Surnames

Ernest Damitz, Senior

Ernest Damitz, senior, was born in Prussia, Germany, January 6, 1805. He emigrated with his family from his native country and landed in New York, in September, 1847. From New York he went to Chicago where he stopped one week on account of the sickness of his son William. He met with two men in Chicago who resided near Greenbush and Berwick, Illinois. They were farmers who had gone to Chicago market with grain in their wagons. Mr. Damitz hired them to haul his family to Greenbush, Illinois, paying them sixty dollars for the job. Upon his arrival in Greenbush, he rented a house for one month. In a short time after this he bought a farm of John Sargent, consisting of eighty acres of farm land and twenty acres of timber land. This land was located on section 17. He paid seven hundred dollars for it. He afterwards bought eighty acres adjoining it on the north. This 180 acres he sold to a Mr. Collins. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres on section 15, where he spent his last years. He was married in Germany to Pauline Wetzel. She was born in 1809, and died November 29, 1866. He died February 7, 1883. To them were born the following-named children:

Serephene, who died in Germany at the age of three years.

John, died in Germany at the age of eight years.

Ewald, died on board the ship when crossing the ocean to America. and was buried in the sea. He was about two years old.

Carl, born March 15, 1832; married Emily Spencer, in February, 1865.

Ernest, born January 31, 1834; married Rebecca M. Spencer.

Francis, born August 4, 1835; married Almarine Holeman, April 2, 1866. She was born July 20, 1845; and died February 11, 1896.

Pauline, born April 4, 1837; married Andrew Sailer, January 9, 1859. She died June 22, 1895.

William Fredric, born December 1, 1841; married Mary Jane Palmer. He died in Hickory county, Missouri.

Fredric William, born December 1, 1841; married Harriet Acton, in 1872.

Peter, born April 8, 1840; married Sarah Pyle, in September. 1876. She was born in Cass county, Missouri, May 6, 1852; and died April 5, 1878. His second marriage was to Mary Cooper, February 15, 1880. She was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, August 29, 1844.

Sarah F., married Elias D. Acton. She died October 1, 1882, at the age of 38 years.

Mary, married Daniel Davidson Powers; both died in Anderson county, Kansas.

Laura, married Gotleib Smith. She afterwards married Laboria Weigand. She died near Wheatland, Mo., August 2, 1892.

Bertha, born May 16, 1847; married Joseph 0. Beam. He was born July 30, 1844.

Oscar, born October 5, 1850; married Pauline McKown, August 9, 1874. She was born March 25, 1854.

All of the Damitz family were born in Germany except Oscar, who was born in Greenbush, Warren county, Illinois. Fredric and William were twins. At their baptism in Germany, Fredric Wilhelm, the Third, King of Prussia, became godfather. He named one of the boys Fredric William, and the other William Fredric; he also made a present of one hundred thalers to each of them.

Ernest Damitz, the subject of this sketch, belonged to the nobility when he resided in Germany. His grandfather was one of the richest men in the kingdom of Prussia, owning ninety-nine farms, the largest number any man was allowed to own under the law. When the Seven Years' war broke out between Fredric the Great, King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Austria, Mr. Damitz's‘s grandfather, although only fourteen years old, joined the great Fredric‘s army and soon became an officer. When they won in battle, this Damitz soldier boy would treat a whole army corps with the best and costliest wines and good things to eat, for which he often went in debt, he having almost unlimited credit. When the war was over, he disposed of the most of his lands to pay his debts. During the Seven-Years’ war this soldier boy smoked a large silver-mounted meerschaum pipe, which has descended all along from father to the oldest son, provided he smoked. Ernest Damitz, senior, offered this pipe to his son Carl if he would smoke, but Carl’s first smoking made him sick, and he would not claim it; then the pipe was given to Ernest Damitz, junior. William Damitz afterwards became the owner of the pipe. Mr. Damitz’s last years were spent in tending a small vineyard on the hillside north of his residence, and painting watercolor pictures, which it pleased him to give to his neighbors and friends. He rarely left home but was always glad to have his neighbors and friends visit him. In politics he was a republican. In religion he was a Lutheran.

Payton A. Vaughn

Payton A. Vaughn was born in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, March 31, 1810. He was a son of John E. Vaughn. Payton came with his father to Logan county, Kentucky, in 1829. They moved to Todd county, Kentucky, where Payton’s father died in 1831. Mr. Vaughn came to Adams county, Illinois, in February, 1832; came to Greenbush, Illinois, in June, 1837, and located on the southwest quarter of section twenty. Here he built his house. This house was sixteen feet square and was built of hickory and elm logs hauled together with cattle; the chimney was built of sod and the roof was made of boards, rived out with a fro, fastened on with knees and weight poles. The door was made of boards and was set in the south side; the floor was made from hickory logs split and hewed on one side, and was called a puncheon floor. This house had no window. They had one bedstead when they moved in, so they made another by boring holes in the log wall and running small pieces of timber to a post in the floor. This frame was then corded with green hickory bark. After the bark dried, this proved to be a very good bedstead. He was married to Mary Darneille, July 18, 1834. She came from Bourbon county, Kentucky, to Adams county, Illinois, in 1832, and was a daughter of Henzie and Elizabeth (Congleton) Darneille and a sister of Thomas and Henzie Darneille, who came to Greenbush in an early day.

To Payton A. Vaughn and wife were born the following-named children:

Elizabeth, married David Smalley. He died October 20, 1873. Her second marriage was to Elder John Ward.

Martha, who died at the age of two years.

Parthena, married David B. Keith. He died September 27, 1899.

James Thomas, married Susanna Johnson. She died February 9, 1886, at the age of 39 years. His second marriage was to Inez Stice.

Mary Z., married William C. Rush, December 4, 1866; and was afterwards married to James C. Donaldson. He died in 1893.

George E., married Josephine Welsh. He died March 17, 1893.

Douglas, married Clara Butler.

Mary, wife of Payton A. Vaughn, was born February 13, 1820, and died in December, 1898. She was for many years before her death a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In religion Mr. Vaughn is a member of the same church. He votes the democratic ticket.

Squire Jenkins Buzan.

S. J. Buzan was born in La Rue county, Kentucky, September 21, 1829. La Rue county was named after Jacob La Rue, who was a grandfather of S. J. Buzan.

Mr. Buzan came with his parents to Monmouth, Illinois, in 1831. In 1843, he went to Macomb, Illinois, where he was engaged as clerk or salesman in the store of N. P. Tinsley until the fall of 1849, when he came to Greenbush and commenced business for himself, running a general store the most of the time up to 1862, when he went west and settled in Missouri. He was married to Mary E. Walker, August 4, 1854. She was born September 25, 1834, and was a daughter of Abner and Jane (Damron) Walker who kept hotel in Greenbush for many years.

To Mr. Buzan and wife the following-named children were born:

Harry Arthur, born September 4, 1856; died February 27, 1879.

Eva, born March 10, 1860; married Galen B. Anderson, November 12, 1884. She died February 12, 1885.

Chauncey, born June 27, 1862.

Nellie, born September 1, 1866; married Charles E. Spooner, October 8, 1902.

Frank, born October 6, 1870.

Pearl, born October 11, 1873; married Frederic W. Kaster, February 10, 1894.

In politics Mr. Buzan was a republican. He died at St. Joseph, Missouri, June 30, 1893.

John Rubart

John Rubart was born in Kentucky, July 21, 1797. In his boyhood days he moved with his parents to Ohio; afterwards moved to Morgan county, Illinois, where he resided for several years. He was married to Miss Phebe Arnold, July 31, 1822. To them were born the following-named children: Ann, Nancy, James F., Enos, Marion, Asenath, and Jacob, all of whom are deceased. His wife Phebe died January 17, 1845.

Mr. Rubart‘s second marriage was to Nancy Lahman, which occurred May 24, 1850. She was born October 21, 1827, near Mansfield, Penn. They moved to Greenbush township, Warren county, Illinois, in 1852, where they purchased a farm on sections one and two.

To this union were born the following-named children:

Phebe J., who married Ancil F. Griffith, in November, 1879.

Joseph M., born March 16, 1856; married Effie Armstrong, March 18, 1887.

Albert E., born December 28, 1861; married Nellie L. Lloyd, September 18, 1887.

Abram L., married Mary Crowley, July 4, 1893. Benjamin W., born January 17, 1858.

John Rubart, the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the Black Hawk war. His son Marion died in the Union army during the War of the Rebellion. John Rubart died December 30, 1872. His wife Nancy died April 21, 1902.

Dr. Bailey Ragon

Bailey Ragon was born in Ross County, Ohio, August 07, 1813. He was the son of Eli & Rebecca Ragon, (Foxie's Note: both of these people buried in the Greenbush Cemetery). In 1825, his parents moved to the north part of Ohio, where, in 1833, Bailey Ragon commenced the study of medicine under Dr. J. Lang. He afterwards studied under Dr. George W. Sampson. He commenced the practice of medicine in July, 1837.

He was united in marriage with Miss Huldah Mather, January 14, 1837. She was born April 05, 1818, and was a daughter of Horance and Huldah Smith Mather. He died August 02, 1825. His wife, Huldah, was born in February, 1786, and died in 1836.

Dr. Ragon came to Greenbush, Illinois, in 1842, where he practiced medicine until 1844, when he moved to Nurina, Indiana. In 1846, he returned to Greenbush. In 1855, he attended lectures at Rush Medical College, where he graduated in 1856. For over forty years he was engaged in the practice of his profession.

He was engaged in the mercantile business in the early days in Greenbush, and in after years he again engaged in the same line of business. In 1858, he owned and operated a large grist and sawmill at Greenbush, Illinois, which burned down in September of that year.

In 1861, he moved to St. Augustine, Illinois, wheere he was engaged in the mercantile business. In the spring of 1863, he moved to Avon, Illinois, where he resided until the fall of 1864, when he moved to Roseville, Illinois, where he spent his last years. He died January 20, 1895.

To Dr. Ragon and wife eight children were born. The three first, Rebecca, Lucy, and Mary, died in infancy; those living are: Sarah Ann, George W., Bina, Julia V., and Emma. George W. married May Hasting, July 13, 1898. Bina married George W. Baldwin, February 27, 1878. Julia V. married Cary J. Boyd, November 27, 1872.

Dr. Ragon was a member of the Masonic fraternity. In politics he was a republican. In religion he was a member of the Universalist Church.

Warren County Illinois

Genealogy & History

Friday, February 23, 2007 08:06:43 AM update