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Deaver, was born in Baltimore county, Md., November 20, 1828. His father was a native of Maryland and a blacksmith; his mother, of Washington, D. C. Stephen, Jr., learned the woolen business in his native county, and about 1843 moved to Philadelphia, Pa., where he was engaged in that trade for fifteen years, meanwhile resided at Bonaparte, Ia., for two years. About 1838 he moved to Wilmington, Del., and in 1839 to Northeast, Md., where he married Miss Hattie Carter, of Brandywine, Del. Returning to Wilmington, in 1862, he lived there until 1868, when he came to Monmouth, Ill. In 1869 he came to Toulon, Stark county, and embarked in the manufacture of woolen goods with his brother-in-law, James Frill. In 1871, Mr. Deaver acquired a sole interest in the mills and business, conducting them successfully down to the present time. Mr. and Mrs Denver are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the former since 1866, the latter from her girlhood. He has also served the society as steward and class-leader; is a member of the Stark County Agricultural Society and of the Toulon Lodge of Odd Fellows. his son, William Ellsworth Dearer, is a young man of much promise.
Miss Kezia Dexter, nee Mrs. Young, was born in Maine, in 1799; married Stephen Young in 1823; moved to Iowa in 1854, and to Toulon in 1858. Mr. Young died in 1875; herself on February 3, 1886.
Robert J. Dickenson, son of William Townsend and Rebecca (Weller) Dickenson, was born at Woodburne, Sullivan county, N. Y., September 3, 1836. His parents were natives of Duchess county, N. Y., and Vermont, respectively. In 1855, they moved to this county, where Robert J. Dickenson completed his knowledge of the building trade, with his father and has been very prominently connected with this trade down to the present time. In 1857 he married Miss Laurette M., daughter of James Chapman, of Steuben county, N. Y. Their children are: James B., a builder, of Toulon; Harvey E., paper-hanger, frescoer and decorator; Laura A. and John W. Upon the beginning of the Rebellion Mr. Dickenson was residing at Lafayette. On August 14, 1862, he enlisted in Company B., One-hundred and-twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and followed the fortunes of that command until, at the siege of Vicksburg, he lost his arm by a minnie bullet; was sent to hospital and received honorable discharge September 24, 1863. On regaining health he engaged in teaching school, meantime giving attention to the arts of drafting and building. Many of the new business blocks at Toulon, Samuel Burge's palatial residence, the Congregational church, the County Agricultural Society's buildings, the residence of A. F. Stickney, S. M. Adams and A. H. Galbraith, with those of the Armstrongs, Lehmans and H. H. Oliver, bear testimony to the character of his studies in this direction. Mr. Dickenson is a member of the W. W. Wright Post, G. A. R., of the I. O. O. F. and of the Stark County Agricultural Society. He is a strong temperance advocate, and for years has been identified with the literary, musical and social progress of Toulon.
Mrs. Dorcas, wife of the late B. S. Foster, died at Little River, Kan., April 28, 1883, aged seventy-four years. She came from Maine to Illinois thirty-five years prior to 1883.
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OF TOULON TOWNSHIP.
Henry Bradford Dorrance, deceased, was the son of Lemuel Smith and Mahala (Fuller) Dorrance. He was born in what is now Penn township, August 30, 1836. Lemuel was descended from one of the old Dutch families of Pennsylvania, while his wife, daughter of Orange and Hepsey (Munroe) Fuller, was born in York state, the ancestors of her father being some of the "Mayflower" immigrants, as related in the history of the Fuller family in this chapter. Henry B. was educated in the schools here and at Galesburg. On August 1,1858, he married Miss Mary E., daughter of John ZR. and Lucretia (Hallawbaugh) Powell. The father was a native of New Jersey, where his Welsh ancestors settled, and her mother of Pennsylvania, where her German ancestors made a home. Mary (Powell) Dorrance was born July 4, 1842, at Milwaukee, Wis., but was brought to this county when a child, and here was educated. In 1858, with her husband, she took up her residence on his fifty-acre farm in Penn township, and moved with him to Toulon township, where he purchased one hundred acres. Their children are,. Effie L., wife of E. P. Engle, Cowly county, Kan., and Lemuel S. attending school at Brooklyn, Iowa. Mr. Dorrance was a farmer during his whole life. In politics he was decidedly republican, in school matters ever interested and in business upright. His death occurred in March, 1885.
John Drinnin, born in Ireland in 1812, came to Canada in 1832, to the United States in 1884; was a contractor on the Erie railroad; married Miss Acker at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1840; moved to Toulon township in 1844, where he died September 16, 1881. Father Moynihan conducted the service of the dead. Joseph Drinnin, a Stark county man, was elected sheriff of Platte county, Neb., in 1885.
Luther Driscoll, whose name is identified with the early history of Stark, was born in Connecticut, May 14, 1791, died April 5, 1858. His wife was Mary Neal, born in Pennsylvania, December 28, 1809, died July 30, 1876. Their son, G. C. Driscoll, resides near Lafayette.
Mrs. Mary Etta Dugan, one of the very old settlers, died May 10, 1881, aged sixty-five years.
William Dunn, a soldier of the war of 1812, died January 23, 1863, aged eighty-seven years, at the house of his son-in-law, Seth Johnson, at Toulon. He was a native of York state.
Rev. R. C. Dunn, born in Georgia, like his brother Augustus, was in his youth a school teacher in Georgia. On moving to Ohio with the family in 1831, he studied at Cincinnati, and on coming to this county in 1836, left nothing undone to acquire practical knowledge. In 1840 he attended the Galesburg Academy, working for his board and tuition; in 1843 he entered college there, and in 1847 was one of three who graduated with the second class graduated from Knox College. In 1850 he received the diploma of Master of Arts, having meantime traveled and taught school in several places. On October 31, 1850, he married Miss Sarah A. Marvin, then cast aside his law studies, and in November, 1850, entered the Union Theological Seminary, of New York studied there for three years, preached for one year in Western New York, then came to Peoria, where he filled the pulpit of the Congregational church for three months, and in January, 1855,
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succeeded Rev. S. G. Wright, as minister at Toulon, as related in the history of the Congregational church there. In 1867 he was called to Oneida, Knox county, and there died May, 24, 1868, and in 1869 his remains were moved to Toulon. In the history of Toulon, the school chapter and political chapter, full references are made to this distinguished pioneer.
Otis T. Dyer and family left Wyoming for San Francisco in July, 1880.
William M. Eagelston, born at Albany, N. Y., April 15, 1819, is the son of John T. and Mary (Charles) Eagelston. Father was a native of Philadelphia. and son of James Eagelston. a seafaring man and captain in the United States Mercantile Marine, who served with distinction in the war of 1812, and died of his wounds in Bellevue Hospital, New York. He was one of seven brothers, who came to America from Yorkshire, England, but little of whom is known. John T. was a rope and sail maker by trade, and the only child of Captain James Eagleston. He married at Albany, N. Y., Miss Mary Charles, a native of Oxfordshire, England, by whom he had three sons and three daughters, all of whom became the heads of families, namely: William M.; James, a farmer of Texas, who settled there before the war; Thomas is a farmer of Penn township; Maria is widow of Pierson Shepherd, of Peoria county; Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Soper, of Kansas, and Ellen, widow of the late Mr. Ribby, of Illinois. William M. spent his boyhood at Albany, and came with his parents to Illinois in 1833, who settled at what is now Kickapoo town, Peoria county, Ill., where William grew to manhood and married Miss Emiline Fargo, a native of Ashtabula county. O., whose parents, Thomas and Mabel (Bidwell) Fargo, removed to Peoria county, Ill., in 1835. They have five sons and four daughters—Harriet Ann, deceased wife of Allen Ticknor, of Iowa, she died in Penn township, leaving one son now deceased; John is a farmer of Penn township, and parent of one son and one daughter; William is a farmer of Osceola township and has three sons and two daughters; George D. is a farmer of Penn township, has four sons; Charles, a farmer of Penn, has two daughters; Jennie, wife of J. C. Bloomer, real estate and money dealer of Kansas City; Fannie, wife of S. H. Smith, a merchant of Ottawa, Kan.; James, a farmer, and Abbie. Upon coming to this county in 1852, Mr. Eagelston took up land in Penn, purchased 160 acres which he improved and meantime added property aggregating 640 acres of choice land, improving during his time the making of four large and well improved farms. In 1873 he removed to Wyoming. Has served on the school board of the township, and has taken a full part in all matters relating to public well-being. He has given considerable attention to stock-growing and horse-breeding as well as agriculture. Thomas Fargo was born in Saundersfield, Mass., and of a long line of ancestry of that state. His mother was born in Lichfield, Conn. Thomas Fargo was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Eagelston is a member of the Masonic order with three of his sons. He is a member of the Royal Arch, while Mrs Eagelston is a member of Eastern Star Lodge, with two of her daughters, Jennie and Abbie.
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Calvin Livermore Eastman, son of Stephen and Sarah (Emmons) Eastman, was born at Bridgewater, N. H., January 21, 1814, of which state his parents and grandparents were natives. Stephen was the son of Thomas Eastman, jr., who was a soldier in the War of Independence, and was engaged in the battles of Bunker Hill, Monmouth, Stillwater (where he was severely wounded) and Saratoga. Stephen's family consisted of. five sons and two daughters; of whom only three sons are now living -- Calvin L. and Stephen W., who reside at Toulon, Ill.; and Luther D., who resides at Bloomington, Ill. The daughters married, and both died on the old homestead in Bridgewater. The mother of these children died on the old homestead, in December, 1824, and the family was then broken up and the children separated. Calvin L., then about eleven years of age, was bound to a paper maker at Holderness, now Ashland, N. H., where he remained three and one-half years, and then returned to his home, and remained until the .spring of 1830, when he went to Plymouth, N. H., and apprenticed himself to a blacksmith at $80 a year. He left Plymouth late in the fall of 1834, and went to Newton, Mass., where he readily found employment at his trade of blacksmith, at $15 per month. He remained at Newton until April, 1838 working at his trade, attending school there and at New Hampton, N. H., and teaching school. On the 13th of, April, 1838, he left Boston for the west, and arrived at Hennepin, Ill. about the 1st of May. From Hennepin he came, by the way of Indiantown (now Tiskilwa) and Providence, to what is now Stark county, and located near Cox's Mill, on Indian Creek, where he established a blacksmith shop about the 1st of August, 1838. Here he was joined by his brother Stephen W., late in December of the same year, and they worked together at blacksmithing until the following spring, when they erected a shop in the then village of Moulton, where they continued the business until the spring of 1843, when they dissolved partnership, and Calvin L. moved the shop upon an adjoining quarter section of land (N. W. 10), which he had purchased; and there continued to work at his trade while improving his land. Mr. Eastman sold this farm, with other lands which he had purchased, in the fall of 1851, and removed to Toulon, and in the following year built the dwelling house where he now resides, where he has lived most of the. time since. Mr. Eastman was married at Princeville, Peoria county, January 30, 1844, to Miss Elmina, daughter of Stephen French, Esq., of Prince's .Grove, who settled there in 1828 -- the first white family that settled in that vicinity. Mrs. Eastman was the third child of eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. French, all but one of whom are now dead. Mrs. Eastman died at Toulon, July 3,1886 after having been many years an invalid. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Eastman are Charles W., a prominent merchant of Winterset, Iowa; Frank F., a graduate of West Point now a lieutenant in the Fourteenth Regiment, United States Infantry, stationed at Vancouver Barrack, Washington Territory; Fred A., four years sheriff of Ida county, Ia., and at present an extensive dealer in lands and. Live stock in that county, and Miss Sarah L. Eastman, who lives at home and keeps house for her father.. Stark county adopted the system of town-
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ship organization in 1852, and Mr. Eastman, Henry Breese and Theodore F. Hurd were appointed commissioners to divide the county into towns and name them. They met at Toulon, January 3 1853 and divided the county into eight towns identical with the congressional townships, and gave them the names they now bear. Mr. Eastman was elected the first supervisor of Toulon, in April 1853. In 1856, Mr. Eastman and John T. Lindsay of Peoria were nominated by the republicans to represent the legislative district composed of Stark and Peoria counties, in the General Assembly, and were elected; but in one town. in Peoria county 150 votes were cast for Calvin M Eastman instead of Calvin L Eastman. and upon this flimsy pretext he was refused a certificate and his competitor was seated Upon a contest in the house Mr. Eastman was denied the seat to which he had been rightfully elected by a tie vote. In 1862 Mr. Eastman was again nominated, with Enoch Emery of Peoria, for the General Assembly; and both received a large majority in republican Stark, but were defeated by the heavy democratic vote in Peoria county and their competitors, Judge William Holgate of Stark, and W. W. O'Brien of Peoria were seated. After Mr. Eastman removed to Toulon he purchased, improved and sold two large farms in Stark county, and has always been considered a model farmer. In 1876 he bought and improved, and erected good substantial buildings upon, a' section of land in Ida county, Iowa. A railroad was built through and a station located upon it, which greatly enhanced its value, and in 1882 he sold out and quit farming, but purchased another section which he now owns. No man in. the community has done more to improve the county, enhance the value of property and add to the comfort of man and beast by the erection of substantial buildings, than Mr Eastman. It has been his greatest pleasure to convert raw, uncultivated land into beautiful farms with productive fields and comfortable homes. In his private 'life Mr. Eastman has always been an active, enterprising citizen, taking an active part and working faithfully for the advancement of good morals, good society and good government; and in his business and social relations doing unto others as he would have them do unto him.
Stephen W. Eastman, the third son of Stephen and Sarah (Emmons) Eastman, was born at Bridgewater, N. H., November 15, 1815. His brothers were Luther D., Calvin L., Albert F. and John E.; his sisters were Sarah E. and Hattie A. His mother died in December, 1824, and the family being broken up, he lived at different places in the vicinity of Bridgewater until the spring of 1834, when he went to learn the blacksmith's trade at Wentworth, N. H. He remained there about two years, and then moved to Charlestown, Mass., where he remained and worked at his trade until the fall of 1838, except while attending two terms of school at Newton, Mass., and two terms at New Hampton, N. H., with his brother Calvin. Late in December, 1838, he emigrated from Massachusetts to Illinois, and joined. his brother, Calvin L., at Moulton village on Indian creek in Stark county. The brothers carried on their trade, blacksmithing, in partnership until the spring of 1843, when the partnership was dissolved, and Stephen proceeded to
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Chicago, Ill., where he remained until the fall of the same year. He then returned to Stark. county, and engaged in blacksmithing at Toulon on his own, account. Mr. Eastman was married May 23, 1845, to Susan M. Gill, daughter of Elder Elisha Gill. Two daughters were born to them –Celestia J. and Eliza. The former married Solomon Fields, now of Shenandoah, Page county, Iowa and the latter E. B. Cox, now of Odel, Neb. Both are the mothers of large families. Mr. Eastman was elected probate judge in 1847, but resigned the office in the spring of 1849 to join the army of gold-seekers who flocked to the California diggings that year. He remained absent two years, and then returned, as most of the gold hunters. did, no better off than when he started. On his return Mr. Eastman. found that his wife had died on December 1850. She was the first person buried in the new Toulon cemetery. He went to work improving the farm he still owns, situated about three miles east of Toulon, and to which he has added from time to time until he now owns 380 acres of valuable land. On January 16, 1855, he married Mrs. Martha Merchant, of this county, and they at once went to house-keeping on the farm. Mr. Eastman now ceased working at his trade, and devoted his whole time and attention to farming, and soon became an extensive and successful farmer. Three children were born by his second wife--Stephen Melber, Hattie Luella and John E. The first two are dead. Mr. Eastman became an active member of the first Baptist church of Toulon in 1854, and was soon afterward appointed or chosen deacon. This position he has held ever since, and has always been one of the most liberal supporters of his church. By reason of his age and infirmities he has retired from the farm and farming and now lives at Toulon, where he will probably spend the rest of his days.. Mr. Eastman and all of his brothers were and are Republicans in politics. The Eastmans have never made much use of strong drink; and for more than one hundred and fifty years only one member of the family has ever used tobacco in any form.
Emory J. Edwards, born in Essex county, New Jersey, April 7, 1839, is the son of William H. and Deborah (Aldrich) Edwards. He was son of Rev. John Edwards, a native of Connecticut, and a methodist minister. William H. and wife moved to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where Emory J. Edwards was reared and educated. In 1865 he moved to Illinois, located in Osceola township, and carried on farming there for several years. In 1873 he left the farm, and settling at Wyoming, engaged in the hotel business, but a few years after resumed farming in Essex township. In 1883 he returned to Wyoming, and engaged in the hardware business, which he conducted until 1884, since which time he has devoted his attention to his two farms. His daughter, Mary, is the wife of Marion Beall, now of Nebraska. She was the daughter of Mrs. Lizzie S. Brace, niece of Myrtle Brace, and wife of Mr. Edwards, who died in 1880, and is buried at Wyoming. She had been a worthy member for eighteen years of the M. E. church. Mr. Edwards married Mrs. Mandana Harwood, nee Merrill. They have one daughter, Alizina Harwood, and one son and daughter married—Nelson, a merchant of Bradford, and Ruhama, the wife of Will-
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