on political and civil affairs were able and com-
prehensive. During his administration, however,
there were no civil events of an engrossing character,
although two years of his time were replete with
partisan quarrels of great bitterness. Military ar-
rests, Knights of the Golden Circle, riot in Fulton
County, attempted suppression of the Chicago Times
and the usurping State Constitutional Convention of
1862, were the chief local topics that were exciting
during the Governor's term. This Convention assem-
bled Jan. 7, and at once took the high position that
'he law calling it was no longer binding, and that it
:,ad supreme power; that it represented a virtual
assemblage of the whole people of the State, and was
sovereign in the exercise of all power necessary to
effect a peaceable revolution of the State Government
and to the re-establishment of one for the "happiness,
prosperity and freedom of the citizens," limited only
by the Federal Constitution. t Notwithstanding the
law calling the Convention required its members to
take an oath to support the Constitution of the State
as well as that of the general Government, they
utterly refused to take such oath. They also as-
sumed legislative powers and passed several import-
ant "laws!" Interfering with the (then) present
executive duties, Gov. Yates was ^ revoked to tell
them plainly that " lie did not acknowledge the right
of the Convention to instruct him in the performance
of his duty."
In 1863 the Governor astonished the Democrats
by " proroguing " their Legislature. This body, after
a recess, met June 2, that year, and soon began to
waste time upon various partisan resolutions ; and,
while the two houses were disagreeing upon the
question of adjourning sine die, the Governor, having
the authority in such cases, surprised them all by
adjourning them " to the Saturday next preceding the
. first Monday in January, 1865 ! " This led to great
excitement and confusion, and to a reference of the
'Govecnor's act to the Supreme Court, who decided in
his favor. Then it was the Court's turn to receive
abuse for weeks and months afterward.
During the autumn of 1864 a conspiracy was de-
tected at Chicago which had for its object the liber-
ation of the prisoners of war at Camp Douglas, the
burning of the city and the inauguration of rebellion
in the North. Gen. Sweet, who had charge of the
camp at the time, first had his suspicions of danger
aroused by a number of enigmatically worded letters
which passed through the Camp postoffice. A de-
tective afterward discovered that the rebel Gen.
Marmaduke was in the city, under an assumed
name, and he, with other rebel officers Grenfell,
Morgan, Cantrell, Buckner Morris, and Charles
Walsh was arrested, most of whom were convicted
by a court martial at Cincinnati and sentenced to
imprisonment, Grenfell to be hung. The sentence
of the latter was afterward commuted to imprison-
ment for life, and all the others, after nine months'
imprisonment, were pardoned.
In March, 1873, Gov. Yates was appointed a Gov
ernment Director of the Union Pacific Railroad, in
which office he continued until his decease, at St.
Louis, Mo., on the 27th of November following.
LIBRARY
OF (H
UNIVEKSUY Of ILLINOIS
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
163
^2@flg!!^
Richard JT. Ogles
.ICHARD J. OGLESBY, Gov-
ernor 1865-8, and re-elected
in 1872 and 1884, was born
July 25, 1824, in Oldham Co.,
Ky., the State which might
be considered the " mother of
Illinois Governors." Bereft of
his parents at the tender age
of eight years, his early education
was neglected. When 12 years of
age, and after he had worked a year
and a half at the carpenter's trade,
he removed with an uncle, Willis
Oglesby, into whose care he had
been committed, to Decatur, this
State, where he continued his ap-
prenticeship as a mechanic, working six months for
Hon. E. O. Smith.
In 1844 he commenced studying law at Spring-
field, with Judge Silas Robbins, and read with him
one year. He was admitted to the Bar in 1845, and
commenced the practice of his chosen profession at
Sullivan, the county seat of Moultrie County.
The next year the war with Mexico was com-
menced, and in June, 1846, Mr. Oglesby volunteered,
was elected First Lieutenant of Co. C, Fourth Illinois
Regiment of Volunteers, and participated in the bat-
tles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo.
On his return he sought to perfect his law studies
by attending a course of lectures at Louisville, but
on the breaking out of the California "gold fever " in
1849, he crossed the plains and mountains to the
new Eldorado, driving a six-mule team, with a com-
pany of eight men, Henry Prather being the leader.
In 1852 he returned home to Macon County, and
was placed that year by the Whig party on the ticket
of Presidential Electors. In 1856 he visited Europe,
Asia and Africa, being absent 20 months. On his
return home he resumed the practice of law, as a
member of the firm of Gallagher, Wait & Oglesby.
In 1858 he was the Republican noaiinee for the
Lower House of Congress, but was defeated by the
Hon. James C. Robinson, Democrat. In 1860 he
was elected to the Illinois State Senate ; and on the
evening the returns of this election were coming in,
Mr. Oglesby had a fisticuff encounter with " Cerro
Gordo Williams," in which he came out victorious,
and which was regarded as " the first fight of the
Rebellion." The following spring, when the war
had commenced in earnest, his ardent nature
quickly responded to the demands of patriotism and
he enlisted. The extra session of the Legislature
elected him Colonel of the Eighth Illinois Infantry,
the second one in the State raised to suppress the
great Rebellion.
He was shortly entrusted with important com-
mands. For a time he was stationed at Bird's Point
and Cairo ; in April he was promoted Brigadier Gen-
eral ; at Fort Donelson his brigade was in the van,
being stationed on the right of General Grant's army
and the first brigade to be attacked. He lost 500
men before re-inforcements arrived. Many of these
men were from Macon County. He was engaged in
the battle of Corinth, and, in a brave charge at this
place, was shot in the left lung with an ounce ball,
and was carried from the field in expectation of im-
i6 4
RICHARD J. OGLESBY.
mediate death. That rebel ball he carries to this
day. On his partial recovery he was promoted as
Major General, for gillantry, his commission to rank
from November, 1862. In the spring of 1863 he
was assigned to the command of the i6th Army
Corps, but, owing to inability from the effects of his
wound, he relinquished this command in July, that
year. Gen. Grant, however, refused to accept his
resignation, and he was detailed, in December follow-
ing, to court-martial and try the Surgeon General of
the Army at Washington, where he remained until
May, 1864, when he returned home.
The Republican, or Union, State Convention of
1864 was held at Springfield, May 25, when Mr.
Oglesby was nominated for the office of Governor,
while other candidates before the Convention were
Allen C. Fuller, of Boone, Jesse K. Dubois, of Sanga-
mon, and John M. Palmer, of Macoupin. Wm.
Bross, of Chicago, was nominated for Lieutenant
Governor. On the Democratic State ticket were
James C. Robinson, of Clark, for Governor, and S.
Corning Judd, of Fulton, for Lieutenant Governor.
The general election gave Gen. Oglesby a majority
of about 31,000 votes. The Republicans had also a
majority in both the Legislature and in the repre-
sentation in Congress.
Gov. Oglesby was duly inaugurated Jan. 17, 1865.
The day before the first time set for his installation
death visited his home at Decatur, and toik from it
his only son, an intelligent and sprightly lad of six
years, a great favorite of the bereaved parents. This
caused the inauguration to be postponed a week.
The political events of the Legislative session of
1865 were the election of ex-Gov. Yates to the
United States Senate, and the ratification of the 131)1
amend. nent to the Constitution of the United States,
abolishing slavery. This session also signalized
itself by repealing the notorious " black laws," part
of which, although a dead letter, had held their place
upon the statute books since 1819. Also, laws re-
quiring the registration of voters, and establishing a
State Board of Equalization, were passed by this Leg-
islature. But the same body evinced that it was cor-
ruptly influenced by a mercenary lobby, as it adopted
some bad legislation, over the Governor's veto, nota-
bly an amendment to a charter for a Chicago horse
railway, granted in 1859 for 25 years, and now
sought to be extended 99 years. As this measure
was promptly passed over his veto by both branches
of the Legislature, he deemed it useless further to
attempt to check their headlong career. At this
session no law of a general useful character or public
interest was perfected, unless we count such the
turning over of the canal to Chicago to be deepened.
The session of 1867 was still more productive of
private and special acts. Many omnibus bills were
proposed, and some passed. The contests over the
.ocation of the Industrial College, the Capital, the
Southern Penitentiary and the canal enlargement
and Illinois River improvement, dominated every!
thing else.
During the year 1872, it became evident that if
the Republicans could re-elect Mr. Oglesby to the
office of Governor, they could also elect him to the
United States Senate, which they desired to do.
Accordingly they re-nominated him for the Execu-
tive chair, and placed upon the ticket with him for
Lieutenant Governor, John L. Beveridge, of Cook
County. On the other side the Democrats put into
the field Gustavus Koerner for Governor and John
C. Black for Lieutenant Governor. The election
gave the Republican ticket majorities ranging from
35>334 to 56,174, the Democratic defection being
caused mainly by their having an old-time Whig and
Abolitionist, Horace Greeley, on the national ticket
for President. According to the general understand-
ing had beforehand, as soon as the Legislature nist
it elected Gov. Oglesby to the United States Senate, $
whereupon Mr. Beveridge became Governor. Sena-
tor Oglesby 's term expired March 4, 1879, having
served his party faithfully and exhibited an order of
statesmanship beyond criticism.
During the campaign of 1884 Mr. Oglesby was
.nominated for a "third term" as Executive of the
State of Illinois, against Carter H. Harrison, Mayor
^of 'Chicago, nominated by the Democrats. Both
gentlemen "stumped " the State, and while the peo-j
pie elected a Legislature which was a tie on a join: i
ballot, as between the two parties, they gave the
jovial " Dick" Oglesby a majority of 15,018 for Gov-i
ernor, and he was inaugurated Jan. 30, 1885. The
Legislature did not fully organize until this date, on
account of its equal division between the two main
parties and the consequent desperate tactics of each '
party to checkmate the latter in the organization of
the House.
Gov. Oglesby is a fine-appearing, affable man, with
regular, well defined features and rotund face. In
stature he is a little above medium height, of a large J
frame and somewhat fleshy. His physical appear- j
ance is striking and prepossessing, while his straight-
out, not to say bluff, manner and speech are wel.
calculated favorably to impress the average masses.
Ardent in feeling and strongly committed to the pol-
icies of his party, he intensifies Republicanism
among Republicans, while at the same time hisjovia.
and liberal manner prevents those of the oppo?ite
party from hating him.
He is quite an effective stump orator. With vehe-
ment, passionate and scornful tone and gestures
tremendous physical power, which in speaking he
exercises to the utmost; with frequent descents la
the grotesque; and with abundant homely compari-
sons or frontier figures, expressed in the broadest
vernacular and enforced with stentorian emphar.is,
he delights a promiscuous audience beyond measure
or
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
u>t
J Q gjy J PA L HER
jlOHN Me AULEY PALMER, Gov-
ernor 1869-72, was born on
Eagle Creek, Scott Co., Ky ,
Sept. 13, 1817. During his in-
fancy, his father, who had been
a soldier in the war of 1812, re-
moved to Christian Co., Ky.,
where lands were cheap. Here
the future Governor of the great
Prairie State spent his childhood
and received such meager school-
ing as the new and sparsely set-
tled country afforded. To this
he added materially by diligent
reading, for which he evinced an
eaily aptitude. His father, an ardent Jackson man,
was also noted for his anti-slavery sentiments, which
he thoroughly impressed upon his children. In 1831
he emigrated to Illinois, settling in Madison County.
Here the labor of improving a farm was pursued for
al'Ut two years, when the death of Mr. Palmer's
mother broke up the family. About this time Alton
College was opened, on the "manual labor " system,
and in the spring of 1834 young Palmer, with his
elder brother, Elihu, entered this school and remained
1 8 months. Next, for over three years, he tried
variously coopering, peddling and school-teaching.
During the summer of 1838 he formed the ac-
quaintance of Stephen A. Douglas, then making his
first canvass for Congress. Young, eloquent and in
political accord with Mr. Palmer, he won his confi-
dence, fired his ambition and fixed his purpose. The
following winter, while teaching near Canton, he be-
gan to devote his spare time to a desultory reading
of law, and in the spring entered a law office at Car-
linville, making his home with his elder brother,
Elihu. (The latter was a learned clergyman, of con-
siderable orginality of thought and doctrine.) On
the next meeting of the Supreme Court he was ad-
mitted to the Bar, Douglas being one of his examiners.
He was not immediately successful in his profession,
and would have located elsewhere than Carlinville
had he the requisite means. Thus his early poverty
was a blessing in disguise, for to it he now attributes
the success of his life.
From 1839 on, while he diligently pursued his
profession, he participated more or less in local
politics. In 1843 he became Probate Judge. In
1847 he was elected to the State Constitutional Con
vention, where he took a leading part. In 1852 lu
was elected to the State Senate, and at the special
session of February, 1854, true to the anti-slaverj
sentiments bred in him, he took a firm stand in op-
position to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
and when the Nebraska question became a party
issue he refused to receive a re-nomination for thi
Senatorship at the hands of the Democracy, issuinj
a circular to that effect. A few weeks afterward
i68
JOHN MC AULEY PALMER.
however, hesitating to break with his party, he par-
ticipated in a Congressional Convention which nomi-
T. L. Harris against Richard Yates, and which
unqualifiedly approved the principles of the Kansas-
Nebraska act. But later in the campaign he made
the plunge, ran for the Senate as an Anti-Nebraska
Democrat, and was elected. The following winter
fle put in nomination for the United States Senate
Mr. Trumbull, and was one of the five steadfast men
who voted for him until all the Whigs came to their
support and elected their man.
In 1856 he was Chairman of the Republican State
Convention at Bloomington. He ran for Congress in
1859, but was defeated. In 1860 he was Republican
Presidential Elector for the State at large. In 1861
fie was appointed one of the five Delegates (all Re-
publicans) sent by Illinois to the peace congress at
Washington.
When the civil conflict broke out, he offered his
services to his country, and was elected Colonel of the
/4th 111. Vol. Inf., and participated in the engagements
at Island No. 10; at Farmington, where he skillfully
extricated his command from a dangerous position ;
at Stone River, where his division for several hours,
Dec. 31, 1862, held the advance and stood like a :
rock, and for his gallantry there he was made Major
General; at Chickamauga, where his and Van Cleve's
divisions for two hours maintained their position
when they were cut off by overpowering numbers.
Under Gen. Sherman, he was assigned to the I4th
Army Corps and participated in the Atlanta campaign.
At Peach-Tree Creek his prudence did much to avert
disaster. In February, 1865, Gen. Palmer was as-
signed to the military administration of Kentucky,
which was a delicate post. That State was about
half rebel and half Union, and those of the latter
element were daily fretted by the loss of their slaves.
He, who had been bred to the rules of common law,
trembled at the contemplation of his extraordinary
power over the persons and property of his fellow
men, with which he was vested in his capacity as
military Governor ; and he exhibited great caution in
the execution of the duties of his post.
Gen. Palmer was nominated for Governor of Illi-
nois by the Republican State Convention which met
at Peoria May 6, 1868, and his nomination would
probably have been made by acclamation had he not
persistently declared that he could not accept a can-
didature for the office. The result of the
election gave Mr. Palmer a majority of 44,707 over.
John R. Eden, the Democratic nominee.
On the meeting of the Legislature in January,
1869, the first thing to arrest public attention was
that portion pf the Governor's message which took
broad Slate's rights ground. This and some minor
points, which were more in keeping with the Demo-
cratic sentiment, constituted the entering wedge fir
the criticisms and reproofs he afterward received
from the Republican party, and ultimately resulted
in his entire aleniation from the latter element. The
Legislature just referred to was noted for the intro-
duction of numerous bills in the interest of private
parties, which were embarrassing to the Governor.
Among the public acts passed was that which limited
railroad charges for passenger travel to a maximum
of three cents per mile ; and it was passed over the
Governor's veto. Also, they passed, over his veto,
the "tax-grabbing law" to pay r^ilrocd subscriptions,
the Chicago Lake Front bill, etc. The new State
Constitution of 1870, far superior to the old, was a
peaceful " revolution " which took place during Gov.
Palmer's term of office. The suffering caused by the
'great Chicago Fire of October, 1871, was greatly
alleviated by the prompt responses of his excellency.
Since the expiration of Gov. Palmers 's term, he has
been somewhat prominent in Illinois politics, and
has been talked of by many, especially in the Dem-
ocratic party, as the best man in the. State for a
United States Senator. His business during life has
been that of the law. Few excel him in an accurate
appreciation of the depth and scope of its principles-
The great number of his able veto messages abun-
dantly testify not only this but also a rare capacity to
point them out. He is a logical and cogent reasoner
and an interesting, forcible and convincing speaker,
though not fluent or ornate. Without brilliancy, his
dealings are rather with facts and ideas than with
appeals to passions and prejudices. He is a patriot
and a statesman of very high order. Physically he is
above the medium height, of robust frame, ruddy
complexion and sanguine-nervous temperament. He
has a large cranial development, is vivacious, social
in disposition, easy of approach, unostentatious in his
habits of life, democratic in his habits and manners
and is a true American in his fundamental principle?
of statesmanship.
LSBRAflY
Of m
UNIVERSm Of &UMXS
GV VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
171
OHN LOWRiE BEVER-
IDGE, Governor 187 3-6, was
born in the town of Green-
wich, Washington Co., N. Y.,
July 6, 1824. His parents
were George and Ann Bever-
idge. His father's parents, An-
drew and Isabel Bcveridge, be-
fore their marriage emigrated
from Scotland just before the
Revolutionary War, settling in
Washington County. His father
was the eldest of eight brothers, the
youngest of whom was 60 years of
age when the first one of the num-
ber died. His mother's parents,
James and Agnes Hoy, emigrated
from Scotland at the close of the
Revolutionary War, settling also in
Washington Co., N. Y., with their
first-born, whose " native land " was
the wild ocean. His parents and
grandparents lived beyond the time
allotted to man, their average age
being over 80 years. They belonged to the " Asso-
ciate Church," a seceding Presbyterian body of
America from the old Scotch school ; and so rigid
was the training of young Beveridge that he never
heard a sermon from any other minister except that
of his own denomination until he was in his igth
year. Later in life he became a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, which relation he still
holds.
Mr. Beveridge received a good common-school ed-
ucation, but his parents, who could obtain a livelihood
only by rigid economy and industry, could not send
him away to college. He was raised upon a farm,
and was in his i8th year when the family removed
to De Kalb County, this State, when that section was
very sparsely settled. Chicago had less than 7,000
inhabitants. In this wild West he continued as a
farm laborer, teaching school during the winter
months to supply the means of an education. In the
fall of 1842 he attended one term at the academy at
Granville, Putnam Co., 111., and subsequently several
terms at the Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris,
Ogle Co., 111., completing the academic course. At
this time, the fall of 1845, his parents and brothers
were anxious to have him go to college, even though
he had not money sufficient; but, njt willing to bur-
den the family, he packed his trunk and with only
in money started South to seek his fortune
JOHN L. E VE RIDGE.
Poor, alone, without friends and influence, he thus
entered upon the battle of life.
First, he taught school in Wilson, Overton and
Jackson Cos., Tenn., in which experience he under-
went considerable mental drill, both in book studies
and in the ways of the world. He read law and was
admitted to the Bar, in the South, but did not learn
to love the institution of slavery, although he ad-
mired many features of Southern character. In De-
cember, 1847, he returned North, and Jan. 20, 1848,
he married Miss Helen M. Judson, in the old Clark-
Street M. E. church in Chicago, her father at that
time being Pastor of the society there. In the spring
of 1848 he returned with his wife to Tennessee,
where his two children, Alia May and Philo Judson,
were born.
In the fall of 1849, through the mismanagement
of an associate, he lost what little he had accumu-
lated and was left in debt. He soon managed to
earn means to pay his debts, returned to De Kalb
Co., 111., and entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession at Sycamore, the county seat. On arrival
from the South he had but one-quarter of a dollar in
money, and scanty clothing and bedding for himself,,
and family. He borrowed a little money, practiced
.aw, worked in public offices, kept books for some of
the business men of the town, and some railroad en-
gineering, till the spring of iS^4, when he removed
to Evanston, 1 2 miles north of Chicago, a place then
but recently laid out, under the supervision of the
Northwestern University, a Methodist institution.
Of the latter his father-in-law was then financial
agent and business manager. Here Mr. Beveridge
prospered, and the next year (1855) opened a law
office in Chicago, where he found the battle some-
what hard; but he persevered with encouragement
and increasing success.
Aug. 12, 1 86 1, his law partner, Gen. John F.
Farnsworth, secured authority to raise a regiment of
cavalry, and authorized Mr. Beveridge to raise a
company for it. He succeeded in a few days in rais-
ing the company, of course enlisting himself along
with it. The regiment rendezvoused at St. Charles,
HI., was mustered in Sept. 18, and on its organiza-
tion Mr. B. was elected Second Major. It was at-
tached, Oct. 1 1 , to the Eighth Cavalry and to the
Army of the Potomac. He served with the regiment
until November, 1863, participating in some 40 bat-
tles and skirmishes : was at Fair Oaks, the seven days
fight around Richmond, Fredericksburg, Chancellors -
ville and Gettysburg. He commanded the regiment
the greater part of the summer of 1863, and it was while
lying in camp this year that he originated the policy
of encouraging recruits as well as the fighting capac-
ity of the soldiery, by the wholesale furlough system
It worked so well that many other officers adopted
it. In the fall of this year he recruited another com-
pany, against heavy odds, in January, 1864, was
commissioned Colonel of the i-jth 111. Cav., and
skirmished around in Missouri, concluding with the
reception of the surrender of Gen. Kirby Smith's
army in Arkansas. In 1865 he commanded various
sub-districts in the Southwest. He was mustered
out Feb. 6, 1866, safe from the casualties of war and
a stouter man than when he first enlisted. His men
idolized him.
He then returned to Chicago, to practice law, with
no library and no clientage, and no political experi-
ence except to help others into office. In the fall of
1866 he was elected Sheriff of Cook County, serving
dne.term; next, until November, 1870, he practiced
'law., and -.dosed up the unfinished business of his
office." He was then elected State Senator; in No-
vember, 1871, he was elected Congressman at large;
in November, 1872, he was elected Lieutenant Gov-
ernor on the ticket with Gov. Oglesby; the latter be-
ing elected to the U. S. Senate, Mr. Beveridge became
Governor, Jan. 21, 1873. Thus, inside of a few
weeks, he was Congressman at large, Lieutenant
Governor and Governor. The principal events oc-
curring during Gov. Beveridge 's administration were:
The completion of the revision of the statutes, begun
in 1869; the partial success of the "farmers' move-
ment;" " Haines' Legislature " and Illinois' exhibit at
the Centennial.
Since the close of his gubernatorial term ex-Gov.
Beveridge has been a member of the firm of Bever-
idge & Dewey, bankers and dealers in commercial
paper at 7 1 Dearborn Street (McCormick Block),
Chicago, and since November, 1881, he has also been
Assistant United States Treasurer- office in the
Government Building. His residence is still at Ev-
anston.
He has a brother and two sisters yet residing Jn
De Kalb County James H. Beveridge, Mrs. Jennet
Henry and Mrs. Isabel French.
LIBRARY
Of m
UNIVERSITY Of ILLINUIS
GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
HELBY M. CULLOM, Gover-
nor 1877-83,15) the sixth child
of the late Richard N. Cullom,
and was born Nov. 22, 1829,111
Wayne Co., Ky., where his fa-
ther then resided, and whence
both the Illinois and Tennessee
branches of the family originated. In
the following year the family emi-
grated to the vicinity of Washington,
Tazewell Co., 111., when that section
was very sparsely settled. They lo-
cated on Deer Creek, in a grove at
the time occupied by a party of In-
dians, attracted there by the superior
hunting and fishing afforded in that
vicinity. The following winter was
known as the " hard winter," the snow [being very
deep and lasting and the weather severely cold ; and
the family had to subsist mainly on boiled corn or
hominy, and some wild game, for several weeks. In
the course of time Mr. R. N. Cullom became a prom-
inent citizen and was several times elected to the
Legislature, both before and after the removal of the
capital from Vandalia to Springfield. He died about
'873-
Until about 19 years of age young Cullom grew up
to agricultural pursuits, attending school as he had
opportunity during the winter. Within this time,
Swever, he spent several months teachin<* chool,
and in the following summer he " broke prairie " with
an ox team for the neighbors. With the money ob-
tained by these various ventures, he undertook a
course of study at the Rock River Seminary, a
Methodist institution at Mt. Morris, Ogle County:
but the sudden change to the in-door life of a stu-
dent told severely upon his health, and he was taken
home, being considered in a hopeless condition. While
at Mt. Morris he heard Hon. E. B. Washburne make
his first speech.
On recovering health, Mr. Cullom concluded to
study law, under the instruction of Abraham Lincoln,
at Springfield, who had by this time attained some
notoriety as an able lawyer ; but the latter, being ab-
sent from his office most of the time, advised Mr.
Cullom to enter the office of Stuart & Edwards.
After about a year of study there, however, his health
failed again, and he was obliged to return once more
to out-door life. Accordingly he bought hogs for
packing, for A. G. Tyng, in Peoria, and while he re-
gained his health he gained in purse, netting $400 in
a few weeks. Having been admitted to the Bar, he
went to Springfield, where he was soon elected City
Attorney, on the Anti-Nebraska ticket.
In 1856 he ran on the Fillmore ticket as a Presi-
dential Elector, and, although failing to be elected as
such, he was at the same time elected a Representa-
tive in the Legislature from Sangamon County, by a
local coalition of the American and Republican par-
ties. On the organization of the House, he received
the vote of the Fillmore men for Speaker. Practicing
I 7 6
SHELB Y M. CULLOM.
law until i %5o, he was again elected to the Legisla-
ture, as a Republican, while the county went Demo-
cratic on the Presidential ticket. In January follow-
ing he was elected Speaker, probably the youngest
man who had ever presided over an Illinois Legis-
lature. After the session of 1 86 1, he was a candidate
for the State Constitutional Convention called for
that year, but was defeated, and thus escaped the
disgrace of being connected with that abortive party
scheme to revolutionize the State Government. In
1862 he was a candidate for the State Senate, but
was defeated. _ The same year, however, he was ap-
pointed by President Lincoln on a Government
Commission, in company with Gov. Boutwell of
Massachusetts and Cnarles A. Dana, since of the
New York Sun, to investigate the affairs of the
Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments at
Cairo. He devoted several months to this duty.
In 1864 he enteied upo'n a larger political field,
being nominated as the Republican candidate for
Congress from the Eighth (Springfield) District, in
opposition to the incumbent, JohnT. Stuart, who had
been elected in 1862 by about 1,500 majority over
Leonard Swett, then of Bloomington, now of Cfiicago.
The result was the election of Mr. Cullom in Novem-
ber following by a majority of 1,785. In 1866 he
was re-elected to Congress, over Dr. E. S. Fowler, by
the magnificent majority of 4,103! In 1868 he was
again a candidate, defeating the Hon. B. S. Edwards,
another of his old preceptors, by 2,884 votes.
During his first term in Congress he served on the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and Expenditures in
the Treasury Department; in his second term, on
the Committees on Foreign Affairs and 0:1 Territories ;
and in his third term he succeeded Mr. Ashley, of
Ohio, to the Chairmanship of the latter. He intro-
duced a bill in the House, to aid in the execution of
law in Utah, which caused more consternation among
the Mormons than any measure had previously, but
which, though it passed the House, failed to pass the
Senate.
The Republican Convention which met May 25,
1876, nominated Mr. Cullom for Governor, while the
other contestant was Gov. Beveridge. For Lieuten-
ant-Governor they nominated Andrew Shuman, editor
of the Chicago Journal. For the same offices the
Democrats, combining with the Anti-Monopolists,
olaced in nomination Lewis Steward, a wealthy
farmer and manufacturer, and A. A. Glenn. The
result of the election was rather close, Mr. Cullom
obtaining only 6,800 majority. He was inaugurated
Jan. 8, 1877.
Great depression prevailed in financial circles at
this time, as a consequence of the heavy failures of
1873 and afterward, the effect of which had seemed
to gather force from that time *o the end of Gov.
Cullom's first administration. This unspeculative
period was not calculated to call forth any new
issues, but the Governor's energies were at one time
put to task to quell a spirit of insubordination that
had been begun in Pittsburg, Pa., among the laboring
classes, and transferred to Illinois at Chicago, East
St. Louis and Braidwood, at which places laboring
men for a short time refused to work or allow others
to work. These disturbances were soon quelled and
the wheels of industry again set in motion.
In May, 1880, Gov. Cullom was re-nominated by
the Republicans, against Lyman Trumbull, by the
Democrats; and although the former party was some-
what handicapped in the campaign by A zealous
faction opposed to Grant for President and to Grant
4iien' : ffir office generally, Mr. Cullom was re-elected
by about 314,565, to 277,532 for the Democratic State
ticket. The Greenback vote at the same time was
about 27,000. Both Houses of the Legislature again
became Republican, and no representative of the
Greenback or Socialist parties were elected. Gov.
Cullom was inaugurated Jan. 10, iS8i. In his mes-
sage he announced that the last dollar of the State
debt had been provided for.
March 4, 1883, the term of David Davis as United
States Senator from Illinois expired, and Gov. Cul-
lon was chosen to succeed him. This promoted
Lieutenant-Governor John M. Hamilton to the Gov-
ernorship. Senator Cullom's term in the United
States Senate will expire March 4, 1889.
A.S a practitioner of law Mr. C. has been a member
of the firm of Cullom, Scholes & Mather, at Spring-
field ; and he has also been President of the State
National Bank.
He has been married twice, the first time Dec.
Ut, 1855, to Miss Hannah Fisher, by whom he had
t\4o daughters; and the second time May 5, 1863,
to Julia Fisher. Mrs. C is a member of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, with which religious body Mr.
C. is also in sympathy.
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF HLINW.S
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
179
M&9M$*9|IHHIK+4IIN^^
OHN MARSHALL HAMIL-
TON, Governor 1883-5, was
born May 28, 1847, in a log
house upon a farm about two
miles from Richwood, Union
County, Ohio. His father was
Samuel Hamilton, the eldest son
SHI of Rev. Wm. Hamilton, who, to-
ffl*m& gether with his brother, the Rev.
Samuel Hamilton, was among the
early pioneer Methodist preachers in
Ohio. The mother of the subject of
this sketch was, before her marriage,
Mrs. Nancy McMorris, who was
born and raised in Fauquier or Lou-
} doun County, Va., and related to the
two large families of Youngs and Marshalls, well
known in that commonwealth ; and from the latter
family name was derived the middle name of Gov.
Hamilton.
In March, 1854, Mr. Hamilton's father sold out
his little pioneer forest home in Union County, O.,
and, loading his few household effects and family
(of six children) into two emigrant covered wagons,
moved to Roberts Township, Marshall Co., 111., being
2 1 days on the route. Swamps, unbridged streams
and innumerable hardships and privations met them
on their way. Their new home had been previously
selected by the father. Here, after many long years
of toil, they succeeded in paying for the land and
aiaking a comfort "M*> home. John was, of course,
brought up to hard manual labor, with no schooling
except three or four months in the year at a common
country school. However, he evinced a capacity
and taste for a high order of self-education, by
studying or reading what books lie could borrow, as
the family had but very few in the house. Much of
his study he prosecuted by the light of a log fire in
the old-fashioned chimney place. The financial
panic of 1857 caused the family to come near losing
their home, to pay debts ; but the father and two
sons, William and John, " buckled to " and perse-
vered in hard labor and economy until they redeemed
their place from the mortgage.
When the tremendous excitement of the political
campaign of 1860 reached the neighborhood of Rob-
erts Township, young Hamilton, who had been
brought up in the doctrine of anti-slavery, took a zeal-
ous part in favor of Lincoln's election. Making special
efforts to procure a little money to buy a uniform, he
joined a company of Lincoln Wide-Awakes at Mag-
nolia, a village not far away. Directly after the
ensuing election it became evident that trouble
would ensue with the South, and this Wide-Awake
company, like many others throughout the country,
kept up its organization and transformed itself into a
military company. During the ensuing summer they
met often for drill and became proficient ; but when
they offered themselves for the war, young Hamilton
was rejected on account of his youth, he being then
but 14 years of age. During the winter of 1863-4 he
attended an academy at Henry, Marshall County,
r8o
JOHN MARSHALL HAMILTON.
and in the following May he again enlisted, for the
fourth time, when he was placed in the i4ist 111.
Vol. Inf., a regiment then being raised at Elgin, 111.,
for the loo-day service. He took with him 13 other
lads from his neighborhood, for enlistment in the
service. This regiment operated in Southwestern
Kentucky, for about five months, under Gen. Paine.
The following winter, 1864-5, Mr. Hamilton taught
school, and during the two college years 1865-7, he
went through three years of the curriculum of the
Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. The
third year he graduated, the fourth in a class of 46,
in the classical department. In due time he received
the degree of M. A. For a few months he was the
Principal of Marshall " College " at Henry, an acad-
emy under the auspices of the M. E. Church. By
this time he had commenced the study of law, and
after earning some money as a temporary Professor
of Latin at the Illinois Wesleyan University at
B'.oomington, he entered the law office of Weldon,
Tipton & Benjamin, of that city. Each member of
this firm has since been distinguished as a Judge.
Admitted to the Bar in May, 1870, Mr. Hamilton
was given an interest in the same firm, Tipton. hav-
ing been elected Judge. In October following he
formed a partnership with J. H. Rowell, at that time
Prosecuting Attorney. Their business was then
small, but they increased it to very large proportions,
practicing in all grades of courts, including even the
U. S. Supreme Court, and this partnership continued
nbroken until Feb. 6, 1883, when Mr. Hamilton
was sworn in as Executive of Illinois. On the 4th
f March following Mr. Rowell took his seat in Con-
gress.
In July, 1871, Mr. Hamilton married Miss Helen
M. Williams, the daughter of Prof. Wm. G. Williams,
Professor of Greek in the Ohio Wesleyan University.
Mr. and Mrs. H. have two daughters and one son.
In 1876 Mr. Hamilton was nominated by the Re-
publicans for the State Senate, over other and older
competitors. He took an active part " on the stump "
in the campaign, for the success of his party, and was
elected by a majority of 1,640 over his Democratic-
Greenback opponent. In the Senate he served on
the Committees on Judiciary, Revenue, State Insti-
tutions, Appropriations, Education, and on Miscel-
lany ; and during the contest for the election of a
U. S. Senator, the Republicans endeavoring to re-
elect John A. Logan, he voted for the war chief on
every ballot, even alone when all the other Republi-
cans had gone over to the Hon. E. B. Lawrence and
the Democrats and Independents elected Judge
David Davis. At this session, also, was passed the
first Board of Health and Medical Practice act, of
which Mr. Hamilton was a dhampion, against eu '
much opposition that the bill was several times
"laid on the table." Also, this session authorized
the location and establishment of a southern peni-
tentiary, which was fixed at Chester. In the session
of 1879 Mr. Hamilton was elected President pro tern.
of the Senate, and was a zealous supporter of John
A. Logan for the U. S. Senate, who was this time
elected without any trouble.
In May, 1880, Mr. Hamilton was nominated on
the Republican ticket for Lieutenant Governor, his
principal competitors before the Convention being
Hon. Wm. A. James, ex-Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Judge Robert Bell, of w abash
County, Hon. T. T. Fountain, of Perry County, and
Hon. M. M. Saddler, of Marion County. He engaged
actively in the campaign, and his ticket was elected
by , a -majority of 41,200. As Lieutenant Governor,
he presided almost continuously over the Senate in
the 32d General Assembly and during the early days
of the 33d, until he succeeded to the Governorship.
When the Legislature of 1883 elected Gov. Cullom
to the United States Senate, Lieut. Gov. Hamilton
succeeded him, under the Constitution, taking the
oath of office Feb. 6, 1883. He bravely met all the
annoyances and embarrassments incidental upon
taking up another's administration. The principal
events with which Gov. Hamilton was connected as
the Chief Executive of the State were, the mine dis-
aster at Braidwood, the riots in St. Clairand Madison
Counties in May, 1883, the appropriations for the
State militia, the adoption of the Harper high-license
liquor law, the veto of a dangerous railroad bill, etc.
The Governor was a Delegate at large to the
National Republican Convention at Chicago in June,
1884, where his first choice for President was John
A. Logan, and second choice Chester A. Arthur; but
he afterward zealously worked for the election of Mr.
Elaine, true to his party.
Mr. Hamilton's term as Governor expired Jan. 30,
1885, when the great favorite "Dick" Oglesby was
inaugurated.
LIBRARY
OF IHt
UNIVERSITY OF
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
183
)SEPH WILSON FIFER. This
distinguished gentleman was
elected Governor of Illinois
November 6, 1888. He was
popularly known during the
campaign as "Private Joe. ' ' He
had served with great devotion
to his country during the Re-
bellion, in the Thirty-third
Illinois Infantry. A native of
Virginia, he was born in 1840.
His parents, John and Mary
(Daniels) Fifer, were American
born, though of German de-
scent. His father was a brick
and stone mason, and an old
Henry Clay Whig in politics. John and Mary
Fifer had nine children, of whom Joseph was the
sixth, and naturally, with so large a family, it was
all the father could do to keep the wolf from the
door, to say nothing of giving his children any-
thing like good educational advantages.
Joseph attended school for a while in Virgina,
but it was not a good school, and when his father
removed to the West, in 1857, Joseph had not ad-
vanced much further than the "First Reader."
Our subject was sixteen then and suffered a great
misfortune in the loss of his mother. After the
death of Mrs. Fifer, which occurred in Missouri,
the family returned to Virgina, but remained only
a short time, as during the same year Mr. Fifer
came to Illinois. He settled in McLean County
and started a brickyard. Here Joseph and his
brothers were put to work. The elder Mr. Fifer soon
bought a farm near Bloomington and began life
as an agriculturist. Here Joe worked and attended
the neighboring school. He alternated farm- work,
and brick-laying, going to the district school for
the succeeding few years. It was all work and no
play for Joe, yet it by no means made a dull boy
of him. All the time he was thinking of the great
world outside, of which he had caught a glimpse
when coming from Virginia, yet he did not know
just how he was going to get out into it. He
could not feel that the woods around the new farm
and the log cabin, in which the family lived, were
to hold him. ^
The opportunity to get out into the world was
soon offered to young Joe. He traveled a dozen
miles barefoot, in company with his brother George,
and enlisted in Company C, Thirty-third Illinois
Infantry, he being then twenty years old. In a
few days, the regiment was sent to Camp Butler,
and then over into Missouri, and saw some vigor-
ous service there. After a second time helping to
chase Price out of Missouri, the Thirty-third Regi-
184
JOSEPH W. FIFEE.
ment went down to Milliken's Bend, and for several
weeks "Private Joe" worked on Grant's famous
ditch. The regiment then joined the forces oper-
ating against Port Gibson and Vickshurg. Joe
was on guard duty in the front ditches when the
flag of surrender was run up on the 4th of July,
and stuck the bayonet of his gun into the embank-
ment and went into the city with the vanguard of
Union soldiers.
The next day, July 5, the Thirty-third joined
the force after Johnston, who had been threatening
Grant's rear; and finally an assault was made on him
at Jackson, Miss. In this charge "Private Joe" fell,
terribly wounded. He was loading his gun, when
a minie-ball struck him and passed entirely
through his body. He was regarded as mortally
wounded. His brother, George, who had been
made a Lieutenant, proved to be the means of sav-
ing his life. The Surgeon told him that unless he
had ice his brother could not live. It was fifty miles
to the nearest point where ice could be obtained,
and the roads were rough. A comrade, a McLean
Coun<ty man, who had been wounded, offered to
make the trip. An ambulance was secured and
the brother soldier started on the journey. He re-
turned with the ice, but the trip, owing to the
roughness of the road, was very hard on him. Af-
ter a few months' careful nursing, Mr. Fifer was able
to come home. The Thirty-third came home on a
furlough, and when the boys were ready to return
to the tented field, young Fifer was ready to go
with them, for he was determined to finish his
term of three years. He was mustered out in Oct-
ober, 1864, having been in the service three years
and two months.
"Private Joe" came out of the army a tall, tan-
ned, and awkward young man of twenty-four.
About all he possessed was ambition to be some-
body and pluck. Though at an age when most
men have finished their college course, the young
soldier saw that if he was to be anybody he must
have an education. Yet he had no means to ena-
ble him to enter school as most young men do.
He was determined to have an education, however,
and that to him meant success. For the following
four years he struggled with his books. He en-
tered Wesleyan University January 1, 1865. He
was not a brilliant student, being neither at the
heatl nor at the foot of his class. He was in great,
earnest, however, studied hard and came forth with
a well-stored and disciplined mind.
Immediately after being graduated, he entered
an office at Bloomington as a law student. He
had previously read law a little, and as he continued
to work hard, with the spur of poverty and prompt-
ings of ambition ever with him, he was ready to
hang out his professional shingle in 1869. Being
trustworthy, he soon gathered about him some in- '
fluential friends. In 1871 he was elected Corpora- j
tion Counsel of Bloomington. In 1872 he was j
elected State's Attorney of McLean County. This '_
office he held eight years, when he took Ids seat in ]
the State Senate. He served for four years. His
ability to perform abundance of hard work made
him a most valued member of the Legislature.
Mr. Fifer was married in 1870 to Gertie, daugh-
ter of William J. Lewis, of Bloomington. Mr. Fifer
is six feet in height and is spare, weighing only one
hundred and fifty pounds. He has a swarthy com-
plexion, keen black eyes, quick movement, and pos-
sesses a frank and sympathetic nature, and natur-
lly makes friends wherever he goes. During the
late gubernatorial campaign his visits throughout
the State proved a great power in his behalf. His
faculty of winning the confidence and good wishes
of those with whom he comes in personal contact
is a source of great popularity, especially during a
political battle. As a speaker he is fluent, his lan-
guage is good, voice clear and agreeable, and man-
ner forcible. His manifest earnestness in what he
says, as well as his tact as a public speaker, and his
eloquent and forceful language, make him a most
valuable campaign orator and a powerful pleader
at the bar. At the Republican State Convention,
held in May, 1888, Mr. Fifer was chosen as its
candidate for Governor. He proved a popular
nominee, and the name of "Private Joe" became
familiar to everyone throughout the State. He
waged a vigorous campaign, was elected by a good
majority, and in due time assumed the duties of
the Chief Executive of Illinois.
LIBRARY
OF I Hi
UNIVtfftsm Of ILLINOIS
fl.
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
187
fllfeeld.
fOHN P. ALTGELD, the present
Governor of Illinois, is a native
of Prussia, born in 1848. Shortly
after his birth his parents emi-
grated to America, locating on
a farm near Mansfield, Ohio.
When but a mere lad, young
Altgeld had to walk from the
farm to Mansfield with butter,
eggs and garden produce, which
he peddled from house to house.
About 1856, his parents moved
to the city of Mansfield, and for
a time our subject was engaged
morning and evening in driv-
ing cattle to and from the pas-
ture, a distance of eight miles. When fourteen
years of age he hired out as a farm hand, and con-
tinued in that avocation the greater part of his
lime until he was sixteen years of age, when he
enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Sixty-
fourth Ohio Infantry, and served until the close of
the war. On being mustered in, the regiment was
sent to Washington and was actively engaged in
the various campaigns in and around that city
until the surrender of Lee. In the fall of 1864,
young Altgeld was taken sick, while with his regi-
ment in the front, and the surgeon desired to send
him to a hospital iu Washington; but he asked to
be allowed to remain with the regiment, and soon
recovering from his sickness was actively engaged
until the close of the war. He was mustered out
at Columbus, Ohio, in the spring of 1865. The
succeeding summer he worked with his father on
a farm, during which time he became connected
with the Sunday-school and was given charge >J
the Bible class. Before entering the army he had
but very limited educational advantages, having
attended school but a part of two summers and
one winter. He had at home, however, studied
the German language and had become familiar
with some German authors. Determining to fit
himself for a useful life, he resolved to attend a
select school at Lexington, Ohio, and in a little
eight-by-ten room, meagrely furnished, he kept
"bachelor's hall," and in time was so far advanced
that he secured a certificate as teacher, and for
two years was engaged in that profession. At the
end of that time he left home and traveled exten-
sively over the country, working at odd jobs, un-
til he finally reached Savannah, Mo., where he en-
tered a law office, and in 1870 was admitted to the
Bar. In the fall of 1872, he ran as Prosecuting
Attorney for Andrews County, Mo., and was de-
feated by four votes. He ran again in 1874 and
was elected. But life in the small town of Savan-
nah was a little too monotonous for him, and he
determined to locate in Chicago. In October,
188
JOHN P. ALTGELD.
1875, he resigned the office of Prosecuting Attor-
ney, moved to Chicago, and at once commenced
the practice of law. For some years after he had
but little to do with politics, confining himself to
his practice and dealing in real estate. One year
after his arrival in Chicago he found himself with-
out a dollar, and in debt some $400. By a streak of
good luck, as it might be termed, he won a case in
court, from which he received a fee of $900, and
after paying his debt he had $500 left, which he
invested in real estate. This venture proved a
successful one, and from that time on the profits
of one transaction were invested in others, and
to-day he is numbered among the millionaire resi-
dents of the great metropolis of the West.
In 1884, Mr. Altgeld was nominated for Con-
gress, but was defeated by three thousand votes.
In 1886, he was nominated and elected Judge of
the Superior Court of Cook County. His services
as Judge were such as to commend him to the peo-
ple. Early in the year 1892, by the solicitation of
many friends, he announced himself as a candi-
date for Governor. At the convention held
April 27, he received the nomination and at once
entered upon an active canvass. Alone, he traveled
all over the entire State, and visited and consulted
with the leading politicians of every section. He
made few public speeches, however, until near the
close of the campaign, but it was very evident that
he was master of the situation at all times. When
the votes were counted at the close of election
day, it was found that he had a majority of the
votes, and so became the first Democratic Governor
of Illinois since 1856.
Born in poverty, alone, single-handed and un-
aided, he faced the world, and with a determina-
tion to succeed, he pressed forward, until to-day he
has a National reputation, and is the envied of
many. The lesson of his life is worthy of careful
study by the young, and shows what can be done
by one who has the desire in his heart to attain a
front rank among the noted men of the country.
Tazewell and
^fason Counties,
* ILLINOIS.
INTRODUCTORY
HE time has arrived when it
becomes the duty of the
people of this county to per-
petuate the names of their
pioneers, to furnish a record
of their early settlement,
and relate the story of their
progress. The civilization of our
f
! Xp and the duty that men of the pres-
! SJYIP ent t ' me owe to t' 16 ' 11 ancestors, to
themselves and to their posterity,
demand that a record of their lives
and deeds should be made. In bio-
graphical history is found a power
to instruct man by precedent, to
enliven the mental faculties, and
to waft down the river of time a
safe vessel in which the names and actions of the
people who contributed to raise this country from its
primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly
the great and aged men, who in their prime entered
the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their
heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re-
maining who can relate the incidents of the first days
}f settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an
actual necessity exists for the collection and preser-
vation of events without delay, before all the early
settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time.
To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind
from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough,
in spite of their best works and the most earnest
efforts of their friends to perserve the memory .of
their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion
and to perpetuate their memory has been in propor-
tion o the nmount of intelligence they possessed.
Tin pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the
names ;md deeds of their great rulers. The exhu-
mations made by the au'heologists of Egy[)t from
buried. Meirphis indicate a desire of those people
to perpetuate the memory of their achievements
The erection of the great obelisks were for the same
purpose. Coining down to a later period, we find tht
Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monu-
ments, and carving out statues to chronicle theii
great achievements and carry them down the ages.
It is also evident that the Mound-bu'lders, in piling
up their great mounds of earth, had but this idea
to leave something to show that they had lived. All
these works, though many ot them costly in the ex-
treme, give but a faint idea of the lives and charac-
ters of those whose memory they were intended to
perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of
the people that then lived. The great pyramids and
some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity ;
the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crum-
bling into dust.
It was left to modern ages to establish an intelli-
gent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating
a full history immutable in that it is almost un-
limited in extent and perpetual in its action ; and
this is through the art of printing.
To the present generation, however, we are in-
debted for the introduction of the admirable system
of local biography. By this system every mun, thongl
he has not achieved what the world calls greatness,
has the means to perpetuate his life, his histoiy,
through the coming ages.
The scythe of Time cuts down all ; nothing of the
physical man is left. The monument which Irs chil-
dren or friends may erect to his memory in the ceme,
tery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his
life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished,
which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated
by a record of this kind.
To preserve the lineaments of our companions we
engrave their portraits, for the same reason we col-
lect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we
think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to
wait until they are dead or until ihose who know
them are gone: -to do this we are aOi.uned only to
publish t) the woild the history of those whose live?
are unwc r thy of public record.
LiBRAKY
w INI
Of ILLINOIS
LYMAN LACEY.
mOGRAPtflCAL.
ON. LYMAN LACEY. In the course of
his active and honorable official career
Judge Lacey has become widely known as
one of the most eminent jurists of Illinois.
His record is that of an impartial, able and learned
judge, a fearless advocate, successful attorney and
progressive citizen, and since coming to Havana,
in 1856, his name has been inseparably associated
with many of the leading measures for the devel-
opment of the city. Since 1873 he has served as
Judge of the Circuit Court, and four years after
entering upon the duties of that office he was ap-
pointed Judge of the Appellate Court of the Third
District, which important position he still holds.
In Dryden Four Corners, Tompkins County, N.
Y., May 9, 1832, the subject of this sketch was
born to John and Chloe (Hurd) Lacey, natives re-
spectively of New Jersey and New York. The first
representative of the Lacey family in America
came from England prior to the Revolutionary
War and settled in New Jersey, where were born
many of his descendants. The great-grandfather
of our subject, Richard Lacey, was a farmer and
land owner in New Jersey, and during the Revolu-
tionary War was Captain of a company of minute
men organized to repel the British forces and pre-
vent them from stealing cattle and provisions
from the patriots.
The grandfather of our subject, who also bore
the name of Richard, served as the assistant of
Surgeon-General Shippen during the battle of
Monmouth, N. J., at which time there were seven
hundred men wounded and three hundred and
fifty killed. He was born in New Jersey, and was
one of eight brothers included in the large family
of his parents. When establishing a home of his
own, he married Miss Susannah Smith, a native of
New Jersey, and they became the parents of one
son and three daughters, all of whom are deceased.
The father of our subject, the last survivor of the
family, was born January 8, 1804, in Hunterdon
County, N. J., and died in Fulton County, 111.,
December 23, 1892, aged eighty-eight years, ten
months and twenty-six days.
John Lacey was six years of age when he accom-
panied his parents on their removal to Tompkins
County, N. Y.. and there he passed his boyhood
days. He was trained to habits of industry and
perseverance, and his father being a farmer, he
naturally chose agriculture for his life occupation.
His education was limited to the common schools
of that early day, but being fond of reading good
books, he kept himself well posted alike upon lit-
erary and general subjects. Like the majority of
self-made men, he met with marked success in all
his undertakings, and ranked among the most
prominent agriculturists of his county. He also
owned the celebrated mineral springs of Tompkins
County, N. Y.
The parents of our subject were married in New
York in 1831, and to them were born nine chil-
dren, of whom our subject was the eldest. When
he was about four years of age, the family removed
to Oakland County, Mich., where they made their
home for a year and a-half. In the fall of 1837
they came to Fulton County, III., where the father
both entered and purchased land, becoming the
owner of a large and valuable estate. He was
very successful as a farmer in the Prairie State,
and at the time of his decease was the possessor of
fifteen hundred acres.
During his residence in Fulton County, John
Lace}' served two 3'ears as Supervisor of Pleasant
Township. For the same length of time he was
204
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Assessor, and also filled the office of Justice of
the Peace for several years. He took great inter-
est in political affairs, and was a firm believer v in
the principles of Democracy. .January 15, 1879,
he was bereaved by the death of his wife, who for
about forty-eight years had been his efficient help-
mate, aiding him in their struggles through life
and enjoying with him their successes. She was a
woman of well balanced mind, and was beloved
by all who kn^w her.
At the time our subject's parents settled in Ful-
ton County, their nearest neighbor was five miles
away. In his boyhood the Judge would often
circulate petitions in order to get the people to
contribute toward hiring a teacher for the winter
monlhs. His desire for knowledge has never
grown less', and even at the present time, in the
midst of the manifold cares of public life, he keeps
himself well informed upon events transpiring in
the world about him. He remained at home until
reaching his twentieth .year, when, in the fall of
1852, he entered the Illinois College at Jackson-
ville, 111., and was graduated from that institu-
tion with the Class of '55, receiving the degree of
Bachelor of Science. Since that time he has been
honored by his Alma Mater with the title of Mas-
ter of Arts.
After completing his studies in college, Mr. La-
cey devoted himself to reading law in the office of
Hon. Lewis W. Ross, of Lewistown, this state, and
was there admitted to the Bar in 1856. In the fall
of the same year he came to Havana, where he
formed a partnership with William Walker, at that
time the most prominent lawyer in the place, and
now a resident of Lexington, Mo. The firm con-
ducted business under the title of Walker & Lacey
for two years, when the partnership was dissolved
by mutual agreement. Our subject then continued
the practice of his profession alone fora time, and
in 1865 took Charles A. Harnden into the office
with him, the firm name becoming Lacey & Harn-
den. This partnership lasted for three .years, and
would have continued much longer had not the
failing health of the junior partner rendered it
inadvisable for him to continue longer in active
practice. Subsequently Mr. Lacey was in partner-
ship with E. A. Wallace, which connection existed
until our subject was chosen a member of the
judiciary.
Elected to the Circuit Bench January 2, 1873,
Judge Lacey has since been the incumbent of the
office, having been successively re-elected for four
terms of six years each. In 1877 he was appointed
by the Supreme Court to the position of Judge of
the Appellate Court of the Third District, which
office he filled very soon after the establishment of
that court. The first term of the Appellate Court
was held at Springfield the third Monday in No-
vember, 1877, and Judge Lacey remained on the
Bench during that term in company with his asso-
ciates, Oliver L. Davis, of Danville, and Hon.
Chauncey L. Higby, of Pittsfield. He also served
as Judge during the May and November terms of
1878, and in June, 1879, when a re-election of Cir-
cuit Judge took place, he was appointed by the
Supreme Court to the Appellate Bench of the Sec-
ond District, his associates during that year being
George W. Pleasants, of Rock Island County, and
Nathaniel J. Pilsbury, of Pontiac. He has served
in this position each successive year since his first
appointment to the present time, and has remained
on the Bench for a longer period than any other
judge.
Under the constitution the Appellate Judges are
required to perform the duties of their office for
the same compensation as though they were only
Judges of the Circuit Court, and the sole advan-
tage over the latter position is that it is a much
more honorable appointment, and the duties of
that court are similar to the Supreme Court. In
1885 the Appellate Judges were not compelled to
file opinions in any except reversed cases, but
since that time written opinions are required by
an amended statute to be filed in all cases. There
are now forty-nine volumes of Appellate Court re-
ports published, in nearly all of which will be
found the opinions of Judge Lacey.
In 1862 our subject was elected to the Lower
House of the State Legislature, representing the
counties of Mason and Menard. At that time the
House was composed on the Democratic side of
many young lawyers who have since become noted
in the field of law and politics. Of these were
Judge M. W. Fuller, now Chief Justice of the
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
205
United States; Judge Burr, who was several times
elected to Congress, afterward to the Circuit
Bench, and died in office; and Judge Congor, who
for many years was Circuit and Appellate Judge.
Recognizing his practical knowledge of agriculture,
the Supervisors of Mason County appointed Judge
Lacey Drainage Commissioner, and under his di-
rection were constructed over forty miles of drain
in that county for the benefit of the drainage of
the wet lands. Mr. Lacey owns several farms in
Mason and Fulton Counties, the improvements of
which he personally superintends.
Prior to his election to the Bench, the Judge was
one of the prime movers in securing the charter
for the Havana, Mason City, Lincoln & Eastern
Railroad Com pan 3% and was one of the charter
members and incorporators in procuring the build-
ing of over one hundred miles of railroad under
that charter. He drew up all the petitions for
subscriptions from Mason County and the various
townships through which the road runs, writing the
notices for election, and canvassing the county
and township for votes in order to get the project
before the people. Afterward the Board of Direc-
tors of the Railroad Company appointed him one of
the committee to receive contracts for the building
of the road, and in their interest he made several
journeys to New York and Philadelphia in order to
place the contract. He also canvassed in and
through Fulton, Schuyler, McDonough and Han-
cock Counties for subscriptions toward the build-
ing of the Havana, Mason City, Lincoln & Eastern
Railroad, and it was largely through his efforts
that the people were prevailed upon to vote a sub-
scription ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 in the
various townships. Unfortunately, however, the
panic of 1873 prevented the road from being ex-
tended west from Havana to the Mississippi, which
otherwise would have been done the next 3'ear.
Judge Lacey was Director of the Springfield &
North-western Railway Company, and took an
active part in securing the building of the road
from Havana to Springfield, which has been in
operation since 1873. He likewise procured the pass-
age through the Legislature of the charter of the
Illinois River Bridge Company, of Havana, and
largely aided in procuring the subscription of
about 160,000, which was generously donated by
the citizens of Havana, his personal contribution
being $500.
On one occasion, when quite a young man,
Judge Lacey- was a candidate for Congress on the
Democratic ticket, in a strongly Democratic dis-
trict, but failed to get the nomination, for which
he has always been exceedingly thankful. Since
his election to the Bench he has devoted his ener-
gies to the proper fulfillment of the duties of that
office, and has neither time nor opportunity to en-
gage in public enterprises, although he is greatly
interested in all measures tending toward the ad-
vancement of the county.
While engaged in the practice of law, Judge
Lacey had the largest clientage in the county,
and during many sessions of the court had more
cases on the docket than all the other lawyers com-
bined. The good health he has always enjoyed
is largely due to the fact that by farm work in
youth he developed an excellent physique and a
robust constitution. After leaving college he de-
voted himself perseveringly to the task of learn-
ing the German language, and soon mastered the
tongue sufficiently to be able to read German al-
most as readily as English. He has read the works
of a large number of the great German writers in
history, poetry, romance and science.
May 9, 1860, Judge Lyman Lacey and Miss Caro-
line A. Potter, of Beardstown, this state, were
united in marriage. The lady survived her union
only three years, and at her death, September 12,
1863, left one son, Lyman, Jr., now a prominent
attorney-at-law in Havana. The Judge was again
married, May 19, 1865, his wife being Miss Mattie
A. Warner, of this city. To them were born seven
children: Charles, Frank, Mattie, Edward, Alice G.
John and Fannie F., the last two dying in infancy.
Mrs. Lacey is a lady of culture, very popular
among her associates, and is prominent in the so-
cial affairs of the city.
P. KROLL, Superintendent and
yeast maker of the American Distilling
Company, was born in this city September
2, 1859, while his father, Jacob Kroll, is a native
of Germany. The latter is a miller by trade, and
206
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
coming to America when a single man, located in
this city and engaged in milling, which business
he is still carrying on, at the age of sixty-two
years. His wife was Miss Margaret Kiel prior to
her marriage, and was also born in German}'.
Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob
Kroll, our subject is the eldest but one. He at-
tended the public schools of Pekin until reaching
his fifteenth year, when he began work in the Ris-
inger Distillery. Later he found employment in
the Hamburg Distillery, where he was yeast maker,
and continued to hold that position until 1890,
when the company was compelled to close out its
business. Our subject then accepted the same posi-
tion with the American Distilling Company, in^
winch he is a stockholder. It was organized in the
spring of 1892, since which time Mr. Kroll has
been its Superintendent, and has the entire over-
sight of the establishment.
George P. Kroll and Miss Frances A. Leach were
united in marriage in this city in 1888. The lady
was born here, and is the daughter of Anson and
Amanda M. Leach, early residents of this locality.
In social affairs our subject is a charter member of
the Modern Woodmen of America, and takes a
prominent part in all matters calculated to benefit
the city. lie is one of the wide-awake business
men, and has the high regard of all with whom he
has been brought in contact.
I.
H--M-************
EH. HURLEY. The gentleman whose name
we place at the head of this sketch is the
efficient agent for the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railroad Company, stationed at Pekin.
lie is a native of Iowa, having been born in Van
Buren County, November 11, 1847, and is the son
of Dr. John Hurley, who is a native of Champaign
County, Ohio.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, David
Hurley, was born in New Jerse}'. Early in life he
removed to Ohio, where he was engaged in farm-
ing. Later he removed to Louisa County, Iowa,
where he was also an agriculturist, and where he
remained until his death. Dr. John Hurley com-
pleted his medical studies in the Medical College
at Cincinnati, Ohio, and removing to Iowa, was en-
gaged in practice in Louisa County. He was one
of the pioneer phj'sicians, and his services were in
demand throughout Van Buren, Davis and Louisa
Counties. During the late war he was surgeon of
the Forty-fifth Iowa Infantry, and departed this
life in the last-named county.
Mrs. Jane (Hearn) Hurley, the mother of our
subject, was born in Salisbury, Md., and was the
daughter of Ebenezer Hearn, also a native of that
state, whence he later removed to Iowa and en-
gaged in farming in Van Buren County. To Dr.
and Mrs. Jane Hurley was born a family of four
sons and one daughter, namely: A. E., who is .
a civil engineer in Iowa; E. H., of this sketch;
David, who is foreman in the car shops of the Santa
Fe Road at Albuquerque, N. Mex.; J. E., Assistant
Superintendent of the Chicago Division of the
Santa Fe, located at Ft. Madison, Iowa, and Jose-
phine, now Mrs. C. E. Toole, of Davis County, Iowa.
E. H., of this sketch, received his primary educa-
tion in the common schools of Wapello, Louisa
County, Iowa, and later attended first the Ml.
Pleasant and afterward the Wesleyan Methodist
Episcopal College. When eighteen years of age
he began the study of civil engineering, and soon
began operations in the field for the Burlington,
Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway Compan}', and
later was in the employ of the Chicago, Bur-
lington & Quincy Railroad in some four or five
different states. la 1880 Mr. Hurley went to Mex-
ico, and in the city of that name acted as assistant
engineer, having in charge a party of workmen in
the field. Three years later he returned north,
and going to Kansas City, Mo., began railroad con-
tracting and building on his own account. He was
thus employed for about eight years, during which
time he was on the road all the time, superintend-
ing his workmen. His operations covered a large
territory, and included the states of Arkansas,
Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Wis-
consin and Illinois. In 1891 Mr. Hurley came to
Pekin, and in March of that year was appointed to
the position of assistant agent in the freight de-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
207
partment of the Santa Fe route. In August, 1893,
he was made agent of the company, which posi-
tion he is still occupying, giving entire satisfac-
tion to his employers.
jILLIAM BLAND. The original of this
sketch, to which our attention is now di-
rected, is a prominent business man who
has already made a name for himself among the
railroad men of the cit}' of Pekin. He is one of
the best informed freight men along the lines of
the Big Four Road, which he represents as agent,
and is highly respected and regarded as a man of
sound judgment.
A native of Ohio, our subject was born in Mil-
ford Centre, Union County, November 10, 1852,
and is the son of Peter Bland, also a native of that
place, while his father, Solomon Bland, came from
Virginia. During the late war Peter Bland served
in an Ohio regiment, and on the close of hostili-
ties returned to his farming pursuits, which he
carried on until his decease, in 1870. He was a
Republican in politics, and was regarded as a man
of true worth in his community. The lady to
whom he was married was Miss Eliza Reed; she
was also a native of the Buckej'e State, where her
decease occurred in 1861. She became the mother
of seven children, of whom William, our subject,
was the third in order of birth. He passed the
first seventeen years of his life on his father's
farm, in the meantime prosecuting his studies,
first in the district school, and later at Marysville.
When ready to earn his own livelihood, he learned
the art of telegraphy at Milford, on the Pan
Handle Road, and nine months later removed to
Indianapolis, where he secured a position as opera-
tor on the Big Four. After holding that position
for some time, he was transferred to the freight
department as clerk, and for three years there-
after was Chief Clerk.
In 1884 Mr. Bland came to Pekin as agent for
the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western, which
road in 18!)0 was changed to the Cleveland, Cin-
cinnati, Chicago & St. Louis. He has since been
in their employ as passenger and freight agent,
which position he is filling with distinguished
ability. He is a man of unassuming manner, hon-
est in all his dealings with his follow-men, and
possesses the confidence of his employers.
In 1884 while residing in Indianapolis, our sub-
ject was married to Miss Lillie Campbell. She
departed this life two years later, and January 16,
1890, Mr. Bland chose for his second companion
Miss Gertie, daughter of A. Pautz. Their union
has been blessed by the birth of a son and daugh-
ter, Willis and Mabel. Socially, our subject is a
charter member of the Ancient Order of United
Workmen, and is likewise connected with the
National Union. In politics he has always sup-
ported the Republican party, and is recognized as
one of the prominent and valued residents of the
city.
]JE W. CRESS, widely known as one
of the largest importers of thoroughbred
horses in Tazewell County, and numbered
among the successful citizens of Washington, was
born in Woodford County, 111., April 5, 1846. His
father, Andrew Cress, was the son of a soldier in
the War of 1812, and was born in Virginia Au-
gust 7, 1809. Thence in 1833 he came to Wood-
ford County, 111., and in the year following was
united in marriage with Miss Mary Kindig. also a
native of the Old Dominion.
Becoming the owner of large tracts of land in
Woodford County, Andrew Cress engaged in
stock-raising and amassed a large fortune. He
was one of the most generous, cordial, kind-
hearted and refined gentlemen to be found in Illi-
nois, and the success which he attained was the re-
sult of merit. His death was sudden and the re-
sult of an accident, he having been thrown from a
sleigh and run over by a team which was trying
to pass him. His loss was deeply mourned by all
who knew him, for his many noble qualities of
character won him the esteem of his large circle of
acquaintances.
Of five sons, two are older than the subject of
this sketch. Benjamin K., a resident of Wood-
208
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ford County, is extensively engaged in stock-
raising. P. M. is engaged in the stock importing
business. A. J., who formerly imported stock, is
now living retired on his farm one and one-half
miles from Washington. C. P. has also retired
from the importing business; he now makes his
home in Washington and is engaged in the grocery
business. The five sons were educated in the local
schools and in youth were thoroughly trained in
the stock business, which they chose for their life
occupation.
In 1881, at the age of twent3'-two years, the
subject of this sketch settled on a farm near Wash-
ington and with one of his brothers engaged in
the stock importing business. Scon the firm of
Cress Bros, became known as the largest importers
in this part of the state. After some time the3'
dissolved partnership and our subject entered into
business alone. He was the first to import Shet-
land ponies into this section. His large stables
are situated in Washington near his elegant resi-
dence.
In the public affairs of the cit3' and county, Mr.
Cress has filled many positions of trust and re-
sponsibility. For twelve years he was a member
of the Board of Education. For three terms in suc-
cession he served as Alderman, but before the ex-
piration of the third term he was elected Mayor.
In that responsible position he served with credit
to himself and to the satisfaction of his constitu-
ents. Socially, he is a Knight Templar Mason
and is the present Master of Taylor Lodge of
Washington. In the Eastern Star he is a promi-
nent member, being Worthy Patron of that order,
and is now Past Chancellor of the Knights of
Pythias. With his family he holds membership in
the Christian Church.
February 20, 1868, Mr. Cress was united in mar-
riage with Miss Celia A. Thompson, a native of
Ohio. Her parents, William P. and Mary (Kizer)
Thompson, were born respectively in Pennsylva-
nia and Virginia, and came to Illinois in 1850.
The mother is now deceased; the father resides in
Washington. The only brother of Mrs. Cress,
Elijah M. Thompson, is a prominent farmer living
in Hancock County, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Cress have
had five children, one of whom, a son, died in in-
fancy. Oriana is the wife of James C. Crane, of St.
Louis; Laura I., Maona and Clyde L. are at home
with their parents. The children are refined and
well educated, the eldest daughter having been a
student at the Normal School at Normal, and for
three years prior to her marriage engaged in
teaching; the other daughters are graduates of the
high school.
ENRY DUISDIEKER. The genial and popu-
lar proprietor of the Deimonico Restaurant
in Pekin is agent for theFleischmann Com-
pressed Yeast Company. He was born in
Leer, Ostfriesland, Germany, July 17, 1848, and is
the son of Christ Duisdieker, also a native of that
country, where he was a prominent railroad con-
tractor, and died while completing work at Ilons-
dorf in Lauenburg. His wife, Mrs. Wilhelmina
(I)umpelman) Duisdieker, was born in Schwelm,
Prussia, whence she later removed to Hanover
with her parents, and is still living in that place.
Our subject has one brother living, Edward, who
occupies a position in the State Bank of Hanover.
The former was given a good education in his na-
tive tongue, and when fourteen years of age was
confirmed in the Lutheran Church in Leer. Go-
ing to Hanover, he learned the trade of a gardener
in the King's garden, after which he was for two
years employed at Graf, Schwiechel. He then se-
cured a better position at Lammershagen, near
Kiel, Holstein, where he remained until drafted
into the army. A soldier's life not being exactly
suited to his tastes, he went to England and from
there came to America.
The first work secured by Mr. Duisdieker in this
country was as gardener in Brooklyn, N. Y., but
after a short sojourn there he came west to Chi-
cago, and from there proceeded to Morns, III.,
where he was employed as gardener for a year.
At the end of that time- he went to St. Louis and
was employed as clerk for different firms until
1881, when he returned to Germany on a visit.
Mr. Duisdieker remained in his native land for
nine months, and while at home was told that he
had relatives living in Pekin, this state. In the
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
209
fall of that year lie again came to the New World,
this time his destination being Pekin, and the fol-
lowing year lie bought out the New City Bak-
ery, which he operated with great success for two
years, and then changed the name to the Delmonieo
Restaurant. It is first-class in every respect, and
its proprietor takes great pride in keeping it one
of the best in the city.
In the year 1883 Miss Augustus Kucken became
the wife of our subject. She was born in Dayton,
Ohio, and was the daughter of William Kucken.
Mrs. Duisdieker was drowned in the"Frankie Fol-
som" wreck at Peoria, in July, 1892. The body
was recovered and buried in Daylon, Ohio. She
was a member of Rebecca Degree, I. (). O. F., of
Pekin. In social affairs our subject is a Royal
Arch Mason, an Odd Fellow and a United Work-
man. In religious affairs he belongs to the Luth-
eran Church, and in politics always casts a Repub-
lican vote. He ranks as a noticeable illustration
of that indomitable push and energy which char-
acterize men of will and determination, and is
looked upon by the business men of Pekin as one
worth}- of the front rank.
|EORGE E. BARNES, who carries on general
on section 30, Forest City Town-
i a native of the Old Granite State,
his birth having occurred in Lineboro, on the
5th of September, 1832. The family was founded
in America by three brothers who crossed the At-
lantic from England, one settling in the south, one
in Pennsylvania, and one in New England. The
last was the ancestor of our subject. The grand-
parents, William and Abigail Barnes, were both na-
tives of New Hampshire, and the father, Nathan
Barnes, was born in Ilillsboro County, N. II. He
married Sarah E. Evans, a native of the Granite
State. Her parents, however, were born, reared
and married in Massachusetts.
Nathan Barnes removed from Lineboro to Green-
field, N. II., where he followed farming with his
father until 1851, when he became a resident of
Bunker Hill, III. His death occurred in 1871, but
his widow still survives him. Both belonged to
the Baptist Church, in which Mr. Barnes long
served as Deacon. He was also much interested
in the cause of education, and lived an honorable,
upright life, which made his word as good as his
bond. In the family were ten children, seven of
whom are yet living, and three of the sons served
in the Civil War: Asaph, who is now living in Ma-
coupin County; Almun, of Mason County; and
Joseph, of Sumner County, Kan.
Mr. Barnes of this- sketch was reared and edu-
cated in Greenfield, N. II., and with his father came
to Illinois, lie began earning his own livelihood
on attaining his majority, but lived at home until
twenty-three years of age. On the 7th of Novem-
ber, 1854, he wedded Clarissa II. Hovey, daughter
of Peres Gilbert Ilovey, who was born September
25, 1795. His father, Gideon Ilovey, was a son of
Daniel mid Content (Ramsdell) Hovey, and was a
Lieutenant of Captain Town's Cam]) at Lexing-
ton. His death occurred in 1776. He was a son
of Daniel and Mchitable (Bridges) Hovey, and
Daniel's parents were Daniel and Mercy Hovey.
The father was born June 22, 1665, and in 1722
bought a farm on Long Hill, where he and his de-
scendants lived for more than a hundred years.
He was a carpenter by trade, and died March 7,
1742. His wife died March 30, 1743. The mother
of Mrs. Barnes, Clarisa (Packard) Hovey, was born
Decemter 2, 1803, and was a daughter of Mayo
Packard, of Oxford, Mass. He was born Septem-
ber 25, 1795.
The parents of Mrs. Barnes were married Decem-
ber 4, 1821, and to them were born the following
children: Daniel W., Gideon, Mrs. Mary G. Lan-
caster, Clarissa H., James II., Mrs. Eliza J. Ness,
Mrs. Olive J. Wilson and Mrs. Sarah II. Manley.
Mrs. Barnes was born September 3, 1835, and was
educated in Bunker Hill. Seven children graced
the union of our subject and his wife, four yet
living: Alice, who is the wife of Walter Lancaster,
of Nebraska, and has two children; Edward J. t
who married Nellie Allen, and has one child; Nel-
lie, wife of John Evans, of Forest City Township,
by whom she has two children; and Leona, at
home. Two of the family died in infancy, and
George P. died at the age of thirty-two.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes came to Mason County
210
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
thirty-seven years ago and settled upon the farm
which is still their home. It wasswampy land, but
our subject drained it and transformed it into a fine
farm. It comprises one hundred and sixty-nine
and a-half acres, and is improved with all modern
conveniences and accessories. He successfully car-
ries on general farming, and reaps therefrom a
good income. In politics he is a Republican, and
for more than twelve years he has served as School
Director. Both he and his 'wife are members of
the Baptist Church, and are highly respected peo-
ple, who have many warm friends in the commu-
nity.
JLLIAM J. CONZELMAN, a popular
younar business man of Pekin, and well
J n
known as aft expert accountant, is head
bookkeeper for the Globe Distilling Company.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., May 20, 1865, he is the son
of Dr. John Conzelman, a native of Stuttgart,
Wurtemberg, Germany, and a graduate of a medi-
cal college at that place. When a young man he
crossed the Atlantic and opened an office in St.
Louis, where for forty consecutive years he con-
ducted a large and lucrative professional practice.
During the late war he served for two years as sur-
geon in a Missouri regiment and aided the Union
cause to the full extent of his ability, being a man
of loyal spirit, who ever displayed the utmost de-
votion to his adopted home.
A man of great benevolence and kindly spirit,
Dr. Conzelman often responded to calls from the
destitute, although there could be no hope for re-
muneration. He was as careful in the treatment
of his patients among the poor as among the rich,
and in his efforts to aid them in regaining health
was self-sacrificing to the extreme. When he died,
in 1888, at the age of sixty-four years, the poor
and needy mourned his loss as much as did the
wealthy and prosperous. A Republican in polit-
ical views, he was a prominent; member of that
party, and was active in its councils.
As School Director, Dr. Conzelman deserves
special mention. He was one of the founders of
the public school library in St. Louis, and was also
the prime factor in securing the introduction of
the German language in the St. Louis schools. To
this day the impetus given the schools of that city
by his tireless efforts is resulting in great good to
the cause of education there. Himself a man of
broad education, he appreciated its value and was
desirous of giving the children of his city the best
opportunities possible. He was a fluent linguist,
and was able to converse in eleven different lan-
guages. While a resident of Germany the degrees
of A. B., A. M. and M. D. were conferred upon
him.
In Hermann, Mo., occurred the marriage of Dr.
Conzelman and Miss Louisa Graf. The latter was
born in Switzerland, and at the age of ten years
accompanied her father, Jacob Graf, to the United
States, where he engaged in farming near Her-
mann, Mo. She is still living and makes her home
in the West End, St. Louis. Her family numbered
ten children, and nine of the number are now liv-
ing. Of these the fifth in order of birth is Will-
iam J. He was educated in the public and high
schools of St. Louis, and in 1882 was graduated
from Central High School in the classical course.
Entering upon a business career, Mr. Conzelman
became an employe of the Simmons Hardware
Company, with whom he remained for seven years,
being salesman and bookkeeper. In 1889 he ac-
cepted a position as salesman for E. II. Lindley,
but two years later entered the real-estate business
in St. Louis, continuing thus engaged for two
years. In April, 1892, he came to Pekin, and was
with the Star &. Crescent Company until the Globe
Distilling Company was formed, when he entered
the employ of the latter firm and has since been
head bookkeeper.
October, 21, 1891, at Pekin, Mr. Conzelman was
united in marriage with Miss Bertha, daughter of
John and Ernestine Herget, prominent residents
of this city. Mrs. Conzelman was born and edu-
cated in Pekin and is a highly accomplished lady,
possessing refined tastes and superior culture. In
her beautiful home often gather for social inter-
course the friends whom she and her husband have
drawn around them by their genial natures and
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
211
kindly hospitality. They stand high in social cir-
cles and are active in religious work as members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Polit-
ically, he gives his support to the Republican
party and the principles for which it stands.
eHRISTIAN HELLEMANN, JB., owns and
operates a good farm of one hundred and
thirty acres on section 26, Elm Grove
Township, Tazewell County, and is regarded as
one of the wide-awake and enterprising young
men of the community. His land is under a high
state of cultivation, and the neat and thrifty ap-
pearance of the place indicates the careful super-
vision of the owner. The farm is also improved with
a good residence, barns and other outbuildings,
which add to its value and attractive appearance.
Mr. Helleruann was born in Tremont December
17, 1860, and is one of six children whose parents
were Christian and Dorothy (Stamme) Hellemann.
The father was born in Brunswick, Germany, No-
vember 13, 1831, and landed in this country on
his twenty-second birthday. He located in St.
Louis, where he lived for a year, and then spent
two years in farm work. In the spring of 1857
he came to Illinois and entered the employ of Col.
Peter Mcnard, of Elm Grove Township. He was
married September 18, 1859, to Miss Stamme, a 1
native of Hanover, Germany, who crossed the
Atlantic in 1857. They began their domestic life
upon a farm, and since 1869 have resided upon
the farm which is yet their home. The six chil-
dren of the family are: Julia, wife of Charles
Giffhorn, of Columbia, 111.; Mary, wife of John
Paupenhausen; Frederick, at home; Matilda, wife
Fred Becker, of Tremont; Anna, at home; and
Christian, .of this sketch.
Our subject has spent his entire life in Taze-
well County and is one of its well known citizens.
He was educated in the common schools, and at
the age of twenty-two he started out in life for
himself, giving his attention to the pursuit to
which he was reared. He has made it his life woVk.
On the 21st of June, 1887, he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Jeanette McLean, daughter of
Franklin J.and Mary J. (Sample) McLean. She
was born in Elm Grove Township, as was her fa-
ther, and is one of five children, three of whom
are now deceased. Her sister Mary J. now resides
with Mrs. Hellemann. Mabel died in February,
1886. Annie Laura and Annie Belle both died in
infancy. Our subject and his wife have three sons,
Frank McLean, Charles Frederick and John Chris-
tian.
In 1891 Mr. Hellemann was elected Township
Clerk of Elm Grove Township and has since been
twice elected to that office, which he now fills with
credit to himself and satisfaction to his constitu-
ents. He was also Township Collector in 1885
and 1886, and in the spring of 1894 he was elected
Supervisor of the township. His right of franchise
is exercised in support of the Democracy. In the
county where his entire life has been passed he is
widely known and enjoys the confidence and good
will of all.
AMUEL G. EYRSE, Vicc-President of the
State Bank of San Jose, and a prominent
citizen of this village, is the son of Henry
and Margaret (Gillespie) Eyrse, natives of
Virginia. In the Old Dominion he was born June
3, 1830, and is one of a family of seven chil-
dren. Only three now survive: himself; John 11.,
of Peoria, 111.; and Mrs. Mary E. Gay, of Pekin,
111. The mother of this family died in Virginia in
1835. The father came to Illinois in 1856 and
died in Pekin two years afterward. He and his
good wife were devoted members of the Presbyte-
rian Church.
At the age of nine years our subject, on account
of his mother's death, was compelled to go among
strangers, and few advantages fell to his lot in
childhood, for his hours were passed in dreary and
unceasing toil. After having assisted in farm
work until a lad of fifteen, he then commenced to
learn the trade of a carpenter, which he followed
for four years in Virginia. In 1849 he went to
Ohio and sojourned a short time in Cincinnati,
from which place he went to Lafayette, I nd. In
212
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1850 he came toPekin, III., where the ensuing four
years were spent. The year 1854 witnessed his
arrival in Mason County, where he settled in
Allen's Grove Township, and worked at his trade
here for two years.
In connection with his brother, our subject in
1851. entered one hundred and sixty acres in Taze-
well County, but three years later he disposed of his
interest in the property and purchased one hun-
dred and sixty acres in Allen's Grove Township,
Mason County. He has since engaged in farming,
and buys and ships grain in large amounts. As he
has prospered he has added to his first purchase
until he now owns four hundred and three acres.
In 1892, when the State Bank of San Jose was es-
tablished, he was one of the Directors and stock-
holders, and in 1894 was chosen V ice-President,
which honored position he is now filling. The
bank was opened with a capital stock of $25,000
and does business in a substantial brick structure,
the second floor of which is utilized as an opera
house.
In the Old Dominion occurred the marriage of
Mr. Kyrse and Miss Mary .1. Cross, their wedding
being solemnized March 6, 1856. This lady is a
daughter of Thomas and Mary (Cross) Cross, na-
tives of Virginia, where her birth occurred Janu-
aiy 22, 1835. She is one of two children, the
other, Thomas II., being now a resident of Chero-
kee County, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Eyrse are the
parents of seven children, of whom the following
survive: Martha E.; Marietta, the wife of Henry
Connett, of Mason County; Henry T., who married
Clara Patterson and lives in this county; Charles
S., James H. and John L., who reside with their
parents. George W. is deceased. The children
were given excellent educational privileges and
received such home training as will make them
honored citizens. Mrs. Eyrse is identified with
the Methodist Episcopal Church at San Jose.
In politics a Democrat, Mr. Eyrse has filled a
number of local offices, but is not solicitous for
office, preferring to devote his energies to business
interests. Beginning in life poor, without friends,
compelled to spend his childhood days among
strangers, his life affords an illustration of what
industry and good management will accomplish.
He has succeeded beyond the cherished dreams of
youth and has gained not only material prosperity,
but also the confidence of his associates and the
esteem of all who know him.
DAM KUMPF, a successful business man
of Pekin,und the present Alderman of the
// (i First Ward, was born in Waterloo, Mon-
roe County, 1 11., July 17, 1852. He is the
son of Michael Kumpf, a native of German}' and
a wagon-maker by trade, who in early manhood
crossed the Atlantic and proceeded direct to Illi-
nois, where he engaged in work at his trade and
carried on a wagon shop. The year 1868 wit-
nessed his arrival in Tazewell County from his
former home in Waterloo, and settling in Pekin,
he followed his chosen occupation until his death
which occurred in this city in 1883. His widow,
now a resident of Pekin, was born in Germany
and bore the maiden name of Catherine Stetzer.
In the family of Michael and Catherine Kumpf
there were six sons and two daughters, of whom
Adam is the eldest. In the public schools of Water-
loo he gained a practical education and at the age
of fourteen commenced to work at the trade of a
wagon-maker, following that occupation for seven
years. When the family came to Pekin in 1868
he accompanied them hither and secured employ-
ment in the wood department of the Smith it
Weyrich Header Works. After one year spent in
that way he entered the restaurant and saloon
business, for a time remaining in the employ of
others, and in 1878 embarking in that enterprise
for himself. Since that year he has followed that
business with such success that he has gained an
enviable reputation in his chosen line and has also
secured flattering pecuniary results.
Having invested his earnings with good judg-
ment, Mr. Kumpf is now the owner of a commo-
dious and attractive new residence on St. Mary's
Street, in addition to three substantial houses in
this city. His home is presided over by his amia-
ble wife, with whom he was united at Pekin in
1877. In maidenhood she was known as Chris-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
213
tina Nagel. A native of Germany, she was brought
to the United States in childhood, and was reared
to womanhood in Pekin. Three children have
blessed the union, Annie, Emma and Louis Adam.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Kumpf is prominent
in the ranks of his chosen party, and since the
spring of 1893 lias served as Alderman of the First
Ward. In the City Council he has rendered ac-
ceptable service as member and Chairman of va-
rious committees. Socially he is connected with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has
represented the lodge in the Grand Lodge. He is
also identified with the encampment. The Knights
and Ladies of Honor have in him one of their in-
fluential members, and he is also prominently
connected with the Masonic fraternity and the
Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was
commissioned Sergeant of the Fourth Regiment
and has been active in the various fraternal or-
ganizations of the city.
S****** *+**+!+
HI LIP MARQUARDT. The life of this
gentleman shows in a striking manner
what can be accomplished by persistence
and diligence, ' coupled with excellent
judgment and honesty. From the position of a
poor boy lie has arisen to an honorable rank as a
business man and progressive citizen, and to-day
Pekin has no resident more highly esteemed than
is he. A member of the firm of Marquardt & Lam-
pitt, he does an extensive business as a contractor
in brick and stone work.
In Sandbach, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, the
subject of this biographical sketch was born July
16, 1845. His father, Philip, and his grandfather,
Philip, were born in the same city as was he, and
both were expert stone cutters. The father died
at the age of thirty-two years, in 1852, his death
being caused by the accidental falling of a stone
upon him. The mother, Elizabeth, was a daughter
of Philip Marquardt, who though bearing the same
name was not related to the other family. He was
a farmer and served in the war of 1813-15. Mrs.
Elizabeth Marquardt passed away at the age of
forty-two years.
In the parental family there were six children,
but only two are now living, our subject and Adam,
the latter being a farmer at North Falls, Stanton
County, Neb. The former, who was third in order
of birth, was reared in his native land, and under
the tutelage of his mother's second husband, John
Marquardt, learned the trade of a stone mason.
From the age of thirteen he worked at his trade
in Sandbach and Frankfort-on-the-Main. In the
spring of 1864, he took passage on a steamer, and
without delay or any event of importance made
the journey from Bremen to New York.
Proceeding directly west to Pekin, Mr. Marquardl
worked at his trade for a time. In 1870 ho em-
barked in business as a contractor for stone and
brick work, and later was for a time with the firm
of Snyder, Jansen <fe Co. In 1892 he formed a
partnership with Ed F. Lampitt, and the firm of
Marquardt & Lampitt has since carried on a flour-
ishing and profitable business. In 1893 he erected
the brick water tower at Morton, which is seventy
feet high, and also helped to build the stone tower
in Pekin. Some of the finest and most substantial
brick buildings of Pekin stand as monuments to
the ability and efficient work done by Mr. Mar-
quardt, and he also built the abutments for several
bridges on the Mackinaw River. For six months
he was employed at Carbondale, Osage County,
Kan., where he erected three residences for fann-
ers formerly residents of Pekin.
In the German-American Building and Loan
Association Mr. Marquardt is a Director, and is
also a member of the Mutual Loan and Homestead
Association. His residence at the corner of Sec-
ond and Catherine Streets is presided over by his
estimable wife, whom he married at Pekin in 1867.
She was born in Germany and bore the maiden
name of Catherine Hofmann. They were the par-
ents of twelve children, six of whom are now liv-
ing, namely: Mary and Carl (twins), Louis, Philip,
George and Leonard. The three eldest sons are
brick-masons by trade and are engaged in that oc-
cupation in Pekin.
Socially, Mr. Marquardt is identified with the
214
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is
Past Grand. He is also an officer in the Order of
Druids, and is connected with the Mutual Aid of
Illinois. Politically, he gives his support to the
principles of the Republican party.
DAM SAAL. The industrial interests of
Pekin are ably represented by the subject
of this sketch, who is a successful con-
tractor and plasterer, to which trades he
adds that of manufacturing cement, concrete and
artificial stone pavements. He is a native of Ger-
many, his birth occurring in Hesse-Darmstadt,
February 9, 1850.
Grandfather Saal was a weaver of fancy goods
in Germany, as was also the father of our subject,
who bore the name of Henry. The latter came to
America with his family, which consisted of his
wife and five children, the trip being made across
the Atlantic in 1857. He at once located in this
ciiy, where his death occurred in June, 1893. His
wife, Mrs. Margaret (Vogel) Saal, is also a native of
the Fatherland, and is the daughter of George
Vogel, who was a fanner. She is still living in
this city, having reached the age of three-score
years and ten. The brother and sisters of our
subject are, Kate, Lizzie, Maggie and Jacob. They
are all married and all live in Pekin with the ex-
ception of the eldest daughter, who makes her
home in Cedar Creek, Cass Count}', Neb.
Adam, of this sketch, was given a good educa-
tion in Germany, and was a lad of fifteen years
when he came to America. After locating in Pe-
kin, he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a
plasterer, and afterward worked with his instructor
for two years, when he began business on his own
account, and is now the largest contractor in his
line of work in the city. About 1888 he began
the manufacture of artificial stone work, and plies
his trade in Delavan, McLean, Mackinaw and the
surrounding towns. He uses the very best ma-
terials when making the pavements, and never
fails to give entire satisfaction.
Mr. Saal also owns considerable real estate in
the city, and besides his own residence, which is
located at No. 827 Catharine Street, is the proprie-
tor of nine other dwellings. The lady to whom he
was married in this city in 1871 is Miss Lizzie
Kraeger; she is also a native of Hesse-Darmstadt,
and came to America when fourteen years of age.
Their union was blessed by the birth of a sou and
daughter, Henry and Lizzie.
Mr. Saal has contributed liberally to all worthy
enterprises, and is classed among the most influen-
tial and respected citizens in the community. He
served as Alderman of the Third Ward for four
years, during which time he was Chairman of the
Fire and Water Committees. He has been Tax
Collector of Pekin Township and city for two years,
and in his political affiliations is a strong Demo-
crat. Socially he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, Mod-
ern Woodman, and a member of the Order of Red-
men. In the conduct of his business affairs he
gives to each department of work his personal at-
tention, and the care and method ever exercised
have contributed to place him among the foremost
in his H'ae'of'work in the city.
REDBRICK P. SIEBENS, stockholder and
Director of the T. <fe H. Smith Company,
which he also serves in the capacity of Su-
perintendent of the wagon department, is a man
who owes his success in life mainly to his own un-
assisted efforts, and is practically self made. He
was born in Germany April 15, 1851, and is the
son of Jurjeu Siebens, a native of Canhusen, Ost-
friesland, that country, which is also the birth-
place of his father, Frederick. The latter was a
farm laborer, and died in Pekin when well ad-
vanced in years.
The father of our subject worked at farming in
his native land, and when emigrating to America,
in 1868, was accompanied by his wife and three
sons. The voyage was made on a sailing-vessel,
which landed them in Baltimore, Md., August 2,
1868, after a voyage of eight weeks and two days.
LIBRARY
of m
UNIVtKSlU Of ILLINOIS
HON. JOHN HERGET.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
217
About a week later they came to Pekin, where the
father engaged as a gardener, and where he lived
until his decease, in 1872. In his native land lie
had married Miss Wipke, daughter of Garralt Bild-
hoff, who was a farmer. Mrs. Siebens is still liv-
ing and makes her home in this city. With her
husband she was a member of the German Re-
formed Church; she was the mother of three sons,
of whom our subject is the first born, his brothers
being Garralt, who is living in Sioux City, Iowa,
where he has charge of a manufacturing company,
and Harry, engaged in working for the T. & H.
Smith Company.
Frederick P., of this sketch, was given a fine
education in his native tongue, after which he
worked out on farms until the removal of his par-
ents to the New World. On arriving in Pekin, he
found employment in the wood department of the
T. & II. Smith Company, and a year later became
an employe in the blacksmith department, where
he learned to manufacture the iron work used on
both wagons and plows. The factory was burned,
and after it was rebuilt, Mr. Siebens confined him-
self to wagon work until 1883, when he was made
foreman of the blacksmith department. He held
that position until the fall of 1892, when he was
appointed Superintendent of both the wood and
iron department, having in the former sixty work-
men, and in the latter one hundred and fifty men
under his charge. In 1890, when the firm was re-
organized and reincorporuted, our subject became
one of the stockholders and Directors. Aside from
this he owns stock in the American Home and
Loan Association of Pekin, and thus ranks among
the prominent and influential men of the city, and
is j ustly regarded as a man of true worth.
The lady to whom our subject was married in
this city April 25, 1881, WHS Miss Carrie Voight,a
native of Racine, Wis. She was the daughter of
Charles Voight, a fanner near Pekin, where Mrs.
Siebens was reared to mature years. By her union
with our subject, she .has become the mother of six
children, Freddie, Charlie, Grace, Louis, and two
who died unnamed.
Mr. Siebens is a charter member of the Modern
AVoodmen of America, and in politics he is and al-
ways has been a Republican. Probably there js no
2
man who is more popular in the city than he, and
he has won this kind feeling by his genial manner
and good judgment in mingling with his fellow-
men.
ON. JOHN HKRGET, who as Mayor of Pe-
kin rendered efficient service in the inter-
est of his fellow-citizens, is one of the old-
est surviving settlers of this place, as well
as one of its most influential business men. He is
well known throughout Tazewell County as one
of its public-spirited citizens and as one who has
been variously identified with its interests for
many years. By his energetic and resolute force
of character and talent- for affairs he has given an
impetus to the growth of this section of country,
and is still actively forwarding its advancement in
important directions.
A native of Germany, Mr. Herget was born in
Hergershausen, Hesse-Darmstadt, October 27, 1830.
His father, Philip, was born in the same place in
1800 and served as an officer in the German army,
after which he followed his trade of a wagon-maker,
together with farming pursuits. Our subject was
the first member of the family who emigrated to
America, and so well was he pleased with this
country that he returned to Germany and brought
back with him in 1869 his father, brother-in-law
and sister. The mother, whose maiden name was
Margaret Reuling and who was born in Hergers-
hausen, was the daughter of George Reuling, a
well-to-do farmer of Hesse-Darmstadt; she died in
1836. The father died in Pekin, in September,
1871.
The three children born to Philip and Margaret
Ilerget are: John, of this sketch; George, who is
interested in business with our subject; and Mary,
the wife of Nicholas Reuling, of Pekin. The father
was again married, choosing as his wife Miss Anna
Kline, and they had five children. Margareta be-
came the wife of Adam George, and both are now
deceased. Four are now living, all residents of
Pekin, as follows: Mary, who married John Krager;
Philip, who is carrying on the business of a malt-
ster; Catharine, wife of John Block, who at pres-
218
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ent is interested with Smith, Hippin & Co. in the
grain business; and Madeline, wife of George
Meisinger.
The subject of this sketch was reared in the city
of his birth, where he learned the trade of a wagon-
maker under his father's instructions. In 1849 he
came to America, the journey being made by a
sailing-vessel to London, England, and thence to
New York. From the latter city he proceeded to
Columbia, Lancaster County, Pa., where he spent
one year. Removing thence to Gettysburg, Pa.,
he engaged at the trade of a carriage-maker until
1853.
During the year last-named Mr. Herget was
united in marriage with Miss Ernestine Schreck,
who was born in Saxony, near Saxe-AVeimer, and
thence came to Pennsylvania in 1852 with her
parents. In August, 1853, Mr. Herget came west
to Pekin, the journey being made by rail to San-
dusky, Ohio, thence by the Lakes to Detroit, from
that city by rail to La Salle and from there by
boat to Pekin. In this city he worked at his trade
in the T. & H. Smith Carriage Manufactory un-
til February, 1860, when he embarked with his
brother in the grocery business, the firm name be-
ing J. & G. Herget. The first site of the store was
at the present location of the German-American
Bank.
In 1870 the firm erected a double store, to which
in the following year they removed. Here they
engaged in the wholesale grocery and liquor bus-
iness until 1891, when they retired from the former
and have since devoted their attention to the liquor
business, and are also engaged in rectifying and
distilling. Mr. Herget assisted in the organization
of the Star & Crescent Distillery, and continued
with that enterprise until 1892, when it was sold
out to Samuel Woolner. In addition to other en-
terprises he has an interest in the firm of N.
Reuling & Co., dry-goods merchants of Pekin, and
is also a stockholder in the Farmers' National
Bank. A Republican in politics, he has served as
Alderman and has frequently been elected Super-
visor. In 1873 and 1874 he occupied the responsi-
ble position of Mayor of Pekin, and during his
terms of office many reforms were instituted and
many needed improvements introduced. He is
recognized as one of the most influential men in
this part of the state.
In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ilerget there were
eight children, as follows: Mary, who died in
1866; Emma, the wife of John Nolle, of Pekin;
Lena, Mrs. D. D. Velde, of this city; Martha, wife
of George Steinmetz; Bertha, the wife of W. J.
Counzelman; George, John and Carl, prominent
citizens of Pekin. The family is identified with
St. Paul's Evangelical Church, in which Mr. Iler-
get is serving as Trustee.
C. HALL. It has often been said that in-
vincible determinati n will accomplish any
desired result, and already are the effects
of its constant exercise visible in the life of this
gentleman, who has won a respected position for
himself in the community by reason of industry,
perseverance and a genial nature. He is at pres-
ent residing in the city of Delavau, where he is a
member of the City Council and also the owner of
a valuable estate in the township of that name.
Our subject is a native of this place, and was
born November 28, 1846, to the Hon. Ira B. and
Sarah A. Hall, of whom a more complete sketch
will be found on another page in this volume.
Ira B. Hall is a very prominent man of Tazewell
County, being Vice-President of the Tazewell
County National Bank and ex-member of the
Legislature. He is a native of Rhode Island and
an old resident of this city.
O. C. Hall, of this sketch, received his early train-
ing in the schools of Delavan, after which he at-
tended Bryant <fe Stratum's Commercial College
in Peoria. For the succeeding four or five years
he was engaged in the insurance business at Dela-
van, and at the same time carried on a lively
trade in stock, which in fact has been his princi-
pal business. He has charge of his father's fine
estate adjoining the city, which under his efficient
management is classed among the finest in the
county.
Prior to the organization of the city our sub-
ject was President of the Village Board for two
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
219
terms, and since its incorporation lias been for
several years a member of the City Council, in
which body he is a very influential member. In
all positions he has been faithful to the trust re-
posed in him, and as a business man and neigh-
bor he commands the high regard of a host of life-
time friends.
O. C. Hall was married April 10, 1873, to Miss
Clara P. James, who was born in Rhode Island
and is the daughter of O. II. P. James, a well-
to-do resident of Delavan. Mr. and Mrs. Hall
have become the parents of two children: Charles
E., a graduate of the Delavan High School; and
Katlie G., who is at present a student in that in-
stitution. Our subject is, like his father, a strong
Democrat in politics, and socially is a Chapter
Mason.
E R. SHAKER, M. D. In the study
of the career of those who have been the
architects of their own fortunes in the var-
ious departments of business or professional life,
there may often be encountered suggestions of in-
estimable value to those who are just starting out
in life for themselves. The men whom we are ac-
customed to call self-made are well represented in
Morton, and among this class prominent mention
belongs to the gentleman with whose name we in-
troduce this sketch, and who is widely known and
highly esteemed as a physician of this section of
the state.
Our subject was Itorn two miles eastof Washing-
ton, this county, September 15, 1858, and is the
son of George A. and CatlR'rine (Myers) Shafer,
the former of whom was born in Fail-field County,
Ohio, which was also the birthplace of his father,
who was the first white child born in Fail-field
County. The great-grandfather of our subject was
a native of Pennsylvania, and was one of the first
to locate a farm in the above county. The grand-
mother of our subject was likewise one of the first
white children born in that portion of the Buckeye
State.
The father of our subject being reared to farm
pursuits, he followed that occupation throughout
his active life, and soon after his marriage in Ohio
emigrated to this state, first locating in Shelby
County, where he entered two hundred and forty
acres of land from the Government. Two years
later he disposed of this property, and coming to
Tazewell County, purchased a quarter-section of
prairie land near Washington. This he lived upon
until 1872, when he sold out and removed to
Christian County, where he farmed for some time,
but is now living in retirement in the town of As-
sumption. With his wife he was a member of the
United Brethren Church. In politics he was first
a Democrat, then a Whig, afterward a Republican,
and now votes with the Prohibition party.
The parental family included seven children,
namely: Silas A., Josephus C.; Samuel, who is
now deceased; our subject, Jennie, Ida, and Ola,
who makes her home with the Doctor. Our subject
received his education in the schools of Washing-
ton and Assumption. He began the study of medi-
cine in 1877, and two years later went to Chicago,
where he took a course of instruction in the Ben-
nett Medical College, from which he was graduated
with the Class of '81. After receiving his diploma
he came to Morton, and May 13 of that year be-
gan the practice of his profession, and now has a
very extensive patronage, which covers a large
territory.
Dr. Shafer is a member of the Illinois State Ec-
lectic Medical Association, and has been Corres-
ponding Secretary of the same for eight year?.
He was honored May 2, 1893, by being appointed
a member of the Advisory Council of the World's
Congress Auxiliary, on the Congress of Eclectic
Physicians and Surgeons, which met at Chicago
during the World's Fair. He was married in 1882,
in Long Island, to Miss Emma J., daughter of Dr.
Harmon A. and Mary E. (Weber) Buck. Their
home has been blessed by the advent of two daugh-
ters, Viola and Violet, twins.
In social matters Dr. Shafer belongs to Lodge
No. 768, M. W. A., and in politics is a stanch Re-
publican. He and his wife are consistent members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in that
denomination in Morton the former is Steward and
Trustee. In 1890, he completed a large store in
the village, in which he has put a fine assortment
220
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
of drugs, and is now doing the leading business in
that line in the place. He is also the owner of a
quarter-section of land in Kansas, and is a stock-
holder in the Assumption Coal Mining Company.
NDREW E. WOOLF, of Delavan, claims
New York as the state of his nativit}-, his
birth having occurred in Pellamville,
_ Westchester County, October 29, 1840.
His grandfather, Anthony Woolf, was born in
Hesse-Cassel, Germany, November 19, 1761, and
when a young man was taken from his bed by the
British'and forced on board a ship that setsail for
America. He was told that they were going to
fight the Indians and French, but when the shores
of the New World were reached he found that he
was expected to join the British army against those
struggling for independence. Immediately he de-
serted, and hid among the hills of New Jersey until
he found a place of safety. He then began work-
ing as a farm hand for $25 per year, and finally
purchased a tract of land in Westchester County,
N. Y. He lived to become quite wealthy, and be-
fore his death gave to each of his children a farm.
On the 27th of January, 1797, lie was made a citi-
zen of the United States in the City Hall of New
York, and the quaint old certificate given to him
at that time is now framed and hangs in our sub-
ject's parlor. Anthony Woolf was the father of
the following children: Elizabeth, Ann, Abigail,
Sarah, James, Hannah, Andrew and John.
Andrew Woolf was the father of our subject.
He was born in the Manor of Fordan, Westchester
County, N. Y. The land which his father gave
him became quite valuable and he disposed of it
at a handsome price. He then embarked in the
real-estate business and laid out Claremont, a
suburb of New York City, from which he made a
fortune. In 1866 he came to the west and bought
for each of his four boys a farm in Tazewcll
County. He died February 12, 1877. His wife,
who bore the maiden name of Mary De Voe, was
born in the Manor of Fordan, July 1, 1805, and
was a daughter of John and Sarah De Voe, natives
of Westchester County, N. Y. Her father at one
time owned the land which Mr. Woolf laid out as
the town of Claremont. Mr. and Mrs. Woolf were
married November 15, 1823, and after her hus-
band's death, the lady lived with our subject until
called to her final rest, December 9, 1885. She left
him considerable property and some interesting
and valuable relics, including a Bible that has been
in the family for more than a century, and a small
jar, which was imported full of tea in 1618 and
which came down to him in direct line from his
Great-great-grandmother De Voe.
Andrew E. Woolf is the youngest of six chil-
dren, four sons and two daughter. The latter,
Sarah and Phoebe, became the wives of George
and pjd Morris, respectively, and both died in New
York. The eldest brother, John D., was born Au-
gust 9, 1824, and resides in Delavan. Anthony,
born December 25, 1826, is one of the extensive
farmers of Boy n ton Township. William II., born
October 25, 1837, is now a large farmer living
near Iowa City, Iowa.
Under the parental roof Andrew E. Woolf was
reared to manhood, but having attained his ma-
jority he left home, and on the 16th of January,
1864, he married Miss Johanna Lucas Reed, who
was born in Pike County, Ohio, June 7, 1846.
Her father, John Reed, was also a native of the
Buckeye State and was a son of Judge Samuel
Reed, who for many 3 - ears was on the Circuit
Bench of Ohio. His first wife was a niece of
Aaron Burr. John Reed was united in marriage
o
with Rebecca A. Smith, a native of Virginia, and
after his death his widow became the wife of D. P.
Withrow. She was called to the home beyond
December 24, 1872. The brothers and sisters of
Mrs. Woolf are: Samuel J.,who died at the age of
fourteen years; Mary Elizabeth, wife of William 11.
Woolf, of Iowa City, Iowa; and William, a farmer
of the same place.
Mr. and Mrs. Woolf have two daughters. Alice
L. is -now completing her musical education in
the Conservatory of Music in Peoria. Her tal-
ent in this direction she inherits from her mother's
people. Her maternal grandparents were both
fine singers, and Mrs. Woolf has for fifteen years
been a member of the choir of the Presbyterian
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
221
Church. Emma R., the second daughter, is also
finely educated in music. She is now the wife of
J. M. Allen, confidential clerk in the great
drug house of Myers Bros., of St. Louis. He also
has charge of raining interests in the western
mountains. Mrs. Allen possesses the musical abil-
ity of the family and sings in a Presbyterian
Church of St. Louis. They have one child, a son.
When the boy was quite 3'oung his parents were
making a trip on the Santa Fe Road to the mines
in the west. An elderly gentleman on the train,
attracted by the prattle of the bright little fellow,
asked the parents his name and was told that he
had yet been given no name. Upon finding out who
the father was, the gentleman said, "My name is
Hanley. I am the Superintendent of this road. I
have no children, and if you will name that boy
Hanley Morton Allen, I will deposit $1,000 to his
credit to be his at the age of twenty-one and will
also pay his way through either Yale or Harvard
College." The name was given to the boy.
Mr. Woolf continued his farming interests until
1880, when he abandoned that work and has since
given his entire time and attention to looking
after his extensive property interests in town. He
is a man of most excellent business ability, saga-
cious and far-sighted, and though he had property
left to him he has largely increased it through his
well directed efforts. Both he and his wife are
members of the Presbyterian Church, and to both
church and charitable work they contribute lib-
erally.
OILMAN BAILEY. The social, political
and business history of this section is
filled with the deeds and doings of self-
made men, and no man in Tazewell Coun-
ty is more deserving of the name than D. G.
Bailey, who is one of the largest land owners in
Delavan Township. He marked out his own career
in liis youth and has steadily followed it up to the
present time, his prosperity being attributable to
his earnest and persistent endeavor, as well as to
the fact that he always consistently tries to do as
he would be done by. He is honest and upright
in word and deed, energetic and pushing, and of a
decidedly practical turn of mind.
Our subject is a native of this county, having
been born in Pekin, December 4, 1839, and is a sou
of David Bailey, a native of Hillsboro, N. H., where
his birth occurred June 12, 1801. That gentle-
man was next to the youngest son of Joseph Bailey,
who was born February 8, 1772, in Rowley, Mass.,
and liis father bore the name of Daniel Bailey,
whose ancestors came over in the "Mayflower."
The grandfather of our subject late in life re-
moved to New Hampshire, and died at Ilillsboro
when ninety-two years of age. He had been twice
married, and by his first union reared a family of
sons, of whom Samuel G. was born November 27,
1794; Daniel M. December 11, 1796; Nathaniel
March 31, 1799; James August 13, 1800, and
David June 12, 1801. By his second marriage he
became the father of one son, J. Gordon, who is
now living in Delavan, and is the only one of the
family of Joseph Bailey who is now living. The
father and uncles of our subject were, with scarcely
an exception, merchants, and came to Pekin about
1819. Nathaniel was a merchant first in Boston,
afterward in New Orleans, later in St. Louis, from
which latter city he removed to Pekin, and from
there finally went to Texas, where he carried on
business for thirty years prior to his decease. He
left one child, a daughter, Emma, who married Dr.
McClenney and now lives in Brownsville, Tex.
Daniel Bailey, another uncle of our subject, was
a prominent merchant of Boston for about ten
years, and like his older brother from there went
to New Orleans and St. Louis, and after making his
home in Pekin lived here until his decease. Sam-
uel was at his death a prominent lawyer of Alton,
this state. James died in Houston, Tex., where he
was engaged in the mercantile trade.
David Bailey, the father of our subject, came to
Pekin when in his eighteenth year, and was en-
gaged as a merchant in this place on the outbreak
of the Black Hawk War. He then entered the serv-
ice as a Captain of militia, and was soon promoted
to be Major, and afterward Colonel of his regi-
ment, having charge of the army stationed at Ft.
Dearborn. While there he met and afterward
married Miss Sarah Ann Brown, who was born in
222
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Connecticut May 25, 1811; she was the daughter
of Rufus Brown, one of the earliest settlers of the
city of Chicago. When locating there he pur-
chased a quarter-section of land in what is now the
heart of the city, but later disposed of this property
because the land was loo marshy to be farmed to
advantage. He then removed about sixteen miles
out of the city, where he resided until his death.
One of Mrs. Bailey's brothers went to California
in 1849, and another became a prominent merchant
in New York City.
After the close of the Black Hawk War, Col.
David Bailey located on a farm near Pekin, where
his wife died January 15, 1847, and where also his
death occurred seven years later. He was a prom-
inent Mason socially, and a leading member of the
Presbyterian Church. Our subject was the only
son of the first marriage, but had one sister who
was older and one sister younger than himself.
Cynthia Ann when fourteen years of age went
on a visit to an uncle in Texas, and while there
was taken sick and died. The youngest of the
family, Caroline R., married S. T. Webster, who
for twelve years was Superintendent of the Grand
Trunk Railroad, with headquarters in Chicago,
and for many years prior to his decease was a
prominent Hoard of Trade man. He died leaving
a family of five children, who with their mother
make their home in Evanston.
D. Gilman Bailey, of this sketch, was educated
in the schools of Pekin and Peoria, after which he
engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1867
he was united in marriage with Miss Frances Eliza-
beth, daughter of Daniel Crabb, who was one of
the pioneers of Dillon Township and one of the
largest land owners in Tazewell County. For
many years prior to his decease he was a banker in
Delavan. For a more extended sketch of Mr.
Crabb the reader is referred to the biography of
his son, .1. W. Crabb, Mayor of Delavan and Presi-
dent of the Tazewell County Bank, which will be
found on another page in this volume.
To Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have been born four
children. Carrie L. is the wife of T. A. Wittan, a
leading attorney of Kansas City, Mo.; Emma .!.,
Maggie M. and James G. are at home. The daugh-
ters are very accomplished young ladies, and com-
pleted their educations at Northfield, Mass. Our
subject is still engaged in farming and stock-rais-
ing, and has several estates in different parts of the
county. Since 1877, however, he has lived in a
beautiful suburban residence adjoining the city of
Delavan. He is a stanch supporter of Republican
principles, and like all the members of his family
for generations back is a Presbyterian in religious
belief.
ARIUS WHITE ORENDORFF, one of
the representative farmers of Tazewell
County, now living in Hopedale Town-
ship, has a wide acquaintance in this
community, and we feel assured that this record
of his life wilt prove of interest to many of our
readers. He was born in Ilopedale Township
March 31, 1828, and is descended from Christian
Orendorff, who was born in Germany November
15, 1726, and in that country married a Miss
Miller. In the middle of the century he crossed
the Atlantic and settled in Lancaster County, Pa.,
but later went to Shaftsbury, Md., where he died
December 10, 1797. He was a man of prominence,
became quite wealthy and owned several mills.
Christopher Orendorff, the grandfather of our
subject, was born Nov.ember 23, 1752, and was a
teamster in the Revolutionary War. He held mem-
bership with the German Reformed Church. In
early life he went to Logan County, Ky., and mar-
ried an English lady. His brother Christian served
in the Revolution, was taken prisoner, and while
a captive fell in love with the daughter of an Eng-
lish officer, whom he afterward married. Another
brother, Henry, became a Revolutionary soldier,
and was an extensive farmer of Shepherdstown,
Va. The spelling of the name has been consider-
ably changed by various branches of the family.
The father of our subject was born February 5,
1784, acquired an excellent education and be-
came a civil engineer. He also engaged in the
milling business with his brother John in Ken-
tucky, and in 1826 came with his brother Enoch
to Illinois on a tour of inspection. So well pleased
was he that he purchased large tracts of land, be-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
223
coming the owner of six thousand acres. In
182V he brought his family to the west and lo-
cated on the farm now occupied by our subject.
Here he built the first brick house of Tazewell
County. It is still standing, and is occupied by
a married daughter of D. W. Orendorff. Another
brother, Esau, also came to Tazewell County, and
it is said that the three Orendorff brothers got
possession of more land than any other three
men in the county. Aaron Orendorff died Feb-
ruary 18, 1846.
The mother of our subject bore the maiden
name of Martha McDowell. She was born in North
Carolina January 29, 1790, and was a daughter
of Joseph and Martha (White) McDowell. They
were of Scotch lineage, and the father had a
brother who served as a General in the Revolu-
tion. Mrs. Orendorff had three brothers who were
preachers in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Her death occurred June 27, 1849. She had be-
come the mother of nine children. Thomas H.,
born August 22, 1814, in Tennessee, was a tanner
by trade, laid out the town of Hopedale in 1852,
and there died December 18, 1878, leaving one
son, Green Pope, who was born November 24,
1844, and is now a resident of Lacon, Ala. Jo-
seph M., born January 26, 1816, died in Rush-
ville, 111., June 18, 1842. Delilah J., born Janu-
ary 5, 1818, became the wife of Samuel McClure
January 7, 1848. His death occurred in 1858,
and she died in Hopedale January 8, 1871. Mary
H., born August 20, 1820, was married Novem-
ber 29, 1849, to David Van Devanter, and died
November 23, 1857. Abigail C., born March 13,
1823, became the wife of Mathias Mount, and
died June 2, 1853. Her son, Jasper Mount, is
now Postmaster of Hopedale. Cyrus W., born
August 18, 1825, died December 21, 1848. Min-
erva, born May 17, 1830, was married August
28, 1848, to Alfred Reid, who died January 30,
1883, and she is now living in Delavan. Solon,
born December 26, 1832, was married April 22,
1858, to Lydia E. Teft. He followed farming
near Ilopednle until 1882, when he went to Pu-
eblo, Colo.
The subject of this sketch was reared on a
farm and acquired a good education. On the
12th of July, 1855, he married Mary Jane Walter,
of De Witt County, 111., who was born in Ohio
and came with her parents to this state during her
girlhood. Their family numbers five children.
Phoebe Jane, who was born August 7, 1856, was
married March 6, 1879, to William M. Mount; he
is extensively engaged in farming and stock-rais-
ing in Dillon Township, and has served as Chair-
man of the County Board of Supervisors. Lelia
Leduska, born December 12, 1858, is the wife of
Adolph Johnson, and lives on the home farm.
Flora Ellen, born June 26, 1860; Martha A., No-
vember 1, 1862, and Lydia M., April 15, 1864, are
at home. The last-named is an artist of some note.
Mr. Orendorff has usually followed farming,
but has been interested in other business enter-
prises. He established the first store in Hope-
dale, and owned and operated a woolen mill for
some years. This he removed to Arkansas, where
he carried on business for three years, and then
sold out. He was also engaged in merchandising
and in the furniture and lumber business, but is
now giving his attention to the management of
his fine farm. He has four hundred acres in
Hopedale Township, and two hundred and forty
acres in Arkansas. Success has crowned his efforts
and made him one of the wealthy citizens of
Tazewell County. He has held several local of-
fices, including that of Justice of the Peace, has
been a life-long Democrat, is a Master Mason, and
belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
JOHN T. CLEMENTS occupies an honorable
place among the intelligent, capable farmers
I of Tazewell County, in whose social and
public life he is a prominent factor. He
is at present residing upon a fine farm of one
hundred and twenty acres located on sections 29
and 30, Dillon Township, on which he has placed
an admirable line of improvements until it now
ranks among the best in the vicinity.
Our subject was born in Henry County, Ky.,
July 26, 1830, and is the son of Roger T. Clements,
also a native of the Blue Grass State, which was
224
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
likewise the native home of his father, who bore
the name of John Clements. The latter was a
large and wealthy slave-holder in Kentucky, and
one of his brothers fought as a soldier in the War
of 1812. His wife, the grandmother of our sub-,
ject, lived to be more than a hundred years of
age-
When but a year old our subject was taken by
his parents to Indiana, and lived in Boone County
until 1864, when they came to this state and
made a settlement in Christian County, where the
father's death occurred in 1867. The mother of our
subject, whose maiden name was Nancy Higgins,
was also a native of Kentucky and the (laughter
of Robert Higgins, who died in that state when
comparatively a young man. Her mother, how-
ever, attained the advanced age of one hundred,
while the mother of Mr. Clements was a lady of
seventy-six years when she departed this life at
the home of her sister in Christian County.
John T. Clements, of this sketch, was the eld-
est but one in his parents' family of eight chil-
dren, of whom we make the following men-
tion: Thomas, the eldest, spent several years of
his life in this state; he is now living, however,
in Kentucky. ,1. N. was a soldier in the late war,
and is now living on a farm near Crawfordsville,
this state; William died when five years of age;
Milton, who also fought as a soldier in the Civil
War, went to Barber County, Kan., and during
the Indian troubles was gent to Newton for sup-
plies; while en route he was caught in a storm,
and losing his way, was so long without shelter
that his feet were frozen and had to be amputated.
He is ,now living on a farm in that state and
draws a pension from the Goverment .of $72 per
month. Rebecca, the eldest sister of our subject,
married William Smith; she went to Iowa to live
and died there. Laonice was the wife of John Hub-
ble, a miller of Indianapolis; she is now deceased.
Ellen is now Mrs. John Everman and makes her
home in Christian County, this state, where her
husband is a well-to-do farmer.
The subject of this sketch grew to man's estate
on his father's farm, and in the meantime was
given a good education in the select schools. He
taught school for some time prior to coming to
Illinois, and in 1852, when making his advent into
Tazewell County, located in the northeastern part
of Pekin, which city was his home for about three
years. At the end of that time he moved upon a
farm five miles south of the city, which lie was
occupied in cultivating until 1865, the date of
his settlement upon his present estate in Dillon
Township.
On the 20th of August, 1854, Mr. Clements was
married to Miss Tamzon B., the daughter of John
Bowlby. She was born in New Jersey and came
to Illinois in 1850. By her union with our sub-
ject have been born five children: Robert, now de-
ceased; Frank, a carpenter in Green Valley; Harry,
also residing in that place; Jennie, who died when
twenty-three years of age; and Minnie, the wife
of Charles Nicely, a hardware merchant in Green
Valley.
In religious affairs our subject is a consistent
-member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In
politics he is a true-blue Republican, but is in no
sense an 6'fHce-seeker, although at one time he filled
the responsible position of Justice of the Peace.
OHN W. MATTHEESSON is connected with
one of the leading industries of Pekin, being
Superintendent and a Director of the Pekin
Plow Company. He is one of the worthy
citizens that Germany has furnished to Tazewell
County. He was born in Nesse, Ostfriesland, Ger-
many, April 9, 1848, and is a son of William J.
and Christina (Seeberg) Mattheesson, who were
also natives of Germany. Both the paternal and
maternal grandfathers were blacksmiths. The fa-
ther of our subject also carried on business along
that line until his death, which occurred in his na-
tive land in 1892, at the age of seventy -seven. In
the following spring his widow crossed the At-
lantic, and is now living with her children, at the
age of seven ty -three. In the family were four sons
and a daughter, and three of the brothers live in
Pekin.
John W. Mattheesson, the eldest, attended the
public schools until fourteen years of age, when
LIBRARY
Of fHt
UNIVERSm Of lUJNWS
CONRAD LUPPEN.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
227
lie was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade.
When his term had expired he engaged in work as
a journeyman. The year 1866 was an important
one in his life, for it was then that he came to the
New World. Accompanied by his brother Harm,
he hoarded a sailing-vessel at Bremen, and at
length reached New York City, whence he made
his way to Peoria, 111., where he was employed
in the Peoria Plow shops until the spring of
the following year. He then came to Pekin, and
secured work with the T. & H. Smith Company as
a blacksmith in the plow department, thus serv-
ing for four years, when he established a smithy
of his own in Kickapoo, Peoria County. After a
year, however, he returned to Pekin and became
a blacksmith with Weber & Fre}", in whose employ
he remained four years, when he began business
for himself on Elizabeth Street. Later he was
with the firm of Schleder, Glouz & Co. for two
years, and in 1879 he became Superintendent of
the Pekin Plow Works, with which he has since
been connected. In 1890, the business was incor-
porated under the name of the Pekin Plow Com-
pany, with a capital stock of $100,000. Since that
time Mr. Mattheesson has also been one of its di-
rectors. The business has been steadily increased,
and they now have a room for manufacturing
plows, a grinding room, Mulshing room, drop room,
dipping room, harrow room, ware houses and of-
fices. The machinery is run by steam power,
furnished by two engines, one of sixty-four horse
power and the other of twelve horse power. They
manufacture plows, cultivators and harrows of all
kinds, having three hundred and seventy-two dif-
ferent patterns, and employ about two hundred
men during the busy season.
Mr. Mattheesson was married in Pekin in 1869
to Miss Ada Sampen, who was born in Ostfriesland,
Germany. They have six children, William J.
(senior partner in the grocery firm of Mattheesson
& Co.), Tina, .John, Christina, Harm inn and Ru-
dolph.
Our subject exercises his right of franchise in
support of the Republican party, and has served
for four terms as Alderman from the Third Ward.
He is President of the German Mutual Aid Socie-
ty, and for the past four years has been President
of the Working Men's Society, tie belongs to
the Knights of Honor, the Legion of Honor, the
Modern Woodmen of America and the Mutual
Protective Association of Druids. He also holds
membership with the German Methodist Episcopal
Church, and is a pleasant and accommodating gen-
tleman, both widely and favorably known. His
success in business is the result of his own well di-
rected efforts and is therefore justly dese'rved.
ONRAD LUPPEN, Cashier of and co-part-
' rr ner in the bank of Teis Smith & Co., of
Pekin, is also President of the People's
Bank in Manito, 111., and a stockholder in the wagon
manufactory of T. & II. Smith & Co., and in the
grain and commission firm of Smith, Hippin it Co.
He was born in Pekin December 6, 1851, and is a
son of Luppe Luppen, one of the oldest and most
prominent settlers of this place. The father was
born in the County of Emden, Hanover, Germany,
August 20, 1823, and is a son of Peter Otten Lup-
pen, a native of Germany and a cooper by trade.
His last days were spent in Pekin.
The father of our subject was educated in the
common schools, and learned the trades of ma-
chinist and blacksmith in his native land. He per-
fected himself in those occupations in Holland,
becoming an expert workman in iron and wood
of- every description. In 1848 he married Cath-
erine Conrad Smith, a native of Hanover, and a
sister of Hon. D. C. Smith, ex-Member of Congress
from this district. In 1848 he came to Pekin, and
with three brothers-in-law began the manufacture
of wagons, buggies and plows. As their trade in-
creased they steadily enlarged their facilities until
their works were the largest of the kind in this
vicinity. Mr. Luppen, Sr., is also connected with
the Pekin Plow Works, the T. & H. Smith Wagon
Works, the Teis Smith Bank, and the Smith-
Hippin Company. He is now the only surviving
member of a firm which established business in
1849. He is a natural genius and inventor, and
always gives his attention to the manufacturing
department, and the inventions and improvements
are the result of his skill. An invention from a
thought is worked out in metal, and the improve-
228
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ment is tested on the machinery in the fields until
it operates perfectly. Mr. Luppen has thus made
many useful improvements which have benefited
the farmer as well as himself. In politics he was
formerly an Abolitionist, and is now a strong Re-
publican. He is a charter member of the German
Methodist Episcopal Church.
Conrad Luppen was the only child born to his
parents, but by a former marriage his mother had a
daughter, Susan, wife of Habbe Velde, of Pekin.
Conrad prepared for college in Warren ton, Mo.,
and then entered the Wesleyan University of
Bloomington, where for two years he pursued the
classical course. He then embarked in business,
spending two years in the wagon factory as a
machinist, after which he became a clerk in the
Teis Smith & Co.'s Bank. In 1875 he became a
partner, and served as Teller for a number of years,
since which time he has filled the position of
Cashier. The bank, which was established in 1866,
is the oldest in Tazewell Count}'. Mr. Luppen
and his father own a large interest. Our subject
was one of the organizers of the People's Bank of
Manito, which was established in September, 1893,
and has since been its President. Wilh the vari-
ous other interests already mentioned he is promi-
nently connected, and also owns some valuable
real estate, including his beautiful home on Prince
Street, situated on a slight eminence, amid lovely
surroundings.
In Lewiston, 111., in 1880, Mr. Luppen married
Miss Rosella, daughter of Elijah Barnes, one of
the pioneers of Fulton County, Jll. They have two
children, Mary and Luppe. In his political opin-
ions, Mr. Luppen is a stanch Republican, and at
present is serving his third term as Alderman,
during which time man}' improvements in Pekin
have been made. In his religious connections he
is an active member of the German Methodist
Episcopal Church.
ft WILLIAM LAUTERBACH, the genial and
pleasant proprietor of the Columbia Hotel
of Pekin, and one of the well known citi-
zens of this place, claims Germany as the land of
his birth, which occurred in Stotternheim, Saxony,
September 11, 1845. His father, Andrew Lauter-
bach, was a farmer in Saxony, and was a member of
the Lutheran Church. He died in his native land
at the age of fifty-six. His wife, who bore the
maiden name of Selma Ludvig, was also a native
of Saxony, and there died in April, 1892. The
grandmothers on both sides reached a very ad- .
vanced age. In the family were six children, of
whom four are yet living. The sons all came to
America, and Herman was drowned in the Illinois
River, at Pekin, in 1869. William is the next
younger. Louis died in Pekin in 1892. August
is a banker of Colby, Kan. Selma is the wife of
P. Prill, of Pekin. Louisa is married and lives in
Saxony.
William Lauterbach was reared on a farm and
attended the common schools until fourteen years
of age, after which he served as waiter in a hotel
for a time. In 1863, he returned home in order
to make preparations for emigrating to America,
and in July boarded the steamer " Herman" at ;
Bremen. He landed at New York City, started
westward, spent two weeks in Chicago, and then
came to Pekin, where he remained until the 1st of
February, 1864, when he enlisted in the Union
army, as a member of Company D, Ninth Illinois
Cavalry. He was engaged in skirmishing along
the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, and took
part in Wilson's raid and the battle of Selma, Ala.
At that place he was honorably discharged on the
1st of November, 1865, and in Springfield, 111., re-
ceived his pay.
Mr. Lauterbach then returned to Pekin, where
he engaged in business as a barber until 1872.
During that time he was united in marriage with
Annie Sassman, a native of Germany, and to them
were born three children, Herman, August and
Selma. In 1872, our subject purchased the Cen-
tral House, which he carried on for two years,
when he again opened a barber shop, which he con-
ducted until 1881. In that year he returned to
his native land, visited his old home and mother,
and spent four months in traveling in Germany.
In February, 1882, Mr. Lauterbach sold his bar-
ber shop and bought the Central Hotel, of which
he was proprietor until May 1, 1893, when he dis-
posed of that property, and in July following he
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
229
began the erection of the Columbia Hotel, on the
corner of Fourth and Margaret Streets, one block
from the Big Four depot and two blocks from the
Santa Fe de|>ot. The hotel is 65x52 feet and three
stories in height and is a well appointed home.
Socially he is connected with Joe Hannah Post
No. 1 15, G. A. R., and is a member of the Druids
and the Harugari. In his political views he is
a Democrat, and in religious belief he is a Lu-
theran. A man of pleasant, genial manner, he is
well fitted for his chosen work and is winning a
well deserved success.
i>ILLIAM H. GREEN, who follows farming
on section 3, Deer Creek Township, Taze-
well County, was born in Worcestershire,
England, July 22, 1843. His grandfather, John
Green, was a native of the same locality and was
a farmer by occupation. He owned a farm of
one hundred acres, which had been in the posses-
sion of the family for three hundred years. With
the Church of England he held membership. On
his death his eldest son, John, inherited the prop-
erty. There were two other sons in the family,
one of whom started for Australia, but changing
his mind, came to the United States. Since then
nothing has been heard of him. The third, Will-
iam Green, became the father of our subject. -He
was educated in the schools of his native land,
and when about twenty-eight years of age mar-
ried Sarah Hands. Her father served in an official
capacity under the British Government, and owned
property in one of the large cities ot England.
In 1846 William Green, Si 1 ., emigrated with his
family to the United States and located in Iowa
County, Wis., before that state was admitted to
the Union. He there entered two hundred acres
of Government land and began the development
of a farm, which he continued to cultivate until
1850, when, in eompan}* with eleven others, he
crossed the plains to California. For three years
he engaged successfully in mining, and then by
way of the water route returned to his home and
family in Wisconsin. In 1867 he removed to
Bremer County, Iowa, where he purchased three
hundred acres of land and spent his remaining
days. While visiting our subject he suffered an
attack of la grippe, and after an illness of two
weeks passed away, in February, 1889, at the age
of seventy-five years. That was the first time
sickness had ever confined him to his bed. His
wife still survives him, and is now living with her
daughter in Kansas. In politics he was a Repub-
lican. The family numbered seven children: Ce-
lena, wife of Richard Rundle; William H.; Harriet,
wife of Ennie Ellis; Walter; Sarah, wife of Wal-
lace Parkhurst; Mary, wife of Edward Lock wood;
and John. The children are all living, and now
have families of their own.
Mr. Green, whose name heads this record, re-
mained with his parents until nineteen years of
age, and was educated in the common schools. In
August, 1863, he responded to the call of his
adopted country for troops, and joined the boys
in blue of Company C, Thirty-first Wisconsin In-
fantry. Under General Sherman he participated
in the battles of Atlanta, Savannah, Averysboro
and Benton ville. At the last place he was wounded
by a gunshot in the left leg, and was captured and
sent to Libby Prison, where he remained for six
weeks, being the last prisoner to be released from
that place. He was sent to Annapolis, transferred
to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, and as soon as he
was able was sent to Madison, Wis., where he was
honorably discharged June 25, 1865, with the
rank of Corporal.
Soon after his return, Mr. Green went to LaSalle
County, 111., where he engaged in coal mining for
two years. He then went to Tremont, Tazewell
County, where he worked two years. He later
rented land and carried on farming for two years.
On the expiration of that period he went to Haw-
ley, Kan., where he secured a soldier's claim of
one hundred and sixty acres. Upon it he made
his home for four years, after which he returned
to Tazewell County, and after a decade spent on a
rented farm, bought his present home, comprising
three hundred and forty-eight acres of rich and
valuable land, which now pays to him a golden
tribute in return for the care and cultivation he
bestows upon it.
In Tremont was celebrated the marriage of Mr.
230
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Green and Miss Mar}', daughter of Frank and
Mary Robinson, but the lady lived only two 3'ears.
Our subject then wedded Miss Martha J. Smith,
daughter of Samuel and Mary J. (Graves) Smith.
They were pioneers of Tazewell County, and their
daughter was born in Morton Township. Mr. and
Mrs. Green have no children of their own, but
have given homes to Emma and Arthur C. Gin-
gerich, children of Mrs. Mary Gingerich, a sister
of Mrs. Green. Our subject and his wife are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are
charitable and benevolent people, in whom the
poor and needy find a friend. Their many excel-
lencies of character have gained them the high re-
gard of all witli whom they have been brought in
contact, and throughout the community they have
a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr.
Green was formerlj' a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic, and in politics is a Republican.
^ILLIAM CRANSON COVERT. The gen-
tleman whose sketch we now purpose to
place before the public is conductor on a
local freight on the Santa Fe Road running be-
tween Pekin and Streator. He is a native of New
York, and was born in Ovid, Seneca County, No-
vember 25, 1848. His father, J. I. Covert, was
also a native of the above county, and his father,
J. J. Covert, was likewise born in New York. The
Covert family are descended from French Hugue-
nots, and trace their ancestors back to one of two
brothers who came hither prior to the Revolution
and made his home in New York. The grandfa-
ther was a soldier in the War of 1812, and came
west to Michigan with his wife when advanced in
years, and died in Genesee County.
The father of our subject followed the carpen-
ter's trade in his native state, and in 1852 removed
to Genesee County. Mich., where he plied his
trade and at the same time cultivated a small farm.
He was a well informed man, and being an ardent
advocate of Abolition principles, was greatly in
demand as a "stump speaker." He was a talented
musician, being able to play on almost any instru-
ment; was a composer of considerable note, and
also taught vocal music. He found his religious
home in the Baptist Church, in which faith he was
reared, and to which faith he was ever devoted.
The mother of our subject, Mrs. Ardilla (Clark)
Covert, was born in Virginia and removed to New
York with her father, where she was married. She
is still living, making her home in Flint. Mich., at
the age of seventy-five j'ears. Her family in-
cluded four daughters and one son, of whom Will-
iam, of this sketch, was the third in order of birth.
He was reared in Grand Blanc Township, on the
Fentonville Plank Road in Michigan, and received
a good district-school education. He remained on
his father's farm until reaching his twentietli year,
in the meantime being employed in driving the
stage between Flint and Fentonville and also in
teaming in the lumber district.
On attaining his majority, our subject engaged
as baggageman for the Flint <fe Pere Marquette
Railroad in Saginaw, and later was made switch-
man in the company's yards at Flint. Not being
satisfied with that kind of work, he six months
later began braking on a local freight train, and
two months later went to Jackson, Mich., where
he found work braking on the Ft. Wayne, Jack-
son & Saginaw Railroad. Soon thereafter he was
made passenger conductor on the train running
between Jackson and Ft. Wayne, after which he
held the same position on a local freight train. He
remained in the employ of that company until
1881, after which he ran a local freight for eight
months, first between Ft. Wa}'ne, Cincinnati and
Louisville, and later between Ft. Wayne, Conners-
ville and Rushville. Mr. Covert then engaged
to work on the Nickel Plate Road, his run being
between Ft. Wayne and Chicago on a through
freight train, which position he held for six years.
In 1889 our subject changed to the Santa Fe,
having charge of the freight running between Chi-
cago and Chillicothe. He made his headquarters
at the latter place until February, 1892, when he
was transferred to Pekin, and now is conductor
on the train running between Pekin and Streator.
It will thus be seen that he has been a railroad
man for over a quarter of a century, and during
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
231
all those years has never had an accident, although
lie has had some very narrow escapes.
The lady to whom our subject was married in
Ft. Wayne, Ind., November 14, 1878, was Miss
'Frances, daughter of Conrad Pipenbrink. They
have become the parents of six children: Eva
Blanch, Edith C., Inez M., William C., Harry A.
and Lillian C. During the late war our subject
was very desirous of joining the ranks of the
Union army, and on three different occasions made
attempts to enlist his services, but as many times
was prevented by his family. lie is a Republican
in politics, and is a man of decided beliefs and
force of will. Socially he belongs to the Order of
Railway Conductors, and those who have been ac-
quainted with him since boyhood are numbered
among his stanchest friends, a fact which indicates
the honorable, upright life which he has led.
OLOMON PUTERBAUGII, who is now
living a retired life in Mackinaw, has be-
come through his own earnest and well
directed efforts one of the wealthiest citi-
zens of Tazewell County. He may well be called
a self-made man, for his success is due entirely to
his own resources and is the just reward of his la-
bors. His life record is as follows: He was born
in Miami County, Ohio, September 9, 1822, and is
a son of Jacob and Hannah (Ilittle) Puterbaugh.
His grandfather, John Puterbaugh, was a native
of Germany, who, when a young man. crossed the
Atlantic to the New World. He located in Penn-
sylvania, and there his eight children were born.
They were, Catherine, wife of Solomon Siioup;
Daniel, Jacob, Samuel, Andrew, Henry, John and
David. The father removed with the family to
Ohio, and there the children grew to manhood and
womanhood.
The father of our subject was born in Pennsyl-
vania, on the line dividing that state from Mary-
land, in 1796. He received his education in the
common schools, removed to Miami County, Ohio,
and in 1839 came to Tazewell Count}', locating
upon the farm which is now the home of our sub-
ject. The year previous he had chosen this loca-
tion. He successfully carried on farming and
stock-raising, and accumulated about one thou-
sand acres of land. In politics he was a Whig,
and in religious belief he was a Dunkard. lie
gave freely of his means to church and benevolent
work, and his life was filled with many good deeds.
In 1858 he was called to the home beyond, and his
wife passed away during the war. One of their
children died in early childhood; Catherine is
the deceased wife of Daniel Newcomb; Elizabeth is
the widow of Thomas L. Matthews, of Clinton 111.;
Solomon is the next younger; Daniel is a retired
farmer of Mackinaw; Serena is the deceased wife
of J. L. Hatcher; Harriet died in childhood; Samuel .
H. is Superintendent of the County Farm of Taze-
well County; S. D., deceased, who was a law part-
ner of Col. Robert J. Ingersoll, was a prominent at-
torney of Peoria and Chicago; heserxred as Circuit
Judge, and wrote many law books which are used
as authority; Jane is the deceased wife of J. B.
Ketchum; Harriet is the deceased wife of J. R.
Russell; and George, who was also a law partner
of Colonel Ingersoll, is now a Supreme Judge of
California.
Solomon Puterbaugh remained with his parents
until after lie had attained his majorit}', and then
hired out at $44 per year. Six months later he
married Eliza A. Ho well, daughter of Elijah and
Marie (McAllister) llowell. She was born in
White County, 111., lived in Kentucky between the
ages of two and six years, and then came to Mack-
inaw. Her father vvas a farmer, and died in 1838.
Her mother, who ever remained faithful to his
memory, passed away in 1873. In their family were
five children. To Mr. and Mrs. Puterbaugh were
born four children: John II. and llowell J., who are
farmers and stock-raisers of Tazewell County; and
Ben and Hannah M., who are deceased. The sons are
young men of great enterprise and business abil-
ity, and will no doubt win the success which has
characterized their father's career.
Upon his marriage, Mr. Puterbaugh received
one hundred and thirty acres of land from his fa-
ther, and until three years ago retained possession
of that farm. He was principally engaged in stock
dealing, and was very successful in his uudertak-
232
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ings. Investing his gains in land, he accumu-
lated over one thousand acres. For a number
of years he has been interested in Porter Bros.
& Pnterbaugh'a Bank, of Mackinaw, of which
he .is President, but for the past twenty years
has practically lived retired, enjoying the fruits
of his former toil. He and his wife are num-
bered among the leading members and active
workers in the Christian Church, and Mr. Pu-
terbaugh is now serving as Deacon. He is the old-
est Sunday-school Secretary of the county, and
has held that office longer than any other incum-
bent. In politics he is a stalwart Republican. The
best interests of the community have ever found
in him a friend, and his support and co-operation
are never withheld from anything which he be-
lieves will prove of benefit to the community. His
long residence in Tazewell Count}' has made him
widely known, and his honorable, upright life has
gained him the confidence and esteem of all with
whom business or social relations have brought
him in contact.
^j| OHN ALLEN, who carries on farming in
Delavan Township, is one of the self-made
men of Tax.ewell County; without capital
he started out in life for himself, and has
steadily worked his way upward to a position of
affluence. His life has been well spent and his ex-
ample is worthy of emulation. He was born near
Plainfleld, in Somerset County, N. J., December 3,
1828, and is a son of David Allen, who was born
in the same locality December 22, 1787. He was
a soldier in the War of 1812, and his brother John
served as Colonel in that war. Joseph Allen, the
great-grandfather of our subject, became the owner
of the farm on which the grandfather, father, and
our subject were all born. The place is still in the
possession of the family. David Allen there spent
his entire life, his death there occurring at the age
of eighty-five. He had married Susan Townely, an
English lady, whose father was a soldier in the
British army during the early part of the Revolu-
tion, during which time he was twice wounded. It
is said that he turned traitor, and nothing was
ever heard of him afterward. So Mrs. Allen was
reared by strangers on Manhattan Island, and
there lived until arriving at womanhood; she was
married in 1878.
In the Allen family were four sons and three
daughters. Aaron and Elias, aged respectively
seventy-six and seventy, are now living on
the old homestead; David is living in Dillon
Township, at the age of sixty-eight 3'ears; and
Mary is the wife John Spencer, of New Jersey.
The other son of the family is John Allen, whose
name heads this record. He received but limited
school privileges, and when twenty years of age
began learning the carpenter's trade in Newark,
N. J. He afterward followed that occupation in
New York City, and in 1857 came to Illinois,
where his brother David had located five years
previous. Here he worked at his trade for a few
years, and in 1860, with the capital he had ac-
quired, made his first purchase of land, compris-
ing eighty acres of the farm which has since been
his home. To this he has added from time to time
and is now recognized as one of the prosperous
farmers of the community.
Mr. Allen was married in 1854 to Miss Susan
Hammond, of New York City, and to them were
born three children, two yet living. On the 15th
of January, 1864, while Mr. Allen was away with
a load of grain, his wife went to the well to water
some of the stock. It was icy around the curb,
and losing her footing, she fell head lirst into the
well. Her little children were the only people
near, and they were unable to render assistance.
They made their way through deep snow to the
nearest neighbor and gave the alarm, but it was of
no avail, as life had been some time extinct when
the lady was rescued. This was a very sad blow
to the husband and children. The son, George E.,
married Miss Nelia Ray, and has two children,
Eugene and Susie. For some years he was exten-
sively engaged in farming, but is now living re-
tired at his fine home in Delavan. The daughter,
Hattie, is the wife of Edward Brawner, who owns
a farm adjoining that of our subject. They have
four children, Clara, George, Emma and Edward.
After his children were grown and married, Mr.
Allen married again, wedding Hannah A. Drake,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
233
who for more than twenty years had been his
housekeeper. She is also a native of New Jersey.
Mr. Allen has always been a hard working, in-
dustrious man, and has accumulated a comfortable
fortune through his own exertions. He certainly
deserves great credit for his success in life. He
has always been a Republican in politics, and has
held some local oltices, but they were thrust upon
him, not accepted from choice.
ATHIAS T. WOOD, attorney and real-es-
tate dealer of Hopcdale, 111., was born in
* Tremont Township, Tazewell County, Jan-
uary 16, 1842, and is of English and Ger-
man descent. His grandfather, Ebenezer Wood,
was a native of England and married a German
lady. His father, Stephen Wood, was born on
Long Island, N. Y., emigrated to Ohio in an early
day, and in 1833 became a resident of Mackinaw
Township, Tazewell County, 111. Later he removed
to Tremont Township, and in 1856 went to Linn
County, Kan., where he lived during the trouble-
some times preceding the Civil War. When the
south attacked Ft. Sumter he immediately offered
his services to the Government and faithfully de-
fended the Stars and Stripes through the struggle
that ensued. He married Elizabeth Trout, a na-
tive of Virginia. Her parents were natives of
Germany, and during her girlhood they removed
to Tennessee, whence she came to Illinois, where
she met and married Stephen Wood. She died
when our subject was a child of five years, and Mr.
Wood died in 1889. In the family were three
children, but the sister died at the age of four
years. Klias, the brother of our subject, served
four years in the Civil War as a member of the
Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and took part in
many important battles. He is now a farmer of
Elmwood, Peoria County. The father of this fam-
ily was a second time married and had several
children, including Charles, a farmer of Gitard,
Kan.; Henry, of Pueblo, Colo.; and Lewis, a harness-
maker of Michigan.
Mathias T. Wood went with his father to Kan-
sas in 1856, but returned to Illinois in 1859. He
worked on a ferry boat at Havana for a time
and then came to Hopedale, where he attended
school through the following winter. In the
spring he began working on the farm of Henry
Smith, and was thus employed at the time of the
breaking out of the late war. On the 25th of
July, 1861, he joined the boys in blue of Company
D, Seventh Illinois Infantry, and did service in
Missouri and Arkansas, following Forest. The
troops went into winter quarters at Port Holt, Ky.,
and in the spring of 1862 Mr. Wood took part in
the battles of Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson. He
was also in the thickest of the fight at Shiloh, took
part in the siege of Corinth and then did garrison
duty until the battle of luka. He served as a dis-
patch courier at the second battle of Corinth, and
while carrying a message to General Oglesby saw
the General shot. His time being about half out he
could not obtain a leave of absence so his Colonel
permitted him to take some condemned horses
back to Illinois and bring him a saddle horse. He
rejoined his regiment at Corinth and was engaged
in scouting until he started with Sherman on the
march from Atlanta to the sea. Ere that march
was completed he was taken ill and was honorably
discharged, his time having expired about a month
previous. For three years he was unable to engage
in any work.
During his furlough Mr. Wood had married Miss
Mary liolfson, a school teacher. Pie engaged in
different lines of business until 1870, when he
commenced the study of law, and since 1877 he has
been continuously engaged in legal practice in
Hopedale, in connection with the real-estate and
insurance business. He is now serving as Justice
of the Peace of his township, and has been a mem-
ber of the Republican Central Committee. Since
casting his first Presidential vote for Abraham
Lincoln he has been a stanch Republican, and is
now his party's candidate for County Sheriff.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wood were born four children.
Anna L. is the wife of Frank L. Zipf, a prosperous
merchant of Hopedale; William, who graduated
from the high school, is studying law. Although
but a young man he is Chairman of the Town-
ship Republican Central Committee; Frank and
Letta, aged seventeen and eleven years, respective-
234
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ly, are attending school. They also lost one
child, Maggie, who died at the age of seventeen.
The parents are both members of the Methodist
Church. Mr. Wood takes a very active part in
church and benevolent work, and for seventeen
years has been a teacher in the Sunday-school. He
is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the
Republic, and has served as Chaplain of his post
since its organization. He is also Chaplain of the
Odd Fellows' society to which he belongs. Mr.
Wood is truly a self-made man. Without special
educational or other advantages he has steadily
worked his way upward to a position of promi-
nence and has also acquired considerable property.
rj=TtfRANKLIN FIELD, one of the enterprising
substantial farmers of Tazewell Coun-
ty, now living on section 18, Deer Creek
Township, was born in Washington Township -en-
the 8th of April, 1840. His grandparents, Anthony
and Sarah (Franklin) Field, were both born near
the city of New York. The former was born Oc-
tober 24, 1757, and at a very early age enlisted in
the Colonial army. After several months' service
in the Revolutionary War lie received an honora-
ble discharge. He was for two years a soldier in
the War of 1812, and took part in the battle of
Plaltsburg. After being mustered out he returned
to his family in Vermont, to which state he had
previously moved, and carried on business as a
farmer and stock-dealer. lie accumulated a large
tract of land and made his home thereon until his
death, in 1855. His wife, who was born November
4, 1772, also passed away in 1855. They were
married in 1795, and Mrs. Field was an own
cousin of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The Field fam-
ily is of English origin, and was founded in Amer-
ica by the great-grandparents of our subject.
Anthony Field, father of our subject, was one of
a family of fourteen children, two of whom are
living in Vermont. lie and his twin brother,
Joshua, were born in Addison County, Vt., August
15, 1808, but were reared in Rutland County,
where the father lived during his active life. He
acquired a good education and remained with his
parents until after he had attained his majority.
For about six years he engaged in business as a
stock-dealer in Vermont, after which he emigrated
to Tazewell County, III., in 1838, making the jour-
ney by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois
Rivers to Peoria, whence he came to his des-
tination. His family then consisted of his wife
and one child, for in his native state he had wed-
ded Mary A. Hathaway. Having purchased one
hundred and sixty acres of land on section 34,
Washington Township, Mr. Field at once em-
barked in the stock business. He had but little
capital, but as the result of good business qualifi-
cations, economy and industry he became quite
wealthy, accumulating seven hundred and twenty
acres of land in Illinois and three hundred and
twenty acres in Kansas. He ever gave freely to
enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit,
and it seemed that he could not do too much to
enhance the happiness of his family. He was niar-
ried/irgwst'l 1, 1836, to Mary, daughter of Austin
and Esther Hathaway. She was born in Franklin
County, Vt., in 1819, and they became the parents
of ten children who grew to mature years. They
were, Elizabeth, deceased wife of Charles Pratt;
Franklin; Henry and Benjamin, deceased; Adelia,
deceased wife of Martin Lewis; George A., a rail-
road engineer of Missouri; Harvey, who has also
passed away; Emrna, deceased wife of Joseph Zin-
ser; Stephen, who has departed this life; and Mary
E., wife of Sturgis Small. The father died De-
cember 19, 1878, and the mother was called to the
home beyond October 25, 1880.
Franklin Field acquired his education in private
schools and in the old-time log schoolhouses. He
began farming on his father's land and gradually
worked into the stock business, which he has fol-
lowed continuously since. When twenty-three
years of age he married Sarah M. Van Camp, who
was born in what is now Deer Creek Township,
Tazewell County. Her parents were William and
Elizabeth (Martany) Van Camp, the former a na-
tive of New Jersey, and the latter of Ohio. Seven
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Field: Lizzie,
now the wife of B. F. Ay res, by whom she has one
son, Herbert R.; Charles, who married Myrtle
LIBRARY
Of JHt
OF (UJftCNS
REV. GEO. W MIN1ER.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
237
Small and lias one son, George M.; Martha; Mil-
dred and Willard, twins; and Ollie A. and Delia,
at home. The mother of this family passed away
January 15, 1892, and her death was widely
mourned throughout the community, for she had
the esteem of all who knew her.
Krom his father Mr. Field received a tract of
land in Iroquois County, and after improving it
for a time he sold it and bought of his father the
farm on which he now lives. He accumulated
several hundred acres of land, but has now dis-
posed of all except two hundred and eighty acres.
The enterprise and industry which characterized
his efforts brought him a competence which is well
deserved and which makes him one of the wealthy
farmers of the neighborhood. He has reared an
intelligent and highly respected family and has
lived a life that has won him universal confidence
and esteem. His fellow-townsmen have frequent-
ly honored him with local offices, and at this writ-
ing he is serving as a member of the County Board
of Supervisors. He exercises his right of franchise
in support of the Republican party.
EV. GEORGE W. MINIER,oneof the early
settlers of Tazewell County, and a pioneer
Christian preacher of western Illinois, now
makes his home on section 13, Little Mack-
inaw Township. He was born in Ulster Town-
ship, Bradford County, Pa., October 8, 1813, and
is a son of John Minier, also a native pf the Key-
stone State. The grandfather, Daniel Minier, was
of German descent and served under General
Washington in the Revolutionary War. During
the greater part of his life he followed farming
in Bradford County, Pa. In religious belief he
was a Methodist. He married Polly Waggoner,
who died at the age of ninety-six, and they be-
came the parents of five sons and five daughters.
John Minier, the second child, was born in Ly-
coming County, Pa., and during his boyhood went
to Bradford County, where he married Rachel,
daughter of Obediah Brown; the latter was a
3
Lieutenant in the Colonial army and aided in
the capture of. Burgoyne at the battle of Sara-
toga. For some years John Minier followed farm-
ing in the Keystone State, and in 1839 emigrated
to Bureau County, III., where his death occurred
about two years later. His wife passed away about
1858, at the age of eighty-seven. In religious
belief he was a Univers'alist. In their family were
ten children, and with one exception all grew to
mature years. Three sons and a daughter are yet
living: Robert B., a farmer of Henry County, III.;
Theodore L., a banker and ex-State Senator of
Elmira, N. Y.; George W.; andMrs. Mahala Burn-
ham, of Bradford County, Pa.
Our subject was reared in Bradford County,
and was educated in the public schools and Athens
Academ}'. He often walked six miles to and
from school. When his college course was com-
pleted he engaged in teaching in Chemung, N. Y.,
for three years, and in 1837 emigrated to Chi-
cago, 111., where he mef'Long John Wentworth."
He then went to Bureau County and engaged in
surveying the state road from Peru to Galesburg.
In 1839 he was employed as a civil engineer on
the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad,
and aided in the survey of the Illinois River.
His work along that stream brought on an attack
of ague, which lasted for fourteen months, after
which he resumed teaching near Princeton, 111.
Three years were spent as a teacher in Magnolia,
Putnam County, after which he became a preacher
of the Christian Church, and continued in the
work of the ministry in McLean and Tazewell
Counties for many years. He was also at the
head of a female college in Bloomington, which
he sold in 1850 to Dr. Finley. The following
year he came to Tazewell County, and with a
land warrant secured one hundred and sixty acres
of Government land at eighty-three cents per
acre. It was a tract of unbroken prairie, but he
cleared and improved it, and has since made his
home thereon. In connection with farming, he
has also continued his work as a Christian minister.
January 1, 1839, Mr. Minier married Sarah Ire-
land, of Bureau County, 111., daughter of Jonathan
Ireland, who was born in Virginia and who came
to Illinois in 1834. His daughter was also born in
238
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
the Old Dominion. Mr. and Mrs. Minier became
the parents of twelve children, ten of whom are
yet living: T. L., of Minier, 111.; Leonidas, a rail-
road employe of Chicago; Eliza Jane, wife of James
Edmiston, state agent for the Union Central Life
Insurance Company at Lincoln, Neb.; Emily, wife
of John II. Spears, an attorney at Chicago; Era-
ogene, wife of George G.' Sanborn, a wholesale
importer of Philadelphia; George, a farmer of
Nebraska; Horace M., general agent for the Union
Central Life Insurance Company, living in Waco,
Tex.; Thomas C., a graduate of the Illinois Wes-
leyan University, ^ho now follows farming in
Nebraska; Theophilus I., an agriculturist of Ne-
braska; and Mary, at home.
Rev. Mr. Minier was ordained a minister of
the Christian Church in 1842, and has since en-
gaged in preaching. He was pastor of the churches
in Lincoln, Atlanta, Eminence, Bethel, Arming-
ton, Washington, Stouts Grove, Blue Mound,
Hayworth, Shirley, Hudson, White Oak Grove,
Antioch, Concord, Minier, Delavan and Emden.
Earnestly has he labored along this line, and the
lives of many noble men and women arc evidence
that his labors have not been in vain. In early
life he was a Democrat in politics, but was a
stanch Republican from the organization of the
party until a short time since, when he joined the
Prohibition party, and was the first man ever
nominated in the United States for Congress on
the Prohibition ticket. He was a warm personal
friend of Abraham Lincoln.
For man}' years Rev. Mr. Minier has been iden-
tified with the Horticultural Society of Illinois,
was its President two years, and for five years
was Vice-President of the State Agricultural So-
ciety. He is a charter member of the Forestry As-
sociation of North America, and served one year
as its President. Throughout life he has been a
member of the Sons of Temperance and is a Di-
rector in the American Bible Union. He is a
member of the Peace Congress of the United
States and was elected a delegate to the World's
Convention in London, where he was to read a
paper. Being prevented from going, he however
sent the article which he had prepared, and which
was read before that body. He took a warm in-
terest in organizing the State University of Illi-
nois, and his support and co-operation are given
to whatever is calculated to prove of public bene-
fit. His library is a fine one, containing many
choice volumes. He has always been a great
reader and student, and from three until ten A. M.
he devotes his time to reading, writing and agri-
cultural pursuits. He has now reached the uge
of eighty-one years, yet his mental faculties re-
main unimpaired.
eHRISTIAN HELLEMANN.an honored Her-
man citizen of Tazewell County, who now
resides on a valuable farm on section 13,
Elm Grove Township, was born in the province of
Brunswick, Germany, November 13, 1831, and is
the eldest in a family of five children whose
parents were Christian and Fredcricka (Spandau)
Hellemann. By occupation the father was a farm-
er, and followed that pursuit throughout life.
He was killed by a falling tree in the year 1848,
and his widow, who survived him for many years,
died in 1891, at the advanced age of eighty-four.
They never left their native land, but continued
there to reside until called to the home beyond.
Mr. Hellemann, of this sketch, was reared in the
Fatherland, but when a young man of twenty-
three resolved to seek a home and fortune beyond
the Atlantic, and on the 29th of November, 1854,
landed in New Orleans. He was the only member
of his family that emigrated from Germany. On
reaching this country he at once started for the
west, and took up his residence in St. Louis, where
for two years he followed various pursuits in or-
der to earn an honest livelihood. The year 1857
witnessed his arrival in Tazewell County, 111. He
located in Tremont Township, where he lived for
six years, and during part of that time worked as
a farm hand by the month. Soon, however, he
rented land and engaged in farming for himself.
In this way he succeeded in getting a start in life,
and thereby laid the foundation upon which his
present fortune was built. After renting land for
a few years, during which time he was economical
POETRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
239
and industrious and laid 113- some capital, he pur-
chased a farm, in 1866. It was a small tract of only
thirty acres, and was located in Tremont Township,
one mile east of the village of that name. There
he made his home for three years, when he pur-
chased the farm on which he now resides, in Elm
Grove Township. When he became its owner in
1869, it comprised but sixty acres, but from time
to tune he has added to this amount as he has
prospered, until he now owns two hundred and
seventeen acres in Elm Grove Town hip, while his
landed possessions altogether comprise three hun-
dred and seventy-seven acres.
Mr. Hellemann has found a faithful companion
and helpmate in his wife. He was married Sep-
tember 18, 1859, to Dorothy Stamme, a native of
Hanover, Germany, and to them were born six
children, two sons and four daughters: Christian,
who is represented elsewhere in this work; Julia,
wife of Charles G iff horn, of Monroe County, 111.;
Mary, wife of John Paupenhausen, of P^lm Grove;
Frederick, at home; Matilda, wife of Fred Becker,
of Tremont; and Anna, who completes the family.
In politics, Mr. Hellemann has been a Republican
since the organization of the party. By virtue of
his energy and ability he has made an unqualified
success in his chosen vocation, and is regarded as
one of the intelligent and well informed men of
the community, as well as one of the very success-
ful farmers. Since coming to America, he has
made several visits to the land of his birth, and
has also sent his children at different times, thus
giving them the advantages of education by ex-
tended travel.
~//fl\< ' , a representative farmer of Del-
ffl avan Township, Tazewell County, was
1ft born near South Orange, N. J., March 17,
1834. The family was founded in Amer-
ica by Edward Ball, a native of Scotland, who lo-
cated on a farm which is now the site of Newark,
N. J. This was in 1667. By occupation he was
a surveyor, and was a man of considerable promi-
nence. His son Thomas was the father of Aaron,
and he the father of Joseph Ball, and. the latter
was the father of Joseph B. Ball, the grandfather
of our subject. The last-named was a shoemaker
by trade, and lived and died near South Orange,
N. J.
Amzi Ball, the fattier of our subject, was there
born November 15, 1806, and in 1835 emigrated
to Ohio. The following year he went to Indiana,
and in 1851 came to Tazewell County, where he
spent his remaining days upon a farm, his death
occurring May 8, 1890. He served as a member
of the New Jersey Militia for eleven 3'ears, and
was a leading and influential citizen. He was
married March 19, 1833, to Miss Maria Meeker,
daughter of Benjamin Meeker. She was born Sep-
tember 19, 1812, and is now living with our sub-
ject. She is a bright and cheerful old lady, and
her eighty-two years rest lightly upon her, her
faculties being quite well preserved.
A. W. Ball was about seventeen years of age
when he came to Tazewell County. He acquired
a good education, which was completed in Tre-
mont Academy, after which he engaged in teach-
ing school for about four years. On the 27th of
December, 1855, he married Elizabeth Ann Mose-
ley, who was born and reared in Tazewell County,
although her parents were natives of Kentucky.
She died June 7, 1889, leaving three children,
two sons and a daughter. The eldest, C. II., is a
Lieutenant in the Illinois National Guards, and is
a prominent Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias.
He was graduated from the Jacksonville Business
College, and is now the head clerk in the large
mercantile establishment belonging to W. V. Mc-
Kinstry, of Delavan. He married Ilattie E., daugh-
ter of A. Stubbs, the Delavan miller, and their
union has been blessed with one child, Arthur W.
Gertrude II., born January 22, 1862, is the wife
of Frank H. Watkins, who is engaged in farming
on the old homestead, and they have three chil-
dren: Nellie I., George W. and Charles E. Joseph
Harrison, the youngest of the family, who was
born' March 20, 1866, married Mary E. Mourer,
who is a native of Indiana. He had charge of the
Collins Plow Company's exhibit at the World's
Fair, and still travels for the company.
Throughout his entire life Mr. Ball has followed
farming, although of late years he has left the
240
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
management of the place largely to his son-in-
law, and has devoted his entire time and atten-
tion to the care of his aged mother, to whom he
is greatly attached. He is a prominent Knight
Templar Mason, and has served as Master of the
blue lodge, and is a member of the Knights of
Honor. One of the valued citizens of the com-
munity, all who know him respect him, and it is
with pleasure that we present his sketch to our
readers. It may also be interesting to note that
Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington, was
a cousin of Joseph Ball, the great-grandfather of
our subject, and his grandmother was Eunice Har-
rison, a cousin of William Henry Harrison.
OSEPH M. COOPER who owns and operates
two hundred and twenty acres of valuable
land on section 1, Morton Township, Taze-
well County, is recognized as one of the
leading agriculturists of the community, and is well
worthy of representation in the history of his na-
tive county. He was born on the farm which is
still his home September 22, 1858, and is a son of
Thomas and Margaret A. (Strickland) Cooper.
His grandparents were William and Mary (Bcal)
Cooper. The former was born at Ft. Washington,
now Cincinnati, in the year 1806, and there died
in the year 1832. His father, who also bore the
name of William, was born near Richmond, Va.,
and served his country in the Indian War dur-
ing the reign of "Mad Anthony." The paternal
grandfather of our subject was a contractor on
canals and roads and became quite well-to-do. He
died when his son Thomas was quite young, and
his widow afterward became the wife of Mr. Wood.
By the first union were born only two children,
Thomas and Jesse, both of Pekin.
Thomas started out in life for himself at the
age of twelve years. He was apprenticed to a
machinist, but ran away and began working on
the river and canal. At the age of fourteen he
came to Tazewell County, where he worked one
year, after which he returned to Cincinnati and
engaged in boating on the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers to New Orleans. At the age of seventeen
he enlisted for the Mexican War under General
Scott, and look part in all the engagements with
that commander. At the time of the capture of
the City of Mexico he was wounded, being shot
in the side. On the close of the war he was mus-
tered out and returned to his home in the north.
Soon afterward he came to Tazewell County and
purchased the farm now belonging to our subject.
He married Miss Margaret Strickland, a native of
Kentucky, and a daughter of Thomas and Susan
A. (Bondurant) Strickland, the former a native
of Tennessee, and the latter of Kentucky. Her
mother was of French descent.
To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were born three sons
and two daughters: Mary; James, a land agent of
North Dakota; Mattie D., wife of P. II. Gupton.a
grain dealer of Nebraska; William I)., a land
agent of Washington; and Joseph M., of this
sketch. The parents are members of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Cooper belongs to
the Masonic fraternity. In politics he is a Dem-
ocrat, and since 1873 has held office. In that
year he was elected County Treasurer, which po-
sition he filled for ten years. He served as Rev-
enue Collector for the Eighth District during
President Cleveland's first administration, and
was three times Mayor of Pekin, in which place
he has made his home for the past twenty -one
years. He came to this county a poor man, but
by well directed efforts acquired a handsome com-
petency, becoming the owner of three hundred
acres of valuable land.
Joseph M. Cooper, whose name heads this rec-
ord, was reared under the parental roof, his boy-
hood days being passed amidst play and work,
and in the high school of Pekin he completed his
education. He remained with his father until
1885, and during that time engaged in business
as the proprietor of an elevator in Cooper for
three years. He then came to the farm on which
he has since resided, and devotes his time to gen-
eral farming and stock-raising. He has met with
good success in his undertakings, and the neat and
thrifty appearance of his place well indicates to
the passer-by his careful supervision.
The lady who bears the name of Mrs. Cooper
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
241
was in her maidenhood Ida B. Robison, a daugh-
ter of Frank and Mary Robison. The union of
our subject and his wife has been blessed by one
son, Frank L. The parents hold an enviable po-
sition in social circles, and have many warm
friends throughout the neighborhood. Mr. Cooper
is a Knight Templar Mason, and he and his wife
belong to the Order of the Eastern Star. In poli-
tics lie is a supporter of the Democracy, and for
four years served as Deputy Treasurer under his
father. lie is now serving as Justice of the Peace,
and by his prompt and faithful discharge of the
duties devolving upon him he has won the com-
mendation of all concerned.
SLONNEGER, one of the enterprising
farmers of Tazewell County, now living on
section 1, Morton Township, claims Ohio as
the state of his nativity, his birth having
occurred in Butler Count}', December 12, 1839.
His paternal grandfather was a German farmer of
limited means. In his family were the. following
children: Barbara, wife of David Summers; Mary,
wife of John Schatz; Fannie, who married Michael
Oswold, and after his death became the wife of
Jacob Smith; Peter; John, of Ohio; Christian and
Jacob. The father of this family died, and the
mother afterward married Mr. Rumsayer, by whom
she had a daughter, Fannie.
Jacob Slonneger, father of our subject, was born
in Switzerland in 1813, and in 1825 came with the
family to America. His mother was then for the
second time a widow, and with her he remained
until he had attained his majority. The family-
located in Butler County, Ohio, and he there fol-
lowed farming for some time. With the excep-
tion of a short period spent in the grocery busi-
ness in Collinsville, Ohio, he always carried on
agricultural pursuits. In 1836 he married Eliza-
beth, daughter of Benjamin King. She was born
in Baden, Germany, as were her parents, and at
the age of eighteen came with her father to Amer-
ica. To Mr. and Mrs. Slonneger were born eleven
children: Christian, John, Jacob, Joseph; Samuel
and William, twins, who died at the age of six
months; Fannie, deceased wife of Christ Bluch;
Barbara, wife of Charles F. Sealman; Anna, wife
of Dan Kopendorffer; Mary Magdalina; and Mary,
widow of John Jacobs. The mother of this fam-
ily passed away in 1857. She was a member of the
Mennonite Church, as was also Mr. Slonneger. For
his second wife he married Miss Schinbler, and to
them were born five children, four yet living,
Lydia, David, Philip and Fritz. The father was
called to his final rest May 8, 1880.
In the common schools of" Ohio, the subject of
this sketch acquired his education, and with his
father remained until eighteen years of age, when
he began working as a farm hand by the month.
He was thus employed until twenty-four years of
age, at which time he married Magdelene Summers,
a native of the Buckeye State, and a daughter of
Peter Summers, who was born in Alsace, France.
To them were born two children, one yet living,
Alfred F., who makes his home near Spring Bay.
For about a year Mr. Slonneger rented land. In
1869 he came to Illinois, locating in McLean Coun-
ty, where for three years he worked by the month.
His first wife having died three years after their
marriage, he then wedded Mary Belsey, daughter
of Peter and Lena (Springer) Belsey. They then
made a trip to Germany, in hopes of benefiting
his wife's health, and spent one year and twelve
days abroad. They then returned to McLean
County, and in 1877 came to the farm on which
Mr. Slonneger now makes his home. His wife de-
parted this life in 1878. Three children were born
of that union: Eddie and Maggie, now deceased;
and Bertha. The lady who is now Mrs. Slonneger
bore the maiden name of Barbara Zimmerman.
She was born in Butler County, Ohio, and is a
daughter of Chris and Barbara (Kinsinger) Zim-
merman, the former a native of Alsace, France;
and the latter of Bavaria, Germany. The children
of the third marriage are, Clifford, Chester, Fritz,
Willis and John.
Mr. Slonneger is a member of the Odd Fellows 'so-
ciety of Washington, 111., and of the D. O. H. Lodge
of that place. He exercises his right of franchise
in support of the Democracy, and for eight years
has served as Justice of the Peace. He has led a
242
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
bus}' and useful life, his time and attention being
largely devoted to agricultural interests, and those
who know him esteem him highly for his sterling
worth and strict integrity.
lESSE B. COOPER, Supervisor of Pekin
Township, is also Overseer of the Poor and
Township Treasurer. He has also been
Deputy Collecfor of Internal Revenues at
Pekin, and by a systematic and thorough method
of work has attained a success which is justly de-
served. He was born in Clifton, a suburb of Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, February 25, 1831, and is the son
of William Cooper, a native of Hamilton County,
that slate.
Grandfather Jacob Cooper was born in West-
moreland County, Va., and removed to Cincinnati
in 1791, when that city was known as Ft. Wash-
ington. He served in the Indian Wars, and re-
ceived from the Government a grant of one thou-
sand acres of land, which was located where now
stands the Queen City, and built a log house on
the present site of the court house. He was of Eng-
lish descent, an Episcopalian in religion, and died
while residing in Hamilton County.
The father of our subject was a contractor and
builder and assisted in the construction of the
Miami Canal, and his brother was President of the
company that had charge of the work. His death
occurred in 1833 from cholera. He was a Jack-
sonian Democrat in politics, and when establish-
ing a home of his own was married to Miss Mary
Beal, who was born in New York State. Mrs.
Cooper was the daughter of Jesse Beal, also a
native of that state, whence he later removed to
Hamilton County, Ohio, where he was a farmer.
In 1820 he located near Vincennes, Ind., and after
a residence there of two years returned to Hamil-
ton County, and in 1847 came to this county,
where he led a retired life until his death. The
Beal family were of German descent and were
Methodists in religion.
After the death of her husband the mother of
our subject came to this county, in 1855, and made
her home with her son until December, 1889, when
she died, aged eighty years. She reared a family
of two children, Jesse B. and Thomas. The former
lived in Cincinnati until he was seven years of
age and then removed with his mother to Marietta,
where she was married to Joseph Wood, a butcher
by trade. Jesse attended the schools of that city,
and after obtaining a high-school education, aided
his step-father in his trade until 1849. when he
came to Illinois, but remained here only five
months. He then returned to Marietta, and in
1851 again came to the Prairie State and was en-
gaged in the manufacture of brick in Washington.
November 11, 1851, Mr. Cooper was married in
Washington, 111., to Miss Melinda C., daughter of
Charles Bunn, who was born in Ross County, Ohio,
of which state her father was also a native. Her
grandfather, Harmon Bunn, was born in Penn-
sylvania and in early life removed to Ohio, where
he was a farmer. The father of Mrs. Cooper was
likewise an agriculturist, and in 1838 came to Illi-
nois, settling in Petersburg, Menard County; he
later removed to Pontiac, thence to Washington
County, and locating in the city of that name, be-
gan practicing dentistry. Later, when on a visit
to Ohio, he was thrown from a horse and killed.
His wife, Mrs. Mary (Cummings) Bunn, was like-
wise born in the Buckeye State, and was the
daughter of James Cummings, a native of Scot-
land, who, after coming to America, followed farm
pursuits in Ohio. Mrs. Bunn died in Washington
aged seventy -seven years.
Our subject after his marriage returned to Ma-
rietta and engaged with his step-father in the
butcher's business until the latter died, in August,
1854. In April, 1855, he made a permanent loca-
tion in this state, and renting a farm near Wash-
ington, was engaged in its cultivation until 1867.
That year he moved into the city, and opening a
market, carried on a thriving trade as a retailer
and also engaged in shipping stock until 1872.
In the last named year he was appointed by
the Supervisor of Tazewell County as Superin-
tendent of the Poor Farm, of which position he
was the incumbent for nine years. The County
Farm included two hundred and eight acres of
timber land, one-half of which Mr. Cooper cleared
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
243
and placed under a fine state of improvement.
In 1881 he was petitioned to continue as its Sup-
erintendent, but refused to do so, and coming
to Pekin purchased a farm of seventy-five acres
located northeast of the city. This he planted
with small fruit trees, including plums, peaches,
etc., and was engaged in the nursery business un-
til the spring of 1893, when he rented the prop-
erty. It is one of the largest fruit farms in the
county, and during the summer season Mr. Coop-
er engaged from one hundred and twenty-five
to two hundred people to pick the small fruits. In
the fall of 1892 lie erected a beautiful residence at
No. 905 Broadway, where he is preparing to spend
his declining years.
The six children comprising the family of Mr.
and Mrs. Cooper are: M. Ada, now Mrs. Waugliop,
of Washington Township, this county; William, en-
gaged in farming in Arapahoe County, Colo.; Kate,
Mrs. Scriven, of Russell County, Kan.; Clara, Mrs.
Eckley, of Keithsburg, 111.; Charles, a carpenter in
Montana; and John, who is following railroading.
In 1885 Mr. Cooper was elected Supervisor for
a term of two years, and in 1891 was re-elected to
that position; in 1893 he was made Overseer of
the Poor of Pekin Township, of which he is also
Treasurer. Socially he is a Mason of high stand-
ing, and is connected witli the lodge in Washing-
ton, of which he was High Priest. He is a Knight
Templar and holds membership witli Peoria Com-
mandery No. 3. He is a Democrat in politics and
has been a delegate to state and national conven-
tions. Mrs. Cooper is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and her life has been replete
with good deeds.
UDGE JACOB RAPP. Among those of
foreign birth who are closely associated
|l with the business interests of this county,
and who were early settlers of the same, we
should not fail to present an outline of the career of
Mr. Rapp, for he has fully borne out the reputation
of that class of industrious, energetic and thrifty
men of German nativity who have risen to prom-
inence in different portions of this country. He
has been a resident here since 1860, and has held
the oflice of Justice of the Peace since 1884. In
1893 he was elected Police Magistrate of Pekin,
and in both offices has rendered efficient service,
and it is therefore with genuine pleasure that we
include his sketch in this work.
Nicholas Rapp, the father of our subject, was a
carpet weaver and grocer in Hesse-Darmstadt,
Germany, where he spent his entire life. He was
married in that country to Miss Eva Maaser, who
was likewise born there and who is still living in
Germany. Their family included three sons and
three daughters, of whom Jacob, of this sketch, is
the only one who makes his home in America, and
is the eldest but one.
The subject of this sketch was also born in Hesse-
Darmstadt, February 22, 1845. He received his
education in the Fatherland, and remained there
until July, 1860, when he departed for Havre,
France, and there embarked on the sailing-vessel
" Nicholas," which arrived in New York harbor
after a voyage of forty-two days. Thence young
Rapp came by way of Philadelphia and Chicago
to tliis city, where he apprenticed himself to [earn
the barber's trade, working in the shop of John
Monath until 1864.
In September of the above year our subject vol-
unteered his services in the Union army, and be-
coming a member of Company K, One Hundred
and Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry, was mustered
into service at Camp Butler, and with his regi-
ment fought in the states of Kentucky and Ten-
nessee. He remained a soldier until the close of
the war, when he was mustered out at Springfield
as Corporal, and in July, 1865, returned home.
His first work was to purchase the barber shop of
his former employer and start in business with a
Mr. Snapp, which partnership continued for six
years. Our subject then removed to his present
location, and for two years carried on the business
with Mr. Lauterbach. since which time he has op-
erated-alone.
In the spring of 1884 Mr. Rapp was elected
Justice of the Peace of Pekin Township, and was
successively elected to that position in 1888 and
1892. The following year he assumed the duties
244
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
of Police Magistrate of the city, and is considered
one of the honorable and useful members of the
community.
Jacob Rapp was married in 1865 to Miss Annie
McCarthy, who was born in La Fayette, Ind. The
six children of whom they have become the parents
are: Lulu, Mrs. W. G. Wilds, who was drowned
on the " Frances Folsoni" at Peoria; Mamie, Mrs.
P. Burns, who makes her home in this city; Katie,
Annie and George, who reside with their parents;
and William, who died when eighteen months old.
Mrs. Annie Rapp departed this life in 1884, and
two years later our subject was married to Miss
Mary Brady, a native of Ireland.
In social affairs Mr. Rapp is an Odd Fellow, be-
longing to the encampment; he is a member of
Joe Ilanna Post No. 117, G. A. R.,and is also con-
nected with the society of Druids and the Modern
Woodmen. Fie is a prominent Democrat in poli-
tics, and has served on various county committees.
GRACE F. REASON. A residence of more
than thirty years in Mason County, during
a portion of which time he has conducted
a successful business in Mason City, has
fully established Mr. Reason in the esteem and
confidence of the people. The firm of Ely & Rea-
son, of which he is the junior member, deals in
agricultural implements, steam threshers, wind
mills, etc., and has one of the most complete and
valuable stocks of the kind in the county. In ad-
dition to this enterprise, Mr. Reason is also serv-
ing as Treasurer of Mason City, and is the owner
of a valuable farm in Salt Creek Township.
The famity with which our subject is identified
originated in England, but was represented in
America early in^the Colonial era. The father of
our subject, John M. Reason, was born in Mary-
land, and became a pioneer of Warren County,
Ohio, where he followed the occupation of a farmer.
The mother bore the maiden name of Sarah Mar-
tindale, and was a native of Maryland. Horace F.
was born in Warren County, Ohio, July 23, 1844,
and there spent the days of boyhood and youth,
receiving a good education in the common schools.
At the age of sixteen years, Mr. Reason left
home, and coming west unaccompanied by any
relatives or friends, has since hewed a way in life
for himself. He was a youth of but seventeen
when he enlisted in the Union army and became
one of the boys in blue comprising Company K,
Eighty-fifth Illinois Infantry, commanded by Col.
C. J. Dilworth, and assigned to the Army of the
Cumberland. With his regiment he took part in
the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Chicka-
mauga. Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, and
the march to the sea. At the close of the war he
was mustered out, June 5, 1865, at Washington,
D. C.
Returning to Mason County, our subject com-
menced the active prosecution of farming enter-
prises, in which he continued successfully engaged
until 1884. At that time, in partnership with S.
S. Young, he embarked in business under the firm
title, of Reason & Young. One year later the firm,
.by., mutual- consent, dissolved, and shortly after-
ward Mr. Reason formed a connection with J. A.
Clegg in the grocery business, the firm name being
Clegg & Reason. Three years later the firm dis-
solved, and in 1889 the present partnership in the
agricultural implement business was formed with
G. C. Ely, and the firm of Ely <fe Reason has since
conducted a successful business. Their sales are
made to farmers of Mason and adjoining counties,
and their reputation as honorable business men is
such that they have the confidence of all with whom
they come in contact.
A Republican in political views, Mr. Reason has
filled a number of important local oflices, and at
present, as above stated, is filling the position of
City Treasurer, having been elected in 1893. For
three years he was Supervisor of Salt Creek Town-
ship, and has for two years served in the same ca-
pacity in Mason City Township, and was re-elected
for the same office in April, 1894, for two years.
In local, state and national issues he is interested
and well posted, and also possesses a wide range
of information upon general topics. Socially, lie
is a member of Wilfred Lodge No. 142, K. I 1 ., and
Duvol Post No. 123, G. A. R. His wife, whom he
UBRAKY
OF fHt
UNJVERSn Y OF UJNUS
JOHN F. SCHIPPER,
[DECEASED. j
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
247
married in February of 1868, was formerly Miss
Esther A. Melton, being a daughter of Austin P.
Melton, of Mason County.
F. SCHIPPER, deceased, was for many
years identified with the business interests
of Pekin, and in every relation of life was
known as a most liberal, influential and
public-spirited man. His high moral character and
unswerving devotion to right principles gave him
a prestige among his fellow-citizens which it is the
privilege of few men to enjoy.
Mr. Schipper was born December 22, 1838, at
"Wundel" the old family home, near Wirdummer,
Ostfriesland, Germany. His parents, Frederick
and Cliarlotta (Johnson) Schipper, occupied the
old family place, which for over two hundred
years had been in possession of the Schipper fam-
ily, and is now owned and occupied by the young-
est son, Gerhart. The father filled responsible
positions under Napoleon I., and afterward with
the German army, fighting with the latter against
Napoleon at the great battle of Waterloo. He died
at the old home in 1876, at the advanced age of
eighty-five years, an honored and wealthy citizen,
surviving his wife by many years.
John F. Schipper, the subject of this sketch, was
the third of five sons, and remained at home until
he was seventeen years of age. He then entered a
business college, where by his studious habits and
eager desire for knowledge he obtained a most ex-
cellent education. His college life ended, he sought
and obtained a position in a dry-goods store in
Emden, and subsequently spent two years in Rot-
terdam, Holland. Here his health failed, and he
returned home with the intention of going to Ja-
pan. To this his father objected and in 1865 he
came to America. Pekin became his home, and for
the first six months he was employed as clerk in
the store of M. Heisel, but the amount of courage,
enterprise and brains with which he was endowed,
pre-eminently fitted him for a business career, and
together with C. Bonk, a partnership was formed,
which under the firm name of C. Bonk & Co., on
Margaret Street, became one of the leading dry-
goods stores of the city.
Upon the death of Mr. Bonk, Henry Block was
taken into partnership under the firm name of
Schipper & Block. In 1874 they moved to Court
and Third Streets. Their increased business led
them to build a large double store at the corner of
Court and Capitol Streets, to which they removed.
A few years later a branch store was established at
Peoria, and in an increditably short time was at
the head, becoming the largest dry-goods enter-
. prise in the state outside of Chicago. Mr. Schip-
per was also President of the Schipper & Block
Carpet Company located at Peoria. As an outlet
to his untiring encrg}-, other enterprises engaged
his attention. He was a large stockholder and
Director in the Teis Smith <fe Co.'s Bauk, had ex-
tensive interests in Wyoming and Colorado, and
with several others bought and assumed control
of the Pekin Gas Works.
On the 3d of November, 1869, Mr. Schipper was
united in marriage with Miss Anna Look, daugh-
ter of Mr. and Mrs. I be Look. She was born' and
grew to womanhood in Pekin. Her parents were
born in Germany, but came to America at an early
age. The family located in Limestone, Peoria
County, where the grandfather (also an old Water-
loo veteran) died. Mr. Look was engaged in the
wholesale and retail grocery business in Pekin for
twenty-live years. He was a stanch Republican,
and a leading and influential citizen whose word
was as good as his bond. He died in Pekin in
1876, at the age of fifty-one years. Mrs. Look,
nee Miss Lena Steen, came to America with her
parents, of whom she was deprived at an early
ao-e, as both fell victims to cholera, at that time so
o '
prevalent in this country. Mrs. Look survived
her husband a number of years. Her death oc-
curred in Pekin in 1889, at the age of fifty-six
years.
Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Look,
of whom but four sons and one daughter reached
mature years, Mrs. John F. Schipper being the
eldest. She is a most estimable lady, beloved by
many friends, and widely known in the commu-
nity in which she resides as a lady of culture and
248
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
refinement, well fitted to adorn the high social
circle in which she moves. Her marriage with Mr.
Schipper proved a particularly happy union. All
of the many who have so often shared the hospi-
tality of their beautiful home bear testimony of
the genial happy character of its host and hostess.
Six children came to bless their union, three
daughters and three sons. Charlotta, the eldest
daughter, died at the age of two years; Martena, at
the age of one year, and Leonora, a bright, win-
some girl, died at the age of seventeen. The loss
of her husband and children has fallen with al-
most crushing force upon Mrs. Schipper. The care
and education of her three remaining children,
Karl, I be and Frederick, is now the one all-ab-
sorbing interest of her life.
During 1873 Mr. and Mrs. Schipper went to
Europe, visiting the World's Exposition at Vienna
and the country seat of the Schipper famil}', mak-
ing extended travels in Germany and other parts
of Europe during their stay of six months. In
1892 they visited the Pacific Coast, enjoying to-
gether the delights of the varied and beautiful
scenery of that region.
Mr. Schipper took a deep interest in all educa-
tional pursuits and in whatever added to the in-
terests of the community in which he lived. He
was a large-spirited, philanthropic citizen, affable
and agreeable without ostentation. He was not a
politician, but took a deep interest in all that .re-
lated to the good government of the country of
his adoption. In religion he was a Lutheran, but
was too free from narrow inindedness to be either
sectarian or partisan. He was several times elected
Alderman, and served two different terms as
School Inspector. In each capacity he served
faithfully and efficiently.
In 1893, with a hope of regaining his failing
health, accompanied by Mrs. Schipper, his children
and a nurse, he went to Block Island, near Rhode
Island. Here the best medical aid which could be
procured was obtained, but ever}' effort proved
unavailing, and at Louisville, Ky., on his way
homeward, his spirit took its flight, on the 25th of
September, 1893. The news of his death caused
widespread grief among his many friends and ac-
quaintances in Pekin,and on the day on which he
was laid to rest, a vast concourse came together to
pay the last tribute to him, who by his upright-
ness and nobility of character had won for him-
self an unsullied name and a high place in the
hearts of his fellow-men.
A. WALLACE ranks among the
prominent lawyers of the state, and since
locating in Havana has won for himself an
enviable reputation as an attorney. He is a mem-
ber of the firm of Wallace & Lacey, which partner-
ship was entered into many years ago, and enjoys
the confidence of the people, who repose the great-
est trust in his ability. He is a native of the
Granite State, and was born in Hillsboro County,
June 7, 1843. His father, John W. Wallace, was
likewise a native of New Hampshire, where he was
born in 1804, and died there in 1878. He in turn
was the son of Josiah Wallace, an old Revolution-
ary soldier.
Mrs. Ann C. (Brackett) Wallace, the mother of
our subject, also was born in New Hampshire, and
was the daughter of James Brackett, who was torn
in 1777, and died in 1859. She departed this life
in 1890, when in her eighty-fourth year. E. A., of
this sketch, after attending the common schools in
his native place, went to Henniker, N. II., and en-
tered the academy of that place, where he took a
thorough course. On attaining his majority, he
began reading law with F. N. Blood, a prominent
attorney of Hillsboro County, and in 1865 entered
the law department of Harvard, from which uni-
versity he was graduated with the Class of '67.
That same year he was admitted to the Bar in Bos-
ton, Mass., and November 4 came to Havana,
where he formed a partnership with Judge Lyman
Lacey, which connection existed until the latter
was elected Judge of the Circuit Court in 1873.
Mr. Wallace practices his profession in all the
courts, both state and federal, and is without ques-
tion one of the most prominent attorneys in the
state. He is a pronounced Democrat in politics,
and socially is a member of Havana Lodge No. 88,
F. & A. M., Havana Chapter No. 86, R. A. M., and
Damascus Commandery No. 42, K. T. He has al-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
249
ways taken a prominent part in public improve-
ment of all kinds, and in 1885 drafted the Farm
Drainage Bill, which passed into effect July 1 of
that year, and under which there have been sixty
thousand acres of land reclaimed from the swamps
in this county and made tillable. He was the
projector of the water works and electric light
plant of this city, and taken all in all, is one of
Havana's most public-spirited citizens. He is a
genial, affable and pleasant gentleman, and has an
excellent knowledge of law.
In 1869 K. A. Wallace and Miss Gertrude E.,
daughter of Holly W. and Ellen M. Lightcup, were
united in marriage. Her parents were natives of
Ohio, and early settlers of tins county, where they
were engaged in merchant tailoring.
AVID B. McLEAN is a wide-awake and
representative citizen of Tazewell County
and successfully follows farming in Elm
Grove Township. He was born in County
Down, Ireland, February 14, 1834, and is of Scotch
lineage. He is the only survivor in a family of
three children, one of whom died in infancy,
while Franklin J. died at the age of thirty-seven.
His father, Hugh S. McLean, was born on Christ-
mas Day of '1807. He married Janet Breck en ridge,
who also came of an old Scotch family. The Mc-
Lean clan was a prominent one of that country.
The paternalgrandparents were William and Mar-
garet (McGowan) McLean. They spent much of
their lives in the North of Ireland, where the
former died at an extreme old age, and the latter at
the age of ninety-nine.
In 1834, when our subject was four months old,
his parents emigrated to the New World and
spent three years in New York City, where Hugh
McLean served as Superintendent in Kipps Bay
Glass Bottle Factory. lie was an expert glass-
worker and was therefore capable of holding the re-
sponsible position which he filled. On the expira-
tion of three years he emigrated to Pekin, 111.,
July 25, 1837, and the next da}' came to Elm
Grove Township, making a contract to work on the
farm of Josiah L. James for two years. He con-
tinued in the employ of that gentleman until
1846, when he began working for Isaac Leonard.
In 1850 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres
of land, the farm on which our subject now re-
sides. His death occurred July 28, 1852, at the
age of forty-five, and his wife passed away March
22, 1878, at the age of seventy- four.
Mr. McLean of this sketch has lived in Elm
Grove Township since the age of three and a-half
years, and his home has always been on the farm
on which he now resides. During his boyhood
he attended a private school for six years, con-
ducted by James J. Kellogg, at Tremont. He
being the eldest son of the family, upon his fa-
ther's death he assumed the management of the
farm, which he has since conducted. He was then
only eighteen years of age, but he soon gave evi-
dence of good business and executive ability.
On the 31st of March, 1859, Mr. McLean was
united in marriage with Miss Lydia Williams, of
Greene County, Ind., daughter of William Will-
iams, who came of an old Carolina family. She was
one of six children. To Mr. and Mrs. McLean
have been born the following children: Janet B.,
wife of L. L. Barnhouse, of Tremont Township,
Tazewell County; Alice, wife of Joseph B. Grote-
vant, of Livingston County; Hugh S., of Cook
County; William F., Charles E. and John, at home.
In politics Mr. McLean has always been a stanch
Republican. At the age of twenty-one he was
elected School Director and filled that office for
twenty-one years, when he declined to serve
longer. He was Town Clerk for nineteen years,
School Trustee nine years, Justice of the Peace
twelve years, and is now serving as Township
Supervisor. Socially he was made a Mason in
March, 1877, in Tremont Lodge No. 462, A. F. <fe
A. M. The same year he was elected Senior
Warden, which position he filled three years. He
then served as Master one year, and was afterward
Senior Deacon four years; he then again served as
Master three years, and has since been Senior Dea-
con. He also belongs to Pekin Chapter No. 25,
R. A. M. Mr. McLean is always true to the trust
reposed in him, whether public or private. In the
250
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
various offices which he lias filled, he has discharged
his duties with a promptness and a fidelity which
have won him the high commendation of all con-
cerned. He is one of the most prominent citizens
of this community and well deserves representa-
tion in the history of his native county.
OBERT A. DUNHAM, deceased, was born
' n ^ ort ' iurn ' >ei 'l anc ' County, Pa., April 15,
1806, and was a son* of Thomas Dunham.
lle was left an orphan when quite young.
His early boyhood days were spent upon a farm
in the Keystone State, and his school privileges
were received before the age of sixteen years. He
prepared himself for teaching and followed that
profession for several terms in Pennsylvania. He
also served a three years' apprenticeship to the
tailor's trade under James Hutchinson,of Milton,
a little town on the Susquehanna River, and when
his time had expired went to Danville, where he
worked under the instruction of E. Moore. Later he
went to northern Pennsylvania, and as he then had
only twenty-five cents, had to engage in the first
work which presented itself. This was in a hotel,
and he had to sue his employer for his wages,
amounting to $200. Later he had to take 1100
out in trade, so he decided to open a tailoring es-
tablishment of his own. He located in Towanda,
Pa., where he remained for eight years, carrying a
full line of men's furnishing goods, clothing, etc.,
making suits to order.
In 1833, Mr. Dunham determined to come west,
and purchasing a horse and buggy, made the trip
across the country. He finally determined to lo-
cale in Mackinaw. His buggy, of the old style
wooden spring pattern, was probably the first in
the county. This he traded for a gold watch,
which he sold for $80, and with this money he
made a partial payment upon the farm which is
now the home of his widow. For nearly a year
lie engaged in tailoring in Mackinaw, and then
returned to Pennsylvania to settle up his business,
and in June, 1835, made a permanent location in
Tazewell County. On the second trip he brought
with him a large wagon well stocked with goods
and opened a general mercantile store, which he
carried on for two years, and then removed to his
farm.
In Pennsylvania, Mr. Dunham had married Miss
Keeler, and to them was born a son, Llewellyn,
but the mother and child both died. On the llth
of July, 1839, our subject wedded Miss Sidney
Ann Holse}', a native of Pennsylvania, by whom
he had seven children, three of whom are yet liv-
ing, Lyman P.; Frances, wife of Homer Miller;
and Clarinda.
From early life, Mr. Dunham was an earnest
worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his
wife is also a consistent member. He ever labored
for the test interests of the community in which
he lived, doing all in his power to uplift humanity,
and was well known for his charity and benevo-
lence. During the late war, although too old to
enter the service, he was an ardent supporter of
the Union and gave freely of his means towards
sustaining the cause of the north. He was always
opposed to slavery, and when the Republican
part}' was formed to prevent its further extension
he joined its ranks. Previously he was a Whig.
In business he was successful and -accumulated
considerable property, comprising four hundred
and fifteen acres of valuable farm land. He pass-
ed away in 1886, and in his death the county lost
one of its valued citizens and honored pioneers.
His wife, a most estimable lady, still survives him
and has reached the advanced age of seventy-eight.
Their eldest son, Lyman P. Dunham, was born
on the old home farm near Mackinaw in 1848,
and finished his education in Eureka. He remain-
ed with his parents until twenty-nine years of age, ,
when he married Ida M. Miller, a native of Taze-
well County, and a daughter of P. J. F. and Martha
(Adams) Miller, the former born in Culpeper
County, Tenn., and the latter in this county. Mr.
and Mrs. Dunham have two children, Myrtle E.
and Mabel. The parents are members of the
Christian Church of Mackinaw, and they are among
the most highly respected citizens of the com-
munity. With the exception of a few months
spent as a clerk in Mackinaw, Mr. Dunham has al-
ways followed fanning. For a time he rented a
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
251
part of the old homestead, and upon his father's
death lie came into possession of one hundred and
forty acres of good land, which is now a well im-
proved farm. The fields are well tilled, every-
thing about the place is kept in good repair, and
their home is a pleasant and comfortable residence.
Mr. Dunham is regarded as one of the practical
and industrious agriculturists of the community,
and is one of the representative citizens of his
native county. In politics he is a stalwart Re-
publican.
OSEPH C. ELLSWORTH, a successful agri-
culturist residing on section 20, Forest City
Township, Mason County, is the son of
William and Sarah (Medaris) Ellsworth, the
former a native of Virginia, born March 24, 1797,
and the latter a native of North Carolina, born
October 24, 1795. The parents were married in
Ohio January 21, 1819, after which they settled in
Shelby Count}' upon a tract of unimproved land.
There the father built and operated two sawmills.
Coming to .Illinois in the fall of 1843 William
Ellsworth settled in Lewistown, Fulton County,
where he sojourned for five years. In 1849 he
came to Havana and remained in Forest City
Township until his death, October, 14, 1867. His
wife had passed away five days before his demise.
Their family consisted of nine children, of whom
the following six now survive: T. II., J. C., W. E.,
IS. R., J. F. and J. M., the eldest seventy-three, and
the youngest sixty years of age. For over forty
years the parents were members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, after which the}' united with
the Wesleyan Church, and the father was licensed
to preach in the latter denomination.
In Shelby County, Ohio, Januaiy 1, 1823, the
subject of this notice was born and there he was
educated in the pioneer log school house. In ad-
dition to gaining a practical knowledge of agricult-
ure in his youth, he also gained some knowledge
of the trades of a carpenter and miller. Accompany-
ing his parents to Illinois, he remained with them
until 1846. On the 2d of November of that year
he married Cynthia, daughter of Charles and Hes-
ter (DeFord) Wheeler, the former a native of
Pennsylvania and a soldier in the War of 1812.
Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were married in Ohio and
settled in Richland County, where he improved a
farm. In 1836 they came to Illinois and settled
in Fulton County, where they were early settlers.
There Mrs. Wheeler died in 1839, and the father
- subsequently made his home with his children un-
til his death, September 15, 1865.
Mrs. Ellsworth is one of seven children, of
whom the survivors besides herself are Charles,
Mrs. Sarah Grigsby and John. One of her broth-
ers, Jacob, was Captain of Company K, Seventeenth
Illinois Infantry, and served for a period of three
years. In an engagement in Missouri he was se-
riously wounded, being shot through the cheek,
mouth and back of the head. However, he re-
covered his strength and afterward gained consid-
erable prominence as a leader in the Republican
party of his section. For a time he was a member
of the Illinois State Legislature and he also held
the position of Internal Revenue Collector. At
his death he left a widow and six children. John
Wheeler was also a soldier in the Union army, be-
ing a member of the Fifty-fifth Illinois Infantry, in
which he served as Corporal. He was seriously
wounded in the battle of Shiloh. His present
home is in Fulton County, 111. Mrs. Ellsworth was
born in Richland County, Ohio, March 3, 1828,
and received a good education in the schools of
Fulton County, 111.
After his marriage our subject settled in Milton,
Fulton County, whence in 1849 he came to Mason
County and for one year resided in Havana Town-
ship. Returning to Fulton County, he made a
brief sojourn there and in 1853 settled upon his
present farm, which was then raw prairie land. At
present it contains two hundred and forty acres.
One hundred and twenty acres of this is finely im-
proved land, and one hundred and twenty acres is
timber land. The farm is located in Manito Town-
ship, is embellished with suitable and substantial
buildings and forms one of the most valuable tracts
in this locality.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth has re-
sulted in the birth of three children now living,
namely: Ellen, wife of John O'Leary, of Bath,
252
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
this county, and the mother of seven children;
Amanda, who married Harmon Ellenberger and
has six children; and Clark W., a resident of Ne-
braska, who married Ida Picrson and has two chil-
dren. The children were the recipients of excel-
lent educational advantages and are well informed
and highly respected. Mr. Ellsworth is a Repub-
lican iu politics and has been identified with that
party since its organization. For nine years he
lias served as Road Commissioner and has also
served as School Trustee and Director of School
District No. 2.
MARION WHITE. Among the residents
of Mason County who have prosecuted
their life work successfully and are now
enjoying the fruits of their prudence and energy
is the gentleman above named, who is well and fa-
vorably known to many of our readers. He owns
two hundred and forty acres of fertile land lo-
cated on section 34, Forest City Township, which
is operated by tenants.
W. W. White, the father of our subject, was
born in West Virginia in 1818, and departed this
life in 1866. Fora fuller history of his life the
reader is referred to the sketch of D. C. White
elsewhere in this volume. V. Marion was born
July 23, 1844, in Marshall County, W. Va., and
was there reared on a farm and was attending
school at the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1864,
however, he enlisted in Company G, First West
Virginia Infantry, and with his regiment went to
Woodstock, that state, where they were encamped.
From there they were ordered to the Snenandoah
Valley under General Sigel and while there fought
the battle of New Market. Thence they went to
Winchester, and under the command of General
Hunter marched on to Lynchburg, and on the way
occurred the battle of Piedmont, in which conflict
eighty men were killed and wounded. The battle
of Lynchburg occupied three days, when the Union
forces were driven back to Meadow Bluffs; at the
latter place they received their rations and wentb}'
boat to ParkeYsburg, and thence by rail to Martins-
burg, where they joined Gen. Phil Sheridan's com-
mand.
While in the service Mr. White was taken sick at
Martinsburg, Va., and after a furlough of thirty
days joined his regiment in the Shenandoah Val-
ley, where he took part in the battle of Winches-
ter, during which time he witnessed General
Sheridan's famous ride. He was present at Cum-
berland, Md., when General Crook was captured;
he participated in all the battles and skirmishes,
and guarded train? under Sheridan until he left
the Shenandoah.
The regiment of which our subject was a mem-
ber was in 1865 consolidated with the Fourth
West Virginia, and was thereafter known as the
Second West Virginia Veterans, under the com-
mand of Col. Jacob Weddle. After the re-organi-
zation the regiment remained in West Virginia in
order to preserve peace among the people, and af-
ter a time went to Wheeling, where Mr. White re-
ceived his honorable discharge July 20, 1865.
After being mustered out Mr. White came to
Illinois and joined his father's family, who had re-
moved here in the meantime. He was married
September 4, 18C7, to Miss Barbara E., daughter of
Conrad and Elizabeth (Gumbel) Elenbergcr, na-
tives of Germany but at that time residents of
this state. Mrs. White was born in the Fatherland
January 29, 1846, and became the mother of live
children, of whom Lillian is the wife of Frank
Spurrier and lives in Pennsylvania Township;
Gertrude was the second in order of birth; Will-
iam lives in Arkansas, as does Gertrude; and
Harry is at home with his parents.
After his marriage our subject located on his
present fine estate, which was then in a perfectly
raw condition, with not a furrow turned. He
built his residence in 1866, which lias been re-
modeled in later years, and all the improvements
on the farm have been placed there by his own
hand. He makes a specialty of stock-raising and
has a fine drove of Poland-China swine.
Mr. and Mrs. White are active members of the
Baptist Church, in which congregation the former
is a Deacon, and in the Sunday-school the entire
family have been teachers. Mrs. Spurrier is the
present Superintendent of the Pleasant Plains
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
253
school, and Miss Gertrude has been organist of the
church; she is a very talented musician and has
been a teacher of considerable note in this locality.
One daughter of Mr. and Mrs. White, Florence,
died aged nineteen years and six months.
Our subject has always been interested in every-
thing that would enhance the prosperity of his
township, and as a School Director aided in the or-
ganization of District No. 9. He is a straight Re-
publican in politics, and socially is a Modern
Woodman, a Patron of Husbandry and Master of
Pomona Grange of Mason County.
ILLIAM H. ECKARD. Prominent among
the citizens of Mason County who have
materially contributed to its prosperity is
the subject of this sketch. He owns a fine farm of
one hundred and forty acres in this and Hancock
Counties, all of which he rents. He has been a con-
spicuous figure in the civic life of this section for
many years, and is at present filling the position
of Supervisor of Quiver Township.
The father of our subject, Moses Eckard, was
born in 1821, in Mainland, while his mother, Mrs.
Sarah E. (Simmons) Eckard, was a native of Ken-
tucky, where also her father, Pollard Simmons, was
born. The latter, who was a prominent man in
his locality, came to Illinois, and after making his
home for a time in Menard County, removed to
the northern part of Havana Township, this coun-
ty, in 1835, where he erected what was known as
the Simmons Mill, and for many years operated it
in connection with farming. The good wife of
Moses Eckard died at her home in Winchester,
this state, April 22, 1894.
The parental family included three sons and a
daughter, of whom .Sarah A. married Thomas J.
Metzler, who is now deceased, and she is living in
Winchester. William II. is the next in order of
birth. James P. married Ilettie Lukins, and is liv-
ing in Quiver Township, where also John R., who
took to wife Miss Nannie Bates, makes his home.
Moses Eckard came to this county in 1838, where
he was married and located on a farm of wild
land on section 29, this township. lie immediately
commenced the hard task of redeeming his pro-
perty from its primitive condition, and at his
death left a valuable estate of five hundred and
ten acres. He was always actively interested in
local affairs, although never in any sense an oflice-
seeker, and in politics was a strong Democrat. He
served as a member of the School Board for many
years, and died February 19, 1889.
William II., of this sketch, was born on the old
homestead May 1, 1846, and was there reared to
manhood, receiving his education first in the com-
mon schools and later in the high school at Ha-
vana, lie afterward entered the business college
at Peoria, and after taking a commercial course
was appointed agent of the Jacksonville South-
eastern Railroad, which at that time was known
as the Illinois River Railroad. This was in 1867,
and he has been the incumbent of that office for
twenty-seven years, with headquarters at Topeka.
In 1868-69 he was engaged in the merchandise
business in that place, which village was laid out
ten years previously by his -father and a Mr.
Thomas, who was President of the railroad com-
pany. Mr. Eckard in addition to discharging the
duties of his position is engaged in the grain and
coal business, and occupies an assured position
among the business men of the county.
The lady to whom our subject was married in
1868 was Miss Amelia J., daughter of John Ban-
dean, of Louisville, Ky., where Mrs. Eckard was
also born, April 3, 1846. By her union with our
subject there have been born six children, viz.:
Fred R., Elmer M., Harry W., Earl C., Frank B.
and Nellie M. The eldest sou is train dispatcher
for the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Com-
pany; Elmer M. is a student in the Rush Medical
College of Chicago, and Harry W. is telegraph
operator at the home office.
In social affairs Mr. Eckard is a Modern Wood-
man of America, holding membership with the
lodge at Topeka, and in politics has been a life
long Democrat. He has always been actively in-
terested in the same, and has frequently been sent
as delegate to the various conventions of his party.
He has been a member of the School Board for ten
years, and in 1883 was elected Supervisor of Quiver
254
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Township, having the honor of being the first
Democrat to ever hold that position. He was re-
elected in 1887, and again in 181)1. He is a Notary
Public, and his great popularity lias caused him to
be placed before the people as a candidate for the
ottice of Clerk of Mason County. He gives his aid
to all public measures having for their object the
promotion of the welfare of the people, and may
be relied upon to give his influence in behalf of
all that is true, uplifting and beneficial.
wi
JOSEPH B. I RWIN, editor and manager of
the Weekly Republican Post and the Even-
ing Post, published at Pekin, is a native of
_ Circleville, Ohio, where his birth occurred
October 11, 1849. He is the son of John E. and
Catherine (Tobias) Irwin, natives of Pennsylvania.
He passed his boyhood days in his native town
and received his education in the public schools
and the Circleville Academy.
In January, 1872, our subject was united in
marriage to Miss Inez M. Fifer, a cousin of ex-
Governor Fifer, and to them were born two;<'4iil--
dren, both of whom are now deceased. Prior to
leaving the Buckeye State our subject held the
position of City Clerk of Portsmouth for one term,
and since residing in Pekin has been School In-
spector for three years; he was elected City Su-
pervisor this spring. Upon leaving Ohio he lo-
cated in Peoria, where he entered the office of the
Peoria Democrat, there remaining until 1873, the
year of his advent into thiscity. Soon thereafter,
in company with Col. W. T. Dowdall, of Peoria, lie
purchased the outfit of the Pekin Register of W. P.
Allensworth and began the publication of the
Pekin Times. When the first issue of the Times
appeared there was no subscription list, as the paper
had changed hands so often that its reputation
was well nigh gone and the outlook was extremely
discouraging. But by much hard work, natural
ability and perseverance, our subject soon placed
the paper on a solid financial basis, and as a newsy
and literary production it ranked among the lead-
ing weeklies of the northwest.
In 1885 Mr. Irwin sold the paper and became
connected with the Republican Post, which was
owned by the Post Publishing Company, which
had purchased the Tazewell County Republican and
changed its name to that of the Republican Past.
Our subject was at once installed as editor, and
soon thereafter to his other duties was added that
of manager. The following fall Mr. Irwin began
the publication of the Evening Post, which has been
a success from the start, as has also the weekly paper.
There is perhaps no better campaigner among the
politicians of the county than Mr. Irwin, who is
well known to every prominent citizen in Ixjth
parties, and being acquainted with all the main
roads and byways in this vicinity, can get over and
around Tazewell County and in every township
and political center quicker than any other man.
He has met with several business reverses, but his
fine financial standing, business ability and honesty
have never been questioned. Among politicians
and newspaper readers generally he is conceded
to be one of the best editors in the county. The
Evening Post and the Weekly Republican are rap-
idly forcing their way to the front and now rank
among the most popular papers of the Republican
'party.. ... . .
H. GOLLON. This part of the Prairie
State has proved a mine of wealth to
thousands of men who have come hither
from foreign countries and by hard work
and enterprise have made for themselves fame
and fortune. Mr. Gollon furnishes us with a strik-
ing case in point. Like many of the promi-
nent men of Pekin, he is of foreign birth, Budzin,
province of Posen, Germany, being his native
place, and the date of his birth September 13, 1844.
Jacob and Barbara (Xinger) Gollon, the parents
of our subject, were likewise natives of Germany;
they reared a family of live child-ren, of whom our
subject was the third in order of birth. The fa-
ther was four times married, Miss Zinger being
his second companion. M. II., of this sketch, has
earned his own living since he was a lad of four-
teen years, at that early age having commenced to
work on a farm for his half-brother, with whom
he remained for four years, or until he came to
America. In the spring of 1863 he left Bremen
LIBRARY
Of IHt
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
JACOB A. ROELFS.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
257
on the sailing-vessel ''Helena," and on the trip en-
countered a severe storm, which lasted four days,
and for two days the passengers were in danger
of losing their lives.
Our subject landed on American soil July 17
of that year, and after remaining "in the east for a
short time went to Chicago, and thence to Peoria,
where he worked in a brewery for five years. In
the fall of 1868 he came to Pekin, and after
working for others in the malting business for
one year opened an establishment of his own,
taking in as partner John M. Gill, which connec-
tion lasted for ten years. In 1876 they built the
new malt house located on Front Street; it is three
stories in height and is 150x95 feet in dimen-
sions. It is the largest malt house in this vi-
cinity and the oldest in either Peoria or this
city. Mr. Gollon ships the product of his malt
house to Philadelphia and Baltimore, and also
finds a ready market in the southern cities. Start-
ing with fifty bushels a day, they have since put
in machinery which enables them to use five
hundred bushels of malt a day.
Mr. Gollon is a large stockholder and a Director
in the Pekin Loan and Homestead Association,
and is the possessor of considerable real estate in
the city, besides valuable farming lands. He was
married in Peoria, in 1869, to Miss Hattie Rick-
man, who was born in Berlin, German}'. She is
the youngest daughter of Fred Rickman, of Pe-
oria, and by her union with our subject has be-
come the mother of eight children, viz.: Matilda,
who is private secretary for her father; Albina
A., engaged in teaching school in the city; Hat-
tie II., Clemens II., Rosa, Lizzie, Emma and Jo-
sephine.
Mr. Gollon has been very prominent in public
affairs and for two years served as Alderman of
the Fourth Ward. He was School Director for
three years and was Chairman of the Building
Committee at the time the new high school build-
ing was erected. It is the finest school edifice
in the state, which fact is due greatly to the
efforts of our subject, who personally superin-
tended its construction. Socially, he is an Odd
Fellow in high standing, and belongs to Schuler
Lodge No. 200, Encampment No, 78, and Canton
4
Tazewell No. 53. He was also one of the prime
movers in the organization of the Modern Wood-
men in this city, and holds membership with
Parker City Camp No. 615. He is Major of the
Fourth Regiment. In politics he is a strong
Democrat, has been delegate to state conventions
several times, and for four years was Chairman
of the County Central Committee.
[i ACOB A. ROELFS, of the wholesale and re-
tail hardware firm of Velde, Roelfs <fe Co.,
of Pekin, was born in Ostfriesland, Ger-
many, December 11, 1847. His grandfather,
Jacob A., and his father, L. I. Roelfs, were both na-
tives of that place, and both were grocers. The
latter was born October 28, 1815, was educated in
the common schools and learned both the Dutch
and German languages. In 1831 he began clerk-
ing in a grocery store at Emden, where he re-
mained for three years, and then entered his fa-
ther's store. In 1841 he became proprietor and
did a large business along that line until 1867,
when he emigrated to America. He sailed from
Bremen and landed in New York, where he was
met by his son-in-law, Henry Velde, and soon
reached Pekin. In 1870 he embarked in the gro-
cery business and continued operations along that
line until 1880, since which time he has lived re-
tired. He has been twice married. His first wife
died in December, 1842, and in 1845 he wedded
Catherine Vandervelde, who died November 14,
1892, at the age of sixty-seven. Of her seven
children five are yet living. The father is a mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a
Republican in politics.
The subject of this sketch, who was the second
of the family, spent his early youth in Germany,
but at the age of sixteen bade adieu to friends and
Fatherland and sailed from Bremen to New York
City, where he arrived in the month of October.
He then attended the public schools for several
years, after which he became traveling salesman
for the grocery house of H. Velde & Co., in which
capacity he was employed for about three years.
258
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
He then became clerk in the retail department of
the hardware store of Smith, Velde <fe Co., and in
1878 was admitted to partnership. The firm name
continued the same until 1885, when it was
changed to Velde, Roelfs & Co. Their store is now
located in the Empire Block, and is 50x95 feet,
two stories in height with a basement. The first
floor is occupied as a retail store, the second floor
is used as a tin shop, and there is manufactured
roofing, cornice, etc. The jobbing Jrade covers a
radius of one hundred miles; two men are always
employed upon the road and twelve men are em-
ployed in the store. They make a specialty of
heavy hardware and hardwood lumber, for in con-
nection with their store they own a hardwood lum-
ber yard. They also carry a line of furnaces.
On the 4th of October, 1871, Mr. Roelfs was
united in marriage with Miss Adeline Frances
Feltman, a native of Kenosha, Wis., and daughter
of Henry and Catharsena (Velde) Feltman. They
have one child living, Josephine, who was gradu-
ated from the Pekin High School, and who is now
the wife of H. J. Rust, of this city. Lucien Jacob,
the eldest child, died October 12, 1872. Mr. Roelfs
is a stalwart Republican in politics and is a mem-
ber of the German Methodist Episcopal Church, in
which he is now serving as Trustee. He is a pub-
lic-spirited and progressive citizen, in whom the
best interests of the community find a friend, and
is a practical and enterprising business man, pos-
sessed of a resolute will to carry forward to a suc-
cessful completion whatever he undertakes. This
is the secret of his prosperity.
\|| OHN VELDE, senior member of the firm of
Velde, Roelfs & Co., wholesale and retail
hardware merchants, is one of the oldest
and best known citizens of Pekin, where he
is highly respected and very influential. He is
upright and honest in all dealings with his fellow-
men, and has hosts of friends throughout the
county.
Our subject was born in Ostfriesland, Germany,
August 30, 1831, and is a son of Deidrich and
Jentje Velde, the former of whom was also a native
of that country, where he was a shoemaker; he
departed this life in 1840. His father, known as
Teis Van der Velde in the Old Country, was a
shoemaker Dear Verdum. The father of our sub-
ject was a mehiber of the German Reformed
Church, and participated in the battle of Water-
loo, and while in the army contracted a dii-ease
which resulted in his death in 1840, at the age of
fifty-one years. His wife, Jentje Velde, was born
in Marienhofe, Germany, a city well known for the
high tower which looks out over the North Sea.
She reared a family of five children, and died in
1839.
John Velde was doubly orphaned when nine
years of age, and made his home with a fanner
for three years, when he was apprenticed to learn
the shoemaker's trade in Hamswerum. Serving
thus for three years, he continued to follow that
branch of work in Groothusum until 1849. when
he came to America in company with his guardian,
Conrad Smith, and family. The party left Bremen
on a sailing-vessel, which landed them in New Or-
leans June 22 of that year, after a tedious voyage
of nine weeks. They then made their way up the
Mississippi River, stopping at St. Louis. The
cholera being prevalent there, they hastened on to
Peoria, landing July 4, 1849, and after a stay of
two months in that city, came to Pekin.
On arriving in this city, our subject was vari-
ously employed until he was able to get work at
his trade. During the cholera scourge of 1850, he
was afflicted with that disease, and after his recov-
ery went to Beardstown, and later to Greenfield,
in which places he spent about eight months. In
1852 he returned to Pekin, and started in business
for himself on Court Street, where he carried on a
good business, employing three helpers. He was
compelled to close out the following year on ac-
count of ill health. Mr. Velde then entered the
employ of the T. & H. Smith Company as carriage
trimmer, with whom he remained for seven years,
and at the end of that time formed one of the firm
of Hippin, Smith, Velde <fe Co., hardware merchants,
which connection lasted until 1891, when the firm
name was changed to Velde, Roelfs & Co. They
have a large wholesale and retail store located on
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
259
Court Street, and have a patronage extending
throughout the entire county.
John Velde was married in 1852 to Miss Agnes
Fry, a native of Baden, Germany, and to them
has been born a family of ten children: Jacob, a
hardware and grain merchant in Fremont; Deit-
rich, who is engaged in his father's store; Cath-
erine, Mrs. W. C. Reuter, of Tarkio, Mo.; Henry, a
grain merchant of Peoria; Emma, now Mrs. Peter
Bergner, of Peoria; Fred W., also employed in his
father's hardware store; and Agnes, Lulu, Rudolph
and Frank, who arc at home.
Mr. Velde is a popular gentleman, widely and
favorably known in this his adopted county one
who exerts a good influence in his community by
his example and he has the best wishes of his
neighbors and friends for his complete success in
life. He has been Alderman from the Second Ward
one term, has also served as a member of the School
Board, and socially is a Knight of Honor. He is
an active member of the German Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and has aided in the building of
three churches. , Politically he is a Republican.
M. ARNOTT. Although quite a young
man, this gentleman has considerable in-
fluence in Pekin, where he resides nnd
where he is engaged in the wholesale and retail
oil business. He is a native of this county, hav-
ing been born in Sand Prairie Township, August
3, 1860, and is a son of Andrew A. Arnott, a na-
tive of Highland County, Ohio, where his father,
Andrew Arnott, located on removing from Penn-
sylvania.
The father of our subject came to Tazewell
County when a young man and located in the
above township, where he was engaged at his
trade, that of a carpenter, together with farming,
until his decease, in 1875. He was a Democrat in
politics, and from the interest which he took in
local affairs was elected to several offices. His
wife, Mrs. Nancy (Larimore) Arnott, was a native
of Island Grove Township, this county, and the
daughter of William Larimore, an early settler in
this locality and a large land owner. Mrs. Arnott
died in 1861.
L. M. Arnott was the only child born to his par-
ents, and was living under the parental roof when
his father died. This event occurring when he
was fourteen years of age he returned to Ohio and
made his home with Mathew Arnott, of Greenfield,
for five years, working on the farm. In 1880, hav-
ing learned the carriage-maker's trade, he fol-
lowed that in Greenfield for six years. Later lie
sold out his interest in the business and immedi-
ately came west to Pekin, near which cit}' lie pur-
chased a farm and was engaged in its cultivation
for two years. The old homestead comprised
three hundred and twenty acres of improved land
in Sand Prairie Township, on which was erected a
large and substantial residence, where the family
of Mr. Arnott made their home for four years.
On account of the failing health of his wife he re-
turned to Pekin, and for one year was engaged in
laying brick with his father-in-law. In 1890 he
began his present business, that of a wholesale and
retail oil merchant, and has his office and store-
rooms located at No. 313 Elizabeth Street. He is
doing a large business in his line, running one
wagon and handling both the Pennsylvania and
Standard oils.
Mr. Arnott was married in Pekin in 1885 to Miss
Ida Merrill; she was born in Pekin and has become
the mother of a son, Fay E. Our subject is highly
regarded for his sterling traits of character, and
in his political opinions is a Democrat, having
early decided that the principles enunciated by
that party were most in accordance with his views.
A. UBBEN, Superintendent of the Acme
Harvester Company and one of Pekin 's
most prominent business men, was born
nearEmden.Ostfrieslaud, Hanover, Germany, June
13, 1850. He is the son of Albert Ubben, also a
native of Hanover, and a cooper by trade. The
latter emigrated to America about 1854 and set-
tled near Dixon, 111., where for a time he was em-
ployed in the plow factories. In 1856 his family
260
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
came to this country, and two years later, accom-
panied by them, he removed to Pekin, where he
worked at his trade. After some years thus spent,
he returned to Germany for his health, but instead
of regaining his strength as he bad hoped, he grad-
ually grew worse and died in 1870. His wife,
whose maiden name was Jennie Baumann, is now
about sixty-six years of age and resides with her
son Henry.
In the parental family there were three chil-
dren, as follows: U. A., of this sketch; Henry,
foreman in the paint shop of the Harvester Com-
pany, and represented on another page of this
volume; and Lena, the wife of Herman Becker, of
Pekin. The subject of this sketch was a child of
eight years when he came to Pekin, and here his
education was obtained in the public schools.
When about twelve years old he began to learn
the painting trade, and in the spring of 1865
entered the employ of Haines, Maus <fc Co., manu-
facturers of headers.
In the fall of 1865 the firm's business passed
into the hands of Baker & Hawley, with whom Mr.
Ubben continued until another change was made
to A. J. Hodges & Co. In 1874 he was chosen for
the position of foreman of the painting depart-
ment, and continued thus engaged until the Acme
Harvester Company purchased the business in the
fall of 1890. On January 1st of the next year he
was made Superintendent of the works, in which
capacity he is now engaged. He has charge of all
the rooms, viz.: wood shop, warerooms. foundiy,
painting, packing and finishing rooms. Special at-
tention is given to the manufacture of headers,
hay stackers and hay rakes. Constant employ-
ment is given to a force of two hundred hands.
and the industry is one of the most extensive and
substantial in central Illinois.
The beautiful residence in which Mr. Ubben and
his family are comfortably domiciled was erected
under his personal supervision, and is situated on
Park Avenue. Surrounding it is a well kept lawn
of seven and one-half acres, which adds to the
value of the property and also enhances its beauty.
In addition to his home, Mr. Ubben owns one hun-
dred and eight acres near the city limits of Pekin,
which he rents. His marriage occurred at Pekin,
November 26, 1874, uniting him with Miss Eliza
Ubben, who though bearing the same name as him-
self, and a native of the same province, Hanover,
is not a relative. They are the parents of the
following seven children: Jennie, Theodore, Tee-
nie, Albert, Sarah, Louis and Lena. Theodore is
employed in the ofliceof the Acme Harvester Com-
pany.
In the German Baptist Church, Mr. Ubben is a
prominent member and a Trustee. All religious
and benevolent projects receive his warm support
and liberal contributions. In his political belief
he is identified with the Republican party, but is
not solicitous for office, preferring to give his en- j
tire time to the interests of his business.
/p^,OTTLOB J. ZERWEKH, who in company
fife) with his son, William G., is proprietor of
5^5) the Pekin Bottling Works, is also agent in
this city for the Pabst Brewing Company. He has
been a resident here since 1854, and has been en-
gaged in his present business since the spring of
1866. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Octo-
ber 3, 1833, and is a son of Johannas Zerwekh.also
a native of the Fatherland. The latter was a gar-
dener and died when in his fiftieth year. His
mother was also a native of Germany and bore
the maiden name of Christine Schnaitman.
Our subject has two brothers who are living,
Gottleib and Fritz, who make their home in Ger-
many. Gottlob J. was apprenticed when old enough
to learn the locksmith's trade and was thus em-
ployed in his native land for two years, when he
went to Switzerland. In 1853 he set sail from
Bremen, and after a voyage of seven weeks lauded
in New York City. Thence he went to Philadel-
phia, later to Hagerstown, where he worked for a
short time at his trade, and in 1854 came to Peo-
ria. As there was no locksmith shop in the city
he walked to Pekin and found work with Mr.
Spellman, and later in the shops of Smith & Co.
In 1866 he began in business for himself, manu-
facturing soda and pop on a small scale. Being
the only one in the county thus engaged he was
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
261
soon compelled to increase his business and is
now occupying three floors of the large brick
building located at No. 230 Court Street. Three
years ago he accepted the agency for the sale of
Pabst's beer in the city.
Mr. Zerwekh was married in Peoria in 1857 to
Miss Christina F. Schuaitmaun, who, like him-
self, was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. To
them were born five children, of whom the eldest,
William G., is a partner in the bottling works of
our subject; Albert is proprietor of a bakery and
confectionery store in the city; Carl and John are
employed in the factor}' of their father, and
Bertha is at home.
Socially, our subject is a prominent Odd Fel-
low. He has occupied all the chairs of the en-
campment and is a charter member of the Druid
Society in the city. He is a consistent member of
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, and in
politics is a stanch Democrat.
MAURICE MAY, M. D. The
of this RECORD would fail in
object of presenting to their readers
an outline of the lives of the best citizens of the
county were they to omit that of the gentleman
above named. He is located in Green Valley, in
and about which place he has an excellent prac-
tice. He is well educated, and his extensive infor-
mation is not confined to matters-pertaining to his
vocation, but includes all topics of general inter-
est and literary merit.
Our subject was born in Mattoon, this state,
July 23, 1868, and carried on his primary studies
in the schools at Decatur. After completing his
education in the liigli school he entered the tele-
graph service of the Wabash Railroad and located
first at Decatur. He afterward went to Bloom-
ington in the employ of the Chicago <k Alton Rail-
road, later to Chicago, and finally left the employ
of that road to accept ^a like position with the
Iron Mountain Railroad Compan}'.
It being his determination to follow a profes-
sional life, Mr. May in 1889 went to Keokuk, Iowa,
where he attended a course of lectures in the Keo-
kuk College of Physicians and Surgeons. He after-
ward spent a year in the St. Louis Medical College,
after which he returned to Keokuk, and was grad-
uated from the above college with the Class of '93.
After receiving his diploma he went to Mt. Zion,
111., where he engaged in practice with his brother
for a short time, but finding a better opening in
Green Valley, removed hither and has since made
this place his field of operation.
November 1, 1893, Dr. May and Miss Jessie
Black, a native of this county, were united in mar-
riage. The lady was the daughter of Jesse and
Mary (Johns) Black, who were born in Pennsylva-
nia and who came to this state in an early day.
In connection witli the practice of his profession
our subject is the proprietor of a drug store, which
is stocked with medicines, etc., for his own use.
Mrs. May was born November 1, 1873; she is a lady
of fine accomplishments and a graduate of the
schools of Delavan and Bushnell. In social affairs
our subject is a Modern Woodman.
The Rev. Daniel E. May, the father of our sub-
ject, was born in Rockingham County, Va., Feb-
ruary 24, 1829, and is the son of Adam May, a
native of Pennsylvania, where his birth occurred
in 1800. The father of the Rev. Mr. May went to
Virginia in company with his father, who also
bore the name of Adam, and who was a carpenter
by trade. The paternal grandmother of our sub-
ject was in her maidenhood Nancy Rains; she
was also a native of Virginia, of English ancestry,
and the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier who
was taken prisoner by the British.
The father of our subject was third in a family
of eight children born to his parents, and the eld-
est but one of four brothers. Of the latter, George
Westey was a railroad conductor. Benjamin was
forced into the service of the Confederate army
during the late war, but making his escape, joined
the Unionists. The Rev. Mr. May was educated
in the high school at Port Republic, Va., and later
entered the theological school. In 1865 he en-
tered the ministry, joining the Illinois Methodist
Episcopal Conference, and receiving his first charge
at Oakland, Coles County. In 1891 he came to
Green Valley, where lie is now located, and ranks
262
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
among the most successful preachers in the state.
He is the proprietor of a fine farm in McLean
County, which is occupied by tenants.
Daniel E. May was married August 10, 1852, to
Miss Sarah A. Merica, a native of Virginia, and to
them have been born four children, of whom the
three sons are prominent physicians. Shetiie R.,
the eldest, is a graduate of the Keokuk College of
Physicians and Surgeons, as are also Wilbur F., and
Edward M., of this sketch. The daughter, Clara
J., is a finely educated young lady and a graduate
of the Wesleyan College at Bloomington. Socially
the father of our subject is a Mason of high stand-
ing and has voted with the Republican party since
its organization.
ENRY A. TOMM. In the Farmers' Na-
tional Bank Block of Pekin will be found
the olfice of this gentleman, who is well
and favorably known as the agent for many
prominent fire and life insurance companies,
among which may be mentioned the Northern of
London, the Glens Falls of New York, the Phoenix
of Hartford, and the Hartford Life <fe Annuity
Company. A German by birth, he is a loyal
American in all things else, and our country has
no citizen more patriotic than is he.
In Saleske, Prussia, Germany, our subject was
born on the last day of the year 1839. His father,
Joachim Tomm, was also born in the same place,
and was a merchant by occupation. Two sons
having previously emigrated to America and em-
barked in the mercantile business at Pekin, in
1853 he brought the remaining members of his
family hither, and in this city lived in retirement
until his death, in 1873. His wife, whose maiden
name was Caroline Nunke, and who was born in
Prussia, died in Pekin in 1868.
There were seven children in the parental fam-
ily, namely: George, formerly a merchant in Pe-
kin, where he died; Philip, who was a merchant in
this city and later a farmer, but is now deceased;
Paulina, Mrs. Voll, of Pekin; Henry A., of this
sketch; Emma, Mrs. Muhlmann, of Pekin; Otto,
who is a miner in Nevada; and Martha T., Mrs.
IIippen,a resident of Pekin. Henry A. was reared
in German}' until the age of fourteen years. In
the spring of 1853 he took passage on the sailing-
vessel " Weichelhausen " at Bremen, and after a
voyage of seven weeks landed in New York City,
from which place he proceeded to Pekin. The
journey hither was made by boat up the Hudson
River to Albany, then by rail to Chicago and
La Salle, and from the latter city by boat to Pekin.
Here he continued his studies in the public schools
for a time.
About two years after coming to this city Mr.
Tomm entered the employ of his brothers, who
kept a dry-goods store, but later he became a
student in the Commercial College at Quiucy, where
he spent six months in 1863-64. April 28, 1864,
his name was enrolled as a member of Company C,
One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry.
He was mustered into service at Peoria, and was
appointed Sergeant of his company. In order to
fight for the Union he resigned a position in the
store, where he was receiving a salary of $60 per
month, and entered upon a life of great peril, ex-
posure and unnumbered hardships. Such was his
loyalty to the land of his adoption. At the ex-
piration of his period of service he was mustered
out at Peoria, October 28, 1864.
Returning to Pekin, Mr. Tomm was for a time
clerk for his brothers, and afterward became a
partner in the firm, the title being George Tomm
& Bro. The store was situated on the corner
of Court and Capitol Streets, in a building erected
by George Tomm and now occupied by the Smith
Bank. In 1870 the brother died and the estate
was settled. Our subject then abandoned the
mercantile and embarked in the hardware business
at Delavan, this state, the firm name being King-
man & Tomm. After some time thus spent, he
disposed of his interest in the concern and entered
the grain business, in which he was engaged for
three years. His father-in-law, Daniel Crabb, hav-
ing a private bank, he retired from the grain busi-
ness in order to clerk in the bank, where he re-
mained until 1885. On account of trouble with
his eyes he was unable to engage in business of
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
263
any kind for the two ensuing years. Regaining
the use of his eyes, in 1887 he became a clerk for
Teis Smith <^ Co., bankers of Pekin, and held
that position until 1889, since which time he has
been engaged in the insurance business.
At Delavan, this state, in 1880, Mr. Tomm was
united in marriage with Mrs. Mary (Crabb) Gudell,
daughter of Daniel Crabb, one of the pioneers of
Tazewell County. By her first marriage, this lady
became the mother of one daughter, Asulla, now
a resident of Chicago. Her union with Mr. Tomm
resulted in the birth of one child, Eugene. She
passed away in 1884, mourned by a large circle of
friends, to whom her noble character had endeared
her. Socially Mr. Tomm is identified with Joe
Manna Post No. 117, G. A. R., and is the present
Adjutant of the post. Politically he is a Republi-
can, and is firm in his allegiance to party men and
principles. He well remembers when a mere child
seeing Abraham Lincoln, who came to Pekin with
the intention of opening a law office at this place.
YfjOHN A. ANDREWS, the senior member of
the firm of John A. Andrews & Co., millers,
of Washington, was born in Trumbull
County, Ohio, August 13, 1827, and is a
son of the Rev. Wells Andrews. His father was
born and reared in Connecticut and was a son
of Asa Andrews, one of the heroes of the
Revolution. Rev. Mr. Andrews was graduated
from Jefferson College, of Pennsylvania, entered
the Presbyterian ministry and took charge of the
church in Alexandria, Va. He there married
Nancy Harper, a native of the Old Dominion and
a daughter of John Harper. In 1826 he removed
to Trumbull County, Ohio, where he remained
for ten years as a preacher, after which he became
a professor in the Ohio University at Athens.
The year 1843 witnessed his arrival in Washing-
ton, 111., and after serving as pastor here for a
short time he went to Tremont, then the county
seat, where he spent eleven years. On the expira-
tion of that period he returned to Washington,
and was pastor of the Presbyterian Church until
his decease, which occurred in February, 1867.
He was an active and prominent minister for a
half-century, and his earnest and untiring labors
were productive of much good. He was one of
the pioneer preachers of Tazewell County, and all
who knew him respected him. His wife passed
away July 12, 1872.
In the Andrews family were eight children, all
of whom reached mature years, while five are yet
living, viz.: John A.; James, who resides near
Geneseo, 111.; Lucy, wife of George Shaw, a resi-
dent of Henry County, 111.; Margaret, widow of
J. M. Harlan, a resident of Eureka, 111.; and Ches-
ter, who is engaged in cattle raising in Nebraska.
Those deceased are, Mary, who became the wife of
John M. Bush and died in 1856; Robert, whose
death occurred in 1856; and Wells, who died
March 11, 1894, at which time he was senior mem-
ber of the milling firm of W. & J. A. Andrews.
Our subject was a 3'outh of sixteen years when
with his parents he came to Tazewell County. He
was educated in the Ohio University, of Athens,
and on starting out in life for himself he turned
his attention to farming. Having purchased land
in Washington Township, he continued to culti-
vate and improve his farm for about three years.
In 1851 he formed a partnership with his brother
Wells and bought out the flouring mill of A. W.
Danforth. Since that time he has been engaged
in the milling business, and his has been the only
mill of importance in Washington during the
long period of thirty-eight years. He makes an
excellent grade of Hour, therefore receives a liberal
patronage and enjoys an excellent trade. He has
also engaged in buying and selling grain, and
from 1854 until 1866 carried on general mer-
chandising.
In 1855 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. An-
drews and Mary Telva Burton, a native of Ken-
tucky and a daughter of Dr. Robert Burton, a
physician of Kentucky, who brought his family
to Tazewell County in 1837. Here he engaged in
practice for a time, and then embarked in the
dry-goods business, which he followed until his
death, in 1859. Mrs. Andrews was reared in Taze-
well County, and here died November 21, 1878.
To our subject and his wife were born ten chil-
264
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
dren, six of whom are yet living: Charles W., a
farmer of Washington Township; James, who is
now serving as County Treasurer of Dundy Coun-
ty, Neb., and makes his home in Benkelman;
Telva, who is engaged in teaching in the public
schools of Washington; Margaret Wells, at home;
J. Andrew, who is studying medicine; and Anna,
who completes the family.
In early life Mr. Andrews affiliated with the
Whig party, but since voting for John C. Fremont
in 1856 has been a stalwart Republican. He is a
member of the English Lutheran Church, to which
his wife also belonged. One of the oldest settlers
now living in this section of Tazewell County, he
may well be numbered among the honored pio-
neers, and also among the valued citizens, for he
has taken an active part in everything pertaining
to the welfare of the community, and withholds
his support from no enterprise calculated to prove
of public benefit.
?ILLIAM R. LACKLAND. The gentleman
whose sketch now claims our attention is
\ij one of the most successful business men
of Morion, and is Cashier of the Morton Bank,
which he was instrumental in organizing in the
fall of 1886. He was born in Tremont, this coun-
ty, November 27, 1862, and is the son of Col.
William R. and Cordelia (Warner) Lackland.
Grandfather James Lackland and his wife were
natives of Tennessee, from which state they emi-
grated to this county in 1832, and were among
the very earliest settlers of Tremont. There the
grandfather entered a small tract of land from the
Government and led the life of a farmer until his
decease, a few years later. The responsibility of
caring for the family was thus thrown upon the
father of our subject, he being the only son in a
family of five children. His education was re-
ceived in the common schools of this state, and he
followed the life of a farmer during his entire ca-
reer, with the exception of the time spent as a sol-
dier in the Union army. He was married in this
county to Miss Cordelia, daughter of Hiram and
Phoebe Warner; she was born in New York (of
which state her parents were also natives) and
came of old Revolutionary stock. The maternal
grandparents of our subject were likewise pioneers
of this county, having located here a few years
after the Lackland family.
The father of our subject became a soldier in
the late war, serving in Company G, One Hundred
and Eighth Illinois Infantry. This was a Peoria
regiment, and Mr. Lackland was appointed its
Captain and was soon promoted to be Colonel. The
company was one of the first to respond to the
call for volunteers, and Colonel Lackland served
In an official position until the close of the war. J
His company formed a part of Grant's army and
participated in many of the decisive battles of that
period, among which was the siege of Yicksburg.
On his return from the war Colonel Lackland
turned his attention to farm pursuits and accum- '
ulated about five hundred acres of as fine land as
;js to be found within the limits of this county.
'He was elected Sheriff on the Republican ticket, and
while the incumbent of this position he gave the i
people the very best satisfaction and bore the
reputation of being able to secure all criminals
when once he started after them, often capturing
them in other states. He was Sheriff of the county
for two terms, and the entire community mourned
his loss when he died, in June, 1874. His wife
still survives and is living on the old home farm.
William R. was one in a family of five sons and
three daughters, of whom Melvin P. is Professor
of Mathematics in the Illinois Wesleyan Univer-
sity at Bloomington; John J. is engaged in farm-
ing in Kansas; Leonard is a senior in the Universi-
ty at Bloomington and is taking the classical
course; Thomas II. is a fanner in this county; Net-
tie is the wife of James Bradshaw, an agriculturist
of Kansas; Alice C. married John E. Russell, a
farmer of this count3'; as is also Charles Broy-
hill. the husband of Frankie.
Our subject has been the recipient of a fine edu-
cation. He attended school at Evanston and Onarga,
this state, and was graduated from the school in
the latter place in 1885. He then began clerking in
the Bank of Tremont, and after holding a position
there for a year, in the fall of 1886 organized the
LIBRARY
OF m
UNIVERSm Of ILLINOIS
W. H. COXIBEAR, M. D.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
267
Morton Bank, of which he is the Cashier and is
also a member of the firm. He is also interested in
real estate and owns a quarter-section of valuable
farming land in Madison Count}', Neb.
Mi*? Margaret, the daughter of Richard and
Elizabeth M. (Evans) Barry, became the wife of
onr subject in October, 1888. The ceremony was
performed in Tremont, and Mrs. Lackland is a
native of Washington City, D. C., while her par-
ents were born respectively in Ireland and Eng-
land. Mr. Barry was a prominent business man
in the east and died when Miss Margaret was
quite young. To our subject and his wife have
been born two children, William R. and Bruce B.
The parents are members of Methodist Episcopal
Church, and socially our subject is a Modern
Woodman, belonging to Lodge No. 768. He is a
Republican in politics, but in local affairs votes
for the man whom he considers will best fill the
office, regardless of party.
yiLLIAM H. COM BEAR, M. D. This pop-
ular and successful physician of Morton
was born in Devonshire, England, Decem-
ber 12, 1843, being a son of Thomas and Ann
(Kingdom) Conibear. The paternal grandfather,
George Conibear, who was likewise a native of De-
vonshire, was a representative of one of England's
oldest families and participated in many of the
wars of early days. Both the father and grand-
father were wheelwrights, but prior to that the an-
cestors were farmers by occupation.
In Grandfather Conibear's family there were
six children, as follows: George, who emigrated
to the United States and died in Peoria County,
111.; Philip, who died in England about 1888;
Thomas, the father of our subject; Mary, who mar-
ried Thomas Stephens, and removing to Canada
there died in 1893; Ann, whose home is in Lon-
don, England; and Margaret, who removed to
Australia, though nothing is definately known
concerning her at present, but it is probable that
she died there. Thomas Conibear received a com-
mon-school education and followed his chosen
trade throughout the greater |rt of his life. An
expert mechanic, he always had plenty of work
and good pay.
Emigrating to the United States in the spring
of 1851, Thomas Conibear settled with his family
at Peorra, 111., where he worked at his trade. In
1855 he came to Tazewell County, where he en-
gaged in farming for two years. He then settled
on the military tract of Illinois, in Bureau County,
where he followed agricultural operations until
1866. In partnership with his son Edward he
embarked in the mercantile business at Mineral,
and a few years after dissolving the connection
he followed the trade of a pattern maker in Mo-
line. His death occurred in Mineral April 13,
1871, at the age of fifty -six years.
In religious belief Mr. Conibear was a Baptist,
and after coming to this country united with the
First Baptist Church of Peoria. In politics he
affiliated with the Douglas Democrats prior to the
war, but that conflict caused a change of opinion on
his part and he afterward was a stanch advocate of
Republican principles. His wife, whom he mar-
ried in England, was a member of an old family
of that country. Her parents lived upon land
which had been bought the latter part of the last
century and was then leased back to them for
ninety-nine years.
The parental family consisted of seven children,
but one died in childhood. The others are: Ed-
ward, who is in the implement business at Peo-
ria; William H.; Elizabeth, the wife of Ralph Mc-
Clmtock, of Little Rock, Ark.; Mary, who married
Joseph Tompkins, of South Dakota; Sarah, who
died at the age of twenty-five years; and Ella,
who is the wife of Henry Rile}-, of Denver, Colo.
The mother, who is now ( 1894) seventy-three years
of age, makes her home with Mrs. Riley.
When less than twenty years of age the subject
of this sketch entered the Union army, and in
August of 1862 his name was enrolled as a mem-
ber of Company B, One Hundred and Twelfth
Illinois Infantry. He accompanied his regiment to
Kentucky, and his first field work was in pursuit
of Morgan and Pegram. Having been detailed from
his regiment with a battery, he took part in the
battles of Danville, Dutton Hill and Monticello,
Ky., after which he re-joined his regiment and with
them participated in the engagements at Athens
and Loudon, Tenn. (where the regiment received
268
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
commendation for bravery), Lenoir Station, Camp-
bell Station and Knoxville. The day on which
Sanders was killed was a trying one for the regi-
ment, who were in the thickest of the fight, and to
prove how busy our subject was we need but state
that he fired one hundred and twenty rounds that
day.
While following Longstreet the regiment took
part in a number of skirmishes, and then march-
ing to Knoxville, soon afterward joined General
Sherman at Tunnel Hill and accompanied him to
Jonesboro. Thej- went from there back to At-
lanta and pursued Hood into Alabama and fought
him at Nashville. Next they were transferred to
the coast, and after engagements at Anderson and
Wilmington went to the relief of General Cox
near Kingston. Marching with General Cox to
Goldsboro, they there joined Sherman's army and
proceeded to Raleigh and Jonesboro, at the latter
place taking charge of General Johnston's muni-
tions of war. June 24, 1864, our subject was dis-
charged, and on the 6th of the following month
he was mustered out at Chicago. Through the
entire period of his active service he was never
wounded nor taken prisoner.
Realizing the need of a more thorough educa-
tion, our subject entered Eureka College, in Wood-
ford County, 111., where he prosecuted his literary
researches for one year. Afterward he secured a
position as teacher of a district school, his salary
being $25 the first three months, but his services
proved so valuable that he afterward received
$75. Meantime, his leisure moments were devoted
to the study of physiology, in which he became so
interested that he commenced the study of medi-
cine. After studying alone for three years he at-
tended a course of lectures at Rush Medical Col-
lege in 1867, and from there came to Morton,
where he opened an office. In 1875 he returned
to Rush Medical College, graduating in the fol-
lowing year. He has continued the practice of
his profession at this place, and being a skilled
physician as well as a genial companion he has
won the confidence of the people, who hold him
in high regard. He is a member of the Peoria City,
the State and National Medical Societies.
In Bureau County, this state, the Doctor mar-
ried Miss Jane A. Sterling, a native of Connecticut
and a member of one of the old Colonial families.
Her parents, David and Cornelia Sterling, were
also torn in the Nutmeg State. Six children were
born of their union, as follows: Cornelia, a talented
artist and a young lady of splendid education, hav-
ing been a student in the colleges at Jacksonville
and Galesburg; Charles, a farmer of Lee County;
John, a graduate of the Illinois Pharmaceutical
College and now employed in his father's drug
store; En and Grant, both in school; and Bruce,
who died in December, 1891. Mrs. Jane A. t'oni-
bear died July 31, 1883.
At the home of the bride's parents, in Deer
Creek, October 29, 1885, Dr. Conibear and Miss
Mary A. Bogardus were united in marriage. Mrs.
Conibear was born in Tazewell County, while her
parents, Eri and Mary A. Bogardus, were natives
respectively of New York and Virginia, being
among the earliest settlers of this county. The
Doctor and his wife are the parents of four chil-
dren, namely: George II., who died September 1,
1887; Ruth B., who was born August 12,1888;
Lucy K., April 29,1891; and Florence N., March
18, 1893.
In addition to his practice Dr. Conibear has
owned an interest in the drug store at Morton for
the past seventeen years. He is the owner of six
hundred and forty acres in Lee County, and also lias
large tracts in Dakota. He and his wife are iden-
tified with the Congregational Church. Socially,
he affiliates with the Masonic fraternity at Grove-
land, and during the existence of the post at Mor-
ton was a member of the Grand Army of the Re-
public. Politically a Republican, he has held
many of the local offices of village and township
and was President of the Board four terms. In
the organization of the village he took an active
part, and also aided in securing the introduction
of electric lights and the water works.
ORNELIUS B. CUMMINGS is one of the
most enterprising and deservedly success-
ful of the many eminent gentlemen who
have devoted their time and energies toward the
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
269
material advancement of the best interests of Pe-
kin, who maintain a high reputation fOyT integ-
rity and reliability. As he has been a resident
of the county since 1859 he is well and favorably
known throughout its length and breadth. His
methods have always been straightforward and
honorable, and as a consequence he did a large
business and is now able to retire from the active
duties of life.
Our subject was born in St. Lawrence Count}-,
N. Y., in 1832, and is the son of James P. Cum-
mings, whose birth occurred in Burlington, Vt.
The family trace their ancestry back to England,
whence the first representative came to this coun-
try over two hundred years ago. James P. Cum-
mings was engaged in the mercantile business in
St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and also owned con-
siderable real estate. He was a Democrat in pol-
itics and died in 1879, when in his eightieth year.
His wife, Mrs. Clarissa (Wilson) Cummings, is a
native of the Empire State and is now living in
Chicago, at the age of eighty-four years.
Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Cummings six are living. C. B. was reared near
Can ton, N. Y., where he attended the public schools
and lived with his parents on the home farm until
reaching his twentieth year, when he went to Pa-
latka, Fla., and for two years was engaged in mer-
chandising. At the expiration of that time he
returned north, and going to Lawrence, Mich., had
charge of several sawmills for a Chicago house.
In 1859, however, he came to Pekin, and the fol-
lowing year established himself in the mercantile
business in company with his brother C. R., under
the name of C. B. Cummings & Co. This partner-
ship was dissolved two years later and our subject
took in another partner, G. R. Cobley. They have
a fine dry-goods establishment in Pekin. He was
engaged in this line of trade for nearly a quarter of
a century, and during the war sent out wagons
stocked with notions through the central portion
of the state.
Mr. Cummings has been more than ordinarily
successful as a business man, and in 1881 was en-
abled to retire from active business. He is the
owner of a good farm and is also the proprietor
of a brick block on Court and Capital Streets. The
lady to whom Mr. Cummings was married in 1859
was Miss Harriet A. Cumings, who was also born
in New York and who was the daughter of P. R.
Cumings. To them have been born two daughters:
Harriet Eugenia, now Mrs. John A. May, of Chi-
cago; and Emma L., the wife of Frank Lowery,
who makes her home in Pekin.
In his political relations our subject votes with
the Democratic party, and socially is a Mason. He
has been Supervisor for twenty years, during which
time he served on the Finance Committee. He is
public spirited and enterprising, gives his hearty
support to all worthy movements, and is much re-
spected. He lias built a fine residence in the city,
and is recognized not only as one of the wealthy,
but as one of the prominent and valued citizens
of the community.
mer.
LOR1MER, who is engaged in the
plastering business in Morton, was born in
New York City, July 18, 1828, and is a son
of John and Charlotte M. (Sinclair) Lori-
His grandparents were Alexander and Char-
lotte Lorimer. The father and grandfather were
both natives of Coopertown, Fifeshire, Scotland.
The latter was a blacksmith by trade and was well-
to-do, belonging to a wealthy family in his native
land. He had four children, Alexander, William,
Isabella and John. The first-named inherited the
property, but as he never had children it descended
to children of Isabella Lorimer.
The father of our subject acquired a good edu-
cation in his native land, and possessed a most ex-
cellent memory. He was the only one of the fam-
ily who emigrated to America. In 1818, he became
a resident of New York City, and there married
Charlotte, daughter of Hector and Isabella Sin-
clair. She was born in New York. Her father
was a native of Scotland, and her mother, who
was born in the Empire State, was of. Scotch line-
age. Mr. and Mrs. Lorimer became the parents of
seven children, Alexander, John, William, George
C.; James, who served in the late war; Isabella,
deceased, and Charlotte A. The father of this
family was a slater by trade, and was an extensive
270
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
contractor, doing business along that line all over
the United States. He accumulated considerable
real estate in the east, but in 1835 sold his prop-
erty, and in June came to Tazewell County, mak-
ing the trip by way of the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers. He entered one hundred and sixty acres
of land in Fond du Lac Township, and began its
cultivation, but had no practical knowledge of
farming and lost considerable money. He was a
Knight Templar Mason, and in politics was a
Whig. Both parents have long since passed away.
When the family came to the west the Indians
had just been removed to their reservation beyond
the Mississippi, and the country was still wild and
unbroken. Deer were plentiful and other kinds
of wild game abounded. Our subject was reared
in the usual manner of pioneer settlers, and was
educated in a log schoolhouse. During his vouth
he gave his parents the benefit of his services. At
the age of eighteen he began learning the cooper's
trade, and on attaining his majority went to New
York City, where he worked at the plasterer's
trade for sixteen months, after which he returned
home.
Mr. Lorimer has been twice married. In Fond
du Lac Township, he wedded Margaret A. Arnold,
a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Morton and
Patsy Arnold, who were born in Virginia. Four
children graced this union, but only two are now
living. Isabella E., wife of H. Rork, a farmer of
Livingston County, 111., and Charlotte, wife of
William Witenaur, an agriculturist of Shelby
County, 111. The mother died in 1870, and Mr.
Lorimer afterward married Miss Mary J. Mooberry,
a native of Franklin County, Ohio, and a daugh-
ter of John and Lydia (Marion) Mooberry. Her
father was born in Pennsylvania, and her mother
in Massachusetts. His ancestors were originally
natives of Scotland, but at the time of the Crusades
were driven to Ireland, and during Colonial days
the family was founded in America.
During his entire residence in Morton, Mr. Lor-
imer has been engaged in the plastering business,
and is meeting with good success in his undertak-
ings. He also owns eighty acres of land in Liv-
ingston County, 111., and an interest in the home
place. Socially, he is connected with Peoria
Lodge No. 15, A. F. & A. M., and his wife is a
faithful member of the Christian Church. In
politics he is a Democrat, has served as Road Com-
missioner, which position he filled six years, and
since that time has been Justice of the Peace. He
has also been Town Clerk for two years, and was
elected without opposition. He was Township
Supervisor four terms, Collector five terms and
Commissioner two terms, and at the time of his
re-election as Commissioner he received every
vote cast. He has been a member of the Village
Board two terms, and at this writing is Notary
Public. The duties of these offices he has dis-
charged with a promptness and fidelity that have
won him high commendation and made him one
of the valued citizens of the community.
ENJAMIN W. KINSEY is the able editor
of the principal newspaper of Morton, The
Messenger. It contains first, that which
even'body wants to know concerning their
neighbors and locality; second, a review of the
happenings of the world in general, and third,
formative opinions by a keen, shrewd business
man.
Our subject was born near Mackinaw, this coun-
ty, June 13, 1872. He is the son of Nicholas B.
and Caroline (Hatcher) Kinsey, the former of
whom was born in Culpeper County, Vn., where
he was reared to manhood. Later he came to
this county in company with his brother, Andrew
J., and on arriving here worked out by the month
on farms. He soon became one of the well-to-
do agriculturists of this vicinity, and in 1885
was chosen Superintendent of the Poor Farm,
which responsible position he held until his death,
which occurred April 27, 1887, by being thrown
from his buggy. He was married in this county
to Miss Hatcher, whom he left at his decease with
five children, namely: Minnie, now Mrs. Benjamin
Russell; James H. and Nora, deceased; the subject
of this sketch, and Leon E. Nicholas B. Kinsey was
a consistent member of the Christian Church, and
socially was a Master Mason.
Our subject remained at home with his parents
until fifteen years of age, when thus early in life
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
271
he started out to make his own way in the world,
working as a farm hand for $8 per month. Prior
to leaving home he had received a fair education,
and after being employed as a laborer for two
years, taught school for about three years, spend-
ing his vacations learning the printer's trade in an
office at Mackinaw. In the fall of 1893, he came
to this village and purchased the Morton Messenger,
which he is now editing with good success. The
paper is independent in politics, and although the
list of subscribers was very small when it came into
Mr. Kinsey's possession, he lias doubled the circu-
lation and it now receives and merits a liberal
patronage of the citizens throughout the town and
county. Mr. Kinsey was married May 12, 1894,
to Pearl Fly nn, of Indianapolis, Ind.
PRANK J. KELCH, of Pekin, was for many
years with the A. J. Hodges Header Works,
and is one of the most prominent citizens
of this nourishing town. He has one of the most
elegant and conveniently arranged residences, situ-
ated at No. 900 Prince Street, and which is pic-
turesquely located at the highest point in the city,
surrounded by about two acres of well kept lawn.
Born in Morris County, N. J., near the village
of Morristown, February 7, 1850, our subject is
the son of Nicholas Kelch, a native of Germany.
The latter was the son of a wealthy German, and
after his marriage in the land of his birth he emi-
grated to America, about 1836, settling near Mor-
ristown, N. J., where he engaged in farming. In
the spring of 1868 he removed to Iowa, and im-
proved a farm in Cedar County, where he con-
tinued to make his home until his death, in 1873,
at the age of seventy-five. In religious views he
was a Catholic. His wife, whose maiden name was
Catherine White, and who was also a native of
Germany, died while visiting in Pekin, aged
eighty-two years.
The youngest of nine children, all of whom are
now living, is the subject of this sketch. He was
reared in Morristown until a youth of eighteen
years, meantime enjoying common-school advan-
tages. In 1868 he removed with his father to
Iowa, but a very short time afterward he came to
Pekin and joined his brother John, a carpenter
here. The date of his arrival in this city was June
1, 1868. Under his brother he commenced to work
as a bridge builder, and for a time acted as Super-
intendent of bridge building on the Peoria, Pekin
& Jacksonville Railroad, remaining with that com-
pany for nine years.
Mr. Kelch was employed as foreman in the erec-
tion of a large number of bridges on the road
above-named. After resigning his position in
1877, he entered the employ of the A. J. Hodges
Header Works as carpenter, and later was chosen
foreman of the wood department, retaining charge
of it for six years. During the harvesting season
he usually traveled for the firm, sell ing and putting
up machines in Kansas, the Dakotas and Iowa. In
that line he was an expert, and his services were
in constant demand. Remaining with the com-
pany from 1877 until August, 1891, the concern
was then sold to the Acme Harvesting Company,
and he remained with them until August 1, 1892,
being foreman of the wood department. At the
present time he is engaged in carpentering.
At Pekin, July 17, 1873, Mr. Kelch married Miss
Elizabeth Bitzel, a native of this city. Our sub-
ject and wife have three children, A. Katie, George
H. and Mabel G. Mrs. Kelch's parents, Henry and
Catherine (Shafer) Bitzel, were born in Baden,
Germany, and there married. Emigrating to the
United States, they settled in Pekin in 1846, where
the father followed his trade of a shoemaker until
failing health obliged him to abandon active work.
Afterward he and his wife kept a boarding house
until his death, in 1874; she passed away the fol-
lowing year.
The judgment of Mr. Kelch concurs in the prin-
ciples of the Democratic party, which he therefore
supports on all occasions. In the spring of 1887,
he was nominated and elected School Director, and
three years later was re-elected, serving until 1893.
For a time he was a member of the Visiting and
Building Committee, and was serving on the Build-
ing and Finance Committee when the present high
school building was erected. About the same time
an addition was erected to the Douglas and Lin-
272
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL, RECORD.
coin schools. In 1890 he was President of the
School Board. To his judgment and excellent man-
agement is largely due the fact that Pekin now has
one of the finest schoolhouses in the state. Soci-
ally, he is identified with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows. In religious views he is identified
witli the First Reformed Church, of which he is
Deacon. He is prominently connected with the
Carpenters' Union. A practical builder, he is
thoroughly competent to take charge of work, and
being a man of honor his business is conducted in
a reliable and straightforward manner, and his
word may be relied upon in matters pertaining to
it. In his domestic relations he is kindly and con-
siderate, in society a pleasing companion, and in
all his dealings with mankind both just and gen-
erous.
ISS JOSEPHINE GOODHEART, at pres-
ent Principal of the high school at Pekin,
was born in Pekin, and is a daughter of
John Goodheart, who was a native of Mc-
Lean County, 111. Her grandfather. Rev. William
Goodheart, and his wife were natives of Ger-
many. He was one of the pioneer Methodist min-
isters of Illinois and located in McLean County.
His old farm is now the site of a fine park in
Bloomington.
John Goodheart was reared on the old home-
stead, served in the Mexican War and took part
in the battles of Buena Vista and Vera Cruz.
When a young man he came to Pekin, where he
engaged in pork-packing until 1860. In that year
he embarked in the same business in Havana, 111.,
but when Ft. Sumter was fired upon he immedi-
ately enlisted for the war as a member of Com-
pany C, Second Illinois Cavalry. He was made
Sergeant, and by meritorious conduct rose to the
rank of Second Lieutenant. He participated in
the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Ft. Donelson,
Island No. 10 and Ft. Henry, and while crossing
the ferry at Hickman, Ky., was shot and killed,
August 11, 1862. His remains were then brought
back to Pekin and interred in the cemetery at this
place. In politics he was a stalwart Democrat,
and was ever fearless in the support of his views
on any question.
On the 24th of January, 1859, Mr. Goodheart
married Miss Sarah C. Shober, a native of Zanes-
ville, Muskingum County, Ohio, and a daughter of
Henry Shober, who was born in Germany and who
became one of the early settlers of the Buckeye
State, where he engaged in the boot and shoe bus-
iness. He served in the War of 1812, came to
Pekin in 1837 and was in the Black Hawk War.
Here he followed fruit farming until his death,
which occurred about 1840. His wife, who lx>re
the maiden name of Elizabeth Roach, was born in
Baltimore, Md., and died in Pekin. Mrs. Good-
heart went to the south in November, 1861, to be
near her husband, and remained in Cairo, III., until
April, 1862, when General Grant ordered all
women to return home. She then lived in Ha-
vana from the 1st of May until after her hus-
band's death. Some time later she became the
wife of Stephen Roney, a native of Chester Coun-
ty, Pa., and an early settler and blacksmith of Ex-
eter, 111. Afterward he came to Pekin, where he
engaged in the hardware and agricultural imple-
ment business, becoming the owner of the largest
store of the kind in this place. During the last
four years of his life he lived retired, and passed
away in 1884, at the age of seventy-nine. He
served as Alderman for many years, was also School
Director, and from the age of twenty-one was a
member of the Reformed Church, to which his
widow also belongs. In politics he was a Demo-
crat, and was a prominent Mason. Mis Good-
heart, of this sketch, and Mrs. Kate Woost, of
Tremont, were the only children in their parents'
family.
PRANZ LORENZ. The enterprising sons of
the Fatherland have penetrated all parts
of the United States and have left their
ineffaceable mark as the sign-manual of industry,
energy and a perseverance which has never ad-
mitted the existence of any such word as "fail."
They have brought to their adopted country the
steady habits that were transmitted to them from a
substantial ancestry and that have aided them in
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
273
arising to positions of prominence in the industrial
and commercial world.
Among the residents of Pekin who have been
important factors in the development of the busi-
ness resources of the city may be mentioned the
name of Mr. Lorenz, a native of German}', but
long a resident of the United States. He enjoys
the distinction of having been in the grocery busi-
ness for a longer period than any other grocer at
this place, and the success which has rewarded his
efforts is well deserved. His establishment is lo-
cated at No. 311 Court Street. The building is
22x80 feet in dimensions, and contains a good
basement. Here he carries a full line of general
staple and fancy groceries, as well as a complete
assortment of groceries.
In Kirchberg, province of Koblentz, Prussia, the
subject of this notice was born March 6, 1834. He
is the son of Frederick Lorenz, a native of Ger-
many and a book-binder by trade, who spent his
entire life in the land of his birth and there passed
away. He and his wife, who bore the maiden
name of Sophia Junker, were the parents of three
sons and five daughters. At the present time two
sons and two daughters survive. Of these the
third in order of birth is Franz, who was reared to
manhood in Prussia, receiving in his boyhood the
advantages of the excellent schools of his province.
At the age of fourteen, his schooling ceased, and
he thereafter assisted his father until twenty years
old, when he entered the Prussian army. He re-
mained at Vetzlar as a private for three years, and
at the expiration of his period of service, left his
native country.
Taking passage on a sailing-vessel at Antwerp
in 1857, Mr. Lorenz spent forty-two days upon
the ocean and landed in New York City after an
uneventful voyage. Thence he traveled westward
to Peoria, 111., and in the fall of the same year set-
tled in Peoria Township, Peoria County, where
he worked on the coal banks and engaged in haul-
ing the coal from the banks to the river. After
one year thus spent, he was attacked by the ma-
larial fever, from which he suffered for nine
months or more. As soon as he had recovered
sufficiently, he went to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he
soon secured work. In 1860 he returned to Peo-
ria Township and resumed his former labor of
hauling coal, but during the same year he came to
Pekin and became clerk in the dry-goods store of
his brother-in-law, Philip Weyhrich.
In August, 1862, Mr. Lorenz enlisted as a mem-
ber of Company A, Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry,
and joined his regiment at Bowling Green, Ky.
Among the engagements in which he participated
may be mentioned the following: Murfreesboro,
Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge,
Resaca, Dalton, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree
Creek, Snake Creek, Jonesboro and Atlanta. From
the latter city the regiment was sent back to Ten-
nessee in pursuit of General Hood, and under
General Thomas our subject took part in the bat-
tles of Spring Hill, Franklin, Nashville and Cum-
berland Gap.
During the entire period of his service, Mr.
Lorenz was fortunate in escaping imprisonment or
injury, and his most serious accident was that of
being knocked down by a bomb. So close did the
bullets fly, that they penetrated his coat and hat,
but glanced aside, thus preventing injury. He en-
listed as a private, and when discharged was serv-
ing as Corporal, his promotion being due to meri-
torious service. In June, 1865, he was mustered
out at Nashville, Tenn., and at once returned to
Pekin, with a record as a soldier of which lie
might well be proud.
Beginning as a clerk in a grocery store, Mr.
Lorenz has since engaged in that business, and in
J878 bought out a stock of goods and embarked
in the enterprise for himself. Since that time he
has gained a lucrative and constantly increasing
trade, and as a business man- is well and favorably
known among the people of Tazewell County. In
this city, November 15, 1866, Mr. Lorenz was
united in marriage with Miss Charlotte Briede, a
native of Germany. Of the children born to them,
three are now living: Rudolph, who is a clerk for
his father, Minnie and Edward.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Lorenz served as
Tax Collector for one year, and has occupied other
local positions. Socially he is identified with the
Joe Hannah Post No. 116, G. A. R., the German
Workmen's Society, of which he was for three
years Treasurer, the German Mutual Aid of Chi-
274
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
cago, and the Independent Mutual Aid of Illinois.
In his religious connections he is a member of the
German Methodist Episcopal Church.
W. HARMEL, President and Treasurer of
the Pckin Milling Company of Pekin, 111.,
was born on the 22d of September, 1861, in
I' Lansing, Allamakee County, Iowa. His fa-
ther, Rev. Louis Harmel, was a native of Prussia,
and in that country married Matilda Franz. Soon
afterward they came to the New World, and the
father engaged in the manufacture of threshing
machines in Battle Creek, Mich. In his native land
he had been a member of the Lutheran Church,
but after coming to America joined the Methodist
Church and entered the ministry. He preached in
Iowa City and Muscatine (Iowa), St. Joseph (Mo.),
Mascoutah, Alton, Pekin and Peoria (111.), and is
now pastor of the church of his denomination in
the last named city. In all his work he is ably as-
sisted by his most estimable wife, and the result of
their labors cannot be estimated. This worthy
couple had six children, three of whom are yet
living: Paul L., a farmer of Christian County, Mo.;
Mrs. Anna Sleeter, of Boody, 111.; and J. W., of
this sketch.
Our subject accompanied his parents on their
various removals and was educated in McKendree
College, at Lebanon. He was apprenticed to the
miller's trade in Ilalstead, Kan. Before his term
of service had expired he had become head miller,
and the capacity of the mill had been increased
from fifty to four hundred barrels. Later, in
company with Messrs. Warkentin and Barkeme3 - er,
they organized a stock company known as the
Newton Milling and Elevator Company; a mill
was purchased in Newton, Kan., and Mr. Harmel
was placed in charge. It was supplied with a full
roller process and the business was increased from
two hundred to four hundred barrels of flour per
day. But the climate did not agree with him and
also from over work he was compelled to lay aside
business cares for a time. He then spent about
four months in his father's home in Boody, 111.
In October, 1888, his old partners wishing to es-
tablish a mill in Burton, Kan., Mr. Harmel was
placed at the head of the same and continued in
charge for some time. Business was carried on
under the name of the Burton Grain and Milling
Company.
In 1891 Mr. Harmel sold his interests in the
mills in Newton and Burton. Kan., and in Janu-
ary, 1892, came to Pekin, where in February he
succeeded in establishing the Pekin Milling Com-
pany, of which he has since been President and
Treasurer. He overlooks the management of the
mill, which is now doing a good business, his trade
having constantly increased from the beginning.
Our subject is a practical miller, and through able
management he has won success. He also owns
an interest in farm and city property.
In November, 1891, Mr. Harmel was united in
marriage with Miss Theresa Smith, daughter of
Teis and Dena F. (Neef) Smith. She was born in
Pekin and was educated in its public schools and
in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. A daughter graces their
union, Sieverdena M. L. Socially, Mr. Harmel
is connected with the Woodmen's society and
with the National Uqion,and held membership
with the Presbyterian Church in Burton, Kan.
He is a man of sterling worth and strict integrity
and has won the confidence and high regard of
all with whom business or social relations have
brought him in contact.
EWIS H. BURNS. There are few men of
the present day more successful or more
worthy of honorable mention than the sub-
ject of the present sketch, who is one of the
wealthiest agriculturists of Tazewell County. A
record of his life fully illustrates what may be ac-
complished by will and perseverance, for through
his own efforts he has became a leading farmer in
his community and is well and favorably known
throughout the county.
A native of Maryland, our subject was born in
Manchester, Carroll County, March 17, 1827, and
is a son of John Burns, whose birth occurred in
Baltimore, that state, in 1805. The latter was a
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
277
carpenter, which trade he followed in connec-
tion with tavern-keeping, having a good building,
located on the Western turnpike, at Fmksburg.
Finally coming west to Green Valley, this county,
in 1863 he purchased a farm adjacent to that
place, where he resided until his death, in 1873.
The maiden name of our subject's mother was
Mary Magdaline Leister. She was also born
in Carroll County, Md., in 1806, and coming west
witli her husband, made her home on the farm un-
til she too departed this life, that event occurring
in 1885. Grandfather John Burns was a native
of Manchester, Md., but his father was born on
the ocean while his parents were en route from
Scotland to this country.
The parental family included nine children, of
whom Lewis II. was the eldest. Elizabeth is the
widow of Thomas J. Lockard, who died in Green
Valley in 1893; she is now living in Pekin.
Israel B., the third child, died when four years of
age; Abraham B. lives at Elkhart, this state, and is
engaged in farming near that cit} 1 ; Catherine B.
was the wife of Jabez Lcppoand resided in Farmer
City until her decease, in 1887; John married Miss
Ellen Wilson and is cultivating a farm in Sand
Prairie Township; Mary B. is the wife of William
Magee, a retired farmer living in the city of Pekin;
George, who married Miss Belle Sleath, makes his
home in Malone Township; and Nicholas died
when six years of age.
Our subject spent his early life on his father's
farm, alternating the duties of a farmer boy with
attendance at the district school. One year prior
to attaining his majority he learned the miller's
trade, which he followed for many years in his na-
tive state. In 1854 he came on a prospecting
tour to this state and county, and returning to
Maryland, stayed there until the following Oc-
tober, when he again came to the Prairie State,
making his residence here for two years. At the
expiration of that time, as he had an important en-
gagement to fulfill in the east, he returned to
Maryland, and February 12, 1857, was married to
Miss Julia Ilildebrant. The young couple im-
mediately came to their western home and located
upon a farm which our subject had purchased in
Sand Prairie Township, which is a quarter of a
5
mile distant from his present fine estate. Mr.
Burns being possessed of marked enterprise and
much ability, soon put up the needful structures,
and as his means would allow, placed upon the
farm the latest improvements in the way of
machinery, and has continued to reside here for
the past forty years.
Of the six children born to our subject and his
wife we make the following mention: Thomas
Jefferson was born in 1857 and died in August,
1879; John Jacob was born December 13, 1860,
and is living at Carthage, S. Dak.; he was married
in 1880 to Miss Laura Watts. Sarah A., the third
member of the family, is the wife of William L.
Woodrow, of Green Valley; Lewis N., who was
born January 16, 1866, married Miss Flora Bethard
in 1887, and is living in St. Louis, Mo.; George Z.,
who was born in May, 1868, died November 16
of that year; and William II., born October 29,
1872, lives with his parents on the home farm.
Mr. Burns is numbered among the most success-
ful agriculturists of Tazewell County and has
many friends, who recognize the nobilit3' of his
character and realize that he is worthy of being
held in the highest possible esteem. Besides his
estate in Sand Prairie Township he is the possessor
of a valuable farm in Trego County, Kan. With
his wife he is a devoted member of the Methodist-
Episcopal Church, and they both possess many
Christian virtues. Our subject has been a life-
long Democrat and always votes that ticket on
national issues.
S VEKETT W. WILSON, Mayor of Pekin, is
one of the most enterprising and deservedly
_ successful of the many eminent gentlemen
who devote their time and energies to the material
advancement of the best interests of the city. He
is also President of the American Distilling Com-
pany, and holds the same position in the German-
American National Bank of Pekin.
Our subject was born in Peoria in 1861, and is
the son of John Wilson, whose sketch the reader
will find in that of his brother, Charles L. Wilson.
Our subject came to Pekin in the year 1879 and
278
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
accepted a position as bookkeeper in the Hamburg
Distilling Company. A year later he was made
its manager, and remained in that capacity until
the distillery was sold in 1888.
In the spring of 1893 Mr. Wilson was one of the
incorporators of the American Distilling Company,
which has a capital stock of $100,000, and which
was ready for business in the fall of that year.
The buildings of the plant cover about six acres
of land, aud the distillery has a capacity of four
thousand bushels of grain per day. As before
stated, our subject is also President of the German-
American National Bank, which was organized in
1887 with a capital stock of $100,000. It is one
of the largest and most reliable institutions in this
part of the state, and is doing an extensive busi-
ness among the business men and farmers of the
county.
From 1887 to 1893, Mr. Wilson served as Alder-
man of the First Ward on the Republican ticket,
and in the spring of the latter year was elected
Mayor of the city, assuming the duties of that re-
sponsible position May 1. The lady whom he
married in 1885 was Miss Anna, daughter of
David Wandschneider, and to them were born two
sons, John and Everett R. Socially, our subject is
a Modern Woodman, in which society he is quite
prominent and takes great interest. He is one of
the most popular and highly esteemed men of the
county. He and his family occupy a model home,
which 'was completed in 1889, and which is one of
the most beautiful in the citv.
^fp^l DWARD O'BRIEN, who is an efficient and
popular passenger engineer on the Santa
Fe Railroad, was born in Dixon, Van Wert
County, Ohio, February 28, 1861. He is the son
of Michael O'Brien, a native of Cork, Ireland,
who, emigrating to America in early manhood, ac-
cepted a position as bookkeeper in the office of the
Pennsylvania Railway Company. In 1874 he re-
moved west to Indianapolis, whence in September,
1888, he went to Chillicothe, 111., and secured a
position in the railroad shops there. In March,
1893, he came to Pekin, where he still makes his
home. His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Margaret Welch, was born in Ireland and died in
Dixon, Ohio.
In the parental family are two sons and two
daughters. Edward, who is next to the eldest,
was reared in Dixon, Ohio, and in Indianapolis,
Ind., and received ordinary common-school ad-
vantages. At the age of seventeen lie began to
work in the shops of the '-Pan Handle," where he
learned the trade of a machinist. For two years
he was foreman on that road between Indianapolis
and Columbus, Ohio. In the fall of 1881 he be-
came engineer on the same road between these two
cities, and continued thus engaged until 1886.
On January 2 of the above-named year, Mr.
O'Brien went to Topeka, Kan., where he secured a
position as freight engineer between Topeka and
Kansas City, and later from Topeka to Argentine.
Later removing to P't. Madison, Iowa, he became
an engineer on the Santa Fe between that city and
Chicago. On the 2d of. September, 1890, he was
transferred to the Pekin branch for the passenger
run between Chicago and Pekin, and in that capa-
city he has since been engaged, making runs daily
except Sunday. The distance of one hundred and
fifty-eight miles is covered in five hours and forty-
five minutes with an "eight-wheeler," and during
the entire period of Mr. O'Brien's connection with
the road he has never had an accident.
At Bradford, Ohio, March 27, 1882, occurred the
marriage of Edward O'Brien and Miss Mary Mc-
Carty, the latter being a native of the city in
which her wedding was solemnized. Four chil-
dren have blessed the union, named as follows:
Katie, Michael, Margaret and Edward. They are
bright and intelligent, and will receive the best
educational advantages the city of Pekin affords.
Mr. O'Brien has a brother who is a locomotive en-
gineer on the branch road at Ft. Madison, and the
entire family has been well known in railroad cir-
cles for many years. T
While Mr. O'Brien is able to spend but little of
his time in Pekin, he is highly respected by those
who have made his acquaintance, and ranks among
the public-spirited citizens of the town. He is a
member of the Pekin Loan and Homestead Asso-
ciation and owns a comfortable residence on the
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
279
corner of Third and Caroline Streets, in addition to
valuable property in Cliillicothe, this state. His
wife is an amiable and estimable lady, who lias a
wide circle of friends in this city.
-AGIN, foreman of the hominy
< ! mills at Pekin and widely known as the
inventor of several useful devices, is a na-
tive of Kentucky, having been born in Union
County, January 8, 1846. The family was prom-
inent in Virginia for several generations, and in
the Old Dominion our subject's grandfather, James
Agin, was born and reared. Thence in an early
day he emigrated to Kentucky, becoming a pioneer
of the Blue Grass State, where lie continued to re-
side until his death.
The father of our subject, David Agin, was born
in Union Count\-, Ky., in 1821, and followed the
trades of a shoemaker, blacksmith, carpenter and
wagonmaker. In 1849 he removed to Indiana
and settled in the vicinity of Terre Haute, where
he followed these various trades. After a short
sojourn in Chicago he came to Pekin, in 1887, and
now makes his home with his son George. At pres-
ent he is employed as night watchman in the
hominy mills. His wife, whose maiden name was
Nancy Overpeck, was born in Kentucky of Ger-
man ancestry, and died in Indiana.
In the parental farmily there were six children,
but only two are now living. The eldest of the
six is George, who was reared in Vigo County,
Ind., three miles north of Terre Haute, his boy-
hood days being passed on his father's farm. For
a time he was a pupil in the subscription schools
of the neighborhood, but afterward conducted his
studies in the free schools. When sixteen he com-
menced to work in a factory, where he remained
for several years, being promoted from fireman to
engineer. For eight years he operated the sawmill
owned by T. B. Johns, and in 1877 accepted the
position of engineer in the hominy mill at Terre
Haute, remaining there for four years. After
three months spent in Mt. Vernon as engineer,
Mr. Agin came to Pekin for the purpose of re-
modeling the engine department in the mills, and
was later placed in charge of the mills.
In Terre Haute, Ind., March 30, 1880, Mr. Agin
was united in marriage with Miss Lua Grosvenor,
a native of that city. Her father, Augustine
Grosvenor, was born in Ohio and educated in
Streator, 111.; he resided for some years in Indi-
ana, where his death occurred. He was a soldier
in the Mexican War, and by occupation he was a
painter and contractor. His wife, whose maiden
name was Catherine Hudnut, was born in Coving-
ton, Ky., and was a sister of the late Theodore
Hudnut, proprietor of the mills and elevator. Mr.
and Mrs. Agin are the parents of two children,
Wallace M. and Le Roy.
In his business transactions Mr. Agin is reliable,
energetic and capable, and lifts worthily won the
high regard in which he is held. A Democrat in
politics, he has been prominent in local affairs and
is especially interested in school affairs. From
1889 until 1892 he was a member of the School
Hoard, during which time the high school build-
ing was erected, and for one year he was Chairman
of the Building Committee. Socially he is identi-
fied with the Mystic Circle, K. O. T. M.
EDWIN FORRECT LAMPITT traces his
ancestry back to the nobility of England,
where his father, Capt. Edwin D. Lampitt,
was born. The latter came to America with his
mother when only four years of age and with her
located in New York City, whence they came to
Pekin. Here the father learned the trade of a
machinist, at which he worked until his decease, in
1877, when forty years of age. His wife, Helen
(Ilabberneld) Lampitt, was born in New York City
and was the daughter of Fred Habberfieid, a na-
tive of England. He was an early settler of Pe-
kin, and during the late war served as a soldier in
a company of Illinois infantry. He departed this
life in 1865. The father of our subject also
fought during the Rebellion, enlisting as a private
in Company F, Eighty-fifth Illinois Infantry. He
was later promoted to be Captain of his company
280
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and served as such until 1864, when he resigned
and came home.
Of the three children comprised in the parental
family, one is deceased. Herbert is a brick mason
of this city, and our subject is a contractor and
stone mason of some prominence in Pekin. His
father dying when lie was a lad of ten years, Ed-
win F. was obliged to begin to earn his own liv-
-ing, and was variously employed until reaching his
fourteenth year, when he apprenticed himself to
learn the trade of a brick mason. After working
under instructors for three years he went to Peo-
ria, where he was employed for a twelvemonth.
At the expiration of that time he returned to Pe-
kin, where lie has since been carrying on a success-
ful business as contractor and mason.
Mr. Lampitt was- married in Peoria in 1886 to
Miss Fannie Geer, who was born in Kansas in
1865. To them has been born a son, Edwin A.
In social affairs our subject is an Odd Fellow and
Knight of the Maccabees, and in politics never
fails to cast a Democratic vote. He commands
and deserves the respect of the entire community
and is a man who would be sadly missed should
he remove from this locality.
(eT
EWIS TARBELL. Among the represen-
tative and esteemed citizens of Tazewell
County, there is probably no one more de-
serving of mention than Mr. Tarbell, whose resi-
dence within its borders has extended over many
years. He has been very successful as an agri-
culturist, and is now living retired in the village
of Morton, enjoying the fruits of his early toil.
A native of New York, our subject was born in
Chenango County, October 1, 1828, and is the son
of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Lamb) Tarbell. The
paternal grandparents of our subject were natives
of Vermont, whence the former emigrated to Che-
nango County, N. Y., when Jonathan Tarbell was
quite j-oung. They were engaged in agricultural
pursuits, and were highly respected in their com-
munity. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Tarbell were mar-
ried in New Hampshire, of which state the mother
was a native. They came to Illinois in 1838, stop-
ping for about nine months in Bloomington. and
then came to this county, where the father pur-
chased and farmed a small tract of land. The
journey to this state was made witli two wagons,
in which were stored all their earthly effects. The
family consisted of six children, those besides our
subject being Horace, a very wealthy, retired
farmer of Peoria, where also Isaac is living in re-
tirement; Abigail, the widow of Henry Burhans,
of Groveland; Eliza, who died when young; and
Jane, Mrs. Samuel Berry, who is also deceased. The
father of these children departed this life when
fifty-five years of age, and fifteen years later was
followed to the better land by his good wife.
Our subject was educated in the common schools
of New York and Illinois, and remained with his
mother until reaching his twentj'-fifth year, when
he established a home of his own and was married
to Miss Mary, daughter of Cyrus and Margaret
(Cooper) Akers. She was born in Brown Coun-
tj r , Ohio, in 1836, while her parents were natives
respectively of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and
came to this state in 1834.
Of the seven children born to our subject and
his wife, we make the following mention: Charles
married Ann Orendorff, and is engaged in the
stock business in Delavan; Horace, who is a farmer
in North Dakota, married Mary Cross in; Ida be-
came the wife of Robert Goodyear, and makes her
home in McLean County, this state; Clarence, who
married Isabel Ferrier, is deceased; Edith is the
wife of Lyman Stinyard, and makes her home in
Peoria; and Henry and Alice are deceased.
Prior to his marriage, our subject purchased
eighty acres of land in Morton Township, which
he cultivated in such a profitable manner that he
was enabled to retire from active work, and five
years ago moved into the village. At that time he
sold his estate and now owns a quarter-section in
Thayer County, Neb., besides valuable town prop-
erty. With his wife he is a prominent and active
member of the Congregational Church, although
he was reared a Methodist. In politics lie is a
true-blue Republican, and has always been found
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
281
ready to aid in any movement which seemed to
promise well for his neighborhood, and he has
made a favorable impression upon all with whom
he lias come in contact.
ACOB COIIENOUR, a veteran of the late
war, is now serving as engineer of the
hominy mill of Pekin, and has been a resi-
dent of this place since September 1, 1843.
He was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on the 14th of
June previous. His father, Jacob Cohenour, was
a native of Virginia, and became a farmer of
Muskingum County, Ohio, whence he removed
with his family to Illinois. Purchasing land on
Sand Prairie, he there carried on agricultural pur-
suits for a number of years, but his last days were
spent in retirement in Pekin, where he died at the
age of seventy-three. His wife, who bore the
maiden name of Mary Woods, and who was a native
of Ohio, passed away in 1846. They had twelve
children, six sons and six daughters, and with the
exception of one, who died at the age of fourteen,
all grew to mature years. Five sons and four
daughters are yet living. William served in the
Union army for three years and four months, and
Robert was in the same company for nine months.
Jacob Cohenour is the youngest of his father's
family. He was reared on a farm, and in 1856
went to Jackson County, Iowa, where he worked
as a farm hand for about three years, after which
he returned home. In 1861, he responded to the
country's call for troops, becoming a member of
the Eighth Illinois Infantry, but at Cairo, 111., was
taken sick and came home. In August, 1861, he
again enlisted as a member of Company E, Forty-
seventh Illinois Infantry, and participated in the
sieges of Island No. 10 and Corinth. In Novem-
ber, 1863, on account of physical disability, he was
mustered out; he then returned to Jackson County,
Iowa, where he engaged in farming on rented land
until 1864, when he returned to Pekin. He was
then variously employed in the town until 1870,
when he began work in the Peona, Pekin & Jack-
sonville shops. He then became lireman on the road,
and in 1874 was made engineer, thus serving until
1883, when he became engineer of the City Mills,
which position he filled until the fall of 1890.
In February, 1891, he became engineer of the
hominy mills, and now has charge of two engines,
one of sixty and the other of eighty horse power,
together with three boilers of forty horse power
each.
Mr. Cohenour was married in Mt. Carroll, III., in
1864, to Miss Ariana Doty, who was born in In-
gersoll, Canada. She died leaving two children,
one of whom, Edwin, makes his home in Pekin.
For his second wife our subject chose Susan Angus,
a native of Schuyler County, Pa., who died in
1882. For his third wife he married Diantha Otto,
who was born in Ohio; she was called to her final
rest in January, 1893.
Mr. Cohenour is a member of the Pekin Loan
and Homestead Association, and from the spring
of 1888 to 1893 was a member of the School
Board, during which time he served as its Secre-
tary for three years. He was Chairman of the
Printing and Supply Committee for five years, of
the Building Committee for one year, and of the
Finance Committee for one year. He was on
the Board when the high school building was
erected and when the addition was made to the
Dougjas school, and purchased the seats and desks
for the former. He belongs to Empire Lodge
No. 126, A. F. <fe A. M., to the Royal Arch chap-
ter, of which he has served as Scribe; and is a
charter member of the Independent Order of Red
Men. He is now Great Sachem of thecount}', and
has several times been a delegate. The Democracy
finds in him a stanch supporter, ever ready to ad-
vance its interests. Mr. Cohenouv is a pleasant,
genial gentleman and has many friends in the
community.
McFALL, who is engaged in the
blacksmith business in Lilly, was born on the
4th of June, 1822, in Brownsville, Fayette
County, Pa. His great-grandparents were
natives of Ireland, but the family was of Scotch
origin; however, its representatives had lived on
the Emerald Isle for one hundred years before
2X2
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
coming to America. Their emigration to the New
World occurred during Colonial days. The grand-
father of our subject, Charles McFall, was born in
Westmoreland County, Pa., and was a blacksmith
by trade, but in his later years followed farming.
He reared a large family and all lived to an ad-
vanced age. His death occurred in Fayette
County, at the age of eightv-six. lie was twice
married and outlived his second wife.
Charles McFall, Jr., father of our subject, was
born and reared in Westmoreland County, Pa.;
acquired a fair education, and by his extensive
reading became a well informed man, who was not
only posted on the topics of the day, but was also
very familiar with ancient history. For years he
was a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and served as Class-leader. In Fayette
County, Pa., he married Jane, daughter of Fred-
erick ,1. and Esther Cohenes. Her mother was of
French descent. Her father was a weaver by trade
and had lie lived three days longer would have
been one hundred years of age.
Charles McFall learned the blacksmith's trade
and carried on a shop in Brownsville until 1846,
when he emigrated to Peoria, 111., where he en-
gaged in business for a few years. He then pur-
chased a farm, but after a time returned to Peoria,
where he lived retired until his death, in 1881, at
the age of eighty-two years. In early life he
was a Democrat, but after the war became a Re-
publican. His wife passed away at the age of forty.
Their family numbered eight children: Nancy,
widow of William Stone; John; William, from
whom nothing has been heard since he started for
California in an early day; Hugh B., a blacksmith
of Fulton County, 111.; Hannah, who became the
wife of James Bunch, but is now deceased; Mrs.
Margaret Albertson, of Kansas; Elizabeth A., de-
ceased wife of William League; and James M.,
who died in childhood. After the death of his
first wife the father of this family married Lydia
Rigg, and to them were born five children, three
of whom died in early life. Minnie, who is de-
ceased, was the wife of Henry Green ; and Sarah is
living in Peoria.
Mr. McFall of this sketch attended school until
seventeen years of age, prepared himself for teach-
ing and received a certificate but never followed
the profession. lie taught vocal music in differ-
ent counties in Illinois and Pennsylvania for
many years, possessing much natural talent in that
line. In the fall of 1846 he emigrated to Illinois.
He had previously learned the blacksmith's trade
with his father, and had also learned the trade of
manufacturing edged tools. In 1848 he established
a blacksmith shop in Kickapoo, Peoria County, car-
rying on business there three years, then went to
Woodford Count}', where he operated a blacksmith
shop through the winter, while in the summer he
carried on a brick yard. In 1859 lie embarked in
the same lines of business in New Castle, and was
thus employed until 1872, when he established his
smith} 1 in Lilly.
When twenty years of age Mr. McFall wedded
Mary Wagner, daughter of Andrew and Lucretia
Wagner. They became the parents of seven chil-
dren, but four died in early life. Those still liv-
ing are: Mary E., wife of John L. Brock, of this
county; Ellen L., wife of Charles Demon t, of South
West City, Mo.; and Jennie, wife of John Plank,
of Newton, Kan.
Since coming to Lilly Mr. McFall served as Post-
master for nine months, but at length resigned the
office. He has held a number of school oflices, and
for nineteen years has served as Justice of the
Peace, proving a most competent officer, as is in-
dicated by his long term. He is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife belongs
to the Christian Church. In politics he is a sup-
porter of the Democracy. Faithful to every trust
reposed in him, whether public or private, he has
the confidence and respect of all who know him,
and in the history of his adopted county well de-
serves representation.
ENRY G. WOOST, who resides in Tremont,
is engaged in business as a dealer in wall
paper, paints and furniture, under the firm
name of H. G. Woost & Co. He was born
in Pekin, 111., March 3, 1866, and is the fourth in
a family of eleven children, seven of whom are
yet living, viz.: Sophia, widow of A. Tliurman,
of Pekin; William H., of Pekin; Emma, wife of
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
283
George Flagg, of Peoria; Louise, Charles O. and
Frank, who also live in Pekin. The parents of
tliis family were II. W. C. and Mary (Koch) AVoost.
The father of our subject was born in Germany
and came to this country when about twenty-five
years of age. Continuing his journey westward,
he took up his residence in Pekin, where he has
since made his home. He is a tailor by trade, and
has followed that business throughout his entire
life as a means of livelihood. He is still engaged
in that enterprise, and is enjoying a liberal pat-
ronage. Socially, he is connected with the Inde-
pendent Order of Mutual Aid. His wife was also
born in Germany, and when a child crossed the
Atlantic to America with her parents. She mar-
ried Mr. Woost in Peoria, and since that time
they have lived in Pekin. The paternal grand-
father, Henry Woost, died in Germany at the age
of eighty-one.
The subject of this sketch during his boyhood
attended the public schools of his native town.
At the age of nineteen he started out in life for
himself, and has since made his own way in the
world. He first began earning his own liveli-
hood as a painter, and followed that pursuit in
Pekin for two years. He was then employed for one
year as asistant bookkeeper in the wagon factory
of the T. <fe H. Smith Company, and later learned
the machinist's trade. In March, 1886, he left
his old home and removed to Tremout. He se-
cured a position as Cashier in the Tremont Bank,
where he continued for two years, when with the
capital he had acquired he embarked in business
for himself as a dealer in wall paper and paints.
To- the sale of those commodities he gave his atten-
tion for three years, and was alone in business
until March, 1891, when he took a partner. He
also opened a furniture and undertaking estab-
lishment in connection with his other business.
In August, 1893, James Dean bought a half-inter-
est in the business, which is now conducted under
the firm name of H. G. Woost <fe Co. In Septem-
ber their store was burned and they suffered a
heavy loss, but a commodious brick building was
at once erected on the old site by Mr. Davis and
they again resumed trade.
In September, 1889, Mr. Woost was united in
marriage with Kate Goodhart, who was a music
teacher of Pekin, and a daughter of John Good-
hart, of that place. She was one of four children,
but two of the number died in childhood. Her
sister Josephine is now Principal of the Pekin
High School. Her father served in the Mexican
War, and when the Rebellion broke out he became
a First Lieutenant in the Union army, and was
killed while fighting for his country. Unto Mr.
and Mrs. Woost were born three children: Jo-
sephine, Sophia and George.
In politics Mr. Woost has always been a stal-
wart Republican, and takes a deep interest in the
success of his party. He belongs to Tremont Lodge
No. 462, A. F. & A. M.. and also to the Odd Fel-
lows' society and the Modern Woodmen of Amer-
ica. He possesses good business ability, is enter-
prising and progressive, and is now enjoying a
constantly increasing trade.
ARL F. WINKLE, Secretary and Manager
Winkle Brewing Company, of Pekin,
was born in this city June 14, 1866. His
father, August Winkle, was born in Saxony, Ger-
many, and is a butcher by trade. When a young
man he came to America and followed the butcher-
ing business in Philadelphia, Pa., and in St. Louis.
He then came to Pekin and engaged in the same
line of trade on Margaret Street until 1860, when
he embarked in the brewing business. He began
operations in a frame building, but in 1874 erected
a brick brewery, which he has since enlarged. He
is now President and Treasurer of the company.
After coming to Pekin he married Augusta Neu-
barth, a native of Saxony, who died in December,
1887. They were the parents of six children,
four of whom are yet living: August and Carl,
who are now connected with the brewing busi-
ness; Martha, at home; and Mina, now Mrs. Reul-
ing, of Pekin.
Our subject was reared in his native city, at-
tended its public schools, and later completed a
course in Bryant & Stratum's Business College of
Chicago. He then became his father's bookkeeper,
284
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and later learned the business. In 1888 he went
to New York City and spent four months in a
brewing school of that place, after which we find
him in New York State, where he worked at hib
trade until 1889. In that year he returned to
Pekin, and in March, 1890, assumed the manage-
ment of the brewery owned by the Winkle Brew-
ing Company. The business was incorporated in
May, 1890, under its present name, with August
Winkle, Sr., as President and Treasurer; and Carl
F. Winkle as Secretary and Manager. The brew-
ery is located on the Illinois River at the west
end of Caroline Street. The main building is
55x55 feet, and there are two ice houses and store
rooms. The machinery is run by engines of
thirty horse power, and the boiler has a capacity
of six thousand barrels per year. Mr. Winkle
superintends the manufacture of the beer himself
and manufactures his own malt.
On the 12th of October, 1892, Mr. Winkle was
united in marriage with Miss Anna Dietrich,
daughter of L. Dietrich, proprietor of the Union
and Central Hotels of Pekin. In his political 'View's-
Mr. Winkle is a Democrat, and is a wide-awake
and enterprising business man.
y.ILLIAM V. McKINSTRY, of Delavan, is
the proprietor of the Palace of Trade, one
W^i of the most extensive furniture and hard-
ware establishments in central Illinois. He is a
native of Tazewell County, having been born in
Delavan Township, August 24, 1856. The family
of which he is a member originated in Scotland,
but afterward removed to the North of Ireland,
where his grandfather, Thomas McKinstry, first
opened his eyes to the light. So far back as the
records extend, the Presbyterian Church was the
religious home of the family.
When a lad of six years Thomas McKinstry ac-
companied his parents to the United States and
settled with them in Bucks County, Pa. He had
two brothers, William, who died in Pennsylvania,
leaving three children; and John, whose death oc-
curred in Ohio. Grandfather McKinstry passed
away in the Keystone State in 1853. His wife,
whose maiden name was Isabel Huston, was born
in Pennsylvania, of Scotch descent, and was a sis-
ter of the father of ex-United States Treasurer
James Nelson Huston, who for a considerable
length of time made his home with our subject's
father in Delavan. Mrs. Isabel McKinstry died
about 1846.
James Huston McKinstry, our subject's father,
was born in Franklin County, Pa., August 3, 1827,
and was the youngest of three children that at-
tained mature years. His brother John came to
Illinois and engaged in farming and milling.
Margaret, the only sister, married J. C. Duncan,
then of Pennsylvania, but now a wealthy retired
farmer of Delavan. James II. spent his early life
on the farm in Franklin County and was educated
in Marshall College. In 1851 he moved west to
Indiana, whence the following year he came to
Delavan Township, Tazewell County. Here he
purchased a half-section of land, which he still
(>wn.s, and upon which he has been extensively en-
'gaged-iji -.fawning and stock-raising. For several
years he was also in the grain and mill business.
Since 1864 he has resided on an eighty-acre farm
adjoining the city of Delavan. He has filled a
number of local offices and for three years served
as Supervisor of Delavan Township.
In 1853 James II. McKinstry married Miss Sarah
J. McDowell, a resident of Franklin County, Pa.,
and of Scotch descent. One of her brothers, James
McDowell, was killed by sharpshooters during the
Civil War. Mr. McKinstry was one of the original
members of the Presb3'terian Church of Delavan,
which he helped to organize.. Of the charter mem-
bers there are but five now living, Mr. and Mrs.
McKinstry, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Duncan and Miss
Sarah Bell Davidson. In the building up of the
church he has long rendered active assistance, be-
ing an Elder for the past ten years, and has also
promoted the development of the county in gen-
eral. Through his influence more than fifty fami-
lies have come hither from Pennsylvania. In
politics he was formerly a Whig and has been a
Republican since the organization of the party.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. McKinstry resulted
in the birth of nine children, the two eldest dying
in infancy. W. V., the eldest living, is the subject
LIBRARY
or
UNIVERSITY Of
HON. H. C. BURNHAM.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
287
of this notice; Elizabeth L. is the wife of George
A. Worden, of Ottuniwa, Iowa; Marguerite Alice
died in 1864; Thomas II. died when twenty-two
years of age; Charlotte J. died at the age of seven-
teen; James T. is engaged in the furniture business
at Mason City, this state; Ella May, the youngest,
is at home with her parents.
In the schools of Delavan Willim V. McKinstry
received his education, and after his studies were
finished he clerked in a drug store for two years.
For five years after his marriage he resided upon
a farm and then embarked in the furniture and
hardware business at Delavan. More than ordinary
success has met his efforts. In 1889 he erected a
large double two-story brick structure, which is
occupied by his extensive stock, which is one of
the largest in the state. As a business man he is
progressive and popular, reliable in his transac-
tions and courteous in manner.
A Republican in politics Mr. McKinstry has
served as a me.iiber of the Central Committee. In
religious belief he is a Presbyterian. His social
connections are with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs,
and he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias
lodge. His wife bore the maiden name of Minnie
C. Bryant, and was born in VVatseka, 111. Her fa-
ther, H. C. Bryant, was at one time a hardware
merchant in Delavan. The}" are the parents of one
child, Helen Bryant.
1 UDGE HENRY C. BURNHAM. This coun-
ty is the home of quite a number of men
who were thrown upon their own resources
at an early age, and whose natural aptness
and energy were developed and strengthened by
contact with the world, resulting in making their
lives more than ordinarily successful in worldly
prosperity. Among this number is Judge Burn-
ham, who has not only attained a competency, but
has won an honorable record on the Judicial Bench
and as a private citizen.
Heredity is so important a factor in life that it
may be well before noting the chief incidents in
the career of our subject to make brief mention of
the family history. The first representatives of
the Burn ham family in America were three broth-
ers, John, Thomas and Robert, who came from
England and located in Massachusetts at an early
da}' in its history. Our subject is descended from
John, who was born in 1618. Ebenezer, a grand-
son of John, and the Judge's great-grandfather,
migrated in 1733 to Hampton, Windham County,
Conn. The grandfather, Daniel, served as a pa-
triot in the Revolutionary War.
The father of our subject, Festus Burn ham, was
a native of Connecticut, and served as a member
of the Legislature of that state from 1837-39. A
man of good judgment, he was often consulted
upon matters of public importance, and was a pro-
nounced Abolitionist. His death occurred in Con-
necticut April 12, 1865. His wife, who preceded
him to the better land March 7, 1864, was Lora
daughter of Daniel Clark, and a native of the Nut-
meg State.
The subject of this sketch remained in Windham
County, Conn., until reaching his eighteenth year,
when he removed to Ohio, and after four 3'ears
spent in the mercantile business and in teaching
returned to his native state, and resided there for
the following two years. He was born in the above
place in Connecticut January 30, 1826, and was
thus in his twenty-sixth year when, in October,
1852, he came to Mason County. Here he located
and began the work of a general farmer. Having
received a good common-school education in Con-
necticut, he was fitted to occupy almost any posi-
tion in life.
Mr. Burnham was very successful in his opera-
tions as an agriculturist, and continued thus em-
ployed until the spring of 1883, when he came to
Havana. He still owns his estate, which comprises
three hundred and sixty acres of valuable land on
sections 33 and 28, Salt Creek Township. The
property is under an admirable state of cultiva-
tion, and from its rental he derives a good in-
come. In 1882 he was elected Judge of Mason
County on the Republican ticket by a handsome
majority, although the county was Democratic by
fiv3 hundred majority. He filled the position for
a term of four years, during which time he gave
288
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
entire satisfaction to all who were interested in
the county's welfare.
December 16, 1847, Judge Burnham and Miss
Angeline Courrier, a native of New York State,
were united in marriage. Mrs. Burnham is the
daughter of Eliab and Mary (Blaisdel) Courrier,
the former born in New Hampshire, of English
descent, while the latter traced her ancestry back
to Scotland. Remaining in New York until thir-
teen years of age, Mrs. Burnham then accompanied
her parents on their removal west to Ohio. By
her union with our subject there have been born
seven children, of whom those living are, Alonzo
F., a prominent physician in Ashland; James E.,
who is practicing law in Unionville, Mo.; George
T., also an attorney in the same place; Henry P.,
who is engaged in farming in this county, and
Carrie, Mrs. Thurman 1). Ellsberry, who resides in
Englewood, a suburb of Chicago.
AVID M. BROWN, well known as a success-
ful contractor and builder of Pekin, was
born in Franklin, Johnson County, Ind.,
March 27, 1855. He is of Scotch descent,
his ancestors as far back as there is any record
having been residents of the land of the heather.
His paternal grandfather, Aaron Brown, was born
in that country, where lie followed the occupation
of a millwright. Thence, accompanied by his
family, he emigrated to the United States in 1825
and settled in Virginia, amid the picturesque
scenery of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1840
he removed to Indiana and settled in Johnson
County, at a period so early in its history that his
family was the third to make settlement there. He
served as the second Sheriff the county ever had.
His time, however, was devoted principally to the
cultivation of his three hundred acre farm, upon
which he made his home until his death, at the age
of sixty-eight. In religious belief lie was a Pres-
byterian.
The father of our subject, Isaac S. Brown, was
born near Glasgow, in Lancashire, Scotland, in
1827, and was a mere lad when the family came
to America. In youth he learned the trade of a
millwright, which he followed in connection with
the occupation of a farmer. When somewhat ad-
vanced in years he retired from active labors, and
taking up his abode in the village of Franklin,
continued to reside there until his death, at the
age of sixty-four years. In the Presbyterian
Church he served as an Elder from his twenty-first
year until his demise. Politically he advocated
Republican principles.
Cynthia Sorter, as the mother of our subject was
known in maidenhood, was born in Glasgow, her
father having been a farmer and sheep-raiser in
Scotland. In 1826 he emigrated to the United
States and settled in Virginia, whence he removed
to Kentucky and engaged in farming in Mercer
County. Later, moving to Indiana, he had charge
of a stage line between Indianapolis, Madison and
Louisville. As a Republican he was a man of con-
siderable prominence in political affairs and served
his district in the State Legislature. In religion
he was a Presbyterian. Mrs. Cynthia Brown died
after having become the mother of two sons: John,
who died in Indianapolis; and David M., of this
sketch. Isaac S. Brown was a second time mar-
ried, his wife being Mary Cornine, a native of
Kentucky, who now resides in Franklin, Ind. She
had five children, but only three are now living.
At the age of nine years our subject accompan-
ied the family in their removal from Franklin to
Indianapolis, and in the latter place he received
excellent school advantages. For a time lie was a
student in Hopewell Academy. The Sunday-
school which he attended was connected with the
Presbyterian Church of which ex-President Har-
rison was a leading member. In boyhood he be-
gan to work at his trade, and in 1867 commenced
the business of a contractor in Indianapolis, later
removing to Jacksonville, 111., where he was con-
nected with the insane hospital, first as carpenter
and afterward as storekeeper for two years.
In 1880 occurred the marriage of David M.
Brown and Miss Annie Morgan, a native of
Whitehall, Greene County, 111., and a graduate of
the high school at that -place. The year of his
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
289
marriage lie went to Newton, Harvey County,
Kan., where his wife died in 1882. Returning to
Indianapolis in that year he embarked in the busi-
ness of a contractor and builder, but afterward re-
turned to Jacksonville, 111., where he was store-
keeper in the insane asylum. His second marriage,
which occurred in 1886, united him with Miss Hat-
tie Smith, who was born in Deer Creek Township,
Tazewell County, 111. She is the daughter of G.
W. Smith, a farmer and at one time Township Su-
pervisor.
Again going to Newton, Kan., in 1887, Mr.
Brown followed his chosen occupation for one
year and then removed to Wichita, then at the
height of its great "boom." In the founding of
the Garfield University he was a prominent worker,
contributing of his time and means to the attain-
ment of that object. However, as did so many un-
lucky investors in Wichita property, he lost heav-
ily at the collapse of the "boom" and found his
experience in the Sunflower State more instructive
than pecuniarily profitable.
While Kansas proved a disappointment to him
as to many other speculators, yet from the time of
his first trip to that state in 1884 until he returned
to Illinois for permanent location in 1889, he wit-
nessed many wonderful changes. At first all was
new, and many now large cities were in their in-
fancy. The railroad was entering the state then, the
city of Newton had but five frame houses, and so
far as the eye could discern stretched a seemingly
endless tract of prairie without habitation of any
kind.
In 1889 Mr. Brown settled in Peoria,and thence
in October of 1891 he came to Pekin, where he has
since conducted a profitable business. Wherever
he has resided his reputation as a contractor is an
enviable one, and he has assisted in the erection
of many substantial private residences and public
buildings. His home is situated at No. 1202 South
Fourth Street, and his shop at No. 14 Capitol
Street. While a resident of Newton he was Chief
of the Volunteer Fire Department. Socially he is
connected with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Uniformed Rank, K. P., in which
he has passed all the chairs. In politics he is a
Republican. Of his first marriage he has one child,
Harry, while he and his present wife, who was
Miss Hattie Smith, of this county, have one
daughter, Georgia. The religious home of this
family is in the Presbyterian Church.
>>ELLS COREY, editor and publisher of the
II Tazewell County Tribune, was born in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, April 24, 1832. He is a
son of A. W. Corey, a native of Goshen, Orange
County, N. Y., whose father came from Scotland
when a boy and located in New York, where he
later became a farmer. A. W. Corey was a pub-
lisher in Cincinnati, and was the first publisher of
Webster's Dictionary, having for his partner the
son of the author of that famous work.
In 1836, the father of our subject went to Al-
ton, this statei where he was general agent for the
American Sunday-school Union, and died in God-
frey, 111., in 1880. Ills wife, Mrs. Zebiah (Smith)
Corey, was born in Danville, Va., and died in Cin-
cinnati in 1836. She was the daughter of Oliver
Smith, a city missionary of the Presbyterian Church
in Philadelphia.
Our subject spent his boyhood days in Madison
County, this state, and remained at home until
1846, when he came to Washington, this county,
and remained a year. Thence he went to Putnam
County and worked on a farm until 1851, at
which time he entered Knox College, carrying
on his studies in that institution until 1854. That
year he went to -Erie County, N. Y., where he was
married to Miss Mary Brown, who was a native of
that place. The young couple located on a farm
in Whiteside County, 111., where he engaged in cul-
tivating the soil for five years, when he removed to
Sangamon County, engaging in the mercantile bus-
iness in Chatham until 1863. Then going to Quinc3 - ,
he became an insurance agent and resided in that
city until 1874, when he purchased the Mason City
Journal, editing that paper until 1887.
In the above year Mr. Corey went to Welling-
ton, Kan., and until 1889 published the Welling-
ton Daily Quid Nunc. Since that time he has been
located at Pekin, engaged as the editor of the Taze-
290
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
well County Tribune, which is a weekly Republican
paper. To Mr. and Mrs. Corey were born three
children: Lizzie, Mrs. F. R. Sprague, of Kansas
City, Mo.; Frank, a printer in Peoria; and Kate,
Mrs. John Shade, of this city. In politics he is a
stalwart Republican, and is influential in the ranks
of his party in this part of Illinois.
AMES E. RAILSBACK is one of the most
enterprising and progressive business men
of Minier, and has done much for the up-
building of this place. He is now the senior
member of the firm of Railsback & Mitchell, deal-
ers in lumber and grain. He has the honor of be-
ing a native of Tazewell County, for his birth
occurred in Little Mackinaw Township, November
17, 1833. His father, Thomas F. Railsback, was
born in Culpcper County, Va., in 1796. The
grandfather was a native of Germany and the
founder of the family in America. In his native
county Thomas Railsback married Louisa V. Aliens-
worth, lie then engaged in farming for a time,
after which he removed to Montgomery County,
Tenn.. where he again carried on agricultural pur-
suits.
In the autumn of 1830, the father came to Illi-
nois, and was here during the deep snow. From
the Government he entered a tract of land on sec-
tion 5, Little Mackinaw Township, built a log house
and began the development of the wild land,
which he transformed into a fine farm. His death
there occurred in 1864. He was one of the hon-
ored pioneers of the county, taught the first school
in Little Mackinaw Township, and the first sermon
in the township was preached by Elder Oatman at
the Railsback cabin. Mr. and Mrs. Railsback, A.
B. Davis, Catherine Allensworth, Benjamin and
Nancy Ilerndon and Elijah and Maria Hall organ-
ized the first church in the township. This was in
1833. It was a Christian Church, and James
Lindsey became its first minister. The father of
our subject for many years served as Elder of the
church. He was one of the Township Commis-
sioners, and took a very prominent part in every-
thing pertaining to the welfare of the community
and its upbuilding. His wife, who was born in
1801, passed away in 1882.
This worthy couple were parents of ten children,
of whom seven grew to mature years, while four
yet survive, namely: P. G. H., a farmer of Little
Mackinaw Township; James E.; Mrs. Mary Mitch-
ell, of Minier, and Ben T., who is engaged in the
grain business in Hopedale. Those deceased are,
D. G. A., who was a farmer of Mackinaw Town-
ship; Mrs. Amanda Briggs; Mrs. Sarah Ireland;
Eliza J., who died at the age of eleven years, and
twins, who died in Tennessee.
Mr. Railsback whose name heads this record was
reared on the old homestead and educated in the
district schools. On the 3d of October, 1855, he
married Susan M. Howell, who died January 28,
1861, leaving three children, John C., now a grain
dealer of Ashland, Neb.; Gilford G., who is in
partnership with his brother, and Emma Dell, wife
of George W. Darst, of Eureka, 111., Cashier of the
Farmers' National Bank of that place.
Mr. Railsback remained upon the old homestead
until his marriage, when he removed to a farm of
his own on section 2, Little Mackinaw Township,
which his father had entered from the Government
for him. It was a tract of wild prairie, but he at
once began to break and cultivate it, and made
his home thereon until 1859, when he bought an
improved farm on section 8 of the same township.
For five years he there resided, after which he be-
came owner of a farm on section 4, where he lived
until 1869, when he came to Minier. Two years
previous he had embarked in the grain and lumber
business in this place, becoming one of the first
dealers in those lines in the town. He formed a
partnership with Rodney J. Mitchell, and for
twenty-seven years this connection has continued
with mutunLpleasure and profit.
In 1864, Mr. Railsback was again married, his
second union being with Ann P., daughter of John
Adams, of Tazewell County. She was born in Ken-
tucky, and with her father came to Illinois in
1833. He was one of the pioneers of this locality
and entered land from the Government on section
4, Little Mackinaw Township. To Mr. and Mrs.
Railsback have been born three children, Robert
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
291
M., a grain dealer of Ithaca, Neb.; Charles A., a
commercial traveler and a graduate of Quincy
Commercial College, and Olive. Robert was a stu-
dent in Eureka College.
In politics. Mr. Rails back is a stalwart Repub-
lican, was Township Collector for several years,
has been a member of the Town Board, and for
many years has served on the Board of Education.
Since the age of fifteen he has held membership
with the Christian Church, and he aided in organiz-
ing the church at this place. Its original members
were, N. P. Williams, J. E. Railsback, J. F. Quigg,
J. M. Edmiston and R. J. Mitchell, and the first
pastor was .Samuel Lowe. Our subject has taken
a very active part in church work, was Deacon for
eighteen years,and for the past two years has been
Elder. The house of worship was erected in 1874.
Socially, our subject is connected with the Masonic
fraternity, and has filled many of its offices. In
addition to his other business interests, he is a
member of the firm of Quigg, Railsback & Co.,
owners of the Minier Bank, and of Quigg, Rails-
back <fe Co., grain dealers. Probably no man in
the community has taken a more active part in ad-
vancing its interests than our subject, and his
name is inseparably connected with the history of
this locality. His well spent life has won him the
respect and confidence of all, and this work would
be incomplete without his sketch.
OBERT C. IIIETT, Principal of the Doug-
las School at Pekin, was born near North
River Mills, in Hampshire County, W. Va.,
une 27, 1865. He is the son of Jo-
seph Hiett, a native of the same place and a de-
scendant of English ancestors, who were members
of the Society of Friends. The father, who was a
millwright by trade, for some time operated a mill
in Hampshire County, whence in 1869, accompan-
ied by his family, he removed to Illinois and set-
tled in Pekin. Since that time he has continued
to make his home in this city, and is at the pres-
ent time employed in the wood department of the
Acme Harvester Company. At the age of sixty-
six years he still enjoys good health and the un-
impaired exercise of his mental faculties. In his
religious belief he is identified with the Christian
Church.
The mother of our subject bore the maiden name
of Margaret A. Campbell and was born in West
Virginia, of Scotch descent. She is now (1894)
fifty -six years of age. Her family numbered
eleven children, ten of whom attained mature
years and arc now living. The sixth in order of
birth is the subject of this biographical sketch, who
was brought to Pekin at the age of four years and
has since resided in the city. After conducting
his studies for some years in the schools of Pekin
he was graduated from the high school, in 1885.
His education completed, Mr. Hiett entered the
profession of a teacher and for one year had
charge of a school in Elm Grove Township. ]n
1887 he accepted the position of Principal of the
Lincoln School of Pekin, and one year later ac-
cepted a similar position with the Allen School.
In 1889 he became Principal of the Douglas
School and has since filled that responsible posi-
tion in such a manner as to reflect great credit
upon his own ability and secure the warm approval
and support of the parents of the children placed
under his charge. This is one of the largest
schools in the city and has a total enrollment of
three hundred and eleven. In his work Mr. llictt
has the assistance of five teachers, all of whom
possess superior culture and thorough knowledge
of the profession.
The marriage of Mr. Hiett was solemnized in
this city in 1886, his bride being Miss Lillian Rob-
inson, a native of Missouri and a graduate of the
high school at this place. Two children have
blessed this union, Harold and Mabel. In their
religious connections Mr. and Mrs. Hiett are mem-
bers of the Christian Church, in the work of which
they are active, and to the support of which they
are generous contributors. While not active in
political matters Mr. Hiett is thoroughly informed
regarding the great issues of the age and gives his
support to the principles of the Democratic party.
Socially he is identified with the Ancient Order
of United Workmen and is Master Workman of
292
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Pekin Lodge No. 265. He is a man of strong
character, with moral and mental endowments
that place him among the most intelligent and
honorable citizens of Pekin. For his profession
he is admirably qualified both by natural traits of
character and thorough education, and he ranks
among the most efficient and successful teachers
of central Illinois.
yMLLIAM FITZPATRICK, conductor on
the through freight running between Pe-
w kin and Strcator on the Santa Fe Road, is
a fair illustration of the advanced position which
the young men are now occupying in every phase
of life in the United States. In fact, this might
be called the young men's era, for never before
has youth taken so prominent a position in affairs
as at the present time.
Mr. Fitzpatrick was born in Cadez, Ohio, No-
vember 16, 1866, and is of Irish descent, his par-
ents, Valentine and Maggie (Kinsley) Fitzpatrick,
being natives of County Tipperary. The former
was quite young when he came to the United
States, and some years thereafter was section boss
on the railroad at Cadez, Ohio. Later he came to
Mapleton, this state, whence he moved back to
Ohio, and a short time thereafter located in Pekin,
where he was foreman of the workmen on the Pe-
kin, Peoria & Jacksonville Road. After being
thus employed for two years he again returned to
the Buckeye State and commenced work on the
Scioto Valley Road at Ironton. He is now living
retired in Pekin. His good wife, who bore him
eight children, died in this cit3' when forty-eight
years of age.
Of the parental family only five are living, and
all the sons are railroad men. William received
his education in the public schools of Pekin, and
in 1881 went to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he ob-
tained a position in the freight department of the
Scioto Valley Railroad. He remained there until
1885, and from 1882 until the time of leaving
their service was night yard clerk and switchman.
A year later, in 1883, his brother David, who was
also employed in that place, was run over by a
train and the parents of our subject urged him to
return home.
In the spring of 1886 our subject came to Pekin
as brakeman on a passenger train running on the
Santa Fe Road between this city and Chicago.
Four years later he was promoted to be conductor
on the freight train carrying freight through to
Streator. William Fitzpatrick was married April
27, 1889, to Miss Sallie Owens, a native of Green-
field, Ind. Her father, Thomas Owens, was born in
Ireland, and after coming to America was em-j
ployed as section boss in the above place, where
his decease occurred. The mother of Mrs. Fitz-
patrick was Bridget McGoffln; she was also a na-
tive of the Emerald Isle and is now living, making
her home in Indiana. The two children born to
our subject and his wife are Mabel and William.
Socially, Mr. Fitzpatrick is a Knight of Pythias
and a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad men
at Streator. During the entire time which he has
been on the road he has never had more than
two or three wrecks, which occurred in Indiana.
In politics he is a strong Democrat and is a man
who commands the respect of the entire commu-
nity.
J. VEERMAN. A plain statement of the
IJD facts embraced in the life of Mr. Veerman,
a man well and favorably known to the
people of Tazewell County, is all that we
profess to be able to give in this volume. Yet
upon examination of these facts there will be
found the carcerof one whose entire course through
life has been marked by great honesty and fidelity
to duty. He has followed an active and indus-
trious life, and is at present Superintendent of the
painting and finishing department of the T. & H.
Smith Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Veerman was born in Hanover, Germany,
October 29, 1853, and is the son of Jacob Veerman,
also a native of the above place, where he was a
farmer by occupation. Jacob Veerman came to
America with his family in 1864 and located in
Peoria, where he remained until the fall of 1866,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
293
when he came to Pekin and found work in the
blacksmith shop of T. <fe H. Smith. Later he worked
in the painting department for the above company,
and departed this life in January, 1890.
Mrs. Ella (Jansen) Veerman, the mother of our
subject, was born in Germany, where she met and
married Jacob Veerman. She was a Baptist in re-
ligious belief, and died in 1892. The parental
family included one other son besides our subject,
Edwin, who is engaged in painting in this city.
D. J., of this sketch, attended evening school
after coming to America, and in 1866 apprenticed
himself to learn the painter's trade under the in-
struction of Phil Weber. After thoroughly mas-
tering the trade, he began working at the same in
this and surrounding cities, and after returning to
Pekin, worked for the T. & H. Smith Company,
having charge of the carriage department until
January. 1893, when he was appointed Superin-
tendent of the painting and finishing work, and
has a force of about forty men under his direction.
Mr. Veerman was married in this city in 1876 to
Miss Sophia, daughter of John Albertsen, for a
further history of whom the reader is referred to
the sketch of L. J. Albertsen, on another page in
this volume. Mrs. Veerman was born in Germany,
and has reared a family of four children, Ella, Ly-
dia, Jay 1). and Louis.
In his political relations our subject is a strong
Republican, and takes much interest in local mat-
ters. His life has been an honorable and upright
one, which has gained him the confidence and re-
spect of all with whom he has been brought in
contact.
we
ENRY UBBEN. Probably no business man
in the city of Pekin is more shrewd, care-
ful and persistent in his operations, or dis-
plays greater ability in his undertakings,
than the above-named gentleman, who withal is
modest and conscientious. In this place, where the
greater part of his life has been passed, he is known
and honored as a capable and efh'cientyoung man,
and the success which so early in life has crowned
his efforts proves the possession on his part of su-
perior intelligence and ability.
Mr. Ubben has spent his entire life in the state
of Illinois, and was born in Grand Detour, Ogle-
County, on the 18th of April, 1858. He is a son
of Albert Ubben, and for particulars in regard to
the family history the reader is referred to the bio-
graphical sketch of U. A. Ubben, to be found on
another page. From a long line of honorable
German forefathers our subject inherits qualities
of thrift and energy which have contributed in no
small degree to his success.
The next to the oldest in the parental family,
Henry was a mere babe when the family removed
to Pekin in the year of his birth, and here he has
since resided. In childhood he was a student in
the public schools, but he was obliged at an early
age to become self-supporting, and hence the in-
formation he now possesses has been gained in
that best of all schools, the school of experience,
in which he has been an apt pupil. At the age of
about eleven years he began to learn the trade of
a bookbinder with Mr. Retter, with whom he re-
mained for several years.
In 1873, under John Kitchen, our subject' com-
menced to learn the trade of a painter, and for
four years was employed in the A. J. Hodges
& Company Header Works. When, on the 1st of
January, 1891, the concern was purchased by the
Acme Harvester Company, he was made foreman
of the painting department, in which position lie
still continues, having under his personal super-
vision a force of fourteen or fifteen men. The
position is one of great responsibility, and only a
level-headed man, such as Mr. Ubben, could suc-
cessfully discharge its duties.
The public questions of the age receive a due
share of Mr. Ubben's attention, and having given
careful study 'to the principles and platforms of
both great political parties, he advocates the Re-
publican, and is an active worker in the ranks of
that great organization. He is an attendant at
the services of the German Methodist Episcopal
Church, the doctrines of which were supported by
his forefathers for several generations. As a citi-
zen, he advocates all public-spirited measures, sup-
porting them with his co-operation and active as-
294
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
sistance. In business, he is uniformly honorable
and upright, and is a young man of steady hab-
its, seldom absent from his post of duty, and ever
genial and accommodating.
GUIS LUICK. Under the second adminis-
tration of President Cleveland the appoint-
ment of Government Storekeeper in the
Eighth District was conferred upon Mr. Luick, of
Pekin. The selection of this gentleman for so im-
portant and responsible a position met with the
hearty approval of his large circle of friends,
numbering not only many Democrats, but also a
large number of adherents to the opposite party.
Among the citizens of Pekin Mr. Luick is well
known, for in this city he has spent his entire
life, and here he was born November 10, 1861.
He is a son of George A. Luick, a native of Wur-
temberg, Germany, and a gardener by trade, who
emigrated to the United States and settled in ,
Pekin about 1848. For a time he followed his
chosen occupation, but at present is engaggftv'lu'-
the flour and feed business. His wife, likewise a
native of Germany, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt
and bore the maiden name of Marguerite Hoffman.
In a family of six children, the subject of this
sketch is the third in order of birth. He was
reared in Pekin and received his education in the
private schools of this place. Early in life he
was trained to habits of industry and energy, and
at the age of fifteen entered upon an apprentice-
ship to the trade of a cigarmaker, working under
II. O. Stein for six years. Afterward he began to
clerk in a clothing establishment, where he re-
mained for three years. In 1888, when the free
delivery was started, he was the first one ap-
pointed as mail carrier, his commission bearing
the date of January 1. This position he held
until the new appointment, when he resigned.
For two years Mr. Luick was engaged in the
clothing business as clerk for A. Schradzier, and
in 1891 he became agent for the Columbian Com-
pany, of Pekin, filling that position until he re-
signed to accept his present office. On the 26th
of October, 1893, he was appointed Storekeeper
by L. J. Wilcox, and his present headquarters are
at the Crescent Distillery. To the duties of the
office he brings indomitable energy, tireless ap-
plication, great care in attention to details and
ability of a superior order.
In social connections, Mr. Luick is identified
with the Knights of Pythias, and is Master of
Finances of La Fayette Lodge No. 216. lie is
also a prominent member of the Uniformed Rank
No. 65, K. P. Politically the principles promul-
gated by the Democratic party find in him a firm
and enthusiastic champion, and he is active in the
ranks of that political organization. At the pres-
ent time he is serving as a member of the Demo-
cratic Township Committee. In his religious views
he is a Lutheran, and holds membership with St.
Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of this city.
LBERT VAN HORNE, D. D. S, of Pekin,
has a patronage that is large and con-
stantly on the increase, which desirable
, , . , .State- of affairs has been brought about by
a' ; thor6ugh knowledge of his profession, prompt-
ness in filling his engagements, and the painstak-
ing and careful manner in which he performs all
his work. He keeps a full line of dental supplies,
which are equal to the requirements of that pro-
fession, including all the most improved appara-
tus and materials, and all his dealings are charac-
terized by fair and honorable methods.
Our subject was born in Macoupin County, this
state, August 29, 1855. and has been a resident
of this city since 1879. His father, E. R. Van
Home, was born in Schoharie County, N. Y.,
which was also the birthplace of the grandfather,
Elijah B. Van I lorn e, who was a farmer by occu-
pation, and who at one time was Sheriff of Sehoharie
County. He was Colonel of the state militia, and
on his removal to this state became one of the
early settlers of Jersey County, where his death
occurred when eighty-three years of age. E. R.
Van Home was thirteen years of age when he
accompanied his parents to Illinois, and when old
enough followed farm pursuits in Macoupin Coun-
ty. He later removed to Macon County, where
he was also engaged as an agriculturist for some
time, but after locating in the city of that name
UBWWY
OFItt
Of
JOHN LANCASTER.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
297
he followed the milling business until 1878, when
he went west to Larned, Kan., and was thus en-
gaged until 1890, when he retired from active
work, at the age of seventy-four years.
The mother of our subject was also born in
Schoharie County, N.Y., and was formerly known as
Miss Martha Cornwell. She came to this state with
her parents, where they died, in Tazewell County.
Of the four children which were born to her union
with Mr. Van Home, all are living, and Albert is
the eldest but one. He remained in his native
county until 1868, when he completed his studies
in the city schools of Macon County. In 1873
he began the study of dentistry with Dr. A. S.
Waltz, of Decatur, with whom he remained for
three years, after which he practiced in different
places until 1879, the date of his advent into this
city. He has a fine office located opposite the
court house and is considered to be one of the
popular dental practitioners in the county.
Dr. A. Van Home was married in 1881 to Miss
Lida McGrew, and to them have been born two
daughters, Stella and Lucile. In 1889 the Doctor
was elected on the Democratic ticket as Alderman
of the Fourth Ward, and in social matters is a
charter member of the Modern Woodmen.
OHN LANCASTER, a farmer residing on
section 33, Little Mackinaw Township,
Tazewell County, was born in Boone Coun-
ty, Ky., March 18, 1826. His father, Joseph,
was a son of Henry Lancaster and removed from
Boone County to Illinois in 1829. In his native
county he had married Hannah, daughter of Rich-
ard Burt, of Boone County. From the Govern-
ment he entered land in Hittle Township, and be-
came one of the pioneer settlers of that locality.
There he made his home until his death, which
occurred in 1877. His wife passed away in March,
1844.
To them were born nine children, as follows:
Richard, a veteran of the late war, now residing in
Kansas; Henry, deceased; William, of McLean
County, 111.; James, who is living on the old home-
stead; Joseph, who was also one of the boys in
6
blue, and now makes his home in Iowa; Sarah, wife
of G. Haiii line, of Hittle Township; Susan, de-
ceased, and Matilda, wife of James Glackiu. After
the death of his first wife Joseph Lancaster mar-
ried Mary Aldrich, who is still living. The3' had
eight children, Thomas and Robert J., both of
Hittle Township; Hannah, wife of James Booth, a
farmer of the same township; Sarilda, Malinda,
Hickson and Mary, all deceased; and one who
died in infancy. The father of this family was a
faithful member of the Christian Church and took
an active part in its work. In politics he was a
Whig.
In the usual manner of farmer lads John Lan-
caster spent the days of his boyhood and youth,
and remained with his parents until his marriage.
On the 19th of August, 1844, he wedded Elvira
Hainline, daughter of Henry Hainline, one of the
pioneer settlers of Tazewell County of 1827. Mrs.
Lancaster was born in Hittle Township, and died
in July, 1848, leaving two children, Hannah, wife
of E. W. Sullivan, of Missouri, and Enos. In
March, 1858, Mr. Lancaster was uuited in marriage
with Miss Rebecca Attbery, daughter of Hiram
Attbery, a native of Kentucky, and one of the
early settlers of Logan County, 111., where his
daughter was born and reared. Thirteen children
were born of the second union, viz.: William, of
Little Mackinaw Township; John, a farmer of
Champaign County; Thomas, of St. Louis, Mo.;
James, at home; Elvira, wife of George Hainline,
of Hittle Township; Amanda, wife of Alfred Hain-
line, of Hittle Township; Johanna, wife of William
Hainline, of the same township; Eva, wife of David
Bradley, of Little Mackinaw Township; Sallie;
Leviua and Iva, deceased; and two who died in
infancy.
At the time of his first marriage, Mr. Lancaster
located upon his present farm, which was then a
wild tract of land, but he has placed it under a
high slate of cultivation and the once raw prairie
has been transformed into rich and fertile fields.
He has also made many excellent improvements
upon it, which stand as monuments to his thrift
and enterprise. He here has two hundred and
eighty acres, and in Hittle Township has a tract of
twenty acres. He possesses good business ability,
298
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
is enterprising and industrious, and as the result
of his well directed efforts has become one of the
substantial citizens of the community. In politics
he has always been a Democrat, and for five years
served as Constable. He is a highly respected
citizen, and in the community where lie has so long
made his home has many warm friends.
WILLIAM S. WOOD WORTH, the genial
passenger conductor on the Santa Fe Rail-
road running between Pekin and Chicago,
was born in Lenox, Mass., November 18, 1861.
He is of English descent, his grandfather, William
S. Woodworth, having been born in that country,
whence he emigrated to the United States, and set-
tling in New York, engaged in mercantile pursuits
until his death in the village of Canaan. At his
demise he was succeeded in business by his son,
Charles P., a native of that town, who carried on
the store for some time, but later engaged in farm-
ing in Columbia County, N. Y. His present home
is in the city last named. He is a man of consid-
erable force of character and has been active in
political affairs for many years. As an advocate
of the principles of the Republican party he is in-
fluential and popular and has been chosen to rep-
resent his fellow-citizens in various local offices.
The mother of our subject was Eva, daughter
of Rufus Hewitt, a wealthy farmer and cattle
drover of Massachusetts, where she was born. Her
marriage resulted in the birth of three sons, of
whom William is the eldest. The others are: Rufus,
a railway postal clerk running between Boston
and Albany, and George B., who is fireman on the
Santa Fe Railroad. The eldest of the sons was
reared on his father's farm, and in his boyhood
was the recipient of ordinary educational advan-
tages. At the age of sixteen years he went to
Pennsylvania, but after a short sojourn returned
to New York and thence proceeded to New Haven,
Conn., where he accepted a position as bookkeeper.
Later, going to Northampton, Mass., he learned
the trade of a confectioner and caterer.
In 1883 Mr. Woodworth came west to Chicago,
where, however, he remained but a short time.
One of his cousins, Frank E. Hinckley, was Gen-
eral Manager of the Chicago, Pekin & Southwest-
ern Railroad, and he went to Streator to work in
the office of that company. After a month thus
spent he became brakeman on the freight train
between Chicago, Pekin and Streator, retaining
that position for one year and nine months. His
next place was that of conductor of the local
freight between Chicago and Streator, after filling
which for two years he became passenger conduc-
tor between Pekin and Streator, later was trans-
ferred to the line between Chicago and Ft. Madi-
son, and afterward between Chicago and Pekin.
For three years Mr. Woodworth was conductor
on the fast mail train running between Chicago
and Kansas City. Prior to that time he had never
had an accident of any kind, but in December of
1891, near Carrollton, Mo., the train was wrecked
by a rail turning Cver, and all the coaches but the
express car, baggage car and engine went over the
embankment to a depth of twenty feet. Mr.
Woodworth was severely injured, his shoulder
blade having been broken, while an injury in the
head resulted in concussion of the brain. For one
month he was unable to do any work, but fortu-
nately recovered after a time. Of the passengers
on the train no one was killed.
For six months after his recovery Mr. Wood-
worth ran as local conductor for six months, but
was then transferred to the main line. When
near Ft. Madison in 1892 the train jumped the
track, owing to a broken rail, and all the coaches
went off. Soon afterward Mr. Woodworth left the
fast train and became conductor on the road be-
tween Pekin and Chicago, in which capacity he is
still serving. The passenger runs daily except
Sunday. There are but two conductors on the
road who have been connected with the company
longer than he, and his record as a genial, accom-
modating and efficient conductor is well known
among all railroad men, as well as by the general
public, who are indebted to him for many cour-
tesies.
In Northampton, Mass., in 1886, Miss Agnes
Freeman became the wife of Mr. Woodworth. This
lady was born in Orange County, Vt., and is a
daughter of Julius and Clara (Smith) Freeman,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
299
farmers of the Green Mountain State. Two
daughters, Florence and Mildred, have blessed this
union. Mr. Wood worth's life is such as to prove
him to be a practical, industrious and energetic
man, and as a citizen he ranks high in the opinion
of all who know him. In politics he is a stanch
Republican, but is not at all partisan in his prefer-
ences. Socially, he is identified with the Masonic
fraternity and the Royal Arch chapter at Pekin.
fOSIAH M. SAWYER, of Tremont, 111., was
born in the town which is still his home
,^1, April 28, 1846, and is the younger of two
^Jll children, his brother being A. B. Sawyer, a
leading attorney-at-law of Salt Lake City. The
parents, Josiah and Harriet R. (Bates) Sawyer,
were both natives of New Hampshire. The former
was born in Sharon, June 25, 1808, and in early
life learned the trade of a machinist in the Granite
State. When still a young man he went to Rhode
Island, where he took charge of a machine shop.
After several years he returned to New Hampshire
and again entered the employ of Mr. Steele, with
whom he had learned his trade. In 1832, after
three years spent with Mr. Steele, he removed to
Waterford,N. Y., and in November, 1836, he came
to the west and cast his lot among the early set-
tlers of Tazewell County. Here he engaged in
business as a wheelwright, which he followed suc-
cessfully for several years. Possessing inventive
genius, he spent some time in the attempt to in-
troduce a two-horse corn-dropper (which was af-
terward developed into the celebrated "Brown's"),
but such radical changes in farming methods were
in advance of the times, though it has since been
adopted. He was the designer of a machine for
turning hinges, and many other inventions were
the fruit of his brain. Later in life he became in-
terested in the development of the country through
the railroads. He was possessed of uncommon
ability in many directions. He was the President
of the first Agricultural Association of Tazewell
County, and for over thirteen years he was the
chosen leader of that organization. He was ever
alive to the best interests of the community in
which he lived, and exerted a lasting influence for
good in the state of his adoption. In November,
1832, he married Harriet R. Bates, a native of Bel-
lows Falls, Vt. His death occurred in Tremont
October 3, 1883, at the age of seventy-five, and
his wife died in 1887, at the age of eighty-three.
The grandfather of our subject, Abiel Sawyer,
was of Scotch-Irish descent, and his grandfather,
Josiah Sawyer, for whom our subject was named,
was the founder of the family in America. Emi-
grating to this country, he first located in Ando-
ver, Mass. In 1770 he removed to Sharon, Mass.,
where his death occurred in 1813.
Mr. Sawyer of this record was educated in the
schools of his native county. At the age of six-
teen he went to the east on a visit and began
learning the machinist's trade. While there he
enlisted in Company L, Fourth Massachusetts Cav-
alry, in February, 1863, and served until the
close of the war, being mustered out in October,
1865. He then returned to Illinois and entered
the Commercial College of Peoria, where among
other studies he pursued a course in telegraphy.
On its completion, in the spring of 1867, he ac-
cepted a position as telegraph operator and agent
in Petersburg, 111., where he remained until 1880.
He then acted for several months as clerk in the
office of the County Sheriff, after which he re-
turned to railroad business for a few months.
Subsequently he was employed as a bookkeeper in
Memphis, Tenn., for two years, and in June, 1883,
he came home to care for his parents in their de-
clining years. He then took up the insurance
business, which he has since continued, and is also
engaged in dealing in hard coal.
In his political views Mr. Sawyer has always
been a Democrat. He has held the office of Town-
ship Clerk for two years, and was Village Clerk
for the same time. He is now serving his second
term as Village Treasurer, and proves a capable
and popular officer. Socially he is connected with
the Masonic fraternity. In 1868 he joined Clin-
ton Lodge No. 19, A. F. & A. M., of Petersburg,
and the same year became a member of De Witt
Chapter No. 119, A. F. & A. M., of Petersburg.
He took the Knight Templar Degree in Jackson-
ville, 111., in 1870; in November, 1892, took the
300
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Consistory Degree in Peoria; in September, 1893,
took the Council Degree in the Peoria Council;
and in October, 1893, became a member of the
Mystic Shrine. He has been Junior Warden of
his lodge, Royal Arch Captain and Captain-Gen-
eral of the commandery. He is also a charter
member of Pleasant Grove Camp No. 998, M. W.
A., of Tremont.
On the 7th of May, 1870, Mr. Sawyer wedded
Elizabeth M., daughter of Rufus and Angeline
Walker. She was born in Fleming County, Ky.,
April 18, 1850. To them were born five chil-
dren: C. Harriet, L. Alice and Hubert N., who
are at home; and Angeline and Josiah W., who
died in childhood. The parents are well known
and prominent people of this community, and Mr.
Sawyer is recognized as one of the leading citi-
zens of the county a man who has the courage
of his convictions, and who is always heartily in-
terested in what pertains to the upbuilding of his
native town and state.
P. SCHEIDEL. After years of well
directed effort as one of the business men
of Pekin, this gentleman has retired in
affluence to the enjoyment of an elegant
home and the society of a charming family. The
record of his business life is creditable alike to his
financial ability and manly spirit, while his per-
sonal character commands the respect of his friends.
As an able financier, a successful public official
and a progressive citizen, he has deserved and won
the confidence of his fellow-men for his upright-
ness and ability.
Among the many Germans who have built up
fortunes in the United States, we mention the
name of Mr. Scheidel. He was born in Baden,
Steinsford, Germany, June 29, 1842, and is a son
of Joseph Scheidel, likewise a native of Baden,
and by trade a stone and brick mason. About
1845, the father, accompanied by his family, left
Germany on a sailing-vessel for Liverpool, where
they took a ship for America. After a tedious
voyage of ninety-five days they reached New York
City, whence they proceeded to Rome, N. Y., and
one year later journeyed by canal to Buffalo, from
there by steamer to Chicago, settling in that city.
There'he worked at his trade until 1852.
During that year Joseph Scheidel came to Pekin,
where he continued to work at his trade for a
numtter of years. His declining days were spent
in retirement from manual labor, and at a good
old age he passed away, in 1881. Two years later
his wife followed him to the grave. She was
known in maidenhood as Mary Fischer, and was
born in Baden, Germany. Both parents were de-
vout members of the Catholic Church. They had
three sons and three daughters, of whom John P.
is the youngest. At present one son and two
daughters are living.
When a lad of ten years, the subject of this
sketch came to Pekin, during the pioneer days of
that now flourishing city. During the forty years
and more covering the period of his residence
here, he has been a witness of its wonderful im-
provement and has himself materially enhanced
its prosperity. In the public schools he gained a
practical knowledge of the three R's, but his school
days were brief, and at an early age he began to
learn his father's trade under the instruction of
that parent. At an early age he had mastered the
trade and was a practical brick mason. His brother
Jacob being a butcher, our subject also learned
that trade at the age of seventeen, and two years
later he began in business for himself, purchasing
a shop adjoining the present site of the postotfice.
Five years later he built a brick store building at
No. 408 Court Street, where he had a large meat-
market. His slaughter houses were situated upon
a tract of eight acres on East Court, and he always
purchased the stock himself, thus securing first-
class meat.
On account of ill health, Mr. Scheidel concluded
to retire from business, and accordingly sold out
April 17, 1893, since which time he has rented the
store. In addition to that building, he owns sev-
eral dwellings in Pekin, including his residence at
the corner of State and Fifth Streets. His mar-
riage occurred in the city April 22, 1862, uniting
him with Miss Maggie Saal, a native of Overklin-
gen, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. Three children
have blessed this union: Lizzie, the wife of Fred
POETKAIT AND BIOGEAPHICAL RECORD.
301
Johannes, a grocer of Pekin; Maggie and Carrie,
who reside with their parents.
As a member of the Democratic party, Mr. Schei-
del has for years been a prominent figure in the
public life of the city and county. Frequently he
has served on the City and County Central Com-
mittees, and for three terms he served as Alderman
from the Third Ward. While in the City Council
he was appointed a member of different commit-
tees, and also served as Chairman of the Commit-
tee on Streets and Alleys. For two years, from
1883 to 1885, he was City Treasurer of Pekin. So-
cially he is identified with the Masonic fraternity,
belonging to the Royal Arch chapter at this place,
also the Druids and the Mystic Circle.
L. M1NIER, who is general agent for the
Union Central Life Insurance Company of
Cincinnati, Ohio, makes his home in the
town of Minier, Tazewell County, which bears the
family name. He was born in Magnolia. Putnam
County, 111., May 18, 1842, and is a son of Rev.
George W. and Sarah (Ireland) Minier, honored
and prominent people of this community, who are
represented elsewhere in this work. He lived in
his native county and in Bloomington until eight
years of age, and then came to Tazewell County,
where he grew to manhood. He was educated in
the public schools, in the Illinois Wesleyan Uni-
versity of Bloomington, and in Bryant and Strat-
ton's Business College of Chicago, from which he
was graduated.
In August, 1862, Mr. Minier was found among
the boys in blue of Company I, Ninety-fourth Illi-
nois Infantry, in which he served as Sergeant for
a time. In 1864 he was commissioned Second
Lieutenant. He did service in Missouri and Ar-
kansas, taking part in the battle of Prairie Grove,
December 7, 1862, and the following spring he
went by way of St. Louis to Vicksburg, partici-
pating in the siege of that city. After its sur-
render he went to Yazoo City, thence to Black
River and served as patrol along the river for sev-
eral weeks. In August of that year his command
took part in the battle of Atcliafalaya, and in Oc-
tober were taken across the Gulf to Brownsville,
Tex., where they remained in camp for ten months.
They then went across the Gulf to Ft. Morgan,
Ala., participated in the capture of Spanish Fort,
and were camped on the shell road below Mobile
at the time of the terrible explosion in that cit}'.
Mr. Minier's company was then sent with prison-
ers to Ship Island, and during his service crossed
the Gulf of Mexico eight times. From Mobile he
was sent to Galveston, Tex., where in August,
1865, he was mustered out.
For a short time after his return north, Mr.
Minier engaged in teaching in McLean and Taze-
well Counties, and in the spring of 1866 he was
appointed state agent under John P. Reynolds to
make the Illinois collections for the Paris Exposi-
tion. On completing that task, he was appointed
under James H. Bowen, of Chicago, for the same
work in the northwest, and on completing the col-
lection he went to New York City, where he aided
United States Commissioner J. C. Derby in the
same work in the metropolis of the east. The Illi-
nois collection took the first premium at the ex-
position of 1867, Mr. Minier having visited every
county in the state.
For twelve years our subject was employed in
the civil engineering department of the Chicago <fe
Alton Railroad, and then bought a half-interest in
the Girard Mills, of Girard, 111. While operating
the same he engaged in grain dealing, and was
thus employed from 1878 until 1881, when he em-
barked in milling with Ellis Briggs, at Roodhouse,
HI. That connection continued from 1882 until
March, 1893. In addition to his property in
Tazewell County, Mr. Minier owns real estate in
Nebraska, in Chicago and Roodhouse, 111., and in
Wichita, Kan. He is now serving as general agent
for the Union Central Life Insurance Company
of Cincinnati, Ohio.
On the 3d of August, 1870, Mr. Minier married
Miss Ellen Armington, of Atlanta, 111., daughter
of H. Armington, an early settler of Tazewell
County. Four children grace this union: Minnie
F., Clara A., Clifford L. and George A. For many
years Mr. Minier affiliated with the Republican
party, but is now a supporter of the Prohibition
party. Socially he is connected with the Grand
302
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Army of the Republic. Since the age of sixteen
he has been a member of the Christian Church,
and has always taken an active interest in church
and Sunday-school work, having often served as
teacher and Superintendent. His life has been
well spent, and the same fidelity to duty which he
made manifest on southern battlefields has charac-
terized his private life. His excellencies of char-
acter have won him high regard, and with pleasure
we present this sketch to our readers.
Pekin,
1850.
^ILLTAM E. PARKER, one of the efficient
engineers on the Peoria, Decatur & Evans-
ville Railroad, and an honored citizen of
was born in Pepperell, Mass., March 21,
He is a member of an old and distinguished
family, and is a great-nephew, on his mother's
side, of ex-President Franklin Pierce. His paternal
grandfather, Edmond Parker, was a native of New
Hampshire, where for many years he was one of
the most prominent and successful attorneys of
Nashua, and in that place he continued to reside
until death.
The father of our subject, Dr. C. E. Parker, was
born in Concord, N. H., and was a man of superior
ability and education, being a graduate of Dart-
mouth College, as well as a graduate of the medi-
cal department at Yale College. Upon him were
conferred the degrees of A. B., A. M. and M. D.
Opening an office at Pepperell, Mass., he conducted
a large practice there until 1855, when, deciding
that the west offered splendid opportunities for a
skillful physician and surgeon, he came to Illinois.
Settling in Beardstown, he continued there in the
practice of his profession until his death, which
occurred in July, 1882.
In all his undertakings Dr. Parker received the
assistance and practical aid of his estimable wife,
who is now a resident of Pekin. In maidenhood
she was known as Anna K. Pierce. She was born
in Michigan, of which state her father was long a
resident. He was an own brother of Franklin
Pierce. Our subject is the only survivor of two
children. In the public schools of Beardstown he
received a practical education, remaining at home
with his parents until 1867. He then went to
Springfield, where for several years he was clerk
in a mercantile establishment. About the time of
the great fire he went to Chicago, where he ac-
cepted a position as bookkeeper with Conger
Brothers, who ran a commission house.
In 1877 Mr. Parker came to Pekin, and in the
shops of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Rail-
road he secured employment as fireman. Two
years later he was promoted to the position of
engineer on the road. In February, 1882, he
removed to Evansville, and from that city ran
an engine for about five years, also serving as
foreman of the round house for six months. Dur-
ing 1887 he returned to Pekin, but continued to
act as engineer on the road. In point of service,
he is the oldest employe in the machinery depart-
ment, and is by far the oldest engineer with the
company. During the summer he runs between
Pekin and Mackinaw Falls, having charge of excur-
sions and picnic parties to the latter place.
At Chicago, October 20, 1872, Mr. Parker was
united in marriage with Miss Eliza Sanders, who
was born near Lexington, in Bourbon County, Ky.
She is one of seven children born to the union of
Frank and Nancy (Willby) Sanders, natives re-
spectively of Virginia and Tennessee. Her father,
who was a large land owner and a successful mer-
chant, died in Indiana, while her mother passed
away in Kentucky. Mrs. Parker is a devoted
member of the Baptist Church. Politically, Mr.
Parker is a Democrat, and is always loyal to party
principles. Socially he belongs to the Order of
Firemen and Empire Lodge, A. F. & A. M.
LEMM. Well known among the
i business men of Pekin is the gentleman
whose name introduces this biographical
notice, and who is a wholesale dealer in
fish, and also deals in hides and tallow, wool and
furs. He is scarcely yet in the prime of life, hav-
ing been born March 3, 1865, and his success is
therefore worthy of special commendation. A na-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
303
tive of Germany, his birth occurred in the city of
Stolp, province of Pomerania.
The father of our subject, Herman Lemm, was
born in Germany, where he grew to manhood, and
for some time engaged in the meat business. In
1872 lie emigrated to the United States, and pro-
ceeding direct to Pekin, embarked in the hide and
wool business, continuing thus engaged until his
death, in 1884. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Augusta Lentz, and who was born in Ger-
many, died in 1872. Five children had been born
of the union, of whom Henry is the next to the
eldest. In the city of Buetow he was reared in
the family of an uncle, who was an extensive
farmer and who also carried on an hotel.
In childhood Henry Lemm was a student in a
gymnasium, where he studied the German, French,
Latin and Greek languages. When within one
year of graduation he left the institution, and at
the age of fourteen became an apprentice to the
trade of a baker and confectioner, remaining in a
shop at Coeslin for three years. Having resolved
to join his father in the United States, he crossed
the ocean, and lauding in New York, came direct
to Pekin. Until the demise of his father he aided
him in the business and afterward assisted his
brother Max, successor to his father. In 1885 he
purchased the concern and has since conducted a
large trade in that line. In the spring of 1891 he
opened a wholesale and retail fish market, and
now has the largest business in that line at Pekin.
During the season he employs eight or ten men
to fish for him, and from his market he ships to
local points. His establishment is the only one in
the city that handles hides, tallow and wool, and
these he ships to the eastern markets. From Oc-
tober to April, he travels extensively in order to
secure a good grade of furs, his route lying along
the Sangamon, Spoon and other rivers.
The marriage of Mr. Lemm occurred at Pekin
September 21, 1888, and united him with Miss
Annie Link, a native of Peoria County. Three
children blessed their union, Herman, Augusta and
Jacob H. The family worships at St. John's Ger-
man Lutheran Church, to the support of which
Mr. Lemm is a generous contributor. In his po-
litical views he is a Democrat, though his business
occupies his attention to the exclusion of public
affairs. He is a member of the Turner's society.
While retaining a natural partiality for the land
of his birth, he is an ardent admirer and loyal sup-
porter of the Republican form of Government, and
may well congratulate himself upon having sought
a home in this country, since here he has found
prosperity and warm friends.
J~| OHN F. QUIGG, the efficient and popular
Cashier of the Minier Bank, of Minier, 111.,
i and a member of the firm of Quigg, Tanner
& Co., proprietors of a grain elevator, and
of the firm of Quigg, Railsback & Co., grain deal-
ers and bankers of Minier, was born on a farm in
Mackinaw Township, Tazewell County, December
13, 1841. His father, Jacob F. Quigg, came to this
county in 1836 from Ohio. He was a native of
western Pennsylvania, and thence removed to
Richland County, Ohio. On coming to Illinois,
he purchased a tract of wild land, on which not a
furrow had been turned or an improvement made,
and began its development. In Tazewell County,
111., he married Elizabeth Lance, a native of Rich-
land County, Ohio, and upon the farm they began
their domestic life. Six children blessed their
union: James, who is President of the Minier
Bank; Mrs. Kate Williams, of Minier; John F.;
Mrs. Mary Ward, of Logan County, 111.; Mrs. Rose
Jarred, of Mackinaw; and Margaret,now deceased.
The father of this family was called to his final
rest in 1860, and the mother passed away in 1884.
In the usual manner of farmer lads, John F.
Quigg spent the days of his boyhood and youth,
attending the public schools through the winter
season, while in the summer months he aided in
the labors of the farm. In 1869, he came to Min-
ier, where he has since been engaged in stock and
grain dealing. In 1875 the firm of Williams, Rails-
back & Co. was organized, our subject being the
silent partner, and upon the death of Mr. Williams,
in 1884, the firm name was changed to Quigg,
Railsback & Co., and is now at the head of the
banking business. The firm of Quigg, Tanner <t
Co. was organized in 1890. The bank was estab-
304
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
lished in 1875 by the firm of Williams, Railsback
& Co. Its present officers are: James F. Quigg,
President; J. E. Railsback, Vice-President; John
F. Quigg, Cashier; and R. J. Mitchell, Assistant
Cashier.
In 1871 our subject was united in marriage with
Miss Hattie, daughter of Adam Sheets. She was
born in Virginia, and in early life went to De Witt
County, 111., where she grew to womanhood. Five
children grace this union: J. J., a stock dealer;
Beauford, a dealer in agricultural implements;
Ivy, a student in Normal, 111.; and Etta and John,
at home.
In his political views, Mr. Quigg has always been
identified with the Democracy. He is Chairman
of the Democratic Central Committee, has been
President of the Town Board, and for fourteen
years has been President of the Board of Educa-
tion. Socially he is a member of the Masonic
fraternity. In the building up of Minier he has
taken a prominent and active part, and is one
of its most public-spirited and progressive citizens.
His extensive business interests have done.,nj,i,^cit;
toward making it a thriving place. The two grain
firms with which he is connected also have eleva-
tors in Hopedale, Bradley and Atlanta, and are en-
joying an immense trade. Mr. Quigg is also quite
extensively interested in western lands. His ac-
curate and careful business methods, his sagacity
and foresight, and his enterprise are the factors
which have brought him his well deserved success.
N. EWING, who is engaged in business
as a druggist of Minier, claims Kentucky
as the state of his nativity, for he was
born in Butler County, the date being De-
cember 4, 1849. His parents, Nathaniel and Nancy
E. (Young) Ewing, were also natives of Kentucky.
The father was a farmer, tanner and shoemaker,
and engaged in business along these lines in But-
ler County until 1853, when he emigrated to
McLean County, 111., where he purchased land
obtained on a Mexican land warrant. It was a
wild tract, but he at once began its development
and transformed it into rich and fertile fields.
There he lived until his death, which occurred in
1876. In politics he was first a Whig and after-
ward a Republican.
During the Mexican War Mr. Ewing enlisted
in the army, but peace was declared ere he started
for the scene of the conflict. Mrs. Ewing is yet
living in Chicago. In their family were nine
children, of whom five still survive. John H.
died during the Civil War while serving in the
Union army; W. W., who was one of the boys in
blue, now lives in Mt. Hope Township, McLean
County; S. Y. is deceased; Mrs. Sarah Jane Palmer
is living in McLean County; Mary F. is the wife
of W. C. Trott, a real-estate dealer of Chicago;
and Nancy E. is the wife of C. W. Crane, a farmer
of Saline County, Neb.
The subject of this sketch was reared on the old
homestead in McLean County, and his early edu-
cation, acquired in the common schools, was sup-
plemented by one year's attendance at the Wes-
leyaij University at Bloomington, after which he
; resumed farming at the old home.
:;-, n-.Xhte'lJ'th of December, 1869, Mr. Ewing was
united in marriage with Alvira Darnall, daughter
of Nicholas Darnall. She was born and reared in
Mt. Hope Township, McLean County, where her
father located in an early day. In the spring of
1870 the young couple removed to Hittle Town-
ship, where Mr. Ewing bought land and followed
farming for four years. In 1874 he came to
Minier and embarked in the drug business with
G. O. Bailey. A year later Mr. Bailey sold out to
William Arnold, who continued a member of the
firm for two years, when he disposed of his inter-
est to Silas J. Nicolay. Mr. Ewing and that gen-
tleman were then in business for three years, when
our subject bought out his partner's interest, and
has since been sole proprietor of the drug store.
He has a well equipped store, complete in all its
appointments, and is now enjoying a good business.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ewing were born four children:
Iruogene, Alma, Howard and Roy, the latter of
whom died in infancy. In politics our subject has
always been identified with the Republican part}',
and is now serving as Supervisor of his township.
He was elected to that office in 1884, filled the posi-
tion for three years, and was again elected in the
LIBRAJtt
of rm
Of
SAMUEL R. MOOBERRY.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
307
spring of 1894. He has been a member of the
Village Board and is a member of the Republican
Central Committee. On the 25th of February,
1874, he was appointed Postmaster of Minier,
filling the office until November 25, 1885. When
the country was again under Republican adminis-
tration, he was given that position, and served
from July 1, 1889, until July 1, 1893. Socially,
lie is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the
Odd Fellows' societj r . Mr. Ewing is alike true to
every public and private trust, and in business,
social and official relations he is always the same,
a pleasant, courteous and honorable gentleman.
AMUEL R. MOOBERRY. Probably no
section of country has advanced more
rapidly than that of central Illinois, and
this has been due almost wholly to the
character of its pioneers. They encountered many
difficulties during the first years of their sojourn
in the Prairie State, but they possessed the energy
and perseverance necessary to success, and conse-
quently merited the prosperity which they at-
tained. After having battled with the elements of
a new soil, the inconveniences of rude farming
implements and imperfect transportation of their
produce, many of them have lived to see pros-
perity smiling upon their labors.
Some, however, have been called from earth
and now rest from their labors. Among this num-
ber is the subject of this brief biographical notice,
formerly one of the well known agriculturists of
Groveland Township, Tazewell County. In 1832,
when a mere child, he accompanied his parents to
Illinois and settled upon the place where his widow
now resides. Here, as the years passed by, he be-
came the possessor of a valuable estate and the
proprietor of a fine farm. His landed possessions
aggregated many hundreds of acres, but better
than the material prosperity that crowned his
labors was the high place he won among his fellow-
citizens, who honored him as a man of uprightness
and nobility of character.
In Franklin County, Ohio, Samuel R., the son
of David and Margaret (Stumbaugh) Mooberry,
was born January 18, 1824. He was reared upon
a farm in Ohio until eight years of age, when he
accompanied his parents to Illinois. His education
was limited, but he was a well informed man, ow-
ing to the fact that he kept himself posted upon
topics of current local and national importance.
At the age of twenty-two he married and settled
three miles north of the old homestead, where he
purchased eighty acres. To this he added until he
owned two hundred and forty acres, and he also
bought one hundred and twenty acres of timbered
land from his father. In addition to this, he was
the owner of several hundred acres in Cedar Coun-
ty, Neb.
A very important event in the life of Mr. Moo-
berry was his marriage, which occurred October
16, 1845. He was then united with Miss Louisa
C. Hughes, who was born in Franklin County,
Ohio, November 10, 1821. Her parents, Richard
and Barbara (Ruffner) Hughes, were born and
reared in Virginia, removing thence to Ohio in
1810. Mr. Hughes, although a saddler by trade,
was engaged in farming while a resident of the
Buckeye State, and also followed that occupation
in Illinois, to which he removed in 1837, settling
in Groveland Township, Tazewell County. In
politics he was a Whig, but was not active in party
affairs. His religious belief was similar to "that of
the Baptist Church, with which he was identified.
His death occurred in Groveland Township, De-
cember 19, 1855, while his wife passed away July
4, 1860, aged seventy-two years. They had seven
children, five of whom married, while one son and
one daughter are single. Grandfather William
Hughes, who was of English descent, married
Elizabeth Robinson, and they reared one son and
three daughters.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Mooberry resulted
in the birth of eleven children, nine of whom
reached mature years. David R. died in Arkan-
sas and his remains were brought to Tazewell
County and here interred; he was a prominent
Mason and belonged to the Brotherhood of Loco-
motive Engineers. George E., who during the late
war served as a soldier in Company A, One Hun-
dred and Fiftieth Illinois Infantry, is now a resi-
dent of Oregon; Luther died at the age of twenty-
808
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
eight; Evaline is at home; Elvira married George
Pinkham and resides in Woodford County; Milton
lives in Groveland Township; Dorcas married Alva
P. O'Brien and lives in Groveland Township; Net-
tie (the wife of William L. Van Dyke) and Delia
died at the ages of twenty-eight and thirteen re-
spectively. Floyd and Walter died aged two and
a-half and three and a-half years respectively. The
children were trained, under the careful supervision
of their parents, for responsible and honorable
positions in life, and those who still survive are
highly esteemed by all who know them.
Iii the local councils of the Democracy Mr. Moo-
berry exercised a 'large influence, and he served
for many years as Supervisor and Justice of the
Peace, filling these positions with credit to himself
and to the satisfaction of the people. However,
he was never an office seeker, but preferred to de-
vote his attention to his farm and his family, and
as a peaceable and law-abiding citizen was highly
regarded by all who knew him. It was felt
throughout the township that one of the best citi-
zens had been lost when, July 24, 1882, he de-
parted this life. His widow, an excellent lady,
still resides upon the old homestead, upon which
she recently erected an elegant residence. She is
a lady of superior business qualifications and
superintends the farm with excellent judgment and
flattering success.
WILLIAM E. SCHENCK, M. D., is numbered
among the leading physicians of Pekin,
where he has resided for so many years,
and for a quarter of a century has been Examining
Surgeon for Pensions in Tazewell County. It
seems almost wonderful that so many physicians
of repute should be residents of this one city, yet
it is a fact that the medical profession is better
represented in this place than many others, and
among them stands pre-eminently the subject of
this brief sketch.
Our subject was born in Millstone, N. J., May
20, 1840, and is the son of Ernestus Schenck, who
was likewise a native of that place, where he
was a prominent merchant and grain dealer, own-
ing the boats which conveyed the grain to larger
cities. The grandfather of our subject, William
Schenck, was born in Ringoes, N. J., and was a
farmer by occupation. The first of the family in
this country came from Holland and located in
New Amsterdam.
The mother of our subject, Mrs. Ann (Skillman)
Schenck, was the daughter of Thomas Skillman,
and was born in Ringoes. Her parents were mem-
bers of the Dutch Reformed Church, and the
mother, who reared a family of eight children, died
in New York City when eighty-five years of age.
W. E. Schenck, of this sketch, received a high-school
education in Lawrenceville, N. J., and later en-
tered the Trenton Academy, where he pursued his
studies for some time. When nineteen years of
age he began reading medicine under the instruc-
tion of Dr. McKissack, of Millstone, and in 1859
entered Belle vue (New York) Medical College,
from which he was graduated with the degree of
Doctor of Medicine in 1864.
After receiving his diploma Dr. Schenck came
to Pekin on a visit, and was so favorably impressed
with the country that he determined to make it
his future home, and in May of that year began
the practice of his profession here. He is now one
of the oldest physicians in this county, and from
his practice enjoys a large and lucrative income.
The country being very sparsely settled when he
located here, he has often ridden fifty miles a day
in order to visit his patients.
Dr. Schenck is the proprietor of a valuable farm,
including fourteen hundred acres of land located
in this and Mason Counties. The entire tract is
in a high state of improvement, and the Doctor
erected thereon a beautiful residence, which is fin-
ished and furnished in modern style.
Since 1869 our subject has been Pension Exam-
iner of this county, which fact in itself is sufficient
evidence of his high standing as a physician. In
October, 1866, he was married to Miss Emma,
daughter of the Hon. Benjamin S. Prettyman, who
received her education in the Female College at
Jacksonville. Their union has been blessed by the
birth of three children. Fannie, now Mrs. Frank
Payton, of this city, is a graduate of the Morgan
Park Female College; Benjamin is bookkeeper in
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
309
the German-American Bank, and Virginia is at-
tending an art school in Chicago. Our subject is
local surgeon for the Santa Fe, Jacksonville &
South-eastern, and Peoria, Decatur & Evansville
Railroads. Politically, he is a Republican, and is
very popular in the ranks of his party.
J| OSEPII REED, a real-estate and loan dealer
and Justice of the Peace of Minier, is recog-
I nized as one of the most prominent citizens
of that place. He was born February 4,
1824, in Kentucky. His grandfather was a native
of Virginia and an early settler of Kentucky. His
father, John Reed, was born and reared in the lat-
ter state, and there married Catherine, daughter of
John Landis, also a native of Kentucky. He en-
gaged in building ttatboats and conveying produce
and stock down the rivers to New Orleans, until
his removal to what was then Sangamon County,
but is now a part of Logan County, 111. He set-
tled among the Indians, pre-empted land from the
Government five miles north of the present site of
Lincoln, and began the development of a home-
stead, upon which lie resided until 1856. From
that time he lived a retired life. He passed
away October 30, 1892, at the advanced age of
ninety-six years, four months and twenty days,
and his wife died June 16, 1858. Their family
numbered eight children, six of whom reached ma-
ture years, while live are yet living: Samuel, a re-
tired farmer of Algona, Iowa; Joseph; Henry, a
farmer of Marshalltown, Iowa; Susan, wife of A.
K. Lucas, foreman in the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad shops of Omaha, Neb.; and Mrs.
Catherine Stewart, of Vermilion County, 111. One
son, William, was a soldier of the late war. The
father of this family supported the Whig party in
early life, but afterward became a Republican. In
religious belief he was a Dunkard.
Joseph Reed was reared on the old homestead
farm in Logan County, and was educated in a log
schoolhouse. He went through the experiences of
pioneer life and aided in the task of developing a
farm. He was married January 12, 1846, to Mary
J., daughter of James Williams, who was a native
of Kentucky, and became one of the pioneer settlers
of Woodford County, 111., making his home near
Eureka. Mrs. Reed was born in Madison Count}',
Ky., February. 22, 1825, and was a maiden of
eleven summers when with her parents she came
to the west. The young couple began their domes-
tic life upon Delavan Prairie, Logan County,
where Mr. Reed entered land from the Govern-
ment and cultivated a farm. There he engaged
quite extensively in buying cattle and hogs, which
he shipped to market. In 1849 he sold his farm
and removed to the town of Lincoln, then called
Postville, where he purchased property, and con-
tinued to deal in stock for six jears. He built the
third dwelling house in that place, and helped to
carry the chain used in laying out the town. Sub-
sequently he embarked in the real-estate business,
and continued to make his home in Lincoln until
1873.
In that year Mr. Reed removed to Lucas Coun-
ty, Iowa, where he bought land and engaged in
farming for fourteen months. During the two
succeeding years he resided in Peoria, and in 1876
came to Minier, where he engaged in stock deal-
ing for a time. He now devotes his energies to
the real-estate and loan business, which he profit-
ably follows. He has about twelve residences in
this place, together with two hundred and forty
acres of land in Lucas County, Iowa, and twelve
hundred acres in Oregon and Reynolds Counties,
Mo.
Mr. and Mrs. Reed lost their only child, John J.,
who died at the age of twenty-four years while
farming in Iowa. In politics, our subject was a
Whig. In 1856, he established the Lincoln Herald,
the first newspaper of Lincoln, 111. It is still in ex-
istence. He began it as an independent paper, but
after three issues it became a supporter of Fremont,
for whom Mr. Reed voted on the organization of
the Republican party. He was a warm friend of
Abraham Lincoln, whom he knew well. For more
than thirty-five years he has served as Justice of
the Peace, filling the office for fourteen consecu-
tive years, and has also been a member of the Vil-
lage Board.
Speaking of pioneer days, Mr. Reed said that
nearly every one in the early days raised every-
310
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
thing used, so that the trade of merchants was not
very flourishing. Coffee and tea were luxuries
used only on rare occasions. The sheep furnished
wool for the winter clothing, and the cotton and
flax which the farmer raised supplied summer
clothing, the goods being spun and woven by the
wives and daughters, who colored them with cop-
peras and indigo. The fur of the raccoon was
used in making hats and caps, and the skins of
cattle and deer, dressed in a neighboring tan yard,
made the shoes and moccasins worn. The people
lived in log cabins, and were quick to supply by
ingenious devices the articles which they would
have bought had they lived in the east. The fur-
niture was largely home-made, also the carts and
wagons, and even the farm machinery. This is a
picture of pioneer life experienced by many of the
early settlers who braved the trials and hardships
of the frontier to make homes for themselves and
families.
ON. WESLEY B. HARVEY, known and
I) honored throughout this section of the
state as one of Washington's most influ-
ential citizens, was born in Licking Coun-
ty, Ohio, near the cit}- of Newark, December 15,
1824. He is the son of James Harvey, a native of
Maryland, who in 1792 removed thence to Vir-
ginia, and from there went west to Ohio prior to
the conflict of 1812. In that war he and three of
his brothers rendered valiant service to our cause,
and he was also a soldier in the Black Hawk War.
He was the youngest in a family of eleven chil-
dren.
Coming to Illinois as early as 1828, James Har-
vey settled in Tazewell County, and his was one
of the first seven families that located in the
township. The property purchased by him was
situated within a mile and a-half of the present
site of Washington, and through his efforts was
placed under first-class improvements. He re-
sided upon that place until 1834, when he re-
moved to Deer Creek Township, where he spent
twenty years. He later spent three years in
Peoria, and then returned to this county, where
his death occurred in Groveland Township in
1859. Upon coming to this county his means
were limited, but such was his industry and judg-
ment that he accumulated a valuable property,
and at the time of his demise was well-to-do.
Tracing the lineage still farther back, we find
that the paternal grandfather of our subject,
William Harvey, was born on a sailing-vessel on
the Atlantic Ocean, when his parents were com-
ing to this country from Scotland. They settled
in Maryland, where we find the first trace of the
family in the United States.. The mother of our
subject, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ann
Biningsley, was a native of Maryland and was
descended from one of the pioneer families of
Ohio. She died in 1873, at the age of seventy-
three years.
Wesley B. Harvey is the next to the eldest of
eleven children, three sons and eight daughters,
of whom all but one lived to mature years. One
sister was drowned at the age of five years. Eight
of the family are now living. William A., who
became a prominent farmer in Ringgold County,
Iowa, also served as Postmaster and Justice of the
Peace, and is now living retired. John, who was
a Captain in the Civil War, is now engaged in
farming at Atlantic, Iowa. Martha J. became the
wife of J. B. Burrell, a successful stockman of Mis-
souri. Drucilla married A. J. Phillips, a Captain
in the Confederate army, but now a railroad con-
ductor. Hattie became the wife of Dr. Hibbard
and resides near Sedan, Kan.
Brought to Tazewell County at the age of four
years, our subject has little recollection of any
home save this. His boyhood years were spent
on the frontier farm, and he received only such
limited schooling as fell to the lot of pioneer boys.
For some years he engaged in farming, but re-
tired from that occupation on account of poor
health, and has since engaged largely in buying
notes, as well as in trading. A Republican in pol-
itics, he has been very intimately connected with
public affairs of the city and county, and has oc-
cupied many positions of honor. For ten years
he served as Supervisor of his township, for
twenty years held the office of Justice of the
Peace, and for two terms was Mayor of Washing-
ton. In 1880 he was elected to represent his dis-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
' 311
trict in the State Legislature and was one of the
most active members of the House, serving on
several important committees.
In December, 1849, Hon. W. B. Harvey married
Miss Eliza Barrett, who was born in Illinois and
died at Washington in 1891, leaving no children.
The second marriage of our subject occurred in
July, 1892, and united him with Mrs. Nancy
(Forbes) Sheppard, a native of New Jersey, who
came to this state in childhood. She was first
married to Dr. Sheppard, who died in 1875. In
religious connections Mr. Harvey is a Methodist,
while his wife belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
Socially, he affiliates with the Royal Arch Masons.
Through good management and unceasing indus-
try he has accumulated valuable possessions, and
is now the owner of several fine farms, as well as
other property.
eHARLES H. DUISDIEKER is one of the
most enterprising and progressive citizens
of Pekin, the thriving county seat of Taze-
well County. He is now sole proprietor of the
Duisdieker Foundry and Machine Works, one of
the leading industries of the city. A man of
resolute will and excellent business ability, he suc-
cessfully manages his affairs and thereby adds to
the prosperity of the locality in which he makes
his home.
Our subject was born in Bunde, Westphalia,
Prussia, July 20, 1851. His father, Henry Duis-
dieker, was a native of the same locality and was
a jeweler and watchmaker'. He served in the Rev-
olution of 1848, and in 1858 he removed from
Bunde to Paderborn, where his death occurred in
1876. His wife, Sophia, was born in Iserlohn,
Westphalia, and was a daughter of Krauskopf
Dumpleman, who kept a hotel in Iserlohn. She
died within two months of her husband. Both
were members of the Lutheran Church, and in
their family were twelve children, of whom nine
are yet living.
The gentleman whose name heads this sketch
was the fourth in order of birth. At the age of
seven, he accompanied his parents to Paderborn,
and was educated in its gymnasium. At the age
of sixteen he became a clerk in a grocery store, and
at the age of nineteen entered the Franco-Prus-
sian War as one of the Cavalry Hussars. He served
for two years, and took part in the battle of Mc-tz.
It was in 1874 that he crossed the Atlantic to
America. Boarding a steamer at Bremen, four-
teen days later he landed in New York, and eigh-
teen days after leaving home we find him in
Pekin, where he secured employment in a grocery
store. Two years later he became bookkeeper for
John Stoltz, proprietor of a flour mill, and served
as its manager for ten years. During this time,
he placed the business on a successful financial
basis, largely increasing the output of the mill and
its sales.
Mr. Duisdieker was married in 1876 to Martha
Voll, who was born in West Prussia, and who when
a babe of six months was brought by her parents
to Pekin, 111. Her father, August Voll, was a
farmer of Groveland Township, Tazewell County.
They have two children, Charles and Norma.
In 1886, Mr. Duisdieker became interested in
the foundry and manufacturing company. The
business was established in 1866 by Voth & Sack-
eureuther. With Mr. Voth our subject was in
partnership until 1889, when the senior member
sold out to H. F. Smith, and the business was car-
ried on under the firm name of Duisdieker <fe Smith
until 1891, when our subject became sole proprie-
tor. The capacity of the foundry has been several
times enlarged. The foundry room is 75x95 feet,
and the plant covers a space 200x200 feet. It
is fitted up with all the improvements and ac-
cessories connected with the business, and turns
out as fine iron work as is done in the country.
During the financial depression of 1893, he did
not suspend business, but in the spring of that
year built his present large factory and continued
operations throughout the summer. Employment
is furnished to from forty to fifty men, and they
manufacture the J. C. Sharp Stump and Grub Ex-
tractor, the Western Steam Generator Feed Mills,
Cyclone Emery Grinders, and iron and brass cast-
ings. Mr. Duisdieker owns the patents of all these
except the first-named.
Our subject was one of the organizers of the
Turner Opera House Company, which erected the
fine opera house in 1890, and from 1892 until May,
312
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1894, he has been lessee and manager. In 1890
he laid out the northwest division of Pekin, com-
prising thirty-eight lots, and has always been
identified with interests calculated to upbuild and
improve the city. In politics he is a stalwart
Democrat; for five years he was Chairman of the
Township Democratic Committee, and for four
years was Secretary and Treasurer of the County
Democratic Committee. In 1884, he was elected
Alderman from the Third Ward for two years; in
1889 was elected City Treasurer for two years,
and in 1891 was elected Alderman from the Fourth
Ward, since which time he has filled that office.
He is a member of the finance and of the fire and
water committees. Socially, he is a Royal Arch
Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America.
ON. JOHN H. ANTHONY, Mayor of Wash-
ingtou, is a native of Vermont, having
been born in Rutland County, December
14, 1820. He is the son of Capt. Albro
Anthony, a native of Newport, R. I., and for many
3'ears a sea captain, owning and navigating a mer-
chant vessel sailing between the ports of Newport
and Liverpool and the West Indies. After retir-
ing from the sea he went to the Green Mountain
State, where he engaged in farming. He became
a man of great influence among his fellow-citizens,
whom for many years he represented in the State
Legislature. For some time he served as Magis-
trate and Town Clerk, and filled other local posi-
tions of trust. His death occurred in Vermont in
1833, at the age of seventy-two, he having been
born in 1761.
The ancestry of the Anthony family originated
in England. The paternal grandfather of our sub-
ject was a sea-faring man, as was also Church An-
thony, a brother of our subject's father. The latter,
after many years spent upon the high seas, settled
in Charleston, S. C., where he became a wealthy
and influential citizen. Of the three brothers of
John H., we note the following: Dr. William C.
Anthony, a prominent physician of Princeton, 111.,
died in that city in 1890, at the age of more than
four score years; Charles S. N., who came to Wash-
ington in 1840, was an extensive merchant and
successful agriculturist, also served as Magistrate
for years, dying here in 1857; Edward N. came to
Washington in 1837, and engaged in the mercan-
tile business until his death, in 1848.
The mother of John H. bore the maiden name
of Salome Wood, and was born in Hartland, Vt.,
being a descendant of Puritan ancestors. Her fa-
ther, Josiah Wood, was a soldier in the Revolu-
tionary War. In 1837 she came west with three
sons and one daughter, and made her home with
our subject until her death. John H., of this
sketch, received in boyhood a fair education, and
was a youth of seventeen years when he came to I
Washington. Here, in 1843, he purchased an
eight3'-acre tract of land. In 1846 he became a
traveling salesman, in which capacity he visited
the majority of the western and southern states,
and continued thus engaged until 1852. However,
his final retirement from the road did not occur
until five years later, though much of his time dur-
ing the intervening period was devoted to the
mercantile business, in which he was engaged with
his brother at Washington.
Settling upon his farm in 1858, from that time
until 1890 Mr. Anthony was engaged in general
farming and stock-raising, and since then has been
a resident of Washington, though he may be seen
every day driving to his estate in the country. In
the early days of the history of Tazewell County,
he was one of its most extensive stockmen, and
often drove large herds of cattle to Wisconsin and
other states. At the time of retiring, in 1890, he
sold his large farm, but still owns two hundred
acres, a portion of which is situated within the
corporate limits of the city of Washington.
As a member of the Republican party, Mr. An-
thony has long been intimately associated with the
history of the city and county. In 1857 he was
elected Justice of the Peace, and in 1871 became
Township Supervisor, holding that position for
twenty years. In 1876 he was elected a member
of the State Board of Equalization, which position
he filled for four years. In November of 1890 he
was chosen to represent his district in the State
Legislature, and in that responsible position dis-
played the possession of ability of a superior or-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
313
der. After two years of faithful service, he was a
candidate for re-nomination for the office, but
after the convention had balloted two hundred and
thirty-one times he was defeated by but one vote.
In the fall of 1893 he was elected Mayor of Wash-
ington, and as the incumbent of that office has in-
stituted many worthy reforms and needed im-
provements.
The marriage of Mr. Anthony, occurring in
1858, united him with Miss Catherine C. Kyes, a
native of Michigan and the daughter of Laban
Kyes, who from his native state, New Hampshire,
enlisted for service in the. War of 1812, and aided
in the defense of our country against the encroach-
ment of the British. Later he was a pioneer of
Washington, to which place he came in 1837. Mrs.
Catherine Anthony died in January, 1890, after
having become the mother of three sons and one
daughter. John A., a graduate of Rush Medical
College, Chicago, is a prominent physician of
Peoria, 111.; Charles H., who was graduated from
the veterinary college of Chicago, is engaged in
the practice of that profession in Washington;
Mark, a graduate of the Washington High School,
is now connected with the Hicks Lumber Com-
pany, at Streator, 111.; Kate is the wife of W. T.
Cornelison, who for several years has been con-
nected witli the Chicago, Burlington <fe Quincy
Elevator Company, of Peoria, he being General
Superintendent. His father, Rev. I. A. Cornelison,
was pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Wash-
ington for a quarter of a century.
BECKER. Among the shrewd,
successful and far-seeing young business
men of Pekin is Herman Becker, whose
life of industry and usefulness and whose
record for honesty and uprightness have given him
a hold upon the community which all might well
desire to share. He is the proprietor of a fine
grocery, located on No. 422 Court Street, and ranks
among the prominent business men of the place.
Our subject is a native of this city, where his
birth occurred January 4, 1860. He is the son of
John Becker, a native of Germany, who came to
America when a young man and first located in
Peoria, where his marriage occurred. Later he
came to Pekin, and for some time carried on the
grocery business with Ibe Look, they forming
one of the well-to-do firms of the city. After dis-
posing of his interest in the store, he purchased a
farm two and one-half miles north of the city, on
which he was residing at the time of his decease, in
1872, when forty-eight years of age. His good
wife was also a native of the Fatherland and bore
the maiden name of Maggie Krie. She came to
America with the Look family when fourteen years
of age, and is at present living on the old home-
stead in this county.
Herman Becker was the fourth in order of birth
of a family of nine children born to his parents,
of whom the eldest, John H., accidentally shot
himself when twenty-three years of age; George
H. is residing in Bloomington, this state; Lydia
married William Gay, of this city; Theodore lives
on the old farm, and the remainder of the children
are all deceased. Our subject was reared to farm
pursuits and received his education in the district
schools near his home. In 1887 he removed into
the city, and in company witli Bonnie Look es-
tablished a grocery store under the style of Look
& Becker. This connection lasted, however, but
twelve months, when Mr. Becker became the pro-
prietor of the entire grocery, and has since con-
ducted his business affairs afone, having a fine
establishment located at No. 422 Court Street. It
is 22x95 feet in dimensions and is well stocked
with every variety of staple and fancy groceries,
and includes a large and varied assortment of
crockery.
In 1887 Herman Becker was married in this city
to Miss Lena Ubben, who was also a native of this
place. The three children who have come to bless
their home are Walter J., Henry G. and Ernest A.
Mr. Becker has been a faithful incumbent of several
offices within the gift of the people, and in 1889
was elected City Supervisor. The following year
he was elected Tax Collector of Pekin Township
and city, and at the present time is serving as a
member of the School Board. Socially he is a
Knight of Pythias, being a charter member of La-
Fayette Lodge No. 216, in which he has occupied
314
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
all the chairs. He is likewise a charter member and
Captain of the Uniformed Rank, Division No. 65,
and attended the conclave held at Kansas City,
Mo., in 1892. For five years he was a member of
Company I, Seventh Regiment Illinois National
Guards, and has occupied all the offices in Black
Tribe No. 11 of the Order of Redmen. He is like-
wise a Modern Woodman and belongs to Celestial
Ruling No. 254 of the Mystic Circle. In politics
he is a Democrat. For a number of years he was
Treasurer and Director of the Pekin Gun Club.
eHRISTIAN MAY. In reviewing the lives
of the citizens of Morton, we find few, if
any, more deserving of mention than the
gentleman with whose name we introduce this
sketch. As an official he has been long and inti-
mately connected with the history of this commu-
nity; as a citizen he has ever been progressive and
public-spirited; while in his relations as a frien'd-
and neighbor he has been kind, generous and con*
siderate. In a volume dedicated to the pr6mi ; ne"nt
men of Tazewell County, it is therefore appropri-
ate that mention be made of Christian May.
Born in Nassau, Germany, in 1834, our subject
grew to manhood in his native land. Thence on
the 4th of October, 1855, he took passage on a
vessel bound for the United States, and after a
tedious voyage he landed in New Orleans, January
11, 1856. About April 1 of the same year, he
joined his uncle, J. C. May, in Morton and has
since made this village his home. Since coming
here he has witnessed the growth of the place from
a small and unimportant hamlet to a thriving bus-
iness town, which is now incorporated under the
laws of the state of Illinois. Many of his neighbors
who best know Mr. May will bear us out in our
assertion when we say that much of the improve-
ment, thrift and business-like appearance of the
place is due to the energy and keen business qual-
ifications of our subject.
After his arrival in Morton Mr. May devoted
his attention to agriculture until 1862, when, the
Rebellion being in progress, he enlisted on the
15th of August as a member of Company E,
Eighty-second Regiment, Illinois Infantry. The
regiment was organized at Camp Butler, Spring-
field, and remained in that city^until October,
when it was ordered east to join the Army of the
Potomac. On the 3d of May, 1863, in the battle
of Chancellorsville he was wounded in the left el-
bow by a gunshot, and was taken to Fin ley Hospi-
tal, Washington, D. C., where his arm was ampu-
tated on the 31st of the same month. He re-
mained in the hospital until September 8, 1863,
when he was honorably discharged from the army.
Returning to Tazewell County, and realizing
the great need of a better education, Mr. May en-
tered school at Groveland, where he remained for
four months, and later prosecuted his studies for
ten months at Tremont. Leaving school, he en-
tered the employ of the Marble Works of John
Merkle, at Peoria, 111., and traveled for that con-
cern until January, 1870. At the time of his
marriage he settled permanently in Morton, where
he has since held official positions almost continu-
ously. In April, 1870, he was appointed Post-
nya$te.r.,,.and in the spring of the same year was
elected Justice of the Peace. He has been Asses-
sor at least sixteen different times, and since 1872
has served as Treasurer of the School Board. For
four years he has been Village Clerk and at one
time served as Township Collector. In connection
with the insurance business he was a Notary Pub-
lic and devoted his attention to the duties of that
office for twenty-three years. Through energy and
the exercise of good judgment, he has accumulated
some village property and is also the owner of
three hundred and twenty acres in Cass County,
Neb.
Mr. May and Miss Mary A. Hay were united in
marriage October 28, 1869. Mrs. May is a native
of Lyons, N. Y., and in her childhood accompanied
her parents, Valentine and Salome Hay, to Illinois,
where she has since resided. Their marriage re-
sulted in the birth of two children. The daugh-
ter, Dora A., who received an excellent education
in the schools of Morton and Galesburg, is the
wife of J. E. Hooton, Principal of the high school
at Mendon, Adams County, 111. The son, Charles
H., who has completed the course of study in the
Morton schools, is now a student in Knox College,
ubk/uw
Of !Ht
UWVEKSHY Of ILLINOIS
JAMES M. CAMPBELL.
[DECEASED.]
MARY E. CAMPBELL
LIBRARY
OFtHt
umvfltsii t g> ILLINOIS
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
319
Galesburg. Politically Mr. May is a Republican
in his views and always gives his support to the
candidates and principles of his chosen party.
Socially he affiliates with the Grand Army of the
Republic, belonging to Bryner Post at Peoria. He
and his family are members of the Congregational
Church at Morton and he is at present Chairman
of the Board of Trustees.
I
AMES M. CAMPBELL, deceased, was born
in Brown County, Ohio, near Riplcy,
September 30, 1810, and was a son of
Charles and Elizabeth (Tweed) Campbell.
His father was probably a native of Virginia, and
at an early day removed to Ohio, where he fol-
lowed farming until 1834. With an elder brother,
\V. W. Campbell, he then came to Tazewell Coun-
ty, 111., and entered from the Government t!ie land,
upon which Morton now stands. ,....,., Y,
When our subject was five years of age his par-
ents removed to a farm near Georgetown, Ohio,
and he was there reared to manhood. When
eleven years of age, through the ignorance of a
physician, he lost his right legend as this unfitted
him for farm work he learned t.ie tailor's trade,
which he followed for many years in Ohio. In
November, 1834, he came to Tazewell County, and
in May following located at the new home on the
present site of Morton. Mrs. Campbell still has in
her possession the patent which her husband se-
cured from the Government.
In 1850 Mr. Campbell laid out the town, and
afterward platted several additions to it. He made
his home with his aged parents, and cared for
them until after the death of his mother, in 1870.
In March, 1871, he was united in marriage with
Mary E. Saul, daughter of George and Nancy
(White) Saul. Mrs. Campbell is a native of Frank
lin County, Ohio, and her mother was there born,
but her father was a native of the Keystone State,
and was born June 19, 1805. They came to Taze-
well County in 1836, when their daughter was a
child of two years, and the father followed farm-
ing. He was an active business man until his
7
death, November 19, 1885, when past the age of
eighty. His widow, who still survives him, is
now living in Harvey County, Kan., at the age of
eighty-two, and her years rest lightly upon her.
In their family were four children: Jefferson, now
of Butler County, Kan.; Mary E.; Caroline, who
died at the age of ten years; and Julia A.
Mr. Campbell was a prominent and influential
citizen, and on the incorporation of Morton he
was elected Village Councilman, but resigned the
position to lead a quiet life. In business he was
successful, for he was an untiring worker, and his
enterprise, industry and good management won
him a handsome competence. He was a man of
positive convictions, fearless in support of what
he believed to be right, and was charitable and
benevolent, giving freely of his means to the poor
and needy. He exercised his right of franchise in
support of the Democratic party. All who knew
him respected him for his sterling worth and strict
integrity, and his friends in the community were
v .ajjy t; lie died from an attack of la grippe March
22,1891. Mrs. Campbell, a most estimable lady,
still makes her home in Morton.
w
ILLIAM BENNET, who follows farming
on section 19, Little Mackinaw Township,
is one of the native sons of Tazewell
County. He was born in Elm Grove Township,
May 5, 1829, and is a representative of an honored
pioneer family. His grandfather, Timothy Ben-
net, was a native of England, and emigrating to
America, served in the Revolutionary War. When
his son Nathaniel, a native of Kentucky, was five
years old, he removed to Clinton County, Ohio.
This was in 1804. He took up land from the Gov-
ernment, cleared and developed a farm, and there
spent his remaining days. His wife, who bore the
maiden name of Elizabeth Iloblitt, was of German
descent.
Nathaniel Bennet was born February 28, 1799,
and was reared in Clinton County, Ohio. He mar-
ried Elizabeth, daughter of William Manker, a na-
tive of Germany, and lived upon a farm in Clin-
320
PORTRAfT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ton County until 1828, when he started with his
wife and three children in a '-prairie schooner" to
Illinois, locating in what is now Elm Grove Town-
ship, Tazewell County. Later he entered eighty
acres of timber land and eighty acres of prairie
land in Hopedale Township, and lived in a tent
until a log cabin could be built. The Indians
were more numerous in the neighborhood than
the white settlers, and deer and other wild game
abounded. Mr. Bennet was an expert hunter,
so his table was usually supplied with meat.
He did his hunting with an old flintlock rifle
which his father used in the Revolutionary War.
His death occurred on the old homestead May 28,
1870, and his wife passed away in 1864. He was
one of the first County Commissioners of Taze-
well County, and was a prominent and influential
citizen. In politics he was first a Whig and after-
ward a Democrat. At his death he owned about
three hundred acres of land which he had himself
improved.
In the Bennet family were nine children, six
yet living: John, a farmer of Elm Grove Town-
ship; William; Mrs. Eliza J. Mount, of Dillon
Township; Mrs. Mary Emily McMullen, of Tre-
mont; Mrs. Melinda Ellen Farward, of Hopedale;
Mrs. Elizabeth Amanda McMullen, who is living
on a farm two miles from Hopedale; Timothy, who
died at the age of twenty-three; Margaret, who
died at the age of nineteen; and Sarah Ann, who
passed away at the age of fourteen years.
William Bennet was reared on the old home-
stead, and was educated in an old log schoolhouse
with slab seats, greased paper windows and punch-
eon floor. He bore all the hardships and experi-
ences of frontier life, and also shared in the old-
time pleasures. He became an expert marksman,
and is yet quite skillful with the rifle. As a com-
panion and helpmate on life's journey he chose
Angelina Kitnler, and they were married Septem-
ber 3, 1854. Her father, Evan Kimler, was a na-
tive of Virginia, removed to Montgomery Coun-
ty, Ind., and subsequently became a resident of
Knox County, 111.
In 1853, Mr. Bennet purchased a part of his
present farm, and since his marriage it has been
his home. He now has here one hundred and
fifty-seven and a-half acres of valuable land.
Twelve children came to bless the home. Emer-
son" Luther and Emma Jane were twins. The
former married Mary Gillen, and is engaged in the
machine business in Lone Tree, Iowa. The latter
is the wife of U. S. Gunter, a farmer of Green Val-
ley, 111. James Sanford is at home. Maggie is
the wife of William R. Tanner, a farmer. Mary is
the wife of John Hodson, an agriculturist of Little
Mackinaw Township. Bertha is the wife of Fred
Waltmier, who also follows agricultural pursuits.
Guy C. resides at Hopedale. The others died in A
infancy.
His fellow-citizens, appreciating his worth and
ability, have frequently called on Mr. Bennet to *
serve in positions of public trust. He was Town_
Supervisor for four years, Highway Commissioner .
six years, School Trustee three y ears, Justice of the
Peace nine years, was Assessor three years, and is
now filling that office. He has ever proved a faith-
ful and capable official, true to the trust reposed
in him. He belongs to Hopedale Lodge No. 622,
A. F. & A. M., and votes with the Democratic
party. For sixty-five years he has lived in Taze-
well County, has therefore witnessed almost its en- 1
tire growth and development, has ever borne his .
part in the work of public advancement, and is
numbered among the most honored pioneers.
YMAN PORTER was born in the village of
Quechee, Vt., in 1805, and in that place was
reared to manhood. At an early age he
embarked in merchandising and met with good
success, his trade constantly increasing. He trav-
eled in the interest of his own business through
many of the southern states and became a very
prosperous merchant. In the autumn of 1830 he
removed to McLean County, 111., where through
the following winter he taught a district school.
That was the winter of the deep snow, well remem-
bered by the pioneers. The snow was of such a
depth that the children could not reach school, and
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
321
for a time he had only four scholars. Though his
own school privileges were meagre, Mr. Porter,
through extensive reading, became a well informed
man.
In the spring of 1831 our subject came to Mack-
inaw, where he embarked in general merchandis-
ing with a small stock of goods, which he con-
stantly enlarged to meet his growing trade as the
country round became more thickly settled. He
invested his surplus capital in land, accumulating
several hundred acres, and then for a few years
followed farming, but later resumed merchandis-
ing in Mackinaw in partnership with George Mil-
ler, who is yet in business here. Their partnership
was dissolved after a few years, but Mr. Porter
continued in business alone until 1854, when he
retired from active life.
In 1832 Mr. Porter married Mary. A., daughter
of George Patterson, one of the pioneer settlers of
Tazewell County, who here located about 1831.
Her mother died at a very early day and her father
was a second time married. Mr. and Mrs. Porter
were earnest workers in the Christian Church and
did much for its advancement and upbuilding in
this community. In politics our subject was a
Whig. All who knew him respected him for his
sterling worth and many excellencies of character,
and his death, which occurred March 13, 1859, was
deeply mourned. His wife passed away April 25,
1881.
In the family were two sons and three daugh-
ters: John H.; Louisa, deceased wife of A. D.
Shellenberger; N. L.; Maria, who died in child-
hood; and Agnes, wife of B. T. Briggs, a retired
farmer of Tazewell County, now located in Minier,
where he is extensively engaged in buying and
shipping stock. The children all received good
educational advantages, fitting them for the prac-
tical and responsible duties of life. The two sons,
John II. and N. L., have been engaged in business
together from early manhood. In 1855 they em-
barked in merchandising in Armington,and the fol-
lowing year removed their business to Mackinaw,
where they carried on operations until 1866. They
then turned their attention to farming, which they
successfully followed until 1882, when, in connec-
tion with Solomon Puterbaugh, they established
the present bank, known as the Porter Bros. <fe Pu-
terbaugh Bank.
John H. Porter was married in 1854 to Miss
P. E. Clayton, and to them were born seven chil-
dren, of whom five are yet living: Mary, wife of
Hartz I. Puterbaugh; Lyman, who married Amie
Search; Frank, who married Emma Warbrook;
Walter, who married Lucy Friday, and Leslie, who
married Kittie Wilson. N. L. Porter was married
in 1881 to Mrs. Mary D. Allensworth, by whom
he has two children, Mary N. and Charley L. The
brothers are supporters of the Democratic party,
and John II. held the office of Supervisor of Mack-
inaw Township for nine successive years, dur-
ing which time he continuously served as Chair-
man of the Board for nine years. The Porter
brothers are the most prominent citizens of the
eastern part of Tazewell County. They are recog-
nized as leaders of the community, a position to
which they have attained through merit. They
possess excellent business ability, and by their sa-
gacity and well directed efforts have achieved a
success of which they are in every way worthy.
The wives of J. H. and N. L. Porter are both act-
ive workers in the Christian Church.
AMUEL H. PUTERBAUGH, who carries on
general farming and now has charge of the
County Poor Farm of Tazewell County,
which position he has filled since 1888,
claims Ohio as the state of his nativity. He was
born in Miami County June 3, 1832, and is one
of eleven children, five of whom are now living,
Daniel, a resident of Mackinaw Township; Solomon,
of the same place; George, of San Diego, Cal., and
Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Matthews, of Clinton,
111. One brother, Sabin D., died September 25,
1892. He was a lawyer by profession, and won
distinction in the late war. He enlisted as Major
of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, and served in
that position until November, 1862, when he re-
signed. He then located in Peoria, where he en-
gaged in law practice until June, 1867, when he
322
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, con-
tinuing on the Bench for six years. He then re-
signed and resumed private practice. He was the
author of numerous legal works of authority, in-
cluding "Puterbaugh's Common Law Plead ings and
Practice," of which six editions have been pub-
lished, and "Puterbaugh's Chancery Pleading and
Practice," of which three editions were issued. lie
was one of the most prominent lawyers of this lo-
cality, and was an honor to the community in
which he made his home.
The parents of our subject were Jacob and
Hannah (Ilittle) Puterbaugh. The father was born
February 28, 1795, in a house which stood on the
boundary line between Pennsylvania and Mary-
land, and was one of a family of eight children.
He spent his early life in his native state, and- in
1839 removed with his family to Illinois, locating
in Mackinaw Township, Tazewell County, where
he spent his remaining days. He always followed
farming and acquired a comfortable competency.
Both he and his wife died at the age of sixty-three.
Mr. Puterbaugh of this sketch was only seven
years of age when he came with the family to the
west. He was reared in Mackinaw Township, and
there made his home until 1888, following agri-
cultural pursuits as a means of livelihood. In
that year he came to Elm Grove Township and
took charge of the County Poor Farm, which he
has since managed. There are now eighty inmates
in the poor house.
On the 10th of February, 1852, Mr. Puterbaugh
was married to Miss Abigail, daughter of Samuel
and Susan (Gillespie) Shellenberger, both of whom
were natives of Lancaster County, Pa. Her grand-
father, Jacob Shellenberger, was a native of Ger-
many. He married Elizabeth Keller, and in early
life emigrated to this country, locating in Penn-
sylvania. The parents of Mrs. Puterbaugh had a
family of thirteen children, eight of whom are yet
living. In 1851, they emigrated westward and
took up their residence in Mackinaw, 111., where
the mother died in 1854, at the age of fifty-two
years. The father's death occurred in 1866, at the
age of seventy. Unto our subject and his wife
were born four children, Francis A. and Charles L.,
who are now living in Mackinaw Township.
George Louis, who died at the age of twenty-three,
and one who died in infancy.
Mr. Puterbaugh of this sketch was a man of
sterling worth and strict integrity, and is widely
and favorably known in this community, where he
has so long made his home. A well spent life IIMS
gained for him the high regard of many friends.
He is a capable and efficient manager of the Coun-
13' Poor Farm, and gives general satisfaction in
his administration of affairs.
y";ARNER L. PRATT, who carries on general
farming on section 13, Elm Grove Town-
u ship, is a worthy representative of a pio-
neer family of Tazewell County, and now lives
upon the old homestead. He was born jn Pelham,
Mass., May 7, 1838, and is one of five children,
but only two are now living. His father, Na-
thaniel Pratt, was born in Belchertown, Mass., in '
October, 1799, and was one of fifteen children who
grew to mature years. Five of that number be-
came physicians and some won prominence in that
profession. The father lived in the Bay State un-
til about thirty-nine years of age, and in his youth
learned the wagon-maker's trade, which he fol- '
lowed for some time. In Pelham he wedded Mary
II. Kingman, who was born in that place in 1801,
and who was a daughter of Henry Kingman. Mrs.
Pratt was a cousin of William Cullen Bryant, the
poet.
In 1838 Mr. Pratt removed to the west with his
family and took up his residence in Elm Grove
Township, Tazewell County. A year later he
went to Tremont, where for several years he en-
gaged in the manufacture of wagons. Subsequently
he extensively carried on farming, devoting his
time and energies to that pursuit throughout his
remaining days. In politics he was a stalwart
Whig. A prominent and influential citizen, he
did all in his power for the best interests of the
community and to promote the general welfare.
lie was active in the organization of the Congre-
gational Church, of which he and his estimable
wife were faithful members for many years. He
PORTEAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
323
died in October, 1853, at the age of fifty-four, and
in his death the community lost a valued citizen.
His wife was called to the home beyond September
15, 1883, at the advanced age of eighty-two.
Our subject was only a year old when brought
by his parents to Tazewell County, where he has
since made his home, the greater part of his
time having been passed on the old farm. In con-
nection with general farming he has engaged ex-
tensively in the raising of sugar cane and the man-
ufacture of sorghum. His enterprise has proved
a profitable one and has yielded him a good in-
come.
In 1870 Mr. Pratt was married to Louisa Ams-
bary, of Tremont, who died in July, 1873, and in
January, 1883, he wedded Alice B. Laughlin, of
Elm Grove. In the family are four children,
Mary Amelia, Nathaniel, Edward L. and James.
The Pratt household is the abode of hospitality
and its members rank high in the social circles in
which they move, for our subject and his wife are
both highly respected citizens and have many
warm friends in Tazewell County. In politics he
has always been a Democrat. He served as Town-
ship Clerk of Elm Grove, and while living in Cin-
cinnati Township held the same office for several
years. For some time he has been Collector of
Elm Grove Township, and has filled the office of
School Trustee. He has always been interested in
whatever pertains to the welfare of the community,
and is one of the representative citizens of the
count}'.
M. ROBISON, one of the self-made men
of Tazewell County, who through his own
Us well directed efforts has arisen from an
humble position to one of affluence, is now
numbered among the extensive land owners of the
community, his possessions aggregating eight hun-
dred acres. His home is pleasantly located on
section 35, Morton Township. He was born in
Elm Grove Township, this county, November 29,
1849, and is a son of Frank and Mary (Myers)
Robison. His grandparents were James and Isa-
bella (Leslie) Robison, and his great-grandparents
were James and Jean Robison. The last-named
were farming people of Scotland. The grandfather
was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, August 16,
1801, was educated in the parish schools, and in
his twentieth year married the daughter of Will-
iam and Ann Leslie. Her father belonged to one
of the distinguished families of that name "in
Scotland, and traced his ancestry back to illus-
trious men and women of the reign of King James
of Scotland. He was named for the distinguished
officer, William Leslie, who was killed in the Rev-
olutionary War at the battle of Trenton, N. J.
In the spring of 1832 James Robison, grandfa-
ther of our subject, emigrated to the United States
and made a contract to construct the first railroad
across the Alleghany Mountains. He was in part-
nership with Jonathan Leslie, and for two years
they did a successful business. Mr. Robison then
removed to Michigan, where he cleared sixty acres
of heavily timbered land near Detroit, and erected
a large house and barn. Three years later he sold
to a good advantage, converted his money into
new mint half-dollars, two thousand of which were
packed in one box, and moved to Illinois, arriving
in May, 1837. There his family remained for two
months while he sought a location. Money was
very scarce in this state and so his coins proved a
great help to him, and he was able to secure his
valuable farm in Elm Grove Township, Tazewell
County, on very reasonable terms. Heat once be-
gan farming and also made contracts for work on
the road bed now occupied by the Indianapolis,
Bloom ington & Western Railroad, which bed was
finished across Elm Grove Township in 1839. Mr.
Robison later was engaged on the construction of
the Illinois <fe Michigan Canal at Ottawa, III., and
also continued farming until his death, in 1881.
His family numbered eleven children, five of
whom were born in Scotland and came with their
parents to America. They are: William L., de-
ceased; Barbara, deceased wife of William II ux ta-
ble; Frank; Ann, deceased wife of Nathan Leonard;
James W.; Leslie; Susan, wife of Richard Wood-
row; Belle, wife of Rev. Charles E. Marsh; George
L., deceased; Mary J., wife of Samuel Caldwell;
and one who died in childhood. The parents of
this family were highly educated people, who read
324
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
extensively and who were always well informed on
questions of the day. Six of their children were
college students. Mrs. Robison reached the ad-
vanced age of ninety-two. Both grandparents
were members of the Baptist Church, and contrib-
uted freely of their means to church and chari-
table work. In politics Mr. Robison was a Repub-
lican.
Frank Robison, father of our subject, was born in
Scotland, and at the age of five years came to the
United States. He was educated in the common
schools, and in Peoria, at the age of eighteen, be-
gan learning the carpenter's trade, which he fol-
lowed for five years, during which time he aided
in building what are now some of the old land
marks of Peoria and Pekin. He then bought
twenty acres of land in Elm Grove Township,
and afterward purchased the County Farm, to
which he added until he had several hundred acres.
His last years were spent in retirement from active
business life. In 1848 he married Mary Myers,
daughter of Martin and Ann (Hodson) Myers, the
former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of
Ohio. Her mother's family came to Tazewell
County in 1825, and the first dress which her
mother bought here, a common calico, cost fifty
cents per yard, while corn sold for eight cents per
bushel. The nearest mill was at Springfield, and
for a time they largely subsisted on wild game.
Indians still lived in the neighborhood, but their
relations with the settlers were friendly. Mrs.
Robison was born in Tazewell County in 1830.
The subject of this sketch is the eldest of a fam-
ily of ten children. The others are, Mary J., de-
ceased wife of William Green; Anna; Archie, who
follows farming and stock-raising on the old home-
stead, which belonged to his grandfather; Ella,
wife of Presley Skaggs, of McLean County, 111.;
Ida, wife of Joseph Cooper, of Morton Township;
and four who died in childhood.
In the common schools M. M. Robison scquhed
his education, and under the parental roof re-
mained until seventeen years of age, when he be-
gan operating one of the farms belonging to his
father. He was very ambitio"us and worked so
hard that his health was broken down. Later he
rented land for several years and then located on
his present homestead, which was left him by his
father. Other land he lias purchased from time to
time until he now has eight hundred and ten acres,
the greater part of which is in Morton Township.
In connection with the cultivation of his land he
is extensively engaged in stock-raising, having a
high grade of cattle, horses and hogs upon his farm.
In 1871 Mr. Robison was married to Miss Jane
White, daughter of John and Rose Ann (Will)
White, and five children graced their union, of
whom three are yet living: Vivian, Elton and
Emery. Two of the children died in infancy.
The parents hold membership with the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and occupy an enviable position
in social circles. In politics Mr. Robison is inde-
pendent, voting for the man whom he thinks best
qualified for the office, regardless of party affilia-
tions. He is a worth}' representative of an hon-
ored pioneer family and is a valued citizen of the
community, well deserving representation in this
volume.
C. CRIIIFIELD is the managing editor of
the Minier Neirs, of Minier, and junior
member of the firm of Crihfield Bros.
They also own the Argus, of Atlanta, the
Record, of Waynesville, the Lens, of McLean, and
the Gazette, of Kenney, 111., operating three print-
ing plants. Our subject was born in Atlanta,
June 2, 1864, and is the son of Philip and Sarah
(McFarland) Crihfield. The former was born in
Clinton County, Ohio, and came to McLean Coun-
ty when a young man. He died in Atlanta in
1867.
The mother bravely undertook to support and
educate her children, and her energy overcame all
obstacles. She was one of the early settlers, hav-
ing come from Providence, R. I., with her family
to Mt. Hope Township, McLean Count}', in 1837.
Their three children are, Horace, of Atlanta; R. C.;
and Mattie, wife of P. A. Lower, a commercial
traveler living in Minier. The father was a Re-
publican in politics.
R. C. Crihfield was educated in the Atlanta
schools, and at the age of fourteen began to learn
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
325
the printer's trade with G. L. Shoals, editor of the
Argus, of Atlanta. In his native town he remained
until 1885, when he became a partner of his
brother in the newspaper business and came to
Minier. Their various papers are neutral in poli-
tics, devoted mostly to local news. That which
the}- publish here is an enterprising little sheet and
does much toward advancing the best interests of
the community.
Mr. Crihfleld was married in 1893 to Miss Delia
Whiteman, of Minier. In politics he is a Republi-
can, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity
and other societies.
WEBB, one of the enterprising
h-HS^ and successful farmers of Morton Town-
ship, Tazewell County, now living on sec-
tion 14, was born in London, England, on the
25th of July, 1831, and is one of three children
whose parents were Thomas and Maria (Silk) Webb.
His grandparents were Francis and Mary Webb.
The former was born in Coventry, England, and
was a silk dyer. He died when Thomas was a child
of ten years, leaving a widow and four children,
John, Francis, Thomas and Anna, the latter of whom
became Mrs. Gregory. The mother of this family
afterward married again, and the father of our
subject remained with her until he had attained
to man's estate. His education was acquired prior
to his fifteenth year, at which time he was bound
out to learn the trade of painting and enameling
dials for watches, serving a seven years' appren-
ticeship. On the day his time expired he and his
brother John embarked in business in Coventry,
but as trade was poor he went to London and en-
tered the employ of a gas company, having the
management of the business in a certain section of
the city for thirteen years. In 1823 he was mar-
ried, and in 1836 set sail for the New World in
order to make a home for his family. On leaving,
his employers made him a present of $50 and
offered to double his salary if he would remain,
but this lie refused to do. On reaching the New
World he chose Tazewell County as the scene of
his future labors. On his way hither he passed
through Chicago, which then contained only a few
buildings, and Peoria, known as Ft. Clark, also
contained but a few buildings, most of which were
log cabins. Mr. Webb located in what is now Grove-
land Township, entering sixty-two acres of land
from the Government. In 1842 he bought ninety
acres near the present site of Morton, and upon
the farm which he there developed and improved
made his home until his death, which occurred
November 19, 1881, at the age of eighty-five.
Thomas Webb was an intelligent and cultured
gentleman, of high moral worth, and won the re-
spect of all who knew him. His wife, who was a
devoted member of the Congregational Church,
passed away February 27, 1894, at the age of eigh-
ty-nine years. Their children were. Thomas, who
lives in Peoria; and Louisa and Francis, twins.
The sister is now the widow of Edward. Daws and
makes her home in Peoria. While engaged in
watch-making, Thomas painted the Lord's Prayer
with a camel's hair brush on several pieces of
watch dial a quarter of an inch long by an eighth
of an inch wide, and one of these is yet in the
possession of the family. His brother, with whom
he was in business, was the inventor of the second
dial now used in watch-making, and for many
years furnished the enamel used by the Waltham
Watch Company of this country. He had two
sons who came to the United States and worked at
watch-making. The elder, John, worked for seven
years with the Waltham Company, and for ten
years had charge of the dial department in the
watch factory at Elgin, III. He is now engaged in
fruit-growing in California. His brother is still
working in Elgin.
During his early childhood the subject of this
sketch came with his parents to America and with
them spent the days of his boyhood and youth,
not leaving home until the time of his marriage.
In 1859 he wedded Mary Evans, daughter of Jo-
seph and Harriet Evans. With her parents she
came from England, their native land, to Tazewell
County in 1844. Her father was a glover by
trade and did a very successful business. For
many years after coming to this country he fol-
lowed farming, but is now living a retired life in
326
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Chenoa, having acquired a comfortable compe-
tence. He was one of the first Postmasters of
Morton.
Upon his marriage Mr. Webb removed to the
farm which has since been his home. A portion
of this was given him by his father, but to it he
has added until lie now has two hundred and
forty acres, together witli six acres of village prop-
erty; he has recently purchased the part of the old
homestead on which the buildings are located and
which comprises seventeen acres. In 1869 and
1870 lie rented his farm and was assistant manager
of the dial department of the Elgin Watch Factory,
but has since given his entire time and attention
to agricultural pursuits.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Webb:
Maria, wife of John Van Cam)), a farmer of Deer
Creek Township; Ada, wife of Ed Duncan, an ag-
riculturist of Morton Township; Ellen, wife of
George Dodds, who follows farming in Morton
Township; Edward T., Frank G., Mamie and Nel-
lie. The two sons were educated in the Peoria
High School, and Frank completed the course in
the Bloom ingtpn University. They are now run-
ning the home farm. Mr. Webb is a Republican
in politics and has been honored with some local
ollices. A public-spirited and progressive citizen,
he takes a commendable interest in everything
pertaining to the welfare of the communit3', and
has ever borne his part in its advancement and
upbuilding.
illOMAS L. HOLLAND, a retired farmer liv-
ing in Washington, has acquired, as the re-
sult of his own well directed efforts, a com-
fortable competence that now enables him to lay
aside business cares and enjoy a well earned rest.
He may trul3' be called a self-made man, and his
example of perseverance and industry is one well
worthy of emulation.
Mr. Holland was born in Washington February
28, 1838. His grandfather, William Holland, was
a native of North Carolina, born in Lincoln Coun-
ty October 14, 1786. He there married Lavisa
Bess, May 24, 1811, and removed to Peoria Coun-
ty, 111., locating at Ft. Clark, where now stands
the city of Peoria. There he served as a Govern-
ment employe. For about six years -he made
his home there, and then came to the site of W T ash-
ington, where in company with others he laid out
the town. He followed his trade of a gunsmith
and entered land from the Government, upon
which a part of Washington is now located. His
family numbered twenty-two children, of whom
three are yet living: Mrs. Mary Beal, who resides
near Ft. Scott, Kan.; Mrs. Lavisa Banday, of Har-
rison County, Mo.; and Mrs. Esther Ann Weeks,
who resides a mile and a-half north of Washing-
ton. When the family located here the Indians,
were far more numerous than the white settlers.
In fact, William Holland was the first white set-
tler in this section of the county. His death oc-
curred here in 1871.
Lawson Holland, father of our subject, was born
in North Carolina February 24, 1812, and when a
small boy came with his parents to Tazewell Coun-
ty, where amid the wild scenes of the frontier he
was reared. From the Government he entered
Jaiid on' section 24, Washington Township. He
married Miss Elizabeth Banday, and then began
the development of a farm, which he cleared and
improved, making it a good home. His father was
one of the most prominent pioneers, and was
identified with the development and growth of
this county in a great degree. It was in 1834
that he laid out a part of the town of Washington.
He built the first giist mill in the county in 1827.
It was called a hand mill, but was run by horse
power. The nearest mill to it was sixty miles dis-
tant. Every person using the mill would have to
supply the power to run 5t. People would often
come fifty miles to mill, and sometimes had to
wait two weeks in order to make their (lour.
Lawson Holland made the first flour in the
county, grinding it with a mortar and pestle. The
family experienced all the inconveniences and
hardships of frontier life, and the history of the
pioneer settlement is very familiar to its repre-
sentatives who are yet living. Lawson Holland
continued to cultivate his home farm until about
1871. when he removed to the town of Washing-
w
G. M. BLACKBURN, M. D.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
329
ton, where his death occurred July 27, 1889. He
owned two hundred and forty acres of land in
the home farm and had extensive tracts elsewhere.
His family numbered nine children, who reached
adult age, six of whom are yet living: Thomas L.;
Lewis, of Washington; George W., who lives in
Washington and practices dentistry in Peoria;
Mrs. Sarah E. Fish, of Washington; Isaac, a rail-
road employe living in Blue Island, 111.; and
Charles C., of this place. Those deceased are:
James R., Reuben W. and John P. The father
served in the Black Hawk War as a scout, and was
afterward Captain of the militia in the old train-
ing days. He was a member of the Methodist
Church, a very prominent and influential citizen,
and his death was widely mourned. His widow
is still living in Washington.
Thomas L. Holland, whose name heads this
sketch, was reared on the old homestead in Wash-
ington Township, where he remained until March,
1861, when he went to California. He spent
seven years on the Pacific Slope engaged in min-
ing, meeting with fair success, and on his return
home devoted his time and energies to agricult-
ural pursuits.
On the 26th of January, 1869, Mr. Holland mar-
ried Miss Samaria Shiffer, daughter of George
Shiffer. Her father became a soldier of the Mexi-
can War and never returned. Her mother after-
ward married again, removed to Illinois, and sub-
sequently went to Missouri. Mrs. Holland was
born in Pittsburg, Pa., and was married in Marion
County, Iowa. Three children were born of this
union: Charles W., who is clerking in Washing-
ton; Minnie, who died at the age of three and
a-half years, having been injured in a railroad col-
lision; and Thomas E., who is yet in school.
Mr. Holland continued farming in Tazewell
'County until 1870, when he removed to Cedar
County, Mo., where he bought a tract of unim-
proved land. There he farmed for three years,
after which he continued to engage in agricultural
pursuits in his native county until 1889, since
which time he has lived in Washington. In poli-
tics he is a stalwart Republican, and is a member
of the Odd Eellows' society, in which he has filled
all the chairs. He is a worth}' representative of
an honored pioneer family, and this volume would
be incomplete without mention of the Hollands,
for they have taken a very prominent part in
everything pertaining to the welfare of the com-
munity.
M. BLACKBURN, M. D., a leading physi-
cian and surgeon of Minier, claims Ohio as
the state of his nativity, for his birth oc-
curred in Jefferson County, September 27, 1844.
His parents were Anthony and Hannah (Craw-
ford) Blackburn. The father was a farmer by oc-
cupation and spent the greater part of his life in
Jefferson County, but his last years were passed in
Knox Count}', Ohio. Our subject was reared in
the county of his nativity and acquired his early
education in Harlem Springs, Ohio, after which he
attended the college in Hagerstown, Ohio, being
graduated in 1861. The following year he en-
tered the army as a member of the signal corps, and
remained in the service until after the cessation of
hostilities, when, on the 28th of August, 1865, he
was honorably discharged.
After his return to the north Mr. Blackburn
took up the study of medicine in Maitinsburg,
Knox County, Ohio, with Dr. T. B. Meiser, of that
place. He took his first course of lectures in the
medical department of the State University of
Michigan, in Ann Arbor, and completed his educa-
tion in Charity Hospital Medical College, now
known as the Wooster Medical College, of Cleve-
land, Ohio, being graduated therefrom in 1869.
He immediately entered upon practice in Apple-
ton, Licking County, Ohio, where he remained for
thirteen years, doing a good business.
During that period Mr. Blackburn was married
in Martinsburg, Ohio, the lady of his choice being
Miss Sarah Lawman. In 1880 he brought his
wife to Illinois and took up his residence in
Minier, where he has since been engaged in the
active practice of his profession. He is a close
and thorough student, who keeps abreast with the
times in everything connected with the science of
medicine, and his skill and ability have won for
330
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
him a liberal patronage, which from the beginning
has constantly increased.
The Doctor is a member of the McLean Medical
Society of Bloomington, and is connected with
various civic societies. He belongs to the Grand
Arm} 7 of the Republic and is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, holding membership with the
chapter of Elwood and the Knight Templar Com-
mandery of Bloomington. He exercises his right
of franchise in support of the Democracy, but has
never sought or desired political preferment. In
connection with his business interests he aided in
organizing the Minier State Bank in 1890, and is
now serving as President of that institution,
which is considered one of the safe and conserva-
tive financial concerns of the count}'.
<
i Sr^ ) ICIlARD C. GAINES, a practical and pro-
!IU^7 gressive farmer of Little Mackinaw Town-
ship, Tazewell County, residing on sec-
)tion 8, is a native of Tennessee. He was
born in Montgomery County March 28, 1829, and
is a son of Barnett F. Gaines, who was born in
Rockingham County, Va., as was his wife, who
bore the maiden name of Kiltie Kaiser. The father
was a farmer, and removed to Montgomery Coun-
ty, Tenn., where he bought land and made his
home until his emigration to Tazewell County,
in 1834. He located on section 8, Little Macki-
naw Township, and two years later removed to sec-
tion 5, where he entered land from the Govern-
ment. The wild tract he transformed into rich and
fertile fields, developing a good farm. His death
there occurred May 16, 1836, but his wife lived on
the old homestead until 1839, when she married
John S. Allensworth. He died in 1851, and in 1855
his widow removed to Hopedale Township, where
her death occurred February 20, 1880. Mr. and
Mrs. Gaines were the parents of six children, four
of whom are yet living: Betsy Ann, wife of
George Gordon, of Little Mackinaw Township;
John C., a prominent farmer of Tazewell County;
Sarah Jane, wife of Isaac Livesay, who died in
1885; Margaret, deceased wife of John Neville;
and William, who died at the age of twenty-one
years. The father of this family was a Whig in
politics. The grandfather, John C. Gaines, was a
native of Virginia, and was of Scotch and Welsh
descent, while the maternal grandfather was of
German lineage.
Our subject was a child of five years when with
his parents he came to Tazewell County. Upon
the old home farm he was reared to manhood, and
in the subscription schools was educated. In 1852
he and his brother-in-law bought an ox-team and
pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land
on section 20, Little Mackinaw Township,- upon
which a house was erected in 1856. Mr. Gaines
afterward bought other land, and in February,
1865, removed to the farm on which he now resides.
It was then a partially improved tract, and he at
once began its cultivation and development, and in
course of time rich and fertile fields were made to
yield to him a golden tribute.
On the 23d of September, 1855, was celebrated
the marriage of Mr. Gaines and Miss Amy S. Ilin-
man, daughter of Homer W. Hinman, a native of
Connecticut, who removed thence to New York,
and in 1845 became a resident of Groveland Town-
ship, Tazewell County. He lived upon the farm
of his brother until his death, which occurred
November 2, 1846. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Ruth Stone, was also a native of the Nut-
meg State. To Mr. and Mrs. Gaines were born
three children: Walter G., who is now Cashier in
the State Bank of St. Edwards, Boone County,
Neb.; Mary Effle, wife of Joseph E. Kinsey, a
farmer of Little Mackinaw Township; and Ida,
wife of T. B. Bollan. They live on the old home-
stead. There arc also six grandchildren.
In his political views Mr. Gaines has always
been a Republican, and has served as School Trus-
tee, Collector and Assessor of his township for a
number of terms. He and his wife are members
of the Christian Church, as are also their two
daughters, and the family is one of prominence in
the community, its members holding an enviable
position in social circles. Mr. Gaines is one of the
honored pioneers, and has witnessed almost the
entire growth and development of the county.
He is widely known in the community, and those
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
331
with whom he has been acquainted from boyhood
are numbered among his stanehest friends, a fact
which indicates a well spent life. He is the owner
of one hundred and ninety-six acres of fine farm
land, all in one body, where he and his amiable
wife are spending their closing years in the enjoy-
ment of a competence earned in earlier life.
1LLIAM LILLY, a farmer residing on sec-
i, lion 12, Little Mackinaw Township, Taze-
well County, was born in Allegany Coun-
ty, Md., August 12, 1822. His grandfather, Richard
Lilly, was a native of Wales. His father, Joseph
- Lilly, was born in Frederick County, Md., was a
soldier in the War of 1812, and received a land
grant for his services. In Allegany County, Md.,
he married Mary Fisher, daughter of Adam Fisher,
a native of German}', and one of the heroes of
the Revolution, who was present at the surrender
of Yorktown. In 1835 Joseph Lilly emigrated
with his family to the west and located on section
13, Mackinaw Township, Tazewell County, 111.,
where in the midst of the forest he hewed out a
farm and made a comfortable home. Lilly Sta-
tion was named in his honor, and he was one of
the esteemed pioneers of the locality. He owned
two hundred and sixty acres of valuable land at
the time of his death, in 1854. His wife passed
away in 1849. In their family were four sons
and two daughters. Mrs. Mary Walker, of Macki-
naw, and William are the only ones now living.
Henry died in Marion County; Miles passed away
in Allegany County, Md.; Joseph in Colorado,
in 1849; and Mrs. Sarah Bacon in Lilly Station,
in 1889.
Our subject was a youth of thirteen summers
when with his parents he carne to Tazewell Coun-
ty, where amid the wild scenes of frontier life he
grew to manhood. lie was married July 28, 1859,
to Elizabeth Aldrich, daughter of Elisha Aldrich,
who located in Clay County, Ind., in 1856. He
was born in Henry County, Ky., as was his wife,
who bore the maiden name of Mary Moore. Mrs.
Lilly was born in Clay Count}', Ind., May 24,
1841. After their marriage the young couple re-
moved to Adair County, Mo., where Mr. Lilly
purchased land and carried on farming until 1864.
During the war he served as a member of the
Missouri State Militia. On the 2d of April, 1865,
he located in Little Mackinaw Township, on the
farm which has since been his home, and his
time and attention have been devoted untir-
ingly to its development and cultivation. He is
one of the largest land-owners in the township,
his possessions aggregating seven hundred and
forty acres. He also lias twenty-six acres else-
where.
Four children graced the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Lilly, three of whom are yet living: Mrs.
Mary Garrett, wife of E. O. Garrett, of Little
Mackinaw Township; Janet, at home; and Will-
iam E., who married Jane Wright and lives on
section 11, Little Mackinaw Township. Joseph
died in 1862.
In his political views Mr. Lilly was originally
an old-line Whig, but" since the organization of
the Republican party has been one of its stalwart
supporters. He served as Justice of the Peace for
a number of years, was Supervisor one term,
Highway Commissioner three years, and Assessor
one term. Faithful and true to every trust re-
posed in him, he discharged his duties with a
promptness and fidelity that won him high com-
mendation. He belongs to the Pioneer Society,
and is one of the oldest settlers in this township.
He may truly be called a self-made man, for he
started out in life empty-handed and has steadily
worked his way upward to a place of affluence.
ETER NAFFZIGER, who follows general
farming on section 6, Deer Creek Town-
ship, is one of the public-spirited and pro-
gressive agriculturists of Tazewell County,
and in this volume well deserves representation.
He was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, on
the 2d of July, 1835, and is a son of Valentine and
Katie Naffziger. His grandfather, Jacob Naffziger,
was born in Bavaria, German}', and there spent
332
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
his entire life engaged in milling and farming.
He was a man possessed of great strength and be-
came quite wealthy. For some years he served as
a preacher of the Mennonite Church, and died at
the age of eighty-nine. In his family were three
sons and two daughters: Peter, who came to Amer-
ica and located in Tazewell County; Christian;
Valentine; Mary, wife of Jacob Naffziger, and Liz-
zie. The last-named is the only one now living.
She makes her home with our subject and is now
eighty-two years of age. She came with the fa-
ther of our subject to America and lived with him
until his death.
Valentine Naffziger was born in Germany about
1804, attended the common schools and was well
educated in the Bible. Like his father lie engaged
in farming and milling. After his marriage he
removed to Darmstadt, where all of his seven chil-
dren were born. They were: Susan, now deceased;
Lizzie, wife of Peter Kinzer; Valentine, Peter,
Christian, and two who died in early life. The fa-
ther emigrated with his family to America in May,
1850, and for one year lived in Butler County,
Ohio. They were poor, and the children worked
out by the day. At length they came to Taze-
well County, locating in Washington Township,
where for five years the father rented a farm. He
then purchased eighty acres in Deer Creek Town-
ship, and afterward sold that and bought a tract
of one hundred and sixty acres, together with
some timber land. Developing therefrom a good
farm, he made his home thereon until his death,
which occurred in 1878, at the age of seventy-five.
His wife passed away in Germany at the age of
forty-four.
In the public schools of the Fatherland and of
America, Peter Naffziger acquired his education.
He wasayouth of fifteen when he crossed the briny
deep. Here he engaged in farm work, his father
receiving his wages, which went toward the sup-
port of the family. After four years spent in the
employ of others he embarked in farming for him-
self on rented land, and two years later, with the
capital which he had acquired through industry,
perseverance and good management, he bought
eighty acres of the farm on which he now lives.
Its boundaries, however, he has extended from
time to time until about five hundred acres of val-
uable land pay tribute to the care and cultivation
he bestows upon them. His is one of the finest
farms of the county, highly cultivated and im-
proved, and is a monument to the enterprise of the
owner.
Mr. Naffziger was married in Wood ford County,
111., at the age of twenty-eight, to Barbara Gin-
gerich, a native of Woodford County, born about
1839. Her parents located in that county when
the Indians still lived within its borders. To our
subject and his wife were born eight children:
Julius, Louisa; Lena, wife of Peter Naffziger; Liz-
zie, Tillie, Susie, August and Mollie. The parents
and their children are members of the Mennonite
Church. On questions of national importance,
Mr. Naffziger is a Democrat, but at local elections
where no issue is involved he votes independently.
For twelve years he has served as School Director
and has done effective service in the cause of edu-
cation. His life has been a busy and useful one.
He started out for himself with no capital save a
young man's bright hope of the future, and by de-
termined energy, a resolute will and steadfast pur-
pose he has steadily worked his way upward to a
position of affluence.
J~l AMES F. PIERCE, who follows farming on
section 3, Mackinaw Township, Tazewell
County, is one of the worthy citizens that
Kentucky has furnished this locality. He
was born in Covington, of that state, October 22,
1838, and is a son of John J. and Mary A. (Steel)
Pierce. His father was left an orphan at an early
age, and was reared by his elder brother, Samuel, in
Cincinnati. The members of the family to which
he belonged were, Samuel, John J., William, Mrs.
Jane McCully, Martha (wife of Nathan Spencer),
Abigail, Nancy and Deborah. John J. Pierce ac-
quired a good common-school education; lie was
very studious, was an extensive reader and prepared
himself for teaching. When twenty years of age
he began learning the stone-cutter's trade. He
was married in Franklin County, Ohio, to Ma 1-3-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
333
A. Steel, a native of New Jersey, and a daughter
of .Tosiah and Hannah Steel.
Josiah Steel was a soldier in the War of 1812,
and for a number of years received a pension in
recognition of his services. After his marriage he
made his home in Covington, Ky., until 1840,
when he removed to Ogle County, 111., where he
entered a claim upon which he lived for five years.
He then sold out and returned to Ohio, where he
followed farming and teaching. Eleven years
later, however, he again went to Ogle County,
where he engaged in teaching until his death,
which occurred at the age of forty-five. His wife
survived him many years. They were the parents of
seven children: William S., of Nebraska; James F.;
Hannah M., deceased; Amanda J., wife of Marvin
Wilton, of Henry, 111.; Nancy, wife of Bert. Smith,
of Peoria, 111.; Mary B., wife of J. A. Long, of
Mackinaw; and Matilda, who died in childhood.
The father of this family was a member of the Ma-
sonic fraternity in early life, and in politics was a
Democrat.
In the usual manner of farmer lads, James F.
Pierce was reared, attending the common schools
through the winter season, and aiding in the labors
of the farm through the summer months. He be-
gan renting land on attaining his majority, and
followed farming in his own interest. He used
ox-teams in cultivating his fields, and lived in
Ogle County for a number of years, after which he
came to Tazewell County, where he again rented
a farm.
In this county, Mr. Pierce was united in mar-
riage witli Rachel M. Smith, a native of Kentuckj^,
and a daughter of Asa and Elizabeth (Nevelle)
Smith. Their union was blessed by six children:
Fannie; Sanford F., now of Bloomington, 111.;
Elizabeth, wife of Peter Shirtz, of Stanford, 111.;
Anna, wife of David Blair, of this township; Eva
J. and Ella, at home. They also have five grand-
children.
Mr. Pierce made his first purchase of land about
three years after his marriage, becoming owner of
sixty-five acres near Mackinaw. A year later he
sold out and rented for a year. He then went to
Schuyler County, 111., where he lived five years,
and then returned to Tazewell County, where he
purchased eighty-one acres of his present farm. He
now has two hundred and twenty-four and a-half
acres of valuable land under a high state of culti-
vation and well improved, and his farm is consid-
ered one of the best in the neighborhood. The
owner is an enterprising and progressive man, and
the neat appearance of his place indicates his care-
ful supervision. He and his wife are members of
the Christian Church of Mackinaw, and in his po-
litical affiliations he is a Democrat.
IfDMSI
C. ALLENSWORTH, Postmaster at Pckin,
, and until recently the editor and manager
of the Pekin Times, was born October 27,
1845, one-half mile southeast of Bradley, in
Little Mackinaw Township, this county. His par-
ents were William P. and Arabell (Waggenner) Al-
lensworth, both of whom were born in Ken tuck v.
The father departed this life in Minier in 1874,
leaving a widow and seven children, three sons
and four daughters.
Our subject, who was the eldest of the family,
spent his early life on his father's farm and in at-
tendance at the district school until reaching his
twentieth year, when he entered the State Normal
University, from which institution he was gradu-
ated with the Class of '69. In the fall of that year
he took charge of the schools in Elmwood, this
state, and for three years was one of the most effi-
cient and prominent educators of Peoria County.
In the spring of 1872 Mr. Allensworth purchased
a half-interest in the Pekin Register, his partner in
the enterprise being J. F. Mounts. The suc-
ceeding fall W. T. Meads, the former owner of
the paper, bought out Mr. Mounts, and the firm of
Allensworth & Mounts was in existence only until
the 1st of January, when our subject was com-
pelled to sell out on account of failing health.
Deciding that the best way to regain his lost
strength was to live out of doors as much as possible,
he immediately went to Minier, where he engaged
in farm work and remained for several years.
October 7, 1875, B. C. Alleusworth was married
to Miss Charity A. Tanner, and to them has been
334
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
born a family of five children: Adelaide, William
P., Nellie A., Ellis D. and Myra, of whom the two
eldest are deceased. In 1877 our subject was
elected Superintendent of Schools in Tazewell
County, and was the incumbent of that responsi-
ble position for nine years. When first elected he
was engaged in teaching at Minier, and continued
to make that place his official headquarters until
April, 1884, when he removed to Pekiu, where he
is now residing.
April 28, 1885, Mr. Aliens worth took charge of
the Pekin Times as editor and manager, and being
a thorough business man he left no stone unturned
in developing its business interests as far as possi-
ble. On the 21st of December, 1893, he was ap-
pointed to the Postmastership of Pekin, which
position he now holds. His life has been ruled
by upright and honorable principles, and every-
where he makes friends and is respected by all who
know him.
I
L. ROBISON, a worthy representative
of the agricultural interests of Tazewell
"111
II County, now resides ou section 10, Elm
Grove Township. He comes of a family
of Scotch origin. His grandfather, James Robison,
was born in Scotland, and married Isabella Leslie,
also a native of that country. In 1835 he emi-
grated to America with his family and located in
Johnstown, Pa., where he was employed as a con-
tractor on the first railroad built across the Alle-
ghauy Mountains. Subsequently he removed to
Detroit, Mich., where he engaged in farming for a
short time. He then came to Illinois, locating in
Elm Grove Township, Tazewell County, where he
carried on agricultural pursuits throughout his re-
maining days. His death occurred at the age of
eighty-four, and his wife died in December, 1891,
at the advanced age of ninety.
Frank Robison, the father of our subject, was
one of ten children. He was born in Scotland in
1825, and was only ten years old when the family
crossed the briny deep to America. When a youth
of twelve he became a resident of Elm Grove
Township, where he has since lived, devoting his
time and attention to farm work. He was an en- .
ergetic and enterprising man, and met witli signal
success in his business dealings. In the year 1849
he wedded Mary Miars, daughter of Martin and Ann
Miars. Her father was a Virginian by birth, but was
reared in Ohio, and in 1825 came to Tazewell Coun-
ty, becoming one of the earliest settlers of Elm
Grove Township. He wasa prominentand influen-
tial citizen, and did much toward the development
of the county and the promotion of its best inter-
ests. His death occurred here at the age of eighty-
five. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Robison were horn ten
children, five of whom are yet living: Martin, now
of Morton Township; Annie, who is living with
her mother; Ella, wife of O. P. Skeggs, of McLean
County; Ida, wife of James Cooper, of Cooper
Station, 111.; and Archie Leslie, of this sketch.
The father died at the age of fifty-nine years, but
the mother is still living in Elm Grove Township.
Mr. Robison whose name heads this record was
born in Tazewell County, November 31, 1859, and
in his boyhood attended the schools of the town-
ship, and afterward was a pupil in the Pekin High
School. At the age of nineteen he started out in
life for himself as a farmer, and has since success-
fully carried on farming In 1884 he removed to
his present place, a part of which he inherited
from his father. He has extended its boundaries,
however, from time to time, until he now owns
four hundred and thirty-five acres of rich land,
comprising one of the best farms in the county.
It is supplied with good buildings and all modern
conveniences.
On the 13th of March, 1884, was celebrated the
marriage of Mr. Robison and Lida Richmond, a
native of Hittle Township, Tazewell County, and
a daughter of Wilson and Emily (Fisher) Rich-
mond. Her parents had a family of nine children,
six of whom are yet living: J. E., Martha, Emma,
B. W., Laura and Mrs. Robison. To Mr. and Mrs.
Robison have been born five children: Frank Wil-
son, Archie Leslie, Richmond, Don and James.
In politics Mr. Robison is an ardent Republican,
and is a close student of the affairs and questions
of the day, always keeping well informed on topics
of general interest. He is a pleasant, genial gen-
tlemen, and he and his wife have man}' friends
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
335
1 ,S I 2.
throughout the community. His life has been
welt and worthily spent, and he is numbered
among the representative farmers of Elm Grove
Township.
DANIEL SAPP, proprietor of the Spring
Lake Stock Farm, and one of the success-
ful stockmen of the Illinois Valley, was
born in Fleming County, Ky., May 18,
When a mere child he was left an orphan
and thus thrown upon his own resources. At the
age of fourteen years, in 1856, he accompanied a
stock trader to Bloomington, 111., where he worked
on a stock farm at Randolph Grove for two years.
As may be imagined, his school advantages were
necessarily very meagre, and all the knowledge
he now possesses has been practically acquired by
self-culture.
The year 1858 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Sapp
iu Spring Lake Township, Tazewell County, where
he assisted in breaking prairie and doing farm
work, being for three years in the employ of one
man, and receiving as compensation for his serv-
ices forty acres of land in Peoria County. Of this
property he was naturally quite proud, as it was
the first he had ever owned and had been gained
through his unaided exertions. In 1861 he en-
tered the employ of the Memphis Ice Company
and went south for them, having charge of the ice
barges. He also attended to the unloading and
sale of ice, and the securing of the collections.
In May, 1861, when travel was especially danger-
ous on account of the war, he went south as far
as the mouth of the Arkansas River with two
barges, and on his return to Memphis Dr. Smith,
of that place, gave him a letter to Gen. M. Pope,
which secured his passage through the lines. He
then returned to Spring Lake Township.
In 1863 Mr. Sapp was united in marriage with
Mrs. Elizabeth (Prettyman) Offutt, a native of
Delaware. After that event he settled on his pres-
ent farm and engaged in raising grain and stock.
From time to time he has added to his original
purchase until his landed possessions now aggre-
gate two thousand acres, for the most of which he
paid $40 or $50 per acre. This farm is pleasantly
situated on the Mackinaw River seven miles south
of Pekin. Here he built a substantial residence,
72x36 feet in dimensions and two stories in height,
which was the most elegant rural home in Tazewell
County. Unfortunately the dwelling burned to
the ground, but it was afterward replaced by
another attractive and conveniently arranged
house, a trifle smaller than the first. The entire
property is well improved, the soil well cultivated,
and the place embellished with several commodi-
ous barns and other substantial outbuildings.
After the death of his wife, iu 1886, Mr. Sapp
came to Pekin, and during the following year he
purchased two hundred and thirty-two acres within
the corporate limits of the city. Here he has a
one-mile track, as fine as any in the state. The
farm in itself is well improved with a barn, 100x36
feet in dimensions, with two wings 36x36 feet,
and two large sheds outside. On the place are
usually about one hundred horses. The value of
the land is greatly increased by the presence of
never-failing springs.
In 1887 Mr. Sapp began breeding standard
horses, commencing with "Billie Wilkes," which
he still owns. "Billie Wilkes 2938" was sired by
"Harry Wilkes," record 2:13|; first dam, "Dyra
Seldon," by "Clark Chief 89." "Billie" is a
brown stallion, sixteen hands high, of magnificent
proportions, foaled in Richmond, Ky., in 1880.
Throughout the States he is well known as the
sire of some of the fast trotters and pacers of
to-day, among which may be mentioned the fol-
lowing: "Bloomfield," record 2:18; "Mary Mar-
shall," 2:12f; and "May Marshall," the fastest
pacer mare in the world, with a record of 2:08^;
and "Joe Jett," 2:14. Mr. Sapp is one of the
most extensive breeders of standard horses in
central Illinois, and his reputation in that line is
not limited to Pekin or Tazewell County, but ex-
tends throughout the state.
The second marriage of Mr. Sapp occurred in
March, 1893, uniting him with Mrs. Nellie Smith,
a daughter of B. S. Prettyman ; she is an ac-
complished lady, and was born and educated in
Pekin. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Sapp served
for twelve years as Supervisor of Spring Lake
336
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Township, and was the Chairman of the County
Board for some time. In 1886 he was nominated
for County Treasurer, and was elected by a major-
ity of two hundred, he and one other candidate
being the only Democrats who secured election
that fall. Entering upon the duties of the office
in December, 1886, he served with efficiency until
December, 1890. Socially, he is a member of
Pekin Lodge No. 29, A. F. & A. M., the Royal
Arch Chapter, and Pcoria Cornmandery No. 3,
K. T. He has reached the thirty-second degree
and holds membership in Peoria Consistory No.
1. He has traveled extensively throughout this
country, and has been in every state except Flor-
ida and Washington.
\f ACOB STOUT. The subject of the follow-
ing sketch can certainly look back upon a
busy life and feel that his labors have not
been in vain. When success crowns any.
victor in a struggle, reward is his due, and' Mr.
Stout receives his reward in the peace and plenty
which surround his declining years and the rest he
can now take after the hard fight against the dis-
advantageous circumstances of poverty.
Born in Greene County, Pa., November 19,
1812, our subject is the son of Benjamin Stout, a
native of New Jersey. The latter when a young
man removed to Pennsylvania, where he married
and engaged in farming pursuits. In 1814 lie came
farther west, locating near Zanesville, Ohio, on
the Muskingum River, whence he later removed
to Newark, where he followed farming pursuits
until his decease, at the age of eighty-five years.
The lady to whom he was married was known in
her maidenhood as Elizabeth Setoria; she was
born in the Keystone State and died in Newark,
Ohio, when seventy-eight years of age.
Of the five sons and one daughter comprised in
the parental family, Jacob is the fourth in order
of birth. He was reared on his father's farm in
Newark, Ohio, and received his education in the
little log schoolhouse with its slab benches and
other rude furnishings. When eighteen years of
age he began to make his own way in the world
and learned the carpenter's trade. He was a pnomi-
nent contractor in that place, and when in business
for himself employed from twenty-five to thirty
men. He aided in the construction of aqueducts,
etc., and was an expert workman in the ship yards
of the above place. He also built some canal boats.
April 20, 1848, Mr. Stout came to Pekin, mak-
ing the journey overland with wagons. His fam-
ily, however, came to their new home by way of
boats, in company with William Strausbory. At
that time there were only a few hundred people
living in the county, and our subject began work-
ing by the day at his trade. Later, however, he
removed to a farm situated three miles south
of Pekiu, where he made his home for a short time.
In 1851 he returned to Ohio and followed his
trade at Newark, where he owned some property.
He had been enabled to lay by a snug sum of
money, but the bank in which he was a depositor
failing, he lost the entire amount and was thus
_eompelled to begin life again at the bottom round
<irf. the hlddtir'.
In the fall of 1853 Mr. Stout disposed of his
property in Newark and returned to Pekin, mak-
ing the trip by rail to Sandusky, thence by boat to
Detroit, where he boarded a train which conveyed
him to Chicago. From there he went to LaSalle,
and by means of boat to the Illinois Rivci, arrived
in Pekiu October 3 of that year. He immediately
began work for A. & J. Hains, by whom he was em-
ployed for six years, two seasons of which he spent
in traveling through Indiana and Ohio in the in-
terest of the company. At the expiration of that
time he engaged in the grocery business in com-
pany with a Mr. Seely. After the dissolution of
the partnership Mr. Stout clerked for a time, and
later opened up another store with a Mr. Morris.
Some years afterward he formed a partnership
with Mr. Bergstresser, and during the six years in
which they carried on the grocery business our
subject erected three brick stores located on Court
and Fifth Streets. In 1883 he disposed of his in-
terest in the grocery to his partner and later sold
his business property. Mr. Stout has one of the
most beautiful residences in the city, the substan-
tial dwelling being surrounded by over one-half
LIBRARY
or rw
UNIVERSITY Of
LORENZO DURHAM.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
339
an acre of fine lawn. It is located at the junction
of I5ro.it! way and Court and Seventh Streets and
was purchased in 1864 from Jacob Thorpe, who was
one of the first settlers here. lie owned a quarter-
section of land, which is the present site of Pekin.
In 1833 while residing in Newark, Ohio, our sub-
ject was married to Miss Julia Langley, who was
born in Virginia and who departed this life July
9, 1880. Although always a busy man, Mr. Stout
has yet found time to serve the public as Town-
ship Assessor for two terms; he was also Overseer
of the Poor for the same length of time. He has
been a life-long Democrat in politics, and as a kind
friend, adviser and public-spirited citizen he is
widely known.
bORENZO DURHAM, the efHcient and capa-
I ble Police Magistrate of Morton, has occu-
, pied that office since 1877, and during the
entire time has given the best of satisfaction. He
was born in Baldwinsville, Onondaga County, N.
Y., August 24, 1838, being the son of Lorenzo D.
and Matilda M. (Minard) Durham, and the grand-
son of John and Elizabeth Durham. The grand-
father was born in Harvard County, Md., of En-
glish descent. He occupied an official position
in the War of 1812, and was a man of consid-
erable wealth, leading a retired life in Baltimore
for many years prior to his decease. His family
numbered twenty-one children, only nine of whom
grew to mature years. The paternal great-grand-
father of our subject was a soldier in the Revolu-
tionary War.
The father of our subject was educated in one
of the eastern colleges, and acquired a good knowl-
edge of the French language. After completing
his schooling, lie was placed by his father in the
service of a Mr. Simeon, a large silk merchant, in
order that he might acquire a knowledge of busi-
ness. He was a very talented young man and
wrote many articles in both prose and poetry.
His high attainments qualified him to enter the
best society in New York, where he was often
8
called upon in social gatherings to read some of
his own productions.
For a number of years Lorenzo D. Durham was
a large importer of dry goods in New York City,
but when in 1835 his property was swept away by
fire, he left the city and went to Tonawanda, N.
Y. His decease occurred in 1849, in Buffalo. He
served in the Mexican War, and his family still
have in their possession his sword, which from the
engraving thereon indicates that he held an offi-
cial position. The mother of our subject <!ied
when he was quite young, leaving besides himself
his sister Matilda, now the widow of E. Lawton,
for many years Chief Engineer in the United States
Navy.
The subject of this sketch was reared by strang-
ers until 1852, when his aunt, Mrs. Col. Hugh Gel-
ston. of Baltimore, offered him a home. His uncle
was a large real-estate owner in that city, and un-
der him young Durham acquired a good business
education. In 1854, after completing his studies
in the common schools, he entered the wholesale
drug house of Clotworthy cfe Flint, of Baltimore,
with whom he remained for two years, and then
came west to Washington, this county. Here he
served a three years' apprenticeship at the carpen-
ter's trade, and after working thus for a year he
was compelled to abandon that occupation on ac-
count of failing eyesight. He then went to Grove-
land and hired out to work on farms by the month
and was thus occupied when, in November, 1861,
he enlisted in Company H, Fourth Illinois Cav-
alry.
After joining the army, our subject was at once
ordered with his regiment to the front, and the
first general engagement in which he participated
was at Ft. Henry. This was followed by Donelson
and Shiloh. About a month after the last battle,
he was kicked in the left shoulder by a horse, and
was given a furlough. At the end of that time,
although unfit for duty, he again joined his regi-
ment, and being placed on detached duty, assisted
in raising the Second Tennessee Colored Infantry,
of which he was commissioned Lieutenant. In 1865
he was promoted to be First Lieutenant of Com-
pany C, and was afterward tendered a commission
as Major of another company, but would not leave
340
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
his old regiment to accept it. Finally he almost
entirely lost the use of his arm, which though not
amputated, is of but little service to him, and has
been the cause of much suffering on his part.
After serving his country faithfully and well
for fifteen hundred days, Mr. Durham returned to
Tazewell County, and until 1875 was engaged in
farming. That year he removed to the village of
Morton, and has been variously engaged serving
as Justice of the Peace since 1877. At one time
he began reading law, and although not taking a
thorough course, he has found the knowledge thus
gained very useful to him in his official capacity.
He is a Republican in politics, and a Notary Pub-
lic of the village.
In Morton Township in 1867, our subject mar-
ried Miss Minerva B., daughter of Franklin and
Deborah (Tupper) Gay. She is a native of this
place, while her parents were born in Vermont.
To Mr. and Mrs. Durham was born a son, Will L.,
who is following the agricultural implement trade.
Social!}' our subject is a Grand Army man and be-
longs to Groveland Lodge No. 352, A. F. & A. M.
BENJAMIN S. FORD, a harness manufac-
turer of Hopedale, and Supervisor of Ilope-
dale Township, was born in Oldham Coun-
ty, Ky., July 9, 1842. The grandfather,
Milnor Ford, was a native of Delaware, and was
of Irish extraction. He served as a minute-man
in the War of 1812, and in religious belief was a
Quaker. The father of our subject, Abraham N.
Ford, was born in Delaware in 1801, learned the
shoemaker's trade, and about 1827 removed to
Kentucky, where his death occurred in 1859. He
had three brothers and four sisters, and his brother
William is still living in Pennsylvania. Abraham
Ford married Rebecca Hendrickson, a native of
Delaware, and of Swedish descent. Her father was
a soldier in the War of 1812, and she died in
Hopedale in 1886.
B. S. Ford is the youngest of four brothers, all
of whom were numbered among the boys in blue.
His brother J. II. was a physician, served through-
out the-war as Surgeon of the Ninety-third In-
diana Regiment and died in Columbus, Ind.; II.
M., a member of the Ninth Kentucky Cavahy,
was wounded but recovered, and is now a real-
estate dealer of McCune, Crawford County, Kan.;
W. A., a member of the Sixth Kentucky Infantry,
was wounded at Stone River, and died from the
injury several years later.
On the breaking out of the late war, our subject
left school to enter the service of his country, re-
sponding to President Lincoln's first call for three
hundred thousand volunteers. On the 1st of June,
1861, he became a private of Com pan 3' D, Sixth
Kentucky Infantry, and did service with the Army
of the Cumberland. He participated in the battles
of Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary
Ridge, and tlie Atlanta campaign, "and at the bat-
tle of Chickamauga was wounded in the head and
the right leg. For meritorious conduct on the bat-
tlefield he was promoted to the rank of First
Lieutenant, October 26, 1864. Having served for
more than three years, he was honorably discharged
and returned to Kentucky. He now draws a pen-
sion of $6 per month.
In 1866. Mr. Ford went to Quincy, 111., where
he worked at his trade of harness-making until
1877, since which time he has engaged in that
business in Hopedale. He served as Postmaster of
this place for four years under President Harrison,
was Trustee and Town Clerk for several years, is
a member of the Village Board, and is now serv-
ing his second year as a member of the County
Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Ford was married in 1870, the lady of his
choice being Miss Mary Russell, who was born in
Ireland, but came to America during her girlhood.
They have five children: Mary, wife of El. G.
Schneider, a .young business man of Hopedale, and
its popular Mayor; Anna, a teacher in the Hope-
dale schools; and John H., Nellie and Edward, at
home.
In addition to his other business interests, Mr.
Ford has a small farm near Hopedale, and to some
extent is engaged in stock dealing. He is a lead-
ing member of the Grand Army of the Republic,
and has served as Quartermaster of Hopedale Post
Since its organization. In politics he has been a
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
341
life-long Republican. No trust reposed in him
has ever been betrayed, and he manifests the same
loyalty to his country in days of peace that he
displayed when on the field of battle fighting in
defense of the Stars and Stripes.
eAFf. R. J. BEATTY, President "of the Old
Soldiers' Association, and a popular citizen
of Delavan, was born in Ulster, in the North
of Ireland, October 14, 1842. His ancestors for
many generations resided in the Highlands of
Scotland, but during the religious revolution in
that country removed to the North of Ireland
and became prominent in that part of the Emerald
Isle. Their descendants are scattered throughout
almost every state in the Union.
The father of our subject, Guy Beatty, was a
farmer by occupation, and in religious belief was
a member of the Episcopal Church. His life was a
very brief one, and he passed away at the age of
twenty-six, when our subject was only six years
old. The mother of the Captain bore the maiden
name of Margaret Armstrong, and was the daugh-
ter of William Armstrong, who was of Scotch an-
cestry and a man of prominence in the North of
Ireland. For many years he was the manager of
the great estate of Sir Henry Brooks. Among the
early Methodists he was influential and an active
worker.
After the death of Guy Beatty his widow mar-
ried George Dawson. Some years after his demise
she became the wife of William Day and now re-
sides in Delavan. The Captain is the only child
of his parents, and was a lad of nine years when,
with his mother and step-father, he came to the
United States, settling in New York. His educa-
tion was conducted at the East Bloornfield Acad-
emy and Genesee College, of Lima, N. Y. At the
age of seventeen he began to teach school at Vic-
tor, N. Y., and soon afterward went to Missouri,
where he taught until the outbreak of the Rebell-
ion.
At the first call for troops our subject tendered
his services, and for a time was held in the home
guards, as more than the required quota had been
secured to go to the front. In August of the same
year (1861) he enlisted in the Fifth Iowa Cavalry,
under the first three hundred thousand call. The
regiment was made up of troops from Iowa, Mis-
souri and Nebraska, and he was commissioned Sec-
ond Lieutenant. At the battle of Ft. Donelson he
was slightly wounded. lie also participated in the
memorable battle of Shiloh. The greater part of
his service was in the Army of the Cumberland.
In the fall of 1862 he was promoted to First Lieu-
tenant, and became Captain after the battle of
Franklin. January 26, 1865, an order was issued
from the War Department that all oflicers who had
served for three years could take their discharge,
and he retired from the army, after having partic-
ipated in many of the leading evunts of the Re-
bellion.
The war closed, Captain Beatty came to Delavan,
where for several years he was engaged in fanning
two -miles from the city. In 1866 he married
Miss Eleanor F., daughter of Elisha M. Holmes, a
prominent farmer of Palmyra, N. Y. Mrs. Beatty
is an accomplished lady and a graduate of the
Marion Collegiate Institute of New York. During
the panic of 1873 the Captain lost almost all his
property, and afterward taught three terms of
school. In 1882 he retired from the farm and en-
gaged in the grain and coal business, to which he
has since devoted considerable attention. In 1884
he aided in the erection of Armory Hall, which he
now owns and controls.
Under the administration of President Arthur,
Captain Beatty was appointed Postmaster at Del-
avan, and was again chosen for that oflice by Pres-
ident Harrison, holding the position until Febru-
ary. 1894, when his time expired. F' or some years
he served as Justice of the Peace, but failed to
qualify the last time he was elected. He has al-
ways been an ardent Republican and takes an ac-
tive part in local politics. He is prominent in the
Grand Army of the Republic, and three times has
been chosen Commander of the post. As above
mentioned, he is President of the Old Soldiers' As-
sociation. In his religious belief be is a Methodist
and holds membership in the church of that de-
nomination at Delavan.
Captain and Mrs. Beatty have had five children.
342
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
The eldest son, Guy, a prominent newspaper man
of Delavan, is the owner of the Times Building,
one of the finest brick structures in the place, and
which- is occupied by the Times printing office and
the postofflce. At sixteen he was the editor of the
Delavau Times, the success of which he largely in-
creased, and in the publication of which he after-
ward associated with himself his brother, S. H.. to
whom he finally disposed of the plant and paper
in June, 1893. Kate is the wife of C. D. Hopkins,
who is conducting a newspaper at Greenview, this
state. Starr II., editor and proprietor of the Del-
avan Times-Press, is represented elsewhere in this
volume. John is a graduate of the Delavan High
School, in which the younger daughter, Grace, is
now being educated.
pear.
ENRY F. FROEBE. This BIOGRAPHICAL
RECORD of Tazewell County would be in-
complete if within its pages a sketcli of the
above-named gentleman should fail to ap-
His standing is high among the citizens of
Pekin and the surrounding country, and he is de-
servedly respected by those who are favored with
his friendship. He is at present the traveling rep-
resentative of the Pekin Plow Company, in which
he is a stockholder, and also travels in the interest
of the T. & H. Smith Company.
A native of this state, our subject was born in
Beardstown. Cass County, February 20, 1852. He
is of German parentage, his father, John J. Froebe,
being a native of Saxony. The latter was a miller
in his native country, and coming to the United
States when eighteen years of age, located at
Quincy, where he learned the trade of a carpen-
ter, and from that city removed to Beardstown,
this state. About 1858 he came to Pekin; lie
worked at his trade for one year, when he removed
to Danvers, where he was a general merchant. His
next removal was made in 1863 to Bay port, Mich.,
where he was also engaged as a merchant, and the
following year, enlisted in the Union army, in the
Twenty-third Michigan Infantry. After a service
of about eighteen months he was discharged, and
returning to Bayport, located on the farm on
which he departed this life when sixty-two years
of age. His good wife, Mrs. Maria (Sch river)
Froebe, died in this city in 1859. Her husband
was later married to Miss Sarah Gollia, a resident
of Pekiu, and by her he became the father of four
children.
Henry F. was the second child born of his fa-
ther's first marriage, his sisters being Carrie, now
Mrs. D. C. Smith, of this city, and Amelia, Mrs.
Herman Roedell, who also resides in Pekin. Our
subject attended school in this city until seven-
teen years of age, when he learned the art of pho-
tography under the instruction of J. C. Parker.
After working for two years at this business his
health was impaired to such an extent that he was
obliged to go where he could have outdoor exer-
cise, and in 1871 went to Ba}' City, Mich., and be-
-gan : ,working in the lumber woods. For five years
he vttC&ehgaged in rafting up the Cass and Pigeon
Rivers, and at the expiration of that time re-
turned to this city in robust health. This was in
1876, and the following year Mr. Froebe began
work in the shops of the T. & H. Smith Wagon
Company as assistant bookkeeper, and in October,
1879, it was incorporated as the Pekin Plow Com-
pany. He continued to hold that position until
1891, when, in the fall of that year, he went on
the road in the interest of the company, his ter-
ritory being the northern half of this state.
Henry F. Froebe and Gersena, daughter of John
Albertsen, were united in marriage in this city in
1879. Mrs. Froebe was born in this city, and by
her union with our subject has become the mother
of four children, Carrie A., Albert A., Nellie M.
and an infant unnamed. In social affairs our sub-
ject is a Knight of Pythias, belonging to the Uni-
formed Rank, and is a member of the Legion of
Honor and the Woodman's Mutual Protective
Association. He is a stockholder in the Pekin
Loan and Home Association, and is connected
with the Traveling Men's Protective Association.
He is a man of keen intelligence and good busi-
ness qualifications, and conducts successfully any
enterprise with which he chooses to connect him-
JOHN S. MOOBERRY.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
345
self. A respected citizen, a true and loyal Re-
publican, a man of progressive ideas and fine
principles, he surely embodies the highest type of
American citizenship.
OHN S. MOOBERRY. A finely improved
farm of three hundred and twenty acres
pleasantly situated in Grovcland Township,
Tazewell County, has been the home of Mr.
Mooberry for more than forty years. A native of
Ohio, he was born near Columbus, November 5,
1826, and was educated in the common schools of
the neighborhood. He is well informed on gen-
eral topics, as well as in the work to which he has
given his attention as a life labor. He is success-
fully conducting the vocation of a general farmer,
keeping up the improvements upon the homestead
and displaying many of the qualities which led
his father to success in the same calling.
The Mooberry family is of Scotch origin. The
first record that can be found of their history in
America is the death of Robert Mooberry, which
occurred June 4, 1798. According to the most
creditable theory, he was our subject's great-grand-
father, and the son of one of the members of the
original Quaker colony founded in Pennsylvania
by William Penn. Our subject's grandfather,
William, was born in Chester County, Pa., Sep-
tember 18, 1752, and labored continuously and
successfully in agricultural pursuits. The only in-
termission in his labors on the farm was at the
time of the Revolution, when he joined the Colo-
nial army and served through the entire period of
the war. On his return home he was expelled
from the Quaker Church because he would not ad-
mit that he had done wrong in going to war. He
had served as baggage master in the army, but was
never able to secure a pension on account of hav-
ing lost some of his papers.
October 16, 1788. in Pennsylvania, occurred the
marriage of William Mooberry and Elizabeth Ram-
sey, the latter being a native of York County, Pa.,
born February 7, 1707. They became the parents
of five sons and two daughters: William. Alexan-
der, David, John, Samuel, Jane and Nancy. The
daughters died in childhood, Nancy being scalded
to death on the day of* the funeral of Jane. In
1806 Grandfather Mooberry removed to Franklin
County, Ohio, where he and his wife passed away,
the former January 28, 1829, and the latter Au-
gust 27, 1822.
The father of our subject, David Mooberry, was
born in York County, Pa., October 7, 1798, and
was taken by his parents to Ohio in childhood. He
came to Illinois overland in 1832, and on the 20th
of October arrived in Groveland Township, Taze-
well County, where on section 11 he entered eighty
acres. Throughout his entire life he followed the
occupation of a farmer and stock-raiser, in which
he was prospered. At various times he entered
five hundred and twenty acres, and accumulated
by purchase and entry about nine hundred acres.
In addition to farming, he operated a sawmill
for eight or ten years. In politics he was a Whig.
The community where he had so long resided
mourned his death, July 9, 1850, as a public be-
reavement, for he had ever been active and ener-
getic in all good works.
Margaret Stumbaugh, as the mother of our sub-
ject was known in maidenhood, was born in Frank-
lin County, Pa., on the 26th of February, 1801,
and died in December, 1890. Her children, nine in
number, were as follows: Samuel R., William, John
S.; Elizabeth, who died at the age of nineteen;
Margaret, Mrs. Oliver; George, who died at the
age of twenty-two; Martha J., the deceased wife
of Alexander Mooberry; Alexander; and Mary, a
widow. Our subject's maternal grandfather, John
Stumbaugh, was born in Pennsylvania, and died
in Franklin County, that state, where for years he
had engaged in farming.
The subject of this sketch was reared upon the
home farm and received a limited education in the
primitive schools of his neighborhood. At the
age of twenty-one, beginning for himself, he rented
land belonging to his father and some of the neigh-
bors, and January 16, 1851, he settled upon the
place where he now resides. His father gave him
an eighty-acre tract, to which he has added by
subsequent purchase until his possessions aggre-
gated one hundred and sixty acres of timber land,
346
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and three hundred and twenty acres of tillable
soil. To his children he has given liberally of his
property, and now retains but three hundred and
twenty acres. The success which he has attained
is well deserved and is the result principally of
the raising of stock, in which he formerly engaged
to a large extent.
The Mooberry farm is one of the most valuable
in Groveland Township, being improved with good
buildings and all the appurtenances required by
the progressive and industrious agriculturist. Mr.
Mooberry keeps himself posted upon modern meth-
ods of agriculture, and avails himself of the most
approved machinery in the cultivation of his land.
Prior to 1860 he was a Whig in political senti-
ment, and since that time has given his support to
the Republican party. He has served in various
township offices, and was active in contributing
toward clearing the township of draft. In relig-
ious belief he is a Universalist.
January 7, 1851, Mr. Mooberry married Miss
Jane Cunningham, who was born in Ross County,
Ohio, and died on the home farm April 10, 1877.
Her parents, Thomas and Mary (Cameline) Cun-
ningham, came to Illinois about 1840, where her
father followed the occupation of a farmer. Dur-
ing the War of 1812 he joined the army and
fought in various important engagements. He
and his wife died in Illinois, after having reared to
mature years seven children: John, William, James,
Eliza, Jane, Mary and Nancy. Mr. and Mrs. Moo-
berry became the parents of six children, namely:
Helen, the wife of La Fayctte Birkett; Emeline,
John C., George W., Mary L. and Lewis G., all of
whom were given good educational advantages.
C. HAYBARGER, one of the enterprising
and leading businessmen of Mackinaw who
is now interested in a gristmill at this
place, claims West Virginia as the State of
his nativity. He was born in Augusta County,
July 30, 1828, and is a son of Abraham and Mary
(Crobarger) Ilaybarger. The former was born in
Pennsylvania in 1799, and his parents were natives
of Germany. He was reared upon a farm and then
learned the cooper's trade with his brother-in-law.
In his father's family were the following children,
John, Jacob, Abraham, Mary, Betsy and Katie.
With his parents he removed to West Virginia,
where he was married, and in the year 1834
he emigrated with his family to Illinois, locating
on the line between Tazewell and Woodford
Counties, where he engaged in farming until 1840.
He then removed to McLean County and bought
a farm of one hundred and sixty-one acres of partly
improved land. Thereon he reared his family of
seven children. David, the eldest, died of cholera
at the age of twenty-two; Susan is the deceased
wife of Charles Henshaw; Sarah is the wife of J.
B. Ayers; Elizabeth is the wife of John Smith, a
fanner of Tazewell County; Julia is the wife of D.
B. Smith, of Normal, 111.; one child died in infancy.
The parents are both members of the Presbyterian
Church, and the father was a Democrat in politics.
His death occurred in McLean County in 1845,
and his wife passed away in 1888, at theadvanced
age of eighty-eight yqjirs.
J. C. Ilaybarger came with his parents to the
west and was reared amid the wild scenes of the
locality, sharing with the family the experiences
and hardships of pioneer life. The common schools
afforded him his educational privileges. He was
eighteen years of age at the time of his father's
death, and the care of the family devolved upon
him. In 1852 he, his mother and a brother and
sister all suffered an attack of the cholera at the
same time. Engaged in the cultivation of the
home farm, Mr. Ilaybarger spent the early years of
his manhood, remaining with his mother until his
removal to Mackinaw in 1879. While in McLean
County he served as Justice of the Peace for eight
years. During this time he accumulated two hun-
dred and thirty-seven acres of land, which he yet
owns. He also has two town lots, a half-interest
in a store building and lot, a half-interest in an
unimproved lot and a fourth-interest in the Macki-
naw gristmill, with which he has been connected
since his removal to this place.
In McLean County was celebrated the marriage
of Mr. Ilaybarger and Miss Catherine, daughter of
David Puterbaugh. Six children graced this union,
but two died in early life, and John is also de-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
347
ceased; Emma is the wife of Charles Puterbaugh
and has three children; Mary ,1. is the wife of
George Miller and has two children: Samuel wed-
ded Mary Judy. The mother of this family passed
away in 1884, and Mr. Haybarger afterward mar-
ried Almeda Lamason. He is a member of the
Presbyterian Church, and his wife and three chil-
dren are members of the Christian Church. So-
cially, he is connected with Mackinaw Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., and with the Order of the Eastern Star.
In politics he is a Democrat, has four times served
as Assessor of Mackinaw, and was once a member
of the Town Board. For about sixty years he has
resided in this part of Illinois, and may well be
numbered among the early pioneers who have been
the founders of the county and in its upbuilding
have taken so prominent a part.
y~ILLIAM M. BAYNE. The prominent
resident of Pekin whose name opens this
article is a bridge contractor in the city,
where lie is also a lumber, steel and iron merchant.
He has many friends in the community, who hold
him in high regard, and in 1893 he was elected
Alderman of the Fourth Ward. Mr. Bayne was
born in La Salic County, 111., August 1, 1860, and
is a son of Milton Bayne, whose birthplace was
Brown County, Ohio, while the grandfather of
our subject was a native of Bourbon County, Ky.,
and was of Scotch descent. The latter early in
life removed to the above county in Ohio, where
he was a farmer, and whence he came to Wood-
ford County, this state, and lived a life of retire-
ment.
The father of our subject came to Illinois in
1851, at which time he located in LaSalle Coun-
ty on a farm which he improved, making of it
a valuable estate. In 1868 he became engaged
as a bridge contractor in this state, and remov-
ing to Wenona, made that place his home un-
til the year 1891, when lie removed to Chi-
cago and is now living a retired life. He was the
second oldest bridge contractor in this state, and
accumulated a handsome property in this branch
of work. His wife was prior to her marriage
Miss Nancy Carson; she was born in Adams
County, Ohio, and was the daughter of James A.
Carson, a farmer and trader in the above county.
Mrs. Bayue is still living, and is the mother of
five sons, all of whom are living with one ex-
ception.
William M. Bayne, of this sketch, was educated
in the schools of Wenona, and in 1878 began in
business witli his father and brother as a lumber
merchant, they usually owning and operating two
yards. In the fall of 1880 he removed to Gard-
ner, this state, and in partnership with his father
did a retail business in that line for about a year,
when they returned to Wenona and carried on
business there until 1882. Mr. Bayne then spent
three years in constructing bridges throughout
Illinois, and erected three across the Illinois River,
lie has been operating alone since 1889, and on
coming to Pekin two years later purchased the
lumber and stave mill from Samuel Wood & Co.,
which is now incorporated as the Pekin Lumber
and Stave Company, of which his father is Presi-
dent and himself Vice-President. His brother,
L. M. Bayne, is Secretary and Treasurer, and since
our subject has been traveling in the interest of
the company the latter superintends the opera-
tion of the mill. The firm which carries on the
bridge work is known as M. Bayne & Son, builders
of iron and steel highway bridges.
William M. Bayne was married in May, 1885,
to Miss Lillie, daughter of Johnson Brown. The
lady was born in Wenona, this state, while her
father is a native of Pennsylvania and the son of
Charles Brown, an early settler of this state, where
he was a farmer of prominence. The father of
Mrs. Bayue is now living in California, to which
state he moved during the gold excitement, and
being very successful in his operations, is now liv-
ing retired. The maiden name of his wife was
Augusta Reuiff.
To our subject and his wife have been born two
children, Roland L. and Edith. Socially, Mr.
Bayne is a Mason, and Mrs. Bayne is a consist-
ent member of the Presbyterian Church. In pol-
348
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
itics he is a Republican, and upholds all things
which seem right in his sight. His good business
qualities have resulted in his acquiring a compe-
tence, and his acquaintance is large, he numbering
among his friends the best residents in the county.
v .$.==.5;==* -
' ACOB W. BARKDOLL, one of the honored
veterans of the late war, who is successfully
engaged in business in Tremont as a dealer
in wagons, buggies and farm machinery,
claims Ohio as the state of his nativity, for his
birth occurred in Ricliland County, on the 22d of
May, 1848. His father, Joseph Barkdoll, was a
native of Germany, and when quite .young was
brought by his parents to America. In Ricliland
County, he married Margaret Augustine, daughter
of Dr. Jacob Augustine, and a native of Germany.
She crossed the Atlantic with her parents when.?,
maiden of thirteen, and after living for a time in
Maryland went to the Buckeye State. From Rich-
land County, Mr. and Mrs. Barkdoll removed to
Williams County, Ohio, where the mother is still
living. They had a family of ten children, George
E. and Louisa, both of Daviess County, Mo.; Jane,
deceased wife of John Deitrick; Jacob W.; LaFay-
ette, of Antelope County, Neb.; Franklin, of Will-
iams County, Ohio; Albert, of Oregon; Maria, who
died at the age of eighteen; Mary, now of Michi-
gan, and Malan, of Antelope County, Neb. The
father of this family was a stalwart Democrat,
served as County Treasurer and County Super-
visor, and was honored with other local ollices. He
held membership with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, to which his wife belonged, and was an in-
fluential and highly respected citizen. His death
occurred about 1885.
J. W. Barkdoll was still at home at the time of
the breaking out of the Civil War, in 1861. Al-
though only fifteen years of age he joined the
boys in blue, and became a member of Company C,
Thirty-eighth Ohio Infantry. He took part in the
battles of Chickamauga, Jonesboro, Missionary
Ridge and-Atlanta, and all the engagements of the
Atlanta campaign. He went with Sherman on the
celebrated march to the sea, and on the expiration
of his three years' term veteranized at Chattanooga.
He was mustered out in Louisville, Ky., and re-
ceived his final discharge in Cleveland, Ohio, in
July, 1865, after four years of faithful and valiant
service. His braveiy equalled that of the men of
middle age, for he was always found at his post,
faithful to every duty devolving upon him.
After his return home, Mr. Barkdoll engaged at
working at the blacksmith's trade. In 1872, he
removed to Mackinaw and established a smithy of
his own, carrying on business along that line for
about fifteen years, when he began dealing in bug-
gies, wagons and general farm machinery. About
1891, he formed a partnership with L. B. David-
son. They carry a stock valued at $7,000 in
Mackinaw. In Tremont they established a branch
house, and the business here so steadily increased
that Mr. Barkdoll came hither to take charge of it.
: Our subject has been twice married. He first
.w^def}"'N'a.hnie Ilerndon, daughter of Walker
Ilerndon, and after her death he married Catherine
Peardon, daughter of George Peardon, and a na-
tive of Ohio. They have two children, Lula A.
and an infant. Mr. Barkdoll is a Royal Arch Mason,
and also belongs to the Odd Fellows' society. In
politics he is a stalwart Republican, and for three
terms served as one of the Aldermen of Mackinaw.
He possesses most excellent business ability, is an
enterprising and industrious man, sagacious and
far sighted, and as the result of his own efforts he
has achieved a high degree of success.
AVID WANDSCHNEIDER is one of the
oldest contractors and builders in the city,
which business he mastered in his native
land, Germany. He has long been iden-
tified with the interests of this county, and al-
though his biography is well known, a brief recital
here may still more firmly establish the record
of his honorable, upright and useful life. John
or
CHRISTOPHER SHAFFER.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
351
Wandschneider, the father of our subject, was a
native of Mecklenburg, Germany, where also his
father, John, Sr., was born. The maiden name of
our subject's mother was Marie Quant; she was
also a native of the Fatherland, and, became the
mother of five children, of whom David was the
third child, the date of his birth being October 1,
1827. The latter was reared on his father's farm,
and although having no extended opportunities for
an education, he punctually attended the schools of
this neighborhood when he could be spared, and
lost no chance to gain the knowledge he coveted.
When sixteen years old lie found time to learn
the carpenter's trade, at which he was employed
during the summer, and in the winter season at-
tended the Builders' College, where he took up
drafting and architecture.
During the Revolution of 1848 Mr. Wand-
schneider served in the Prussian army, in which
he was Sergeant of his compan}'. He served dur-
ing the entire campaign, and in 1849 went to
Denmark, where he found work at his trade, and
was boss carpentei and contractor until 1855.
That year he decided to come to America, and
leaving Hamburg on a vessel bound for New York
City, came directly to Tazewell County, this state,
and that same year we find him in Pekin, where
he has been engaged as a contractor ever since.
He is now one of the most; prominent architects
in the city, and is an expert in the building of
both brick and frame structures. He built the
residence of Mayor Wilson, which is the finest in
the city; he was the architect of the American Dis-
tillery, and has put up several brick blocks both
in Pekin and Peoria.
Mr. Wandschneider was married in Denmark,
in J858, to Miss Minnie Buck, a native of that
place. She became the mother of four daughters,
and died in 1873. Her children are, Sophy, resid-
ing in Missouri; Elsie and Emma, at home; and
Annie, now Mrs. E. W. Wilson, of Pekin. Our
subject was married the second time to Miss Ther-
esa Richter, who was born in Germany. He has
been Alderman from the Second Ward for one
term, and served the same length of time as Su-
pervisor and Assessor. He is a Democrat in poli-
tics, is one of the public-spirited citizens of the
county, being interested in all enterprises of a
worthy nature, and every laudable movement finds
in him a strong supporter.
HRISTOPHER SHAFFER. This gentleman
is one of the many who have spent the
greater portion of their lives in developing
the country in order that their children and
grandchildren might enjoy the advantages which
they themselves were denied. In truth, we to-day
are the "heirs of all ages" and profit by the labor
and self denial of the hard working classes of times
past. Our subject is one of the wealthy agricult-
urists of Tazewell County, and is now living on
section 23, Morton Township, where he has a val-
uable estate.
A native of Greenbrier County, Va., our subject
was born April 29, 1813, to Christopher and Mary
(Fisher) Shaffer, natives of Pennsylvania. The
former was reared on a farm in the Keystone
State, and when a young man emigrated to Vir-
ginia, where he married. He was a miller by trade
and followed that occupation through life, to-
gether with that of farming. He was twice mar-
ried, and by his first wife became the father of
four children, George, Peter (a soldier in the War
of 1812), Elizabeth and Mary. By his union with
the mother of our subject there were born three
children, Pluiibe, Philip and Christopher.
About 1825 Christopher Shaffer, Sr., emigrated
with his family to Franklin County, Ohio, where
he lived for a number of years. Later he came to
this county, making his home with our subject un-
til his decease, which occurred at the advanced age
of ninety-three years and six months. At the time
the family located in the Buckeye State our sub-
ject was a lad of thirteen years and soon began to
make his own way in the world, being first em-
ployed as a. farm hand. He received his education
in the subscription schools of that day. and when
reaching his majority received as pay for his labors
only $10 a month. lie was very economical and
industrious, and from this small salary was enabled
to save money. He spent one year working in a
352
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
tan yard, and although becoming quite proficient
in that business, followed it only a short time.
A year after becoming of age Mr. Shaffer mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Emmer and Eliza-
beth (Huff) Cox. The lady 1 was born in Ohio,
November 25, 1812. while her parents were natives
of Virginia and were farmers by occupation. After
his marriage Mr. Shaffer began farming on rented
land in Franklin County, but soon came with his
family to this county, where he was convinced he
could better his financial condition. The trip was
made overland in 1841, and all their worldly pos-
sessions were placed in a wagon drawn by four
horses, and Mr. Shaffer says that even then it was
not very heavily loaded. By trading one of his
teams on his arrival in this county he was able to
make a payment on a quarter-section of land
which he had purchased, and which is included in
his present fine estate. He now owns four hundred
acres of choice land in Morton Township, upon
which he settled in 1842, the family then making
their home in a hewed log cabin which he erected.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Shaffer, of whom Orlando and Phoebe are deceased.
Lavina married William Huxtable; Eliza is the
wife of Joseph Walden; the others are, Sarah J.,
Lewis M., William and John H. Our subject is a
member of the Baptist Church, with which he has
been connected since 1840, and has held the office
of Deacon for over a quarter of a century. His
estimable wife departed this life September 9,
1886. Mr. Shaffer has sixteen grandchildren and
twelve great-grandchildren living. He is one of
the best citizens of the county, and during his
long career here not a word could ever be said
against his honesty and uprightness.
~ HOMAS B. HAMILTON, one of the early
settlers of Pekin, who has here made his
home since 1856, is now engaged in busi-
ness as a contractor in mason and brick work.
He also takes contracts for plastering and for lay-
ing artificial stone sidewalks, and is a retail dealer
in cement, lime and other materials of the kind.
His honorable, straightforward dealings and the
faithfulness with which he fulfills his part of a
contract have won him" a liberal and well deserved
patronage.
Mr. Hamilton was born in Port Hope, Canada,
December 21, 1845. His parents, Christopher and
Elizabeth Persons, were both natives of England.
The maternal grandfather brought his family to -
America in an early day and spent his last days
in Toledo, Ohio. The father of our subject, on -
crossing the Atlantic, located in Canada, and in
1847 removed to Toledo, where he was employed
as foreman and engineer in a sawmill. He died
of cholera in 1849, leaving a widow and a son s
Thomas, their only child. Mrs. Persons afterward
became the wife of John Hamilton, and our sub-
ject took the name of his step-father, by which he
has been called since six years of age. The mother
was a third time married, her last husband being
Samuel Ingram. Her death occurred in Pekin,
July 13, 1891, at the age of sixty -seven years.
Mr. Hamilton of this sketch was reared in Ohio
until 1856, when he removed to Peoria, where he
spent one winter. He then came to Pekin, where
he worked on a farm and attended school. Later
he engaged as an emploj'e on a steamer plying
between La Salle and St. Louis, and in 1862 he
entered the Union army. Mr. Hamilton was mus-
tered in at Camp Butler for three months' service;
he was a member of Company K, Sixty-eighth Illi-
nois Infantry, and when his time expired, returned
home. In February, 1865, he again enlisted, be-
coming a member of Company C, Fourteenth Illi-
nois Infantry, and again did service in Virginia
until the close of the war. He participated in the
Grand Review in Washington, after which he re-
turned to his home.
In 1866, Mr. Hamilton learned the trade of a
plasterer, and a year later bought out his employer.
From that he has branched out into his present
business, and in 1884 he began contracting for
the laying of cement sidewalks. He now gives
employment to seven men and enjoys a fine busi-
ness. He did the plastering in the high school
and in the Douglas.. school, and also did some of
the brick work and has been employed on other
leading buildings of the city. He is connected
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
353
with the Pekin Loan and Homestead Association,
and with the National Loan and Homestead As-
sociation.
In 1864 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Ham-
ilton and Miss Selena L. Cottrell, who was born in
Beardstown, 111., and who died December 16, 1892,
leaving six children: William C., a brick mason;
Mrs. Alice E. Lester, of Pekin; Mary, wife of John
Leslie; Edith, Louisa and Thomas C.
Mr. Hamilton has been School Director for three
years, and takes an active interest in the cause of
education. In his political views he is a Democrat,
but has never sought or desired public office, pre-
ferring to give his entire time and attention to
his business interests, in which he has met with
good success. He may truly be called a self-made
man, for his prosperity is due entirely to his own
efforts.
-,ENDEL FARISCHON is one of the noted
men of this part of the state, and
widely known for the extensive knowl-
edge he possesses in this line. He is at present
yardmaster for the Santa Fe Railroad at Pekin,
which position he has held since October 4, 1872.
Our subject was born in Baden, Germany, Oc-
tober 21, 1845, and is the son of Bernard Farischon,
likewise a native of the Fatherland, where he was
a miller and carpenter. He took part in the Rev-
olution of 1848, and six years later emigrated with
his family from Bremen on a sailing-vessel, which
landed them forty-eight days later in New York.
One sister died on the voyage, and after landing
in the New World the father went to Columbus,
Ohio, and four days after arriving there found
work in the lumber yards. Later he worked at
the trade of a carpenter and died in 1868. His
wife, Mrs. Catherine (Meckcrly) Farischon, was
born in Germany and died while residing in Co-
lumbus, Ohio, in 1856. The lady to whom the
father was married a second time was Miss Frances
Ropp; she died in 1892, after having become the
mother of five children.
Of the first marriage of Bernard Farischon,
three children were born, of whom our subject is
y;JJNLl
,,;,
_ is wi
the only one living. He was nine years old when
the removal was made to America, and thus had
attended his native school but three years. When
locating in Ohio he carried on his studies in the
public schools of that city for five years, after
which he was apprenticed to learn the cigarmaker's
trade. He worked at this for three and a-half
years, and in the fall of 1864 began in the rail-
road business as switchman for the Columbus,
Chicago <fe Indianapolis Central Railroad Com-
pany. In 1870 he went to Urbana, Ohio, as yard-
master, and in September, 1873, was employed in
Indianapolis, after which he came to Urbana, this
state, and accepted the position as switchman
witli the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western
Railroad. He was thus employed until October 3,
1875, when lie came to Pekin' as yardmaster in
the interest of the above company, in whose em-
ploy he remained seventeen and one-half years,
when he engaged with the Santa Fe.
While residing in Columbus, Ohio, Mr. Faris-
chon was married, in 1869, to Miss Frances I. Free-
man, who was born in Medford, Mass., but was
reared in Ohio. Their union has been blessed by the
birth of five children, all at home, viz.: Susan C.,
Frederick, Philip H., Otto C. and Nellie M. So-
cially, our subject is a member of the United An-
cient Order of Druids, and in politics is a strong
Democrat. He is a man whose pleasant, genial
nature makes him friends, and in all the relations
of life he has borne himself in an honest and up-
right manner.
ANIEL BECKLEY is one of the most
highly respected citizens of Mackinaw.
He has been prominently connected with
its business, social and official interests,
for on a number of different occasions he has been
called upon to serve his fellow-townsmen in
positions of public trust. All who know him
esteem him highly for his sterling worth, and we
feel assured that this record of his life will prove
of interest to many of our readers.
Mr. Beckley was born in Union County, Pa.,
April 15, 1831, and is a son of Daniel and Mary
354
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
M. (Tittle) Beckley. The paternal grandfather
was of English descent, and the grandmother was
a native of Wales. Daniel Beckley, Sr., was born
in Pennsylvania, and engaged in keeping hotel 6n
the Susquehanna River in the early days, when
people shipped their produce to market on rafts.
There his children, nine in number, were born. Six
grew to mature years. Sabina became the wife of D.
S. Ilisinger; Mary, after the death of her sister, be-
came the wife of Mr. Ilisinger; Eliza A. became the
wife of John Wenck; Henry is the next younger;
Daniel is the fifth; and Alexander is deceased.
The parents were both members of the Presbyterian
Church, and in politics Mr. Beckley was a Whig.
For a number of years he served as Constable. He
removed to Pekin in 1839, and for a few years en-
gaged in farming. His death occurred in 1846,
and his wife passed away in 1841. The boat in
which they came to their new home was the first
to make the trip from Pittsburgh to Pekin, and
was named the "London."
Daniel Beckley, whose name heads this record,
remained at home until his father's death, but
for two years previous had worked for Mathias
App, a pioneer on the Mackinaw River, receiving
$3 per month and his board and washing. He was
then apprenticed to Henry Clauser, a blacksmith,
witli whom he remained until 1849, after which he
worked by the day or month with D. S. Risinger,
making wagons. In May, 1854, he located in
Mackinaw, where he established a general repair
and wagon making shop, carrying on business
along that line until 1868, when he turned his at-
tention to farming. He became the owner of two
farms, and continued to engage in agricultural pur-
suits until 1876, when he established an agricultural
implement store which he carried on until 1888.
In that year he resumed farming, in which line of
business he is still interested. He has accumulated
four hundred and fifty acres of valuable land,
owns a half-interest in a brick business block, and
has one of the finest residences in Mackinaw.
Mr. Beckley was married in this place in the
year 1856 to Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and
Sophia Flesher. The parents removed from Vir-
ginia to Illinois in a very early day, and her birth
occurred in Mackinaw. Mr. and Mrs. Beckle}'
have a daughter, Lora E., who was educated in
Eureka College, and who is now the wife of L. M.
Brock, an ice dealer of Mackinaw. They and their
daughter are members of the Christian Church
and are numbered among the most prominent peo-
ple of this community.
Since the fall of 1854, Mr. Beckley has been a
member of the Masonic fraternity, and belongs to
the blue lodge, chapter and council, having taken
the higher degrees in Pekin. In 1856 he became
a member of the Odd Fellows 'society. He is now
Master of Mackinaw Lodge No. 132, A. F. & A. M.,
and has filled this office for nineteen years. He
cast his first Presidential vote for Win field Scott,
but since that time has been a supporter of the
Democratic part}', and has served in local ottices
of the town and township. His well spent life is
one worthy of emulation.
OLOMON D. LAROSH. Among the suc-
cessful agriculturists of Tazewell County,
he with whose name we introduce this
sketch holds no unimportant position. He
has met with success as a tiller of the soil and has
made a specialty of stock-raising, for which pur-
pose he has one of the finest bodies of land within
Groveland Township. For. the past ten years he
has engaged in the raising of Hereford cattle and
also makes a special feature of Poland-China hogs.
The. soil is fertile, and upon the land have been
placed the various improvements to be found upon
a first-class farm.
The LaRosh family is of French origin, and
three successive generations lived in Pennsylvania.
Near Allentown, in Lehigh County, that state,
Jonas, our subject's father, and the son of Isaac
LaRosh, was born February 20, 1812. When a
young man he went to Niagara County, N. Y
where he followed the trade of a carpenter and
also operated a sawmill on Mud Creek. In 1851 h
moved to Illinois, making the journey via canal
lakes and railroad, and locating in Grovelano
Township, Tazewell County, where he purchased
two hundred acits included in our subject's pres-
ent farm. On section 18 he improved a valuable
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UNIYEKSm OF ILLINOIS
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
357
homestead from the raw prairie and there he con-
tinued to reside until his death, in April, 1887. In
politics he was first a Whig and then a Republican.
In the Evangelical Church of his home neighbor-
hood he was one of the charter members and an in-
Iluential and active worker.
Jonas LaRosh was three times married. His
first wife, Amelia Dunkelberg, was born in Somer-
set County, Pa., June 10, 180 1, and bore him eight
children. Two sons, George and Samuel, died in
boyhood. Daniel D. enlisted in the Union army
ill 1861, and was killed while guarding stock on an
island near Memphis. The other sons are Solomon
D., John D. and Daniel D. The second and third
marriages of Mr. LaRosh (the former with Mrs.
Salona Myers, and the latter with Rebecca Fass)
were childless.
The subject of this sketch was bora six miles
south of Lockport, N. Y., July 22, 1839, and re-
ceived a fair education in the district schools. At
the age of twenty-five lie began the independent
career of a farmer in Washington^ Townsliip, and
in 1869 he bought one hundred'-tind' forty 1 acres
adjoining his father's property. In the spring of
1884 he disposed of that place and settled upon
the old homestead, where he now owns three hun-
dred and forty acres. As above mentioned, he
makes a specialty of stock-raising. He also has a
large* orchard and raises fruit of fine varieties.
April 28, 1864, Mr. LaRosh married Miss Chris-
tena Ramige, who was born in Wayne County,
N. Y., and died April 2, 1885, at the family home
in Groveland Township. She was .a daughter of
George and Barbara (Eier) Ramige, the former a
native of Alsace, France, whence he emigrated to
America, and about 1845 settled on section 7,
Groveland Township, Tazewell County. In addi-
tion to his trade as a cooper he also officiated for
many years as a local preacher in the Evangelical
Church. Mr. and Mrs. LaRosh became the parents
of nine children, one of whom, Lillie R., died at
the age of six. The others are: George W., Jonas
E., Reuben I., Frederick A., Newton F., Ida J.,
Tillie R. and Christena L. The family worships
at the Evangelical Church, of which the wife and
mother was also a devoted member.
In all matters pertaining to the welfare of the
community and the development of the resources
of township and county, Mr. LaRosh is deeply in-
terested. Politically he supports the principles of
the Republican party. The people, appreciating the
fact that he is admirably adapted for service in
official capacity, have chosen him at various times
to serve in local places of trust. He has served as
Treasurer and Commissioner of his township, and
also takes an active interest in educational affairs.
ABBE VELDE, a highly respected citizen
of Pekin, is one of the original members,
and is now President and manager of the
T. & II. Smith Company. A man of great
energy and resolute purpose, he is in business saga-
cious and far-sighted, and through his well directed
efforts has won a high degree of success. He was
born near Emden, Hanover, Germany, November
29, 1832, and is a son of Carsjen Vandervelde, who
was born in 1794. The spelling of the name has
since been changed to its present form. His grand-
father was a shoemaker and grocer of Emden. The
father of our subject was a shoemaker and farmer,
and served in the Prussian army. In 1847, accom-
panied by his wife and five children, he boarded
the sailing-vessel "Emigrant" at Bremen, and af-
ter five weeks landed in New York City. By way
of the Hudson River, Erie Canal and the Great*
Lakes, he made his way to Keuosha. Wis., where
he followed farming for a time and then came to
Pekin, where his death occurred in 1880. His
wife, Fraucke Isebrandts Lupkes, died over twenty
years ago. Mr. Velde was a Deacon in the Ger-
man Reformed Church in his native land, but in
Pekin held membership with the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. In the family were six children,
four yet living. Mrs. Aggie Speaker died in Wis-
consin; Mrs. Catherine Feltman is living in Pekin;
Eetje is living in Hanover; Habbe is the next
younger; Teis died in Wisconsin; and Dinah is
the wife of George Alfs.
Our subject was reared in his native land, and
there followed shoemaking and farming. In Au-
gust, 1847, he became a resident of Southport, now
358.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Kenosha, Wis., and in the fall of 1851 came to
Pekin. Here he secured employment with the T.
& II. Smith Company, who carried on a wagon
manufactory and repair shop, and for about four
years ran the saws. He then worked in the black-
smith shop. He was thus employed in the winter,
and through the summer engaged in farm labor in
Wisconsin. In 1855 and 1856, he was employed
in the Baine Wagon Works at Kenosha, Wis. In
the fall of 1858, he located permanently in Pekin,
and early in 1859, on the death of Henry Smith, he
was made foreman of the blacksmith department,
remaining in charge for seven years and doing
a big business along that line. In 1866 he became
a partner in the company, and later was made gen-
eral manager and shipping clerk. In 1874 the
factory was destroyed by fire, but was at once re-
built, and Mr. Velde has since continued as man-
ager. At the same time the Pekin Plow Company
was incorporated and he became one of its Direc-
tors. He is also interested in the Smith-Hippin
Elevator Company and in the business of Teis
Smith & Co., bankers. The greater part of his at-
tention, however, is given to the manufacture of
wagons.
The buildings owned by the company are sev-
eral in number: One is 30x100 feet, four stories
in height; another is 60x100 feet, four stories in
height; the main factory is 75x75 feet; another is
30x170 feet and three stories in height; the blac:k-
* smith shop is 40x120 feet and two stories in
height; and there are several dry-houses, the wood
workers' shop and lumber and iron sheds, which
cover nearly three blocks. Mr. Velde buys all the
raw material, and the wagons and other products
of the factory find a ready sale throughout the
country. The machinery is of one hundred horse-
power in the wagon-making department. Employ-
ment is furnished to two hundred men, and the
factory has a capacity for turning out seven thou-
sand wagons annually. The company was incor-
porated in 1890, with a capital stock of $200,000.
In 1859, in Pekin, Mr. Velde was united in
marriage with Susan Luppen,a native of Germany,
and a step-daughter of Luppe Luppen. To them
were born seven children, four yet living: Charles
L., a lumber dealer of Pekin; Franklin L., who
was graduated from the University of Michigan
and the Union Law College of Chicago with the
degree of LL. B., practiced for a time in Chicago,
but is now connected with the T. & II. Smith Com-
pany; and Kate L. and Sarah, who are still at home.
Mr. Velde is now serving his seventh term of
two years each in the City Council, is Chairman
of the Finance Committee, and is a member of the
Committee on Bridges and Licenses. In 1882, he
returned to his native land and spent six months iu
traveling over Germany and France. In politics,
he has been a Republican since casting his first vote
for Fremont. He aided in the organization of the
German Mutual Aid Society of Pekin, of which
he was President for five years, is a member of the
German Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now
serving as Superintendent of the Sunday-school.
He takes a very prominent part in church and
benevolent work, and in 1888 was a delegate to
the General Conference in New York.
bOUlS MOSCHEL, the popular Postmaster
of Morton, was born in the Rhenish prov-
ince of Bavaria, Germany, May 30, 1847.
He is the son of Nicholas and Susannah (Schwartz)
Moschel, and the grandson of George and Eliza-
beth (Augnew) Moschel. The grandfather of our
subject was a son of Christian Moschel, who was
born in France and who was a soldier in Napoleon's
army during the latter part of the eighteenth
century. He later went to Switzerland, but re-
moved to Bavaria in 1811 and located near the
River Rhine, where our subject was born.
Both the father and grandfather of Mr. Moschel
were farmers by occupation; the3' owned their
property and were considered quite well off in
the part of Germany where they resided. The
latter reared a family of nine children, of whom
John, Nicholas, Frederick, Elizabeth and Charlotte
came to the United States. Those who remained
in their native land were, George, Christian, Jacob
and Philip. They are all now deceased. The
grandfather was a man of good education and a
devoted member of the Presbyterian Church.
Nicholas Moschel was reared to manhood on his
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
359
father's farm, and when old enough entered the
German army, serving six years us a soldier. On
reaching his thirtieth year he was married, and in
1861 emigrated to the United States, coming at
once to this county, where our subject was lo-
cated, lie purchased one hundred and ten acres
of land near Morton, on which be lived until his
decease, in 1892, at the advanced age of eighty-
three years. His good wife preceded him to the
better land by many years, dying in 1808.
Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Nicholas Moschel two are deceased, and those be-
sides our subject are, Frederick, Jacob, William,
Christina and Catherine. Louis, of this sketch,
was educated in the common schools of his native
country, and at the early age of fourteen years
started out in life for himself and crossed the At-
lantic alone. On arriving in America, he made
his way to Peoria, near which city an uncle was
living, and for a time he worked on his farm.
His father then coming hither he aided him in
placing the new farm under cultivation, and re-
mained at home until his marriage, in 1868, to
Miss Jacabena, daughter of Conrad and Jacabena
Hussong. Their home has been blessed by the
birth of three sons, viz.: William, who is employed
in the drug store of Dr. Shaffer, of Morton; Ed-
ward, assisting his father in the postoflice; and
Louis, who is still a student in the village school.
After completing his education the eldest son took
a course in pharmacy in Chicago, receiving a di-
ploma in the spring of 1894.
Although reared in the Presbyterian faith, Mr.
and Mrs. Moschel have identified themselves with
the Congregational Society, owing to the fact
that there is no Presbyterian Church in the village.
At one time our subject was a member of the
Odd Fellows' lodge at Washington, and was also
connected with the Druids' lodge of Peoria. He
was appointed Postmaster of Morton under Cleve-
land's first administration, and on the re-election
of that official was again chosen to fill that re-
sponsible position. He has likewise held many
local positions of trust; he has been President of
the Village Board, Trustee, Township Collector
and Constable. He has thoroughly identified
himself with the community in which he resides,
and all moral public measures which commend
themselves to his excellent judgment find in him
a hearty and liberal supporter.
yj? B. COONEY is engaged in the practice of
law in his native city, Pckin. He was
born June 7, 1859, in the old Eagle House,
one of the first hotels of this place. For some
time it was carried on by his father, William
Cooney, under whose management in that early
day it enjoyed a wide reputation throughout the
state. The father was a man of marked character-
istics and a very prominent citizen. He was born
in Ireland, and in 1849 he emigrated to New York,
where he arrived without a dollar, but he possessed
youth, health and a hopeful disposition, which en-
abled him to cope with the hardships of life. He
came west to Pekin, where his sister, Mrs. Fleming,
then resided, and for a time worked on the Illi-
nois Central Railroad. Later he was employed on
a steamboat running from Peoria to points as far
south as New Orleans. In 1862, he left his hotel
and removed to the northern part of Mason Coun-
ty, where he purchased one hundred and sixty
acres of land, but he found it too near ,to the
swamps to prove desirable, and in 1865 took up
his residence near Manito, 111., where he spent his
remaining days. He died August 13, 1892, leav-
ing a widow and three sons, William B., Richard
J. and Thomas J., all lawyers of prominence. The
two last are practitioners of Peoria. Richard served
as City Attorney of Havana, Mason County, and is
now State's Attorney of Peoria County. The
mother bore the maiden name of Alice Median.
She was born on the Emerald Isle, and is yet liv-
ing in Pekin, a well preserved lady.
The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood
days upon his father's farm near Manito. and
when nineteen years of age became a teacher in
the Coon Grove School. For three years he con-
tinued to follow that profession during the winter
season, receiving a good salary, which he carefully
saved and which he expended from time to time
during vacations in acquiring knowledge. He
attended the law department of the Northern
360
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Indiana Normal College of Valparaiso, Ind., was
graduated therefrom iii May, 1883, with the degree
of LL. B., and was then admitted to the Bar by
the Supreme Court.
Mr. Cooney went west to begin practice, and lo-
cated in Fargo, N. Dak., where he spent two years
in the prosecution of his chosen profession. Since
1886 he has been successfully engaged in practice
in Pekiu. One observing him would come to the
conclusion that he works on the motto "Drive your
business and do not let it drive you." lie has the
reputation of being an aggressive, forceful worker
and has already secured an enviable reputation as
a lawyer.
On the 24th of December, 1891, our subject
wedded Miss Idelhi llodenbeck, a native of Pekin.
Her father was a carpenter and builder, and was
one of the old and respected residents of this place.
His death occurred in December, 1893. In politics,
Mr. Cooney is an ardent Democrat, and although
he has held few ottices, he has always taken an ai>-
live interest in the affairs of the city and county.
He was City Attorney of Pekin for one term and
served its interests with fidelity and ability. We
bespeak for him a bright and successful career,
which his merits deserve.
OBERT WKIMER, a stockholder in the T. &
II. Smith Company, wagon manufacturers
cii\\\ of Pekin, one of the most important in-
) dustries in this part of the state, also has
charge of the' shipping department of the com-
pany, lie is an old resident of the county, and
has been connected with the factory longer than
any other man in its employ.
When a lad of fourteen years our subject cross-
ed the Atlantic from Stuttgart, Germany, where he
was born March 31, 1837. His father, John M.
Weimer, was a manufacturer of furniture in the
above place, although a native of Wurtemberg.
He was a Lutheran in religion, and died in 1845.
His wife, Mrs. Fredericka (Held) Weimer, was also
a native of the Fatherland. Mr. Held was Super-
intendent of freight in the wagon service in Stutt-
gart. Mrs'. Weimer died while residing in this
city in 1882, when in her eighty-second year.
Mr. Weimer was one in a family of four chil-
dren, of whom Charles died in Marseilles, France,
from cholera. Robert came with his mother and one
sister to this country in 1851; after landing here
they made their home for a short time in Newark,
N. J., where he was engaged in working on
a farm. The next year he came to Pekin and
found work in a chair factory of Mr. Shafe. A
3'ear later be entered the factory of the T. & II.
Smith Company, where he learned the trade of a
wagon-maker, continuing there until the outbreak
of the late war, when, April 18, 1861, he enlisted
in Company F, Eighth Illinois Infantry, and was
mustered into service at Springfield. On the ex-
piration of his three months' term of enlistment he
was discharged, and returning home, began work-
ing at his trade, which he continued to follow un-
til 18.60, when he opened a grocery store on Court
^^et.;. v 'ijPl^refe' years later he purchased an inter-
est in the distilling and refining company, and
at its incorporation was elected its Secretary.
Later Mr. Weimer represented it on the road, his
territory lying in the states of Nebraska, Kansas,
Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana and Illi-
nois.
His connection with the distillery lasted for
about three years, and in 1879 our subject re-
turned to work with the T. & H. Smith Company,
and in 1884 was made foreman of the wood de-
partment. This he held until April, 1893, when
he was given entire charge of the shipping rooms,
his duties being to receive all the stock and fill all
orders and mount all the wagons before shipping,
in order to see that they are perfect. In 1890 he
became stockholder in the company with which he
has been connected for so many years. His life
has been full of business, and he has been success-
ful in many ways, accomplishing much more than
many of those who started under more favorable
circumstances.
Robert Weimer was married in this city in 1870
to Miss Martha J., daughter of the Rev. Michael
Mullinger, and was born in Pomeroy, Ohio. Her
father is the minister of the German Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which he was one of the pio-
LIBRARY
Of tHt
# ILLINOIS
ADOLPH KREBAUM.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
363
neer ministers; he died in 1858. The eight chil-
dren born to our subject and his wife are: Edwin
A., who is studying medicine in the Rush Medical
College, of Chicago; Amelia, a school teacher in
the city of Douglas; Cora, Robert, Jr., Carl, Irvin,
William, and one who died in infancy. Politi-
cally, Mr. Weimer is a Republican.
-.. DOLPH KREBAUM. Now somewhat re-
fill tired from active business cares, this hon-
ored citizen of Havana enjoys in the
afternoon of life the fruits' of yearsof toil.
He and his wife occupy a brick residence which
was erected in 1875, and which, both in point of
architecture and appointment, is one of the finest
in the city. He was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany,
October 10, 1814, and is a son of Bernhard Kre-
baum, also a native of the Fatherland. The father
came to America in 1834, lauding at New Ov-
leans in June, after a voyage of two months on the
Atlantic. Thence he made his way up the river
to Havana, where he remained until his death, in
1853. The lady, whom he married in Germany
was Miss Fredericks Siebert. She, too, was living
in Havana at the time of her decease, which event
occurred in 1845.
Adolph was the eldest but one of fourteen chil-
dren and spent the first nineteen years of his life
in Germany, where he was given a good education
in the German language. He emigrated with his
parents to America, and thirteen years after locat-
ing in Havana was elected Clerk of Mason Count}',
to which position he was re-elected for eighteen
successive years. He was the second man to hold
that position in the county, and while the incum-
bent thereof performed his duties in a most satis-
factory manner. In 1875 he was one of the or-
ganizers of the First National Bank of Havana, in
which he is still a large stockholder. He is the
proprietor of a valuable farm in this county, be-
sides owning a large amount of real estate in the
city. In 1856 he was instrumental in securing the
Illinois River (now the Jacksonville South-east-
ern) Railroad through Havana. In numerous other
9
ways he has aided in promoting the best interests
of the city and has contributed very liberally of
his means toward gaining this end.
In 1860 Adolph Krebaum married Miss Sarah
K. Field, an intelligent and estimable lady, who was
born in Massachusetts in 1832. Her parents, Ran-
som and Eliza (Russell) Field, were natives respect-
ively of Leverett and Hadley, Mass., and her an-
cestors were people of influence in that state. Rev.
John Russell was the founder of the first church
in Iladley and was also its first pastor. The Fields
were long one of the leading families of Massa-
chusetts, and the present representatives have by
their honorable lives added lustre to the name
they bear.
The political affiliations of Mr. Krebaum have
always been with the Democratic party. Socially,
he is a member of Havana Lodge No. 88, A. F. &
A. M. Although now in his eightieth year, he
enjoys good health and the unimpaired use of his
mental faculties. He well merits his successes and
the high character for probity which years of
intimate business and social acquaintance have
brought him.
W" JLLIAM SMITH. The agricultural element
that has been so largely instrumental in
the upbuilding of Mason County is well
lepresented by this gentlemen, who is one of the
foremost farmers of Allen's Grove Township. The
farm which he owns and operates consists of four
hundred and eighty acres of choice land and is
one of the most valuable estates in the locality.
This property he has acquired by the exercise of
keen judgment, incessant industry and wise econ-
omy, and he is numbered among the prosperous
agriculturists who are using their influence to ad-
vance the welfare of the town and county.
Referring to the ancestral history of our subject,
we find that he is the eon of Sardius and Mary
(Woodard) Smith, natives of Worcester, Mass.
The grandfather on the maternal side was Noah
Woodard. William was born in Hague, Warren
County, N. Y., June 4, 1826, and is one of nine
children. The following still survive: Sardius,
364
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Ithamnr, William, Warren, Edmund; Sarah J., who
is the widow of Edmund Phillips, and Eliza A.
Those deceased are Mary, and Dennis Arthur, a
half-brother. Our subject preceded his parents to
Illinois about two years, coming in 1853, and first
settled in York, Carroll County, where he entered
three hundred and forty acres of land.
A short time afterward Mr. Smith came to Ma-
son County, where he met and married Mrs. Phebe
A. Adams, the widow of James Adams. This lady
was born in Vermont July 9, 1824, and is the
daughter of Joseph and Catharine (Burt) Gush-
man. In 1844 she and her husband came to Illi-
nois by way of the lakes and settled near White
Hall, in Greene County, whence in 1852 she re-
moved to Mason County. Her first marriage oc-
curring in Vermont in 1843, united her with Mr.
Adams, and their union resulted in the birth of
three children. The only one now surviving is
Emma, the wife of Edward Whitney, and a resi-
dent of Mason City. Mr. Adams passed away Oc-
tober 19, 1852.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith took place
March 22, 1855, and has resulted in the birth of
six children, as follows; George W., who married
Miss Annie Cunningham and has three children,
William I., Edmund V. and Mary H.; Edmund A.,
who married Miss Mary Brooks; Herbert F., who
was united with Miss Ellie B. Gilchrisl, and they
have three children, Charles II., Russell C. and
Walker G.; Allie J., who resides with her parents;
Josie and Ella, who are deceased. Prior to this
marriage Mr. Smith had been united in New York
with Miss Jane M. Cushman, who died in that
state February 2, 1852. Her two children are now
deceased.
After his second marriage Mr. Smith settled
upon the land entered by Mr. Adams and there he
engaged in farming and stock-raising. After his
step-children grew to mature years he sold his
property in Carroll County and purchased their in-
terest in the home farm. He and his wife are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
they enjoy the confidence and esteem of their large
circle of acquaintances. In politics he is a Repub-
lican and has been elected upon that ticket to a
number of responsible positions. For two terras
he served as Supervisor, for two terms as Town-
ship Collector, for twenty years as School Direc-
tor and for some time as Highway Commissioner
and School Trustee; all of the offices he filled to
the satisfaction of his constituents. He and his
wife occupy an enviable position both in religious
and social circles and are numbered among the
best people of the county.
ROF. D. B. PITTSFORD, County Supeiin-
l) tendent of Schools of Tazewell County,!
now residing in Delavan, claims Ohio as
the state of his nativity, his birth having
occurred near Granville, on the 21st of April,
1846. He is of Welsh descent, the family having
been founded in America by David Pittsford. a
native of Wales, his son, James Pittsford, being the
father of our subject. The latter was born in Chester
County, Pa., June 15, 1812, and when a child of
four years went to Licking County, Ohio, with his
parents. He was a man of good education, and
during curly life taught school. In the commu-
nity where he lived, he was a leading and influen-
tial citizen, and by his fellow-townsmen was called
upon to serve as Trustee of his township and as
County Commissioner, and was President of the
Agricultural Society. He was also candidate for
the nomination of County Treasurer, but lost the
primary election by twelve votes. In political be-
lief he was a Democrat. For three-quarters of a
century he lived upon one farm, his death there
occurring May 5, 1891. He married Maria Jones,
who was born in Utica, N. Y., in 1816, and was a
daughter of David R. Jones, a stone mason, who
went to Ohio in 1830. Her brother, Thomas D.
Jones, was one of the most noted sculptors of his
day, and his works may be found in many of the
public places of the nation. Another brother went
to the Sandwich Islands, became quite wealthy, and
there died in 1870. Mrs. Pittsford was a lady of
fine education, was a devout Christian woman, and
the world was made better for her having lived.
She died August 15, 1890, at the age of seventy-
four years. Her grandfather was from Wales, and
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
365
was a prominent Baptist preacher; her father was
Deacon of the same church.
Professor Pittsford had three sisters older than
himself, but was the eldest of four brothers. Phoebe
A. was married at the age of eighteen to Edward
Jones, a Deacon in the Baptist Church of Alexan-
dria, Ohio, and died at the age of twenty-three;
Mary E. is the wife of Henry II. Hilbrant, a farmer
of Union Station, Ohio, and is Secretary of the
Baptist Home Missionary Society of that state;
Susan was for many years the Matron of the Ohio
Orphan Asylum, and all of the sisters taught school;
Enoch J. is a commission merchant of Lawrence,
Kan.; William II. is living on the old homestead
in Ohio; and Frank J. resides in New Castle, Ind.
He is the only member of the family who has not
been a school teacher.
In the usual manner of farmer lads, Superin-
tendent Pittsford spent his childhood days. He
acquired his early education in the common schools,
pursued a course of study in Dennison University
of Granville, Ohio, and was graduated from the
Iron City Commercial College August 24, 1866,
and at the age of eighteen he began teaching. In
1867 he came to Illinois, and the following year
was employed as a teacher in Tazewell County. To
that work he then devoted his time and energies
until 1874, when, on account of failing health, he
went to Texas, where he followed teaching for five
years. He then returned to Tazewell County, and
until 1882 taught in the schools of Tremont,
Ilopedale and Minier. He then became manager
of the grain business in Delavan for the firm of
William Railsback <fe Co., and continued with them
until 1886, when he was nominated Counly Su-
perintendent of Schools, lie was elected by a ma-
jority of seventy-two, and in 1890, when again
nominated, received a majority of seven hundred
and seventy-four, the increased vote showing his
personal popularity and the confidence and trust
which he won by his efficient service. He this
year declined to be a candidate for a re-nomina-
tion, but is now an applicant for the position of
General Superintendent of Indian schools, and is
highly indorsed.
Mr. Pittsford was married July 9, 1872, to Mar-
garet M., daughter of Alex Wynd, a merchant of
Tremont, and they have a very interesting family
of five children: Edith N., who was born in Minier)
111., May 30, 1874, and ably assists him in his office;
James A., who was born in Kaufman, Tex., Decem-
ber 12, 1875, and is now clerking in Delavan; Ben
C., who was born in Will's Point, Tex., February
11, 1878, and is now working at the printer's trade
in Morton, 111.; Marion J., who was born in Hope-
dale, 111., March 13, 1881, and is now serving as
Page in the House of Representatives; and Walter
E., born June 8, 1883, is attending the Deluvan
school.
Professor Pittsford is without doubt one of the
most progressive and popular educators of Illinois,
and has a wide acquaintance throughout the state.
He belongs to the Knights of P3'thias fraternity,
and is a zealous and an honored member of the
order. Under his administration the schools of
Tazewell County have won a high standard of ex-
cellence, taking rank among the best in the slate,
and the appreciation of his services by those inter-
ested was shown by his largely increased majority
at his second election.
[JOSEPH A. MEYERS. The original of this
sketch, to which our attention is now di-
rected, is a rising 3 r oung agriculturist, who
has already made a name for himself among
the farmers of Sand Prairie Township, Tazewell
County, where he is residing on section 36. He
was born October 30, 1865, in Sand Prairie Town-
ship, and his early life was spent upon his father's
farm. His education was limited to the common
schools, and although being permitted to attend
only during the dull seasons on the farm, he was
very industrious in applying himself to his studies,
and is to-day intelligent and well informed.
Our subject is the son of John and Mary
Meyers, natives of Sand Prairie Township, who
are now living in Pekin. The lady to whom he
was married January 6, 1893, was Miss Mary,
daughter of John George Hild, who was born in
Germany in 1830. The latter was a carpenter by
trade, and after emigrating to America followed
that branch of work in New York for fourteen
366
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
3 r ears. Then corning to this county he purchased
a farm and spent the remainder of his life in its
cultivation, or until 1886. The maiden name of
his wife was Eva Maria Teryl, and the year of
their marriage was 1 870. After the death of Mrs.
Meyers' father, in 1886, her mother still continued
to reside on the old farm. She was born in Ger-
many in 1840, and on coming to America, in 1861,
located in Tazewell County, where she met and
married Mr. llild.
The wife of our subject was the second in or-
der of birth in a family of five children born
to her parents. John lives on the homestead with
his mother, as do also Frederick," Sophia Mag-
gie and Henry. To Mr. and Mrs. Meyers has
been born a son, Ray John, whose birth occurred
December 8, 1893. Mr. Meyers is honest in all his
dealings and is an industrious hard working farm-
er, who is now residing on a farm belonging to
his father. He is a Democrat in politics and be-
lieves in the principles taught by that great party.
ACOB L. MEYER. There are few things
that inspire a more general interest than
does the sketch of a successful business man,
who, by achieving fortune himself, gives an
example to those trying to climb the ladder of
fame and encourages them to hope for similar
successes. Our subject is a man of decided ability,
and is without doubt one of the largest, if not the
largest, landowner in Tazewell County, having in
his possession eleven hundred and fifty broad acres.
Our subject was born in Switzerland, December
6, 1830, and is the son of Jake Meyer, whose birth
occurred in that country in 1784. The latter was
given a fine education, attending school until of
age, and then learning the mason's trade, at which
he worked until his decease, in 1858. The maiden
name of his wife was Mary Smith, and by his mar-
riage with her he became the father of six children,
of whom our subject was the eldest born. Of the
other members of the family we note the follow-
ing: Burgen married Joe Grossweiller, has five chil-
dren, and is now living in Pekin, this state; Lena
is the widow of Joe Ilitz, who died in 1887; Joe
married in the Old Country Miss Anna liirkmcir.
and on coming to America in 1865 made his home
for a time in Chicago, where he followed his trade
of a mason; he later came to Peoria, and subse-
quently to Pekin, where his wife died in 1893. He
was a second time married, and now makes his
home in Woodford County, this state. Anna M.,
the youngest child of the family, was married to
Frank Birkmeir, and now resides on a farm in Sand
Prairie Township.
Alois Meyer, the grandfather of our subject, was
also a native of Switzerland, where he followed the
trade of a brick mason during his active life. Ik-
had five sons, viz.: Joe, who died while living in
France; Martin, Ignatius and Michael, who emi-
grated to America, and Jacob L. The subject of
this sketch was given a good education, as there is
a law in his native country which compels parents
to send their children to school so many months
during each year. They were also expected to at-
tend church once each Sunday.
Our subject lived under the parental roof until
attaining his majority, and May 2, 1852, embarked
on a sailing-vessel which landed him forty days later
in America. During the trip there was a tragedy
on board ship, the Captain killing the first mate,
after having found out that the latter was a leader
of a mob whose intention it was to kill him and
then land the vessel in a South American port and
sell the passengers for slaves. The murder hap-
pened when the vessel was two days out from
Liverpool, and upon arriving in New York the
Captain reported what had been done.
Our subject made his home for about three
months in Philadelphia, where his uncle, Michael
Meyer, lived. Afterward he came to Pekin, in the
vicinity of which city he began working out on
farms by the month. This continued for about six
years, and during that time, having accumulated a
sufficient sum of money to enable him to establish
a home of his own, he married, in February, 1858,
Miss Lena Merkie, also a native of Switzerland.
The young couple commenced housekeeping on a
farm in Dillon Township, where they remained for
two years, and then moved near to Green Valley,
which place was their home for about a twelve-
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
369
month. Mr. Meyer then purchased property near
where he is now living, and after cultivating it
for eight years, in 1870 bought one hundred and
two acres of his present fine estate, for which he
paid $35 per acre. He was compelled to break and
cultivate his land, a task that naturally called for
both energy and skill. He is to day very prosper-
ous, and owns eleven hundred and fifty acres of
valuable farming land all fertile and cultivated.
The habits of economy which he learned in his
youth he carried through his maturer years, so that
now he is able to supply his family with every
comfort which wealth can bestow.
The three children born to our subject who have
grown to mature years are, Joseph M., who mar-
ried Miss Mary Watson and resides on a farm in
Elm Grove Township, this county; Fannie M.,-tho
wife of Joseph Kellar, who also lives in that town-
ship, and Frank, who resides at home. Mrs. fje.na
Meyer departed this life January 3, 1873. Tye
lady whom our subject married in KoVlemfcer .of
that year was Miss Maggie Haas, a native of Ger-
many, where her birth occurred in 1847. She was
the daughter of Jacob and Catherine Haas, also
natives of the Fatherland, who came to America a
year after her birth and located in Peoria. They
afterward engaged in farm pursuits in Woodford
County, where the mother is still living. Mr.
Haas departed this life in 1889.
By his second union our subject became the fa-
ther of four children, namely: Mary, Henry, Anna
and Otto. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are both members
of the Catholic Church at Pekin. In politics he is
a strong Democrat. During the late war he was a
loyal supporter of the Union, and while he was not
drafted into the service, his interest in the cause
was so great that he paid 11,200 to send another
man into the army.
G. MEISINGER. Tazewell Coun-
ty is greatly indebted for its present wealth
and high standing to the sturdy, intelli-
gent and enterprising tillers of the soil who have
been instrumental in developing its vast agricult-
ural resources. As a worthy member of its farm-
ing community who has contributed towards its
material advancement, it gives us pleasure to rep-
resent Mr. Meisinger in this volume. He has
long been associated with the farming interests of
Sand Prairie Township, and has built up a com-
fortable home on section 7.
Our subject was born May 31, 1840, in Hesse-
Darmstadt, Germany, and is a son of Baltz Meis-
inger, also a native of that empire, where his
birth occurred in 1806. The latter attended the
common schools of his native country until four-
teen years of age, and then learned the shoe-
maker's trade, which occupation he followed for
two years. At the end of that time he again
turned his attention to tilling the soil, at which
he worked in his native country for ten years
after his marriage. That event was celebrated in
1837, at which time Miss Anna Catherine Kurapf
. becaine his wife.
The young couple immediately went to house-
keepiflg on their own property, and were en-
gaged in farming pursuits on that place until
1846, when they took passage on a sailing-vessel,
which landed them in New York in August of
that year. From that city they went to Buffalo,
thence to Cleveland, from that place to Cincin-
nati, afterward to St. Louis, and finally to Pekin.
In visiting the latter place it was Mr. Meisinger's
intention to find a location in Tazewell County,
and this being done, he returned to the Mound
City and brought his family with him to their
new home in Sand Prairie Township. ' The land
was in a wild condition, but by hard work he
broke the soil and put in a crop which yielded a
good harvest. He remained there until 1863,
when he purchased the farm where his son, our
subject, is now residing. He retired from active
work in 1876, although still making his home on
a farm, and in 1881 departed this life.
Mr. and Mrs. Baltz Meisinger were the parents
of eleven children, four of whom died in infancy.
Of those who grew to mature years, Maggie mar-
ried Leonard Orth and resided on a farm in Cin-
cinnati Township, this county, until her decease,
in 1861. Our subject is the next in order of
birth; Elizabeth married George Weyhrich and
made her home on a farm in Spring Lake Town-
370
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ship until her decease, in 1889; Catherine, who is
now Mrs. Adam Weyhrich, is living in this town-
ship; Lizzie, now Mrs. Jacob Iloehr, makes her
home on a farm in Cincinnati Township; Eve
became the wife of George Meisinger and is liv-
ing at the present time in Cass County, Neb.; and
Anna also married a man by the name of George
Meisinger and is making her home in Cass Coun-
ty, Neb.
After coming to America, our subject attended
the district school, and during the summer worked
on his father's farm. He remained at home until
his marriage, in 1866, to Miss Mary Elizabeth
Orth, also n native of the Fatherland, and a daugh-
ter of Peter Orth, who, emigrating from Germany
to America, first located in Canada, but finally
made his way to this county, where he was num-
bered among the early settlers. After his mar-
riage Mr. Meisinger rented land until enabled to
purchase a farm of his own. This was accom-
plished in 1881, and he is now the proprietor of
three hundred and eighty acres of the finest land
in Sand Prairie Township. It is tilled in a most
thorough manner, adorned with a fine set of
buildings, and the substantial dwelling is sur-
rounded with all that goes to make a home pleas-
ant and attractive.
Of the seven children born to our subject and
his wife, those living are: Eve, the wife of Leon-
ard Vetter, who resides in this township; Adam,
who is living with his parents and is engaged in
farming on his own account; Leonard, Mary and
Jacob, who also live under the parental roof. The
wife and mother died June 11,1891. Our sub-
ject has been Road Commissioner for a number
of years, and has always manifested a deep inter-
est in educational matters in this locality, having
occupied the position of School Director for some
time. He belongs to the German Lutheran Church,
and is a Christian man in every sense of the word.
,EORGE WALKER, of Mackinaw, is one of
the most extensive land owners of Tazewell
County. He deserves great credit for his
success in life, which has been achieved through
his own efforts. lie is now the owner of twelve
hundred acres of land, and his home is the finest
residence in this town, surrounded by a beautiful
and well kept lawn and supplied with all the con-
veniences which go to make life worth the living.
Mr. Walker was born in Maryland, May 23,
1832, and is the son of George E. and Harriet
(Mercer) Walker. The former was born near Phil-
adelphia of English parentage, and was reared on
a farm. He went to Maryland *s overseer of a
plantation, and while there was married. His wife
was an aunt of Judge David Davis, who served as
Judge of McLean County, and was one of the most
prominent citizens of central Illinois. In 1838,
the father of our subject came to this state and lo-
cated on a farm of sixty-four acres, four miles
from Bloominglon, where he reared his family and
spent his remaining days. He was a man of ex-
cellent education and a great reader. In politics he
was a Democrat, and in his later years was a mem-
ber of the Catholic Church. His wife was a Prot-
estant. In their family were ten children. John,
who served in the Mexican War, went to California
in 1849; he spent all his life in traveling, and
died in Normal, ill.; Thomas is also deceased;
George is the next younger; Edward, deceased,
married Sarah Bay and operated the old homestead;
David is employed in a wholesale house in St.
Louis; Rozetta is the wife of Lee I jams, of Farmer
City; Sarah is the wife of Samuel Railey, of Kan-
sas; and three died in childhood.
During his early boyhood Mr. Walker of this
sketch was brought by his parents to Illinois and
was reared in the log cabin home near Blooming-
ton. At about the age of twenty he began work-
ing for Judge David Davis at $12 per month. He
afterward engaged in operating a farm of two
hundred acres at $20 per month. Later he rented
the old homestead and began farming in his own
interest. At the age of twenty-six he wedded
Mary Lilly, daughter of Joseph Lilly; she was
born in Ohio, but her parents were natives of
Maryland, and came to McLean County, 111., in
1835. Mr. and Mrs. Walker became the parents of
five children. AVilliam W., who was educated in a
business college, now follows farming in Tazevvell
County; Frank, who attended Wesleyan College,
operates his father's farm; Lillie, who was educated
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
371
in the State Normal, is the wife of Dr. Charles
Smith, of Homer, 111.; Sallie, who was also a student
in the State Normal, is the wife of Maxwell Shaw,
a farmer; and Fannie is being educated in the Wes-
leyan University.
After his marriage Mr. Walker rented a farm near
Bloomington, and later spent a year upon a rented
farm near Lilly. He then bought one hundred and
twenty acres ofjand, to which he has added from
time to time until he now has twelve hundred
acres, together with two houses and lots in Macki-
naw. He has always followed farming and stock-
raising, and through the legitimate channels of
business he has won the success which places him
among the wealthy citizens of his adopted county.
In politics he is a Democrat, and he and his wife
are members of the Christian Church. He has
prospered, yet he has not used his means entirely
for his own benefit, for he gives freely of his pos-
sessions to charitable and benevolent work and
never withholds his support from any worthy en-
terprise calculated to prove of public benefit.
LLEN LEONARD, who is practically liv-
ing a retired life upon his farm on section
26, Elm Grove Township, Tazewell Coun-
ty, claims Ohio as the state of his nativ-
ity, his birth having occurred in Clinton County,
on the 21st of January, 1827. His grandfather,
Ezekiel Leonard, was a native of North Carolina,
and at an early day removed with his family to
the Buckeye Stale, becoming one of its early set-
tlers. There he spent his remaining days, his
death occurring at the age of seventy-seven. His
wife, who bore the maiden name of Rebecca Hodg-
son, also died at an advanced age.
Thomas Leonard, father of our subject, was born
in North Carolina in the year 1801, and was very
young when the family went to Ohio, locating in
Fulton County. They settled in the midst of the
forest and endured all the hardships and priva-
tions incident to pioneer life. For several years
they subsisted largely upon game of the region,
which at that early day could be had in abundance.
Thomas Leonard was married in the Buckeye State
to Hannah Starbuck, who came of a family which
for several generations had resided in North Caro-
lina. Her father removed to Ohio, and there spent
his remaining days. Members of the family are
still living in that locality.
In 1830, Mr. Leonard with his wife and five
children came to Illinois and took up their resi-
dence in Elm Grove Township, Tazewell County.
In the succeeding winter occurred the memorable
"deep snow," which is remembered by all of the
early pioneers. The father of our subject entered
from the Government a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres, the same upon which his son Thomas
now resides. As his financial resources increased,
he extended its boundaries until it comprised four
hundred acres. His entire life was devoted to
agricultural pursuits, in which he met with good
success. His death occurred at the age of seven-
ty-six.
Allen Leonard spent the first years of his life in
his native state, and has since lived in Elm Grove
Township, Tazewell County. The journey to this
state was made in a wagon, and the family ex-
perienced all the hardships and trials of the fron-
tier. When he was a young man of twenty-one
years, he began to earn his own livelihood by-
working as a farm hand in this locality, and
was thus employed for two years. He then began
the further cultivation and improvement of the
furm which has been his home for forty-five years.
It comprises one hundred and twenty acres of val-
uable land.
In 1849, Mr. Leonard married Louisa Fisher, a
native of Elm Grove Township, and a daughter of
James and Amy (Bennett) Fisher. Her parents
were natives of Ohio, and became pioneer settlers
of this locality. They had a family of thirteen
children. Two children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Leonard: Almina, wife of H. Laugherry, of
' Elm Grove Township; and Raphael, of Woodford
County; the latter married Mary L. Matthew.
Mr. Leonard is thoroughly in sympathy with
the principles of the Republican party, with which
he has been identified since its organization, and he
does all in his power to promote its growth and
insure its success. He has been honored with some
372
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
local offices of trust, having served as Township
Collector and Road Commissioner. It is needless
to say that lie discharged its duties with prompt-
ness and fidelity, for he is always true to every
public and private trust. He is regarded as one
of the representative citizens of the community,
and is a man of sterling worth and strict integrity.
AMUEL BLAIR, of Mackinaw, for many
years followed farming in Tazewell Coun-
ty, but is now living a retired life. lie
was born in County Antrim, Ireland, July
11, 1834, and was one of sixteen children, eleven
of whom grew to mature years. The parents were
Thomas and Jane (Gillan) Blair. The grandfather,
Samuel Blair, was also a native of County Antrim,
and there followed farming. He reared a family of
four sons and four daughters, all of whom re-
mained on the Emerald Isle. In religious belief,
he was a Presbyterian. The father of our subject
followed farming in Ireland and there married
Jane Gillan, by whom he had sixteen children.
Six of the number went to the World's Fair in
1893 with their parents. Those who grew to ma-
ture years were, William, of McLean County, 111.;
Samuel; David, now living in England; Thomas, a
railroad engineer of Peoria, 111.; Matthew, a car-
penter of Chicago; Robert, a distillery supervisor
of Chicago; James, who resides on the old home-
stead in Ireland; Mary, wife of Robert Tinsdale,
of Ireland; Eliza, wife of Arthur McNeal, of Chi-
cago; Jane, who became the wife of Alex Totten,
and died of smallpox in Chicago in April, 1894;
and Hannah, who died on the Emerald Isle.
No event of special importance occurred during
the childhood and youth of Samuel Blair, who was
educated in the common schools and remained
with his parents until his marriage. In 1856 he
was married to Miss Jane Smith, daughter of Na-
thaniel and Jane (Colville) Smith. Her father was
a son of Nathaniel and Margaret Smith, and her
mother was a daughter of Alexander and Margaret
(Magill) Colville, of Scotland.
In 1858 Mr. Blair bade adieu to home and native
land and crossed the Atlantic to the New World,
locating in Tremont, Tazewell County, 111. His
cash capital then consisted of five sovereigns. He
began work as a farm hand and was thus employed
for three years, when he purchased a team and
engaged in the operation of a rented farm for
five .years. His first purchase of land comprised
twenty acres in Tremont Township. On selling
this he bought a tract of ninety acres in the same
township, and later became the owner of two hun-
dred acres in Mackinaw Township. For some
years he successfully engaged in agricultural pur-
suits, but in 1889 left this farm and came to Mack-
inaw, where he has since made his home, enjoying
with his amiable wife the rest which they have so
truly earned and richly deserve.
To Mr. and Mrs. Blair were born five children:
Thomas, now living in Allentown; David, who
follows farming; Jane, wife of Gus Flegin; Mag-
gie, wife of William Firre; and Nettie, who for
five years has successfully engaged in teaching in
: tile' public schools of Mackinaw. She was educated
in Bloomington, III. Mrs. Flegin was also a
teacher of recognized ability in the county for
seven years. The parents were members of the
Presbyterian Church of Ireland. In politics Mr.
Blair is a Democrat, lie need never regret his
emigration to the New World, for here he has
found a pleasant home, has won a handsome com-
petence in his business dealings and has gained
many warm friends.
JEFFERSON DONAVAN. Few words are
needed in introducing Mr. Donavan to the
; people of Mason County, as his name has
/ been familiar to the majority of them for
many years. He is a man of fine character, and of
that firmness of will and unerring judgment that
have gained for him the esteem and confidence of
all with whom lie has had dealing. Formerly num-
bered among the agriculturists of the county, he
now resides in Mason City, where lie gives his at-
tention to the supervision of his extensive in-
terests.
Near the city of tlrhana, in Champaign County,
Ohio, the subject of this sketch was born in 1829.
LIBRARY
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UNIVtKSm Of (UJNUks
JAMES HAINES.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
375
He is of direct Irish descent, his grandfather,
Robert Dunavnn, having been born in the Emerald
Isle, whence he emigrated to America, landing
upon the shores* of this country October 12, 1741.
Robert Donavan, our subject's father, was born in
Pennsylvania and became an early settler of Cham-
paign County, Ohio. His death occurred upon his
farm near Urbana in 1850. He was a Democrat in
politics, as were all of his family.
The mother of our subject was Rachel, daughter
of Samuel Cox, one of the heroes of the Revolu-
tionary War. She was born in Franklin County,
Pa., and passed away in Champaign County, Ohio,
in 1872, at the age of eighty-four. Jefferson Don-
avan spent the years of his boyhood in Champaign
County, where he gained the rudiments of his ed-
ucation in the common schools and afterward
prosecuted his studies in the Urbana Academy for
a period of two years. In 1848 he came to Mason
County and commenced farming, first upon a
small scale and later upon a more extensive plan.
To his original purchase he added land until his
possessions were extensive and valuable. In con-
nection with the raising of grain he engaged in
feeding and shipping live stock, a branch of agri-
culture in which he met with flattering success.
For some years Mr. Donavan has resided in Ma-
son City, but still owns his farm and personally
superintends its management. He is the owner of
eight hundred and eighty-five acres of valuable
land in Mason and Logan Counties, seven hundred
and sixty acres in Dakota and six hundred and
forty-eight acres in Texas, and in addition owns
some valuable residence property in Austin, Tex.,
and Mason City. In religious matters he supports
the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church and has
served as a Trustee for some time.
The home of Mr. Donavan indicates in a marked
manner the qualities of character which have
shown conspicuously in. all the relations of life.
The lady who became his wife on the 2d of July,
1861, was Miss Matilda, daughter of Alexander R.
Chestnut, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, and one of
the early settlers of Illinois. Mr. Donavan is a
man of prominence in his locality and is numbered
among the influential and enthusiastic Republicans
of the county. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Dona-
van has been blessed by the birth of five children,
all of whom died young but one son, Alex R., an
intelligent and manly lad, in whom rest the fondest
hopes of the parents.
AMES HAINES. Among the prominent
business men of Pekin who are counted
among the oldest and most honored resi-
dents of the county may be mentioned Mr.
Ilaines. He has been connected with the interests
of this section since 1827, and no name may be
more properly placed in the histor}' of the county
than his.
Our subject was born in Butler County, Ohio,
September 10, 1822, and is the son of Joseph and
Sarah (Long) Ilaines. The father's birth occurred
in New Jersey near the Pennsylvania line; he
fought as a soldier in the War of 1812, being a
resident of Ohio at the time. In thatstatc he car-
ried on his trade of blacksmith until his removal to
Illinois in 1827, making the journey hither by
teams. He located with his family near Pekin, where
he erected a little log cabin and also a blacksmith
shop, built after the same primitive style. He
also purchased land, and until the time of his
death, in 1846, followed the combined occupations
of farmer and blacksmith.
The mother of our subject, whose maiden name
was Sarah Long, was born in the Quaker City,
and died on the farm in Tazewell County during
the cholera scourge in 1832. James, of this sketch,
passed the first five years of his life in Ohio, and
on coming with the family to this state, saw many
Indians from the Winnebago, Pottawatomies, the
Sac and Fox tribes. There were about three red
men to every white settler in that early day, and the
country round about was little more than a wil-
derness, dotted over here and there with rude log
cabins.
Mr. Ilaines, of this sketch, attended his first
school in a rude structure with the most primitive
furnishings, but later completed his studies in the
more modern schools of Pekin. Previous to com-
pleting his education he taught school for several
terms in the country, boarding around among the
376
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
patrons. He worked on bis father's farm until
starting out in the world on his own responsibility,
and until 1848 followed farming, together with
buying and selling land. In the above year he be-
gan the study of law in the office of B. S. Pretty-
man, of Pekin; then he entered the law depart-
ment of Transylvania University in Louisville,
Ky., from which lie was graduated in the year 1851.
After receiving his diploma, Mr. Ilaines located
in this city for practice, but soon abandoned that
profession to engage in the banking business,
forming a partnership with G. H. Rupert and T. N.
Gill. This connection lasted until the outbreak of
the late war, when the hard times which followed
caused him to close out his business in that line.
He then engaged in the insurance and real-estate
business, which he is carrying on at the present
time.
Mr. Ilaines has been a very prominent factor in
forwarding the best interests of this section, and
besides laying out three additions to the city, has
been President of the Peoria <fc Springfield Rail-
way. He has also been manager of the Ilaines'
Illinois Harvester Works several years, and is the
oldest insurance man in this part of the state.
The lady to whom our subject was united in
marriage in 1852 was Miss Anna E., eldest daugh-
ter of Dr. W. S. Maus. The latter was born in
Cumberland County, Pa., arid was one of the prom-
inent physicians of this county. He was a mem-
ber of the Legislature, and held many positions of
trust in the county and state. Mrs. Haines de-
parted this life in 1889, leaving one son, James,
Jr., who is engaged in business with his father.
Mr. Ilaines was Postmaster for three years under
Cleveland, and was Supervisor of the township for
some time. He is an active Democrat in politics,
and is recognized as an influential member of
the party. He was the first County Superintend-
ent of Schools in Tazewell County, and is Vice-
President of Tazewell County's Old Settlers' As-
sociation.
->4-C->
r.ILLIAM L. PRETTYMAN. Among the
names held in honor in Pekin, that which
introduces these lines has for many years
occupied a prominent place. He who bears it is a
native of the city, and has borne an important
part in its growth, maintaining an unceasing in-
terest in its prosperity and contributing to its up-
building. He stands very high in the legal pro-
fession, and has led a very active and busy life.
Our subject was born in this city February 1,
1850, and is the son of B. S. Prettyman, Sr., whose
sketch the reader will find on another page in this
volume. When fifteen years of age, our subject
entered the Highland Military Academy, at Wor-
cester, Mass., and after spending one year in that
institution, went to Chicago and carried on his
studies in the Douglas University. In the mean-
time he read law, and in 1871 was admitted to
practice at the Bar in Pekin, under Judge Turner.
His father, who was also a prominent lawyer, took
him in as partner, the firm being known as B. S.
Prettyman & Son until 1876, when the father re-
tired.
Our subject was elected State's Attorney in 1876
for a term of four years, and in 1884 was re-elected
to that responsible office. He is the owner of val-
uable farms located in Peoria, Mason and Tazewell
Counties, which are all improved and occupied by
tenants. Mr. Prettyman is one of the organizers
and incorporators of the Peoria and Pekin Street
Railway Company, and it was through his in-
fluence that the right of way was secured. The
line will be completed in 1894, and it is the in-
tention of the company to erect a power-house in
this city and also one in Peoria. Our subject is at-
torney for the Chillicothe (111.) Water and Electric
Light and Power Company, of which he was one of
the prime movers. He is a stockholder in the
Spring Lake Hunting and Fishing Club.
Our subject was married in 1871 to Miss Mary
Frances Vandervoort, of Chicago, who was born in
New York in 1850. Their union was blessed with
the following children: Fannie, John and William
S. Mr. Prettyman stands very high in the commu-
nity, and from 1873 to 1875 was Alderman of the
Third Ward, and in 1891 was elected to the same
position from the First Ward. He is a prominent
Democrat in politics, and is Vice-President of the
Tazewell Club, and has been Chairman of the
County Democratic Central Committee. He is
one of the public-spirited men of the city, is active
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
377
in liis support of all enterprises tending toward its
improvement and development, and gives liberally
of his means toward accomplishing this end. He
has been attorney at different times for all the
railroads running through the city, and is justly
regarded as one of the leading lawyers of this part
of the state.
HRISTIAN SMITH, who is engaged in gen-
eral farming on section 2, Morton Township,
Tazewell County, was born in Woodford
County, 111., on the 18lh of January, 1846, and is
of French descent. His paternal grandfather was
a native of Lorraine, France, and there followed
carpentering throughout life. His father, Chris-
tian Smith, was born in Lorraine, and was educated
in the schools of that country. While still a youth
he crossed the Atlantic to America, in 1831, and
for two years resided in Pennsylvania. In 1833
he came to Woodford County, where he worked at
carpentering and also engaged in farming. Here
he married Miss Magdelene Schrock, who was also
a native of Lorraine, France. They became the
parents of eight children: Mary, wife of Frederick
Felnreth; Barbara, who died in childhood; Peter,
deceased; Anna, deceased wife of John Garber;
Lena, who became the wife of Peter Newhouser,
and after his death married Valentine Mininger;
Joseph, deceased; Christian, of this sketch; and
John, who died in childhood. The parents, one
brother and one sister died of cholera about 1850.
Christian and Peter also suffered an attack of the
disease, but finally recovered. The father and
mother held membership with the Mennonite
Church.
After the death of his parents, Mr. Smith of
this sketch lived with an uncle for several years.
His education was acquired in the common schools,
and at the age of twelve years he began to earn
his own livelihood, working by the month. He was
thus engaged until 1864, when, at the age of eigh-
teen, he responded to the country's call for troops
to aid in putting down the rebellion, and became
a member of Company G, One Hundred and Eighth
Illinois Infantry. He served with General Banks
at Spanish Fort, and when the war was over was
honorably discharged, in August, 1865. He then
returned to Tazewell County, where he again
worked by the month as a farm hand.
On the 13th of February, 1873, Mr. Smith was
united in marriage with Miss Bena, daughter of
John and Mary Sweitzer. Two children grace this
union, William A. and Frederick A. The parents
are members of the Mennonite Church, and are
highly respected and well known citizens of this
community. In his political views Mr. Smith is a
Democrat, and has served as School Trustee for a
number of years. Upon his marriage he rented a
farm for eight years, and then with the capital he
had acquired through earnest labor, economy and
perseverance, he purchased eighty acres on section
11, Morton Township. His wife owns eightv acres
on section 2, and a small tract of timber land. His
possessions have all been acquired through his own
labors, and he may truly be called a self-made
man, for he started out in life a poor boy, depend-
ent entirely upon his own resources. Sleadil}' he
has worked his way upward, overcoming the diffi-
culties and obstacles in his path, and has now
reached a position of affluence.
PT, R E D REULING. In giving an account
gj of the different business enterprises of Mor-
ton we desire particularly to call attention
to the hardware and furniture establishment which
is carried on under the firm name of Reuling &
Weiss. Our subject was born in Germany May 11,
1860, and is the son of Henry and Fredricka
(Schroth) Reuling, both of whom were born in
Hesse-Darmstadt.
Henry Reuling was a butcher by trade and im-
ported stock on a large scale. He was also an ex-
tensive land owner in the Fatherland and a very
prominent man in his locality. The parental
family included five children, namely: Jacob,
Henry, Margaret, John and our subject. The elder
Mr. and Mrs. Reuling were devoted members of
the Lutheran Church and were most highly re-
garded by all who knew them. The former died
in the Old Country when our subject was only
378
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
two years of age, and in 1869 the mother emi-
grated with the remainder of her family to the
United States. She came immediately to Pekin,
where her elder children were located, and is still
living in that city, making her home with her son
John.
Fred, of this sketch, attended school for three
years in Germany, and after coming to this coun-
try completed his education in the Pekin High
School. Afterward he entered the store owned by
his mother and his brother-in-law, and remained
there as clerk until 1884, when he came to Morton
and established himself in the hardware business,
putting in a stock of goods worth $1,500. His
business rapidly increased, :md lie has enlarged his
store from time to time until now he lias his estab-
lishment stocked with hardware and furniture val-
ued at $5,200. He is also interested in the bank
at Morton, and is a man of whom the village may
be proud.
Fred Reuling was married in 1888 to Miss
Emma, daughter of William and Elizabeth Weiss,
of Pekin, where the former is living, having re-
tired from business. Their union has resulted in
the birth of three children, Eleanor, Fred and
Lulu. Socially onr subject belongs to Pekin Lodge
No. 200, 1. O. O. F., the Modern Woodmen No.
678, of Morton, and in politics is a strong Democrat.
B. MULLER, one of the enterprising and
progressive agriculturists of Tazewell Coun-
ty, now living on section 22, Washington
Township, was born on the 17th of June,
1840, in what was then Alsace, France, but is now
a part of Germany. His father, Anthony Muller,
was born and reared in Alsace, and there married
Miss Katie Maner, a native of the same locality.
By occupation he was a farmer, and owned and
operated land in Franco. In 1854 he determined
to seek a home in the New World, and crossing
the briny deep, located in Lancaster, N. Y., where
he remained from May until October, when he be-
came a resident of Naperville, 111. Purchasing a
tract of land he made his home thereon for a year,
after which he removed to Peoria, but soon became
a resident of Tazewell County, settling in Grove-
hind Township, in March, 1856. On the 14th of
September following, he was called to the home
beyond. His wife died in her native land in 1840.
They had only two children. The daughter, Grace,
is now the wife of Jacob Wikle, a farmer of Peoria
County, 111.
Our subject was a youth of fourteen summers
when with his father he emigrated to the New
World. Here he began work as a farm hand by
the month, and was thus employed for eight years,
when he determined that his labors should benefit
himself, and began farming on rented land in
Groveland Township. When lie had acquired
some capital he purchased one hundred acres of
partially improved land, and settling upon hisown
farm, continued its cultivation from 1862 until
1875.
On the llth of February of the former year was
celebrated the marriage of Mr. Muller and Mary
(Myers) Patzmann, who was born in Groveland
Township, and is a daughter of John Myers, one of
the pioneer settlers of Tazewell County, who came
thither from Alsace, France, in 1835. From the
Government lie entered land and became one of the
substantial farmers of the community. To Mr.
and Mrs. Muller were born five children. Mary
died at the age of twenty-nine years; William
makes his home in Deer Creek Township; Fred-
erick is now in the south, and George and Frank
are at home. By her former husband, John G.
Patzmann, Mrs. Muller had two sons, John, of
Washington Township, and Charles, of Ford Coun-
ty, 111.
In 1875, Mr. Muller sold his farm in Groveland
Township and bought that upon which he now
resides. He has a valuable tract of three hundred
and eighty-seven and a-half acres, pleasantly situ-
ated about a mile from Washington, and has a
highly cultivated and improved farm, supplied
with all modern accessories and conveniences. His
home, a beautiful and commodious residence, was
erected in 1884. All the improvements upon his
place stand as monuments to his thrift and enter-
prise. In politics, Mr. Muller is a Democrat, and
belongs to the Independent Order of Mutual Aid
RESIDENCE OF JAMES HERBERT, 1023 BROADWAY, PEKIN, ILL.
RESIDENCE OF J. B. Ml'LLER, SEC. 22, WASHINGTON TP., TAZEWELL CO., ILL.
LIBRARY
of m
(f flJJNOlS
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
381
and to the Odd Fellows' society, in which he has
served as Past Grand. His wife holds membership
witli the Evangelical Church. He is a self-made
man. who by his own efforts steadily worked his
way upward, and the success of his life is the just
reward of his labors.
AMES HERBERT, a well known citizen of
Pekin, and locomotive engineer on the Atch-
ison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, formerly
between Chicago and Ft. Madison, but now
between Chicago and Pekin, is one of our foreign
born citizens who have contributed so largely to
the development of Tazewell County. The shire
of which he is a native was at the time of his birth
situated in Wales, but is now a part of England,
and he inherits the excellent traits characteristic
of the people living "near the line."
The parents of our subject, James and Sarah
(Green) Herbert, were both natives of Wales,
where the former was for many years an,, employe
in the shops of the Great Western Railroad. He
is deceased, but his widow still survives, making
her home in the land of her birth. Eight children
blessed their union, of whom six are now living.
Of these the third in order of birth is James, who
was born in the village of Pontypool, Monmouth-
shire, February 8, 1843. In early childhood he
gained the rudiments of au education in the vil-
lage schools, but at an early age was obliged to
assist in the maintenance of the family. Entering
the tin works, he engaged in the manufacture of
tin sheets, but as frequently as possible he pros-
ecuted his studies in the neighboring schools, al-
ternating work at the tin furnace with attendance
in the schools. Through this employment he
gained a practical knowledge of the manufacture
of tin, which is a most interesting process, a single
piece of tin passing through about sixty-five hands.
At the age of fifteen Mr. Herbert left the tin
works and engaged in railroad repairing in the
shops of Pontypool, afterward securing a position
as machinist, later promoted to be fireman, then to
hostler, and finally becoming engineer. He was
about twenty years old when he ran his first en-
gine, which went from Pontypool to Newport,
Swansea, Birkenhead and Birmingham. Believ-
ing, however, that rapid as had been his promotion
in the Old Country, the United States offered ad-
vantages still more desirable, he emigrated to
America in April, 1868, landing at New York
City. Obtaining a position as engineer on Long
Island, he was for a time thus employed, after
which he made his home with a sister in Pennsyl-
vania.
The year 1861) witnessed the arrival of Mr.
Herbert in Illinois, and for a time he made his
home on a farm near Peoria with an uncle and
aunt. Later he ran an engine in a Houring-mill
for a short time, after which he went to St. Louis,
intending to return to New York. Instead of this,
however, he secured a position as passenger en-
gineer on the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. Three
months later he obtained a position on a switch
engine, before the Eads bridge was built, and
afterward became passenger engineer on the Ohio
& Mississippi Railroad between Vincennes, Ind.,
.and St.. Louis, Mo., making his home in the former
place. For sixteen years he was thus engaged, and
at the expiration of that time resigned, intending
to retire from the railroad. But sixteen months
later, in Ma3', 1888, he accepted a position on the
local freight of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad, running between Chicago and Ft. Madi-
son. In September, 1890, he was transferred to
the branch road, and lived in Streator for two
years, coming to Pekin in 1892.
In Chicago, in 1889, Mr. Herbert was united in
marriage with Miss Julia Bazzard, who was born
in England and is a lady of estimable character
and amiable disposition. Three children have
blessed this union, Gifford J., Bertha M. and Iver
L. While Mr. Herbert has been obliged, by the
nature of his occupation, to devote his energies
almost exclusively toil, he has nevertheless found
time to keep himself posted*upon topics of general
interest, and is a well informed man. Social^', he
is connected with the Masonic fraternity and the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
CLARK. Among the residents of
Mason County who have prosecuted their
life work successfully and are now enjoy-
ing the fruits of their prudence and energy, sur-
382
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
rounded with comforts, is the gentleman above
named, who is well and favorably known to many
of our readers. He is now occupying a pleasant
home in Havana, which is the center of social
and domestic joys, being presided over by a most
estimable lady.
Mr. Clark is a native of New York, and was
born at Cooperstown, Otsego County, May 9, 1818.
His father, John Clark, was a native of Massachu-
setts, whence he removed to the Empire State,
where he carried on his business of a boot and
shoe merchant. He iu turn was a son of John
Clark, Sr., whose ancestors came from England
and located in Massachusetts in an early day.
The maiden name of our subject's mother was
Prudence Merritt. She likewise was born in the
Bay State, and her father was born in France.
Nathan Clark, of this sketch, received his early
education in the common schools of New York,
and when old enough began his business career
as a clerk in his father's store. Early in life he
displayed a remarkable talent for music, and
while acting in the capacity of clerk carried on
his musical studies. When only nineteen years
of age he played the violin for Gen. Winfield
Scott to dance. He was very proficient as a per-
former on the violin, trombone and bass viol, and
in Cooperstown, N. Y., organized a band and or-
chestra, of which he was the director for many
years.
In 1857 our subject came west to Indiana,
where he remained until the fall of 1863, when
he located in this county, and here he purchased
a farm, upon which his family resided until
July, 1892. For the first five years after settling
here Mr. Clark filled the position of conductor on
the Jacksonville South-eastern Railroad, but at
the end of that time he returned to the farm,
which he was engaged in cultivating until re-
moving to Havana. He still owns his estate, how-
ever, which comprises one hundred and twenty
acres of fine land in Quiver Township.
In September, 1845, Nathan Clark and Miss El-
vira, daughter of Capt. Philo Benedict, were
united in marriage. The lady was born in Ot-
scgo County, N. Y., while her father was a na-
tive of Danbury, Conn., and her mother, Mrs.
Rebecca (Chase) Benedict, was born in New York, i
Mrs. Clark received her education in the Empire '
State, where her father was a well-to-do merchant, i
The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Clark was Jonah
Chase, of New England.
To our subject and his wife have been born
nine children, all of whom are living, viz.: Les-
lie B.; Inez E., the wife of John Clay, of Grand
Rapids, Mich.; Addie S., the widow of E. W.
Eads; Sadie E., engaged in teaching school in
Biggs' Station; Jerome B., located at Delavan,
this state; Elbridge G., residing in Hoinewood,
111.; Marion M., whose home is in this city; Katie,
Mrs. Luther Hoppins, of Nebraska; and Nathan,
a telegraph operator.
Besides being a man of much energy, tact and
business capacit}', Mr. Clark is also an artist of
local reputation and has painted man}' fine pic- *
lures, which now adorn the walls of his home.
He lives in a neat and tastily furnished frame resi- I
dence in the city which marks the presence of an
intelligent and cultured household.
i ICIIAEL ALBRIGHT, one of the oldest
\l\ settlers of Tazewell Comity, now living
IA in Minier, was born in Lincoln Count}',
Tenn., December 19, 1820. His father,
Jacob Albright, removed from Rowan County, N.
C., to Tennessee, and about 1816 married Esther
Touchstone, who was born in Wilson County, that
state. Her parents were from Fowl's Valley, Pa.
Michael's mother taught him the alphabet when
veiy small and also taught him to read. His par-
ents took great pains to send their children to
school and were much interested in their progress.
Our subject started to school at the age of five and
had to walk three miles. About 1828, his father
came on horseback to Illinois in search of a loca-
tion, and in the spring of 1829 sold his Tennessee
farm, and in October located in Tazewell County.
Slavery was the immediate cause of the removal,
for Jacob Albright did not believe in holding
slaves.
The Albright family was of German descent, and
the Touchstone family was of English origin. Both
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
383
the paternal and maternal grandfathers of our sub-
ject were Revolutionary soldiers, and Jacob Al-
bright was a stalwart supporter of the Union dur-
ing the late war. He voted with the Democratic
party until the time of Polk, and on the organiza-
tion of the Republican party joined its ranks.
He was reared a Lutheran, but he and his wife
joined the Christian Church about 1836, and were
ever faithful members. With others of the church
they organized the Union League in 1864, for the
purpose of sending clothing, bandages and other
needed supplies to the soldiers. Mrs. William A.
Verry became President of the League, and many
of the most prominent men and women of the
county of whatever church or creed became its
members, for the common cause of a common
danger made all unite their efforts. Again the
same universal and charitable spirit was mani-
fested at the time of the Chicago fire, when the
people banded together to send relief to the suf-
ferers.
In the winter of 1830 occurred what was known
as the deep snow, which fell to a depth of four
teet, and drifted so badly in some places that it
was from ten to fifteen feet deep. The roofs were
unshingled and snow would often drift in between
the logs. The clapboard roofs were held in place
by logs laid across them, and much suffering from
the cold was experienced by the early settlers. The
home of the Albright family was a two-roomed log
cabin. When the great snow came the people's
supply of flour gave out, and some of the men de-
termined to make their way on horseback to mill,
but on account of the great drifts had to return
home, and many families had to go without bread
for weeks. Wild game of all kinds was unfit for
the table, for there was nothing for it to subsist
upon, and many domestic animals also perished.
The settlers were clothed in cotton and woolen
garments, which were spun and woven by the
mothers and daughters, and dyed with indigo and
copperas. Most of the shoes were made at home,
and hats and caps were made of skins. Wheat was
harvested with a sickle, and our subject often
worked for ten cents per da}'.
Michael Albright was united in marriage with
Mary Ann Malick, who was born in Northumber-
land County, Pa., December 13, 1822, and was a
daughter of George and Abigail (Jackson) Malick.
Her parents came to Tazewell County in 1836, and
in 1845 removed to Kendall County. In 1847,
they started across the plains with ox-teams. The
family consisted of father, mother and six chil-
dren. On reaching the Platte River, Hiram Malick
was drowned. The oxen gave out before reaching
their destination and had to be abandoned. After
man}' hardships they reached Vancouver, Wash.,
where they made a claim. The father died about
1854, and the mother passed away about 1865.
The father of Mrs. Malick was an East India mer-
chant, and her mother was of English descent. As
she married contrary to their wishes she was disin-
herited. It is said that the blood of the House of
Stuart flowed in her veins. The family crossed
the Atlantic to America; some of its members be-
came quite wealthy, and to the Revolutionary
War it furnished many representatives. David
Malick, who experienced the hardships of the terri-
ble winter at Valley Forge, died in 1834.
Mrs. Albright was a faithful Christian woman,
and was very active in church and charitable work.
She died May 18, 1888, in Armington, and after
the funeral services, conducted by Elder George W.
Minier, she was laid to rest. In the family were the
following children : Mrs. Ann Hickey, born in May,
1844; Homer, June 27, 1845; Sarah, who was born
November 1, 1846, and died October 16, 1847;
Mrs. Esther Abigail Griffin, born April 22, 1848;
Rachel Jane, who was born August 29, 1853, and
died July 23, 1854; Charles, born November 1,
1849; George M., October 5, 1854, and Florence
C., July 23, 1871. Homer enlisted in the late war
and served for three years in the Thirty-eighth
Illinois Infantry. Soon afterward he re-enlisted in
the One Hundred and Fifty-second Illinois Infan-
try, and remained at the front until the close of the
war. Mr. Albright was a second time married De-
cember 24, 1890, to Mrs. Caroline P. Thompson,
a native of Indiana. She was born in 1840, and
is the daughter of Rev. John H. and Martha C.
.(Avey)Hull, both natives of Ohio. The Rev.J. II.
Hull was very prominent in church matters in
Indiana, and was one of the pioneer Methodist
ministers of that state. He still resides in Dan-
384
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ville, Ind., at the age of seventy-seven years. The
mother died in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1850.
Mr. Albright cast his first vote for William
Henry Harrison, supported Fremont in 1856, and
has since been a Republican. Few, if any, have
longer resided in Tazewell County than he, and
none are more familiar with the history of its pio-
neer experiences. He is respected alike by young
and old, rich and poor, and with pleasure we pre-
sent his sketch to our readers.
HERGET, President of the Globe
Distilling Company, President of the Pekin
Electric Light Company, and President of
the Pekin Steam Coopering Company, ranks among
the most prominent and successful business men
of central Illinois, and has not only sustained the
reputation of the family name, but by his honor-
able and worthy life has added to its lustre. A
man of superior intelligence, sound principles and
noble character, he is always an earnest advocate
of the cause of justice and right, and has exerted
a beneficial influence in the community with whose
interests his own have long been identified.
Born May 9, 1833, the subject of this sketcli is a
native of Hergeshausen, Kreis Deiburg, Hesse-
Darmstadt, Germany. Concerning the family his-
tory, mention is made in the sketches of John and
Philip Hergct, presented elsewhere in this volume.
In his native land he spent the days of boyhood,
and learned the trade of a wagon-maker. In 1852
he took passage at Havre, France, on a sailing-ves-
sel bound for America, and after landing in New
York, proceeded to Gettysburg, where he engaged
in the trade of a carriage-maker until the fall of
1853.
Coming west at that time via the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi Rivers, Mr. Herget settled in Pekin, where
he became a carriage-maker in the T. & II. Smith
Carriage Works. In 1858 he embarked in the re-
tail grocery business, and two years later he was
joined by his brother John. In 1870 lie built a
block containing two stores, and there, since 1871,
he has conducted an extensive business, being for
some time in the wholesale grocery and liquor
business, but now devoting his attention wholly
to the latter line of work.
In 1888 Mr. Herget assisted in the organization
of the Pekin Steam Coopering Company, and lias
since been its President. In the fall of 1892 he
built the Globe Distillery, which was completed
and opened in April of the following year. This
concern is situated on the Jacksonville South-east-
ern Railroad, and has a capacity of five thousand
bushels per day, being the largest distillery in Pe-
kin. In addition to these enterprises, Mr. Herget
is interested in the Globe Cattle Company, which
owns about thirty-eight hundred head of cattle.
In the organization of the Electric Light Com-
pany he was a prominent factor, and has been its
only President.
The marriage of Mr. Herget occurred in Pekin
in 1861, his bride being Miss Caroline Goehner, a
native of this city, and a daughter of George
Goehner, an old settler and prominent farmer of
Tazewell County. Four children blessed their
union: Ilejxi'y G.; Mary L., wife of George Elir-
licher, a resident of Pekiu; William P. and Carrie
A. The family stands high in the social circles of
Pekin. and its members are universally respected
for genuine worth and nobility of character.
^HJiteffi^Er-SBrJgig-SilH
>IIOMAS J. BARTON, a leading agriculturist
of Malone Township, Tazewell County, was
born in Chaiitauqua County, N. Y., Febru-
ary 16, 1836. He is of Scotch descent, his grand-
father, Joel Barton, having emigrated from Scot-
land to America, settling in New York in an early
day. The father of our subject, Albert (J. Barton,
was born in Old Brimfield, Mass., July 8, 1808, and
spent his boyhood years upon a farm, receiving a
common-school education. He married Sylvia
Jordan, who was born in Gcnesee County, N. Y.,
in 1816, and died in Muscatine County, Iowa, in
1854. Her parents, Elijah and Stella Jordan, were
also natives of Genesee County, N. Y.
After their marriage, Albert G. Barton and his
wife continued to reside upon a farm in Massachu-
setts until the fall of 1852, when they removed
LIBRARY
OFTHt
UNIVERSITY Of
GEORGE E. Me HOSE.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
387
in covered wagons to Muscatinc County, Iowa,
the trip requiring five weeks. Arriving at their
destination, the father purchased one hundred and
sixty acres of farming land and engaged in its
cultivation until 1861, when he retired from busi-
ness. His closing years were spent in Wilton,
Iowa, where his death occurred in 1874.
The family of which our subject is a member
consisted of twelve children, five of whom died in
infancy. Lucinda married Thomas Ilecker, a resi-
dent of Warren County, Pa., and they have three
children. Martha first married George Ludlow, of
Rhodes, Iowa, whom she bore two children, Elsie
and Ernest. Her second union was with Joseph
Baxter, and they have four children. Elsie became
the wife of J. Stuart, and they with their son live
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Tillie, the wife of R. F.
Ramsey, lives in Allegheny, Pa., and has two sons.
William is married and makes his home in Iowa.
Upon the home farm the youthful years of T.
J. Barton were somewhat uneventfully passed.
August 4, 1861, he married Martha Thornton, who
was born in Mercer County, Pa., July 12, 1844.
Her parents, Otis and Olive Thornton, were born
in Pennsylvania, the father in 1808, and the mother
July 12, 1810. He was a fanner by occupation,
and died in 1846. Ten years later the widowed
mother with her daughter came to Illinois and
settled in Tazewell County, where she died in
1860. After his marriage Mr. Barton rented land
until 1882, when he purchased a farm of fifty acres
on section 15, Malone Townsjiip, and here he has
since resided.
Four children complete the household circle.
Ida R., who was born September 4, 1862, married
Daniel Ide, and they live on a farm adjoining the
old homestead; they have six children, Walter,
William, Daisy May, Charles, Roy and Ora. Alice
May, who was born December 3, 1865, married
Nelson Woodruff, and they with their daughter
Nettie live in Malone Township. Georgtana, born
July 5, 1870, married George Coriell, of Manito
Township, Mason County, and they have one
child, Harry. Guy C. was born July 12. 1876, and
is a promising youth, who now assists his father on
the home farm.
A Democrat politically, Mr. Barton has been
10
elected upon that ticket to a number of responsi-
ble local offices, and is now serving as Supervisor.
Social!}', he is a member of Delavan Lodge No.
156, A. F. & A. M., Grossman Chapter No. 155, R.
A. M., the Green Valley Lodge No. 308, I. O. O.
F., Pekin Encampment No. 176, and Delavan Lodge
No. 319, K. P.
E. MclIOSE. "Some men are born
great, some achieve greatness, and some
have greatness thrust upon them." The
subject of this sketch is one of those men who
achieve their own success. Most of our public men,
and men who have legitimately grown rich, are
intelligent and persevering, of which class Mr. Mc-
Hose is an honored member. He is at present oc-
cupying the honored position of Mayor of Havana,
and besides discharging the duties of that respon-
sible ollice he is cngaered in building excursion
boats which ply the Illinois River.
Our subject was born in Detroit, Mich., January
17, 1840, and is the son of Abram and Catherine
(Mundinger) McIIose, the former born in Pennsyl-
vania of Scotch-Irish descent, and the latter a na-
tive of Germany. In an early clay the father of
our subject came west to Detroit, where he estab-
lished and operated the Michigan Brewery. He
departed this life in Detroit in 1854. His good
wife, who came to America when only eleven years
of age, and who had been his efficient helpmate
during their entire wedded life, followed him to
the better land three years after his demise.
George E. McIIose attended the schools of De-
troit until reaching his sixteenth year, after which,
having learned the trade of a ship carpenter, he
followed that business in Detroit until the break-
ing out of the late war. In the fall of 1861 he
went to Nashville, Tenn., in the employ of the
Government, and there built several transports.
Thence he went to Bridgeport, Ala., and later re-
turned to Tennessee. In Chattanooga he took
charge of forty men employed in the construction
of vessels for the Government, and built for Gen-
erals Sherman and Burnside the following-named
vessels: "Stone River," "Kingston," "Holston"
and ''Chickamauga."
After the close of the war Mr. McHose pur-
ill 1 IklmtliU
U/, MtU
388
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
chased ''Holston" and "Stone River," and was
engaged in steam boating on tlie Mississippi River,
carrying both freight and passengers, until 1870.
In that year he sold the vessels and came to Ha-
vana, where he has since made his home, and fol-
lowed the business of building pleasure and pas-
senger boats. He constructed the Government fish
boat "Lotus," which was used by the fish commis-
sion on the Illinois River, and also built the screw
propeller "City of Peoria." He owns many excur-
sion boats which p\y the waters of the Illinois
River, and for the last quarter of a century has
taken an active interest in all river improvements.
In 1862 Mr. McIIose and Miss Jennie, daughter
of W. S. Dillon, were married, and to them was
born a son, James. The wife and mother departed
this life in 1880, greatly mourned by all who knew
her. Our subject was for several years President
of the Illinois River Bridge Company, and in
1887 was elected Mayor of Havana on the Demo-
cratic ticket. After serving a term of two years
he was again elected to that office in 1890, and re-
elected in 1892.
Previous to this he served as Alderman of the
Third Ward for two years, find he has also rendered
eflicient service as School Director. Socially, he
is a member of Havana Lodge No. 88, A. F. & A.
M.; Havana Chapter No. 86, R. A. M., and Com-
mandery No. 42, K. T. He is a charter member of
the Independent Order of Mutual Aid, which body
he served as President for several years. While in
Detroit he was a member of Union No. 7, of the
Fire Department, and after locating in Havana or-
ganized the present fire department, of which he is
Chief.
ON. IRA B. HALL, Vice-President of the
' Tazewell County National Bank of Dela-
van, was born in Exeter, Washington
County, R. I., November 29, 1812. He is
the eldest son of Preserved and Eunice (Browning)
Hall, natives of Rhode Island. The ancestry is
traced through Caleb, P-reserved and John to
William Hall, who with two brothers emigrated to
America from England about the middle of the
sixteenth century and settled in Rhode Island,
where William married Miss Alice Tripp, January
26, 1670.
Preserved Hall, father of our subject, came to
Illinois, and settled in Delavan, Tazewell County,
in the fall of 1844. He was one of a family of]
nine children, and remarkable sjs it may seem, up
to that time (1844) there had not been a death in
the family for about sixty-four years. He was a
mechanic by trade, though he followed a variety
of callings during his active life. For many years
he was Justice of the Peace. He was a man of
education and good business judgment and com-
manded the respect of all who knew him. His
death occurred October 26, 1847, at the age of
sixty-eight. His wife passed away September 29,
1849, at the age of sixty-seven.
The common schools of Rhode Island combined
with good parental training gave our subject an
excellent education, which in later" years he en-
larged by close observation of men and things.
His first business engagement was with a publish-
ing house in New York, but he soon went back to
his native state and for some years was engaged
in teaching school. Later he went to Kentucky,
where he also taught school. In the fall of 1839
he came to Illinois and settled in Springfield,
where he was engaged in business that brought
him into contact with many of the leading men of
the day. Lincoln and Douglas were among his
warm friends.
Coming to Delavan in 1840, Mr. Hall became
proprietor of the Delavan House, which soon be-
came the headquarters for the most prominent
men of the country as they passed through the
city en route from Springfield to Peoria and
Chicago. Mr. Hall started in life without means,
but he possessed the elements of character that
were of great value to a man in those days as well
as in these closing years of the century. Such
was his course in life that he won for himself the
confidence of all who knew him. After leaving
the hotel business in 1845, he engaged in agricult-
ural pursuits, having purchased a large tract of
land adjoining Delavau. From this farm he has
platted several additions to the city, and in this
way has accumulated wealth. lie owns consider-
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
389
able valuable property in this city and is a stock-
holder in the Tazewell County National Bank, of
which he is Vice-President.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Hall was in former
years very prominent in the party. In 1870 he
was elected to the State Legislature and served
with marked ability. Though now in the twilight
of his life, he still takes an activ.e interest in the
issues of the age, and each da}' he may be found
in the private office of the bank carefully perusing
the daily papers and taking as deep an interest in
vital questions as he did a half-century ago. He
has been twice married. His present wife, with
whom he was united February 11, 1846, was
formerly Miss Sarah A. Briggs. She is a daughter
of Samuel Briggs, originally of Providence, R. I.,
but later one of the pioneers of Delavan. One of
her brothers is Lieut. Thomas B. Briggs, U. S. A.,
now retired from the service and a resident of
Delavan. Six children have blessed this union.
On another page of this volume further mention
is made of their two sons, O. C., who is a farmer
and stockman and a member of the City Council,
and James N., Cashier of the Tazewell County
National Bank.
ON. WILLIAM A. CALLENDER is a mem-
ber of the Callender Bitters Company of
Pekiu, he being the inventor and patentee.
This tirm is engaged in the manufacture of
Left Liver Bitters, and is doing a good business
along that line. Our subject was born in Lexing-
ton, Ky., October 11, 1818, and is a grandson of
Col. Philip Callender, a native of Scotland, who
on emigrating to America, settled in Virginia, and
when the Revolutionary War broke out, entered
the Colonial service and rose to the rank of Col-
onel. The father, Joseph Callender, was born in
Culpeper Court House, Va., and from his native
state removed to Kentucky. He engaged in ship-
ping produce down the Mississippi River to New
Orleans, and took part in the battle of that city
under General Jackson during the War of 1812.
Later he returned to Lexington, Ky., and engaged
in farming, and afterward followed the same pur-
suit in New Castle, Ky., where he died at the age
of sixty-eight years, his death resulting from in-
juries caused by a tree falling upon him. lie mar-
ried Ruth Reynolds, who was born in Kentucky
of German parentage, and thirteen children graced
their union, eleven of whom are yet living.
AVilliam A. Callender is the eldest. He was
reared in Henry County, in the heart of the blue
grass region of Kentucky, and remained at home
until eighteen years of age, when, in 1836, he went
to Cincinnati, where he served an apprenticeship
to the machinist's trade. In 1842 he was married
in Covington, Ky., to Mary Wolfe, a native of that
place. Later he went to Lawrenceburg, Ind.,
where he built and operated a distillery for sev-
eral years, after which he built a still house in
Ohio. Later his home was in Covington, Ky., but
in 1858 he went to Hamilton, Ohio, where he built
a distillery with a capacity of twelve hundred
bushels. In this line of business he was very suc-
cessful, but his partners robbed him of $500,-
000. In 1855 he located in Peoria, and in the
year 1858 built the lirst distillery in Pekin, the
Hamburg. He also built the Star Distillery, and
erected another in Wesley City, which he carried
on for five years. From that time until 1872 he
wag engaged in the milling business. He then sold
out and returned to Peoria, where he invented
and engaged in the manufacture of the Callender
Liver Bitters, carrying on business at that place
until the 1st of August, 1892, when he came to
Pekin. He does all the compounding himself, and
manufactures the only bitters that are warranted
to cure all diseases of the liver, stomach and
blood. The firm is now William A. Callender & Co.
To Mr. and Mrs. Callender were born eight chil-
dren, but only three are now living: John W.,
who is now foreman of the A. Lair & Woodward
Compounding Company, of Peoria; Lillie, wife of
A. Chandler, of Buffalo, N. Y.; and William H., a
railroad employe now living in Monticello, 111.
The mother of this family died in Peoria in 1876.
Mr. Callender has been honored with a number
of offices. While in Kentucky he served in the
State Legislature for two years, and was a member
of the Constitutional Convention of 1848, which
framed the present constitution of Kentucky.
390
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
While in Peoria he served as Alderman for ten
years. He has always been a supporter of the
Democracy, since 1844 has been a member of the
Odd Fellows' society, since 1850 has been con-
nected with the Masonic fraternity, and since 1868
has been a member of the Universalist Church.
NATHAN B. HODGSON, who is exten-
sively engaged in fanning and stock-raising
on section 26, Elm Grove Township, Taze-
well County, was born on the old home-
stead in this township, August 20, 1851. He is
descended from one of the early American fami-
lies. The great-grandfather, John Hodgson, was
born in this country in 1731, and was a son of
George Hodgson, who was born about 1701, in
Ireland, of English parentage. In his youth he
crossed the Atlantic to America, becoming the
founder of the family in this land. Amos Hodg-
son, grandfather of our subject, was a native of
Ohio, and from that stale emigrated to Illinois in
an early day. lie wedded Mary Barnett.
Daniel Hodgson, father of our subject, was born
in the Buckeye State, and during his boyhood
came with the family to Illinois in the autumn of
1830. lie spent his life here as an agriculturist,
subduing the virgin soil and developing a line
farm. He was a famous hunter of his day and
brought down large quantities of game. His sons
have inherited his tastes in that direction and are
among the most noted marksmen in this part of
the state. Mr. Hodgson died in Tazewell County
at an advanced age. His wife, who was former-
ly Mary Ann Largent, is now living with her son,
Isaac L., at the age of seventy years. She was born
in Virginia, and was a daughter of William and
Elizabeth (Frazier) Largent, both of whom were
Virginians by birth, and at an early day came to
the north, settling near Pekin, 111. Unto Mr. and
Mrs. Hodgson were born seven children, who are
yet living, Isaac L., who resides on the old home-
stead; Almina, wife of W. S. Manker, of Elm
Grove Township; Elmira, wife of N. Bennett, of
the same township; Nancy, wife of John Hill, of
Elm Grove Township; D. Louis, who is living on
a part of the home farm; and Amy, wife of Ed
Miars, of McLean County, 111.
Jonathan B. Hodgson has spent his entire life in
Elm Grove Township, where he was reaped in the
usual manner of farmer lads, aiding in the labors
of the field during the summer, and attending the
public schools of the neighborhood through the
winter season. On attaining his majority he
started out in life for himself and has since en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits. As a companion
and helpmate on life's journey he chose Martha
Matilda, a daughter of Thomas Prunty. She was
one of four children, the others being Clara, wife
William Cooper, of Colorado; Anna, wife of
Charles Bennett, of EJm Grove Township; and
Lewis, of Colorado. The wedding of Mr. and
Mrs. Hodgson was celebrated November 6, 1873,
and their union has been blessed with five children:
Martha V., Daniel Burr, Flora May, Sarah A. and
Leonard Boone.
In 1873 Mr. Hodgson bought his first farm, a
tract near Tremont, where he made his home until
December, 1882. He then removed to his present
farm, which is pleasantly located about three
miles southwest of Tremont. It comprises two
hundred and twelve acres of fine land, and in con-
nection with its cultivation he is successfully en-
gaged in stock-raising, making a specialty of hogs.
He is regarded as one of the progressive and pros-
perous farmers of the community. In politics he
is a Democrat. He is interested in educational
matters and is a member of the Board of School
Trustees. Socially he is connected with the
Modern Woodmen.
ETER BROONER. A lifetime of earnest
endeavor in pursuing his chosen calling,
^ coupled with strict integrity, honesty of
purpose and liberality, has tended to place
Mr. Brooner among the highly honored and suc-
cessful agriculturists of Salt Creek Township, Ma-
son County, where he is now living retired on
his fine estate, comprising three hundred and
twenty-five acres on sections 14, 22 and 23. He is
RESIDENCE OF J. B. HODGSON, SEC. 26, ELM GROVE TP., TAZEWELL CO., ILL.
RESIDENCE OF PETER BROONER, SEC. 22, SALT CREEK TP., MASON CO., ILL.
LIBRARY
OF IHl
UNIVfcKSIlT i MUNUiS
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
393
a native of this county, having been born in the
above township, April 7, 1838.
Ephraim Brooner, the father of our subject, was
born in Warrick County, Ind., and came to Menard
County, this state, in 1829, at which time he loca-
ted near Old Salem. After a short residence there
he came to Mason County, where his death oc-
curred at the age of thirty-three years. His wife,
who prior to her marriage was Miss Mary Green-
way, was born in 1811 in Kentucky, but was
reared to womanhood in the Hoosier State. After
the death of her husband Mrs. Brooner married
Reason Virgin and died when sixty-seven years
of age.
Peter, of this sketch, was the youngest son in his
parents' family of eight children, three of whom
grew to mature years and are sttll living. He was
thrte years of age when his father died, and he
remained with his mother until attaining .his
eighteenth year, when he began life for himself, by,,
working out on farms by the month. He was thus
employed for a period of thirteen years, when, in
1864, he began the cultivation of a farm of his
own.
The lady who became the wife of our subject,
September 8, 1873, was Miss Mary E., daughter of
David Swing. She was born in Clermont Count3 - ,
Ohio, December 23, 1847, which was also the
birthplace of her father. The latter was a car-
riage-maker by trade, at which he worked in Cin-
cinnati for fourteen years. Later he purchased a
farm in Clermont County which he cultivated
until removing here in 1868. His wife, the
mother of Mrs. Brooner was, prior to her marriage,
Miss Lucy Greenway, who was born in the Blue
Grass State in 1819. Her parents removed to
Indiana when she was a babe of twelve months,
and there she acquired her education and lived
until 1837, when she came to this county. After a
residence here of five years she returned to Ohio,
and made her home in that state until 1868, when
we again find her in this county. She is still
living, and resides in Mason City.
Mrs. Brooner is the oldest of seven children in-
cluded in the parental family, and is a twin of
Joseph, who is now deceased. Soon after his
marriage our subject located on his present fine
estate, and being an industrious man his diligence
and perseverance soon transformed the raw prairie
into rich and fertile fields. By his union with
Miss Swing he has become the father of six chil-
dren, of whom Marietta and three who were un-
named are deceased. Those living are Hattie T.
and Dora E.
As stated in our opening paragraph Mr. Brooner
is the proud possessor of three hundred and
twenty-five broad acres which he has placed under
the best methods of improvement. He now rents
his property, and from the income thus received is
enabled to take life easy. He is actively inter-
ested in everything that pertains to the welfare of
his town and county, and is a prominent worker in
the ranks of the Democratic party. His life has
been an honorable and upright one, and his ster-
ling worth and many excellencies of character
have gained him the high regard of all with whom
he Ijas been brought in contact.
DAM GUMBEL. An honorable position
among the agriculturists of Forest City
(I Township, Mason County, is held by the
gentleman above, named, who is the pos-
sessor of two hundred acres of land located on
section 24. He is a son of Charles Gumbel, who
was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, in 1812, and
there followed the combined occupations of black-
smith and farmer. He was married in the Father-
land to Miss Sabina Ritter, also a native of the
above place, who died in the Old Country.
Mrs. Sabina Gumbel became the mother of eight
children, of whom Ernest makes his home in War-
saw, this state; Elizabeth married the Rev. George
Himniel and lives in Forest City Township; John
makes his home in Manito Township; and Adam,
of this sketch, is the youngest of the family. After
the death of his first wife, Charles Gumbel was
married to Catherine Deisher, also a native of the
above province in Germany. Their union resulted
in the birth of four children, all of whom are de-
ceased. They came to America in 1850 and lo-
cated on a farm, where our subject is at present
394
PORTEAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
making his home. There the father built a log
house, in which the family lived until 1863, when
he erected a commodious frame structure, which
his son is now occupying. His first purchase of
land in the New World included forty acres,
which was the largest amount he could pay for, as
there had been much sickness in his family. He
left at his death, in 1884, however, an estate of
one hundred and twenty acres of finely improved
land. Religiously, ho was a member of the Evan-
gelical Church, in which lie was Class-leader, and
in politics he was a stancli Republican.
Adam Gumbel, of this sketch, was born No-
vember 7, 1840, in Ilesse-Cassel, Germany, and
was a lad of nine years when he accompanied his
father on his emigration to the United States. As
there were no schools in the neighborhood of the
new home, his education was ver}' much neglected,
and many years of his life after he was old enough
to do so were spent in working on his father's farm.
When attaining his twenty-sixth year, our sub-
ject assumed the management of the home farm,
and that same year was married to Miss Chris-
tina Stem, a native of Saxony and the daughter
of Conrad Stein. Her death occurred in 1875,
and the following year Mr. Gumbel was married
to Miss Matilda, daughter of Garrett Bruning, an
old settler in this county, who came from Ger-
many and is now deceased. Mrs. Gumbel was
born May 22, 1851, and has become the mother of
six children: Oscar Adolph, Krnest Frank, George
Henry, Myra Margaret, Carl Clarence and Reuben
Adam.
Our subject is the proprietor of two hundred
acres of land, the greater portion of which is the
old homestead. The house which lie occupies was
erected by his father many years ago, but he has
lately remodeled it. built a fine barn, set out an
orchard and placed those improvements upon the
farm which indicates him to be a man of push and
enterprise. He gives his attention exclusively to
the cultivation of land, and besides raising wheat,
corn and oats breeds fine grades of stock.
Mr. and Mrs. Gumbel are members of the Evan-
gelical Church at /ion, in which the former has
served as Trustee. He has been a School Director
of District No. 1 for ten years, and has given his
children good educations in both the German and
English languages. Politically, he is a true Re-
publican, and has been Road Commissioner for
three years. William Gumbel, a brother of our
subject, served as a soldier in the Civil War as a
member of Company K, Eighty-fifth Illinois In-
fantry, of which he was Sergeant. He died in
1890, leaving a wife.
ILLIAM IT. HARRIS, the able and popular
Postmaster at Tremont, was born in this
town December 24, 1844, and is the only
child of John IT. and Sarah (Fairbanks) Harris.
His father was born in Westchester County, N. Y.,
in 1792, and when quite a young man went to
New York City, where he worked as a journeyman,
learning the hatter's trade. Soon afterward he
embarked in business on his own account as a hat
manufacturer and built up a very extensive trade,
continuing in business in that city until 1835. He
received orders from all over the county, and
operated two factories, one in the city and the
other at Sing Sing. He also had a branch store in
Charleston, S. C., and during the War of 1812
was twice taken prisoner by the British on his way
to and from that place, but both times was parolled.
During his first year's residence in New York,
Mr. Harris was made a member of the Masonic
fraternity. He was also married during that year.
In 1835 he determined to seek a home in the west,
and in company with Josiah James and William
Sampson, was appointed a committee to arrange
for the purchase of lands for a colony of New
York people who desired to locate in the west.
The committee made a settlement at Tremont ind
entered land in this vicinit3'. Mr. Harris acted as
Treasurer of the colony until the land was all sold.
In 1836 he closed out his business interests in New
York and brought his family to his Illinois home.
He was twice married. He wedded Catherine
Montross, a native of New York, who died in
1840, leaving three children, Elizabeth, now the
widow of Dr. S. R. Saltonstall, of Tremont; Dr. J.
M., of New York City, and J. II., of San Francisco.
In 1843 Mr. Harris wedded Sarah Fairbanks,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
395
who was born in Weare, N. H., October 29, 1800,
and w[io was a lady of noble character, the influ-
ence of her beautiful life being fresh in the hearts
of her descendants to-day. Mr. Harris was a large
land owner, having over one thousand acres in one
body. He took a very prominent part in the de-
velopment and upbuilding of this section, and at
one time gave twenty acres of land and $2,000 in
cash for the permanent location for the county
seat in Tremont. He was also a very prominent
and influential member in the Baptist Church, and
his influence was ever found on the side of right.
In early days he was a Whig in politics, but after-
ward became a Republican. His death occurred in
1882, at the age of ninety, and his wife passed
away in 1880.
The grandfather of our subject, Ezekiel Harris,
was a native of Wales, and his father was a school
teacher of Dublin. In early life the former crossed
the Atlantic and located in Westchester County,
N. Y., where he reared a family of twelve children.
He died at an advanced age, and his wife passed
away at the age of one hundred.
William Harris, whose name heads this record,
has spent his entire life in Tazewell County, where
he was reared and educated in the usual manner
of farmer lads. For many years he was engaged
in the nursery and fruit business and in agricult-
ural pursuits, meeting with success in his under-
takings. In 1869 lie married Frances, daughter of
Felix and Harriet Fenner, early settlers of Taze-
well County. His father was a Pennsylvanian by
birth, and her mother was a native of Chemung
County, N. Y. To Mr. and Mrs. Harris have been
born seven children, Charles, a carpenter of Peoria;
Frank, at home; Thomas, of Clinton County, Pa.;
Lee, the local editor of the Pekin Times, of Pekin,
111.; A. W.; Mamie, who died aged ten years, and
Walter, who died at the age of one year.
Mr. Harris manifested his loyalty to the Govern-
ment during the late war by enlisting in Company .
H, Seventieth Illinois Infantry, in 1862. Forsome
time he was confined in a hospital, and was dis-
charged at the expiration of his term of enlist-
ment. Socially, lie is a member of Tremont Lodge
No. 462, A. F. & A. M., with which he has been
connected for twenty-seven years. In politics he
has always been a Democrat, and is deeply inter-
ested in the party's principles. He served for four
years as Township Collector, was Assessor two
years, for several years was a member of the Town
Board of Trustees, and in March, 1893, was ap-
pointed Postmaster at Tremont by President Cleve-
land, which position he now fills in a creditable
and acceptable manner.
ENRY F. SMITH, Secretary of the Pekin
Milling Company, is one of the native
sons of this city. lie was born February
18, 1866, and is a son of Hon. Teis Smith,
who was one of the most prominent and progressive
citizens of Tazewell County. Here he was reared to
manhood. His fathei was born in Hamswerum, Ost-
friesland, March 21, 1827, and was the eldest child
of Conrad and Margaret ( Vandervclde) Smith, who
were also natives of Germany and belonged to old
families of that country. He acquired a good
education, and in the spring of 1848 crossed the
briny deep to New Orleans, whence he went to
St. Ixniis, where for nearly a year he worked at
his trade of wagon-making. His parents, brothers
and sisters arrived in that city in 1849, and soon
after that removed to Peoria, 111. In August they
came to Pekin, and Teis and Henry Smith worked at
wagon-making for a time, after which, in connec-
tion with their brother Frederick, they bought a
small shop and established the firm that existed
until 1870. It is now theT. & II. Smith Company,
wagon manufacturers, and they also incorporated
the Pekin Plow Company. The father of our sub-
ject was also the founder of the Teis Smith & Co.'s
Bank, and the Smith, Hippen & Co., grain mer-
chants.
In the spring of 1852 the father of our subject
married Elizabeth Neef, a native of Germany, and
to them were born six children, but only one is
now living, Mrs. Maggie C. Neef, of Pekin. The
mother died in 1862 and Mr. Smith afterward
married Miss Sieverdena Neef, a cousin of his
former wife. They had three children, two yet
396
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
living: Henry F., Secretary of the Pekin Milling
Company, and Theresa, wife of .1. W. Ilarmel.
Mr. Smith died September 12, 1870, but his wife
is still living in this city. From the organization
of the party lie was a stanch Republican, and was a
devout member and liberal supporter of the Ger-
man Methodist Episcopal Church. He took an
active interest in everything pertaining to the
welfare of the community, and his life was one of
usefulness. His aims were high, noble and patri-
otic, and his business dealings were always straight-
forward and honorable. From a small beginning
he steadily worked his way upward until he be-
came connected with some of the leading indus-
tries of this city. He was connected with several
banking houses outside of Pekin, was a director
of several railway companies, was a Trustee and
prominent member of the Pekin Agricultural and
Mechanical Society, and was a member of the Pe-
kin Railway Construction Company. He was a
member of the State Board of Equalization. jMMJl!
the Board of Supervisors, and was a member of
the City Council. This is a summary of the pri-
vate and public interests which engrossed his time
and attention and made him one of the leading
and influential citizens in this section of the state.
Henry F. Smith attended the Weslcyan Univer-
sity for two years in Warren town, Mo., and was
graduated from the commercial department of the
Wesleyan University of Bloomington. He was then
in the employ of Schipper & Block for one year,
when he became one of the organizers of the Ger-
man-American National Bank, in which he served
as teller for three years, or until the fall of 1890.
He then bought out the senior partner in the
foundry business of Voth <fe Duisdieker and con-
tinued in partnership with the latter gentleman
under the name of Duisdieker & Smith until July,
1892, engaged in the manufacture of various kinds
of machinery. In the beginning of that year he
became interested in the milling business, and in
July of that year sold his other business to his
partner in order to devote his entire time and at-
tention to milling.
Mr. Smith was one of the organizers of the Pe-
kin Milling Company, which was incorporated in
1892 with J. W. Harmel as President and Treas-
urer; Henry Block, Vice-President, and I-I. F. Smith,
Secretary. They enlarged the mill, built tl^e ware-
houses and increased the capacity to one hundred
and seventj'-five barrels of flour per day. The
mill is supplied with a full roller system, is run by
a steam engine of eighty horse power, and the
wheat used is shipped from Kansas and Missouri.
Their principal grades of flour are "Crystal,"
"Golden Medal" and "Beats 'em All."
On the 27th of October, 1887, in Pekin, was cel-
ebrated the marriage of Mr. Smith and Miss Lena
Steinmetz. The3 r have three children, Mary L.,
Loraine II. and Teis P. In his political views Mr.
Smith is a Republican, and socially is connected
with the National Union, with Empire Lodge No.
126, A. F. & A. M.; Pekin Chapter No. 25, R. A. M.;
and is a charter member of the Woodmen's soci-
ety. In connection with his other interests he
owns and carries on a stock farm comprising two
hundred acres of land in Mason County, four
mtles'fedirtirbf Manito. Excellent business abil-
ity, sagacity and enterprise are numbered among
his chief characteristics and will no doubt win for
him the success which attended his father's efforts.
OHN W. NOLTE, proprietor of the Pekin
Steam Laundry, is a widely known and
prominent young business man, who was
born in this city, March 19, 1867. He is the
son of Justice C. Nolle, a native of German}^ who
when sixteen years of age came to America and
located in St. Louis with his parents, where they
died soon after of cholera. Their son was em-
ployed in teaming in the Mound City until com-
ing to Delavan, this county, when he located on a
farm on the prairie and was engaged in its culti-
vation until coming to Pekin some years later.
While living in the city he was engaged in team-
ing on quite an extensive scale, but is living at the
present time on a farm of eighty acres within the
corporate limits of the city. His wife, before her
marriage known as Miss Rosanna Davis, was born
in New York City, and was married to Mr. Nolle
;n Pekin.
Of the four sons and one daughter comprised
in the parenlal family, our subject is the eldesl
UBRAOT
Of !Ht
OF ILLINOIS
DANIEL BROWN.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
399
hut one. He was reared in this city, attended the
common schools until reaching his thirteenth year,
when he found employment with the Pekin Plow
Works, and for four years was in the finishing
room. Later he was engaged as clerk for A. Fuld,
a general clothing merchant in the city, and re-
mained with him for about a twelvemonth. Then
in 1887 he went to work for the Pekin Steam
Laundry Company, with whom he continued as
manager for two years, and at the end of that
time went to Lincoln, this state, where he estab-
lished a steam laundry, which he operated with
groat success until March, 1892.
Returning to this city in the above year, Mr.
Nolle bought out the Pekin Steam Laundry, and
in April of the following year he built his present
brick building, which is 30x95 feet in dimensions
and is located at No. 360 Elizabeth Street, oppo-
site the court house. He is a practical, energetic
and persevering young business man and has met
with more than ordinary success in his under-
taking. He uses modern methods in his laundry,
which contains the latest improved machinery,
thus enabling its proprietor to turn out first-class
work. lie gives employment to six people, and is
proving himself worthy in every respect to be
placed among the prominent business men repre-
sented in this volume.
DANIEL BROWN, for many years one of
the most influential agriculturists of Taze-
well County, was born in Dillon Town-
ship, November 1, 1829, and here met his
death April 11, 1884. So prominent was he in
this section that his name is still, after a lapse of
ten years, mentioned as the synonym for all that is
manly, honest and true. lie was a member of a
leading pioneer fainily of the county that settled
on the banks of the Mackinaw in 1828.
Before William Penn obtained a grant to Penn-
sylvania, James Brown resided in Marcus Hook,
that .state, and it is supposed that he emigrated to
America as early as 1680, as after coming to this
country he married a daughter of William Clay-
ton, who brought his family hither in 1677. He
was a weaver by trade, and like most of the trades-
men of Colonial times he engaged in farming. Ob-
taining a patent in 1683 to one hundred and fif-
teen acres on Chichester Creek, he gave to the
property the name Poddington, and on the 21st
of June, 1705, transferred the place to his son
William. He also had in his possession several
other tracts of land which he sold prior to his
removal to Nottingham. One of his brothers,
William, from whom our subject is descended,
came to this country from England in the seven-
teenth century and settled in Lancaster County,
Pa. Three brothers, William being one of the
number, founded the Society of Friends in Amer-
ica, and from that time to the present the descend-
ants of the "Browns of Nottingham" have ad-
hered to the faith of their forefathers.
The father of our subject, William Brown, was
born in Pennsylvania March 13, 1805. At the
East-land meeting house, he married Miss Rachael
Milner, the ceremony being performed in the rites
of the Quaker Church. In 1828 they left the Key-
stone State, accompanied by their seven children,
a brother of Mrs. Brown, Daniel Milner by name,
together with her mother, Mary Milner, and two
manumitted slaves. They commenced their west-
ward journey on the 28th of August, and stopped
for ten days at Richmond, Ind., where the father
visited his uncle, Samuel Brown, a native of North
Carolina, and a hero of the Revolutionaiy War.
Leaving Richmond, the emigrants traveled through
forests so dense as to obscure the light of day. On
the 20th of October. 1828, they arrived at the home
of John Wilson, a brother-in-law of the father, hav-
ing made the entire journey in a covered wagon.
The house occupied by the Wilson family was a
typical pioneer structure, and was a log cabin 18x
18. Across one side of the building, about six
feet from the floor, was a shelf which was reached
by a ladder and constituted the only sleeping
apartment the house afforded. This was the bed-
room of the women and children, while the men
slept in the wagons. About New Year's, William
Brown purchased from Enoch T. Orendorff, a claim
on which was a log cabin 20x18, and another near-
by 12x14 feet, the latter being used for the loom.
The surroundings were primitive, the land un-
improved, settlers few and wild animals plentiful.
400
POETRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
p]very spring and fall the Kickapoo and Delaware
I ndians, in passing to and from Peoria (then called
Ft. Clark), camped on Cedar Bluff, four miles north-
west of Delavan, where they sought game in the
timber that skirts the Mackinaw River. Often the
squaws were to be seen and always with their ba-
bies fastened to their backs with a strap, and
while the men of the tribe brought in game from
their hunting expeditions, they performed the
manual labor and procured the other provisions,
consisting chiefly of corn-meal, which they begged
from the settlers. When moving they carried the
tents and other camping outfit, the men carrying
the hunting material only.
The original claim consisted of fifteen acres un-
der cultivation, but afterward other property was
purchased and the farm enlarged to sixty acres. A
house was built for a blacksmith shop, and in the
spring of 1829 father and sons began to work at
the trade of a blacksmith. In March the father
went to St. Louis, where he purchased some Ten-
nessee iron and English steel, and this was con-
veyed to Pekin in a flat boat. The up-rooted
trees washed out by floods obstructed the channels
of the western rivers, and had to be removed be-
fore a steamboat could effect a passage. During
the administration of J. Q. Adams, who was elec-
ted to the Presidency in 1824. snag boats were
built for the purpose of removing the snags from
the rivers in the west, and as an immediate result
great prosperity followed. Glass for window panes
was introduced into the county in 1829, when
Aaron and Enoch T. Orendorff each built a brick
residence and used glass for the windows. During
the following year Mr. Brown bought some glass
and put several window panes in his house.
In hunting, the pioneers of Tazewell County
took great pleasure, and thereby furnished the
meat for the family. Deer, turkeys and prairie
chickens were plentiful. For some years wolves
were very numerous, and in the autumn evenings,
especially if a storm threatened, a distant growl
could be heard; the refrain would be taken up un-
til on every hand resounded their continuous
howling. Then woe to the lamb that strayed from
the sheepfold, or the belated traveler without a
safe retreat near at hand!
A well-to-do and progressive citizen, William
Brown became quite prominent in this locality,
and represented his district in the Legislature, be-
ing a member of the House at the same time with
Abraham Lincoln. Of his family we note the fol-
lowing: Miriam married Jeremiah Bailey; Isaiah
went to California in 1852, and died there leaving
a family; Joshua is a prominent resident of Holder,
McLean County, this state; Hester married Jesse
W. Fell, well known for his philanthropy, and a
prominent factor in establishing the various state
institutions at Normal, his home; Milner married
Rebecca Russell, a native of Loudoun County, Va.,
and a daughter of James and Susan (January)
Russell, the former of whom was a direct descen-
dant of Capt. James Russell, an oflicer in Crom-
well's Army. Milner Brown and his wife had one
child, Mary Milner, the wife of Samuel D. Wood,
her third cousin ; they live on a large estate left
them by her father.
The subject of this sketch completed his educa-
tion at Knox College, in Galesburg, and became
one of the wealthiest agriculturists of Tazewell
County. November 13, 1859, he married Miss
Arietta Lillie, a native of New York and the daugh-
ter of Elisha Lillie, who was born in Vermont, of
a family prominent in the history of that state.
He was a commissioned ollicer in the War of 1812,
and in early life settled in Connecticut, whence
he removed to New York. He died at the age of
ninety. His wife was Cynthia, daughter of Wat-
rous Clark, a native of Connecticut, and a sister
of Lot Clark, partner in the building of the first
Niagara suspension bridge, Congressman from New
York from 1823-1825, and for years a leader of
the Democratic party of his state. He was at an
early day owner of ten thousand acres of land
near Delavan. Mrs. Brown was one of six chil-
dren, all of whom are living, with the exception
of Lewis, who went to California in 1849, and
there married a niece of Ben Butler. A lady of
culture, Mrs. Brown came to Illinois and engaged
in teaching school at Delavan, and prior to her
marriage followed that profession successfully.
At the time of his marriage, Mr. Brown was set-
tled on the farm where he resided throughout his
entire life. He had two sons, the younger of
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
401
whom, Daniel Milner, is engaged in business in
Keosauqua, Van Buren County, Iowa. January 10,
1889, he married Miss LotellaC. Regur. The elder
json, Lewis E., who was educated in Knox College,
resides on the home farm. He is a Republican,
and prominent in politics. For some years lie was
extensively engaged in raising blooded stock, but
does not give so much attention to that branch of
agriculture as in former years. He superintends
the management of the large estate and is a young
man of ability. lie was married June 6, 1894, to
Miss Minnie Brereton, of Pekin, 111.
The death of Mr. Brown was widely mourned.
It was felt throughout the count}' that one of its
foremost citizens had been lost. Commenting on
his decease, a local paper says: "Daniel Brown was
a man of great force of character, of indefatigable
energy, but of a most gentle and humane nature,
loving and forgiving in his family, and consider-
ate and generous toward his neighbors and friends.
Among the hundreds who gathered about his grave
were not to be found the rich only, but many of
the poor whom he had at times befriended, and
who will remember him as a true counsellor and
timely benefactor.
"Mr. Brown was a man of excellent public
spirit, taking great interest in the affairs of his im-
mediate neighborhood and section, and well illus-
trating that better quality in men that delights in
the upbuilding of communities first of all, rather
than in public honors. He amassed a fortune by
diligence and faithfulness in business, leaving an
estate of one thousand acres of valuable land, but
above all is the heritage of a good name, which he
has left to his family."
IklLLIAM P. FAULKNER is one of the
pioneers of Mason County. Coming here
about fifty-five years ago, he has wit-
nessed the great change wrought by the hand of
man in bringing this section of country from .a
state of nature to its present condition as one of
the richest and most highly developed counties in
Illinois, and he ma}' well take pride in what he
has done to aid in producing this wonderful re-
sult. As a farmer and stock-raiser, he was one
of the most prosperous of that class of people,
and after accumulating a sufficient amount of
property to provide the comforts of life for his
declining years he retired from active labor, and
now makes his home in Mason City. To him be-
longs the distinction of having cut the logs for
the first house ever built here, and from that
time to the present he has watched the growth of
the place with commendable pride and interest.
Near Moore's Hill, in Dearborn County, Ind.,
the subject of this sketch was born December 23,
1825. lie traces his lineage to Ireland, whence
his paternal grandfather, Thomas R. Faulkner,
emigrated to the United States and made a set-
tlement in New York. He was one of the heroes of
the Revolutionary War, and aided in the achieve-
ment of the independence of the Colonies. Thomas
R., Jr., our subject's father, was born in Genesee
County, N. Y., August 9, .1801, and removed
thence to Dearborn County, Ind. Later, he came
to Mason Count}', and here his death occurred
in 1865. While not active in political affairs,
he was firm in his allegiance to the Republican
party. His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Phoebe Heaton, was born in New England and
died in Mason County in May, 1839.
At the age of four years our subject was taken
by his parents to Madison County, Ind., and there
he remained until he was thirteen years old,
meantime gaining the rudiments of his educa-
tion. With his parents he came to Illinois in
1838 and settled in Fulton County, but the so-
journ there was a brief one, for in the spring of
the following year the family removed thence to
Mason County. Here William P. grew to man-
hood, and upon selecting a life occupation lie-
chose that of a farmer, in which he was engaged
until April, 1889. As a raiser of stock and grain
he met with more than ordinary success, and is
now the owner of four hundred and twenty-six
acres lying in this county. The entire tract is
well cultivated and improved with good buildings.
March 21, 1851, William P. Faulkner and Miss
Melissa Virgin were united in marriage. This
lady was a daughter of Abram Virgin, one of the
early settlers of Mason Count}'. At her death,
402
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in 1877, she left one son, Francis R., who lives
in this county. After the death of his first wife,
Mr. Faulkner married Mrs. Mahulda (Swiger)
Phillip, and two sons, Walter and William, have
been born to bless their union. The various issues
of the age receive from Mr. Faulkner merited
consideration, and he gives his support to the
cause of Prohibition, believing this to be the most
important question of the day. In educational
affairs he has been active, and during his sixteen
years' service as Director of Schools was instru-
mental in advancing the standard of scholarship
and promoting the welfare of the schools of his
locality.
I ESSE S. WILSON, who for many years has
followed farming and now carries on agri-
cultural pursuits on section 25, Trcmont
Township, Tazewell Count}', was born in
Tremont Township on the 23d Of October, 1861.
His grandfather, William Wilson, was a Kentuck-
ian by birth, and married Nancy Spencer, also a
native of that state. In 1828 they came with their
family to Illinois and located in Sangamon Coun-
ty, where they resided for a year. On the expira-
tion of that period they came to Tazewell County,
where they spent their remaining days. Their first
location was in Little Mackinaw Township, and in
1831 they removed to Hopedale Township.
Mr. Wilson was one of the honored pioneers of
this section of the state and over bore his part in
the arduous task of developing the county. He
died upon the old homestead in 1863, at the age
of sixty-three, and in his death the community
lost one of its best citizens. Edward Wilson, fa-
ther of our subject, was born in Kentucky and
was a child of only four summers when he came
with his parents to Illinois. In 1845 he located in
Tremont Township. More extended mention is
made of him in the sketcli of Benjamin F. Wilson
on another page of this work.
Our subject has always lived in Tremont Town-
ship, and agriculture has been the work of his life.
He became familiar with farming in all its details
during his early years and now has a valuable
tract of land, which gives evidence of the careful
supervision of the owner. On the 5th of April,
1888, he was united in marriage with Miss Sophia
Hittle, who was born in Mackinaw Township and
is a daughter of Lewis and Addie (Sparks) Hittle.
In their family were four children, two sons and
two daughters, namely: Mrs. Wilson; Orville, now
a farmer of Mackinaw Township; Maud, wife of
Ben Miller, of Mackinaw; and Roy, who makes his
home in Mackinaw. The father was bom in
Mackinaw and is a representative of one of the
earliest families of the county. His wife is a
native of Ohio. He is now successfully engaged
in the drug business. Two children grace the
union of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Walter and Orvetta.
Our subject holds membership with Mackinaw
Lodge No. 132, A. F. <fe A. M., and with Pekm
Chapter No. 25, R. A. M. He is also a member of
Greening Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Mackinaw. In
politics he is a stalwart supporter of Democratic
principles and is now serving as a member of the
Board of Road Commissioners. A public-spirited
and progressive citizen, he manifests a commen-
dable interest in everything pertaining to the wel-
fare of the community in which he makes his
home. He is regarded as one of the representa-
tive young citizens of Tazewell County and is one
of the most extensive farmers of this region. His
successful business career is the result of well di-
rected efforts, energy and perseverance.
J^'ACOB IIOFMANN owns and operates a
fine farm of one hundred and seventy acres
on section 18, Mackinaw Township, Taze-
_ well County. His place is one of the best
improved in this locality. The fields are well
tilled, and the buildings are such as are found on
a model farm and are always kept in good repair.
Everything is neat and thrifty in appearance and
RESIDENCE OF JACOB HOFMANN, SEC. 18, MACKINAW TP., TAZEWELL CO., ILL.
HICKORY GROVE STOCK FARM,
PROPERTY OF J. S. WILSON, SECS. 24 AND 25, TREMONT TP., TAZEWELL CO., ILL.
LiBRAftY
Of tt
OF ILLINOIS
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
405
ndicatcs to the passer-by the careful supervision
of the owner.
Mr. Hofmann was born in Wurtemberg, Ger-
inauy, April 27, 1848, and is a son of Jacob and
Hannah (Dick) Ilofiuann The father was born
'in Germany in November, 1811, and was a weaver
and farmer. lie served as a soldier for four years
but took part in no war. In the family were seven
sons and two daughters, but Jacob and Benjamin
were the only ones who ever came to the United
States.
Our subject remained at home until fifteen years
of age and then began earning his own livelihood
and also contributed of his wages to the support
of the family. At length he determined to seek a
home beyond the Atlantic, and when a young
man of twenty bade adieu to friends and Father-
land and sailed for the New World. His brother
furnished the money for the passage, but after a
short time the loan was all paid. Coming to
Tazewell County, he worked by the ruontlr as a'
farm hand for live years.
On the expiration of that period Mr. Hofmann
was united in marriage with Christina Fornoff,
who was a native of Pennsylvania, though her
parents were born in Darmstadt, Germany. There
were eleven children born of this union and the
family circle yet remains unbroken. They are,
John, Ida, Jacob, Philip, Ann, Lizzie, August,
Gottleib, Harriet, Katie and Mary. The parents
are providing them with good educational privi-
leges. Some of them have attended the Mackinaw
High School, and three have been students in the
German schools of Pekiu. The parents are mem-
bers of the German Lutheran Church.
For eleven years Mr. Hofmann engaged in the
operation of rented land and then purchased his
present farm. It was in a dilapidated condition,
buthe at once began improving it with the success
before mentioned. He raises some of the finest
crops in the Mackinaw Valley and has gathered as
high as eighty or ninety bushels of corn to the
acre. He also makes a, specialty of the breeding
of Durham cattle and Chester White hogs.
In politics Mr. Hofmann is a Democrat and has
held some local olHces. In 1891, accompanied by
his brother, he made a trip to Germany and spent
three months in visiting his native land, together
with Scotland and Kngland. The journey proved
a ver}' pleasant one, but he is content with Amer-
ica as his home, for here he has found success and
become a prosperous citizen.
I
RA F. RANDOLPH. Our subject is a man of
more than average ability, and one who has
made the most of his opportunities. He is a
representative agriculturist and prominent citizen
of Sand Prairie Township, Tazewell County, liv-
ing upon a good estate on section 35. He was
born May 20, 1834, in Plainfield, Essex County,
N. J., while his father, Morris Randolph, was born
in Middlesex County, that state, in January, 1807.
The father of our subject was a blacksmith
by trade, which occupation he followed until
1852, When he moved upon a farm in his native
county and for four years followed farm pursuits.
In 1856 he came west to this county, and pur-
chasing a farm in Malone Township, one mile
south of the city, he engaged in its cultivation,
and made that place his home until his decease,
which occurred March 18, 1886. The lady to
whom he was married was Miss Maria Lyon. She
was likewise a native of New Jersey, and was born
in December, 1806, in Essex County. She was a
lady of good education, and married the father of
our subject November 4, 1829. She joined the Bap-
tist Church when a young girl, and was true to
the faith of that body until her death, March 21,
1878. Her husband was likewise a member of that
denomination, and in early life voted the Whig
ticket. Later he joined the ranks of the Republi-
cans, and in all the affairs of life bore himself in an
upright manner, and was regarded as a man of
true worth.
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph had nine children: Mary
Margaret, who died in infancy; Sarah Ann, Ira F.;
Juliet, now deceased; Lydia M., Daniel, Charles,
Albert and Julia. Sarah Ann married Jacob Boice
and lives in Summerville, N. J. Lydia was the
wife of Nathan Blackford, and until her decease,
in 1892, resided in Plainfield, N. J. Daniel mar-
406
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ried Miss Hannah Bird, a native of New Jersey,
and they make their home on a farm south of
Green Valley. Charles lives on a farm in Malone
Township, this county. Julia married Philip Davis,
an extensive farmer near Forest, Livingston Coun-
ty, this state.
The subject of this sketch spent his early life in
attending the district schools near Plain Held, and
on arriving at his majority he began clerking in a
general merchandise store in his native place. He
was thus employed for about seven years, when
he returned to the home farm and aided his father
in its cultivation until the removal of the family
to this state, when he accompanied them hither;
he continued to reside under the parental roof
until his marriage, in the fall of 1862. The lady
of his choice was Miss Rebecca Wilson, daughter
of Matthew and Hannah (Walmagott) Wilson,
formerly residents of Ohio, but natives of Penn-
sylvania.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ira Randolph the following
five children have been, born: Lillie, Frank Ed-
ward, Charles M., Ira W. and Nelson A. The
eldest son was married in 1893 to Miss Hattie
Lawler, and Ira W. was married the previous year
to Miss llattie Petty. In his political faith our
subject is a Republican of the deepest dye.
AVID CLYDE WHITE. For many years
Mr. White has enjoyed a reputation not
only as a substantial farmer, but also as
an intelligent and thoroughly posted man
in public affairs. He has had a vast amount of
experience, and his most trivial business trans-
actions are characterized by good judgment and
strict integrity. He is a prominent citizen of
Forest City Township, Mason County, and has
been of much benefit to the community. He is one
of the large land owners of this section, owning
four hundred acres of valuable property pleasantly
located on sections 20 and 21.
William W. White, the father of our subject,
was a native of Pennsylvania and his birth oc-
curred in the year 1818. lie in turn was a son of
Zachariah White, also a native of the Keystone
State, who in early life followed the trade of ;
blacksmith and machinist, but afterward* became
a well-to-do farmer. The family originally cairn
from England and made settlement in Pennsyl-|
vania in about 1790. The lady to whom William
W. White was married was Miss Elizabeth Civile.
who was born in 1817 in Pennsylvania and was'
the daughter of David and Ann (Sloan) Clyde,;
natives of Scotland. Her parents on coining
to America made their home first in New York
and afterwards in Pennsylvania, where Mr. Clyde
was a brick and stone mason.
The parents of our subject were reared and
married in Pennsylvania, after which they re-
moved to Marshall County, W. Va., and lived
upon a farm until 1865, when they came to Illi-
nois and purchased land on section 28, Forest City
Township. Here Mrs. White died in October of
the above year, and the father in November of
the year following. Of their family of eleven
children nine are now living. Sarah J. is the
wife of V. H. Maxwell and lives in Slay ton,
Minn.; David C., of this sketch, was the next in
order of birth; Vachad M. is residing on section
34 of this township; Milton married Emma 1'ier-
son and makes his home at Sigourney, Iowa; John
C. married Anna R. Wilson and is living in Dallas,
Tex.; Ellen A. is now Mrs. Martin A. Smith and
resides in Iowa Park, Tex.; Ellbert is a fanner
on section 28 of this township; Wilfred A. is also
a farmer of section 17 of this township, and Anna
M., the wife of A. C. Watt, is also living in Iowa
Park, Tex.
The eldest son, /achariah A., M. D., was for
three months during the late war Sergeant of Com-
pany II, First West Virginia Infantry. He was
later made surgeon of the First West Virginia
Cavalry and remained with his regiment during
the entire period of the war. He was taken
prisoner in West Virginia and taken from there
to 'Charleston, S. C., and later to Salisbury,
N. C., where he was placed under lire of the
Union guns in order to try and stop their
advance. He was fortunate enough to send a
letter to his father, which the latter took to the
Governor of West Virginia and by him to the
Secretary of War, who secured his exchange, after
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
407
which he returned home for a short time, when he
again rejoined his regiment. After the war /ach-
ariah White located in Wayuesburgh, Pa., where
he was made Deputy United States Revenue Col-
lector under President Johnson, and in 1867 he
met his death very suddenly when in the act of
getting into a stage coach.
The parents of our subject were members of
the Wesleyan Methodist Church, in which they
were prominent workers. The father was an ac-
tive politician in West Virginia, but in no sense
an office-seeker. He was one of the original Abo-
litionists of that state and lived on the line of the
Underground Railroad. The grandparents of our
subject on both sides were Whigs in politics, and
Grandfather Clyde was a Presidential elector in
1844, at the time James G. Birney ran for Pres-
ident.
David C. White, of this bketch, was born August
26, 1842, in Marshall County, W. Va., and was
reared to manhood there and thoroughly trained
to farm pursuits. He received his primary educa-
tion in the public schools and completed his
studies in the Waynesburgh (Pa.) College. While
a student there he enlisted as a soldier in Com-
pany II, First West Virginia Infantry, and served
a term of three months. At the end of that time
he returned to the college, and later, when a com-
pany of students was raised, he joined it and it
was afterwards known as Company F, Fifteenth
Pennsylvania Cavalry. He enlisted as a private
but was soon promoted to be Corporal, afterwards
Sergeant, and finally was made First Lieutenant of
his company. The regiment thus organized par-
ticipated in the battles of Antietam, Stone River,
Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge.
They also fought in all the engagements from
Chattanooga to Atlanta, from which latter place
they returned to Nashville under the command of
General Thomas and drove Hood into Missis-
sippi. From there they went to Ilunlsville, Ala.,
and were engaged in various raids through that
state, spending the winter of 1864-65 at Knoxville,
Tenn. During that time they participated in the
Sloneman Raid, and in the spring, when going to
North Carolina, captured and destroyed the town
and prison at Salisbury. From there they skir-
mished through South Carolina and Georgia hunt-
ing for Jefferson Davis, and going into Alabama,
rendezvoused at Iluntsville, at which place they
were mustered out of service and arrived home
July 3, 1865, after a service of three years and
three months. Mr. White had command of his
company during the greater part of the last year
of the war and was wounded during a fight with
the Cherokee Indians in the Smoky Mountains, in
North Carolina, by a musket ball, which passed
through his thigh. lie had his horse shot from
under him at Dandridge, Tenn., and during the
entire period was never off duty nor in the hos-
pital except on a visit to some sick comrade.
The father of our subject had removed to this
state during the war and located in Mason County.
The latter, however, entered college with the in-
tention of studying law. but was prevailed upon
to join the family in their new home. He was
married in 1867 to Miss Mary E., daughter of
John and Martha (Gittin) McKuight, both natives
of Ohio, who came to this county in 1848 and
located in Walker's Grove. Mr. McKnight is
now deceased and his good wife makes her home
with our subject. Mrs. White was born February
28, 1842, and after her marriage with our subject
made her home with his mother until 1874, when
they located upon their present fine estate. Mr.
White has since purchased from time to time until
he now owns four hundred broad and fertile acres,
on which area number of as atttactive and sub-
stantial buildings as can be found anywhere in the
county.
To our subject and his wife have been born six
children, of whom those living are John C., Lewis
E. and Laura. With his wife and family he is a
member of the Baptist Church, of which he has
been Clerk since its organization in this town-
ship. He has also been Superintendent of the
Sunday-school for eight years and takes an active
part in all good works. As may be expected he is a
Grand Army man, and also belongs to the Modern
Woodmen of Forest City. He has likewise been
Master and is now Chaplain of the Grange, and as
a Mason he belongs to the Blue Lodge No. 476 at
Manito, of which he is Past Master.
Mr. White has aided greatly in advancing the
408
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
standard of scholarship in this vicinity and lias
been Township Treasurer of Schools for the past
seventeen years. His eldest son is a graduate of
Brown's Business College at Peoria, and Lewis
E. is a student at Dixon College. In 1892 our
subject was a candidate for the State Board of
Equalization from District No. 13, and the same
year his name was placed before the Republican
convention as Representative to the State Legisla-
ture. He has been Supervisor for his township
and has served as a member of the Drainage Com-
mittee of Mason and Tazcwell Counties.
<&
OHN M. McREYNOLDS. With the progress
of Mason County, and more especially the
history of Quiver Township, the subject of.
this sketch has been intimately associated
for many years, having contributed materially to
the development of its resources and the growth
of its industries. His life occupation has been
that of fanning, in which, through industry and
perseverance, he lias met with success and gained
prosperity. The farm which he occupies consists
of two hundred and thirty acres, embellished with
suitable and substantial buildings and bearing first-
class improvements.
Robert McReynolds, the father of our subject,
was born in Columbia County, Pa., April 13, 1791,
and was the son of Hugh McReynolds. The former
married Miss Susannah Moyer, also a native of the
above county, and the daughter of John Moyer, a
native of Germany, who after coming to this coun-
try located in the Keystone State. The paren ts con-
tinued to reside in Columbia County until 1838,
when they came to this county and made their home
first in Havana Township, on the farm now occu-
pied by Mr. Heston. It was an uncultivated tract
at that time, and during the years which they lived
upon it they made many substantial improvements,
and in 1848 came to Quiver Township and pur-
chased the property now occupied by J. W. Him-
meleyros. There the father of our subject carried
on farm pursuits for many years, and afterward
removed to Havana, where he lived and held
some importantoftices, which he filled satisfactorily
until his death, which occurred November 15, 1872.
His good wife followed him to the better land two
years later, dying June 16, 1884.
The parental family included nine children, all
of whom grew to mature years, and the following
seven are still living: John M., of this sketch;
Sarah, Mrs. Fisk; Andrew J.; Nancy Jane, Mrs.
Cross; Margaret. Mrs. Cross; Mary, Mrs. Coppel;
and Hannah C., now Mrs. Appleman. The parents
of these children were members in good standing
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which de-
nomination Mr. McReynolds was Steward and
Class-leader. Meetings were often held in their
farm house, which was built with that purpose in
view, and once as many as fifty people took break-
fast with them on Sunday mornings. The father
of our subject was also one of the prominent mi'ii
of this county, and was afforded the high esteem
and confidence of its best residents. He was a
Dejuocrat in politics, and held the ollices of Coun-
ty ^Commissioner, County Assessor and was Asso-
' ciate justice in 1848, and ten years later filled the
office of County Judge. He was widely known
throughout the state, and was an intimate friend
of Peter Cartwright.
John M. McReynolds was born September 8,
1822, in Columbia County, Pa., and was a lad of
sixteen years at the time of his parents' removal to
this state. He received a meagre education in the
common schools of that state, and since then, by
extensive reading, has become well posted upon
general topics, and is a man of broad information.
Mr. McReynolds remained upon his father's farm
until 1847, when, having been married the pre-
vious year, he removed to a home of his own.
His wife was Miss Catherine A., daughter of Will-
iam and Catherine Den tier, early settlers of this
state. She was a nativeof Pennsylvania, and died
December 1 3, 1 855, after having become the mother
of five children: Robert H., Lemuel W., Eliza J.,
Arminda F. and Willis D.
Mr. McReynolds was again married February 2,
1860, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary C.
Cadwallader, natives of Fulton Count}', tnis state.
She was the daughter of Reece and Sarah (Hum-
phrey) Cadwallader, both of whom are now de-
LIBRARY
OFIW
MRS. J. A. NEIKIRK.
J. A. NEIKIRK.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
413
ceased. Mrs. McReynolds was born April 16, 1839,
and received a good education in Mason County.
By her union with our subject the following chil-
dren were born: Clara C. (deceased), A. C., Louella
M., Oscar R., John C., Ralph B. and Pearl E.
Our subject has resided upon his present, farm
since 1847. It was then in a wild condition,
and wolves, deer and other animals infested the
country. He is now one of the oldest living set-
tlers in Quiver Township, and owns a valuable
property of two hundred and thirty acres. lie
gives his attention to mixed farming, and has on
his place some of the finest breeds of hogs and
cattle.
Mr. McReynolds is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, which he served as
Recording Steward for over thirty years, during
which time he never missed a quarterly meeting.
He is serving at the present time as Trustee, Class-
leader and Sunday -school teacher. He has given
his children the very best advantages for obtain-
ing an education, and for many years has been
Director on the School Board. He takes .-inactive
part in politics, ana is a strong Republican with
Prohibition proclivities. He now fills the office of
School Trustee, and in times past has been Super-
visor and Assessor. He was one of the Trustees of
the Methodist Church at Topeka during the erec-
tion of their fine church edifice, which cost $4.000,
and is President of the Mason County Farmers'
Mutual Fire and Lightning Association; he has
held this office for the past six years, which indi-
cates his efficiency.
AMES ALEXANDER NEIK1RK. Located
in Forest City Township lies one of the
finest rural homes in Mason County. Here
Mr. Neikirk has resided for many years,
meanwhile adding to his property, on which first-
class buildings have been erected and other sub-
stantial improvements introduced which prove his
thrift and enterprise as an agriculturist.
Referring to the parental history of our subject,
we find that his father, George Neikirk, was born
in Washington Count}-, Md., January 19, 1798. He
in turn was the only son of Michael Neikirk, a na-
il
tive of Pennsylvania, where in early life he fol-
lowed the trade of a weaver and later became a
fanner. The first representatives of the family in
America came from Holland and located near
Philadelphia. Mrs. Elizabeth (Bowser) Neikirk,
the mother of our subject, was also born in Mary-
laud, the date of her birth being July 16, 1803.
She was the daughter of John and Magdalene
(Buyers) Bowser, of whom a further history will be (
found in the sketch of E. J. Bowser on another
page in this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. George Neikirk were married in
their native state and afterward lived in Washing-
ton County until the fall of 1841, when they re-
moved to Seneca County, Ohio. In that place
they made their home until the fall of 1853, when
they came to Mason County and located on sec-
tion 13, Forest City Township, at a time when the
country was very sparsely settled. The estate at
that time included about five hundred acres, to
which the father added until at his death he was the
proprietor of two thousand acres of valuable land.
His death occurred April 23, 1855, and his good
wjf.e, who survived him man} 1 years, died February
7, 1873.
Of the parental family of six sons and three
daughters seven are now living, namely: James A.,
of this sketch; William K., John E.; Mary E., now
the wife of T. II. Cheek, of Sherman Township;
George W.; P^mma P., Mrs. Sherer; and Belle, who
married O. W. Van Ormau. Those deceased are
Solomon and Eli. The mother of these children
was a devoted member of the Methodist Church.
In politics, the father was an old-line Whig, and
was a well informed man. Three of his sons,
Eli, John and George, served as soldiers during
the Civil War, the eldest being Second Lieutenant
of Company C, Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry.
The elder Mr. Neikirk was one of the largest land
owners in Mason County and occupied a high po-
sition in the esteem of his fellow-citizens.
Our subject was born April 15, 1825, in Wash-
ington County, Md., and was there reared and ed-
ucated. Like all farmer lads he received a thor-
ough training in farm work, and at the time his
parents removed to this state he came hither with
them, January 26, 1853, he married Miss Barbara
414
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Ann, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Gotschall)
Den tier. Her father was born in Lancaster Coun-
ty, Pa., March 13, 1780, and her mother was a na-
tive of Northumberland County, that state, where
her birth occurred February 26, 1799. They were
married in Pennsylvania, where they continued to
reside until their decease, the father dying April
22, 1864, and the mother departing this life Sep-
tember 5 of the following year.
Only two of the fifteen children comprising
the family of Mr. and Mrs. Dentler are now liv-
ing, Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. Aaron Graves, and
a resident of Guernsey Count}', Ohio, and Mrs.
Neikirk. The latter was born November 6, 1825,
in Lewisburgh, Pa., and received her education in
the schools of Butler County, that state. After-
ward she taught school for some time in Lawrence
County and also followed that vocation after re-
moving to Seneca County, Ohio. Her parents
were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Three of her brothers served as soldiers in the Civil
War.
Mrs. Neikirk's grandfather, Jacob Dentler, was
born in Lancaster County, Pa., and married Miss
Barbara Funk, whose ancestors came from Ger-
many. He also traced his lineage to the Father-
land, the family originally living near the Rhine.
Her maternal grandfather, Michael Gotschall, was
born in Northumberland County, Pa., and served
as a soldier in the Revolutionary War; he married
Miss Catherine Mottier, whose parents came from
Wittenberg, Germany.
After his father's decease our subject moved
upon his present farm, which comprises five hun-
dred and sixty-five acres of valuable land. Here
in 1872 he erected a substantial residence, which
cost when complete $3,000. Although he still su-
perintends his farm he has retired from active ag-
ricultural labors. The improvements on the estate
are his handiwork, and its high state of cultivation
is due to his excellent judgment.
Of the eight children born to our subject and
his wife those living are: Mary L., widow of E. S.
Maring; Louis N., who married Elizabeth Maxwell
and makes his home in this township; Edith N.,
the wife of Isaac K. Smith, of Seneca County,
Ohio, and George F., a soldier in the Regular
United States army. Mrs. Neikirk is a consistent
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in
which she is an active worker.
In politics our subject votes with the Republi-
can party, and in 1880 was elected Supervisor of
Forest City Township. He discharged the duties
of the office in a most admirable manner, and dur-
ing his incumbency was instrumental in securing
the thorough drainage of the county. He lias been
a member of the School Board and has always
been greatly interested in educational matters. A
natural mathematician, he completed without any
assistance his studies in algebra, geometry, trig-
onometry and surveying. lie has a finely selected
library, which contains among other volumes a
full set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Having long
been a thoughtful student of standard works by
the best authors, he possesses a large and varied
fund of information in scientific and historical
lore, and is considered one of the best informed
men in the township.
>HOMAS II. LEONARD, who carries on farm-
ing on section 35, Elm Grove Township,
Tazewell County, was born at his present
place of residence April 16, 1838. His grandfa-
ther, Ezekiel Leonard, was a native of North Caro-
lina; he married Rebecca Hodgson, also of that
state. In 1803, they removed with their family
to Ohio, becoming pioneer settlers of Clinton
County, where Mr. Leonard entered land and
opened up a farm, there making his home for
twenty-eight years. In 1831, he came with his
wife and children to Illinois, settling in Elm Grove
Township, where he again entered land. Upon
the farm which he improved he spent his remain-
ing days, passing away March 1, 1849, at the age
of sevent3 r -seven. His wife was called to her final
rest in July, 1851. They had seven children, five
of whom grew to mature years.
Thomas Leonard, father of our subject, was born
in North Carolina, April 13, 1801, and from his
third year until he had attained the age of twenty
lived in Ohio. At that time he came west and
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
415
settled in Elm Grove Township, where he took up
land from the Government. The wild and unim-
proved tract he transformed into a good farm, mak-
ing it his home throughout his remaining days. It
is now the property of our subject. In the Buck-
eye State Thomas Leonard, Sr., married Hannah
Starbuck, who was born in January, 1802, in
North Carolina. She is a daughter of Gear Star-
buck, who was born on Nnntucket Island, and who
went to North Carolina, thence removing to Ohio,
where he lived until his death, which occurred
when past the age of ninety years. Unto Thomas
and Hannah Leonard were born nine children, as
follows: Nathan, of Johnson County, 111.; Matilda,
wife of AVilliam Lindsej', of Mackinaw Township,
Tazewell County; Eli, who died in 1884, at the
age of sixty years; Allen, of Elm Grove Township;
Alfred E., now of Florida; Rebecca, who died in
1884, at the age of fifty; Levi G., of Elm Grove;
Thomas II., of this sketch, and Susanna, who became
the wife of William Eads, and died at the age of
twentj'-five. The father of this family was called
to his final rest in January, 1876, at the age of
seventy-live, and his wife passed away in April,
1864, at the age of sixty-two.
Our subject has always lived upon his present
farm. He was early inured to the arduous labors
of the field, and to his father he gave the benefit of
his services until he had attained his majority,
when he took an interest in the old home. Five
years later he assumed the entire management, and
has since carried on the work of further cultiva-
tion and improvement. He is a man of practical,
yet progressive ideas, and his enterprise is shown
in his business. His farm comprises two hundred
and forty acres, and upon eighty acres of this are
three miles of tiling. He has expended $2,000 in
draining the place, and has transformed the other-
wise swampy land into rich and fertile fields.
Mi* Leonard was married May 25, 1865, to Mary
E. Loy, a native of Pckin Township, Tazewell
County, and a daughter of Isaac and Mary A.
(Largent) Loy, the former a native of Ohio, and
the latter of Virginia. Five children have been
born to them, Emer A., now of Tremont; Ehnon
Loy, who is living in another 
