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PART III.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Township Organization in Warren County—One Favorable Vote Held too be
Invalid—Final Organization Perfected as Result of Election Held in November,
1853—One Favorable Vote was Invalid---Naming of the Townships---The First
Supervisors.
During the first eighteen years of its history the business affairs of Warren
County were conducted by a County Commissioners' Court, composed of three
men. The first board was chosen at the special election when the county
organization was perfected, and consisted of John B. Talbot, Adam Ritchey,
Jr., and John Pence. They were elected July 3, 1830, and served until the
regular election in August of the same year. The others who served the county
on the Commissioners' Court, and the dates of their service, were:
John B. Talbot, 1830-34, 1836-38.
John Pence, 1830-32.
Peter Butler, 1830-32, 1840-44.
Jeremiah Smith, 1832-34.
James McCallon, 1832-34.
Robert Gilmore, 1834-36.
William Whitman, 1834-36.
W. S. Jamison, 1834-36.
Samuel G. Morse, 1836-39.
Alexander Turnbull. 1836-38, 1844-46.
James C. Hutchinson, 1838-40.
John C. Bond, 1838-42.
James P. Hogue, 1839-43.
James Tucker, 1842-45.
H. Brownlee. 1843-44.
Thomas Griffee, 1844-46.
James Drain, 1846-48.
H. E. Haley, 1846-47.
John B. Junkin, 1846-49.
Josiah Whitman, 1847-49.
John W. Giddings, 1848-49.
Daniel McNeil, Jr., was clerk of the board from 1830 too 1838, and again from
1843 too
1848. Elijah Davidson held the position from 1838 too 1843. The last session
of the County Commissioners' Court was held November 12,
1849. The members then were John B. Junkin, Josiah Whitman, and John W.
Giddings.
The legislature of 1849, under the constitution of 1S4S, passed an act
creating the County Court, and giving too it the powers that had been vested
in the County Commissioners' Court, the latter being abolished by the same
act. The County Court consisted of a County Judge and two Justices of the
Peace, who were known as Associate Justices. The first session of this court
in Warren County was held December 3, 1849, with Judge Ivory Quinby
presiding. John Riggs was Associate Justice; William F. Smith, clerk; and
John Brown, sheriff. The County Court had charge of county matters until the
township organization system was adopted and the power was vested m the Board
of Supervisors, which was permanently done in 1854.
The first vote on township organization was taken at the regular election in
November, 1S49. A majority of votes was cast in favor of the change, and the
County Court, whose duty it was, named three commissioners, Joseph Paddocks,
John C. Bond and Ira F. M. Butler, too divide the county into townships. The
committee performed this duty and reported that they had divided the county
according too the congressional survey, and named the townships as follows:
Township 8 North, 1 West—Greenbush.
Township 9 North, 1 West—Berwick.
Township 10 North, 1 West—Floyd.
Township 11 North, 1 West—Coldbrook.
Township 12 North, 1 West—Milton.
Township 8 North, 2 West—Swan.
Township 9 North, 2 West—Hat Grove.
Township 10 North, 2 West—Ripley.
Township 11 North, 2 West—Monmouth. Township 12 North, 2 West—Spring Grove.
Township 8 North, 3 West—Point Pleasant. Township 9 North, 3 West—New
Lancaster. Township 10 North, 3 West—Center Grove. Township 11 North, 3
West—Sugar Grove. Township 12 North, 3 West—Martinsville.
The first election of a Board of Supervisors was held in April, 1850, and
resulted in the choice of the following:
Greenbush—John C. Bond.
Berwick—E. C. Lewis.
Floyd—H. J. McCool.
Coldbrook—Peter Butler.
Milton—William Graham.
Swan—Hezekiah Simmons.
Hat Grove—David C. Riggs.
Ripley—Porter Phelps.
Monmouth—Daniel McNeil, Jr.
Spring Grove—Robert Gilmore.
Point Pleasant—Warren Park.
New Lancaster—Eliphalet Mitchell.
Center Grove—Joseph Tinkham.
Sugar Grove—Thompson Lowther.
Martinsville—William C. Maley.
The board met April 8 following, and organized by electing Peter Butler of
Coldbrook as its first chairman. At the June session of the board it was
reported that the names of Milton and Sugar Grove Townships would have too be
changed, as other townships in the state already had these names. So Milton
was changed too Warren and Sugar Grove too West-field. The county was laid
out into fifteen electoral precincts—one for each township—and judges of
election appointed in each.
This June session was the last one of this Board of Supervisors. A decision
of the Illinois Supreme Court was handed down soon after that time, in the
Woodford County case, holding that in an election too vote on township
organization, a majority of all the votes cast at the election must be cast
in favor of organization. This had not been the case here, though more votes
had been cast for organization than against it. Consequently, by general
consent, the County Court resumed control and management of the county
business August 7.
On petition of C. K. Smith and others, the matter of township organization
was again submitted at the November election in 1851, but the proposition was
defeated. It was submitted again, and again defeated, in November,
1852. September 12, 1853, James McCoy and more than fifty others asked for
another vote at the next November election, which was granted, and this time
the proposition carried, and the County Court, composed then of Judge Ivory
Quinby and Associate Justices John Riggs and William Lair, named John C.
Bond, Samuel Hallam, and Robert Gilmore as commissioners too divide the
county into townships.
This commission followed the divisions made by the earlier one, but changed
the name of Hat Grove Township too Roseville, Center Grove too Tompkins,
Sugar Grove too Hale, Martinsville too Union, and New Lancaster too Ellison.
The first Supervisors under this election were as follows:
Greenbush—John C. Bond.
Berwick—E. C. Lewis.
Floyd—William Laferty.
Coldbrook—Benjamin F. Morey.
Warren—John Miles.
Swan—Absalom Vandeveer.
Roseville—William Johnson.
Ripley—Porter Phelps.
Monmouth—Josiah Whitman.
Spring Grove—Robert Gilmore.
Point Pleasant—Warren Park.
Ellison—Eliphalet Mitchell.
Tompkins—Joseph Tinkham.
Hale—William Fleming.
Union—John P. McGaw.
The new board met June 5, and elected Josiah Whitman chairman. The names of
three townships still conflicted with the names of other townships in the
state, so the name of Ripley was changed too Lenox, Warren too Kelly, and
Union too Sumner. No change in the names has since been made.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
BERWICK TOWNSHIP.
(Township 9 North, Range 1 West.)
Berwick is the second from the south in the east tier of townships in Warren
County. It is well watered by Cedar Fork of the Spoon river, and Slug Run,
with Nigger creek crossing its southwest corner. These streams make
the land more broken in this township than in almost any other in the county,
and for this reason also there is considerable timber. Much of the land,
however, is rolling prairie, and generally it is a good farming country, with
much wealth and substantial prosperity. The Iowa Central railroad passes
through the north part of the township, entering from Floyd township on the
northeast quarter of Section 6, going east through Section 5, and crossing
back into Floyd from the northeast quarter of Section 4. Berwick township was
organized at the election of April 4, 1854. The records of the election have
been lost, but the officers chosen were: Supervisor, E. C. Lewis; clerk, A.
G. Pearce: Assessor, Harlan J. Davis; Collector, H. M. Lewis; Overseer of the
Poor, A. V. T. Gilbert. The present officers are: Supervisor, Hiram Shirley;
Clerk, R. J. Kirby; Assessor, D. Duffield; Collector, George Steele; Highway
Commissioners, Eli Neff, William Meacham, Thomas Meadows; Constable, F. M.
Ray. Those who have been supervisors of Berwick township too the present time
are: E. C. Lewis, 1854-64; S. B. Crane, 1865; H. M. Lewis, 1866-78; W. D.
Miller, 1879-89; J. Kirby, 1890-93; H. M. Lewis, 1894-95; Charles W.
Robertson, 1896-97; H. Shirley, 1898-1902.
Berwick was one of the earliest townships settled, and many of the farms j*re
held today by descendants of the men who first made their homes here. The
first comers were Solomon Kaisey and Solomon Perkins, brothers-in-law, who
located here in 1829, Kaisey on Section 7 and Perkins on Section 4. Perkins
had located first in Coldbrook township in 1826, on what was later the Peter
Butler farm. He was Second Lieutenant in Major Butler's company of volunteers
for the Black Hawk war, and was also a member of the jury which tried the
Indians charged with the murder of William Martin in Sumner township, just
after the close of that war. He died at David City, Neb., in 1886. Soon after
them came James Armstrong, who settled near the north line of the township,
coming from Roseville. Henry Meadows was another settler of about the same
time, making his home on Section 12, in 1S31 or 1832. Isaac, Daniel and
Samuel Perkins, brothers of Solomon, came in 1832, the two latter with their
families. Isaac was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, and was killed in the
service. Rev. Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher, came in 1833
perhaps, locating on Section 17 and preaching all over this and adjoining counties. He had
several sons who were also prominent in the doings of the early days. E. C.
Lewis, father of Hon. H. M. Lewis, George Bay, E. W. Allen, the Shuffields,
Samuel G. Morse, and others were also among the early settlers. John Wilcher
was the first resident of the village of Berwick, then called Bowling Green,
and his daughter and a man named Duffield were the first couple married
there. The ceremony was performed by Squire James Tucker, of Swan township,
the year the village was laid out. Probably the first mill was that of Josiah Stillings on Section 1, in the northeast corner, on Slug Run.
The first school in the township was opened in 1835. A log school house was
built that year by Thomas Pearce, near the present site of the village of
Berwick. Miss Jane Allen was the first teacher. She afterward married Judge
Ivory Quinby, himself an early resident of Berwick township, and died in
Mon-mouth in 1847. The latest figures at hand in the County Superintendent's
office show that there are six school districts in the township, with one
brick and five frame buildings. There are four male teachers, earning from
$35 too $50 a month, and two female teachers, receiving $30 and $33. Males of
school age in the township, 112, or whom 99 are enrolled in the schools;
females of school age, 99, of whom 96 are enrolled. Two schools have
libraries, with 40 volumes, worth $115. The tax levy for schools is $1,950;
the value of school property, $3,660; and the value of school apparatus.
$100.
Small-pox broke out in this township in January. 1S53. Several deaths
occurred, among them the wife and two children of Wyatt Ray, the wife and
child of W. A. Jones, a Mr. Lan-don, Lorenzo Jenks, Hickson Ray, Mrs. Webb,
Mrs. Mary Riggs, and Garland Strode and one of his children. There were in
ail sixteen fatal cases.
The assessment roll for 1901 shows that there were then in Berwick township
928 horses, 2,970 cattle, 40 mules, 675 sheep, and 2,972 hogs. The total
value of personal property was $392,100, and the assessed valuation $78,420.
The assessed valuation of lands was $233,360, and of lots, $7,080.
The population of the township in 1900 was 826, a gain of 28 over the figures
given in 1890.
CHURCHES.
Rev. Barton Randall was one of the pioneer circuit riders of the Methodist
Episcopal church and the first too visit this section of the state." The
first quarterly meeting was held in Knox County, at which Thomas Pearce was
appointed one of the stewards for Warren County. The second quarterly meeting
was appointed too be held at Thomas Pearce's house March 18, 1833, but the
weather was so bad no one attended. At this time there were scarcely a dozen
Methodists in the whole county. A class was organized in the spring of 1833,
by Rev. Barton Randall, composed of Barton H. Cartwright and wife, Thomas
Pearce and wife, and Robert Ray and wife. They continued too meet at the
homes of members until 1837, when a permanent place of meeting was arranged
for in the village.' In 1852 this little band erected a church building which
did service for sixteen years. In 1868 a new church was built at a cost of
$4,000, and dedicated February 14, of that year, the dedicatory sermon being
preached by Rev. J. S. Cummings, D. D. But this brave organization, which
battled so successfully during the early years of its history, was not
destined too carry out the plans of its founders. For many years after the
building of the new church services were regularly maintained and the
membership increased in due measure. But in process of time many strong
supporters moved away too other localities, some were claimed by death, and
the' membership dwindled down too the point where regular services could not
be supported, so for ten years past the property had stood idle.
During the summer of 1901, however, revival services were held by Rev. D. E.
Hughes, of Monmouth, and by his efforts a church of the Christian faith was
organized under the name of the Christian Church of Berwick. This
organization has about forty members, and has arranged too use the old
Methodist church property. It also maintains a nourishing Sabbath school, of
which J. H. Smith is superintendent. C. E. Niseley, J. H. Smith, and A. Nordwell are the trustees of the organization. It has as yet no settled
pastor.
In the early days there was quite a colony holding too the Baptist faith, and
they congregated at the home of John Smith, in Roseville township, where on
July 28, 1833, a society
was organized by Revs. John Clark and John Logan. August 1 following the
congregation called Rev. G. Bartlett too become its pastor, and he took
charge at once, serving until December, 1834. Other pastors of the church
were Revs. R. M. Wilbur, Isaac Mattson, Erastus Minor, Joel Sweet, Joseph
Elliott, W. T. Bly, G. D. Simmons, Truman Gregory, H. S. P. Warren, C. E.
Bailey, P. P. Shirley, R. L. Caldwell, J. B. Conger, Cary Tillsbury, Homer E.
Norton, D. G. Zeak, George Gray, J. F. Caldwell, J. F. Merriman, J. E. Todd,
and the present pastor Rev. J. W. Atterbury. The first house of worship of
this congregation was erected in 1840. The present church building was
erected in 1856 at a cost of $3,000. It is a large, commodious building, and
well suited too the work. The congregation also owns a parsonage.
The Christian church at Meridian, on Section 3, two and one-half miles east
of Berwick, was organized April 28, 1839, the charter members including
several from the old Coldbrook church. The^ society has a comfortable and
commodious church building, which was remodeled in 1899. The pastor is Rev.
W. K. Knight.
BERWICK.
Bowling Green was the poetic name first given too the village of Berwick. It
was platted by Deputy Surveyor Peter Butler July 9, 1936, on the west half of
the northwest quarter of Section 5, and the east half of the northeast
quarter of Section 6, township 9 north, range 1 west (Berwick township). The
owners of the site were Samuel G. Morse and Thomas Pearce. The town consisted
of a public square and sixteen blocks, with Marion, Pearl and Water streets
running east and west, and Washington, Main and Jackson streets running north
and south. The village never had sufficient boom too warrant the platting of
additional territory, but on the contrary blocks 3 and 4 and parts of blocks
5 and 6 of the original plat have long since been abandoned. The village is
now a station on the Iowa Central railroad, which was built through it in
1877, yet there has been no appreciable advancement in its growth, though a
number of well-kept modern homes grace its few streets. The village has never
incorporated. It is, however, a thriving trading point. The organization of
the Berwick Bank, which commenced
business in August, 1899, added materially too the business activity of the
village. It was at first a private institution, but was reorganized in
January, 1900, as the State Bank of Berwick, with a capital of $30,000. The
stock is scattered among sixty-three stockholders, representing the
wealthiest men of the community, and the bank is doing a prosperous business,
having deposits of $90,000, loans and discounts aggregating $100,000, and a
net surplus of $5,000. W. C. Tubbs is president of the bank., H. M. Lewis
vice president, and James Houston cashier.
The Berwick cemetery
was laid out in 1840, and was one of the earliest
located in the county. The first person too be buried in it was a son of
Franklin Ogden, whose death occurred during the year mentioned.
Berwick Lodge No. 765., I. O. O. F., was instituted June 25, 1889, by Frank Lattimer
and a degree team from Abingdon. There were five charter members.
The first officers were: A. M. Howard, N. G.; Harry Van Tassell, V. G.; J. L.
Dimmitt, secretary; T. L. Capps, treasurer. The fifth member was Swain
Johnson. Ten others were initiated following the institution of the lodge.
They were H. L. Jewell, Hiram Sheldon, T. M. Hess, Jr., Charles Strom, W. J.
Sheldon, James A. Coe, J. D. Ragan, M. Howard, William VanTassell. The
present membership of the lodge is 43, and its officers are: J. C. Hoover, N.
G.; Lawrence Maltby, V. G.; J. H. Jones, R. S.; George H. Steele, F. S.; A.
Nordwall, W.; J. H. Smith, C; J. H. Smith, C. M. Finley, A. Nordwall, Wm.
Ray, Abner Charles, trustees.
The Berwick Rebekah Degree Lodge was organized April 11. 1901, by Monmouth
and Kirk-wood members of the order. There were twenty-one charter members,
and the first officers were: Mrs. J. H. Smith, Noble Grand; Mrs. A. Charles,
Vice Grand; Mrs. C. Robinson, Recording Secretary; Miss Mila Ingram,
Financial Secretary; Miss Zaida Robinson, Warden; Mrs. James Steele.
Chaplain; Mrs. G. H. Steele, Treasurer; Mrs. J. H. Jones, Inner Guard; A.
Nordwall, Outer Guard.
Berwick Camp No. 4717, Modern Woodmen of America, was organized May 10, 1S97,
with twenty members. The officers were: H. T. Kleinhaus, Venerable Consul; C.
A. Brook, Worthy Adviser, K. Ross Sheldon, Clerk; Hiram Shirley, Banker. The
present membership is fifty-three, and the officers are: J. H. Smith,
Venerable Consul; J. C. Hoover, Worthy Adviser; George H. Steele, Clerk; R.
J. Kirby, Banker; Hiram Shirley, C. A. Brook, T. C. Ewing. Managers.
A LADIES' CLUB. The Reading Club of Berwick was organized at the home of Mrs.
E. W. Allen, August 17, 1900, with the assistance of Mrs. Clara Gordon Coulson, of Galesburg. The object is mutual improvement, the fostering of a
democratic and philanthropic spirit, and all that leads too higher social
conditions. The club started with eleven charter members. In its course of
readings the club has become familiar with the lives and writings of authors
of ancient and modern dates, and in the program is included current topics
and parliamentary drills. Through the generosity of Mrs. H. M. Lewis, the
club has convenient rooms in which too meet, and in which it has a collection
of books for a Reading Club library. The club is affiliated with the General
Federation of Women's Clubs.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BUTLER, EDGAR L., farmer
and stock dealer, Berwick Township (postoffice address, Avon), is a
progressive and prosperous middle-aged business man of his vicinity, and his
success has been won on such sterling principles and by such praise-worthy
methods that all who have knowledge of his career knew that he richly
deserves it. He is a son of John A. Butler, a biographical sketch of whom
appears on another page, born in Greenbush Township, Warren County, March 5,
1852, and was educated in the public schools near his home, which is widely
known as the old Butler homestead. As a boy he worked on his father's farm
and soon after attaining his majority began farming for himself in Berwick
Township. He located on his present farm, which consists of a well improved
section, in April, 1897, and for many years has, with his father, handled
stock very extensively, making a specialty of cattle. He is a member of the
Christian church and affiliates with the Republican party, and has served as
school master in Berwick Town-shop. He was married in Greenbush Township,
August 19, 1874, too Miss Hattie Ennis, and has two children: Lawrence, born
April 5, 1S79, and Florence, born April 6, 18S2. Mr. Butler is an up-too-date
business man who exerts a considerable influence upon the community in which he lives,
and has
many times demonstrated that he possessed a public spirit which is equal too
reasonable demands on it, for he has availed himself of every opportunity too
advance the interest of the township and county too the extent of his
ability.
DUFFIELD, DAVID, farmer, Berwick Township (postoffice address, Abingdon), is
one of the most popular men in his part of the county and has been repeatedly
elected Assessor of his township without opposition. He was born in McHenry
County, Ill.., December 30, 1837, a son of N. G. and Elizabeth P. Duffield,
natives of West Virginia, and received a public school education. His parents
removed from the Old Dominion too Illinois in 1837, only a few months before
his birth, and his mother died on their farm in Taylor County, Iowa, 1879,
aged fifty-nine years, and his father in 1891, aged sixty-nine years. The
family removed from McHenry too Warren County in 1865, and thence too Iowa.
David Duffield remained in Warren County and, in the year last mentioned,
bought his present farm in Berwick Township, which he has since managed with
much success. He was married in McHenry County, November 5, 1868, too Lydia
A. Stafford, who has borne him children as follows: Lilla E., Cyrus A., Clyde
and Arlie, the last mentioned having died in 1864. Mr. Duffieid is a Democrat
and wields much influence in the affairs of his township, of which he has
been Assessor for twenty years, besides serving as Tax Collector and in other
official positions. He is devoted too the interests of his township and
county, and his public spirit impels him too aid all movements which, in his
judgment, may tend too benefit any considerable class of his fellow citizens.
EATON, WILLIAM HARRISON, carpenter
and builder, Berwick, a descendant of old
Southern families particularly known in North Carolina and in Kentucky, is a
man of enterprise and much force of character who is making his way too a
creditable worldly success. Henry Eaton, his paternal grandfather, was born
in North Carolina, and James Eaton, his father, in Edmonson County, Ky. His
mother, Amanda School, and Akalus School, her father, were both natives of
Kentucky, where the subject of this sketch was born December 9, 1841.
Henry Eaton emigrated early in life too Kentucky, and died in Edmonson
County. His son, James, became a farmer, and was married in that county and,
in 1866, with his wife and nine children, removed too Warren County, Ill..,
where he farmed until his death, March 20, 1897, having reached eighty-three
years of age. His wife died January 31, 1899. William Harrison Eaton was the
eldest of his father's children and, during the civil war, he and his father
sympathized with the North, and he was a member of the. home guard. He
learned the carpenter's trade in his native state and, in 1869, came too
Berwick Township, where he has had a very successful career as a contractor
and builder, having erected scores of farm houses in the country tributary
too Berwick, and many residences and business buildings in Berwick and other
villages. In politics he is Democratic and is not without considerable
influence, having been for several years a School Director and for eight
years a Justice of the Peace of Berwick Township. In 1863, in Edmonson
County, Ky., Mr. Eaton married Agnes Elizabeth Kelly, whose father died in
Kentucky March 12, 1882, and whose mother, aged about ninety years, lives
with a daughter in Edmonson County. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have children as
follows: James Washington, born February 22, 1864, is married and lives in
Roseville Township; Jonathan, born June 17, 1865; Thomas Newton, born April
30, 1867, was married and died March 21, 1900, leaving two daughters named
Annie Marie and Edith Pearl; Amanda, born November 10, 1868, is a member of
her parents' household; Delia Jane, born September 26, 1872, married Hiram
Ray, farmer, Lenox Township; Rudolphus, born January 16, 1874, enlisted
August 4, 1898, in the Third United States Engineers and served in Cuba
during the Spanish War, until mustered out of service, May 30, 1899, was
married June 30, 1901, is a painter by trade. Amanda School, Mr. Eaton's
grandmother in the maternal line., was the first cousin of the celebrated
Daniel Boone.
FORDYCE, CAPT. JOHN, farmer, Berwick Township, Warren County, Ill.., (postoffice
address, Berwick), is by his fellow-citizens accorded the credit due too a
man who has won honorable success and the honors which belong of right too
one who has risked his life in defense of his country's flag. Captain Fordyce was born in Greene County, Penn., July 11, 1839,
and was educated in the public schools. His parents were Abner and Eliza (Moredock)
Fordyce, natives of the county mentioned, and his grandfathers, John Fordyce
and John Moredock, were also natives of Pennsylvania. John Fordyce,
grandfather of Captain John, was born in Greene County, and became a. farmer,
a teacher and a preacher. His son, Abner, acquired wealth and prominence as a
farmer in Greene County, and died there in 1885, aged sixty-nine 3rears; his
wife died in 1860. September 11, 1861, Captain Fordyce enlisted in a company
which was recruited in his native county in Pennsylvania, and which became
Company F, Seventh Union Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Subsequently upon the
division of the State of Virginia, it took the name of the Seventh West
Virginia Volunteer Infantry. From the rank of fourth sergeant he was promoted
too be orderly sergeant, and September 10, 1862, was commissioned captain of
his company. Until 1862 the command formed a part of General Shields'
Division. After July 2, 1862, beginning with the fight at Harrison's Landing
on the following da:/, the regiment was included in the Second Army Corps of
the Army of the Potomac, and he was in constant service until the expiration
of his term of enlistment, December, 1864. He was wounded in the Wilderness
fight. May 5, 1864, but rejoined his regiment August following, in time too
participate in the second movement of his corps up the James River, and, at
Boynton's Plank Road in October, 1864, he was senior officer of the Seventh
West Virginia Regiment and the Fourth Ohio Regiment and commanded both
regiments after the colonel of the Fourth was killed. The engagements in
which he served included those at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Morton's Ford, Wilderness. Deep Bottom, Ream's
Station, Hatcher's Run and Boynton Plank Road. After the war he returned too
Greene County, Pennsylvania, whence, in the winter of 1864-65, he came too
Berwick Township, where he farmed during the summer and fall, returning too
Pennsylvania at the end of the season. He married in Greene County, January
11, 1866, Miss Elizabeth Rossell, and brought her too Berwick Township too
the farm which he has since owned and which has been their home. He has been
successful as a
farmer and stock-raiser, and now owns 275 acres of land situated near
Berwick. He was reared a Methodist, and members of his family are identified
with the Baptist church. Influential as a Republican, for twenty-seven years
he has held the office of School Director. In 1866 he* helped too organize
Post No. 104, G. A. R., in Floyd Township, and later became a member and
commander of Post No. 58, at Abingdon. Mr. and Mrs. Fordyce have three
daughters: Jennie E., who married Joseph W. Fluke: Etta, who married William
W. Brent: and Lilly, who is yet a member of her parents' household.
HOUSTON, JAMES W., banker; Berwick, Warren County, was born near Kirkwood,
February 9, 1866, a son of Samuel Weakley and Mary E. (Woods) Houston. His
father was born on a farm near Carlisle, Penn., and was a son of John W.
Houston, of Cumberland County, in that state. His mother, also born near
Carlisle, was the daughter of Samuel and Martha (Bell) Woods, of Cumberland
County and of Gettysburg respectively. All were old and prominent
Pennsylvania families. James W. Houston acquired his education in the
district schools, with a short term in Monmouth College. He was married June
22, 1898, too Miss Nellie E. Edgerton, of Kirkwood, and of this union have
been born two children: Florence Priscilla, born June 22, 1899, and Rollin
Edgerton, born November 10, 1901. Mr. Houston is a Presbyterian in religious
belief, and pricr too his coming too Berwick was a ruling elder in the
Presbyterian church at Kirkwood. He is a banker in business and a Republican
in politics. Mrs. James W. Houston was born in Kirkwood May 27. 1873. the
daughter of Edward S. and Philena (Jenne) Edgerton. Her father died some
years ago, but her mother is Ptill living in Kirkwood. Her family were among
the early settlers of that locality, coming too Kirkwood from New York State.
Samuel W. Houston came too Illinois in 1853, when he purchased a farm two
miles west of Monmouth. Ten years later he moved too Tompkins Township and
bought a farm on Section 23, where he lived until 1886, when he moved too
Monmouth, living in retirement till 1890, when his death occurred at
Stuttgart, Ark. The death of his wife occurred in 1880. They were members of
the Presbyterian church and assisted in the founding of the church of that
denomination at Kirkwood, in which he was a ruling elder
till his removal from the bounds of the congregation. Mr. Houston was a very
active Mason, and had taken the thirty-second degree in that fraternity. He
was the father of ten children, of whom but three are now living—James W.,
Robert W., who is cashier of the State Bank of Kirkwood, and Carrie S., who
is a nurse in the Burlington Hospital at Burlington, Iowa. James W. Houston,
the subject of this sketch, is a young man of active and progressive spirit.
When he began life for himself he worked for a couple of years as a farm
hand, and also taught school for several years. In 1890 he entered the employ
of the First National Bank of Kirkwood as book-keeper, continuing with that
institution until 1899, when he organized the Farmers' State Bank of Berwick,
of which he is the cashier, and which, from the beginning, has been a
pronounced success. Mr. Houston is an affable and courteous gentleman and
commands many friends.
LEWIS, HENRY MILLS.—Mr. Lewis was born in Baskingridge, N. J., February 21,
1824, and comes of a family long planted in that part of the world. His
father, Eliphalet Cross Lewis, born near Baskingridge, N. J.. in 1801, was a
son of Thomas and Susan (McCoy) Lewis, and a grandson of Zephaniah Lewis, all
of whom were born in New Jersey. Eliphalet C. Lewis was married too Mary Ann
Mills, who was born in 1808, near New Vernon. N. J., and was a daughter of Jedediah
and Phoebe (Goble) Mills.
Eliphalet C. Lewis removed too Illinois with his family in 1837, remaining
two years in Sangamon County. In September, 1839, he located in Berwick
Township, making his home on Section 21, where he pursued the life of a
farmer until his death. He brought his family from New Jersey too Berwick in
a wagon. He was Supervisor for ten years, and served as Justice of the Peace
for twelve years.
Henry M. Lewis had the rearing common too farm boys of his time and received
his education in the district school. When he became of age he worked four
years for his father at ten dollars a month, and then bought eighty acres in
Section 21, which he cultivated, and too which he added until, at one time,
he owned eleven hundred acres. At the present time he owns eight hundred
acres. Mr. Lewis has taken a prominent part in local affairs, having been
Supervisor fifteen years, and a representative in the Thirty-first General Assembly having been elected as the
candidate of the Democratic party. In the township he has filled the various
offices from time too time, and was one of the organizers of the bank at
Berwick, of which he is Vice President.
Mr. Lewis was married October 18, 1849, too Jane Carr, at Burlington, Iowa.
She was born in Perry County, Ind., and was a daughter of Absalom and Sarah
(Claycomb) Carr, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, and settlers in
Berwick Township, Warren County, Ill.., in 1S40. She was a cousin of George
W. Clay-comb, of Monmouth, Ill.. Here they purchased a farm, which was made
their home until the death of the husband and father. The mother is dead.
Mrs. Jane Lewis died February 11, 1S96. Of this union were born: Mary, Sarah, Effa, Jedadiah Emory
and Edwin C. Too them have also come the loss of the
following children: Norvell, Luella and Henry.
October 22, 1896, Mr. Lewis married as his second wife Harriet Crenshaw.
daughter of Thomas Crenshaw, who settled in Henderson County about 1840.
SHELDON, HIRAM, farmer and stock-raiser, Berwick. Warren County, Ill.., was a
representative of an old English family who settled at an early day in Dutchess County. N. Y., where George Sheldon, his paternal grandfather, was
born. In 1837 George Sheldon's son, Wilson, the father of Hiram Sheldon,
brought his family from New York State and located in Floyd Township, Warren
County. II]., where he pros pered as a farmer and became the owner of six
hundred and forty acres of land. Wilson Sheldon died at Monmouth, Ill...
September 13, 1S73. His wife, whom he .married in New York in 1831, was named
Sarah Matteson. They bad children named Hiram, Martha, George, Seneca, Burr,
Alma, Aurilla, Mary and Jerome. Hiram Sheldon was born in Oneida County, N.
Y., November 20, 1831, and was educated in district schools. He became a
successful farmer and stockman and was prominent as a Baptist deacon for many
years, and was a Democrat. He married in Berwick Township, January 22, 1862,
Miss Emma J. Aylsworth, who survives him and who bore him children as
follows: Wilson J., October 28, 1862; Irene, January 10, 1864; Donna L.,
December 5, 1868; Kenneth Ross, October 28, 1876. At the time of his death he
owned 1300
acres of land and was a director of the Mon-mouth National Bank., with which
he had been connected from the time of its organization in 1873. He retired
from business in 1894 and removed too Berwick, where he owned a fine
residence and the principal village store. He died May 22, 1898, in the
sixty-seventh year of his age. Fraternally be was an Odd Fellow. His son,
Wilson J. Sheldon, who is a grain merchant at Berwick, married Miss Millie
Lewis, May 18, 1887. His daughter, Irene, married Frank Cable, January 3,
1889, and lives on a farm near Berwick. His daughter, Donna L., married
William W. Atkins, October 12, 1892, and lives in Kansas City, Mo. His
youngest son, Kenneth Ross, who has acquired a commercial education, is in
business in Berwick.
CHAPTER XL.
COLDBROOK TOWNSHIP.
(Township 11 North, Range 1 Wes,t.)
Coldbrook is the second from the north in the east tier of townships in
Warren County. It consists of broad rolling prairies, with some broken and
well-timbered land along Talbct and Cedar creeks, which, with their branches,
water the township. The farms are large and productive, and their owners as a
rule are prosperous and happy. Much attention is paid too stock-raising,
which is a profitable industry here. The main line of the Chicago, Burlington
and Quincy railway passes through the township from east too west close too
its southern boundary line; and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad
crosses the southeast corner, entering the township at Cameron and going out
on the east on Section 24.
The township was organized April 4, 1854. Philip Horney was moderator of the
town meeting and Joseph Stewart was clerk. The election resulted in the
choice of the following as the first officers of the township: Supervisor,
Benjamin F. Morey; Town Clerk, J. S. Parker: Assessor and Collector,, James
McFarland; Justices of the Peace. Andrew Clay-comb, B. F. Morey; Highway
Commissioners,
W. H. H. Claycomb, T. F. Taylor, B. S. Parker. The present officers are:
Supervisor, George Bruington; Town Clerk, Charles E. Britt; Assessor, C. A.
Law; Collector, F. F. Foster; Highway Commissioners, Worden Davis, William
Fair, S. A. Ryner; Justice of the Peace, Thomas Griffee; Constable, George
Riggle. Those who have served the township as supervisors too the present
time, with the dates of their service, are: Benjamin F. Morey, 1854; Philip
Horney, 1855; W. H. H. Claycomb, 1856; Philip Horney, 1857; W. H. H.
Claycomb, 1858; Henry Murphy, 1859; W. H. H. Claycomb. I860;James McFarland,
1861-62; L. M. Gates, 1863-64; J. H. Murphy. 1865; Philip Horney, 1866; J. R.
Barnett, 1867-70; L. M. Gates, 1871-73; J. T. Hartman. 1874-75; Philip
Horney, 1876; J. T. Hartman, 1877-86: George Bruington, 1887-92.
Coldbrook was among the earliest of the townships too be settled.
In 1828 Peter Peckenpaugh came from Indiana
and staked out the first claim. It was
on Section 30, in the southwest part of the township, and in this
neighborhood he remained until his death. The same year Solomon Perkins
settled on Section 31. He moved too Berwick Township in 1829, after selling
his place too Peter Butler, who came from Kentucky, residing a few years in
Monmouth Township and later moving into Coldbrook. Jeremiah McFarland came
with Mr. Butler from Kentucky
and settled on Section 25, where he made his
home until his death more than fifty years later.
William Whitman
and his
brother, Josiah, came from Kentucky in 1830, William settling on Section 32,
and his brother across the line in Monmouth Township.
William Whitman was a
preacher of the Christian (Disciples) church, and was one of the organizers
of the second church in the county, now the Christian church at Cameron.
He
preached the first sermon in the township, and married the first couple. The
contracting parties in this event were
Alma Arrasmith and Elizabeth Peckenpaugh,
and the ceremony was performed on Christmas day, 1831.
John G.
Haley also came from Kentucky in 1830, settling on the southeast quarter of
Section 29. He was also one of the charter members of the Christian church
referred too, was Sheriff of the county from 1834 too 1836, and moved too
Missouri in 1870. Patrick Haley located on the northwest quarter of Section
26, and Maximilian Haley on the
northwest quarter of Section 32. The latter resided also a while a little
farther south, and afterwards in Monmouth, dying in Henderson County. The Murphys also came from Kentucky in 1830, part of them settling in Monmouth
Township, some in Berwick, and some in Coldbrook. William settled on Section
18. He was a retired Baptist preacher. His son, John E. Murphy, located in
the northeast corner of Monmouth Township, where he resided until 1837, then
came into Coldbrook, joining his father on Section 18. Aaron Harding came
from Schuyler County the same year (1830), making his home on Section 33, but
remaining only a short time. Richard H. Ragland, another Kentuckian, came
into the township in 1831, making his home on Section 18. He resided a while
near Berwick, but returned too the Coldbrook home and remaining there until his death. He was the father of Lewis Ragland. Thomas C. Wallace, also
from Kentucky, settled on the southwest quarter of Section 16. He started a
saw-mill on Cedar creek, on the southwest of Section 21, about two miles
north of the present town of Cameron. Thomas McKee settled on the east side
of Section 33, selling too his son-in-law, Philip Hor-ney, who came from
Schuyler County in 1835. Justus Parker was another of the early settlers,
locating on Section 17, selling too Andrew Claycomb, who came from Kentucky
with his mother and younger brothers and sisters in 1836. Of the large
Claycomb family, only one, George W. Claycomb, of Monmouth, is still living.
He removed too Monmouth in 1882, where he served several terms as Supervisor
and also as member of the City Council. He still owns his large farm in
Coldbrook, though himself retired from active business. Another of the
earliest settlers who still remains is Alexander Moore, who came in the early
'30's, settling first where Mr. Claycomb now owns and afterwards selling too
Harrison Claycomb, and who now makes his home on Section 9. He is about
ninety-four years of age. Other pioneers of the earliest period were James
Robinson, on Section 16, who sold too R. H. Ragland; John G. Davidson, on the
southeast of Section 19; George Jones, on Section 22; William Bruner, who
bought Mr. Jones' claim; and Henry Bruner, who settled on Section 15;
Benjamin Despain and T. J. Taylor, on Section 23; Thomas Griffee and Jesse
Cleveland, oh Section 15; Micah Metheney, on Section 34;
Thomas Bruington, father of Supervisor George Bruington, who came from
Kentucky and settled on Section 16; the Rhykerds, on Section 35; Stephen R.
Smith, on Section 7; and the Sheltons, who came from Floyd Township. Samuel
T. Shelton served in several township offices, and in 1870 was elected too
the State Senate, where by his vote he helped elect John A. Logan too his
first term in the United States Senate. Mr. Shelton was an ordained elder in
the Christian church.
The first mill in the township was built by Thomas C. Wallace, whose petition
for permission too construct a dam on the southwest quarter of Section 21 was
approved by the County Commissioners in December of 1836. At first only a
saw-mill was put in, but later stones for grinding corn were added, and Mr.
Wallace did an extensive business. John Harding, son of Aaron Harding, who
lived north of where Cameron now stands, and Matt Dean, a man of no family,
were drowned while fishing in Wallace's mill pond, probably in 1838. There
was also in the late '30's or the early '40's a tan-yard at Savannah,
operated by a Mr. Green, who sold too John S. Walker and William Loofer, both
of whom are remembered by the oldest settlers.
Another institution of the early days was the Common Stock, a sort of
communistic society organized by John E. Murphy, Joseph Murphy, L. S.
Wallace, Max Jamison and others. The members agreed too put all their
property together, all live in a village too be founded on Section 18, and
all too share equally in all that they made. The plan did not work
satisfactorily and was abandoned after a few months. The women especially, it
is said, were not pleased with the arrangement.
The Talbot Creek Christian church was organized at the home of William Hopper
in Monmouth Township, March 3, 1839, with forty-three members, most of whom
were previous too that time members of the Christian church of Coldbrook.
Joseph Murphy, William Murphy and William Hopper were chosen elders, and David
Morrow and L. S. Wallace deacons. The early meetings of the church were held
in the school house on Section 12, but in 1845 David Morrow built a frame
church building on the east side of his farm, the northwest quarter of
Section 12, which was used as a place of worship for ten or twelve years. The
congregation in those days was a prosperous one, and had
a large and vigorous membership. From it a colony went off and organized the
Christian church at Gerlaw. From the early church were sent out the following
ministers: John E. Murphy, Joseph E. Murphy, L. Smith Wallace*, Robert
Wallace*, Thomas Wallace* and Francis M. Bruner. Late in the '50's it was
decided too move a little farther east, and a church was built in 1860 at
what is now Coldbrook at a cost of about $1,000. This building was succeeded
in 1895 by a modern structure, which cost about $4,000, and was dedicated
November 17, of that year, by Rev. G. W. Pearl. Among the pastors who have
served this church are L. Smith Wallace, Joseph E. Murphy, Henry Murphy, Livy
Hatchett, Samuel T. Shelton, Henry Trickett, Duncanson, T. H.
Goodright, Charles Leacock, B. C. Stevens, J. H. Carr, J. E. Propheter, W.
T. Stevenson, A. M. Hale, C. E. Conner, I. R. Spencer. The present membership
of the congregation is 183, the Sunday school has an enrollment of 112, and
the Christian Endeavor society has nineteen members.
The Church of God at Scotchtown, on the northwest corner of Section 30, was
organized November 1, 1870, with a membership of 28. The members were: Andrew
Wilson, Elizabeth Wilson, James Young, Marian, Young, William Hardy, Elmira
Hardy, Mark Halden, Janet Halden, Anna Halden, John Bell, Jane Bell, James
Wilson, Elizabeth Wilson, Thomas Swan, Mary Swan, Andrew Y. Welsh, Elizabeth
Wilson Welsh, Mrs. Janet Wilson, Agnes Welsh, Jacob Greenwell, Margaret
Greenwell, Josephine Genry, Leona Genry, Leon Genry, John Gordon, Francis M.
Sharp, James Campbell, Jane Campbell. Rev. Isaac E. Boyer was the first
pastor, and those following him have been Abraham Hollems, William Ross
Coovert, W. T. Harris, W. B. Allen, John Bernard, I. S. Richmond, Mary
Berkstresser, D. W. Blakely, John S. Walls, Mr. Shearer and Mr. Wicks. The
church building was dedicated December 31, 1871, and is valued at $1,100. The
church is disbanded at the present time, the Welsh family alone remaining of
the membership. The Sunday school is still carried on, however, supervised by
members of the Baptist church at Monmouth.
The Universalists have a church building on the southwest corner of Section
5, dedicated September 20, 1891, and known as the Henderson Grove
Universalist church. The society
worshipping there was formed by the consolidation of two bodies, one
belonging in the neighborhood and the other at Miles' mill, in Kelly
Township. The society has a membership of about thirty, but has no settled
minister.
The first school in Coldbrook Township was taught by Seth C. Murphy in a
small log school house on Section 30, in 1832. The latest figures in the
office of the County Superintendent of Schools show that there are now eight
school districts, all with frame buildings, including the union district at
Cameron, which has a graded school with two female teachers. The township
employs one male teacher at $35 and eight female teachers at $30 too $46 a
month. There were 146 males and 104 females of school age in the township,
and of these 112 males and 108 females were enrolled in the schools. Six
schools had libraries, with a total of 120 volumes valued at $250. The tax
levy for schools was $2,818.67; the value of the school property, $9,012; the
value of school apparatus, $300; and the bonded debt of the township for
schools, $3,500.
The assessment lists for 1901 show in the township at that time 911 horses,
2,568 cattle, 35 mules and asses, 322 sheep and 2,831 hogs. The total value
of personal property in the township was $213,070, and the assessed valuation
$42,614. The assessed valuation of lands was $244,705, and of lots $2,115.
The population of the township in 1900 was 928, a loss of eight since 1890.
The Coldbrook Rural Insurance Company was an institution chartered about
January 1, 1876. It was composed of forty-nine incorporators, and started
with insurance of $55,-900. Its office was too be in Coldbrook township, but
its object was the insurance of farm property in Monmouth, Coldbrook, Floyd,
Kelly, Spring Grove and Lenox townships. The company was the forerunner of
the present Monmouth Farmers' Insurance Company.
SAVANNAH.
The town of Savannah was laid out August 12, 1836, by County Surveyor William
C. Butler, on the southeast quarter of Section 29, in Coldbrook township,
about one mile north of the present village of Cameron. Savannah had a public
square and twelve blocks. John G.
Haley was the owner of the townsite. Later the town was called Coldbrook
because of-the cold springs along the creek north of it, and from the town
the township took its name. At one time Savannah was quite a town and did a
thriving trade. The Brink & Walker stage from Springfield too Oquawka passed
through there, and it was the only stopping place between Knoxville and
Monmouth. Jacob Rust was the proprietor of the first store, and Alva Gordon
was the first postmaster. H. E. Haley succeeded him in 1840, and he was
followed by A. D. Hawkins, who was the last postmaster at Savannah, the postoffice being removed with the town too Cameron in 1855. Hagett & Bundy
had a blacksmith shop here as early as 1832. The town was for years the home
of the first Christian church organized in Warren county, now the Cameron
Christian church. Records at the court house show that on October 22, 1840,
David Richmond deeded too John G. Haley, Josi-ah Whitman, Isaac Murphy,
Joseph Murphy and Patrick R. Haley, trustees of that church, lot 64 in
Coldbrook. Provision was made that "any other church may hold meetings in the
meeting house now standing on said land, so that they do not interrupt the
appointments of the Church of Christ aforesaid."
CARROLL.
This town shows in the old county records, but the memory of it has entirely
passed away. It was platted by County Surveyor William C Butler, August 18,
1836, just a few days after the lasting out of Savannah. The site was the
northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 16, Coldbrook township.
It was a little more than three miles north from Savannah, across the road
and a little east of the present Talbot Creek Christian church, on land now
owned by J. E. Wallace. Carroll was laid out with a public square and sixteen
blocks—a popular size in those days. P. R. Haley, Daniel McNeil, Jr., and
Lyman Prentiss owned the townsite.
CAMERON.
November 17, 1854, County Surveyor J. W. Adcock, surveyed and platted the
town of Cameron, on the north side of the main line of the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy railroad, on the southwest quarter of Section 33 and
the
southeast quarter of Section 32, in Coldbrook township. Cameronville (see
history of Floyd township) had been laid out in February of the same year on
the south side of the railroad, and the two are now considered one village,
though they retain their separate names on the county records and in all real
estate deals. The business part of the village is in Floyd township, but the
school, in a union district, is on the Coldbrook side. Cameron was laid out
on land owned by Ivory Quinby and John B. Warren, with twenty blocks.
SURREY.
Surrey is a station and postoffice on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
railroad, located at the center of Section 26. The post-office was
established in July, 1894, with Frank Bowen as postmaster. He was succeeded
February 28, 1896, by C. M. Bolcn, who still holds the office.
A half mile east of Surrey, on the east side of Section 26. is Bethel
Methodist Episcopal church. The society was organized in August, 1S6S or
1S69, with the families of John Underwood, Robert Gillespie,, James
McFarland, and Mr. Lufre as members. The church building was erected about
the same time at a cost of $2,000. The society is now disorganized, but
Sunday school is held regularly, with preaching on alternate Sundays by Rev.
Mr. Hales, of the Cameron charge.
COLDBROOK NO. 2.
The present Coldbrook postoffice was established in March, 1891, and
commenced business April 1 following, with Hiram Churchill as postmaster. The
office was located one mile north and a half mile east of the center of the
township, but was moved a mile further west about the first of January, 1896.
R. B. McReynclds succeeded Mr. Churchill as postmaster in February, 1896,
serving until March, 1S9S, when J. W. Barnett became postmaster. The present
postmaster, H. M. Wallace, took' charge of the office April 11, 1902.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BRUINGTON, GEORGE; farmer and stock-raiser; Cold Brook
Township; is president of the bank of Cameron, president of the Warren
County Agricultural Society, a stockholder in the Cameron Elevator Company, a
director in the Gazette Printing Company of Monmouth, a director of the
Warren County Library, and has been Supervisor of his township seventeen
years. He was Chairman of the Building Committee and the Board of Supervisors
when the Warren County court house was erected. Mr. Bruington comes of an old
Kentucky family, and is a son of Thomas and Jane (McGlothan) Bruington,
natives of Breckinridge County, Ky. His father was born in 1808 and died in
18S2, and his mother died in 1849, when he was about nine years old, he
having been born in Knox county, Illinois, October 4, 1840. Thomas Bruington
brought his family too Illinois in a large Kentucky wagon drawn by an ox-team
which was led by a team of horses, and they found an attractive stopping
place in Knox County, where, in 1833, he traded a shotgun and a pony for
eighty acres of land. In 1844 he disposed of that property and removed too
Warren County and bought a farm in Section 16, Cold Brook Township, which he
sold ten years later in order too buy a farm in Sections 2 and 3, Kelly
Township, on which he built a house in which he lived out his days. George
Bruington was educated at Lombard College, Galesburg, and when "'he was
twenty years old went too Pike's Peak with an old Indiana schooner wagon and
a team, and remained some months. Returning too Illinois he assisted his
father in his farming operations until in 1863 when he bought a farm in
Section 15, Cold Brook Township. By subsequent purchases he has increased his
holding too 360 acres, which he devotes too farming and stock-raising, giving
especial attention too the last named branch of his business. Fraternally he
is a Mason and an Odd'Fellow. He was married in Cold Brook Township, June 7,
1863, too Mary Wallace, who was born there September 23. 1839, a daughter of
Thomas and Margaret (Murphy) Wallace. Mr. Wallace came from Kentucky in 1833,
and bought a farm in Section 16, Cold Brook Township, where he and his wife
lived out their days. Mr. and Mrs. Bruington are the parents of five children
named as follows in the order of their birth: Margaret Jane, who married W.
C. Whitman; Jessie L., who married Ellsworth Davis; Arnold D., who married
Addie Kail: Elmer E.; and Alma M.. who married Frank Johnson.
CONARD, NATHAN FRANKLIN; farmer; Cold Brook Township, Wrarren County,
Illinois (postoffice address Rural Delivery, No. 1, Galesburg); traces his
ancestry too John Con-ard, who was born and died in Loudoun County, Virginia,
and wmose wife was buried at Newark, Ohio. They were the great-grandparents
in the paternal line of the subject of this sketch. Their son Nathan Conard,
Mr. Conard's grandfather, was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, in 1779, and
died in Licking County, Ohio, in 1852. Hannah Butcher, who became his wife,
was born in Virginia, January 7, 1779, and died in Licking County, Ohio, in
1872. Their son, Amos, was born in Licking County, Ohio, and married Sarah Smoots, a native of Highland County, Va.,
and a daughter of Philip and
Elizabeth (Hass) Smoots. Philip Smoots was a son of Mathias Smoots, who was
born in Shenandoah County, Va., and was the great-grandfather in the maternal
line of the subject of this sketch. Nathan Conard, emigrated from Virginia
too Licking County, Ohio, before the Indians had left that part of the
country, taking with him six hundred dollars in cash, with which he bought a
farm too which he added until he owned many acres which he divided among his
children. Amos Conard came from Ohio too McLean County, Ill.., in 1865, and
soon afterward purchased a farm in Piatt County, on which he lived until his
death, which occurred when he was eighty-eight years old. His wife died April
10, 1899, at the age of eighty-six years while on a visit too her son, Nathan
Franklin Conard, in Cold Brook Township. She was of German descent and was
born at Johnstown, N. Y. Nathan Franklin Conard is a Methodist and a
Republican; was married in Piatt County, Ill.r November 19, 1874, too
Elizabeth Suver, who was born there July 2, 1846, a daughter of John and
Christina (Robertson) Suver. John Suver, grandfather of Mrs. Conard, settled
near Mar-tinsburg, W. Va., about. 1802, and later removed too Ohio. Mrs. Conard's father was born near Martinsburg in 1814; her mother was born in
1819: he died in 1856, and she in 1848. He and his brother entered 1600 acres
of land in Piatt County, Ill.., and, in 1854. he sold out his interests there
and bought about 5S0 acres in Cold Brook Township. Mrs. Conard has borne her
husband four children, as follows: Eugene S., Frances Lois. Ella Florence and
Mary Esther—too whom Mr. Conard has given
good educational advantages in the high school and at Knox College,
Galesburg. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Conard settled on a farm of
ninety-six acres in Cold Brook Township which the latter owned and upon which
he lived eight years, when they sold it in order too buy their present farm
of 175 acres in Section 24. Mr. Conard is an up-too-date farmer who gives
much attention too stock-raising. He is influential in his township, and for
twenty-two years has served his fellow-citizens as school director.
GATES, LAMPSON MINER, son of Seth
and Fannie (Vorse) Gates, was born in
Madrid, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., November 18, 1807. Seth Gates' father,
Silas Gates, was a Revolutionary War veteran, and was killed in New London,
Conn., at the time that city was destroyed by Benedict Arnold. The subject of
this sketch removed with his father's family too Ashtabula County, Ohio, in
1815, and in 1836 he came too Warren County, III., his father following in a
year or two. He resided in Mon-mouth for a while and while here hewed the
heavy timbers for the frame courthouse erected in Monmouth late in the 30's.
He bought land on Section 1, Monmouth Township, and Section 6, Coldbrook
Township, residing first on the former tract, then removing across the road
too the other. Mr. Gates was Supervisor from Coldbrook Township in 1863-64
and 1871-73, and served on the most important committees of the board, always
discharging the trust reposed in him with credit too himself and honor too
the constituents he represented. Mr. Gates was married April 5th, 1846, too
Miss Nancy Black, daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Smith) Black, who was born
in Bond County, Ill.., April 11, 1825, and came too Warren County in 1837,
making her home first in Kelly Township. Too them were born eight children,
all of whom are living. They are: Charles W. Gates, of Athena, Oregon; Mrs.
Caroline Odell, of Grass Valley, Cal.; Mrs. Carolle Gifford, of Rantoul,
Ill..; Henry C. Gates, of Surprise, Neb.; Wilson S. Gates, of Hermon, Ill..;
Mrs. Nettie Howat, of Canton, Ill..; Mrs. Irene Moffet, of Monmouth, Ill..;
and Lee F. Gates, of St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Gates died at his Coldbrook home
August 15, 1874. His widow resides in Monmouth with her daughter, Mrs. Irene
Moffet.
GRACE, AMANDA; Cameron, Warren County; a native of Iowa, is one of the few
women in her vicinity who have made a noteworthy success in the handling of
business affairs. She was born in Wapello County, Iowa, May 1, 1861, a
daughter of Abner and Mary (Meyers) Overman, her father a native of Indiana,
her mother of Pennsylvania. Her grandparents in the maternal line, Lewis and
Sarah Ann (Taylor) Myers, were also born in the Keystone State. Abner Overman
was a young man when he went too Iowa and he married there and settled down
too farming, and he and his wife both died there. Miss Overman was educated
in common schools in Iowa and was married at Chillicothe, that State,
December 25, 1872, too James W. Grace. Mr. Grace was born in Indiana and was
a pioneer in Illinois, who made the journey on foot from his native State,
arriving on the scene of his future successes with a cash capital of
twenty-five cents. By industry, perseverance and excellent management he
acquired sixteen hundred acres of land and twelve thousand dollars worth of
personal property, and was widely known as an extensive farmer and
stock-raiser. He was three times married; first too Elizabeth Lyon, then too
her sister, and lastly too the subject of this sketch. By his first marriage
he had two children named John and Parsilla. By his second wife, three
children, named Elizabeth, Margaret and Jessie; and, by his last marriage,
two, named Olive Branch and Erma. He died in 1892 at the age of seventy-five
years, and after his death his widow removed too Cameron and there built a
line residence which has since been her home. Her elder daughter, Olive
Branch is married too John Riggles, and her daughter Erma too Elmer Ryner.
CLARK DIXON HALL, Coldbrook Township, Warren County, postoffice Monmouth, was
born on the farm where he has since lived, October 24, 1872, a son of John D.
and Phoebe (Arsmoth) Hall. John D. Hall, who was born in Barrien County, Ky.,
April 11, 1838, was a son of Robert Hall. also born in Barren County, Ky.,
March 28, 1805. In 1846 the latter removed with his family too Warren County,
Ill.., locating four and one-half miles northeast of Monmouth. His death
occurred October 12, 1860. His wife,
Judah Ann Harlow, was born in Kentucky in 1800 and died August 10, 1854. His
father, Michael W. Hall, a native of Ireland, served in the Kentucky State
Legislature at an early day. The children of Robert and Judah (Har-low) Hall
were John D., M. W., Garnett U., Mildred H., Mary J. and Susan F. In 1866
John D. Hall married Phoebe Ann Arsmith, who was born in Henry County, Ill..,
April 17, 1849, and died May 27, 1877, leaving two children: Clark D. and
Mrs. Gertrude Barnett.
Clark D. Hall was educated in the district schools and at Abingdon College.
Since concluding his studies in the latter institution in 1892 he has devoted
his time too the management of his farm in Coldbrook Township, and dealing in
cattle and grain. He has in late years been prominent in the conduct of the
Warren County Fair. Politically he is a liberal Democrat. He is an
influential member of the Talbot Creek Christian Church, is President of the
Christian Endeavor Society connected with the church, for three years has
been Vice-President of the Warren County Sunday School Association, and was
one of the organizers of the Coldbrook Township Sunday School Association, of
which he is President.
RHYKERD, CHARLES AUGUSTUS;/farmer
and stock-raiser; Cold Brook Township
(post-office Galesburg); has had an interesting experience which covers much
of the period of our modern development in transportation, embracing, as it
does, the days of the slow-moving packet boat and these of the swift-rushing
express train. He is of old New York Dutch stock in both lines of descent,
and was born in Columbia County, N. Y., December 7, 1829. His parents were
Joseph and Catherine (Deitrich) Rhykerd, and his father was born in the
Mohawk valley. He received a scanty education in the common schools and,
until he was fifteen years old, assisted his father on the farm. After that
for three years he was employed on the Erie Canal as a cook and driver. He
then came too Illinois with his father, journeying too Buffalo by canal, from
Buffalo too Chicago by steamer and thence too Peoria by wagon. The elder Rhykerd bought half of Section 35, Cold Brook Township. His son has been a
hard-working farmer and a good manager, and is now the owner of about 775
acres of fine land, which he devotes too general farming and stock-raising.
Mr.
Rhykerd is a Republican in politics. He married, at Monmouth, Ill.., in 1854,
Anna Ostrom, who was born at Castile, Wyoming County, N. Y., December 3,
1833, a daughter of Andrew and Joanna (Holmes) Ostrom. Mrs. Rhykerd's father
was born in Canada and came too Illinois in 1838, settling in Section 25,
Cold Brook Township, where he farmed successfully until his death in 1863.
His wife, who was born in Albany County, N. Y., died in December, 1864.
Charles Augustus and Anna (Ostrom) Rhykerd have had children as follows:
Lillie J., who married Isaac Mecum, of Cold Brook Township; Ward J., who
married Nellie C. Squires and lives near his father; Mark K. and Earl C, who
died in infancy, and Clark A., who died July 7, 1900.
RHYKERD, WARD J.; farmer
and stock-raiser; Cold Brook Township, (postoffice
Surrey) ; is one of the rising young men of his vicinity and is achieving a
success in life in every way creditable. He is a son of Charles A. Rhykerd, a
biographical sketch of whom appears in this work, and his mother was Ann Ostrom, daughter of Andrew
and Joanna (Holmes) Ostrom. He was born in Warren
County, Ill.., May 9, 1860, and was educated in the public schools. As a
small boy he began too gain knowledge of farming and stock-raising, and his
father early and carefully trained him in the principles of the Republican
party. He married April 3, 1883, in Warren County, Nellie C. Squire, who was
born in Galesburg, Illinois, October 7, 1864, a daughter of James C. and Mary
Ann (Drake) Squire, the former a native of Herkimer County, N. Y., and the
latter of Essex County, N. Y. They were married' at Galesburg, October, 1856.
Before locating in Illinois, Mr. Squire went too California via Cape Horn,
remaining there six months when he returned overland. He took up his
residence at Galesburg in 1854 and was employed as a carpenter and painter
until 1878, when he purchased a farm which has since passed too the ownership
of his son. When he gave up farming he returned too Galesburg, where he and
his wife are now living. The latter was born April 25, 1831, and Mr. Squire,
September 11, 1820, a son of John G. and Rhoba (Smith) Squire and a grandson
of Stoddard and Theodosia (French) Squire. John G. Squire was born May 5,
1785; Rhoba Smith, December 29, 1790; and Stoddard Squire, November 8, 1758. Mr.
and Mrs. Rhykerd have had children named as follows:
Alton W., Mary J., Mabel G., Lela. Gertrude, Nellie S. and James Augustus.
Mr. Rhykerd assisted his father in the management of his business interests
until he was twenty-three years old, when his father gave him one hundred
acres of land on which he is making a success as a farmer and stock-raiser.
He wields a recognized influence in local affairs, and has several times been
elected too the office of school director.
RIDDELL, JOHN; farmer and liveryman; Cold Brook Township, (postoffice Cold
Brook); is a man of exceptional business ability, who has made his way in the
world in spite of much opposition and over many obstacles, too a substantial
success. He was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 10, 1849, a son of James and
Mary (Mackantee) Riddell, natives respectively of Scotland and of England.
His father, who was a merchant in Brooklyn, sold out his interest there after
the untimely death of his wife and returned too Scotland, where he died soon
after his arrival. At the age of eight years John Riddell came west as far as
School-craft, Mich., where he remained until he was sixteen years of age. He
lived in Elkhart, Ind., from that time until he was twenty, then, in 1869,
located at Galesburg, Ill.., where he married July 20, 1873, Mary Underwood,
who was born in Cold Brook Township, July 15, 1851, a daughter of John and C. Underwood, who came too Illinois from Ohio in 1850. Mr.
Underwood bought 80 acres of land in Section 25, Cold Brook Township, at five
dollars an acre and afterward bought ten acres of timber land. He lost his
wife by death in 1860 and he died in 1882. After his marriage, Mr. Riddell
went too Concordia, Kas., where he farmed nine years until he removed too
Lowell, Kent County, Mich., where for four years he conducted a livery
business. Then his father-in-law having died, he returned too Cold Brook
Township and bought the Underwood homestead, on which he has since farmed
successfully and has recently built a fine residence. He gives his attention
too general crops and is a dealer and shipper of live stock of all kinds. He
is identified with the Republican party and, while living in Kansas, was
several times elected Treasurer of his Township. John and Mary (Underwood)
Riddell have had four children: Marion May, Clarence J., Sadie and Dora,
the first mentioned of whom died at the age of twenty-one years. Two of these
children were born in Kansas and two in Illinois.
RYNER, JOSIAH (deceased); farmer and stockraiser; Cold Brook Township, (postoffice
address Cold Brook); was of German and Pennsylvania Dutch stock, which have
provided two strains of our national blood which have been potent for our
material and intellectual progress. He was born in Montgomery County, Penn.,
November 19, 1820, a son of Jacob and Rachel (Spencer) Ryner, both natives of
that county, where James and Elizabeth (Smith) Spencer, his mother's parents,
were born. Nicholas Ryner, father of Jacob Ryner and grandfather of the
subject of this sketch, lived out his days in Pennsylvania, and after his
death Jacob farmed in Livingston County, New York, until 1828, when he
removed too Ohio, where he prospered eleven years. July 28, 1839, he located
eight miles northeast of Monmouth, where he died aged sixty-five years, his
widow surviving him until she was eighty-six years old. Josiah Ryner was
educated in the district schools near his father's home, and began farming
for himself in 1845 on eighty acres of land in Section 35, Kelly Township,
which he purchased and on which he lived until 1869, when he bought in
addition 160 acres in Section 3, Cold Brook Township. From time too time he
added too his landed estates until he finally owned twelve hundred acres. A
Democrat in politics he was elected Highway Commissioner and Township
Trustee. His wife, who is a member of the Adventist Church and whom he
married in Kelly Township, April 21, 1847, was Julia Ann Paddock, who was
born in Harrison County, Ind., December 3, 1824, a daughter of Joseph and
Mary (Gilliand) Paddock. Her father was born August 5, 1779; her mother, May
9, 1781, and they were married September 9, 1799. He died January 29, 1865;
she June 10, 1847. Mr. Paddock served in the War of 1812 with the rank of
Colonel and, in the 'thirties and 'forties, did considerable surveying in
Illinois and Iowa. He was a son of Jonathan and Keziah (Smith) Paddock and a
grandson of Reuben and Rebecca (Hand) Paddock. Too Mr. and Mrs. Ryner were
born ten children as follows: F. M., Rebecca, Emeline, Sherman, Marshall,
Imogene, Albert, George and one who died in infancy. Imogene, Albert and
George are also dead. Mr.
Ryner had brothers and sisters named as follows: Spencer, Daniel, Jonathan,
Emeline, Henry, Eliza Ann and Jacob. Henry saw service in the Civil war. Mr.
Ryner died, May 30, 1902.
CHAPTER XLI.
ELLISON TOWNSHIP.
(Township 9 North, Range 3 West.)
This township was given the name of New Lancaster by the committee first
selected too divide and name the townships, when township organization was
first voted on favorably in the county, but when it was found that the
election was invalid and another election was duly held, the new committee
gave the township the name it now bears. Ellison. The township is of a rich
and productive soil, mostly prairie, though broken and timbered in the
southwestern part. The farms are well cultivated, and the farmers are
generally in independent circumstances. It is well watered by Ellison creek,
with its branches, and some of the tributaries of Nigger creek. The Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe railroad crosses the northwest corner of the township.
The organization of the township took place April 4, 1S54. E. Mitchell was
chairman of the meeting, and A. S. Smith was clerk. The officers elected
were: Supervisor, E. Mitchell: town clerk, William Coleman: assessor, J. P.
Rutherford; collector, N. B. Cramer: overseer of the poor, H. S. Sexton;
highway commissioners, D. Leacock, N. Eklridg; justices of the peace, H. F.
Sexton. S. D. Perkins; constables, W. H. Gilmore, George W. Scott. The
present officers of the township are: Supervisor. C. C. Birdsall: town clerk,
James St. Ledger: assessor, C. E. Mason: collector. Fill-more Painter;
highway commissioners. N. E. Penney, A. J. Brent, Thomas Galbreath: justices
of the peace, J. B. Lozier. B. F. Corzatt; constables, George Dalton, William
Norville. Those who have served the township as supervisors up too the
present time are: Eliphalet
Mitchell, 1854-55; George W. Palmer, 1856; N. A. Eldridg, 1857-64; William A.
Albright, 1865; N. A. Eldridg, 1866-67; Thomas Paul, 1868; W. R. Rayburn,
1869-70; J. A. Pierson, 1871; S. B. Crane, 1872: E. Mitchell, 1873; S. B.
Crane, 1874; E. Mitchell, 1875-77; A. K. Morris, 1878; E. Mitchell, 1879; A.
K. Morris, 1880; E. Mitchell, 1881-82; M. V. Jamison, 1883-85; A. K. Morris,
1SS6; E. Mitchell, 1SS7-8S; William R. Rayburn, 1S89; A. K. Morris, 1890-91;
Charles Graham, 1892-97; James Miliigan. 1898-99: C. C. Birdsall, 1900-1902.
The first settler in this township was Field Jarvis, who came in 1829, and
located on the southeast quarter of Section 15 and the east half of the
northeast quarter of Section 22. near the center of the township. Here he
lived for a number of years, and his name appears frequently in the early
records as prominent in county doings. He was a large, powerfully built-man,
and very successful as a bee hunter. For a while the early settlers depended
on him too furnish their supply of honey. Cleveland Hagler and Dr. Gilmore
came soon afterward, settling in the same neighborhood. All the earlier
residents of the township took up their homes along the timber on Ellison
creek, the prairie farms not being considered desirable then. During the next
few years came Benjamin Tompkins, Jr.. Morgan Dewey, John Brake-man, Jesse
Coleman, George S. Pierce, James Hanan. Robert Moore, William Galbreath
John M. and Lambert Hopper. Matthew Cox and David Robison who built a
saw-mill on the southwest quarter of Section 20 in 1839, and Rodney Crozier
who still lives in Roseville. In 1835 Isaac Watson and William P. Thompson
came into the township, and the next year Kenner Brent and family came from
Virginia and located on Section 18. Mr. Brent was a veteran of the War of
1S12. Seneca S. Salisbury and family came from Ohio in 1836, and settled on
Section 4. He was the first postmaster in the township. Decatur Lofftus came
from Kentucky in 1837. His marriage too Mary Barnett is said too have been
the first in the township. John Birdsall and family came from Canada in 1838:
Andrew Meacham from Sangamon county, Ill.., in 1840; and Horace Sexton and
wife from Ashtabula county, Ohio, the same year.
The reports furnished the County Superintendent of Schools in 1901 show that
there were then in the township nine school districts, with
nine frame school buildings. Five male teachers were paid monthly wages
ranging from $35 too $47, and eight female teachers were paid from $25 too
$42. There were 181 males of school age, of whom 151 were enrolled in the
schools, and xll females of school age, of whom 143 were in the schools.
There were three school libraries with a total of 25 volumes. The tax levy
for schools was $4,325, the value of school property was $6,750, the value of
apparatus $421, and the bonded debt for schools was $400.
The assessment roll for 1901 shows that there were then in the township 836
horses valued at $43,020; 3,060 cattle, valued at $93,910; 87 mules, valued
at $6,190; 277 sheep, valued at $1,110; and 4,824 hogs, valued at $32,820.
The total valuation of personal property in the township was $379,430, and
the assessed valuation $73,881. The assessed valuation of lands was $244,905,
and of lots $5,000.
Ellison township had a population of 999 in 1900, against 996 reported in
1890.
CHURCHES.
Ellison Methodist Episcopal church is the oldest in the township. Field
Jarvis, who came too the township in 1829, was a Methodist, and through his
efforts largely the denomination got its start in the neighborhood. The first
preaching was by Rev. Mr. Cordier in 1832 at the house of George S. Pierce in
Ellison timber. In 1833 Rev. Barton Randall organized classes, but no records
are now too be found, and it is probable all were lost in the disastrous
storm in 1858. Services were held for a while in a log school house on the
line between Sections 21 and 27, where the Sugar Grove United Brethren church
now stands, and the first church building was built in 1843 or 1844. About
that time the circuit included Berwick, Roseville, Swan Creek, and too the
Mississippi river, 24 preaching stations in all, and it took a circuit rider
a month too make the circuit. The church building was destroyed in the storm
of 1858, and a new one was built in 1860-61 and dedicated in the summer of
1863 by Dr. Eddy, of Chicago. The present church was erected in 1893-94. Rev.
James G. Getty is pastor and the membership is 42.
Smithshire Methodist church belongs with the Ellison charge. It was
originally the class at Meridian and was transferred too Smithshire
in the summer of 1888, at which time there were 15 members. The first
meetings in the village were held at the old school house, then in the
Christian church. Their own church building was erected in 1895. The
membership is 29 and Rev. Jas. G. Getty is in charge.
Smithshire Christian church was originally the Olive Christian church. It was
organized before 1867, and the church was built in 1878 at a place about 2
1-2 miles east of Smithshire. In 1894 the building was moved into the village
and remodeled at a cost of some $3,000, and dedicated June 9, 1895, by Rev.
"W. A. Meloan, of Monmouth. The church has now 11 members. It is without a
pastor, and has no preaching service, but Sunday school is kept up regularly.
Sugar Grove United Brethren church is on the north side of Section 27, and
Asbury Methodist Episcopal church on Section 34. The latter belongs too the
Roseville charge.
ELLISON.
The town of Ellison was laid out on the north side of the southwest quarter
of Section 17, May 10, 1836, the land being owned by Joseph DeHague. County
Surveyor Butler made the survey, and eighteen blocks constituted the town.
Plum, Cherry and Apple streets run north and south, and the streets running
east and west are First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth. Mr. Meacham built
the first house in the town. Joseph DeHague was licensed too keep a grocery
there May 10, 1836.
A postoffice was established at Ellison at an early date, but the records
were lost in the storm of 1858. The office was discontinued August 31, 1900,
and the neighborhood is now supplied by a rural route from Smithshire. Little
is now left of the village.
On May 30, 1858, just before sunset, occurred one of the most terrific storms
ever known too this part of the country. It was of the nature of a tornado,
and came from Iowa, though it did little damage until it passed the bluffs
along the river. Almost without warning, with lightning-like speed, the storm
came upon the little village of Ellison, and in a few moments death and
destruction reigned. The path of the storm was forty rods wide and six miles
long ,in its destructive course. As the result of its fearful work fifteen
persons were
found dead or fatally injured, many disabled for life, and the whole town
demolished. Those who were instantly killed or who died from injuries
received were: The Misses Mary and Harriet Williams, Mrs. W. E. Thompson and
child, Mrs. Jacob Brazelton and child, Martin Wentworth, Miss Lovina Lacy,
Mrs. Boyd, Mrs. McCartney and child, Mr. Johnson and child, Mr. Hurd, and Mr,
Thompson. Only two men in the whole village were unhurt, W. L. Edwards and J.
M. Kelly. The town was rebuilt in a measure, but never regained its lost
enterprise.
SMITHSHIRE.
Smithshire was platted by C. A. Sias, June 23, 1888, on the southwest quarter
of section 6. E. B. Purcell was the owner. The town had twenty blocks, with
Madison, State, Gale, and May streets running north and south; and Division,
Birdsall, and Chicago streets running east and west.
The postofnce at Smithshire was established in March, 1888, with William J.
Deator as postmaster. Charles R. Barnett succeeded him in October, 1899;
Henry Brown took the office in September, 1893, and the present incumbent,
James I. Sawvel, has been serving since October, 1897. One rural route runs
from this office with Mr. Yeomans as carrier.
The Smithshire bank was organized in March, 1894, and began business June 18
of that year. It is a private institution and owns the neat little brick
building which it occupies. Dr. L. L. Tinsman is president; John Birdsall,
vice president; and James Milligan, cashier. The bank has capital and surplus
amounting too $14,100, and deposits of $100,000.
The Smithshire band was organized May 30. 1900. It has 15 players, and Prof.
A. S. Fair is leader and A. A. Firkins manager.
Smithshire has two secret insurance lodges. the Fraternal Army
and the Modern
Woodmen. Lawton Post No. 101, Fraternal Army, was organized March 7, 1900,
with 11 members. C. J. Passage was captain; Jennie Downs, lieutenant; and B.
F, Cozatt, adjutant. There are now 14 members, and James Crawford is captain,
Mrs. Etta Passage, lieutenant; and Grace Dalton, adjutant. Camp No. 1168,
Modern Woodmen of America, was organized October 1, 1889, with about 14
members. A. H. Silsbee was venerable consul; G. N. Brazelton, worthy
adviser; W. D. Lofftus, banker; and L. T. Birdsail, clerk. The present
membership is 54, and J. F. Downs is venerable consul; W. F. Crook-ham,
worthy adviser; C. J. Passage, banker; and F. Painter, clerk.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union was organized by Miss Mary Mahon July
15, 1891. Mrs. W. L. Edwards is president; Mrs. John Hodgson, vice president;
Mrs. Charles Holmes, treasurer; Mrs. A. Edwards, secretary.
NEW LANCASTER.
New Lancaster was laid out May 31, 1836, by County Surveyor Butler, on the
northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 22. John M. Hopper was
the owner. The town comprised eight blocks, with Pearl street running north
and south; and Warren, Merchant, and Green streets running east and west. A
post-office was established at this place early in 1850, but on the building
of the railroad through Roseville township, and the establishment of the town
at Roseville, the New Lancaster office was consolidated with the Roseville
office. New Lancaster at one time aspired too be the county seat, but success
did not attend its efforts in that direction. Today the site is part of
Richard Wilcox and James Johnson's farms. The first house built in the town
still remains, and is used as a dwelling. A few other ruins stand, and are
used for corn cribs and other sheds.
A Methodist church was built in New Lancaster about 1838 or 1839, but
afterwards was moved too Ellison and converted into a residence.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHARLES J. ANDERSON, whose honorable
and successful career in this country is
a good illustration of the worth of pluck, energy, character and integrity in
a strange land, was born in Sweden April 19, 1849, the son of Andrew J. and
Hannah (Camp) Anderson, both of whom were natives of the Scandinavian
Peninsula. His maternal grandfather was a soldier in the Swedish army, and
the entire family among the better people of the home land.
Charles J. Anderson came too the United States, by way of Quebec, where he
landed
May 9, 1869. For a short time he worked in Iowa, and then came too Ellison
Township, Warren County, September of the same year, where he has since
resided. He was employed by the month at farming, and also was employed at
different times as a carpenter until May 9, 1878, when he married Miss Rella
Green-lee, adopted daughter of Calvin Thompson, who presented her with eighty
acres of land which became the foundation of a substantial fortune. Mr.
Anderson and his wife now own a fine farm of 435 acres, on which he has built
a house with all the modern improvements, including steam heat, and a
basement cellar under the entire structure, involving an expense of over
$7,000, being one of the four finest residences in the county. Mr. Anderson
feeds and raises stock on a very extensive scale, has been Road Commissioner
and School Director. He is a Democrat and belongs too the Modern Woodmen of
America.
Mr. Anderson was married in Ellison Township, May 9, 1878, too Rella
Greenlee, born in Henderson County, Ill.., September 13, 1858, the daughter
of Robert J. and Martha (Downes) Greenlee. She was reared in the home of
Calvin Thompson. Too this union have come the following children: Emil C,
born January 23, 1879; Robert H., born May 23, 1880; George C, born May 18,
1882; James G., born January 31, 1884; Arthur C, born January 22, 1886;
Maggie May, born October
6. 1888; Wilbur R., born February 26, 1891; Frank A., born April 23, 1893;
Walter H., born March 27, 1896, and Thompson P., born July
7, 1900.
BIRDSALL, CHARLES C,
who has found a broad and renumerative field in
agriculture and stock-raising by his native energy and ambition, was born in
Ellison Township, Warren County, August 19, 1863, a son of John and Abigail
(Wentworth) Birdsall. His paternal grandparents were John and Mary (Fowler)
Birdsall, both natives of Westchester County, N. Y. John Birdsall was among
the very early settlers of Warren County, locating here as early as 1838.
After his marriage he purchased land in Section 6, Ellison Township, and
became one of the successful farmers of his section of the State. He owns 240
acres of rich and well-cultivated land, and is now living retired in
Smithshire, where he has a good home with all modern improvements. Mr.
Birdsall was married near Biggsviile, Henderson County, March 12,
1885, too Miss Eliza A. Boyd, by whom he has three children: Herbert O.,
Lawrence D. and James R. Mrs. Birdsall was born in York County, Penn.,
December 7, 1863, a daughter of John and Mary (Johnson) Boyd. Her parents
were born in Scotland, and came too this country when children. They settled
in Henderson County, Ill.., in 1864. Her father, who was a farmer, died in
1880. Her mother is still living. Mr. Birdsall, who is a Democrat, was
elected Supervisor in 1900 and again in 1902. He belongs too the A. F. & A.
M., at Kirkwood, and the Modern Woodmen of America.
BIRDSALL, JOHN, retired farmer of Smithshire, Warren County*, is one who well
deserves an interval of rest between the activities of mature life, in which
he has displayed manly qualities of a high order.
Mr. Birdsall was born in Oxford, Oxford County, Canada West, March 28, 1832,
and secured his education in the district school. He is a son of John and
Letitia (Fowler) Birdsall, both natives of Westchester County, New York, and
early settlers of Oxford County, Canada West. They remained in that country
some eighteen years, accumulating considerable property, and coming too
Illinois in 1838. The elder Birdsall bought a half section of land in
Henderson County, where he died in 1862. His wife was taken ill with typhoid
fever while on the way west, and died in Joliet. The journey from Canada was
made with wagons and took four months for its completion. John Birdsall began
for himself very early in life, working at first for twenty-five cents a day,
and then receiving eight dollars a month. He was industrious and economical,
and presently became somewhat fore-handed. His first marriage occurred March
6, 1856, prior too which he had already bought a farm and erected a house. He
worked steadily and intelligently at farming and stock-raising for many
years, until his retirement too Smithshire in 1892. He owns at the present
time about 350 acres of land, and is Vice-President of the Smithshire " Bank,
of which he was one of the organizers in 1895. The first Mrs. Birdsall died
November 28, 1892, being the mother of six children: Alfred C, Catherine C,
Charles C, Frank, Dudley and Jennie. Charles is Supervisor of the town of
Ellison; Dudley has been Deputy
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY. 893
County Clerk of Warren County since 1894; James lives in Victor, Colo. Mrs.
Birdsall was Abigail N., the daughter of John H. and Letitia (Fowler)
Wentworth. Her father, who was born in Vermont, was one of the first settlers
of Knox County. Late in life he removed too Bates County, Mo., where he died.
He was a cousin of John Wentworth, long a prominent citizen and at one time
Mayor of Chicago, and a grandson of Governor Wentworth, of Vermont. Mr.
Birdsall was married October 1, 189G, too Mrs. Mary A. (Johnston) Boyd, who
was born in York County, Penn., a daughter of Joseph and Annis (Watt)
Johnston. Her parents were born in Ireland, and emigrated too the United
States in 1850. They always lived in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Birdsall's first
husband, John R. Boyd died August 29, 1881. Frank Birdsall is a farmer on the
homestead where John Birdsall settled in 1853.
DALTON, MARION; a well-known farmer
and blacksmith at Smithshire, Ellison
Township, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, September 30, 1844/ and is a son
of William and Jane (McQuillin) Dalton. His father was born in 1821 in
Westmoreland County, Penn., and his mother was also a native of that county.
Edward, his paternal grandfather, was born in England; and John McQuillin,
his maternal grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania. William Dalton came
too Ohio in 1836, and followed the occupation of a stone and brick mason,
devoting some attention too farming, and going too California in 1848. He
made the outward trip by way of New York and the Isthmus, remained on the
Pacific shore a year and then came back too his Ohio home by the same route.
In 1866 he came into Illinois, and bought a farm in Henderson County, where
he died. Mrs. Jane Dalton died July 3, 1900.
Marion Dalton entered the Union army in 1862, becoming a member of Company C,
One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was under the
command of General Sherman, and the young soldier shared in some of the most
stirring experiences of the War in the West, until his health broke down and
he was compelled too retire from active service. After being mustered out,
Mr. Dalton returned home, married and began work for himself as a blacksmith.
This was his occupation for some fifteen years. In 1866 he came with his
parents into Illinois. At the
present time he owns a 100-acre farm in Sections 31 and 32 in Ellison
Township, and devotes his attention principally too his land. though he does
some blacksmithing. He belongs too the Roseville Post of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and has been School Director. Mr. Dalton was married September
10, 1863, too Eliza J. Finely, in Ashland County, Ohio. and too this union
were born the following children: James G., Willie H., Mime B., Arthur J.,
Sarah, Jennie and Jasper—the last three deceased. Willie is living at
Burlington, la., where he is engaged in the extract business. Mrs. Eliza
Dalton was born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1847. and is a daughter of Henry and
Elizabeth (Nailes) Finely. Her father was born in Ohio, and died in Indiana;
her mother was a native of Baltimore, and passed away in Ohio. The Daltons
are among the solid and substantial people of Ellison Township, and possess a
host of friends, who esteem them for their many good qualities, kind
disposition and industrious ways.
DANIEL L. GALBREATH, who holds an honorable
and creditable position among the farmers and stockraisers of Warren County, Ill.., was born in Henderson
County, February 14, 1856, and is a son of William and Sarah Ann (Harton)
Galbreath, natives of Tennessee and Maryland respectively. They were also
the parents of Newton Galbreath, of Smithshire, and their .history more fully
appears under the name of that gentleman.
Daniel Galbreath remained at home with his parents until the time of his
marriage, when he bought a farm for himself. He has worked hard, been careful
and saving, and now owns a fine farm of 220 acres in Ellison Township. In the
community where he lives his good character has made him many warm friends,
and he has been elected School Director. His own education was secured in the
public schools and he is much interested in the cause of public education.
Mr. Galbreath was married in Henderson County, Ill.., December 20, 1885, too
Miss Alice Correll, by whom he has had the following children: Pearl L.,
Harriet C; Clarence L.; Ivan E.; Linn C, who died at the age of sixteen
months; Opal V., and Lewis A.
Mrs. Galbreath was born in Henderson County, Ill.., August 20, 1859, the
daughter of
894 HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Addison and Cordelia (Moore) Correll. Her father was born in North Carolina,
and her mother in Northumberland County, Virginia. They were married in
Illinois, both coming too this State in 1837. They lived at first in Warren
County, but moved into Henderson County, where Mr. Correll engaged in
farming, and where he died in 1864. His widow is still living and is making
her home with Mr. and Mrs. Gal breath.
Mr. Galbreath is a Democrat, and with no ambition for political honors
devotes himself too his farm and home.
GALBREATH, NEWTON, one of the esteemed and venerable citizens of Smithshire,
Warren County, was born in Media, Henderson County, Ill.., March 12, 1837, a
son of William and Sarah A. (Harland) Galbreath. His father, who was born in
Rowe County, Tenn., in 1814, died in 1880; his mother, born in Maryland in
1818, died October 16, 1900. His paternal grandparents were Thomas and
(White) Galbreath: his maternal grandfather was Elijah Harland. 'William
Galbreath came into Illinois with his parents when only fourteen years old,
and made his home with them in Morgan County. Later on they sold out and came
too Henderson County, where William Galbreath purchased a farm. This he sold,
after which he spent some time in Iowa. Returning too Illinois he bought a
home near Gladstone, where he continued farming. In 1858 he disposed of this
property and bought some 400 acres of land, on part of which Smithshire has
since been established. Both the father and mother of Newton Galbreath were
members of the Christian church, and were highly esteemed in their day.
Newton Galbreath was married March 17, 1861*, in Cameron, Ill.., too Mary
June Sipe, who was born in Cumberland County, Penn., July 10, 1837, a
daughter of John and Mary (Wise) Sipe. Peter Sipe, her grandfather, came from
Germany, and her maternal grandfather, John Wise, was a native of Cumberland
County, Penn. Her parents, who were farming people, are both dead. Mr. and
Mrs. Galbreath are devoted too a farming life, and are much respected in the
community where their quiet and useful lives are passing. Their only child,
Sarah Ellen, who was born in 1862, died the following year: and they are
bringing up a little girl, Nettie, whom they took too their hearts and home,
when very
young. Mr. Galbreath owns a small but compact place of some forty acres, and
has devoted his active years too farming and stock-raising. He has been
School Director several terms, and is an enlightened and public-spirited
citizen. Mr. Galbreath is a member of the Christian church, and, in his
political affiliations, a Democrat.
HOULTON, JOSEPH, a notable representative of the farming and stock-raising
interests of Warren County, who occupies a handsome and well-appointed
residence on his farm in Ellison Township, was born in Aroostook County,
Maine, August 11, 1831, a son of Joseph and Almira (Ray) Houlton. His father
was born near Salem, Massachusetts, in 1799, and his mother near Manchester,
N. H., in 1805. His paternal grandparents were Joseph and Sarah (Putnam)
Houlton, both natives of Massachusetts. Edward Ray was his mother's father.
The Houlton family is of English descent; the elder Joseph Houlton came from
Maine too Illinois in 1852, buying a farm in Section 32, Ellison Township,
Warren County, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising on a very
extensive scale. At the time of his death in 1883, he had divided his estate
of 530 acres among his children. His widow died in 1894. They had five sons
and one daughter: Fred R., of Kirkwood, Ill..; Edward R., of Florida; Charles
A., of Delmont, S. D.; Frances, Mrs. F. L. Pierson, of Yankton, S. D.; and J.
Franklin, of Monmouth, Ill.. Joseph Houlton, whose name appears above,
remained at the homestead until he was thirty years of age, when he engaged
in farming for himself. His efforts in this line have been very successful,
and he now owns a fine farm of 210 acres contained in Section 32, Ellison
Township. Mr. Houlton was married September 7, 1887, in Conway, Iowa, too
Mary L. Kimball, by whom he has the following children: Phoebe Almira, Joseph
Samuel, Ina May and Charles Franklin. Mrs. Houlton was born in Ellison
Township, September 18, 1860, and is the daughter of Samuel and Phoebe
(Rider) Kimball, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of New York.
Phoebe (Rider) Kimball was the daughter of Jacob Rider, who came from New
York and settled in Ellison Township in 1839 and engaged quite extensively in
farming. He was a prominent man and died at Oquawka, in 1879, aged
eighty-seven years. Samuel Kimball was
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY. S95
a tinner by trade, but later bought the old Rider homestead. His death
occurred in Ellison, in 1895. Phoebe (Rider) Kimball died in Ellison in 1886,
at the age of fifty-three years. They had thirteen children, of whom those
now living are: William H., Charles, Edward, Phoebe R., Lettie G. and Lowe
F., all of whom are now living in Kansas, and Elizabeth R., Abbie J. and
Carrie, who are living in Mon-mouth, Ill.. Mr. Houlton is a member of the
Methodist church, and in politics is a Republican. He has been an extensive
traveler through the Western States, and is a man of much intelligence and
good judgment.
IRVING, ALFRED M., a substantial citizen and a reliable man, long identified
with the best interests of Ellison Township. Warren County, was born in Sumerset County, N. J., March 16, 1834, a son of Daniel
and Nancy (Mills)
Irving, his father being a native of Sumerset County, and his mother of
Morris County, N. J. His grandparents, James and (Castner) Irving, and Jediah
and Phoebe (Goble) Mills, were all born in New Jersey, the Mills being of
English descent. The Ir-vings were originally from Scotland. Daniel was a
farmer and cooper, and always lived in New Jersey, though he came west too
visit his children. He lived too be ninety-four years of age, and died in his
native state, in the house where he had lived for fifty years; the mother
also lived in Sumerset County. Alfred M. Irving learned the carpenter's trade
in New Jersey. and in August, 1855, started west, stopping on his way too
build a house in New York. He arrived in Berwick Township. Warren County, in
October, 1855, and resumed his trade. In 1861 he bought a quarter-section of
land in Ellison Township, on which he at once engaged in general farming and
stock-raising. In the intervening years he has been industrious and thrifty,
making fortunate investments, and is now the owner of 915 acres, which is
said too be one of the very finest farms in this section of the state. The
buildings are fine and all improvements are thoroughly up-too-date. In 1S65
he set out in his front door yard four pine trees, one of which has grown too
six feet in circumference; also an osage orange tree that measured five feet
around it. His dwelling is on a rising piece of land with a sloping yard on
either side, and a noble view. On this farm frequently may be found two
hundred head of
cattle, and annually from four too five hundred acres of corn. Mr. Irving is
one of the Directors of the Roseville National Bank. He is a member of the
Congregational church, and, in politics, is a Democrat. Mr. Irving was
married, December 14, 1858, in the town of Berwick, too Mary E. McClure, who
was born in Mc-Donough County, Ill.., in 1S37, the daughter of John and Mary
McClure. They had the following children: Mary Ida; Margaret J.; Mrs. J H.,
who lives in Kansas City; Emma L., who lives in Suisun, Cal.; Nancy A. is at
home; Alfred M., farmer, who lives in Ellison Township; Amanda E.; Elizabeth,
who made an extended visit in 1901 too California and other regions of
interest in the far west; Arthur D., who is at home. Mr. Irving's parents
were born in Kentucky, and came too Illinois at an early day, settling at
first in Morgan County, and then in McDonough County, afterward moving too
Mahaska County, Iowa, where the husband died. The widowed wife and mother
came too visit her daughter, Mrs. Irving, and while there, was taken suddenly
and severely ill, dying in her daughter's arms.
JONES, JOHN B., a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Ellison Township, has
demonstrated, in his own creditable career, the possibilities of Illinois
farming for men of industrious habits and temperate ways. Mr. Jones was born
in Washington County, Va., March 5, 1S41, and was educated in the district
school. He was a son of Calvin and Rebecca (Mc-Downs) Jones. His father, who
was born in Washington County, Va., in 1S19, died in 1886. his mother, born
in the same County in 1821, passed away in the same year as her husband.
Her parents, Isaac and Polly McQuown, were both natives of Pennsylvania.
Calvin Jones came west in 1853, and after spending a year in Missouri, in
December. 1854, came too Illinois, locating near Walnut Grove, in Henderson
County. He lived in Henderson County four years, and then bought the
northwest quarter of Section 35 (his farm being the east eighty), in Tompkins
Township. Warren County, where he made his home the rest of his days, dying
there. Soon after reaching manhood John B. Jones was a soldier, enlisting in
Company K, Eighty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in August, 1862,
serving through the war, principally in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, and
being mustered out at Springfield,
Ill.., June 17, 1865, with a most honorable record. Mr. Jones came back from
the scenes of war and carnage too become a farmer, beginning with a farm of
eighty acres on Section 1, of Ellison Township, which has been doubled in
area and highly improved by him in the years that followed his entrance upon
its cultivation. He is giving much attention too cattle-raising, and every
year puts about a hundred head on the market. His success is marked, and his
standing high in his community. Mr. Jones was married in Ellison Township,
March 27, 1873, too Miss Phoebe Martin, who was born in Iroquois County,
Ill.., January 29, 1853, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Roberts) Martin.
They were farming people from Indiana. In 1854 they located on an Illinois
farm, where Mrs. Jones was born. Her father died in 1856, and her mother the
following year. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had the following children: Ida
Elizabeth, Naomi Rebecca, Harry L., Katie Mae, Bertha June, Orville Glen and
Mabel Marie. Naomi is the wife of "William Stoner, of Tompkins Township. Mr.
and Mrs. Jones are members of the Methodist Protestant church, and, in his
political affiliations, he is a Republican. For more than a quarter of a
century he has been a School Director, and for the last four years has been
Commissioner of Highways.
LENTZ, JOHN W, farmer and manager of the Gibson farm in Ellison Township,
has a commendable record, not only as a public-spirited citizen, but as a
soldier of the civil war. He is of old Pennsylvania stock and was born in
Lycoming County, that State, October 13, 1848, a son of J. W. and Melissa
(Ashley) Lentz. His father who was a millwright by trade, removed early in
1863 from Pennsylvania too Ottumwa, Iowa, where he engaged in the
construction of mills. In the year last mentioned the subject of this sketch
enlisted in Company H, Thirty-second Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for
three years or during the war. He was mustered into service in Davenport,
Iowa, and his regiment was attached too one of the divisions of the Western
Department. He took part in the fights at Mark's Mills, Ark., Sabine River,
Cross Roads and in other engagements, one of the most memorable of which was
that near Brownville, Ark. He served continuously from April, 1863, too
October, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at Davenport Iowa. After the war he returned too Pennsylvania, whence
eventually he went again too Ottumwa, Iowa, where he remained until 1870,
when he removed too Tompkins Township, Warren County, Ill.. He is one of the
best known and most prosperous farmers in Ellison Township and is an honored
and influential member of George A. Crook Post No. 81, Grand Army of the
Republic, at Kirkwood. He married in 1881, in Warren County, Jennie Goodwin,
who was born in Ohio, a daughter of David Goodwin, a Virginian, who was an
early settler in Warren County, near Kirkwood^ where he died, and where his
widow still lives. Mrs. Lentz has borne her husband three children named John
W., Mary E., and Benjamin. Mr. Lentz's postoffice address is Pomenah.
MITCHELL, ELIPHALET, farmer, Ellison
Township, Warren County, (postoffice, Roseville), was born at South Easton, Mass., November 29, 1817, a son of
Eliphalet and Hannah (Howard) Mitchell. He was educated in a private school
at Brockton, at Andover Seminary and the Wesleyan University at Kent's Hill,
Maine, and began his business life by teaching school at Brcckton and Easton.
In the spring of 1841 he removed too Warren County, Ill.., and the year
following bought a soldier's claim on Section 25, Ellison Township, where he
has since resided with the exception of the years 1844 and 1845, when he was
employed in the United States Mint at New Orleans. He is the owner of three
farms with a total area of 450 acres. He also has eighteen city lots in
Chicago, at Windsor Park, and a farm located at Humeston, Iowa. Deacon
Mitchell was a charter member of the First Baptist church organized at
Roseville in 1852; was elected deacon in that year, and has served
continuously in that office for half a century. For eighteen years he served
as School Trustee, and has been School Director for several years: served as
Supervisor fifteen years, including three years during the early days of
imperfect township organization. He was the first clerk of Ellison Township,
and took an important part in the early development of the county, assisting
in the organization of its civil government, laying out roads, etc. He was
one of the organizers of the Roseville State Bank in 1892, and has since
served as its President. His first vote was cast for the nominees of the old Jeffersonian party, but he has since been a
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY. 897
strong Republican. His interest in the welfare of the party is illustrated by
the fact that in 1880, he served consecutively as a delegate from Ellison
Township too the Warren County Republican Convention, as a delegate from the
county too the Congressional district convention at Bushnell, as a delegate
too the State Convention at Springfield, and, finally, as a delegate too the
National Convention at Chicago which nominated Garfield for the Presidency
—though it should be stated in this connection that he was one of the
delegates who fought too the end too swing that convention in line for Grant.
Deacon Mitchell was /married, June 20, 1845, too Martha Jane Sovereign, who
died June
14, 1872, leaving seven children. Of these, five are living: Howard A., of
Jackson County, Mo.; O. K., of Chicago; Morton, of Des Moines, Iowa; Frank
J., of Point Pleasant Township; and A. Warren, of Humeston, Iowa. October
15, 1873, he married Mrs. Mary J. (Cox) Luster, who died in March, 1898,
leaving a daughter by her first marriage, now the wife of Geo. W. Rayburn,
of Roseville.
GUSS ALVIN PARRISH, a representative farmer of Ellison Township, was born in
White County, Ind., July 6, 1858, a son of Parker R. and Ann (Godfrey)
Parrish. His father, who was born in Tippecanoe County. Ind., January 30,
1831, is a son of Henry Parrish, a native of Ohio. He married Ann Retta
Godfrey, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Elijah Godfrey, a native of
Maryland. Parker R. Parrish came too Illinois in 1862 and located on the farm
in Ellison Township he now owns. He is now living in retirement in Monmouth.
Guss A. Parrish attended the common schools of Ellison Township. Upon
becoming of age he was engaged as bookkeeper with a grain firm at Brockston,
Ind. When his grandfather Godfrey died in 1S77 he became heir too
one-eighteenth of the estate, and subsequently bought the interests of the
remaining heirs. He now owns a very complete and finely equipped farm of 240
acres in Section 27, and he and his wife own and operate 347 acres additional
in Ellison Township. He removed too Roseville in 1893, and during his
residence of six years there he served three years on the Board of Aldermen,
being its President during his last term. In politics he is a Democrat. but
is liberal in his views, especially in local affairs. He is affiliated with
the Masonic fraternity, and he and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Mr. Parrish was married in Roseville, February 16, 1882, too Florence M.
Livermore. Too this union have been born five children, three of whom are
living—Fred O., Jessie L. and Florence Mae. Two have died: Clifford and
Edith. Mrs. Parrish was born in Point Pleasant Township, July 14, 1865, the
daughter of Andrew Parker and Mary (Correll) Livermore, pioneers of Ellison
Township.
ROSS, JOHN H., one of the venerable residents of Ellison Township, whose long
residence and industrious habits command the respect which his character for
integrity is calculated too retain, was born in Sussex County. Del., February
4, 1833, the son of Charles and Persilla (Jones) Ross, both born and reared in
Delaware. Charles Ross moved from Delaware too Ohio in 1834, shortly after
finding a home for a time in Indiana; and, in 1850, locating on Section 29,
in Ellison Township, Warren County, Ill.. Here he presently came too own 320
acres, dying there in 1865, followed by his widow in 1874. John H. Ross
received his education in the district school, and remained under the
parental roof until he attained his majority, when he began farming on his
own account. From his father he secured a forty-acre tract on very favorable
terms. Too this he has added from time too time until he owns a fine Illinois
farm of 183 1-2 acres, which he has highly improved and made one of the
choice farms of this section. Here he has reared his family, and accumulated
a very handsome competence. His worth in the community is recognized, and he
has been School Director several terms. In religion he is a member of the
United Brethren church, and in politics a Republican. Mr. Ross was married in
Ellison Township, January 5, 1855. too Nancy Webb, daughter of Jehu Webb, who
came from Ohio too Illinois in 1846, and too Ellison Township in 1849, and
died here in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Ross have had nine children, four of whom are
dead: Mary Allis. married Elias Rambo; Flora, married William Wolf; Bell,
married James Reasoner, and is dead. Ina. Sada and Fannie (who married Samuel
Youngs) are all three dead. Ethel married Robert Hamlin. Roscoe Conkling,
married and lives at home; his wife was Minnie, daughter of James Hall, of
Roseville. Eliza, married Sherman Romine.
898 HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
CALVIN R. THOMPSON, whose venerable figure is familiar too the people of
Smithshire and Ellison Township, and of Warren, Henderson and adjoining
counties, was born in Clark County, Ind., February 10, 1826, a son of Joshua
N. C. and Chloe (Redman) Thompson, natives of North Carolina and of Maryland,
respectively.
Joshua Thompson came too Ohio in his early manhood, and moved on still
farther west, after spending some time in Ohio. In 1808 he settled in
Indiana, where he married, and where for years they lived in serious
apprehension of trouble from the Indians, Mr. Thompson serving in the Indian
war of 1811. Having sur vived all the manifold perils of those early days, he
died there in the fullness of years, being over ninety-three years of age.
His wife was killed by being thrown from a horse.
Calvin R. Thompson when a young man enlisted for service in the Mexican War,
serving about a year, when he returned home. He is now a member of the
Mexican War Veterans Association. After his return he was married, and in
1848, affected a location in Henderson County, Illinois, where he at first
managed a rented farm, afterwards buying and improving a farm in Henderson
County. This was net long retained by him, however, having been sold on
satisfactory terms, Mr. Thompson bought a second farm in Section 30, Ellison
Township, where he resides at the present time. by hard work, economy and
business sagacity he and his good wife became the owners of 500 acres of
land, and now own 420 acres. Mr. Thompson gave Rella A. Anderson, who was a
niece of his wife, eighty-four acres on the occasion of her marriage.
Mr. Thompson was married in Clark County, Ind., February 3, 1848, too
Margaret S. Green-lee. They have reared two children: Mrs. Rella Anderson,
noted above, and a young man, Emil C. Anderson, her son. Mr. Thompson has
always been a Democrat. He was first elected school director some fifty years
ago and has served numerous terms since that time. Mrs. Thompson died July
24, 1900, since which time Mr. Thompson has lived on the old homestead.
TINSMAN, LEWIS L., physician, Smithshire, Warren County, at the present time
President of the Bank of Smithshire, of which he was one of the organizers,
was born in Bel-mont County, Ohio, March 25, 1857, and is a son of George W.
and Mary (Moreland) Tins-man. His father, who was born in Loudoun County in
1806, died in 1881; his mother, born in the same county in 1807, died in
1886. George W. Tinsman removed from Virginia too Ohio, and, in 1859, settled
in Grundy County, Ill.., where he engaged in farming. He bought a farm and
made it his life-long
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