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208 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
DANIEL
WAINRIGHT.
A long life of activity and enterprise devoted to agricultural
pursuits gained for Daniel Wainright the financial independence that
now enables him to live retired. * For more than forty years he was
successfully identified with the farming interests of Chestnut
township, and was a prominent factor in promoting its development
along the various lines of public utility. Fie is a native of Ohio,
his birth occurring in Claremont, on the 4th of May, 1829, and a son
of Vincent and Nancy (Hall) Wainright. His father was born in New
Jersey, in 1793, while the mother was a native of the state of Ohio.
The paternal grandfather, Daniel Wainright, was likewise born and
reared in New Jersey, from which state he joined the Continental
ranks during the Revolution. In the maternal line, Daniel Wainright
is of English extraction, his grandfather, Jeremiah Flail having
emigrated from the mother country to the United States in the early
years of the last century. He was a carpenter and millwright by
trade, but subsequently withdrew from this vocation and took up
farming, locating on a tract of land in Claremont county, Ohio, that
he cultivated until his death in 1844. Of the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Vincent Wainright there were born nine children, five sons and
four daughters, as follows: Jonathan and Jeremiah, both of whom are
deceased; Daniel, our subject; Catherine and Delia Ann, who
subsequently became Mrs. Tuttle, both of whom are deceased; Rachel
M., the wife of a Mr. Barr, William Henry and Hannah Lucinda, who
are also deceased; and Wesley, who is living near Springfield.
The early years of Daniel Wainright's life were spent on his
father's farm, in the work of which he assisted while pursuing his
education in the district schools. In common with most country
youths at that period his text-books were early laid aside and his
attention devoted to the work of the fields and care of the stock.
He was married at the age of twenty years and for some time
following continued to engage in agricultural pursuits in his native
state. Later deciding that better opportunities awaited him in what
at that time was termed the west, he and his wife with their two
children crossed the prairies to Illinois. Knox county was his
destination and upon his arrival he purchased some land on section
3, Chestnut township, and there he continued to reside until 1901.
Upon this worthy young couple devolved all of the hardships and
discouragements that are incident to frontier life, but they were
enterprising and hopeful and their determination never faltered. He
applied himself intelligently and persistently to the cultivation of
his fields, improving his place as his means warranted from time to
time, and ultimately became one of the substantial agriculturists of
the county. With prosperity came the respect and esteem as well as
friendship of his many acquaintances, who recognized and appreciated
the many fine qualities that made
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 209
him a successful man and estimable citizen. Ten years ago, at the
age of seventy-two years, Mr. Wainright decided to withdraw from
active work and he and his wife left the farm and took up their
residence in Knoxville, where they continue to live.
Twelve years ago Mr. and Mrs. Wainright celebrated their golden
wedding, their marriage having occurred on the 13th of December,
1849. The maiden name of Mrs. Wainright was Eliza Jane Cramer, and
she, too, is a native of Claremont county, Ohio, her birth occurring
on the 10th of November, 1830. She is a daughter of William and
Sarah Ann (Shoats) Cramer, the father a native of Germany and the
mother of English extraction. She was an only child and was left an
orphan at an early age, but she had a half-brother, Joseph Heritage.
To Mr. and Mrs. Wainwright were born six children, two of whom are
deceased, Benedict, who was the fourth in order of birth, and
Loretta, the next younger, who died in infancy. Vincent, the eldest,
whose birth occurred in Ohio, married Miss Frances Hauk, a native of
Illinois, and they have two children Ernest and Edna. McGuire, also
a native of Ohio, married Miss Arenia Coe, of Missouri, and they
have two children, Clara, who is married; and Jennie, Joseph married
Arenia Mallory, who was born in Kansas, and they have the following
children: Arthur, Edith, Bertha, Mildred and Lloyd. Sarah Eliza, is
the wife of Bert Eikey, a farmer of Orange township, and their
children are: Louis, Bert, Ross and Flenrietta.
Mr. and Mrs. Wainright have always been active members of the
Methodist Episcopal church and for forty years he was superintendent
of the Sunday school. Fraternally he is a Mason, being affiliated
with Pacific Lodge, No. 66, A. F. & A. M. He always recognized the
obligation of citizenship by assuming his share of the governmental
responsibilities in his township. For three terms he discharged the
duties of supervisor and for three years he acted as road
commissioner, while for one term he served as school trustee and as
school director for twenty-eight years. A man of high principles and
keen judgment, Mr. Wainright's views were always valued in the
community where he resided, his foresight and powers of discernment
giving weight to any opinion he might advance relative to the public
welfare. During a residence in the county that has covered a period
of more than half a century he has not only won many friends, but
has established for himself a reputation that will be to his
children a valued heritage.
FRANK G. MATTESON.
In the history of Galesburg's commercial and industrial development
it is imperative that mention be made of Frank G. Matteson because
of his close connection with one of the most important productive
enterprises of the city, he being now president of the Pnrington
Paving Brick Company, the plant being located in East Galesburg. He
was born in Macomb, Illinois, August 24, 1867, his parents being Asa
A. and Helen M. (Gardner) Matteson. The father was born in Berwick,
Illinois, in 1837, and the mother's birth occurred in Knoxville,
this state. In his boyhood days Asa A. Matteson came to Galesburg,
pur-
210 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
sued his education here and engaged in farming for a time. He
afterward practiced law in Macomb, Illinois, for a period and in
1874 again came to this city where he entered financial circles as
the vice president of the First National Bank, with which he was
connected until his death. He also became prominent in the
establishment and development of the business now conducted under
the name of the Purington Paving Brick Company and was associated
with that important undertaking to the time of his demise, which
occurred January 2, 1895. His widow still survives and now makes her
home in Webster Groves, Missouri. Mr. Matteson gave his political
support to the republican party, held membership in the Odd Fellows
lodge and in the Galesburg Club. They were married in this city and
unto them were born four children: Frank G., of this review; Fred C,
who is a resident of Aurora, Illinois; Grace M., the wife of R. W.
Willis, of Webster Groves, Missouri; and Ralph, living in Rockford,
Illinois.
Frank G. Matteson was educated in the public schools and after
leaving the high school secured a position in the First National
Bank, spending two or three years as collector. He afterward devoted
four years to service as order clerk in the post-office and next
entered the office of the Purington Paving Brick Company as general
office boy. His advancement since that day has been continuous. The
business was established in East Galesburg in 1890 by D. V.
Purington and Asa A. Matteson and was incorporated at that time with
D. V. Purington as president, W. S. Purington as vice president and
Asa A. Matteson as secretary and treasurer. The business was
incorporated with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars
and was thus continued until 1892. The St. Louis Paving Brick
Company was organized in that year with a capital stock of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars and No. 2 plant was built at East
Galesburg. In 1893 the companies were merged under the name of the
Purington Paving Brick Company and the capital stock was increased
to five hundred thousand dollars. At that time D. V. Purington
became president; W. S. Purington, vice president and general
manager; Asa A. Matteson, treasurer; and Charles H. Chamberlain,
secretary. These gentlemen constituted the board of directors
together with George C. Prussing, S. S. Kimball, A. W. Vanderveer
and William E. Phillips. The business has increased from year to
year, enjoying a steady and continuous growth, the output for the
first year being fifteen million bricks, while the present output
has reached more than one hundred million. Their plant at first
contained but one kiln and from that small beginning they have
increased their capacity until they now have sixty-four kilns,
theirs being the largest plant of the kind in the United States.
Their business extends to all parts of the country, their brick
being used in paving in Panama; in Memphis, Tennessee; Dead-wood,
South Dakota; and Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin. The present
officers are: F. G. Matteson, president; George C. Prussing, first
vice president; C. D. B. Howell, second vice president; C. H..
Chamberlain, treasurer; William H. Terwilliger, secretary; W. W.
Porter, assistant secretary; W. G. D. Orr, general manager; and E.
L. Swett, general superintendent; with D. V. Purington as chairman
of the board of directors, which board includes also Messrs.
Prussing, Howell, Matteson, Charles H. Chamberlain, William E.
Phillips and P. T. Walsh. They handle fifteen thousand car loads of
freight in a year, use eighteen car loads of coal per day, employ
six hundred men and have two hundred acres
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 211
in their plant. The United States government has standardized the
shale used by this company and the business has grown in volume and
importance until it exceeds all other paving brick enterprises of
the United States.
On the 19th of October, 1892, occurred the marriage of Mr. Matteson
and Miss Daisy L. Lamoreux, a daughter of Dr. J. M. Lamoreux, of
Galesburg, and their children are: Amy, whose birth occurred at
Galesburg on the 22d of December, 1897; Helen, whose natal day was
December 27, 1901 ; and Asa Gardner, who was born May 26, 1911.
Mr. Matteson is a republican in his political views, but the demands
of his business have left him no time for office seeking or office
holding. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the
Elks Club, the Loyal Legion, the Galesburg Club and the Country
Club. His life is proof of the fact that there is an impossibility
of placing fictitious values upon industry, determination and
perseverance, but when these qualities are arrayed against
competition and the usual obstacles of business life they eventually
win success. The experience of Mr. Matteson has been of wide range,
as he has progressed from the position of office boy to the
presidency of the largest paving-brick manufacturing enterprise of
the country.
JOHN HOLAHAN.
John Holahan, who has been engaged in the real-estate business in
Galesburg for the past six years, was born in Waukon, Iowa, on the
18th of September, 1871. He is a son of James and Catherine
(Fenelon) Holahan, both natives of Ireland, whence they emigrated to
the United States during childhood. The father was reared in
Connecticut, where he later learned sign and carriage painting. In
1859 he came to Iowa, locating in Waukon, where he met the lady who
subsequently became his wife. Here he engaged in the implement
business with which he continued to be identified until his death on
the 6th of March, 1902, at the age of sixty-four years. He was a
communicant of the Roman Catholic church, as is also the mother who
still resides in Waukon, and he voted the republican ticket. The
family of Mr. and Mrs. Holahan numbered nine, our subject being the
third in order of birth. The others are as follows: William J., who
was born on June 12, 1868, residing at Mason City, Iowa; Nellie M.,
the wife of William S. Hart, of Waukon; Maurice F., who was born on
the 3d of July, 1873, now residing at Atlanta, Georgia; Thomas J.,
born March 28, 1875, who is living at Dixon, Illinois; James, born
October 11, 1880, who is a resident of Victoria; Anna, who was born
June 16, 1884, still at home; Mayme, a Sister in St. Xavier's
Convent, Chicago, born July 27, 1886, and Gretta, born March 20,
1894, who is also at home.
Reared at home John Holahan attended the public and Presentation
Convent Catholic schools at Waukon in the acquirement of an
education. His school days were terminated at the age of sixteen
years, when he laid aside his textbooks and entered his father's
office, where during the succeeding five years he applied himself
intelligently and industriously to acquiring a thorough business
training under the capable supervision of his father. Upon attaining
his majority
212 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
it was considered that he was fully qualified to begin working for
himself, so he went to Guttenberg, Iowa, and embarked in the
implement business. He continued in this at that point for nine
years, when he withdrew from commercial activities and went to Cuba,
where he remained four years, traveling and dealing in lands. At the
end of that time he returned to the United States and in April 1906,
he came to Galesburg and engaged in the real-estate business. He was
associated with his brother, Thomas J., until 1909, when the latter
withdrew from the firm and Mr. Holahan has ever since been alone. In
addition to local properties. both city and country, he has. large
tracts of land for sale in Cuba and also the northwest. Since
locating here he has met with good success and now is well
established and doing a gratifying amount of business.
Bayfield, Wisconsin, was the scene of the marriage of Mr. Holahan
and Miss Lucille Boutin, on the 4th of October, 1905. She was born
in Bayfield, on the 25th of July, 1884, and 1S a daughter of Frank
and Louise (Kintz) Boutin, who still reside there. Mrs. Holahan has
four sisters and four brothers, and their names and birthdays are as
follows: Allan, March 24, 1888; Francis, March 13, 1890; Meta, July
22, 1892; Anna, March 13, 1895; Hiller, November 15, 1898; Dorothy,
November 20, 1899; Ruth, February 26, 1902; and Herbert, November
25, 1904. In the paternal line Mrs. Holahan is of French extraction.
Her father, however, was born and reared in Montreal, Canada, while
the mother was born in Antwerp, Belgium. He came to Bayfield during
his early manhood and engaged in the lumber business and he also
owned and operated a number of tugs on Lake Superior. He is a man of
considerable prominence in his community, giving his political
support to the republican party, and has served for two terms as
treasurer of the county. Both he and his wife are communicants of
the Roman Catholic church, and he also belongs to the Knights of
Columbus and the Lumbermen's Association. Mrs. Holahan was reared in
Bayfield, but completed her education at St. Mary's school in
Prairie du Chien.
The political views of Mr. Holahan coincide with the principles of
the republican party, and in matters of faith both he and Mrs.
Holahan are Roman Catholics and belong to Corpus Christi parish. He
also holds membership in the Knights of Columbus of SS. Vincent and
Paul, the Galesburg Club and the Benevolent Protective Order of
Elks. Mr. Holahan has won favorable recognition in both a business
and social way during his residence in Galesburg, and now numbers
among its citizens many stanch friends.
JAMES EDWARD HINCHLIFF.
For seventeen years James Edward Hinchliff was well known as a
prominent, enterprising and reliable representative of commercial
interests in Galesburg, where he conducted a retail lumber business.
Moreover, he had a wide acquaintance throughout the county of which
he was one of the native sons, his birth having occurred in Rio,
July 17, 1853. Fie came of English ancestry, for both of his
parents, James and Betsey Hinchliff, were natives of England, whence
they emigrated to America in early life. They were married in the
state of New York and in 1852 removed to Illinois, settling in Knox
county.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 215
The public schools of this county afforded James E. Hinchliff his
early opportunities for acquiring an education and later he
continued his studies in Lombard College. He was reared to the
occupation of farming and continued to follow it during the early
years of his manhood or until 1891, when, believing that he would
find a commercial career more congenial and hoping also to find it
more profitable, he removed to Galesburg, where the following year
he opened a retail lumberyard, continuing that business to the time
of his death, which occurred March 28, 1909. In that period he had
built up a satisfactory business, his reliable methods, his
enterprise and his unfaltering energy being the qualities which
served as the foundation for his success.
On the 1st of January, 1880, in Rio, this county, Mr. Hinchliff was
united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Woodman, a daughter of David B.
and Lourena Woodman. The children born of this marriage are: Everett
E., who married Nell Town-send on the 15th of October, 1907; Lulu
M., who on the 20th of September, 1911, became the wife of Roy C.
Ingersoll; and Ray W. and Grace F., both yet at home with their
mother.
Mr. Hinchliff was devoted to his family, his interests centering in
his own home, where he was a devoted husband and father and a genial
and hospitable host. His political allegiance was given to the
republican party and his study of the questions and issues of the
day confirmed him in the belief that its principles contained the
best elements of good government, but he neither sought nor desired
public office as a reward for party fealty. His religious faith was
evidenced by the fact that he was a member of the Central
Congregational church, to the teachings of which he was ever loyal
and devoted, making his a manhood that measured up to the highest
standards and won for him the admiration, high regard and trust of
all with whom he came in contact.
RANSOM C. HUNT.
Ransom C. Hunt is actively connected with a profession which has
important bearing upon the progress and stable prosperity of the
community and in the practice of law, where advancement depends
entirely upon individual merit and ability, he has made continuous
progress, his careful preparation of his cases and his thorough
knowledge of the law giving him a power in the courts that enables
him to win many favorable verdicts.
Mr. Hunt was born on a farm two and a half miles southwest of
Burlington, Iowa, January 24, 1844, his parents being John B. and
Mary (Love) Hunt, natives of Illinois and Virginia respectively. The
former was a son of John Beal Hunt, who was born in Maryland and
made farming his life occupation. He married a Miss Bartlett and
they removed from Tennessee to Illinois, establishing their home
within the borders of this state ere it was admitted to the Union.
For a time they were residents of Bond county and afterward removed
to McDonough county. In 1833 they went to the territory of Iowa,
where Mr. Hunt secured a tract of wild land in the central part of
the state and his five sons, Charles W., Jesse, Samuel, Clayborn and
John B., all had land around him so that the family took active and
prominent part in the agricultural development of
216 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
that section. There were six daughters in the family, Martha, Lydia,
Mary Ann, Esther, Louisa and Sarah. The maternal grandfather of
Ransom C. Hunt was David Love, a native of Virginia, who also made
farming his life work. Removing westward with his family, they
became pioneer residents of a district, southwest of Burlington,
Iowa, where they spent their remaining days, Mr. Love passing away
at the age of eighty-five and his wife when eighty-eight years of
age. Their children were Wesley, Rodney, Joshua, James, Mary and
Elizabeth.
John B. Hunt, father of Ransom C. Hunt, was a young lad when he
accompanied his parents to Iowa. He was reared to the occupation of
farming and continued to engage in tilling the soil until 1849,
when, attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he crossed
the plains to the Pacific coast. Not winning the fortune which he
had hoped to gain, he returned in 1851 and again took up his abode
on the farm in Des Moines county, Iowa, which he had left when he
started for the west. There he engaged in agricultural pursuits
until 1856, when he removed to Bushnell, Illinois, where he
conducted a lumber business until 1863 and likewise filled the
position of postmaster. He next removed to Macomb, Illinois, where
he engaged in the grain business until June, 1865. At that time the
family came to Galesburg, where he died November 14, 1904, at the
age of eighty-four years and six months, while his wife's death
occurred in 1887, when she was sixty-five years of age. She was a
faithful member of the Methodist church. Their family numbered a son
and two daughters: Ransom C.; Clara, the deceased wife of W. T.
Jelliff; and Lois V., the deceased wife of Jesse Pickerell.
Ransom C. Hunt is the only surviving member of the family. He was
reared on his father's farm in Iowa and during that period attended
the district schools and also the public schools of Burlington and
the old Denmark (la.) Academy. He went with his father to Bushnell
in 1856 and there worked in the lumberyard and also attended school.
Subsequently he became a student in the Lombard University of
Galesburg. Lie continued with his father in the lumber trade in
Bushnell until the father removed to Macomb, when he became a
student in the law office of Hon. J. C. Thompson. In the fall of
1863 the family removed to Galesburg but Ransom C. Hunt and his
father remained in Macomb until 1865, when they joined the others in
Galesburg, and the subject of this review entered the law office of
the Lion. A. C. Mason, who directed his reading until his admission
to the bar in June, 1866. In 1869 he formed a partnership with the
latter preceptor but for the past twenty years has engaged in
practice alone. He has ever been devotedly attached to his
profession, systematic and methodical in habit, sober and discreet
in judgment, diligent in research and conscientious in the discharge
of every duty—qualities which have enabled him to take high rank
among the representatives of the Galesburg bar.
On the 1st of May, 1879, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hunt and Miss
Irene Johnson, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a daughter of S.
F. and Hannah (Neeley) Johnson, who were originally from New York
and became early residents of Galesburg. Later they removed to St.
Paul, where the father conducted a shoe business, and for two years
he was also a resident of Grinnell, Iowa. They then returned to
Galesburg, where they still reside. In their family were seven
children, Irene, Mary, Harry M., Guy B., Charles N., Mabel F. and
Blanche. The daughter Mabel is now the widow of E. A. Davis. The
maternal grandparents of Mrs. Hunt were James and Sabrina Neeley,
who were among
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
217
"the colony" that settled Galesburg. Air. and Mrs. Hunt have become
the parents of two daughters and two sons: Beulah M., the wife of
Harold M. Holland, of Galesburg; Albert V., who was educated in
Lombard College; Harry C., who is in the employ of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company; and Florence I., who is
attending school. The parents are members of the Central
Congregational church and in its work take deep and helpful
interest. Mr. Hunt gives his political allegiance to the democratic
party but the only office that he has ever held was that of police
magistrate, in which position he served from 1889 until 1896. He has
always preferred to concentrate his energies upon his profession and
few lawyers have made a more lasting impression upon the bar of the
county both for legal ability of a high order and for the
individuality of a personal character which impresses itself upon a
community.
IRA
S. CALLENDER.
Ira S. Callender, president of the Glenwood Ice & Coal Company and
thus prominent in the business circles of the city as head of one of
the important industrial projects here, was born in Peoria,
Illinois, July 31, 1857, a son of Isaac and Sarah A. (Smith)
Callender. His father was born in Henry county, Kentucky, September
10, 1833, and for many years followed farming in Illinois but at
length retired from active life and removed to Galesburg, where he
passed away September 10, 1907. He always voted with the republican
party and filled the office of county supervisor, the duties of
which he discharged with credit to himself and satisfaction to his
constituents. He held membership in the Central Congregational
church, to which his widow still belongs. She was born April 13,
1833, and yet makes her home in Galesburg. In their family were
eight children: Ira S., of this review; James J., who is a resident
of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Albert B., living at Matehuala, Mexico; William
H., of Galesburg; Adella, the wife of Dr. T. F. Clark, of Kansas
City, Missouri; Lilly Belle and Frank Edwin, both residing in
Galesburg, Illinois ; and Alary Catherine, who is the wife of A. E.
Wells, of Galesburg.
Ira S. Callender, whose name introduces this record, pursued his
education in the public schools of Geneseo, Illinois, and remained
upon his father's farm until twenty-one years of age. He made good
progress in his studies and when a young man began teaching school,
which profession he successfully followed for a time, displaying
ability in imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge
which he had acquired. In 1880 he went to Nebraska, where he divided
his time between general agricultural pursuits and teaching school
for three years. On the expiration of that period he returned to
Galesburg in December, 1883, and purchased an interest in the ice
business with which he has since been connected. The business was
established in 1885 under the name of the Glenwood Ice Company
handling ice only, when in 1891 the scope of the business was
extended to include the sale of coal as well. In 1907 the present
firm style of the Glenwood Ice & Coal Company was assumed and the
business was reincorporated. The officers in 1892 were: John Robson,
president; A. D. Shults, treasurer; and Ira S. Callender, secretary.
At the present writing Mr.
218 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Callender is president, A. E. Wells, secretary and C. S. Burnside,
treasurer. The business is incorporated with a capital of one
hundred thousand dollars and the company owns well equipped ice
houses on the lakes east of Galesburg and at New Boston and Moline,
Illinois. The coal trade is also an important branch of the
business, coal being sold at retail. The enterprise has had a
continuous, steady and gratifying growth, as is indicated by the
fact that in the first year of its existence its sales amounted to
twenty-five hundred tons of ice, while at the present writing the
sales have reached fifty thousand tons of ice annually. In the first
year but two wagons were used in delivery, while in the present year
eleven wagons were used and forty men are employed outside of the
office in Knox county, ten of the number being at New Boston. A
large part of the ice harvested is furnished to dealers in other
towns surrounding Galesburg, and to the Chicago Burlington & Quincy
Railroad Company. The company also handles wood, kindling and oil,
and the business is a most gratifying and profitable one. Its
success is undoubtedly due in large measure to the honorable,
straightforward business policy that is ever followed as well as to
the progressive methods instituted by the president and his
associate officers.
On the 2d of February, 1882, Mr. Callender was united in marriage to
Miss Alice Bassford, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Antoinette (Lane)
Bassford, of Brooklyn, New York. Their children are: Ira I., now
deceased; Wallace V., who is living in Pasadena, California; Alice
B., who is the wife of Archer Laurence, of Plainfield, New Jersey;
Ida E., the wife of Hans John Von Hangen, of Matehuala, Mexico;
Gladys M. and Ruth S., both at home.
While Mr. Callender has never been an active party worker, he does
not fail to make his way to the polls and cast a ballot in support
of the principles of the republican party, for he regards this as
the duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen. He is
prominent in the Elks lodge of Galesburg and is serving as one of
its trustees but his position is preeminently that of an active,
enterprising business man who is ever alert and determined and who
brooks no 'obstacles in the path to success that can be overcome by
persistent effort and indefatigable energy.
LAURENCE R. RYAN, M. D.
Laurence R. Ryan was born in Pontiac, Michigan, February 27, T858.
He is descended from old Irish stock. His father was Bernard Ryan
and his mother Maria C. Kelly. Both parents were born near Boyle, in
County Roscommon, Ireland. They came to this country in the same
ship and were married in 1848, in Detroit, Michigan. Twelve children
were born to them and Dr. Ryan was the seventh. Bernard Ryan was a
boiler maker by trade and held the responsible position of foreman
at the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad shops in Galesburg for
many years. He died in Galesburg, April 20, 1883, at the age of
sixty-one. The mother was a devout Catholic and a home-loving woman.
She lived for the church and her family. She died twenty-five years
after her husband in the consciousness of having spent an absolutely
pure Christian life, and in the eighty-sixth year of her age.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
221
Dr. Ryan attended the public schools in Aurora and Galesburg until
he was thirteen years of age, at which time he was apprenticed to
the boiler-maker trade under his father in the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy shops. He worked at the trade almost continuously and for ten
years, rising from the position of rivet heater to that of foreman
before he was twenty-five years of age.
During the time he was working in the shops he realized the
necessity of securing an education, so he attended the business
college and night school, which was then held in the Churchill
school building. Having the ambition to rise higher than the
position of boiler-maker foreman, but seeing no possibility of
advancement along the lines he had started, he finally gave up the
shop work and entered Knox College, determined to graduate and
finally to enter his chosen profession, the practice of medicine.
Because of the large family, the father had to support, he was
forced to rely on his own resources and finance himself. This he did
by working during the summer at his trade and had the pleasure of
going through Knox College and Jefferson College without receiving a
gratuity from anyone. While in college he entered into all the
activities and besides having a high grade in scholarship, was
active in athletics and on two occasions received prizes for
excellence in gymnastic work. He graduated in 1886 and had the honor
of being one of the commencement speakers.
Two years before his graduation in Knox College, he registered for
the study Of medicine in the office of Drs. Aldrich and Wilson, so
that by the time he graduated, he was well equipped for entering the
medical school. He entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia,
in 1886 and after a severe course had the honor of securing the
first prize of one hundred dollars for excellence of scholarship and
best theses, graduating April 5, 1888.
Immediately after graduation he returned to Galesburg and entered
into the practice of medicine with Drs. Aldrich and Wilson, securing
a lucrative practice from the start. After a year in general
practice he was tendered the position of medical examiner for the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, with control of the whole
Galesburg division, which then comprised five hundred miles. This
position he accepted and held for three years. With the ambition to
do better still spurring him on, he left the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy after a service of three years and went to Europe to study
his chosen specialty, the eye, ear, nose and throat. He was a
student in the Berlin University, besides having private
instruction, and also took a course in England, graduating from the
London Post Graduate School in. 1892. Since his return from Europe
in 1892, Dr. Ryan has devoted himself exclusively to the practice of
his specialty in Galesburg.
For the last twenty years Dr. Ryan has enjoyed a most excellent
practice, drawing patronage from a radius of fifty miles, and has
done much to further the interests of medicine. He is a great
believer in medical organization and cooperation for the good of the
profession and, therefore, belongs to numerous medical societies and
attends many conventions. He was one of the organizers of the first
Galesburg Medical Society and was its first secretary. He was also
one of the organizers of the Knox County Medical Society and became
its president in 1903. He filled at different times every official
position in the Military Tract Medical Society and was also the
president of that society. He has prepared and read many scientific
papers in the various societies from the city
222 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
the American Medical Association. He was regular and special pension
examining surgeon for many years and is now the official oculist for
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He served on the staff of
the Galesburg Cottage Hospital for several years.
Dr. Ryan is at present a member of the Galesburg Medical Society,
Knox County Medical Society, Military Tract Medical Society, Tri
State Society, Chicago Ophthalmological Society, Illinois State
Medical Society, American Academy of Ophthalmology and
OtoLaryngology, and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Ryan has never courted political honors, but was a candidate for
elector on the gold democratic ticket in 1896. He has never devoted
much time to society or social affairs, secret societies or clubs.
His interest has all been along the line of scientific study and
travel. He has, however, for many years been a member of the
Galesburg Business Men's Club, and was a director for six years,
from 1900 to 1906. He has been a member of the Elk's organization
since 1904. He has traveled extensively. Besides visiting all parts
of the United States and Mexico, in 1898 he took a trip around the
world, going an unusual way. On this journey he visited Australia,
New Zealand, Samoa and the Sandwich Islands. Recently he has taken
another extended trip from Galesburg to New York city, thence by
steamer to Colon, across the isthmus to the city of Panama by rail,
and finally up the coast of Central America and Mexico to San
Francisco by steamer. On this trip he took occasion to examine
carefully the excavations and locks of the Panama Canal which is
reaching completion.
Dr. Ryan was married in 1889 to Margaret S. McChesney, also a
graduate of Knox College. Seven children were born to them, five of
whom still survive, namely: Helen Margaret Ryan, Marion Cecilia
Ryan, Robert Laurence Ryan, Harriet Ewing Ryan and Dorrance Bernard
Ryan. The first three are students in Knox College, while the other
two are in the public schools of Galesburg, and all are unusually
capable.
DE FORREST SEACORD.
De Forrest Seacord needs no introduction to the readers of this
volume for he has been a lifelong resident of Knox county and his
important business interests have made him widely known. He was born
in Oneida in 1862 and after attending the public schools became a
student in Knox College and afterward attended college at Racine,
Wisconsin. Regarding his education complete, he then turned his
attention to the business of importing Norman horses and owned and
conducted extensive stables in Galesburg for a number of years.
Later he turned his attention to street-railway interests of which
he was superintendent for nine years or until the company sold out
to the McKinley interests. At that time Mr. Seacord went to
Springfield, Illinois, and was superintendent of construction for
the McKinley lines in the building of the electric road from
Springfield to St. Louis, a mammoth and important undertaking which
he successfully executed. He then returned to Galesburg and later
engaged in the sale of motor cars. He has secured an extensive
business in this connection, selling a large number of cars
annually.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
223
On the 15th of October, 1884, De Forrest Seacord was married to Miss
Alice Updyke, and unto them were born two children, Marie and
Wilkins, the latter being now associated with his father in
business. The family is prominent socially and their own home is
justly celebrated for its attractive hospitality. Mr. Seacord
belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a charter
member of the Country Club. His political allegiance is given to the
republican party and as a public-spirited citizen he is widely
known, his aid and cooperation being a tangible factor for success
in the conduct of many important public enterprises. In his business
he has so promoted his interests as to gain for him a prominent
position among the substantial residents of Galesburg.
PROFESSOR LOREN R. WITHERELL.
Unquestionably one of the most versatile and highly cultured
residents of Knoxville is Professor Loren R. Witherell, who is not
only a scholar and writer of more than local reputation, but an able
attorney and a successful lecturer, in addition to which he has
taken out patents on twenty-five different articles, all of which
are in common use. He was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the
10th of May, 1843, and is a son of Ephraim H. and Rebecca
(Donaldson) Witherell. The father was born in Vermont, on May 1,
1816, his parents being Asaph and Johanna (White) Witherell, natives
of Massachusetts. Asaph Witherell was the first manufacturer in
America of the cut nail, in the making of which he engaged in his
native state for many years. Together with his wife and family in
1818 he started westward to Pennsylvania. They made the journey in
the winter, and as Lake Erie was frozen they started to go from New
York to Pennsylvania on the ice, but as it was thin in places they
deemed the crossing unsafe, and returned to the shore. When they
reached the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, they went south for
about fifteen miles to the vicinity of Wattsburg, spending the night
at the home of James Donaldson. Ephraim Witherell at that time was a
lad of two years, while his future wife was a babe of one day. As
his parents located in the vicinity, Ephraim Witherell there grew to
manhood and learned the carpenter's trade. At the age of twenty-six
years with his family he removed to Washington county, Indiana,
where he engaged in contracting and building for five years. At the
end of that time they crossed the prairies in a wagon to Peoria
county, Illinois, residing there until the spring of 1851, when they
came to Knoxville. The mother of our subject was born in
Pennsylvania, on the 5th of March, 1818, her parents being James and
Mary (Moore) Donaldson, who were also natives of the Keystone state.
In both the paternal and maternal lines Professor Witherell is
descended from old colonial families, both of his grandfathers being
veterans of the war of t8t2, while some of his mother's ancestors
located in this country more than two hundred and fifty years ago.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Witherell numbered seven, the
four eldest having been born before they located in Knox county. In
order of birth they are as follows: Ursula, who died at the age of
twenty years; Loren R., our subject; George, who is a farmer,
residing a mile south of Knoxville; and Eri A., who is in the
lecture field on a western circuit
224 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
and is also engaged in teaching; Willard W., who engages in the
real-estate business and also in building and contracting in
Visalia, California; Silas, who is secretary and treasurer of a
manufacturing company in. Springfield, Missouri; and Oscar C, who
was engaged in the drug business in Knoxville, but has now passed
away, his demise occurring at the age of thirty-eight years.
Professor Witherell received his introduction to the elements of
English learning in the common schools of Peoria county, which he
attended for one year. His education was continued in the public
schools of Knoxville until he was eighteen years of age when he was
sent to a private school in Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he
studied for two winters. He was a brilliant student, possessing the
retentive mind, strong powers of concentration and rapid reasoning
faculties that mark the natural scholar. Study was to him not a
hardship, but a joy and he applied himself so attentively to his
work that he made. the best record of any pupil in the school,
standing at the head of his classes in every subject. Upon the
completion of his course he returned to his Illinois home and
subsequently entered Lombard College. He matriculated in the latter
institution in 1864, and there pursued special studies for three
years, making a most creditable record. Having decided to take up
the study of law, at the expiration of that time he entered the
office of Willoughby and Grant in Galesburg, where for three years
he diligently applied himself to the mastery of the principles of
jurisprudence. He was admitted to the bar in 1871, and immediately
thereafter opened an office in Rock Island county, where he engaged
in practice for several years. He was meeting with most excellent
success and was building up a very good clientage when trouble with
his eyes compelled him to abandon his profession. In order to
restore his sight and improve his health generally he turned his
attention to fruit-raising and for thirty years devoted his summers
to this occupation. In the winters he lectured on astronomy, geology
and natural history in different schools, colleges and societies of
the northwest, addressing more than a thousand different audiences.
Although he still occasionally delivers a lecture, he has not
followed the work regularly for about ten years, having withdrawn
from it in 1901. Much of his time now is devoted to writing for the
current magazines, while he also contributes editorials to various
newspapers in both Iowa and Illinois. He has had more than one
hundred of his poems published in papers throughout the country and
in 1877 he published a history of John Brown in the Davenport
Gazette. Not only does Professor Witherell possess unusual literary
ability, but rare mechanical skill and he has always devoted much of
his time to perfecting various contrivances upon which he holds
patents. His first invention was a sugar-cane stripper, which he
patented in 1865, when he was only twenty-two years of age. Later he
patented a spiral gate and door spring, that is now used all over
the world, while to him must be given the credit for the rubber
stamp and printing wheels, which were placed on the market in 1866.
He also invented the first computing postal scale, and he likewise
holds the patent on a dusting brush and window fastener, as well as
a clothes wringer and corn popper, and a number of other useful
articles.
On the 5th of March, 1868, Professor Witherell was united in
marriage to Miss Lottie A. Anderson, the ceremony being performed in
Knoxville. Mrs. Witherell was born in Sweden, in 1852, and is a
daughter of Swan and Mary Anderson, who emigrated to the United
States and located in Knoxville during
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 225
the early days. The parents are now both deceased and Mrs. Witherell
passed away, on March 13, 1909. None of the children born of this
marriage lived and Professor and Mrs. Witherell adopted two
children, Arthur L. and Augusta. The former is now married and
residing in Seattle, Washington, where he is superintendent of a
large printing and publishing company. Augusta is the wife of Robert
McCall of Davenport, Iowa. Professor Witherell has resided in the
house he now occupies for fourteen years, the place being known as
"Shady Hill," because it contains the largest and oldest tree in
Knox county, which stands in the front yard. The kitchen of this
house was built by Professor Witherell and it is a most interesting
room. It is constructed from wood taken from a number of historical
houses in Knoxville, the old Hebbard House providing the door. This
was taken from the room that was occupied by Abraham Lincoln, on the
night of October 6, 1858, the time he and Douglas held their
memorable debate.
In addition to all of his other talents, Professor Witherell is
endowed with considerable musical ability and he has devised a
number of clever musical instruments of real artistic value from
squashes, gourds and other vegetables. Professor Witherell has been
an ardent curio collector for over fifty years, and has an immense
and beautiful collection, handsomely arranged in cases, which he has
named "The Old Curiosity Shop" and which he will locate permanently
in some public park, where it will be a permanent attraction and of
great value to the public for years to come. Pie has always been too
deeply engrossed in the pursuit of his various personal interests to
devote much attention to outside affairs, so has very few public
connections. Pie is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America,
belonging to the Knoxville camp, one of the oldest in the county,
which is his only fraternal connection. Professor Witherell has a
wide and favorable acquaintance among the citizens of Knox county,
where he has spent practically his entire life and is recognized as
a man of rare worth and ability.
WILLIAM D. Fleharty.
Among the worthy citizens of Galesburg death has claimed, yet whose
memory is enshrined in the hearts of those who knew them, is
numbered William D. Fleharty. His was a noble character and his high
ideals and lofty principles were manifest in the active part which
he bore in church work and his unselfish devotion thereto. Pie was
the first white child born in North Henderson township, Mercer
county, Illinois, his natal day being October 4, 1834. His parents,
Govert S. and Margaret H. Fleharty, were pioneer settlers of the
state, casting in their lot with the early residents of Mercer
county, when its settlements were few and when the work of
development and progress seemed scarcely begun. The family lived
upon a farm and it was on the old homestead that William D. Fleharty
spent his youthful days, experiencing many of the hardships and
privations of pioneer life, yet finding in these conditions the
things which tested the mettle of his own character and constituted
the foundation of his later successful career and nobility.
Throughout the period of his minority he assisted
226
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
in developing the home farm and in i860 he started out in life
independently at the time of his marriage to Miss Mary C. Petrie, a
daughter of William Petrie, of New Windsor, Illinois. They began
their domestic life upon a farm in Henry county, Illinois, near
Alpha, and there lived for about nine years, when, in 1869, they
removed to New Windsor, where Mr. Fleharty turned his attention to
the grain trade, meeting with success in that business during the
twenty years which he devoted to the work. After the death of his
wife he removed to Galesburg and in 1890 was again married, his
second union being with Emma A. Gordon, a daughter of William H. and
Martha Gordon, pioneers of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, who had also
become a resident of Galesburg in 1890. There was one daughter by
his first marriage, Anne.
Mr. Fleharty's influence was always found on the side of progress
and improvement, especially along intellectual and moral lines. He
was an active supporter of the schools of New Windsor and served in
official connection therewith. In politics he was a stanch
republican and filled the office of supervisor in Mercer county. He
became one of the charter members of the New Windsor Congregational
church, was superintendent of its Sunday school for a number of
years and for a long time carried almost the entire work of the
church on his shoulders. After removing to Galesburg he placed his
membership in the Old First church, which later became the Central
church, and continued equally faithful to its interests and active
in its support and work. Men came to know that what William D.
Fleharty promised he would do, that his word was as good as any bond
solemnized by signature or seal and that in every relation of life
he sought to follow the Golden Rule. "Not the good that comes to us
but the good that comes to the world through us" is the measure of
our success, and judged by this standard the life of William D.
Fleharty was a most successful one.
BOANNERGES ELY.
Boannerges Ely, a resident of Knox county since 1846, was for many
years successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits and is now
living retired at his home in Wataga. He was born December 21, 1821,
in Cumberland Gap, Claiborne county, Tennessee. His father, Solomon
Ely, came in 1834, at the close of the Black Hawk war, to DeWitt
county, Illinois, where he farmed until his death in 1865, when
sixty-nine years old. He was an elder in the Christian church and in
his politics was a stanch democrat until the time of Lincoln, when
he joined the ranks of the republican party and remained a loyal
member till the last. He was married to Rachel Turner, whose death
occurred in 1848 at the age of forty-five. There were ten children
in the family. The living are: Susanna, the wife of James Stewart,
residing in Kansas; and Boannerges, the subject of this sketch, who
was the youngest of the family. The grandparents on the father's
side were Isaac and Katherine Ely, the former a native of Virginia,
and the latter of Germany. The grandparents on the mother's side
were William and Susan Turner, both natives of Virginia.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 231
When a boy, Boannerges Ely attended the district school and after
school helped his father about the farm, beginning his
apprenticeship at farming at the tender age of seven. When old
enough to do a man's share of work he farmed in the employ of
others, working for eight dollars a month. At the age of twenty-one
he began to farm on his own account and in 1846 came to Knox county
and bought land in Sparta township. Beginning with one hundred and
twenty acres, he increased his holdings by additional purchases
until he now owns three hundred and ninety acres. He was very
successful both in general farming and in stock-raising through
progressive methods, and the handsome farm which he improved and
operated for many years proves his efficiency of management. He
retired some years ago, renting his land from which he enjoys a
comfortable income.
The marriage of Mr. Ely and Miss Mary Duvall, who was born in
Kentucky, July 7, 1834, occurred November 3, 1850. Her father,
Thomas Duvall, was a native of Bath county, Kentucky, born February
28, 1802, a son of James and Judith (Jennings) Duvall. His father
was a soldier in the War of 1812. Thomas Duvall became a resident of
Illinois in 1835, settling in Warren county. The following year he
removed to Henderson township, Knox county, where he engaged in
farming on a large scale, owning at one time two thousand acres of
land. On the 22d of April, 1822, he was married to Miss Nancy
Shumate, a native of Virginia, born August 19, 1804. Mr. Duvall died
in the fall of 1890, on September 25, and his wife passed away March
2, 1888. Mrs. Ely was one of ten children, of whom five are still
living. There were three children in the family of Mr. and Mrs.
Boannerges Ely: Nancy, the widow of John Deming, who lives at
Wataga, Illinois; William, who married Belle McGinnis, and is a
farmer in North Dakota; and Ella, deceased, who was the wife of
Samuel Temple and the mother of two children.
Mr. and Mrs. Ely are devout members of the Christian church at
Wataga, of which Mr. Ely was one of the charter members. He is a
republican and has held office on the town board for eight years.
Mr. and Mrs. Ely have led a happy, peaceful life. Being among the
oldest residents of this section of the country, they are well known
to many people and have a host of friends. Mrs. Ely still passes an
occasional hour at her old spinning wheel that she used when a girl
and in the still silence broken only by her rythmic tread she lives
over again events that happened in the days of long ago when Knox
county was a region of prairie land and neighbors lived many miles
apart.
GUSTAVE WENZELMANN.
The name of Gustave Wenzelmann figures prominently in connection
with the industrial and manufacturing interests of Galesburg, in
which city he took up his abode in 1904. He now has an extensive
manufacturing plant, which stands in the midst of sixteen acres of
ground, affording him excellent shipping facilities over the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and Santa Fe Railroads. In business
management he displays all those requirements which are essential to
success and has gradually worked his way upward to a creditable and
gratifying position. vol. n—11
232 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Mr. Wenzelmann was born in Neunkhausen, Germany, on the 8th of
March, 1867, a son of Ludwig and Rosina (Schneider) Wenzelmann, who
were also natives of Neunkhausen, the father having been born on the
7th of January, 1838, and the mother on the 10th of October of the
same year. Ludwig Wenzelmann was a cabinetmaker and sawmill owner
and continued in business in his native country until 1882, when he
came to the United States, settling in Kankakee, Illinois, where he
followed his trade. He lived a life of usefulness and activity, his
labors being terminated only in death, on the 17th of May, 1910. For
a considerable period he had survived his wife, who died in 1886.
Both were members of the German Evangelical church and his political
allegiance was given the democratic party. In their family were
three children: Alwina and Bertha, both now deceased; and Gustave.
The last named pursued his education in Germany, becoming a
gymnasium student, and in the high school of Kankakee he continued
his studies following the arrival of the family in America. After
putting aside his text-books he secured employment in a lumberyard
and store at Kankakee in the capacity of bookkeeper and later he
utilized his earnings in establishing a general merchandise store at
Missal, Illinois, embarking in business there on his own account in
1884. From the beginning he enjoyed a good trade and continued in
active connection with this commercial interest for a considerable
period, also serving as postmaster. In 1895, however, he disposed of
his store and removed to Streator, Illinois, where he turned his
attention to manufacturing, being thus active in the business
affairs of that place until 1904, when he came to Galesburg and
built the plant which he is now operating. He manufactures portable
elevators, hardware specialties, power wash machines, vacuum
cleaning plants, electric light outfits for farm houses and general
labor-saving devices as well as gas engines and he also has a small
piano factory. There is also a well 'equipped chemical laboratory
connected with the establishment. The business is conducted under
the name of the Wenzelmann Manufacturing Company and was
incorporated in 1899, with Gustave Wenzelmann as the president, Mrs.
Wenzelmann as vice president and E. H. Overholt as secretary and
treasurer. Employment is furnished for many people and the company
owns sixteen acres of ground adjoining the tracks of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy and Santa Fe Railroads. The building covers
eighty-three thousand square feet of floor space and is splendidly
equipped for the different lines of manufacture there conducted. All
departments of the business are well organized and, keeping in close
touch with the trade, Mr. Wenzelmann understands the demands of the
public and the needs of the times and so conducts his business as to
meet these. Mr. Wenzelmann has been married twice. In the spring of
1892 he wedded Miss Florence Esther Powell, a daughter of Rev. A. B.
and Alary (Haffner) Powell, of Missal, Illinois. They became the
parents of four children, Rosa, Naomi, Jessie and Maxwell, all at
home. The wife and mother passed away June 22, 1907, and on the 12th
of August, 1908, Mr. Wenzelmann wedded Miss Marion Rees, a daughter
of David and Mary Ann Rees, of Galesburg. There is one child of this
marriage, Ann. Both wives of Mr. Wenzelmann were successful
schoolteachers prior to their marriage. In politics he is a
republican and has served as school director of the first ward but
has never sought nor desired office in recognition of his party
fealty. He belongs to the Galesburg
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 233
Club and to Grace Episcopal church, of which he is a vestryman.
While he is winning success in his business undertakings, his
interests are not confined by his manufacturing activities but
extend beyond to the broader and more general interests of life, he
being ever recognized as a progressive citizen whose cooperation in
public affairs marks him as* a valued resident of Galesburg.
CHARLES MILLER.
Charles Miller, a prominent contractor and builder residing at No.
1007 North Cedar street in Galesburg, has made his home in this city
since coming to the United States in 1887. Lie has been continuously
identified with building interests for the past third of a century
and many of the most important structures of Galesburg stand as
monuments to his skill and ability. His birth occurred in Kent
county, England, on the 3d of November, 1862, his. parents being
William John George and Emma Sarah (King) Miller, who were likewise
natives of that country. The paternal grandfather was also born in
England. . Both he and his wife attained a ripe old age and reared a
large family of children, including the following named: William
John George, Edward and Susie. George King, the maternal grandfather
of our subject, was likewise a native of the Merrie Isle. Both he
and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Emma Allen, were well
advanced in years when called to their final rest. Their children
were as follows: Emma Sarah, Anna, M. H., Susanna, George and
Charles.
William J. G. Miller, the father of Charles Miller, was a job master
and liveryman in Walmer, England. His demise occurred in 1903, when
he had attained the age of sixty-four years, while his wife was
called to her final rest in 1907 at the age of sixty-eight. They
were faithful members of the Church of England. Unto them were born
seven sons and four daughters, as follows: Emma Mary Ann, who is a
resident of Walmer, Kent, England ; John William George, also living
at that place; Charles, of this review; James, who makes his home in
St. Louis; George Allen, who is deceased; Herbert Edward, of London,
England; Percy, residing in Australia; Frederick, of Kent; Susanna
Frances, the wife of James Grew, of Corydon, England; and two
daughters, who died in infancy.
Charles Miller was reared and educated in his native county. When a
youth of fourteen he put aside his text-books and was bound out to a
lawyer that he might learn the trade of a builder, which he has
followed continuously since 1877. In 1887 he emigrated to the United
States and took up his abode in Galesburg, Illinois, where he has
remained to the present time. Many of the prominent structures of
the city were erected by him, among them being the public library;
the Young Men's Christian Association, the building of which he
superintended; the First National Bank; the People's Trust & Savings
Bank; the Holmes building; the quarters of the Lass & Larson Company
and the O. T. Johnson Company; and the power house of the People's
Traction Company. He has likewise erected hundreds of residences and
is frequently called in consultation by other builders. In addition
to his extensive and important interests as a contractor and builder
he is a stockholder in the Lass & Larson W^all Paper
234 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Company. Mr. Miller carries forward to completion whatever he
undertakes, having a resolute spirit and strong determination that
enables him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and make
steady progress toward the goal of prosperity.
On the 2d of October, 1884, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to
Miss Elizabeth Lass Spinner, a native of Deal, Kent county, England,
and a daughter of Henry Clement and Elizabeth Ann (Lass) Spinner,
who were also born in that country. The father passed away at the
early age of thirty-two years, while the mother died at the age of
fifty-six. Henry C. Spinner was a dairy merchant. Unto him and his
wife were born six children, namely: William H., Ellen, Elizabeth,
Fannie M., and two who died in early life. Richard Spinner, the
paternal grandfather of Mrs. Miller, was a gentleman farmer. To him
and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Stokes, were born
the following children: Henry, Susan, Fannie, Mary Ann and Jennie.
William and Sarah (Eastes) Lass, the maternal grandparents of Mrs.
Miller, had thirteen children, of whom the following are known:
Frank, Elizabeth, Nora, Grove, Ebenezer, William, Loremia, John,
Thomas, Mary and Sarah. Charles Miller, our subject, and Mrs. Miller
were the parents of nine children, as follows : Harry William, a
builder and farmer of Canada; Clarence and George, who died in
infancy; Herbert L., a student; Ethel, at home; Clement, who is
deceased; Ruth and Elizabeth, who are under the parental roof; and
Emory G., who has passed away.
In politics Mr. Miller is independent, supporting men and measures
rather than party. At the present time he is serving as alderman of
the first precinct in the third ward. Fraternally he is identified
with the Masons, belonging to Alpha Lodge, No. 155, A. F. & A. M.;
Galesburg Chapter, R. A. M.; Gales-burg Commandery, No. 8, K. T.;
Knoxville Council, R. & S. M.; and Mohammed Temple of the Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Galesburg lodge of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs to the Galesburg Club
and made the second subscription for the erection of a club
building. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the
Central Congregational church, to which his wife likewise belongs.
The circle of their friends is almost coextensive with the circle of
their acquaintances and all who know them entertain for them the
warmest esteem and regard.
EDGAR J. LOCKWOOD.
Edgar J. Lockwood, who is living in Knoxville at the age of
eighty-eight years, has devoted the greater part of his life to
spreading the gospel as a minister of the Baptist church. He was
born in Plattsburg, New York, on June 30, 1823, and is a son of
Sheldon and Parthenia (Clark) Lockwood. His father was a native of
New Milford, Connecticut, his birth occurring on the 20th of
November, 1789, while his mother was born in Hartford, New York, on
the 1st of September, 1795. Left an orphan in his early childhood at
the age of seven years Sheldon Lockwood was bound out to a hatter in
Connecticut. He also learned the furrier's trade, continuing to
follow both occupations in his
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
235
native state until 1812, when he enlisted in the army for seven
years' service and participated in the second war with Great
Britain. After the close of hostilities he located in Plattsbtirg,
New York, where he established a furrier shop and also engaged in
the manufacture of hats until 1825. Disposing of his business he
then came west with his family, stopping for a time in Chicago, but
later went to Ottawa, whence he subsequently removed to Lewiston. He
resided there for several years then went to Warren county,
purchasing some land in the vicinity of Berwick, that he cultivated
for many years. There he passed away on the 21st of May, 1851, but
the mother survived until January 21, 1889, her death occurring in
Galesburg, and was laid to rest beside her husband in the cemetery
at Berwick, Warren county. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Lock-wood
numbered the following children, all of whom are deceased with the
exception of our subject. In order of birth they are as follows:
Melissa, who married Erskine Wilbur; Edgar J., our subject; Rachel,
the wife of Daniel Belden; Catherine; Emily E., who for nineteen
years was a teacher in the public schools of Galesburg; Alva C; Ira
W. and Mason M., who were twins; Henrietta ; Jane E., the wife of S.
P. Phelps, of Monmouth; and Mary Louisa.
The greater part of the education of Edgar J. Lockwood was acquired
through reading and study after attaining maturity, his early
advantages being confined to the brief and irregular sessions of the
district school. Being the eldest son of a large family he was early
compelled to assume the duties of manhood and at the age of nine
years was entrusted to plow the fields. He was an ambitious youth,
however, and longed to devote his life to a noble purpose, feeling
deeply drawn to the ministry where he recognized great opportunities
for usefulness. While little more than a lad he determined to devote
his life to the spreading of the Gospel and with this purpose in
view devoted every moment he was not occupied in the fields in
reading and study. Ultimately he attained his ambition and was
admitted to the ministry of the Baptist church. His first pastorate
was in the vicinity of Prairie City, Illinois, where he remained for
four years, at the expiration of that period being transferred to
the church in Prairie City. Some of his charges were very small, and
his duties being light, he also engaged in farming. From Illinois he
went to Iowa, his first church in the latter state being at Bedford,
whence he removed to Emerson. After leaving there he located on a
farm in the vicinity of Bedford and in connection with the
cultivation of this he also held the ministry of a country church.
He next went to Kansas, locating in the vicinity of Emporia, where
he preached for a time, going from there to West Plains, Missouri,
where he resided for twenty years and had charge of a church. At the
expiration of that time he withdrew from the ministry and coming to
Galesburg lived with a daughter until the 1st of September, 1908,
when he came to Knoxville. Although he has not held a charge for
more than fifteen years, and seldom occupies a pulpit any more, Mr.
Lockwood takes an active interest in all church work, and never
misses a religious service unless the condition of his health
prevents his attendance. He has always been a zealous and
conscientious worker, and despite the many trials and hardships that
confront every man who devotes his life to public service he has
ever been sustained by the faith that is the comfort and solace of
his age. He has never faltered but has faithfully discharged every
duty in accordance with what to him seemed best.
236
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
In Henry county, Illinois, on the 21st of June, 1849, Mr. Lockwood
was united in marriage to Miss Mandana A. Jones, whose birth
occurred in Canada, on the 2d of January, 1831. She is a daughter of
Daniel and Atlanta (Bartlett) Jones, the father also a native of
Canada, his birth occurring on February 22, 1808, while the mother
was born in Vermont, on the 2d of January, 1810. They were among the
pioneer settlers of Illinois, first locating in Mercer county, where
the father engaged in farming, but later took up his residence in
Gales-burg, and there both he and the mother passed away. They were
the parents of seven children, of whom Mrs. Lockwood was the eldest.
The others were as follows: Louisa, the widow of Leonidas Anderson,
of Oklahoma; Orson, a veteran of the Civil war, now deceased;
Harriet, also deceased, who is buried in the cemetery at Knoxville;
Granville, who is a resident of Galesburg; Norvel, also of
Galesburg; and Corwin, who lives in Shenandoah, Iowa. Unto Mr. and
Mrs. Lockwood there were born two daughters: Alice Irene, the
deceased wife of Elisha White, by whom she had one son, Walter, now
living in Chicago; and Effie Louise, who married Marshall Goodsill
of Galesburg, and is the mother of four children: Ruth, Claire, Inez
and Max.
Despite his advanced years, Mr. Lockwood is still in full possession
of his faculties and takes an active interest in all matters
pertaining to the public welfare, particularly of a religious
nature.
EDWARD PAYSON WILLIAMS.
It is a difficult matter during the life of any one, to render a
satisfactory tribute to his character, especially when the man
concerned is of a' disposition so retiring and unobtrusive as E. P.
Williams. He was born at Russia, New York, in the year 1833, and
moved to Galesburg with his parents in the year 1836.
It seems most fitting and appropriate that he should be. mentioned
in this volume in the History of Knox County, of which he has been
so important a factor for many years. In the absence of a personal
biography, we copy by permission from the "Bench and Bar of
Illinois," edited by the late John M. Palmer of Springfield,
Illinois, former governor and former senator from Illinois, the
following historical sketch of Mr. Williams:
"Edward Payson Williams has resided in Galesburg for more than fifty
years, and for the past twenty-five years has been the recognized
leader of the Knox county bar. His modest and unassuming nature has
kept him from the public gaze, but the strength, clearness and
accuracy of his judgment, coupled with an unflecked purity and
integrity of life, have made him known and respected and loved by
all who have been either his clients or his friends.
"His father, Sherman Williams, was one of the early abolitionists,
and first settled in Missouri; but his views on the slavery question
were not accepted there and he was driven from the state by the
pro-slavery element, fleeing by night with his wife and young
children. His mother, Sally (Bradley) Williams, was a woman of very
remarkable intellectual power, an omnivorous reader, with a genius
and love for guiding and instructing youthful minds.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
239
"Mr. Williams' early life was spent on a farm, and, excepting
portions of a few years which were spent in the district school and
in Knox College, he did the hard and exacting work of the farm until
he had passed his twenty-fifth year. An injury which he then
received disabled him from continuing in that calling, and he took
up with indomitable purpose his preparation for the practice of the
law. After two years of study, he was admitted to the bar of
Illinois on an examination conducted in person by the late Judge
Corydon Beck-with. From the very beginning of his practice, he took
rank as a lawyer who knew the law and could present it clearly, who
prepared his cases with thoroughness and who tried them both
skillfully and honorably; who gave the same high service to the
small cause and to the poor client that the largest interests could
command; and it "was soon known to all that he would neither take a
retainer because the professional rewards were to be large if the
cause did not commend itself to his judgment and conscience, nor
refuse a cause that seemed to him meritorious though no reward were
promised and its advocacy was unpopular.
"His name will be found as counsel in nearly every volume of the
reports of the supreme court of Illinois from the forty-eighth to
the present time. Upon important or intricate questions of law, no
better briefs than his have been filed in that court. They have
furnished the basis for the opinions of the supreme court in many
leading cases; notably, in the celebrated county seat fight between
Knoxville and Galesburg, settling the right of citizens by a bill in
equity to purge poll books and election returns of the illegal votes
cast, and to have the court determine the result of the legal votes
at such election. Knox County versus Davis, Illinois Reports, volume
63, page 405. In Stowell versus Bair, Illinois Appellate Reports,
volume 5, page 104, he filed a masterly brief on the question of the
priority of lien upon growing crops between the landlord and the
mortgagee. In Patterson versus McKinney, Illinois Reports, volume
97, page 41, his brief upon the proposition that conveyances to
one's family made while heavily indebted and engaged in speculations
can be set aside in equity as fraudulent, is preserved in the
report. In Kiernan versus C, S. F. & C. Railway Company, Illinois
Reports, volume 123, page 188, the court sustained his splendid set
of instructions as to weight of evidence in condemnation cases.
''During his long career at the bar he has met in professional
contests nearly every prominent lawyer of the Military Tract, and
has won his full share of victories. In the early days his practice
was not confined to Knox county, but extended to all the counties of
the circuit. In Fulton county he practiced with Hon. William C.
Goudy, who afterward became a well known lawyer in Chicago, and
Hon.. S. P. Shope, afterward justice of the supreme court and now'
in active practice in Chicago. He was often retained with or against
Hon. Thomas G. Frost, afterward of Frost & Miller, of Chicago; lion.
A. M. Craig, now one of the justices of the supreme court; Hon.
Charles B. Lawrence, afterward justice of the supreme court, and
then one of the leaders of the Chicago bar, and many others. He was
an early friend of John P. Wilson, Esq., and of Judge Blodgett, of
Chicago. All who have met him in the courts or have in other ways
come to know him, esteem him for his fidelity as a friend and his
integrity as a citizen, and warmly admire the ability and conscience
which have characterized every act of his professional life. But his
best work and high-
240 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
est title to distinction does not lie in his purely professional
work. His greatest influence has been wielded as a man of honor and
moral bravery, and through the many men who have gained their
professional ideals and inspiration while students in his office.
"From the day he entered a law office until now, he has placed the
obligations of a lawyer before his rewards and has always cared more
to settle strife and protect rights by fair compromise than to
encourage litigation or imperil his clients' interests in the hope
of professional reward or distinction.
"Fie has not drawn the line merely against dishonest claims or
methods, but against causes and courses that while entirely honest
might prove hardships to the party, though beneficial to the
attorney. For example, a mortgage for over twenty thousand dollars
was sent him with instructions to begin foreclosure proceedings. The
mortgagor was in default and a foreclosure proceeding would have
brought an attorney's fee of an unusual size and of which, on
account of the large number of persons dependent upon him, he was in
real need. Yet because the mortgagee was honest and would, in his
judgment, be able to pay the larger portion of the defaulted
interest within the next six months, he made the unasked
recommendation of a postponement of the foreclosure proceedings. The
result was that the mortgagor saved his land and the mortgagee
secured his debt, and Mr. Williams received but a nominal fee. And
examples of this sort might be multiplied. The golden rule controls
him both as a lawyer and as a man.
"Students from his office are found in the upper ranks of the
profession from New York to Seattle, Washington, and all hold him
both as a lawyer and citizen in the highest regard and affection.
"He is a republican in politics, as was natural from his early
experiences, but he has never sought public office. In the early
days of his practice he was city attorney of Galesburg for one term,
and master in chancery of the circuit court for a short time. His
friends have long desired to place him upon the circuit bench, where
his profound knowledge of the law, tempered by his fine sense of
justice, would have been so valuable to litigants; but he has been
unwilling to make any canvass for the place or to undergo the strife
of a political campaign. He has neither the temperament nor the
natural gifts of an advocate, though in cases appealing strongly to
his feelings he has made some very notable and effective arguments
to juries. His conspicuous preeminence, however, is as a wise
counselor who always sought and rarely missed 'the right of the
matter.' Though past three-score years, he is still in active
practice in the full possession of his ripened powers, and has
associated with him in the practice two sons—Messrs. Edwin N. and G.
P. Williams—who are rendering him strong and efficient aid in
conducting the litigation in which the firm is retained." The Bench
and Bar of Illinois, pages 452 to 454.
Since this biography was published, Mr. Williams has continued in
the successful practice of his profession at Galesburg, Illinois,
with a constantly increasing reputation. His life has been filled
with deepest sorrows. His wife, for fifty years his constant and
loving companion, assistant and adviser, has passed away, and two of
his sons who were associated with him in the practice of law have
also passed to the beyond. Perhaps no better idea can be given of
the estimate in which Mr. Williams is held by the bar of Knox
county, than to
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 241
quote a resolution unanimously passed at a meeting of the bar
association of Knox county, held for the purpose of adopting
resolutions upon the life and services of the late Justice Alfred M.
Craig, in January, 1912.
'The Bar Association of Knox county assembled for the purpose of
paying its respects and tribute to the memory of a distinguished
member, who has passed away, are reminded of the fact that we have
still with us, in active practice, the Nestor of this bar, whose
seventy-ninth birthday will soon be here. While paying our tribute
to the deceased, it is fitting that we remember the living who is
still with us to guide and to inspire, and to extend to him our
felicitations upon his approaching anniversary. Edward Payson
Williams, by a long and distinguished career at the bar, has brought
distinction, not only to himself, but the bar of which he is the
acknowledged leader. By his unselfish public service, he has well
served his day and generation. His unfailing kindness has endeared
him to us all, and his integrity and moral worth is an example to
us. May his sorrows be tempered to him and his remaining years be
filled with joy."
We cannot close this brief sketch without mentioning one of the
greatest honors that ever came to Mr. Williams, or in fact, to any
other attorney of this state, and it must always stand as a most
beautiful and substantial tribute to his memory and legal
attainments.
In the year 1899 the legislature of the state of Illinois passed a
resolution creating a "Practice Commission" for the purpose of
making a thorough examination of the Practice Act and to suggest
needed reforms and commission seem to be necessary and conducive to
the improvement in court procedure. Two members were to be appointed
from Cook county, one by the Cook County Bar Association, one by the
appellate court of the First district, and of the remaining three,
one by the State Bar Association, one by the governor of the state
and one by the supreme court of the state of Illinois. Mr. Williams,
of all the attorneys of this state, was selected by the supreme
court to act upon that commission, thus signifying the full
confidence of that august body in him as being qualified in every
way to represent it in all the questions that might come before the
commission. His appointment bears date September 15, 1899.
MAX J. MACK.
Max J. Mack, who for more than a third of a century has been
actively identified with the business interests of Galesburg as a
clothing merchant, has since 1895 been a member of the firm of
Jacobi Brothers & Mack. His birth occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, on
the 6th of August, 1854, his parents being Jacob L. and Amelia
(Thurnauer) Mack, both of whom were natives of Bavaria, • Germany.
The paternal grandfather was also born there. Jacob L. Mack, the
father of our subject, emigrated to America half a century ago and
settled in Cincinnati, where he embarked in business as a wholesale
clothier. His demise there occurred when he had attained the age of
seventy years. His wife, surviving him, was seventy-two years old
when called to her final rest. Their children were six in number,
namely: Edward J., who is deceased; Leopold J.,
242 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio; Herman, who has also passed away;
Carrie, living in Cincinnati; Max J., of this review; and Samuel J.,
who makes his home in Anderson, Indiana.
Max J. Mack was reared to manhood in his native city and attended
the public schools in the acquirement of an education, being
graduated from the high school in 1872. Subsequently he attended a
night law school for a time. Later he secured employment as
bookkeeper in a wholesale house, holding that position until he left
Cincinnati and came to Galesburg in 1875. Here he embarked in the
clothing business on his own account and at the end of a year became
a partner of his father-in-law, Abraham Jacobi, the business being
conducted under the firm style of Jacobi & Mack until 1895. For the
past sixteen years the establishment has borne the name of Jacobi
Brothers & Mack. The partners now enjoy an extensive business and
are very successful in its conduct.
On the 3d of May, 1876, Mr. Mack was united in marriage to Miss
Fanny Jacobi, a' native of Knoxville, Illinois, and a daughter of
Abraham and Clara (Schriesheimer) Jacobi, both of whom were born at
Mannheim, Germany. They emigrated to the United States in 1848,
first settling in Knoxville, Illinois, and later coming to
Galesburg. Here Abraham Jacobi passed away in 1909, when eighty-five
years of age. His widow, who still survives him, has now attained
the age of eighty-two years. To Mr. and Mrs. Mack were born two
children, Hattie C. and Julian J., both at home. The wife and mother
was called to her final rest in 1904, when forty-nine years of age,
her death being the occasion of sincere regret in the county in
which she had spent her entire life.
Mr. Mack, a stanch republican in politics, acted as alderman of the
first ward for eighteen years. Fie is now a member of the library
board and served as its president for two years. Fraternally he is
identified with the Masons, being a valued member of Vesper Lodge.
His life has been one of well directed effort and enterprise,
resulting in the attainment of a creditable and gratifying measure
of success. In all his relations he has enjoyed the respect and
confidence of his fellowmen because he is honest, upright,
persistent and determined.
HERBERT W. WOOD.
Herbert W. Wood is now living retired in Galesburg but in former
years was identified with general merchandising, with the grain
trade and financial enterprises. The success which he achieved while
still an active factor in business circles brought him a handsome
competence that now relieves him from the necessity of further
labor, save for the supervision which he gives to his invested
interests. He was born in Westford, Vermont, April 24, 1844, a son
of William S. and Phylena (Smith) Wood. The father was also a native
of Westford and the mother's birth occurred in Braintree, Orange
county, Vermont. William S. Wood followed merchandising in his
native town and also conducted a tannery, after which he removed to
Burlington, Vermont, where he filled the office of deputy sheriff.
In the spring of 1859, he came to the middle west settling in
Wataga, Knox county, Illinois, where he carried on general
merchandising and also engaged in the grain trade for a number of
years. He likewise con-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 247
ducted a banking and loan business at a later date and carried
forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. He was ever
watchful of any opportunity and in its improvement steadily advanced
toward success. In 1884 he went to Elgin, Illinois, where he resided
for three or four years living retired during' that period. In 1888,
he came to Galesburg, where he also lived retired up to the time of
his death, which occurred February 3, 1897. For more than three
years he had survived his wife who died in this city, September 21,
1893. In his political views William S. Wood was a republican and
served in some local offices, acting as justice of the peace and as
treasurer of his town. His life was upright and honorable and both
he and his wife were members of the Congregational church in which
he served as a trustee. They were married in Braintree, Vermont, and
unto them were born four children, of whom Herbert W., is the
eldest, the others are: Ella J., the widow of George F. Niles of
Hartford, Connecticut; Clarence E., who was born July 1, 1850, and
died April 29, 1852, and Carrie M., the widow of Albert T. Lewis of
Elgin, Illinois.
Herbert W. Wood was educated in the schools of Westford and in the
Burlington high school, after which he attended Knox College in
Galesburg during the year 1863-4. His education completed, he
entered his fathers store as a clerk and received thorough training
in commercial methods as applied especially to general mercantile
interests. In 1868 he became his father's successor in business and
formed a partnership with his uncle, IT. P. Wood, which connection
continued until 1880. They carried on the same line of business and
also engaged in general banking. Throughout that period they
conducted a prosperous business carrying a large and well selected
line of goods for which they found a ready sale. The growth of their
trade brought them an excellent annual income which in time afforded
Mr. Wood a competence sufficient to enable him to retire from active
life. He came to Galesburg in t888, and has since retired from
further labor save for the supervision which he gives to his
invested interests. He is now a stockholder in the First National
Bank and has important realty holdings. He served as town clerk and
in many other local offices, being corporation clerk at Wataga for a
time.
On the 21 st of January, 1904, Mr. Wood was united in marriage to
Mrs. Emma Walton, a daughter of Joseph and Orlena A. (Kirk) Woods of
Plymouth, Illinois. Her father was born near Mt. Sterling, this
state, May 10, 1829, of German parentage and died June 30, 1905. He
was a soldier of the Mexican war, serving for a year and one-half
after which he was honorably discharged. He followed the occupation
of farming, owning and cultivating a tract of land until the time of
his death. He was also an ordained minister of the Baptist church
and his life was ever a helpful one, his time being largely spent in
efforts to uplift and benefit humanity. In his political faith he
was a democrat and he served as school director, but never sought
political office. His wife died July 19, 1909, at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. Wood, in Galesburg. There were seventeen children in
their family, of whom Mrs. Wood was the seventh in order of birth.
Her early education was acquired in the schools of Providence,
Illinois, and later she spent three years in Eureka College. She was
also an art and music pupil in Chicago, studying under Seabeck and
Liebling for three years. She afterward engaged in teaching music in
Macomb, Camp Point and Augusta—three towns of central Illinois.
248 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
She is a member of the First Christian Church, Galesburg, 111.,
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Woman's Relief Corps and the
Round Table Club, A lady of broad intelligence and wide reading, she
is prominent in the social circles of the city and shares with her
husband a popularity that has brought him many friends.
*********************************************
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 621
JAMES S.
PAYNE.
James S. Payne, who is at present engaged as carrier in the rural
delivery department of the United States post-office, is residing in
Altona, Knox county. His birth occurred on the 17th of March, 1865,
in Harrisonville, Missouri. He was the grandson of William and.
Susan (Stephenson) Payne, both natives of Kentucky, and was the son
of William B. Payne, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, who is at
present living in Virginia, Illinois, at the age of eighty-nine
years. William Payne started in life on his own account by accepting
a clerical position and subsequently went to Harrisonville,
Missouri, where he interested himself as partner with his former
employer and engaged in the mercantile business for three years
before removing to Virginia, Illinois, where he conducted a store.
These various enterprises were both agreeable and profitable, and
desiring to continue in the same line of business, Mr. Payne opened
stores in Chandlersville and Ashland, Illinois. He was conducting
these establishments at the time the new bankruptcy law became
effective. This law affected his resources so badly that he lost
practically all he had accumulated, and in 1898 was forced to
retire. He was married to Hannah E. Allender, whose death occurred
in 1895, and who was the daughter of Hiram Allender. To Mr. and Mrs.
Payne eleven children were born, eight of whom are now living: John
W., a resident of Kansas City; Eva, the wife of J. Chapman of
Birmingham, Alabama; Richard and Wm. G., both of whom are residents
of Kansas City, Missouri; Charles F., who is living in Plot Springs,
Arkansas; Henrietta, who is married to D. Crum, a resident of
Virginia, Illinois; Miranda, who is the wife of A. M. Thompson of
Washington; and James S., the subject of this review.
After finishing his education in the common schools, James Payne
attended Brown's Business College at Jacksonville, and Illinois
College of Jacksonville, Illinois, from which he was graduated and
prepared to enter upon a business career. His first position was in
Oberlin, Kansas, where he was a clerk in the government land office
for two years. Subsequently he left for Tecumseh, Nebraska, and
engaged in the abstract business in Johnson county. Returning to
Illinois he was employed in Virginia as a department commercial
clerk for a short time previous to leaving for Beatrice, Nebraska,
where he was engaged as express and baggage man for the Burlington &
Missouri River Railway, now a part of the Burlington system. Again
returning to Virginia he served in the capacity of deputy sheriff
and ex-officio tax collector for three years and then left for
Topeka, Illinois, where he purchased a drug store previous to going
to Altona in 1896. Later he moved his drug store and, in 1901,
entered the United States mail service as rural delivery man. At the
present time he is serving in
that capacity and is also interested in western real estate and
other business enterprises. In all these positions Mr. Payne has
shown a true regard for the essentials and principles of business
and has been an accurate and reliable employee.
Mr. Payne was united in marriage to Anna A. Buckman, who is the
daughter of C. F. and Mary E. (Mauck) Buckman, and was born on the
5th of August, 1870. The parents are both living and are very active
in their home duties. Mr. Buckman was a soldier in the Civil war. To
Mr. and Mrs. Payne three children have been born: Marie, who is
twenty-two years of age; Cal C, who is twenty years of age; and
Doris, who is fourteen years of age.
Mr. Payne gives his political support to the democratic party and,
although he has never sought office, he has been very active in
promoting the policies of the party he thinks will be the most
effective in producing good government. Recently he was elected
police magistrate but could not accept the office because of his
official position in the United States post-office. Both he and his
wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church and he is also a
member of the Knights of Pythias of Osceola, Iowa. At present he
enjoys the confidence and respect of the members of his community,
and both he and his wife are held in the highest regard because of
their social characteristics and their sterling worth.
CHARLES H. RHODES.
For more than half a century Charles H. Rhodes has been a witness of
the progress in the material and intellectual development of Knox
county, having been born in Henderson, March 3, 1854. His father,
William M. Rhodes, a native of Vermont, came to Illinois and settled
in Henderson in the year 1851 or 52, plying his trade, that of
wagon-making, which he had learned in the east. He had a shop of his
own for a time and found much demand for his services in those days,
when much of the transportation of farm products was done by wagon
before the ramified system of local railroads was installed. He
married Mary J. Brown, a native of Henderson township and a daughter
of Wilson Brown who came to Knox county from Kentucky in pioneer
days. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes, of whom
Charles H. Rhodes was the eldest. They were members of the Methodist
Episcopal church which lost a loyal supporter at the death of Mr.
Rhodes in 1882. In his political allegiance he was a republican.
Charles H. Rhodes was educated in the village school and became
self-supporting at an early age choosing farming for his calling,
not only for the invigorating and varied nature of the labors which
this occupation involves but also for the promising future which he
foresaw. His judgment proved right as his later prosperity showed.
In the choice of his home he always confined himself to the
immediate vicinity of Henderson, where he purchased a farm of one
hundred and six acres after some time and for twenty years devoted
himself to its cultivation and development. He retired a few years
ago and now rents the land from which he makes a good income. During
the period of his activities
622 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
he was modern in the methods of farming which he employed, and
progressive and alert in his administration of the place.
The marriage of Mr. Rhodes and Miss Frances Martin was solemnized
February 18, 1880. She was born in Pennsylvania and was a daughter
of William and Drusilla (Pope) Martin, natives of Pennsylvania, her
father coming to Knox county in 1857, when he settled on a farm and
followed agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder of his life.
Three children were born to Mr.; and Mrs. Rhodes: Harry, who is
married, a farmer in Ontario township, Knox county; Helen M., the
wife of Fred Smith, a farmer, who has two children; and Margaret E.,
the wife of Harry L. Pople, employed in a general store in Monmouth,
Illinois, who has one son, Irwin R. Dale.
Mr. Rhodes votes with the republicans and has been entrusted with
the responsibilities of public office a number of times, serving as
constable, justice of the peace and as school trustee, holding the
latter office for a considerable length of time. With his family he
worships in the Christian church of Henderson, believing in the
doctrine of righteousness and truth as the basis upon which every
religion and philosophy must be built. He is a man of serious mind
and sterling traits of character devoted to his family and his
friends.
IRVING W. DAVISON
Irving W. Davison, who resides in Henderson township, was born in
Henderson, March 31, 1877, his parents being Joseph and Isabella
(Kilgore) Davison, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The
father, who had been a resident of Knoxville, came to Henderson and
engaged in the shoe business prior to entering upon agricultural
pursuits which he carried on extensively later in life, owning four
hundred and forty acres of land and raising cattle for the western
market until his death, October 27, 1910.
Irving W. Davison received a common-school education and then
assisted his father on the latter's farm until he started out on his
own account, in 1907, on the one hundred and forty-acre tract of
land he now owns and devotes to general farming. Although he has
been farming independently for only four years, he has already met
with a good measure of success and has shown that long years of
experience are not necessarily indispensable to success if energy
and determination take their place.
On October 17, 1902, Mr. Davison was married to Emma J. Nelson and
to this union five children have been born, namely: Mary L., Helen
C.,' Evelyn M., Gertrude B., and Gladys Margaret, deceased. Mrs.
Davison is the daughter of Nels and Hannah Nelson, who have been
residents of Knox county for many years. Nels Nelson was born in
Christianstad, Sweden, October 6, 1855, and received a common-school
education in his native, land, where he engaged in farming until
1877, when he came to America, there he has since carried on the
same pursuit. He first settled in Henry county and was employed
there for several years, although he resided in Knox county during
the latter part of that-time. After five or six years he began
farming near Henderson and Wataga and, in 1898, located upon the
forty-acre farm which he had recently acquired
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 623
and upon which he now resides. In politics Mr. Nelson gives his
support to the republican party and has served as road commissioner.
He holds membership in the Swedish Lutheran church of Wataga, as
well as Galesburg Camp, No. 667, M. W. A. On January 4, 1882, Nels
Nelson was married to Mrs. Anna (Samuelson) Peterson, whose parents
remained in Sweden, their native country. To Mr. and Mrs. Nelson six
children have been born, of whom five are now living. The eldest,
Christina, is married to Gust Malcolm, an agriculturist, who resides
in Ontario township and has three children. Emil, who is an
agriculturist in Henderson township, is married and is the father of
two children. Emma is. the wife of Irving W. Davison, of this
sketch. George is married and is an agriculturist in Henderson
township. Minnie, the youngest, is residing at home. Mr. Davison
gives his political support to the republican party, having a firm
belief that its policies are most effective in securing good
government. In this, as in his other relations, he is loyal and
consistent, always acting according to his interpretation of the
highest citizenship.
THOMAS CRAVER.
Thomas Craver, now deceased, who resided for many years in Walnut
Grove township, was born May 26, 1824, in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and
is a son of John and Christina (Stoekel) Craver, who were
Pennsylvania Germans.
Thomas Craver, who was an undertaker by trade, spent his early life
on the home farm, but after his marriage in 1851 came to Lynn
township, Knox county, and settled in a little log house upon the
farm which he cultivated for twenty-seven years previous to removing
to Altona in 1885, where he lived retired until his death.
Mr. Craver was married September 17, 1851, to Miss Rebecca Cameron,
who was a daughter of Angus Cameron and was born on September 14,
1832, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. The father was a native
of Scotland, his birth having occurred there in 1807, and he came to
America with his brothers at the age of sixteen years. They located
first in Canada but soon removed to Carbondale, Pennsylvania, with
an uncle, where they remained throughout their lives. In Carbondale
he followed the cabinet-maker's trade and showed a skill and ability
which won him rapid promotion. He was married to Sabrina Snyder,
whose birth occurred in New York state, May 31, 1812, and who passed
away on the 17th of April, 1896. Mrs. Cameron was a daughter of
Jacob and Margaret Snyder and a granddaughter of John and Mary
Cameron, the former a shepherd boy in his youth. Mr. Cameron held
membership in the Methodist church and his death occurred on
September 29, 1896. To him and his wife nine children were born, six
of whom are living. Mrs. Craver, the eldest, is the widow of Thomas
Craver, the subject of this sketch. Duncan was born in Pennsylvania,
October 3, 1834, and is at present residing with Mrs. Craver. At the
age of twelve years he began assisting his father as a cabinet-maker
and remained with him until 1859. In 1864 he removed to Iowa and
again took up his trade, remaining in Cedar Falls for two years
before removing to South Dakota. Subsequently he returned to Iowa
and until 1905, when he came to
624 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
live retired with his sister, was engaged as a millwright. He was
twice married, his first union being to Harriet Hoadley, of Wayne
county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Luther and Sophia (Sampson)
Hoadley. To this union one child, Luther, was born, his death
occurring when he was but one year old. Mrs. Cameron passed away in
1863, at the age of thirty years. His second marriage was to Mary M.
Cockerell, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of J. Cockerell, a
native of England. Her death occurred in 1905, at the age of sixty
years. Mr. Cameron has never given active support to any political
party. He holds membership in the Baptist church and formerly was a
member of the Knights of Pythias. Angus, the next in order of birth
in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Angus Cameron, resides in Carbondale,
Pennsylvania. Libby is the wife of P. Gray and resides in Streator,
Illinois. Anna is the widow of J. Scurry, of Carbondale. Emma is
married to Charles Gray and is residing in Luzerne county,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Craver became the parents of eleven children. Mary E.,
the eldest, is the wife of John S. Collinson and resides in Galva,
Illinois. They are the parents of three children: Dennis, who is
married and has three children; Wiley, who is married and has one
child; and Cora. William V. resides in Lynn township and married
Jessie McClatchy, by whom he has two children, Glenn and Thomas.
John A. is also a resident of Lynn township and is married to Jessie
Cochran and has one child, Ira Ross. Harriet is the wife of E.
Burkhart, of Nebraska, and has two children, Jennie and Jessie. Anna
is married and resides in California. She has one daughter, Stella,
who married Dr. Mills. Minnie is the wife of A. A. Scott, of Altona,
and Judge T., who resides in Walnut Grove township, married Emma
Kermode. Four, Flora, Ira, Florence and Emma, died early in life.
Mr. Craver was a member of Altona Lodge, No. 330, A. F. & A. M., of
Altona, and also belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star. Mrs.
Craver is a member of the Presbyterian church of Altona and is
active in its Ladies Social Union Society. Industry and persistency
were the salient features in his career and were potent elements in
the acquirement of his success, which not only spoke in terms of
material gain but also won him the regard and high esteem of his
fellowmen.
N. B. IVES, Sr.
N. B. Ives, Sr., who is now living retired, owns a fine farm of two
hundred and thirty-eight acres on section 7, Victoria township,
where for many years he successfully engaged in general farming and
stock-raising. He is one of the four children born of the marriage
of Joshua and Katherine (Wilber) Ives, his birth occurring in Otsego
county, New York, on the 9th of November, 1833. The parents passed
their entire lives in Otsego county, the mother's death occurring at
the age of twenty-three, when our subject was a child of two years,
but the father lived to attain the venerable age of seventy-nine.
They were members of the Lutheran church, while his political
support Joshua Ives always accorded the republican party.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 627
The agricultural training of N. B. Ives was received under the
supervision of his father on the old homestead in Otsego county,
while pursuing his education in the district schools. He continued
to follow farming in his native state until he was twenty-three
years of age, when he decided that the west afforded better
opportunities and greater advantages to the young man, so in 1856 he
came to Illinois. Upon his arrival in Knox county he located in
Victoria township and for two years thereafter worked as a farm hand
by the month. At the end of that time he bought the place he now
owns, which is located a mile northeast of Victoria. This was the
property of the Force boys and was unimproved with the exception of
forty acres. Mr. Ives was an enterprising, industrious young man,
however, and had no hesitancy in undertaking the arduous task of
placing the entire tract under cultivation. He was young, strong and
full of ambition, and the thought of owning a farm proved an
incentive to yet greater effort and the last forty acres of his land
he broke entirely unassisted. Naturally he encountered the
disappointment and discouragements common to pioneer life, but he
never lost hope, possessing absolute confidence in ultimately
attaining success. The operation of his farm was always given his
personal supervision, the greater part of the work being done by him
alone during the early years. His fields were devoted to the raising
of such cereals as were best adapted to the soil, and under his
capable direction annually yielded harvests that fully compensated
for the labor expended in their cultivation. In connection with
general farming he raised cattle, hogs and, on a smaller scale,
horses all of a high grade, and attained lucrative results from
these undertakings. Mr. Ives was actively engaged in the operation
of his farm until fifteen years ago, when he had the misfortune to
suffer a stroke of paralysis, and he has ever since been an invalid.
He still resides on his homestead but the land is being cultivated
by his son. It is a very attractive place, and has always been a
source of great pride to its owner, representing as it does the
self-denial, toil and struggles of his early manhood and middle age.
All of the buildings now standing on the place have been erected
during the period of his occupancy, the lumber for most of them
having been hauled from Galva, this state, at that time the nearest
trading post. His only prolonged absence from the farm since he
settled upon it was during the war. As a member of Company K,
Eighty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry he went to the front,
proving as efficient a soldier as a farmer. He saw much active
service but was never wounded or taken prisoner and was mustered out
at Nashville, Tennessee, with the rank of sergeant, receiving his
discharge at Chicago.
On the 2d of January, 1861, Mr. Ives was united in marriage to Miss
Susan Clark, who was born in Otsego county, New York, on the 20th of
May, 1842. She is a daughter of William P. and Dinah (Soules) Clark.
The parents were also natives of Otsego county, but they later
removed to Knox county, and here the mother passed away at the age
of seventy years, while the father reached the patriarchal age of
eighty-seven. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Ives numbers five, as
follows: W. J., who is a resident of Chicago; Ola C, who married
Frank M. Robinson and is living in Houston, Texas; N. B., Jr., who
married Minnie Watson and is also a resident of Houston; Ulysses S.,
a resident of this township, who married Mabel Robinson; and
Sherman, who married Miss Florence Craver, now operating his
father's farm.
628 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
Ever since granted the right of franchise upon attaining his
majority, Mr. Ives has given his unqualified endorsement to the
principles of the republican party. He cast his first vote for
Abraham Lincoln and on each succeeding election has given his
support to the candidates of the party of his early choice. Being a
public-spirited man, he has taken an active interest in township
politics and has served as collector, school trustee, director and
Pathmaster, the duties of which offices he discharged in a
creditable manner. Mr. Ives is one of the honored members of the
local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and for many years
held the chaplain's chair in this organization. He is highly
regarded as a citizen of his township, in the development and up-
building of which he has taken an active and helpful interest during
the fifty-five years of his residence, and is numbered among its
substantial agriculturists.
SAMUEL RANKIN
One of the substantial citizens of Knox county and for many years a
farmer of progressive ideals who occupied a place in the front ranks
of the representatives of his calling, is Samuel Rankin, now living
on his farm in Henderson township. His birth occurred in Uniontown,
Fayette county, Pennsylvania, March 10, 1844. He was a son of
William and Eliza (Junk) Rankin, both natives of Pennsylvania, the
former of Scotch-Irish descent, born in 1800. His father, who was an
active Whig in politics, carried on agricultural pursuits in
Pennsylvania until his death in 1877. His mother died in 1894..
Janine and Wini stay off my
pages & do not copy & paste or whatever you do and reformat to make
it yours when it's mine first do your own work be honest for a
change!!! I thank you, my ancestors thank you and you soon thank
yourselves.
During his boyhood and youth, Samuel Rankin remained with his
parents in his native state, where he was educated, first in the
elementary branches taught in the common schools, and then at Duffs
College, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, from which institution he was
graduated in 1861. This education, although much above the average
advantages of the youth of his day, did not fully satisfy him and
consequently he entered Madison Institute, in Uniontown,
Pennsylvania, in order to have specialized training for a
profession. At the close of the course he engaged in teaching and
followed this calling for a number of years. In 1864 he went to
Colorado and there spent some months in military service against the
Indians. The following three years he spent at home in Pennsylvania
and, in 1867, severed the last close ties that bound him to the
scenes of his childhood and came to the middle west, settling in
Henry county, Illinois. There he farmed for nine years on rented
land and at the end of this period bought a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres in Henry county. This remained in his possession for two
years, when he sold it and removed to Knox county, buying a farm in
Henderson township. He carried on general farming and feeding cattle
for market with much success. A few years ago he temporarily
retired, turning over the management of the farm to his son, but
returned to the same and is now carrying on general farming as
before. He owns two hundred and seventy-four acres of land in this
county and farms it all.
Mr. Rankin was twice married. His first wife was Mary D. Henderson,
a daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Dunlap) Henderson. Her father
settled in
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 629
this county in 1855 and in his manhood engaged in farming. He died
in 1873 and his wife died in 1869. Mrs. Rankin passed to her future
reward in the year 1886. She was the mother of five children, one of
whom died in infancy. W. F., who is married and living in Cleveland,
is a general agent for the Collier's Works. Mary E., the wife of
Thomas Marks, resides in St. Louis. Samuel, Jr., married, is a
farmer in Orange township, Knox county. Horace A., who is living in
Oklahoma, is married and the father of one child.
On December 3, 1889, Mr. Rankin was married to Miss Nancy A. Pitman,
his present wife, at Henderson. Her parents, Gideon and Mary J.
(Champion) Pitman, were old settlers in this county, where her
father was a prosperous farmer. By his second marriage Mr. Rankin is
the father of one child, Ralph E., living at home with his parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Rankin worship in the Methodist Episcopal church of
Henderson. In his political views Mr. Rankin is a republican. He has
given much of his efforts and time to public service and for three
terms was supervisor, for two terms assessor, and for two terms
highway commissioner. Mr. Rankin is a public-spirited man actively
interested in the advancement of the intellectual and social growth
of his community.
########################################################
NEWTON
M. MILROY #629
Newton McDowell Milroy, who is engaged in farming and stock-raising
in Copley township, was born July 27, 1867, on his present
homestead, his parents being Alexander and Janette (McDowell)
Milroy. The father came to his present home in 1848, when a young
man, and passed his entire active life upon that place until his
retirement a few years before his death which occurred in Oneida on
August 26, 1890, when he was sixty-nine years of age. In addition to
general farming he also engaged in general stock-raising. Mrs.
Milroy was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (McCornack) McDowell
and was born on the 5th of January, 1830. Pier death occurred in
March, 1908. They were the parents of eight children, of whom four
survive: John P., a resident of Oneida; Maggie, who is the wife of
N. Nish of Waukee, Iowa; Jennie, who is the wife of Charles
Lansberry, of Iowa; and Newton M., who is the subject of this
sketch. Mr. Milroy was a member of the John Knox church in which he
took an active interest, and was also very active in the republican
party.
Newton M. Milroy spent his boyhood and youth attending school until
eighteen years of age, and then assisted his father on the home farm
until he became of age. After that he farmed independently one
hundred and forty acres of land which had been left to him by his
father. So successful was this undertaking that he has since been
able to add one hundred and forty acres of land, which adjoin the
original farm. Upon this he is spending all his energy and labor.
The farm is highly improved and well equipped with all the necessary
buildings and machinery to carry on modern farming. By strict
attention to business and employing modern methods his farming and
stock-raising has become one of the most profitable undertakings of
the kind in the township.
630 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
In 1891, Mr. Milroy was married to Sarah Lavina Olmsted, whose birth
occurred May 28, 1869, near Altona, and who is the only child of
William H. and Lavina (Youngs) Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted was born in
Delaware county, New York, and removed to Knox county with his
parents in 1856, settling in Victoria, where he spent his active
career in farming. However, eighteen years previous to his death
which occurred in 1899, he removed to a residence near Victoria.
Mrs. Olmsted, whose birth occurred in Victoria in 1841, passed away
in 1908, she being the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Miessmore)
Youngs, natives of Ohio, the former born August 23, 1796. Her
paternal grandfather, Stephen S. Olmsted was an agriculturist and
cabinet-maker, and was married to Clarissa McMorris. His death
occurred in 1897. To Mr. and Mrs. Milroy six children have been
born: Newton L., whose birth occurred December 18, 1891 ; Leslie F.,
who was born August 18, 1893; Mary Ethelyn, born November 20, 1898;
Lavina Jenette, born January 7, 1902; and Marietta Agnes and Bethea
Margaret, who were born February 21, 1908, and March 22, 1911,
respectively.
Mr. Milroy gives his political support to the republican party, and
although he does not desire the reward of office he has served as
school trustee because of his interest in the educational
development of his community. Both he and his wife are church
members. That Mr. Milroy is a member of a family who have long been
landholders in the United States is attested by the fact that he has
in his possession a deed of land title signed by President Van Buren
in 1840, and also one signed by President Tyler. Mr. Milroy is a man
of high morals, and it has been a feature of his life to devote much
of his time to further the moral and social development of his
community, and his high aims and industry have won for him the
respect and confidence of his fellow citizens.
ROBERT DAVISON.
Among the younger agriculturists of Henderson township Robert
Davison stands out prominently as one who has worked for success
along the most progressive lines. Pie was born in Henderson
township, November 26, 1872, and is the son of Joseph and Isabella
(Kilgore) Davison, the former a native of England and the latter of
Pennsylvania. The father came to America in 1853 and almost
immediately settled in Knox county, where he spent the remainder of
his life, engaging in the shoemaking trade in Knoxville at first and
next conducting a shoe store in Henderson, in which he had some
eight or nine employees at one time. Pie conducted this business
successfully until he began his career as an agriculturist on a farm
of forty acres situated west of Hendersonville. This land was the
nucleus of the extensive farm of four hundred and fifty acres which
he owned at the time of his death, October 27, 1910. His marriage
occurred, in 1872, in Henderson township and his wife is still
living, her present home being in Watertown. In politics Mr. Davison
gave his support to the republican party and served as township
clerk for many years. Pie was identified with the Masonic order,
belonging to Lodge No. 264, F. & A. M., of Henderson.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 631
Robert Davison received his education in the common schools and the
Normal school at Abingdon, Illinois. Returning home after he had
completed these courses, he assisted his father on the farm until he
began his independent career in 1901, on the land which is his
present home. This estate of one hundred and fifty acres shows how
successful he has been as an agriculturist—the land yields
abundantly, the buildings are modern and the machinery adequate for
cultivation according to advanced and scientific methods. In
addition to general farming Mr. Davison raises cattle and hogs for
the eastern markets.
On November 28, 1901, Robert Davison was united in marriage to Mary
E. Windom, the daughter of William and Mary (Folger) Windom, the
former a native and lifelong resident of Ohio, where for twenty
years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Monroe county. The
mother was also born in Ohio and was a resident of Monroe county for
twenty years, before she came to Henderson, where she passed away in
1904. She was one of the eight children of Robert and Nancy (Haines)
Folger, natives of New Hampshire county, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs.
Davison are the parents of one child, Joseph E., who is living at
home.
In politics Mr. Davison is a member of the republican party and has
served as township collector. Fie holds membership in the Methodist
church of Henderson. In both of these relations he is loyal and
honorable and his example is one which has done much to further the
integrity of his fellow citizens. He has earned for himself the name
of a thorough and progressive agriculturist and has done much to
develop his district and to raise its standard of cultivation and
stock-raising.
WILLARD B. GOFF
Willard B. Goff, who resides on a farm of his mother's in Henderson
township, is the descendant of a family which has long been
connected with agricultural pursuits. His parents, James F. and Mary
J. (Baxter) Goff, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of
Ohio, carried on agricultural pursuits in Henderson township, Knox
county. They had three children : Charles A., deceased; Willard B.
Goff, who was born October 15, 1871; and Otis J., living in
Galesburg. James Goff came to Knox county early in life and resided
here almost continuously until his death in 1889. In 1851 he joined
the great number of people going west to the California gold fields
and the family still has in its possession the saddle he used when
returning.
Willard B. Goff received his education in the common schools, the
Abingdon Normal school and Brown's Business College in Galesburg.
For the first three or four years after he had completed his
education he was employed in a general store in Little York, Warren
county, Illinois, and then went to Chicago and engaged in the
commission business for six years. Returning to his father's farm
when he gave up his Chicago business, he immediately took an active
part in farming the home place and has continued it up to the
present time. The farm consists of two hundred acres and is well
adapted for raising cattle and hogs and also for general farming.
632 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
In February, 1903, Mr. Goff was married to Era Reynolds, the
daughter of James and Mehitabel (Smith) Reynolds. The father, a
native of Sugar Grove, Illinois, was engaged in farming in Warren
county until his death in 1889. In politics he was a prohibitionist,
and in religious faith a member of the United Presbyterian church.
Mr. and Mrs. Goff have one child, Willard Percy, born December 24,
1906.
Mr. Goff has proved his ability as an agriculturist by the success
he has had in developing the farm he manages and his increasing
returns show that a state of cultivation has been reached which
could be attained only by careful application of scientific and
progressive methods. He has been engaged in this pursuit for a
comparatively few years and yet has had time to establish his
reputation as one of the successful agriculturists of Henderson
township.
MRS. ELIZA A.
COLEMAN.
Mrs. Eliza A. Coleman, who resides on her farm of one hundred and
twenty acres, on section 13 of Victoria township, was born in Stark
county, Illinois, February 16, 1854. She was a daughter of Joseph
Kane, who was a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, born June 9,
1812, and moved when a small boy with his parents to Ohio, where he
was reared and educated. The family later came to Illinois and
settled near Canton. In Fulton county, Illinois, in 1833 Mr. Kane
was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Heckard, who was born near
Baltimore, Maryland, July 2, 1818, and was a daughter of John
Heckard, a native of that state. The parents resided in Fulton
county for several years and then removed to Knox county, where they
remained until December, 1858, when they repaired to Victoria
township and spent the rest of their lives on the farm now owned by
George Patty. The father was engaged in general farming and raised
yearly a large number of hogs. He was a democrat in politics and
much interested in education, serving many years as school director.
He died April 13. 1895, and his wife, having preceded him by nearly
fourteen years, died June 12, 1881, and they are both buried in West
Jersey cemetery. In their family were thirteen children: Mary Ann,
Jane, Charlotte, Samuel, John, James, Joseph, George and Miner, all
of whom were born in Fulton county, Illinois; and Eliza A., William
and Rosetta, who were born in Stark county; and an infant child, who
was born and died in Knox county.
Eliza A. Kane was five years of age when her parents removed to
Victoria township, where she was reared and educated. She was
trained to the duties of the household and remained at home with her
parents until her marriage, which occurred March 14, 1881. At that
date she became the wife of James Cole-man, who was born in Mercer
county, Pennsylvania, December 27, 1830, the son of Samuel Coleman,
a native of that state. James Coleman was reared under the parental
roof and remained at home until 1858, when he came to Knox county,
Illinois, arriving May 30. Shortly afterward he wedded Charlotte
Kane, a sister of Eliza A. (Kane) Coleman.
Charlotte (Kane) Coleman,
who was a member of the Methodist church at West Jersey, Illinois,
died at the age of thirty-nine years and is buried in West Jersey
cemetery. She left
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 635
five children, the oldest of whom, a daughter, is now deceased.
After their marriage James and Eliza A. (Kane) Coleman lived on the
farm on which Mrs. Coleman now resides and there Mr. Coleman was
actively engaged in general farming. His business insight, energy
and perseverance brought to him a goodly measure of success and Mrs.
Coleman is now comfortably situated in life. They were the parents
of four children. • Clyde, who is a graduate of Toulon Academy and
of Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts, is now a
graduate student in the chemistry department of the University of
Chicago. In 1910 he was a teacher in the Military Academy at Culver,
Indiana. Francis J. resides at home with his mother and operates the
home place. Ada and Susie L, who complete the family, are both
living at home. The death of the husband and father occurred on
November 20, 1904, and he is buried in West Jersey cemetery. His
death was deeply regretted by his many friends and was an
irreparable loss to his immediate family. He was a republican in
politics, a citizen of progressive spirit, who was much interested
in all that pertains to the public welfare. He gave much attention
to the cause of education and served as school director throughout
most of the time of his residence in Knox county. He attended the
Methodist Episcopal church of West Jersey, services of which
organization, Mrs. Coleman, who is a lady of many good traits of
heart and mind, and whose life is in harmony with her Christian
profession, also faithfully attends. She has passed much of her life
in Victoria township and has a large circle of friends, in whose
regard she stands very high.
WILLIAM SNIDER.
One of the substantial citizens of Abingdon and of prominent
standing in his community is William Snider, whose birth occurred in
Clermont county, Ohio, November 4, 1835. His parents, Abraham and
Elizabeth (Meyers) Snider, both died of the cholera, in 1849,
leaving their son William an orphan at the age of thirteen years.
Thrown wholly upon his own resources in the tender years of his
youth, he cast about for a suitable occupation. Farming lay nearest
at hand, and this he pursued for some little time. He then went to
Goshen, where he found employment, dividing his time between farm
work and, for a time, work in a cabinet-maker's shop. He continued
as a farm hand in the summer and a teamster in the winter months. In
1855 and the year following he operated a threshing machine.
William Snider was married to Miss Angelina C. Harvey of Clermont
county near Goshen. Two weeks after their marriage, the bridal
couple set out in a wagon overland for Knox county, Illinois, where
they began housekeeping and spent the winter. In the spring of the
following year Mr. Snider bought a farm in Chestnut township, seven
miles southeast of Abingdon. There they lived for seven years. In
the spring of 1864 he returned to Abingdon and bought a home on the
site where his present residence stands, living there for the
following two years. He then bought what is known as the Mound farm,
a tract of one hundred and eighty acres, two miles east of Abingdon,
where the family lived for another period of two years. In 1868 he
yearned again for
636 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
the comforts of town life, so he repurchased his former residence
and property in Abingdon, living there for a brief period. The year
1869 he spent in the Rocky mountains, and on his return in the
spring of 1870 purchased a one hundred and sixty-acre farm, one and
one-half miles east of Abingdon, where he built a home, residing
there until the spring of 1875. At this time he again repurchased
and occupied his former town home. The spacious colonial house in
which he is now living was built in 1884 and was the first handsome
residence erected in Abingdon.
In business enterprises William Snider has always dealt on a large
scale. For more than forty years he was an extensive cattle buyer
and shipper, doing the greater part of the cattle shipping of this
section. He was, besides, one of the most extensive stock men in
Knox county, feeding, on an average, a thousand head of sheep, one
hundred and fifty head of cattle and between three and four hundred
head of hogs annually. As a necessary adjunct to his cattle-breeding
industry he invested heavily in farm lands at various times. In
1878, he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres and, in 1880,
another farm of two hundred and forty acres, both in Indian Point
township. These he operated with hired help for a number of years,
using the produce of the same for feeding his stock. During this
period he also acquired three farms in Iowa. Two of these were in
Taylor county, one consisting of two hundred acres and the other of
one hundred and forty acres. The third was a tract of two hundred
acres in Van Buren county. In 1909, however, he disposed of the last
of his farm holdings, having retained his two farms in Indian Point
township up to that time.
To Mr. and Mrs. Snider no children were born. Mr. Snider has always
been actively interested in politics and served on the republican
county central committee for a period of about sixteen years. Beyond
this honor, however, he always consistently refused to consider
public preferment of any kind. Since 1864 he has been a member of
the Abingdon Lodge, No. 184, I. O. O. F. Throughout his life Mr.
Snider has met with more than the average degree of success, due to
his daring enterprise and his untiring application to his duties. He
thinks and acts in large units, but never to the neglect of the
important details which are essential in the conduct of every
business. In his own community he is highly esteemed and claims many
friends, and few men of this vicinity enjoy a wider acquaintance in
the adjoining counties.
CLARK ANDREW MAIN.
Clark Andrew Main, who is an agriculturist in Walnut Grove township,
was born December 18, 1879, upon the farm on which he is now
residing. He is the grandson of Peter and Jane (Ferguson) Main, the
former having come to America with his three children after the
death of his wife in Scotland. After arriving in Chicago they
proceeded directly to Knox county, but subsequently went to
Minnesota for a short residence before returning to this county,
where his death occurred May 1, 1878, at the age of sixty-nine.
Clark Main is the son of Andrew and Ellen (Moore) Main, the former
having been born December 6, 1846,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 637
in Mothler, Ayrshire, Scotland, and the latter in Rio township, on the
13th of March, 1848. Mr. Alain arrived in America when he was but
seven years of age, and was in Chicago during the time of the
cholera epidemic, which caused the death of his only sister. Mrs.
Main was the daughter of Lyman K. and Mary S. (Woodman) Moore, the
former a native of New York state and the latter of Massachusetts.
The paternal grandfather, Holland Moore, of New York, was married to
Sarah Kendall. Air. and Airs. Lyman Moore came west early in life
and located in Rio township, where they were engaged in agricultural
pursuits until their death, Air. Moore passing away in 1885 at the
age of seventy-one years and his wife dying the same year. -Air. and
Airs. Alain were the parents of three children: J. Edwin, who is an
agriculturist residing at Altona; Kate, who is married to Walter D.
McMasters, a resident farmer of Walnut Grove township; and Clark A.,
the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Main never took an active part in politics but was a prominent
member of the Presbyterian church in Altona.
Clark Main's boyhood and youth were spent in a way common to the
youth born and reared on the farms in the Mississippi valley. After
laying aside his text-books at an early age, he took up farming upon
his father's farm, and there gained his first experience in the
occupation he was to follow throughout his active career. After his
father's death he took full charge of the homestead, and showed his
early training had given him the ability to execute the work which
was entrusted to him. In addition to general farming he also engaged
in stock-raising.
Mr. Main was married on the 18th of January, 1905, to Kate Rhodes,
whose birth occurred February 12, 1883, and who is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. E.
B. Rhodes. Her grandparents were Edwin R. and Sarah
(Bartlett) Rhodes. E. B. Rhodes is a resident of Mason City. Iowa,
and was married to Alary L. Epperson, whose death occurred in 1884,
when she was twenty-one years of age. She was the daughter of
William D. and Alary Jane (Westfall) Epperson, originally of Madison
county, Kentucky, but who were residents of Knox county after 1836.
In politics Air. Alain gives his support to the republican party,
but has never sought office as a reward for party fealty. In
religious faith he is a member of the Presbyterian church of Altona,
and lives in accordance with its teachings. By his devotion to his
farm and by his life, which has been spent in accordance with the
highest ideals of citizenship, he has won for himself the respect
and esteem of all.
JOHN JUNK.
John Junk, an octogenarian living in peaceful retirement in
Henderson township, Knox county, was formerly closely associated
with the agricultural interests of this locality. Born in Fayette
county, Pennsylvania, Alay 6. 1827, he was a son of James and
Elizabeth (Lincoln) Junk. On his paternal side he was of German
descent, his grandfather having been born in Germany and
638 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
settled in New Jersey on coming to this country, in the middle of
the eighteenth century. From there he went to Pennsylvania, in 1765,
where he engaged in farming on a large scale, owning over two
hundred acres of land. There his son James, the father of the
subject of this sketch, was born. On coming of age James Junk
engaged in agriculture, the calling which he followed throughout his
life. His death occurred in 1877. Mrs. Junk, the mother of John, was
a relative of Abraham Lincoln.
In the days when John Junk was a boy, the advantages of schooling
were meager indeed, he was, however, given the best education that
the limited opportunities of his remote rural locality afforded,
which was at that time a subscription or private school presided
over by a curiously interesting Irish schoolmaster. When grown to
manhood John Junk learned the carpenter and millwright trades. He
came west and settled in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1855. There he was
about to enter upon a business career with G. W. Brown, who had a
corn-planter factory, but he had no sooner begun his new work than
he was given a contract from ex-Governor McMurtry to work on the new
buildings which he was erecting on his farm. Next he built a
schoolhouse and thereafter other contracts followed, so that he
never lacked employment in carpentering. He worked as an artisan
three or four years when his wife, disliking his long absences from
home since his work often took him to distant parts of the county,
prevailed upon him to settle on a farm and cultivate the soil.
Accordingly he commenced farming. In 1865, he bought the farm in
Henderson township which he still owns but which his son is managing
for him. It is a very fine tract of land comprising four hundred and
thirty acres. His son is continuing the work in which he was so
successful, that is, general farming and stock-raising. He also made
a specialty of breeding shorthorn cattle, for which he won a
considerable reputation.
On November 28, 1855, John Junk was united in marriage to Miss
Elizabeth Robertson, a daughter of Alexander and Narcissa (Ferguson)
Robertson, pioneers of Knox county, who settled here in 1828 when
her father purchased a farm. Mr. and Mrs. John Junk are the parents
of one child, Alexander, who lives at home and operates his father's
farm. Mr. Junk gives his political sympathies to the democratic
party. He has at different times served as supervisor, assessor,
road commissioner and as town clerk. Now, within sight of the fields
that have grown very dear to him through the passing years, Mr. Junk
is living in comfort, looking back upon his life with the calm
serenity of one who has performed his duty well.
DAVID WOOLSEY.
Like a patriarch of old, David Woolsey, who is in his eighty-fourth
year, presides at the head of a family of eight children and
thirty-three grandchildren, but unlike his forefathers of Biblical
days he governs them only in spirit and by the noble example of his
own life. David Woolsey's residence in Knox county covers a period
of sixty-three years, and for the past forty-six years he has lived
on his present farm of three hundred acres on section 13 in Haw
Creek
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 641
township. His grandfather, William Woolsey, remained a resident of
his native state, New York, until middle life, when he removed his
family to Sandusky, Plains, Ohio, where he lived until his death at
the age of about eighty years, his wife departing this life at an
earlier date. His father, Hezekiah Woolsey, was born and brought up
in Ulster county, New York, and was there married to Miss Hannah
Cutler, likewise a native of Ulster county, where her father, David
Cutler, was born. During Mr. and Mrs. Hezekiah Woolsey's residence
in Ulster county, New York, two children came to gladden their home,
a son named William, who died in Pennsylvania at the age of eight
years, and David Woolsey, born January 3, 18.28. The family then
removed to Pennsylvania, following Mrs. Woolsey's father thither,
and lived there a year during which time their daughter Elizabeth
was born. She is the wife of Daniel McHenry of the state of
Washington and has five children. At the end of their year's
residence in Pennsylvania the family left that state for Sandusky
Plains, Ohio, where the parents remained until their death. There
the following children were born: Sarah Jane, deceased, the wife of
Stephen Longnell; Martha, deceased, the wife of William Talent;
Mary, deceased ; Walter, deceased, a former resident of Knox county,
married to a Miss Leighbarger; Isaac, deceased, also a former
resident of Knox county, living at Gilson; Silas residing in the
state of Washington; and two children, a girl and a boy, who died in
infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Hezekiah Woolsey were members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, the former dying in Ohio at the age of sixty years
and the latter in Knox county, Illinois, at the age of fifty-six
years.
David Woolsey obtained his education in Ohio and when twenty years
of age came to Knox county, Illinois, having a capital of ninety
dollars on which to make his start in life. After living here five
years he returned to Ohio with a team, in order to bring his widowed
mother to live with him in Knox county. Soon after this he was
married and settled on a farm which he rented in Maquon township,
continuing in the cultivation of this land and in performing job
contracts for his neighbors for ten years, removing thereafter to a
farm which he rented in Haw Creek township. In the spring of 1865 he
bought with the money he had laboriously saved up to this time the
farm on which he now lives retired, and which he bought of Jacob
Wolf. He moved onto the new place on April 5th, at which time the
house was not yet completed nor a single fence was up. Undaunted in
his determination not to lose the opportunity of the first year's
harvest he set about the task of doing his spring sowing while
attempting to finish his home, to build the necessary farm buildings
and to put up the fences. He was successful in this ambitious
undertaking and when the summer crops were gathered, was richly
rewarded with an abundant yield, being obliged to hire help for only
five days during that time. He devoted himself to general
cultivation of the soil and to stock-raising for shipment and from
time to time added to his holdings by further purchases until he
became the owner of more than a section of land. This he has since
largely divided among his children keeping the title to three
hundred acres of land and residing there while it is being operated
by several of his sons. He was likewise a stockholder in the Maquon
National Bank but has transferred his bank stock to his wife, who is
now the owner of it.
642
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Mr. David Woolsey was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Frye, a
native of Ohio, who died in Maquon township at the age of
thirty-five years. To this marriage were born three children, Leta,
William and one who died in infancy.
Mr. Woolsey was again married,. in 1856, his second union being with
Miss Mildred Logan, a native of Virginia and a daughter of Alexander
Logan. Of this union there were born ten children, five of whom are
living. They are: Alva, residing in Haw Creek township, who is
married to Flora Hall and has four children, Myrtle, Mabel, and
twins, Carter and Chester; Lenora, the widow of William Chase, who
resides in Flaw Creek township and has four living children, Nina,
Doris, Wayne and Paul; Julia, the wife of Milton Sherman, residing
in Oklahoma, who has six children, Harold, Everett, Clyde, Mildred,
Carl and Mabel; Charles, operating his father's farm, who is married
to Bell Phillips and has three children, Lloyd, Percy and Opal; and
Clyde, sharing the management of the homestead farm with his brother
Charles, who is married to Lulu Phillips and has two children, Mabel
and Ethel. The deceased children are: Alonzo, who died when two
years of age; Arzella, who passed away in January, 1912, and was the
wife of Frank Nelson, residing in Elba township, leaving five
children, Floyd, Blanche, Warren, Russell and Selma; Louisa, who
died at the age of seven months ; William, who was married to Nora
Taylor, and had two sons, Harley and Taylor; and Deborah, who died
at the age of twenty years.
Mr. and Mrs. David Woolsey belong to the United Brethren church.
Fraternally Mr. Woolsey is connected with the Odd Fellows, of
Maquon. Since the origin of the republican party he has been one of
their loyal followers, supporting their men and measures and the
principles for which they stand, but he has always declined the
honor of public office, knowing that his time belonged to his family
and to the perplexing problems involved in the management of a large
estate. This single-minded devotion to his duties and to the goal
which he set himself at the outset of his career has been richly
rewarded, so that he is now numbered among the substantial men of
Knox county who have built their fortune by arduous labor, keen
judgment and careful management.
Charles E. WEECH.
Charles E. Weech, who is a farmer residing in Walnut Grove township,
was born in Knox county, on the 13th of June, 1869. He is a son of
Joseph S. and Nancy E. (Cox) Weech, the former a native of
Somersetshire, England, and the latter of Knoxville, Illinois. The
father was a son of Joseph and Martha (White) Weech, the former of
whom died in 1871, at the age of fifty-seven years. Joseph Weech
left England with his wife and ten children, in 1859, and at once
settled in Oneida, Illinois. Later he purchased the present Weech
homestead and until the end of his active career engaged in farming.
Mrs. Weech's parents were also natives of England; her death
occurred in 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years. The
great-grandfather of our subject, Stephen Weech, was also an
agriculturist and his death occurred in 1846, at the age of
eighty-five years, his wife passing away at the age of eighty-seven.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
643
Joseph S. Weech, the father of our subject, was born January 16,
1842, and came with his parents to the new world in 1859. Here he
engaged in farming at home until he was twenty-four years of age but
after his marriage, at that time, he purchased a small farm of forty
acres in Walnut Grove township, which he cultivated for three years
before disposing of it and purchasing the property upon which the
homestead now stands. At this time the place comprised eighty acres
and was the property of a brother before Joseph S. Weech acquired
title thereto. Since 1901 he has been living retired. He was married
to Nancy E. Cox, whose birth occurred in Knoxville and who is
sixty-seven years of age. Her parents, David and Hannah (Wooley)
Cox, are among the oldest settlers of the county. To Air. and Mrs.
Joseph S. Weech ten children were born: Charles, the subject of this
sketch; Rosa, residing at home; Alice, the wife of E. Fudge ; Ida
May, who is married to Amos Beard, of Jefferson county, Illinois;
Joseph, who is wedded to Emma Fuchs and is residing in Walnut Grove
township; Martha, who is living at home; Nora, who is the wife of
Arthur Reece, of Walnut Grove township; Arthur, who married Mabel
White and is a resident of Idaho; Winnie, who is the wife of Enos
Devore, and is residing in Cass county, Iowa; and Etta, living at
home. Joseph S. Weech is a member of the Methodist church of Oneida,
which he has supported by his liberal donations both at the time of
the erection of its new building and annually toward its current
expenses and he has held the office of township road commissioner
for several terms.
As a boy Charles E. Weech left school when but twelve years of age
and began working on his father's farm, on which he continued until
he was twenty-one years of age, after which he farmed on the Joseph
Weech property for six years and then, in 1895, removed to his
present home, where he has engaged in general farming and
stock-raising ever since. His success in this undertaking is due to
the untiring energy and persistent labor which he has displayed in
cultivating the property. His farm comprises eighty acres in Knox
county, and he also owns two hundred and forty acres in Canada.
On the 12th of December, 1889, Charles E. Weech was married to Miss
Anna May Davey, a daughter of Edwin Procter and Emily H. (Wagner)
Davey, the former a native of Somerset, Somersetshire, England, born
March 8, 1828, and the latter of Norwich, New York state. Mrs.
Charles E. Weech was born on the 30th of September, 1870, in Walnut
Grove township. Her father came to America as a young man and
located at once in Knox county, where he devoted his life to
agricultural pursuits, dying at Oneida when seventy years of age.
Mrs. Davey, whose birth occurred June 11, 1844, a daughter of J. H.
and Amanda (Walworth) Wagner, the family being of German descent,
passed away August 22, 1899, when fifty-five years of age. Her
great-grandfather, Wagner, served in the Mexican war and Thomas
Davey, her grandfather on the paternal side, was a native of
England, as was his father, Samuel Davey. Mrs. Charles E. Weech was
one of four children, the others being: Nellie, the wife of J.
Sheffield, of Campbell, Nebraska; Emma, who is married to George
Sloan, a resident of North Dakota; and George Thomas, of Yates City.
To Mr. and Mrs. Weech seven children have been born: Ethel, who died
at the age of five years ; Eva Adelia, who is nineteen years of age
and is teaching school; and Florence, Charles Edward, Hazel Leonora,
Clarence Davey
and Fern Martha, who are seventeen, fifteen, twelve, eight and six
years of age, respectively, and are all residing at home.
644
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Mr. Weech gives his political support to the republican party and
has served as school director for twenty-two years. He holds
membership in the Modern Woodmen of America of Oneida. He is a
lifelong resident of Knox county and because of his success in his
agricultural pursuits he has become one of its well known and much
respected citizens.
WILLIAM MAIN.
William Main, who is now living retired in Altona, has been closely
identified with the agricultural development of Knox county. He is
one of the sturdy and thrifty natives of Scotland whose natural
characteristics so well fitted them to achieve successful careers in
the west, and although his life record is not marked by exciting
events, there is in his history much that is worthy of contemplation
and of emulation, for he has ever been loyal to duty, discharging
faithfully the tasks that come daily to his hand. He was born May
12, 1844, in Blackhill on the banks of the Ayr river in Ayrshire,
Scotland, and is the son of Peter and Jane (Ferguson) Main and
grandson of Peter and Elizabeth (McKuan) Main, agriculturists who
originally come from the Scotch Highlands. The father, whose birth
occurred in Galloway, Scotland, in 1809, came to the United States
in 1855, going directly to Chicago, where occurred the death of one
of his daughters who had contracted cholera. After a brief stay in
that city he removed to Millers Station and subsequently settled in
Oneida. where he worked by the month until 1857. In that year he
removed to Minnesota, but in the fall of 1857 returned to Oneida,
and for the next eight years was engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Copley township. In this he met with a good measure of success but
retired to the home of his son, where on May 1, 1878, his death
occurred. His wife died in Scotland in 1848 at the age of
twenty-eight years. Of his family of three children William Main,
the subject of this sketch, is the only surviving member. He was a
member of the Presbyterian church, and lived in accordance with its
teachings.
William Main spent his early years attending the common schools
until he reached the age of twelve years. At that time he began
active labor and did a man's work on a farm, hiring out for board
and clothes. Subsequently, as he became more proficient, he earned
ten dollars a month, and after working for two years, he enlisted in
Ontario township, in 1862, at the age of eighteen years, in Company
I, One Hundred and Second Illinois Infantry, under the command of
Captain F. C. Smith. Mr. Main has a wonderful war record and served
in the Western army under Sherman and Gordon Granger for three
years, and later under Sherman in the Atlanta campaign. He
participated in the battles from Chattanooga to Atlanta but was
never wounded and, more remarkable yet, never attended sick call. He
accompanied Sherman on his march to the sea, in which the hardships
incident to fighting were even more bearable than those caused by
the swamps to be passed. On the 6th of March, 1865, he was mustered
out, marching through Washington in the grand review. He immediately returned home and hired out on a farm until, in partnership
with his brother, he rented land and began farming independently for
two years, at the end of which period they were able to purchase a
tract of their own. Since that time his life has been devoted to
agricultural pursuits until his retirement in 1909, when he removed
to Altona. After 1873 he purchased the farm which his son now
occupies, and devoted over thirty-five years to its cultivation. In
this undertaking he displayed many of the characteristics of the
Scotch,—thrift, perseverance and energy. He has always been
recognized as one of the leading business men of his community, and
his ability as such has been clearly seen in his service as director
of the Altona Bank.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 645
In 1873 Mr. Main was married to Anna Andrews, whose birth occurred
March 15, 1849, m Ayrshire, Scotland, and who was a daughter of Hugh
and Margaret (Wilson) Andrews. The former passed away in 1878 at the
age of sixty-one years, and the latter, who was the daughter of John
and Anna Wilson, died in 1892 at the age of seventy-five years. Mr.
Andrews came to Knox county in 1855 and^ resided on a farm which was
situated in Ontario and Walnut Grove townships during the remainder
of his life. Mrs. Main was one of five children born to her parents,
the others being: John Andrews, a stock buyer of Altona; Thomas
Andrews, an agriculturist; Grace, who is the wife of Thomas Hobbs, a
farmer; and Mary, who died in 1880 at the age of twenty-one years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Main three children have been born: Thomas P., who
is residing on the old homestead and is married to Patience Jarman
and has one child, Clara; May, who is the wife of J. E. Hubble of
Philadelphia, and has two children, Mary and John; and Jennie S.,
who became the wife of A. Johnson of Galesburg and has three
children, Erwin, Helen and Robert.
Mr. Main has always enjoyed excellent health and is a remarkably
young-looking man. He gives his political support to the republican
party. He has served as road commissioner for many years and has
also been an active member of the school board. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Main hold membership in the Presbyterian church and she is active in
the Ladies' Social Union and the Missionary Society of that church
and also holds membership in the county kindergarten board.
Throughout their community Mr. and Mrs. Main are held in high esteem
and regard by all who know them and are numbered among Altona's most
representative and w7orthy citizens.
JOHN EMERY McMASTER.
John Emery McMaster, who owns and operates a farm in Walnut Grove
township, Knox county, was born in that township on the 6th of
August, 1873, his parents being Mr. and Mrs. John McMaster of
Altona, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this volume..
Janine and Wini stay off my
pages & do not copy & paste or whatever you do and reformat to make
it yours when it's mine first do your own work be honest for a
change!!! I thank you, my ancestors thank you and you soon thank
yourselves.
John E. McMaster spent his early days at home attending school and
assisting his father on the farm, but in 1898 he started upon his
independent career and on September 8 of that year was engaged as
fireman by the Chicago & North Western Railway and subsequently in
1903 passed the examinations qualifying him to act as engineer on
that railroad, he being one of the five that passed their tests
646 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
with credits of one hundred per cent, chosen out of two hundred and
fifty applicants. During the next three years he was thus employed
but at the end of that time he entered upon agricultural pursuits
and for the past five years has been engaged in farming and
stock-raising, meeting with the success which his persistency,
industry and progressiveness merit.
On April 20, 1903, Mr. McMaster was married to Miss Minerva Locke,
whose birth occurred August 17, 1879, in Jewell county, Kansas, and
who is a daughter of Clinton and Nettie (Clark) Locke, the former a
native of Davis county, Iowa, where he was born in 1851. He was a
son of John and Mary (Miller) Locke, the former coming to America
when he was twelve years of age and settling near Nashville,
Tennessee. Later he removed to North Carolina and his death occurred
when he was ninety years of age. Mrs. Locke died in 1898, at the age
of eighty-four years. Mrs. Clinton Locke was born March 6, 1855, m
Sacramento, California, her parents being Frank and Catherine
(Vanderford) Clark, the former having been engaged in the mercantile
business. The Clark family settled in California in 1852 but later
removed to Iowa, where the father died January 17, 1866, at the age
of forty-four years, the mother still residing in Swan, Marion
county. When Mr. Clark crossed the plains from Red Rock, Iowa, he
was one of a family of fifteen, who were making the journey. It took
them five months to reach the coast and the entire trip was fraught
with many dangers, the Indians met en route being particularly
hostile. To Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Locke four children were born,
namely: Floyd, a resident of Clinton, Iowa; John, who is living in
Reno, Nevada; Mrs. Minerva McMaster; and Rea, of Rock Island. After
finishing school Mrs. McMaster was employed in a clerical position
until her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. McMaster two children have been
born: Lola Mae, who is seven years of age; and Bequeath, who is five
years of age.
In politics Mr. McMaster is a republican although he has never
sought or desired the honors or emoluments of office. He holds
membership in Lodge No. 330, A. F. & A. M., of Altona, Illinois, and
both he and his wife belong to the Baptist church of Boone, Iowa.
Mr. McMaster has always been a resident of the county and has given
practically his whole attention to farming, today being recognized
as one of Walnut Grove township's progressive and able
agriculturists.
ELIAS C. CALL.
Elias C. Call, who is now living retired in Altona, Knox county, was
born in Rutland county, Vermont, on the 22d of June, 1835, his
parents being Osman and Olive (Clark) Call. His grandfather, Isaiah
Call, was the first member of the family to leave his native state
and locate in this county. He came here at the time the Mormons had
extensive settlements in this locality. After settling in Walnut
Grove township he devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits
and the brickmaking trade, he being the first brickmaker in this
county. Osman Call was born at Woodstock, Vermont, in 1808, and
followed the brickmaker's trade until he removed to Illinois in
January, 1855, and settled in Knox county.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 647
Later in life he became an authority on arithmetic and was the
author of a well known text-book on that subject. Mrs. Call was a
daughter of J. Clark, a native of England, and her death occurred in
Altona in 1895, at the age of eighty-five years and six months. Of
this union three children survive: Elias, the subject of this
review; Roenna Seymore, who is residing in Indianapolis, Indiana;
and Loyal, who is living in California and who served in the Civil
war..
Janine and Wini stay off my
pages & do not copy & paste or whatever you do and reformat to make
it yours when it's mine first do your own work be honest for a
change!!! I thank you, my ancestors thank you and you soon thank
yourselves.
Elias C. Call received his early education in the common schools,
after which he accepted employment by the month on various farms and
subsequently worked in a sawmill in New York state previous to
coming to Altona in 1854. On the 22d of April, 1861, he enlisted for
service in the Civil war, joining Company F of the Twenty-second New
York Infantry under Colonel Phelps, serving in the Army of the
Potomac near Washington. Because of severe illness contracted during
the service he was mustered out in 1863, the same year in which his
brother, who served in the Chicago Battery of Artillery, was made a
prisoner at Andersonville. After Elias Call's honorable discharge he
went to New York state and was again employed for a short time in a
sawmill, but in 1864 he removed to Altona, making the trip by way of
Canada. From that time he engaged in agricultural pursuits and,
although he is now living retired, he still manifests an active
interest in the farming problems of the county. In the cultivation
of his property he met with the success which is usually gained in
this rich agricultural district by the farmer who shows persistent
and unremitting energy and who is willing to engage in constant
labor.
Mr. Call has been twice married. His first union was to Miss Olive
Haines, and to them two sons were born: William H., who is a teacher
in Utah; and Charles W., who is residing in Hubert, Crow Wing
county, Minnesota. . Mr. Call's second union was to Mrs. Mary Huntly
White, who was the widow of Peter White and whose birth occurred in
1836 in McConnellsville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Call is the mother of
two children by her first husband, Joseph Stillwagon, namely, Alice
Stillwagon and Elizabeth Stillwagon. Of her union to Peter White
there were born eight children, Sadie, George, Levi, Henry, Ida,
Mary, Delia and David.
Without desire for office as a reward for party fealty Mr. Call
gives his unfaltering allegiance to the democratic party. He was a
representative farmer and by his application and sturdy character
has gained many friends, and he and his wife are held in high regard
by all who claim the honor of their acquaintance.
HON. EDWARD J. KING.
In legislative service, to which he has three times been called by
popular suffrage, and in the practice of law Hon. Edward J. King has
given evidence of strong mentality, keen insight, a public spirit
and devotion to duty that rank him with the representative and
valued citizens of Galesburg. He was born in Springfield,
Massachusetts, July 1, 1867, and in both the paternal and maternal
lines is a representative of old New England families. The line of
descent in the King family can be traced back in this country to
about 1660, when the American
648 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
progenitor settled in Suffield, Connecticut. Captain Thaddeus King,
the great-great-grandfather, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
The great-grandfather was John King, also a native and resident of
Connecticut. The grandparents of our subject, Albert and Louise
(Leavitt) King, were natives of Connecticut, where the former
followed the occupation of farming to the age of sixty-five years,
when his life's labors were ended in death. His wife long survived
him and reached the remarkable old age of ninety years. They were
the parents of two sons and a daughter: John A.; Francis, who died
at Suffield, Connecticut; and Mrs. Julia Randall.
John A. King, the father of Edward J. King, was born in Connecticut,
spending his youthful days in Suffield, whence in early manhood he
removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he carried on business
as a contractor and builder. In that state he wedded Alice L.
Houghton, a native of Massachusetts, and a daughter of Albert and
Louise (Ralph) Houghton. Her father was born in Connecticut and was
an engineer on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. His wife
was a descendant of a British officer. Mr. and Mrs. Hough-ton made
their home in Springfield, Massachusetts, for many years but
afterward went to Windsor, Connecticut. Mrs. Houghton is still
living in Suffield, Connecticut, at the unusual old age of ninety
years. They were the parents of the following children; Edward, who
died at Sacramento, California, about 1906; Alice L., the wife of
John A. King; Elizabeth, who married Charles Mead, of Springfield ;
Mrs. George Duncan, afterwards intermarried with Frank Fisher, a
widow; Annie, the wife of Walter Fogg, of Springfield,
Massachusetts; Emma, the wife of Frank Leonard; and Martha, the wife
of George Wallace, of Suffield, Connecticut.
Mr. and Mrs. John A. King began their domestic life in Springfield,
Massachusetts, and about 1870 removed to Hamburg, Iowa, whence in
1877 after residing in various places, the father came to Galesburg,
where for a number of years he engaged in the livery business.
During the past ten years, however, he has conducted a grain
business in Chicago. lie was a soldier of the Civil war, serving as
a private in Company A, of the Forty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry. His political allegiance has always been given to the
republican party and his membership relations are with the Odd
Fellows society. His wife, who was a member of the Baptist church,
died in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the opening decade of the
twentieth century at the age of fifty-seven years. They had but two
children and the daughter, Louise, died at the age of seventeen
years. Mrs. Alice L. King, the mother of our subject, married a
second time, becoming Mrs. Lombard, of Springfield, Massachusetts,
and there were children of that union.
Edward J. King spent his early boyhood in Springfield,
Massachusetts, and in Windsor and Suffield, Connecticut, on New
England farms and in attending the common schools there. He has been
a resident of Illinois since 1880, at which time he took up his
abode in Galesburg and was a pupil in the public schools until
graduated from the high school in 1886. Later he entered Knox
College and is numbered among its alumni of 1891. He taught for one
year before entering college and after the completion of his course
at Knox took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in
1893, since which time he has followed his profession in Galesburg,
having here an extensive practice that connects him
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 649
with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of the
district. He always prepares his cases with great thoroughness and
care and his careful analysis enables him to present his points in
logical form and to draw there from correct conclusions.
On the 1st of January, 1895, ^r- King was married to Miss May B.
Roberts, a daughter of Rev. H. P. and Anna (Blanchard) Roberts. Mrs.
King was born in Cairo, Illinois, where her father, a Congregational
minister, was preaching. He served throughout the Civil war as a
lieutenant and chaplain and died while on a visit in Colorado in
1887. He was, however, a resident of Galesburg at the time. His wife
survived until September, 1896, and passed away at the age of
sixty-four years. They were the parents of but two children, the
elder daughter being Nellie A., who is now the widow of Fred S.
Rockwell and resides in Denver with her son, Robert B. Rockwell. The
younger daughter, May B., became the wife of Mr. King and they now
have one son, Ivan R. King. The mother is a member of the Central
Congregational church. Mr. King is well known in fraternal circles
of this city, belonging to Alpha Lodge, No. 155, A. F. & A. M.; to
the Odd Fellows society, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. Since
age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has been a stalwart
advocate of the republican party and is a recognized leader in its
ranks, thoroughly conversant with the vital questions and issues of
the day and working along practical lines to secure the adoption of
its principles. In 1893 he was elected city attorney and served for
one term. In 1907 he was again called to office in his election to
the house of representatives of the Forty-fifth Illinois general
assembly and endorsement of his first term came to him in his
reelection to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh general assemblies
as a member of the house. Mr. King was the republican caucus nominee
for speaker of the house of the Forty-sixth general assembly being
defeated by Edward D. Shurtleft* through a combination of democrats
and republicans, who afterward elected William Lorimer United States
senator. As a member of the state legislature he has carefully
considered questions which have come up for action and neither fear
nor favor can swerve him in his support of a cause which he believes
to be just and right. lie also holds to a high standard of
professional ethics, ever treats the court with that courtesy which
is its due and never indulges in malicious criticism because it
arrives at a conclusion in the decision of a case different from
that which he hoped to hear. lie gives to his clients the service of
well developed talent, unwearied industry and wide learning, but he
never forgets that there are certain things due to the court, to his
own self-respect and above all to justice and the righteous
administration of the law which neither the zeal of an advocate nor
the pleasure of success permits him to disregard.
JOHN S. MATHEWS.
John S. Mathews is the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and
forty acres, to the further development and improvement of which he
devotes his attention in connection with stock-raising, and is
meeting with excellent success in both. He was born on his present
homestead located on section 22, Salem township, on January 6, 1859,
a son °f William and Mary Jane (Montgomery)
650 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Mathews, the father a native of Ireland and the mother of
Pennsylvania. William Mathews emigrated from the Emerald isle to
America in his early manhood, locating in Knox county, where he
acquired one hundred and sixty acres of land. Being both ambitious
and diligent he intelligently applied his energies to the
cultivation of his land, his efforts meeting with such lucrative
returns that he was later able to extend his holdings until he had
acquired the title to three hundred and forty acres of land, now the
homestead of his son John S.. To Mr. and Mrs. William Mathews there
were born seven children, one of whom died at the age of four
months. The others are as follows: Sarah N., the wife of Joseph W.
Maxwell, of Yates City; John S., our subject; William C, who is
living north of Douglas; Minerva Jane, the wife of Thomas Andrews,
also residing north of Douglas; Robert T. a minister in the
Presbyterian church, located at Louisville, Kentucky; and Clara B.,
now Mrs. Nixon of Yates City. The parents are now both deceased, the
father having passed away at the age of seventy-seven and the mother
at eighty-one, and are buried at Yates City. They were charter
members of the Presbyterian church of that city and always took an
earnest and helpful interest in all religious work, having given
much assistance in building the church at Farmington. Mr. Mathews
was a republican in politics and for many years held the office of
school director in Salem township. He engaged in general farming and
stock-raising during the entire period of his active career and met
with success, being numbered among the prosperous agriculturists of
the county. A man of high principles, his upright conduct and
unquestionable integrity won him the esteem of all with whom he had
transactions.
Together with his brothers and sisters John S. Mathews attended the
common schools of Knox county in the acquirement of an education.
They all terminated their student days with the completion of the
high school with the exception of the brother Robert T., who was
graduated from Knox College and afterwards attended the McCormick
Theological Seminary. When his school days were ended John S.
Mathews gave his undivided attention to the cultivation of the
fields and care for the stock on the homestead, and many
improvements upon the place were instituted by him. After his
marriage Mr. Mathews brought his bride to the home of his childhood
and here they have spent the entire period of their domestic life.
Until the last two years he has operated his entire holdings, but he
is now renting forty acres. Beside the cultivation of his fields he
raises high-grade cattle, hogs and horses, making a specialty of
Hereford cattle which are nearly all on the Wisconsin register, and
Percheron horses.
In 1890 Mr. Mathews was married to Miss Clara Mabel Emery, born
October 22, 1869, was is a native of Lynn township, Knox county, and
a daughter of David and Amelia (Brooks) Emery. Of the marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. Mathews there have been born four children: David W.,
Helen B., Amber G. and Bernard Emery.
The family are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr.
Mathews has been a member of the board of trustees for eighteen
years and is also an elder. He is also a director of the Farmers
Telephone Company, and was formerly president, and is a member and
secretary of the Percheron Horse Company. His political affiliations
are with the republican party and he has been called upon to serve
for four years as township assessor, while he has satisfactorily filled the position of school director for twenty-one
years, a record which bespeaks the confidence of his fellow
citizens. His entire life has been spent in the immediate vicinity
of his present homestead, which is located on sections 21 and 22 of
Salem township, and among his closest friends he numbers the
comrades of his boyhood, this in itself being a tribute to his
character.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 651-
GEORGE W. DAVIDSON.
George W. Davidson formerly associated with the agricultural
interests of Knox county is now living retired in the village of
Henderson. His father, Robert Davidson, born in Ireland in 1817, was
the son of Hans and Jane Davidson of Ireland, who came to this
country in November, 1817, bringing with them their son Robert who
was then a babe six months old. They settled in Ohio, where they
lived for many years. When Robert was of age he went to Maryland and
there met Julia Ann Elishier whom he made his wife. At this time the
great influx of settlers was beginning to invade Illinois, chiefly
attracted thither by the promising agricultural prospects. Robert
Davidson, too, followed the throng and, accompanied by his bride,
settled near Springfield. There they lived ' for a little time
during which period George W. Davidson, their first child, was born
December 28, 1846. Their next home was Peoria, Illinois, where they
remained until 1851, when they took up their residence in Galesburg.
' Mr. Davidson opened a plow shop in Henderson, and for four or five
years made plows, which he sold in distant as well as neighboring
localities, often hauling his iron and plows across the whole state
to Iowa and other states. In 1856 he commenced farming and built a
sawmill and in i860 bought a farm, to which he removed his family.
Here he devoted himself to agriculture, operating three hundred and
fifteen acres of land. He was a man of marvelous physique and great
endurance, only once in his life being so ill, as to necessitate a
doctor's call. He continued in his farm work up to the time he was
eighty-three years old and passed away three years later in 1903.
His wife died in 1891, at the age of sixty-five years. She belonged
to the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of two
other children, daughters, one of whom died in 1855. The other
daughter is Mrs. Anthony Smith, of Henderson. Mr. Robert Davidson
was a democrat in politics and for many years served his county in
the capacity of road commissioner. He was not a member of any church
but gave liberally to the advancement of any worthy religious cause.
George W. Davidson had a common-school education and when old enough
engaged in agriculture. Ill health, however, followed him for many
years. During the year 1873 he resided in Galesburg and at the end
of this time returned to his farm, where he stayed until 1880, when
he again resided in Galesburg for a brief period, only to return to
the farm and once more pursue his agricultural labors. He was
engaged in general farming, raised hogs and stock and had some
reputation for breeding blooded Norman and trotting horses. He gave
up farming permanently October 20, 1907, when he retired to
Henderson, where he is now living.
652 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
The marriage of Mr. Davidson and Miss Sarepta J. Baer was celebrated
October 7, 1869. She was a daughter of Rev. D. E. and Susan (Ryan)
Baer, who came originally from Germany but lived most of their lives
in Spring Run, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Baer was a
minister in the United Brethren church. Sarepta (Baer) Davidson's
grandfather and two of her brothers were also preachers of the same
faith.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Davidson. Minnie, the wife
of William Ward, a real-estate agent in Galesburg, is the mother of
two children, Geneva and Lucile. Robert, is a merchant in Henderson.
David Earl, a wholesale coal dealer in Galesburg, by his first wife,
Mamie McDermott, has one child, Leonora. His second wife was
formerly Miss Lucile McCune.
Mr. and Mrs. George W. Davidson are ardent workers in the United
Brethren and Methodist churches in Henderson. They have a large
circle of friends, who esteem them highly for their progressive
interest in every measure contributing to the moral and spiritual
welfare of the community.
FRANK STEWART STEPHENSON.
Frank Stewart Stephenson, who owns and operates a farm in Walnut
Grove township, was born July 21, 1866, in Oneida, Illinois, his
parents being George L. and Grace (Stewart) Stephenson of Oneida,
where the former is a prominent representative of mercantile
interests.
In the public schools of Oneida Frank S. Stephenson acquired his
education. After he had finished his school course he accepted a
clerical position in his father's store at Oneida, and remained
there until 1903, when he removed to the farm upon which he has
since resided. His land is highly developed and well equipped with
buildings and machinery, adequate for carrying on its cultivation
according to the most advanced and most profitable methods. In
addition to general farming he is also extensively engaged in
stock-raising.
It was while he was residing in Oneida that Frank Stephenson was
married on the 30th of September, 1891, to Miss Cummings, whose
birth occurred October 21, 1869, on the Cummings homestead, her
parents being Leonard B. and Celinda (Bulkeley) Cummings. The father
was born in Union, Maine, near the Atlantic seacoast, June 28, 1823,
his parents being Suel and Sophia (Barnard) Cummings, the former
also a native of Maine, where he engaged in farming, having passed
away in 1866 at the age of seventy-seven years, the latter having
died in 1890 at the age of ninety-two years. Leonard Cummings, their
son, left school at an early age so as to give his time and
attention to his father's farm. Later he was employed at logging in
a lumber camp for two winters, and subsequently, at the age of
twenty-three years, he and his brother were employed in a trunk
factory in Boston, but this work was discontinued when he enlisted
in the Mexican war. His service covered a period of eighteen months,
and after being mustered out he joined the great army of gold
seekers going to California in 1849. He made the trip by water,
sailing in a sloop around Cape Horn. For three years he remained in
the mining district and then returned home, coming to Galesburg in
1853. Subsequently he purchased the farm which has since been
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 653
the Cummings homestead. Mrs. Cummings was born on the 22d of August,
1838, in Lyme, Connecticut, and was the daughter of A. W. and
Margaret Ann (Covenhoven) Bulkeley, the former having been born
October 18, 1805, in Colchester, Connecticut, and the latter,
September 28, 1805, in New York city. Mr. Bulkeley followed the
carpenter, contractor and cabinet-maker's trade throughout his life.
He removed to Fulton county in 1839, and in 1851 came to Copley
township, Knox county, where his death occurred in 1879, his wife
dying in 1886. Mrs. Bulkeley was the daughter of James and Elizabeth
(Demorist) Covenhoven, who were of Dutch ancestry, but the family
had long resided in. this country, James Covenhoven having been a
soldier in the Revolutionary war, as were many other members of the
family. Mr. L. B. Cummings was a member of the Masons belonging to
the A. F. & A. M. lodge, of Altona, Illinois, and although he was
never active in politics he was wide awake to the issues of the day,
and used what influence he could to promote measures which would
tend to public improvement. Mr. and Mrs. Stephenson have become the
parents of five children: Maude Aurelia, whose birth occurred July
28, 1892, and who is at present a student at the Illinois Woman's
College at Jacksonville; Frank Stuart, Jr., whose birth occurred,
May 25, 1895, and who is a student in the Oneida high school; George
Cummings, born June 4, 1898, and attending school at present; Ruth
Celinda, whose birth occurred August 29, 1899; and Robert Bulkeley,
whose birth occurred December 11, 1901.
Mr. Stephenson is not interested in politics, but because of his
interest in the moral condition and the development of the community
he has served as a member of the school board of Oneida for five
years. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of
America, of Oneida, Illinois, and lodge No. 576 of the Knights of
Pythias of Oneida, an organization of which he is a charter member,
and of which he is now chancellor commander.
A. C. WILLIAMS.
A. C. Williams resides on section 4 of Victoria township, where he
and his brother Walter engage in general farming and stock-raising
on a farm of one hundred and fifty-four and three-fourths acres,
that was formerly the property of their father. He was born in
England on the 12th of May, 1850, and is a son of Thomas and Emma
Williams, who emigrated to the United States with their family in
1852. Upon their arrival in this country they came directly to Knox
county, where the father acquired the farm now owned by his sons.
This was partially improved but Mr. Williams made many changes
during his life time, erecting some new buildings and bringing the
fields under higher cultivation. Here he engaged in general farming
and stock-raising until his death, which occurred at the age of
sixty-three years. He was survived for several years by the mother,
who had passed the sixty-seventh anniversary of her birth at the
time of her demise. They were both buried on the family lot in the
cemetery at Galva. His political allegiance Air. Williams accorded
the democratic party and in matters of faith he and his wife were
Episcopalians. He always took much interest in all public affairs,
particularly those of a governmental nature, but
654 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
never held any office save that of postmaster, the duties of which
he discharged at Milroy for twenty years. Six children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Williams, of whom our subject is the youngest. In order
of birth the others are as follows: George, who married Miss Azalea
Annis and resides at Galva; Mary Ann, the wife of John Freed, of
California; Thomas, who married Mary Starboard and is now living in
Missouri; Walter, who was born on the 27th of October, 1845; and
Emily, the wife of L. D. Blackwood, of Missouri.
As he was only a child of two years when he accompanied his parents
on their emigration to the United States, A. C. Williams was reared
and educated in Victoria township. Fie received his agricultural
training on the farm, where he now resides, under the capable
direction of his father, during his boyhood and youth. After the
latter's death the three sons, George, Walter and A. C, continued to
operate the farm but the two latter subsequently bought the interest
of their brother and have ever since continued alone. They have
directed their operations along the lines generally adopted by the
modern agriculturist and , their efforts have been correspondingly
rewarded. Their fields, are carefully tilled and devoted to those
cereals that are best adapted to the soil, and they annually reap
abundant harvests. During the period of their ownership they have
installed many modern conveniences and improvements and now have one
of the well equipped farms of the township. In 1905 they tore down
the old house that had done service for many years, and erected a
comfortable country-residence, that has greatly added to the general
appearance of the place. They keep the fences and buildings in good
repair, ample sheds are provided for their implements and machinery
and their stock is well housed, in short everything about their farm
evidences capable management and thrift.
Mr. Williams married Miss Sarah J. Sornborger and they have become
the parents of seven children, as follows: E. B.; Helen, who is
deceased; and Altha, Alfred, Bertha, Ruth and Bryan. He accords his
political support to the democratic party, as does also his brother,
but they have never aspired to the emoluments of office or public
honors. Mr. Williams has passed fifty-nine of the sixty-one years of
his life in Victoria township, where both he and his brother are
widely known and held in high esteem, by reason of their upright
principles and honorable business methods, manifested in all of
their transactions.
FRANK H. OLSON.
Frank H. Olson, who is proprietor of one of the leading mercantile
establishments of Altona and also the postmaster of the town, was
born in Ontario township, Knox county, November 25, 1873. His
father, Peter Olson, who died December 12, 1911, in Walnut Grove
township, reached the age of eighty-one years. He came as a young
man to America and took up farming, which he followed for some time
but later turned his attention to merchandising at Wood-hull,
Illinois. For a number of years he carried on business with a fair
measure of success and eventually sold out. He lived up to his death
retired near Altona, making his home upon a farm which he owned. His
only surviving brother is a resident of Seattle, Washington. Peter
Olson married Hannah Matson, who is
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 655
also deceased. They became the parents of seven children: Oscar, who
is now living in North Dakota; Edith, the wife of Charles Johnson,
of Ontario township ; Frank H, of this review; Emma, the wife of H.
L. Peterson, a merchant of Altona; Hilda, at home; Arthur, who is
following farming in Canada; and Harry, who has charge of the old
home farm.
After his school days were over, Frank H. Olson engaged in clerking
in Oneida, Illinois, for J. N. Conger, spending two years in that
way. Fie afterward entered the Burlington Business College, where he
studied for a term and then went to Chicago, where he was employed
by Marshall Field & Company. He afterward returned to Oneida, where
he embarked in business on his own account, becoming a partner with
Metcalf Brothers in the ownership and conduct of a grocery store.
After three years he sold out and removed to Altona, where he joined
C. J. McMaster in the conduct of a grocery and hardware business.
Three years later he became connected with C. E. Cowles in a
business that was carried on for two years and later he formed a
partnership with G. A. Johnson, which association was maintained for
three years. Mr. Olson then purchased his partner's interest in the
business and is now conducting a hardware and grocery store,
carrying a well selected line of goods in each department and
meeting with success in their sale. His business is well managed and
his familiarity with the trade enables him to buy judiciously and
sell at a fair profit, thus gaining the success which is the
legitimate reward of all honorable endeavor.
Mr. Olson was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Bristol, a daughter
of Frank Bristol, who was a carriage manufacturer of Oneida but is
now deceased, as is his wife, Mrs. Emma Bristol. They were early
residents of Oneida and were widely and favorably known there. Unto
Mr. and Mrs. Olson has been born a son, Frank Bristol, now fourteen
years of age. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church, in
the work of which they are actively and helpfully interested, Mr.
Olson serving as one of the church trustees. Fraternally he is
connected with the Woodmen of America as a member of Camp No. 3737.
His political support is given to the republican party and he held
the office of town clerk until appointed postmaster of Altona on the
16th of March, 1908. He is still filling that position and in office
has made as creditable a record as he has in business. He is justly
accounted one of the representative and public-spirited citizens of
Altona, accomplishing what he undertakes whether for his own benefit
or for the progress and welfare of the community at large.
JOHN H. SHEAR.
John H. Shear, who is residing on his farm in Walnut Grove township,
was born on the 22d of April, 1847, in Otsego county. New York, and
is a son of Henry D. Shear, whose father was the first of the family
to come to America from Holland. The father was born in New York
state, April 10, 1813, and after he finished his early schooling
learned the carpenter's trade. Subsequently he came with his brother
to Illinois, locating in 1857, near Galesburg, Knox county,
Illinois. After farming for ten years near Galesburg he purchased
the
656 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
farm upon which William McMaster is now residing. His death occurred
upon this place, September 22, 1901. On the 30th of November, 1834,
he was married to Eliza A. Multer, of Summit, New York. She was born
April 6, 1813, and her death occurred on the 10th of September,
1895. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are now
living: Joseph, of Buxton, North Dakota; Moses Aaron, of Clay
county, Nebraska; Julia, the wife of George McMasters, of Walnut
Grove township; and John H., who is the subject of this sketch. Two
sons, Cyrus M. and George A., died during the Civil war while
enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment of
Illinois Infantry.
John H. Shear began his active career at the early age of twelve
years, when he began assisting his father on the home farm. He
remained there until his marriage, when he removed to the farm upon
which he is now residing and engaged in general farming and
stock-raising. For a few years following 1876, he also conducted a
mercantile business in Altona, Illinois, but soon gave this up to
devote his whole attention to agricultural pursuits.
On the 5th of August, 1891, Mr. Shear was married to Miss Maud
White, whose birth occurred June 16, 1871, in Belmont county, Ohio.
She was a daughter of Philander and Hannah Jane (Roby) White, the
former having passed away on the 16th of March, 1900, and the latter
living in Altona. The parents came to Knox county in 1890 and
settled near Altona, where Mr. White was engaged in farming until
his retirement a short time previous to his death. Mrs. Shear's
grandfather, Thomas White, was one of the early settlers of Ohio. To
Mr. and Mrs. White six children were born, four of whom survive:
Edwin, of Newton, Kansas; Alice, who is the wife of O. McGrew, of
Altona; Sally, who is the widow of F. Lester and is residing with
her mother; and Mrs. Shear. Mr. and Mrs. Shear are the parents of
three children: Walter W., whose birth occurred July 31, 1892; John
Wesley, who was born on December 1, 1896; and Bertha, whose birth
occurred April 1, 1900.
In politics Mr. Shear gives his allegiance to the republican party
and has been elected to office by that party. In religious faith he
is a member of the Methodist church of Altona and is at present
serving as one of its trustees. His success in life has been due
entirely to his own efforts and to diligent and persistent labor.
Fie has displayed many of the praiseworthy traits which he has
inherited from his stalwart Dutch ancestry and stands as one of the
substantial and valued citizens of his community.
AUGUST 'PETERSON.
August Peterson, who has been engaged in agricultural pursuits in
Knox county and is at present conducting a livery stable, was born
in Altona, on the 21st of July, 1887, his parents being Mr. and Mrs.
Victor Dahlgreen. The father's death occurred in 1905 and the mother
passed away when her son was but four years of age.
From that time August Peterson was reared in the home of N. A. and
Christina (Lundgren) Peterson, of Galva. August Peterson remained
there until
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
659
he was eighteen years of age. In his youth he attended the common
schools and also assisted his foster father in agricultural
pursuits. Subsequently he was employed by a railroad for two years
and during that time, on the 18th of March, 1908, he met with an
accident which incapacitated him for further manual labor of that
sort. Having been trained to habits of thrift, he had by this time
accumulated sufficient money that on the 12th of October, 1908, he
was able to engage in the livery business at Altona. He conducts a
modern establishment and his treatment of his patrons and his
reasonable prices have secured him a good patronage.
In the family of August Peterson were two brothers, George and
David. George was brought up by a Mrs. Smith, of Altona, but he died
in 1905. David, the other brother, was reared by a Mrs. Krohnland,
who lived in Altona. Later the family removed to Colorado and David
accompanied them to that state. He has now established his permanent
residence in Denver and is still living with the Krohnland family.
Mr. Peterson is not particularly interested in politics, having
given the greater part of his attention to his business
undertakings. His religious faith is indicated in his membership in
the Lutheran church of Altona. He is well known in business and
social circles and has many warm friends, whose high regard has been
gained by reason of his sterling worth.
CHARLES WESLEY MAIN.
Charles Wesley Main, who is a resident agriculturist of Altona, Knox
county, was born on the 21st of March, 1856, his parents being Elias
and Mary Ann (Huntington) Main. The father, who was born in Otsego
county, New York, was a son of Peter Main, and came to Illinois for
the first time in 1847, locating at Belvidere, where he engaged in
farming for two years before returning to New York state. His trip
westward, which was made in company with a brother, was taken over
the Great Lakes route to Fort Dearborn, Chicago. When they arrived
in Chicago they were offered fifteen acres of land where Lake street
now is, for fifteen dollars per acre. This instance shows how
remarkable the growth of Chicago has been, and how little investors
realized its future greatness. The return trip eastward was also
made on ship board, and one of its interesting incidents was the
race which took place between two vessels during a heavy storm. So
great was the interest in the contest that even a wagon belonging to
Mr. Main was used for firewood in order to keep up the necessary
amount of steam. His brother, a sailor, attended to the sounding of
the depths of the water. After a short visit to the east the father
returned west, to Altona, and at that time built the home in which
he is now residing, having procured the lumber in Rock Island. The
trip from Belvidere to Victoria was made in wagons at the time the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway was being graded. In his early
days he had learned the wagon-maker's trade, and throughout the
greater part of his life he was engaged in various kinds of wood
construction work. In addition to building wagons he also made
caskets. As he was the only manufacturer of these in his district he
received a large patronage and usually charged
660 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
fifteen dollars apiece for them. He was married to Mary Ann
Huntington, whose birth occurred July 7, 1817, in Otsego county, New
York. Her death occurred on the nth of July, 1887, in the old
homestead, and Mr. Main passed away in 1901 at the age of eighty-six
years. He held membership in the Methodist church, being one of the
original members and founders of this church at Altona. Throughout
its existence he was one of its most generous and enthusiastic
supporters. So great was his interest in its welfare and progress
that, at the time of his death, he left a provision in his will
which stated that the Methodist church of Altona was to receive an
annual contribution of one hundred dollars to be used toward the
pastor's salary, this provision to be operative for ten years. His
charitable spirit was also shown by the fact that he also provided
for a three hundred dollar annual donation to Abingdon College. To
Mr. and Mrs. Main the following children were born: David E. and
Dewitt C, both deceased; Delos S., who is living in Lebanon,
Illinois; Mary J., deceased; Ella, a widow, who was the wife of
William Stockdale, a pharmacist of Altona, Illinois; Emma L., who is
married to R. Henderson, a resident of Houston, Texas; Joseph T.,
who is living in Galesburg; and Charles W. Main, who is residing in
Altona and is the subject of this sketch.
Charles Wesley Main has lived an active and useful life, and has
done his share in developing the agricultural interest of Knox
county, a county which depends so greatly upon its soil for its
resources. His spirit of citizenship has been such that he has won
the regard and respect of his fellow citizens.
SAMUEL V. STUCKEY.
Samuel V. Stuckey, cashier of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank, to which
position he was called in December, 1908, was born in Altona, this
county, September 6, 1865. His father, John A. Stuckey, was a native
of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, born in April, 1832, and in his
youthful days he came to Illinois, settling in Knoxville, where he
engaged in farming. A few years later he became connected with the
hardware business in Altona and was prominently associated with its
commercial interests for an extended period, occupying an enviable
position as a reliable merchant and progressive business man. He is
also prominent in local political circles and, in 1880, was elected
sheriff of Knox county, to which position he was reelected, serving
in all for six years. He afterward went west to California and is
now engaged in business in Rosemond, Kern county. His fraternal
relations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his
political views he is a republican and in addition to the office of
sheriff he filled a number of township positions, discharging his
duties with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.
In early manhood he wedded Margaret Norris, who was born near
Baltimore, Maryland, about 1835. She died in 1899 in the faith of
the Congregational church of which she had long been a faithful
member. In their family were four children: George N., now a
resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Samuel V.; Nellie, the wife of
William T. Walsh, of Los Angeles, California; and John H., who is
living in the same city.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 661
Samuel V. Stuckey pursued his education in the schools of Altona and
Gales-' burg, supplementing his early school course by study in
Brown's Business College, In 1883 he was appointed deputy sheriff
under his father, being at that time a youth of eighteen years, and
continued in the office until the 9th of February, 1890. On that day
he became clerk of the circuit court, which position he filled until
December, 1908. In the previous February he had entered financial
circles, having accepted the position of cashier of the Farmers &
Mechanics-Bank, with which he is still connected. He had previously
been a director of the bank for ten years and was then called to the
office of cashier, which position he has since capably filled,
proving a popular bank official, always courteous in his treatment
of the bank's patrons and at the same time careful in protecting the
interests of the institution which he represents.
On the 22cl of September, 1887, Mr. Stuckey was united in marriage
to Miss Martha M. Clay, a daughter of Alonzo C. and Lovina M.
(Derby) Clay, of Galesburg, both of whom were natives of Andover,
Vermont, and in 1836 the father came to Knox county with his father,
John T. Clay. Fie became a farmer and in 1849, during the gold
excitement, was one of the originators of the party that left
Galesburg, in January, 1849, overland by ox wagon, for the gold
fields of California, crossing the great American desert, but in a
few years returned, devoting many years to general agricultural
pursuits. His wife came to Knox county in January, 1850, and died in
February, 1890. Mr. Clay gave his political allegiance to the
democratic party, filled a number of township offices and was also
county supervisor, serving as chairman of its building committee at
the time of the erection of the county jail. Fie was a Universalist
and both he and his wife displayed many sterling traits of
character. His death occurred December 27, 1898. Their daughter,
Mrs. Stuckey, was born in Galesburg, June 9, 1863. The other member
of the family was Charles C. Clay, who died May 5, 1909. Mr. and
Mrs. Stuckey are well known in Galesburg where they have an
extensive acquaintance. He has made a creditable record in office
and in financial circles and his ability constitutes one of the
factors in the capable management and successful control of the
Farmers & Mechanics Bank.
EDWIN P. WILLIAMSON.
Equally capable of pursuing business enterprises and farming, Edwin
P. Williamson has established for himself a reputation that is known
throughout Knox county. Agriculturists know him for his success both
in general farming and stock-raising. He was born March 13, 1870, on
the old homestead, where he now resides and where the old home still
stands. His father, William Williamson, was a native of Sweden, born
October 10, 1833. When seventeen years old he accompanied his
parents, Olof and Margaret Olofson to America.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 689
William Williamson was one of six children that grew up, namely:
Jonas, who died in 1893; Peter, who lives at Chariton, Iowa;
Margaret, the wife of W. C. Olson; Moses, who lives in Galesburg;
and John, who died in the Civil war, a soldier from Knox county.
They located in Sparta township, Knox county, Illinois, in 1850,
where the father engaged in farming. In 1854 William Williamson
bought a part of the farm on which his son Edwin now lives and which
has remained in the family ever since. He was a remarkable man, a
fact patent enough, when one considers the manifold business and
commercial enterprises in which he was the prime initiator and which
were closely connected with the development and growth of the
economic life of varied and widely scattered communities at various
times. He conducted a general mercantile business in Moline,
Illinois; he owned a flour mill at Clay Center, Kansas; in
partnership with his brother he owned the Wataga Flour Mill, one of
the oldest flour mills in Knox county; he was a stockholder in the
Galesburg National Bank and in the Bank of Galesburg; with his son,
L. O. Williamson, he managed a store at Galesburg and gave liberally
for the encouragement of other business enterprises. He was a
charter member of the Swedish Lutheran church at Wataga. In politics
he was a loyal worker for the republican party and served as school
trustee and as commissioner of highways. In 1903 he removed from the
farm in Sparta township to Wataga, where he died on February 13,
1906. His wife, the mother of Edwin P. Williamson, was formerly
Katharine Olson, who was born in Sweden, April 7, 1836, and died
December 11, 1908. Her father, Lars Olson, brought his family to
America in 1849 and settled in Sparta township. Mrs. Williamson was
one of a family of four, namely: Martha, the wife of Oliver Stream,
of Sparta township; Lars W. Olson, who died in 1907; and William,
who died in the Civil war, a soldier from Knox county.
On September 28, 1855, William Williamson married Katharine Olson, a
daughter of Lars and Katharine Olson, and to them were born ten
children, of whom only five are living at the present time. Mary J.
was married to A. B. Danielson on October 22, 1875. She died on the
5th of February, 1885, leaving three children, Arthur, William and
George. J. Henry married Natalie Byloff on March 22, 1894, and in
their family are five children, George, Grace, Raymond, Harold and
Louise. M. Amelia was united in marriage on September 3, 1885, to
the Rev. A. F. Nelson. Her demise took place on the 26th of January,
1890, and she is survived by two children, Blenda and Ernst. Lars O.
married Alary C. Swanson on September 17, 1885. He died December 30,
1891, and his widow survived him until June 16, 1902. Amanda C. is
the fifth in order of birth. Martha E. passed away January 5, 1882.
The next in order of birth is Edwin P., whose name appears at the
head of this review. George E. died February 12, 1894. Frederick L.
was married on April 11, 1900, to Miss Daisy Y. Wickstrom and they
are the parents of three children, Maurice, Martha and Inga-borg.
Alvin L., the youngest member of the family, married on December 1,
1909, Miss Lena McKee. On September 28, 1905, Mr. and Mrs.
Williamson celebrated the fiftieth Anniversary of their wedding. The
immediate family and a number of distant relatives and devoted
friends gathered at the old farm home round the festive board and
later on a group picture of the golden wedding guests was taken,
which appears in connection with this sketch. Later in the afternoon
two receptions were held at the town home by the worthy couple,
which were largely attended.
690 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
After the usual schooling in the elementary branches taught in the
district schools, Edwin P. Williamson began his career as a clerk in
his father's store in Moline. He remained there two years and in
1889 went home and farmed for the next four years. At the death of
his brother George he took charge of the Wataga Flour Mill, which he
managed successfully for two years. Fie then engaged again in
farming in Flenderson township, where he remained four years, until
in 1903 he removed to the old homestead in Sparta township. Flere he
has lived since that time, taking charge of the management of the
farm when his father retired and continuing the work after his
death. His agricultural labors have met with unusual success, a fact
attested by the flourishing condition of the farm and the generous
profits which accrue therefrom. He is also a director of the Wataga
State Bank.
On March 22, 1899, Miss Lavinnie E. Olson gave her hand in marriage
to Edwin P. Williamson. She was born in 1871, in Sparta township,
Knox county. Her father was Jonas Olson, a native of Sweden, who
came to this country in 1856 and made his home in Sparta township,
east of Wataga. His death occurred in 1909. His wife, the mother of
Mrs. Williamson, was Anna Catherine Danielson before her marriage.
She was born May 22, 1852, and died in 1881. She is a daughter of
Andrew and Betsy (Brita) Danielson, of whom the latter is still
living, being in her eighty-sixth year.
To Mr. and Mrs. Williamson were born the following children: Eva
Catherine and Andrew William, twins, deceased; Ruth Amelia, born
January 27, 1907; and Amanda Pauline, born May 16, 1909. Mr.
Williamson and his wife are members of the Swedish Lutheran church
of Wataga, in which he holds the office of trustee. His political
preference is for the republican party. He has served as a member of
the school board two terms and for two years was highway
commissioner. Ever interested in the welfare of the community, he
spares no efforts in promoting its advancement and encouraging its
progressive spirit, which is one of its marked characteristics.
DR. FRANK CHAPMAN.
Dr. Frank Chapman, who for the past twelve years has been
successfully engaged in the practice of osteopathy in Galesburg, was
born in Spring Grove township, Warren county, Illinois, on the 5th
of May, 1871. He is a son of A. A. and Ann M. (Buck) Chapman,
natives of the state of New York and the parents of three children:
Norman Ward, who is living in Portland, Oregon: Isa, the wife of Dr.
Charles Owens of Chattanooga, Tennessee: and Frank, our subject. A.
A. Chapman was reared in Cayuga county, New York, and
692 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
there he engaged in agricultural pursuits, after leaving school,
until he was twenty-two years of age. In 1856 he left the Empire
state and came to Illinois, locating in Warren county, where for
many years he was actively engaged in farming. He passed away in
Galesburg in 1908, at the age of seventy-four years, but the mother
is still living although she has celebrated the seventy-fifth
anniversary of her birth. The paternal grandparents were Orson and
Rebecca (Gifford) Chapman, whose family numbered eight: Orson G.,
Olean, Alexander A., Harriet, Sophia, Kate, Abbie and Esther. The
grandfather was a native of Connecticut, but he subsequently removed
to the state of New York, where he engaged in farming until age
compelled his retirement. He passed away when he was seventy-six,
but the grandmother was eighty-eight at the time of her death. The
maternal grandparents were Norman and Maria Buck, and to them were
born six daughters: Adeline, Allura, Emily, Ann M., Elizabeth and
Ellen. Mr. Buck was in middle life when called to his final rest,
but she lived to attain the venerable age of seventy-five years.
The youthful years of Dr. Frank Chapman were passed upon the farm,
where he was born in Warren county. At the usual age he entered the
district schools but later went to Lombard College, where he was
prepared for the State University. After leaving the latter
institution he returned to the farm, devoting his entire time and
attention to agricultural pursuits until 1897. In the latter year
together with his wife he went to Kirksville, Missouri, where they
studied osteopathy. They were awarded their degrees in February,
1899, and immediately thereafter returned to Illinois, establishing
an office in Galesburg that they have ever since maintained. Both
Dr. Chapman and his wife are very well equipped for their work in
every way, their preliminary preparation having been most thorough
as well as their professional course. They are practical and also
progressive in their ideas, and have most ably and satisfactorily
demonstrated their skill during the period of their residence in
Galesburg. Their efforts have met with very good results and they
have succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice, many
of their patients representing the best families of the city.
On the 6th of November, 1895, Dr. Chapman was married to Miss Ada P.
Hinckley, a native of Galesburg and a daughter of Charles A. and
Clarissa N. (Root) Hinckley. Dr. Ada Chapman was reared in this
city, and after completing the public schools she entered Knox
College, from which institution she was graduated in 1891. She
subsequently taught in the training school of Galesburg and also in
the country schools until her marriage. Her parents wert natives of
the state of New York, her father having come from Elmira and her
mother from Camden. Mrs. Hinckley was one of the pioneers of
Galesburg, having accompanied her father on his removal here in
1836. She has now attained the age of eighty years, and has passed
practically her entire life in this city. Mr. Hinckley came west in
1846, locating in Knoxville. He was a well known farmer of Knox
county, but was living retired at the time of his death, which
occurred on the 15th of October, 1910, in Galesburg, at the age of
eighty-five years. The paternal grandparents of Dr. Ada Chapman were
Alfred and Eliza (Stanley) Hinckley, who migrated here in the
pioneer period and lived to attain a ripe old age, he being
eighty-seven at the time of his death. Six children were born to
them: Charles A., Mary E., George W., William S.,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 693
Harriet and Francis E. The maternal grandparents were Riley and
Lavinia' (Butler) Root. They were natives of the state of New York,
and resided at Camden, that state, until her death, when he removed
to Knox county, where he passed his latter years. She was quite
young at the time of her death, but he lived to the age of
seventy-six. Five children were born to them, but only two lived to
attain maturity: Clarissa Noble and Dency E.
Fraternally Dr. Frank Chapman is affiliated with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks,
while his political allegiance is given to the republican party.
Although Dr. Frank Chapman is one of the public-spirited and
progressive citizens of Galesburg, always being ready to assist in
forwarding every movement that he deems at all likely to redound to
the benefit of the community at large, he does not prominently
participate in political affairs. He feels that the duties and
responsibilities of his profession make it practically obligatory
for him to devote his entire time and attention to his practice, in
which he is meeting with such excellent success..
Janine and Wini stay off my
pages & do not copy & paste or whatever you do and reformat to make
it yours when it's mine first do your own work be honest for a
change!!! I thank you, my ancestors thank you and you soon thank
yourselves.
********************************************
706 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
• who is the wife of C. Carlson of Walnut Grove; Margaret, the wife
of Olof Peterson, of Altona; John, who is the subject of this
sketch; and Louis, Frank, George and Nellie, all residing in Altona.
Leaving school at the early age of fourteen years John Johnson
entered the employ of his father on the home farm, and for the next
ten years was actively engaged in assisting in its cultivation.
After that time, however, he entered the meat market of Whiting-Van
Scoyk at Galesburg, but later returned to Altona, and since 1907 has
been in partnership with Mr. Whiting, of the firm of Whiting &
Johnson, of Altona. His market is ably managed, and, realizing that
satisfied customers are the best advertisement for future business
Mr. Johnson aims at treating all who may patronize him with the
respect and courtesy due them. Mr. Johnson was married to Nellie
Neilson, whose birth occurred November 4, 1865, at Kylinge Point, in
southern Sweden. She is the daughter of Nels and Anna Swenson, both
of whom are still living. The grandmother died, in 1909, at the age
of ninety-two years. Mrs. Johnson came to America in 1885 with
friends and settled at once in Altona, where she was married. She
was one of two children, her sister residing in Sweden at present.
To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson eight children were born: Emma, whose birth
occurred February 24, 1889, and who is the wife of Roy Rankin, an
agriculturist of Media, Illinois, and has one child, John Robert;
Anna, born on the 25th of November, 1890, who is engaged in teaching
school; Minnie, Inez and Bessie, whose births occurred November 12,
1893, December 23, 1895, and October 5, 1897, respectively; and
George, Theora and Vivian, whose births occurred January 20, 1902,
October 10, 1903, and August 15, 1906, respectively. With the
exception of Mrs. Rankin they are all residing at home..
Janine and Wini stay off my
pages & do not copy & paste or whatever you do and reformat to make
it yours when it's mine first do your own work be honest for a
change!!! I thank you, my ancestors thank you and you soon thank
yourselves.
Mr. Johnson is an active member of the republican party, and since
he cast his first vote has always voted for the men and measures of
the party whose policies he considers the most conducive in
promoting good government. He has served as alderman of Altona for
four years and is now serving his second term and is also a member
of the school board. He holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of
America of Altona. As a life-long resident he has been a witness to
much of its development, and has been influential in promoting its
business interests. Because of his strict integrity and high
principles he holds the respect of his fellow citizens.
JOHN W. STEPHENS.
In days of old, before the chronicler of events appeared to write
the story of his nation's greatness, people drew their inspiration
from the past by hearkening to the tales the old men told, by
listening to the song of the bard, by scattered reminiscences of the
aged nurse, handed down from generation to generation. Then the
romance of history was not entombed within the covers of a book, it
was graven on the minds and living in the hearts of the people.
To-day much of that old-time poetry has gone out of our lives. We
are too preoccupied with the demands which our severely competitive
mode of living has thrust upon us. Too late, perhaps, when the last
pioneers of our western civilization will have passed from among us,
we will come to realize what we have lost in their picturesque
recital of the events of the early days, of the white man's struggle
for supremacy in a new country.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 709
There is still dwelling in Knox county a man whose life links us
with that past of mystery and charm. His name is John W. Stephens,
son of one of the early settlers and, for a period of more than
seventy-four years, intimately associated with the rise and growth
of Knox county. Those who have had the privilege of listening to his
reminiscences will remember with a thrill the story of his father's
experiences with the Indians, and of the winter of the heavy snow
when the settlers were in danger of perishing. They will listen with
delight to the description of the district school, where Mr.
Stephens found his only opportunities for an education. It was a
typical old log schoolhouse with split log benches and a puncheon
floor. A fire in the huge fireplace at one end supplied the heat.
Across square openings cut in the walls paper was stretched to serve
as windows. These were the primitive surroundings amid which the
boys and girls of those days were given that stern training that
prepared them for a life of hardship and toil..
Janine and Wini stay off my
pages & do not copy & paste or whatever you do and reformat to make
it yours when it's mine first do your own work be honest for a
change!!! I thank you, my ancestors thank you and you soon thank
yourselves.
John W. Stephens was born in Warren county, New Jersey, on the 6th
of June, 1825. He was the son of Richard and Eleanor (Addis)
Stephens, both natives of New Jersey, where they were reared and
married. In 1830 they came to Illinois locating in Fulton county,
but the difficulties with the Indians and other unforeseen trials
compelled them to give up their residence in this state. They
therefore went to Ohio and lived in Warren county for seven years.
In 1838, however, seeking solace after the crushing blow he received
in the loss of his wife, Mr. Stephens again set his face westward,
retracing his way to Illinois. This time he chose Cedar township,
Knox county, for -the family abode, continuing to live there until
his death in April, 1854.
John W. Stephens was nurtured at home and availed himself of the
meager educational advantages that pioneer life afforded. Among his
companions who helped to make his school days a pleasant memory, was
Mary H. Stephens whom he later chose for a helpmate. They were
married on October 29, 1848, coming directly to Cedar township, Knox
county, Illinois, where they established their new home on a farm of
one hundred and sixty acres on section 4. Mr. Stephens had just
purchased this farm a short time before at five dollars an acre.
After living here five years he sold this piece of land and bought
the farm on which his father had first settled on his advent in Knox
county. There Mr. and Mrs. Stephens lived until 1894 when they
removed to Abingdon, which they have made their home ever since. The
old farm of one hundred and forty acres about which all the family
traditions center since 1839, that ms father had owned before him
and that he had tilled for thirty-nine years, he now gave over to
the management of his son. He owns, furthermore, a farm of
eighty-three acres on section 16 in Cedar township.
In 1890 Mr. Stephens' wife died and three years later, on October
11, 1893, he married again. It is a curious and interesting
coincidence that the second Mrs. Stephens, whose given name is Mary
C, and the first Mrs. Stephens both bore the name "Stephens" before
their marriage and there was no relationship between them. Of Mr.
Stephens' first marriage there were four children. Only one
survives, Charles E., who married Miss Harriet Latimere, of
Abingdon. Mr. Stephens is a republican and during the war served for
three years as
710 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
member of the board of county supervisors. The office of justice of
the peace which he held at one time he resigned at the end of a
year. Unwearied in his efforts for the improvement of his locality
and the up- building of his community, he was for twenty years road
commissioner of Cedar township and for a long period a member of the
school board. Mrs. Stephens is a member of the Congregational
church, in which her husband also worships. Mr. Stephens is still in
the possession of excellent health and cheerful spirit and, looking
back upon a long life nobly spent in usefulness to his family and
community, he finds peace and contentment of mind, the richest
rewards that can crown a man's declining years.
EBENEZER LASS.
Ebenezer Lass, president of the Lass & Larson Company of Galesburg,
conducting a wholesale and retail business in wall paper, paints,
oils and glass, has sought his success along the well defined lines
of labor and has won his advancement through close conformity to a
high standard of commercial ethics. At a time when many men put
aside the more active and arduous pursuits of business life he is
still busily engaged along commercial lines and his energy and
persistency of purpose are those of a man of much younger years. He
was born in Kent, England, October n, 1839, his parents being
William and Sarah (Eastes) Lass. The father was a confectionery
manufacturer who conducted business for many years but ultimately
retired. He died in England in 1883, when about seventy-nine years
of age, his birth having occurred in 1804. His wife, who was born in
Kent, England, in 1806, passed away in 1888, at the advanced age of
eighty-two years. They were both members of the Wesley an church, in
the work of which they took active and helpful interest, Mr. Lass
serving as one of the church officers. They were married at Deal,
Kent, England, in 1827, and unto them were born twelve children:
Elizabeth, now deceased ; Francis, who is living at Sandwich,
England; Sarah, the wife of William Ekins, of Riverside, California;
Grove P., deceased; William, a resident of Galesburg; Laura, who has
passed away; Ebenezer; Frederick and Benjamin, both deceased; John,
living in this city; Thomas, still a resident of Deal, County Kent;
and Mary, the wife of Theodore Baldwin, also of Deal.
Ebenezer Lass pursued his education in a private school of Deal and
when fourteen years of age was apprenticed to learn the decorator's
trade, at which he worked in that town until he had attained his
majority. He then went to London, where he followed his trade for
three and a half years, but, believing that better opportunities
were waiting on this side of the Atlantic, he came to the United
States in 1866, settling in Galesburg, where he followed his trade
until 1884. He was ambitious, however, to engage in business on his
own account and carefully saved his earnings until he felt that his
capital justified him in starting in business on his own account. In
partnership with C. T. Larson and J. G. Lafferty, he established a
store and when two years later Mr. Lafferty sold his interest to the
other partners the firm of Lass & Larson was organized. Under that
name the business was conducted until 1905, when it was incorporated
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 711
under the name of the Lass & Larson Company, its officers being
Ebenezer Lass, president, and C. T. Larson, secretary, treasurer and
manager. They now handle wall paper, paints, oils and glass, selling
to the wholesale and retail trade. They employ twenty people in
their establishment in Galesburg and also have salesmen on the road.
Their business has grown year by year and, carrying a large and well
selected line of goods, they have every reason to feel that their
trade will still further increase.
On the 4th of July, 1868, Mr. Lass was married to Miss Emma
Pittock, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Bailey) Pittock, of
this city. Unto them were born seven children: Grace, now the wife
of Francis Sisson, of Yonkers, New York; Charles, living in
Galesburg; Effie, Kate and Mamie, all deceased ; William, of
Treadwell, Alaska; and Edith, at home. The wife and mother
passed away February 22, 1882, and on the 26th of May, 1886, Mr.
Lass was again married, his second union being with Miss Lucy M.
Jerauld, a daughter of Harvey and Maria Jerauld, of Galesburg.
There was one child of this union, George, now deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Lass hold membership in the Central Congregational
church and his fraternal relations are with the Odd Fellows lodge of
Galesburg. His political allegiance is given to the republican party
and he is interested in all that pertains to general progress and
improvement, finding time to cooperate in measures for the general
good while carefully managing his business affairs. He early learned
the fact that diligence and industry must determine the success to
which one can achieve. He has, therefore, persevered and his capable
management. added to his thorough early training, has been a salient
feature in gaining him the success which now classes him with
Galesburg's substantial and progressive merchants. .
MARY ARNOLD
TEMPLETON.
Mary Arnold Templeton, who is residing in Altona, Illinois, was born
on the 7th of April, 1846, in Victoria township, Knox county. She is
a daughter of John and Nancy (Herman) Arnold, whose births occurred
in 1810 and 1812 respectively, the former being a native of Dayton,
Ohio, and the latter of Tennessee. John Arnold was a blacksmith by
trade, and from early youth took up this occupation. Later he worked
on a canal as boss of a gang, and subsequently traveling through
Alabama he followed the carpenter's trade. After his marriage,
however, in 1836 he came to Victoria township by way of Peoria and
Kickapoo creek, and took up farming. He made the trip by team and
when he arrived at the land for which he had set out he found it
already sufficiently cleared and immediately built a log cabin upon
it. He resided there until 1853, following his trade for a
livelihood, when he removed to Victoria. In that town he engaged in
horse-shoeing and blacksmithing until his death, which occurred on
the 8th of December, 1864. His wife was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Steven Herman, agriculturists. They removed to Alabama at the time
they were early settlers. The mother's death occurred there in 1887.
Mr. Arnold was one of the most prominent democrats in his region and
held many local offices. His parents
712 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
were Ephraim and Elinor Arnold. To Mr. and Mrs. John Arnold ten
children have been born, four of whom survive: Robert H., a resident
of Peoria, who is married and has two children; Mrs. Templeton, who
is the subject of this review; Jane, of Victoria, who is the wife of
Irving Norton, a shoemaker, and who has two children; and Eliza, who
is residing with Mrs. Templeton.
In April, 1869, Mary Arnold was married to Thomas Foster Templeton,
whose birth occurred in 1830, and who was a son of John and Nancy
(Foster) Templeton, whose deaths occurred in Princeton, Illinois,
and in Pennsylvania respectively. Thomas F. Templeton was born in
Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, but removed to Knox county when a
child, where he engaged in farming until he entered the hardware
business in Altona in 1862. For ten years he was thus engaged with
his brother-in-law. At the end of that time he disposed of this
business and took up agricultural pursuits in Victoria township. On
account of ill health, however, he soon disposed of his farm "and
lived retired until his death which occurred on the 10th of January,
1907. He was a stanch republican and for many years held office on
the school board; In religious faith he was a Presbyterian and was
an elder in the Presbyterian church of Altona for several years. He
also held membership in Masonic Lodge, No. 330, of Altona.
To Mr. and Mrs. Templeton three children were born. Maude Alberta,
the eldest died in 1904, at the age of thirty-six years. She is
survived by her husband, E. H. Mason, of Galesburg, and three
children, namely, Donald, who is eighteen years of age and teaching
school in Victoria township; Marjory, who is sixteen years of age
and attending high school; and Nanny B., who is fifteen years of
age. Nanny B., the second, in order of birth, whose death occurred
in 1893 when she was twenty years of age, was the wife of William
Gehring, of Galesburg. The youngest child died when very young.
Eliza Arnold, who is residing with her sister, Mrs. Templeton, was
born on the 8th of February, 1840. At the age of twenty-three years
she attended Knox College for one year, having taught previously for
six years. After leaving college she again engaged in teaching, and
for twenty years was connected with the schools of Victoria
township. She is one of the oldest teachers in this county, and all
through her career was most successful in her pedagogical pursuits.
She holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mrs. Templeton is one of the active workers in her community in all
organizations which are formed to promote the public good.
Charitable and kindly, her home is always open to those who need her
assistance or to whom she can prove a faithful friend. Her life has
been spent in the interests of others, and she is now one of the
most esteemed residents of Altona.
BURRELL N. CHAPIN.
Burrell N. Chapin, seventy-seven years of age, has spent his entire
life in Illinois and the record he has made is a most creditable
one, for his success has never been gained at the sacrifice of
others' interests and at no time has he refused to give his aid and
support to those movements which have been instituted for the public
good. In business affairs, too, he has shown sound judgment and
capable management and by wise
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 717
investments has secured a competency and has become one of the substantial
citizens of Knox county. He was born in Fulton county, Illinois,
August 4, 1834, a son of Moses B. and Irenia (De Maranville) Chapin.
The father was born in Massachusetts and was a son of Consider and
Esther (Wallace) Chapin. The grandfather was likewise a native of
Massachusetts and was a descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin, who was
one of the Puritan fathers who came to America about 1640. He was
one of those to whom a monument has been erected in front of the
public library at Springfield, Massachusetts, being a founder of
that city. Esther (Wallace) Chapin, the grandmother of Burrell N.
Chapin, was a native of Scotland and is a descendant of Sir William
Wallace. The Chapins are also related to a number of distinguished
Americans. Captain Caleb Chapin, the great-grandfather, was a
soldier of the Revolutionary war, valiantly aiding the colonies in
their struggle for independence. His son, Consider Chapin, was a*
gifted poet of his day. Moses Chapin, born and reared in
Massachusetts, came to Illinois in 1832, the year of the Black Hawk
war, in which he took an honorable part. He made the journey
overland from Pennsylvania on horseback and settled in Fulton
county. He was a cooper by trade and established a shop in Lewiston,
Illinois, where he resided until 1840. He then removed to
Farming-ton, where he also built a shop, there residing for five
years, or until 1845, when he purchased some land near Farmington
and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He continued to
live upon that place until his death, which occurred in 1872. When
he came to Illinois his family numbered three children, and eight
were born after the arrival in this state. The eldest of the family
was Sylvia, who died at the age of twelve years, and Minerva and
Gorham are also deceased, the former passing away at the age of two
years. The latter was a soldier of the Civil war, serving as a
lieutenant in the One Hundred and Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
The others of the family were: Sophronia, who became the wife of
Lyman Sanders, both now deceased; Burrell N.; Cornelia, the wife of
Captain Francis M. Taylor, of the One Hundred and Third Illinois
Infantry, but both have passed away; Ivory, who was a soldier of the
One Hundred and Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil
war but is now deceased; Pausanias, the deceased wife of Enos Kelsey
who went to the front with the One hundred and Third Illinois
Volunteer Infantry; Flora, a resident of Farmington, who is the
widow of Joseph Routson, who was likewise a soldier of the One
Hundred and Third Illinois; Ora H., who served in the One Hundred
and Third Illinois Infantry and was killed by the Indians in Arizona
in 1871; and Marshall D., a resident of Monmouth, being the youngest
of the family. Mr. Chapin has, on the maternal side, a number of
illustrious ancestors. His grandfather, Jabez De Maranville, served
on the Lake Erie under Perry in the war of 1812, whose father,
Charles De Maranville, marched on the "Lexington Alarm" of April 19,
1775, from Freetown, Massachusetts. Robert and Tamsine (Bacon)
Buffum, who were among the first to espouse the Quaker religion and
were persecuted for their faith, were ancestors, as were also
William White, the eleventh signer of the Mayflower Compact, and who
was the father of Peregrine White, the first child born of English
parents in America; another ancestor was John Vassall, alderman of
London in 1588, who fitted out, at his own expense, two ships of
war, with which he joined the royal ships
718 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, ILLINOIS
to oppose the "Spanish Armada." His son William Vassall came to
America with Winthrop in 1630 and was a founder of the Massachusetts
Bay colony, and was a member of the "Council of War" in 1642. All
the above being lineal ancestors of the mother, Mrs. Irenia Chapin.
The mother passed away in Farmington in 1900 at the advanced age of
ninety-two years. For eighty years representatives of the name have
not only taken an active part in promoting the development and
progress in pioneer days, but also in bringing about the present-day
growth and prosperity of Illinois.
Burrell N. Chapin spent his youthful days in Fulton county, where he
attended the country schools, pursuing his studies in one of the
old-time log schoolhouses in Farmington. At the age of eighteen
years he spent one term in an academy. Subsequently he engaged in
teaching school in the winter and worked at farm labor during the
summer months. His time was thus passed until his marriage. He was
only thirteen years of age when, in 1847, he was appointed to
deliver the mail from Farmington to Macomb, Illinois. This was known
as the pony mail and the distance covered was fifty miles each way.
As the years passed Mr. Chapin resolved to become owner of a farm
and the year i860 saw the realization of his hope in his purchase of
a tract of land in Oneida, Knox county, where he carried on general
agricultural pursuits. He afterward purchased a tract of eighty
acres near Farmington, Fulton county, Illinois, which he continued
to cultivate until 1872, and then disposed of that property to
purchase a farm near Knoxville, which he conducted until 1878. He
then bought another farm in the vicinity of Knoxville, devoting his
energies to the cultivation of the fields until 1892, when he took
up his abode in the town of Knoxville and has since lived retired.
As the years passed he kept adding to his landed possessions until
he owned three hundred acres, most of which, however, he has since
disposed of, and from his interests he derives a substantial annual
income that relieves him from the necessity of further labor save
the supervision of his investments.
It was on the 22d of September, 1857, that Mr. Chapin was united in
marriage to Miss Cynthia J. Culver, who was born near Buffalo, Erie
county, New York, June 24, 1838, a daughter of William and Susan W.
(Kirby) Culver. The father was born near Auburn, New York, in 1802,
and the house in which he first saw the light of day is still
standing. The mother's birth occurred near New Bedford,
Massachusetts. The father of Mrs. Chapin was a son of Joseph Culver,
who was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, as was his father,
Samuel Culver, and the family was of English descent. The mother of
Mrs. Chapin was a daughter of Silas Kirby, a native of Dartmouth,
Massachusetts, whose father, Silas Kirby, Sr., bravely defended the
cause of liberty in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Chapin, therefore,
is qualified for membership in the Daughters of the American
Revolution in both the paternal and maternal lines. Her father
followed the occupation of farming in the Empire state and on coming
to Illinois settled in Salem township, Knox county, where he
purchased a tract of land upon which he resided until the spring of
1861. He next purchased a farm near Henderson, Knox county, but
afterward took up his abode on a farm near Wataga, where he resided
until his retirement, after which he resided in Knoxville until his
death, which occurred March 5, 1881. His widow long survived him,
and died at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chapin on the 7th
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 719
of December, 1895. They were the parents of five children: Caroline,
who became the wife of Joseph Ross, both of whom are now deceased;
Elizabeth, who married Burton Miller and they are also deceased;
Joseph W.? who has passed away; Cynthia J., who became Mrs. Chapin;
and William E., a resident farmer of Knox county.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Chapin were born four children. Edith A., who was
born July 9, 1858, is now the wife of John D. McClure, of Knoxville,
and they have one daughter, Edith M., who is the wife of Merrill
Young and resides upon a farm east of Knoxville. Ida died at the age
of three years. Eva J. married Charles Maple, of Maquon, who is
postmaster of that place, and they have two children, Newton M. and
Ora S. Maple. Mr. Chapin's youngest child, Ora Eugene, who is a
distinguished lawyer of Chicago, is also prominent in Masonic
circles. He was born May 30, 1870, and married Miss Camilla Capps,
of Farmington, by whom he has one child, Minor J.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Chapin are consistent members of the Presbyterian
church and are also members of the Knox County Mayflower Society,
while Mrs. Chapin and her
two daughters hold membership with the Lucretia Leffingwell Chapter
of the Daughters of the American Revolution. On the 26. of
September, 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Chapin celebrated their golden
wedding, on which occasion the ladies of the Presbyterian church of
Knoxville served an excellent dinner while all the members of their
family, their sons, daughters and grandchildren, were present—one
hundred and forty in all. They have now traveled life's journey
together for fifty-four years, their mutual love and confidence
increasing as time has passed on. They are regarded as one of the
most highly esteemed and worthy couples of the county, for their
lives have ever been well spent in the faithful performance of duty
and have been characterized by many good deeds. Mr. Chapin deserves
much credit for the success which he has won, bringing him at last
to a prominent position among the substantial residents of his
adopted county.
REV. FREDERICK J.
DUNN.
It has been said "Not the good that comes to us but the good that
comes to the world through us is the measure of our success," and
judged in this way the life of Rev. Frederick J. Dunn has been a
most successful one, for as a minister of the gospel he has carried
the glad tidings to many who have sat under his preaching and has
influenced many lives for good. At the. age of ninety-three years he
is now living retired, an honored and venerable citizen of
Knoxville. Fie was born in Oneida county, New York, May 22, 1819, a
son of David and Philinda (Cady) Dunn, both of whom were natives of
Oneida county, the former born November 14, 1791, and the latter
August 5, 1796. In his early life the father worked as a farm hand
but afterward learned the trades of a cooper and brick mason and
worked along those lines in Oneida county and also in Herkimer and
St. Lawrence counties. Subsequently he returned to Oneida county and
after a short time removed to Lewis county. New York, where he made
his home with his son Frederick and later also lived with his son
Frederick
720 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, ILLINOIS
in Illinois, passing away in Galva, Henry county, on the 28th of
November, 1884, at the ripe old age of ninety-three years. He had
long survived his wife who passed away at the home of her son,
Frederick, on the 18th of January, 1858, when sixty-one years of
age. The Rev. Dunn was at that time a resident of Rio, this county.
The family included five daughters: Rhoda, now the deceased wife of
Thomas Watson, of Knox county; Olive, who became the wife of Caleb
H. Gates Brayton of St. Lawrence county, New York, who is now
deceased; Cornelia P., the widow of Thomas Humiston ; Jane Ann, who
died in infancy; and Sarah Jane, who married John Gibbs. She resided
in Lewis county, New York, for a time and afterward removed to
Cherokee county, Kansas, where both passed away.
The Rev. Frederick J. Dunn was the third in order of birth in the
family. He acquired his preliminary education in the public schools
of Herkimer county, New York, and afterward attended the Free Will
Baptist Seminary at Clinton, Oneida county, New York. The founder of
that college was Mr. Kellogg, who afterward became the first
president of Knox College at Galesburg. In further pursuit of his
education Mr. Dunn attended Whitesboro Academy in Oneida county, New
York, and subsequently took up the profession of teaching, which he
followed through the winter seasons while in the summer months he
worked at farm labor. In June, 1853, he arrived in Knox county,
Illinois, first settling in Ontario, where he remained for ten
years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Rio township
and in company with Michael Metcalf built a sawmill in Henderson
Grove which they conducted for one summer and then sold. Mr. Dunn
next purchased a farm and continued to engage in the cultivation of
the fields for several years. In 1858 he was licensed to preach as a
minister of the United Brethren church and much of his life has been
devoted to this holy calling. He was never absent from an annual
conference during fifty-one years and is widely known to the
membership of his denomination. He preached for four years at Mount
Chappel, being there when the church was built. He has acted as
minister in different churches in the county and other parts of the
state and is now the oldest living minister in Knox county. For the
past five years, however, he has lived retired in Knoxville and can
look back over the past without regret and forward to the future
without fear because his life has been an element for good in the
communities, where he has resided. His zealous support. of the cause
of Christianity has aroused the interest and cooperation of others
and his work has been of no restricted order.
On the 4th of March, 1846, in Oneida county, New York, the Rev. Dunn
was united in holy bonds of matrimony to Miss Susan P. Wetmore, who
was born in that county July 13, 1823, and was a daughter of Ezra
and Susan Wetmore, natives of Rhode Island, who removed to New York
in early life. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Dunn were the following
children. Lucia is the wife of Theo. Madison, a resident of the
state of Washington, and they have one son, Frederick. William E.,
now living in Rio township, married Miss Addie Haskins and has two
children, Roswell E. and Clark. Marian is the wife of William
Wilson, of Kansas City, Kansas, and they have six children, May,
Eva, George, Lucia, Nina and William. Roswell died June 3, 1882. The
mother of these children passed away March 24, 1864, and in
Henderson, Illinois, the Rev. Dunn was again married, on the 15th of
February, 1865, his second union being
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 721
with Maria Ryan, a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. They had
two children: Frank A., deceased; and Frederick, a resident of
Chicago who married Elsie Naly and has one child, Dorothy. Again Mr.
Dunn was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died
February 22, 1895, and on the 23d of September, 1897, he married
Margaret E. Wallach, who was born in this county, April 16, 1854,
and is a daughter of Jacob and Martha Wallach, natives of
Pennsylvania, the former of German and the latter of Irish descent.
Such in brief is the life history of Frederick J. Dunn, a man widely
and favorably known in Knox county and honored wherever known. By
precept and example he has taught the better things of life and his
influence and teaching have led many to choose those things which
are worth while and have actual value as factors in character
building.
*********************************************
663 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, ILLINOIS
GRANT GIBBS.
Grant Gibbs, whose death occurred April 21, 1911, in the Augustana
Hospital, Chicago, was for many years a resident agriculturist of
Sparta township. His birth occurred in Knox township, on the 27th of
February, 1867, his parents being Nelson and Sarah (Henshaw) Gibbs,
formerly residents of Athens county, Ohio. Subsequently they removed
to Adams county and later to Knox county, where they purchased a
farm, upon which they resided for a short time. After disposing of
this they located in Knox township and engaged in agricultural
pursuits until their deaths, which occurred in Knoxville. The
paternal grandfather, Simeon Gibbs, also settled in Knox township,
where he spent the greater part of his active life in agricultural
pursuits.
Grant Gibbs was married to Nettie Amanda Lane, who is a daughter of
Inman Herbert Lane and was born on the 27th of November, 1867, in
Linn county, Kansas. Her paternal grandfather, Lorenzo Lane, of
Ohio, was married to Julia Ann Wise, of New York, and they were
among the early settlers of Persifer township. The father was born
in Persifer township and spent his early life on the farm previous
to enlisting for service in the Civil war. After four years' service
he returned home and left for Linn county, Kansas, immediately after
his marriage, where he farmed for Five years previous to removing to
Rice county and engaging in stock-raising for five years.
Subsequently he went to Linn county and then to Edwards county,
where he conducted a grocery and meat market. After a short
residence in Hutchinson, Kansas, he removed to California and
entered upon agricultural pursuits, giving the greater part of his
attention to stock-raising. His death occurred in February, 1910,
and was due to the effects of injuries received in a train wreck.
He was married to Miss
Laconia Celissa Eldridge, a daughter of Gardner and Parmelia
(Meecham) Eldridge, the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. The Eldridge
family were among the early settlers of Copley township, Gardner
Eldridge being its first representative, residing there until his
death. Mrs. Eldridge died on the 21st of April, 1876, at the age of
thirty-three years. Mr. Lane was a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also the Grangers lodge in Rice
county, Kansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane five children were born, Mrs.
Gibbs being the only one surviving. At the age of eight years, after
her mother's death, she removed to the home of her grandfather,
Lorenzo Lane, until she went to live with her father in Kansas, when
she was fourteen years of age. She resided there for four years
previous
664 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
to returning to Illinois, where
she was married in 1888 to
Grant Gibbs. To this union five children were born,
the only surviving one being Charles William, of Wataga, whose birth
occurred August 21, 1893. Mr. Gibbs was an active and
enthusiastic republican and held many offices in this district,
being constable and village police of Wataga for four years previous
to his death. He also held membership in the Congregational church
of Wataga, the Modern Woodmen of America of Wataga, the Royal
Neighbors of Wataga and the Yeomen of Gales-burg. Mrs. Gibbs holds
membership in the Royal Neighbors of Wataga, the Yeomen of Galesburg
and the Ladies Aid Society of the Congregational church of Wataga.
Mr. Gibbs' career was a commendable one and was one of the many
evidences of what patience and perseverance can do in overcoming
difficulties, surmounting discouragements and achieving success. He
was an upright man, interested not only in the agricultural but also
in the social standing of his community, and he acquired the
confidence and respect of his neighbors both 'as a substantial
farmer and a useful citizen.
EDWARD W. GOLDSMITH.
Edward W. Goldsmith, a well known agriculturist of Sparta township,
was born on the place, where he now resides, on the 20th of October,
1867. Lie is a son of Edward H. and Ann Maria (Whiteford) Goldsmith,
both natives of the state of New York. The father was born in Orange
county on December 22, 1834, but at the age of twenty years he came
to Illinois with his father, who located in Knox county. The
paternal grandparents of our subject were Schuyler H. and Katherine
(Howell) Goldsmith; the former passed away in Knox county and the
latter in New York, where she was also buried. In later years her
son brought the body to Knox county and placed it in the family lot
in the Robbins cemetery. Schuyler H. Goldsmith subsequently married
Mary Carley, and to them were born two children: Helen, the wife of
A. McGill, of Kansas; and Schuyler, who is a resident of Corning,
Kansas. Schuyler LI. Goldsmith, Sr., came to Illinois with his
.family in 1854, locating in Sparta township, where he followed
farming until his death in 1861. Having been given the advantages of
a very good education, after leaving school Edward IT. Goldsmith
taught during the winter months in the various districts in this
vicinity until 1877, c^e" voting his summers to agricultural
pursuits. During the early years of his domestic life he settled on
the farm, now operated and owned by his son, and here he passed away
on July 7, 1900, at the age of nearly sixty-six years. The mother of
our subject was born at Lodi, Seneca county, New York, on the 12th
of June, 1834, a daughter of William and Margaret (Williams)
White-ford. The father, who was a farmer, passed away when he was
fifty and when his daughter Ann Maria was a child of but four years.
She was reared by B. C. Osborn, a merchant of Burdett, New York, and
his wife, Malinda (Winter) Osborn, a native of New Jersey,
continuing to make her home with them until her marriage. Of the six
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Whiteford two are now living: Mary E.,
the widow of Lynn E. Harris, of Nevada; and James, who is a resident
of Elmira, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Goldsmith were
667 History of Knox County, Illinois
married in New York, in March, 1859, but later settled on the farm
now owned and operated by their son,
Edward W. They were the parents of two daughters and one son, but
the former are both now deceased.
In matters of faith they were Congregationalists and for twenty-four
years Mr. Goldsmith was secretary
of the church at Wataga. In politics he was a republican, but he
never held office. The later years of his
life were entirely devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which he met
with a goodly degree of success.
Reared on the farm, where he is now living in the acquirement of his
early education, Edward W. Goldsmith
attended the schools of the vicinity. After mastering the common
branches he enrolled in the academy of
Knox College at Galesburg, where he, studied for three years. Upon
laying aside his textbooks he returned
to the farm, assisting his father in its further improvement and
cultivation until he attained his majority,
when he was taken into partnership, receiving a share of the yearly
dividends. This arrangement continued
until the death of Edward H. Goldsmith when the son came into the
property, being his father's sole heir.
Enterprising and progressive in whatever he undertakes, Mr.
Goldsmith has met with more than average
success in his farming and stock-raising, and now owns one of the
attractive and well equipped farms of
the community.
For his life companion Mr. Goldsmith chose Miss Minnie L. French,
who was born in Sparta township, on
the nth of January, 1868, and is a daughter of Hugh and Louisa
(Schroeder) French. Mr. and Mrs.
Goldsmith have three children: Frank F., who is now seventeen years
of age, attending Galesburg high
school; Anna L., who is fifteen and a student of the Galesburg high
school; and George S., aged twelve
years.
His political support Mr. Goldsmith accords to the republican party,
and for twenty-two years he has
served as school director, having taken an active interest in all
matters of an educational nature. He is one
of the public-spirited citizens and capable business men of Sparta
township, where he represents the
third generation of his family, whose various members have always
been held in high esteem.
JESSE WILMOT.
A well known agriculturist of Sparta township, who has passed
practically his entire life in the vicinity of
his present farm is Jesse Wilmot. Brought here as an infant during
the early pioneer days he has watched
with interest the development of the country, as the vast forests
and prairies' have been converted into productive farms, and
thriving towns and villages have sprung up where the Indian's tepee
used to stand. He is a native of New York, his birth having occurred
in Steuben county, on the 17th of February, 1836, and a son of Amos
and Betsey (Crawford) Wilmot. His father was born in Connecticut in
1803, and there he was reared
and educated. In his early manhood Amos Wilmot went to New York,
locating in Brown county, where he followed the shoemaker's trade
until his marriage. Soon after this event he located on a farm in
Steuben county, and assiduously
668 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
applied himself to its further improvement and cultivation for seven
years. At the expiration of that
period, in 1836, together with his wife and family he came to
Illinois, locating in Sparta township, which
at that time contained scarcely an inhabitant. Here he erected a log
cabin and he and his family assumed
the hardships and privations of pioneering. About them were vast
forests and great expanses of unbroken
prairie, the woods abounded with game of all kind and now and then
an Indian was seen prowling about.
Their nearest neighbors were located a mile away and Peoria was the
most convenient trading post, while
theirs was the first log house erected in the township and they were
likewise its first citizens. But both
Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot were young and full of courage, and cheerfully
bore the many privations and
discomforts that devolved upon them, passing the remainder of their
lives on the farm, where they reared
their family. The mother, who was a native of the state of New York,
had attained the age of seventy
years at the time of her death in 1878. Their family was as follows:
Sidney L., the eldest, who is
mentioned at greater length elsewhere in this volume; Sarah, the
wife of Thomas Mansfield, both now
deceased, who celebrated their golden wedding on the 17th of
February, 1902; Hannah, the wife of Elmer
Bennett, both of whom are now deceased; Jesse, our subject; Emma,
the deceased wife of Edward Taylor;
Bradley, who is living in Carroll county, Missouri; Rebecca, who
married J. R. Shull of Carroll county,
Missouri; and Lydia, the wife of J. Rogers, of Lincoln, Nebraska.
The father was a member of the
Congregational church of Ontario, and his political allegiance he
gave to the Whigs until that party was
merged into the republican, after which he gave his support to their
candidates. He was a public-spirited
man with high standards of the duties of citizenship and always took
an active interest in all township
affairs.
Jesse Wilmot was only an infant when brought to Sparta township by
his parents on their removal to this
county, and the greater part of his life has been passed in the
immediate vicinity of his present home.
Educationally he was afforded only the meager advantages of the
district schools of that period, and at
the age of ten years assumed his share of the duties connected with
the operation of the farm. He
remained at home with his people until he was twenty-one years of
age, when he began working for himself.
Having been reared in the country, remote from a town or settlement
of any kind, he had been given little
choice in selecting a vocation, so naturally he continued to follow
agricultural pursuits, which was the only
career with which he had a chance to become acquainted. He first
settled on a place west of Wataga, but
two years later he came to his present place and here he has ever
since resided. Farming fifty years ago
involved much more drudgery and hard, wearing labor than today, when
machinery at a comparatively small
outlay will do in a few hours the work that formerly consumed days
to accomplish, and it is that period
which Mr. Wilmot recollects so vividly. In 1864, with his wife and
family he started across the country in
an emigrant wagon to the eastern border of Kansas, but as the
Indians were giving considerable trouble
upon their arrival in Worth county, Missouri, they changed their
course, going to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
From there they went to Webster City, that state, but after two
years residence there returned to Knox
county.
Mr. Wilmot established a home for himself when he married Miss Eliza
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 669
Firkins, who was born at old Henderson, this county, on the 6th of
March, 1842. She is a daughter of
Russell and Margaret Jane (Teller) Firkins, natives of the state of
New York, the father's birth having
occurred in 1810, and that of the mother in 1816. They came to
Illinois in 1837 and were among the first
settlers of Henderson. From there they later removed to Sparta
township, but subsequently settled in
Warren county, later coining again to Knox county, where the father
passed away in 1857. He was long
survived 'by the mother, whose death occurred in 1890. Thirteen
children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Firkins, who are, with the exception of two sons and four daughters,
deceased. In the paternal line Mrs.
Wilmot is of English extraction, her grandfather, George Firkins, a
tailor by trade, having come to this
country during the early days of the Revolution. He was seized as a
British subject by the English
soldiers, who found him concealed in a barrel on the vessel, but he
managed to make his escape and came to
America, where he enlisted in the army. He passed away in 1858, at
the venerable age of ninety-three
years, and his wife, whose maiden name was Lydia Titus, died in
1859. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot
numbers nine, as follows: Elizabeth, who first married George
Williams, by whom she had one daughter,
Minnie, and after his death became the wife of John Peterson, of
Henry county, and the mother of four
children; Hattie, the wife of George Howland, of Abingdon, this
state; Sidney, of Sparta township, who
married Ella Dobson and has seven children; Almeda, the wife of
James Dobson, a street car conductor, of
Galesburg, who has four children; Milton J., who married Delia
Salisbury and has five children, now a
resident of North Dakota; Winfield, of Sparta township, who married
Fay Bloomfield and has three
children; Harry, also of Sparta township, who married Delia Swadley
and has one son, George; Laura, the
wife of Edward Frampton, of Rio township, by whom she has had two
children; and Olive E., the deceased
wife of Wallace Standard, who left one child, Francis, who is living
with Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot. They also
have three great-grandchildren, Laura and Carl Peterson, the
daughter and son of Minnie Williams, who
married Emil Peterson, and Virgil Miller. On the 6th of September,
1909, Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot
celebrated their golden wedding, at which occasion there were
present ninety-two members of the family.
In his political views Mr. Wilmot is a stanch republican, but he has
never held an office, having preferred
to give his attention to the development of his personal interests.
Tie is one of the well known
representatives of a highly respected pioneer family and has many
friends in Sparta township, who accord
him the regard his high principles and substantial qualities well
merit.
THOMAS McCLURE.
Thomas McClure, who is a well known agriculturist of Lynn township.
Knox county, was born on the 25th
of July, 1852, at Stranraer, Scotland. He is a son of Andrew and
Jane (Carnahan) McClure. the former of
whom passed away in Scotland. Subsequently the mother came to
America in 1867 with her three children,
Thomas, Robert and John, and settled in Walnut Grove town-
670 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
ship, this county, where she entered upon agricultural pursuits.
Later she married Simeon Collinson, who
died in 1895, at the age of eighty years. To their union one child
was born, Ernest Collinson, who is in the
insurance business in Galva.
Thomas McClure attended the district schools for a short time and
subsequently was bound out to Henry
G. Collinson, until he became of age, when he started out for
'himself on his mother's farm, upon which he
now resides. He has been engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout
his active career and has met with
the success which the persevering, energetic farmer wins in this
rich agricultural district. He possesses
the salient characteristics of the Scotch race which form such a
valuable asset to the enterprising citizen
of this country. In addition to general farming he also engages in
stock-raising to a considerable extent,
and this undertaking has become as profitable as farming.
On the 10th of March, 1880, Mr. McClure was married to Miss Louise
Collinson, a daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas Collinson of this county. To their union eight children
have been born: Henry Franklin, born
October 3, 1880; Bell, whose birth occurred on the 25th of December,
1881, and who is the wife of
Albert Clark, of Oklahoma; John, born February 21, 1884, who is a
bank cashier at Oklahoma; Andrew
Thomas, born May 27, 1886, who is married to Myrtle Callahan, and is
residing in Walnut Grove township;
Arthur Earl and Clara May, born February 12, 1891, and August 19,
1893, respectively; and Ernest and
Mary Jane, born April 28, 1895, and March 31, 1898, both of whom are
residing at home and attending
school.
Mr. McClure is a democrat, giving his support to the democracy
because of his firm belief that its
platforms are best suited for producing a practical and able
government. He has held the office of
highway commissioner for three years. Both he and his wife hold
membership in the Methodist church of
Victoria, and he is one of its trustees. Fie is also a member of the
Modern Woodmen of America of
Victoria and of the Fraternal Reserve Life Association of Galesburg,
of which his wife is also a member.
Fie has never regretted the fact that he left Scotland to make his
career in a country which offers equal
opportunities to all its citizens, and he has become a most loyal
citizen to the country of his adoption.
JOHN C. NELSON.
John C. Nelson, who follows farming on section 32, Knox township, is
one of the substantial citizens that
Sweden has furnished to this country and in his life he exemplifies
many of the sterling traits of his race.
He was born in Sweden, October 29, 1841, and his parents, Carl and
Hannah (Ingeman) Nelson, were
natives of the same country. With their family, numbering five
children, they came to America and made
their way at once across the country to Knoxville, where Mr. and
Mrs. Carl Nelson resided until called to
the home beyond. The father was one of the cholera victims of 1854
and the mother, long surviving him,
passed away in 1891. Their children were: Ollie C.; Swan, who died
in Jefferson City, Indiana, in 1862;
John C.; Mrs. Sarah Peterson; and
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 873
children. After remaining with them for a short time he returned to
his western home, a remarkable feat for one of his years, showing
the virile health and vitality he is now enjoying. He was married to
Lena Carter, who was a daughter of William Carter, whose birth
occurred near Mansfield, Ohio. She passed away in 1895. To their
union nine children were born, five of whom survive: William P., who
is the subject of this review; Isaac, who is in the real-estate
business in Chicago; Mary, who is married to W. R. Soper, of Galva;
Isabel, who is the wife of Dr. Burbank of Santa Cruz, California;
and Cora, who married Henry Fropwell, of California.
William P. Reed received a few years' education in the district
schools near his father's farm and at the same time was actively
engaged assisting his father in the duties on the home property,
beginning at the age of nine to handle the plow. He did other heavy
labor and attended school for a short time during the winter. In
1861, when he was eighteen years of age, he enlisted at Kewanee, for
service in the Civil war with Company H of the Ninth Illinois
Cavalry under Captain Bishop. He served for three years in the
western army under Sherman. In 1862 he also served under Stephen
Curtis through Missouri and Arkansas, and in the winter of 1862-63
continued to Memphis, Tennessee, to take part in the Grierson raid
through that state to Louisiana. He was captured in battle at
Moscow, Tennessee, and sent to the Alabama prison. Six weeks. later
he was transferred to Andersonville, where he remained for eight
months when he was again transferred, this time being sent to
Charleston, South Carolina. During his detention at Andersonville he
escaped once but was captured by bloodhounds. An incident worth
mentioning which took place during Mr. Reed's venturesome exploits,
occurred on his recapture, when within forty miles of Pensacola,
Florida, the rebels, to make doubly sure of their captive, had a
blacksmith weld irons on his arms and a ball and chain to his ankle.
Subsequently he escaped on a log in the river but was betrayed by a
negro and was again captured, but finally while on parole at
Savannah, Georgia, he escaped and for a month lived by begging.
Finally he became acquainted with a Union family, who supplied him
with clothing and twenty dollars in money, but he was again
captured, and while being transported to prison he jumped from the
freight car, joined his army and was sent to New York city. Later he
was sent to Annapolis, where he was mustered out and left for home
by way of Peoria, Illinois. Later, at Springfield, he was
discharged, and almost immediately afterward left for Colorado,
where for eighteen months he engaged in cattle herding. At the end
of that time he returned to Galva, but after his marriage returned
to southern Kansas, where for five years he was engaged in
agricultural pursuits until he purchased his present home. When he
went to Kansas he was in company with horse and sulky and took up a
land claim near Cherryville, where the Osage Indians were their
neighbors. He erected the cabin himself and built their log house.
The cabin had one half window for light. Two months later his wife
followed by way of Kansas City, and remained with her husband on
that place for five years. They resided within three miles of the
noted Bender family, but Mr. Reed had never heard of them until,
while searching for his cattle which had been lost, he met them.
This was during the Bender family's noted criminal and murdering
career. In 1873 Mr. Reed came to Galva and purchased his father's
farm. Two years later he
874 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
bought the place upon which he is now residing. He has since lived
near Galva continuously excepting the year of 1887 when he removed
to Galesburg, so that his children might have better educational
advantages. All his property has been brought under a high state of
cultivation, and under his capable management and, because of his
untiring efforts and perseverance, his is one of the most productive
properties in this section.
On July 17, 1867, Mr. Reed was married to Miss Mary Ellen Soper,
whose birth occurred on the 29th of September, 1848, near Kingston,
Illinois, and who is a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Eggleston)
Soper, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Albany,
New York. The mother came from Fulton county with her parents when
she was quite young. Joseph Soper was an agriculturist throughout
the greater part of his active career, but after disposing of the
management of his land, he engaged in the hardware and grocery
business at Galva, disposing also of that before his retirement. His
death occurred in 1907 when he was eighty years of age and the
mother is still living at the age of eighty-one years. Of their five
children only two survive, Emma Treloar, of California, and Mrs.
Reed.
Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Reed the following are living:
Josephine H., who is married to Daniel S. Kelly, of Victoria,
Illinois; Jay D., of Iowa, who is married to Retha Van Riper and who
is the father of three sons, William, Maurice and Claude; and Daniel
Porter, who is residing on the home farm and who is married to Miss
Bessie Van Buren, a daughter of John and Luella Van Buren. Mr. Reed
is a Mason, holding membership in Lodge No. 330, of Altona,
Illinois. He is also a member of the G. A. R. Post, No. 45, of
Galesburg. In his agricultural pursuits and subsequently in his
business undertakings Mr. Reed displayed the same marked
determination to succeed and ability to concentrate his whole
efforts upon one undertaking that he displayed while in the war. His
one aim has been to succeed and to succeed along lines which are a
credit to himself and his community, and to a large degree he has
met with that success.
JAMES E. ROBERSON.
James E. Roberson, who owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred
and sixty acres on section 18, Indian Point township, was born in
the southwestern part of Knox county, on the 7th of January, 1864.
His parents, James and Mary (Smith) Roberson, were both born in
Kentucky. The paternal grandfather, who was a farmer, died in the
Blue Grass state, after which his widow and four sons came to
Illinois. They located in Wood ford county, this state, in 1834 and
two years later came to Knox county, purchasing government land in
Indian Point township, that lately was sold for one hundred and
twenty dollars per acre. It was there that James Roberson spent the
remainder of his life and where his children were born and reared.
Mrs. Roberson is still living at the age of seventy and makes her
home in Abingdon. Four sons and two daughters were born of this
marriage: William, who is the eldest member of the family, now
residing in Abingdon; Luna, the wife of Jason Day, a farmer
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 875
of Iowa; Lida, who married Charles Kendall, of California; James E.,
our subject; Thomas, who is also a resident of California; and
Clarence, who is the youngest member of the family, a carpenter of
Abingdon.
The boyhood and youth of James E. Roberson were spent amid the
scenes with which his manhood has been familiar, his education
having been obtained in the district schools of Indian Point
township. He remained on the home farm with his parents until he had
attained his maturity, during which time he became thoroughly
familiar with the practical methods of agriculture, under the
capable supervision and direction of his father. For the past twenty
years he has been farming for himself, during which period he has
met with a fair measure of success. In 1892, he settled upon the
place he now owns, and here he engages in general farming in
connection with which he raises cattle, hogs and sheep, making a
specialty of breeding and raising a high grade of Poled Angus
cattle. His efforts in both lines of the business have been rewarded
with very good results and he is regarded as one of the substantial
citizens of the township.
The 22d of February, 1893, was the wedding day of Mr. Roberson and
Miss Clara Dawdy, a native of this township and a daughter of Warren
and Anna (Brown) Dawdy. The father is a native of Knox county, being
a son of one of the first settlers, while the mother was born in
Ohio. They are both living and continue to make their home on the
farm in Indian Point township, where they have resided for many
years. Two daughters were born unto them, the one Mrs. Roberson, and
the other, Minnie, who became the wife of John Schister and is
living on the old Roberson homestead.
Mr. and Mrs. Roberson are members of the Christian church and
fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows, being identified with
Abingdon Lodge, No. 184, I. O. O. F. In matters politic Mr. Roberson
gives his support to the democratic party, but does not actively
participate in township affairs, although he meets the requirements
of good citizenship by casting a ballot on election day. He is one
of the highly esteemed citizens of the community, whose excellent
judgment and inherent ability has enabled him to be numbered among
the prosperous agriculturists of the township.
J. ARTHUR ROUTH.
J. Arthur Routh, for years an electrician in Chicago and other
Illinois towns, is now operating a farm near Hermon, on section 19,
Chestnut township, Knox county, Illinois, where he was born January
21, 1873. His father, Thompson L. Routh, whose biography appears in
this volume, is a native of Clinton county, Ohio, coming to Chestnut
township, Knox county, Illinois, in the early fifties when he was
three years old. He followed the occupation of his father, engaging
in farming which he still pursues in this vicinity with much
success. His mother, Mary C. (Leigh) Routh, is a native of Knox
county.
J. Arthur Routh received a thorough education in the district
schools of his community, at Hedding College, Abingdon, and in the
Normal School there, and in the Bushnell Normal College. When
twenty-three years old he went
876 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
to Chicago and secured employment in the General Electric Company's
shops. After two years he left Chicago, continuing electrical work
at Pontiac, Peoria, Galesburg and Abingdon, covering in all a period
of eleven years. In 1907 he settled on the farm on section 19 where
he was born. Here he is living at present and operating one hundred
and five acres of land which furnish him with a generous income. He
also owns four hundred and sixty acres of land in Jackson county,
Wisconsin, and a residence in Abingdon. Besides general farming he
devotes himself to the raising of thoroughbred Jersey cows, an
occupation in which he has been unusually successful.
He was married to Miss Gertrude Robertson in 1900. She is a daughter
of William B. and Jennie (Neece) Robertson and is a native of
Colchester township, McDonough county, Illinois. Her father was born
in Kentucky and her mother in Missouri. They are still residing in
Colchester, where Mr. Robertson is engaged in farming and is also a
carpenter and contractor. They had four children born to them:
Herman C, a dairyman in Colchester; Ora, deceased; Gertrude, the
wife of J. Arthur Routh; and a child, who died in infancy. Gertrude
(Robertson) Routh was educated in the Colchester schools and at
Bushnell Normal College, and then taught school in her home
community for four years, when she resigned in order to marry Mr.
Routh. She is the mother of two children, Mildred Doris, seven years
old, and Howard Aubrey, three years old.
J. Arthur Routh votes with the republicans and has been road
overseer for one term. He and his wife are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church in which they are highly esteemed by a large circle
of friends.
THOMAS R. P. GOUGH.
Thomas R. P. Gough, who is filling the position of postmaster at
Williams-field, has been a resident of Knox county for twenty-seven
years. Pie was born in Bristol, Somersetshire, England, in 1864, and
is a son of R. C. and Frances (Jones) Gough. His parents spent their
entire lives in England, of which country the father was a native,
but the mother came from Wales.
Reared to the age of twenty years under the parental roof, Thomas R.
P. Gough attended a private school in. the pursuit of his education.
When he had acquired such knowledge as to enable him to undertake
life's heavier responsibilities, he laid aside his text-books and
learned the carpenter's trade. In common with many other young men
America strongly appealed to him as the promised land of
opportunities, in which to pursue his career amid conditions
somewhat different from those to which he had been born, and 1884
saw him on his way to the United States. Pie landed in New York city
and immediately made his way inland to Illinois, locating in Truro
township, Knox county. There he engaged in farm labor, in connection
with which he also followed his trade until 1893, when he took a
position with C. C. Davis & Company, who are in the grain business.
He remained in their employ for eleven years, resigning his position
to assume the duties of postmaster, to which office he was
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 877
appointed on the 1st of October, 1904. He is now serving his eighth
year in this capacity, in connection with which he has also done
farming.
For his wife Mr. Gough chose Miss Ethel May Tucker, a daughter of
Noah N. Tucker, and unto them have been born three children: Ellen
Frances, Glen Thomas and Mabel Evelyn.
The religious views of the family are manifested through their
affiliation with the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally Mr.
Gough is a Mason, holding membership in the blue lodge of
Princeville and the chapter of Yates City. He also belongs to the
Eastern Star of Princeville, and the Woodmen of the World, being
identified with the Williamsfield camp. In his political views Mr.
Gough is a republican, having given his unqualified endorsement to
the principles of this party ever since granted the full rights of
citizenship. He has displayed rare efficiency in discharging the
responsible duties of his present office, his service having proven
highly satisfactory to the community at large. During the long
period of his residence in Williamsfield, Mr. Gough has won and
retained the friendship of many of the most estimable citizens of
the town, as he has always manifested those qualities that
invariably win respect in both his public and private life.
N. N. TUCKER.
N. N. Tucker is the owner of a very attractive homestead of twenty
acres located a half mile southeast of Williamsfield, where he is
now living retired. For many years he was successfully engaged in
general farming and stock-raising in Knox county, the proceeds
realized from his business being largely invested in real estate in
the county and he now owns three hundred and twelve acres of farming
land in Truro township.
He was born on a farm located a half mile from his present
residence, November 18, 1858, and is a son of Samuel and Mary
(Mundy) Tucker. The father passed away in May, 1893, a^ the age of
seventy-one years, but the mother is still living and now resides in
Williamsfield. Samuel Tucker was born in Ash-land, Ohio, in October,
1822, the first twelve years of his life being spent on his father's
farm in his native state. In 1834 the family removed to Illinois,
settling in Brimfield township, Peoria county, where he resided for
fourteen years. At the expiration of that time he came to Knox
county, locating in Elba township, but at the end of six years
removed to Truro township, taking up his residence on a farm a half
mile south of Williamsfield. There he passed away, being at that
time the most extensive landowner in the township. The mother is a
daughter of one of Knox county's pioneer settlers, and represents
the third generation of her family in the county. Of the marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. Tucker there were born eleven children, seven of whom
are living, as follows: J. J., who is a resident of Courtland,
Kansas; L. V., who lives in Galesburg; Elizabeth, who married A. D.
Moon, living on a farm south of N. N. Tucker; N. N., our subject;
Sarah, the wife of C. H. Eastman, .of Galesburg; Mary Evelyn, who
married Dr. Ben D. Baird, of Galesburg; and Eugene, who lives at
Knoxville.
878 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
As he was reared in the country N. N. Tucker attended the district
schools, and while mastering the common branches, he was acquiring a
practical knowledge of agriculture by assisting his father with the
work of the farm. After leaving school he remained on the home place
for several years, devoting his entire time and attention to the
work of the fields and care of the stock, thus laying the foundation
for a successful agricultural career. He has been very fortunate in
his undertakings, having met with more than an average degree of
prosperity, and now owns, in addition to the place where he is
living, a farm containing one hundred and thirty-two acres, located
east of his homestead, and one hundred and sixty acres on section
36. Determination of purpose and unceasing industry have been
prominent factors in the success of Mr. Tucker, who has at all times
manifested clear judgment and good business sagacity in the
direction of his activities. He located on the place where he is
living at the present eighteen years ago, and during the greater
portion of that time engaged in general farming and stock-raising
but is now living retired, having acquired a competence that,
together with the income from his different properties, provides him
with all of the comforts of life.
For his wife and helpmate Mr. Tucker chose Miss Ellen Jordan of
Truro township, and unto them were born four children: Ethel, the
wife of T. R. P. Gough; Rilla, who married Fred Hurlbut, a farmer of
Truro township; Leonard, who married Nora Stodgel and is now a
resident of Williarnsfield; and Lola, who is still at home.
Fraternally Mr. Tucker is affiliated with the Masonic order, and his
political support he gives to the republican party. He is a
public-spirited, progressive man and has always taken an active
interest in all township affairs, and for eighteen years served as
road commissioner, while for thirteen years he was justice of the
peace. The ability with which he discharged the duties of both
offices is attested by the length of his terms. The entire life of
Mr. Tucker has been spent in the immediate vicinity of his present
home, where he enjoys a favorable acquaintance and has a large
circle of friends, many of whom were the comrades of his youth and
the playmates of his childhood.
WALTER N. DIKEMAN.
Walter N. Dikeman, who far twenty-five years has been engaged in
general farming six and a half miles southeast of Maquon, is a
native of Illinois. His birth occurred in Fulton county, July 14,
1853, ms parents being Cornelius and Lydia (Douglass) Dikeman, both
natives of the state of New York, where they were also reared and
married. During the early years of their domestic life they came
west, settling in Fulton county, where they spent the remainder of
their lives with the exception of one year when they resided in
Minnesota. Farming* always engaged the energies of Mr. Dikeman, who
with his wife and family endured all of the hardships of pioneering
during the early days, in order to bring the. wild land upon which
they located into a state of productivity. Two of the children born
of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dikeman lived to attain maturity, the
one beside our subject being James, a retired farmer of Fulton
county, who married Emerlis Bodkins.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 881
Reared on the farm, where he was born, Walter N. Dikeman's
educational advantages were confined to what the district schools in
the vicinity afforded. As the country was new and but sparsely
settled, the schools were primitive and offered but little
opportunity to acquire more than a thorough practical knowledge of
the common branches. After laying aside his text-books, his entire
attention was devoted to the cultivation of the home farm, during a
period of about three years. He then left the parental roof and
began his independent career as a farmer and for two years
thereafter leased land at different places. After the death of his
parents he returned to the old homestead, which he operated for five
years. Disposing of his interest in this at the expiration of that
time he came to Knox county and in 1886 settled upon the place where
he has ever since resided. Mr. Dikeman has effected extensive
improvements on this place during the period of his residence,
having erected substantial buildings and made many other changes of
a minor but telling nature. He owns five hundred and fifty-two acres
of land, one hundred and fifty of which he is renting to his son.
The remainder he devotes to general farming and stock-raising, in
both of which pursuits he has met with a most gratifying degree of
success. He is a man of energy, whose foresight and clear judgment
as well as practical ideas have been the secret means of his
attaining his present state of prosperity. He has always given his
personal supervision to the plowing, planting and harvesting of his
crops as well as the care of his stock, and that his efforts have
been amply rewarded is attested by his present circumstances.
Mr. Dikeman chose for his wife Miss Roletta B. Stiarwalt, a daughter
of George Montroville Stiarwalt, of Ohio. Of this marriage there
have been born five children. Rosa Belle, the eldest, married W. D.
McCoy and has three children, Merle Marie, William Earle, and Walter
'Dennis. Earle, who is operating part of his father's farm, married
Maude Ryer and has two children, Bernice Irene and Norma Maude.
Jessie Fay, the third in order of birth, married N. J. Nelson. The
two youngest children, Walter and Loretta Pearl, are both living at
home.
In his political views Mr. Dikeman is a republican, but he has never
taken an active part in township matters of a governmental nature,
his energies being bent upon the development of his varied interests
in which he has met with well merited success.
JAMES A. SHAFFER.
A prominent and highly successful agriculturist of Truro township
was the late James A. Shaffer, who passed away February 1, 1890. He
was born in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of April,
1841, a son of Benjamin B. Shaffer, a farmer, who removed from the
Keystone state to Illinois in 1856, locating in Knox county, where
he passed the remainder of his life.
James A. Shaffer was reared in his native state to the age of
fifteen years, attending the public schools in the acquirement of
his education. From early boyhood he was trained in
agricultural pursuits and naturally when he was
882 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
ready to begin working for himself chose the vocation to which he
was best adapted. In whatever he undertook he would have succeeded,
being a man of enterprise and industry and much determination of
purpose. He was practical in his ideas, progressive in his methods
and always directed his undertakings with foresight and
intelligence. At the time of his death he owned between four hundred
and fifty and five hundred acres of land in this township, all of
which was under high cultivation. A portion of this had been the old
family homestead, and during the long period of his occupancy Mr.
Shaffer effected many improvements in the property. He made a
careful study of the soil, planting his fields to such cereals as he
deemed best adapted to it. In connection with general farming he
also engaged in stock-raising, both undertakings proving lucrative
under his capable supervision. He was only forty-seven years of age
when he passed away, and was actively engaged in the operation of
his farm, three hundred and twenty acres of which is now being
cultivated by his son, Benjamin.
For his wife and helpmate Mr. Shaffer chose Miss Louisa J.
Oberholtzer, and they became the parents of six children. Vesper,
who is the eldest of the family, graduated from the Women's Medical
College of the Northwestern University in Chicago, and is now
engaged in the practice of her profession in that city. Joseph O.,
who is a farmer living in Canada, married Ella Grimm and they have
four children: Hortense; Lester, who is deceased; Vesper; and Helen.
Benjamin B., who is the second son, is engaged in the operation of
the old homestead. Lie married Mary E. Fitzgerald of Chicago.
Celesta married Walter Potts, a farmer of this township, by whom she
has had four children : Harold H., who is deceased; Willis J.; and
Lester B. and Letta Bell, who are twins. Letta became the wife of
Fred M. Brown and they are living on a farm in South Dakota. James
A., who is the youngest member of the family, is living at home.
Mr. Shaffer was a public-spirited man and took a deep interest in
all township affairs, giving his support to the men and measures of
the democratic party. He had high standards of citizenship and
always discharged his share of public duties faithfully, having
filled various offices of the township. A man of upright principles
and unquestionable integrity, loyal to his friends and true to every
trust reposed in him, he was held in high esteem by all who knew,
him, his death being occasion for deep and widespread regret
throughout the community.
OSBORN T. ROBERTS.
Osborn T. Roberts, who is engaging in general farming on section 26,
Cedar township, Knox county, has by means of his businesslike
methods and intelligent direction become recognized as one of the
capable and highly successful agriculturists of the community.
Mr. Roberts was born on a farm in Mercer county, Illinois, on the
nth of January, 1869, his parents being Obed and Mary Ottilia
(Peterson) Roberts. His father was a native of Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, his birth having there
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 883
occurred on the 28th of February, 1845. When a lad of eight years he
removed to the west with his parents who located in Mercer county,
where Mr. Roberts later engaged in farming for some time. About
twenty years ago he went to Henry county, this state, where he
acquired a farm in the cultivation of which he engaged until his
death on the 27th of May, 1911. The mother, who was born in Ohio
sixty-three years ago, is still living on the old homestead in Henry
county. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts there were born nine
children, of whom our subject is the eldest, the others being as
follows: Nellie, who is deceased; Frank, who is living in Henry
county, Illinois; Bessie, who is living at home; Mabel R., the wife
of F. E. Anderson, Cedar township, Knox county; George W., who is a
resident of Mercer county, Illinois; Grace, the wife of T. S.
Briggs, also of Mercer county; Arthur C, who is at home; and
Benjamin H., who is deceased.
The boyhood and youth of Osborn T. Roberts were spent on his
father's farms in Mercer and Henry counties, in the common schools
of which he obtained his education. At the age of twenty-four years
he withdrew from agricultural pursuits, to which he had devoted his
energies ever since his early boy-* hood, and engaged in the
hardware business in Alpha, Illinois. After spending six years in
commercial activities, he decided that the life of a farmer was more
independent and afforded greater possibilities, and therefore
disposed of his business and came to Knox county, where he has ever
since resided. He owns one hundred and nine acres of land, which by
means of intensive application and capable supervision he has
brought to a high state of cultivation. He has always taken great
pride in his homestead and during the period of his residence has
wrought many and extensive improvements, making it not only one of
the attractive but valuable properties of that district.
In 1893 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Emily Anderson,
whose birth occurred in Henry county, Illinois, on the 7th of
November, 1868. Mrs. Roberts is a daughter of the late Nels P. and
Louisa Charlotte (Anderson) Anderson, both natives of Sweden. The
father, who was a cabinet-maker, emigrated to the United States when
a boy. For many years he followed his trade in Galesburg, this
state, but the greater part of his life was spent in Henry county,
where he passed away about nine years ago. The mother was also
reared in America, having come to this country when a little girl
and early locating in Illinois, where she was living at the time of
her demise in 1898. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson there
were born seven children : Ida, who is deceased; Emily, now Mrs.
Roberts; Albert, who is a resident of New Windsor, Illinois; one who
died in infancy; Frank, who is living in Knox county; and the two
eldest, both of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Roberts, who is a woman
of rare charm and culture, obtained her early education in the
common schools of Knox county, after the completion of which she
attended Knox College at Galesburg. Later she studied music and
German at Hedding College, Abingdon, while she took a course in
painting while living at home. Having decided to devote her
attention to teaching, she subsequently pursued a professional
course in the normal school at Geneseo, Illinois, and for twelve
years taught in a school near Windsor, this state. The family of Mr.
and Mrs. Roberts numbers six, all of whom are still at home: Earl
F., Dole N., Keene O., June L., Nellie O. and Glenn O.
884 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
The religious belief of the family is manifested through their
membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, while Mr. Roberts'
fraternal connections are with the Masonic order of Abingdon and the
Modern Woodmen of America of Alpha, Illinois. During his earlier
years he gave his political support to the democratic party, but he
now votes the straight republican ticket. Fie belongs to the
progressive and modern class of agriculturists, who recognize the
necessity of applying to their work the same principles and methods
as pursued by the business man of any other field, and as a result
he is meeting with substantial success.
SALVADOR HUNTLEY
RYAN.
Although one of the more recent additions to the business circles of
St. Augustine, Salvador Huntley Ryan has, however, for many years
been actively identified with mercantile interests in Knox county
and in the meantime has gained for himself recognition as an
enterprising, progressive and successful business man. He is one of
Illinois's native sons, his birth having occurred in Pontoosuc on
the 29th of April, 1857, his parents being Adam H. and Nancy
(Aldredge) Ryan. The mother was born in Mount Vernon, Indiana, and
the father in Kentucky, and in the latter state they began their
domestic life, Mr. Ryan there giving his attention to general
farming. In 1848, however, he brought his little family, then
consisting of wife and two children, to Illinois, and here he
continued his operations in the field of agriculture, engaging in
that line of activity until the outbreak of the Mexican war, when he
enlisted and served throughout the period of hostilities. He
participated in many engagements and in the battle of Cerro Gordo
suffered the loss of one arm. his son, L. T. Ryan, served throughout
the Civil war. Following its close, in 1867, Adam H. Ryan went to
Missouri to live, and there his remaining days were passed, his
death occurring on the 1st of March, 1892. His wife survived until
the 2d of March, 1904, passing away at the home of her son Huntley.
After the arrival of the family in Illinois five children were added
to the household, but of the family of seven children only two are
now living, a brother of our subject, Andrew W. Ryan, now making his
home in Oklahoma.
In the schools of Victoria township, Knox county, Salvador Huntley
Ryan acquired a good education and after its completion he turned
his attention to farming as an occupation, being therein engaged in
Victoria township until thirty years of age. Thinking, however, to
find in mercantile pursuits a more congenial field of labor he
removed to the town of Victoria and for one year was there engaged
in general merchandising. Fie then took up his abode in
Williamsfield, Knox county, and continued in that line of business,
there remaining for thirteen years. In 1909 he arrived in St.
Augustine and since then has occupied a prominent place in the
business circles of the town as the proprietor of a general store.
Long experience in that avenue of activity has proven to him that
satisfied customers are the best advertisement and accordingly he
carries a stock of goods which is well adapted to meet the demands
of his patrons. The nature of his business policy, too, has begotten
the confidence of the general public, and the
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 885
business transacted over the counters of his house is constantly
increasing in importance and volume.
Mr. Ryan was married, in Galesburg, Illinois, on the 3d of February,
1876, to Miss Margaret Ericson, who was born in Manitowoc,
Wisconsin, in April, 1854. Her parents, who were both natives of
Sweden, came to the United States at an early day, locating in
Wisconsin. There the mother died and later the father came to Knox
county, Illinois, where he engaged in general farming until his
death. By her marriage to Mr. Ryan their daughter became the mother
of three children, as follows: Elmer M., a resident of Galesburg,
who married Miss Myrtle Breece, of Dahinda, Illinois; B. Doris; and
Edna S., the wife of John Rush, of Galesburg, and the mother of one
son, John. Mrs. Ryan passed away on the 27th of December, 1898, and
on the 18th of February, 1901, in Galesburg, Mr. Ryan was again
married, his second union being with Miss Margaret Brennan, who was
born in Abingdon on the 25th of November, 1862. Her parents, Thomas
and Alice Brennan, were natives of Ireland, where the father engaged
in railroading. He came to Knox county, Illinois, at an early day,
locating at Abingdon, where he made his home for several years,
after which he removed to Galesburg and there resided until his
death. The mother survives him. Unto the second marriage of Mr. Ryan
there has been born one child, Grace G.
Mr. Ryan's religious belief is that of the Methodist church while
fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias at
Williamsfield, and also with Williamsfield Lodge, No. 779, I. O. O.
F., having passed through all of the chairs in both bodies. He has
taken an active part in republican circles in Knox county, serving
as town clerk and treasurer of Williamsfield, and is now serving on
the village board of St. Augustine, while at the same time he is
acting as a member of the school board of St. Augustine. He takes a
keen interest in the various phases of public life, doing all in his
power to further the welfare of the community along material,
intellectual and moral lines, and is ranked among the influential
and representative citizens of the locality.
WILLIAM M. WELSH.
William M. Welsh, who is engaged in general farming and
stock-raising in Truro township, is a worthy representative of a
family that has long figured prominently in the agricultural annals
of Knox county. His birth occurred on the old homestead in the
vicinity of Maquon on the 24th of December, 1852, his parents being
Michael and Kathrin Welsh, who are mentioned at greater length
elsewhere in this work.
Reared on the farm in the acquirement of his education, William M.
Welsh attended the district schools. He passed the early years of
his life as did the other lads of the community at that period. When
not engaged with his lessons he was largely occupied in discharging
the tasks assigned by parental authority, while his leisure hours
were devoted to such pastimes and sports as were appropriate to the
season. He remained under the parental roof until he was
twenty-eight years of age, assisting in the operation of the farm.
Being in
886 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
every way qualified to begin his independent agricultural career, in
1880 he bought eighty acres of land on section 21 of this township,
upon which he settled. He applied himself assiduously to its
cultivation, directing his energies with such foresight and
intelligence that he met with good financial returns. As his
circumstances justified, he added to his holdings at various times
until he now owns two hundred and eighty-three acres on section 21,
forty acres on section 15, and twenty on section 16. During the long
period of his ownership he has made many improvements on his place,
including the erection of large, substantial barns and outbuildings
and the addition of many modern conveniences consistent with the
spirit of progress that has ever characterized his undertakings. Mr.
Welsh gives all of his attention to the plowing, sowing and
harvesting of his fields, and annually realizes a handsome dividend
on his season's labor. In connection with general farming he devotes
much attention to the raising of stock of a good grade, and this
also has proven to be very lucrative. System and method always
distinguish his undertakings, and as he is very energetic and
possesses an abundance of determination he is prospering in his
business enterprises. His property is given careful supervision; the
barns, fences, out-buildings and residence are kept in good repair,
the fields are well tilled and the grounds are neat and tastefully
arranged. Everything about the place indicates the capable
management and thrift that invariably accompany success.
For his wife Mr. Welsh chose Miss Mary Murphy, a daughter of John
and Bridget Murphy, farming people of this section, who emigrated
from Ireland to the United States in 1876, locating in Peoria
county. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Welsh, as
follows: Michael Mc, who is attending school at Normal, Illinois ;
J. E., who is employed on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
at Galesburg; William L., who is farming, and married Wilma Kern, of
Peoria; James Wendell, who is assisting with the home farm; and
Catherine E., who died at the age of six months.
The family are all communicants of the Roman Catholic church, and
fraternally Mr. Welsh belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. His
political allegiance he gives to the democratic party, considering
that their principles are best adapted to subserve the interests of
the nation in its entirety. He has always taken an active and
helpful interest in all township affairs, and for twenty years has
been a school director, and he has also served as assessor. Mr.
Welsh is one of the estimable citizens of the community and is proud
of the fact that he was born and raised in Knox county, where he has
ever since lived. His prosperity is the well merited reward of
industry and constant application in the direction of his
activities.
DANIEL BURNAUGH.
Daniel Burnaugh, now living retired in St. Augustine, was for many
years closely identified with the material up- building and
development of this town as carpenter and contractor, and many of
the substantial structures not only of this community but of the
surrounding district are monuments to the skill and handiwork of
this venerable octogenarian. One of Ohio's native sons, he was
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 887
born in Clermont county, on the 13th of August, 1830, his parents
being John and Sarah (Oswald) Burnaugh. The father, who was of
French descent, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, while the mother,
of German lineage, claimed Pennsylvania as the state of her
nativity. The family had long been established in Ohio, the
grandfather of our subject, Carey Burnaugh, having removed to that
state from Virginia at a time when Indians still inhabited that
region. There John Burnaugh was reared and married and there
followed the occupation of a builder and contractor throughout most
of his life time. His wife also passed away in Ohio. Of their family
ten children grew to maturity.
The educational privileges which Daniel Burnaugh received during the
period of his youth were those of the common schools of Clermont
county, Ohio, and when yet a lad in years, he learned the
carpenter's trade under the direction of his father, whom he
assisted prior to leaving his native state. In early manhood,
however, he came to Illinois, arriving in Knox county in 1856, and
for a year thereafter he made his home with an uncle, Joseph
Burnaugh, near Abingdon. In 1857 he came to St. Augustine and here
he has since resided with the exception of one year spent in Kansas
and a similar period in Michigan City, Indiana. Upon his arrival in
St. Augustine he purchased his present home and at once began
business as a carpenter and contractor, in which field of labor he
continued throughout his active career. He is a skilful workman, who
added to his mechanical ability modern ideas and progressive
methods, and it was not long before he had gained for himself a
reputation which won for him a large and remunerative patronage. He
built many of the residences, schools, churches and other structures
not only of his home town but also of Abingdon, Gales-burg and the
surrounding country, and for many years has been one of the well
known and representative business men of St. Augustine. He is still
active today, and is living in the enjoyment of a competency which
is the merited reward of a well spent and busy life.
Mr. Burnaugh was united in marriage in Knoxville, Illinois, on the
17th of December, 1856, to Miss Lucinda Dorman, who was born in the
state of Indiana in June, 1838, a daughter of Henry and Sarah
(Hendricks) Dorman, natives of Maryland and North Carolina
respectively. The father, a farmer by occupation, removed to
Tennessee in early life and later removed to Indiana, where he
carried on agricultural pursuits for some time. He came to Illinois
at an early period in its development, locating in Knox county, and
here carried on general farming until his demise, his wife also
passing away in this county. In their family were nine children,
five daughters and four sons, but only three are now living. Unto
Mr. and Mrs. Burnaugh were born four children, of whom two have
passed away. The elder surviving child, John, is married and resides
in Galesburg. He has two children, Gertrude, the wife of Orlie Alan,
residing near Abingdon, by whom she has three children, Russell,
Esteline and Ormand; and Juanita, living at home. Lillie Burnaugh
became the wife of Henry Mason and they now make their home near
Greenbush, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Burnaugh hold membership in the Christian church, the
teachings of which have ever formed the guiding influences in their
lives. His identification with the Masonic order covers a period of
more than a half century, dating from the year 1854, and he is now
one of the oldest members of that organization in the state,
belonging to Avon Lodge, No. 253, A. F. & A. M.,
888 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
Since 1857, or for a period covering more than fifty-four years, he
has resided in this present home, and in the meantime has been an
interested witness of the many changes which have been instituted
for the advancement of this section, and in this work of progress
and improvement he has taken an active part, his well directed
efforts not only resulting in substantial individual success but
also proving potent elements in the up- building of this district.
Few have taken a more active interest in the material growth of the
community, and St. Augustine numbers him among its loyal-spirited,
representative and valued citizens.
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