UNIVERSITY OF 
 ULirOIS LIBRARY 
 
 , ,,A-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 ILL HIST. SURVEY
 
 Past and Present 
 
 of 
 
 hall ana Putnam Counties 
 linois 
 
 By 
 JoKn Spencer Burt and \V\ E. Hawthorne 
 
 Together with 
 
 Biographical Sketches 
 
 or ^lany Prominent ana Leading' Citizens and Illustrious Dead 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 Chicago 
 
 The Pioneer Publishing Company 
 1907
 
 Dedicated to tne Pioneers of Marshall 
 and Putnam Counties
 
 A.
 
 HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY 
 
 JOHN SPENCER BURT 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 It is a far cry to begin the history of Marshall 
 county at the beginning of the twentieth century 
 to the latter part of the fifteenth and yet he 
 who writes American history, all or any part of 
 it, must inevitably refer to that period, as the 
 year 1492 A. D. can be considered the birthday 
 of America so far as we and the race to which 
 we belong are concerned. 
 
 Two events occurred in that year which gave to 
 the Aryan races a new world. They were the 
 expulsion of the Moors from Spain and conse- 
 quently from Europe. Spain had been almost 
 constantly in war with the Moors for over three 
 hundred years and their final expulsion gave the 
 sovereigns and grandees opportunity and willing- 
 ness to think of other things, and Queen Isabella 
 was at last willing to listen to the story of a 
 mariner, who had for a long time been trying 
 to interest some one of the rulers of Europe in 
 furthering his project, as- it was necessary that 
 some sovereign should be sponsor for him, for 
 anything he might discover must be taken pos- 
 session of in the name of some king or potentate. 
 
 The career of Christopher Columbus, who 
 gave to mankind a new world, is interesting read- 
 ing even at the present day ; what he accomplished 
 by his persistence, under adverse circumstances, 
 and how he finally saw the fruition of his hopes 
 and his theories and deductions verified should 
 be an incentive and inspiration to any boy or 
 young man to never give up. We can here give 
 only the slightest sketch of Columbus' life, but we 
 think a short history may not be out of place. 
 
 Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, 
 Italy, about 1435 or 1436. His father was a wool 
 comber and had means enough so that he was en- 
 abled to send his son to the University of Pavia, 
 where Christopher devoted himself to the study 
 of mathematics and natural science, of which 
 he was fond. At the age of fifteen he became a 
 sailor and says of his career: "Wherever ship 
 has sailed, there have I journeyed." Columbus 
 married the daughter of a sea captain who had 
 made many voyages and his charts and papers, in 
 which he kept full account of all his voyages, fell 
 into Columbus' hands. 
 
 These voyages were to the Indies, then thought 
 to be at the end of the world, and were made by 
 following the contour of the coast nearly, the 
 mariners seldom going out of sight of land ex- 
 cept when sailing across from headland to head- 
 land. 
 
 Columbus also got hold of the history of the 
 voyages of Marco Palo, a celebrated navigator 
 of the time. Columbus made a study of these 
 things as he was making a business of drawing 
 maps and charts for sale. 
 
 The rotundity of the earth had not long before 
 this been demonstrated and Columbus reasoned 
 that if the earth was a globe that instead of sail- 
 ing the long easterly route to the Indies, more 
 than one-third of the distance might be saved by 
 sailing to the west and coming upon the other 
 side of them. He was wrong in two of his ideas. 
 One was that the earth was much smaller than 
 it really is, and the other that India was much 
 larger. 
 
 Columbus laid his project and plans, enlarging
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 upon the results that might flow from it, first be- 
 fore his native country, Italy, and later Portugal, 
 England, Venice and other places were tried. At 
 last he went to Spain and had his hopes raised 
 at times and at others dashed to the ground. 
 After seven or eight years Queen Isabella, though 
 against the advice of her husband, King Ferdi- 
 nand, agreed to help him, but impoverished by 
 the long wars with the Moors, who had just been 
 finally driven from the country, after having been 
 there four hundred years, she was obliged to 
 pledge her jewels to raise the necessary means. 
 She did so and sent word to Palos to furnish 
 Columbus with the necessary vessels. The town 
 of Palos soon placed two small vessels at his dis- 
 posal but it was necessary to find men to man 
 them, and this was no easy matter. The voyage to 
 be undertaken was over an unknown sea and 
 there was a legend that there existed somewhere 
 an enormous whirlpool where the waters poured 
 into the center of the earth taking everything 
 with it, and at the west there was no knowing 
 the dangers to be encountered. Columbus had 
 made in Palos a friend of Juan Perez, a powerful 
 priest, and he interested the brothers Martin and 
 Vincent Pinzon in the voyage, and they succeeded 
 in getting men to man the vessels. At last all 
 was ready and on the third day of August, 1493, 
 the little fleet, consisting of the Santa Maria, a 
 decked ship, manned by fifty men under the 
 command of Columbus, the Pinta, with thirty men 
 under the command of Martin Pinzon, and the 
 Nina, with twenty-four men under Vincent Pin- 
 zon, set their sails and started westward. 
 
 The hardihood and recklessness of this expedi- 
 tion can hardly be realized in this age. To set 
 out in these boats, no better than fishing smacks, 
 in fact a replica of one of them came down 
 through the canal and through the lock down the 
 river a few years ago. Just think what it meant 
 to start out over an unknown ocean, of which 
 nothing was known, and the most horrible stories 
 had been told about it, in a little boat like that ! 
 Besides, although the "mariners compass," as it 
 was called, had been in use in Europe for some 
 time, but little if anything was known of its 
 qualities except that it pointed to the north, 
 and when, as he went westward, Columbus ob- 
 served its variations, there is no wonder that he 
 and his men were alarmed, for it was their only 
 dependence to find their way back home. But in 
 spite of his own fears and the discontent and 
 
 almost mutiny of his men the persistency, it might 
 be called obstinacy, of the man, which had carried 
 him through the trials and disappointments in 
 his long search for -a sponsor for his enterprise, 
 carried him through, and on October 12, 1492, 
 a sailor on board the Nina at two o'clock in 
 the morning, sighted land, which proved to be a 
 part of what has since been called the "New 
 World." 
 
 It is true they were islands which Columbus 
 supposed was a part of the Indies, and so called 
 them the West Indies, the name they bear to 
 this day. 
 
 As a matter of fact Columbus never knew the 
 magnificent proportions of the grand discovery 
 he had given to the world. Only once did he 
 visit the mainland of the continent and then he 
 had no idea of its vastness. 
 
 The island upon which they had landed, after 
 they all had knelt upon the beach and thanked 
 God for his mercy in bringing them safely through 
 the dangers, known and unknown, Columbus took 
 possession of in the name of the sovereigns of 
 Castile and Leon. 
 
 After considerable cruising, which resulted in 
 the discovery of a number of the islands and the 
 almost irreparable loss of the Santa Maria, their 
 best ship, which ran aground and they were 
 obliged to abandon her, Columbus built a fort 
 and, leaving forty-three men in charge of it, on 
 January 16, 1493, set sail with the Nina and 
 Pinta for Spain, but, owing to head winds and 
 other detentions, it was not until the 15th of 
 March that he cast anchor off Palos, from which 
 place he had started a little over seven months 
 before. 
 
 Columbus was loaded with honors and titles 
 and made a grandee of Spain for his discoveries. 
 He made several voyages back and forth, but was 
 met with envy and malice, his character traduced 
 and he was at one time taken back to Spain in 
 irons, but was later reinstated in his honors. 
 
 The story of the discovery of the New World 
 electrified all Europe and whetted the appetite 
 for adventure of all classes. Especially were the 
 Spaniards roused to action. Spain at this time 
 was filled with a great number of yoimg cavaliers 
 of noble families, whose means had been exhausted 
 by the long wars with the Moors and from con- 
 stant warring between themselves, and they were 
 ready for almost anything. 
 
 They were a restless, reckless lot, brave to a
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 fault and were capable of any adventure, no mat- 
 ter how wild. They and the country were just in 
 the mood to make the most of whatever there was 
 and they started out as exploring parties in every 
 direction. 
 
 With a few men, but those trained soldiers, and 
 with superior arms, they, with ridiculously small 
 forces attacked and eventually conquered great 
 nations. 
 
 Hernando Cortez set out with 400 men and four 
 cannon to conquer Mexico, and succeeded in do- 
 ing it. At no time did he have 1,000 white men, 
 though he had considerable Indian help before he 
 was through. 
 
 Pizaro, with a force of about 1,000 men, a 
 single regiment, conquered Peru, which was thick- 
 ly settled by a people in an advanced state of 
 civilization, in about a year. 
 
 Diego Columbus conquered the island of Cuba 
 with three hundred men without the loss of a 
 single man. The stories told of their doings are 
 almost incredible. Gold and silver ornaments 
 and other valuables were found in great quantities 
 by the Spaniards in their raids and sent over in 
 immense quantities to the mother country, and 
 Spain flourished as never before and extended her 
 dominion not only over the West India islands 
 and the greater part of South America, Central 
 America and Mexico, but over the greater part of 
 Europe in a few years, and the king of Spain be- 
 came the most powerful monarch of the time in 
 Europe. 
 
 The conquest of Mexico, Peru and other South 
 American states, is a wonderful story. How these 
 Spaniards with a few hundred men met and over- 
 came vast armies of the natives and in a won- 
 drously short time conquered entire countries 
 reads like a medieval romance, but the history 
 does not come into the scope of a work like this. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DISCOVERT OF NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 The discovery of North America is credited to 
 John Cabot and his son Sebastian, who made their 
 first voyage in the year 1497. Five years after 
 the discovery of Columbus, they sailed under the 
 auspices of Henry VII of England. The Cabot* 
 were mariners of Venice, though John Cabot 
 appears to have lived in England at one time, and 
 Sebastian, his son, was born in Bristol, England, 
 
 but John Cabot moved to Venice with his family 
 when Sebastian was quite young, probably about 
 four years old. 
 
 Even at this time no one had any idea of the 
 magnitude of the new discoveries and the Cabots 
 in their application to King Henry said they 
 wanted to look for "a more direct and shorter 
 passage to the Indies." This was the inducement 
 they held out. Just where the Cabots made their 
 first landing, whether upon the mainland or 
 upon an island is not clear, but it was near the 
 island of Newfoundland, and was probably what 
 is now the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. He 
 named the land "Terra primini Vista," first land 
 seen, and this has probably given the name, New- 
 foundland to the large island off the coast, as it 
 is uncertain whether it was the island they saw 
 or the mainland. 
 
 Sebastian Cabot, his father John Cabot, hav- 
 ing died, made a second voyage with five ships 
 (none of more than two hundred tons), in May, 
 1498. During this voyage there is no question 
 but that he discovered the continent of America 
 and is the first white man, of which there is 
 authentic account, that stepped upon the conti- 
 nent. It is certain that he saw it before either 
 Columbus or Americus, for whom it was named 
 America. Cabot not only discovered it but ex- 
 plored the coast for 1,800 miles and began to 
 have some idea of its immensity, but it was not 
 till Vasco Nunez Balboa, in 1513, with a small 
 force of men, said to be less than 200, crossed the 
 isthmus of Darien, now Panama, and from the 
 tops of the mountains saw the broad Pacific 
 ocean stretch out before him. 
 
 While the Spaniards were founding colonies and 
 conquering the several states in South America 
 which they appear to have largely accomplished 
 in the sixteenth century, during the one hundred 
 years following the discovery of America but 
 little in the way of settlement was accomplished 
 in North America. Ponce de Leon, a Spaniard, 
 while searching for the fountain of perpetual 
 youth landed on the coast of a land he called 
 Florida on account of the many flowers that were 
 growing there. In 1512 a fort was built and a 
 colony established in 1565 on what is now the 
 site of St. Augustine, Florida. 
 
 In 1611 the Dutch founded a colony at the 
 mouth of the Hudson river and in 1614 New York 
 city, then called New Amsterdam, was founded 
 by them. A few years before that in 1607 a
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 permanent settlement was made on the James 
 river in (Virginia, but the most interesting to us 
 and the one which had the most to do with the 
 giving our government its peculiar form was the 
 landing of the Pilgrim fathers, as they are called, 
 in Plymouth in 1620, in what is now the state 
 "f Massachusetts. 
 
 These people, who have had so much influence 
 t|>on our national character, were largely English 
 people who, on account of persecution for their 
 religious views, had left the home country and 
 gone first to Holland, but not finding the neces- 
 sary liberty there to worship as they saw fit, con- 
 cluded to cast their lot in the new world where 
 there was no one to molest or make afraid, and 
 they could worship their God as they saw fit. 
 
 Men and women who could thus leave every- 
 thing they held dear, the comforts and luxuries 
 to which they had been accustomed, trusting 
 themselves in small and unserviceable vessels to 
 go thousands of miles over almost unknown waters 
 to make their homes in a wilderness, the resources 
 and dangers of which were entirely unknown, be- 
 cause they wished to worship according to their 
 own ideas, proves they were of stern and uncom- 
 promising natures, who were willing to sacrifice 
 everything for what they thought was right. 
 
 It was the descendants of these men and women 
 that, one hundred years later, still impatient to 
 what they thought was wrong, who protested 
 against what they thought was the iniquity of the 
 stamp act, who refused to pay the tax on imports, 
 who disguised as Indians threw the cargo of tea 
 into Boston harbor, in fact, refused to be taxed, 
 no matter how little when they had no voice in 
 the matter : it was these things that, as every one 
 knows, in part led up to the Revolutionary war. 
 
 It was these same men that a little later at 
 Lexington near the first settlement, fired the gun 
 "whose report was heard around the world," and 
 demonstrated to the world that British troops, 
 hitherto considered invincible, were not such ob- 
 jects of terror, and by their conduct at Lexington, 
 Concord and Bunker Hill, fairly inaugurated the 
 Revolutionary war and made possible its success- 
 ful conclusion. Had those undisciplined farm- 
 ers, with their squirrel rifles been successfully 
 met at the time by the British regulars the rebel- 
 lion, in all probability, would have been crushed 
 and the history of the United States would have 
 been vastly different from what it is. 
 
 We do not wish to infer that the men of New 
 
 England alone fought and won the war of the rev- 
 olution. What we wish to say is that the seeds 
 of the revolution were sown in New England and 
 that their stubborn and partially successful re- 
 sistance, to the much superior forces of the Brit- 
 ish regulars in the early battles inspired the whole 
 country with hopes of ultimate victory which 
 finally crowned the efforts of the American forces. 
 The history of the various attempts to colonize 
 the territory now known as the United States, 
 the trials and tribulations, fights with the Indians 
 and troubles among themselves arising from the 
 ambition of leading men, is of intense interest to 
 him who would be familiar with the history of his 
 country, but such a history does not come in the 
 scope of a work like this. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OCCUPATION BY THE FRENCH. 
 
 The century following the discovery of America 
 by Columbus was utilized by hardy adventurers 
 from the three great maritime nations of Europe 
 -Spain, England and France, in exploring 
 and colonizing the new world, though it was a 
 long time before they began to realize the im- 
 mensity of the new possessions. The three nations 
 appear to have exhibited a sort of neutrality, con- 
 fining their explorations and colonizations to spe- 
 cial sections of the coast. Fortunately it was 
 large enough to give all a chance and it was many 
 years before there was a clash. 
 
 Of the explorers and exploiters of the new coun- 
 tries the Spaniards were by far the most active 
 and during the sixteenth century they had ex- 
 plored and conquered the greater part of South 
 America and Mexico, the West Indies Islands and 
 had explored the southern part of what is now the 
 United States, discovered the lower part of the 
 Mississippi river and established settlements in 
 Florida. Next to the Spaniard in activity of 
 exploration were the French, who discovered and 
 made their first settlements near the mouth of the 
 gulf of St. Lawrence, and later spread their settle- 
 ments up the coast. 
 
 This part of the country which is now Canada 
 was wonderfully rich in fur bearing animals and 
 other game and a race of hardy hunters and 
 trappers, who were termed voyageurs, were devel- 
 oped who went far out into the country exploring 
 the rivers and navigating the great lakes in frail
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 birch bark canoes, extending their explorations 
 hundreds of miles into the heart of the wilderness 
 but, unlike the Spaniards, went in pairs or small 
 bands and made no attempt to conquer the native 
 inhabitants. 
 
 From time to time trappers and hunters who 
 had traversed the western lakes brought back 
 rumors they had gathered from the Indians that 
 there was a mighty river in the west farther south 
 than they had yet been. 
 
 In 1672 the Governor General of Canada called 
 Louis Joliet, a famous voyageur, well acquainted 
 with wood life and familiar with several Indian 
 languages and a peculiar tact in dealing with the 
 Indians, and told him to go out and see if there 
 was such a river and to bring him an account of it 
 if there was. In all of the exploring expeditions 
 of both Spaniards and French it appears to have 
 been the rule for priests to accompany them, 
 and whatever may have been their part in the 
 business- they were invariably the historians, and 
 all we know of these early explorations are taken 
 from the diaries of the priests. 
 
 Father Marquette was appointed to go with 
 Joliet on his perilous journey, and it required men 
 of boundless courage and a complete reliability 
 upon themselves and a total disregard of danger 
 from whatever source to make the journeys in an 
 unknown land among the savage natives. 
 
 They were going into a country absolutely 
 unknown, to navigate a river in the frailest of 
 boats, and of which they heard horrible stories of 
 rapids and falls and monsters which inhabited 
 the river and roamed upon its banks. They had no 
 idea what the inhabitants were like, in fact they 
 took their lives in their hands ; no dangers ap- 
 peared to daunt them and no hardships too great 
 to be undertaken. 
 
 On the 17th of May, 1673, Joliet and Mar- 
 quette set out on their remarkable voyage, one of 
 the most remarkable in the history of the world 
 and in which they were the first white men that 
 set their eyes upon the fertile prairies of Illinois 
 and also were the first to view the bold shores and 
 oozy swamps of Marshall county along the river. 
 
 These two men started from the lake near Green 
 Bay in two bark canoes with five men as helpers. 
 They ascended the Fox river to its headwaters and 
 getting some friendly Indians to guide them 
 across the country they reached the source of the 
 Wisconsin, and unheeding the protestations of 
 their friendly guides and the many warnings about 
 
 the unknown dangers from rapids and waterfalls, 
 they launched their canoes on the unknown waters 
 and rapidly floated down the Wisconsin. Seven 
 days later saw them afloat on the broad bosom of 
 the father of waters, the first white men to navi- 
 gate the treacherous waters of the great river 
 which they named the River St. Louis in honor of 
 their king. 
 
 Down the river they went past the mouths of 
 the Illinois, the Missouri and the Ohio, the Ken- 
 tucky, Tennessee, Cumberland, on to the mouth 
 of the Arkansas, where finding the river emptied 
 into the Gulf of Mexico one of the matters they 
 were to determine, they concluded to turn back, 
 coming to the mouth of the Illinois its placid 
 waters lured them from the swelling, rapid cur- 
 rent of the big river and they concluded to return 
 by the Illinois, which they did without mishap. 
 This voyage of Joliet and Marquette was a most 
 remarkable one. In the one hundred and twenty 
 days they were gone they travelled two thousand 
 five hundred miles, an average of twenty miles a 
 day paddling up stream and down, afraid to go 
 ashore to kill any of the numerous game they 
 saw or even to fire a gun, not knowing what savage 
 enemies they might arouse, anchoring out in the 
 stream at night for fear enemies might come upon 
 them unawares, they travelled practically the 
 entire length of three large rivers, finding 
 they were navigable for hundreds of miles and 
 getting a faint idea of the immense Mississippi 
 valley. , 
 
 The discoveries of Joliet do not appear to have, 
 at the time, been utilized in any way, for it was 
 not till six years later that LaSalle started out 
 to begin the real history of Illinois. 
 
 While Joliet undoubtedly was elated by what 
 he had done, he appears to have been content to 
 rest upon his laurels and did not try to reap anj' 
 benefit from his voyage, and did not take a 
 thought of personal aggrandizement from his- dis- 
 coveries. 
 
 LaSalle was of different mold, fully as cour- 
 ageous and energetic as Joliet and probably a 
 man of much greater resources ; it was his design 
 to sail down the Illinois and Mississippi, take pos- 
 session of the country in the name of his king, 
 make treaties with the natives, to build forts, open 
 up settlements and trading posts, and become, 
 under the king, governor of the lands he explored 
 and received a permit from the king to do all that 
 and further to enjoy a monopoly of the trade in
 
 VAST AND PUKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 all the country he brought under the dominion of 
 Prance for a period of five years. But LaSalle 
 was an unfortunate man. He was of good birth 
 and well educated, of boundless energy and un- 
 daunted courage, but bad luck appears to have fol- 
 lowed him from the cradle to the grave. No 
 sooner did he overcome an obstacle than something 
 happened to put him back where he was or leave 
 him worse off. With the exception of a few 
 faithful friends everybody appeared to have been 
 against him. 
 
 To carry out his scheme to explore the large 
 rivers that Joliet had found he had from his own 
 means built .a boat of sixty tons burden, which 
 he called the "Griffon." This was loaded with 
 furs on Lake Michigan and with a crew of five 
 men sent to Montreal where they were to sell the 
 furs and to buy s-uch supplies as he needed for his 
 expedition. The Griffon was never heard from 
 again. After waiting for its return in vain, short 
 of means as he was, he determined to carry out his 
 designs and going to the mouth of the St. Joseph 
 river where he was joined by his lieutenant Tonti 
 with twenty men. 
 
 When a few years before Joliet and Marquette 
 had come up the Illinois river they had near the 
 head waters found a large village of friendly 
 Indians who had fed. them, and to whom Mar- 
 quette had promised to return and tell of the 
 Savior, a promise which he religiously kept, and 
 after his death another priest was sent there to 
 continue the work. 
 
 Despairing of the return of the Griffon and un- 
 daunted by the shortness of his supplies, LaSalle 
 with Tonti and Father Louis Hennepin, to whom 
 we are indebted for most of our early history of 
 this part of Illinois, set out with part of his 
 men from the mouth of the St. Joseph across the 
 country for the Kankakee river, carrying their 
 canoes and rather scanty supplies. 
 
 The journey, which was undertaken in Decem- 
 ber, was a terrible one. It was over a rough, 
 hilly country, in extremely cold weather, with 
 short supplies and nothing to shelter them from 
 the inclement nights, and to cap the climax, when 
 the half frozen and nearly starved voyagers 
 reached the Indian village they had relied upon to 
 replenish their supplies they found it deserted, 
 the Indians being away on their annual winter 
 hunt. They, however, found a small quantity of 
 corn under a cabin which they appropriated and 
 passed on down the Illinois, to near where Peoria 
 
 now stands, landing there on New Year's Day, 
 1680. 
 
 Here they met a large concourse of friendly 
 Indians returning from their hunt and coming tr> 
 amicable terms with them, LaSalle concluded to 
 remain till spring and built a fort and make the 
 place a kind of base. He named it Fort "Creve 
 Coeur" (broken heart), a sad commentary upon 
 the struggles, trials and discouragements he had 
 met with. He also began the building of a boat 
 of larger size and better adapted for the purpose 
 for which he wanted it than the canoes they had 
 been using so far. 
 
 He also .dispatched Father Hennepin with one 
 companion to explore the Mississippi and he went 
 down the Illinois to its junction and then up the 
 Mississippi to the Wisconsin and going up the 
 Wisconsin to its sources, then going across to Lake 
 Michigan. He later gave us the first detailed 
 history of the wonderful country of the Missis- 
 sippi, taking rather more credit to himself than 
 many think he is entitled to. 
 
 Leaving some of the men at Ft. Creve Coeur, 
 LaSalle with Tonti and some of the men retraced 
 their way up the Illinois to the village of the 
 Illinois Indians, a short distance below where 
 Ottawa now stands, and across the river but a 
 short distance above the now well known Starved 
 Rock, and leaving Tonti and a few men to erect a 
 fort on Buffalo Eock to be called Ft. St. Louis, 
 near the Indian village, he alone on foot started 
 for Ft. Frontenac, now Montreal, a journey of 
 over one thousand miles across a country almost 
 unknown and in the early spring, the worst season 
 that could have been selected. 
 
 In the meanwhile his usual bad luck was fol- 
 lowing him in his settlements upon the Illinois. 
 No sooner was he and Tonti well away from Ft. 
 Creve Coeur than the men remaining there became 
 discontented and soon they demolished the fort, 
 carried off such of the supplies and furnishing as 
 they wanted and destroyed the rest. Only two of 
 the men remained faithful to LaSalle, but they 
 were powerless to prevent the destruction; nor 
 did his projects under Tonti escape any better, 
 for the warlike and powerful Iroquois, a tribe 
 from the east, attacked the friendly Illinois and 
 entirely routed and scattered them, seized Tonti 
 and his men and destroyed the buildings in the 
 course of erection. 
 
 This occurred in the neighborhood of Starved 
 Eock and gave rise to the legend of Starved Eock
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 11 
 
 familiar now to all, which may or may not be true, 
 but one thing is certain, the village was entirely 
 destroyed and the survivors, if there were any, 
 found a refuge and a home with other tribes. 
 LaSalle returned to the Illinois river in August, 
 1680, looking for his lost friend Tonti. When they 
 arrived at Ft. St. Louis, near Starved Rock, a 
 scene of desolation greeted their eyes; his fort 
 was gone and the Indian village utterly destroyed, 
 but there was no word from Tonti. He descended 
 the Illinois to its mouth and though his com- 
 panions urged him to go on down the Mississippi 
 he retraced his way up the river and back to the 
 fort on the St. Joseph river without learning a 
 word of the fate of Tonti. 
 
 The summer of 1681 was spent by LaSalle in 
 making treaties with several of the smaller tribes 
 of Indians in an offensive and defensive alliance 
 of the French and Indians against the powerful 
 Iroquois and in the latter part of the summer 
 going into Mackinac he found Tonti, who had 
 come in there the day before. They had been 
 separated for fourteen months. He now prepared 
 for another journey down to the mouth of the Mis- 
 sissippi and he and Tonti started again in Decem- 
 ber, 1681, better equipped in men and supplies 
 than in their former voyages, the party consisting 
 of twenty-three white men and thirty-one Indians. 
 
 Instead of crossing from St. Joseph they started 
 from the mouth of the Chicago river, built sleds 
 upon which their canoes were loaded, which they 
 dragged on the ice till they reached the site of 
 Ft. Creve Coeur, now Peoria, and there leaving 
 their sledges and repairing their canoes they 
 launched them upon the Illinois, reaching the 
 mouth of the Mississippi April 7th, 1682, where 
 LaSalle took possession of this country, which he 
 called Louisiana, "with all its seas, harbors, ports, 
 bays, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fish- 
 eries, streams and rivers, in the name of the most 
 high, mighty, invincible and victorious prince, 
 Louis the Great, by the Grace of God, King of 
 France and Navarre, 14th of that name and of his 
 heirs and successors of his Crown." 
 
 This was the last voyage . through the Illinois 
 river that LaSalle made. His subsequent career, 
 till on the 17th day of March, 1687, he was basely 
 assassinated by two of his men, is of intense inter- 
 est but has no further connection with the settle- 
 ment of Illinois. 
 
 We have given considerable space to the lives 
 and doings of these great explorers- and their com- 
 
 panions because their names are so familiar to 
 our ears and they must ever be connected with its 
 history because they were the first white men who 
 saw our fair country, and it is very possible and 
 in fact probable that LaSalle and his comrades, in 
 their various journeyings up and down made vari- 
 ous landings and they may have been and prob- 
 ably were the first white men to set foot in Mar- 
 shall county. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 Nearly a century elapsed after the abortive 
 attempts of LaSalle and Tonti to establish settle- 
 ments along the upper Illinois river, before its 
 waters were again vexed by the paddle of the white 
 man's canoe, even the Kaskaskia Indians, where 
 the good Father Marquette established a mission 
 at their village near Starved Rock, were so har- 
 assed by the fierce tribes of the north and east 
 that they in a few years abandoned the village and 
 going down the Illinois made a new location on 
 the Mississippi, taking the mission with them and 
 the mission formed the nucleus of the first white 
 settlement in Illinois that became permanent, and 
 was known as the village of the "Immaculate 
 Conception of the Holy Virgin" the name Mar- 
 quette had given to the mission he founded, and 
 this was really the first permanent white settle- 
 ment in Illinois. It later was known as Kas- 
 kaskia. 
 
 If during the century that followed white men 
 visited this section, there is no account of it, and 
 it was not till what is known in our history as 
 the "French and Indian war," 1755 to 1763, was 
 fought and won by the English that the settle- 
 ment of Illinois can really be said to have begun. 
 
 Up to 1760 the country had been under the 
 French government in accordance with LaSalle's 
 discoveries, and what few settlements there was 
 were under French control and the inhabitants 
 were mostly French, but by the treaty of Paris 
 signed the 10th of February, 1760, France ceded 
 to England "all of Lousiana east of the Missis- 
 sippi" with Nova Scotia and Canada and the 
 English established forts at Kaskaskia and other 
 places in what is now the state of Illinois. 
 
 In 1778, during the Revolutionary war, Col. 
 George Rogers Clarke who was under a commis- 
 sion from Patrick Henry, then governor of Vir-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 ginia, conceived the idea of breaking the British 
 power on the Mississippi river, whose importance 
 had already begun to attract notice, obtained per- 
 mission from Governor Henry and with only four 
 companies of soldiers set out from Louisville, Ken- 
 tiicky, where he was stationed, down the Ohio to 
 the mouth of the Wabash and marched across the 
 entire state of Illinois to Kaskaskia. The British 
 garrison surrendered without the loss of a man, 
 the fort at Cahokia, not a great distance away, sur- 
 rendered without firing a gun and Illinois became 
 a part of the state of Virginia. 
 
 The English, who had settled along the coast 
 in what is now the United States, had not been so 
 restless in exploring and making settlements to 
 the west of them as had been the French at the 
 north, who had become to a great extent familiar 
 with the Canadian country to the north and east 
 of the great lakes, and the Spaniards in the south, 
 who had overrun and conquered the most of 
 South America, Central America and Mexico, and 
 it was over one hundred years after the discoveries 
 of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and the 
 country which is now Illinois before the English 
 residents of the colonies knew anything about it, 
 and it is extremely doubtful if the foot of Eng- 
 lishmen trod the soil of Marshall county, for more 
 than half a century after it had come into their 
 possession, for the settlers along the coast knew 
 absolutely nothing of the rich heritage that had 
 fallen to them. 
 
 Through the conquest of Clarke, as mentioned 
 above, all the country from the Atlantic ocean to 
 the Mississippi river was claimed as part of Vir- 
 ginia. In 1783 the state of Virginia ceded to 
 the United States all the land that had come to 
 her by the conquest of Clarke. 
 
 This grant was later made into three great 
 states, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. After the 
 Revolutionary war white settlers began to come 
 into Illinois, though the most of them coming 
 from Virginia settled in the southern part, and 
 by the year 1800 Illinois had a population of be- 
 tween three thousand and three thousand five hun- 
 dred and it was thought best by the general gov- 
 ernment to pass a territorial act, and on the 7th 
 of May, 1800, an act was passed creating Indiana 
 territory which comprised all the land between 
 the present State of Ohio and the Mississippi 
 river. February 9, 1809, the act creating Illi- 
 nois territory was passed and Ninian Edwards was 
 appointed territorial governor. 
 
 The census of 1810 gave the territory of Illinois 
 a population of 12,282. In 1818 the territorial 
 legislature petitioned Congress that Illinois be 
 admitted as a state, the population at that time 
 being 45,000 and in December of that year, 1818, 
 the petition was granted and Illinois was admitted 
 as- a state with all the privileges and rights of the 
 older states. Up to this time the capital had 
 been at Kaskaskia, the old French town on the 
 Mississippi river, but the first state legislature 
 transferred the capital to Vandalia in 1819. 
 
 Although Illinois was now a full-fledged state 
 in 1820 with a population of 50,000 probably, it 
 was all in the southern part, the entire state north 
 of the Sangamon on both sides of the Illinois 
 river was still an unbroken wilderness. 
 
 Fort Clark on the present site of Peoria had 
 been built and a few Indian traders and hunters 
 had settled there, a few miners were in the lead 
 mines around Galena in the extreme northwest 
 corner, and Chicago was a small village of some 
 ten or twelve houses and sixty or seventy inhabi- 
 tants. There was not a white man living at a 
 ferry above Peoria on the Illinois river and in 
 1821 all the land north of where the Illinois joins 
 the Mississippi to the Kankakee and north of that 
 to the Indiana line was organized into Pike coun- 
 ty, an immense tract of land equal to at least one- 
 half of the present state of Illinois. 
 
 In 1815 Congress, wishing to do something for 
 the soldiers of 1812-14, sent out a commission to 
 find, if possible, a large and compact tract of land 
 suitable for cutting up into farms- of one hundred 
 and sixty acres each. 
 
 The commission, after some considerable search 
 in the new states, reported they had found a suit- 
 able tract that would answer the description, situ- 
 ated between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, 
 and surveyors were accordingly sent out to lay 
 out the land. Beginning at the place where the 
 Illinois empties into the Mississippi, they ran due 
 north one hundred and sixty-nine miles to a line 
 drawn from the Great Bend in the Illinois below 
 Peru, west to the Mississippi, a distance of about 
 ninety miles. In the tract they laid off two hun- 
 dred and seven full townships and sixty-one frac- 
 tional ones or 5,360,000 acres. These were appor- 
 tioned out to the soldiers by warrants, calling for 
 a particular quarter section of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, and were all choice farming lands. 
 
 The country, however, was wild and unbroken, 
 most of the old soldiers to whom the warrants were
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND Pl'TXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 issued had homes in the east and were loth to pull 
 up and move into the unknown country, and a 
 traffic in the land warrants after a few years, 
 sprung up, and as the glowing accounts of the 
 beauty of the land, the fertility of the soil and the 
 ease with which it could be worked began to filter 
 through the eastern settlements, men came out to 
 look, they found the half had not been told, they 
 went back for their families, their neighbors heard 
 their stories and they too pulled up and settle- 
 ments sprang up everywhere, but invariably near 
 the timber patches and water courses. 
 
 Owing to the cheapness of the land in the mili- 
 tary tract, warrants could be purchased for much 
 less than government price, a one hundred and 
 sixty-acre warrant selling for about $90, while the 
 government price was $1.25 per acre, settlements 
 sprang up faster in the tract than in most other 
 places, though often transfers were made so 
 loosely that many after living upon their farm for 
 years found their titles imperfect ; also thousand? 
 of farms, as the country became more settled, were 
 sold for taxes with the titles still in the name of 
 the original soldier owner. Men made it a busi- 
 ness t& trace up the heirs of the original owners 
 and purchase the claim and when they could not 
 settle satisfactorily to themselves, bring suit 
 against the settler who had been living in peace on 
 his land, maybe for years. As a matter of fact, 
 the gift of this magnificent grant, probably the 
 finest body of land of the size in the world, did 
 those it was given to but little, if any, good, and 
 was the cause of a world of litigation. But this 
 is somewhat of a digression. We have little to do 
 with the military tract in Marshall county, though 
 the western part of the county is a part of it but 
 it was mostly settled under tax titles, the owners 
 of the original warrants being nearly all dead 
 before that part of the tract in our county was 
 settled. 
 
 The first settlements in this section were made 
 from 1828 to 1830. A man by the name of 
 Thomas Hartzell had established a general trad- 
 ing station or store, trading mostly with the 
 Indians as early as 1817 at the present site of 
 Hennepin, but it was ten years later before the 
 actual settlers began to come in, Capt. William 
 Haws settling near Magnolia in 1826; and by 
 1835 the country east and southeast of Hennepin, 
 what is now Putnam county east of the river, was 
 fairly well settled and small towns had sprung up 
 
 at Hennepin, Florid, Granville, Magnolia and 
 Caledonia. 
 
 These settlements were all in what is now Put- 
 nam county and as a full and complete history of 
 Putnam county is to be found under its appro- 
 priate heading, we will confine ourselves to the 
 limits of Marshall county in the future, though 
 the history of the early settlements when it was all 
 Putnam county are so interwoven that it is al- 
 most, if not quite, impossible to separate them, 
 for up to 1839 it was all Putnam county. So that 
 what may be said up to that time must ne 
 be Putnam countv historv. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 
 
 A history of any country that may be written 
 that leaves out an account of its wars is a good 
 deal like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left 
 out. In fact most history is four-fifths of it the 
 account of its wars. And even our little county 
 of Marshall, peaceful as it now appears, was at one 
 time shaken to its center by wars and rumors of 
 wars which were to the then scattered inhabitants 
 a very present danger. 
 
 The Black Hawk war does not cut much of a 
 figure in the history of the United States, but as it 
 all occurred in this section, and many of the actors 
 were citizens of the county, we think mention of 
 it should be a part of .the history of our county. 
 
 Unfortunately for the adventurous spirit that 
 drives the white races to seek out new lands and 
 new homes, the lands they have found have 
 always been pre-occupied, and it was necessary to 
 drive the owners from them, which they have 
 generally teen able to do by a higher intelligence 
 and better arms. 
 
 At the end of what may be called Tecumseh's 
 war, after his defeat at Tippecanoe at the hands of 
 General William Henry Harrison, the lands in the 
 northern part of Illinois were <*eded by the In- 
 dians to the United States, and the Indians mi- 
 grated west of the Mississippi. In the neighbor- 
 hood of what is now Rock Island the government 
 in 1815 or 1816 had surveyed a part of the coun- 
 try there as the military tract, and parts of it had 
 been sold and settled upon. 
 
 There was in this section of country an Indian 
 village and Indian cemetery belonging to the Sac
 
 1 1 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Indians, the chief of whom was named Black 
 Hawk, at that time an old man but who had been 
 a famous warrior in his younger days. He was 
 one of the principal aids of the famous Tecumseh 
 and had been chief of the Indian allies of the 
 British in the war of 1812 and was by them made 
 a Brigadier General. 
 
 Black Hawk, whose sympathies were with the 
 British and who was prejudiced against the Ameri- 
 cans, did not join in the treaty of peace made at 
 the end of the war of 1812 and 1814, but went up 
 into Canada with his 'band and nursed his ani- 
 mosity to the Americans. He also repudiated the 
 treaty by which his country, with its beautiful 
 rivers and broad prairies swarming with fish and 
 game had been ceded away from him and sullenly 
 obeyed the order of the government for the 
 removal of his tribe across the Mississippi river. 
 
 In 1831 Black Hawk with about three hundred 
 of his tribe, men, women and children, moved 
 across the river and went to his old town. A 
 brigade of troops was called up from St. Louis 
 but before they could come in contact with the 
 Indians they took to their canoes and recrossed 
 to the west side of the river. The soldiers then 
 burned the town, which had been the home for a 
 long time of six or seven thousand Indians. This 
 ended the campaign for that year. 
 
 The next spring, 1832, Black Hawk, who had 
 been nursing his injuries and working among his 
 warriors, again crossed the Mississippi with about 
 five hundred warriors with their women and chiJ 
 dren with the expectation, that the Kickapoos, 
 Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes would immedi- 
 ately join him. In this, however, he was dis- 
 appointed. Still relying upon getting his little 
 band reinforced Black Hawk with his Indians 
 went up the Rock River country to near its head 
 waters. Here they were attacked by a raw, undis- 
 ciplined body of militia under Major Stillman. 
 The volunteers taking the bits in their teeth and 
 a few of them, seeing what they thought was rt 
 small band of Indians and without officers or com- 
 mands with hot valiant courage made an attack 
 upon them, but finding more Indians than they 
 had expected, for the whole band was there, fled 
 incontinently and as they were pursued turned 
 their flight into a rout and a panic which com- 
 municated itself to the rest of the men and the 
 campaign was turned into a wild and disorderly 
 retreat which continued until they reached Dixon 
 thirty-five miles- distant. 
 
 The news of this fiasco soon spread over the 
 entire state and set everybody into a panic, and 
 from the precipitate action of a few drunken men, 
 an Indian scare which would undoubtedly have 
 been effectually squelched in a few days more, kept 
 the inhabitants of the entire state filled with dread 
 and fear of the horrors of an Indian massacre 
 throughout the entire summer and took most of 
 the men away from their farms, some volunteering 
 in the army and some fleeing to the south, many of 
 whom never came back. 
 
 After the battle, if it may so be called, at the 
 head of Rock river the Indians broke up into 
 small bands, committing typical Indian depreda- 
 tions. 
 
 While there were a considerable number of 
 settlers at this time in the country east of the river 
 there were none on the west side and it was deter- 
 mined to so arrange matters that should the In- 
 dians come this way they might be stopped at the 
 river. Companies of volunteers were raised and 
 ordered to rendezvous on May 20th, at 9 a. m., at 
 Columbia, now Lacon, and at 3 p. m. at Hennepin. 
 All the settlers, with scarcely an exception, re- 
 sponded with such arms as they could muster and 
 were mustered into service as rangers. Colonel 
 John Strawn of Columbia had before been ap- 
 pointed colonel and took command. 
 
 Colonel Strawn had an original way of choosing 
 his officers. He simply asked those who wished to 
 be officers to advance ten paces to the front and 
 wheel, and then desired the men to cluster around 
 the men they wanted for officers, and the man who- 
 had the largest cluster was appointed. 
 
 Four companies were formed, one at Columbia 
 and three at Hennepin, though the Hennepin 
 companies were not mustered in till the next day, 
 May 21, 1832. 
 
 The Columbia company consisted of Robert 
 Barnes, captain ; William McNeil, first lieutenant ; 
 John Weer, second lieutenant; eight non-com- 
 missioned officers and thirty-four privates. 
 
 Company No. 1 at Hennepin : George B. Willis. 
 captain ; Timothy Perkins, first lieutenant : Sam- 
 uel Loughlin, second lieutenant ; eight non-com- 
 missioned officers and fifty-two privates. 
 
 Company No. 2 : William Haws, captain ; 
 James Garvin, first lieutenant; William M. Hart, 
 second lieutenant; eight non-commissioned offi- 
 cers and twenty privates. 
 
 Company No. 3 : William M. Stewart, captain ; 
 Mason Wilson, first lieutenant ; Livingston Ro-
 
 PAST AND PBESBNT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 berts, second lieutenant; seven non-commissioned 
 officers and twenty-six privates. 
 
 At the same time soldiers were being raised the 
 settlers began building block houses and "forts," 
 three of these were in what is now Marshall coun- 
 ty; the forts were made of logs about twelve feet 
 long set upright close together, in the ground. At 
 the corners square bastions were built, pierced with 
 port holes so that the face of the wall could be 
 enfiladed in case of attack. 
 
 One of these was on the farm of Mr. James 
 Dever on the edge of Round Prairie and about six 
 miles southeast of Columbia. It was about one 
 hundred feet from east to west and eighty feet 
 north and south. In it was the cabin of Mr. Dever 
 and several tents were pitched in it for the accom- 
 modation of those who fled there during the 
 alarms. 
 
 Two miles south of Magnolia there was a simi- 
 lar fort on the farm of Jesse Roberts, where seven 
 or eight families found protection, and there was 
 another near the head of Sandy Creek. These 
 were all in the present territory of Marshall 
 county, but there were a number on the Ox Bow 
 Prairie, one on the farm of J. W. Willis where 
 twenty-one families, including one hundred chil- 
 dren, were housed at one time. 
 
 The precautions taken will give some little idea 
 of the state of feeling of the settlers during that 
 summer. There were no Indian attacks in Put- 
 nam county, east of the river, but the tension was 
 such that the least unusual noise like the firing of 
 a gun or the supposed cry of Indians would send 
 all skurrying to the forts. It is very probable 
 however, that the completeness of the defenses 
 deterred the Indians from crossing the river to 
 make an attack. Once or twice they were ob- 
 served scouting around on the east side, but no 
 hostile demonstration was made. 
 
 But one man in Putnam county, large as it 
 was at the time, was killed during the war. That 
 was a man by the name of Phillips, who, with 
 several others, went over into what is now Bureau 
 county to look after their cattle. 
 
 They remained over night in the cabin of a Mr. 
 Ament and when Mr. Phillips went to go over to 
 his own cabin, but a short distance away, he was 
 shot by the Indians as he stepped out of doors, 
 the others remained in the cabin till help came 
 from Hennepin, when the Indians disappeared. 
 
 This was the last trouble the settlers of Put- 
 nam countv had with the Indians. The Indians 
 
 had committed several depredations arid mur- 
 dered quite a number, but retribution was rapidly 
 overtaking them. An army of three thousand two 
 hundred men had been called together and or- 
 ganized and after a number of ineffectual at- 
 tacks upon small parties of the soldiers, in which 
 they were always beaten off with more or less loss, 
 the Indians began to make north till they were 
 finally driven into the hills and brakes on the 
 Wisconsin river in Wisconsin. They had been 
 followed so closely that they could not obtain food 
 and were nearly in a starving condition. They were 
 at last overtaken by a brigade of volunteers and 
 rangers under General James Henry and a most 
 determined engagement took place, the Indians 
 hiding in the tall grass and behind trees till driven 
 out by the bayonet. The fight continued till night 
 when both parties rested. In the morning General 
 Henry advancing to the Wisconsin river, found 
 that the Indians had crossed it and were in the 
 hills between the Wisconsin and Mississippi, and 
 were making for the Mississippi. 
 
 The battle at the Wisconsin had been a dear one 
 for the Indians. Sixty-eight of their number lay 
 dead on the field, and twenty-five more were found 
 on the trail leading to the Mississippi who had 
 died of their wounds, while General Henry had 
 lost only one man killed and eight wounded. 
 
 The Indians were found just below the mouth 
 of the Bad Axe river making preparation to cross 
 the Mississippi. They were attacked there and 
 were practically annihilated. Black Hawk was 
 afterwards taken prisoner and taken to Washing- 
 ton, but was afterwards permitted to return to hip 
 people and was with them when he died October 3, 
 1840. 
 
 So ended a war which could by no possibility 
 have other ending. It was the last despairing 
 effort of a brave and patriotic people to regain 
 possession of the grandest heritage the sun ever 
 shone upon. Had the Winnebago and Pottawat- 
 tomie tribes joined in, as Black Hawk expected, 
 although there is no question what the final result 
 would have been, the co-operation of these war- 
 like tribes would have made the task of conquer- 
 ing them ten times more difficult and the death 
 and destruction would have been horrible to con- 
 template. As it was Black Hawk, by his con- 
 summate generalship, with his little band placed 
 the whole great state of Illinois in abject terror and 
 fought the armies consisting of three thousand 
 men sent against him for six months.
 
 1C, 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Several men who afterwards became famous, 
 three of them presidents, were concerned in this 
 war. They were Zachary Taylor, Jefferson Davis, 
 Sidney Johnston and Abraham Lincoln, the three 
 first as officers of the regular army, the other as a 
 member of a company of rangers, but it does not 
 appear that any of them distinguished themselves 
 in the Black Hawk war. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DIVISION OF PUTNAM COUNTY. 
 
 Following the Black Hawk war settlers began 
 to pour into Illinois. Where before single families 
 had come and settled here and there in spots they 
 considered most favorable, now colonies of three, 
 four and sometimes a dozen families, sometimes 
 connected by blood or marriage, but often made up 
 of old neighbors from their eastern home that 
 were prompted to come by the glowing accounts of 
 the fine climate and exhaustless fertility of the 
 soil. 
 
 When they wrote back that crops, thought to be 
 almost miraculous, could be raised year after 
 year, without manuring the ground, it was a reve- 
 lation to the farmers of Vermont and New Hamp- 
 shire, whose entire crop depended upon a fertilizer. 
 And though they hardly credited all the stories 
 told, yet they went on the old adage, "Where there 
 is so much smoke there must be some fire," and 
 were surprised that the truth had been told. 
 
 They in turn wrote back and their accounts, if 
 anything, outdid the former ones, and there was a 
 constantly increasing immigration. Up to 1836 
 the attention of the immigrants had been turned 
 to secure farms, though where necessary a small 
 town with store, blacksmith shop and generally a 
 schoolhouse and church clustered in one spot. In 
 the wild cat money times of 1836 and 1837 the 
 spirit of speculation was rife in the land and towns 
 sprang up on paper in every direction ; that is, 
 a piece of land was laid off in streets, alleys, lots, 
 etc., and a beautiful drawing of them made as 
 they were expected to be when fully developed. 
 Upon these drawings would be located fine squares, 
 large buildings used for almost every conceivable 
 purpose; even manufacturing establishments 
 would l)e shown and other desirable things. The 
 idea that was intended to be conveyed was that all 
 
 these things were there as represented, when the 
 truth was that they only existed in the imagina- 
 tion, and there was nothing on the site of the 
 "city" unless there might be a cabin or two. 
 
 There was a large traffic in these town lots, the 
 eastern states were flooded with the handsomely 
 drawn plots and the glowing descriptions of the 
 advantages of these towns and what they were 
 sure to be in the future tempted hundreds to buy 
 lots at higher prices than the whole "city" was 
 worth. 
 
 It helped, however, to boom things and called at- 
 tention to the new country, and settlers poured 
 into the state for, according to the prospectus of 
 the agents, everybody was going to get rich; but 
 the financial troubles of 1837 and 1838 came on 
 and there was a rude awakening, men who thought 
 they were rich found they were little better than 
 paupers, and the many beautiful cities that had 
 looked so well and promised so much were most of 
 them plowed up and converted into cornfields. 
 
 There were no less than ten of these towns in 
 what is now Marshall county and more than dou- 
 ble that number in the rest of Putnam county, 
 nearly all of them being laid out in 1836. The 
 settlers in Marshall county on the west side of the 
 river being very few at that time, nearly all the 
 towns in it were on the eastern side; but we will 
 say more of the towns in later chapters, the fact 
 being that this digression about the towns and the 
 speculations of those years had much to do with 
 the eventual dividing up of Putnam county, for 
 the hawking of the town lots all over the east 
 called attention to the country and served to 
 largely increase the influx of actual settlers. 
 
 By 1837 there were large settlements in the ex- 
 treme western and northwestern part of Putnam 
 county and the settlers, who found it very incon- 
 venient at times to go to Hennepin to do all their 
 business, began to agitate the question of a new 
 county, and it culminated in setting off Bureau 
 county, containing about one-half the territory 
 which was set off by act of the legislature in 1837 
 and the county seat established at Princeton. Bu- 
 reau county took more than one-half of the terri- 
 tory of Putnam county, coming down to township 
 14 and extending four townships north, but not 
 crossing the Illinois river. 
 
 The cutting off of Bureau county left Hennepin, 
 the county seat, in the extreme northeastern part 
 of the county, with less than two townships east 
 and nothing but the Illinois' river on the west. On
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COTXTIKS. 
 
 ir 
 
 the south the county was two townships deep and 
 eight townships wide. 
 
 The county west of the Illinois river was very 
 sparsely settled except in the extreme west, where 
 considerable settlement had been made in the 
 neighborhood of Spoon river. 
 
 As early as 1836 a petition was sent to the leg- 
 islature, which was well received, and an act was 
 passed during the winter of 1836 and 1837 to set 
 off the county of Coffee, which was to be composed 
 of six townships from Putnam county, two from 
 Knox and one from Henry, to be called Coffee 
 county. To give the act force it was provided that 
 it must be ratified by a majority vote in Knox and 
 Henry counties. The vote did not carry and the 
 act became void. 
 
 In 1838 the matter was taken up again by the 
 Spoon river residents, who were tired of going 
 some thirty-five or forty miles to the county seat 
 and possibly finding the Illinois river impassable 
 when they arrived there. 
 
 On the 16th of January, 1839, another bill was 
 introduced by Colonel W. H. Henderson, the repre- 
 sentative of the district, to establish the county of 
 Stark. After considerable discussion and several 
 amendments the act was approved, March 2, 1839. 
 The bill cut off six townships from Putnam coun- 
 ty and two townships from Knox county. To give 
 the act force the voters of the Knox county town- 
 ships were to assent to the division, which they 
 appear to have done. 
 
 In the meantime that part of Putnam county 
 now comprised in Marshall county had been filling 
 with settlers, especially along the river on both 
 sides. On the east side a considerable settlement 
 had been formed around Columbia (now Lacon), 
 and a number of enterprising business men had 
 settled in the town and near it, and had given it 
 quite an impetus. Henry, also seven miles above 
 on the river but on the west side, had made con- 
 siderable progress and there was quite a sprinkling 
 of farmers scattered along under and on the bluffs. 
 Three or four miles west, the country which has 
 since become Marshall county, had about 1,500 
 population, which was rapidly increasing. 
 
 On December 10, 1838, Colonel Henderson, the 
 member of the legislature, presented a petition, 
 which was largely signed, to form a new county 
 from the southern part of Putnam county. There 
 does not appear at this time to have been much 
 opposition, even the people in the northern part 
 of the county, in the neighborhood of Hennepin, 
 
 fearing to lose the county seat, gave it a tacit ap- 
 proval. Two days afterward a bill answering the 
 "prayers of the petitioners" was introduced into 
 the house. As the bill only proposed to cut off 
 territory from Putnam county and as no particu- 
 lar opposition was made to it by Putnam county, 
 the bill became a law January 19, 1839. 
 
 The county as then constituted consisted of four 
 full townships on each side of the river, with four 
 fractional townships, two of them covering an area 
 of about one-half a township each and the other 
 two quite small. 
 
 Before the session of the legislature was over a 
 bill was introduced and passed, adding to the 
 counties of Marshall and Putnam the townships 
 known as 29, 30, 31, and 32, range 1 east, but 
 with the proviso that it must be ratified by the 
 voters of La Salle county, from which county the 
 territory was to be taken. The requisite vote was 
 not forthcoming from La Salle county and the act 
 became void. 
 
 Four years later, however, the matter was again 
 introduced, and on March 1, 1843, the two town- 
 ships, 29 and 30, range 1 east, by an act which 
 set off these two townships to Marshall county 
 alone, the people living in the townships acqui- 
 escing. 
 
 In the winter of 1839 the legislature appointed 
 a commission, consisting of William Ogle of Put- 
 nam, D. C. Salisbury of Bureau, and Campbell 
 Wakefield of McLean counties, to locate a county 
 seat, their instructions being to "faithfully take 
 into consideration the convenience of the people, 
 the situation of the settlements with an eye to the 
 future population and eligibility of the place," 
 also "if selection was made of any town already 
 laid off the proprietors should be required to do- 
 nate a quantity of lots equal to twenty acres of land 
 or a sum of $5,000 in lieu thereof, for the purpose 
 of erecting public buildings." 
 
 There were only two towns laid out in Marshall 
 county at the time, Henry, which contained only 
 some half a dozen cabins, a few people and not 
 much else ; besides, the town was laid out upon a 
 school section and was under the control of the 
 school trustees. Lacon (the name was changed bj 
 act of the legislature from Columbia in 1837) 
 had become quite a town by this time and was in a 
 flourishing condition, having a population prob- 
 ably of about 200 people. 
 
 As Henry was owned by the school authorities 
 and the few inhabitants could not fill the condi-
 
 18 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 tion, the commission, which had been instructed to 
 make the county seat, by their report made April 
 6, 1839, located the county seat at Lacon, and 
 Marshall county with the location of the county 
 seat became a full-fledged county. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 
 
 The organic act of the legislature, establishing 
 the county of Marshall, fixed the time for hold- 
 ing the election of county officers on the 25th day 
 of February, 1839, and the prescribed fifteen-day 
 notice was given by George Snyder, a justice of the 
 peace, for Lacon precinct. 
 
 Notwithstanding the sparsely settled country, 
 there appeared to be a patriotism among the peo- 
 ple that made them willing to sacrifice themselves 
 upon their country's altar. No less than twenty- 
 eight candidates entered into the canvass, eight of 
 them being for the office of sheriff; and though 
 the canvass was a short one it was exciting and in- 
 teresting while it lasted. 
 
 The officers elected were Elisha Swan, William 
 Maxwell and George H. Shaw, county commis- 
 sioners; William H. Efner, probate judge; Charles 
 F. Speyers, recorder; Silas Ramsey, sheriff; An- 
 son L. Deming, treasurer; A. S. Fishburn, county 
 clerk ; George F. Case, coroner ; Jordan Sawyer, 
 surveyor. 
 
 The board of commissioners met on the Satur- 
 day following their election in the house of John 
 D. Coutlet, and there organized the first county 
 court. 
 
 The term under the law for which the commis- 
 sioners were elected was to be for three years, a 
 new one to be elected every year, and it was neces- 
 sary to decide which should serve for the short 
 terms, which was done by casting lots, with the 
 result that William Maxwell was to serve one year, 
 Elisha Swan, two years, and George H. Shaw for 
 three years. Ira I. Fenn was appointed clerk pro 
 tern. Besides arranging for a permanent county 
 court, the commissioners divided the county into 
 four "justices' districts," two of them east of the 
 river and two west, to which they gave the names 
 of those east, Lacon and Lyons, and those west, 
 Henry and Lafayette. They also appointed John 
 
 Wier school commissioner, he to give a bond for 
 $10,000. 
 
 The first circuit court was held in the county in 
 Lacon, beginning April 23, 1839, and was held in 
 the Methodist church. Hon. Thomas Ford sat as 
 Judge, and J. M. Shannon as clerk. 
 
 A full panel of grand jurymen had been called, 
 consisting of Ira F. Laury, foreman ; Lewis Bar- 
 ney, Jeremiah Cooper, Joel Corbell, Alban N. 
 Ford, William Gray, Enoch Sawyer, Charles Rice, 
 Zorah D. Stewart, Elijah Freeman, Nathan Owen, 
 Samuel Howe, George Scott, Robert Bennington, 
 John Bird, Allen Hunter, Henry Snyder and An- 
 drew Jackson, but as there was no criminal busi- 
 ness to come before them and no jail to investi- 
 gate they were discharged the same day. There 
 had been no petit jury called and the business of 
 the first circuit court held in Marshall county was 
 soon finished, little or nothing being done. 
 
 But the session of the court showed the need of 
 a court house, and in June, 1839, the hoard of 
 commissioners was authorized to ascertain the 
 probable cost. It would appear as if their report 
 was satisfactory, as during the summer bids were 
 advertised for "to erect a courthouse 55 feet long 
 and 40 feet wide, with basement and underpinning 
 of stone and superstructure of brick." 
 
 The contract was awarded to White & Shepherd, 
 of Fremont, who put up the building according: to 
 specifications the next year. 
 
 In the fall of 1843, to be exact, on September 
 7, a contract was entered into between the com- 
 missioners and John Guthrie, to build a jail, the 
 price to be $515. Mr. Guthrie worked at it awhile 
 and then took in Thomas Wier as a partner. It 
 was built of large logs hewn square and set close 
 together. It was entered from the upper story, a 
 ladder furnishing means of ingress and egress, and 
 when the jailer went out he took the ladder with 
 him, it answering the purpose very well for minor 
 offenders, but was hardly secure enough to im- 
 prison desperate criminals, several of whom 
 escaped from it, but it was made to answer the 
 purpose until 1857, when it was replaced by a 
 brick and stone building, with a house for the 
 sheriff attached, and cost $12,000. It was re- 
 placed in 1903 by another, with all the latest im- 
 provements, at a cost of $20,000. 
 
 In the organization of the county we have al- 
 ready mentioned that the county commissioners 
 divided the county into four justices' or voting 
 districts.
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 19 
 
 No. 1, Lafayette precinct, comprised all of the 
 county west of the river below or south of town- 
 ships 12 and 13, and consisted of what are now 
 the towns of Steuben and La Prairie. 
 
 No. 2, Henry precinct, consisted of all the coun- 
 ty west of the river and north of the Lafayette 
 precinct, and consisted of what are now the towns 
 of Henry, Whitefield and Saratoga. 
 
 No. 3, Lacon precinct, consisted of all the 
 county east of the river and west of the third 
 principal meridian, and was made up of what are 
 now the towns of Lacon, Hopewell and Eichland. 
 
 No. 4, Lyons precinct, was that part of the 
 county west of the meridian comprising what are 
 now the townships of Eoberts and Belle Plain. 
 
 The third principal meridian was at that time 
 the eastern boundary of the county, townships 29 
 and 30, range 1 east, having since been added to it. 
 
 Besides dividing the county into voting districts 
 they also divided it into fourteen road districts 
 and assessed each able-bodied man a poll tax of 
 three days' labor to be applied upon the roads in 
 his district. 
 
 As there was no court house, a room was rented 
 from Elisha Swan in which the circuit clerk, coun- 
 ty clerk, county recorder and probate judge all 
 held their offices, and of which the rental was not 
 to exceed $75 per annum. 
 
 For their own use the commissioners rented of 
 a man by the name of Coutlett, to whom they al- 
 lowed the munificent sum of $2.00 for rent of 
 room and fuel for their four days' use. They also 
 voted themselves a per diem of $2.50 and fixed the 
 pay of jurymen at 75 cents a day, they to board 
 themselves. 
 
 In 1839 a tax was levied of forty cents on the 
 one hundred dollars, for county purposes, the tax 
 amounting to $875. Of this Silas Eamsey, who 
 was sheriff and collector, collected $787.12. 
 
 In June, 1840, the regular decennial census was 
 taken, the first in Marshall county. The enumera- 
 tion gave the population as 1,849, of which 993 
 were males and 854 females; no negroes or In- 
 dians. 
 
 In 1850 the county, which had been rapidly fill- 
 ing vip with settlers, had increased in population 
 from 1,849 in 1840 to 5,180, and having at the 
 November election of the previous year decided to 
 adopt the system of township organization, in 
 March, 1850, Samuel Camp, Addison Eamsey and 
 Nathan Patton were appointed commissioners to 
 "divide the county into convenient townships." 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 
 
 As mentioned in the foregoing chapter, town- 
 ship organization was adopted in Marshall county 
 in 1850. 
 
 The commissioners appointed concluded in most 
 cases to set off the congressional townships, and 
 proceeded to name them, with the help of the in- 
 habitants, as follows : 
 
 Town 30 N., range 1 E., 3d p. m., Evans. 
 
 Town 30 N., range 1 W., 3d p. m., Eoberts. 
 
 Town 30 N., range 2 W., 3d p. m., Hopewell. 
 
 Town 29 N., range 1 W., 3d p. m., Belle Plain. 
 
 Town 29 N., range 2 W., 3d p. m., Eichland. 
 
 Town 13 N., range 9 E., 4th p. m., Whitefield. 
 
 Town 12 N., range 9 E., 4th p. m., Steuben. 
 
 Town 12 N., range 8 E., 4th p. m., Fairfield. 
 
 Fractional town, 13-10 E., 4th p. m., Henry. 
 
 And fractional townships 29 and 30 N., range 
 
 3 E., 3d p. m., Lacon. 
 
 At the time of laying off the townships, town 13, 
 8 E., 4th p. m., and town 29 N., 1 W., 3d p. m., 
 had none or very few inhabitants, and did not at 
 that time come under the organization, but in 1855 
 town 13 N., 8 E., was called Saratoga, and town 
 29, 1 ^. of 3d p. m., was in 1856 named Benning- 
 ton. The name Fairfield was found to have been 
 used in other places and was changed to La 
 Prairie. 
 
 The first board of supervisors held their first 
 meeting at the court house in Lacon on the llth 
 day of November, 1850. It was composed of 
 Henry Snyder, John B. White, George W. Bettes, 
 Amasa Garrett, William Maxwell, Albert Eamsey, 
 Eeuben F. Ball, Charles S. Edwards, James Gib- 
 son and Theodore Perry. William Maxwell was 
 chosen chairman. 
 
 About the time that the township organization 
 was adopted the county received a great impetus 
 in the way of new inhabitants and in the matter 
 of improvements. Comfortable frame houses with 
 shingle roofs and sawed board floors were being 
 built by the newcomers instead of the small log 
 cabins with their clapboard roofs and puncheon 
 floors. Also barns for the storing of grain and 
 hay, as well as horses, began to appear here and 
 there, and sheds for the protection of cattle. 
 Farms also began to be improved, the lands fenced 
 and broken, and prepared for cultivation. Men 
 who had thought that fifteen or twenty acres was 
 enough to farm began to make their fields of forty 
 and eighty acres. The farming implements were
 
 20 
 
 PAST AND 1'RKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUXTJKS. 
 
 also improved, the wooden mold and cast iron 
 plows being supplanted by steel plows, which were 
 more or less given to scouring; the mower and 
 reaper began to take the place of the scythe and 
 cradle, and threshing machines that separated the 
 grain from the chaff taking the place of the flail. 
 
 Especially was this true of the west side, which 
 ':ad not appealed to settlers, for some reason or 
 other, nearly as inviting as the east side. At any 
 cate, nearly if not quite two-thirds of the popula- 
 tion of Marshall county was living on the east 
 side of the river. So much was this so that the 
 early settlers of Whitefield came from the east 
 side of the river, from the neighborhood of Mag- 
 nolia and Caledonia, feeling they were crowded 
 out by the settlements becoming too thick. 
 
 It must not be inferred, however, that the adop- 
 tion of township organization was the only cause 
 that was making these important changes or even 
 that it was the principal one. That it had an in- 
 fluence, however, there is no doubt. Probably the 
 principal factor in settling up Marshall county 
 about this time was the completion of the Illi- 
 nois and Michigan canal in 1848. 
 
 Up to this time the settlers had literally no mar- 
 ket for anything but their pork. The pork pack- 
 ing business received early attention in Lacon, 
 and as it had much to do with the prosperity of 
 the inhabitants in the early days, it deserves more 
 than a passing mention. As early as 1837 the firm 
 of Fenn, Howe & Co. went into the pork packing 
 business, and the following year Elisha Swan 
 bought and cut up three thousand hogs. Most of 
 these hogs were killed by the farmers and the 
 carcasses were bought and cut up. In 1840 Jabez 
 Fisher & Co. began to buy hogs and erected a 
 slaughter house, and soon monopolized the whole 
 business and drew their trade from a circle of 
 about forty miles, handling during the season an 
 average of ten thousand hogs or more, and paying 
 out from two hundred to three hundred thou- 
 sand dollars for hogs, wages, etc. 
 
 The product was shipped by boats going down 
 the river, the boats often makinsr their entire 
 cargo of pork, and going direct to New Orleans. 
 The making of the barrels was also an important 
 industry, employing from fifteen to twenty men 
 throughout the entire year. The number of men 
 employed in the entire business was not far from 
 one hundred during the busy season, and brought 
 to the city and county many of the men who later 
 became prominent and useful citizens. The price 
 
 paid for pork ran from $1.75 to $2.50 per hundred 
 pounds, according to the weight of the hog, heavy 
 hogs bringing more, accordingly, than light ones. 
 Another great advantage to the county was the 
 money paid out by the Fishers. It was the time 
 of the "wildcat banks," as they were called, and 
 the currency from them, with which the country 
 had been flooded in the flush times of 1836 and 
 1837, was practically worthless and only taken at 
 large discounts, which varied from day to day, 
 and the tax collectors absolutely refused to take it. 
 
 The gold and silver had been driven out of the 
 country by the cheap money and money to pay 
 taxes was almost impossible to obtain. In this di- 
 lemma Mr. Fisher made arrangements with a bank 
 in Boston, Massachusetts, to furnish him money. 
 Mr. Fisher had the confidence of the entire coun- 
 try as being a man of the strictest integrity. He 
 offered to guarantee all money he paid out and 
 such was the extent of that confidence that the 
 tax collectors gave "notice" that they would re- 
 ceive "Boston money" as they called it at par. 
 
 Up to 1850 this was about the only way the 
 farmers had to get money, except a few deer hides 
 and furs they might have, but for farm produce 
 there was no cash market. Wheat, to be sure, in 
 Chicago brought cash, twenty-five cents a bushel, 
 but it was necessary to haul it in wagons, and a 
 man who took a load to Chicago and paid his ex- 
 penses on the way had just a "long bit," twelve 
 and one-half cents left of the proceeds. 
 
 It is true that some wheat was hauled to Chi- 
 cago, but it was necessary, to save any of the pro- 
 ceeds, to carry provisions and blankets and camp 
 along the road. The trip occupied about a week. 
 
 Corn was nominally worth about ten cents :i 
 bushel, but no one wanted any. There was no 
 sale for it. 
 
 The opening of the canal changed this. While 
 the prices were not much advanced, things could 
 be sold at home. Boats would come to the land- 
 ing, the grain was bought here and then shipped 
 to Chicago or St. Louis. 
 
 About this same time the Chicago, Eock Island 
 and Pacific railroad was projected, and in the 
 years 1853 and 1854 the Peoria branch was built 
 through the townships of Henry and Steuben. 
 Many of the men who had worked building the 
 road, charmed by the beauty of the country and 
 fertility of the land, settled near the road, some in 
 the towns and some on farms in the country, and 
 became some of our most useful and prominent
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 citizens, building up a competency for themselves 
 and raising noble families of boys and girls who 
 became some of our best citizens. 
 
 About this time, too, immigration from the New 
 England states, New York and Pennsylvania, be- 
 gan to come in by great numbers. These men 
 had more money, better ideas of profitable farming 
 and more energy or at least were more accustomed 
 to work. 
 
 Many of the earlier settlers sold out to them and 
 the entire country began to put on a new aspect. 
 Land began to advance in value, the towns began 
 to fill up with merchants, mechanics and grain 
 buyers, stocks of goods increased, hotels were 
 built and banks opened, business began to flourish 
 and the county began to reap some of the pros- 
 perity which it has enjoyed to so great an extent 
 ever since. 
 
 Two great advantages were experienced upon 
 the adoption of township organization. 
 
 First was the annual town meeting, which en- 
 abled the townships to choose their township offi- 
 cials from among their own number, making their 
 official jurisdiction coeval with the township and 
 not extending beyond the lines. The other was 
 the board of supervisors, one from each town- 
 ship, a kind of parliament or congress where the 
 business of the whole county was transacted, bxit 
 in which each township had a representative, 
 selected from among her own citizens, who knew 
 the needs of the township, and who was supposed 
 to look out for her welfare. 
 
 Before that three commissioners, who were not 
 supposed to have any particular interest in any 
 particular township, had transacted the county 
 business as a whole, and the county officials had 
 looked after the other affairs, the system being 
 rather unsatisfactory. 
 
 The township and town meetings are carried on 
 on true democratic principles, the people as a 
 whole having complete control of their own affairs, 
 elect their own officers, and are responsible to no 
 one but themselves. 
 
 The history of the townships of which Marshall 
 county is composed is the true history of the coun- 
 ty, and, in fact, the only history that can be writ- 
 ten. 
 
 While there were settlements in almost all parts 
 of the county, and a county organization, yet the 
 settlements were scattered and the county organi- 
 zation was in a crude and incomplete state. 
 
 At the time of township organization there 
 
 were only four voting precincts in the county, but 
 this did not work so much hardship, as the voters, 
 as a rule, were, in a manner bunched together. 
 
 Take the precinct of Henry. Although the area 
 comprised what is now the three townships of 
 Henry, Whitefield and Saratoga, yet more than 
 nine-tenths of the voters lived within five miles 
 of the voting place, Henry. At the time of town- 
 ship organization this was changed and a voting 
 place established in each township, generally as 
 near the center as practicable, the election being 
 held in a school house. At the time of the elec- 
 tion a portion of the time was devoted to town 
 meeting, where any business pertaining to the 
 town could be brought forward by anyone, where 
 it would be properly discussed and then voted 
 upon. 
 
 Also the reports of the several officers, who 
 handled money belonging to the township, would 
 be made. 
 
 As we have said above, a history of a county 
 must necessarily be a history of the several town- 
 ships of which it is composed, and to give you the 
 history of Marshall county we will give a history 
 of the several townships. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LACON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 As the first permanent settlements in Marshall 
 county were made in what is now Lacon township, 
 it appears to us as though the history of the town- 
 ships should begin with Lacon. 
 
 Lacon township is composed of two fractional 
 townships, 29 and 30 N., 3 W. of the 3d P. M., 
 and is shaped somewhat after the manner of a 
 long triangle, being a trifle over four miles wide 
 at the base, extending north about ten miles, and 
 " terminating in a point, it contains fifteen full sec- 
 tions and eight fractional sections, the Illinois 
 river washes its entire western line, and most of 
 the fractional sections consist of swamp lands 
 and bluffs covered with timber more or less scrub- 
 by, not more than one-third of the land being 
 good farming land. 
 
 The first permanent settler in Marshall county 
 was Colonel John Strawn, who built a cabin and 
 moved his family into it September 21, 1829, 
 the location of his claim being about three miles 
 east of where Lacon now stand?.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 The country at that time was in the hands of 
 the Indians, who often came to the house. The 
 only white men they saw were a few hunters, and 
 their visits were few and far between. 
 
 The nearest settlement at that time was Beards- 
 town and Mr. Strawn, in looking for supplies for 
 his family through the winter, went down to that 
 place on horseback, chartered a keel boat then in 
 use on the western rivers, which he loaded with 
 corn and other things he needed and laboriously 
 poled it up the river. This was probably the first 
 landing made at this point by a boat larger than a 
 canoe. From that time for several years the place 
 was known as Strawn's landing. 
 
 A few days later his little girls, Rachel, 11 years 
 old, and Mary Jane, 9, followed the wagon tracks 
 from the house to the landing and were probably 
 the first white persons that had ever set foot upon 
 the present site of Lacon, certainly they were the 
 first females. 
 
 The girls found a company of Indians camped 
 not far from the landing, but although the In- 
 dians eyed them curiously they did not molest 
 them and they returned home greatly to the relief 
 of their mother. 
 
 In the spring of 1831, about eighteen months 
 after the settlement of John Strawn, General Jona- 
 than Babb and Major Filler, comrades in arms 
 from the war of 1812, were traveling on horseback 
 from Ohio through Illinois, they came to Strawn's 
 Landing, as it was then known, and were struck 
 by the beauty of the situation and saw that it was 
 a very favorable location for a town. 
 
 During the winter of 1830-31 the county of Put- 
 nam had been reorganized, groups of settlers had 
 located in different parts of the county and it 
 became imperative upon the part of the govern- 
 ment to open land offices so that the settlers could 
 enter their lands, and proclamation was accord- 
 ingly made that a government land office would be 
 opened in Springfield, then a small but growing 
 town on the Sangamon river. 
 
 When Babb and Filler saw the possibilities of 
 the place, upon conferring with Mr. Strawn, they 
 left the money with him to enter the place in their 
 name, and on July 18th, 1831, the first day of the 
 sales, Mr. Strawn entered in the name of Babb & 
 Filler the fractional quarter sections of land known 
 as- the S. E. 14 Sec. 26, Town 30, F., 3 W. of the 3 
 P. M., consisting of about 67.15 acres. 
 
 A town was laid off in August, 1831, by 
 John Stevenson, surveyor of Sangamon county, 
 
 and Colby F. Stevenson, surveyor of Putnam 
 county. The new town was called Columbia, and 
 the dedication was acknowledged before Thomas 
 Gallaher, a Justice of the Peace at Hennepin, and 
 was placed on the records there, being the first 
 town plat recorded in Putnam county, the date 
 being August 19th, 1831. 
 
 It must be remembered that up to this time 
 the entire northern part of the state was an almost 
 unbroken wilderness. Five years before, a gentle- 
 man had ridden from Peoria to Chicago without 
 seeing a single habitation where white people lived. 
 Peoria was only an Indian trading station with a 
 few settlers, and Chicago a village, not yet laid 
 off, of some forty or fifty houses and two hundred 
 and fifty inhabitants and five stores. 
 
 During the next five years, however, a great- 
 change had come over the land and settlers had 
 come in, in considerable numbers, especially in 
 favored spots, and not far from Strawns quite a 
 number had settled before the fall of 1831. 
 
 Lot and Joshua Bullman had taken claims a 
 little north of Strawns, and a brother-in-law of 
 theirs, Beltha Griffeth, one near them. James 
 Hall and Newton Reeder located on a claim a 
 little southeast, and they were soon followed by 
 Lunsford Broaddus, who settled a little west of 
 them. Quite a number of settlers had come in to 
 the south, and quite a settlement grew up in the 
 Crow Creek neighborhood, in fact so thick had the 
 settlers become that some of the earlier ones were 
 selling their claims to others. A man named 
 Hamilton settled near where Joseph Babb had 
 opened a farm. Robert Rickey, George Easter, 
 the Waughops and a man by the name of Lancaster 
 had settled there. 
 
 In September, 1831, there was held a public sale 
 of lots in Columbia, the lots bringing from $5 to 
 $10 apiece according to location. It appears as if 
 there must, even at that date, have been quite a 
 population, as there was a number of lots sold and 
 it can hardly be expected that all those present 
 wanted to buy town lots at even the low price 
 these were sold for. Among the buyers were 
 Samuel Russell, Jesse Sawyer, Thaddeus Barney, 
 William Haws, A. N. Denning, Henry Cassell, 
 Jesse Smith, Joseph Johnson and Elisha Swan, 
 but it was not till the spring of 1832 that any at- 
 tempt at building upon the site was attempted, 
 and even then, owing to the Indian scare, it was 
 not completed for two years. 
 
 At this time, the spring of 1832, there was
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 quite a scare from the rumors of Indian troubles. 
 Black Hawk had crossed the Mississippi and the 
 Stillman fiasco as already mentioned, had oc- 
 curred. 
 
 General Neal of Springfield had been sent out 
 and fearing trouble, organized several companies 
 of militia along the east bank of the Illinois 
 river as a precautionary measure. This he called 
 the 40th Regiment, Illinois Militia, and John 
 Strawn was appointed Colonel of the regiment and 
 was assigned the duty of patroling along the Illi- 
 nois river, but it was soon found there was no 
 danger of the Indians in this vicinity, and after a 
 month's service they were mustered out in Henne- 
 pin, June 18th, 1832. 
 
 The first actual settler to build in the town of 
 Columbia was Elisha Swan. He came into the 
 country in 1831 and with a small stock of goods 
 opened a store a little distance from the "landing," 
 but not on the site of the town. In the summer 
 of 1833 he made arrangements by hewing out the 
 frame of a building and hauled it to where Henry 
 now is, expecting to establish a claim and lay out a 
 town, but he found others had interests there, and 
 upon inquiring into the matter it was found the 
 land wanted was in a 16th section, consequently 
 was school land and could not be entered, and 
 he abandoned the project and moved back to La- 
 con and erected his building, a frame 20x36, a 
 story and a half in height. The boards for the 
 floor, etc., were brought on a keel boat from St. 
 Louis, but the weather boards were rived by hand. 
 It was quite a pretentious and serviceable building 
 for the times and served both as store and resi- 
 dence. While Columbia did not improve much 
 though it had a half dozen houses by 1834 the 
 country east was rapidly filling up with settlers. 
 And at an election for Justice of the Peace and a 
 Constable held at the house of Colonel Strawn in 
 June of that year fifty votes were polled. 
 
 In 1834 Jesse C. Smith and Joseph H. Johnson 
 came out from Cincinnati on horseback viewing 
 the land, and, stopping at Colonel Strawn's, told 
 him they were thinking of building a mill if a 
 suitable location could be found. Colonel Strawn 
 persuaded them to stop at Columbia, and as an 
 inducement offered to donate them several lots. 
 They were pleased with the site and the mill was 
 built in 1835 and went into operation in the fall 
 of 1836. 
 
 The flouring mill which was quite large for the 
 times and place, did a flourishing business, par- 
 
 ties coming from all the northern country for their 
 supplies, even as far as Galena. 
 
 From 1835 the town improved more rapidly. 
 Quite a number of houses were built in the towii 
 that year. In 1836 a cemetery was laid out. The 
 first person to be buried in it was a young lady 
 by the name of Lancaster, and the second was 
 James Henthorn, who had, during the summer, 
 helped to form the first Methodist society, and 
 was its class leader at the time of his death. Dur- 
 ing the fall of this year a sawmill was put up at 
 the lower end of town and a few miles south a 
 man by the name of Barney put up another saw 
 mill, and added to it a wood cording and fulling 
 machine. 
 
 In 1835 the little village of Columbia received 
 an influx of population that did much to give to 
 Lacon its high standing as a literary and social 
 place, and whose names became household words 
 throughout the country. They were the brothers 
 Fenn, Ira, Norman and William, Dr. Robert 
 Boal, William Fisher, Rev. Augustus Pomeroy, 
 Samuel Howe, William Hancock, Hartley Malone, 
 H. L. and H. P. Crane and some others who were 
 given the name of the "Lacon Colony." They 
 were all men of high intellectual attainment and 
 of good character and high standing men that 
 would exert an influence for good wherever they 
 might go. About this time in 1836 the name 
 Columbia was changed to that of Lacon. 
 
 During this time immigrants had been coming 
 in from the eastern states and a fine class of 
 people were coming in rapidly, the farming com- 
 munity keeping ahead of the towns, the object of 
 the greater portion being to establish homes for 
 their families. But about this time it received a 
 setback in the hard times of 1836 and '37. Banks 
 had been chartered in all parts of the country 
 which had been issuing their notes without limit. 
 For a year or two all had gone well, money was 
 plentiful and a season of speculation followed 
 such as the country has seldom seen. Everybody 
 was making fortunes on paper but when they 
 came to realize on their investments the bubble 
 burst and they found what they thought was 
 money was but little if any better than scraps of 
 brown paper; the money was absolutely worthless. 
 Then came hard times. The gold and silver which 
 had been the circulating medium had been driven 
 out of the country by the cheap money and there 
 was absolutely no money, or very little, to be had. 
 This, although worse probably in the new states
 
 : 24 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 than elsewhere, was felt all over the country and 
 put quite a check upon immigration for a time. 
 
 About the year 1837 an enterprise was started 
 in Lacon that did more than any other thing, 
 possibly than all others together, to bring pros- 
 perity to it. We refer to the pork packing in- 
 dustry. The first buyers were Feiin, Howe & Co., 
 who bought and cut up 750 hogs in 1837. With 
 this firm William Fisher was connected. In the 
 next year, 1838, William Fisher withdrew from 
 the firm and went into partnership with his 
 brother Jabez. They established one of the larg- 
 est pork packing plants in the west, buying and 
 packing from 8,000 to 11,000 hogs a year, paying 
 out some years as high as $250,000 and $300,000 
 a year, and Jabez Fisher, who appears to have 
 been the main spirit in the pork business, paid 
 out money that he received from Boston that was 
 guaranteed good and that the collectors would re- 
 ceive for taxes. It was a godsend to the farmers, 
 for no other money could they get that would pay 
 taxes. 
 
 In addition to the immense trade that flowed 
 from the pork industry, and farmers for a circle 
 of forty and fifty miles brought their pork to La- 
 con, the establishment employed something like 
 100 men during the busy season. 
 
 In the coopering business they employed from 
 twelve to twenty men the year round, and used 
 thousands of hooppoles that made very handy 
 pocket money for those who gathered them. 
 
 The pork packing business was a great thing 
 for Lacon and was also a good thing for the 
 Fishers, for they prospered exceedingly and in 
 1849 and '50 erected in Lacon what at the time 
 was probably the most complete building for the 
 purpose of pork packing in the west, not excepting 
 Chicago and Cincinnati, expending on it what at 
 the time was an immense sum of money, $10,000. 
 
 The pork packing industry no doubt had a good 
 deal to do with bringing settlers into Lacon and 
 the adjoining country that is now Marshall county. 
 
 Much happened to Lacon about the years 1835 
 to 1840. 
 
 In 1835 a postoffice was established there. Be- 
 fore that they had gone to Bell's ford on Crow 
 creek, about six miles, for their mail, but as the 
 postage was then 25 cents on a letter the mail, 
 as might be expected, was not heavy and it is said 
 the postmaster carried the mail in his hat and 
 handed it to the owners as he met them. 
 
 In 1836 the town's name was changed from Co- 
 
 lumbia to Lacon, and in the same year the road 
 from the landing, which was through a long piece 
 of lowland, most of the time a swamp or marsh, 
 was made a substantial road by laying down logs, 
 covering them with bushes and slough grass and 
 putting dirt upon it. 
 
 A ferry across the river had been established by 
 Blisha Swan. He built a flatboat propelled with 
 oars, but it was little used except to transport coal 
 across the river from the Sparland banks. Mr. 
 Swan had a license to run the ferry, for which he 
 paid $5 per annum, but it was not a paying in- 
 vestment even at that price. In 1837 he sold his 
 interest in the ferry to Dr. Boal, who built a 
 larger boat. It afterward passed into the hands 
 of Fisher & Co., who built a still larger boat and 
 stretched a rope across the river to pull it back 
 and forth. They also assisted materially in build- 
 ing the causeway that runs from the river to 
 Sparland. In 1879 the ferry rights passed to the 
 city of Lacon, which, after maintaining the ferry 
 for many years, in 1882 built a pontoon bridge, 
 which was renewed in 1900, which with some re- 
 newing and repairing is in use today, a very satis- 
 factory bridge. 
 
 In 1836 the Lacon academy was organized and 
 one thousand dollars pledged for its support, a 
 building was built that year capable of accommo- 
 dating sixty or seventy pupils, but the building 
 was intended for more than school purposes, and 
 served for a church, a town hall, where elections 
 and courts were held ; for lyceums and other pub- 
 lic purposes, but no school was taught there till 
 the spring of 1837, which was the first school in 
 Marshall county, when Miss Jane M. Kilgore was 
 employed as a teacher. This school house an- 
 swered the purpose for a few years, when it was 
 necessary to build a larger one, which in 1856 
 gave place to a much larger and better building, 
 which in 1878 was reconstructed, more room added 
 and other improvements made. This building had 
 become superannuated and out of date, when in 
 1902 John S. Thompson, a wealthy and public- 
 spirited citizen, offered to give twelve thousand 
 dollars towards a new school house if the board 
 would build one worth at least twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars. The board took him up on his offer 
 and had a fine building erected, up-to-date in 
 every particular, costing about thirty thousand 
 dollars. It is undoubtedly the best school house in 
 the county.
 
 LACON PUBLIC SCHOOL.
 
 PAST AM) 1MJKSKNT OK MAIfSIIALL A XT) 1TTXAM COTXTl KS. 
 
 The first church was built by the Methodists in 
 1837, and was the only church building for sev- 
 eral years. Other societies were formed, but wor- 
 shiped generally in the school house already men- 
 tioned. A Presbyterian society was formed also 
 in this year and a remarkable revival experienced 
 and some thirty-five members brought into the 
 church. 
 
 January, 1839, the act establishing Marshall 
 county was passed and under the instructions of 
 the law the commissioners appointed for the pur- 
 pose made Lacon the county seat, April 6, 1839. 
 The first circuit court convened in Marshall 
 county April 23 of that year, with Thomas Ford 
 as judge and J. M. Shannon as clerk. A grand 
 jury was summoned and impaneled, but as there 
 were no cases to come before the court no petit 
 jury was called. The first sessions were held in 
 the Methodist church, but in December a contract 
 was let for the building of a court house of stone 
 and brick, forty by fifty-five feet, at a cost of 
 eight thousand dollars. January 5, 1853, this 
 building was burned down through some defect in 
 the chimney, but fortunately the records were 
 saved. Another buil^g w ? h"i1t i" IKJU, at. n 
 cost^of seven thousand *"'ght b'UldrP^ fln11ara_JTliis 
 building was entirely remodeled and rebuilt and 
 greatlv enlarge.! in is'.i:;. !.i what it is at piv.-.em. 
 1906. 
 
 Besides her pork packing interests Lacon at one 
 time had extensive flouring mills. In 1855 Will- 
 iam Fisher built a mill that he called the Phoenix 
 mill, at a cost of over forty thousand dollars, and 
 soon after the firm of Fenn, Perry & Dobbs built 
 the Model mills, costing about the same amount, 
 and later added to it a small distillery. Both the 
 mills nourished for several years. The Phoenix 
 burned down in 1871 and was never rebuilt. The 
 Model mills partially burned in 1862, but the next 
 year was purchased by two brothers by the name 
 of Thayer, who rebuilt the mill and greatly in- 
 creased the capacity of the distillery, and in a 
 single year paid the government one million nine 
 hundred and ninety-three thousand dollars in 
 revenue tax. August 12, 1864, the boilers of the 
 distillery exploded, 'nearly demolishing the build- 
 ing and killing five men. The building was patched 
 up after this but the Thayer brothers dying, the 
 business ran down and was some time after aban- 
 doned. The bonded warehouse in use when the 
 distillery was running was afterwards converted 
 into a hotel, and today has the only hall of any 
 
 size there is in Lacon, but there has been no hotel 
 in it for several years, though the owner and wife 
 have their residence there. 
 
 We must not omit mention of the woolen mill 
 industry of which the citizens of Lacon are justly 
 proud, and they may well be, for if we except 
 probably a brick yard or two it is the only manu- 
 facturing establishment in Marshall county. 
 About 1862 Spencer Ellsworth, then editor of the 
 Lacon Journal, wrote for the Chicago Tribune an 
 article on manufactures, which came to the atten- 
 tion of two gentlemen who were interested in 
 woolen manufactures, and they opened a corre- 
 spondence on the subject with him. The corre- 
 spondence led to a meeting of the citizens and 
 William Fisher and Mr. Ellsworth were appointed 
 a committee to meet the gentlemen, and the out- 
 come was that a company was organized and in- 
 corporated under the name of the Lacon Woolen 
 Mill Company, with a capital of one hundred 
 thousand dollars. D. E. Thomas was chosen presi- 
 dent and Spencer Ellsworth secretary. During the 
 winter books were opened and fifty thousand dol- 
 lars worth of stock subscribed for, and the next 
 summer the necessary buildings were built and 
 the machinery installed, and Mr. Grieves employed 
 to superintend it. The mill was run for several 
 years quite successfully in making a certain kind 
 of shawl, which found a large demand, also cer- 
 tain kinds of piece goods were made that gave ex- 
 cellent satisfaction, the mill giving employment 
 to about seventy-five persons, but during the hard 
 times of 1896 to 1898 the business fell off and the 
 mill was closed down. It remained closed for 
 about three years, when it was bought by Mr. 
 Grieves and was again run by Grieves & Son, and 
 was doing a good business, when it took fire and 
 was burned to the ground in the spring of 1901. 
 It was a sad loss to the Messrs. Grieves, as the 
 insurance was light and they were not able to 
 rebuild. However, a popular subscription was 
 started that fall, the building rebuilt and some- 
 what enlarged, new and up-to-date machinery in- 
 stalled the next summer, and it was turned over 
 to the Messrs. Grieves. It was too good a thing 
 for Lacon to lose. 
 
 Lacon has a number of fine churches. The 
 Presbyterian society in Lacon was organized May 
 12, 1837, the first minister being the Rev. Aug- 
 ustus Pomeroy, who had come to Columbia, as it 
 was then, with a number of others, the year be- 
 fore, from Ohio. For several years services were^
 
 PAST AXJ) PEKSEXT OF MARSHALL A\I> IH'TXAM COt'XTI KS. 
 
 Jicld in the house of Henry T. C'rane till the school 
 house was built. The present fine building in 
 which they worship was started in 1849 and con- 
 secrated in 1851. It cost four thousand dollars 
 and has a fine bell and church organ. 
 
 In 1836 the Methodists formed a society, the 
 Eev. A. E. Phelps, with John McMurtrie, a sweet 
 singer, holding a meeting in an unfinished mill. 
 On his next visit, two weeks later, the Methodists 
 there, to the number of sixteen, handed in their 
 letters, a class was formed and the Methodist 
 church society was organized. 
 
 For the first year meetings were held in a 
 frame building. It had neither fireplace nor 
 stove and was used summer and winter by both 
 Methodists and Presbyterians. In 1837 the Meth- 
 odists erected a building which was dedicated in 
 November of that year by the Eev. William Can- 
 cliff. For twenty years they used this building, 
 and in 1855 began building their present place 
 of worship, which was dedicated on June 24, 
 1860. It is a large, roomy building and well fitted 
 for their accommodation. 
 
 A Baptist society was organized in February, 
 1855, under Elder I. L. Mahan, but it was not 
 until January, 1856, that they decided to build, 
 and in the latter part of 1856, after having raised 
 $4,500, they proceeded to erect a building, trust- 
 ing in the Lord for aid to finish it. They erected 
 a substantial, convenient church and have a flour- 
 ishing society, with resident minister. 
 
 The Congregationalists also have a fine place of 
 worship and a large congregation. The church 
 was organized October 1, 1865, with a member- 
 ship of forty and a church building, costing $4,- 
 200, was erected the same year, the lots upon 
 which it stands, valued at the time at $1,000, 
 were donated by Washington E. Cook. In 1879 
 the Presbyterian and Congregational societies were 
 united upon a common confession of faith as the 
 Union Church of Lacon. 
 
 There is also a Catholic society and church, 
 built in 1867. It is one of the finest church build- 
 ings in the county and cost about $13,000. 
 
 Lacon has the usual number of secret societies. 
 A Masonic blue lodge was organized October 4, 
 1848, and the Odd Fellows established a lodge 
 October 17, 1851. At present there is, besides 
 these, a Knights of Pythias lodge, a camp of 
 Modern Woodmen, a Eebekah lodge, etc., which 
 have been instituted in the last few years. 
 
 The first newspaper published in Marshall coun- 
 
 ty was the Lacon Herald, the first number appear- 
 ing December 13, 1837. It was published by 
 Allen N. Ford, the people of Lacon giving him a 
 bonus of $2,000, and he was to publish the paper 
 for at least two years. After the two years were 
 up he changed thename of the paper to Illinois 
 Gazette. L"p to this time it had been non-partisan, 
 but with the change of name he espoused the Whig 
 side of politics. Mr. Ford published the paper 
 until 1866, when he sold it to Spencer Ellsworth, 
 who changed the name to the Home Journal. Mr. 
 Ellsworth published it until his death, when it 
 went into the hands of his son, Spencer, who, 
 after a few years, sold it to W. B. Powell, and after 
 his running it for a few months it passed into 
 the hands of Charles F. Hacker, who had been in 
 the office from the time of the elder Ellsworth. 
 The paper has always maintained a high reputa- 
 tion and in execution and contents will compare 
 favorably with the best of the country newspa- 
 pers. It is republican in politics and Mr. Hacker, 
 the editor and proprietor, is now postmaster of 
 Lacon. 
 
 In 1850 the democrats started the Lacon Her- 
 ald, with Jesse Lynch as editor. It was published 
 by different parties for several years with more or 
 less success until at length it was purchased by 
 Spencer Ellsworth, who stopped the publication 
 and sold the material of the office. 
 
 In 1867 J. G. Ford started the Lacon Democrat, 
 but though he published a very good paper was 
 not as successful as he hoped it to be and moved ' 
 the office to Pontiac ; but a short time later Will- 
 iam B. Whiffen brought an outfit from Chillicothe 
 and continued the publication under the name of 
 the Marshall County Democrat. 
 
 Mr. Whiffen was well versed in the political his- 
 tory of the state, with a large acquaintance of 
 the prominent men and he soon made the paper a 
 power in democratic politics. After his death it 
 passed into the hands of a man by the name of 
 Day, who put in new type and machinery and 
 greatly improved it as a newspaper.- It has 
 changed hands several times since then and is 
 now owned and edited by F. C. Sorrells, who 
 maintains the high reputation it has won as a 
 newspaper and party organ. 
 
 Marshall county may well be proud of the num- 
 ber of lawyers who have been educated in Lacon 
 and been advanced to high public position, some 
 of them attaining national repute and many of 
 them attaining distinction as learned and honest
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MAESHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 judges upon the bench. Mark Bangs, United 
 States district attorney for the Northern District 
 of Illinois; G. L. Fort, member of congress for 
 several terms, and a strong candidate for the 
 nomination for governor of the state ; Mark Bangs, 
 Samuel L. Richmond, John Burns, Thomas M. 
 Shaw, all of whom served with distinction a? able 
 and upright judges, upon the circuit bench. 
 George 0. Barnes, who was honored twice as a 
 candidate by his party with the nomination for 
 Congress, his son, R. M. Barnes, now one of the 
 most brilliant lawyers in this section ; C. N. 
 Barnes and Judge Winslow Evans, now among the 
 most prominent members of the Peoria bar. It 
 is certainly a grand record for so small a county 
 as Marshall and a city the size of Lacon to con- 
 tribute so many public men to the service of their 
 country. This is the list: A United States dis- 
 trict attorney, a congressman, five circuit judges, 
 and two state senators. 
 
 We have devoted considerable space to the his- 
 tory of the city of Lacon because it has made and 
 furnished much of the history of Marshall county. 
 
 As for the rest of the townships, not so much 
 can be said. Lacon township, as has been already 
 mentioned, is a long, triangular piece of land with 
 a hypothenuse of about twelve miles in length, 
 forming the east bank of the Illinois river. The 
 land along the river from a quarter of a mile to 
 a mile or more wide is more or less of a swampy 
 nature and this is bordered by a system of bluffs 
 covered with timber of more or less value. 
 Through the southern part of the township flows 
 Crow creek and the country along this is very 
 rolling and was covered with timber. The land is 
 reasonably productive where it can be worked and 
 the rest makes very good pasture land, while the 
 timber is utilized for firewood. As it contains 
 the two necessities of the pioneer, wood and wa- 
 ter, in abundance, the Crow creek country was 
 early settled and by 1835 there was quite a set- 
 tlement there, but, like the face of the country, 
 the settlers there were a rough lot and were mostly 
 a law unto themselves, settling most of their quar- 
 rels by fighting the courts, justices and constables 
 enforcing their decrees in the same way and not 
 always coming out first best. Although they were 
 hospitable to a degree, they would not tolerate 
 preachers or lawyers; they could remain over 
 night, but next day were given to understand 
 they had no use for them. They generally took 
 the hint and left. That part of the township was 
 
 in bad odor with the more civilized communities 
 for a long time, but the old inhabitants have died 
 or moved away and the neighborhood now aver- 
 ages up with the rest of the county. 
 
 There are a few sections of fine prairie farm- 
 ing land in Lacon township, but the greater 
 part of it is rolling and was at one time covered 
 with timber. It has been largely cut away and 
 the land cleared, some of it utilized for crop 
 raising and some for pasture. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IIOPEWELL TOWNSHIP. 
 
 This township, being township 30 north, range 
 2 west of the third p. m., lays partly along the 
 Illinois river and partly east of one of the frac- 
 tional townships composing the township of La- 
 con, the river extending about four miles along 
 the northwestern corner in a southwesterly direc- 
 tion, cutting off parts of sections 5 and 7 and 
 most of section C. 
 
 The land along the river is swampy and the 
 greater part of it worthless, so far as crop raising 
 is concerned, for something like a mile back from 
 the river, when bold bluffs covered with timber 
 take up the land for about two miles further back, 
 although in many places the timber has been cut 
 off and the land cultivated. Along the north side 
 of the township are the bluffs of Sandy creek, but 
 the southwestern part of the township is fine 
 prairie land and contains many excellent farms. 
 
 The first settler in Hopewell was George Wag- 
 ner, who put up a cabin in 1830, on the farm 
 known as the Jerry Feazle farm. James Hall, 
 William McNeill and Newton Reeder, Lot and 
 Joshua Bullman and Jacob Smalley came in 1831. 
 
 In that year Elisha Swan, who afterwards fig- 
 ured extensively in the history of Lacon, with a 
 man by the name of Deming, put up a log building 
 on the Broaddus farm, near Strawn's landing, and 
 with a small stock of goods opened the first store 
 in Marshall county, where he sold such things as 
 the settlers needed and traded largely with the 
 Indians. 
 
 Those mentioned settled in the southern part of 
 the township. In the northern part Jesse Sawyer 
 and Caleb Forbes settled in 1831. The Free- 
 mans, William White and John Benson, came in 
 1833, as did Robert Antrim, Lemuel Russell, 
 Peter Barnhart and William Boys. John
 
 30 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Brumsey settled on Sandy, on the farm where his 
 grandson, James Brumsey, now resides, in 1833. 
 
 From this on settlers came in rapidly and as 
 the country filled up the people began to think of 
 schools, and the first school was built about two 
 miles west of Jesse Sawyer's in 1835. It was a 
 single log house with a door and a log cut out 
 and a hole left for light, but the door was usually 
 left open and was more depended upon for light 
 than the window. In the fall of the same year, 
 1835, another school house was built further south 
 by Lemuel Russell, James Hall, John Wier, John 
 Strawn, James Kane, William Hancock, the Bull- 
 mans and others, which was in comparison quite a 
 pretentious building, and was used for meetings, 
 debating societies, public meetings, shows, etc. It 
 served its turn for several years and at last was, 
 after a more up-to-date house had been built, 
 turned into a stable for horses. 
 
 There many of Marshall county's future citi- 
 zens imbibed their first ideas of learning and in 
 1880, forty-five years after the building of the 
 old school house, a picnic composed of those who 
 had attended school there in the early days was 
 held on the spot and some eighty persons were 
 present and among them were represented some 
 of the most prominent names in Marshall county's 
 history. 
 
 The first mill in Marshall county was (we had 
 almost said built, but there was no building) lo- 
 cated on Sandy on the Broaddus place by Zion 
 Shugart in 1830. He made his own millstones, 
 fastened one of them to a large stump and, fix- 
 ing up some machinery, revolved the iipper one 
 around on it. It was a slow process and only 
 cracked the corn into small pieces did not grind 
 it into meal but it beat the hollowed stump and 
 hickory pestle which had been in use, a long way. 
 
 Mr. Shugart, who appears to have been an in- 
 genious and practical man, built a mill the next 
 season to run by water and was, under good con- 
 ditions, able to grind about two bushels of dry 
 corn an hour into very fair meal, but if the cus- 
 tomers wished the bran and chaff taken from it 
 they had to winnow it out in the wind. A freshet 
 the next spring swept away every vestige of the 
 mill except the stones. 
 
 Two of the more noted families of Hopewell are 
 the Sawyer and Forbes families. Jesse Sawyer and 
 Caleb Forbes came into this county on horseback 
 in 1830. They liked the country so well that they 
 concluded to return and settle in it. They went 
 
 to their home in North Carolina and the next 
 April packed up their effects and, loading them 
 into wagons, they started. The family of Mr. 
 Sawyer consisted of himself and wife, four sons 
 and a step-son, Lemuel Russell, who became quite 
 famous. Mr. Forbes had two sons and two daugh- 
 ters. They traveled across Tennessee, Kentucky 
 and Indiana, a distance of 1,100 miles, and after 
 going through many trials and hardships arrived 
 at their destination September 2, 1831, having 
 been on the road for five months. Mr. Sawyer, 
 who was somewhat of a rover, explored the east 
 side of the river that fall for many miles, but as 
 he found no country that suited him better came 
 back. In the meantime Mr. Forbes had built a 
 very comfortable cabin of hewn logs, which some- 
 what later was arranged with port holes, etc., and 
 used as a fort to protect them from the Indians, 
 but they were never attacked. 
 
 For some time after their settling they were 
 often visited by roving bands of Indians, who 
 would come into the house, sit down wherever 
 the notion took them, after begging for food, 
 which was generally given them. They were 
 scared at times, as the Indians could not speak a 
 word of English and their motions would not be 
 understood, but they were never molested. The 
 Indians disappeared from this section at the time 
 of the Black Hawk war and never returned in any 
 numbers. 
 
 The lands that Sawyer and Forbes settled upon 
 are now occupied by their descendants, they never 
 having gone out of the families. 
 
 Probably about as peculiar a case of long dis- 
 tance walking as ever occurred started from Hope- 
 well. In 1833 a Mrs. White and her son, who 
 had come from North Carolina the year before, 
 became so much discouraged by the wildness of 
 the country that they determined to go back. Mrs. 
 White was over 70 years of age. They had n 
 money to buy even the food they would need, the 
 country they would traverse was for several hun- 
 dred miles but little better than a wilderness, with 
 a settler here and there, yet so strong was her 
 desire to see her old home that, braving all ob- 
 stacles, they set out. Their pathetic story made 
 them friends everywhere they went, who furnished 
 shelter and food, and they actually reached home 
 after a tramp of nearly 1,100 miles. It was a 
 most wonderful journey when it is remembered 
 what the condition of the countrv was in 1833
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 few roads, no bridges, and houses scattered in 
 clusters many miles apart. 
 
 Hopewell township, with its swampy lands 
 along the river, covered with grass higher than 
 a man's head, its heavily timbered bottoms and 
 the hills and hollows, was an ideal place for game. 
 Deer and wild turkey abounded, rabbits, raccoons, 
 muskrats, mink and other fur-bearing animals 
 were to be had for the taking. It was a paradise 
 for a hunter. Long after the game had mostly 
 disappeared from other parts of the country hunt- 
 ers from Henry and other places would go over 
 there for deer and turkeys. It was also a great 
 place for wolves, both of the large gray timber 
 and smaller prairie varieties, but the wolf is a 
 cowardly animal and seldom attacks man. 
 
 The northern part of Hopewell township is, as 
 we have said, somewhat rough for farming, though 
 the soil is excellent. It makes excellent pastures 
 and most of the farmers have turned their at- 
 tention to raising improved stock. Here, on the 
 farm first settled upon by their ancestors in 1831, 
 live I. M. Forbes and his son Rankin, whose 
 names and whose magnificent herd of Shorthorn 
 Durham cattle have a national reputation. Wher- 
 ever shorthorn cattle are raised the name of I. 
 M. Forbes is a household word. 
 
 On the Sawyer farm, upon which live the Saw- 
 yer brothers, grandsons of the original Jesse Saw- 
 yer. They have made a specialty of fine Poland 
 China hogs, of which there are no better in the 
 country. 
 
 T. W. Stoner & Son, later comers, but still old 
 settlers, are making quite a reputation on a par- 
 ticular strain of Duroc Jersey hogs. Others also 
 are engaged in improving stock, and Hopewell 
 township and the adjoining township in Putnam 
 county are having a reputation for their finely 
 improved breeds of horses, cattle and hogs all over 
 the country. 
 
 About one-half of the township, the southeast- 
 ern part, was originally prairie land and some of 
 the finest farms in the state are found in it. You 
 may travel far before you find a country where 
 everything denotes a more prosperous community 
 than you will find in Hopewell. The homes are 
 elegant, roomy and commodious, the barns are 
 large and well built, the outhouses and sheds are 
 plentiful and well kept up and everything denotes 
 an industrious and painstaking people, as well as 
 one on whom prosperity smiles. 
 
 The Lacon-Varna branch of the Chicago & 
 
 Alton railroad runs through the southern part of 
 Hopewell and on it, on section 25, is located Held, 
 named after a prominent family. An elevator and 
 a small store are located there and but little else. 
 Considerable shipping is done there and passen- 
 gers are taken on and let off. 
 
 There are no churches in the township and but 
 four school houses, but many of the children at- 
 tend school in Henry, Lacon and other outside 
 townships. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HENRY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 This is the smallest township in the county, but 
 not the most insignificant by any means. Its 
 legal designation is town 13 north, 10 east of the 
 4th principal meridian, or, as it is generally writ- 
 ten, town 13 N., 10 E. of 4th p. m. 
 
 It is a fractional township containing only ten 
 full sections and eight parts of sections, the 
 others being cut off by the Illinois river, which 
 flows in a southwesterly direction along its east- 
 ern boundary, but, unlike the eastern side of the 
 river, it here washes a bold bank from fifty to 
 seventy-five feet above the stream, which slopes 
 from the top down to the water's edge. 
 
 In the township of Henry is located the city of 
 Henry, one of the important cities of the county. 
 It is built upon a bold bluff overlooking the river, 
 the soil below being a loose gravel, giving at all 
 times a perfect under-drainage, so that, except for 
 a few days in spring, when the frost is going out, 
 there is very little or no mud, the streets being 
 dry and dusty, while the towns of the prairie are 
 wallowing in mud hub deep, yet the gravel is cov- 
 ered with a fertile, sandy loam which enables all 
 who wish to raise fine gardens. 
 
 Running back from the brow of the hill at the 
 river banks lies one of the most beautiful prairies 
 mortal eyes ever rested upon. It is some six or 
 eight miles long and about three miles wide and 
 as fertile as it is beautiful. Who was the first 
 settler in Henry is very uncertain. A man by 
 the name of Hart is said to have built a cabin or 
 shack on the site in 1830 and another cabin is 
 said to have been built and occupied by a man 
 named Stacy, who moved the next year to Web- 
 ster, but be that as it may the first permanent 
 settlers were Elias Thompson and his family, 
 Mr. Thompson and his eldest son, David, opening 
 farms and cultivating small pieces of land, rais- 
 ing mostly vegetables, in 1833. Mr. Thompson
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 also "kept tavern" in his house, which was situ- 
 ated across the ravine near the old Bowars mill. 
 His son David's farm was a little further out on 
 what is now known as the Davis place. 
 
 As early as 1832 there was a wrangle over the 
 claim to the land that Henry stands on, although 
 the land was not yet on the market. The site was 
 too fine a one to be passed by. 
 
 Erastus Wright and William Porter of Spring- 
 field were passing through and, seeing the pros- 
 pect of a future town, made a claim and also pro- 
 cured a license for a ferry. In 1833 Anson L. 
 Deming and Elisha Swan made a claim and to 
 strengthen it Mr. Swan procured a boat for a 
 ferry and engaged Mr. Thompson to run it. He 
 also had framed a store building, which he ex- 
 pected to erect on the site and put in a stock of 
 goods. 
 
 After some wrangling over the matter the rival 
 claimants agreed to get a surveyor to lay off a 
 town and they would sell the lots and divide the 
 profits. 
 
 They sent to Springfield for a surveyor, but 
 when he came he discovered the proposed town 
 was on section No. 16 and therefore could only be 
 sold for school purposes, by school authority. 
 
 The claimants then abandoned the project, Mr. 
 Swan took his store back and located it in Colum- 
 bia, afterwards Lacon, the ferry he left in the 
 possession of Thompson, who operated it for some 
 years. During this time a few transient men 
 had come into the region, some of whom took 
 claims or rather "squatted," for they could get no 
 title to the land whatever, and these petitioned 
 the superintendent of schools of Putnam county, 
 as it was then, for permission to sell the school 
 land, alleging there was fifty white people and 
 fifteen voters in the district, though they must 
 have stretched the limits of the township to have 
 secured the requisite number of voters. The neces- 
 sary permission was granted, rather loosely, it 
 must be confessed, to sell it and on April 22. 
 1834, Charles Nock, Elias Thompson and Reuben 
 Convers, as school trustees, employed B. M. 
 Hayes to survey the section into town lots. They 
 reported to the superintendent as follows : 
 
 "Lots from No. 30 to 291, inclusive, with streets 
 and alleys within and thereto appertaining and 
 the public grounds on said map designated, we 
 propose as a town by the name of Henry, in 
 memory of the late Gen. James D. Henry, de- 
 ceased, who gallantly led the Illinois volunteers 
 
 to victory over the hostile Sac and Fox Indians 
 in the year 1832, and who lately died of disease 
 caused by the arduous service." 
 
 The suggestion of the name is ascribed to Mr. 
 Hooper Warren, who was an intimate friend of 
 the general. 
 
 A week after the survey a public sale of the 
 lots was held in Hennepin by Nathaniel Cham- 
 berlain, school commissioner of Putnam county. 
 There was no speculative bidding and the lots 
 were generally sold at a dollar a lot, equivalent to 
 about $1.25 an acre, the price of government land, 
 and in that way the wise provision of the govern- 
 ment for the use of schools was frittered away be- 
 fore anybody was here to look after the people's 
 interest. In less than five years $300 to $500 was 
 asked for these same lots. Had they been held by 
 the school authorities for a few years they would 
 have supported a good school here for several 
 years. The sale of the lots did not at the time 
 stimulate the building of the city, but the country 
 around it began to fill up rapidly. A number set- 
 tled along what is called Crow creek, west of 
 Henry. The Mallorys, a father and several grown 
 sons, came about 1836; David B. Culver and 
 Orsenus Culver and a brother-in-law, Hiram Kel- 
 logg, about the same; Laton Frisbee, a brother- 
 in-law of the Mallorys, and Andrew Styles came 
 in 1835, Col. Henry Snyder, William Kidney and 
 Simeon Pool came in 1836. 
 
 Quite a number of German families settled 
 just below Henry, forming quite a settlement, 
 that was known in the early days as the "Dutch 
 settlement." George and William Klein, George 
 Heller, Fred Reinbeck, Anton Appel came in 
 1837 and later came Valentine Wies, Anton Sidel, 
 Fred W. Troendley and Balser Klein and Joseph 
 Merdian. Others also were coming in: Young 
 Wren, Sampson Rowe and William Lottrop, and 
 a man calling himself Joseph Burr, all three of 
 whom married daughters of Elias Thompson, the 
 pioneer of Henry. Mr. Thompson, as we have 
 already said, used the cabin he had built as a 
 tavern to keep wayfarers. In or about 1840 he 
 built a more pretentious building near the foot 
 of Edward street and called it the Henry House. 
 At the side of it Joseph Burr, then his son-in- 
 law, built a smaller building and opened out a 
 general store, the first in Henry. He was alsa 
 the first postmaster, but his duties were not oner- 
 ous, as the postage on letters was twenty-five 
 cents and on papers prohibitory.
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNT1KS. 
 
 33 
 
 Burr had quite a history. It appears that he 
 had failed in business in the east, and taking 
 what he could save of his effects, dropped the lat- 
 ter part of his name, which was Joseph Burr 
 Bradley, and was known here and married under 
 the name of Joseph Burr. He did a flourishing 
 business for a while, when he sold out the busi- 
 ness, went east and settled honorably with his 
 creditors. He later came back and went on a 
 farm in Whitefield, where he lived for several 
 years and raised a fine family. Later he moved to 
 Missouri, where he died. 
 
 With the building of the Henry House Henry 
 began to improve. Benjamin Lombard came to 
 Henry from St. Louis with a small stock of 
 goods in 1840 or 1841, and he was followed by 
 Thomas Gallaher, who came from Hennepin a 
 little later. These stores were on Water street, 
 that runs below the waterworks under the hill, 
 but a firm by the name of Cheever & Cowel, start- 
 ing a store upon the hill about 1844, soon began 
 to draw the greater part of the trade, when Thom- 
 as Gallaher a year or two later built what for the 
 time was quite a pretentious building, at the cor- 
 ner of Front and Edward streets and from that 
 on the building was all on the hill. 
 
 Sampson Eowe put up a building about 184Q 
 near where the Yaeger sample room stands, in 
 which for a time he kept a stock of goods, and in 
 1845 Silas Lock built the building in which he 
 kept a hotel, which was afterwards a part of the 
 Paskell bouse. Up to this time, 1845, Henry had 
 improved but slowly, the stores we have mentioned 
 Jerry Ong had a blacksmith shop on School street 
 and Eichard Dikes a tinsmith's shop, and J. J. 
 Merdian a wagonmaker's shop, but from this on 
 it filled up more rapidly and by 1850 began to 
 take on city airs. Two churches had been built, 
 a Protestant Methodist in 1847 and a Christian 
 church in 1849 ; the first was a frame building 
 with little pretention to ornament. It was later 
 sold to the Episcopalians, who remodeled it and 
 used it for several years. It stood on a pretty 
 knoll on Second street, near the corner of Carroll. 
 The Christian church was of brick and, for 
 the times when it was built, a fine church edi- 
 fice. But the societies that built them gradually 
 dwindled away and the churches, though used for 
 other purposes, gradually went into decay and 
 now have both disappeared. 
 
 About 1844 the first frame residence was built 
 in Henry, on the corner of Front and School 
 
 streets. We are not advised who built it, but it 
 was occupied in a very early day by a family of 
 the name of Sinclair. It is still in existence and 
 is in fairly good repair. 
 
 Between 1845 and 1850 there was a considerable 
 influx of population and the buildings began to 
 be more substantially built. A brickyard had 
 been installed just below town and another west 
 of town, a mile or so. Men with capital had 
 come in and Henry had began to have a healthy 
 boom. 
 
 In 1848 the Illinois and Michigan canal was 
 completed, making an outlet for grain. Boats on 
 the river became more frequent in their visits and 
 the facilities for shipping products greatly in- 
 creased. The first boatload of grain shipped from 
 this section was in the fall of 1848. It was load- 
 ed at Hall's Landing, about four miles above 
 Henry, by J. C. Bolley for W. H. Kellogg. Mr. 
 Eolley came to Henry the next spring and bought 
 grain and shipped it to Chicago. Before this all 
 the wheat sold had been hauled to Chicago on 
 wagons, requiring about a week to make the jour- 
 ney, and it brought twenty-five cents a bushel, so 
 that the incentive to raise wheat was not strong. 
 
 In 1850 Thomas Harless put up the double 
 brick known as the Campbell building, later the 
 double brick, on the corner of Front and Edwards 
 was built by the Warren brothers and L. Kauf- 
 man, and then the one on the corner of Edwards 
 and Third streets by Valentine Weis, while the 
 places between were filled up with less preten- 
 tious wooden buildings. 
 
 In 1850 two brothers by the name of Benjamin 
 and John Bowars put up a flouring mill over the 
 ravine just north of Henry. About that time, 
 1851 and 1852, came Thomas Harless, the Lloyd 
 brothers, Pool & Jones, Thomas Davis and his 
 brother Eichard. Bichard established a cooper 
 shop, made money and invested it in land. He 
 died young and as he was not married his prop- 
 erty fell to his brother Eobert. Also came W. W. 
 Heath, and many others, men of sound business 
 qualifications and most of them with some capi- 
 tal. The Peoria branch of the Chicago & Eock 
 Island railroad was finished in 1854 and this 
 caused a new influx of population, mostly work- 
 ing men. 
 
 In 1850 the population of Henry was 401, in 
 1851, 789; in 1853, 1,009; in 1854, 1,306. 
 
 During the next five years Henry became quite 
 a manufacturing point. W. H. Hanna estab-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 lished a wagon shop, which afterwards grew into 
 the Hanna wagon factory. A man by the name 
 of Seymour had a large wagon factory, employing 
 from fifteen to twenty hands, Holmes & Tabor also 
 established a wagon and plow factory, which was 
 run by different parties till a year or so ago. 
 
 I. Koehler manufactured buggies and carriages, 
 as did Joiner & Morten, and Ken. McNeal, and 
 Henry carriages have a fine reputation through- 
 out the country. Each of them kept from 
 six to ten hands employed. Henry Watercott at 
 this time had a boot and shoe shop in which he 
 employed twelve, fifteen or twenty hands, accord- 
 ing to the season. There was also two or three 
 harness shops, employing from three to six hands 
 each, and a number of blacksmith shops. The 
 Granite flouring mill was built and put in opera- 
 tion by Alexander and Calvin Hoagland about 
 1856 or 1857 and for a time did a tremendous 
 business. About this time it was decided to build 
 and equip a paper mill. A subscription paper was 
 circulated and the stock needed, about $27,000, 
 was subscribed and the mill put in operation in 
 1858. It ran with various success till 1872, when 
 it was burned to the ground and never rebuilt. 
 
 About 1864 the state legislature took up the 
 question of slack water navigation and in 1868 
 it was decided to build a system of dams and 
 locks and it was decided to build one at Henry. 
 Work was begun on it in 1869. The work was 
 under way for three years, being finished in 1871, 
 and $500,000 were expended upon it. This work 
 was done by the state. It was a grand piece of 
 work and employed a large number of men while 
 building. Ten years later the state built an- 
 other lock and dam at Copperas creek, sixty miles 
 below, and later the United States government 
 built two others, one at La Grange and one at 
 Kampsville. 
 
 In 1859 a company was incorporated as the 
 Henry City Bridge Company and the next spring 
 work was begun upon a dike from the ferry land- 
 ing to the bluffs and a good, substantial road 
 above ordinary high water was built. This ex- 
 hausted their funds, however, and nothing further 
 was done till about 1867 and 1868, when a move- 
 ment was made to raise funds to build the bridge. 
 Shares of the value of $50 each to the amount of 
 nearly $100,000 were sold, the city of Henry 
 taking $30,000 and the township $20,000, the rest 
 being sold to private parties, and in 1870 a mag- 
 nificent bridge, costing $80,000, was built. It 
 
 has never paid much in the way of dividends, but 
 has been of incalculable service to the city by giv- 
 ing certain and safe crossing at all times to the 
 fertile and prolific farms on the east side of the 
 river. 
 
 About 1880 a man by the name of Stetson 
 started a manufactory of pumps just west of the 
 depot, but, having some trouble about the pat- 
 ents he was using, he abandoned the business, 
 which fell into the hands of Theodore Bickerman, 
 who established the Aera Manufacturing Company 
 for the manufacture of the Aera windmills, and 
 for several years did a thriving business, but of 
 late years there does not appear to be so much de- 
 mand for the wooden windmills, but the factory 
 is still running under the care of Mr. Bickerman's 
 son-in-law, Fred Merdian. 
 
 In 1901 George Travis started a small factory 
 for the manufacture of a belt tightener of his own 
 invention for traction engines. Two years later 
 he began the manufacture of a peculiar rocking 
 grate, also of his own invention, for engines, for 
 which he is having considerable demand, which is 
 constantly increasing, and it is very probable that 
 more room and a larger supply of the grates will 
 be wanted soon. Mr. Travis is the patentee of 
 both articles. 
 
 The palmy days of Henry's manufacturing are 
 past. There was a time when there was consid- 
 erable done and the shops here gave employment 
 to from one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
 men, mechanics and artisans, to say nothing about 
 the carpenters, masons, painters, etc., engaged in 
 building trades. 
 
 But Henry is splendidly located for factories 
 and some day when the transportation facilities 
 are better they will come here. 
 
 As has been already mentioned, the people of 
 Henrj r began very early to look after their spirit- 
 ual welfare. As early as 1840, when there were 
 only some twenty or thirty persons living in town, 
 a society was under the preaching of Rev. Elder 
 Devore, a Protestant Methodist. Services were 
 held in the cabins of the settlers for some time 
 and in 1847 the house of worship already spoken 
 of was built. In February, 1850, a society was 
 formed under the preaching of Elder S. L. Per- 
 vier, which took the name of the First Christian 
 church. For a time services were held in the 
 Protestant Methodist church, but arrangements 
 were made during the summer following to erect
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 a church and a very substantial brick one, 30x50 
 feet, with a basement room below (which was 
 later used for a school room), was dedicated in 
 June, 1851. 
 
 Thomas Harless and Richard Garretson were 
 the heaviest contributors, but almost every inhab- 
 itant of the town contributed to the extent of 
 their ability. Richard Dikes, who wished to do 
 something, brought a number of small trees from 
 across the river on his back and set them out be- 
 fore the church. The trees are standing today, 
 noble specimens, but the society dropped off one 
 by one till it entirely lost its identity and the 
 church, after being used for various purposes, was 
 sold at auction a few years ago and was taken 
 down. 
 
 About 1854 a number of Presbyterians from 
 New Jersey, several families of Hoaglands, W. P. 
 Williams and others came to Henry and the year 
 following came the Rev. John Marquis, and steps 
 were taken to organize a church society. Lucas 
 V. Hoagland, William P. Williams and James 
 Petrie were selected as ruling elders and the next 
 season a church was built. The society flourished 
 till it was much the strongest church in town, 
 nearly all of the better class affiliating with it. A 
 church was built and a strong and healthy society 
 grew up. 
 
 About 1880 a rather peculiar circumstance oc- 
 curred, which had the effect of dividing the con- 
 gregation and caused it .to change the name to 
 "Congregationalists." About that time a minister 
 in Jersey City who had acquired considerable ce- 
 lebrity as an eloquent preacher, found himself 
 out of a position for the reason that his name 
 was connected with the cause of the death of a 
 young lady who had been a member of his choir. 
 Some of the prominent members of the church 
 broached the subject of giving Mr. Glendenning, 
 the gentleman in question, a call. An equal num- 
 ber opposed the idea. The matter was argued, 
 pro and con, for some months and although those 
 who had first broached the subject were joined by 
 others, they coiild not get votes enough to carry 
 their point. 
 
 At last, however, a meeting was held where the 
 majority present were in favor of the call and 
 voted to make it .and Mr. Glendenning received a 
 call to Henry, but it stirred up an immense 
 amount of ill feeling, not only in the church, but 
 through the whole town, people who had no in- 
 terest in the church taking sides. As the Pres- 
 
 bytery would not receive Mr. Glendening, the 
 church voted themselves Congregationalists. An- 
 other minister was secured by the others and the 
 dissenting Presbyterians and others held services 
 in the old Christian church, which was not at 
 that time otherwise occupied. 
 
 Mr. Glendenning preached here for several years 
 and the prejudice died out somewhat, but many 
 never overcame their dislike. After he went away 
 the church gradually came together again. About 
 fifteen years ago, they built a new church, taking 
 down the old one, and have since built a parson- 
 age and keep a resident minister most of the time. 
 
 Here, as elsewhere, the Methodist preachers 
 were the first on the ground and services were 
 held at a very early date by the "circuit riders" 
 in the cabins of the settlers. We cannot tell when 
 the first "class" was formed or when the first 
 society was organized, but it was at a very early 
 date. The first church was built in 1852, and a 
 few years after a parsonage was built. The 
 church has been in a reasonably nourishing con- 
 dition, having its ups and downs, to be sure, ever 
 since its organization. 
 
 In 1885 Mrs. Harrom, a wealthy widow lady, 
 gave a sum of money to the church and it was 
 decided to build a new church. The old church 
 was given to the Duke brothers, who were just 
 getting fairly started in business when they were 
 burned out and for several years it formed a part 
 of the building they used, but is now occupied 
 by A. & A. Dalzer as a wagon shop. 
 
 A fine new church was built in modern style, 
 with conference and session rooms, that can be 
 thrown into one large audience room by movable 
 partitions. 
 
 In 1900 they built a new parsonage, a fine, 
 up-to-date residence, and rent the old one. The 
 church is now very flourishing, the pastor, Rev. 
 D. S. McCown, now serving his fifth year. 
 
 In March, 1857, Rev. J. R. Hibbard, at the 
 request of Charles Davis, Henry Vogelsang and 
 Joseph Holmes, organized a society of the follow- 
 ers of the doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg. In 
 1865 and 1866 they built a small church capable 
 of accommodating some 200 people. 
 
 They have maintained their organization through 
 the years and for a time had a flourishing society, 
 but they have dropped off one by one and as they 
 have had very few accessions for several years the 
 society has dwindled till it is quite small. A
 
 36 
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 missionary preacher, Rev. L. G. Landersberger, 
 comes and holds services once a month. 
 
 The sect known as Christian, or Campbellites, 
 have a small but a very comfortable and well fur- 
 nished church here. The society is not a strong 
 one. The church was built about 1890 through 
 the efforts of Elder John Wherry, who, with his 
 two sons, all wealthy farmers, had moved into 
 town and were engaged in the mercantile busi- 
 ness. A few years before a revivalist of that per- 
 suasion had held a series of meetings and made a 
 number of converts, mostly young women. They 
 generally have, services about every other week, 
 the pulpit being filled by students from Eureka 
 College, who in this way eke out their finances 
 and get practical experience. 
 
 An Episcopal society was formed here probably 
 some time in the early '60s. Soon after its for- 
 mation they secured possession of the Protestant 
 Methodist church, which they repaired and remod- 
 eled, and for several years held services in it. 
 About 1875 two ladies, daughters of Robert Da- 
 vis, a wealthy man who had recently died, built a 
 small but very neat church in memory of their 
 father and presented it to the society. About 1900 
 the society bought a residence and fitted it up 
 for a parsonage. The present rector is the Rev. 
 R. F. Keicher. 
 
 In 1870 there were several Baptists residing in 
 and near town, one of the principal ones being 
 Deacon Nehemiah Merritt, living on the place 
 now occupied by his nephew, S. S. Merritt. Dea- 
 con Merritt had two daughters, one of whom 
 married a young minister by the name of Greg- 
 ory. Rev. Gregory was quite an energetic man 
 and persuaded the few members to build a church, 
 going considerably in debt himself for it. 
 
 He preached for a short time only, when he 
 found it was necessary for him to look up other 
 business, as the society was so small and scat- 
 tered that it could not support him. The church 
 stood empty for some time and then was sold to 
 pay the debts and was moved to a farm about two 
 miles from town and converted into a residence. 
 
 Although among the very earliest settlers in the 
 vicinity of Henry were a considerable number of 
 German Catholic families and many priests came 
 among them to say mass, officiate at funerals, wed- 
 dings and christenings, and visit the sick, 
 etc., it was not until 1850 that they had 
 any established place of worship. In 1852 the 
 foundation of a church was laid, but it was not 
 
 until two years later that the church, known as 
 St. Mary's, or the "German Catholic church," 
 was built. It was considered a very fine church 
 at the time, was 35x56 feet, with 22-foot ceiling. 
 It was nicely arranged inside, With a gallery for 
 the choir, was equipped with a bell, and later a 
 fine pipe organ, the first in the city, was in- 
 stalled. In 1870 a much larger brick building 
 was built for a school, which has since been 
 looked after by the sisters. 
 
 In 1874 the congregation exceeded the ca- 
 pacity of the church and about one-third of the 
 congregation speaking English exclusively, while 
 most of the services were in the German language, 
 they concluded to separate, and the Irish built a 
 fine church, under the name of St. Joseph's, to- 
 ward which the German congregation gave $4,000. 
 
 They have a fine building, well adapted for the 
 purpose it is intended, have a bell and organ, 
 and the congregation, which is mostly Irish, have 
 a resident priest of their own nationality. A few 
 years ago they built an extremely nice residence 
 near the church for a parsonage. 
 
 The present pastor of St. Joseph's is the Rev. 
 E. S. Kniery and of St. Mary's is Rev. Leonz 
 Zumbuehl. St. Mary's church is getting rather 
 old and is out of date and the congregation are 
 making preparations, having already quite a sum 
 laid aside for the purpose, to build a new church 
 at a cost of between $35,000 and $40,000. 
 
 Henry people have always taken great interest 
 in schools and education. In 1846, when the in- 
 habitants all told amounted to no more than 
 thirty people, the first school-house was built on 
 School street, where Charles Balleweg's house now 
 stands. In the spring of 1847, Miss Sarah Burt 
 was engaged to teach the first school, which con- 
 sisted of six or eight little fellows, two of whom 
 are still living at Henry. 
 
 The house, as may be supposed, was a small one, 
 built of logs and supplied with puncheon floors and 
 benches, but it was about as good as could be ex- 
 pected under the circumstances. This building 
 was used off and on for school purposes till the 
 Christian church was built, when the basement of 
 the church was fittted up and used for school pur- 
 poses, but, it not being considered healthy for the 
 children, a new two story brick building was 
 erected in 1854, which was amply sufficient for a 
 time. 
 
 About 1870 the school was graded and the build- 
 ing being somewhat crowded, the building built
 
 I'AST AND 1'HKSKNT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 37. 
 
 for the Northwestern university was secured and the 
 high school department was moved to that and the 
 first class of four members was graduated in 1876. 
 
 In 1885 the high school building being pro- 
 nounced unsafe and at the same time being on 
 the extreme verge of the city, it was decided to 
 build a nw school building nearer the center of 
 the city and have the school all under one roof, 
 and the present magnificent building was erected 
 at a cost of $25,000. Nine teachers and a super- 
 intendent are employed and the high school grad- 
 uates from fifteen to twenty each year. Beside the 
 Henry public school there are five other school 
 districts in the township. 
 
 In 1860 a frame building was built near St. 
 Mary's church for a school house. The building 
 had been originally intended for a barn, but it 
 was finished for a school. It did for awhile, 
 but about 1870 the project was started to build a 
 larger building and the present fine structure was 
 the result. The building is of brick, well built 
 and well furnished, two stories in height, and is 
 largely patronized by the younger scholars for 
 several miles around. Only the elementary 
 branches are taught and the scholars who wish to 
 advance farther attend the public school. The 
 school is supported by the church. 
 
 In the history of the educational institutions 
 of Henry it will hardly do to pass entirely 
 the college and seminary, though both are now 
 among the things that were. As early as 1848 
 Rev. Henry G. Pendleton, a Presbyterian minis- 
 ter, who had come into the country a few years 
 before, conceived the idea of establishing a semi- 
 nary for females for training as teachers. He 
 canvassed the country among the then sparse pop- 
 ulation and succeeded in getting subscriptions to 
 be paid back later in tuition and in 1849 built a 
 frame building about a mile and a half northwest 
 of Henry. He had a flourishing school till 1855, 
 when the building was entirely consumed, most of 
 the students losing their belongings. 
 
 Not discouraged, he soon set about rebuilding, 
 borrowing quite a sum from an eastern capitalist, 
 and built a large four-story brick building. He 
 carried on the school for several years, but it did 
 not succeed financially and he was forced to aban- 
 don it. 
 
 A school was later kept there for a few years 
 by Prof. Loomis and wife, both excellent teach- 
 ers. After he left it remained idle for several 
 years, when a Rev. Derr and his family started a 
 
 school there, which was quite successful for a 
 time, but the reverend gentleman, not being up 
 to his reputation and becoming mixed in some 
 shady transactions, the school was closed and Mr. 
 Derr went away, leaving many to mourn over his 
 departure. It was never tried to revive the school 
 and a few years ago the building was taken down 
 and the brick used for other purposes. 
 
 In 1854 a charter was secured for the North 
 Illinois University, to be located at the city of 
 Henry and a fine brick building was erected at a 
 cost of about $25,000 on the outskirts of the city. 
 The building was under the auspices of the Pro- 
 testant Methodist church and was intended to be- 
 come a first class educational institution. It flour- 
 ished for awhile, but jealousies sprang up between 
 the professors and the hard times of 1857 and 
 1858 coming on, the school languished. Necessary 
 funds were hard to get and the school was closed. 
 There were a few later attempts to revive it, but 
 they all failed. The building remained idle for 
 some years, when it was bought by the city and 
 used for the high school department of the public 
 school. It was used for this purpose till the pres- 
 ent school house was built, when the building and 
 grounds were sold and the building taken down 
 and carted away. Henry now has no school but 
 the Catholic and the public school, which is one 
 of the very best. Its graduates are well qualified 
 to enter upon life's duties or equally well fitted to 
 enter colleges or universities if they wish the 
 higher education. 
 
 Henry is as pretty a little city as can be found 
 anywhere. It has an efficient system of water- 
 works, owned by the city, and a superior electric 
 light plant, owned by private parties, the streets 
 being lighted by 2,000-candle power arc lights and 
 the stores and residences by incandescent arc and 
 bulb lights. It has a city hall, an artesian well, 
 giving two kinds of water, a park with cement 
 walks eight feet wide running diagonally through 
 it, equipped with bandstand and many permanent 
 seats. It also has over eighty blocks of cement 
 sidewalk, reaching to nearly every part of the 
 city. The residences, some of which are very fine 
 ones, are all, even the most lowly, kept in good 
 repair and nicely painted; the yards, lawns and 
 streets are kept clean and everything looks com- 
 fortable, cozy and homelike. 
 
 Henry, from its earliest days,' has always been a 
 great trading point, drawing trade from a circle 
 of twenty miles or more, and today, though towns
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 have sprung up in every direction, it is still cele- 
 brated for the amount of trading done here, and 
 no other place in the county can show anything 
 like the stores or extent and variety of stocks to 
 equal the Henry stores, one store here employing 
 twenty clerks and then often cannot wait on their 
 customers. 
 
 Henry is well supplied with fraternal societies. 
 An Odd Fellows' lodge was instituted in 1850, 
 being No. 63 in the state of Illinois. They own 
 the building on the corner of East Park row and 
 Third street. It has a storeroom below and the 
 hall is above. 
 
 A Masonic lodge was instituted in 1851 and is 
 No. 119. It is in a flourishing condition and 
 owns its hall, which is over the clothing depart- 
 ment of the Hutchins Lincoln store and is elab- 
 orately fitted up and furnished. 
 
 About 1895 the Knights of Pythias and Mod- 
 ern Woodmen established lodges here, and in later 
 years have been established several other mutual 
 insurance societies, among them the Western 
 Catholic Union. There is also Eastern Star and 
 Eebekah lodges, a Women's Club, a Grand Army 
 of the Republic post and a Women's Eelief Corps ; 
 in fact, Henry has about everything a well organ- 
 ized town should have. 
 
 In our history of Henry we should not omit 
 mention of the Farmers' and Mechanics' County 
 Fair, which was located in Henry after a spirited 
 competition with Lacon as to which would raise 
 the most money for it. Henry raised $3,600, La- 
 con falling about $500 short. 
 
 The grounds of the fair were located just west 
 of the pity in 1858, the necessary buildings erected 
 and the fair inaugurated. For several years it 
 was a great success, but after a few years the re- 
 ceipts diminished and after running for several 
 years the holding of fairs was abandoned. 
 
 Some ten or twelve years ago the grounds were 
 leased by a company which laid out a racing track, 
 repaired the building and for several years held 
 very successful racing meetings. 
 
 Before leaving Henry and its institutions we 
 should not omit the newspapers, of which there 
 are two, published weekly, and they rank well up 
 among country newspapers. 
 
 Each is a six column quarto, printed all at 
 home in the well equipped printing offices, which 
 print not only the papers, but do beside a large 
 amount of job work each year, being well equipped 
 to do almost anything in the printing line. 
 
 The first paper in Henry was published by Bob- 
 ert Euggles, in December, 1852, and went under 
 the name of the Henry Courier. Mr. Buggies pub- 
 lished the Courier till July 1, 1862, when it was 
 sold to J. D. & C. S. Woodward. 
 
 In 1863 the Marshall County Democrat was 
 started by C. E. Fisk, but was later sold to F. 
 M. Mills, but after continuing the paper through 
 a political campaign, finding the patronage was 
 not sufficient to sustain it, discontinued the pub- 
 lication and later sold the material of the office 
 to S. S. Burdick, who in April, 1865, began the 
 publication of the Marshall County Telegraph. 
 In the fall of that same year George Burt bought 
 a half interest in the paper. The next spring 
 Burdick & Burt bought the interest of C. S. 
 Woodward in the Courier and consolidated the two 
 papers, calling the new paper the Marshall County 
 Republican. Burdick soon sold out his interest to 
 the other partners, who, together, ran the paper 
 till 1869, when George Burt bought from Wood- 
 ward his interest and has since owned and pub- 
 lished the paper under the name of the Henry 
 Republican. It is, as its name indicates, repub- 
 lican in politics. A few years ago Mr. Burt asso- 
 ciated with himself his son, George A., and the 
 firm name is George Burt & Son. 
 
 In 1885 three brothers by the name of O'Ban- 
 ion instituted a paper they called the Henry 
 Times. After publishing it for three years they 
 sold it to J. S. Burt, who since that time has been 
 the owner and publisher. About six years ago he 
 associated his son with him and the paper is now 
 published by J. S. Burt & Son. The Times is 
 democratic in politics. 
 
 Both offices are equipped with large cylinder 
 presses with folders attached, which are run by 
 gasoline power, and are finely equipped with 
 smaller presses, all the necessary type, etc., while 
 the Republican office also has a linotype typeset- 
 ting machine. 
 
 Both offices print the entire paper. They are 
 well patronized both by subscribers and advertis- 
 ers and are an honor to the town. Like everything 
 else in Henry, they are first class. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 WHITEFIELD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Whitefield township lies directly west of Henry 
 township. Its legal designation is Town 13 N\,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 R. 9 E. of the 4 P. M., and was named in honor 
 of its first supervisor, John B. White. It is most- 
 ly composed of extremely fine fanning lands, on 
 what is known as the High Prairie, and forms a 
 part of the celebrated military tract. 
 
 The country in the extreme eastern part of the 
 township consists of a system of rather bold bluffs 
 that are underlaid with coal, which crops out in 
 _ many places, and large quantities of it are taken 
 out by drifting into the sides of the hills. But 
 the much greater part consists of fine rolling 
 prairie lands, very fertile. 
 
 The town is bounded along its northern and 
 eastern boundaries by Crow creek, which with 
 flight deviations, follows the entire north and 
 east boundary, turning abruptly at the northeast 
 corner. The bluffs which are really the bank of 
 the river, the Henry prairie being a kind of second 
 bottom, were heavily timbered and the ravines 
 with which they are intersected, in the early days 
 gave protection to a gang of freebooters as well 
 as being the home of many deer and wild tiirkeys. 
 
 The first settlers are supposed to be two broth- 
 ers by the name of Reeves, who were living in 
 Putnam county but came down and located a 
 claim on Crow creek which lay partly in the prai- 
 rie and partly in the timbered bluff. They re- 
 mained but a short time and turned the claim 
 over to their brother George, who did not come 
 to live here till several years later and who be- 
 came quite notorious as will be mentioned further 
 on. 
 
 The first real settler in the township was War- 
 ford Bonham. Mr. Bonham, generally known as 
 Father Bonham, had a large family, some 
 of whom were married. Mr. Bonham had come 
 from Ohio in 1833 and stopped in Tazewell coun- 
 ty. In the winter of 1834 and 1835 he and his 
 sons-in-law, James Tanqnary and John Haskins, 
 coming across the river looking for locations, came 
 upon the spot selected by Mr. Bonham. It was 
 a beautiful little plain lying at the foot of the 
 bluff with a gradual slope to the creek, contain- 
 ing about one hundred acres in the extreme south- 
 east corner of the township. The two sons-in-law 
 found claims, on land not yet in market, a 
 mile or so south of their father-in-law's, but ly- 
 ing in what is now Steuben township. They built 
 cabins on their several claims and in the spring 
 went down and brought up their families. All 
 three of them remained on their claims till a 
 good old age and died there. 
 
 A year or two later George Bonham made a 
 claim a little further up the creek from his father, 
 and Jerial, another son, a claim west, extending 
 up on the bluffs. 
 
 In 1838 George Reeves came on the claim his 
 brothers had taken some years before, and Wm. 
 Rowe, the same year or a year later, settled still 
 further up under the bluffs, with a fine piece of 
 bottom laud between him and the creek. 
 
 Between the years 1838 and 1845 a number 
 of settlements were made in Whitefield. Richard 
 Hunt, Abijah Lyon, Major Elias Thompson, 
 Joseph Burr Bradley, Sampson Rowe, Chauncey 
 Barnes, Samuel Coleman and David Fanning had 
 located just at the edge of the bluff, while Hiram 
 Kellogg had located on the creek. The beautiful 
 prairie land that formed about three-fourths of 
 the township had as yet no settlers on it. It was 
 thought to be too far from wood and water. 
 
 About 1840 a man named Hale built a sod 
 house well out in the prairie, but lived in it but 
 a short time. This afterward fell into the hands 
 of Lucas and Charles Martin, brothers-in-law of 
 Chauncey Barnes. They put up a good log house 
 and it was occupied for a year or two by Charles, 
 who was married, Lucas living with him, when 
 they sold out and went to Iowa. 
 
 From 1846 the township began to fill more 
 rapidly. In the more eastern part of the township 
 came George Burt, and Horace Spencer came in 
 1846. Joseph Robertson built a little farther 
 out on the prairie and William Underwood came 
 there a year or two later. At an early date, prob- 
 ably not far from 1840, a family by the name of 
 Mallory settled in the extreme northeastern part 
 of the township. 
 
 Along on the northern line about 1840 a num- 
 ber settled, Timothy Atwood, George Bi dwell, 
 the Heustes family, Swifts and others. About 
 1850 a number of families came from West Vir- 
 ginia and bought farms in 'the western part of 
 Whitcfield and eastern Saratoga. Joseph Ray, 
 Adam and James Faris, Joseph Buchanan, Eddy 
 Stewart and Mr. Gaston, Zephaniah Bell, a 
 family by the name of Henderson, Joseph Morri- 
 son, William Beeks and others. These people were 
 all Presbyterians and as soon as they became fair- 
 ly settled in their new home they set about organ- 
 izing a society, and in 1857 built a house to wor- 
 ship in. It was of brick, and while not large it 
 accommodated them very well. About this time 
 came the Bursons, Nighswangers, John Taylor,
 
 10 
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 the Platters, Harvey Allen and others, who were 
 Christians or Campbellites. They also organized 
 a society and built a frame church a mile south 
 and a mile east, in which they held services for 
 several years. Just a mile east of the Christian 
 church, on the farm of Edward Burson, the Bap- 
 tists built a neat little church. But many of the 
 members of these congregations moving west and 
 others dying the societies dwindled fall there 
 was no more support for a pastor and at last 
 the meetings were entirely abandoned, the build- 
 ings sold and either pulled down or moved off 
 and now not a vestige marks the spot where either 
 of the three churches stood. Neither is there a 
 person living there who used to attend them nor 
 hardly a descendant of the families. 
 
 About 1862 members of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church formed a society and built what is 
 known as the Whitefield Center church. Services 
 are maintained regularly and it is in a flourishing 
 condition. There is a cemetery attached which 
 is looked after and is kept in good order. The 
 cemeteries attached to the other churches have 
 been abandoned and most of the bodies taken up 
 and reburied, most of them in the M. E. ceme- 
 tery or Center, as it is called. 
 
 We are not certain when the first school house 
 was built in Whitefield, but it is- true that schools 
 were begun there at a very early date. About 
 1847 or 1848 a school was taught in an abandoned 
 cabin just east of George Burt's farm by Miss 
 Clarissa Thompson, a daughter of Major Elias 
 Thompson. About 1850 the inhabitants around 
 Sugar Grove petitioned to be set of? as a school 
 district, which was done. It was called District 
 No. 1 and the next year a school house was built on 
 a hill just west of the grove. Another school house 
 was built not long after near Major Thompson's 
 place. It was, however, a typical log cabin and 
 quite small, but with an enormous fireplace and 
 chimney. It was afterward replaced with a neat 
 frame biiilding. Quite a number of influential 
 families moved into the Sugar Grove neighbor- 
 hood about 1855. James and Smith P. Hill, John 
 T. Smith, Harrison Gregory and others, and in 
 1867, when the Grove school was rebuilt, the 
 site was moved one half mile west of the old 
 location. Later, as the prairie filled with settlers, 
 school houses were built in other places, one at 
 Burson's, one at Dunlap's, one near Merrett's, one 
 at the northwest corner of the township, one 
 near Henry Ham's, called the Eedtown, and one 
 
 on Section 16, called Center. This for many 
 years served as a town hall till about ten years 
 ago, the township built a very nice and convenient 
 town hall. 
 
 Whitefield had a sensation in 1845. It became 
 a certainty that for some time a gang of thieves 
 had been operating through this section of 
 country, and it began to be suspected that George 
 Beeves was making a harboring place for the , 
 gang. Mr. Beeves' family consisted of himself 
 and wife, four sons and a daughter, a very pretty 
 and accomplished girl, the sons just coming into 
 manhood. 
 
 Mr. Beeves himself was liked by every one. 
 He was a good neighbor, always willing to assist, 
 just in all his dealings and in every way quiet 
 and gentlemanly in his behavior. But his sons 
 were more than suspected of being engaged in 
 petty pilfering about the neighborhood. Another 
 thing that gave rise to suspicion was that Mr. 
 Beeves had several cabins and outhouses, that 
 could be used for sleeping rooms about the place, 
 most of them back in the bushes put of sight 
 from the road or house. Another thing was that 
 he often had well dressed visitors come and stay 
 there some times only for a day or so and some- 
 times for weeks together. These gentlemen did 
 not appear to have any business, a very suspicious 
 circumstance at that time. 
 
 Mr. Beeves' place was admirably adapted for 
 the purpose it was supposed to be used for hid- 
 ing stolen horses. His cabin was in the mouth 
 of a large ravine through which ran a small creek ; 
 high bluffs ran from it to the north and south 
 which were seamed with smaller ravines and the 
 whole covered with thick brush, plum thickets, etc. 
 It was an ideal place for the purpose and a better 
 one could not have been selected, while north and 
 south the Crow creek bottoms near by were cov- 
 ered with a rank growth of grass, from eight to 
 ten feet long, and a man on horseback could not 
 be seen ten feet away. 
 
 While there was not much horse stealing or 
 heavy robbery done in this immediate neighbor- 
 hood, word came from other places of numerous 
 cases and where the parties were captured they 
 were either bailed out and not heard of again or 
 made out to get clear by the aid of confederates. 
 
 Cameron Beeves, the oldest son, had been caught 
 in one or two robberies, and was even then in 
 hiding, having escaped from the officers after 
 the robbery of a store in Hennepin. The whole
 
 PAST AXH IMiKSKXT OF MAl.'SHAI.L A.\l> 1TTNAM COTXTIKS. 
 
 country was roused by the numerous robberies 
 and it was determined to squelch the Reeves gang. 
 A committee was appointed to notify Mr. Reeves 
 to meet them the next day at Council Grove, a 
 small grove about three miles southwest of Henry 
 and a mile or so east of the Reeves place. It is 
 said to have been a place where the Indians at 
 times held councils. 
 
 It will give some idea of the excitement at the 
 time when it is known that, notwithstanding the 
 scattered inhabitants, three hundred men were 
 gathered at the grove, coming from Princeton, 
 Tiskilwa, Peoria and all around for thirty or forty 
 miles. They came on horseback and almost every 
 man carried his rifle, as was the custom. The 
 old man was very quiet about the matter, saying 
 he was innocent of wrong doing and expressed his 
 willingness to meet with the committee; but his 
 wife stormed like a tiger robbed of her young. 
 The next day, prompt to the time specified, Reeves 
 came riding up to where the people were as- 
 sembled. The meeting was organized by appoint- 
 ing Hall S. Gregory chairman. Dr. Swanzy, a 
 fiery Irish doctor from Tiskilwa, who bore an ex- 
 cellent reputation as a physician, made a speech 
 and after recounting the many crimes that had 
 been committed urged the extermination of Reeves 
 and the entire gang. His speech was received 
 with approval by many in the crowd and Mr. 
 Reeves would have been shot to pieces had not 
 the chairman shielded him with his own body. 
 Dr. Boal, of Lacon, replied .in a more temperate 
 speech, advising moderation in dealing with Mr. 
 Reeves, giving him time to settle up his business 
 and leave the country, but when several wished 
 to know if the doctor would go security for their 
 good behavior he declined, and was told to "sit 
 down." 
 
 Mr. Reeves plead his own case and appealed to 
 those who knew him if they had ever found any- 
 thing wrong or dishonest in him. After the talk 
 of Mr. Reeves, which had mollified the crowd 
 somewhat, Dr. Temple, of Chillicothe, spoke, ad- 
 vising a middle course and the appointment of a 
 committee of twelve to take Mr. Reeves and his 
 family in charge and see that they were sent out 
 of the country. A majority of those present were 
 in favor of this and the crowd, led by the com- 
 mittee, and accompanied by Reeves went to his 
 house. Purchasers were found for the stock, and 
 the household goods loaded upon wagons, and 
 then fire was applied to the cabin and soon noth- 
 
 ing remained of it but a pile of ashes. The fam- 
 ily was then escorted to the river bank and kept 
 under guard till the arrival of a steamboat from, 
 above, when they were put aboard and warned 
 never to return. It was thought by some that 
 the old lady did return several months after to 
 secure some hidden treasure, but it may be only 
 a story. 
 
 The lesson then received appears to have been 
 a salutary one. The family went into the country 
 that is now Omaha. Sophronia, the daughter, 
 married A. D. Jones, the founder of Omaha, and 
 its first postmaster. They were wealthy and re- 
 spected and Mrs. Jones moved in the first society. 
 Cameron, the oldest son, was elected the first sher- 
 iff of the county and it is said made a faithful 
 and efficient officer. The other sons became well 
 to do and raised respectable families, except the 
 youngest, who ruined himself by drink and died 
 of dissipation. 
 
 Whitefield is the only township in Marshall 
 county west of the river that bears the distinc- 
 tion, though it is not an enviable one, of having 
 a wilful murder committed within its borders. 
 
 March 18, 1854, George Bonham, having de- 
 termined to move to Chicago, was holding a sale. 
 A number of men sent a boy to Henry for a jug 
 of whiskey, then costing twenty-five cents a gal- 
 lon. The whiskey was brought and drank and 
 the iisual effects followed. John Organ and an- 
 other man got into a quarrel. William Organ, 
 his brother, who was perfectly sober, tried to 
 persuade him to go home, when James Shinn came 
 up behind him and plunged a large clasp knife 
 into his side. Organ died in a few minutes. The 
 murder, so far as Shinn was concerned, was en- 
 tirely unprovoked. He was captured and after 
 a long and costly trial was sentenced to the peni- 
 tentiary for three and a half years, the sentence 
 giving universal dissatisfaction. 
 
 Whitefield is a township of farms. Almost 
 every acre is tillable and the land after being 
 farmed for a half century is still producing large 
 crops of corn and oats. Unlike any other town- 
 ship in the county it is not traversed by a rail- 
 road nor has it a town in it. There is a place 
 they call Whitefield corners where there is a 
 store or two, a blacksmith shop, a church, a resi- 
 dent doctor and several residences, but it is not 
 in Whitefield or even in Marshall county. It is 
 all over the line in Bureau county, except the 
 school house.
 
 ['AST AM) IMJKSKNT OK MARSHALL AM.) 1MTNA.M COTXTIES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SARATOGA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Saratoga township is located in the northwest 
 corner of Marshall county and on the government 
 maps is Town 13 N., R 8, E. of the 4th P. M. 
 It is almost entirely a level prairie except a strip 
 along its northern border, which is rolling and 
 somewhat broken. Saratoga, although it contains 
 some of the finest land in the county, consequently 
 the finest anywhere, was one of the last to be 
 settled in the county. In 1850, the year of town- 
 ship organization, a man by the name of J. A. 
 J. Smith came up from Peoria county and put 
 up a house on the land now occupied by Joseph 
 Harrington. There were no settlers in Whitefield 
 at the time' between his place and the strip of 
 bluffs along which the inhabitants of Whitefield 
 were located, and they thought he was a very 
 foolish man, as they did not think he could live 
 there, which shows how little was really known 
 of the prairies in those days. 
 
 However Mr. Smith did manage to exist there 
 and was so well pleased with his location that 
 when, in the fall, he went down to his old home 
 in Peoria county he was so enthusiastic over it 
 that the next spring there was quite an influx of 
 settlers came up from there. 
 
 Among them were Jonas and Samuel Divilbiss, 
 Archibald and Hugh McVicker, Mason and Henry 
 Seclye, and a little later came many others, John 
 C. Townsend, Ira Torrey, Peter Smith, the Lytles 
 and others. 
 
 Some time before Smith settled a man by the 
 ' name of Stout had a cattle ranch on section 16. 
 It was far removed from anybody and it was 
 thought Mr. Stout had settled there for a pur- 
 pose. He was a buyer of cattle and it was al- 
 leged that when driving cattle through the settle- 
 ments he was not careful in separating the cattle 
 along the road from his own herd but would drive 
 all along together. When cattle were found with 
 him he was very profuse in his apologies and 
 asserted his ignorance. Many cattle were missed 
 from time to time and so much feeling was cre- 
 ated that he abandoned it and moved up near 
 Bureau. The writer, then a boy about fourteen, 
 accompanied a Mr. Richardson, an elderly Eng- 
 lish gentleman, out there to look for a fine year- 
 ling he had lost. It was about seven miles right 
 across the prairie. We went on horseback and 
 we thought it an awful long ride. 
 
 When we arrived there Mr. Stout was very 
 
 polite, did not think an animal answering the 
 description was there ; in fact was sure of it, etc. 
 It appears the calf had been raised by hand and 
 the two old people had made a pet of it. When 
 Mr. Richardson pointed out the animal, which was 
 a fine year-old calf, Mr. Stout was sure that was 
 not Mr. Richardson's animal, could not possibly 
 be; but when Mr. Richardson called "Rosie," 
 "Rosie," the calf raised its head, stood for a 
 moment or two and then came trotting up to him, 
 there was no longer any question as to the owner- 
 ship of the animal, and Mr. Stout was one of 
 the most crestfallen men it has been my lot to see. 
 
 It had been supposed in the early days that 
 the most of the land in Saratoga was too low 
 and wet for successful cultivation and in fact 
 there was, a little west of the center, a lake or 
 pond covering nearly a section, the land bordering 
 on it producing a large slough grass and blue stem 
 as high as a man's head or higher. 
 
 It was a great place for game, the lake taking 
 the name of Goose lake from the number of wild 
 geese that alighted in it. It was also a great place 
 for deer to hide, and parties of men would go 
 with horses through the tall grass and drive out 
 the deer which they would shoot as they ran out. 
 
 After Saratoga began to be settled others came 
 pouring in and in 1857 the township was organ- 
 ized under the township organization law and waa 
 given the name Saratoga, said to have been sug- 
 gested by George Scholes and others from the 
 famous watering place of that name. John C. 
 Townsend was elected the first supervisor. By 
 1860 nearly every available farm was taken up 
 and cultivated, to a greater or less extent, the 
 land proving to be extremely fertile, though ter- 
 ribly muddy in the spring, the roads being almost, 
 if not quite, impassable ; but the immense crops 
 of corn and oats in the fall amply repaid them 
 for the temporary inconvenience. About 1879 
 the owners of the land on which the lake was 
 situated employed an engineer to see if it was 
 feasible to drain it. He found there was sufficient 
 fall so that it could be drained at a reasonable 
 expense, and the next year a ditch was dug and 
 the water turned into Hickory creek, which is a 
 part of Crow creek, the one that flows between 
 Henry and Whitefield townships and empties into 
 the Illinois river a few miles below Henry. 
 
 As a rather curious circumstance the lake is on 
 the highest land in Saratoga township. It is fed 
 by springs and near it is the source of several
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 48 
 
 small streams, which uniting form in one direc- 
 tion the Crow creek which flows west of Henry, 
 and in the other the larger Senachwine creek 
 which empties into the Illinois just above Chilli- 
 cothe. 
 
 Now where the water once stood the year 
 round are found some of the most prolific corn- 
 fields in the county. 
 
 One of the earliest settlers in Saratoga was an 
 Irishman by the name of Grady who settled near 
 a small grove in the southwest corner of the 
 township called Camping Grove, from the fact 
 of its being the only grove near there and it was 
 a sort of landmark as well as a camping place. 
 It may have been this fact that prompted the wily 
 Irishman to this location, for he built a large 
 house for the times, and kept travelers whenever 
 called upon. He was a jolly, good natured fellow 
 and quite popular. It may have been this fact 
 that prompted quite a number of his countrymen 
 to settle in the southwestern part of the township 
 as they did. Quite a little town sprang up at 
 least there was a store, a blacksmith shop, a post- 
 office, and it became a general resort for the 
 farmers around of an evening. 
 
 About 1870 the Irish Catholics built a very nice 
 church large enough for their purposes. It had 
 quite a congregation and was supplied part of 
 the time by a priest from Henry and part of the 
 time one from Lacon. The church was located 
 about one half mile east of Camping Grove. 
 
 There is also a Methodist Episcopal church near 
 the center of the township, but we have no data as 
 to when it was built. It has been there for sev- 
 eral years and is in a flourishing condition. There 
 is also a very neat town hall which has been built 
 for several years ; in fact, we think it was the first 
 country town hall built on the west side of the 
 river in the county. 
 
 In 1902 the North-Western Railroad built n 
 branch from their main line to Peoria, running 
 a little east of the west line of the township and 
 upon it located two stations in Saratoga. One 
 was established in the northwest corner of the 
 township and named Broad moor. It is only a 
 station as yet. although considerable grain and 
 live stock are shipped from there. There are two 
 stores, an elevator and a blacksmith shop. The 
 other in the southwest corner takes the old name 
 of Camp Grove. The Catholics of the neighbor- 
 hood have built a new church of considerable pre- 
 tentions to size and elegance and have abandoned 
 
 the old one. There are several stores, a fine school 
 house, two banks and two or three hundred in- 
 habitants. A newspaper was established about 
 two years ago called the Camp Grove News, edited 
 by George Moulton, but the patronage was not 
 sufficient for its support and though quite a newsy 
 little paper the publisher, after running it a year, 
 felt obliged to discontinue it. 
 
 Saratoga is well supplied with school houses, 
 having, ten, in which school is kept from eight 
 to ten months in the year. They pay very good 
 wages and have good schools, but some of them are 
 small. The government set aside the sixteenth 
 section in every township for school purposes, but 
 most of the townships sold at an early day, 
 realizing but very little from them, most of them 
 going at government price $1.25 per acre. Sara- 
 toga, however, held her school lands for awhile 
 and they brought them $8.00 and $10.00 per 
 acre, which gives- them a fund that helps out with 
 their schools to some extent. 
 
 Saratoga has thirty-six full sections, every foot 
 of which is highly fertile and can be cultivated. 
 It has no waste land and in that respect is prob- 
 ably the best township in the county, possibly ex- 
 cepting Bennington. The farmers, as might be 
 expected, are highly prosperous, have fine resi- 
 dences and large barns. They give their attention 
 largely to raising corn and feeding hogs. Their 
 lives are quiet and they are a happy, contented 
 people. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LA PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 La Prairie township occupies the southwest 
 corner of Marshall county. It is Town 12 N., 
 R. 8 E. of the 4th P. M., and is one of the very 
 best townships in the county, being all a fine roll- 
 ing prairie, well watered by numerous small runs 
 or doughs. All of it is in a high state of cul- 
 tivation, more of the men who own the farms 
 living on them than in any other township in the 
 county, and as a consequence the land and build- 
 ings are in better condition and better kept up. 
 
 At the time of the township organization the 
 name Fairfield was given, but as this name was 
 already in use the present name of La Prairie, 
 which had been suggested as a second choice, was 
 given it. It is very pretty and appropriate.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 The township forms part of the Military Tract, 
 a large tract of land laid off by the government 
 and given to the soldiers of 1812, each a quarter 
 section. Very few of the soldiers settled upon 
 them, many of the claims were bought for a few 
 dollars, many sold for taxes, and many were 
 settled upon by persons who had no title. Much 
 confusion and litigation resulted and permanent 
 settlement and improvements were much delayed. 
 
 The first settler in La Prairie was William 
 Coulson, who came lip from Peoria in 1832 and 
 settled in the southeast part of the township on 
 the road leading from Peoria to Galena in Sep- 
 tember, 1832. He built a rather large double log 
 cabin and kept a hotel for the entertainment of 
 such as passed that way. In 1838 he built a 
 much larger house about a half mile further up 
 the road, keeping a hotel as before. This place 
 was bought by the brothers, Archibald and Robert 
 Eiddle, the pioneers of the several Scotch fami- 
 lies that later settled in the township and have 
 done so much to make La Prairie "flourish like 
 the greenbay tree and blossom like the rose." 
 
 The next settler was Solomon Brewer, who 
 settled one mile south of Corilson on section 25 
 in 1834. Brewer moved to Iowa in 1844. The 
 third settler was James Kenyon, an Englishman 
 who settled on section 26 in August, 1836. The 
 government land offce at that time was in Quincy 
 and when Mr. Kenyon came to the place he was 
 so much pleased with it that after coming he and 
 his family camped under a tree, and he left early 
 next morning for Quincy to enter the land. He 
 became a prosperous farmer and in 1847 moved to 
 Peoria. 
 
 In the southeast corner of the township were 
 some settlements made about 1833. Mr. Elisha 
 Stowell settled on section 33, about two miles 
 east of Lawn Eidge. James Caldwell entered a 
 part of section 25 in 1836 but did not come to 
 reside on it till 1838. Some ten families- came 
 from Ohio and settled in Halleck township, ad- 
 joining La Prairie in Peoria county, in 1832 or 
 thereabouts and Erastus Root, who was with them, 
 bought the principal part of his farm in La 
 Prairie township, but his home was in Peoria 
 county. 
 
 These were about all the settlers up to 1845, 
 but after that the country began to settle very 
 fast. Charles Stone came in 1845 and closely 
 following him were Joshua Powell and "Deacon" 
 Smith, Rev. Mr. Ordway in 1846, and the Kurds 
 
 the same year, and the next year came Wm. Ste- 
 venson, the Stowells, the Vincents, Jos. Calder, 
 Ransom Caldwell and Jacob Booth. 
 
 In 1848 to 1850 Elisha and Amos Leigh and 
 Joel and William Atwood with his sons, Andrew, 
 William and James. In the northern part of the 
 township, Stephen Wilmot, Levi Holmes and 
 James Doran located in 1847; Alden Hull in 
 1845. 
 
 In the Scotch neighborhood James Davidson, 
 Robert Pringle, James Leigh and others located 
 from 1845 to 1853. 
 
 About the year 1845 the first church in La 
 Prairie was organized, the first services being held 
 in a barn belonging to Samuel McCoy, on the 
 first Sunday in June, 1844, and meetings were 
 held from time to time in cabins or barns as 
 ministers would be sent them, till in 1849 Rev. 
 Nathaniel C. Weed came into the neighborhood 
 and for twelve years was the pastor. The meetings 
 at that time were held in the Hull school-house 
 and about this time assumed the name of the 
 Fairfield congregation of the United Presbyterian 
 church, a name we think it still bears. 
 
 At the time Father Weed organized the church 
 the membership consisted of Thomas Henry and 
 Janet Scott, William and Wilhelmina Smith, 
 John and Jennie Wylie, John and Jeannie David- 
 son, George and Helen Hastings and Janet Rid- 
 dle, with John Ross and George Hastings as rul- 
 ing elders. Rev. Weed preached twelve years for 
 the society and surrendered his charge in April, 
 1864. Rev. Weed was an old fashioned preacher 
 who believed in long sermons, preaching for two 
 and sometimes three hours. 
 
 A peculiarity of the United Presbyterians is, 
 or was at the time he was preaching, that they 
 thought it profanation to sing anything but the 
 Psalms, and as it was sometimes difficult to get 
 a perfect meter in paraphrasing the sentences 
 there were times when the music was hardly in- 
 spiring. Father Weed was a very good man and 
 the church flourished under his administration. 
 In the twelve years of his ministry eighty-eight 
 were added to the society, thirty-three on profes- 
 sion of faith. During the last year of his pastor- 
 ate a very neat church was built. It was finished 
 in September, 1863, and the first service held in 
 it the first Sunday in October, when it was turned 
 over to the society free from debt. 
 
 Through the good work of Dr. Wilmot, Ebe- 
 nezer Stowell and Nathaniel Smith, who were
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 exerting themselves to form a Congregational so- 
 ciety in the lower part of La Prairie on what is 
 generally known as Blue Ridge, a society was 
 organized January 16, 1846, by Rev. L. N. Par- 
 ker, of Galesburg. 
 
 The stern and courageous nature of these pio- 
 neers of La Prairie in their stand for what they 
 believed was right and justice and which is a 
 marked characteristic of their descendants to this 
 day, shown by their adding to the usual Articles 
 of Faith the following preamble: "Whereas, 
 amid the light now shining, the manufacture, use 
 and sale of intoxicating liquors, as well as the 
 holding of slaves or apologizing for slavery by 
 enacting pro-slavery laws are sins against God and 
 these covenant vows, etc." 
 
 At this time it must be remembered both the 
 slavery and liquor questions were in a very dif- 
 ferent phase from what they are now. An abo- 
 litionist then was considered but little if any 
 better than a horse thief, while liquors wore found 
 in every house and not to offer a friend or neigh- 
 bor when he called on you something to drink 
 was considered almost an insult, so that it re- 
 quired a good amount of courage to take such a 
 stand and put themselves on record for doing it. 
 But no member was admitted without subscribing 
 to it and it is said no one refused to join be- 
 cause of it. 
 
 The society grew and flourished and in 1856 a 
 very neat little church was built which was badly 
 wrecked in a wind storm two' years later, but was 
 repaired and served the purposes of the congre- 
 gation till 1876, when a new church, one of the 
 finest in the county, was built. 
 
 Near the center of the township stands a very 
 neat church which was built by the Methodists. 
 The society was first organized and a class in- 
 stituted in 1850 by Rev. Samuel Smith, and 
 Thomas Huff was appointed class leader, but his 
 health failing he was succeeded by Amos F. Leigh. 
 The original class consisted of Amos F. Leigh, 
 Thomas Huff and wife, Mrs. Hay, Mrs. William 
 Hart, William Hancock and wife, and Nancy 
 Hull. In 1859 the church was built at a cost 
 of $1,825, the Leighs contributing about one-half 
 of the cost. When the new church was built, in 
 the winter of 1860, the Rev. Samuel Smith held 
 a season of revival meetings of such power that 
 over one hundred converts were added to the 
 membership, the church was dedicated in 1861 
 by Elder Ritchie. 
 
 In 1830 a stage line was established from 
 Peoria to Galena which passed through La Prairie. 
 A man by the name of John P. Winters had the 
 contract for carrying the mails. The stages were 
 light, two horse wagons in the summer and a sled 
 in the winter. The road ran from Peoria to 
 Northampton and then to Boyds Grove, but after 
 Coulson built his cabins, as mentioned above in 
 1832, the stage line made that a stopping place. 
 This stage line was kept up till about 1840, 
 when the towns along the river having obtained 
 considered importance it was changed to the west 
 side of the river and four-horse coaches were used. 
 When the railroad was built in 185-4 the stage 
 lost its usefulness and the route was discontinued. 
 
 The only town worthy of the name in La Prairie 
 is Lawn Ridge, situated in the extreme south- 
 west corner of the township, the western bound- 
 ary being only eighty rods from the Stark county 
 line and the southern on the Peoria county line, 
 and in fact the town juts over somewhat into 
 Peoria county. It takes its name from the "di- 
 vide" between the Illinois and Spoon rivers, a 
 slight rise of land that slopes each way to the east 
 and west and extends the whole length of the 
 township, and extends down into Peoria county, 
 where it is known as the "Blue Ridge." Farther 
 south it is of a hilly order and covered more or 
 less- with timber, but in Marshall county it is 
 prairie and much more gradual in its slopes and 
 in the early days conveyed the idea of a well kept 
 lawn. It is now covered with farms and has 
 lost some of its early characteristics. 
 
 The town of Lawn Ridge never was platted. 
 Land was plenty when it was laid out and the lot* 
 are described by metes and bounds and not by lots 
 and blocks. It is a very pretty place, the street? 
 running north and south, east and west, crossing 
 at right angles. Although it was originally open 
 prairie, it is now finely shaded with noble trees, 
 which the inhabitants have set out. It is sup- 
 plied with water by wells, plenty of good water 
 having been obtained in the early days by digging 
 from twenty to thirty feet. As the town is off 
 from any watercourse or railroad it has no com- 
 mercial advantages, but became a kind of central 
 point for the farmers- and appears to have grown 
 more than most "country corners." In 1880 there 
 were a postoffice, a general store, a grocery, two 
 drug stores, a harness shop, three blacksmith shops, 
 two wagon shops, a barber shop, two hotels, etc., 
 and between one and two hundred inhabitants, so
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 that it can be seen that at that early day it was 
 pretty well patronized by the surrounding farmers. 
 
 Of late years there has come a change in the 
 manufacturing of nearly everything and many of 
 the shops that once resounded to the hammers 
 and other tools of the mechanic have passed out 
 of existence. A railroad runs- within a scant 
 mile of Lawn Ridge and the little town of Speer 
 is there, Camp Grove and other towns have sprung 
 up near it and are dividing the business with it. 
 
 In 1864 a number of the citizens and farmers 
 of the neighborhood asked for a charter for a 
 Masonic lodge, which was granted to them Oc- 
 tober 5, 1864. The lodge has nourished and they 
 have a neat and serviceable lodge room over one 
 of the stores. 
 
 There is also a hall large enough to serve their 
 purpose, two churches, a Union Presbyterian and 
 Methodist, and a fine school-house, 35x70 feet, 
 in which is maintained a graded school. Every- 
 thing is in good shape, both public and private 
 buildings, and the villagers take pride in keep- 
 ing them so. 
 
 On section 12, near the northern part of the 
 township, flourished on paper, a town that went 
 by the euphonious name of Chambersburg, but it 
 has been, within a few years, ploughed up and 
 is now a very prolific cornfield. 
 
 Near the center of the township stands a little 
 cluster of buildings which go by the name of 
 La Prairie center. Located there is a store, a 
 blacksmith shop, the town hall and till lately a 
 postoffice, but since the rural mail routes have 
 been installed the postoffice is discontinued. 
 
 Of the farming townships of Marshall county, 
 in the productiveness of the farms, the beauty 
 and comfort expressed by the many fine homes, 
 the herds of fine sleek cattle and fat hogs and 
 the stalwart character and well-to-do appearance 
 of the inhabitants taken as a whole La Prairie 
 stands foremost of the townships of Marshall 
 county. 
 
 As an evidence of the intelligence and upright- 
 ness of the people of La Prairie the township con- 
 tains five churches and nine school-houses. 
 
 Of course such men as settled La Prairie and 
 made it an article of their religious faith that 
 human slavery was against God and the teachings 
 of the Bible, would not sit idly by if their help 
 was needed and they were ready to prove by their 
 works that the faith they had proclaimed was not 
 idle talk and in the old slavery days a station of 
 
 the underground railroad, as it was called, by 
 which runaway slaves were helped on their way, 
 was in La Prairie and many a poor fugitive was 
 hid, fed and forwarded on his way to Canada. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 STEUBEN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Steuben township is called on the government 
 maps Town 12 N., R. 9, E. of the 4 P. M. It 
 lies along the western bank of the Illinois river 
 and contains twenty-seven full sections and six 
 fractional ones, but only a few acres are cut off 
 from sections 1 and 23, while but small bits of 
 sections 24 and 35 are out of water. For nearly 
 a mile along the river the land is swampy, full of 
 small lakes and nearly all practically worthless 
 except for the scanty timber that grows upon it, 
 being subject to overflow. From the low lands 
 the land rises in bold bluffs, covered with timber 
 and valuable on that account, to the height of 
 seventy-five or one hundred feet, the hills being 
 cut by ravines. These bluffs or timber lands ex- 
 tend back from one to two miles, when prairie 
 land is reached. 
 
 Ranging from a half mite to a full mile from 
 its western border, Senachwine creek runs the full 
 length of the township and as that too has its 
 bottom and bluffs, though not nearly as much so 
 as the river, a large part of Steuben township is 
 very rolling, though there are some farms as good 
 and as profitable as in any of the townships, for 
 the numerous small streams furnish plenty of 
 water and the land, too rolling for other purposes, 
 furnishes excellent pasture land and nowhere is 
 finer stock and fatter hogs raised than in Steu- 
 ben. But while it is true that the bluffs along 
 the river are not well suited to farming they are 
 rich in other things which more than offset the 
 advantage that other townships have over it in 
 that respect, for in the bluff is found a very fair 
 quality of bituminous coal which crops, out at 
 the side of the bluffs and is easily mined with 
 little or no preliminary expense. This coal has 
 been mined in this way for more than half a 
 century and thousands of tons have been taken 
 out and sold to the neighboring farmers and for 
 factory use. It has excellent heating qualities 
 but leaves considerable cinders and ashes. About 
 twenty years ago a shaft was sunk down to the 
 third vein, as it is called, and the product is the 
 equal of other Illinois coal.
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Besides the coal which is there in inexhaustible 
 quantities the bluffs produce a fine limestone and 
 a quarry was opened and kiln built some fifty or 
 sixty years ago by a family by the name of Kob- 
 inson, who burned lime and sold it to the sur- 
 rounding country, but they did not carry it on 
 on a very large scale, though they had a demand 
 more than they could supply, and after the rail- 
 road was built they abandoned the lime burning 
 and turned their attention to farming in the 
 summer and taking out coal in the winter. Be- 
 side the coal under the ground the top soil of the 
 bluff is a fine clay suitable for either brick or 
 tile. About 1855 Colonel McClannahan built a 
 tile factory and put in the necessary machinery, 
 and for a year or two did a good business, but the 
 hard times of 1857 coming on the business fell 
 off and he abandoned it and it was not, we be- 
 lieve, ever revived. 
 
 Of late years since the .demand for cement has 
 become so great, we understand that large quan- 
 tities of the necessary materials are found there, 
 and there was considerable talk at one time of 
 a company being organized to manufacture it. 
 
 At the foot of the highest bluff, and with 
 the yields of all the valuable products of Mother 
 Earth that we have named, nestles the beautiful 
 little village of Sparland, partly on level land 
 at the bottom of the hill, and partly on the slope 
 of the hill, the stores and other business occu- 
 pying most of the level land,, the residences with 
 beautiful lawns and blooming gardens rising one 
 above another on the bold slope of the hill till 
 the highest towers two hundred feet above the 
 lowlands and all of them have most magnificent 
 views toward the east. 
 
 About a mile to the east flows the Illinois, low 
 flat lands separating it from the town. While the 
 land is not as a general thing swampy it is sub- 
 ject to overflow and boats are sometimes landed 
 close to town, that at normal times would be 
 stopped a mile away. The Peoria branch of the 
 Chicago, Bock Island & Pacific Eailroad runs 
 through the town just at the foot of the hill and 
 is their principal means of communication. It 
 is also the place from which the Lacon people 
 begin most of their journeys, it being connected 
 with Lacon by a good dirt road built above high 
 water, except in extraordinary raises, and the 
 Lacon bridge. A line of stages or busses from 
 Lacon meets every train in the day time and will 
 make those at night if called upon. Sparland 
 
 has also for many years done a large business in 
 buying and shipping grain and livestock, espe- 
 cially hogs, which a few years ago they handled 
 in large quantities. It was the shipping point of 
 all of Steuben, most of La Prairie and a good 
 part of Saratoga and Whitefield. The principal 
 industry, we might almost say the only one, is 
 mining coal. 
 
 There is a regular mine from which the coal 
 is taken from what is called the third vein, being 
 two and three hundred feet under the surface. 
 The mine, or shaft as it is called, gives employ- 
 ment to about one hundred men. There are 
 many other mines of the drift order. Some of 
 these employ several men and some only one or 
 two. The coal from the shaft is much superior 
 to the drift coal, not containing near the amount 
 of ashes and cinders. But the drift coal burns 
 freely, gives out heat equal to the other and is a 
 valuable fuel. The town supports a well stocked 
 general store, a dry goods and clothing store, two 
 grocery stores, a hardware and drug store, a hotel 
 and two restaurants, two or three blacksmith 
 shops, a wagon shop, a postoffice and fancy goods 
 store, a tailor shop, etc. 
 
 The village was laid out in 1855 by a family 
 by the name of Sparr. At first it consisted of 
 only two ranges of blocks lying between the rail- 
 road and bluff; several additions have since been 
 added, but the name Sparland has remained. 
 
 From the first the village flourished and at the 
 time of the war was one of the most enterprising 
 places in the country, the coal beds being thought 
 to be mines of wealth, and they became somewhat 
 excited. Several of the more enterprising men 
 formed a company for the purpose of taking the 
 coal from the drift banks in large quantities, 
 shipping it to Chicago and selling it. Land was 
 purchased at a high price in Chicago for a coal 
 yard and a large amount of coal was shipped 
 there, but after a year's trial it was found that 
 the coal could not compete with the Streator 
 shaft coal, which then sold at the same price, and 
 the project was abandoned with considerable loss 
 to those who had promoted it. 
 
 Two and a half miles below Sparland, about the 
 same time a company came and made preparations 
 to mine coal upon a large scale. They built quite 
 a number of houses and made preparations to, 
 and did for awhile, employ from two hundred to 
 two hundred and fifty men. They named the 
 place Grnntville and expected to found a large,
 
 48 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 thriving town there. But after expending thou- 
 sands of dollars they were forced to abandon it, 
 as they could not sell the coal. The houses were 
 left till they went to decay, several blew down 
 and all have gone to destruction. 
 
 A company from Rock Island a few years later 
 also made extensive preparations for mining coal 
 'Vwo miles above Sparland but found the same 
 'trouble and were forced to abandon it. 
 
 Although the drift coal has not proved a suc- 
 cess from a commercial standpoint, thousands of 
 tons of it have been consumed by the people of 
 the neighborhood, and it has given employment 
 to hundreds of men all along the bluff. The 
 shaft, or mine, coal of Sparland is equal to any 
 of the Illinois coal and stands high in the market. 
 
 Although these coal ventures were disastrous 
 to those that were promoting them they were a 
 grand thing for Sparland. They employed many 
 men to whom large sums- of money were paid and 
 that money was mostly spent in Sparland. 
 
 This made extremely good times in Sparland 
 and the town grew rapidly and everything that was 
 started met with prosperity. Then the Fassbender 
 Brothers came in, had a large general store, a lum- 
 ber yard and bought grain and at last built a dis- 
 tillery and it looked as if Sparland was soon go- 
 ing to be the metropolis of the county. Then 
 the failure of the coal projects and later trouble 
 came about the distillery. It was during the time 
 of the whiskey frauds that made so much excite- 
 ment during the presidency of General Grant 
 when many of the smaller distilleries that had 
 started up all over the country were forced to 
 close down, the Sparland distillery with others, 
 and a disastrous fire in the business section of 
 the village about this time gave it a blow from 
 which it never fully recovered, or at least did 
 not regain its former prestige. 
 
 Since, Sparland has been growing steadily but 
 slowly but it has that within the bosom of its 
 mother earth that in all probability will again 
 put it on the road to prosperity. 
 
 During the flush time in Sparland they built 
 a school-house that at the time and for a long 
 time after was the finest in the county. It was 
 their pride, and well it might be, and they have 
 a school which they also have reason to be proud 
 of. They employ three teachers, beside the super- 
 intendent, who has been there for the past ten 
 years. They graduate from three to five each 
 year who rank well up to the larger schools. 
 
 While they were all away from the building one 
 day in the spring of 1904 the building, in some 
 way never satisfactorily explained, took fire and 
 was destroyed as much as a brick building could 
 be, as they have no way to fight fire. It was quite 
 a blow to the village but they soon rallied and 
 with true western enterprise set about rebuilding 
 it, and it was but a few months before the site, 
 and there is not a finer one for many miles around, 
 was graced with another fine structure which well 
 replaced the old one. It is not quite so large, 
 quite so imposing, but it is more convenient, 
 more up-to-date. They also have a school, smaller 
 to be sure, but fully equal in curriculum and 
 completeness of study, to those of their larger 
 sisters in the county. 
 
 Two fine churches, a Methodist and Baptist, 
 send their spires heavenward from the hilkide, 
 which are crowded with worshipers on the Sab- 
 bath and eloquent preachers break to the congre- 
 gations the bread of life and grand choirs lead 
 the people in melodious songs of praise. 
 
 Here at the foot of the hiU is the Steuben town 
 hall, a very neat wooden building covered with 
 steel made and painted in imitation of brick, 
 in which elections and town assemblies are held 
 and which is also used for entertainments of 
 various kinds. 
 
 Such is Sparland which, from the wealth na- 
 ture has hid away in her high hills may some day 
 outrank any of her sister cities in the county. 
 
 The first known resident of Steuben township 
 was Franklin Ward Graves, who came there in 
 1831, bought of the Indians the land where Spar- 
 land now stands and built a cabin at the foot of 
 the hill. Mr. Graves lived here till 1846, when 
 he sold his claim to George Sparr and with his 
 wife and family of nine children and two sons- 
 in-law, started for Oregon. Undertaking to cross 
 the mountains on a new trail they lost their way 
 and the company of ninety persons were overtaken 
 by winter, and after one of the most heartrending 
 experiences ever recorded in which only forty- 
 eight survived, finally were rescued. Of the 
 Graves family of thirteen persons only six sur- 
 vived, five of whom were women, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Graves and both the' sons-in-law perishing mis- 
 erably. The next known settler was John Ridge- 
 way, who came in the fall of 1832, settling where 
 Grantville was located, Jeremiah Cooper and 
 family coming about the same time. George Red- 
 dick came in 1833, S. E. Thomson and George
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 B. Drake came in 1834, Joseph Thompson with 
 his sons, Asa and Ellis, came in 1834. In 1835 
 Francis B. Drake settled at what has since been 
 known as Drake's Grove. Mrs. Mary Watkins, 
 with her sons, Jekial and David, came in 1835. 
 
 David W. Bates and son, L. M. Bates, came in 
 1837, and the place now known as the county 
 poor farm was settled upon by Benjamin Allen 
 in 1837. 
 
 There were quite a number of settlers settled on 
 the Peoria and Galena road which was laid out 
 in 1835. Timothy Atwood settled there in 1835 
 and Thomas Miner in 1838, and Allen Hunter in 
 1837. Other settlers came in and settled along 
 the road and it became known by the name of 
 "Yankee Street," while another road along un- 
 der the bluff became another favorite place of 
 settlement and was called "Hardscrabble." Many 
 settlers came in between 1835 and 1845. John 
 Webster, Russell Frisbee, Joel Fosdick, Levi Fos- 
 dick, George Mead, Amasa Garrett, the Hoskins 
 and Tanquary families, Samuel McLaughlin and 
 many others. 
 
 As early as 1837 a school-house was built on 
 the Thomson's land. It was built of logs, 16x18, 
 with two windows, each of six panes of 8x10 glass 
 and a large stone fireplace. The floors and 
 benches were of split logs or puncheons, the first 
 school being taught in the summer of 1839. 
 In 1853 this was replaced by a very neat brick 
 built farther west upon the road. For many years 
 this building was used as a church by a band of 
 worshipers of the Methodist persuasion and the 
 neighborhood went by the name of "Bethel." 
 Some fifteen years ago a new church was built 
 about a mile farther west to accommodate a larg- 
 er number of the congregation which now com- 
 prises about one hundred families. There is also 
 a Baptist church on Yankee street which is well 
 kept up and which has a large membership. 
 
 Probably we can not close the history of Steu- 
 ben township better than by a brief relation of 
 two mysterious disappearances of men in the 
 prime of life and no clue was ever found as to 
 their fate. 
 
 In the fall of 1861 Michael Wyley, a farmer in 
 the western part of Steiiben township, went to 
 Sparland. He was of a convivial disposition and 
 somewhat addicted to drinking. He was seen on 
 the road returning home between nine and ten 
 o'clock in the evening somewhat intoxicated, and 
 that was the last ever seen of him. He had 
 
 been married about a year before to a widow of 
 the neighborhood who was of a rather shrewish 
 nature, but Wyley was a large, strong man, weigh- 
 ing probably 180 pounds while she was quite a 
 small woman, possibly weighing 110 pounds or 
 so. After Wyley was missed search was made 
 but nothing could be found. It was suspected 
 his wife might have killed him while in a drunk- 
 en sleep, but what she had done with the body 
 was a poser. Her story was that Mike had come 
 home, said he had a telegram to come to St. 
 Louis, where he had a brother, had changed his 
 clothes and went out saying that he was going 
 to meet the early train. While she was strongly 
 suspected of the killing there was no proof of his 
 being dead and nothing was done about it. Sev- 
 eral years afterward it is said some bones were 
 found in the bluffs about four miles below Spar- 
 land, which it is said "were identified as the re- 
 mains of Mike Wyley," though a thorough search 
 of the entire country had been made at the time 
 of his disappearance without revealing a single 
 suspicious circumstance. 
 
 The disappearance of Washington Orr a year 
 or two later raised a great excitement. Mr. Orr 
 was a farmer owning a large farm one mile and 
 a half south of the county farm. He was a 
 member of one of the most prominent families 
 of the county and a brother-in-law of Amasa 
 Garrett, the foremost man of Steuben township. 
 One afternoon he went to Sparland and about five 
 o'clock was seen to start for home carrying a 
 gallon can of kerosene oil. That was the last seen 
 of him by anyone who would tell, and what be- 
 came of him remains a mystery to this day. He 
 was married and had a wife and two daughters, 
 girls of about twelve and fourteen years of age 
 at that time. The widow and daughters lived on 
 the place for six or seven years and then moved 
 to Iowa we believe, and the place was sold to a 
 man by the name of John Hunt. If they knew 
 what became of the husband and father they 
 made no sign and not the slightest hint of what 
 became of Washington Orr has ever transpired. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Richland is a full township of thirty-six sec- 
 tions, laying between Lacon on the west and Belle 
 Plain township on the east, its government desig-
 
 PAST AM) LMiKSKNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 nation being township 29 N., 2 W., 3d P. M. 
 The township is traversed through its southern 
 part by Crow creek and a number of branches 
 which empty into it and the entire southern half 
 of the township is much cut up with hills and 
 hollows, at one time covered with timber, which in 
 later years has been to a great extent cut out, the 
 land cleared of brush and stumps and placed 
 under cultivation. The northern part of the town- 
 ship consists of a beautiful fertile prairie which in 
 early days was called "Round Prairie." The com- 
 bination of timber, water and prairie furnished 
 by the peculiar lay of the land along the edge of 
 Eound Prairie held out great inducements to set- 
 tlers and we find them seeking homes here in an 
 early day. 
 
 The first visitor to this section was John Strawn, 
 who later became a colonel in the Black Hawk 
 war. He came prospecting in 1828 and brought 
 his family and made a permanent settlement about 
 three miles east of Lacon in 1829. The next to 
 make their homes in what was then a wilderness, 
 so far as white men were concerned, were Robert 
 Barnes and his brother-in-law, James Dever, who 
 came in the fall of 1829. They got out the logs 
 for a cabin and on November 18, 1830, they raised 
 it, put on the roof and slept in it that night. 
 Next day they put up a stick chimney and laid 
 the puncheon floor. The chimney, however, had 
 only been finished to the roof when a snow storm 
 coming on prevented their finishing it. They had 
 been in the country a year and during the year 
 several families had settled farther into the woods 
 and from this time on the country settled up rap- 
 idly. H. B. Barnes came in 1834, as did Samuel 
 M. Kilgore. John Dever came in 1833 and lo- 
 cated near his brother James. Robert Iliff and 
 Joseph Burt located about the same time and 
 John Williams and Allen Gray came in 1834, as 
 did Archibald Johnson. Benjamin Fort also 
 come in 1834 and located near the Devers, who 
 were brothers of his wife. He was the father of 
 Greenbury L. Fort, for many years congressman 
 from this district, and grandfather of Robert L. 
 Fort of later memory. Abraham Keedy came in 
 1834 and Hoel Doddy about the same time. The 
 Remleys, father and son, Woodford Fisher, and 
 William Spangler came in 1835, as did James 
 Work and Andrew Jackson, so that by 1840 the 
 township was pretty thickly settled, more so, in 
 fact, than any other part of Marshall county, 
 and, what was more, most of the settlers raised 
 
 large families, eight, nine and ten children being 
 about the usual size of the family. 
 
 Although schools had been kept in Richland 
 since 1837 the first school census was taken in 
 1840 and it gave 135 children of school age. In 
 1843 the number had increased to 227 and in 
 1851 to 342. 
 
 The first preaching in the township was by 
 Rev. William Royal, a Methodist, preacher, in the 
 cabin of Mrs. Bland, in 1831. The next year 
 Rev. Jesse Hall, the pastor on the Pekin circuit, 
 preached occasionally at the cabin of Mr. James 
 Dever, on the prairie, and also in that of Timothy 
 Owens, on the creek, and the next year the Rev. 
 Zadoc Hall, who followed him kept the appoint- 
 ments and organized a class of which Robert 
 Barnes was chosen leader a position he held for 
 many years. 
 
 About this time Mr. James Dever organized 
 the first Sunday school in Marshall county. The 
 meetings were held in the double cabin of James 
 Dever until, in 1844, a school house was built near 
 Timothy Owens' place and they were held in that 
 till the building of .Phelps chapel, in 1853. Phelps 
 chapel was dedicated by Rev. J. W. Flowers and 
 named, at the suggestion of Rev. Zadoc Hall, the 
 pastor, "Phelps chapel," after Ashael E. Phelps. 
 
 One of the principal forts, as it was the larg- 
 est built at the time of the Black Hawk war, was 
 in this neighborhood. Rumors of massacres by 
 the Indians were coming in every day, though 
 when traced up were found to be false, yet they 
 kept the few inhabitants, especially the women 
 and children, in a constant state of alarm and the 
 husbands and fathers shared their fears. One 
 day, after a hearty scare, all the men in the neigh- 
 borhood started in to build a stockade that would 
 at least afford some protection. The stockade was 
 built around the cabin of Mr. Dever and was de- 
 signed by Robert Bird, Sr., the only man who had 
 ever seen a stockade or blockhouse. To this place 
 all came at night men, women and children. 
 About one acre was enclosed by the stockade. 
 There was, however, but few men around the fort, 
 except at night, the greater part of them had 
 gone on duty as rangers to meet the Indians, and 
 during the day the greater part of those left were 
 at work upon their farms, so that the women had 
 to depend largely upon themselves ; but they were 
 brave and though they received two or three 
 scares kept up their courage nobly to the end. 
 Fortunately the Indians committed no depreda-
 
 PAST AM) 1'KKSKNT OF .MARSHALL AM) IMTNAM 
 
 51 
 
 tions east of the river and as there was no one 
 living west of the river Marshall county was not 
 molested by them. 
 
 About 1850 an atrocious murder roused the peo- 
 ple of Kichland. A man by the name of William 
 McNeil had come into the township about 
 1830, married and settled there upon a farm 
 about five miles northeast of Lacon, and was foully 
 murdered while sleeping by being shot through the 
 window. 
 
 His first wife had died and he had married 
 again a widow of high temper and strong will, 
 who had several children. The bringing of the 
 two families of children together caused many 
 bitter quarrels and the wife proposed to divide 
 the property and separate, but to this he was bit- 
 terly opposed. One morning he was found dead 
 in his bed. He had been shot through a window 
 about three feet from where he lay and two balls 
 had entered his head, killing him instantly. It 
 was later discovered that the weapon used was a 
 musket he had himself carried when a soldier. 
 It was of the old flintlock pattern and, part of 
 the lock being gone, had been touched off with a 
 coal of fire. A curious circumstance connected 
 with the incident was that the weapon that it was 
 certain the crime was committed with could not 
 be found till John Jason, a near neighbor, 
 dreamed it was hid in a certain place between the 
 outer wall and plastering in the house, and, going 
 to the place of the dream, found it. 
 
 Mrs. McNeil was suspected of the crime and 
 several circumstances pointed strongly to her as 
 the criminal. She was arrested, but when brought 
 to trial she was defended by Burns & Bangs, two 
 brilliant lawyers of Lacon, and the jury brought 
 in a verdict of "not guilty." 
 
 A rather good story is told of John Strawn, the 
 pioneer settler of Marshall county, and his brother, 
 Jacob Strawn, who lived near Jacksonville and a 
 few years ago was considered the largest cattle 
 raiser and dealer in Illinois. Both the brothers 
 were "sharp dealers" and would take advantage 
 if they could in a trade, but otherwise were strict- 
 ly honest. When the lands came into market John 
 Strawn wanted to "enter" his lands, but had little 
 money, though he had several fine horses to dis- 
 pose of, so he concluded to see Jacob on his way 
 to Springfield and sell the horses to him, as he 
 knew he would want them. During the evening 
 "Jake" found out just how much John was short 
 and when the sale came up in the morning that 
 
 was all he would offer for them, though they were 
 worth considerable more. John demurred at the 
 price, but it was all his brother would give and as 
 he wanted the land he took it, though with rather 
 bad grace. 
 
 One season was an extremely cold and 
 backward one and but little good corn was raised. 
 John had about forty acres of good corn and about 
 a hundred more that was not. Jacob, as crops 
 in his vicinity were very poor, wrote to John ask- 
 ing how they were with him. John wrote back 
 that he had one hundred and fifty acres of good 
 corn and for him to come up and see it for him- 
 self, and when he came took him out and showed 
 him the good corn and led him around in such a 
 way that they kept coming into the good corn 
 without seeing the poor and Jacob supposed it 
 was all the same quality through the field, so he 
 bought the field at a good round price for good 
 corn and later sent up a herd of cattle under a 
 trusty man. The forty acres were soon consumed 
 and then the cattle began to grow poor and the 
 man wrote to Mr. Strawn about it. He at once 
 saw that he had been tricked and began to up- 
 braid his brother. John admitted the sharp prac- 
 tice, but said : "It's all right, brother ; it's all right. 
 We are even now and after this we'll trade fair." 
 
 Although John Strawn was the first settler in 
 this county, his son Enoch, a boy seven years old 
 when his father came, died this summer (1906). 
 What a wonderful transformation has taken place 
 in the county during the lifetime of a single per- 
 son. 
 
 Although Eichland is more diversified with hills 
 and hollows, even the prairie being quite rolling, 
 it must not be supposed it is the poorest township 
 in the county, far from it. It is doubtful if an- 
 other township contains so many finely cultivated 
 farms, so many spacious and beautiful farmers' 
 homes, and so many capacious barns and other 
 signs of prosperity as Eichland. 
 
 Through the southern part of the township runs 
 the Santa Fe railroad and at a station a little 
 town called Wilburn has been built. It consists 
 of one or two stores, a postoffice, a blacksmith 
 shop and repair shop and a few houses, but is 
 much used by the farmers as a shipping point for 
 grain and stock. 
 
 Not far from the track of the railroad the 
 Standard Oil Company has laid a pipe line the 
 past year, to carry oil from the Kansas oil fields 
 to their refineries in Whiting, Indiana. They have
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 also established a pumping station in the town- 
 ship and are erecting buildings and installing 
 machinery to the amount of forty or fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, so that the taxes assessed against it 
 will materially lessen the taxation of the farmers. 
 The village of Washburn lays partly in the town- 
 ship, giving the residents of the southeastern por- 
 tion of Richland the privilege of their excellent 
 school, and also the clnirch privileges. For the 
 rest of the township two churches and six school 
 houses give ample educational and religious privi- 
 leges. A fine town hall stands near the center 
 of the township. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BELLE PLAIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Belle Plain township lies directly east of Rich- 
 land township, its government designation being 
 township 29, 1 W. of the 3d P. M. It contains 
 thirty-six, full sections. It is mostly prairie 
 but the source of Crow creek being near its north- 
 eastern border and consequently traversing its en- 
 tire width and the numerous small branches which 
 act as feeders for it make the land somewhat 
 broken and rolling, but it is very fertile and some 
 of the finest farms in the county are in Belle 
 Plain township. The Santa Fe railroad follows 
 the valley of Crow creek and so passes nearly 
 diagonally through the township, entering from 
 the west on the northwest quarter of section 19 
 and passing out on the east in northeast quarter 
 of section 12. The Washington branch of the 
 Chicago & Alton also traverses nearly the entire 
 length of the township north and south, entering 
 on the northwest quarter of section 31 and pass- 
 ing out on the northwest quarter of section 4. 
 On the northwest quarter of the northwest quar- 
 ter of section 16 is the village of La Rose, located 
 on the Chicago & Alton railroad, and is about 
 three-quarters of a mile north of the Santa Fe 
 railroad, which maintains a station just south of 
 La Rose. La Rose, or, as it was then called, 
 Montrose, was laid out in September, 1870. It 
 has never had a boom, but has had a healthy and 
 steady growth. It contains quite a number of 
 fine residences and several stores, shops, etc. as 
 well as a bank, mill, elevator, a fine graded school, 
 a postoffice and churches, all the usual buildings 
 in a thriving and flourishing village. 
 
 It is quite a shipping point for the farmers and 
 large quantities of grain and stock are bought and 
 shipped from there. The farms and country sur- 
 rounding it are fully equal to any in the county. 
 
 The first church in the village was built in 
 1872, at a cost of $1,500, and the next year a 
 parsonage costing $1,100 was built. The church 
 was dedicated June 14, 1872, by Rev. Johnson. 
 
 The village is also graced by a very neat town 
 hall, built by the township and used for township 
 purposes. Of the other churches there is a Lu- 
 theran church, which has a large congregation 
 drawn from the Swedish residents, of which there 
 are many in the vicinity. They support a resi- 
 dent minister, have a fine parsonage, and cemetery 
 attached to the church. 
 
 Situated on section 35 in the southeast corner 
 of the township is a little village laid out in 1856 
 named Pattonsburg, named after the proprietor. 
 It contains a store, postoffice, blacksmith shop 
 and a good school house. Near it are also two 
 churches, a Baptist church, built in 1858, about a 
 half-mile west of the town. It is a house of good 
 size, with not much in the way of ornament, but 
 is neat and comfortable. 
 
 As early as 1839 preachers of the Methodist 
 persuasion began to hold meetings in and around 
 Pattonsburg. At first the services were held in 
 the school house in winter and in barns in the 
 summer until 1859, when a small building was 
 put up about a quarter of a mile north of the vil- 
 lage. This was burned down in the winter of 
 1867. When the church was rebuilt it was erected 
 in the village. It is a very neat building, capable 
 of seating comfortably about three hundred per- 
 sons, has comfortable pews, a good organ and 
 the entire furnishing is neat and tasty. There is 
 also a well kept cemetery near the village. 
 
 About two miles east of Pattonsburg, is or was, 
 for it has now mostly disappeared, a small grove 
 in which the first settler in Belle Plain, James 
 Martin, built a cabin in 1829. He was soon 
 followed by others, for Samuel Hawkins came in 
 1830, Thomas Bennington in 1831, Jerry Black, 
 Pierce Perry and Joseph and Robert Bennington 
 in 1832, Daniel Hollenback in 1833, Nathan Pat- 
 ton in 1834 and John Willson, Forsythe Hatton, 
 James Clemens, David Hester and William Hen- 
 dricks a year or two later, and then came others, 
 so that in the neighborhood of Crow creek, so 
 early as 1840, there was quite a strong settlement. 
 
 In 1830 the settlers around the grave built a
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 68 
 
 school house where their children were taught the 
 rudiments of education. It was about the first 
 thought of the early pioneers of Illinois after 
 getting fairly settled in their homes, to provide 
 means for the education of their children. There 
 was no public fund in those days to draw from 
 money was very scarce and they had but little 
 to get it with even at that, but they put up build- 
 ings, crude and rude, to be sure, but as good as 
 most of them were living in themselves. The fam- 
 ilies were widely scattered and often the children 
 were obliged to go two or three miles and some- 
 times more to attend them. 
 
 Next to their anxiety for school houses they 
 felt the necessity of churches and though the school 
 house was made to do for a house of worship for 
 awhile a few years later they would build in their 
 midst a neat, commodious church. 
 
 While it might not be just right to pronounce 
 Belle Plain township the best in the county, one 
 thing is certain, no other township surpasses it 
 in the fertility of its soil or in the quality and 
 quantity of its productions. 
 
 It is probably, taken as a whole, the most beau- 
 tiful and pleasing to the eye, having neither the 
 flat, plane-like surface of the pure prairie nor the 
 bold hills of the river bluffs, but a surface com- 
 posed of gentle undulations, full of small brooks 
 and groves, though the latter are fast being eradi- 
 cated to improve the pasturage. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ROBERTS TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Roberts township is named after its first set- 
 tler, Jesse Roberts, who divides the honor of be- 
 ing the pioneer settler of Marshall county with 
 Colonel John Strawn, both coming in the same 
 year 1828. 
 
 It lays directly north of Belle Plain and its 
 government designation is township 30 N., 1 
 west of the 3d P. M. The township contains 
 thirty-six full sections, or 23,040 acres of land. 
 The southern portion of it is prairie, but through 
 the northern portion which is traversed by Sandy 
 creek, the country is more rolling, in some places 
 quite rough and covered with timber. 
 
 The entire township is well watered, numerous 
 branches or small streams traversing every part 
 of it and over a great part of it was a fine growth 
 of timber while patches of prairie lay between 
 
 the numerous runs. It was an ideal home for 
 the early settlers, for there they found that which 
 they desired most, all in close connection wood, 
 water, and easily cultivated land. 
 
 The first settlers, Jesse and Livingston Rob- 
 erts, came here, as we have said, in 1828. They 
 were followed in 1829 by Dr. J. Gaylord, Abel 
 Eastabrook and Horace Gaylord. The year 1830 
 saw their numbers increased by Enoch Dent, 
 George Morton, G. H. Shaw and William Cowan. 
 In 1831 came Samuel Redmond and Eli Red- 
 mond. In 1832, David Myers, Charles S. Ed- 
 wards, David Stoteler, Samuel Beckwith, William 
 McMillan, Jerry Hartenbower and John Myers. 
 After 1835 the township settled more rapidly and 
 by 1840 was quite thickly settled, more so than 
 any other township in the county, and some of the 
 names have been among the most illustrious the 
 county has produced. 
 
 Passing through the township from east to 
 west is the western division of the Chicago & 
 Alton railroad. It enters at the center of section 
 25 and thence due east through the centers of 
 sections 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. 
 
 In the center of section 28 a branch, or what 
 is really a part of the main line, runs nearly due 
 south and goes to Peoria, while the part of the 
 line running west from the junction is used as a 
 branch road to Lacon. 
 
 At the junction on section 28 is located the 
 flourishing village of Varna, which was laid out 
 in September, 1870. The first building to be 
 used as a store, was put up that fall by J. R. 
 Brotherhood and as soon as the store was built 
 he put up a residence for himself that same fall. 
 Quite a number followed his example and by the 
 next fall a goodly little village had sprung up, 
 with the usual stores, shops, etc., that go to make 
 up a thriving village. Since then the village 
 has been slowly but surely growing. It now con- 
 tains several stores, smith and wagon shops, lum- 
 ber yard, two grain elevators two drug stores, 
 hardware, carriage stores, two hotels, dealer in 
 agricultural implements, doctors, etc., everything 
 usually found in a well organized and flourish- 
 ing village. 
 
 Besides these, there is a fine building where 
 a graded school is maintained, equal in its effi- 
 ciency to any in the county. 
 
 The school house is a frame structure, erected in 
 1870 by the school district, which accomodates 
 about, one hundred pupils, who are cared for by a
 
 '64, 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 principal and three assistants, the school house 
 being well adapted for using the graded system of 
 teaching. Besides the fine school building there 
 are four very creditable churches, German Luth- 
 eran, Swedish Lutheran, German Methodist Epis- 
 copal and Methodist churches. 
 
 About 1864 or 1865 colonies of Swedes began 
 settling in the neighborhood of Varna and by 1866 
 began to hold public worship in their own faith. 
 About 1873 or 1874 a very eloquent Swedish 
 preacher held a revival which was attended with a 
 good deal of success and a society was organized 
 and in 1874 a church building twenty-five by 
 seventy-two feet with an eighteen-foot ceiling 
 was built and later neatly furnished with an 
 organ, comfortable seats, etc., the cost being about 
 $4,500, all raised by subscription. The member- 
 ship is about 250. The society conducts an excel- 
 lent Sunday-school. 
 
 The German Lutheran society is much smaller. 
 They have, though, a neat church somewhat small- 
 er than the other, costing about $2,300. It has 
 a steeple and bell and a small organ and is com- 
 fortably seated and kept in good condition. 
 
 The other churches with their societies are not 
 as large but all are kept in good repair and are 
 comfortable meeting houses. 
 
 Besides the school in Varna, Roberts township 
 has five school houses in which are kept good 
 schools about nine months in the year. 
 
 During the flush times of 1835 and 1836 there 
 was a mania for laying out towns in this then new 
 country. Money was plentiful and land more 
 plentiful still and many eastern companies laid 
 out towns on paper and expected to make for- 
 tunes. Nearly, if not quite every township in 
 Marshall county had one and some several of these 
 paper towns laid out, but few of them ever 
 amounted to anything and since all have been 
 turned into cornfields. 
 
 A little history of Lyons, which met a fate 
 typical of all of them, may be interesting. 
 
 In 1836 an eastern company residing in New 
 York laid out a town near where Varna now 
 stands, they called Lyons. They also entered 
 within a radius of six or seven miles forty-six 
 sections of land and assessed upon each quarter 
 section twenty-five dollars to form a fund to build 
 a house upon the land for a resident agent and for 
 surveying, etc. The house was built with a 
 hewn frame covered with hardwood lumber, the 
 land laid off according to the plat by a surveyor. 
 
 and the agent moved into the house. The agent 
 must have been pretty lonesome, for his nearest 
 neighbors lived up on Sandy creek at the north, 
 on Shaw's point on the south and in the neigh- 
 borhood of Columbia or Lacon on the west, and 
 no other house was ever built there. The hard 
 times of 1837 coming on nothing more was done, 
 the plat was never recorded nor were the streets 
 and alleys ever dedicated to the public. The land 
 was sold as acre property about 1847 and later, 
 but no settler except William Green who went 
 into the agent's house, ever settled upon the town 
 lots, and by the time it was sold the original com- 
 pany had passed out of existence. These paper 
 towns were started as a mere matter of specula- 
 tion. There was nothing to maintain them as 
 towns and the only existence most of them had 
 was in the flaming prospectuses and lurid descrip- 
 tions that were written up by the promoters to 
 induce people to buy the lots. Maps and litho- 
 graphic prints showing location of factories, 
 churches, parks, etc., were made and shown and 
 hundreds of lots were sold in the east on the 
 say-so of the smooth tongued agents, b'ut not a 
 house, unless built by the promoters, were ever 
 built on the paper towns. But a very few of the 
 plats were surveyed and still fewer of them ever 
 recorded. It was the greatest season of specula- 
 tion in the unknown the country ever experienced. 
 
 Other towns in this county which never ex- 
 isted except on paper are Dorchester, about a mile 
 below Henry on the river; Bristol, about a mile 
 above Lacon ; Auburn, about half a mile north of 
 Washburn; Centreville, twelve miles west of Hen- 
 ry in the center of Saratoga township ; Troy City, 
 about eight miles west of Lacon in La Prairie 
 township ; Chambersburg, seven miles west of 
 Lacon and two miles north of Troy City. All 
 these towns were brought into being in 1836. 
 Not one of them ever had any inhabitants. Not 
 only this section but the whole state was covered 
 with these town sites. 
 
 Those who live now in Roberts township with 
 the thriving towns, its churches and school houses, 
 its telephones and rural mail delivery, and its 
 neighbors every half mile or less, can not form 
 much idea of what it was to live here in the '30s. 
 At that time there was no store at which anything 
 could be bought, nor was there anything that could 
 be sold to bring any money. Neither were there 
 any neighbors \vhoro you could run over and 
 borrow what was needed. The first settlers were
 
 PAST AXD PRKSEXT OF MARSHALL ANJ) 1TTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 absolutely alone. There were no mills and their 
 food consisted largely of corn, pounded as fine 
 as they could pound it, mixed with water, often 
 without salt, which was very expensive, and that 
 baked on a board before the fire. This with what 
 wild game, which fortunately was plenty, varied 
 in the summer with a few vegetables, was their 
 diet. 
 
 Xor were their homes any better adapted to 
 their wants, a log cabin, generally 14x16, with a 
 roof made of "clapboards" split from a tree. A 
 log was cut about four feet long and then split in 
 sections about five inches wide and then again 
 split to the thickness of about a half-inch. When 
 the cabin was built, after getting up about seven 
 feet, shorter logs were used at the ends forming 
 a gable and the clapboards fastened on, sometimes 
 with wooden pins, for nails were scarce. Bough 
 doors were made but there was no glass- for win- 
 dows and consequently no windows. The door 
 was left open for light. Often there was no floor 
 but the earth and the clapboard roof was not al- 
 ways of the tightest and it can be imagined what 
 kind of. a place it was after a rain or snow which, 
 with a driving wind, was generally worse than 
 rain. 
 
 Up to 1835 there were no markets- in the state 
 for anything but furs, and the skins of wild ani- 
 mals which could be bartered for a few staple 
 groceries and powder and lead, and sometimes a 
 little money, and the only place in this section 
 where that could be done was Hennepin. 
 
 Up to the building of the canal there was no 
 market for grain nearer than Chicago and then 
 only for wheat, which brought from twenty-five 
 to thirty cents a biishel. 
 
 The experience of Livingston Eoberts, one of 
 the earliest and best known settlers in Eoberts 
 township, is a case in point. About 1830 Mr. 
 Roberts went to Chicago with a load of oats. His 
 "outfit" was three yoke of oxen, a "prairie schoon- 
 er" wagon, blanket, axe, camp kettle and flint and 
 steel for making fire and gun. The first night he 
 camped on the Vermillion river. He had seen no 
 settlers or other sign of improvement. The next 
 day he reached Ottawa, which at that time con- 
 tained three log cabins, where he camped the sec- 
 ond night. The next day he made Holderman's 
 grove where he found a single settler. The fourth 
 night out he camped by a big spring near the 
 present village of Plattville and the fifth night 
 camped on the banks of the Du Page, and on the 
 
 sixth night camped on the Summit. The only 
 signs of civilization were two cabins in the fringe 
 of timber. The next day he drove into Chicago, 
 but the city which today contains over two million 
 inhabitants, seventy-five years ago consisted of two 
 frame dwellings and one store, the barracks, where 
 a company of soldiers were stationed, and a little 
 cluster of huts occupied by a few French and half 
 breeds. He was unable to sell his oats in Chi- 
 cago but found a man a few miles up the north 
 branch and disposed of them to him, taking a 
 greyhound as part pay. 
 
 Mr. Roberts followed "teaming," which for sev- 
 eral years was quite a business, between Chicago 
 and the towns that were springing up all over 
 the state, it being about the only way goods could 
 be procured. They would take a load of grain on 
 the up trip and load back with groceries, such 
 as were in demand at that time, though hundreds 
 of the things now sold in grocery stores were 
 unknown at that time. Salt was one of the most 
 common necessaries at that time. It was heavy 
 and bulky to haul but they had to have it. It 
 cost from $1.00 to $1.25 a barrel in Chicago, but 
 the expensive hauling brought up the cost at its 
 destination to prices ranging from $6.00 to $7.00, 
 and the prices of other things were raised in pro- 
 portion, and it may readily be supposed that the 
 people were not extravagant in buying, as the 
 prices of everything they had to sell were extreme- 
 ly low. Good horses, $30 and $40; cows, $10 and 
 $12; oats and corn, 10 cents a bushel; butter, 5 
 cents; eggs, %y 2 in trade, while wild game could 
 not be sold at all. A "saddle" of a large deer 
 the two hind quarters was well sold if it brought 
 50 cents. Because this history of the privations 
 of the early settlers has been sketched in the his- 
 tory of Roberts township it must not be supposed 
 they alone suffered them. They were the common 
 lot of all the earliest settlers and all those who 
 came into this county before 1845 were compelled 
 to put up with them to a greater or less extent. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 EVANS TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Evans township is sitiiated directly east of 
 Roberts and is the northeast township of the 
 county. Its government designation is Town 30 
 N., R. 1, E. of the 3d P. M.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 It has thirty-six full sections and every acre 
 of it is susceptible of high cultivation and it is 
 in fact one of the best townships in the county. 
 Sandvicreek, which flows entirely across the ex- 
 treme northern part of Marshall county, through 
 Roberts and Hopewell townships and empties into 
 the Illinois river opposite Henry, has its begin- 
 ning in the extreme northeastern part of Evans 
 township, in fact in the northeast quarter of 
 section one and flows through about a mile south 
 of the north line of the township, which is also 
 the county line. Consequently the land in the 
 northern part of the township is somewhat roll- 
 ing and was somewhat timbered. It is well 
 drained and exceedingly fertile and was an ideal 
 country to those who early sought for homes in 
 this western country. And we find that when 
 these lands were surveyed by the government in 
 1834 it was the most thickly settled section in 
 Marshall county. 
 
 Up to 1835 the settlers had no legal claim what- 
 ever to the lands they settled upon. They were 
 not surveyed till 1834 and it was not till the 
 next session of congress in 1835 they were put 
 on the market and could be bought. After that 
 they could be "entered" for $1.25 an acre and 
 the "pre-emption" was also passed the same year, 
 which gave an actual settler upon a piece of land 
 a first chance of entry, though if he did not avail 
 himself of it any one could enter it from under 
 him. Even in those early days there were land 
 speculators that were ready to snap up land, espe- 
 cially in the settlements, when they could get a 
 chance, but there was a kind of unwritten law or 
 tacit agreement among the settlers to protect each 
 other in what they considered their rights, and 
 speculators were given to understand it would 
 not be healthy to undertake to jump claims, and 
 while the settlers had been much alarmed there 
 was very little trouble in this section from that 
 source, and all that were able to secured their 
 lands and those that were not able sold their 
 claims to others better supplied with wealth. 
 When the lands were surveyed another trouble 
 arose which promised to create a good deal of fric- 
 tion. It was found that the government lines 
 did not correspond with the lines the settlers had 
 laid out for themselves. 
 
 To remedy this they did the very best thing 
 they could do. A public meeting was held Aug- 
 ust 7, 1837, and after a calm discussion of the 
 matter a resolution was adopted "that each settler 
 
 should have the land he had selected" and Thomas 
 Judd, Joshua Evans and James Caldwell were 
 appointed a committee to fix upon a method to 
 bring about that result. They reported on August 
 26 that the original claims should be respected 
 and that each settler should deed the others, the 
 parts that lapped over, and this was accordingly 
 done, and though it caused almost innumerable 
 conveyances, no disputes arose and that is the 
 reason there are some very odd shaped pieces of 
 land in Evans township. 
 
 In the spring of 1830 Joshua Evans hired a 
 cabin built on the north side of Sandy, giving a 
 rather valuable mare for it. During that summer 
 came James Reynolds, Thomas Dixon, John S. 
 Hunt, John Darnell, Lemuel Gaylord, John Grif- 
 fith, Stewart Ward and Kirby and Jeremiah Har- 
 tenbower. 
 
 The next season, 1831, Justus, Ira, Barton and 
 Abram Jones, Thomas Judd, Mr. Ransberger, Mr. 
 Simpson and Abram Darnell settled in the same 
 neighborhood. 
 
 In 1832 the Black Hawk war was on, which 
 stopped immigration for awhile, as the most fear- 
 ful stories of Indian massacres were rife all over 
 the land. 
 
 The settlers determined to build a fort to pro- 
 tect themselves and families, and the next day 
 they all met with spades, axes and guns, and in a 
 couple of days had their fort built. They dug a 
 deep trench and, using split logs, made a stockade 
 ten feet high around a patch of ground large 
 enough to hold comfortably over a hundred peo- 
 ple, which was perforated on all sides with loop- 
 holes to shoot through. Inside of this a well was 
 dug, so that they would have plenty of water. 
 Inside of this about twenty families gathered. 
 Fortunately, they were not called upon to defend 
 it and in a few weeks word came that peace was 
 restored and the settlers returned to their homes. 
 
 The first election in Marshall county was one 
 held in "Sandy Precinct" on March 30, 1833. 
 The township at that time was under the jurisdic- 
 tion of La Salle county. 
 
 The officers to be elected were two justices of the 
 peace and two constables. There were fifteen votes 
 cast, and Justus Jones and Richard Hunt were 
 elected justices, and Barton Jones and George 
 Martin constables. 
 
 In 1843 townships 29 and 30, lying directly 
 east of the third principal meridian, now Evans 
 and Bennington, took a vote as to whether they
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 should be attached to Marshall county. They had 
 never been a part of Putnam county, as Marshall 
 was, and by unanimous vote decided to do so, the 
 principal reason being they were so far from the 
 county seat, then as now, Ottawa. It might be the 
 want of companionship had something to do with 
 it, for while there were respectable settlements in 
 Roberts and Belle Plain townships on the west, 
 there was not a single settler in the two town- 
 ships on the east. One of the wants severely felt 
 in a new settlement is the want of lumber. As 
 we have already said, the roofs were covered with 
 clapboards; the floors, where there were any, were 
 made of puncheons. Puncheons were made by 
 splitting a log into halves and then with an ax 
 hewing them as straight and smooth as possible. 
 They were laid into a floor by laying down poles 
 and with the ax chipping till they would lay as flat 
 and even as it might be. Some made fairly good, 
 smooth floors of them, others not so good. Much 
 of the furniture was also made by the early 
 pioneers with ax and auger, which, with a froe, an 
 instrument used for riving clapboards, generally 
 comprised the "kit" of tools. Sometimes a man 
 was lucky enough to own a hand saw and a draw- 
 ing knife, and men would go five and six miles and 
 sometimes farther to borrow them. 
 
 We have said a good deal of the furniture 
 was made with the ax and auger; for instance, a 
 man wanted a bedstead, he would take his auger 
 and bore into the logs of the side of his house, one 
 at the head and one at the foot of the bed, the 
 height he wanted the bed, then cut two poles, one 
 the length of the width of the bed and one for 
 the length he wanted ; cut a stick for a leg, boring 
 holes the right height to receive his poles and 
 then all he had to do was to drive his poles into 
 the leg and insert the other ends into the holes 
 in the log and the bedstead was finished. Sticks 
 and brush could be laid over it, or a bed cord, if 
 he was fortunate enough to have one, could be 
 put on. It was crude and rough, no doubt, but 
 the sleep got on it was as sound and sweet as 
 on the most expensive of modern bedsteads. For 
 chairs and tables a piece of puncheon, with legs 
 driven in, would serve, while a buttery could be 
 made by inserting a few pins in the logs and put- 
 ting up a few clapboards for shelves. It is an old 
 saying "that necessity is the mother of invention," 
 and the circumstances in which the pioneers found 
 themselves sharpened their wits. 
 
 The distress for the want of lumber continued 
 
 till 1838, when Joshua Evans put up a sawmill on 
 Sandy, near where the Methodist church now 
 stands, and the same year John S. Hunt put up 
 one farther down the creek. John Evans, a very 
 ingenious man, had put up a turning lathe, from 
 which he furnished table and chair legs, etc., and 
 he also made splint bottomed chairs that were 
 serviceable and lasting. 
 
 While the northern part of Evans township is 
 quite rolling and somewhat heavily timbered, the 
 southern part is a beautiful prairie, an insignifi- 
 cant creek or run traverses its western part and 
 numerous draws, or what were sloughs in the 
 early days, are found there, but the land mostly 
 may be said to be smooth prairie. The large 
 prairies were considered in the early days as little 
 better than swamps, and it must be said that in 
 a wet time they were pretty muddy and it was 
 hard work for a team to draw an empty wagon 
 through them ; for that reason they were shunned 
 by the early settlers, who made their homes where 
 the land was more rolling and where they were 
 handy to timber, and it was not till 1845 that any 
 one was bold enough to build out on the open 
 prairie. In that year a man by the name of 
 Alexander built out a mile or more from the 
 timber line and it was several years before he 
 had any near neighbors. Mr. Alexander hrought 
 with him a herd of thoroughbred short horn cat- 
 tle, the first introduction of this excellent breed 
 of cattle for which Marshall county has become 
 so famous in the past few years. But the lands 
 that were supposed to be almost worthless proved 
 to be superior to all others. Other settlers rapidly 
 came in and systems of drainage were established. 
 Hundreds of dollars were spent for tile drains, 
 and now the most valuable lands to be found any- 
 where are in what was the once despised prairie. 
 
 Evans township is traversed by two railroads; 
 the Illinois Central extends the most of the way 
 along its eastern border and the Chicago & Alton 
 through the center of the southern half. At the 
 crossing of the two roads is situated Wenona, now 
 one of the most flourishing towns or rather cities 
 in the county. 
 
 When the Illinois Central railroad was laid out 
 in 1852, the place where Wenona stands was se- 
 lected as a station. It was then in the midst of 
 an immense prairie, with not a settler or house 
 within miles of it. The first house was a shanty 
 for the accommodation of the workmen and was 
 built in 1852. The next year the road was com-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 pleted from La Salle and a depot and freight 
 house was built, also a fair sized dwelling house 
 for the agent and a postoffice established, and the 
 station agent, G. W. Goodell was appointed post- 
 master. A store was started and a few persons 
 built there. 
 
 In May, 1855, the town was laid off and at that 
 time there were nine houses and about fifty in- 
 habitants. For a few years it did not grow much. 
 It was not at that time a very inviting place. 
 Situated in a treeless plain, the ground low and in 
 a wet time the roads and streets almost impassable, 
 it did not hold out many inducements for persons 
 to come there. 
 
 But as the railroad brought settlers to take 
 up the neighboring farms the town began to 
 fill up and it became a shipping point for all the 
 country round. 
 
 In 1857 a village government was organized 
 and a system of improvements was begun, and 
 from 1859, when the town was incorporated, it 
 grew rapidly ; stores were built and stocks brought 
 in, shops were established, and a fine trade began 
 to grow up with the surrounding country, which 
 was rapidly filled up. 
 
 A great change has come over Wenona from 
 the bare, treeless place it was in its early days. 
 It is now one of the handsomest towns in the 
 county. It is laid out with regularity on both 
 sides of the railroad, the principal part of the city 
 being west of it. As the railroad runs at a small 
 angle, about fifteen degrees west of north, the 
 streets are laid to correspond with it, the north 
 and south streets running parallel to the railroad 
 and the east and west streets crossing at right 
 angles. Tile drains have been put in, that have, 
 to a great extent, overcome the mud they had to 
 contend with in the beginning. 
 
 The treeless condition of earlier years has also 
 passed away and no city in the county can boast 
 of more shade trees or finer ones than Wenona. As 
 you approach it, it has the appearance of being set 
 in a forest. Much of the transformation of 
 Wenona from a treeless prairie town to a city of 
 beautiful shade trees is due to the aesthetic tastes 
 and indomitable energy of the Hon. John 0. Dent, 
 a son of one of the earliest settlers on Sandy, and 
 who had, before the town was thought of, entered 
 the land adjoining the town, if he did not enter the 
 land the town stands on. Almost from the very 
 starting of the town Mr. Dent saw the need of 
 shade trees, and procuring bushels of the seeds of 
 
 the deciduous trees that grow in this section, the 
 principal ones being maple, hackberry, elm, box 
 elder, buckeye and locust, he started a nursery. 
 After Mr. Dent got his trees to growing he labored 
 hard and long with the inhabitants to set them 
 out. He charged a nominal price for them, but 
 where a man would not take them otherwise, he 
 gave them, and he also donated them to churches 
 and other public places and superintended the set- 
 ting of them out. 
 
 In 1871 a company was organized in which Mr. 
 Dent was one of the principal advisers and pro- 
 moters to start the movement for a fair. A meet- 
 ing was called April 22, 1871, at which the fol- 
 lowing resolution was unanimously adopted: 
 "Resolved, That the Evans Farmers' Club will 
 heartily co-operate with the people of Wenona 
 and surrounding townships to aid in getting up 
 a Union Township Fair, to be held in Wenona 
 the fall of 1871." 
 
 Several practical men of Wenona, John 0. Dent 
 being one, outlined the following plan, which was 
 carried out and placed the Wenona Union Fair 
 upon a permanent basis and made it a splendid 
 success. 
 
 The society was to issue shares of twenty-five 
 dollars each, no man to hold more thon one 
 share, and each one to obligate himself to pay in 
 such amount as might be needed. The society was 
 to purchase fifty acres of land, near Wenona, fence 
 it and make the necessary improvements. 
 
 A constitution embodying these features was 
 adopted and the necessary officers elected. A 
 subscription list showed two hundred and twenty 
 names and five thousand five hundred dollars 
 collected, sufficient at that time to buy the neces- 
 sary land and make the necessary improvements. 
 The fifty-five acres were bought and a good fence 
 and substantial buildings erected, also a fine racing 
 track made during the summer, and October 3d to 
 6th, inclusive, was set for the coming fair. A pros- 
 pectus and a premium list with twenty thousand 
 dollars in prizes were sent out and the fair was 
 a huge success. Nor did it, by any means, stop 
 there. Grand fairs, both in the number of ex- 
 hibits and attendance, were held year after year 
 for many years, but the promoters, men who had 
 been instrumental in getting it up and maintain- 
 ing it, dropping off, interest dwindled down, it 
 ceased to pay, and the lands have been sold and no 
 fairs had been held there for many years till 1901, 
 when Evans grange concluded to hold a fair, and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 have had one annually since, but they hardly came 
 up to the old Wenona Union Pairs. 
 
 At one of the Union fairs, in 1872, the Big 
 Bend Veteran Reunion Association was formed 
 and every year since then there has been a re- 
 union of the old soldiers in some of the nearby 
 towns under its auspices. 
 
 But Wenona does not depend upon the fanners' 
 trade, although it is ,a big one, for her pros- 
 perity. About 1865 some enterprising men pros- 
 pected there for coal and found a fine vein of ex- 
 cellent coal at a convenient depth for working, 
 and a shaft was sunk, at which an average of two 
 hundred men are employed. There is also a zinc 
 smelter near the coal shaft that employs some fifty 
 or sixty men, which has been established about ten 
 years. The pay-roll, as may be supposed, from 
 these two important industries is no insignificant 
 factor in the prosperity of Wenona and make it 
 one of the most flourishing and prosperous towns 
 in the county. 
 
 On section 28, of Evans township, is a railroad 
 station on the Chicago & Alton, which has taken 
 the name of Evans station. It is quite a shipping 
 point for grain and stock, and there is also a 
 store and blacksmith shop ; there was a post- 
 office, which has been discontinued since the ad- 
 vent of the rural mail delivery. It did not im- 
 prove, according to the expectations of its found- 
 ers, and remains about as it was in the beginning, 
 a point for shipping and not much else. Its most 
 prominent characteristic is that' it is claimed to be 
 the highest point between the Illinois and Wa- 
 bash rivers. Whether this is so or not, it is stated 
 that on a clear day a good pair of eyes can see 
 the towns of Wenona, Minonk, Rutland, Pattons- 
 burg, Varna, Lostant and the spires of the 
 churches at Mt. Palatine. 
 
 There are several churches in Evans township, 
 most of them being located in Wenona, though 
 there is a flourishing Methodist society and church 
 at the head of Sandy, established there in the 
 early days, and services were held there and at 
 Wenona, but in 1865 a Methodist church was es- 
 tablished in Wenona, and the two were separated. 
 Both have good congregations and maintain good 
 Sunday schools and each supports its own 
 preacher. 
 
 A Presbyterian society was organized by the 
 Presbyterians in 1852, before Wenona was laid 
 out, which they called the Hebron Presbyterian 
 Church of Marshall County. In 1856 the railroad 
 
 company donated the society a lot in the town, 
 upon which they erected a very neat church. 
 
 There is also a Catholic church, St. Mary's, 
 built about 1866. A very neat and substantial 
 building, comfortably seated and handsomely fur- 
 nished. The society at the time the church was 
 built was quite weak, but of late years there has 
 been many accessions and it now numbers about 
 400 communicants. 
 
 Wenona has a fine graded public school, which 
 employs, besides the principal, seven teachers in 
 the different departments. They have a fine 
 school building, which was partially destroyed by 
 fire a few years ago, but was immediately re- 
 placed by a much better one. In 1858 a building 
 was erected for an academy, one of its laws being, 
 "it shall forever be free from sectarian control." 
 It has been quite flourishing, but as it is located in 
 La Salle county, it hardly forms a part of Marshall 
 county's history, though partly built and sustained 
 by Marshall county people. 
 
 There is a very good weekly paper published in 
 Wenona by the name of the Wenona Index. Sev- 
 eral others have started since 1865, when it wae 
 started, but did not appear to meet with much 
 success and were discontinued. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 This township, the youngest of the Marshall 
 county townships, is geographically described as 
 Town 29 N, R. 1, E. of the 3d P. M. It is 
 situated in the southeast corner of Marshall coun- 
 ty and contains thirty-six full sections of land, 
 and although the youngest of the townships, it is 
 not the least important. 
 
 When the Illinois Central railroad was laid in 
 1852 there was not a permanent settler in the 
 township, it being mostly a nearly level prairie, 
 filled with small depressions which contained 
 water most of the season and were connected by 
 small waterways that were called "sloughs," the 
 land being at that time not considered fit for 
 farming purposes, except for the grazing of cat- 
 tle and for such hay as was needed. 
 
 When the railroad was laid off a station was 
 established upon it in La Salle county, just at 
 the line in Bennington township. It originally 
 lay entirely in La Salle county, but later a small 
 addition to it was laid out in Marshall county.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 The settlement of Rutland properly belongs to 
 the history of La Salle county, but a* it had much 
 to do with the early settlement of Bennington 
 township a brief mention may be made of it here. 
 In March, 1855, a company was formed in Rut- 
 land, Vermont, styled the "Vermont Emigration 
 Association." The object was stated to be "for 
 the purpose of settling a section of country in 
 the west, where social, religious and civil privi- 
 leges may be enjoyed." A committee was ap- 
 pointed "to proceed to the west, to select a site 
 for a village in the midst of government lands, 
 where each member may obtain a quarter section 
 or more of land at the minimum price." 
 
 They went out to Iowa and other parts of the 
 west, but finally reported in favor of Rutland. 
 The association agreed to the location and twenty- 
 two thousand acres of land were purchased in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 The village was laid out in November, 1855, and 
 was named by the settlers New Rutland, after 
 their old home. The "New" has since been 
 dropped and the postoffice and town have since 
 gone by the name of Rutland. 
 
 Prom the settlement at Rutland a few settlers 
 settled in the eastern part of Bennington and a few 
 adventurous ones struck out into the western part 
 about the same time. 
 
 It was soon found that the land was not only 
 susceptible of cultivation, but that it was ex- 
 tremely fertile, and the crops raised were much 
 better than those in the timbered land, and it was 
 but a very short time before the land was all taken 
 up and farm houses sprung up in every direction. 
 But a serious problem arose, and that was how to 
 fence the farms. In the timber was plenty of 
 stuff for rails, but the hauling of them eight or 
 ten miles was too much to be undertaken, and to 
 fence with lumber too expensive for the condition 
 of their finances. 
 
 About this time the legislature passed an act 
 giving the township the privilege of deciding by 
 a vote whether cattle and hogs should be per- 
 mitted to run at large. At the next spring elec- 
 tion Bennington submitted the question to the 
 people and the vote was nearly an unanimous 
 "No," and that township was the first in this sec- 
 tion of country to try to raise crops without fences, 
 the cattle being either herded or shut up. 
 
 We have said that Bennington was the youngest 
 of the townships, for at the time that township 
 organization was adopted by the other townships. 
 
 in 1850, Bennington did not have a settler in it, 
 and Saratoga, a similar township, was not much 
 better off. It filled up sooner, however, than Ben- 
 nington, and was granted a town organization 
 in September, 1855, and Bennington did not be- 
 come a town until December, 1856. 
 
 Not much more can be said about the early 
 settling of Bennington. After it began to settle, 
 in an incredibly short time the land was all taken 
 up, and as the land could be brought under culti- 
 vation simply by plowing, no fences being needed, 
 no timber to clear off nor stumps to pull, it was 
 very rapidly brought under cultivation, the water 
 soon disappeared from the depressions, the con- 
 necting sloughs dried up and the system of drain- 
 age which has been adopted make it the best farm- 
 ing land in the county. At least it is not excelled 
 by any. 
 
 But fine farms are not all that Bennington 
 township can boast of. On the Santa Fe Railroad, 
 which was built through the northern part of the 
 township about fifteen years ago, in the corner of 
 the southeast quarter of section 5, was located a 
 station, and named Toluca. At first it was only a 
 village, with its one or two stores, a blacksmith 
 shop, postoffice, an elevator, lumber yard and the 
 usual concomitants of a farming village, till three 
 years later Charles J. Devlin, who had been the 
 managing head of the opening of the Spring Val- 
 ley coal mines, turned his attention to Toluca, 
 where a former prospecting had developed the fact 
 that there practicable coal mines could be de- 
 veloped. 
 
 Mr. Devlin, who was a wonderfully energetic 
 man, began the work of sinking the shaft and 
 putting up the necessary buildings. The work 
 progressed rapidly, and in a few months coal was 
 brought to the surface, and as fast as room could 
 be made for them men were put in to dig it out, 
 and since that the mines have been actively at 
 work and Toluca has grown from a village of one 
 hundred or so inhabitants to a city of between 
 five and six thousand, with the churches, stores, 
 two newspapers and other things that are gen- 
 erally found in cities of the size and style. 
 
 The foreign population is largely of the better 
 class of Italians, although there are enough 
 American residents to give tone to the society 
 and to maintain an excellent graded school, with 
 a principal and nine assistants. Besides the 
 Americans and Italians there is a sprinkling of 
 Poles, Lithuanians and other races employed in
 
 PAST AND PUKSKNT OK MARSHALL AND ITTNAM COT NTI KS. 
 
 and around the mines, the number of men em- 
 ployed averaging about 800, the output of the 
 mines in 1905 being 379,974 tons, valued at 
 $450,104. of which 323,469 tons were loaded oa 
 cars for shipment. The price for mining that is, 
 the price paid to men as wages is about seventy- 
 five cents a ton, which would make in the gross 
 amount of wages paid in a year $275,000, or about 
 $23,000 a month. 
 
 Mr. Devlin, who established the Toluca mines, 
 was a remarkable man. Not content with his 
 mines, he first built a railroad from Toluca, con- 
 necting his mines with the Illinois Central rail- 
 road at Rutland. He also became largely inter- 
 ested in coal properties in Kansas, so much so 
 that he took up his residence in Topeka, Kansas, 
 but still kept the superintendency of his Toluca 
 properties, and was largely interested in the 
 Spring Valley mines. He founded banks at To- 
 peka, Toluca and Spring Valley, and, not content 
 with his railroad connecting with the Illinois 
 Central, he built an extension to McNabb, con- 
 necting with the I. I. I. at that place, and named 
 it the Toluca, Marquette and Northern. He also 
 built out a branch from the Toluca, Marquette and 
 Northern from Magnolia to Henry, expecting to 
 cross the Illinois river at that place and later 
 extend the line further west. He had also several 
 other railroad projects in view; in fact, was con- 
 templating a gigantic scheme of railroad building, 
 but unfortunately, with his plans unfinished, he 
 received a stroke of paralysis. He rallied from the 
 physical effects in a comparatively short time, but 
 his mental powers remained clouded. It was then 
 found that he had kept practically no books, but 
 had carried all the details of his immense business 
 in his head ; that no one but himself knew any- 
 thing about the business, and his mind was in 
 such condition that he was unable to give any 
 account of it. 
 
 While Mr. Devlin was the owner of property 
 worth millions, and all of it good paying prop- 
 erties, it was also found he was heavily in debt, 
 and, further, had borrowed heavily from his banks 
 at Topeka, Spring Valley and Toluca; had, in 
 fact, used about all their available assets, in- 
 cluding the deposits, in financing his various ven- 
 tures, and that his debts amounted to about 
 $3,000,000. The first result was the suspension 
 of the three banks and the placing of the prop- 
 erties in the hands of receivers, who have at last 
 straightened things out pretty well so far as the 
 
 banks are concerned, but there is, we understand, 
 to be some litigation over the Toluca mines. For 
 several years they have gone under the name of 
 the Devlin Coal Company, but were originally 
 in the name of Charles J. Devlin, and there is no 
 record of the mines ever being transferred from 
 Devlin to the coal company. It may be said here 
 that Mr. Devlin owned nearly all the stock of 
 the company, others holding only enough so they 
 could act as directors and officers. The legal 
 question is whether a mortgage given by the Dev- 
 lin Coal Company is good when the property has 
 never been transferred to them. 
 
 Mr. Devlin, after his partial recovery, took a 
 voyage to Europe to recuperate, but did not ap- 
 pear to improve much. He never fully recovered, 
 and died a short time after his return from the 
 European trip. 
 
 While Toluca is the largest of the towns in 
 Marshall county, containing a population more 
 than three times that of any of the others, it 
 is behind them in embellishments and improve- 
 ments. The nature of the population being large- 
 ly miners are more or less shifting all the time 
 and do not take the same interest in their homes 
 and surroundings as .do those towns where the in- 
 habitants are more permanently settled. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXL 
 
 MARSHALL COUNTY AS IT IS. 
 
 Marshall county is one of the smallest counties 
 in the state. It contains only twelve townships, 
 and some of these are fractions. Yet it is doubt- 
 ful if there is a fairer one or one that has more 
 natural resources. Its broad prairies, always ready 
 to respond to efforts of the husbandman, unfailing- 
 ly produce large crops of corn, oats, wheat or 
 whatever he wishes to raise in overflowing abun- 
 dance. With an experience here of over sixty 
 years we have never known a crop failure. Besides 
 being unexcelled as farming lands the whole 
 country is underlaid with two or three veins of 
 excellent coal. The hills are not only covered 
 with fine timber, but are full of fine building 
 stone, limestone fit for a good quality of lime, and 
 now that cement has come so much into use there 
 is but little doubt that large quantities of it could 
 be found if properly searched for. 
 
 Sand and gravel of the finest quality are found 
 in many places, and nature appears to have taken
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Marshall county under her wing and showered her 
 with her most precious treasures. 
 
 And while nature has done so much man has 
 added to and improved upon it, and it would be 
 very hard to find a piece of land of the same ex- 
 tent of Marshall county where there are so many 
 fine farm residences and improved surroundings. 
 Nor are the cities behind the country. They are 
 not so large as some, it is true, but they are 
 beautiful, not only in the large, palatial resi- 
 dences, with their spacious lawns and well kept 
 grounds, but also the most humble homes have an 
 air of contentment and peace, and over all an air 
 of comfort and home cheer that makes the heart 
 glad, and the same care is shown in keeping up 
 the house and grounds of the smaller homes as 
 in the larger ones. It shows they have a confi- 
 dence and pride in their little cities that you will 
 not find in the large cities. You will travel far 
 and wide before you find prettier or nicer little 
 cities than Marshall county can boast of. 
 
 Besides the corn and other crop raising much 
 attention is paid stock raising, and Marshall coun- 
 ty can boast of some of the finest herds of thor- 
 oughbred stock, horses, cattle and hogs there is 
 in the state. In fact, both thoroughbred cattle 
 and horses were introduced into this section by 
 Marshall county farmers in very early days. The 
 county has long been noted for shorthorn cattle, 
 and there is now a herd of them here which have 
 repeatedly taken premiums at the state fairs and 
 at the International Stock Show in Chicago, that 
 is well known throughout the United States and 
 Canada and is famous for its purity and the 
 beauty of its individuals. 
 
 Although Marshall county is small, yet every 
 variety of soil and contour that Illinois affords is 
 found here, the level flat prairie, with its deep 
 black soil, the sand prairie with its light fertile 
 soil, the rolling high prairie with its clayey, sticky 
 richness, the bold bluff with its timber and stone 
 and coal boldly cropping out, the swamps with 
 untold richness which is waiting for the drain, and 
 the noble river, bearing on its bosom cargoes of 
 corn, oats and wheat and noble steamers upon 
 which hundreds of passengers daily pass up and 
 down, and whose product of fish is by no means 
 an insignificant item in the prosperity of the 
 county. We think it would be extremely difficult 
 to find a more diversified landscape or where na- 
 ture has bestowed her best gifts with a more lavish 
 hand. 
 
 Marshall county is celebrated for the excellence 
 of her schools. Almost the first thing the early 
 settlers did after providing for the comfort of 
 their families was to do something for the educa- 
 tion of their children, and almost as soon as they 
 became settled their first care was to build school 
 houses and provide means to educate the children, 
 and the same disposition pertains to this day, and 
 no one can hardly travel two miles in any direction 
 but what they will see a very neat, comfortable 
 building which has "school" written all over it. 
 The grounds around it will be well cared for, by 
 far the larger part of them having fine shade trees 
 even when built upon the open prairie. If you 
 go into one you will find it comfortably seated 
 with patent seats and desks, the vails decorated 
 with maps and charts, and all but one of the 
 eighty schools of the county have libraries of 
 greater or less extent, with an encyclopaedia and 
 dictionary handy and plenty of blackboard and 
 chalk. There are in the county forty-three hun- 
 dred and twenty-four children of school age, be- 
 tween six and twenty-one. Of these, thirty-four 
 hundred and twenty-eight are upon the rolls of 
 the different schools. To teach these schools one 
 hundred and twenty-six teachers are employed, 
 twenty-one males and one hundred and five fe- 
 males. Of the eighty schools, eight are graded, 
 and each requires several teachers. Some of the 
 male teachers, principals, command a wage of 
 one hundred and twenty dollars and over a month. 
 Some of the females are paid as low as thirty dol- 
 lars, but the average salary for teachers is from 
 forty to fifty dollars. The eight graded schools are 
 found at present in the cities and towns, but the 
 time is not far distant when each township will 
 have its high school, with means provided for 
 scholars living at a distance to ride to the school 
 house. A school of this kind is already estab- 
 lished in the adjoining county, and it will not be 
 long before it is generally adopted. 
 
 With the same zeal that they provided for sec- 
 ular instruction for their children did they look 
 out for religious instruction for themselves, and 
 no sooner was the school house built, and some- 
 times before, they began to hold religious services, 
 at .times in houses, but they were quite small, and 
 at other times in barns, where a larger number 
 could be accommodated. When the school house 
 was built the services were held there. The pioneer 
 preachers were as a rule rough, uncultured men, 
 often unable even to read, but they were earnest
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 i;;: 
 
 and sincere and often powerful preachers. They 
 would often go many miles to fill an appointment 
 made, it might be, several months ahead, and 
 would brave any weather or other obstacles. The 
 writer has in mind one of these men who lived 
 fifteen miles away, who had a standing appoint- 
 ment to preach at a certain school house every fifth 
 Sunday in the month, having other regular ap- 
 pointments for all the other Sundays. He never 
 missed an appointment if his health permitted him 
 to start. 
 
 To the honor of the settlers be it said that when 
 the preacher came to his appointment he found 
 his congregation there to meet him, and they 
 came from far and near, not to show their fine 
 bonnets and new clothes, for they had none, but 
 to. listen reverently to the words of the preacher. 
 They may have been rough and uncouth in their 
 exterior, but they were honest and upright in 
 heart, and the good qualities they transmitted to 
 their children have done much to make of the 
 people of Marshall county a moral, law abiding 
 people. It is singularly free from rowdyism and 
 crime. 
 
 As more settlers came in and the school houses 
 became too small for the congregations and the 
 settlers a little more forehanded they began to 
 build churches, possibly not so imposing or gaudy 
 as some, but good, substantial buildings, large 
 enough to accommodate all, and dedicated them 
 to the worship of God, and it is to the credit of 
 these men that they made provision for their souls' 
 welfare before they were fully able to care for the 
 body. They looked after the essentials, leaving 
 other matters to care for themselves. 
 
 This disposition to build churches and gather 
 together for worship is a distinct trait today of 
 the people of Marshall county, and we doubt if 
 another county of the same size, and even some 
 much larger, can be found that has had more 
 churches built in it than Marshall county, and 
 today they are found everywhere, every township 
 having from one to three or four in the country 
 districts. No village has less than two, and of 
 the cities of two thousand or so, Henry has seven 
 and Lacon and Wenona about as many. 
 
 While the people have well looked after their 
 spiritual needs they have not by any means neglect- 
 ed the bodily comforts. The little twelve by four- 
 teen log cabin has been replaced by palatial resi- 
 dences, and the straw-covered stable of poles by 
 a capacious barn and sometimes two or three. 
 
 The houses are nicely built and painted, large, 
 roomy and comfortable, and furnished with most 
 of the modern conveniences and comforts. Heated 
 in winter by furnaces or large hard coal burners, 
 they are kept comfortable throughout. A tele- 
 phone connecting with the outer world is found 
 in nearly every house, and every morning their 
 mail is delivered at the gate by the rural mail 
 carrier. 
 
 Marshall county is essentially a farming com- 
 munity, located in one of the finest farming sec- 
 tions in the world. There may be other patches 
 of land more prolific at times, but the farmer in 
 Marshall county is always assured of a fair return 
 if he gives it the needed attention. The numer- 
 ous well filled barns and the bursting corn cribs 
 attest the bounteous profusion of nature's gifts to 
 the thrifty husbandman. 
 
 While Marshall county is not located exactly 
 in the "fruit belt," strawberries, raspberries and 
 blackberries grow wild in the woods and on the 
 prairies, and when cultivated produce immense 
 crops of excellent quality. Apples, pears, plums 
 and cherries all do well, and in favorable seasons, 
 which are much more common than unfavorable 
 ones, produce large crops of fine fruit. Peaches 
 are somewhat uncertain, a cold winter killing the 
 buds, but after a mild winter like the last, every 
 tree is loaded to its full capacity; in fact, all the 
 fruits of the temperate zone can be raised here 
 with a little care and cultivation. 
 
 Another thing which contributes to the pros- 
 perity of the county and has been lavishly supplied 
 by nature is the coal beds. There is but little if 
 any doubt but that the whole of Marshall county, 
 with the exception of the small Henry prairie, 
 about two miles wide and five miles long, is under- 
 laid with several beds of excellent coal. Already 
 Marshall county, small as it is, ranks eighteenth 
 in the coal producing counties of the state, of 
 which there are forty-two. The output for ship- 
 ping last year (1905) was 503,776 tons, valued 
 at $666,686, from the three mines of Toluca, We- 
 nona and Sparland, while the local banks are 
 credited with seventy-one hundred and ninety-two 
 tons, valued at $10,999, mostly consumed in the 
 county. There are no mines down to the third 
 vein coal west of the river except at Sparland, and 
 there are grand possibilities yet in the large prai- 
 ries that compose the four townships on that side, 
 for the coal lays there in inexhaustible quantities 
 as the Creator laid it ages ago. It might be sup-
 
 (il 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 posed that the farms located in the rich prairies 
 had a great advantage over those whose farms ex- 
 tended into the timber and bluffs, but not so. 
 There is hardly an acre in Marshall county which, 
 if properly cultivated, will not bring a fair crop 
 of corn, wheat, oats or other cereals, but the bluffs 
 make excellent grazing grounds, and those living 
 there have turned their attention to breeding and 
 raising cattle and hogs, and the signs of pros- 
 perity around their homes are fully equal to those 
 of the denizens of the prairie. 
 
 Before we leave the sources of production that 
 nature has bounteously bestowed upon Marshall 
 county we must not omit the Illinois river, which 
 is one of the greatest fish producers in the country. 
 The statistics tell us that the Illinois produces 
 more fish than all the rest of the tributaries of the 
 Mississippi together. Be that as it may, thou- 
 sands of pounds are caught here and shipped to 
 New York, Philadelphia and Boston every year, 
 and between two and three hundred persons in the 
 little city of Henry alone derive the greater part 
 of their living from the fish industry. During the 
 first two weeks in June there was shipped from 
 Henry five carloads, over one hundred thousand 
 pounds. These fish are taken by professional fish- 
 ermen with nets and seines, and consist of the 
 coarser fish, carp and buffalo. No account is taken 
 of the croppie, bass, bullheads and other fish which 
 are taken with hook and line and will number in 
 a season many thousands and furnish a delightful 
 change in the cuisine of hundreds of households. 
 The river also, ,with its numerous ponds and 
 bayous, gives protection to swarms of ducks and 
 other aquatic birds, which furnish sport to the 
 hunters and many a tidbit for the table. 
 
 As yet Marshall county has no factories except 
 the woolen mill at Lacon that was destroyed by 
 fire about four years ago but was rebuilt, larger 
 than before. They are prosperous and compete 
 successfully with the large eastern corporations. 
 They are crowded with orders and are contem- 
 plating doubling the capacity of the plant in the 
 near future, which shows that factories can be 
 successfully conducted here, and there is no ques- 
 tion that it is only a question of time when more 
 will be established in the county, as there are 
 plenty of fine sites and conditions are favorable. 
 
 In summing up, what more can we say of Mar- 
 shall county? We have known it and lived in it 
 over sixty years, and we never knew it to go back 
 on the farmer. We have seen it change from a 
 
 few small hamlets and scattered settlers, when it 
 was almost in its primitive state, nearly as wild as 
 when La Salle and Marquette first sailed down the 
 river in their canoes, and have seen the hamlets 
 grow into cities and farms cover the whole face 
 of the country. We have seen the little log cabin 
 of the settler first exchanged for a neat frame 
 house and that in turn replaced by a palace. We 
 have seen the land rise in value from one dollar 
 and a quarter an acre to one hundred and fifty and 
 two hundred dollars an acre. The changes have 
 been great and wonderful. 
 
 Sixty years is a long time in the life of a man, 
 but a short time in the history of a country. This 
 great change has come over the county during one 
 life tune of a man. A member of the family of 
 the first settler of Marshall county, seven years 
 old at the time the family settled here, died last 
 June at the age of eighty-five years. He found 
 the country a wild wilderness, inhabited only by 
 wild animals and the still wilder Indians, he left 
 it "as a garden, blossoming like the rose." 
 
 Of those that came in the earlier days many re- 
 mained, some went away. Of those who went 
 away a few may have bettered their lot, but many 
 did not, but of those who remained, almost with- 
 out exception, they found as old age came on they 
 could retire from the strenuous life and spend the 
 closing years in peaceful ease. Marshall county 
 has in almost every instance rewarded their days 
 of toil with a bountiful surplus that makes their 
 last days a peaceful rest, free from toil and care. 
 
 Of the future of Marshall county who shall say ? 
 Who will have the audacity to place a limit upon 
 its improvement? Who shall say "thus far and 
 no farther" ? 
 
 Had any one a half century ago undertook to 
 describe it as it really is today; had he had the 
 gift of second sight and really seen it as it is, 
 those to whom he told it would have considered it 
 wild vaporings; they would not have believed it 
 possible that it could be. May not the next half 
 century make changes here even more wonderful 
 than the past one? 
 
 We have seen that her resources are practically 
 inexhaustible and that in fact they are not half 
 developed. The farms under a better and more 
 comprehensive system of cultivation would yield 
 double, possibly treble, what they do at present. 
 Her inexhaustible coal beds have hardly been 
 touched, even. Her gravel, sand, lime and cement 
 beds have hardly been disturbed. Production in
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 65 
 
 the county is just in its infancy ; it needs develop- 
 ing in other lines and almost as badly now as 
 farming did at the beginning of the past half 
 century. 
 
 We have all these things in unlimited quanti- 
 ties, but we have little use for them, and conse- 
 quently they are undeveloped. Others, however, 
 do want them, and when transportation facilities 
 are such that we can move them, then we can es- 
 tablish communication with them and they will be 
 glad to get these things and will remunerate us for 
 them. It is true we now have five great railroads 
 
 within our borders, but they are taxed to their 
 utmost to move the grain and coal that is now 
 produced. We are promised other roads, and con- 
 ditions are such that other railroads must come, 
 but it is when the river improvement, now con- 
 templated, when the "great waterway from the 
 lakes to the gulf" is finished, when ships load with 
 the varied productions of Marshall county at her 
 own wharves for all parts of the world, then and 
 not until then will anybody be able to answer in- 
 telligently the question, What shall the future of 
 Marshall county be?
 
 HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY 
 
 BY 
 
 W. E. HAWTHORNE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Men are ever interested to know who they are 
 and how they came to be where they are and why 
 they are what they are. 
 
 In a brief account of a very small portion of a 
 great people a casual reference to the great whole 
 is sufficient to introduce the particular portion 
 whose history is to be recorded in this volume. 
 
 In the early part of the nineteenth century 
 men along the eastern coast of our great country 
 began looking westward for room in which to ex- 
 pand. Explorers had traversed the great prairies 
 toward the setting sun; up and down the water 
 courses that ramified like an arterial system the 
 great valley between the Blue Ridge mountains 
 to the east and the Rockies to the west, men had 
 steered their frail barques seeking a country 
 where they might pitch their tents and rear their 
 families unrestrained by the requirements of 
 established social customs. "Out West" in the 
 origin of the term meant over the Alleghany 
 mountains, and as civilization pushed westward 
 people still spoke of "going west.'' Ohio was "out 
 on the frontier" in the closing years of the eight- 
 teenth century. Michigan and Indiana were set- 
 tled in advance of Ohio. Then Illinois was the 
 Mecca of the pilgrim westward bound. The lat- 
 ter half of the nineteenth century to refer to the 
 "wild and woolly west" meant beyond the father 
 of waters, as the Mississippi river has been called. 
 
 In the morning days of the twentieth century, 
 there is no "out west" since man has fixed his 
 habitation from ocean to ocean subduing the 
 boundless prairies and causing them to blossom 
 like the rose. 
 
 In the dawn of the past century the territory 
 between Lake Michigan on the east, the Missis- 
 sippi river on the west and the Ohio river on the 
 south to 4:21/2 north latitude on the north was 
 rapidly settling with a rugged yeomanry ambi- 
 tious to become an integral part of the great coun- 
 try known as the United States. In 1818 she 
 stood at the door and knocked; was heard and 
 admitted and her part in the nation's life has 
 been such that every citizen in the great common- 
 wealth of "Illinois" is proud to declare his allegi- 
 ance to the great prairie state. 
 
 It would seem as we look back upon the be- 
 ginnings that our forefathers hardly knew the 
 immensity of the undertaking that they had on 
 their hands when they began the work of con- 
 structing the political sub-divisions of a state 
 that contained thirty-three thousand six hundred 
 and fifty-eight square miles. 
 
 The principal settlements were through the 
 central portion ofHhis territory and in the first 
 division into counties, the acreage allotted to 
 some of them equaled oriental principalities or 
 kingdoms. We have some now to our theme 
 proper. We shall presume that our readers are 
 informed on the general history of our country at 
 large and on that portion of the state history 
 that is of general interest. To record some of
 
 PAST AND PRKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 the events and to name the persons who figured 
 in those events is the prerogative of the historian. 
 
 Each life, each family, every community has 
 its history peculiar to itself. No two are exactly 
 alike; but there are similarities and analogies 
 enough in each to make it interesting to the 
 other while differences make the more fascinat- 
 ing reading. 
 
 In the original formation of Putnam county, 
 which honors General Isaac Putnam of Revolu- 
 tionary fame in its name, about one-fourth of 
 the state was embraced in its borders. The orig- 
 inal Putnam county became such by legislative 
 enactment on January 13, 1825, and embraced 
 some sixteen to eighteen of the western counties 
 including Bureau, La Salle, Will and Cook. In 
 1831 Putnam was again divided and reduced to 
 the territory of the present Marshall, Stark, Put- 
 nam and Bureau counties. In 1837 Bureau 
 county was established leaving Putnam, Marshall 
 and Stark as Putnam county. Two years later 
 Stark and Marshall each set up for themselves a 
 county organization and "Little Put," shorn of 
 all her former greatness, remained but the core 
 of the original apple. Many of her children have 
 grown so great that they chide their mother that 
 she has shriveled to such proportion, not realiz- 
 ing 'that she was simply shifted off the rough ex- 
 terior, retaining the real source of growth and 
 development the heart. For nearly seventy 
 years the boundaries of Putnam county have re- 
 mained unchanged though there have been occa- 
 sional agitations of the advisability of consolida- 
 tion with an adjoining county, probably Marshall. 
 The maintenance of a county government in a dis- 
 trict containing one hundred and seventy square 
 miles and part of that river, bottoms and bluffs, 
 is appreciably greater than in the larger counties 
 and yet so economically and honestly have the af- 
 fairs of Putnam county been administered that 
 the people have never complained. Practically 
 speaking "boodle" and "graft" are unknown 
 terms in official life in Putnam county, an evi- 
 dence of the moral status of her people. 
 
 The men who first came to this sequestered 
 spot were in the main, men of Christian charac- 
 ter, men who believed that God is everywhere and 
 can be honored on the frontier as well as in the 
 city's kirk. So these men came from settlements 
 of Ohio, Michigan and the states beyond the Blue 
 Ridge range. Few of their descendants appreci- 
 
 ate the courage required to face the hardships 
 and dangers of pioneer life in the early days in 
 Illinois. 
 
 Where now the steam engine rushes along at 
 forty to ninety miles an hour or the automobile 
 makes twenty to thirty miles an hour our fath- 
 ers were content to make a few miles per day 
 The evolution of the years since first the virgin 
 soil yielded to their crude share is wonderful to 
 contemplate. We are wont to be puffed up with 
 our advanced civilization, considering the ' early 
 settlers but little above the red man in intellect 
 and culture, but it is they who gave us the en- 
 durance and perseveranqe, who made it possible 
 for us to attain the degree of enlightenment now 
 prevailing in the great prairie state. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 TOPOGRAPHY. 
 
 Putnam county is beautiful for situation, with 
 rolling prairies and wooded bluff lands. Aware 
 of the richness of the fertility of the Eden of 
 the Universe, the majestic Illinois in its me- 
 anderings sought and passed through this seques- 
 tered spot. Up and down its waters, men whose 
 names have become famous in all-world history, 
 have steered their barks. Upon its banks events 
 of historic importance have transpired. Events 
 so familiar to every student of school history that 
 the very children can recount by the hour thrill- 
 ing narratives associated with the Illinois. 
 
 When Putnam county was first occupied by the 
 white man he found its prairies dotted with 
 sloughs and swamps, and to traverse its borders 
 the traveler kept to the high ground. But the 
 hand of man has changed the face of nature. 
 The swampy land has been tiled out and is now 
 the most productive land available for agricultur- 
 al purposes. There is now no land within the 
 county except along the rivers and bluffs that is 
 not absolutely redeemed. Not an acre is until- 
 lable. 
 
 Each of the four townships has its creek or 
 creeks. Fringing these little streams are found 
 the timber lands of hard woods. All kinds of 
 oaks, ash, walnut, hickory, hard maple, elm, cot- 
 ton-wood, lynn and cedars, poplars and willows. 
 In the early days the farmer spent his winters in 
 the timber cutting rails and hauling them to his 
 farm lands for fences. Can you imagine the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 71 
 
 necessary work to produce rails enough to build 
 a mile of fence "10 rails high and staked and 
 ridered"? This language is Greek to modern 
 readers. One must see a rail fence to appreciate 
 it. The rail fence was supplanted by the post 
 and board fence, still necessitating much labor 
 in the timber; this was supplanted by the barbed 
 wire and that by the woven wire. Up to within 
 the past decade or two the universal fuel of the 
 entire community has been wood. Much splen- 
 did material has thus been used up for fuel pur- 
 poses. Much time has been spent in accumulat- 
 ing a pile of wood during the winter that was 
 sawed by horse power in the spring time, split 
 and ranked up for the family's \ise. A wood pile 
 is as rare a sight now as a rail fence. Much of 
 the timber land in the county, has been cleared 
 off and worked up into coal props, or sawed up 
 into railroad or mine ties, and yet there is suffi- 
 cient timber remaining to beautify the landscape 
 and to furnish post timber for farm lands. Many 
 magnificent maple groves have been preserved for 
 the purpose of making maple sugar and syrup. 
 
 There is no grander sight in all the realm of 
 nature than the wooded bluffs along the Illinois 
 when the frost lias tinged the oak and maple 
 leaves. The ride down the river from Hennepin 
 to Putnam presents a sight of gorgeous beauty 
 and autumnal glory beggaring description and 
 rivaling the scenic grandeur of the Hudson. 
 
 Beginning at the northeast corner of the county 
 and touching the physical features, natural and 
 revised, adown the Illinois we find first on the 
 highway leading to the river from the village of 
 Granville what is known as the Spring Valley 
 hill. A tortuous road winding around the bluffs 
 down into a beautiful canyon and out onto the 
 river bottoms. Across the river lies Spring Val- 
 ley the place whose name is synonymous with 
 coal-strikes and labor eruptions; a town with a 
 very unenviable reputation in the past but much 
 improved in latter days. At the north end of 
 Hennepin township is a little body of water 
 called Mud lake, a favorite resort for anglers and 
 picnieers. Near this lake, on a beautiful level 
 plat studded with stalwart trees trimmed high 
 under which the luxuriant -grass produces a vel- 
 vety carpeting, on the very edge of the river 
 bank, is a picnic ground known as Benedict's 
 Grove, where school and Sunday-school children 
 
 frequently congregate to enjoy the beauties of 
 nature's handiwork. 
 
 A few miles down the river we come to Pur- 
 viance's natural park. A preserve kept in its 
 wild and original condition by Amos T. Purvi- 
 ance, a lover and student of nature, whose name 
 is mentioned elsewhere as a county official for 
 many years. 
 
 Mr. Purviance's place has become for miles 
 around a favorite haunt for seekers of beautiful 
 and natural scenery. 
 
 A large island divides the river just at Henne- 
 pin and about its point plies back and forth, car- 
 rying its human freight, the famous Hennepin 
 ferry boat. Across the bottom lands from Hen- 
 nepin to Bureau, about four miles away, a turn- 
 pike has been thrown up but is overflown every 
 spring during high water season, shutting oft' the 
 west side people except by boat. 
 
 The rich bottom lands of the Illinois river 
 comprise hundreds of acres in Putnam county 
 and are very productive, and are extensively cul- 
 tivated, especially for corn. In the spring of the 
 year the overflow covers the entire bottoms but 
 subsides in time for cultivation. Occasionally, 
 however, the fields are inundated after the crops 
 are partially matured and then the "bottom 
 farmer" finds himself out of his season's work. 
 Thousands of tons of "ram-rod" hay are harvest- 
 ed in the sloughs that are too moist for cultiva- 
 tion. Much of the timber is cut for props and 
 cord wood. Thus there is scarcely any territory 
 in the county that is not productive. 
 
 A few miles below Hennepin, in Senachwine 
 township, is a beautiful lake called Senachwine 
 lake. It is about two and a half miles long and 
 a third of a mile wide, and has become a favorite 
 pleasure resort. A beautiful and natural canyon 
 leads from the high land down to the lake. At 
 the opening of the canyon a large hotel has been 
 built. This resort is known as the "Undercliff." 
 In former years it was patronized by young peo- 
 ple during the summer time for fishing and boat- 
 ing but at the present time it is a favorite resort 
 the year round where people from Chicago, St. 
 Louis and nearby cities secure a secluded spot for 
 rest and recuperation. 
 
 So entranced have become the people with the 
 beautiful and magnificent scenery along 'the Illi- 
 nois that as familiar as "America" to the school 
 children, has become the State song, "Illinois."
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 4 
 
 By thy rivers gently flowing, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 0'<* thy prairies verdant growing, 
 
 Illiaois, Illinois, 
 Comes am echo on the breeze, 
 Rustling through the leafy trees, 
 Ai its mellow tones iare these, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 
 And its mellow tones are these, 
 Illinois. 
 
 When you heard your country calling, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 Where the shot and shell were falling, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 
 When the southern hosts withdrew, 
 Pitting Gray against the Blue, 
 There were none more brave than you, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 
 There were none more brave than you, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Not without thy wondrous story, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 Can be writ the Nation's glory, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 On the record of thy years, 
 Abr'am Lincoln's name appears, 
 Grant and Logan, and our tears, 
 
 Illinois, Illinois, 
 
 Grant and Logan, and our tears, 
 Illinois. 
 
 The territory embraced in the limits of Put- 
 nam county would seem to have been designed by 
 nature as a magnificent park. 'From the ancient 
 bluffs along the river rising to the eastward to 
 Mt. Palatine, reputed to be one of the highest 
 points in the state, to the western limits of the 
 county rolling away to the Mississippi, is one 
 Edenic realm. 
 
 Granville township is mostly billowed prairie 
 lands. In the northern portion of Hennepin 
 township following the bend of the river is a 
 broad and level tract known as Hennepin Prairie. 
 The soil is rich and sandy and extremely product^ 
 ive. Below Hennepin to the south is another 
 tract 'called Sand Prairie where the soil is very 
 
 sandy and yet sufficiently mixed with black soil 
 to make it productive. 
 
 Magnolia township is decidedly the garden spot 
 of Central Illinois and here it was that the first 
 settlements were made. Ox Bow Prairie derived 
 its name from the outline of the timber that en- 
 closed three sides of the territory bearing that 
 name. "The Ox Bow, in olden times, was one 
 of the best known localities in Illinois and in 
 priority of its settlement by white people, takes 
 rank with the first made between Peoria and the 
 Wisconsin line. In early days the Ox Bow Prai- 
 rie was as well known as Galena, Chicago, Peoria 
 or any other point in the state. This section, by 
 reason of its geographical position, the wonderful 
 fertility of the soil, its fine drainage, its superior 
 water supply, and especially because it was sur- 
 rounded by timber, seemed a very Garden of 
 Eden to the immigrant from the wooded coun- 
 tries of the east. In consequence of its peculiar 
 location its settlement was rapid, and long ago it 
 was so completely improved that not a foot of its 
 soil was left unoccupied." 
 
 In Senachwine township, back from the bluffs 
 stretching away toward the setting sun is another 
 magnificent prairie possessing all the beauty and 
 the excellence that are ascribed to the other prai- 
 ries of the county, and yet having sufficient dif- 
 ferences to give it a distinctive character. 
 
 But why elaborate, when it is known that this 
 little garden spot, important enough to be called 
 a county, is an integral part of the great prairie 
 state, and -without her portion can not be written 
 in the history of the commonwealth? 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SETTLEMENT. 
 
 In this simple narrative it is not possible to 
 name each individual sttler as he oame into the 
 county, suffice it to generalize and localize. 
 
 The very first white man who holds unchal- 
 lenged the distinction of being first in any par- 
 ticular thing is Adam, the progenitor of the hu- 
 man race, and even the man from the Garden 
 of Eden has been called by some fellows from 
 the zoological gardens. It matters little who is 
 first on the ground in ;m enterprise; the im- 
 portant question is. "Who did the work?" In 
 the pioneer days of Putnam county everyhody
 
 OLD INDIAN POST AT HENNEPIN, 1817.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAKSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 worked. In the days we sing "Everybody works 
 but father," which is only true when, father has 
 earned his surcease from labor by years of brav- 
 ing the storms of life until the going down of the 
 sun comes the calm that he is entitled to enjoy. 
 
 It is as true today as of yore that "Woman's 
 work is never done." Our mothers back to Mrs. 
 Eve Adam were inveterate workers and not until 
 the discrepitude of years or the inroads of dis- 
 ease has sapped her vital energy does mother cease 
 her family ministrations. "Mother" immortal- 
 ized herself by her consecrated devotion to her 
 maternal relationships. 
 
 It matters little to what rank or station man 
 may climb in this life, he instinctively ascribes 
 the source of inspiration to mother. That same 
 element that lavishes itself on her offspring de- 
 velops first in her devotion and fidelity to him 
 whom she honors as her lord and protector, the 
 father of her child. Since first the flight of years 
 began the historian has made man the whole 
 thing in life's doings. Looking down the vista 
 through six thousand years of human existence in 
 which men have played the star acts in life's 
 drama, we are able to discover that back of it all 
 the incentives to the noblest, grandest accom- 
 plishments have come through the woman in the 
 case. Men are inclined to think in these days 
 that there is a new being in existence, part angel, 
 part woman, some devil and some man, and they 
 have named this creature "The New Woman." 
 In the process of evolution the spiritual side of 
 woman's life has developed so much faster than she 
 could work it out through her sons that it has be- 
 come a matter of necessity that she work out a 
 portion of her spirit through her daughters, at 
 the same time supplying all the moral vitality 
 that her sons will appropriate. Because she has 
 thrown herself into the breach that bids fair to 
 wreck her home and life, by some shallow-pated 
 weakling she had been chided for her presump- 
 tion and assumption. 
 
 All hail to the mother who stands shoulder to 
 shoulder with the father in the efforts to make 
 their union count for the betterment of our civ- 
 ilization. Should misfortune, Maud Muller like, 
 cast her lot with a man who dozes in the chimney 
 corner or the grogshops hard by, the more the ne- 
 cessity that she assert her personality and be-' 
 stow upon her children the spirit of doing some- 
 thing for self and humanity. 
 
 True to the spirit of ascribing everything to 
 the fathers, the historians of this county have 
 given us a few names of the pioneer ladies, but 
 the. evidence remains that there were ladies 
 among the pioneers and to them belongs much 
 of the glory for an advanced state of social, civic 
 and religious life. Most of the very first settlers 
 came up from the older settlement down the state ; 
 in fact, the state had been admitted to the union 
 before anyone had really settled in the county, 
 although a few traders, as the early merchants, 
 were called, had located along the river as early 
 as 1817. There remains about a mile above Hen- 
 nepin today, the ruins of an old trading post 
 where Thomas Hartzell did business in the twen- 
 ties. 
 
 To Captain William Haws is ascribed the 
 credit of being the first permanent settler in the 
 county. 
 
 He came up from Springfield in the spring of 
 1821 en route to Galena, became enamored of the 
 country about Magnolia and decided to locate 
 there. He blazed his name upon a tree and went 
 on to Galena, where he remained till the fall of 
 1826, when he returned and took formal pos- 
 session of his claim. 
 
 He built an exceedingly primitive house of 
 round poles. He split puncheons for the floor 
 and doors and carried rock from the creek for 
 the chimney and a former historian has said that 
 not a nail was used in the construction of this 
 house, but like the building of Solomon's temple 
 no sound of a hammer was heard, for he had none. 
 
 He kept batch the first winter, existing on the 
 result of his skill as a hunter and some corn he 
 had brought with him from the south. This first 
 cabin stood near the northern limits of the vil- 
 lage of Magnolia. The following spring he put 
 up a more pretentious cabin near the first one, 
 in which he and his family lived for years. His 
 first crop of winter wheat yielded twenty to thirty 
 bushels to the acre which he threshed by tramp- 
 ing it out and cleaned by hand. His corn crop he 
 disposed of to newcomers at twenty and twenty- 
 five cents a bushel. This early pioneer had few 
 domestic animals his oxen, a cow and calf and a 
 few pigs. His hogs ran wild in the timber and 
 multiplied until they became everybody's prop- 
 erty and were worth nothing until dressed. 
 
 Naturally enough the newcomers, as they ap- 
 proached from the south, were favorably im-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 pressed with the beautiful country about Mr. 
 Haws' claim. Consequently the south end of 
 the county received the first attention. After lo- 
 cating there many of them branched out on pros- 
 pecting tours to other parts of the county, and 
 eventually spread out along the timber line from 
 Magnolia to the river on the north. These early 
 people took to the woods. Many of them thought 
 that the prairies never would be settled. The 
 probable reason for this was the fact that the ma- 
 terial for building, fences and fuel, and protec- 
 tion from the storms., afforded by the timber, 
 caused them to seek its friendly shelter. Thus 
 we find the little openings in the timber lands 
 were the first settled. 
 
 From 1826 to 1835-6 we find the county rapidly 
 filling up in all parts. The first settlers becoming 
 courageous, disposed of their claims to the new 
 arrivals and moved farther toward the frontier. 
 In the volumes that have been written heretofore 
 great lists of the names of these pioneers have 
 appeared that cannot even be mentioned in a sim- 
 ple narrative, and whose descendants, many of 
 them, are still the leading citizens of the com- 
 munity, and the matter has resolved itself into 
 such proportions that family histories have been 
 written and printed. 
 
 We shall not attempt to name the people who 
 have made history in Putnam County except in as 
 much as their names appear in connection with 
 the events which we shall select to show the char- 
 acter of such people. 
 
 In 1831 by act of legislature a committee was 
 appointed to examine various localities in the 
 county for the purpose of locating the county 
 seat. The most promising outlook was the village 
 of Hennepin, which was selected as the capital of 
 the county. The first county commissioners un- 
 der the organization were Thomas Gallagher, 
 George Ish and John M. Gay. Seventy-five years 
 have elapsed since that time, which has demon- 
 strated the wisdom of the choice of that commit- 
 tee. Hennepin is situated OB the east bank of the 
 Illinois river on a high and level bluff, a most 
 beautiful natural situation for a city. In the 
 early days Hennepin was a very active and busy 
 city, the river affording a means of transporta- 
 tion to the market at St, Louis and the return of 
 the necessaries of life from that point. 
 
 Very little money was in circulation. The till- 
 er of the soil brought the product of his labor to 
 
 Hennepin and bartered it for his family wants. 
 It is really interesting to know how few articles, 
 that are not home-made, are absolutely necessary 
 to our comfort and existence. 
 
 Mr. John Swaney, who came to the county in 
 1840, and who still lives, told us that wages were 
 very low in those days. He worked for Jim Jones 
 a quarter of a day and got six and a fourth cents. 
 Fifty cents a week for hard work was good pay. 
 The day began at sun-up and lasted till after sun- 
 down. A school teacher got $12 or $13 a month. 
 His sister taught at Granville and rode back and 
 forth across the prairies every night and morn- 
 ing. She is still living and is eighty-five years old. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Massie, who came to the county 
 sixty-seven years ago, tells us that during the 
 war her husband and brothers were in the army 
 and she supported herself and child by working 
 at twenty-five cents a day; that she paid thirty 
 cents for calico that may be bought now for three 
 cents, and seventy-five cents a yard for eight or 
 ten-cent muslin. Parenthetically, let us suggest 
 that reading between the lines we may note a lit- 
 tle something of what it cost the wives and moth- 
 ers of the country to preserve the Union. 
 
 There were many necessities in the development 
 of the homes in this new country that could not 
 be gotten at Hennepin, nor did Hennepin become 
 a general market until boats began to ply the 
 river. The farmer would load his grain and 
 start on the long trip to Chicago, requiring from 
 nine to fifteen days, taking with him feed for 
 his horses and a scythe; he would mow the grass 
 by the wayside and sleep under his wagon at 
 night, or stop in the winter time at the inns 
 along the stage route. Many incidents are re- 
 lated in which, by unavoidable delays, the pro- 
 ceeds of the whole of his produce would not de- 
 fray the expenses of the trip. For example, twelve 
 and one-half and thirteen cents for corn and 
 thirty-one and thirty-eight cents for wheat. All 
 the lumber, shingles, doors and windows had to 
 be hauled from Chicago. Boys went to Chicago 
 oftener then than boys do now. 
 
 Gradually Hennepin became a great market, 
 remaining so until Lacon and Peru, with greater 
 attractions, began to draw trade thitherward. 
 Villages sprang up in various parts of the county 
 with their shops, stores, schools and churches, 
 thus creating new centers around which clustered 
 the interests of the communities.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Hennepiii was surveyed in 1831 by Ira Ladd on 
 government land. The new town was extensively 
 advertised, by what means we are not advised, 
 and the first sale of lots ranged from $11.68 to 
 $87.86 each. The first lot was sold to J. and W. 
 Durley, who proceeded at once to build on what is 
 now the corner of Front and Court streets. Dun- 
 lavy and Stewart built a trading house at the 
 same time, preceding the Durleys a few days in 
 commencing business. J. S. Simpson; Ira Ladd, 
 who became the first sheriff of the county, and a 
 man named Gleason each built a log cabin in the 
 fall of '31. Thus just three-quarters of a cen- 
 tury ago came into existence the county seat. The 
 next spring the first hotel was built, a double log 
 cabin. About this time Thomas Hartzell built a 
 store in the new town and transferred his stock 
 of merchandise from his log store a mile above 
 the town into Hennepin. 
 
 In 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out and 
 Hennepin was made the rallying point of the 
 rangers. The settlers were poorly equipped with 
 arms and means of defense. Thomas Hartzell of- 
 fered to donate his old store for a block house, and 
 in forty-eight hours the community had trans- 
 ferred and rebuilt the same on what is now 
 Front street. This building was used as a fort 
 during the exciting months that followed, though 
 we are informed by the older settlers that the 
 dusky warriors did not cross the river at any time 
 during the war. In moving Hartzell's store the 
 brick chimney was left standing where a French- 
 man and his half-breed wife, occupying a cabin 
 nearby, resorted for cooking purposes. One day 
 while thus engaged a high wind blew down the 
 chimney, killing the woman instantly. The exact 
 location of this chimney is marked today by a 
 little mound made by the falling brick over which 
 has grown a luxuriant sod. 
 
 The settlement of the county is more fully treat- 
 ed under Villages and in the biographies of the 
 work. The biographical feature is a brief record 
 of the life of the individual, written of him from 
 facts gathered from him and others. Anything 
 that might seem out of place in an autobiography 
 may be perfectly proper in a biography. The 
 items of praise have been expression? of kindly 
 friends and neighbors. Some subjects on hearing 
 the story of their lives as herein written have ob- 
 jected because the writer said so many good 
 things about him, but so long as the truth only 
 
 appears, let it stand; seldom do men have too 
 many good things said about them while they yet 
 live. 
 
 "The evil men do lives after them ; 
 The good is oft interred with their bones." 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 VILLAGES. 
 
 ALL THE ROADS IN THE COUNTY LEAD TO HEN- 
 NEPIN. Speaking of roads, there were no high- 
 ways at that time, hedged in with fences, cutting 
 right angles and taking one through swamps and 
 around Robin Hood's barn to get any place, the 
 traveler simply fixed his eye on the star of destiny 
 and moved in that direction until he reached the 
 desired point. 
 
 Hennepin is no longer a market place as in by- 
 gone days. Railroads have brought shipping 
 points all about her and she now has the reputa- 
 tion of being the most exclusive county seat in the 
 state. She also has other unique features that give 
 her special distinction ; her streets are all grav- 
 eled, she has elegant concrete walks, she has an 
 artesian water system, and the river skirts her 
 limits, upon which plies the Hennepin ferry boat, 
 which is as interesting to modern travelers as it 
 is ancient in method of transportation. 
 
 Some very good stores supply the mercantile 
 interests and she now has one of the very best 
 hotels in her history, "The Cecil." Being the 
 county seat brings people to the monthly sessions 
 of the County Court, and the semi-annual sessions 
 of the Circuit Court, and to the political conven- 
 tions and such other gatherings of interest to the 
 whole county. 
 
 Much of the general history of this narrative 
 clusters about Hennepin and much is said else- 
 where that properly belongs here, but the task 
 of classification in a brief sketch is not an easy 
 one. Hennepin is still an important factor in 
 county matters, but is no longer the whole thing 
 as in former days. 
 
 MAGNOLIA. 
 
 Glancing at the map of the Putnam county we 
 discover that a number of little villages in the good 
 old days sprang up as community centers. Per- 
 haps a brief sketch of each of them may be of 
 interest. Hennepin we have already noted was
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 'the important town of the county. Perhaps in 
 the beginning, Magnolia was the next important, 
 situated as it is at the extreme southeast corner 
 -of the county near the Marshall County line, it 
 is the oldest-settled town in the county. In the 
 fall of 1826 claims were made within a mile, 
 north of the site of the village by Captain Win. 
 Haws, James W. Willis and Stephen D. Willis, 
 who are believed to have been the first to pene- 
 trate that part of the wilderness with the. inten- 
 tion of settling. The next year John Knox ar- 
 rived and located at the city of Magnolia. The 
 first public house was a log structure and the 
 first teacher was Andrew Burns. Thomas Pat- 
 terson was the founder of the town and it was 
 here he builded and dedicated to science this first 
 school building. The development of the school 
 work is noted under the heading of Schools. 
 Knox's Tavern was the first public house erected 
 in Magnolia, A double cabin which became a 
 depot on Finch and Walker's stage line and like 
 the Ramage House of today became famous along 
 the line for its comforts, its conveniences and 
 sumptuous fare. Among the first merchants to 
 locate there were John McKisson, Thomas Pat- 
 terson and Elijah Swan. Magnolia did not have 
 a postoffice for some time after its settlement. 
 The people had to go to Roberts' point for their 
 mail as late as 1836. The first preacher who vis- 
 ited the village was Jesse Walker in 1828. He had 
 a trading post at Ottawa and obtained his goods 
 at St. Louis and brought them here by boat. He 
 preached occasionally and was a curious, bluff 
 gentleman rather shrewd in business. Magnolia 
 has been the center of much commercial activity 
 in its day. It is here the first county election 
 was held. In 1841 and 1842 James Ramage con- 
 structed the first plow that would scour in Illinois 
 soil. It was he who produced the Diamond Plow, 
 the forerunner of all self-scouring implements of 
 the plow kind and it was in Magnolia that Mr. 
 Ramage carried on the mercantile business until 
 others with greater facilities took away his trade. 
 It was also in Magnolia that one of the first reap-, 
 ing machines was constructed. In 1849 Mr. 
 William E. Parrott put up the first reaper ever 
 constructed in the state of Illinois. They were 
 not the self-binders of the present day but the man 
 who first invented the sickle-bar and the place 
 where first made, deserve recognition. All glory 
 to Magnolia's inventive genius ! 
 
 In the state atlas of 1876 Magnolia furnishes 
 a larger quota of men who were willing to pay 
 for personal recognition in that work than any 
 other township in the state. Not only the village 
 itself but the surrounding country has produced 
 an energetic class of citizenship and to the ad- 
 vanced spirituality of this community is due 
 much of the credit of Putnam county's rank 
 among the other counties of the state. The vil- 
 lage has not grown much in the last quarter of 
 a century. It has now some very nice stores, 
 many splendid dwellings; has been fortunate 
 enough to have the Toluca, Marquette & North- 
 ern Railroad pass through its limits, thus giving 
 it good shipping facilities; has a new school 
 building, and while not increasing in size, is alto- 
 gether a unique and interesting community. 
 
 GRANVILLE. 
 
 Perhaps next to Magnolia in importance was 
 the village of Granville. It was surveyed and 
 laid out in 1836. The first settler was a man 
 named Creswell, who built a cabin in 1832. In 
 1834 Thomas Ware erected the first frame struc- 
 ture. "Loveliest village of the plain" that's 
 Granville; nestling near the primeval forest, oc- 
 cupying a commanding site affording a fine view 
 of the surrounding country, stretching away to 
 Magnolia to the south and the sunrise to the east 
 No better natural location for a city can be 
 found. There was nothing at Granville in the 
 beginning to develop a city. Simply a splendid 
 location with a magnificent agricultural environ- 
 ment. The fathers of the settlement laid its 
 foundation broad and deep on the eternal princi- 
 ples of truth and rectitude. Spirituality and in- 
 tellectuality were the warp and woof of the com- 
 munity fabric. The church and school were the 
 two factors in social development that received 
 the attention of great and small. ' Under the 
 headings, Schools and Churches, we shall treat 
 the subject more extensively. 
 
 In early times Granville was a hustling busi- 
 ness place with a promising future. Its mer- 
 chants were enterprising and carried large stocks 
 of goods ; t its artisans were competent and in- 
 dustrious ; its ministers were eloquent ; society 
 refined ; newspapers and books circulated freely 
 and on all questions of public interest people
 
 PAST AND L'UKSKNT OF MAI.'Sll ALL AND 1TTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 were well informed and voted intelligently. Farm- 
 ers for twenty miles came to Granville to trade. 
 The construction of the Illinois Central Kailroad 
 on the east and the Kock Island on the north cut 
 off her source of patronage and the once promis- 
 ing, thrifty village ceased her expansion and for 
 years remained but an inland hamlet, though 
 through it all she retained her spiritual and in- 
 tellectual status. In 1900 the construction of 
 the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Eailroad exten- 
 sion from Streator west across Putnam county 
 passed through the village limits and brought 
 her a new lease of life. To the shame of the 
 railroad company be it said that $1,500 were ex- 
 torted from the citizens for the location of a 
 depot building within the village, which was 
 made up by subscription by those who preferred 
 giving, to seeing a new town established within 
 a mile of old Granville. With the coming of the 
 railroad came new enterprise and new industries. 
 Hon. A. W. Hopkins, who had been a 
 member of the legislature from this dis- 
 trict for several terms and whose home had 
 always been within a mile and a half of the 
 village, believed that the opportune time had ar- 
 rived for booming his native community. In- 
 spiring in others the same belief, he with James 
 Albertus Harper began a vigorous campaign to 
 boom the community. A joint arrangement was 
 made by which all the merchants then in town 
 and a number desirous of coming in, united in 
 the construction of a magnificent-brick block which 
 was to become the centralized Emporium of the 
 commercial interests of the town. An architect 
 was employed, plans and specifications drafted 
 and this project crystallized into tangibility which 
 resulted in the constructed in 1900 of the "Lin- 
 coln Block." New additions were platted; lots 
 were put on the market, and a regular western 
 boom was on. Since that time there has been no 
 cessation. The St. Paul Coal Company bought up 
 most of the coal lands in the township and sunk 
 a magnificent shaft at the western limits of the 
 village and are now employing hundreds of men 
 and are paying through the Granville Bank, at 
 this early stage of development, fifty thousand 
 dollars a month in wages. The Granville Bank. 
 established by Joel W. Hopkins and son, has been 
 a strong feature in the commercial development 
 Two splendid grain elevators furnish a market for 
 cereal products. The Toluca, Marquette & North- 
 
 ern Kailroad was built through the village in 1905, 
 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Eailroad in 
 1904, and in 1905 and 1906 the Oglesby & Gran- 
 ville, a short line connecting Granville with the 
 Illinois Central at Oglesby, was constructed. Hun- 
 dreds of houses have been built. The little village 
 of two or three hundred people has approximated 
 that many thousand. Two miles east of the 
 village the B. F. Berry Coal Co. have sunk the 
 largest shaft in the state of Illinois and at the 
 close of 1906 are just beginning the opening up 
 of the underground work. Taking all in all, the 
 pay-roll from the St. Paul shaft and from the 
 Berry shaft, the Oglesby & Granville Railroad, 
 and the commercial interests of the town and the 
 elevators, we are safe in saying that no other town 
 of. its size in Illinois today, presents a better out- 
 look for future business than Granville. 
 
 FLOEID. 
 
 In 1836 Thomas W. Stewart and Aaron Thomp- 
 son laid out a village three and a half miles 
 southeast of Hennepin which they named Florid 
 It attained its greatest growth soon after. The 
 extent of its development has been a little hamlet 
 nestling in the woods, built upon the road that 
 leads from Hennepin to the settlements in Ox Bow, 
 Strawn's, and Magnolia, with no cross streets. 
 For about sixty rods the villagers built their 
 houses on either side of the road. At one time 
 it had two churches, both of which are closed now. 
 which with a Woodman Hall and the school house, 
 constitute the public buildings. This community 
 was made up of some of the best and strongest 
 characters of pioneer days. A few rods east of the 
 village is the site of the famous Fort Cribs which 
 was erected in 1832 as a block house for defense 
 against the .Indians. It takes its name from the 
 fact that a number of corn cribs were within the 
 enclosure. It was resorted to by all the settlers 
 in the vicinity for safety, as many as a hundred 
 being there at one time. A memorable event was 
 the birth, while in this fort, of Milton SheparcL 
 son of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Shepherd. We per- 
 sonally remember while teaching at Florid ii} 
 1881 and 1882 that a part of this fort still stood 
 but has been torn away. Florid contains one good 
 general store at present and a number of good, 
 substantial dwelling houses, with it- honorable
 
 PAST AX1) 1MJKSF.XT OF MARSHALL AND 1MTNA.M COT NTI KS. 
 
 citizens, mostly retired from the active dutk 
 life. 
 
 of two and a half miles to the southwest the last flick- 
 ering hope for Mt. Palatine ever becoming a town 
 of any importance died out. 
 
 MT. PALATINE. 
 
 On the county line between Putnam and La 
 Salle, on the highest point, in the loveliest part of 
 the state, overlooking as it does the beautiful 
 waving fields of grain stretching away to the 
 sylvan borders of the Vermillion on the east and 
 the Illinois on the west, beautiful for situation 
 stands what is left of what once promised to be 
 the center of education Mt. Palatine. It was 
 laid out in 1849 by Christopher Winters. Mr. 
 Winters had bought a large body of land in this 
 territory and resold it mostly to eastern settlers 
 designing to start a live Yankee town. lie also 
 purposed to establish an educational institution 
 which when first built was called a seminary but 
 afterward it rose to the dignity of Judson College 
 In 1842 the first house was built in the town by 
 Deacon Woodbury. Otis Fisher, of Granville, be- 
 came the first teacher in the settlement in 1841. 
 He had a small frame dwelling erected just out- 
 side the limits of the village where he lived for 
 a year. Dr. Lamed Davis first visited Mt. Pala- 
 tine in July, 1841, but did not take up his per- 
 manent abode there until 1843. There were a 
 few other houses built near and around the town 
 in 1842. It is strange that at the time of the 
 founding of Mt. Palatine there was not a house 
 within twenty-five miles southeasterly except that 
 of William Johnston, which was a mile away. 
 The village promised well until the establishment 
 of Tonica, which, on the construction of the Illi- 
 nois Central, began to grow, taking away the 
 trade and furnishing a railroad market but seven 
 miles away. The first store opened in Mt. Palatine 
 was that of Boardman Fulson, where were sold 
 drugs, groceries and dry goods. He began busi- 
 ness there soon after the town was laid out and 
 retired from business in 1879. The village con- 
 tained three churches, a good district school, two 
 general stores, two blacksmith shops, one wagon 
 shop, one physician and a postoffice, about 
 twenty-five dwelling houses with a population of 
 about one hundred people. The first hotel built 
 was owned by Samuel Puffer. It was a big brick 
 house which still stands. Thus like many little 
 villages its history was greater in the beginning 
 than in the end. Bv the establishment of MeXabb 
 
 PUTNAM. 
 
 In Senachwine township about ten miles to the 
 southwest Of Hennepin, situated upon the west- 
 ern bank of the Illinois river is a little hamlet 
 now called Putnam, but formerly known by the 
 name of the Indian chieftain, Senachwine. Some 
 heartless wretch with no appreciation of the beau- 
 tiful persuaded the government to change the 
 post-office from Senachwine to Putnam, and Put- 
 nam it remains. In 1835 a town was laid out by 
 B. M. Hayes, but nothing came of it and the pres- 
 ent town was established by Peter Barnhart and 
 Cortland Condit, who owned the land upon which 
 it stands. In 1855 the Bureau Valley Railroad 
 now a part of the Rock Island system was built 
 through to Peoria. Then soon after James Mc- 
 Curdey opened the first store. He was also post-- 
 master. Soon after George Ward engaged in the 
 grocery business and Aaron Hines built a hotel 
 The town has good gravel streets, an artesian well,, 
 and several fairly good business houses, a large 
 elevator, two schools and two churches and is the 
 social, religious and political life of the town- 
 ship. 
 
 Just below Putnam, about 1836 or 1837 upon a 
 beautiful plateau with a convenient steamboat 
 landing, a town of considerable pretensions was 
 projected and boomed by energetic business men. 
 Lots sold readily; a sawmill and gristmill to be 
 propelled by steam were contracted for and the 
 machinery brought upon the ground, a blacksmith 
 shop was set up, and a dozen cabins erected and 
 sold, a store was opened by Josiah Hayes, better 
 known from his diminutive stature and certain 
 characteristics as "Little Hayes." He afterward 
 moved to Kansas and achieved greatness by be- 
 coming a colonel in the Union Army and after- 
 ward secretary of state. The many sloughs and 
 low places covered with decaying matter and the 
 impure water developed chills and fever and ma- 
 laria, and followed by the death of the principal 
 promoter of the town, caused it to be abandoned, 
 but not, however, until it had been named in honor 
 of the great Daniel Webster. All that remains 
 now to mark the place are a few depressions in the 
 soil that show just where the cabins had been.
 
 PAST AND 1'RKSENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 CALEDONIA. 
 
 At one time there was a little settlement called 
 Caledonia, where there were a number of build- 
 ings, including a church, a school house, a black- 
 smith shop and a store, in Magnolia township 
 on Ox Box prairie. Nothing now stands there 
 except the church and the old school house. 
 
 YOSEMITE. 
 
 After the establishing of Spring Valley about 
 a quarter of a century ago Mr. Mower planned 
 on the south bank of the Illinois river, near the 
 site of the present Spring Valley bridge, a village 
 he called Yosemite, upon which he paid taxes foi 
 a number of years. Perhaps half a dozen build- 
 ings were erected on that site, but nothing came 
 of it and Yosemite vou can not see. 
 
 McNABB. 
 
 The coming of the I., I. & I. Railroad in 1900 
 brought to the county an additional village. In 
 Magnolia township one of the principal local pro- 
 moters of this road was Hon. J. M. McNabb, at 
 that time county judge. The railroad company 
 felt that it was to its interest to establish a station 
 somewhere in Magnolia township, so they bought 
 Judge McNabb's farm a the highest price that 
 was ever paid for land in the county, and laid out 
 a little town which they rightly named McNabb. 
 Its development has not been up to expectations, 
 fent what the future holds far it we may not yet 
 discover. It is already a social and business 
 center for the community. It has two or three 
 good stores, two elevators, a lumber yard ,and a 
 hotel. It also has two rural mail routes emanat- 
 ing from its office. A banking house under the 
 name of the "Farmers' Bank of McNabb" is man- 
 aged by Judge McNabb, cashier and one of the 
 proprietors. There is a thriving Danish church 
 in the village, and a new school building of two 
 stories and two teachers. The Toluca, Marquette 
 & Northern Railroad also runs through the town 
 McNabb can boast of one feature that no other 
 town in the county possesses. They have a regular 
 sale stable where public sales of fancy and blooded 
 stuck bike place. They have a commodious hall in 
 which social and literary entertainments are held. 
 Taking all in all, the village has made an in- 
 teresting social center. 
 
 MORONTS. 
 
 There remains but one other place on the map 
 and that is the station of Moronts in Hennepin 
 township, on Hennepin prairie, and four miles 
 northwest of Granville and the same distance 
 northeast of Hennepin. There is no town here 
 There is not a house there. Only the station 
 and a grain elevator, but it has become a good 
 shipping point for the farmers in the community 
 and for Hennepin. 
 
 MARK. 
 
 The advent of the coal industry has brought its 
 accompanying influx of population. North and 
 west of the St. Paul shaft a village was laid out 
 and named Mark. Many of the foreign-born min- 
 ing population secured lots and built homes for 
 themselves in this new town site. To the south- 
 east of the shaft the coal company itself has built 
 its houses, which differ from the stereotyped houses 
 inasmuch as there is a variety of architecture re- 
 lieving the distressing sameness usually seen in 
 corporation cottages. Being just over the Gran- 
 ville village corporation line this addition seems 
 rather to be a part of Granville, although in real- 
 ity it is "Mark." An effort was made to prevent 
 its incorporation and to annex it to Granville 
 proper, but the coal company did not move in time 
 and the promoters of the new village succeeded 
 m incorporating it. In all probability in the near 
 future the two towns will become one. 
 
 STANDARD. 
 
 Joining the Berry plant, F. W. Sucher platted 
 a town and named it Standard and at the close of 
 the year 1906 most of the lots in the new town 
 had been sold and many buildings erected. The 
 Oglesby and Granville road connecting this ham- 
 let with Granville makes it practically a suburb 
 of the old town. 
 
 CEDAR POINT. 
 
 Just over in La Salle county at the settlement 
 called Cedar Point, another shaft is in process of 
 development, and like Standard, located on the 
 O. & G. railroad, giving it interurban connection 
 with Granville makes it tributary to Putnam 
 county's great metropolis. What change this de- 
 velopment will produce upon the social and finan- 
 cial interests of Granville remains to be seen. 
 Our prerogative is that of a chronicler, not a 
 prophet.
 
 1'AST AM) I'UKSKNT OK MARSHALL AM) IMTNAM CO I UNTIES. 
 
 CHAPTBB V. 
 
 EARLY RECORDS. 
 
 Amos T. Purviance, who served this county 
 faithfully and very satisfactorily as county clerk 
 over forty successive years (1857-1898) had a pen- 
 chant for acquiring data and souvenirs and has 
 left about the court house many very interesting 
 relics and records of interest to the present gen- 
 eration. From Mr. Purviance's compilations and 
 from data gathered by other historians we gather 
 some very interesting items of importance, show- 
 ing many names whose descendants are still promi- 
 nent in public affairs, though so numerous have 
 become people that everybody no longer knows 
 everybody in .the county. 
 
 The first election in the new county was held 
 at the house of William Haws, near Magnolia, 
 and besides the judges of election, but one voter 
 appeared. Of course there were no "split tickets" 
 and Thomas Gallagher, George Ish and John M. 
 Gay were declared elected as -county commission- 
 ers, Ira Ladd as sheriff, and Aaron Paine .as cor- 
 oner. James W. Willis was subsequently ap- 
 pointed treasurer. Hooper Warren filled the offices 
 of recorder, clerk of the county and circuit courts 
 and justice of the peace. 
 
 Among the members of the bar who attended 
 court here were : Senator David Davis, who came 
 from Bloomington on horseback, and Judge John 
 B. Caton, who came down from Chicago, riding an 
 Indian pony. 
 
 The first death in the counties of Bureau, Put- 
 .nam or Marshall was in the family of Aaron 
 Mitchell, who lost a child in August or September. 
 1829. There being no lumber in the country 
 a puncheon coffin was made by X. and S. Shepherd 
 and the child was interred near Captain Price's 
 near Magnolia. 
 
 The first corpse buried in Hennepin Cemetery 
 was that of Philips, shot by the Indians, June 4 
 1831. No memorial stone marks the place, and 
 his grave is unknown. 
 
 Most of the early settlers were young men, and 
 in those days a woman or a baby was as much of 
 a novelty and excited as lively an interest as ever 
 they did in Roaring Camp. Some of the men 
 however, brought their wives, and with them came 
 other female marriageable members of their fami- 
 lies who speedily found husband* : wo find among 
 the early records the following marriages : 
 
 John Shepherd to Tennessee McComas, July 5, 
 1831; by George Ish, county judge. 
 
 Elisha Swan, of Lacon, was married to Zilpha 
 Dent, February 25, 1832, by Rev. Zadock Hall. 
 
 Livingston Roberts to Margaret Dent, January 
 24, 1843, -by Hooper Warren, justice of the peace 
 
 Lemuel Russell to Sarah Ann Edwards, Febru- 
 ary 23, 1823, by Rev. Edward Hale. 
 
 William Munson to Rachael Hall, March 7, 
 1833, by John M. Gay, justice of the peace. . 
 
 \Villiam S. Horn to Sylvia Hall, May 5, 1833, 
 by Rev. Horn. 
 
 . The ladies whose names appear in the last two 
 notices were the Hall girls whose thrilling experi-. 
 ence with the Indians is given elsewhere. 
 
 Some of the early ministers of the county were 
 Revs. John McDonald, Elijah Epperson, William 
 II. He.ith and Joel Arlington. 
 
 The first farm opened in Hennepin township 
 was that of James Willis, at Union Grove, m 
 1828, and his was the first dwelling house outside 
 of the village of Hennepin. 
 
 Elizabeth Shepherd was one of the first white 
 women in this locality, coming in 1829. 
 
 Austin Hannum is claimed as the first white 
 child born in the county. His parents lived in 
 Magnolia. 
 
 Isabel Patterson, since Mrs. R. W. Bowman 
 was born in 1832, and Augustus Shepherd in- 
 1830. 
 
 In the court house at Hennepin hangs a large 
 frame with the portraits and names of many 
 old settlers, and the date of their coming to the 
 county, jt will be observed that many of thf 
 descendants of these pioneers are still residents 
 of the county : 
 
 1817 Thomas Hartzell. 
 
 1827 Thomas Gallagher, James W. Willis. 
 
 1828 Stephen D. Willis, Smiley Shepherd. 
 
 1829 James G. Ross, Nelson Shepherd, Eliza- 
 beth Shepherd. 
 
 1830 Harvey Leeper, Flora Zenor. Augustus 
 Shepherd, William Patterson, L. E. Skeel, David 
 Richey, Lucy Dick, Olive Skeel, William M. Ham 
 Anthony Turk, Samuel D. Laughlin, Catherine 
 Shepherd. 
 
 1831 Alvira Zenor, Lewis Durley, Lucy Dur- 
 ley, Mary Stewart, Mary Shepherd, George Denfe 
 Comfort Dent, Williamson Durley, H. K. Zenor 
 Emeline Durley, E. G. Powers, Louisa Nash. John 
 Gallagher, Aaron Gunn.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 1832 John G. Ross (born here), Stephen W. 
 Stewart, Nancy Skeel, Sarah ..Stewart, John W. 
 Stewart, B. F. Whittaker, J. W. Leech, Mary 
 Leech, Robert Leech, Mary A. Templeton, S. G. 
 Leech, Sarah Brumfield, Thomas Brumfield. 
 Marian Noys, John Brumfield, Aaron Barlow. 
 John N. Laughlin. 
 
 1833 Bayliss Culter, William H. Zenor, Eliza- 
 beth Durley, Joseph Fairfield, Joseph Cassell, 
 Thomas Coleman, Charles Coleman, Oakes Turner 
 Wilson Everett, Jeremiah Everett, Alex. Ross, 
 Milton Robinson. 
 
 1834 Cyrus Shepherd, William Baxendale 
 Thomas W. Shepherd, Guy W. Pool, Thomas At- 
 water (first lawyer), H. J. White, Washington 
 Webb. 
 
 1836 Lyle Shepherd, Samuel Holmes, Sr., Al- 
 fred Turner, David Cryder. 
 
 . We do not presume to give the biography of 
 these persons; it is not .desired of us. We name 
 them as actors in the drama, but do not assign 
 their parts. 
 
 . -Biography is the narrative of individual life 
 while history is the account of the deeds of 
 many lives. Our part in the work is not so much 
 to memorialize the man as to point to the lesson of 
 his life. 
 
 In coming years men may not know the names 
 of their encestors, but the lives of those ancestors 
 will tell in them whether they know their gene- 
 alogy or not, for we live in deeds, not words. 
 
 Inasmuch as t;he composite *life of this com- . 
 munity has been progressive piogressive means 
 advancing toward the goal of Divine purpose for 
 us it evidences the fact that the majority of the 
 community has appreciated its opportunities and 
 improved them. Inasmuch as it has done this it 
 has made history worthy of record. 
 
 Previous historians have elaborated the deeds of 
 outlaws and miscreants as if the men of today 
 desired to know the evils of their ancestry. We 
 can see no excuse for exploiting such acts unless ' 
 it be to point out the evil effects, that men may 
 shun them. We incline rather to the doctrine that 
 the best way to keep our boys out of hell eventually 
 is to keep hell out of them now. A witty Irish 
 friend of ours has said to us, that the way to keep 
 hell out of a boy is to "give him hell" just as you 
 fight fire with fire. We shall not turn the search- 
 light on the dark pictures in Putnam count/? 
 history, but rather show the bright experiences 
 
 the testings and the victories, moral and physical, 
 
 that made our fathers pioneer heroes worthy of our 
 
 emulation. 
 
 "Speak, history ! who are life's victors ? Unroll 
 
 * thy long annals and say. 
 Are 'they those whom the world called the victors 
 
 who won the success of a day? 
 The martyrs of Nero? The Spartans who fell in 
 
 Thermopylae's tryst, 
 
 Or the Persians and Xerxes? His judges, or 
 Socrates? Pilate, or Christ?" 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 JUST BEFO' THE WA'. 
 
 Many very thrilling incidents of before-the- 
 Civil-war events are recorded which serve to show 
 how the Putnam county stood on the slavery ques- 
 tion. While there were a few nigger haters, most 
 of our ancestors believed in the principles set 
 forth by our national Constitution recenth' tersely 
 put by President Roosevelt "Give every man a 
 square deal.*' 
 
 Putnam county had some popular stopping 
 places on the underground railroad for colored 
 men and women who were seeking to free them- 
 selves from the galling chains of bondage. The 
 people generally sympathized with them and if 
 there were any who were not active in aiding the 
 fugitives forward they remained neutral. On one 
 occasion as many as sixteen negroes were seen in 
 the village of Granville at 'one time, having come 
 in on the "night accommodation train." They 
 had made their way from St. Louis without money 
 or molestation. 
 
 In 1835 two negro women who were pursued 
 by their owners and were likely to be captured, 
 were hidden in the cellar of James T. Laughlin's 
 house, and there remained a night and a day. The 
 weather was exceedingly stormy and cold and the 
 pursuers were kept in a continual dance from one 
 place to another on false scents and rumors, until 
 they were nearly dead from fatigue and exposure. 
 The citizens, while pretending to help the con- 
 fiding slave-catchers, were 'deluding them all the 
 time, and the fellows finally gave up their job 
 and returned home. Of course the poor fugitives 
 were sent in the opposite direction at fast as pos- 
 sihlc. until they wore safe among friendly Cana- 
 dians.
 
 I'AST AM) I'UKSKNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Harry B. Leeper was a very active conductor 
 on this underground railway and a well-known 
 citizen of Granville, who devoted much of his 
 time te the cause of freedom. 
 
 About 1835 a negro was sold in Henncpin 
 under the operation of the infamous black laws 
 of the state. He was a refugee from below, and 
 probably reached here on one of the many steam- 
 ers plying the Illinois. 
 
 He possessed no visible means of support and 
 either cared not to work or could not get the 
 opportunity, and at the instigation of interested 
 parties was arrested under the provisions of the 
 vagrant act, and advertised for sale for his keeping 
 and costs. There was an active abolition element 
 at Granville and elsewhere in the county and on 
 the day of the sale the members were present, but 
 finding there was no claimant for his person nor 
 any arranged plan to return him to slavery, they 
 allowed the sale to go on, and he brought, we 
 believe, one dollar and costs. William M. Stew- 
 art,, of Florid, became the purchaser, who put him 
 in the harvest field and paid him regular wages. 
 The man earned a suit of clothes besides his 
 freedom, and some money to take him on the road 
 to Canada. 
 
 A slave was brought to Union Grove in 1830 
 by Samuel D. Laughlin, and remained some time. 
 He was taken to Chicago by Thomas Hartzell, 
 and sent on his way. 
 
 Occasionally a fugitive would find the road to 
 freedom through Senachwine, sent upon this out- 
 of-the-way trail to avoid pursuit. Once, a negro, 
 hotly pressed by his enemies was disguised 1 by his 
 friends as a woman and passed thro' Senachwine 
 in a lumber wagon, in charge of George Cone, who 
 lived between this village and Henry. 
 
 On another occasion a fellow came to the house 
 of Asa Cunningham, near the village, and begged 
 his assistance. He was an escaped slave, from 
 Missouri, and while resting by the roadside dis- 
 covered in the distance an approaching horseman, 
 whom he at once knew to be his master. The 
 negro said, "I was so skeert dat I shet my eyes, 
 afeerd he'd see 'em, and didn't dar to draw my 
 bref afeerd he'd smell 'um, for I'd a ben eatin' 
 wild ingens." The master was at the hotel and 
 the slave dare not move, for it was in the middle 
 of the day. Mr. Cunningham was the village 
 undertaker and rightly believing that no one 
 would hunt a runaway in a hearse, hitched up his 
 
 horse and loading the darkey into a coffin drove 
 through Senachwine at a melancholy amble, the 
 business gait of the ancient nag. The master saw 
 the cavalcade and was amused at the oddity of 
 the turnout while the driver headed his course 
 for Hennepin and safely delivered his living 
 "corpse" into the hands of trusty friends who 
 kept him concealed until the pursuers left the 
 country. 
 
 We are quoting from Ellsworth's Record of the 
 Olden Times a few incidents particularly pat to 
 this subject. 
 
 SLATE HUNTERS FOILED. 
 
 In 1837 Alexander Ross living near Hennepin, 
 while on his way to Galena, when a few miles 
 beyond Princeton encountered a couple of slave 
 hunters returning with two young and attractive 
 mulatto girls who had escaped from slavery. The 
 sight of the weeping girls aroused all his manly 
 sympathies at once. Ross was a democrat, but 
 not of the pro-slavery class, and he formed a 
 resolution to rescue and save the victims if possi- 
 ble. So he proclaimed himself a bitter anti- 
 abolitionist, and denounced the slave stealers, as 
 he called them in fearful terms. The men were 
 glad to meet some one so much after their own 
 heart, and asked his opinion as to how they could 
 best get away with their chattels and escape the 
 fury of the abolitionists. He promptly told them 
 of a friend of his at Princeton who was "all 
 right" and offered to pilot them to his house. 
 His proffered services being promptly accepted, 
 they arrived and were duly quartered for the 
 night, when Ross volunteered to sit up and guard 
 the slaves from any attempt at rescue. As soon 
 as all was quiet the cunning conspirator and the 
 lady of the house aroused the girls and took them 
 in a cutter to James W. Willis, at Florid, where 
 they safely arrived. Ross returned to Princeton 
 by daylight the next morning. The men awoke, 
 inquired after their property and lo ! the birds 
 had flown. Ross was found att his post, sleeping the 
 sleep of the just, where he appeared to have been 
 all night, and as he explained, from the fatigue 
 of watching, had fallen asleep in spite of himself. 
 He was really asleep and was with some difficulty 
 aroused and it took some time to make him aware 
 of what had happened his head being unusually 
 thick on this occasion. When he realized what had 
 occurred he seemed very much chagrined, and 
 blamed himself for his inability to keep awake.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 He promptly volunteered to help the fellows find 
 their property, and led them many a wild-goose 
 chase about the town and country, but all to no 
 purpose, and finally left them and returned to 
 the land office. In the meantime Mr. Willis and 
 other friends of the cause started the girls on their 
 way to a safer retreat. 
 
 \1 \OVOLIA UNDERGROUND RAILROAD STATION. 
 
 The managers of the underground railroad line 
 for this section of country were the Lewis broth- 
 ers, William and Jehu, the former, however, the 
 chief and ever-active superintendent. There were 
 two branches of the road to the South, which 
 united at William Lewis' house, one from Parker 
 Morse's in Woodford and the other from Nathaniel 
 Smith's at the southwest corner of Marshall 
 county. From William Lewis' house the escaping 
 negroes were usually taken to Chester Duryee's, at 
 Lowell in La Salle county, but occasionally some 
 were sent to Union Grove, a few miles north of 
 Clear Creek, where there lived several sympathiz- 
 ers in the cause of slavery. The Lewises, though 
 Virginians by birth, were thorough abolitionists, 
 and earnest active workers in the cause of free- 
 dom. 
 
 Once, an old gray-headed negro came along who 
 wore a pair of spectacles, one glass of which was 
 gone and the other badly cracked. He was 
 wrinkled and had but little hair upon his cranium. 
 He could give little account of himself save that 
 he had "runned away from marser, on de Knaw 
 way in ole Virginy" and that he had "heered that 
 de norf star would lead him to a Ian' of liberty; 
 and he had follered it ebber since he left Knaw 
 way." He had picked out the brightest star he 
 could find in the northwest, probably Sirius, and 
 thus he traveled mostly by night, heading his 
 course toward that far off luminary. Mr. Lewis 
 gave him better advice and started him on a 
 shorter route. 
 
 Once there came an intelligent black woman, 
 wlKw. back and shoulders yet showed the marks 
 of a recent terrible flagellation at the hands of 
 her master. It was her fourth attempt to escape, 
 and this time she was successful. She reached 
 Canada in safety and wrote a touching letter of 
 thanks to her friends. 
 
 Another slave came to Mr. Lewis' who was so 
 near white as to escape suspicion. He was a 
 blacksmith and worked some time at his trade and 
 got liberal wages. His master in Kentucky was 
 
 his own half-brother. He at length left here and 
 went to Chicago, when his master wrote him a 
 touching letter promising all things that the 
 young man could desire if he would return to the 
 family. The relationship was acknowledged and 
 the family joined in imploring their own "dear 
 Edward" to come home, but he had tasted liberty 
 and breathed the air of freedom and equality. 
 While not doubting the sincerity of his relatives 
 yet he dreaded the possible consequences which 
 the laws then entailed upon a runaway slave and 
 refused to return. This letter was sent to Mr. 
 Lewis whose family still have it in their posses- 
 sion. 
 
 Among the fugitives at different times were 
 several young girls nearly white. They did not 
 escape because of any harsh treatment or indignity 
 but simply to avoid the consequences that slavery 
 was sure to bring upon them sooner or later by 
 being sold to go south, or become the victims of 
 brutal men restrained by no law, moral or Divine, 
 in their treatment of the unfortunate females who 
 added youth, beauty and gracefulness to the other 
 charms of their sex. 
 
 WHITE SLAVES. 
 
 Mr. Morse held the opinion that eight-tenths 
 of all the escaping slaves had white blood in 
 their veins. Among the many who passed through 
 was a pretty young girl with pure blue eyes, thin, 
 evenly-formed features, a straight nose and auburn 
 hair falling in ringlets down her back. It was 
 not kinky or wavy, but in natural curls. 
 
 On another occasion two sisters stopped there 
 who seemed the perfection of grace and loveliness. 
 Their lips were neither too thick nor yet too thin; 
 their skin was fair and their cheeks bloomed 
 with nature's roses; their hair in long ringlets 
 of a light brown color, their feet small and with- 
 out the African heel, the nose Grecian without 
 flaring nostrils, and the eyes a bright tender blue. 
 On one side their parents had been white for 
 generations; on the other a grandmother was 
 partly colored. Themselves and parents belonged 
 to an aristocratic family, but reverses and impru- 
 dent speculations had ruined the estate and tjj^p 
 were about to be sold, and so wisely sought their 
 freedom. 
 
 Afterward came a little girl, so purely pau- 
 casian in form and features, that no one could 
 believe she was aught else. Mrs. Morse was 
 strongly tempted to keep her and finish her educa-
 
 86 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 tion that her mistress had begun^ and adopt her 
 into her family; but fearing to create an attach- 
 ment that might be broken by the Southern master, 
 she let the child go on her way with a devout 
 prayer for her happiness. 
 
 . Another incident occurred a year later at Florid, 
 .in which a slave-catcher was baffled. A couple 
 of slaves, a woman and her daughter traveling 
 by underground railway had reached Wm. M. 
 Stewart's and were stopping for the night. While 
 there, a sharp fellow appeared who claimed to 
 own the fugitives, and demanded them. He, too, 
 remained over night, when, to gain time, Mr. 
 Stewart had him arrested on a charge of at- 
 tempted kidnapping. The slave-hunter familiar 
 with our odious laws, managed his own case and 
 cleared himself, but the woman in the mean- 
 time had been hidden in Geo. McCoy's smoke- 
 house and couldn't be found. They got away 
 safely. Ten years afterward, Mr!. McCoy while 
 passing through Indiana in the timber, passing a 
 neat comfortable cabin, was astonished by hearing 
 his name spoken By a good-looking black woman, 
 who proved to be one of the two above mentioned. 
 She had since married and was in happy circum- 
 stances, and her mother also lived near by and was 
 satisfactorily provided for. 
 
 AARON PAYNE. 
 
 Aaron Payne was a good Christian, but reared 
 in the South he firmly believed in the divinity of 
 slavery, and bitterly opposed the advocates of free- 
 dom. During the anti-slavery excitement an en- 
 thusiastic meeting wes once held at the log school 
 house on Clear creek, north of Magnolia and 
 addresses and sermons on the subject were de- 
 livered by such workers as Benj. Lundy, Owen 
 Lovejoy and Richard Codding. Aaron Payne at- 
 tended one of these gatherings and created a fear- 
 ful explosion by getting up and denouncing the 
 meeting and its object as an affront to the Al- 
 mighty, who had created the negro and condemned 
 the race to be the slaves of the white man, and 
 the institution being of Divine origin, counten- 
 anced and approved by the Creator; in both the 
 old and the new testaments, could not be assailed 
 by human hands without sacrilege and sin. The 
 old pro-slavery preacher was not allowed to finish 
 his remarks, being hustled out of the presence of 
 the offended congregation. Nothing but his per- 
 
 sonal popularity and known goodness of heart, 
 saved him from being roughly handled. He de- 
 parted highly indignant and often afterward re- 
 lated the incident as a grievous and unpardonable 
 offense to himself, as well as an assault upon free 
 speech. 
 
 William E. Curtis, the great newspaper cor- 
 respondent, wrote up an excellent incident familiar 
 to our people in early days under the caption 
 
 NIGGER JIM. 
 
 Down at Ottawa the other day the old residents 
 were telling about the famous episode of "Nigger 
 .Jim" which occurred at that place in 1859, soon 
 after the Dred Scot decision by the United States 
 Supreme Court. A colored man named Jim who 
 had run away from a. plantation in Missouri, got 
 as far as Ottawa which was a station on the 
 underground railway and before he could be 
 passed on was arrested and held for trial under 
 the -fugitive slave law. His owner came on from 
 Missouri, employed able counsel and the case was 
 tried before Judge Caton. The night before the 
 trial a company of citizens gathered as usual at 
 Thompson's drug store which was a popular ren- 
 dezvous and discussed the subject with great in- 
 terest and suppressed excitement. Dr. Hopkins 
 and Dr. Stout, the two leading physicians of Ot- 
 tawa, with James Stout, an attorney, and John 
 Hossack who were among those present, formed 
 a plan which they immediately began to carry 
 out. The next morning the seats along the only 
 aisle in -the courtroom, which led from the main 
 entrance to the bar, wera occupied by selected 
 abolitionists, and other friends of human freedom 
 were detailed to mingle with the crowd ready to 
 act upon a signal: 
 
 The evidence against the prisoner was positive 
 and no one questioned it. There was not a man 
 in town but believed that Jim was a runaway 
 slave and the law as interpreted by Chief Justice 
 Taney of the United States Supreme Court was 
 equally correct and indisputable. Judge Caton, 
 in summing up, stated the law and the facts, al- 
 though he took the liberty to deplore . them. He 
 declared in emphatic language that he was not in 
 sympathy with the proceedings, but under his oath 
 he had no alternative but to uphold and vindicate 
 what he believed to be a wicked law. Therefore, 
 he was compelled to find in favor of the plaintiff
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. _ 
 
 unrighteously took from him, his intellect and his / 
 manhood. 
 
 It may not be out of place in this connection 
 to preserve a present-day poem that has created 
 no small stir in civic affairs, written apropos of 
 Millet's great painting which represents a slave 
 
 and order the sheriff to deliver the fi _ 
 owner and master. 
 
 The court was then dismissed. The prisoner, 
 with his master on one side and the sheriff on 
 the other, started down the aisle. When they 
 were about half way to the door James Stout 
 
 chair and shouted, "Make way for disfigured in facial expression and physical ap- 
 
 climbed upon 
 liberty." 
 
 That was the signal. The men who had been 
 placed on the seats along the aisle quietly stepped 
 in between Nigger Jim and his custodians and held 
 the latter back while others hustled the prisoner 
 out of the door and into a carriage that Major 
 James Campbell had in waiting. Nigger Jim 
 has not been seen in Ottawa since. Of course his 
 master was furious and Judge Caton boiled. with 
 indignation outwardly at the manner in which 
 the law and justice had been trampled upon. 
 James Stout, John Hossack and Dr. Stout were 
 indicted, tried, found guilty and fined one thou- 
 sand dollars each. James Stout pleaded his own 
 cause and, when asked whether he desired any 
 witness to be summoned, demanded that a sub- 
 poena be issued for God Almighty. The con- 
 victed men refused to pay their fines. The money 
 was raised by public subscription, but they de- 
 clined to accept it and served their time in jail. 
 
 These were exciting days and when the call 
 came for men to go forth to preserve the union 
 Putnam county offered her full quota. The war 
 record of the county is alone sufficient to fill a 
 volume, but the matter is touched upon briefly 
 under another head. Many colored people came 
 into the county and at one time there were va- 
 rious settlements of negroes among our inhabit- 
 ants, but they found it less and less agreeable 
 till now there are but two or three families in 
 the county and they reside at Hennepin. There 
 have been several very interesting characters 
 among these sons of Ham. None more inter- 
 esting than Americus Reddick, who by some 
 valiant deed preserved the life of some white girl, 
 who was so impressed with the heroism of her 
 savior that she felt the only way in which she 
 could ever pay him for his heroic deed was by 
 giving herself to him. "Unto them have been 
 born a number of half-breeds, among them a pair 
 of twin hoys who are now in school at Hennepin 
 and they are an intelligent pair. So in the 
 process of evolution the colored man under favor- 
 able conditions is gaining what the white man 
 
 pearance by years and generations of servitude, 
 leaning upon his hoe, a figure representing forcibly 
 the wreck of a human being, which the author, 
 Edwin Markham, has named for Millet's great 
 conception. 
 
 tE MAN WITH THEfHOE. 
 Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans 
 Upon his hoe and gazes at the ground. 
 The emptiness of ages in his face, 
 And on his back the burden of the world. 
 Who made him dead to rapture and despair, 
 A thing that grieves not and never hopes, 
 Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox? 
 Who loosened and let down his lower jaw 
 Whose was the hand that slanted back his brow ? 
 Whose breath blew out the light within his brain ? 
 
 Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave 
 
 To have domain over sea and land ; 
 
 To trace the stars and search the heavens for 
 
 power ; 
 
 To feel the passion of Eternity? 
 Is this the dream He dreamed who shaped the 
 
 suns 
 
 And pillared the blue firmament with light? 
 Down all the stretch of Hell to its last gulf 
 There is no shape more terrible than this 
 More tongued with censure of the world's blind 
 
 greid 
 
 More filled signs and portents for the soul 
 More fraught with menace to the universe. 
 
 What gulfs between him and the seraphim ! 
 Slave of the wheel of labor, what to him 
 Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades? 
 What the long reaches of the peaks of song, 
 The rift of dawn, the reddening of the rose? 
 Through this dread shape the suffering ages look; 
 Time's tragedy is in that aching stoop. 
 Plundered, profaned, and disinherited, 
 Cries protest to the Judges of the World, 
 A .protest that is also prophecy.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 88 
 
 masters, lords and rulers in all lands, 
 Is this the handiwork you gave to God, 
 This monstrous thing, distorted and soul- 
 quenched ? 
 
 How will you ever straighten up this shape ; 
 Give back the upward looking and the light; 
 Rebuild in it the music and the dream; 
 Touch it again with immortality ; 
 Make right the immemorial infamies, 
 Perfidious wrongs, immedicable woes'? 
 
 masters, lords and rulers in all lands, 
 How will the Future reckon with this Man? 
 How answer his brute question in that hour 
 When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world? 
 How will it be with kingdoms and with kings 
 With those who shaped him to the thing he 'is 
 When this dumb Terror shall reply to God 
 After the silence of the centuries? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 POLITICS. 
 
 The political history of Putnam county has not 
 been 'so radical that it differs materially from the 
 political life of any community. Her local mat- 
 ters have always been adriiinistered in a satisfac- 
 tory manner to the people of the community. She 
 has a few times furnished members to the State 
 Legislature. The number has been limited by the 
 fact that she has always been united with some 
 stronger counties in the legislative district and 
 has had to take what she could get. By no means 
 has it been because she did not have men capable 
 of holding the position. Many times in the years 
 past have her honorable citizens had their ears to 
 ine ground waiting for their country's call, but 
 the most ambitious have accepted their fate grate- 
 fully and heroically. We are a part of the great 
 commonwealth of "Illinois, and Illinois' glory is 
 our glory ; Illinois' great men are our great men. 
 Lincoln, Douglas, Grant, Logan, Cullom and men 
 of their stamp were the product of our state. Most 
 of these men" have figured during campaigns in 
 Putnam county, and Daniel Webster at one time 
 considered the territory of sufficient importance to 
 make a speech here. The county, since tji'e organ- 
 ization of the republican party, has been repub- 
 lican, but strange as it may seem t.he offices of the 
 county have been about equally divided between 
 
 the democrats and republicans, which goes to show 
 that political tie's do not bind where personal 
 tastes differ. While space will not 'admit of a re- 
 view of the officers of the county, interesting as it 
 might be, we do wish to enter in this record a 
 list of the first and present official roster : 
 
 County JudgeJohn P. Blake, 1833; Henry C. 
 Mills, 1902. 
 
 County Treasurer James W. Willis, 1833, ap- 
 pointed; Harry E. Raley, 190G. 
 
 Circuit Clerk Hooper Warren, 1831, also Re- 
 corder; Jefferson Durley, 1876-1900 ; J. Linn 
 Downey, 1904. 
 
 State's Attorney Wm. H. Casson, 187?-1888 ; 
 James E. Taylor, 1888. 
 
 County Clerk Hooper Warren, 1831; Amos T. 
 Purviance, 1857-1898; Chas. C. Greiner, 1902. 
 
 Sheriff Ira Ladd, 1831 ; Jasper Cecil, 1906. 
 
 County Surveyors 0. F. Stevenson, 1831 ; Dan- 
 iel B. Turner, 1879, till present time, except six 
 months. 
 
 Coroner Aaron Payne, 1831; 0. F. Taylor, 
 1902. 
 
 County Superintendent of Schools 1831, N. 
 Chamberlain. Called School Commissioner until 
 1865 and then called Superintendent; George W. 
 Hunt;i902. 
 
 It might be said in passing, that the first and 
 last may not include the best always, and we are 
 of the opinion that many of the officials whose 
 names do not appear in this list made equally as 
 interesting and successful history as those here 
 mentioned. 
 
 The men who have represented Putnam county 
 in the State Legislature, who have gone from this 
 county, have been : 
 
 In the Tenth General Assembly Thomas At- 
 water. 
 
 In the Twelfth General Assembly William H. 
 Henderson. 
 
 In the Seventeenth General Assembly E. B. 
 Ames. 
 
 In the Twenty-third General Assembly George 
 Dent. 
 
 In the Twenty-fourth General Assembly 
 George B. Henderson. 
 
 In the Twenty-sixth General Assembly Joel 
 W- Hopkins. 
 
 In the Twenty-seventh General Assembly Jo- 
 seph Iilieinhardt.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COVXTIKS. 
 
 In the Twenty-eighth General Assembly John 
 G. Freeman. 
 
 In the Twenty-ninth General Assembly James 
 T. Thornton. 
 
 In the Thirtieth General Assembly Eli V. Ra- 
 ley. 
 
 In the Thirty-second General Assembly James 
 T. Thornton. 
 
 In the Thirty-third General Assembly James 
 T. Thornton. 
 
 In the Thirty-fourth General Assembly Eli V. 
 Raley. 
 
 In the Thirty-seventh General Assembly Ar- 
 chibald W. Hopkins. 
 
 In the Thirty-eighth General Assembly Archi- 
 bald W. Hopkins. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 PUTNAM COUNTY NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 The first paper published in Putnam county of 
 which we have any knowledge was the Hennepin 
 Journal, established by Dr. Wilson Everett in 
 1837, which was published until December, 1838, 
 when it suspended for want of patronage. 
 
 The Genius of Universal Emancipation was then 
 started in 1845 by Benjamin Lundy, a brief, sketch 
 of whose life appears elsewhere,, but it was soon 
 moved to Lowell, near Ottawa, where it existed 
 only a few years. 
 
 In 1845 Philip Lynch started' a paper in Hen- 
 nepin called the Hennepin Herald; which lived 
 from 1845 to 1848. 
 
 Then came the Hennepin Tribune, in 1856, by 
 Birney and Duncan, which existed for about three 
 years. This was followed by the Putnam County 
 Standard, with Grable Bros, as publishers, in 
 1860. In 1861 the Grable boys enlisted in the 
 army and left the paper in the hands of their 
 father with Thomas Stanton as editor. W. H. G. 
 Birney was also connected with the Standard for 
 a short time. At the close of their terms, of ser- 
 vice, the Gfable boys moved the plant to Wenona 
 and started the Index. 
 
 On the 25th of June, 1868, I. H. Cook issued 
 the first number of the Putnam County Record, a 
 little three column folio 12x18 inches, printed on 
 an Army press, which was continued for one year. 
 In July the paper was enlarged to a six column 
 folio and tlie name changed to the Putnam Rec- 
 
 O 
 
 8$ 
 
 ord. This was on July 23d, l'869, and it continued 
 until 1877 when it was enlarged to a seven column 
 folio, which form was continued until 1882. In 
 1882 a new power press was purchased (the one 
 now in use) and the form of the paper was 
 changed to a five column quarto. One year later 
 an engraved head was put on the paper, which is 
 still in use. 
 
 Mr. Cook has edited an extremely unique peri- 
 odical. Never has he tolerated matter of a politi- 
 cal bias to enter his columns, nor in the history of 
 his paper has he ever mixed in community squab- 
 bles. He has edited a newspaper pure and simple 
 and his subscribers, who are legion, insist that he 
 has run the best paper ever published at Hennepin. 
 Mr. Cook's office is decidedly a condensed curi- 
 osity. In a little room hardly large enough for a 
 private office, he has stowed away all the necessary 
 outfit for successfully carrying forward a newspa- 
 per business. No visitor to Hennepin has seen all 
 the attractions of the place until he visits the Rec- 
 ord office. 
 
 Mr. Cook, who has passed the three-score year 
 and ten mark in life's pilgrimage, still devotes as 
 many hours to his Business as he did in his young- 
 er years. Always agreeable and accommodating 
 we have found him an honorable competitor and a 
 faithful friend. 
 
 A number of papers have been started in Hen- 
 nepin since Sir. Cook's residence there, among 
 which we recall the Hennepin Herald by a Mr. 
 Whitaker. After a seamy existence of a year and 
 a half it sank into Grover Cleveland's famous in- 
 nocuous desuetude. The Epitome, started by A. 
 A. Davis an attache of the Record office, after a 
 brief and rocky effort was transferred to some 
 Dakota town! 
 
 Magnolia boasted of a paper at one time called 
 the Magnolia N'ews, edited in Magnolia and pub- 
 lished in Wenona, but it also followed in the wake 
 of oblivion. The County - r Superintendent of 
 Schools, John M. Boyer, while occupying that 
 office, established the Granville Review, which was 
 published at Spring Valley. The first number 
 appeared iftarch 28, 1891. A very creditable little 
 sheet, spicy and newsy, with a fairly good adver- 
 tising patronage and correspondence from every 
 hamlet in the county. In looking over an old 
 file of the Review which we have in our posses- 
 sion we discover that Mr. Boyer used the columns 
 of his paper for the publication of his official re-
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 ports of visits to the various schools. Some of 
 the comments upon the schools, the ability or lack 
 of ability of the teachers, general appearance of_ 
 the school property and school children make very- 
 interesting reading at this late day and must have 
 created no little furor at the time of publication. 
 Boyer had physical courage and was never thrashed 
 that we have heard of. When he was superin- 
 tendent of schools the work advanced under his 
 administration very rapidly. The Granville Re- 
 view, after about two years' existence, was dis- 
 continued and F. S. Johnston took it under the 
 wing of the Spring Valley parent paper. 
 
 The Granville Echo came into being May 29, 
 1903. A number of newspaper men visited the 
 village, which had taken on new life by reason 
 of the advent of a railroad and coal mines, with 
 the expressed intention of establishing a news- 
 paper for the growing town, but were not the 
 kind of people that the community encouraged, so 
 moved on. 
 
 W. E. Hawthorne, Boyer's successor as superin- 
 tendent of schools of the county, who at the time 
 was engaged in mercantile pursuit, and who had 
 had some little experience in newspaper work 
 believed that the opportune moment had arrived 
 for him to launch his barque on a comparatively 
 untried sea. Therefore, under the management of 
 his brother-in-law, B. B. Blosser, who had been 
 at the head of the Carlinville Republican, the first 
 Echo went out from Granville on May 29, 1903. 
 The enterprise being fostered by all of the busi- 
 ness men of the community and patronized by 
 the people quite generally met with unusual suc- 
 cess from its inception. The editor was a man of 
 rare talent in his profession whose experience 
 covered every phase of newspaper work from er- 
 rand boy to business manager of a city daily, but 
 owing to misfortune not necessary to recount here, 
 we find this new enterprise very fortunate in his 
 misfortune in securing such a man to stand at 
 the helm. Business and circulation increased 
 rapidly, so much so that on December 1, 1905, 
 the proprietor disposed of his mercantile interest 
 in which he had been engaged since the expira- 
 tion of his term as school superintendent and de- 
 voted all his time to the newspaper business. On 
 the 3d day of June, 1906, Mr. Blosser died sud- 
 denly of heart failure. During the year of 1906 
 Mr. Hawthorne was doing the entire editorial and 
 reportorial work of the paper. The ever-increas- 
 
 ing volume of business indicates the favor with 
 which the enterprise has been sustained by the 
 community. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS. 
 
 UNION GROVE. 
 
 The first school at Union Grove was taught by 
 Mrs. Ramsey in a blacksmith shop in the summer 
 of 1831. The building stood about half a mile 
 from the site of the present brick church called 
 the Union Grove church. In the fall of '31 John 
 P. Blake was engaged to take charge of the school 
 and he remained for two years. His building was 
 a log cabin that had been erected by the Presby- 
 terian church society in 1830, a fairly good 
 room eighteen feet square with logs hewn on the 
 inside. Some of the children who attended the 
 school were those of John W. and Stephen D. 
 Willis, Hugh Warnock, J. L. Ramsey, Thomas 
 Gallaher, Mr. Leech, Isaac Stewart, William 
 Stewart and Torrance Stewart. It is also stated 
 that two colored people, a young man twenty-two 
 years of age and a girl twenty years old, runaway 
 slaves, who were staying with James Willis, at- 
 tended this school. The establishing of schools 
 in the adjoining districts and nearness to the vil- 
 lages in this part of the county prevented Union 
 Grove from ever becoming more than a "district" 
 school, which it remains to the present day. 
 
 SCHOOLS AT CLEAR CREEK AND CEN- 
 TER. 
 
 The oldest school in Magnolia township, if not 
 in the county, was built in the fall and winter of 
 1830 and stood on Clear creek about a mile above 
 the camp ground. It was of hewn logs, sixteen 
 feet square, with a hole hewn for a window made 
 by cutting out a log. Its roof was covered with 
 sticks, and C. S. Edwards, the pioneer pedagogue, 
 opened school there January 6th, 1831, and taught 
 until February, 1832. When he commenced teach- 
 ing the building was unfinished, having neither 
 a floor nor a permanent door. It was supported 
 for several years on the subscription plan. The 
 patrons of this first school were Aaron Whitaker, 
 Thornton Wilson, Aaron Payne. David Boyle. 
 Hartwell Haley, George Hildebrant, William 
 Graves, Ashael Hannum and Mr. Studyvin. The 
 average attendance in this school was from ten to
 
 JOHN SWANEY SCHOOL.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 twelve in summer and from fifteen to twenty in 
 winter. 
 
 This school's development was commensurate 
 with the opportunities of the community. Ap- 
 preciating the benefits to be derived from superior 
 instructors, the fathers of the community began 
 importing professional teachers, and the spirit of 
 advancement has grown until today within the 
 boundaries of this district stands an educational 
 monument, unique in its history and prophetic in 
 its consummation, which shall be treated as wor- 
 thy of special mention under the head of the "John 
 Swaney School." 
 
 In the district adjacent to Clear Creek on the 
 east is the famous Center school, formerly called 
 the Quaker school because a large majority of the 
 attendance were Quakers. This district has pro- 
 duced some of the very strongest men of the 
 county; strong in every sense of the word, and 
 this school was known for years as the best rural 
 school in the state of Illinois. It has been cus- 
 tomary, as in the Clear Creek district, to employ- 
 especially qualified instructors ; and students from 
 this school have been admitted without examina- 
 tion to higher institutions in the state. Out of 
 this spirit of intellectual development and thirst 
 for refinement and culture has grown a commu- 
 nity rural in aspect that is equal in intelligence 
 to the educational centers of the state. This dis- 
 trict has had much to do with bringing about the 
 establishment of the John Swaney School and it 
 is now merged with the Clear .Creek and Ox Bow 
 schools into one district the famous 532 school. 
 
 JOHN SWANEY SCHOOL. 
 
 As an introduction to this theme, which has 
 been one of absorbing interest and great import 
 to the entire county during the present year, let 
 us quote from the Granville Echo of March 2, 
 which first announced the plans of its organi- 
 zation : 
 
 Our venerable and esteemed citizen, John 
 Swaney, of McNabb, has planned and promul- 
 gated a scheme by which the community about 
 his home may receive an everlasting benefit and a 
 world-wide renown. 
 
 Lying north of and contiguous to the Grange 
 fair grounds is a splendid tract of twenty-four 
 acres of beautifully located land which Mr. and 
 Mrs. Swaney propose dedicating to the people of 
 
 two or more school districts on condition of their 
 consolidation into one district and the selection 
 of said site for such consolidated school district, 
 within eighteen months from the date of said 
 proposition. Mr. Swaney further proposes to put 
 the plat into special condition after the planning 
 of a landscape gardener, provided that the plans 
 should be after the manner of rural ideals, and 
 not in imitation of city park or flower gardening. 
 
 A gentleman from the state university has been 
 on the ground and has made blue prints of an 
 ideal arrangement of the grounds which the donor 
 endorses as his own ideal of what a rural school 
 premises should be. 
 
 It is specially provided that this platting shall 
 teach to the children and to the whole commu- 
 nity the possibilities of a beautiful rural environ- 
 ment, inspiring a love for nature and a desire to 
 remain on the farm. The idea is unique, the man- 
 ner of acomplishment is reasonable, and the au- 
 thor is able and willing to supply the means for 
 its development. 
 
 Nothing of its character now exists that we 
 know of save by public expense. To be sure this 
 school must be sustained as other schools are, by 
 public tax ; but it will offer superior opportuni- 
 ties to any school system now extant. Think of 
 it, a fine, up-to-date building with campus, ex- 
 perimental garden and field, home for superin- 
 tendent, stables for students' horses, walks, drives, 
 and fountains ; is it not a beautif-ul conception ? 
 Ought not this consummation make country life 
 more attractive, bring child life more in touch 
 with the great heart of nature ? 
 
 And here in this sequestered spot, far from 
 the contaminating influence of the maddening 
 crowd, children may grow to maturity subject to 
 home atmosphere, tinctured and rarefied by con- 
 tact only with this ideal intellectual dispensary. 
 " 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished." 
 
 What a noble purpose ! This patriarch who 
 at best has but a few years' pilgrimage before 
 him, who has no personal benefit to derive from 
 his great plan, is willing to build a monument 
 more enduring than granite shaft, more beneficial 
 to posterity than houses or land, with a portion 
 of his material accumulation, blessing his neigh- 
 bors' children to generations yet unborn. 
 
 Will the people of the community appreciate 
 the opportunity and rise to the demands of the 
 occasion? We think they will. Already a large 
 fund has been raised which is increasing daily
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAI.'SII ALL AM) PITNAM COr.NTIES. 
 
 to be used for furthering the plan. The oppor- 
 tunity to vote on the consolidation will be given 
 the districts to be benefited this spring and it is 
 morally certain that these friends of education 
 whose record has been to spare no expense to give 
 their children the greatest possible advantage 
 obtainable in the premises will endorse the plan 
 of enlargement and thus increase their already- 
 envious reputation for leadership in rural school 
 work. 
 
 Putnam county stands in the first rank in 
 Illinois for the condition of work in the district 
 schools, and carrying to completion Mr. Swanej''s 
 plan for Clear Creek, Center and the adjoining 
 districts will give us a distinction not only in 
 Illinois, but in the country at large, for a mam- 
 moth stride in advance of the most progres- 
 sive rural communities. 
 
 No more beautiful site for such an experiment 
 can be found in our country. 
 
 While it is an experiment in one sense, it is not 
 of a speculative character ; there is no uncertainty 
 about its results. 
 
 There is no life so full of sweetness, so enjoy- 
 able, so conducive to a completed development 
 of perfect, manhood as a life on the farm. To 
 this end our venerable friend proposes the estab- 
 lishment of this ideal country school. 
 
 The matter of the consolidation of the three 
 districts, Center, Clear Creek and Ox Bow, came 
 up for consideration before the trustees of Mag- 
 nolia township at their April meeting and became 
 the issue in the election of a trustee which resulted 
 in the selection of the anti-consolidation candi- 
 date. Seventy-five per cent of the voters in the 
 three districts petitioned for the consolidation, 
 which was rejected by the board of trustees. The 
 matter was appealed to the county superintend- 
 ent, who in an elaborate official ruling setting forth 
 in a concise and exhaustive manner the law and 
 the interest of the question, reversed the decision 
 ->f the trustees and granted the prayer of the 
 petitioners for consolidation. 
 
 After much study, gathering of data at home and 
 abroad, counseling with the state superintendent 
 and authorities legal and scholastic, the county 
 superintendent elaborated an exhaustive opinion 
 which he rendered to the parties interested on 
 Saturday, April 27, 1906, at the Congregational 
 church in Granville. 
 
 Quite a delegation came from the districts in- 
 
 terested and a number of Granville people gath- 
 ci'cil to hear the decision that was to affect for all 
 time the school life of the county. Acting upon 
 the decision of the superintendent, an election 
 was called for a board of directors in the new 
 district, which resulted in the selection as the 
 first board, Willis B. Mills, from Center; John 
 Wilson, from Clear Creek, and Victor Kays, from 
 Ox Bow, a splendid selection to initiate this new 
 plan men of practical experience, of character, 
 of intelligence, and each vitally interested in the 
 success of the enterprise. Proceeding at once to 
 the business in hand, an election was called to 
 vote on bonding the new district to secure funds 
 for the erection of a suitable school building. 
 The people entered into the matter with zeal and 
 a building was soon under way which, at the close 
 of the year, is about completed a beautiful 
 three-story brick structure with all the modern 
 improvements ; light, water and heat in every 
 room ; the most ideal rural school in existence. 
 This season's school work has been carried on in 
 the Grange Hall and the Clear Creek school house 
 a few rods south of the new building under the 
 superintendence" of McNeil C. James of the state 
 university. Thus have the ambitions and dreams' 
 of the promoters of this philanthropic enterprise 
 crystallized into, a magnificent reality, the John 
 Swaney School. 
 
 VILLAGE SCHOOLS. 
 
 MAGNOLIA, HENNEPLN, PUTNAM, FLOE- 
 ID AND McNABB. 
 
 There is no written record that goes to show 
 that any one of these villages ever aspired to be- 
 come seats of learning. No colleges have ever 
 been established and the early schools were all 
 of a private character. While these villages have 
 maintained schools of average standing, none of 
 them has been a leader in school matters. In 
 later days since the establishment of public schools 
 they have held their standards up to the average 
 and are still pushing to the fore. At the present 
 time each village has a graded school with a clas- 
 sified course of study and employs especially quali- 
 fied instructors who give the students a rudiment- 
 ary education. 
 
 In Magnolia and Hennepin lecture courses have 
 been maintained with varied success which have 
 done much for the stimulating of educational in-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNT IKS. 
 
 terests. Hennepin in particular, as the county 
 seat, has been the center of ihany gatherings, po- 
 litical and educational, that have brought to the 
 town educators of superior talent, and as commu- 
 nities, like individuals, are subject to influence, 
 so these villages have kept abreast of the times in 
 matters educational and social. At the present 
 time, in Hennepin and Putnam the spirit of con- 
 solidation is the leading hope of the people, and 
 no doubt at an early date this movement will crys- 
 tallize into something real along this line. Put- 
 nam county as a unit, is well to the fore in school 
 matters and under the leadership of the present 
 superintendent, George W. Hunt, sustained by 
 an intelligent and enthusiastic constituency, she 
 is destined to take front rank in the great com- 
 monwealth. 
 
 JUDSON COLLEGE. 
 
 Mr. Christopher Winters, in the establishment 
 of the village of Mt. Palatine, designed an edu- 
 cational institution and planned and hoped to 
 make it a seat of learning. When he built the 
 first school house it was called a seminary, but it 
 afterward rose to the dignity of Judson College. 
 The probability of the town ever becoming a 
 place of any size depended upon the success of 
 this scheme. The school that was erected was 
 paid for by subscriptions from the farmers in the 
 neighborhood. The building begun in the fall 
 of 1841 was plain and substantial, built of brick. 
 Rev. Otis Fisher, who had done much in the build- 
 ing up of the Granville academy, came to this new 
 field as superintendent. For fifteen years the 
 college flourished and the village grew in popula- 
 tion ; but as is cited elsewhere, the coming of the 
 Illinois Central to Tonica, only six miles distant, 
 caused the .rapid decline of Mt. Palatine. The 
 school, too, ceased to be an attraction and, becom- 
 ing unprofitable, was sold in 1860 to the Catholic 
 people in the vicinity. A condition of the sale 
 between the partjes was that the buyers should 
 maintain permanent school in the building, which 
 they have done thus far, the condition being that 
 in the event of failure to maintain such school 
 the title of the property reverts to the original 
 owners. The Catholics not only use the .building 
 for school purposes, but for church as well. This 
 educational institution began first under a char- 
 ter as an academy, but during the days of Mt. 
 Palatine's prosperity the trustees obtained from 
 
 the legislature a charter as a college. The build- 
 ing cost originally $3,000. 
 
 Among the students who attended this school at 
 one time were the Hon. Thomas Shaw, late judge 
 of this district, and a Rev. Daniel Whittaker, 
 who became a distinguished missionary to Bur- 
 mahu Another distinguished person connected 
 with the institution as' a teacher 'was the poet, 
 Coates Kenney, author of "Rain on the Roof 
 and other poems. 
 
 As a climax to the educational interests of the 
 village it might be said that at this time she sup- 
 ports a fairly good rural school in one of the 
 poorest school buildings in the county. 
 
 HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN GRANVILLE. 
 
 We have a faint recollection of once hearing 
 it stated that a gentleman by the name of Mr. 
 Columbus, from Europe, a long time ago, while 
 out boating, was surprised by a sudden fog preva- 
 lent in those parts which so befogged him that 
 he floated across stream and discovered a new 
 country, inhabited by a strangely peculiar people. 
 It is stated that at the time he named his dis- 
 covery Putnam county, in honor of an Israelite 
 named Putnam, who afterward appeared, fought 
 and died for his country. 
 
 If we remember correctly, it is further stated 
 that this same Putnam, along with some of his 
 neighbors, had a little unpleasantness with an- 
 other crowd at that time considered consider- 
 able, and, although Mr. Putnam's neighbors came 
 out ahead, he lost his head. It appears that about 
 1827 the following parties, disregarding Mr. 
 Columbus' rights by discovery, began occupying 
 that gentleman's territory : Three brothers by the 
 name of Willis, Haws, Rosses, Warnocks, Ishes, 
 Harpers, Mills, Blakes and Wares. Still there 
 were Moores to follow, Gunn, Whitaker, Hopkins 
 and Shepards (by the way, there must have been 
 rich pasturage here in early days, judging from 
 the number of Shepards that pitched their tents 
 here). 
 
 Ministers of the gospel were the first educators 
 on the ground. It was not until 1834 (seven 
 years after the first settlement) that the first 
 school was taught, Miss Burr being the teacher. 
 The "edifice" was constructed strictly acording to 
 specifications, of logs, with a 12x12 auditorium, 
 usually used by Mr. Wafer as a smoke house. 
 
 The first school building erected in the village
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 was the "academy," reminiscences of which our 
 forefathers never tire of recounting. Eev. Nathan 
 Gould, the first Presbyterian minister who settled 
 in the township, was the projector, not only of the 
 academy, but of the village itself. Granville, as 
 we glean it from the records of the olden times, 
 is the fossilized embryo of blighted anticipation. 
 It appears that Eev. Gould was not the only per- 
 son who desired to found the loveliest village of 
 the plain. Eev. Gale, founder of Galesburg, the 
 seat of the Harvard of the west, had followed the 
 star of empire westward till it stood over the 
 enchanted spot dear to the heart of Brother Gould. 
 Failing to persuade Mr. Gould that "that divinity 
 that shapes our ends" had directed him here to 
 father the speculative enterprise of founding a 
 city and college, Eev. Gale moved on, believing 
 there was yet a sacred spot upon which to build 
 his Sweet Auburn. Both gentlemen sought to 
 promote the interests of humanity; both sought 
 to bring within the confines of civilization the roll- 
 ing wealth of the Sucker domain. 
 
 How wisely and how well each had builded time 
 has told. Each in his own peculiar way has en- 
 joyed success ; yet we cannot refrain from express- 
 ing the opinion that had the spirit of union 
 among ministers of the gospel existed then as now, 
 the reverend gentlemen would have united their 
 efforts and their fortunes and today Granville 
 would be the educational center of the whole west 
 and in all probability one of the largest cities of 
 the state, the grand result of the united effort of 
 two great and noble lives. 
 
 In the early days the Academy was a popular 
 institution, being patronized by young people of 
 promise from various parts of the state. 
 
 Her "roll of honor" is resplendent with illus- 
 trious names. Many of her dear boys have played 
 well their parts in the drama of life, as educat- 
 ors, pulpit orators and statesmen. 
 
 Although Eev. Gould but partly accomplished 
 the work he had planned to do, and but saw the 
 alpha of his darling project, he lives today in the 
 glorious results of the efforts and influence he 
 exerted. 
 
 Many admirable characters molded in the prin- 
 ciples of true manhood, whose lives are blessings 
 to humanity, are noble monuments to his honor. 
 
 In 1837 the academy was turned over to the 
 township trustees for the purpose of opening a 
 
 public school. Prof. Otis Fisher was the first 
 principal in charge. 
 
 Miss Lovejoy, sister to the noted Owen Lovejoy, 
 followed Prof. Fisher, who became a celebrated 
 Baptist minister. It is no uncommon thing at 
 the present time to hear praises to the names of 
 these early teachers, who educated not only for 
 time but for eternity. 
 
 Many of Prof. Fisher's students followed him 
 into the ministry and became successful work- 
 ers in that most important field of usefulness. 
 Among those who turned their attention to law 
 and politics were Judge Burns and ex-Governor 
 Beveridge, whose names are familiar in all our 
 homes. 
 
 Continual improvement is necessary to keep 
 abreast of the times. "Onward" is inscribed upon 
 the banner of civilization. Success in the agri- 
 cultural world assures success in the commercial. 
 Agricultural and commercial success depend upon 
 the educational. 
 
 As agricultural and financial success came to 
 Granville township the pressing need of the hour 
 seemed to be a much more commodious building, 
 which under the rushing supervision of Mr. Hiram 
 Colby, was erected in 1869, a structure of impos- 
 ing appearance that could be seen for miles around, 
 the pride and glory of the township. From this 
 building many splendid men and women went 
 forth to engage in the conflict of life to make 
 practical application of the principles imbibed at 
 their alma mater. 
 
 Other schools of good standing coming into ex- 
 istence in various parts of the state, this school 
 gradually narrowed down to the township, still 
 maintaining the same degree of excellence. To- 
 day, Granville boys are filling positions of honor 
 and trust in various parts of the union. To home 
 influences most of their success is attributed; but 
 it is with pride that they refer to Granville as 
 one of the dearest spots on earth, made doubly 
 dear by so many sacred memories of happy days 
 and school-day associations. 
 
 GEANVILLE LITEBAEY SOCIETY. 
 About forty years ago a literary society was 
 organized at Granville, of which the teachers 
 and ministers and the intellectual people gener- 
 ally were members. This society was very much
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 like any other organization that has for its aim 
 the culture and development of the young people 
 of the community. It became one of the fixed 
 institutions of society and all the young people 
 who expected to become something or somebody 
 felt the benefits to be derived from a course in 
 this literary society. Not only did the young peo- 
 ple receive constant drilling and coaching and 
 encouragement, but the maturer ones found here 
 an intellectual arena for mental combat and the 
 preparation afforded the young man has been 
 telling, not only in this community, but in various 
 communities in which they are exercising today 
 their talent. Many young men went out to col- 
 leges and took training in specialized work and 
 are now filling positions of importance in various 
 parts of the United States. In connection with 
 this literary society there developed the Granville 
 lecture course, which had for its object the in- 
 troduction of high-class attractions in the lecture 
 field. Not only speakers, but musicians of su- 
 perior talent and novelty entertainments of a high 
 class were thus presented to the people of the 
 rural community, thus bringing to them the cul- 
 ture and refinement of more favored communi- 
 ties. The very best talent of America has thus 
 been brought before this community. Wendling, 
 Beecher, Joseph Cook, Wendell Philips, Lovejoy, 
 Greeley, Burdette, Moody, Bryan, and in fact 
 nearly all of the great speakers of the country 
 have appeared upon the Granville platform, and 
 thus this lecture course has flourished through 
 forty or fifty years and is still maintained with 
 as much interest and 'enthusiasm as an days 
 goneby. 
 
 Mr. Archibald W. Hopkins, who is now past 
 sixty years of age, is one of the boys who began his 
 career in the Granville Literary society and who 
 for twenty-five years managed the business of the 
 Granville lecture course successfully, who is en- 
 titled to much of the credit for the life of the 
 organization. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 As has been noted heretofore, the religious 
 spirit of the early settlers dominated everything 
 they did. They believed firmly in practical Chris- 
 tianity. They believed in the principles of the 
 
 Sermon on the Mount as applied to life upon the 
 plains. In their private life they conscientiously 
 adhered to the professions they made. In public 
 gatherings they did not forget to recognize their 
 Creator, and in business affairs, honesty was with 
 them not a policy, but principle. Though many 
 of the events that have helped to make the his- 
 tory of the county may conflict with this asser- 
 tion, yet the evidence remains that violation of 
 this principle was the exception, not the rule. 
 One previous historian rolled as a sweet morsel 
 under his tongue the misdeeds of the few men 
 whose lives were not in keeping with the general 
 character of the community. It has been stated 
 that Satan himself once inhabited the heavenly 
 realm but was cast out for lack of affinity and 
 harmony with his environments. Since that time 
 wherever good men have congregated Satan came 
 also in the person of his devotees. While it is 
 proper to cite the deeds of these evil persons to 
 show the reader the harm to follow as natural 
 consequences, that he may avoid them, we cannot 
 feel that in this brief narrative the recounting of 
 the wickedness of these men is in any way inter- 
 esting or necessary. This is particularly true to 
 those who have descended from these progenitors 
 and who, while they cannot be held accountable 
 for the deeds of their ancestors, are the fulfilment 
 of the prophecy, "Visiting the iniquities of the 
 fathers upon the children," etc. 
 
 It has been said that in opening up civilization 
 the Bible leads the way, missionaries push out into 
 the unknown and unclamed regions, the military 
 follows, and civilization is the result. 
 
 As early as the beginning of 1829 a Bible so- 
 ciety was formed at Union Grove church under 
 control of the Presbyterian people; the first Bible 
 society in this part of the state. The officers were 
 James A. Warnock, president; Christopher Wag- 
 ner, vice-president; James W. Willis, correspond- 
 ing secretary; Hugh Warnock, recording secre- 
 tary. 
 
 The territory over which this society had juris- 
 diction originally extended from the Vermillion 
 to the Illinois river, and from Tazewell county to 
 the Illinois on the north. Just what work was 
 accomplished by this society we are not told, but 
 no doubt it was out of their work that sprang the 
 different churches in the limits of their territory. 
 
 Quoting from the first authentic history, Henry 
 A. Ford's work, we find that the first church in
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MAI.'SIIALL AND PUTNAM COUXTIHS. 
 
 the county was the one at Union Grove upon whose 
 historic ground still remains the largest audito- 
 rium in the county. The rear of the building 
 is next to the street and the entrances front the 
 south with doors on either side of the pulpit with- 
 out a hallway. The church-goers stepped abruptly 
 into the presence of the assembly and climbed 
 the elevated floor to their particular stall. Each 
 pew was enclosed and had a door and when the 
 family were once in, the juvenile members were 
 expected to remain, calm and dignified, during 
 the hour and a half or two hour sermon. The 
 interior of the building remains to this day a.s 
 constructed over half a century ago. Over the 
 exterior beautiful ivy vines have grown which 
 , give it much the appearance of an ancient castle 
 ruins. The property is kept intact by a special 
 fund under trustees who have control of the 
 property belonging to the society. Church serv- 
 ices are no longer held in the building, but an 
 ocasional funeral is conducted within its hallowed 
 walls. One appreciates the spirit of the muse 
 that took hold on Gray when he penned his im- 
 mortal Elegy, as he sits in the shadow of this 
 ancient kirk. 
 
 In this cemetery, awaiting the sound of Ga- 
 briel's trumpet, lie many of the forefathers of the 
 community. They have played well their parts, 
 and to them cannot be ascribed too much of the 
 credit for the social condition of the present time. 
 
 Ford says: "The first church erected in Put- 
 nam county was put up in the Grove in 1830 
 a little rude log building in the wilderness, 
 whither the pioneers and their families for miles 
 around repaired for the worship of God. Here in 
 the season of Indian difficulties there was an ap- 
 pearance of the warlike mingled with the devo- 
 tional, as many settlers carried their guns to 
 meeting to guard against surprise from the sav- 
 age foe. A strong religious sentiment pervaded 
 the entire community, and the settlement was 
 named Union Grove in token of the peace and 
 harmony which reigned there, and which it was 
 hoped would abide forever within its borders." 
 
 The church history of the county would of 
 itself make many volumes and in our brief space 
 we cannot particularize. We have not time to 
 elaborate, but let us in a general way take a 
 glimpse at the progress of the church since its 
 organization. 
 
 The early settlers were pre-eminently religious 
 
 people. One of the first things they did was to 
 furnish a place in which to worship. There was 
 no lack of earnest, self-sacrificing ministers who 
 held services at the different private houses, or in 
 .the groves. These services were usually well at- 
 tended and always received the strictest attention. 
 The good these men did was not interred with 
 their bones, but lives after them and bears its fruit 
 to this day. 
 
 Scattered throughoiit the county in the location 
 of the original settlements . there still stand 
 churches in various stages of disintegration. One 
 of the first sects to establish an organization was 
 that of the "Friends" or Quakers, who settled 
 in Magnolia township near Clear Creek as early 
 .as 1833. These people have made .the southern 
 portion of the county famous by their interest in 
 religious and educational matters as well as by 
 their success in agricultural pursuits. Many of 
 the most illustrious names in the annals of the 
 county come from this section. 
 
 This society was broad in its influence and its 
 reputation as an intellectual and religious com- 
 munity was known throughout the entire west. 
 In 1869 they built a large and. convenient meet- 
 ing house where it now stands, and vied with 
 the Union .Grove church in having the largest 
 auditorium in the county. The regular annual 
 meeting draws immense crowds, not only of 
 Friends, but also of their friends of other denom- 
 inations. The organization still stands and holds 
 to the traditions of their fathers, although ma- 
 terially broader and more liberal in their ideas 
 of religious conduct, which is true of most of the 
 modern churches. 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL. 
 
 This church organization first established itself 
 in the county at Hennepin in 1833. The first 
 workers came into the country as missionaries and 
 went about from house to house holding what 
 modern-day people would call cottage prayer- 
 meetings. As interest grew the numbers affili- 
 ating with this society increased until they per- 
 fected a church organization and constructed a 
 modest meeting-house in which they worshiped 
 for a number of years, until 1866, when the pres- 
 ent commodious brick building was dedicated. 
 
 In the vicinity of Granville, Union Grove and 
 Florid the blessings of Christianity were taught
 
 UNION GROVE CHURCH.
 
 PAST AND PKESBNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 101 
 
 by these early day missionaries, among whom are 
 named Eevs. William Royal, a Methodist; Mr. 
 Parker and Edward Haile. There are still evi- 
 dences that the seed sown has been ripening with 
 increasing fruitage. There are today in the county 
 of the Methodist denomination, church organiza- 
 tions at Hennepin, Granville, Magnolia, Strawn's, 
 Putnam and Caledonia. 
 
 CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 In 1845 the Catholic people in the vicinity of 
 the county seat began to hold public religious ser- 
 vices, ministered to by different priests sent over 
 from LaSalle. Antedating this period priests had 
 come up from Peoria and even St. Louis at inter- 
 vals depending upon circumstances, such as deaths 
 or sickness where the last sacrament was desired. 
 Not until 1852 did they erect a church building 
 which was later enlarged, and within the past few 
 years a beautiful brick structure facing the Court 
 House stands as a monument to Patrick Dore, the 
 principal donor and called in his name, St. Pat- 
 rick's Church. 
 
 The only other organization of the denomina- 
 tion in the county is the church at Mt. Palatine 
 which secured the building originally erected for a 
 college and which is treated more fully as Judson 
 College under the general head of Schools. At the 
 very close of 1906 the number of Catholics who 
 have come into Granville have made it possible 
 for them to plan an organization in that place and 
 no doubt within a year a splendid church edifice 
 will be added to the list already given. 
 
 BAPTISTS. 
 
 There are now no active Baptist organizations 
 within the county, though history recounts and 
 many of the oldest settlers distinctly recall several 
 flourishing congregations. As the new settlers 
 came in they brought their religious notions with 
 them and it would seem that they attached more 
 to doctrine and ritualism, three-quarters of a cen- 
 tury ago, than we do today. Nearly all of the 
 leading protestant denominations were represented 
 among the new comers. We find at least three 
 Baptist churches have come into existence, flour- 
 ished and passed away. In 1836, Elder Thomas 
 Powell was the first Baptist minister to preach 
 in Granvillo, holding his services in an unfin- 
 
 ished frame store building erected by James 
 Laughlin which was crowded to the utmost with 
 Presbyterians, Seceders, Cougregationalists and 
 Baptists. Elder Powell had been sent as a mis- 
 sionary by the Baptist Home Mission Society. 
 The people of the community generally were very 
 anxious to have regular religious exercises and 
 they invited the Elder to divide his time between 
 them and his other appointments which included 
 Hennepin, Clear Creek, Payne's Point, Magnolia 
 and on the Vermillion where Streator now stands. 
 There were thirteen Baptists in 'Hennepin and 
 Granville who organized into the Baptist church 
 of Granville. For many years it was one of the 
 most important factors in social life of the com- 
 munity ; it furnished four young men for the min- 
 istry, one of whom went as a foreign missionary 
 and one established a church at the mouth of the 
 Columbia river in Oregon, which was said to be 
 the first protestant church on the Pacific Coast. 
 Very few of the members of this church remain 
 in the county and most of them are identified with 
 other church organizations. A magnificent church 
 bell that was purchased bj general subscription 
 was donated by the organization at its last meeting 
 when it met for disbandment, to the Baptist 
 church at Utica. Many of the oldest settlers claim 
 that this was the sweetest toned bell that ever 
 pealed forth the call to worship. 
 
 The church organizations at Mt. Palatine was 
 established in 1845 and Elder Powell was its first 
 pastor, which goes to show what indefatigable 
 workers these pioneer missionaries must have been. 
 A few of the names- upon that church list still live, 
 but many of their descendants occupy the same 
 territory as that once belonging to their ancestors. 
 
 A Union church, since the passing of the Bap- 
 tists, was maintained for awhile by the people of 
 that vicinity which also having lived out its time, 
 gave place to the present organization which is 
 Congregational. 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN. 
 
 This rich Illinois soil was very productive of 
 good Presbyterian stock, and in the formative 
 period the Presbyterians seem to have been more 
 numerous than any other sect. Particularly is 
 this true in Granville township and Union Grove. 
 At one time there were two branches of the de- 
 nomination in the village of Granville and the
 
 102 
 
 PAST AND PHBSENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Grove church was the great church of the county. 
 The mere mention of the names of the organizers 
 of the church in Granville will serve to -show 
 the strength of character that the infant church 
 must have assumed. There were Mearses, Wares, 
 Pools, Laughlins, Wafers, Nashes, and Shorts. In 
 less than six months after the organization the 
 church was called to mourn the death of one of its 
 first chosen Euling Elders, James Hears. Rev. 
 H. G. Pendleton was the first pastor of the church. 
 The church was torn with dissention by matters 
 of personal interest, especially true was this on 
 the slavery question. Many of the members with- 
 drew from the church and connected themselves 
 with a Congregational church which still exists. 
 The history of this church is quite interesting but 
 unfortunately demonstrates that even those who 
 profess to be imbued with the spirit of the gentle 
 Nazarine may so far forget His example as to 
 bring disrespect upon their profession. But this 
 is not a church history. There does not remain a 
 single active society of this faith in the county 
 today, though the tenets and the pious example 
 of many of these saintly people are among the 
 richest inheritances of the community. 
 
 The Clear Creek congregation of the Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian church was organized by Rev. 
 S. E. Hudson, of Pennsylvania Presbytery, No- 
 vember 26, 1854, A. D., and flourished during 
 the middle of that century, but did not live to see 
 its close. 
 
 CONGREGATIONALISTS. 
 
 Three Congregational churches constitute the 
 complete number of that denomination ever organ- 
 ized in the county, at Granville, in 1850, in Mt. 
 Palatine in 1869, and in Hennepin in 1874. 
 These organizations, as their name implies, were 
 made up on what in the early days was called 
 the broad gauged plan. The ultimate destiny of 
 every religionist is heaven. All the sectarian doc- 
 trines teach this idea. Much as we may differ 
 on non-essentials, there are many general doctrines 
 upon which we agree. This denomination origin- 
 ally was made up of comers from all the other 
 denominations. These three churches still live. 
 The one at Granville being the strongest religious 
 organization in the county. 
 
 The men and women who have stamped their 
 personality most indelibly upon the community 
 life have been church people. For the past third 
 
 of a century the social life of the county has 
 been dominated by the membership of this church. 
 No spirit of clannishness or intolerance prevailed, 
 but rather the higher and nobler tie of Christian 
 fellowship. 
 
 The congregation at Granville erected a fine 
 modern church in 1892 with a seating capacity of 
 500, and often this will not comfortably hold the 
 crowd. The entertainments of the Granville Lec- 
 ture Association are held in this room and while 
 the church does not think that secular matters 
 should be taken into the church as a usual thing, 
 under the existing circumstances, in as much as 
 there is no audience room in the town large enough 
 to hold the patrons of the Course, it is used for 
 that purpose only. No church fairs, or plays, or 
 suppers or anything of that kind for the purpose 
 of raising money to support the church are now, 
 or ever have been tolerated. 
 
 The church at Hennepin has a nice little build- 
 ing, well furnished, with regular services. The 
 church roll bears many of the historic names of 
 the community, who have stood for the things that 
 laiild up a people. 
 
 The Mt. Palatine church has decreased in num- 
 bers by deaths and removals, and no longer sup- 
 ports a resident pastor, but is ministered to by 
 the pastor from the Tonica organization. The 
 church edifice is a fine one, and occupies a com- 
 manding site overlooking the broad expanse of the 
 beautiful prairie homes whose occupants, at the 
 ringing of the angelus, may turn their faces 
 toward Mt. Zion, which Mt. Palatine might well 
 be called. 
 
 In association matters, denominational or un- 
 denominational, of any Christian character, this 
 denomination, true to its name, is ever in the 
 lead. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS CHURCH ORGANIZA- 
 TIONS. 
 
 Owing to the cosmopolitan character of the 
 people of the county in the past few decades, 
 there have come into existence various churches 
 to meet the requirements of these new people. 
 Upon the county line north of Mt. Palatine, in a 
 German community, there exist two German 
 churches, a Lutheran and Evangelical. 
 
 The Lutheran church is just over the line in 
 LaSalle county, but a large area of the parish is 
 in Putnam. This last statement is also true of
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 the Evangelical church. For a quarter of a cen- 
 tury .Rev. Baumann ministered to the Lutheran 
 congregation, a man of rare talent and personal 
 magnetism, who has but recently left the scenes 
 of so many happy and active years. 
 
 The Evangelical church is ministered jointly 
 with the church in Eichland township, LaSalle 
 county, and is composed of a strong, earnest, 
 consecrated membership. 
 
 In the village of Granville a neat little chapel 
 stands as the worshiping place of the Swedish 
 Lutherans of the community which with the in- 
 creasing population is growing in numbers and 
 in influence. It maintains a Sunday school in 
 English, and its whole service is American in 
 character, though the native tongue is spoken from 
 the pulpit for the benefit of the older members. 
 
 At McNabb the Danish citizenship support a 
 church. A very nice, modern structure with a 
 parsonage adjoining and a resident pastor. This 
 organization, too, is wielding an influence increas- 
 ing in extent constantly. 
 
 Within the recollection of the writer, a Dunkard 
 church existed at Florid, but has long since passed 
 away. A nice village kirk stands on an eminent 
 location in the center of the village, where services 
 are held regularly, ministered to either by the Con- 
 gregational pastor from Hennepin or a Presby- 
 terian Theological Seminary student. 
 
 This church maintains a Sabbath school and a 
 Young People's Society, and much of the real 
 social life of the community clusters about the 
 organization. 
 
 One of the strong churches of the county is the 
 Christian organization at Putnam, of whose his- 
 tory we know very little except by their works. 
 M'anv of the influential people of the township 
 are communicants of this body, and in general 
 religious gatherings are ever ready to send repre- 
 sentatives or extend fraternal courtesies to their 
 home church. It is the only church of the denomi- 
 nation ever organized in the county, we believe. 
 
 Ellsworth, in his records, names a denomination 
 as once having existed in Granville called the 
 Emanuel Church of Granville, a union of Evan- 
 gelical and Methodist Protestant denominations, 
 and was organized in 1867. 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 BUEL INSTITUTE. 
 
 As early as 1844 a very interesting Farmers' 
 Institute met in the county, which continued for 
 
 more than two years when it was merged into the 
 Buel Institute, and under this heading we are 
 treating the matters of organized efforts of interest 
 to the agriculturists. 
 
 This was the oldest agricultural society in Illi- 
 nois and the first formed in the entire West. The 
 initiatory steps to organize it were taken at Lowell, 
 LaSalle county, on February 23, 1846. J. S. Bul- 
 lock was the chairman and Elmer Baldwin the 
 secretary. There were four or five farmers present 
 and they resolved to form a society including the 
 friends south of the Illinois river in that part 
 of the county and as many as wished to unite 
 from the counties of Putnam and Marshall. A 
 committee to draft a constitution was appointed 
 consisting of Elmer Baldwin, L. L. Bullock and 
 11. C. Elliott of LaSalle county; Ealph Ware of 
 Putnam county; and William Clarkson of Mar- 
 shall county. Later, on March 18, another meet- 
 ing was held and the constitution was adopted 
 and officers elected. Elmer Baldwin was presi- 
 dent; Ealph Ware, William Clarkson and J. T. 
 Little were vice-presidents; J. S. Bullock, treas- 
 urer; Oakes Turner, corresponding secretary; and 
 L. L. Bullock, recording secretary. 
 
 The next meeting was held in Granville the first 
 Tuesday in June and at this and subsequent meet- 
 ings a hundred and seventy persons joined and 
 paid the fifty cent membership dues into the treas- 
 ury. Arrangements were made for discussing im- 
 portant topics, such as farming, stock raising, fruit 
 growing, etc. These meetings were to be held 
 every three months at places easy of access within 
 the boundaries of the society. 
 
 The question under discussion at the first meet- 
 ing in Granville was "The best mode of cultivating 
 corn." At this meeting an annual fajir was 
 decided upon to be held at Lowell the first Tues- 
 day in October. This society was received with 
 great favor and became a popular social and edu- 
 cational feature, both ladies and gentlemen rid- 
 ing great distances in inclement weather to attend. 
 The meetings for debates were fixed for the first 
 Tuesday of every December, March, June and 
 September, and the place was chosen at the pre- 
 vious quarterly meeting. In 1846 the fair for that 
 year was abandoned on account of the great 
 amount of sickness prevailing throughout the 
 country. The regular meetings were held at 
 Lowell, Caledonia, Point Eepublic, Cedar Point, 
 Granville and Magnolia, in turn, and the
 
 104 
 
 I'AST AM) 1'1,'KSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) ITTXA.M COUNTIES. 
 
 members delivered addresses and read essays, 
 while oral discussions were freely indulged in. 
 
 The second regular fair was held at Granville 
 in October, 1848, and premiums were offered. 
 
 The third fair was held at Lowell and $100.00 
 was voted for prizes. The executive committee 
 was instructed to place on their advertising bills 
 that there would be no horse racing on or near the 
 show grounds. At this time it was concluded that 
 two days were necessary, as the fair had become 
 so extensive that it could not be satisfactorily 
 viewed in one day. 
 
 The fourth fair was held at Granville, and this 
 fair was quite extensively advertised by large 
 "show bills." 
 
 The fifth fair was held at Hennepin and was 
 far more pretentious than any of its predecessors 
 and seems to have been proportionally successful. 
 The treasurer's report showed a balance on hand 
 above all expenses of more than $150.00. To this 
 society belongs the credit of first suggesting a 
 government department of agriculture. The mat- 
 ter was thoroughly discussed by the Institute and 
 the result of the debate was a petition signed by 
 the leading fanners of Putnam, Marshall and La- 
 Salle counties, which was forwarded to the repre- 
 sentatives at Washington, which petition set forth 
 the importance to the country of agriculture, the 
 basis of all pursuits. 
 
 The matter came before Congress and was not 
 only heard but acted upon and the result was the 
 forming of the Bureau of Agriculture. 
 
 These fairs were also held at Peru, but the 
 disadvantage of moving about without permanent 
 building or grounds, the growth of the society, 
 and the importance and increasing size of its an- 
 nual exhibitions made a permanent location neces- 
 sary, and the Society settled upon Hennepin as 
 central and sufficiently accessible from all direc- 
 tions for the purpose. 
 
 These fairs continued many years and were 
 counted as one of the great events of the year, 
 people coming for miles and miles to attend them. 
 But, owing to the development of such organiza- 
 tions at larger centers of population, the Hennepin 
 Fair died a natural death from old age. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 GRANGE FAIR. 
 
 About thirty years ago a movement of general 
 interest to the agricultiirists throughout the 
 
 United States was made, which was known as the 
 Grange movement. True to the spirit of the com- 
 munity, the people of Magnolia met and accepted 
 this new organization and formed a society out of 
 which has grown a general union of thought and 
 effort permeating the whole community life. A 
 spirited and healthy rivalry between the boys and. 
 girls of the community has been encouraged along 
 the lines of mental and professional development. 
 Scientific Agriculture and Domestic Science have 
 become fixed teachings in every home and school. 
 Out of this developed an annual exhibition of the 
 handiwork and the production of their labors. The 
 Grange Fair has become the most important event 
 of the whole year of general interest to the county, 
 and fine fair grounds with the necessary building 
 equipment is maintained, and at the regular an- 
 nual exhibition people drive for miles from all 
 parts of Putnam county and from adjoining coun- 
 ties. We are under obligations to the first secre- 
 tary of this organization for the following infor- 
 mation which we print verbatim as given to us: 
 
 Magnolia Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, was 
 organized February 13, 1873, at Clear Creek school 
 house, Magnolia township, Putnam county, with 
 twenty-one charter members as follows: Thomaa 
 Flower, John Swaney, Sarah G. Swaney, David 
 Swaney, Mary Ann Swaney, Henry K. Smith, 
 Oliver Smith, Amos B. Wilson, Oliver Wilson, 
 Henry Mills, ST., Pusey Mills, Joseph Mills, 
 Thomas K. Mills, Alfred Given, Philonzo Given. 
 Sarah M. Given, Ann Morris, Sarah L. Hoyle, 
 Gustav Otto, Louis Beck and Barnet Swaney. 
 
 John Swaney was elected its first Master and 
 Amos B. Wilson the secretary. The meetings were 
 held for a few years in the school house and the 
 membership increased soon to about seventy-five. 
 Later the abandoned Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church, adjoining the school house, was rented 
 and used for a meeting place. In 1880 the Grange 
 bought the hall and fitted it up, paying largely 
 for it from the proceeds of two crops of potatoes 
 raised in 1879 and 1880, the members donating 
 all the work of plowing, planting, harvesting, and 
 each member donating a chair for furnishing the 
 hall after the old pews and seats were taken out, 
 since which time, now over twenty-six years, the 
 Grange hjas never failed to meet, and hold a meet- 
 ing Saturday afternoon of every alternate week 
 with a membership enrollment of from 75 to 120 
 during the whole time. What of good or ill, and
 
 PAST AM) IMtKSKXT OF MARSHALL AM) IM'TNAM CO! NT! KS. 
 
 105 
 
 the inllueiu-e it has exerted over the community, 
 the public must decide. 
 
 About twenty-two years ago the Magnolia 
 Grange instituted what is now known as the Mag- 
 nolia Grange Fair, which has gradually grown each 
 year to its present proportions. Its management 
 is entirely within the Grange. A board of nine 
 directors, three of which are elected each year by 
 the Grange, have the entire management and con- 
 trol of the Fair, and the object has been to give 
 the county a strictly dean country fair without 
 the objectionable features that characterize many 
 of the county and other fairs elsewhere. It is, 
 however, only fair to state here that this fair could 
 never have reached its present proportions and in- 
 fluence had it not been for the hearty support, 
 liberal exhibits, and charitable appreciation of the 
 efforts of the Grange by a generous, sympathetic, 
 true and honest-minded public. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 GAME. 
 
 BY J. 0. WINSHIP. 
 
 Early settlers found game abundant in Putnam 
 county. Deer were so plentiful that they were 
 often shot from the door of the settlers' cabins 
 and with a little hunting, deer could be killed 
 at any time. Later it was necessary to have a 
 track in the snow and follow the trail until the 
 game was captured. Wild turkeys were so numer- 
 ous that there was nearly always wild turkey on 
 the table on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New 
 Year's, and in fact whenever the pioneer had 
 time to shoot them. They were often captured in 
 rail pens. A wild turkey will never go under 
 anything if he knows it. Eail pens were built 
 on sloping ground and well covered, on the lower 
 side a little space was left next the ground. These 
 were built of old rotten poles and sticks and very 
 inconspicuous. Corn was scattered on the lower 
 side of the pen and a trail of corn up into the 
 pen. The turkeys would be so intent on eating 
 the corn that often several of them would follow 
 the train of corn up into the pen by feeding with 
 heads down ; once inside, xip would go their heads 
 and nothing could induce them to go out at the 
 place where they came in. 
 
 As the settlers grew thicker the deer and wild 
 turkeys grew thinner in number and in about 1880 
 ciiiiivlv disappeared. There was a tradition among 
 
 the Indians that buffalo were plentiful. That 
 about fifty years before the white settlers came, 
 during a very hard winter, they nearly all perished 
 and that the survivors soon left and were seen no 
 more. Buffalo bones and horns were sometimes 
 found by the early settlers. 
 
 Prairie chickens were so abundant that a few 
 steps from the house would secure a mess any 
 time. 1 have seen thousands in a single flock. 
 Have seen houses, barns,, corn-cribs and shade 
 trees literally covered with them ; now only a few 
 lonely specimens are left. Quail were always un- 
 certain quantities. There would be very great 
 numbers of them and then a hard winter would 
 kill them by thousands ; several years would elapse 
 before they were plentiful again. The pheasant is 
 a product of civilization. Owing to the destruc- 
 tion of the undergrowth by fire, the early settler 
 found none here, since the second growth of tim- 
 ber and brush has grown a few have come in. 
 Rabbits have also increased with civilization. Wild 
 pigeons were so numerous that flocks often a 
 mile long were seen. They were caught by thou- 
 sands in nets by feeding for a few days in a 
 selected spot and using stool pigeons as decoys. 
 They entirely disappeared about 1885, not only 
 from Putnam county but from the United States 
 as well. Their sudden disappearance is a mystery 
 to naturalists. 
 
 In early days sand hill cranes were numerous. 
 They always migrated by flying in circles, and 
 continually uttering their doleful cries. They 
 have disappeared from Putnam county but are 
 still seen in the western states. 
 
 Swans, two varieties of geese, brants and sixteen 
 kinds of ducks were so plentiful that it was little 
 sport to shoot them. All that a family could use 
 could be had in a few minutes. In early days they 
 were not considered good eating in comparison 
 with turkeys or venison and were very little sought. 
 Duck calls, decoys, breech-loading shot-guns and 
 nitro-powder have about exterminated these once 
 plentiful game birds. The city sportsmen have 
 rented or bought the marshes, have employed 
 watchmen to keep the farmers' sons off the pre- 
 serves, fed the game until they have become tame, 
 then slaughtered them for the pure love of killing. 
 I have seen hundreds of these birds killed and 
 hung up for the carrion birds to devour. Among 
 the smaller game, snipe and woodcocks were nu- 
 merous. A few pelicans have been killed in the
 
 106 
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 county and many other water birds and wooders. 
 Song birds were very numerous but are disap- 
 pearing and with their disappearance, the worms 
 and insects are taking possession of our fruit. 
 
 Wolves, foxes, lynx, wildcats, racoons, skunks, 
 opposums, otter, mink and muskrats were a men- 
 ace to the settlers' poultry and young domestic 
 animals. Minks and muskrats are still quite 
 numerous. 
 
 Wolves, foxes, lynx and wildcats were hunted 
 with hounds; racoons were hunted at night with 
 any kind of a "coon dog" always "the best dog 
 that ever treed a coon." In October and Novem- 
 ber the raccoons would fatten on any cornfield 
 near the timber, always feeding at night. The 
 coon hunters would circle the fields and the dog 
 would soon strike the trail and follow it silently 
 until the 'coon took to a tree. The excitement 
 would cause the creature's eyes to glow like two 
 balls of fire, and the pioneer seldom failed to plant 
 a bullet in the creature's brain even in the dark- 
 est night; in fact, they claimed the darker the 
 night the better. 
 
 Wolves had to be shot while on the run, the 
 hunter stationing himself where the animal was 
 most likely to pass. Gray foxes were treed, red 
 foxes took to holes in the ground. Foxes were 
 often chased for the sport, but were seldom killed. 
 In late years there has been a bounty on foxes and 
 now they are killed whenever possible. Wildcats 
 and lynx are now seldom seen ; foxes are still 
 numerous ; otter have disappeared. Most fur ani- 
 mals were easily caught in traps. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 RAILROADS. 
 
 As an introduction to this theme we quote Ells- 
 worth in 1880: 
 
 "The County of Putnam is wholly destitute of 
 railroads, and this want of a means of transit 
 has led to several expensive schemes, thus far with- 
 out any result ; prominent of which is the building 
 of a line from Bureau Junction through the coun- 
 ties of Putnam, LaSalle, Grundy, Will and Kan- 
 kakee. It was agitated in 1868-9, and meetings 
 were held at different points along the line' in the 
 spring and summer. Putnam county voted to 
 subscribe $125,000; Granville added $10,000; 
 Round Grove $15,000; Dwight $30,000; Tonka 
 $50.000; LaSalle and Livingston counties to- 
 
 gether gave $205,000; Bureau $10,000; and Kan- 
 kakee $165,000, making a grand total of half a 
 million dollars. In Putnam county the first vote 
 of $75,000 had been nearly unanimous for the 
 stock, but when the company demanded an in- 
 crease of $50,000 more, the people were not quite 
 so eager. The question was submitted to the vo- 
 ters February 8, 1870, and the result was: For 
 the additional sum, 475 votes; against it, 350. 
 February 26, 1870, the road made an assessment 
 of three per cent upon its capital stock, a sum 
 that though small, was not very cheerfully given. 
 
 "Magnolia had been deeply moved for and 
 against the project, and much bitterness of feeling 
 resulted. Finally they voted to subscribe, provided 
 the company would build eight miles of the road 
 in this township, the work to be completed to the 
 eastern terminus before the bonds should be is- 
 sued. This well guarded provision proved their 
 safety. The road was graded in many places in 
 Putnam county and large sums of money ex- 
 pended in the work, but the company failed in 
 making expected loans, and it was never finished, 
 its history being that of many other roads in the 
 West, where people subscribe bonds in advance of 
 the completion of the enterprise. The county, 
 though deeply swindled, is paying her obligations 
 in full, thereby setting an example that wealthier 
 corporations might copy with profit." 
 
 It would seem that this historian was not al- 
 ways particular as to relative events. In another 
 chapter, pertaining to the settlement of Senach- 
 wine township, he plainly states that the Bureau 
 Valley railroad was built? through the township in 
 1855, which served as an impetus to the rapid de- 
 velopment of the community. This road con- 
 nected the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific at 
 Bureau with Peoria, now a division of that great 
 system, and is the first railroad of which Little 
 Putnam can boast. The Kankakee line, which 
 cost the county so much in taxes, of which many 
 of the present generation distinctly remember by 
 the taxes they paid, was never built though the 
 moss-covered grade crosses Magnolia and Henne- 
 pin townships, remaining as monuments of what 
 was to be. In 1900 the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa 
 Railway following the original Kankakee survey 
 until it came into this county, and having for a 
 number of years operated as far west as Streator, 
 extended its line across Putnam county into Bu- 
 reau to connect with the Chicago, Burlington
 
 SENACHWINE LAKE.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 109 
 
 and (Jiiim-v east of Princeton at a place named 
 Zearing, in honor of Louis Zearing, a former 
 State Senator of this district. This road enters 
 the county at exactly the center of Magnolia 
 township on the county line and runs in a north- 
 westerly direction for about three miles where it 
 turns and runs due north for five miles and then 
 to the northwest in a circuitous route to the Illi- 
 nois river, thus entering all the townships on the 
 east side of the Illinois. 
 
 On the farm of John McNabb, Judge of the 
 county at that time, a town has been established 
 and named in honor of the Judge, McNabb. The 
 Judge had much to do in assisting the company 
 to survey its right-of-way across the county and 
 had no small influence with the company in the 
 establishment of its route. 
 
 (iranville, the little staid village that had a his- 
 tory because of its imique personality, in modern 
 phraseology, was "help up" for $1,500 that it 
 might secure a station within the village limits. 
 
 In securing the right-of-way, the company paid 
 what was at that time considered a very liberal 
 price to the farmers for their land, and made 
 sucli stipulations as were demanded as to fences, 
 farm crossings, etc. 
 
 With the coming of the railroad came a new 
 spirit of commercial interests to the entire com- 
 munity which is elaborated in the comments on 
 Granville. This road was operated under its 
 charter until April 10, 1906, when it was merged 
 with the Indiana Harbor road into a new line 
 called the Chicago, Indiana and Southern and be- 
 came a part of the New York Central system. 
 This road serves as an outer belt line for Chicago 
 as it crosses nearly every road that runs into the 
 great metropolis and has become a great seaboard 
 outlet for western freight. 
 
 In 1904 and 1905 a coal railroad that had for 
 its purpose the connecting of the Devlin coal in- 
 t en 'sis in Bureau, Putnam and Marshall counties, 
 mas constructed. The southern point was at 
 Toluca on the Santa Fe railroad in the eastern 
 portion of Marshall county. Its course is to the 
 northwest : passing directly through the village of 
 Magnolia, it follows the timber line to the west of 
 the fair grounds and circles to the east to McNabb. 
 From this point it parallels the Chicago, Indiana & 
 Southern until it reaches Granville, which point 
 at the present time is its northern terminus, and 
 owing to the financial failure of Charles J. Devlin, 
 
 the promoter, the road has gone into the hands of 
 a receiver and what disposition will be made of 
 it is not known. It has furnished very convenient 
 accommodations for the eastern side of the county 
 and added materially to the freight facilities of 
 the villages on its line. 
 
 The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad 
 Company, having completed its own line as far as 
 Seatonville in Bureau county, eleven miles north 
 of Granville, leased the right-of-way of the "Three 
 I" to McNabb and in 1904 began running trains 
 to McNabb. The St. Paul Coal Company had con- 
 structed a spur from the "Three I" tracks in Gran- 
 ville to their shaft half a mile west, and owning 
 thousands of acres of coal lands in this part of the 
 state, it may easily be seen what their object was 
 for constructing their line into this territory. 
 
 In 1906 the Oglesby and Granville railroad was 
 completed. This is a short line connecting Gran- 
 ville with the Illinois Central and the Chicago, 
 Burlington & Quincy at Oglesby, LaSalle county. 
 Thus it will be seen that the statement our previ- 
 ous historian made as shown in our quotation, that 
 Putnam county is destitute of railrodas is no lon- 
 ger true. Not only are the roads named operating 
 and doing an immense business, but there is at 
 present a prospect of at least two new roads en- 
 tering the county in the near future; one from 
 Peoria follows the river, through Hennepin and 
 on the northeast. The other is still "in the air" 
 and may result in an air line. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE COAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 Illinois ranks first in the Union in her produc- 
 tion of corn and her reputation as a bituminous 
 coal producing territory is rapidly forging to the 
 front as well. "The Coalfields of Illinois" has be- 
 come a stereotyped term in commercial parlance. 
 
 The St. Paul Coal company which is auxiliary 
 to the St. Paul Railroad company, having secured 
 thousands of acres of coal land in Putnam and 
 LaSalle counties, sunk their first shaft in this 
 part of the state at Granville in 1903. Newspa- 
 pers are the chroniclers of historical events. By 
 referring to the Granville "Echo" files w r e extract 
 the following account of this event : 
 
 "A Red Letter Day ! Granville Coal Shaft is 
 formally opened. June 25th the eventful day. 
 With ceremonies befitting the occasion, the St. 
 Paul Coal Co. breaks soil for shaft No. 1.
 
 110 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 "At two o'clock p. m. on Thursday, June 25, 
 1903, the new mine of the St. Paul Coal Company 
 just west of Granville was dedicated with appro- 
 priate ceremonies improvised only a few hours be- 
 fore upon the announcement of Superintendent 
 Cherry that he would begin to sink the shaft after 
 dinner on that day. The Granville Band led the 
 procession from town. 
 
 "Mr. C. B. Peck, the local head of the coal com- 
 pany had prepared a platform and erected a pole 
 from which "Old Glory" floated proudly to the 
 gentle breeze. , 
 
 "Mr. Peck introduced W. E. Hawthorne as mas- 
 ter of ceremonies, who presented each number on 
 the programme with short appropriate comment: 
 
 Music Granville Band 
 
 Quartet Ladies' Celestial Choir 
 
 Address George W. Hunt 
 
 Turning of soil with a golden spade. . .C. B. Peck 
 
 Vocal Selection Celestial Quartet 
 
 Remarks C. B. Peck 
 
 Music Band 
 
 Address Judge Martin, Topeka, Kan. 
 
 Music Baiid 
 
 "Then everybody throw out a shovelful of dirt- 
 women and children, as well as men and the 
 ceremonies were declared closed. 
 
 "There was a large and enthusiastic crowd in 
 attendance, and everybody pronounced the dedi- 
 catory program a decided success." 
 
 During the construction part, a great deal oi 
 speculation was entered into by the citizens of the 
 county, as to whether it would be for the better- 
 ment of community life. The class of people wiio 
 follow mining as a business, coming as they do 
 from all parts of the world, and bringing with 
 them their customs and habits, introduced into the 
 Staid old community like Granville, produced a 
 revolution in social conditions. But our theme is 
 the Coal Industry. 
 
 The St. Paul Company erected a magnificent 
 modern plant over their shaft, putting up brick 
 buildings and a steel tipple. A splendid write-up 
 of the shaft at Granville in the "Black Diamond" 
 the miners' journal, published in Chicago, pro- 
 fusely illustrated and elaborated this mine as being 
 one of the best in the state. 
 
 The shaft does not hoist coal for commercial 
 purposes. It does supply the local demand at the 
 shaft but its principal object is to secure coal for 
 the St. Paul Railway Company which it hauls out 
 bv the train load. 
 
 The company is at present working the third 
 vein which is about 500 feet below the surface. 
 The underground plans are modern in every p >r- 
 ticular. The main drives are electric lighted and 
 the mine being a dry one the works are easily 
 kept in splendid condition. The amount of coal 
 hoisted per man is equal to the average anywhere 
 else. The capacity of the shaft when in full 
 working operation is about 2,000 tons per day, 
 employing below and about the works from 700 to 
 1,000 men. 
 
 The second shaft in the county was sunk by the 
 B. F. Berry Coal Company two miles east of Gran- 
 ville and exceeds the St. Paul shaft very litile in 
 size. The whole shaft, like No. 1, is modern in its 
 equipment. No shacks ; no wooden buildings exist- 
 ing, but all their structures are brick and steel. 
 
 This shaft is located on the Oglesby & Gran- 
 ville Railway and its output goes to the Milwau- 
 kee. Prospecting drilling having taken p'ace in a 
 number of other places in different portions of the 
 county in Magnolii ard Hennepin townships and 
 also in Granville tov.jiship, there is no question 
 but what a number of other shafts will be sunk 
 within the next few years, and Putnam county 
 will become celebrated for her coal fields, as the 
 quality of the production is superior. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 INCIDENTS. 
 
 "A FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON 
 PARTED." 
 
 Of James Willis this story is told: In the 
 spring of 1830 he returned to his former home to 
 settle up some business and on his way stopped 
 at a wayside house of entertainment, where he 
 made the acquaintance of a traveler, looking up, 
 as he said, a location. As usual in those days, 
 the men made known their respective businesses, 
 and Mr. Willis stated that he had been quite suc- 
 cessful in closing up his affairs, and was convey- 
 ing home the results. He had some ready money 
 and proposed to improve his farm, and was on 
 the lookout for a suitable man to engage. The 
 stranger listened with interest and replied that 
 he thought some of visiting the Illinois country, 
 and that if Mr. Willis would giv<j him a job he 
 would change his route and accompany him home. 
 A bargain was easily made, and the next morn- 
 ing the two started out, Willis riding his horse 
 and the stranger on foot. In this way they passed
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the settlements and entered on an extensive prai- 
 rie, Willis occasionally giving his companion a 
 ride and walkjng himself. As they journeyed 
 along a deer sprang up and the stranger asked to 
 shoot it. His request was granted, but, though 
 the chance was good, the fellow didn't fire, say- 
 ing he couldn't "get the hang of the tarnal thing." 
 Not long after they again changed, Mr. Willis 
 resuming his gun. The money was carried, be it 
 known, in a pair of saddlebags behind the saddle. 
 After mounting the stranger rode off leisurely 
 but in a gradually increasing gait until a suffi- 
 cient distance was gained, when he raised his 
 hat, bade Willis good-by, and rode off at a gal- 
 lop. Willis brought his fusee to his face and or- 
 dered him to stop, but the powder had in the 
 meantime -been removed from the pan, and it 
 would not go off. He turned off the regular road 
 and was soon lost to view. Willis, meantime, 
 pushed on as hard as he could. A dozen miles or so 
 ahead was a settlement where he was known, and 
 a few hours sufficed to gather a crowd of trusty 
 men on horseback, and after a sharp chase of thirty 
 miles the thief was turned over to the sheriff 
 of the county, and Willis proceeded homeward. 
 There was no jail in the county and the sheriff 
 took his prisoner home, placed shackles on his 
 limbs and kept him in his own house. The fellow 
 took the arrest quite coolly, and appeared to be 
 not at all displeased with the arrangement. It 
 was the beginning of a hard winter and the pros- 
 pect of comfortable quarters was not at all dis- 
 pleasing. He read and sang and played the fid- 
 dle, and made himself both agreeable and useful. 
 Finding his landlord's household needed shoe- 
 ing, he made it known that he understood the 
 whole art 6f cobbling and said that if his enter- 
 tainer would furnish the leather he would do the 
 work. It was done, and the good-natured thief 
 made shoes for the whole family while chained 
 by one leg to his work bench. One stormy day 
 the sheriff was absent and none about the prem- 
 ises but women, the cattle broke into the field 
 where the corn was in shock and the acommodat- 
 ing fellow unlocked his shackles with an awl, 
 drove them out, and then replaced the irons on 
 his legs as iisual. Toward spring he grew uneasy, 
 and as court was about to convene, he told his 
 entertainers that his health was failing, and was 
 afraid they would have to part. So, removing 
 his shackles in their absence, he left. 
 
 CHIEF SHABBONA EXCITED. 
 
 Somewhere about 1831, a minister named Jesse 
 Hale came to Hennepin to establish a mission 
 among the Indians. He was a man of simple 
 faith and very earnest, believing himself able to 
 convert and civilize them if only a hearing could 
 be obtained. Old Louis Baley was sent for as 
 an interpreter, and the Indians came from far 
 and near. Hale mounted a stump in the woods 
 below Hennepin and harangued his dusky audi- 
 ence for an hour. When the interpreter had trans- 
 lated the last sentence into the Pottawatomie dia- 
 lect, old Shabbona came forward and, motioning 
 silence, said : "To what white preacher say, I 
 say may be so ! Are all white men good ? I say, 
 may be so. Do white men cheat Indians? I say, 
 may be _so. Governor Cole gave me, Shabbona, 
 hunting grounds, and told me to hunt. Your 
 big White-sides ( Genera.! Whiteside) come along 
 and tell Shabbona puck-a-chee (clear out)." Here 
 the angry chief exhibited his papers bearing the 
 signature of the governor and the great seal of 
 the state, and, throwing them on the ground, 
 stamped them with his feet. Hale tried to pacify 
 the indignant chief by saying that "Whiteside is 
 a bad white man", whereupon Shabbona retorted : 
 "If white man steal Indian's land, hang him." 
 Hale thought he meant himself, and he fled 
 through the bushes for town and never sought to 
 convert an Indian again. 
 
 "QUEEN ANN" AND MOSQUITOES. 
 
 The year 1849 will be remembered by the old 
 settlers for the great prevalence of bilious dis- 
 eases. It was known- as the "sickly season." It 
 was ushered in by a wet, dismal spring, a back- 
 ward summer and very high water in June, run- 
 ning down in August and leaving ponds of stag- 
 nant water everywhere to rot and breed pestilence 
 and death. Ague was universal, even far out on 
 the pariries among the few settlements that had 
 been attempted in the wilderness of grass and 
 sloughs. Along the river, bottoms and the bor- 
 ders of streams ague was universal, continual, un- 
 relenting and incurable; never yielding to any- 
 thing but its higher type of bilious or intermit- 
 tent fever, either of which in those days very fre- 
 quently ended the patient's career. 
 
 The people were poor in every sense of the word.
 
 PAST AM) IMtKSKNT OK MARSHALL AND 1TTXAM 
 
 Ragged, shrunken of form, living skeletons, with 
 nothing to eat, nobody to cook it, and not appetite 
 to eat if food were cooked. The prevailing mal- 
 ady not only affected human beings, but even dogs 
 and cats dragged their hollow carcasses into the 
 sunlight and trembled and shook as if stricken 
 with the dread contagion. The calves got too 
 poor to bawl, the cattle, neglected, roamed off 
 to the timber, and the very chickens seemed to 
 crow with melancholy languor. Of course, these 
 were exaggerated descriptions of the general com- 
 plaint, but several of our old physicians, who were 
 then young men, who went forth to battle with 
 the universal malady, still instist that the accounts 
 cannot be overdrawn. During the great freshet 
 in the spring one or two steamboats and wrecks 
 of others were seen in the cornfields between Ot- 
 tawa and Hennepin t>y Dr. Perry, who soon after- 
 ward had occasion to note the "tallow-faced" peo- 
 ple he met. All were sallow, hollow-eyed, blue- 
 lipped and ready to shake on the slightest provo- 
 cation. Children died of the fever and dys- 
 entery, and quinine, or "queen ann," as they 
 called it, was the staple diet of everybody. A 
 storekeeper of a neighboring county said that re- 
 gion produced two articles, "queen ann and mos- 
 quitoes." The mosquitoes were pests of the most 
 aggravating character, and, owing to the extent 
 of their breeding places from the unusual over- 
 flow and the consequent stagnant water, their in- 
 crease favored, too, by a fiercely hot sun, the 
 winged messengers of sharp bills swarmed and 
 grew to monstrous proportions, and as the modern 
 appliances of screens and mosquito bars were un- 
 known then, the miserable victims of the double 
 affliction were defenceless indeed. 
 
 But there is no evil without its corresponding 
 good. The great floods drove the ducks out upon 
 the ponds in the edge of the prairie, where they 
 reared large flocks. They swarmed the country 
 everywhere, and became so numerous and so ac- 
 customed to the new haunts of stubble field and 
 corn that the settlers had no trouble in supplying 
 themselves and neighbors with duck meat in 
 abundance. 
 
 where, is told by his descendants. Previous to 
 his removal to Putnam county he resided in Mad- 
 ison county, in this state, where in 1824 they 
 were greatly annoyed by a band of thievish, 
 impudent Indians, encamped in the vicinity. Hav- 
 ing previously sold their lands to the government, 
 and consented to emigrate beyond the Missis- 
 sippi, application was made to the Indian agent, 
 who sent a company of soldiers to order their 
 removal. The former were few in number, while 
 the Indians were well armed and supplied with 
 ammunition, and the advantages if force were 
 resorted to would be all on their side. In this 
 predicament a ruse suggested by Mr. Durlev was 
 tried and proved entirely successful. Accom- 
 panied by his son James, now of Hennepin, he 
 rode over to the Indian village, with the chief of 
 which he was on friendly terms, and told him 
 the purpose of the great father, who had sent a 
 thousand warriors with orders to kill all the In- 
 dians who had not left the country as agreed 
 in their treaty, adding that in half an hour they 
 would pass in front of Sugar Loaf hill, a small, 
 conical eminence a mile from the Indian village, 
 and near which they were to camp. He advised 
 the chief to leave, or, doubting his word, to hide 
 among the trees and count the soldiers. 
 
 Soon after the troops appeared, marching slowly 
 in front of the hill, and running at full speed 
 on the opposite side, so as to keep the show in 
 front continuous. In this way the duped chief 
 was deluded into counting thirty or forty men 
 over and over until they numbered thousands, 
 when he broke for the camp, hastily packed his 
 ponies, and left helter-skelter for the Mississippi 
 river, followed by the soldiers at a safe distance 
 all night. While crossing the Illinois river the 
 Indians were fired upon by the troops and several 
 killed. A pony on which was strapped seven 
 little Indian children was shot and its load of 
 infants all drowned. 
 
 DURLEY'S STRATAGEM INDIANS SEE 
 
 DOUBLE. 
 
 One of the first merchants of Hennepin was 
 John Durlev, and the following incident in 
 which he was a'n actor, though occurring else- 
 
 SOAP AND WATER OBJECTIONABLE. 
 
 In 1832 few settlers came into the country, and 
 many who were here, alarmed at the prospect, 
 abandoned their claims never to return. After 
 the war was over, a few came in, among whom 
 were Isaac D. Glenn, Henry Hartenbower and 
 Henry Studyvin. Also, Isaac Ash, George Griffith 
 and William and Joseph Hoyle.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AM) 1TTXAM COCNTIKS. 
 
 113 
 
 Joseph Hoyle moved into a cabin built by Mr. 
 Gunn, who afterwards moved to La Salle. It was 
 quite primitive in character, having been built 
 during ihc Indian war excitement and had port 
 holes for defense. It was sixteen feet square 
 and had a "shake" roof and the old-fashioned 
 chimney with dried clay hearth. Mrs. Hoyle, a 
 Quakeress, and, like her friends, noted for clean- 
 liness and tidy surroundings, undertook to polish 
 up with soap and water the clay hearth, not doubt- 
 ing that she could make it clean and white, \mtil 
 it assumed the consistency of a sort of mortar bed, 
 when she perceived her error and abandoned the 
 task with disgust. 
 
 MAKKIED UNMARRIED REMARRIED 
 MUCH MARRIED. 
 
 In 1833 there were eleven families, all told, 
 in Hennepin, half a dozen marriageable females 
 and about forty eligible bachelors and widowers. 
 Of course the former were in great demand among 
 the young settlers wanting wives, but the widow- 
 ers had the inside track and carried off the best 
 ones. In those days an extensive trip and wed- 
 ding outfit was not thought of, for both parties 
 meant business and proceeded in a business way. 
 The groom prepared his cabin for its new occu- 
 pant and she, dressed in a clean calico dress, 
 with hair nicely combed, was ready for the cere- 
 mony. Next the services of a minister were 
 invoked, a few friends called in, and a bountiful 
 supper of venison and johnny cake concluded the 
 festivities, after which the bride was conducted 
 to her new home and their married life began. 
 For ten years there was a marked scarcity of 
 marriageable women, and the first indictment in 
 the county was made against a man for having 
 two wives. The culprit, a man named Hall, lived 
 in the vicinity of Hennepin. in a small cabin, 
 and claimed to be lawfully married to the two 
 .women with whom he lived, and that his religious 
 views justified his conduct. 
 
 The jurymen, who were mostly bachelors, 
 thought it smacked too much of monopoly and 
 some favored hanging as an example for the fu- 
 ture, but their advice was not taken. 
 
 What was strange about it was that the women 
 seemed satisfied, and on hearing what had been 
 done by the grand jury voluntarily followed their 
 much-married husband elsewhere. 
 
 AN EARLY DAY HOSPICE. 
 
 Hotel accommodations in 183-t and 1835 were 
 not what they are at present. There was plenty 
 to eat, such as it was, but French cooks had not 
 been imported and cook books were unknown to 
 our grandmothers. Hog and hominy, coffee and 
 molasses were the staples, and the traveler who 
 could not appreciate them after a six-hour jolt 
 in Frank & Walker's "mud wagons'' was set down 
 as "too nice for anything." For lodgings, a 
 blanket, buffalo robe, or a sheepskin was provided, 
 and the traveler told to select the softest plank 
 he could find. As landlords increased in wealth 
 they increased their accommodations, and a sin- 
 gle large room was devoted to sleeping purposes, 
 filled with beds upon which was a "shake down" 
 filled with prairie hay and a blanket. Sheets were 
 a decided luxury, and it was not "every hotel" 
 that afforded them. The traveler was expected 
 to share his bed with others, and this custom of 
 the country was accepted as a matter of course, 
 though occasionally some fine-haired individual 
 objected. 
 
 Captain Haws, of Magnolia, once entertained 
 a choleric fellow who claimed to be "a gentle- 
 man" and said he never in his life slept with 
 anyone but his wife and rather than do that he 
 sat up all night. At intervals he would groan 
 and wish himself out of this barbarous country, 
 to which the unfeeling lodgers would respond 
 with a hearty "Amen." 
 
 BIG "INJUN" RIDE OX COW. 
 Indian boys affiliated readily with the whites 
 of their own age, and joined heartily in the sports 
 common to both. They were athletic and 
 "springy," but usually undersize, and could not 
 cope in a fair rough-and-tumble with the pale 
 faces. They did not easly take offense, but when 
 angered their wrath was fearful. Mr. William 
 Gallaher tells us an amusing story of one who 
 was his frequent playmate. Mr. G.'s business 
 was hauling logs with a yoke of oxen, one of 
 which, a very quietly disposed brute, he used to 
 ride, and his mate was wild and vicious. The 
 Indian one day wished to ride and G., in a spirit 
 of mischief, put him on the wild animal, at the 
 same time releasing him from the yoke. The ox 
 has an instinctive fear of an Indian, and, unused 
 to such treatment, he started off at a desperate
 
 114 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 pace, setting up a bellow that infected every ani- 
 mal on the place with a like frenzy, and away 
 they started in pursuit. The Indian was a good 
 rider and hung on like grim death, while the ox 
 tore through the fields, brush and briers until he 
 readied the larger timber, where a projecting limb 
 brushed off his rider, unhurt. But the Indan 
 never forgave this too practical joke and sought 
 to kill young Gallaher, who was careful ever after 
 to keep out of his way. 
 
 CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS. 
 
 Volumes might be written about incidents that 
 occurred during the Black Hawk war, which war 
 has been dignified by special history and not nec- 
 essary to repeat here. Illinois was- the dividing 
 line between the settlers and the red men and 
 while Putnam county was not the battle ground 
 of the war, it was on the very borders. A simple 
 incident taken from "Reminiscences of Bureau 
 County" will serve to illustrate the experiences 
 and the exciting events of those cruel days. This 
 narrative of the capture and escape of Rachel 
 and Sylvia Hall, personally narrated by the elder 
 sister : 
 
 After being placed on horseback, and guarded 
 by two Indians who rode by our sides, holding 
 onto the reins of the bridles, we commenced our 
 long and tedious journey. We rode most of the 
 time on a canter and the Indians frequently looked 
 back, as though afraid of being followed by the 
 rangers who were at that time roaming through the 
 country. We continued to travel at a rapid rate 
 until near midnight, when we halted to rest our 
 ponies. After waiting about two hours we rode 
 on, traveling all night, and all the next day until 
 noon, when we again halted. Here our captors 
 turned out their horses to graze, built a fire, 
 scalded some beans, roasted some acorns, of which 
 they offered us some to eat, but we declined tast- 
 ing. We remained in camp a few hours; dur- 
 ing that time the Indians were engaged in dress- 
 ing scalps by stretching them on small willow 
 hoops. Among these scalps I recognized my 
 mother's by the bright color of her hair. The 
 sight of this produced in me a faintness and I 
 fell to the ground in a swoon from which T was 
 soon after aroused in order to continue our jour- 
 ney. After leaving the camp we traveled more 
 
 leisurely than before, until about nine o'clock at 
 night we reached the camp of Black Hawk, after 
 having ridden near ninety miles in twenty-eight 
 hours. 
 
 We found the Indian camp on the bank of a 
 creek, surrounded by marshy ground covered with 
 burr oak trees, being, as we afterward learned, 
 near the Four Lakes (now Madison City, Wis- 
 consin). On our arrival in camp, a number of 
 squaws came to our assistance, taking us from 
 our horses and conducting us into a wigwam. 
 These squaws were very kind to us and gave us 
 some parched corn and maple sugar to eat, it 
 being the first food we had tasted since our cap- 
 tivity. Our arrival in camp caused great rejoicing 
 among the Indians. A large number of warriors 
 collected around us beating on drums, dancing, 
 and yelling at the top of their voices. Next morn- 
 ing our fear of massacre or torture had somewhat 
 subsided, and we were presented with beans and 
 maple sugar for breakfast. They also offered us 
 coffee to eat, which had been taken from Davis' 
 house, not knowing that it required to be ground 
 and boiled before using. About ten o'clock the 
 camp was broken up and we moved five or six 
 miles, crossing a creek, and encamped on high 
 ground which was covered with timber. We were 
 provided with horses to ride and behind us was 
 packed camp equipage which consisted of tents, 
 kettles, provisions, etc. On arriving at our new 
 camp a white birch pole was stuck into the ground, 
 on which the scalps of our murdered friends were 
 hung, being exhibited here as trophies of the war. 
 About fifty warriors, with faces painted red and 
 divested of their clothing, danced around this pole 
 to the music of drums and rattling gourds. Every 
 day during our stay this pole with the scalps was 
 erected and the dance was repeated. 
 
 One morning a party of warriors came to our 
 camp and took us out, placing in our hands small 
 red flags, and made us march around the encamp- 
 ment with them, stopping to wave the flags at the. 
 door of every wigwam. After this'we were taken 
 to the dance ground beside the scalp pole, by the 
 side of which a blanket was spread. After paint- 
 ing our faces, one half red and the other half 
 black, we were made to lie down on the blanket 
 with our faces on the ground. The warriors then 
 commenced dancing around us, flourishing their 
 tomahawks and war clubs over our heads and 
 yelling like demons. We now thought our timf
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 115 
 
 had come and waited our fate quietly, expecting 
 every minute to be our last. When the dance 
 was over, we were taken away by two squaws, 
 \\hinii we understood to be the wives of Black 
 Hawk. By these squaws we were adopted as their 
 children; although separated, we were allowed to 
 visit each other frequently. Every day our camp 
 was moved, always traveling in a circular route. 
 Along the trail at short intervals the Indians 
 would erect poles with tufts of grass tied on one 
 side to show the hunters in what direction the 
 camp could be found. Our fears of massacre had 
 entirely disappeared, being adopted into the fam- 
 ilies of these squaws, not being required to work, 
 but being watched closely to prevent our escape. 
 
 Some days after our arrival at Black Hawk's 
 camp we were told that we must go with two Win- 
 nebago chiefs who had come for us. The squaws 
 with whom we lived were greatly distressed at 
 the thought of parting with us. The Winnebago 
 chiefs tried to make us understand that they were 
 taking us to white people, but we did not believe 
 them. Thinking they intended to take us further 
 from home and friends, we clung to the squaws 
 and refused to go. 
 
 Contrary to our wish, we were placed on horses, 
 behind each of the chiefs, and with us they gal- 
 loped away, traveling twenty miles that same 
 night. The chiefs said they were afraid of being 
 followed by some of the Sacs and Foxes, who were 
 displeased at our departure. Every few minutes 
 the cliiefs would look back to see if they were 
 pursued, and would then whip their ponies into 
 a gallop. 
 
 Some time after dark we arrived at the Winne- 
 bago camp, where we remained over night. Early 
 the next morning we continued our journey, trav- 
 eling all day, when we arrived at an encampment 
 on the Wisconsin river, where there were about a 
 hundred warriors. During the next day a party 
 of Sac Indians, dressed in the clothes of mur- 
 dered white men, came into camp. These Indians 
 commenced talking to us, but the Winnebago 
 chiefs told us to turn away from them and not 
 listen to what they said, which we did. ("It was 
 afterwards ascertained that a petty chief who 
 had captured the girls was off on a hunt at the 
 time the girls were given to the Winnebago chiefs, 
 and. not receiving his portion of the ransom, im- 
 mediately started off with a party of warriors to 
 retake them or kill them in the attempt. These 
 
 warriors did not overtake the girls until they ar- 
 rived safe at the Winnebago camp.") 
 
 White Crow asked us if we thought the whites 
 would hang them if they took us to the fort. We 
 gave them to understand that they would not. 
 White Crow then collected horses and with Whirl- 
 ing Thunder and about twenty Winnebagoes we 
 crossed the river and pursued our journey, my sis- 
 ter and myself, each on a different horse. We en- 
 camped about dark, rose early the next morning, 
 and after a hasty meal of pork and potatoes (the 
 first we had seen since our captivity) of which 
 we ate heartily, we traveled on until we reached 
 the fort near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin territory. 
 
 Before our arrival there we had become satisfied 
 that our protectors were taking us to our friends 
 and that we had done them injustice. About three 
 miles from the fort we stopped, and the Indians 
 cooked some venison, after which they took a white 
 handkerchief which I had, and tying it to a long 
 pole, three Indians proceeded with it to the fort. 
 About a quarter of a mile from there, we Avere met 
 by a Frenchman. The Indians formed a ring and 
 the Frenchman rode into it and had a talk with our 
 protectors. The latter expressed an unwillingness 
 to give us up until they had seen Mr. Gratiot, the 
 agent. Being informed by the Frenchman that we 
 should be well treated, and that they should see us 
 daily until Mr. Gratiot's return they delivered us 
 into the Frenchman's care. 
 
 We repaired immediately to the fort, where the 
 ladies, who had in the meantime assembled, re- 
 ceived us with the utmost tenderness. We were 
 thereupon attired once more in the costume of our 
 own country and next day started for Galena. 
 
 On reaching a little spring at White Oak 
 Springs we were met by our eldest brother, who, 
 together with a younger one, was at work in the 
 field near the house where we were captured and 
 who, when the massacre began, fled and arrived in 
 safety at Dixon's Ferry. On leaving Galena, we 
 went on board the steamboat '"Winnebago" for St. 
 Louis, which place we reached in five days and 
 were kindly received by the citizens and hospitably 
 entertained by Governor Clark. Previous to our 
 leaving Galena we had received an affectionate 
 letter from Rev. Mr. Horn of Morgan county, 
 Illinois, inviting us to make his house our future 
 home. We accepted the invitation and left St. 
 Louis in the steamboat Caroline, for Beardstown 
 on the Illinois river, where we arrived on the third
 
 116 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 day thereafter. On landing, we were kindly re- 
 ceived by the citizens and in a few hours reached 
 the residence of Mr. Horn, five miles distant, in 
 the latter part of July, 1832, when our troubles 
 ended. 
 
 A brother of the Hall sisters, having married 
 and settled in Putnam county, invited his sisters 
 to come and reside with him. They did so in the 
 forepart of August, 1832. The elder Miss Hall 
 afterward married William Munson, and the 
 younger sister in May, 1833, married William 
 Horn, a son of the clergyman who had so kindly 
 offered them a home in his family, removed to 
 Morgan county and then to Nebraska. 
 
 The Hall sisters were captured May 21, 1832. 
 According to foregoing account, they were three 
 days in traveling with their captors and continued 
 five days with the Sacs at their camp. This would 
 bring the time up to May 29. They were five 
 days more in traveling with the Winiiebagoes to 
 the Blue Mounds which comports with all the reli- 
 able statements of the time of their being deliv- 
 ered up to the whites which was June 3, 1832. 
 
 William Munson, who became the husband of 
 Rachel Hall, a few years ago, erected a beautiful 
 marble monument at the grave where the fifteen 
 victims were buried. It is in view of the public 
 road leading from north to south in Freedom 
 township, near the banks of Indian Creek and the 
 scene of the massacre. The inscriptions are: 
 First "William Hall, aged 45; Mary J. Hall, 
 aged 45 ; Elizabeth Hall, aged 8." Second "Wil- 
 liam Pettigrew, wife, and two children, Davis, 
 
 wife and five children." 
 
 At the bottom : "Killed May 20, 1832." 
 
 Mrs. Munson (Rachel Hall) died May 1, 1870. 
 
 WOLVES AND DEATH. 
 
 In the summer of 1833, a Mr. Hale, living south 
 of Beckwiths, lost a child and the sympathizing 
 nughbcrs came over to sit up with the corpse and 
 comfort the bereaved family. The father, too, was 
 lying very low and nobody about but women, 
 when a pack of wolves made daring by hunger and 
 doubtless scenting the dead child, came to the 
 house and began to howl. They got benoulh the 
 floor, and scratched at the doors seemingly de- 
 termined to get inside. The women were greatly 
 terrified and threw blazing brands of firewood to 
 
 drive them away. Mrs. Beckwith, who narrated 
 this, says it was the most dreadful night she ever 
 experienced. 
 
 Another instance related is of a young mother 
 who was left alone with a sick babe. The cabin 
 had no windows, and the only door was a blanket 
 hung before the opening. During the night her 
 babe died and then began the awfulest uproar out- 
 side imaginable. A gang of twenty or more wolves 
 appeared and seemed determined to force an en- 
 trance. The mother's fears were for her dead 
 babe which she wrapped in blankets and placed 
 upon a beam overhead and then barricaded the 
 door with a table. Throughout the long and 
 dreadul night the poor woman stood against the 
 frail protection through which the infuriated 
 beasts outside tried to force an entrance. Morning 
 came at last and during the day her husband re- 
 turned and friends came to assist in the burial. 
 
 JAIL BURNED. 
 
 The Hennepin jail was set on fire and burned 
 down September 27, 1842. A fellow named Fred- 
 erick was confined in it for burglary, having 
 broken open the store of Pulsifer Company and 
 stolen valuable goods, or which he was under in- 
 dictment. It was built of brick at a cost of $3,000 
 and was lined with heavy timbers, and supposed 
 to be burglar proof. While the jail was burning 
 the prisoner was placed in the Court House for 
 safety, but gave his guard the slip and escaped. 
 The enraged tax-payers, .however, hunted him 
 down and kept him safe until his trial. 
 
 IT PAYS TO PRAY. 
 
 Among many reminiscences that Amos T. Pur- 
 viance recited to the writer was one narrating 
 how Oakes Turner secured a teacher for his rural 
 school. 
 
 One of the grade teachers in the Henr.epin 
 school was a very devout young woman who de- 
 voted a great deal of time to opening exercises of 
 a religious character. The good people of the dis- 
 trict were not opposed to the nature of her ex- 
 ercises, but objected to taking so much time from 
 the real object of the school. Finally the matter 
 became so distressing that the Board requested her 
 to limit her devotions to a reasonable length of 
 time. The teacher asserted that it was a matter
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 117 
 
 of conscience with her and that pray she must, 
 though the children never got out of her grade. 
 Fnally she was requested to resign, which she did 
 at once. 
 
 Oakes Turner, was a director in an adjoining 
 district and on hearing that this superior teacher 
 had quit at Hennepin, jumped astride his horse 
 and was at the teacher's door before breakfast the 
 next morning. He briefly stated his mission, to 
 which the lady replied, "Do you know, Mr. Tur- 
 ner, why I ha ve^ quit here? I can not do good 
 work without first invoking God's guidance and 
 blessing on the work in hand." To which Mr. 
 Turner replied, "Oh, that's all right, you just 
 come and teach our school and you can pray all 
 you damned please ; it won't make a bit of differ- 
 ence to us." 
 
 She went, she prayed, she succeeded. 
 
 LOU DODSON'S AUTOMOBILE. 
 
 The great proverb writer states that there is 
 no new thing under the sun. In these modern 
 days of telegraphy, telephone, wired and wireless, 
 electric and aerial transportation, photophoney 
 and a 1 ' the wonderful discoveries and inventions 
 of science, we are apt to believe that we are liv- 
 ing in the golden age, and all these things are 
 new under the sun. Men are now living in Put- 
 nam county who could tell us that in 1848 Mag- 
 nolia township, near the present site of the Qua- 
 ker meeting house, an inventive genius by the 
 name of Lou Dodson made an automobile whose 
 motive power was air, and whose machine ran 
 nicely in the open, making modem time speed 
 until his steering apparatus gave way, depositing 
 him in the middle of a big pond, where his in- 
 vention remained all summer. 
 
 Four years previous to Dodson's experience John 
 Ham ran a traction engine through the streets 
 of Magnolia, and yet, thirty years afterward, 
 when engines came into use for threshing purposes, 
 they hauled them from farm to farm by horse 
 power, demonstrating that mechanical invention 
 has not been confined to any one age. 
 
 between Henry and Peru. In the winter time 
 when the river is frozen over teams cross on the 
 ice, but in the high water time no crossing is af- 
 fected except by skiff. Hennepin gets her mail 
 from the Rock Island railroad at Bureau Junc- 
 tion by hack. During the high water season the 
 mail carrier uses a skiff. In the spring of 1906 
 two men, Percy McWhorter, a grain buyer, and 
 Elaine Jenkins, a drug clerk, volunteered to go 
 after the mail since Hennepin had been for sev- 
 eral days without any. William Bentley, son of 
 Richard Bentley of Hennepin, who was living in 
 Chicago, desired transportation across the river 
 from Bureau to Hennepin. These three men, with 
 several sacks of mail and some packages of ex- 
 press, braved the waters of the Illinois; but not 
 one of them reached Hennepin to tell the story 
 of their sad fate. For forty-eight hours excite- 
 ment reigned in the quiet village. The floating 
 skiff and the mail pouches and hats indicated 
 where the tragedy had occurred and in due time 
 the bodies were all recovered and a triple funeral 
 took place, 
 
 In the fall of the same year a team in trans- 
 portation upon the ferry took fright and dashed 
 off the boat, taking the faithful old ferry horse 
 with them. Two horses were drowned and the 
 driver barely escaped with his life, and yet Hen- 
 nepin continues to get her mail from Bureau with 
 a railroad station equally as close in Hennepin 
 township Moronts. 
 
 TRAGEDY NEAR HENNEPIN. 
 
 No bridge has ever spanned the river at Hen- 
 nepin. Until the establishment of Spring Valley, 
 a quarter of a century ago, there was no crossing 
 
 PRESENT GENERAL CONDITION. 
 The general condition of Putnam county at the 
 present writing, socially, morally and financially 
 is that of an intelligent and prosperous people. 
 Cosmopolitan in the extreme, we have Swedish 
 settlements, German communities, Polish neigh- 
 borhoods, Irish vicinities in the country; and in 
 the villages, particularly in Granville township, all 
 tongues and nations mingle and co-mingle in po- 
 litical, social, fraternal and religious relationship. 
 As a farming community Putnam county is 
 strictly in the advance rank. Very few farms in 
 the county but what are connected by mutual tele- 
 phone systems with the centers of population, and 
 the establishing of the rural free mail delivery 
 brings them in close touch with the world at 
 large. Especial attention is being paid to the
 
 118 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 improvement of highways. In Hennepiu and 
 Senachwine townships all the main roads are 
 thoroughly graveled. In the other townships 
 which have more prairie roads much attention is 
 being given to graveling, and eventually the 
 whole county will be one network of graveled 
 highways. The coming, of the consolidation of 
 schools and the introduction of automobiles by the 
 farmers themselves demand a better condition of 
 the public thoroughfares. Since the enlargement 
 
 of the home market the farmers no longer haul 
 their produce out of the community and the ten- 
 dency is to make permanent public improvements. 
 Theje is no state institution in this county, but 
 the developments of the last decade are causing 
 public attention from without and Putnam coun- 
 ty is destined to take her proper rank among the 
 counties of the state justified by her advanced 
 condition in all things that make for an intelli- 
 gent and progressive citizenship.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 EGBERT BOAL, M. D. 
 
 Dr. Robert Boal was born in Dauphin county. 
 Pennsylvania, November 15, 1806, and died in 
 Lacon, Illinois, June 12, 1902, in the ninety- 
 seventh year of his age. The long life allotted 
 him was characterized by a noble use of the talents 
 with which nature had endowed him and in all 
 life's relations he was found faultless in honor, 
 fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation. 
 He was descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. The 
 comparatively early death of his parents, Thomas 
 and Elizabeth (Creain) Boal, led him to become a 
 member of the family of his uncle, Robert Boal 
 who was a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, to which 
 city Dr. Boal had accompanied his parents on their 
 removal in 1811. His early education, acquired in 
 the public schools, was supplemented by study- 
 in the Cincinnati Literary College and a natural 
 predilection for the science and practice of medi- 
 cine led him to become a student in the Ohio Med- 
 ical College, from which he was graduated in 1828 
 being at the time of his death its oldest alumnus 
 Throughout his life he remained a student not, 
 only of his profession but of general literature, the 
 drama and history as well, and at the same time 
 keeping abreast with the trend of modern thought 
 
 In 1834 Dr. Boal made a tour of central Illi- 
 nois and in 1836 removed from Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 to Columbia, now Lacon, Illinois, where he en- 
 gaged in the practice of medicine for almost three 
 decades. In 1865 he removed to Peoria, Illinois 
 where he continued in active practice for twenty- 
 seven years. He retired from active connection 
 with the profession after a service of sixty-five 
 
 years and in 1893 returned to Lacon. In his pro- 
 fession he attained much more than local repu- 
 tation. He was a member of the American Medi- 
 cal Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, 
 the Peoria City Medical Society and an honorary 
 member of the North Central Medical Association. 
 Not only did he use these connections to keep 
 him in touch with the onward march of progress 
 in the practice of medicine and surgery, but inde- 
 pendently he carried on his researches and investi- 
 gations and bis native intellectual force proved 
 perhaps the most potent element in his success as 
 a physician and surgeon a success which in the 
 course of years won him the recognition of his 
 brethren of the medical fraternity and gained him 
 that measure of prosperity which is the legiti- 
 mate reward of earnest, persistent, conscientious 
 effort. He was one of the incorporators and di- 
 rectors of the Cottage Hospital of Peoria, and he 
 found occasion to utilize his professional knowl- 
 edge in connection with other public service. 
 
 Coming into full possession of his developed 
 powers and talents at the most momentous period 
 in the history of the country since the establish- 
 ment of the republic, Dr. Boal naturally wielded 
 a wide influence over public thought and action. 
 He did not seek fame in political circles, but 
 was a student of the burning questions of th( 
 hour and possessed a statesman's grasp of the 
 issues which arose. In 1844 he was elected to 
 the state senate and was active in securing the 
 passage of the bill for the completion of the 
 Illinois and Michigan canal, also the law for thr 
 creation of the Illinois Hospital for the Insane
 
 122 
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 at Jacksonville. In 1854 he was elected to the 
 house of representatives and at the session of 1855 
 voted for Abraham Lincoln for United States sen- 
 ator, continuing thus to cast his ballot until per- 
 sonally requested by Mr. Lincoln to vote for Ly- 
 man Trumbull, who was then elected. In 1856 
 Dr. Boal was again chosen to represent his district 
 in the house and was chairman of the joint com- 
 mittee of the senate and the house to investigate 
 the condition of the public institutions for the 
 insane, the blind and the deaf and dumb at 
 Jacksonville. The committee found that an al- 
 most chaotic condition existed, so reporting in the 
 session of 1857 and recommending the reduction 
 of the number of the trustees of each institution 
 and suggesting that not more than one should 
 be appointed from any county in the state. The 
 report was practically embodied in a bill which 
 passed and became a law. In 1857, upon the ad- 
 journment of the legislature, Dr. Boal was ap- 
 pointed a trustee of the deaf and dumb institu- 
 tion by Governor Bissell and thus served for sev- 
 enteen years through appointment of Governors 
 Yates, Oglesby, Palmer and Beveridge, acting as 
 president of the board during the last five years 
 In this connection his professional knowledge ren- 
 dered his service of the utmost benefit. In 1862 
 Dr. Boal was appointed surgeon of the board 
 of enrollment for the fifth congressional district 
 comprising seven counties, and so continued until 
 the close of the war in 1865, during which period 
 he examined nearly five thousand volunteers and 
 drafted men, a large majority of whom "went to 
 the front." 
 
 Beared in the faith of the Presbyterian clmrch 
 Dr. Boal afterward became a communicant of the 
 Protestant Episcopal church, his connection there- 
 with continuing until his demise. About 1893 he 
 returned from Peoria to his old home in Lacon 
 and his closing years were spent with his daugh- 
 ter. His married life covered a period of more 
 than a half century. In Beading, Ohio, May 12 
 1831, he wedded Christiana Walker Sinclair, who 
 was of Scotch descent. Their family numbered 
 two sons and a daughter. The elder son, Charles 
 T. Boal, has for more than forty years been F 
 resident of Chicago. The younger son, James 
 Sinclair Boal, died in that city while the in- 
 cumbent in the office of the United States assistant 
 district attorney, in which position he had served 
 for ten years. The only daughter is Mrs. Clara B 
 
 Fort, the widow of the late Colonel G. L. Fort, 
 and the years of his retirement, spent with his 
 daughter and a grandson bearing his name, were 
 surpassingly serene and happy. Caring naught 
 for fame nor honors for their own sake, his life 
 was a life of service given to his fellowmen. It 
 was exceptional not only in the count of its years, 
 but in its breadth and fullness and the beneficent 
 activities with which it was crowned. In his state 
 he was connected with events which have left an 
 indelible impress upon the history of the common- 
 wealth. In his profession his ability advanced him 
 far beyond mediocrity and gained him the recog- 
 nition of the ablest members of the medical fra- 
 ternity in Illinois, and yet in his long professional 
 career the motive spring of his service was his 
 broad humanitarianism and his desire to do the 
 utmost possible for his fellowmen. Perhaps the 
 best characterization and summary of the life of 
 Dr. Boal has been given by Dr. J. H. Morron, who 
 said of him, "A learned and skillful physician, Dr. 
 Boal was also a distinguished citizen one of the 
 founders of the party which for the last forty 
 years has dominated and shaped our national af- 
 fairs, and to which belongs the glory of our eman- 
 cipation, reconstruction and expansion politics. 
 His patriotism was kindled while yet a child, amid 
 the fires of the war of 1812, and continued intense 
 and burning to the last. He was a man of remark- 
 able balance and poise, free from eccentricity and 
 warp firm without obstinacy, gentle without 
 weakness, sane and vigorous in every faculty. He 
 was familiar not merely with the science of his 
 profession, but with general literature, and his 
 capacious and keen mind was stored with varied 
 and enriching knowledge. He wrote with rare 
 clearness, force and elegance, and has left behind 
 papers of permanent value. But above everything 
 else was the man himself his refinement of na 
 ture, his sterling character, his cultivated gracious 
 manners, his sincerity and loyalty, his geniality, 
 kindness and universal good will." 
 
 COLONEL GEEENBUEY L. FOET. 
 Colonel Greenbury L. Fort, of Lacon, who de- 
 parted this life January 13, 1883, was for a long 
 period a member of the Marshall county bar and 
 left the impress of his individuality, clear under- 
 standing and masterful grasp of problems upon 
 the law-making bodies of state and nation. Time
 
 PAST AND PHKSKXT OK MAKSllAI/L AND ITTNAM COT Ml IIS. 
 
 tests the merit of all things, and while Colonel 
 Fort in his modesty to a large degree shunned 
 fame and prominence, subsequent events have 
 proven the clearness of his conception and the 
 breadth of his wisdom in regard to legislative 
 measures which have had direct and beneficial ef- 
 fect upon the history of the country. A native of 
 Ohio, he was born in French Grant, Scioto county 
 near Portsmouth, October 17, 1825, and was de- 
 scended from a family which in its lineal and col- 
 lateral branches has been distinctively American 
 through many generations. His first ancestor in 
 this country was Koger Fort, born about 1675 
 at Pemberton, Burlington county, New Jersey 
 There are now three distinct branches of the fam- 
 ily in the United States in New Jersey, Illinois 
 and Georgia. Family records show that a large 
 percentage of the Forts have been professional 
 men and that they have been represented in every 
 American war. 
 
 In his early boyhood days Greenbury Fort ac- 
 companied his parents to Marshall county, Illinois 
 where the family home was established amid pion- 
 eer surroundings in April, 1834. He assisted in 
 the arduous task of developing new land and 
 improved the educational opportunities afforded 
 him, supplementing a public school coarse by study 
 in the Rock River Seminary. The years of his 
 early manhood were devoted to teaching school and 
 reading law, and following his admission to the 
 bar in 1860 he presented his first brief in Wood- 
 ford county court, where Senator David Davis 
 was judge and Abraham Lincoln the opposing 
 counsel. His clientage soon became large and 
 of a distinctively representative character. Thor- 
 oughness was ever one of his salient characteristics 
 and was manifest in his preparation of a case and 
 its presentation before the court. 
 
 Allied with the whig party from the time when 
 age gave to him the right of franchise, he became 
 a recognized leader in the ranks of the party and 
 was first called to office in 1850 by election to the 
 position of sheriff. He served successively as 
 county clerk, county attorney and county judge 
 being elected to the last named position in 1857 
 The following year he was married, on the 25th 
 of May, to Miss Clara E. Boal, a daughter of 
 Dr. Robert Boal, and entered upon a home lif^ 
 which was largely ideal. 
 
 He continued in practice until April, 1861, 
 when he responded to the first call for volunteers 
 
 enlisting for three months' service. He had been 
 a close student of the momentous questions which 
 led up to the outbreak of hostilities and his course 
 was based upon well formulated opinions, result- 
 ing from a comprehensive understanding of the 
 existing conditions. He was chosen lieutenant of 
 Company B, Eleventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry 
 and on the expiration of his term returned home 
 and recruited another company, of which he was 
 chosen captain. He took the men to the front at 
 his own expense and entered active field service. 
 Following the battle of Fort Donelson, in which he 
 participated, he was appointed quartermaster by 
 President Lincoln, a position of great trust in- 
 volving the success of movements in the field of 
 the utmost importance. He served in the Army 
 of the Tennessee on field and staff duty and was 
 chief quartermaster of the Fifteenth Army Corps 
 on the march to the sea. After the grand review 
 in Washington he was ordered to Texas and re- 
 mained in the service until mustered out at Gal- 
 veston with the rank of colonel, in the spring of 
 18G6. 
 
 Following his return home Colonel Fort resumed 
 the practice of law, but was soon called again to 
 public life, being elected to the Illinois state sen- 
 ate in 1866. In 1872 he was elected to congress, 
 re-elected in 1874, in 1876 and 1878. Refusing 
 longer to serve, he retired to private life. His 
 most important public service was in connection 
 with the solution of the resumption problem and 
 to him was due the remonetization of silver. With 
 a mind trained in the severest school of investi- 
 gation and to which close reasoning had become 
 habitual and easy, he took up the study of the 
 money question and time has vindicated his posi- 
 tion and proven his keen foresight. 
 
 Refusing to serve longer in the legislative halls 
 of the nation he returned to his home in Lacon 
 concentrating his energies upon his private busi^ 
 ness interests. He wisely placed his capital in 
 the safest of all investments real estate and 
 became the owner of farming interests in Mar- 
 shall county and in Nebraska. 
 
 Perhaps one of the strongest traits of his char- 
 acter was his innate modesty and his freedom from 
 all ostentation and display. Through his own, 
 efforts he won success but was ever approachable 
 and kindly, willing to accord to any one the cour- 
 tesy of an interview. His acquaintance with mem 
 of national fame was great, yet he never sought
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 their influence in his own behalf. His strength 
 lay in his integrity and his known ability and 
 willingness to help others. He was at once gentle 
 and strong the gentleness of courtesy and cult- 
 ure, the strength of high purpose, honorable prin- 
 ciples and fidelity. For more than thirty years 
 he was prominent in the public life of his county 
 state and nation and in the discharge of every duty 
 entrusted to him displayed rare zeal, consummate 
 ability, unwavering fidelity and sterling integrity 
 which inspired universal confidence and respect 
 A fitting and deserved encomium is found in the 
 words of Shakespeare : 
 "His life was gentle and the elements 
 So mixed in him that Nature might stand up 
 And say to all the world : 'This was a man.' " 
 
 COLONEL ROBERT BOAL FORT. 
 
 Colonel Robert Boal Fort, who through the period 
 of his comparatively brief but intense active and 
 useful life was termed "the foremost citizen of Mar- 
 shall county," was born April 26, 1867, in Lacon, 
 Illinois, the only son of Colonel Greenbury Lafay- 
 ette and Clara (Boal) Fort. During his father's 
 official service in Washington, D. C., he began his 
 education, which was later continued in Wyman 
 Institute and Exeter Academy. He completed his 
 studies abroad and in various visits to the old 
 world gained that wide knowledge and general 
 culture which only travel can bring. He prepared 
 for the bar but never engaged in active practice. 
 He was the owner of landed possessions in Illinois 
 and Nebraska and in the control of farming oper- 
 ations in both states he displayed discrimination 
 and executive ability. Through careful manage- 
 ment his wealth was augmented and he derived 
 his greatest pleasure from its use in administering 
 to the happiness and welfare of others. His be- 
 neficence became almost proverbial and yet no 
 man was more reticent concerning his kindly acts 
 or free from ostentation in his charities. He 
 never personally made mention of his benefactions 
 but the story is told by the recipients of his kind- 
 ness and in their hearts his memory is enshrined. 
 
 Robert Boal Fort stood as a splendid repre- 
 sentative of the highest type of American manhood 
 of the present age. He looked at life from the 
 broad standpoint of citizenship and of individual 
 responsibility and brought to bear upon all the 
 questions with which the public mind is con- 
 
 cerned the thorough understanding which comes 
 from close study, combined with a sense of per- 
 sonal responsibility. This was one of the strong 
 elements in his political service. His maternal 
 grandfather was one of the founders of the repub- 
 lican party in Illinois. His father was representa- 
 tive from his district in the legislative councils of 
 the nation and in the state senate, and from his 
 boyhood Robert Fort was imbued with the deepest 
 interest in the important issues which divide the 
 two great parties. At the age of twenty-one he 
 was a county central committeeman, filling that 
 position until his election, in 1895, to the office 
 of mayor of Lacon. Before the expiration of his 
 two years' term he was elected to represent the 
 twentieth senatorial district in the state senate 
 thus becoming the successor of his grandfathes 
 and father in the legislative halls of the common- 
 wealth. During the period of his service in the 
 senate, covering altogether seven years, he was con- 
 nected with much important constructive legisla- 
 tion, showing his thorough understanding of the 
 needs and possibilities of the state in its various 
 lines of material development and political 
 progress. 
 
 In 1898, a few days after the destruction of the 
 Maine, Colonel Fort visited Cuba and after a 
 brief stay in Havana made a tour through the 
 provinces of Matansas and Santa Clara, spending 
 some time with the Cuban insurgents. Learning 
 that war was imminent between his country and 
 Spain he returned to the United States and raised 
 a troop of cavalry. He made every effort to secure 
 an order for his men to go to the front, but only 
 succeeded in advancing as far as Chickamauga. 
 Following the election of Governor Yates he was 
 made colonel of the First Illinois Cavalry and a 
 colonel on the personal staff of the governor. At 
 the time of his death he was prominently men- 
 tioned as candidate for lieutenant governor and 
 had he lived would undoubtedly have received the 
 nomination. In his political service he manifested 
 none of that ultra-conservatism which has ham- 
 pered the efforts of many political leaders, but 
 stood as an exponent of the spirit of the times 
 which recognizes changing conditions and seeks 
 legislation which will eradicate existing evils, bring 
 about needed reforms and anticipate future de- 
 mands. These qualities, together with his recog- 
 nized devotion to the highest standards of political
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 129 
 
 service, naturally caused his opinions to carry 
 weight in the councils of his party and made him 
 a recognized leader in Illinois political circles. 
 
 The stress of business or politics was never so 
 great with Robert Fort as to shut out from his life 
 the friends of his earlier years and only a great 
 nature is steadfast. It was those who knew him 
 best that appreciated to the fullest extent the kind- 
 ness of his heart. His efforts in behalf of others 
 were prompted by the simple joy of doing good. 
 He valued so-called "society" at its true worth 
 and found his companionship among the men of 
 master minds who are concerned with the weighty 
 serious problems of life and yet delight in all 
 that is joyous and ennobling. He was of that type 
 of men who "listen to babes and sages, birds and 
 stars, with open heart," learning the lessons of life 
 from all. He attended the Episcopalian church 
 but his religion, knowing no barriers of creed or 
 dogma, found exemplification in the helpful spirit 
 which he bore toward all. There was not an in- 
 dividual too humble or obscure to arouse his in- 
 terest or awaken his sympathy and receive his 
 assistance if siich were needed. He passed away 
 after a very brief illness, in Springfield, May 21 
 1904, at the age of thirty-seven years. There are 
 those who win honor and fame, who command 
 respect, who receive admiration but there are few 
 men who are uniformly beloved; but the con- 
 sensus of public opinion concerning Robert Boal 
 Fort was that "he was one of the few young men 
 who were beloved by all." One of his most dis- 
 tinguishing 'traits was his kindness of heart and 
 generosity to his home people. He was one of 
 those fascinating characters who throw around 
 them much of the sunshine of life. Those who 
 knew him best delighted to honor him and he 
 was worthv of all honor. 
 
 CHARLES A. CAMP. 
 
 When the history of business activity and com- 
 mercial prosperity in Henry is written the name 
 of Charles A. Camp will find honored place on 
 its pages. He is the vice president of the Henry 
 National Bank and a capitalist whose business 
 ability has been manifest in the successful con- 
 duct of various important enterprises which have 
 felt the stimulus of his co-operation or benefited 
 bv his wise counsel and keen discrimination. A 
 
 native of Henry, he was born June 29, 1856, and 
 is a son of Abner and Eliza A. (Ham) Camp. 
 The father was born in New York and in early 
 manhood became a resident of Henry, Illinois, 
 where in 1853 he was united in marriage to Miss 
 Eliza A. Ham, whose birth occurred in Dover, 
 New Hampshire, April 27, 1817. Her parents 
 were Titus and Nancy (Purse) Ham, natives of 
 New Hampshire and Massachusetts, respectively. 
 Mrs. Camp's parental grandfather was one of the 
 heroes of the Revolutionary war, while her father, 
 Titus Ham, was a valiant soldier .of the war of 
 1812. By occupation he was a farmer and he 
 had a wide and favorable acquaintance in Dover, 
 where for many years he resided, both he and 
 his wife passing away there. In their family 
 were eight children, two sons and six daughters, 
 which number included Mrs. Camp. Following 
 their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Abner Camp began 
 their domestic life in Henry and for some years he 
 engaged in business as a carpenter and con- 
 tractor, while from 1870 until 1876 he con- 
 ducted a hotel at Henry. His political support 
 was given to the republican party and he was one 
 of its stanch advocates and also a great temper- 
 ance worker, his life being characterized by an 
 unfaltering fidelity to those principles and rules 
 of conduct which work for honorable manhood. 
 He died in the year 1888 and was survived by 
 his wife until 1900. They had but two children: 
 Charles A. and Clara Belle. 
 
 In the public schools of Henry, Charles A. 
 Camp acquired his more specifically literary edu- 
 cation and later pursued a commercial course at 
 Grand Prairie Seminar}', from which he was grad- 
 uated. Following his return home he spent two 
 years in the dry goods business of E. H. Hutch- 
 ins and six months with Peter Wykoff. He then 
 took charge of the Camp House, of which he was 
 proprietor for twenty-five years, making this the 
 leading hotel of Henry. He introduced many 
 modern improvements, including a bath house 
 where hot sulphur baths could be enjoyed. He 
 made his hotel a first-class hostelry in every re- 
 spect and he continued active in its management 
 for many years, or until he retired to devote his 
 energies to other business interests. Upon the 
 organization of the Henry National Bank in 1904 
 he was elected its vice president and has since 
 served in that capacity. The other officers are:
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 J. W. Watercott, president; P. R. Philips, cash- 
 ier; and B. A. Hoyle, assistant cashier. These 
 gentlemen, together with Prank Yanochowski, A. 
 G. Humphrey, A. Stickle and V. 0. Turner, con- 
 stitute the board of directors. The bank, during 
 an existence of two years, has gained a most cred- 
 itable place in financial circles and is conducting 
 an extensive and gradually developing general 
 banking business. In addition to his other in- 
 terests Mr. Camp is joint owner with E. S. Ster- 
 ritt of the Henry Telephone company. 
 
 In 1881 Mr. Camp was married to Miss Ella 
 S. Leech, a native of Hennepin, Illinois. Unto 
 Mr. and Mrs. Camp was born a son, Ivan C., 
 whose birth occurred in 1882, and who died in 
 1887. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Camp is a repub- 
 lican, prominent in the ranks of his party in Mar- 
 shall county. He has served as postmaster of 
 Henry under appointment of Theodore Roosevelt 
 since 1903 and was for two years mayor of Henry, 
 having previously served twice as alderman. He 
 gave to the city as its chief executive officer a bus- 
 iness-like, practical and progressive administra- 
 tion and it was during his rule that the system 
 of cement sidewalks were installed and a curb 
 line was established. He was chairman of the 
 waterworks and finance committees at the time of 
 the installment of the waterworks. He recog- 
 nizes individual responsibility in citizenship and 
 has always stood for opposition to misrule in mu- 
 nicipal affairs and is a well known champion of 
 those practical movements which produce direct 
 result in public progress and which also look 
 beyond the exigencies of the moment to the pos- 
 sibilities of the future. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY BELL. 
 William Henry Bell, who owns, operates and 
 occupies an excellent farm of eighty acres in 
 Henry township, was born in England, January 
 21, 1862, and when only six months of age was 
 brought to America by his parents, who settled 
 in Stark county, Illinois, near Bradford. The 
 father, James Bell, was likewise a native of Eng- 
 land and the year 1862 witnessed his arrival in 
 the new world. He settled on a farm with his 
 brother and there carried on general agricultural 
 pursuits for many years, his diligence and enter- 
 prise bringing to him a goodly measure of pros- 
 
 perity. His political allegiance was given to the 
 republican party. While living in his native 
 country he had been identified with the Episcopal 
 church and in the new world he became a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church. His death oc- 
 curred May 16, 1906, and he had long survived 
 his wife, who passed away in 1872 at the age of 
 thirty-seven years. She bore the maiden name of 
 Mary Ann Dodd and was also a native of Eng- 
 land. In the family of this worthy couple were 
 nine children, of whom four are now living: 
 Robinson Bell, who is a farmer residing in Al- 
 berta, Canada; Abram Bell, a machinist whose 
 home is near Lincoln, Nebraska; Mrs. John Clift, 
 whose husband is a farmer near Buda Springs, 
 Kansas; and William Henry. 
 
 Brought to the United States in his infancy, 
 William Henry Bell has spent almost his entire 
 life in Illinois. His early education was acquired 
 in the district schools of Henry township and he 
 afterward attended Henry College, thus being 
 equipped by a liberal education for life's prac- 
 tical and responsible duties. He was reared to 
 the work of the farm, early becoming familiar 
 with the task of cultivating the fields and caring 
 for the stock. He remained upon the old home- 
 stead until twenty-one years of age, when he 
 rented his present farm from Robinson Bell, an 
 uncle, and eventually came into possession of this 
 place, which comprises eighty acres of rich and 
 arable land in Henry township, all under cultiva- 
 tion. He is likewise interested in stock raising, 
 which constitutes an important branch of his 
 business. He now has a well-improved place and 
 has recently erected a fine barn on his farm. None 
 of the accessories and equipments of a model 
 farm are lacking and the latest improved machin- 
 ery facilitates the work of the fields. 
 
 In 1886 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Bell and Miss Mary Anne Flynn, of Peru, Illi- 
 nois, and unto them were born two children: 
 James Robinson, who died at the age of two 
 years ; and Mamie, who is seventeen years of age 
 and was graduated from the Henry high school 
 with the class of 1906. The parents are consist- 
 ent and faithful members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. Mr. Bell is a republican and is in- 
 terested in politics, keeping well informed on the 
 questions of the day and doing whatever he can 
 to promote the growth and insure the success of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 131 
 
 his party. He has served as school trustee and 
 as school director for a number of years and the 
 cause of education finds in him a warm and stal- 
 wart friend. His efforts in behalf of public prog- 
 ress have been far-reaching and beneficial and 
 while he has won success in his farming opera- 
 tions he has also found time to aid in public af- 
 fairs. 
 
 OTIS MONTGOMERY. 
 
 Otis Montgomery, editor and proprietor of the 
 Wenona Index, is a typical representative of the 
 spirit of modern progress and advancement mani- 
 fest in the field of journalism and has made of 
 the Index a paper most creditable to the city and 
 section of the state to whose interests and up- 
 building it is devoted. Born in Mason City, 
 Illinois, on the 16th of May, 1868, Mr. Mont- 
 gomery is a son of Jesse C. and Catharine ( Scott) 
 Montgomery, the former a native of Indiana and 
 the latter of Pennsylvania. The parents came to 
 Illinois at an early day and settled in Mason 
 county. The father was a brick mason by trade 
 and followed that pursuit for a half century, or 
 until the time of his death, which occurred in 
 1904. His widow is still living and resides in 
 Petersburg, Illinois. In their family were six 
 children, three of whom survive: Ellen, the wife 
 of J. N. Onstott, of Petersburg ; John B., who is 
 living in Minonk, Illinois ; and Otis. 
 
 The last named is indebted to the public-school 
 system of Mason City for the educational privi- 
 leges which he enjoyed. He pursued his studies 
 until lie attained the age of fourteen years, when 
 he entered upon his business career as an appren- 
 tice in the office of the Petersburg (Illinois) 
 Democrat, where he remained for two years. He 
 then returned to his native city, where he was 
 employed at newspaper work and also in other 
 offices in different parts of the state, including 
 Peoria and Chicago. He came to Wenona on the 
 14th of February, 1887, and entered the employ 
 of the Wenona Index, with which he was con- 
 nected until the 1st of January, 1898. He then 
 established the Pantagraph, which he published 
 until the 1st of July of the same year, when he 
 purchased the Index and consolidated the two of- 
 fices, giving to the name of the publication the 
 Wenona Index. He has since advanced it to its 
 present high standard, making it one of the best 
 
 newspapers in this part of Illinois. He also has 
 one of the best equipped job offices in this section 
 of the country, having the latest facilities and 
 most improved presses in order to carry oh the 
 work. He now owns a Cottrell press and a 
 Chandler & Price Gordon job press, both of which 
 are run by gasoline. He is prepared to do all 
 kinds of job work and has quite an extensive pa- 
 tronage in that department. The Index is pub- 
 lished weekly and has a circulation of one thou- 
 sand copies. Mr. Montgomery employs four or 
 five people all of the time and gives to every de- 
 partment of the work his personal supervision. 
 Everything is kept up to a high standard and 
 the business is continually increasing. He de- 
 votes his whole time and attention to his news- 
 paper and office business, which has long since 
 become a profitable source of income. 
 
 On the 23d of June, 1892, Mr. Montgomery 
 was married to Miss Jeannette Kahn, of Wenona, 
 and unto them has been born a daughter, Hester. 
 The parents are members of the Presbvterian 
 church and Mr. Montgomery affiliates with the 
 Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 CHARLES L. KLEIN. 
 
 Charles L. Klein, who carries on general agri- 
 cultural pursuits on section 28, Whitefield town- 
 ship, is one of the native sons of Illinois, his 
 birth having occurred near Henry, in Marshall 
 county, July 4, 1863. He comes of German line- 
 age, his father, William Klein, having been a na- 
 tive of Prussia, Germany. He made his way to 
 the United States in the early '50s and continued 
 his journey into the interior of the country, set- 
 tling at Lacon, where he resided for a period and 
 then removed to the vicinity of Henry. He car- 
 ried on general farming in Henry township, but 
 died about eighteen years ago. In early man- 
 hood he married Gertrude Petz, who was also a 
 native of Germany, in which country their wed- 
 ding was celebrated. She died about twenty-five 
 years ago. Unto them have been born six chil- 
 dren: Adolph, who is now living retired in Hen- 
 ry; Peter W., who carries on farming in Iowa; 
 Michael, Katherine and William, all of whom are 
 now deceased ; and Charles L., of this review. 
 
 In his father's home Charles L. Klein spent 
 the days of his boyhood and youth and at the
 
 132 
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OP MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 usual age began his education in the district 
 schools. He afterward attended the schools of 
 Henry and acquired a good education to fit him 
 for life's practical and responsible duties. Dur- 
 ing the periods of vacation and after putting aside 
 his text books he worked upon the home farm 
 until his father retired. He then began farming 
 on his own account and has been carrying on gen- 
 eral agricultural pursuits in his own interests for 
 twenty-two years. He leases four hundred and 
 forty acres of land on section 28, Whitefield 
 township, and his fields are well tilled. He owns 
 eighty acres of land in Kansas and one hundred 
 and sixty acres in Nebraska. In his business 
 transactions he has never been known to take 
 advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen, but 
 has made a straightforward, honorable business 
 record that commends him to the confidence and 
 good will of all concerned. He now carries on 
 farming quite extensively and is accounted one 
 of the leading representatives of agricultural in- 
 terests in his part of the county. 
 
 In 1885 Mr. Klein was married to Miss Mary 
 S. Heinrich, a native of Henry and a daughter 
 of Charles Heinrich. This union has been 
 blessed with ten children: Daniel, who is now 
 living on the home farm; Cora; Minnie; May 
 Ella; Leo; Walter; Lena; Charles; Leslie; and 
 Lillian. The family circle yet remains unbroken 
 by the hand of death and all are still under the 
 parental roof. 
 
 Mr. Klein is prominent and popular socially. 
 He holds membership with the Modern Woodmen 
 camp at Sparland and he belongs to the Catholic 
 church. He is recognized as one of the leading 
 representatives of democracy in this locality and 
 in the spring of 1906 was appointed and after- 
 ward elected supervisor of his township, while 
 for several years he had held the office of col- 
 lector, discharging his duties with promptness 
 and fidelity. He is successful in his business in- 
 terests and his labors have been carefully man- 
 aged, so that he has produced the best possible 
 results. 
 
 WILLIAM A. KAYS. 
 
 William A. Kays, a resident of Putnam county 
 for more than a half century, was born in Indiana, 
 September 2, 1828, a son of William Kays, a 
 native of Kentucky, who came to Illinois in 1835, 
 
 locating in Knox county, where his subsequent 
 years were passed. William Kays, Sr., the grand- 
 father of our subject, lived for several years in 
 Putnam county, dying at the home of his son 
 Henry, near Magnolia. 
 
 William A. Kays was a youth of only seven 
 years when his parents removed from Indiana to 
 Illinois, and his boyhood days were spent upon the 
 home farm in Knox county, while in the country 
 schools he acquired his early education and later 
 attended a Presb3'terian high school. When twen- 
 ty-one years of age he became a factor in commer- 
 cial life by establishing a grocery business, which 
 he conducted at Saluda, Illinois, for about three 
 years. Prior to this he made a trip to the west, 
 traveling through Kansas, and slept one night in 
 the home of John Brown, the noted abolition 
 leader, who was then living between St. Louis 
 and Kansas City. In 1850 Mr. Kays arrived in 
 Putnam county in company with an uncle, Henry 
 Kays, and in the succeeding winter made for him 
 eleven thousand rails. He then rented land and 
 engaged in farming on his own account, and when 
 his labors had brought to him sufficient capital he 
 made purchase of eighty acres of land, upon which 
 he resided until about twelve years ago, when he 
 sold out and bought one hundred acres where he 
 now lives in Hennepin township. Throughout the 
 period of his residence in this county he has car- 
 ried on general agricultural pursuits, which he has 
 found to be a profitable source of income, as his 
 labors have been directed by sound judgment and 
 characterized by unremitting diligence. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Kays was married to Miss Olive 
 Haley, a native of Putnam county, who died April 
 29, 1900. He later wedded Miss Nancy Mills, of 
 Putnam county, who still survives. By the first 
 marriage there were eight children: Ellen, now 
 deceased : Mrs. Sarah Purviance, now living in 
 Kansas; James B., of Missouri; Mrs. Amanda 
 Burns, of Kansas; Alice, the wife of H. H. Ed- 
 wards, of Hennepin township ; William H., of 
 Tonica, Illinois; Olive, the wife of J. B. Davis, 
 of Peoria, this state; and Mary Belle, deceased. 
 By the second marriage there is one son, Wesley 
 Kays. 
 
 In early life Mr. Kays joined the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and has ever endeavored to fol- 
 low closely the principles and precepts of Chris- 
 tianity. For thirty-two years he has been secre- 
 tary of the Mineral Springs Association, which
 
 W. A. KAYS.
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 135 
 
 holds a camp meeting at McNabb each year. He 
 purchased the land for this purpose through an 
 order of the conference of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church and held it until the association was 
 able to repay him. He has always been very active 
 in religious and political life. His first presiden- 
 tial vote was cast for Franklin Pierce, and he has 
 always been a stanch democrat where national is- 
 sues are involved, yet at local elections often casts 
 an independent ballot. He is now and has been 
 for forty-seven years chairman of the democratic 
 county central committee, and has done effective 
 work in behalf of the party, being recognized as 
 one of its leading representatives in this part of 
 the state. He was also chairman of the central 
 committee while living in Knox county, and was 
 on the stage with Lincoln and Douglas when they 
 held their joint debate in Galesburg. 
 
 His father enlisted and fought in the Mexican 
 war, and at the time of the trouble with the 
 Mormons in Illinois William A. Kays enlisted and 
 served for four months with the company that 
 fought Joseph Smith and compelled him to come 
 to Peoria for trial and later to leave Illinois. At 
 the time of the Civil war he drilled for three 
 months, intending to join an Illinois regiment, 
 but the troops were gone when he arrived at Gales- 
 burg and he did not therefore have the oppor- 
 tunity of going to the front. He has in his pos- 
 session an adz used by a man of the name of 
 Humiston in trying to find the stone tablets left 
 by the Mormons. Mr. Kays has closely followed 
 the golden rule, doing unto others as he would 
 have them do unto him, and no man is spoken 
 of in higher terms by his neighbors than the sub- 
 ject of this review. He receives the respect and 
 veneration which should ever be accorded to a man 
 of his years whose life has been exemplary and 
 whose principles have been most commendable. 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD HAWTHORNE. 
 William Edward Hawthorne, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the "Echo," at Granville, his native 
 city, was born June 7, 1859. His ancestral, lineal 
 and collateral branches have for various genera- 
 tions been distinctly American and prior to 
 that time was of English, Scotch and Irish line- 
 age. Research into family records brings to light 
 the fact that the Mayflower brought to America 
 the progenitor of the Hawthorne family, of which 
 
 William Edward Hawthorne is a 
 In correspondence with Julian Hawthorne, son of 
 Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is found that this Con- 
 cord man of letters is a representative of another 
 branch of the same family. There is also an Irish 
 strain in the ancestry and when Mr. Hawthorne 
 met the famous Irishman, Michael Davitt, who 
 was then touring the United States, said to him 
 in the course of conversation that he traced his 
 ancestry back to the McFaddens, Davitt replied, 
 "McFadden, McFadden, they'd throw no stones 
 at ye in County Cork. The McFaddens are a 
 great clan." 
 
 William Hawthorne, father of William Edward 
 Hawthorne, and the fourth in the line of descent 
 to bear that name, was a farmer by occupation 
 and on removing to the middle west entered land 
 from the government four miles southeast of 
 Granville. He paid for this tract a dollar and a 
 quarter per acre and today it is worth two hun- 
 dred dollars per acre. He married Susan Findley, 
 who died when their son, William E., was six 
 years of age, after which the little lad spent four 
 years with his grandmother, Mrs. Margaret (Haw- 
 thorne) Moore, who was one of the early pioneer 
 residents of Granville township. William Haw- 
 thorne, Sr., was born in Ohio and was only 
 three years of age when brought by his parents 
 to Putnam county, Illinois. Following the loss 
 of his first wife he married again and removed 
 with his family to Normal, Illinois, where his 
 son and namesake attended school for three or four 
 years. The father then removed to Indiana and 
 William Edward Hawthorne was upon the home 
 farm in Porter county between the ages of twelve 
 and twenty-one years. He attended the public 
 schools and pursued a scientific course in the 
 Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. 
 In early manhood he engaged in teaching school 
 successively in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, 
 after which he returned to Michigan. He was 
 never graduated from any educational institution 
 but has always been a student of men and litera- 
 ture and his special text-books have been the Bible, 
 Shakespeare and the American classics. These cer- 
 tainly are sufficient to give a man broad knowl- 
 edge and familiarity with the best that has been 
 produced by the writers of the ages. His pur- 
 suits in early life were similar to those of most 
 boys who are reared upon a farm. He remembers 
 of his stepmother requiring him to stay up most
 
 13G 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 of the night studying the catechism. At the time 
 of her second marriage she was the widow of a 
 Presbyterian minister and was a most excellent 
 and superior lady, to whom Mr. Hawtiiorne 
 ascribes the credit for the cultivation of his taste 
 for things of refinement. The desire for knowl- 
 edge being awakened in him he improved his op- 
 portunities for the acquirement of a broader edu- 
 cation than the public schools afforded and he 
 paid his tuition with money which he had himself 
 earned, never receiving a dollar from any one ex- 
 cept to return it when his labors as a teacher 
 made the discharge of the financial obligations 
 possible. 
 
 On attaining his majority Mr. Hawthorne went 
 to Michigan and worked for his elder brother in 
 a grain elevator at Marengo. It was there that 
 he taught his first school, and after his return to 
 Indiana he engaged in teaching in that state for 
 a year prior to his removal to Florid, Putnam 
 county, Illinois. He afterward went to Vermont- 
 ville, Michigan, where he held his first principal- 
 ship for two years. He taught his last school at 
 Essexville, Michigan, a suburb of Bay City. Each 
 year during his experience as a teacher brought 
 him an advance in salary, indicating his growing 
 ability in the profession. In the fall of 1884 he 
 took charge of a general store in Granville, Illi- 
 nois, for H. Bateman and in the following autumn 
 in connection with G. L. Brando he established 
 a hardware and grocery store in the building for- 
 merly used as the Granville Academy. For fifteen 
 years he was thus engaged in merchandising and 
 retired from that line of activity two years after 
 his election to the office of superintendent of 
 schools in Putnam county, which office he occupied 
 for eight years, during which time through his 
 efforts, the standard of public instruction was 
 greatly raised and the schools were placed upon an 
 excellent working basis. He was also town clerk 
 and postmaster while engaged in merchandising 
 and likewise served as village treasurer and vil- 
 lage clerk during that period. In 1901 he organ- 
 ized the Granville Mercantile Company, conduct- 
 ing the business for four years, and in 1903 he 
 established the Granville "Echo," which was under 
 the management of his brother-in-law, B. B. Blos- 
 ser, until 1905, when Mr. Hawthorne abandoned 
 the field of mercantile effort and took control of 
 the "Echo" printing business, in which he has 
 since continued. 
 
 Aside from his official acts while an incumbent 
 of political positions Mr. Hawthorne has done 
 much important public service as a private citi- 
 zen. He has given his cooperation to many pro- 
 gressive public movements, serving as secretary of 
 the Granville Lecture Association, while for the 
 greater part of twenty years he has been secretary 
 of the Granville Cemetery Association, perform- 
 ing the duties connected therewith with satisfac- 
 tion to those concerned and with financial success. 
 In politics he has always been a stalwart repub- 
 lican and has done some effective campaign work. 
 He has never been connected, however, with fra- 
 ternal, political or social organizations or clubs, 
 his relations with organized bodies being restricted 
 to the church. When yet a boy he became a church 
 member and is religiously cosmopolitan, having be- 
 longed at different times to the Methodist Episco- 
 pal, the Christian, the Presbyterian and the Con- 
 gregational churches. Wherever he has lived he has 
 connected himself with the orthodox church of the 
 community and has been Sunday-school superin- 
 tendent for perhaps twenty-five years of his life, 
 while in one way or another he has been connected 
 with church work for a long period. At the pres- 
 ent time he holds membership with the Congrega- 
 tional church at Granville,. but occupies no office 
 therein. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne was married March 14, 1882, 
 to Miss Emma Emelia Opper, of Granville, a 
 daughter of C. G. and Anna Opper. The first few 
 years of their married life Mr. and Mrs. Haw- 
 thorne attended and taught school together. Nine 
 years following their marriage twin boys came to 
 bless their home, and so delighted was the father 
 that he hastened to his office and had the follow- 
 ing announcement printed and distributed among 
 his friends : 
 
 Often have the poets told us 
 In their lyrics of the deep, 
 Awful calms are but the presage 
 Of the storms that o'er them sweep. 
 
 Thus, perhaps, protracted stillness 
 On a calm domestic sea 
 Signifies that force is gathering 
 For the squalls that are to be. 
 
 Weighed we anchor on life's ocean 
 Sunlight flooding iis in torrents, 
 But two little squalls have struck us, 
 William Henrv and Orin Lawrence.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 13-5 
 
 In 1894 twin daughters blessed the home, these 
 being Helen and Marie. The next in order of 
 birth is Charles Findley, who bears the name of 
 President Blanchard of Wheaton College as well 
 as the name of his grandmother. The youngest in 
 order of birth is Edward Everett, who was born in 
 1902. The mother, as the name implies, is of 
 German ancestry, and as she speaks, reads and 
 writes the German language she is likewise edu- 
 cating her children in the German tongue. Five 
 of the children are now attending school. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne is himself a twin, his brother 
 being 0. E. Hawthorne, a resident of Marshall, 
 Missouri, who is agent for the Chicago & Alton 
 Railroad Company. He is married and has a son 
 and daughter, Lucile and Ray, who are still with 
 their parents. 
 
 Mr. Hawthorne believes fully in the principle 
 expressed by the Bard of Avon when he said, 
 "There is a Divinity that shapes our ends," and 
 while he recognizes the fact that he has perhaps 
 not improved all his opportunities, that Divinity 
 has never failed, and on every occasion he ex- 
 presses himself as a willing devotee at the throne 
 of that Divinity. Mr. Hawthorne was blessed with 
 the influence of Christian parents, and to this, 
 combined with the influence and encouragement 
 of his excellent wife, gives credit for the position 
 to which he has attained in the moral, business 
 and social world. He bears testimony to the power 
 of associations as potential in forming character. 
 Next to his wife, no one has so influenced his life 
 as his elder brother whom he considers an ideal 
 man. His father's example, too, has always been 
 that of a Godly man, while his intimate friends 
 have been ever men of the highest noble character. 
 This brief sketch of the writer of our historical 
 narrative of Putnam county does not pretend to 
 be a biography, entering into detail but simply a 
 suggestive outline, leaving the completion to his 
 future biographers after the records are all in. 
 
 FRANK A. BARR. 
 
 Frank A. Barr is a prominent representative of 
 commercial and industrial interests in Steuben 
 township. He carries on merchandising in Spar- 
 land and is operating extensively in coal, thus de- 
 veloping the rich mineral resources of the county. 
 His ready recognition and utilization of oppor- 
 tunity have been important elements in his suc- 
 
 cess and he belongs to that class of representative 
 American men who while advancing individual 
 interests also promote the general prosperity. He 
 is likewise popular and prominent in political 
 circles and he has made a record which is indeed 
 creditable in all life's relations. 
 
 Mr. Barr was born in Mercer county, Illinois, 
 in 1858. His father, Hamilton Barr, was born 
 in Kentucky, April 5, 1829, and on coming to this 
 state took up his abode in Mercer county but sub- 
 sequently removed to Hancock county, Illinois, 
 where he engaged in the practice of law for about 
 twelve years. He then removed to Oskaloosa, 
 Iowa, and spent a portion of his time in the city 
 and also lived part of the time upon a farm. He 
 afterward removed to La Harpe, Hancock county, 
 Illinois, where he conducted a hotel for four years, 
 after which he came to Sparland. Here he was 
 elected to the office of justice of the peace, fill- 
 ing that position until his death, which occurred 
 October 19, 1906, his incumbency covering a 
 period of twelve years, while his service was 
 marked by the utmost fidelity to duty, his deci- 
 sions being strictly fair and impartial. He was 
 admitted to the bar in 1862. His political alle- 
 giance was given to the democracy and he held 
 membership in the Methodist church. He had 
 been married twice, first wedding Miss Sarah 
 Compton, of Kentucky, on December 17, 1848. 
 For his second wife he chose Elizabeth Cunning- 
 ham. By the first marriage there were the fol- 
 lowing children: Anna, the deceased wife of 
 Philip Fosbender, of Sparland; Mary, the wife 
 of George Riddell, who is engaged in the grocery 
 business in Watseka; Frank, of this review; 
 Louisa, the wife of Frank Moor, who is in part- 
 nership with Mr. Riddell at Watseka. 
 
 Frank A. Barr spent his childhood days in 
 La Harpe, Illinois, and was graduated from the 
 high school there. He entered upon his business 
 career as a clerk in the employ of Charles F. Gill 
 & Company, with whom he remained until nine- 
 teen years of age, when he removed to Sparland 
 and for two years conducted the elevator here. 
 With the assistance of T. Gapen and Dr. Tesmer 
 he opened a small store and after conducting it 
 for two years was enabled to discharge his finan- 
 cial obligations to the two gentlemen who had 
 assisted him and to whom he has always felt deep 
 gratitude for the aid which they rendered in 
 his early days when he had no capital of his own.
 
 138 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 When he had discharged his indebtedness he 
 bought a building and with renewed energy en- 
 tered upon the work of building up a store. He is 
 now proprietor of one of the largest general 
 stores of the county, carrying an extensive and 
 well selected line of goods which meets a very 
 ready sale, owing to his reasonable prices, his 
 fair and honest dealing and his earnest desire 
 to please his patrons. His trade is constantly 
 increasing and his success is thereby augmented. 
 This does not, however, embrace all of Mr. Barr's 
 business interests, for he is operating a coal mine 
 a mile north of Sparland. This is one of the best 
 drift mines in the state and he owns altogether 
 about nine hundred and fifty acres of coal land 
 in the vicinity of Sparland, employing thirty-five 
 teams and sixty men to haul the coal and props 
 and work in the mines. Since December, 1905, 
 he has been paying out on an average of ninety 
 dollars per day for labor. The business there- 
 fore is of the utmost value to the community as 
 well as to himself, for it furnishes the means of 
 livelihood to many a family. 
 
 Mr. Barr was married at the age of twenty-one 
 years to Miss Clara B. Brassfield and unto them 
 have been born three children, but the daughters, 
 Eddie B. and Mabel, are both deceased. They 
 died of scarlet fever just three weeks apart, the 
 former at the age of five years and the latter 
 at the age of three. The only son, Leslie, who 
 was graduated from the high school at the age 
 of eighteen years, is now conducting the Lacon 
 electric plant. He is a young man of exceptional 
 business ability and enterprise, of whom the pa- 
 rents have every reason to be proud. He intends 
 to take a higher course in electrical engineering 
 and thus fit himself for a responsible position in 
 the business world. 
 
 Mr. Barr is a stalwart advocate of the democ- 
 racy and was first elected to office in 1885, when 
 he was chosen township collector. He has served 
 as alderman of Sparland for nine years, exercis- 
 ing his official prerogatives to advance many pro- 
 gressive public movements. He was also school 
 director for twelve years, has been clerk of the 
 school board, was county treasurer for four years 
 and sheriff for four years, filling the last named 
 position at the present time. He is also again a 
 candidate for the office of county treasurer. Fra- 
 ternally he belongs to the Masonic lodge at Spar- 
 land and has taken the degrees of Eoyal Arch 
 
 Masonry in Lacon. He is likewise connected with 
 the Knights of Pythias at Lacon and with the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern 
 Woodmen of America and the Mystic Workmen, 
 all of Sparland. He is now worthy patron of 
 Star chapter at Sparland and is likewise con- 
 nected with the Rebekah degree of Odd Fellows 
 here. Over his public record and private life there 
 falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. 
 He has become a leader in local democratic ranks 
 and is one whose fidelity and loyalty in office 
 have ever been above question. In his business 
 life he has manifested traits of character which 
 are most commendable and exemplary, never mak- 
 ing engagements that he has not kept nor incur- 
 ring obligations that he has not promptly met. 
 In fact his is a record which any man might be 
 proud to possess and it has won him the admira- 
 tion and respect of his contemporaries. 
 
 JUDGE THOMAS M. SHAW. 
 
 Judge Thomas M. Shaw, faultless in honor, fear- 
 less in conduct and stainless in reputation, left 
 behind him a record which is an honor to the 
 bench and bar of Illinois and to the state legis- 
 lature, where he served as a distinguished mem- 
 ber of the senate for four years. But while he 
 won distinction and honors his more personal at- 
 tributes and characteristics his kindly disposi- 
 tion, gentle manner and consideration for others 
 gained him the warmest personal regard, so 
 that every one who knew him was his friend, and 
 when a long life of professional activity was 
 ended and the world passed judgment upon his 
 record the consensus of opinion was altogether 
 favorable. 
 
 Like many another man who has risen to public 
 prominence, he was born in a little log cabin that 
 stood on the old family homestead in Roberts town- 
 ship, Marshall county, his natal day being August 
 20, 1836. At that time Marshall was still a part 
 of Putnam county and its white settlers were com- 
 paratively few. Indians were still seen in the 
 neighborhood, although four years had passed since 
 the close of the Black Hawk war. The genealogical 
 records furnish several interesting facts about the 
 ancestors of Judge Shaw. His grandmother was 
 a cousin of George Washington and his father, 
 George H. Shaw, went to school in Kentucky 
 with a bov who was to become President Buchanan.
 
 ^a 
 
 
 /?
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 143 
 
 His father, George H. Shaw, was a Kentucky 
 planter, who after liberating his slaves came to 
 Illinois in 1829 accompanied by his young bride, 
 who bore the maiden name of Penelope R. Ed- 
 wards. He selected as their home a tract of 
 government land, situated about eight miles from 
 the Illinois river, and comprising both prairie 
 and wood land. A point of grand forest trees, 
 mostly oaks, extended into the prairie tract and 
 this gave occasion for the naming of the locality 
 Shaw's Point. In the midst of the forest George 
 Shaw hewed the logs and built the cabin in 
 which his son Thomas was born and where he 
 lived for many years with his brothers and sisters 
 until the family was prosperous enough to erect a 
 large two-story brick residence on the old home- 
 stead, the work being done by the sons of the 
 family, who not only constructed the building, 
 but also manufactured the brick. This resi- 
 dence, which is one of the landmarks of the com- 
 munity, is now occupied by George H. Shaw, a 
 brother of the Judge, who saw most honorable 
 service as a lieutenant in the Union army in the 
 Civil war. Mrs. Penelope Shaw died in 1840, 
 when her son Thomas was but four years of age, 
 but the father reached the age of eighty years, 
 passing away on the old homestead, February 
 2. 1877. 
 
 The usual description of pioneer life would 
 present a picture of the environments of Judge 
 Shaw in his boyhood days, when there were 
 forest trees to fell, a virgin soil to till and prairie 
 fires to fight. Prom his work in the forest and 
 fields he eagerly turned to his books, his favorite 
 studies being mathematics and history, and he 
 made such surprising progress in his education 
 that with all the disadvantages which attended 
 upon its acquirement he was prepared when six- 
 teen years of age to carry on the work as a 
 student of Judson College at Mount Palatine, in 
 Putnam county, Illinois, then the leading educa- 
 tional institute of the central portion of this 
 state. A year later, however, in 1854, the school 
 svas obliged to suspend, and Judge Shaw became 
 a student in Mount Morris Academy. Ambitious 
 to enter a field of labor demanding intellectual 
 prowess, he became a law student in the office of 
 William D. Edwards, his cousin, and at that time 
 the leading attorney of Lacon, in 1855. The 
 same thoroughness which characterized his gen- 
 eral school work was manifest in his efforts to 
 
 master the principles of jurisprudence, and in 
 later years when he had earned an assured posi- 
 tion as a lawyer and judge, those who had the 
 privilege of studying in his office and afterward 
 of following his professional career and private 
 life, enthusiastically testified to his broad under- 
 standing and impartial interpretation of the law, 
 his intellectual cultivation, his manly integrity 
 and his firmness and courage, coupled with a 
 tenderness which was essentially womanly in its 
 type. 
 
 When twenty years of age Judge Shaw was ad- 
 mitted to the bar and located for practice at 
 Hennepin, where he remained for five years. In 
 1873 he was also admitted to practice before the 
 United States supreme court. He became a resi- 
 dent of Lacon in 1862, but had previously en- 
 listed for service in the Civil war at Hennepin. 
 He had been chosen captain of the company, but 
 was afterward rejected on account of an accident 
 in boyhood, which deprived him of the use of 
 an eye. Removing to Lacon, he became a partner 
 of Judge Mark Bangs \mder the firm style of 
 Bangs & Shaw, a connection that was maintained 
 for seventeen years, and the firm was regarded as 
 one of the strongest at the bar of central Illi- 
 nois. It is said the two made an excellent com- 
 bination, the studious habits and close applica- 
 tion of Mr. Shaw being supplemented by the 
 oratorical powers of Mr. Bangs, who was always 
 effective in jury trials. The dissolution of the 
 firm came with the appointment of Mr. Bangs 
 to the office of the United States district attorney, 
 with headquarters in Chicago. In the meantime, 
 in 1874, R. B. Edwards, a cousin of Judge Shaw, 
 had been received into partnership, so that upon 
 the retirement of Mr. Bangs the firm became Shaw 
 & Edwards, and was tiros maintained until Mr. 
 Shaw's election in 1885 as one of the three cir- 
 cuit judges of the tenth judicial district. He 
 went to the bench well qualified for the arduous 
 duties that are called for in the impartial ad- 
 ministration of the law, and his record on the 
 bench was in harmony with his record as a man 
 and lawyer, being distinguished by irreproach- 
 able integrity and a masterful grasp of every 
 problem that was presented for solution. In 1891 
 and again in 1897 Judge Shaw was elected, but 
 died April 15, 1901, during the sixteenth year 
 of his service. He had the highest respect of the 
 members of the bar and his decisions were model?
 
 144 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 of judicial soundness. He had the faculty to a 
 remarkable degree of losing all personal prejudice 
 and peculiarities in the equity and justice of 
 the case, and he was seldom, if ever, at error in 
 the application of a legal point to the question at 
 issue. There are few men who have had so small 
 a number of decisions reversed. While quick to 
 grasp a point and with a breadth of perception 
 enabling him to view a case from every stand- 
 point, he must also feel assured that he was 
 right before a decision was rendered. His im- 
 partiality and absolute fairness were acknowl- 
 edged by every member of the bar comprising 
 the district and none feared to leave a decision 
 of a case in his hands. He was often urged by 
 his -professional friends to become a candidate 
 for judge of the state supreme court, and Kis 
 name was prominently mentioned in connection 
 with gubernatorial honors. 
 
 Judge Shaw was a recognized leader in the 
 ranks of the democracy, and although while on 
 the bench he took little part in political affairs 
 and never allowed partisan feeling to affect him 
 in any way in the discharge of his multitudinous 
 delicate duties, prior to the time when he was 
 called to the bench he was an influential factor 
 in democratic circles. He was twice elected and 
 served as- mayor of Lacon, and was also a member 
 of the school board. He was once the candidate 
 of his party for congress and in 1880 he was 
 elected to represent his district, comprising Mar- 
 shall, Woodford and Putnam counties, in the 
 state senate. He had very ably represented his 
 district during the thirty-second and thirty-third 
 sessions of the legislature, and at the latter had 
 been honored with the unanimous vote of the 
 senators of his party for the position of presi- 
 dent pro tern. He was next elected to the bench, 
 although he never sought office. 
 
 Judge Shaw was married on the 24th of Decem- 
 ber, 1863, to Miss Nellie F. Hirsch, of Metamora, 
 Woodford county, Illinois, considered one of the 
 beautiful belles of that locality. She is a native 
 of New Hampshire, and is one of the five chil- 
 dren born to Frederick F. and Caroline (Starrett) 
 Hirsch. Her mother was also born in New Hamp- 
 shire, and died in Metamora, Illinois, October 8, 
 1866, while her father was born in Lowell, Massa- 
 chusetts, and died in Metamora, April 22, 1901, 
 at the age of eighty-five years. He was pre- 
 paring to -attend the funeral of Judge Shaw the 
 
 day after the latter's death and died six days 
 later. This double sorrow to Mrs. Shaw was a 
 strain to the heart strings which few women 
 would have borne without utter collapse. She 
 was only ten years of age when the family re- 
 moved from the east to Woodford county, Illi- 
 nois. Besides Mrs. Shaw, the aged father left 
 three married daughters: Mrs. Carrie S. Irving, 
 of Metamora; Mrs. Lutie C. Myers, of the same 
 place; and Mrs. Narietta A. Cassell, of Denver, 
 Colorado. The maternal great-grandfather of 
 Mrs. Shaw was an officer in the British army. 
 His real name was Stuart, and he was related to 
 Mary, Queen of Scots. While in England he fell 
 in love with an English lady of nobility, but 
 their marriage was opposed on account of his 
 Scotch connections. The young couple eloped to 
 America and were married on their arrival in 
 New England. To hide his identity he changed 
 his name from Stuart to Starrett and eventually 
 settled in New Hampshire. 
 
 Judge and Mrs. Shaw never had any children 
 of their own, but reared an adopted doughter, 
 Daisy, and upon her Judge Shaw lavished the 
 love of the ideal father. The domestic life was 
 everything that might be expected when one con- 
 siders the deeply affectionate, the strong, the 
 considerate, and the well balanced character of 
 the Judge. At home he cast aside his legal and 
 judicial cares. He loved music and sang in a 
 deep mellow voice, and he delighted in the 
 musical talent of his daughter. A lover of art, 
 he visited in his travels many noted galleries. 
 He loved nature even more and its beauties 
 and he could always find beauty therein were a 
 constant delight to him. He took little interest 
 in games of chance even for amusement, but such 
 as whist and chess, which call for the applica- 
 tion of memory, intellectual action, decision, pa- 
 tience and mental stamina, he always played with 
 enjoyment and skill. He was very fond of travel, 
 both as a means of recreation and improvement, 
 and in his trips in his native land and abroad 
 he was always accompanied by his wife or his 
 daughter or both, the measure of his enjoyment 
 being never completed unless he could share it 
 with others. His membership relations were with 
 the Order of Elks and with the State Bar Asso- 
 ciation. There is no better estimate of character 
 and of accomplishment than that which is ex- 
 pressed in the words of friends who, without
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 145 
 
 thought of eulogy, voice their true sentiment in 
 regard to an individual. His large and lovable 
 qualities as a man have been a frequent theme 
 of discussion by those who knew him best. Judge 
 S. S. Page, one of his co-workers in the circuit 
 court, wrote : "AVe all feel that we have lost one 
 of the best and most lovable men we have ever 
 known. The bench and bar alike will mourn 
 his loss. I never knew a man who seemed to 
 possess more of a sweet and womanly disposition." 
 While Judge Leslie Puterbaugh, of Peoria, said: 
 "No one can more fully than I appreciate your 
 irreparable loss. While I had known Judge Shaw 
 since my boyhood and had always respected and 
 admired him as a lawyer and jurist, my close offi- 
 cial and personal relations of recent years had 
 led me to know and love him almost as a father. 
 I feel that I have lost one of my best friends, 
 and shall long miss his genial companionship 
 and wise counsel." Ex- Vice President Adlai E. 
 Stevenson, who spoke at his funeral, referred to 
 him as his life-long friend, as. not only an able 
 lawyer and upright judge, but so true a man in all 
 the relations of life as to have fairly earned the 
 immortality spoken of by the poet: 
 
 "To live in hearts we leave behind, 
 Is not to die." 
 
 A more general tribute of affection and esteem 
 was presented in these resolutions spread upon 
 the records of the circuit court of Peoria county 
 by the members of the Peoria Bar Association : 
 
 Whereas,- Thomas M. Shaw, one of the judges 
 of the Tenth Judicial . Circuit of Illinois, has 
 been suddenly called away in the midst of his 
 usefulness, the members of the bar practicing 
 before him in Peoria and adjoining counties, de- 
 sire to place on record their appreciation of him 
 as a judge and a man. 
 
 Faithful in all his dutia, widely and profound- 
 ly learned in the law, he brought large abilities 
 to the work of the jurist. Kindly, patient and 
 serene, his great endeavor was to mete out jus- 
 tice through the rules of law. He has not only 
 the respect and admiration of the bar, but the 
 love of its members also. "Justice, tempered by 
 mercy." was his motto. 
 
 . In social intercourse he was modest and un- 
 ohtrusivo, hut always approachable and pleasant. 
 Ho weighed social, moral, and religious ques- 
 tions with the same calm, judicial spirit that 
 he brought to legal ones. As a friend he was 
 
 reliable; always the same. When he approached 
 any question, principles rather than persons guid- 
 ed him. 
 
 Thus he won the confidence of the people. For 
 the sixteen years they kept him on the bench 
 he grew in that confidence. They felt their rights 
 were safe in his hands. 
 
 To his afflicted family we tender our heartfelt 
 sympathy, knowing that the beautiful picture of 
 his life will abide with them so long as memory 
 shall endure. 
 
 To the people of this judicial district his de- 
 parture is a great loss, but the effect and memory 
 of his service on the bench endure as a great 
 gain. A model judge, an upright citizen, a lov- 
 able man has gone from us. We ask that this 
 imperfect memorial of him be placed on the 
 records of Peoria county. 
 
 Says Rev. Theodore Clifton, western field sec- 
 retary of the Congregational Educational Society : 
 "I knew Judge Shaw long and well, only to love 
 and honor him. The news of his death was a 
 great surprise to me, and came with a distinct 
 sense of personal loss. When I first met the 
 judge, nearly thirty years ago, he was a young 
 lawyer in Lacon, Marshall county. From that 
 day to the day of his death he grew upon me, not 
 only as a lawyer, but as a man, a citizen and a 
 personal friend. Judge Shaw possessed a fine 
 legal mind and his career as a lawyer and a judge 
 wag an honor to the state as well as to himself. 
 Illinois did not confer honor upon him so much 
 as he conferred honor upon Illinois. A quiet, 
 unassuming man, he did not realize his own great 
 worth or his own great influence. He was a man 
 of few words, but whether before a jury, on the 
 bench or in the social circle, his words were 
 always listened to and carried weight. It was 
 the weight of a noble manhood, a mature and 
 accurate judgment, and an unsullied life." 
 
 J. Cassner Irving, a brother-in-law of Judge 
 Shaw, draws the following reminiscent picture 
 of his many-sided personality: "Judge Shaw was 
 wedded to his profession, and once said to me : 
 'I had rather feel that I was qualified to fill the 
 position of judge of the supreme court of Illi- 
 nois than be president of the United States.' 
 He loved nature and lived as near to it as his 
 environment would permit. He was a plain, un- 
 obtrusive man, meeting pomp and pride and show, 
 but never seeking it. He loved art for art's
 
 146 
 
 PAST AM) 1'KKSKXT OF MARSHALL AM) ITTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 sake, and said: 'It is nature's first cousin, and 
 music, sweet music, is its soul.' Gentle and 
 kind ; always regarding the rights of others ; 
 knightly and respectful to women wherever he 
 met them; loving his home and those within it, 
 it was a joy to him to return to it when his day's 
 work was done. He lived for others, and espe- 
 cially those he loved. Firm as a rock when con- 
 vinced he was right, conscientious to an exces- 
 sive degree, he worked harder to do justice and 
 right than any man I ever knew. I was very 
 close to him in some of his campaigns for office, 
 and knew much of what he did and wanted done. 
 Once during his second judicial campaign Luther 
 Dearborn, of Chicago, came to me and said : 
 'Now, young man, I met a party of lawyers in 
 Peoria last night, and the three democratic can- 
 didates for judges were there, and I was told 
 you had the practical management of their cam- 
 paign in hand and at heart. Do your best, but 
 be sure that Shaw is elected.' I saw Judge Shaw 
 a few days afterward and told him of the inci- 
 dent. He said : 'Cass, do your best ; but do not 
 push me past the other boys, for I had rather 
 be defeated than to have them think I had not 
 sailed fair with them.' He lived for others, and 
 in the years to come- in that mysterious, sweet 
 unknown, when mists and clouds and darkness 
 and doubts have been dispelled, I only hope to 
 meet my friend, Judge Shaw." 
 
 It falls to the lot of but few in this world to 
 fiilly and yet humbly respond, throughout a long 
 life of practical and professional activity, to the 
 impressive call of the immortal Bryant: 
 "So live, that when thy summons conies to join 
 The innumerable caravan that moves 
 To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
 Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 
 Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and 
 
 soothed 
 
 By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
 Like one that draws the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 
 
 DAVID B. MOOEE. 
 
 David B. Moore, who derives his income from 
 a valuable fanning property of two hundred and 
 ten acres in Hennepin township, is now living 
 retired from business cares in the village of Gran- 
 
 ville. His life occupation was that of farming, 
 and^when his labors had brought him a comfort- 
 able competence he put aside the more arduous 
 duties of life to enjoy his remaining days in rest 
 from further labor. He was born in the town of 
 Independence, Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
 February 7, 1831. His father, James Moore, a 
 native of old Virginia, was a miller and wheel- 
 wright in early life and subsequently located on a 
 farm in Washington county, Pennsylvania. He 
 was born in 1800 and died at the age of forty- 
 eight years, while his wife, Nancy Boyd, who was 
 born in the Keystone state, lived to be eighty-four 
 years of age and passed away on the old homestead 
 farm in Washington county. 
 
 David B. Moore is indebted to the public-school 
 system of his native county for the educational 
 privileges that fitted him for life's practical and 
 responsible duties. He remained at home with his 
 parents until twenty-three years of age, and then, 
 ambitious to engage in business on his own ac- 
 count, he started fer Illinois, making his way down 
 the Ohio river and up the Mississippi and Illinois 
 rivers to Hennepin, where he landed in the fall 
 of 1853. He was a poor man with no reserve 
 capital, and as necessity rendered it expedient that 
 he find immediate employment he began work at 
 husking corn. He and his brother John after- 
 ward engaged in chopping wood in the first win- 
 ter. They were strangers, and as they had little 
 money they had to purchase their supplies on 
 credit. They tried to buy an ax in Granville on 
 time, but the merchant would not trust them. 
 Finally Moses Chapman, an early settler and 
 blacksmith in Granville, went security for them 
 until they could earn the money to pay for the 
 tools. They made the payments out of the first 
 money earned, and from that time on always had 
 good credit and were recognized as honest men. 
 By the succeeding spring David B. Moore had 
 saved enough to purchase a team and tools and 
 then began farming on his own account on rented 
 land on Hennepiii Prairie. He had good crops 
 and in this way made a start. 
 
 On the 30th of August, 1855, he secured a com- 
 panion and helpmate for life's journey through 
 his marriage to Miss Martha Moore, who though 
 of the same name was not a relative. She was 
 born in Putnam county, June 20, 1836, a daugh- 
 ter of Robert Moore, one of the early settlers. Mr. 
 Moore, of this review, following his marriage
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COrNTlKS. 
 
 1 1!) 
 
 rented land of his father-in-law and put in eighty 
 acres of fall wheat, which averaged thirty-eight 
 bushels per acre. Wheat was then worth about 
 thirty-five cents per bushel, and not desiring to 
 sell at that low figure he built a bin and stored 
 his wheat, later hauling it to Peru, where he sold 
 it for a dollar and a quarter per bushel. This 
 placed him in comparatively- easy financial cir- 
 cumstances, and with the proceeds of his crop he 
 purchased the following year ninety acres of land 
 in Hennepiii township near the old Union Grove 
 church. A log stable and a one story frame 
 house were the only improvements upon the farm, 
 but with characteristic energy he began its further 
 development and soon placed it under cultivation. 
 He worked earnestly and persistently year after 
 year, and as he found it possible to make other 
 purchases he added to the farm, until it now com- 
 prises two hundred and ten acres of very rich and 
 productive land in Hennepin township. He also 
 owns sixty acres near the village of Granville and 
 a beautiful home in the town. He continued to 
 reside upon the farm until 1902, when, satisfied 
 with the competence that he had already acquired, 
 he put aside the more active duties of business 
 life and retired to Granville, where he has erected 
 and now occupies a neat cottage on East Hopkins 
 avenue. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Moore have been born six 
 children, all of whom are living: Wilson, who 
 follows farming in Hennepin township ; Fannie 
 Evaline, the wife of John W T intcrsheid, a resident 
 o.f Coffey county, Kansas ; Harry, who wedded Eva 
 Pangburn and lives upon the old home farm; 
 Minnie, the wife of Milton Pord, who is farming 
 in Granville township ; Perry, who is married and 
 lives at Florid; and Howard, who is married and 
 resides in the west. 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Moore have for many years 
 been zealous and devoted members of the Presby- 
 terian church. In 1857 he commenced Bible 
 work in his school district in Hennepin township 
 and was local agent until 1862, since which time 
 he has been a county worker, and from 1892 until 
 tlic ]> resent time, in 1906, he has been president 
 of the Putnam County Bible Association. He was 
 reared in the faith of the democracy and followed 
 in his father's political footsteps in early days, 
 voting for Pierce and Buchanan, but when the 
 1 1 in 'stiii n of slavery became the dominant issue be- 
 fore the people and the republican party was 
 
 formed to prevent its further extension he joined 
 its ranks, cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln and 
 has voted for each presidential nominee of the 
 party since that time. For thirty-two years he 
 filled the office of school director and has always 
 been an authority on school laws of the state. The 
 cause of education finds in him a very stanch 
 friend, and he is also interested in the material, 
 political and moral progress of his community. 
 He is an entertaining gentleman, a fluent con- 
 versationalist, who though denied broad educa- 
 tional privileges in youth has read widely and 
 thought deeply and in the school of experience has 
 learned many valuable lessons. He relates most 
 entertainingly incidents of the early days in this 
 county and of the hardships and privations en- 
 countered in his own business career, and he de- 
 serves and receives the admiration and respect of 
 his fellowmen by reason of what he has accom- 
 plished, while his present honorable retirement is 
 the fitting reward of his life of former toil. 
 
 ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 St. Mary's Catholic church of Henry practically 
 had its beginning in 1850, when the Henry mis- 
 sion was formally opened, although priests had 
 previously visited this neighborhood. Hitherto 
 the few and scattered Catholics of this county 
 had been attended by zealous- missionaries who 
 rode through the district, baptizing the children, 
 instructing the Catholic settlers and burying their 
 dead. Mass was occasionally read in the houses 
 of the faithful and there the sacraments were ad- 
 ministered. In 1851 the question of building a 
 church was agitated in Henry and in 1852 the 
 corner stone of St. Mary's church was laid by 
 Father John O'Rielly, of La Salle. Fathers Gip- 
 perich, Kramer, Lynch, Meehan and W. H. Pow- 
 ers attended the church until the arrival of the 
 first resident pastor, Rev. Thomas O'Gara, in % 
 1856. He immediately sought and obtained a 
 suitable rectory, and thoroughly organized the new 
 parish. In June, 1860, he left for other fields 
 of labor and was followed siiccessively by Fathers 
 Cartuyvels, Delahanty and Lightner, who pre- 
 ceded Rev. Henry Koehn in July, 1863. The 
 last named built and furnished the large two-story 
 brick school house in 1869. Father Reck became 
 pastor in 1869 and in 1873 ' was succeeded by 
 Rev. Schreiber and he in turn by Revs. Max Al-
 
 150 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 brecht and Von Schwedler. Rev. William Scha- 
 moni arrived in 1877 and remained as pastor un- 
 til his death in 1882. Rev. C. Hout was his 
 successor and he it was who built the present 
 substantial two-story brick rectory. Rev. B. Baak 
 was appointed to take charge of St. Mary's in 
 1886, Rev. P. J. Gerhardy in 1894 and the pres- 
 ent pastor, Leonz Zumbuehl, in June, 1899. The 
 last named has since remained in charge and the 
 church has made steady progress under his min- 
 istration, its various departments being in good 
 working order. 
 
 FATHER LEONZ ZUMBUEHL. 
 Father Leonz Zumbuehl was born in Luzerne, 
 Switzerland, May 11, 1846, where he passed his 
 boyhood years, roaming amidst the beautiful scen- 
 ery of that romantic land, and breathed, while 
 obtaining his fundamental training, its pure air 
 of freedom. Later he entered St. Mary's college 
 in Schwitz as . a preparation for the famous uni- 
 versity of Freiburg, Baden. Here he graduated 
 with honor in the philosophical course, choosing 
 the ecclesiastical profession. We next find him 
 studying theology in the seminary at Chur. April 
 19, 1870, he was ordained for the missions of the 
 United States. The same year he sailed for the 
 field of his future labors with Rt. Rev. Amadeus 
 Rapp, the first bishop of Cleveland. He was ap- 
 pointed to the professorship of philosophy in the 
 seminary of that city, which position he satis- 
 factorily filled until 1877, when he was called 
 by the newly consecrated bishop of Peoria to ful- 
 fill pastoral duties in this diocese, then greatly in 
 need of priests. Bishop Spalding appointed him 
 to the pastorate of Warsaw, where he soon cleared 
 the church of a burdensome debt. Later he la- 
 bored faithfully at Richland, Kickapoo and Otta- 
 wa. For the past seven years he has been in 
 charge of St. Mary's, Henry, where with his usual 
 zeal, he has succeeded in paying off several hun- 
 dred dollars debt and renovated the church by 
 painting it on the outside and frescoing it within. 
 He is now endeavoring to raise a fund to build 
 a handsome church edifice, and no doubt this, 
 his crowning work, will soon be accomplished, if 
 he is spared to labor a few more years. 
 
 HON. JOEL WILLIS HOPKINS. 
 In the death of Joel Willis Hopkins, Putnam 
 county mourned the loss of one whom it had 
 grown to esteem and honor by reason of his 
 
 genuine personal worth. No history of Putnam 
 county would be adequate that did not take into 
 account his great influence in molding the char- 
 acter of its people, in shaping the policy of the 
 county and in promoting public interests along 
 the lines of progress, good order and moral and 
 religious development. He was active in public 
 affairs of the county, state and nation and at all 
 times he stood for high ideals. 
 
 "His life was noble, and the elements 
 So mixed in him that Nature might stand up 
 And say to all the world : 'This was a man.' " 
 Mr. Hopkins became a resident of Putnam 
 county in 1835, and therefore witnessed its 
 growth and development for almost sixty-seven 
 years, his death occurring on the 16th of Febru- 
 ary, 1902. He was born on the 29th of July, 
 1814, at Ripley, Brown county, Ohio, his parents 
 being William and Jane (Willis) Hopkins, the 
 former a native of Virginia and the latter of 
 South Carolina. When young people, however, 
 they removed to Ohio from their respective states 
 and were there married. In 1835 they brought 
 their family to Putnam county, Illinois, settling 
 upon the farm which later became the home of 
 their son Joel, the residence which now stands 
 there occupying the site of the first log cabin of 
 the family. 
 
 William Hopkins secured land of the govern- 
 ment, to the cultivation and improvement of which 
 he devoted his energies until his death in 1842. 
 His wife survived him for about seven years. One 
 son of the family, Archibald Wilson, had previ- 
 ously come to Putnam county, locating here in 
 1832, and while here participated in the Indian 
 war. His death occurred in 1839. John Craw- 
 ford is a resident of Marshall county, Iowa. 
 Stephen D., who was an invalid, died at the age 
 of forty-four years. George B., who lived near 
 Granville, died May 30, 1904. Elizabeth, who 
 was the wife of Willis Margrave, died May 24, 
 1892, at Hiawatha, Kansas. Martha married 
 James B. McCord and died June 24, 1881. Mar- 
 garet engaged in teaching for several years in 
 Putnam and Grundy counties, Illinois, and died 
 when past the age of thirty years. Melinda wedded 
 Abbott Barker, of Grundy county, and died May 
 22, 1865. The parents were earnest Christian 
 people, holding membership in the early years of 
 their residence here with the Union Grove Pres- 
 byterian church, while in later life they assisted
 

 
 PAST AND PRESENT' OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 in the organization of the Congregational church 
 at Granville. 
 
 Joel Willis Hopkins, the second son of his 
 father's family, was a young man of twenty-one 
 years at the time of the removal to Illinois, and 
 he assisted in the arduous task of developing a 
 new farm, sharing in the hardships and privations 
 incident to settlement upon the frontier. His 
 preparation for having a home of his own was 
 completed in 1840 by his marriage to Miss Eleanor 
 Jane Harrison, a sister of Stephen Harrison. She 
 and her brother, Eichard D. Harrison, died in the 
 same week in 1849, and in 1862 Mr. Hopkins 
 wedded the widow of the latter, Mrs. Sarah Har- 
 rison, a daughter of Alba Smith, who was one of 
 the pioneer settlers of Bureau county, Illinois, 
 taking up his abode near Princeton in 1835. Mrs. 
 Hopkins is a native of New York and was eleven 
 years of age when she accompanied her father to 
 this state. By his first marriage Mr. Hopkins 
 had five children, of whom two, Eveline and Jen- 
 nie, died in childhood, while those living are 
 Archibald Wilson, residing upon the home farm; 
 Helen De Armand, the wife of Eev. Bobert Mc- 
 Cord, of Lake City, Iowa; and Mary Harrison, 
 the wife of Judge W. Wright, of Toulon, Illinois. 
 One daughter graced the second marriage, Martha 
 Belle, who is the wife of Sidney Whitaker. By 
 her first husband Mrs. Hopkins had one son, Eich- 
 ard D. Harrison, who is living in Bureau county, 
 near Princeton. 
 
 Viewed from a business standpoint the life 
 record of Mr. Hopkins was a distinguished one, 
 for he so conducted his affairs and placed his in- 
 vestments that he became one of the extensive 
 landowners of this section of Illinois. Upon the 
 organization of the Peru National Bank Mr. Hop- 
 kins became its president and so continued until 
 his death. The safe, conservative policy which he 
 inaugurated made this one of the strong financial 
 institutions of this part of Illinois, and in moneyed 
 as well as agricultural circles he sustained an un- 
 assailable reputation. He was also president of 
 the Putnam County Bank at Hennepin and of 
 the Granville Bank. In all his business dealings 
 he manifested a fidelity to a high standard of com- 
 mercial ethics that won him the honor and ad- 
 miration of all. 
 
 A leading and popular citizen, Mr. Hopkins 
 was called upon to fill various important positions 
 of honor and trust, serving as supervisor, while 
 
 for ten years he was county judge. He resigned 
 his place on the bench in order to become a mem- 
 ber of the twenty-sixth general assembly, to which 
 he was elected on the republican ticket. He was 
 actively and helpfully interested in political ques- 
 tions, giving to the principles in which he believed 
 a firm and stalwart support. He served as a dele- 
 gate to the convention at Cincinnati, Ohio, which 
 nominated Eutherford B. Hayes for the presi- 
 dency, and he was frequently a delegate to the 
 state conventions of his party. During the dark 
 days of the Civil war he assisted in raising money 
 for substitutes and for the care of the soldiers' 
 widows and orphans, and upheld to the fullest 
 extent the administration and the Union cause. 
 He served for many years as an officer in the Con- 
 gregational church at Granville, in which he held 
 membership. He died February 16, 1902, leaving 
 a valuable estate to his family, chiefly represented 
 in his landed interests. In his character there was 
 an unusual combination of qualities. To the 
 world, the church, his neighbors and his friends, 
 he was a tower of strength; to his family all of 
 that and a world of tenderness beside. He was at 
 ease in the presence of the highest dignitaries of 
 the nation, and was so simple and kindly that no 
 one, however humble, felt abashed in his presence. 
 At his death it could truly be said, "Know ye not 
 that there is a prince and great man fallen this 
 day in Israel ?" 
 
 JOHN SPENCEE BUET. 
 
 The press has not only recorded the story of ad- 
 vancement, but has also ever been the leader in 
 the work of progress and improvement the van- 
 guard of civilization. The philosopher of some 
 centuries ago proclaimed the truth that "the pen 
 is mightier than the sword," and the statement is 
 continually being verified in the affairs of life. 
 In molding public opin/on the power of the news- 
 paper cannot be estimated, but at all events its 
 influence is greater than any other single agency, 
 and in this connection John Spencer Burt, as 
 editor of the Henry Times, has done much to 
 mold public thought and action. 
 
 A native of Hartford, Connecticut, he was born 
 on the 16th of March, 1834, and is. a son of 
 George and Jerusha (Spencer) Burt. The 
 father's birth occurred in Lansingburg, New 
 York, January 26, 1806, and in early life he
 
 154 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 learned and followed the trade of a tanner and 
 currier. He became a good workman and had a 
 large business. In 1833 he married Jerusha Spen- 
 cer, who was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 
 1800. In 1846 they removed with their family 
 to Marshall county, Illinois, and here the father 
 turned his attention to general agricultural pur- 
 suits. He was a representative citizen of the 
 pioneer community and in various public offices, 
 such as school director, tax assessor, and town 
 clerk he rendered capable service in the com- 
 munity. He also held office in the Baptist church, 
 to which he belonged and lived an upright, honor- 
 able life, which was terminated in death when he 
 was eighty-two years of age. His wife was always. 
 a devoted member of the Presbyterian church and 
 her death occurred in 1882. 
 
 John Spencer Burt, the eldest of the family of 
 five children, acquired his more specifically liter- 
 ary education as a student in Knox College and 
 Lombard University, at Galesburg, Illinois. He 
 pursued a scientific course, but did not graduate. 
 He was only twelve years of age when he accom- 
 panied his parents on their removal westward to 
 Illinois, the family home being established upon 
 a farm in Marshall county at a time when there 
 were not more than a half dozen settlers in the 
 township. He assisted in the farm labor until 
 eighteen years of age, when he engaged in teach- 
 ing school through the winter seasons, while in 
 the summer months he aided in the work of the 
 fields. Thus his time and attention were occu- 
 pied until his marriage. 
 
 In the meantime, however, he responded to the 
 country's call for troops. Hardly had the smoke 
 from Fort Sumter's guns cleared away, when, in 
 the spring of 1861, he offered his services to the 
 government, but the company was not needed at 
 that time and it was not until July, 1861, that 
 he became a regular soldier, enlisting in the First 
 Illinois Cavalry. He did scouting in Missouri 
 for a time and was taken prisoner with the rest 
 of Colonel Mulligan's command at the battle of 
 Lexington, Missouri, by General Sterling Price. 
 He was then paroled and sent home, but later was 
 called into service again, when the government, 
 finding him and his comrades were paroled men, 
 however, they were mustered out. 
 
 On resuming the pursuits of civic life Mr. Burt 
 again engaged in teaching, which profession he 
 followed until his marriage. In 1869 he re- 
 
 moved to Henry, where he established a news, 
 book and notion store, which he carried 
 on with a gratifying measure of success 
 until 1888. He then bought the Times, a 
 weekly newspaper, which he has since published. 
 The office has been greatly improved under his di- 
 rection. The Times is a six column quarto, all 
 printed in the office on a large Cranston cylinder 
 press with foundry type and run by a gasoline en- 
 gine. There are also three job presses, a paper 
 cutter, perforator and a full equipment of type, all 
 of which have been put in since Mr. Burt pur- 
 chased the office, which was very poorly supplied 
 when it came into his possession. In his journal- 
 istic venture he has also met with gratifying pros- 
 perity. The paper which he is publishing is vital, 
 enthusiastic and progressive; they aim to advance 
 the interests of the county, to aid in laying fast 
 and sure the foundation for an enlightened com- 
 monwealth, further the ends of justice and uphold 
 the banner of the state of Illinois. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Burt is a democrat 
 and through the columns of his paper stanchly 
 supports the principles of that party. For twelve 
 years he served as county surveyor, but otherwise 
 has sought nor held public office. He belongs to 
 the Odd Fellows' society, of which he is treas- 
 urer, and to Lookout Mountain Post, No. 84, G. 
 A. R., of which he is adjutant. He is also a 
 member of the Illinois State Editorial Associa- 
 tion and attends most of its meetings. 
 
 Mr. Burt was married in Henry, April 12, 1868, 
 to' Miss Julia Chapman, the eldest daiighter of 
 Hiram and Eleanor (Rogers) Chapman. They 
 have one child, a son, Robert F., who was born in 
 1869, and married Miss Elizabeth Smith, by 
 which union there is one son, Robert, born No- 
 vember 24, 1903. The son has been associated 
 with his father in biisiness for the past eleven 
 years under the name of J. S. Burt & Son, which 
 is a strong business combination, while their abil- 
 ity in the field of newspaper work is well known 
 to the many readers of the Times. 
 
 GEORGE \V. HUNT. 
 
 George W. Hunt, superintendent of schools of 
 Putnam county, has, although a young man, at- 
 tained considerable prominence as a representative 
 of the system -of public instruction in Illinois, and 
 his abilities, natural and ar<|inred. are an Indira-
 
 GEORGE W. HUNT.
 
 PAST AND PBBSENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 157 
 
 tion that still further advancement awaits him. 
 Born in Fulton county, Illinois, May 8, 1875, he 
 is a son of Hiram and Catherine Hunt, both now 
 deceased. The father, a farmer by occupation, 
 was born in New York and came to this state in 
 the '30s. His wife was a native of Ireland, and 
 with a sister and two brothers came to America. 
 Mrs. Hunt took up one hundred and sixty acres 
 of land near Havana, Illinois, and the deed, signed 
 by President Buchanan, has never been transferred 
 only to the heirs. 
 
 George W. Hunt was reared under the parental 
 roof to the age of seventeen years, and during that 
 period acquired a district-school education. Am- 
 bitious for further intellectual progress, he then 
 attended the State Normal School at Normal, Illi- 
 nois, and alternately devoted his time and energies 
 to teaching and study until he entered the State 
 University in 1901. In 1898 he came to Putnam 
 county as teacher of the Center district school, 
 near Magnolia. For three years he was principal 
 of the Granville high school, and in the fall of 
 1903, while yet a student in the State University, 
 was elected superintendent of schools for Putnam 
 county. In February, 1904, he came to Granville 
 and entered upon the duties of this office, in which 
 capacity he is now serving. Although he was thus 
 forced to relinquish his class work he continued 
 his studies, returning to the university to take all 
 of the examinations, and was graduated therefrom 
 in 1904 with the degree of L. L. B. In 1905 he 
 was admitted to the bar, and has since successfully 
 engaged in the practice of law. His work in be- 
 half of the schools has been notable and has won 
 him more than local distinction. In April, 1906, 
 he rendered a decision in favor of the consolidation 
 of three school districts into one. This was a new 
 departure in the school work of Illinois, but had 
 been tried successfully in other states. The argu- 
 ments Mr. Hunt presented in a neat eight page 
 pamphlet, which shows his ability as a writer and 
 as a logical thinker and indicates that much time 
 and study was spent in its preparation. Having 
 himself been a student in the district schools and 
 in the State Normal and a teacher in the district 
 schools, he was well qualified to know the condi- 
 tions of the country schools and the limited op- 
 portunity its pupils had in a chance for entering 
 a high school or college. Mr. Hunt's opinions are 
 largely considered authority on public-school ques- 
 
 tions in this part of Illinois, and he justly merits 
 the position of prominence that he has won in 
 educational circles. His own broad intellectual 
 culture and natural ability, combined with his un- 
 faltering diligence, have made him recognized as 
 one of the able educators of the state. He is a 
 most entertaining conversationalist and a fluent 
 writer, and is continually broadening his knowl- 
 edge through reading and investigation. At the 
 last election he was re-elected to the office of 
 county superintendent without opposition. 
 
 Fraternally he is connected with the Woodmen 
 and with the Odd Fellows, and his religious faith 
 is indicated in his membership in the Congrega- 
 tional church. 
 
 WILLIAM SALISBUEY. 
 
 William Salisbury, an esteemed resident of 
 Henry, who since 1900 has lived retired from 
 active farm work, which he made his life occu- 
 pation, was born in the county of Shropshire, 
 England, July 9, 1826, his parents being William 
 and Ann (Butler) Salisbury, who were also na- 
 tives of that place. The father was a game- 
 keeper for Sir Andrew Vincent Corbett. They 
 had twelve children. 
 
 William Salisbury, the sixth in order of birth, 
 came to the United States in 1856, when thirty 
 years of age, and settled in Lacon, Illinois, where 
 he spent the winter. He was afterward employed 
 at farm labor in Prairie township for several years 
 and when his industry and economy had brought 
 him sufficient capital he purchased a farm in 
 Saratoga township, Marshall county, whereon he 
 remained for thirty-seven years. He was an en- 
 ergetic, wideawake, progressive and successful 
 agriculturist and he remained upon the farm until 
 1900, when he put aside the active work of the 
 fields and is now living in Henry. He owns one 
 hundred acres of valuable land in Saratoga town- 
 ship and this returns to him a gratifying income. 
 
 Mr. Salisbury was married in 1864 to Miss 
 Margaret J. Jacobs, who was born in Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 1, 1845, and is a daughter of 
 George Jacobs, who came to Illinois in 1856, lo- 
 cating on a farm in Peoria county. Unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Salisbury have been born nine children: 
 Martha, now the wife of Charles Durling, a resi- 
 dent of Saratoga township; Ann, the wife of 
 George McAtee, who is living in Pocahontas
 
 158 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 county, Iowa; Jane, the wife of Henry Seelye, a 
 resident of Minnesota; William, of Bureau coun- 
 ty ; Sarah, the wife of Albert Newman, of White- 
 field township; Thomas, who is on the homestead 
 farm in Saratoga township; Charles, also of 
 Whitefield township ; Maude, the wife of Thomas 
 Cain, of Saratoga township; and Clara, who com- 
 pletes the family. There are also twenty-two 
 grandchildren, 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury are devoted members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church and have lived 
 lives in consistent harmony with their profession. 
 His political views accord with the principles of 
 the republican party and he has served as school 
 director for twenty-one years and as road com- 
 missioner for eleven years. His long continuance 
 in office was an indication of his capability and 
 fidelity and of the confidence reposed in him by 
 his fellow townsmen. He has made an enviable 
 record in business circles, for when he came to 
 America at the age of thirty years he had no 
 capital, but was dependent entirely upon his own 
 resources for a livelihood. Working as a farm 
 laborer he made a start, and later invested judi- 
 ciously in property. Then in his farm work he 
 displayed untiring industry and enterprise and 
 as the years passed he added to his possessions 
 and became one of the properous citizens of his 
 community, his competence being now sufficient 
 to enable him to enjoy the necessities and com- 
 forts of life without recourse to further labor. 
 Moreover his actions have been so honorable that 
 no word of blame has ever been uttered against 
 his business career. On July 9. 1906, he cele- 
 brated his eightieth birthday and nearly all his 
 children and grandchildren were present on this 
 
 J. W. HOLTON. 
 
 J. W. Holton is the owner of an excellent farm 
 of one hundred and forty acres on section 21, 
 Evans township, and in the control of his busi- 
 ness interests is displaying excellent executive 
 ability and keen sagacity. His life record began 
 in Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 23d of April, 
 1845, his parents being Francis H. and Hannah 
 (Cockerell) Holton. . The father was of Scotch 
 descent and was born in Muskingum county, 
 Ohio, in 1818. It was there that he wedded Miss 
 Cockerell, whose birth occurred in Loudoun coun- 
 ty, Virginia, in 1814, her parents being Elia? 
 
 and Sarah (Butler) Cockerell, who removed with 
 their family to Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1824. 
 Upon a farm in that county Francis H. Holton 
 and his wife began their domestic life and resided 
 until 1856. That year witnessed their removal 
 to Iowa but in the following year they came to 
 Marshall county, Illinois, where for six years Mr. 
 Holton operated a rented farm. The money which 
 he had saved from his earnings was then invested 
 in a farm, now owned by the heirs of John Kane. 
 The land at that time was wild and unimproved 
 but lie placed it under cultivation and continued 
 its development until his removal to Vermilion 
 county, this state. He then lived a comparatively 
 retired life upon his farm there until he was 
 called to his final rest on the 4th of April, 1888, 
 while his wife passed away at the age of eighty- 
 five years. Both were earnest and consistent mem- 
 bers of the Methodist church and Mr. Holton 
 took a very active part in the work of the Sunday- 
 school, believing with the psalmist that "train a 
 child up in the way he should go and when he is 
 old he will not depart therefrom." In the family 
 were five children, of whom three reached years 
 of maturity: Edith, now the deceased wife of 
 Jacob M. Brenn ; J. W., of this review ; and 
 George H., who is living in Omaha, Nebraska, 
 and who' married Lizzie Ogle. 
 
 When a youth of twelve years J. W. Holton 
 accompanied his parents on their removal to Mar- 
 shall county, Illinois. His early education, ac- 
 quired in the district schools, was supplemented 
 by study in the old seminary in Wenona and after 
 putting aside his text-books he continued to aid 
 in the work of the home farm until he attained 
 his majority. He then made arrangements for 
 having a home of "his own by his marriage, on the 
 1st of April, 1869, to Miss Edith Olive, who was 
 born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1846 and 
 died in 1872, leaving two children, of whom Wal- 
 ter 0. is now following farming in Vermilion 
 county, Illinois. The other son, Jesse M., is de- 
 ceased. On the 31st of January, 1876, Mr. Hol- 
 ton was joined in wedlock to Mrs. Susan Gage, 
 a daughter of Ira F. Washburn. who was born 
 at Sacketts Harbor, New York, in 1813 and be- 
 came one of the early settlers of Rock county, 
 Wisconsin. In the place of his nativity Mr. Wash- 
 burn wedded Jane E. Pratt, who was born in the 
 same county in 1824. Emigrating to Wisconsin, 
 he there opened up a new farm. His death oc-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 159 
 
 curred October 31, 1889, and his wife 
 away April 29, 1878. They held membership 
 with the Baptist church, taking an active part 
 in its work, while Mr. Washburn served as one 
 of its deacons. The family numbered four chil- 
 dren, namely : Louisa, now the wife of James A. 
 Millett, a resident of Nebraska, by whom she 
 has five children; George W., who was one of 
 the soldiers of the Civil war in the Union army 
 and is also living in Nebraska; Mrs. Holton; and 
 Frank F., of Arkansas, who is married and has 
 two children. 
 
 Mrs. Holton was born in Rock county, Wiscon- 
 sin, in 1846 and -is indebted to the district-school 
 system of that locality for the early educational 
 privileges she enjoyed. She afterward became 
 a student in the seminary at Fulton, Wisconsin, 
 and in early womanhood she gave her hand in 
 marriage to a Mr. Gage, by whom she had one 
 daughter, Georgia Leone, now the wife of Eugene 
 Cusac, of Bennington township, Marshall county, 
 and the mother of one child, Beulah. Six chil- 
 dren have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Holton: 
 Frank A., Edward W. and Edith M., all at home; 
 Edna S., who is working in the Bloomington 
 Pantagrajfh office; Grace E., who is a graduate 
 of the Wenona high school ; and Winifred M., who 
 is also a graduate of the high school of Wenona. 
 
 For thirty-six -years Mr. Holton has resided 
 upon his present farm, which was a tract of raw 
 land when it came into his possession. He now 
 owns one hundred and forty acres here and has 
 brought the* farm under a high state of culti- 
 vation, adding to it all modern equipments and 
 accessories. He votes- with the republican party 
 and has recently been elected to the office of as- 
 sessor. He has also served as road commissioner 
 and school director and he is a member of the 
 Grangers Association. In his business life and 
 public relations he is alike trustworthy and de- 
 serve? the regard of all with whom he has come 
 in contact. Wherever known he is held in high 
 <Mr, MI and he well deserves mention in this vol- 
 ume among the representative citizens of Marshall 
 county, which has been his place of residence for 
 almost a half centnrv. 
 
 TIMOTHY E. GAPEN. 
 
 One of the most prominent business men of 
 Sparland and Marshall county is Timothy E. 
 Gapen, who is well liked wherever known and best 
 liked where best known a fact indicative of many 
 
 good qualities and of his prominence and respon- 
 sibility in commercial circles. A native of Illi- 
 nois, he was born in Stephenson county in 1840, 
 and is a son of Charles 0. and Sarah (Fort) 
 Gapen, the former a native of Pennsylvania and 
 the latter of Ohio. The father was born July 17, 
 1808, and, removing to Illinois at an early day 
 in the history of this state, he followed black- 
 smithing at Lacon after living for a time in 
 Stephenson county. Subsequently he was appoint- 
 ed postmaster at Lacon and filled that office for 
 twelve years, after which he retired to private 
 life. In politics he was an inflexible advocate of 
 the republican party and a stalwart champion of 
 its principles. He held membership in the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church and was a man true to his 
 principles and his convictions. His death occurred 
 in 1898. In the family were three sons and a 
 daughter: William T., who married Elizabeth 
 Bailey, and is now engaged in the harness business 
 in Lacon; Washington F., who married Fannie 
 Nelson, and lived in the city of Washington at the 
 time of his death ; Mary A., the wife of Theodore 
 Blackman, who has been with the Avery Manu- 
 facturing Company of Peoria, Illinois, for years; 
 and T. E., of this review. 
 
 Mr. Gapen, whose name introduces this record, 
 spent the days of his childhood in Lacon and there 
 passed through successive grades in the public 
 schools until he was graduated from the high 
 school. He was one of the first pupils of the 
 free schools of that city, and following his gradua- 
 tion he entered business life as a clerk in the drug 
 store of Dr. Boal, with whom he remained for 
 four years. Subsequently he engaged in clerking 
 for Dr. Thompson for a year and then became a 
 partner in the store. In 1886, leaving the store 
 in charge of a clerk, he purchased the City drug 
 store in Ottawa, where he conducted business for 
 nine years. He still owns the Ottawa store, which 
 is conducted under the firm style of T. Gapen & 
 Son. In 1895, however, he returned to Sparland, 
 and is now conducting the store here under the 
 firm name of Gapen & Company, having a well 
 appointed establishment which is one of the old 
 landmarks of the business district of the city. 
 He also owns sixty acres of land adjoining the 
 town of Sparland on the north and has six hun- 
 dred and forty acres in Hush count v, Kansas. 
 
 Mr. Gapen was married in 1884 to Miss Mary 
 Fisher, who was born in Summit county, Ohio, in 
 1843. They have one son, Charles L., who is his
 
 160 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 father's partner and is conducting the drug store 
 in Ottawa. He married Grace Bower, and they 
 have two children : Helen and Marian. 
 
 Mr. Gapen is a citizen whose aid can always be 
 counted upon to further any progressive public 
 measure, and Sparland has benefited by his ef- 
 forts in her behalf. He has held several offices, 
 including those of supervisor and town trustee, 
 and for twelve years he was postmaster of Spar- 
 land. His political allegiance is given the repub- 
 lican party, and he is a stalwart champion of its 
 principles. His name in Sparland and Marshall 
 county is a synonym for business integrity and for 
 loyal citizenship, and wherever known he is re- 
 spected by reason of his many excellent traits of 
 character. 
 
 JOHN SWANEY. 
 
 John Swaney, a farmer living on section 15, 
 Magnolia township, where he owns a valuable and 
 well improved tract of land, was born at Harris- 
 burg, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1824, and in the 
 paternal line comes of Irish descent. His parents 
 were James and Nancy. (Raley) Swaney, the 
 former born on the Emerald isle, while the latter 
 was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania. 
 Her father, Eli Raley, belonged to an old Virginia 
 family, and was a member of the Society of 
 Friends, or Quakers. The parents were married 
 in the Keystone state and made their home in 
 Harrisburg until the father's death, which oc- 
 curred in 1829. Four years later the mother re- 
 moved with her family to Washington county, that 
 state, and there became the wife of James Moffitt. 
 In 1842 the family made their way westward to 
 Illinois, where they settled on a farm in Mag- 
 nolia township, Putnam county, and here the 
 mother passed away in 1872. By her first mar- 
 riage she was the mother of three sons : John, of 
 this review ; David, of Nebraska ; and Barnett, a 
 resident of La Salle county, Illinois. By her mar- 
 riage to Mr. Moffitt she had one son, Eli Moffitt, 
 who is a resident of Adrian, Michigan. Three of 
 the sons were loyal defenders of the Union cause 
 during the Civil war, while the fourth furnished 
 a substitute. 
 
 John Swaney, whose name introduces this re- 
 view, accompanied his maternal grandfather, Eli 
 Raley, to Putnam county in 1840, being then a 
 youth of sixteen years. His education, begun in 
 his native state, was continue'd in a log school- 
 house near the home of his grandfather in Put- 
 
 nam county, his teacher being the late Judge 
 Burnes of Marshall county, this state. Mr. 
 Swaney was reared to agricultural life, early be- 
 coming familiar with the various duties which fall 
 to the lot of the farmer, and in early life he 
 learned the wagonmaker's trade, serving a three- 
 years' apprenticeship, after which he followed the 
 trade for two years. In 1847 he began steamboat- 
 ing on the Illinois river, serving as second clerk 
 on the Anglo-Saxon, running from St. Louis to 
 La Salle. He was later promoted to the position 
 of first clerk and served in that capacity until 
 the breaking out of the rebellion, being employed 
 on various boats which plied the Illinois, Ohio and 
 upper and lower Mississippi and Missouri rivers. 
 
 In October, 1861, his patriotic spirit being 
 aroused by the continued attempt of the south to 
 overthrow the Union, Mr. Swaney made applica- 
 tion to enter the navy at St. Louis with Commo- 
 dore Rogers, and was commissioned as acting 
 master and ordered to the receiving ship, Maria 
 Denning, where he began his naval drill. Later 
 the Maria Denning was sent to Cairo, Illinois, 
 carrying the ordinance to equip iron clad gunboats, 
 built at St. Louis. After the battle of Fort Don- 
 elson he was transferred to the gunboat Cairo, 
 which was ordered to Nashville, accompanying 
 General Nelson. His company were at Pittsburg 
 Landing, later at the bombardment of Fort Pil- 
 low above Memphis, in which they took part. After 
 the naval battle at Memphis, where the rebel gun- 
 boats were destroyed or captured, they were or- 
 dered back to Cairo. Acting Master Swaney was 
 then transferred to the Conestoga, under command 
 of Lieutenant Commander, later Admiral, Self- 
 ridge, now a retired rear admiral of Boston, and 
 his vessel was one of the number engaged in cruis- 
 ing from the mouth of White river down the Mis- 
 sissippi river to Columbia, Arkansas, a distance 
 of sixty miles, the river being divided into naval 
 divisions by Admiral Porter. He was subse- 
 quently transferred to the United States steamer, 
 Kenwood, which he commanded with the rank of 
 acting volunteer lieutenant until August, 1865, 
 operating on the Mississippi river from the mouth 
 of Red river to Baton Rouge and Donnellsonville. 
 He dismantled his steamer at Cairo in August, 
 1865, but was not discharged until the following 
 October, when he returned home after four years 
 of faithful and arduous service. 
 
 After his return from the navy Mr. Swaney re- 
 sumed his farming operations, taking up his abode
 

 
 PAST AM) 1'KKSKXT OF MAKSIIALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 165 
 
 on the farm which has since continued to be his 
 home. Through a long period he was actively en- 
 gaged in farm labor and has been an active and 
 helpful factor in the development and upbuilding 
 of this portion of the state. As the years passed 
 he prospered in his undertakings so that he added 
 from time to time to his landed possessions and 
 today is in possession of a valuable and well-im- 
 proved farm, on which he still makes his home, 
 although he rents the land, and from this he de- 
 rives an income sufficient to supply himself and 
 wife with all the comforts and many of the luxu- 
 ries of life, so that now in their declining years 
 they may live in well earned ease. 
 
 On the 17th of May, 1846, Mr. Swaney chose 
 as a companion and helpmate on life's journey 
 Miss Sarah Griffith, a native of Cadiz, Ohio, born 
 on the 12th of October, 1830. Her parents, 
 George and Sarah (Kirk) Griffith, were both na- 
 tives of York county, Pennsylvania, where they 
 were reared and married, and on leaving the Key- 
 stone state removed to Cadiz, Ohio, where they 
 made their home for a few years, but in 1836 
 made their way to Putnam county, Illinois, set- 
 tling on a farm on section 15, Magnolia township, 
 known as the Whitaker farm. Their first resi- 
 dence was a log house, which was later replaced by 
 a more substantial and commodious brick resi- 
 dence, the brick and lime for its construction be- 
 ing burned by Mr. Griffith. Mrs. Griffith passed 
 away May 24, 1838, and was the first adult buried 
 in the Friends cemetery. She had become the 
 mother of ten children, but with the exception of 
 two all are now deceased: Isaac, William and 
 Julia Ann, all deceased ; Martha Jane, residing in 
 Marshall county, Iowa; Oliver G., George and 
 John, all of whom are deceased; Sarah, now Mrs. 
 Swaney ; and Eliza and Kuth, deceased. After 
 the mother's death the father was married again, 
 his second union being with Lydia Comly, and he 
 ia still living and was ninety years old November 
 24, 1906. To this union four childdren were born : 
 Hiram, of Montana; one who died in infancy; 
 Frank, also residing in Montana; and Mrs. Isa- 
 bel Beck of Magnolia township, Putnam county. 
 
 Mr. Swaney first gave his support to the aboli- 
 tion party and afterward to the republican party, 
 but is now a prohibitionist, thus indicating his 
 views on the temperance question. He has al- 
 ways taken a very deep and helpful interest in 
 the advancement of this party and has frequently 
 attended its district, state and national conven- 
 
 tions. In 1885 his name was placed before the 
 public on both the republican and prohibition 
 tickets as a candidate for state senator, but as his 
 party was in the minority at that time he was de- 
 feated in election. In former years he frequently 
 contributed to agricultural journals, thus taking a 
 deep interest in the agricultural development of 
 his part of the state. He was instrumental in 
 securing the postoffice at Clear Creek, which was 
 first called Whitaker, and for twenty-one years 
 served as postmaster. 
 
 In 1866 he was assistant United States revenue 
 assessor, and in educational affairs has taken a 
 helpful interest. For many years he served as 
 school trustee of Magnolia township, and in 1905 
 he donated twenty-four acres of land for the es- 
 tablishment of a new consolidated district school, 
 three districts uniting. A large and commodious 
 brick building is now under construction and when 
 completed will be one of the finest in Putnam 
 county. Mr. Swaney employed a landscape artist 
 from Chicago to lay out the grounds so that they 
 are most beautifully and tastefully arranged. The 
 children are taken to school in covered wagons, 
 which have been built expressly for that purpose. 
 Thus it will be seen that Mr. Swaney is a warm 
 friend to the cause of education and his efforts 
 in the cause of educational system are proving of 
 great benefit to the youth of this community. Mrs. 
 Swaney, like her parents, is a devoted member of 
 the Society of Friends and both she and her hus- 
 band are charter members of the Magnolia Grange, 
 in which she has held office, while he has filled 
 all of the chairs in the organization. He has also 
 served as a member of the State Grange executive 
 committee and was also identified with the first 
 organization of the Grand Army post at Magnolia. 
 Mr. Swaney has now passed the eighty-second 
 milestone on life's journey and has lived in Put- 
 nam county for sixty-six years, so that he is thor- 
 oughly familiar with the pioneer conditions which 
 existed in this community at that early day. He 
 and his wife are venerable and highly respected 
 people of this portion of the state and number 
 their friends by the score. 
 
 JOHN I. THOMPSON. 
 
 John I. Thompson, president of the First Na- 
 tional Bank of Lacon, is a representative of a 
 family that has long figured prominently in con- 
 nection with financial interests in Marshall coun- 
 ty, and the record is one of unassailable integrity,
 
 168 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 eight years lias served as a member of the city 
 council and has also been mayor of Lacon. His 
 official career has been distinguished by unswerv- 
 ing fidelity to the public good and by a stalwart 
 championship of every movement that he deems 
 will prove of direct benefit to the city. His alle- 
 giance is given to the democracy, but in local in- 
 terests where no issue is involved he does not re- 
 gard partisanship and at all times places the 
 public welfare before personal aggrandizement. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Thompson was united in marriage 
 to Miss Maud A. Goodrich, a representative of one 
 of the old families of this county, and unto them 
 were born two children, John S. and Mildred. 
 The wife and mother died about five years ago, 
 and her death was deeply regretted by reason of 
 her social prominence and her many good quali- 
 ties of heart and mind, which had endeared her 
 to a large circle of friends. Mr. Thompson has 
 attained prominence in Masonry, belonging to 
 Lacon lodge, No. 61, A. F. & A. M., Lacon chap- 
 ter, No. 123, E. A. M., Peoria commandery, No. 
 3, K. T., and also to the Mystic Shrine at Peoria. 
 While he entered upon a business already estab- 
 lished, many a man of less resolute and cour- 
 ageous spirit would have faltered in carrying it 
 forward and in enlarging its scope. His life rec- 
 ord is another indication of the truth that success 
 is not a matter of genius but is the outcome of 
 clear judgment, experience and indefatigable in- 
 dustry. 
 
 J. C. BACON. 
 
 A valuable and well improved farm of three 
 hundred and twenty acres on section 28, Senach- 
 wine township, Putnam county, is the property of 
 J. C. Bacon and in the midst of the well tilled 
 fields stands his fine country residence and sub- 
 stantial farm buildings, the entire place having a 
 neat and well kept appearance which indicates the 
 supervision and practical methods of the owner, 
 whose knowledge and experience in farming mat- 
 ters have gained him a foremost place among the 
 agriculturists of the county. This farm was his 
 birthplace, his natal day being April 12, 1860. 
 His father, Emory C. Bacon, was born in Huron 
 county, Ohio, December 9, 1830, and came to Put- 
 nam county, Illinois, with his father, Samuel C. 
 Bacon, at an early day. The grandfather pur- 
 chased land in Senachwine township a part of the 
 farm now owned by our subject and was thus 
 
 identified with farming interests in pioneer times. 
 On the 21st of January, 1854, Emory Bacon was 
 married to Susan L. Ash, who was born in Henne- 
 pin township, Putnam county, July 28, 1833, a 
 daughter of Joseph Ash, who had settled in that 
 township the year previous, becoming one of the 
 earliest residents of this part of the state. Emory 
 C. Bacon was engaged in general agricultural pur- 
 suits and thus provided for his family until after 
 the outbreak of the Civil war, when, feeling that 
 his country needed his aid, he enlisted in defense 
 of the Union and died in the hospital when his 
 son, J. C. Bacon, was only two years old. His 
 widow afterward married Ambrose Bacon, a dis- 
 tant relative of her first husband, but both are 
 now deceased. Mrs. Bacon died in 1871 upon the 
 farm where her son J. C. Bacon now resides. Of 
 the six children of the family, four died in in- 
 fancy. A brother, Clifford Bacon, lives in Tis- 
 kilwa, while a half sister, now Mrs. M. B. Drake, 
 is living in Helena, Montana. 
 
 J. C. Bacon was eleven years of age when his 
 mother died. He then went to live with an uncle, 
 Lawrence Lippert, who resided in Hennepin town- 
 ship, and with whom he resided until he attained 
 his majority. He attended the district schools and 
 later had the advantage of a course in the Illinois 
 State Normal. When twenty-one years of age he 
 came into possession of the old home farm of one 
 hundred and twenty acres by buying out the inter- 
 ests of the other heirs, and he then took up 
 farming on his own account and has added to the 
 place until he now owns three hundred and forty 
 acres of land. The soil is rich and productive and 
 his attention is given to the cultivation of various 
 cereals. Well tilled, the fields bring forth abund- 
 ant harvests and his business is profitably con- 
 ducted. The latest improved machinery facili- 
 tates the work of the fields and he keeps in touch 
 with the progress made along scientific lines for 
 the benefit of the farmer. 
 
 Mr. Bacon was married April 12, 1882, to Miss 
 Carrie M. Eead, who was bom in Henry, Marshall 
 county, a daughter of E. L. and Mary A. (Bro- 
 caw) Eead, both of whom were natives of New 
 Jersey. Her father, who has been a carpenter all 
 of his life, is still living in Henry, at the age of 
 eighty-one years. At the time of the gold discov- 
 eries in the west he went to Pike's peak, but for 
 many years he has made his home in this portion 
 of the state and in earlier years was closely asso-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 171 
 
 elated with building interests. Mrs. Bacon was 
 a student in the public schools of Henry and later 
 attended the State Normal, at Normal, Illinois. 
 She taught school in both Bureau and Putnam 
 counties prior to her marriage. Unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bacon have been born six children : Samuel, 
 Eugene, Ralph, Beryl, Susa and Elsie. All are 
 yet with their parents and Beryl is attending the 
 State Normal. The family are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church at Henry and the 
 members of the household are prominent in the 
 social circles where true worth and intelligence are 
 received as the passports of good society. Mr. 
 Bacon votes with the republican party. He has 
 served as road commissioner one term and is now 
 serving for the third year as assessor, and he re- 
 gards a public office as a public trust, to the duties 
 of which he is ever most faithful. He belongs 
 to the Modern Woodmen camp at Putnam. With 
 little assistance at the outset of his career Mr. 
 Bacon has made steady progress on the highroad 
 to prosperity by utilizing the means at hand and 
 his own abilities to the best advantage. The duty 
 which has come to him each day he has performed 
 and has thus found inspiration and encouragement 
 for the labors of the succeeding day, and the re- 
 wards of honorable labor are now his. 
 
 GEORGE LEWIS WABEL. 
 George Lewis Wabel, deceased, who at one time 
 was connected with the farming interests of Mar- 
 shall county, was born in Uniontown, Fayette 
 county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of February, 
 1865. His parents were Andrew Jackson and 
 Mary Ann (Dean) Wabel, both of whom have 
 passed away, the father having died on the 30th 
 of September, 1904. Following the removal of 
 the family from Pennsylvania to Illinois and the 
 establishment of the family home near Magnolia, 
 George Lewis Wabel pursued his education in 
 what is known as the Dayton school in that 
 locality. When not busy with his text-books he 
 aided his father in the work of the home farm 
 and thus gained practical knowledge of the best 
 methods of tilling the soil. He worked at home 
 until seventeen years of age, when he started out 
 in life on his own account, being employed as a 
 farm hand for about three years. When twenty 
 years of age he rented land, securing one hundred 
 and twenty acres on the north edge of Henry 
 
 township. He devoted his time and energies to 
 general fanning and stock-raising throughout his 
 remaining days and died upon the .Dry Hollow 
 farm a stock farm which he was renting and 
 which belongs to Mrs. Law. He lived a life of 
 industry and enterprise, working diligently year 
 after year, and whatever success he achieved and 
 enjoyed was attributable entirely to his own 
 labors. 
 
 Mr. Wabel was married on the 22d of February, 
 1887, in Whitefield township, Marshall county, 
 to Miss Alice Blackburn, a daughter of J. A. 
 and Sarah (Clawson) Blackburn. Her father 
 was at one time a farmer of Whitefield township, 
 but is now living in Henry. The home of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wabel was blessed with four children: 
 Gerald, who was born July 4, 1889 ; Mildred, bom 
 April 4, 1892 ; Marian, born August 2, 1897 ; and 
 Bernice, bom April 29, 1900. Since her husband's 
 death Mrs. Wabel has removed to the farm upon 
 which she now resides and which is being operated 
 under her direction. She is a lady of excellent 
 business ability, executive force and keen discrim- 
 ination and is carefully managing her farming 
 interests, so that they produce a good living for 
 herself and children. Mr. Wabel was a republican 
 in his political affiliation and was recognized as 
 one of the stalwart supporters of the party in his 
 locality. He served as collector of Whitefield 
 township for two terms and at the time of his 
 demise was filling the office of school director and 
 of road commissioner. He led a busy and useful 
 life, and all who knew him respected him for his 
 genuine personal worth, so that his death was the 
 occasion of deep and widespread regret, not only 
 among his immediate family, but also among his 
 friends, who were many. 
 
 A. W. BETTS. 
 
 A. W. Betts is living on section 32, Whitefield 
 township, and owns a good farming property com- 
 prising the south half of the southeast quarter of 
 section 32 and also eighty acres constituting the 
 west half of the southwest quarter of section 33. 
 He is one of the native sons of Whitefield town- 
 ship, where his birth occurred on the 3d of Feb- 
 ruary, 1855. His parents were John and Chris- 
 tina (Grift) Betts, both natives of Germany. 
 The father was born in Wurtemberg and came to 
 the United States in 1848, at which time he made
 
 172 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 his way into the interior of the country and took 
 up his abode upon a farm in Whitefield township. 
 His entire. life has since been given to general 
 agricultural pursuits and he has long been num- 
 bered among the well known and prominent far- 
 mers of his community. It was after his arrival 
 in this country that he married Christina Grift 
 and unto them have been born six children, of 
 whom four are yet living, namely : A. W., of this 
 review; Margaret, the wife of John Rheinbeck, 
 a resident farmer of Saratoga township ; Amy, the 
 wife of Edward Rheinbeck, who carries on farm- 
 ing in La Prairie township; and Henry, who is 
 devoting his energies to general agricultural pur- 
 suits in Whitefield township. 
 
 Reared under the parental roof, A. W. Betts 
 early became familiar with the work of the farm 
 and when the labors of the field were finished for 
 the year he would attend the district schools near 
 his father's home. He continued on the old home- 
 stead until he had attained his majority and then 
 began farming on his own account, removing to 
 his present place of residence in Whitefield town- 
 ship. Here has has one hundred and sixty acres 
 of rich and arable land situated on sections 32 and 
 33. It responds readily to the care and improve- 
 ment placed upon it, so that he annually harvests 
 good crops. The farm is also improved with mod- 
 ern equipments and in all of his work he is pro- 
 gressive and enterprising, being thoroughly fa- 
 miliar with the best methods of carrying on gen- 
 eral agricultural pursuits. 
 
 On the 29th of May, 1878, Mr. Betts was united 
 in marriage to Miss Eliza Doyle, of Saratoga, a 
 daughter of Thomas Doyle, and they are now 
 pleasantly located on their farm in Whitefield 
 township. Mr. Betts is a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, belonging to Sparland lodge, No. 441, 
 A. F. & A. M. His political allegiance is given 
 to the democracy and while he has never been 
 prominent as a politician in the sense of office 
 seeking he served as assessor for Whitefield town- 
 ship in 1904. 
 
 JOHN A. KAYS. 
 
 On the roll of Putnam county's honored dead 
 we find the name of John A. Kays, who was born 
 on the farm in Magnolia township where his widow 
 now resides, his natal day being March 7, 1851. 
 His father, Henry B. Kays, was a native of In- 
 diana, and from that state removed to Knox coun- 
 
 ty, Illinois, but later came to Putnam county, 
 making his home on the farm just mentioned until 
 his death, which occurred in 1877. He left an es- 
 tate of over eight hundred acres. His wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Rachel E. Read, was 
 born in Indiana in 1820, and is also now deceased. 
 In their family were seven children, but Mrs. Jane 
 Bobbitt, of Magnolia; M. B. Kays, of Tonica, 
 Illinois; and Mrs. Clara Cole, of Ottawa, are the 
 only ones now living. 
 
 During his boyhood John A. Kays attended the 
 district schools near his home and for a time was 
 a student in the old academy at Henry, after 
 which he pursued a business course at Poughkeep- 
 sie, New York. Having thus acquired a good 
 practical education he engaged in teaching school 
 for several years and later turned his attention to 
 agricultural pursuits, becoming a most progressive, 
 enterprising and successful farmer. He continued 
 to follow that occupation throughout the remain- 
 der of his life, and at his death, which occurred on 
 the 20th of February, 1906, he left a valuable 
 farm of four hundred and fifty-three acres sup- 
 plied with all modern improvements. 
 
 In 1881 Mr. Kays was united in marriage to 
 Miss Mary A. Hartenbower, who was born in Put- 
 nam county, and still survives her husband. She 
 is a daughter of Hon. J. H. Hartenbower, who 
 was born in Kentucky in 1828 and died in Wich- 
 ita, Kansas, October 28, 1903. He was at one time 
 a very prominent citizen of Putnam county and 
 was a prosperous farmer. In 1850 he made a trip 
 to California, and after spending some time on the 
 Pacific slope returned east by way of the isthmus 
 of Panama. For twenty years he lived in Kansas, 
 but previous to this time he resided in Iowa and 
 Minnesota, where he served in the legislature. He 
 married Miss Anna A. McCaleb, a native of Put- 
 nam county, whose parents came here in 1832. 
 She died in Iowa in 1867. In their family were 
 seven children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kays were 
 born six children, namely : Victor C., who was 
 for two years a student at Champaign University 
 and was called home by the death of his father 
 and now assists in the operation of the farm. He 
 takes quite an active interest in public affairs, 
 has served as school director and took a prominent 
 part in the consolidation of the three districts 
 into the John Swaney school. Lois L., the next 
 of the family, died at the age of two years. Don- 
 ald J., a graduate of the Northern Illinois Nor-
 
 JOHN A KAYS.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 175 
 
 mal at De Kalb, is now engaged in teaching in the 
 high school at Rockford. Albert R. is attending 
 school in De Kalb. Mark E. and Lora G. are at 
 home with their mother. 
 
 Mrs. Kays and her son, Victor C., now carry on 
 the farm, and are meeting with excellent success 
 in its management. The family is one of prom- 
 inence in the community where they reside,, and 
 wherever known are held in high regard. By his 
 ballot Mr. Kays supported the men and measures 
 of the democratic party and took a very active part 
 in local politics, being at one time the candidate 
 for county judge on his party ticket. He was one 
 of the leading and influential citizens of Magnolia 
 township, and no man in the locality was held in 
 higher esteem. 
 
 ROBERT DORAN. 
 
 Robert Doran, who after many years of active, 
 honorable and successful connection with the 
 farming interests of Marshall county, is now liv- 
 ing retired in the village of Henry, was born in 
 New Brunswick, March 7, 1844. His father, 
 James Doran, was a native of County Down, Ire- 
 land, and on leaving the place of his nativity re- 
 moved to the Isle of Man, whence he afterward 
 emigrated to New Brunswick. He, too, followed 
 the occupation of farming as a life work. In 
 earlj' manhood he wedded Rebecca Maxwell, a 
 native of County Tyrone, Ireland, and after liv- 
 ing for some' years in New Brunswick they came 
 to Illinois, the father purchasing a farm in La 
 Prairie township, Marshall county. His attention 
 was here given to general agricultural pursuits 
 for a time and he then retired to private life, 
 enjoying throughout his remaining days a well 
 earned rest. He died in 1891 at the age of ninety 
 years, while his wife reached the very advanced 
 age of ninety-six years. In their family were ten 
 children, of whom eight are yet living. 
 
 Robert Doran, whose name introduces this re- 
 view, accompanied his parents on their removal to 
 Illinois when seven years of age and has spent 
 the greater part of his life in Marshall county. 
 He was reared upon the old homestead farm in 
 La Prairie township and acquired his education 
 there in the district schools. When not busy with 
 his text-books his time was largely occupied with 
 the work of the fields and he continued to assist 
 his father until about twenty years of age, when 
 
 in response to the country's need he enlisted at 
 Princeton in 1864 as a member of the One Hun- 
 dred and Thirty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, with which command he saw active and ardu- 
 ous service until the close of the war. After re- 
 ceiving an honorable discharge he returned to his 
 home in La Prairie township and was again en- 
 gaged in work on his father's farm until twenty- 
 five years of age, when he was married to Miss 
 Amanda Baker, a native of New York. They be- 
 gan their domestic life upon a farm in this county 
 and until his retirement .from business cares were 
 continuously identified with agricultural interests 
 in this locality save for the period of three and 
 one-half years spent in Kansas. Mr. Doran went 
 to that state in 1886 with his family and was 
 engaged in general farming there. He now owns 
 four hundred acres of land in Kansas and also 
 has a valuable farm of a quarter section in La 
 Prairie township. These property interests re- 
 turn to him a good income, enabling him to live 
 retired and yet enjoy the comforts and some of 
 the luxuries of life. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Doran were born six chil- 
 dren, of whom two have passed away. Those 
 still living are : Clarence Howard, a resident of 
 Chillicothe, Illinois; Charles Clifford, who is en- 
 gaged in the undertaking business in Henry; and 
 Robert Clyde and Ira Claude, who are living up- 
 on the home farm in La Prairie township. 
 
 Mr. Dor'an exercises his right of franchise in 
 support of the men and measures of the republi- 
 can party, with which he has been associated since 
 he attained his majority. His life has been an 
 honorable and upright one, in harmony with his 
 professions as a member of the Methodist church, 
 and in all of his business relations he has been 
 straightforward and honorable, while his- duties 
 as a citizen have been promptly met. He is now 
 managing his property interests but otherwise is 
 living retired, occupying a pleasant and attractive 
 home in Henry, while throughout the county wher- 
 ever he is known he is held in warm regard. 
 
 JOHN R. BELSLY. 
 
 John R. Belsly, living on section 8, Richland 
 township, was born in Deer Creek township, Taze- 
 well county, Illinois, May 29, 1863. His father, 
 Christ Belsly, was a native of Woodford county, 
 this state, and one of the first children born in
 
 176 
 
 PAST AM) 1MJKSKNT OF MAKSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 that county. He is now living at .the age of 
 seventy years, his home being in Tazewell coun- 
 ty, where after many years of active connection 
 with farm life he is now retired. His farm in 
 Deer Creek township, on which he resides, was 
 purchased about forty years ago. His wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Mary Schurtz, was born 
 in Butler county, Ohio, and is also living. Of 
 their twelve children nine survive, namely : Mrs. 
 Kate Engel, whose husband is a farmer and bank- 
 er of Eureka, Illinois ; Joseph, 'who is living on 
 the old farm of his grandfather in Woodford coun- 
 ty; John E. ; Samuel, who is engaged in the 
 real-estate business at Deer Creek ; Mrs. Anna E. 
 Anske, of Lacon; Mrs. Maggie Phillips, of Hen- 
 ry; Mrs. Barbara Chapman, of Deer Creek; 
 Frank, who is engaged in the banking business in 
 Deer Creek; and Mrs. Emma Davis, of Chilli- 
 cothe, Illinois. 
 
 John E. Belsly pursued a district-school educa- 
 tion in his native township and remained upon the 
 old home place until he had attained adult age. 
 He then entered upon his business career as a 
 clerk in a general store, where he was employed 
 for three years, after which he located upon a 
 farm in Eichland township, where he resided for 
 ten years. He next purchased his present place, 
 comprising one hundred and twenty acras of land 
 on section 8, Eichland township. He likewise 
 has a farm of four hundred and ninety acres on 
 sections 30 and 31 of the same township, so that 
 his landed possessions now aggregate six hundred 
 and ten acres of very valuable property. In con- 
 nection with the tilling of the soil he is engaged 
 extensively in raising stock and both branches of 
 his business are bringing to him a good revenue. 
 Moreover he is connected with the telephone ex- 
 change, having forty phones upon its line. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Belsly was married to Miss. Alma 
 Boss, of Joliet, Illinois, who died in 1895, leaving 
 three children: Eoscoe, seventeen years of age; 
 Bruce, who died in 1900 ; and Mark, twelve years 
 of age. In 1896 was clebrated the marriage of 
 Mr. Belsly and Miss Jennie Chambers, of Eich- 
 land township, Marshall county, a daughter of 
 Ch.irles and Minerva Chambers, the former a far- 
 mer of this county. He is a native of Illinois, 
 while his wife was born in Pennsylvania and in 
 their family were three children. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Belsly also have three children: Frieda and 
 Cleota, who are in school ; and Aria. Mr. Belsly 
 
 gives his political support to the democracy but 
 casts an independent local ballot. He was elect- 
 ed assessor of Eichland township in 1904 and is 
 now filling the office of school director. Whatever 
 tends to benefit the county along lines of material, 
 intellectual and moral progress receives his en- 
 dorsement and co-operation. He is regarded as 
 a most progressive business man and model far- 
 mer and he and his family occupy an enviable 
 social position in the locality where they reside. 
 He has steadily worked his way upward in his 
 business career and his progress has been the 
 legitimate outcome of the concentration of his 
 energies upon the purposes and plans in hand. 
 
 JOHN HENRY AUKLAND. 
 
 John Henry Aukland, who owns and operates 
 a good farm of one hundred and nine acres on 
 section 20, Whitefield township, is one of the na- 
 tive sons of this township, born on the 18th of 
 June, 1872. His father, Thomas Aukland, was 
 a native of England and when a young man came 
 to the United States, settling first in Ohio, where 
 he lived for a time. He then came to Illinois and 
 took up his abode in Peoria county, where he 
 engaged in farming forty acres of land. About 
 1841, however, he came to Marshall county, Illi- 
 nois, where he spent his remaining days, passing 
 away about sixteen years ago when sixty-nine 
 years of age. He lived here during an early 
 period in the development and upbuilding of the 
 county and was thus associated with its pioneer 
 interests and progress. His widow, who bore the 
 maiden name of Elizabeth Blankenship. still sur- 
 vives him and is now living with her daughter,- 
 Mrs. Bell, in Henry. In their family were ten 
 children : William, Elizabeth, Mary, James. 
 Martha, Sabinih. Savanah, Charles, Henry and 
 Amanda. 
 
 In the district schools John Henry Aukland 
 pursued his education and received ample train- 
 ing at farm labor upon the old homestead where 
 he has continuously resided. He has never desired 
 to engage in other lines of business but has con- 
 centrated his time and energies upon the work of 
 the farm and is today cultivating a valuable tract 
 of land of one hundred and nine acres. The place 
 is rich and arable and the fields yield golden harv- 
 ests in return for the care and labor bestowed upon 
 them. Everything about the place is kept in good
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF .MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 177 
 
 condition and the I'arni work is materially ad- 
 vanced through the practical and progressive ef- 
 forts of Mr. Aukland. 
 
 In 1893 occurred the marriage of John Henry 
 Aukland and Miss Hattie Newman, a daughter of 
 Captain James Newman. This union has been 
 blessed with five children: Willis,, Leslie and 
 Howard, aged respectively twelve, ten and eight 
 years and all now in school ; Oliver, four years of 
 age; and Marie, a little daughter one year old. 
 Mr. Aukland votes with the republican party and 
 has served as school director. He belongs to 
 Whitefield camp, No. 1653, M. W. A., and he 
 takes a most active and helpful interest in church 
 work and is serving as superintendent of the Auk- 
 land Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school. All who 
 know him entertain for him warm regard because 
 investigation into his life history indicates his 
 fidelity to high principles. 
 
 C. E. SMITH. 
 
 C. E. Smith, who is engaged in the grocery 
 business in Henry, was here born on the 15th of 
 September, 1866, his parents being James F. and 
 Margaret M. (Darnall) Smith. The father, a 
 native of Maryland, is a carpenter by occupation 
 and for many years was identified with building 
 operations in Henry, but is now living retired. 
 He wedded Margaret Melvina Darnall, whose an- 
 cestry can be traced back to Henrietta Maria Neal, 
 daughter of Captain James Neal and goddaughter 
 of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. of 
 England, for whom she was named. Her first 
 husband was Richard Bennett, Jr., one of the 
 Puritans who founded an asylum in Maryland, 
 and who was the son of Governor Richard Ben- 
 nett. Richard Bennett, Jr., was drowned, leaving 
 two children Richard Bennett, of Bennett's 
 Point, Queen Anne county, who was said to have 
 been the wealthiest man in Maryland ; and Su- 
 sanna Maria Bennett, who became the wife of 
 John Darnall, who died leaving one daughter. 
 Her second husband was Henry Lowe, the ances- 
 tor of Governor Enoch Louis Lowe, by whom she 
 reared a large family of sons and daughters. 
 One daughter, Elizabeth Lowe, married Henry 
 Darnall. Jr., of Portland Manor, and they became 
 the groat-grandparents of Mrs. Margaret M. 
 Smith. Her son, Francis Darnall, and his wife 
 Margaret were the grandparents of Mrs. Smith. 
 
 \Vhen the old courthouse at Portland Manor was 
 destroyed by fire all the records and wills were 
 burned and because of this the father of Mrs. 
 Smith, who was the next heir to Portland Manor, 
 was cheated out of his patrimony. His name was 
 Henry Bennett Darnall and the members of his 
 family were: Francis Henry; Richard Bennett; 
 Nicholas Lowe; one who died in infancy; Mar- 
 garet Melvina, who became Mrs. Smith ; and Daw- 
 son Darnall, the last named being so called be- 
 cause Dawson was his mother's maiden name. 
 
 C. E. Smith, whose name introduces this rec- 
 ord, was a student in the public schools of Henry 
 and afterward in the district schools of White- 
 field township. He worked upon the home farm 
 to the age of twenty-three years and then came to 
 Henry, where he entered the employ of H. Atkin- 
 son, with whom he remained until 1892. He then 
 purchased a half interest with R. E. Hills in a 
 grocery business, and this relation was maintained 
 for four years, at the end of which time Mr. Smith 
 purchased his partner's interest and has since 
 been alone in the ownership and conduct of the 
 store. He now carries a large and well selected 
 line of goods and has a liberal patronage, being 
 accounted one of the leading merchants of the 
 town. 
 
 In 1893 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Smith and Miss Lois M. Dunlap, of Whitefield 
 township. They are members of the Methodist 
 church and Mr. Smith is a stalwart republican in 
 his political views. He has served as a member of 
 the bridge board and three times has been chosen 
 alderman from the second ward, in which con- 
 nection he has exercised his official prerogatives 
 in support of many beneficial public measures. His 
 has been a creditable record in both public and 
 private life and in Henry, where the greater part 
 of his time has been passed, he is both widely and 
 favorably known. 
 
 ALBERT S. NEWMAN. 
 Albert S. Newman controls a valuable farm of 
 two hundred acres, situated on section 17, White- 
 field township, belonging to his father. Here he 
 is engaged in tilling the soil and also in raising 
 cattle, which is an important branch of his busi- 
 ness. It was upon this farm that his birth oc- 
 curred on the 13th of July, 1865, his parents 
 being Captain James R. and Mary (Reinbeck)
 
 178 
 
 PAST AND PKESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Newman. The parents are still living and nine 
 of the children of the family yet survive. 
 
 At the usual age Albert S. Newman began his 
 education by attending the district schools of 
 Whitefield township, and when not busy with his 
 text-books his hours were largely employed at 
 farm labor, so that he early became familiar 
 with the work of field and meadow. He has 
 sought no other occupation as a life work, but 
 has been 'content to devote his time and energies 
 to general farming. George Washington has said 
 that agriculture is the most useful as well as the 
 most honorable occupation of man. That Mr. 
 Newman leads a busy life is indicated by the 
 splendid appearance of his farm, fle has two 
 hundred acres of land, the greater part of which 
 is under a high state of cultivation, so that he 
 annually harvests good crops. He also raises 
 cattle on quite an extensive scale, having good 
 stock upon his place. 
 
 On the 3d of January, 1894, Mr. Newman was 
 united in marriage to Miss Sarah M. Salisbury, of 
 Henry, and unto them have been born four chil- 
 dren: Everett S. and Olen E., who are now in 
 school ; Levina D. ; and one died in infancy. He 
 is connected with the Modern Woodmen of 
 America, belonging to Whitefield camp, No. 1963. 
 He has served as school director for twelve years 
 and believes in the employment of competent 
 teachers. His political allegiance is given to the 
 republican party, and he is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. His entire life has 
 been passed in this county, so that he is widely 
 known and his many good qualities have won him 
 the favorable regard of those with whom he has 
 oeen associated. 
 
 ROBERT PEINGLE. 
 
 No history of Marshall county would be com- 
 plete without mention of Robert Pringle, one of 
 the most venerable citizens of La Prairie town- 
 ship, where for more than a half century he has 
 made his home. Many events which have here 
 occurred and are to others matters of history were 
 to him matters of actual experience and he has 
 watched with interest the growth and develop- 
 ment of the county as it has emerged from fron- 
 tier conditions to take on all of the evidences of 
 a modern and progressive civilization. 
 
 A native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, he was 
 
 born on the 10th of October, 1821, his parents 
 being Andrew and Elizabeth (Pringle) Pringle. 
 The father was born in Selkirkshire, Scotland, 
 October 30, 1793, and the mother's birth occurred 
 in Dumfriesshire, October 15, 1800. Although of 
 the same name, they were not related. In his 
 native country Andrew Pringle was employed as 
 a shepherd and as a laboring man, but rightly 
 judging that the business opportunities of the 
 new world would prove more advantageous he 
 came to the United States in 1850, remaining for 
 a time in New York. The year 1853, however, 
 witnessed his arrival in Marshall county, where 
 he spent his remaining days, passing away De- 
 cember 14, 1870, at the age of seventy-seven years. 
 His wife survived him and died July 8, 1887, 
 when in her eighty-eighth year. The members of 
 their family were as follows : Adam, who was born 
 in October, 1819, and died November 7, 1863; 
 Robert, of this review; Jessie, who was born in 
 April, 1823, and died in July, 1841 ; James, who 
 was born in April, 1826, and died in April, 1892. 
 William and Jane, twins, who were born in Jan- 
 uary, 1829, while the former died July 4, 1873, 
 and the latter April 29, 1883 ; Christina, who was 
 born in 1832 and died in 1837; John, who was 
 born in 1835 and died in 1836; and Mrs. Betsy 
 Trobridge, who was born in 1839 and is living 
 in Phillips county, Colorado, being the only living 
 member of the family with the exception of our 
 subject. 
 
 Robert Pringle of this review was reared in 
 Roxburghshire, Scotland, where he acquired his 
 education. His opportunities in that direction 
 were somewhat limited, but his training at hard 
 work was not meager and lessons of industry and 
 economy were early instilled into his mind and 
 in later years have borne rich fruit. He heard 
 favorable reports of the new world and its ad- 
 vantages, which he compared with the business 
 outlook before him in his native country. This 
 comparison decided him to seek a home in Amer- 
 ica and in 1848, when twenty-six years of age, 
 he bade adieu to friends and native land and 
 took passage on a westward bound vessel. Land- 
 ing in New York city, he thence made his way 
 to Ontario county, New York, where he remained 
 for four and a half years, during which time he 
 scorned no employment that would yield him an 
 honest living. He carefully saved his money, 
 anxious to establish a business of his own, and
 
 ROBKRT PEINGLE.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 181 
 
 in December, 1852, he came to Marshall county, 
 Illinois, where he had an uncle and aunt living, 
 and his parents and family followed him in 1853. 
 
 While still living in Ontario county, New 
 York, Mr. Pringle was united in marriage to Miss 
 Jeannette Tiyrnbull, a native of Roxburghshire, 
 Scotland, and a sister of Robert Turnbull, who is 
 mentioned elsewhere in this work. They trav- 
 eled life's journey happily together for many 
 years, but were separated by the death of the wife 
 on the 30th of August, 1873. Their children 
 were seven in number. Beatrice, who was born 
 April 19, 1855, died March 22, 1877. She was 
 the wife of John Titus, a farmer of La Prairie 
 township. Lizzie, born January 8, 1857, is the 
 wife of Robert Scoon, who is a farmer by occu- 
 pation and now lives in Denver, Colorado. They 
 have three children : John, born October 10, 1858, 
 operates the home farm. Andrew, born Decem- 
 ber 16, 1860, married Lillie Stewart, who died 
 October 23, 1893, leaving a daughter, Lillian. 
 For his second wife he chose Ida Peck and they 
 have two children, Robert and Philip, who are 
 living with them on the farm in La Prairie town- 
 ship, Marshall county. Mary, born December 8, 
 1862, is at home. Adam, who was born April 
 16, 1865, and was a student in Quincy College, 
 died February 4, 1897. Jennie, born October 11, 
 1867, is at home. 
 
 Soon after his marriage Mr. Pringle came to 
 Marshall county and purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres of land, for which he paid four dol- 
 lars per acre. This was unimproved and in con- 
 sequence he rented an improved farm, on which 
 he resided until 1854, when he removed to his 
 own land and began its development. A little 
 later he purchased one hundred and twenty acres 
 of land and he has added to his property until 
 he now owns a valuable farm of three hundred 
 and sixty acres on section 27, La Prairie town- 
 ship. He has also carried on stock-raising, in 
 which he has been quite successful, shipping large 
 numbers of cattle annually. He was also at one 
 time a breeder of sheep and on the organization 
 of the Lacon woolen mills he became one of its 
 stockholders. In his farming and stock-raising 
 interests, of which he has had personal control, 
 he has made creditable and gratifying success, 
 and his life work is an illustration of the fact 
 that the lack of means at the outset of a business 
 career need prove no bar to later prosperity, for 
 
 if one has determination and energy they can 
 overcome all difficulties and obstacles in the path 
 and gradually advance to the goal of prosperity. 
 This Mr. Pringle has -done and is now accounted 
 one of the prosperous as well as venerable and 
 honored citizens of La Prairie township. 
 
 In politics he has been a stalwart advocate of 
 republican principles since casting his first presi- 
 dential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has never 
 had occasion to regret the resolution which he 
 formed in early manhood to seek a home in the 
 new world, for here he has found good business 
 opportunities of which he' has taken advantage 
 and has also gained here a comfortable home and 
 won many friends, so that his life in America 
 has been attended with much comfort and happi- 
 ness. He has now passed the eighty-fifth mile- 
 stone on life's journey and from his fellowmen he 
 receives the veneration and respect which should 
 ever be accorded one of his years. 
 
 HENRY MARSHALL. 
 
 Henry Marshall is a retired farmer of Sparland, 
 who, though he has put aside the active work of 
 the fields, still owns a valuable and well improved 
 farm of two hundred and forty acres in Saratoga 
 township. He was born in North New Castle, 
 England, January 3, 1842. His father, Francis 
 Marshall, was likewise a native of England and 
 came to the United States in 1852, crossing the 
 Atlantic on a sailing vessel. He located first in 
 Philadelphia, where he was employed in a black- 
 smith shop, and later he removed to Pottsville, 
 Pennsylvania, where he secured employment in a 
 large machine shop. After remaining for a year 
 in this country he sent for his family, who joined 
 him in Pennsylvania. In 1854 he came west to 
 Illinois, settling in Peoria, where he worked in a 
 distillery for two years, and on the expiration of 
 that period he removed to La Prairie, where he 
 established a shop which he conducted for more 
 than thirty-five years, when, becoming too old to 
 work, he removed to Sparland and lived retired, 
 making his home with his son Henry. He was 
 the owner of eighty acres of good land, having 
 made judicious investment in property. His po- 
 litical allegiance was given to the republican party. 
 He died in 1892 after a residence of forty years 
 in the new world. His wife, who bore the maiden 
 name of Jennie Wilson, was born in England and
 
 182 
 
 PAST AVI) PKKSKXT OK MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 was a devoted member of the Methodist church. 
 In the family were five children : Elizabeth ; Hen- 
 ry ; Mary Ann, deceased ; and Isabelle and Fran- 
 cis, who died in infancy. 
 
 Henry Marshall spent his early boyhood days 
 in his native country, coming to the new world 
 when about eleven years of age. Not long after 
 the father removed with his family to Illinois, 
 settling in Marshall county, where he was reared. 
 He afterward worked in a machine shop in Peoria 
 for two years and then removed to Saratoga town- 
 ship, Marshall county, where he was employed for 
 two years in a blacksmith shop. In 1859 he 
 turned his attention to farming, which he carried 
 on successfully for a long period, but is now living 
 retired in Sparland, having a good income from 
 his farm of two hundred and forty acres of well 
 improved land situated near Camp Grove. The 
 soil is rich and productive and he derives from 
 the rental of his place a very gratifying income. 
 
 Mr. Marshall was united in marriage to Mrs. 
 Frieda Kline, who was born in province of Posen, 
 in the northern part of Germany, January 12, 
 1858. She is a daughter of William and Louise 
 (Mootz) Arndt and was one of a family of eight 
 children, namely: Rosalie, deceased; Ernest; 
 Emil; Louise, deceased; Herman; Amelia; Frieda; 
 and William, who has passed away. Both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Marshall are consistent Christian people, the 
 former belonging to the Methodist church and the 
 latter to the Baptist church. His political support 
 is given the republican party and fraternally he 
 is connected with the Masonic lodge, No. 441, at 
 Sparland. Both are highly esteemed by all who 
 know them and their friends are many. Mr. Mar- 
 shall from early boyhood has depended upon his 
 own resources for a living and has through his 
 own diligence, capable management and enter- 
 prise worked his way upward to success. 
 
 WILLIAM HUNTER WILLIAMS. 
 William Hunter Williams, deceased, was for 
 many years a prominent representative of the 
 farming and stock-raising interests of Putnam 
 county. He traced his ancestry back to John 
 Williams, a native of Wales, and Ann Williams, a 
 native of Plymouth, England. They resided be- 
 fore the Revolutionary war in the colony of New 
 Jersey and during the period of hostilities their 
 
 home was burned by the British army. The 
 family then became scattered and it is supposed 
 the family records were lost or destroyed at that 
 time. Thomas Williams, son of John and Ann 
 Williams, was bound out for a number of years 
 to a farmer, after which he removed to the city 
 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he learned 
 the trade of house-painting. On the 2d of May, 
 1807, he married Frances Hunter, a daughter 
 of William and Frances Hunter of that city, and 
 unto them was born on the 15th of January, 1811, 
 a son, William Hunter Williams, whose name in- 
 troduces this review. 
 
 When he was a lad of about seven years his 
 parents removed to Baltimore, Maryland, where 
 on the l?'th of October, 1822, the father died ; 
 leaving a widow with four children. They re- 
 turned to Philadelphia, where William Hunter at- 
 tended the public schools until about fourteen 
 years of age, when he was apprenticed to William 
 Ford to learn the business of silver-plating. In 
 May, 1837, in consequence of the financial con- 
 ditions that existed at that time, the country be- 
 ing involved in a money panic, he sought to bet- 
 ter his circumstances by removing to the western 
 states. 
 
 Accordingly in the early part of June, 1837, Mr. 
 Williams arrived at the village of Hartford iq 
 Dearborn county in the southern part of Indiana. 
 In the month of August of that year he made e, 
 prospecting tour on foot to Indianapolis and thence 
 west to the eastern part of Illinois, where his 
 further progress was arrested by fever and ague. 
 His objective point was Alton, Illinois, but the 
 illness which he suffered caused him to endeavor 
 to retrace his steps to Hartford, Indiana. This 
 however, was accomplished with great effort, but 
 he reached that place during the month of Sep- 
 tember. In the year 1838 he had his first ex- 
 perience as a farmer, but suffered from a relapse 
 of the fever and ague. He had rented seven acres 
 of land, whereon he raised a crop of corn. In the 
 latter part of the summer of 1838 he accepted a 
 position as a clerk in a country store and a few 
 months later he became a clerk and employe on a 
 flat-boat which was to take a cargo of flour and 
 pork to the lower Mississippi river. This task 
 accomplished, in the spring of 1839 he returned 
 to Hartford, Indiana, making a detour to visit a 
 brother in Putnam county, Illinois, upon which
 
 WILLIAM H. WILLIAMS.
 
 MRS. T.H.WILLIAMS
 
 PAST AX1> PHKSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) L'l T.NAM COTNTIKS. 
 
 187 
 
 occasion he concluded to settle permanently in this 
 state. 
 
 Returning to Hartford, Mr. Williams was of- 
 fered a position on a store-boat and continued in 
 the boating business until some time in September, 
 1839. On the 21st of that month he started on 
 horseback for Marshall county, Illinois, where 
 he arrived on the 1st of October. It was on the 
 1st of May, 1843, that he entered eighty acres 
 of land on section 19, Senachwine township, re- 
 ceiving the government patent for the same under 
 the administration of President John Tyler, and 
 on the 20th of December, 1856, he purchased 
 eighty acres of land adjoining the farm of Samuel 
 C. Bacon. 
 
 On the 29th of June, 1843, Mr. Williams was 
 married to Miss Theodosia Holmes Lyon, a daugh- 
 ter of Abijah and Comfort (Holmes) Lyon, who 
 were natives of Westchester county, New York, 
 and the father removed from New York city to 
 Marshall county, Illinois, in the spring of 1839, 
 the mother passing away in New York. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Williams commenced housekeeping on the 
 first purchase of land in the spring of 1844, pass- 
 ing through all of the pioneer experiences inci- 
 dent to that period in the history of this part of 
 the state. In 1847 Mr. Williams was elected to 
 the office of justice of the peace of Senachwine 
 township and continued in the office for many 
 years. He was also county judge for a period 
 of six years, succeeding Joel W. Hopkins, who 
 was elected a member of the state legislature. For 
 nearly a decade he served as postmaster of the 
 village of Senachwine, now called Putnam, and 
 was township clerk for a number of years. He 
 was likewise township school treasurer for thirty 
 years and for several years was collector. In all 
 of these positions Mr. Williams discharged his 
 duties with promptness and fidelity and his record 
 therefore reflects credit upon himself and his 
 service was entirely satisfactory to his constitu- 
 ents. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Williams were born nine 
 children, seven of whom are yet living: Prances 
 H., the wife of Samuel A. Wilson, a resident of 
 California; William A., who is living in Texas 
 where he has a large fruit ranch ; Martha, the wife 
 of C. M. Hobbs, who is living in Council Bluffs, 
 Iowa, and has been yardmaster at the Union Pa- 
 cific Eailroad transfer for thirty-five years ; Mary, 
 the wife of 0. H. Lincoln, a farmer and successful 
 
 raiser of fine horses living in McHenry county 
 Illinois; John Howard, who is living on the old. 
 homestead; Emma Elizabeth, the wife of W. B. 
 Berry, who is a minister of the Christian church 
 and editor of the Christian Pacific, living in San 
 Francisco, California; James A., a resident of 
 Chicago; Theodosia Ann, the deceased wife of 
 Thomas Hill, a resident of Adin, California; 
 and David Herbert, who was drowned in Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Williams were members of 
 the Henry Society of the New Jerusalem or Swe- 
 denborgian church, and Mrs. Williams has been 
 identified therewith for forty-six years. She is still 
 living, on the old homestead with her son, John H 
 The death of Mr. Williams occurred August 22, 
 1898. He had for a long period been an active 
 factor in the agricultural development of this 
 locality and at all times was a busy man, leading 
 an active, useful and honorable life. While he 
 carefully controlled his own farming interests and 
 developed a productive tract of land, whereon he 
 annually harvested good crops, he always managed 
 to find time to aid in the promotion of interests 
 which were of utmost benefit to the community 
 and to assist those who were less fortunate than 
 himself. Any plan or measure that was promul- 
 gated for the welfare of the county received his 
 endorsement and support and he was widely recog- 
 nizd as a valued citizen. Mrs. Williams still 
 survives her husband and is now the oldest resi- 
 dent of Senachwine township. She was born and 
 educated in New York city and although now 
 eighty-five years of age is a most bright and intel- 
 ligent woman and of excellent health for one of 
 'her years. She recalls many interesting pioneer 
 experiences. Her father built the first log house 
 on Whitefield prairie in 1839, at which time 
 wolves and other wild animals were very numer- 
 ous in the county, while herds of deer were fre- 
 quently seen. The pioneer families largely lived 
 in log cabins, did their cooking over fireplaces 
 and lighted their houses with candles, while the 
 work of the fields was largely done with the hand 
 plow, the sickle, the scythe and the hoe. Mrs. 
 Williams has lived to see many great changes in 
 the methods of farming and in ways of life here. 
 She still owns the home farm of eighty acres 
 which her son John Howard is conducting for 
 her, and he also owns eighty acres.
 
 188 
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 JOHN HOWABD WILLIAMS. 
 
 John Howard Williams was born February 26, 
 1854, and has spent his entire life on the old 
 homestead with the exception of a few years passed 
 in the west. He acquired his education in the 
 country schools and the city schools of Henry 
 On the llth of December, 1878, he was married 
 to Miss Naomi Eogers, of Henry, who was born 
 at Lone Tree, Illinois, September 30, 1858, a 
 daughter of Gardner and Elizabeth Jane Eogers. 
 
 Mr. Williams brought his bride to the old home- 
 stead, having purchased a part of the farm. He 
 has since bought other tracts and now operates 
 nearly a half section of land, most of which he 
 owns. To his farm he has given the name of The 
 Oaks and here he is successfully engaged in stock' 
 raising under the firm name of J. H. Williams & 
 Son, the place having become well known espe- 
 cially for the breeding of Poland China hogs and 
 polled Durham cattle. In this line they have 
 gained more than a local reputation. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born 
 six children, but the eldest died in infancy. Gard- 
 ner Eogers, the second in order of birth, attended 
 the village and Henry schools and later pursued a 
 course in agriculture at the University of Illinois. 
 Myrtle Bell, a talented elocutionist, having pur- 
 sued a course of study at Plows Conservatory of 
 Peoria, Illinois, is now the wife of Charles E. 
 Stickel, of Mount Vernon, South Dakota. Mary 
 is a teacher. Meta Naomi and William Howard 
 are still in school. 
 
 BENJAMIN JUDD. 
 
 Benjamin Judd is today the oldest resident of 
 Marshall county in years of continuous connec- 
 tion with this portion of the state, and as such 
 he was honored at the old settlers' reunion held 
 in Lacon on the 6th of September, 1906. His 
 memory compasses the period of pioneer develop- 
 ment as well as of later day progress, and he 
 relates many interesting events concerning the 
 early days when the typical home on the prairie 
 was the log cabin and when all of the evidences 
 of frontier life were to be seen. He was born in 
 Wilkes county, North Carolina, March 14, 1829, 
 and was therefore but two years old when brought 
 by his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Darnell) 
 Judd, to Marshall county in 1831. His grand- 
 father, John Judd, who died in North Carolina, 
 
 was of English lineage. He came to this country 
 as a soldier in the British army during the Eev- 
 olutionary war, and at the close of hostilities de- 
 cided to remain in the new world, settling in 
 North Carolina, where he spent his remaining 
 dayi 
 
 Thomas Judd, the father of our subject, was 
 born in Wilkes county, North Carolina, in 1800, 
 and having arrived at years of maturity was mar- 
 ried there to Elizabeth Darnell, also a native of 
 that county, born in 1803. Her father was Ben- 
 jamin Darnell, who came to Marshall county, 
 Illinois, in 1828, settling on Sandy creek, in 
 what is now Evans township. He was the first 
 white settler of that township, and made his home 
 in the edge of the timber. Before coming to the 
 middle west he had read medicine, and here en- 
 gaged in practice. The journey westward was 
 made in a large panelled box wagon with room 
 enough in it for several to sleep. He was accom- 
 panied by his wife and ten children, and on 
 reaching the county they camped on Crow creek 
 at a place called Bennington's Grove. At that 
 time his nearest and in fact his only white neigh- 
 bor was Jesse Eoberts, who had located in what 
 is now Eoberts township, six miles distant. 
 Indians were quite numerous and during the time 
 of the Black Hawk war a fort was built on his 
 farm enclosing his log cabin and called Fort Dar- 
 nell. It was used as a place of refuge by families 
 for miles around. Two of his sons served in Colo- 
 nel John Strawn's regiment during that struggle. 
 In 1839 Benjamin Darnell left his farm in Mar- 
 shall county and removed to Kendall county, Illi- 
 nois, where he opened up another farm and located 
 his children around him. There he died in 1856. 
 The children were: Elizabeth, John, James, 
 Enoch, Larkins, Benjamin, Abram, Mrs. Polly 
 Adams, Mrs. Susan Hollenback and Lucy. The 
 last named died at the age of fourteen years and 
 hers was the first death in Evans township and the 
 first to be interred in the Cumberland cemetery 
 located on the old Darnell farm. The others are 
 also now deceased. The parents of our subject 
 were married in North Carolina, where the father 
 engaged in farming until 1831, when they came 
 to Marshall county and located in Evans town- 
 ship, adjoining the Darnell farm on the north. 
 He built a log cabin in the edge of the timber on 
 Sandy creek, and there remained until his death 
 in January, 1848. The mother remained on the
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 farm after the death of her husband and there 
 reared her family. She died at the age of seventy- 
 six years, and the remains of husband and wife 
 lie side by side in Cumberland cemetery. They 
 were the parents of ten children Alfred, de- 
 ceased ; Mrs. Nancy Gants ; John and Thomas, 
 deceased; Benjamin, our subject; Mrs. Elizabeth 
 French, deceased; Frances, deceased; Mrs. Matil- 
 da Brown, living in Wenona; William and Al- 
 mira, deceased. Before his death Thomas Judd 
 greatly improved his farm, leaving it in good 
 condition to his wife and children. He was a 
 well educated man, an old school teacher, and 
 served as county commissioner of schools at one 
 time. He was also a justice of the peace for 
 many years. On coming to this county he was 
 comparatively a poor man, and in the few years 
 of his life here acquired a competency. 
 
 Benjamin Judd is the only surviving member 
 of his father's family and is now in his seventy- 
 eighth year. He is still a hale and hearty man, 
 enjoying good health and weighing two hundred 
 and seventeen pounds. He seems to possess the 
 vigor and strength of a man in his prime and 
 when seen by the writer of this article was found 
 digging potatoes. He was reared amid the wild 
 scenes of frontier life, being brought to the county 
 prior to the Black Hawk war. He relates that 
 many a time, being very much afraid of the In- 
 dians, he crawled under the bed when they came 
 to the house. At one time the red men camped 
 on Sandy creek about twenty-five rods from his 
 father's cabin and there remained for several 
 days, often visiting the house for provisions. 
 There were few settlers in Marshall county or the 
 northern portion of the state and Mr. Judd re- 
 members being in Chicago when the metropolis 
 was- not as large as Wenona and well remembers 
 seeing old Fort Dearborn there. Most of the 
 homes were built of logs, were heated by immense 
 fire places, over which the family meal was also 
 prepared, and were lighted by candles. One could 
 ride for miles over the prairie without coming to 
 a house or fence to impede his progress and the 
 timber along the streams was uncut. Gradually, 
 however, settlers came from the south and the east 
 and wrought a marked transformation in the ap- 
 pearance of the country, converting its wild lands 
 into rich and productive farms. Upon the old 
 Judd homestead farm in Evans township the sub- 
 ject of this review was reared. He attended the 
 
 subscription schools of the pioneer days, but the 
 meager advantages of that period made his edu- 
 cation rather limited, but reading, experience and 
 observation in later years have counteracted this 
 early deficiency. At the age of nineteen years he 
 entered upon an independent business career by 
 operating the old home farm on the shares and he 
 still owns a portion of that farm, which his father 
 entered from the government in about 1839, and 
 he has never had a mortgage upon it. 
 
 On the 20th of November, 1851, Mr. Judd was 
 united in marriage with Miss Frances Talbot, a 
 native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and a 
 daughter of Nathan Talbot, who came from Eng- 
 land to America in 1830, locating in Pennsylva- 
 nia, from which state he moved to Marshall coun- 
 ty, Illinois, in 1842, settling in Hopewell town- 
 ship, where the mother of Mrs. Judd died. He 
 subsequently remarried and moved to Evans town- 
 ship, in 1851, where he remained for a time and 
 then returned to Hopewell township, and later 
 went to Long Point, Illinois, where he died. By 
 his first marriage there were ten children John, 
 Mathias, Nathan, William, Peter, Margaret, Mrs. 
 Judd, Elizabeth, Jane and Mrs. Rachel Lyons. 
 Two of his sons, John and James, served in the 
 Civil war. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Judd are the parents of seven 
 children Adeline, now the wife of Lutelus W. 
 Kemp, lives in Evans township, and is the mother 
 of five children; Nelson Perry married Elizabeth 
 Wilson, by whom he has eight children, and the 
 family now reside on the Judd farm ; James Ash- 
 ley married Delia Haws, by whom he had four 
 children, and they too reside on the old Judd 
 farm; Thomas D., who is a furniture dealer and 
 undertaker in Wenona, married Ida Wilson, by 
 whom he has one child ; Clara Jane resides at 
 home; Mary Frances married Alonzo D. Brown, 
 principal of the Wenona grammar schools, by 
 whom she has two children; Julia Dell, also re- 
 sides at home. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Judd con- 
 tinued to reside upon the old homestead farm 
 until 1865, when they removed to section 16, 
 Evans township, there living until 1886, when 
 they became residents of Wenona, since which 
 time Mr. Judd has been retired from active busi- 
 ness cares. He was a prosperous and enterprising 
 farmer and it is said that he raised more acres of 
 corn than any other man in Evans township,
 
 190 
 
 PAST AND PBESEXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNT! KS. 
 
 planting and harvesting forty-two crops of corn 
 in succession. His former success enables him 
 now to enjoy the comforts and many of the lux- 
 uries of life. He is a remarkably well preserved 
 man and enjoys life today as though he were 
 but fifty years old. In spirit and interest he seems 
 yet in his prime. He belongs to the Masonic 
 lodge at Wenona and the chapter at Eutland and 
 has passed through all of the chairs of the former 
 and been a delegate to the grand lodge. Eecently 
 he gave to the lodge a gavel made from lumber 
 which he hafl preserved from the old Fort Dar- 
 nell and he also gave one to the Old Settlers' 
 Society at the reunion held in Lacon, September 
 6, 1906. The lumber was solid and almost as 
 hard as iron. In his political views Mr. Judd 
 has ever been a stalwart democrat and has served 
 in many local offices. In manner he is kindly, in 
 disposition jovial and genial, enjoying wit and 
 humor, and he is a valued addition to any social 
 circle. An active and honorable life has won him 
 the respect of his fellow men and it is with great 
 pleasure that we present to our readers a life 
 record of this prominent citizen, the oldest settler, 
 in years of continuous residence, in Marshall 
 county. 
 
 CHARLES CLIFFOED DOEAN. 
 
 Charles Clifford Doran, a representative of the 
 business interests of Henry, where he is conduct- 
 ing an undertaking establishment, was born upon 
 his father's farm in La Prairie township, Marshall 
 county, December 23, 1878. His father, Eobert 
 Doran, now a retired farmer of Henry, was born 
 in New Brunswick, Canada, and became a resi- 
 dent of Marshall county fifty-five years ago. He 
 wedded Mary Amanda Baker, a native of New 
 York, and they have four living children and have 
 lost two. Those who still survive are : Clarence, 
 who is conducting a restaurant in Chillicothe, 
 Illinois; Charles Clifford, of this review; and 
 Clyde and Claude, who are operating the old home 
 farm. 
 
 When the subject of this review was a young 
 lad his parents removed to Kansas, establishing 
 their home in Rice county, and there he acquired 
 his early education in the public schools. Fol- 
 lowing the return of the family to Illinois in 
 1889 he continued his education in the district 
 schools of La Prairie township and when not 
 occupied with the duties of the schoolroom his 
 
 time was largely given to work upon his father's 
 farm. After attaining his majority his entire 
 attention was concentrated upon agricultural in- 
 terests and he lived on the old homestead until 
 about two years ago, when, in 1904, he came to 
 Henry and established the undertaking business 
 which he has since conducted with good success. 
 On the 10th of May, 1906, Mr. Doran was 
 married to Miss Catherine Schmitz, of Peru, Illi- 
 nois, and in social cricles in Henry they occupy 
 an enviable position. Mr. Doran has taken three 
 degrees of Odd Fellowship and he gives his po- 
 litical allegiance to the republican party, keeping 
 well informed on the questions and issues of the 
 day, yet never seeking or desiring public office, 
 as he prefers to concentrate his energies upon his 
 business interests. 
 
 FREDERICK A. RAYMOND. 
 Frederick A. Raymond, at one time largely, 
 actively and successfully engaged in general 
 farming in Marshall county, now owns and occu- 
 pies a tract of land of twenty acres beautifully 
 situated at the corporation limits of Henry and 
 is practically living retired from business cares. 
 His life record began in Burlington, Hartford 
 county, Connecticut, on the 23d of August, 1842, 
 and he is descended from an old New England 
 family. His father, Frederick A. Raymond, Sr., 
 was also a native of Burlington, Connecticut, 
 and for some years was connected with the Seth 
 Thomas clock factory, but, thinking to enjoy 
 better business privileges and opportunities in 
 the then young but rapidly growing west, he 
 made his way to Illinois, arriving at Mount Pala- 
 tine, in Putnam county, on the 2d of March, 
 1850. Soon afterward he secured land and was 
 thereon engaged in general farming until 1858. 
 In community affairs he was active and influen- 
 tial and served as assessor for seventeen years, 
 having been elected for an eighteenth term just 
 prior to his death, which occurred in 1894 when 
 he had reached the age of seventy-four years and 
 eight days. He regarded a public office as a pub- 
 lic trust and was ever faithful to the duties that 
 devolved upon him. His widow is still living and 
 is now in her ninety-first year. In their family 
 were eight children, of whom six are now living: 
 Mary J., the wife of C. M. Dawson, of Henry; 
 Frederick A. ; E. M., who is living in Grand Rap-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 193 
 
 ids, Michigan; J. B., a mail carrier in Chicago; 
 Henry R.; and Martha, the wife of Edward 
 White, of Warrensburg, Illinois. 
 
 Frederick A. Raymond of this review was a 
 lad of seven years when brought by his parents 
 to Illinois. His education was acquired in the 
 district schools of Putnam county and the public 
 schools of Henry and after putting aside his text- 
 books he turned las attention to general farming, 
 which he continuously and successfully followed 
 until about twenty years ago. He was enter- 
 prising and progressive in his work, placed his 
 land under a high state of cultivation and derived 
 therefrom a good income, owing to the large 
 crops which he raised. He, too, has filled public 
 offices, for soon after his father's death he was 
 elected assessor and acted in that capacity for 
 four years. He has also been commissioner of 
 roads and has been prominent in local govern- 
 mental affairs, being a most public-spirited 
 man 
 
 On the 15th of September, 1870, Mr. Raymond 
 was united in marriage to Miss Mary F. Tabor of 
 Henry, Illinois, who died October 6, 1881. She 
 left one child, Mrs. Evaline Schroder, the wife 
 of W. R. Schroder, a harnessmaker of Macon 
 county, by whom she has two children: Lucy 
 Helen and Raymond. On the 3d of March, 1886, 
 Mr. Raymond was again married, his second 
 union being with Miss Amanda Camery, a native 
 of Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio. She was 
 born June 27, 1845, and was the youngest of a 
 family of twelve children whose parents were 
 Christian and Nancy (Messick) Camery, both 
 now deceased. Her father was born in Pennsyl- 
 vania and died at the age of eighty- four years, 
 while her mother, a native of Virginia, died in 
 her seventy-fourth year of age. 
 
 Mr. Raymond has always been a stalwart ad- 
 vocate of republican principles and is well in- 
 formed on the issues which divide the two great 
 parties and which constitute much of the nation's 
 history. His fidelity in citizenship has been one 
 of his strong and salient characteristics and com- 
 bined with his business integrity and his per?ci;al 
 worth have made him a citizen whom to know is 
 to respect and honor. He has been a member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America since 1889 and 
 was consul of the camp for five successive 
 years. 
 
 THEODORE ALPHONZO SEELYE. 
 
 Theodore Alphonzo Seelye, who is engaged in 
 general agricultural pursuits on section 17, White- 
 field township, is there cultivating a good farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres and is also en- 
 gaged successfully in raising stock. A native of 
 Illinois, he was born in Peoria county on the 4th 
 of December, 1856. His father, Henry Seelye, 
 was a native of Massachusetts and came to Illi- 
 nois when a young man of eighteen years, at 
 which time he settled in Peoria county. He was 
 there married to Miss Mary Johnson, who died 
 when her son Theodore was bvit fourteen months 
 old. Four years after his marriage Mr. Seelye 
 removed from Peoria county to Marshall county, 
 settling in Saratoga township, where for many 
 years he followed the occupation of farming, being 
 one of the well known representatives of agricul- 
 tural interests in his part of the county. He 
 was a second time married and he had two chil- 
 dren by both marriages. His death occurred in 
 1898 and thus passed away one of the old-time 
 residents of the county, who for many years had 
 been numbered among its worthy and respected 
 citizens. He had filled the office of road commis- 
 sioner and his political support was given to the 
 republican party. 
 
 In early boyhood days Theodore A. Seelye was 
 a pupil in the Town Hall schoolhouse in Saratoga 
 township, where he mastered the branches of 
 learning usually taught in the common schools. 
 He early became familiar with the work of field 
 and meadow as he assisted in the cultivation of 
 the crops from the time of early spring planting 
 until the harvests were gathered in the late au- 
 tumn. After his education was completed he re- 
 mained upon the home farm for a time and then 
 began farming on his own account. He lives on 
 section 17, Whitefield township, where he is cul- 
 tivating a good farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, almost the entire amount being under the 
 plow. He raises the cereals best adapted to soil 
 and climate and he also has live-stock interests, 
 being engaged in the raising of horses, cattle and 
 hogs, while his annual shipments and sales add 
 no undesirable sum to his yearly income. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Seelye was married to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Lockland, of Saratoga, and unto them have 
 been born three children, but Willard Alphonzo, 
 the eldest, died when seven years of age. The 
 surviving son and daughter are Thomas Richard
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 and Ora Ethel, both at home, the latter a stu- 
 dent in the public schools. Mr. Seelye affiliates 
 with Whitefield camp, No. 1653, M. W. A., and 
 is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 By his ballot he usually endorses republican prin- 
 ciples, but at local elections where no issue is in- 
 volved frequently casts an independent vote. Al- 
 most his entire life has been passed in this county 
 and he has therefore long been a witness of its 
 development and progress, while as an enterpris- 
 ing farmer he has contributed to its substantial 
 development along agricultural lines. 
 
 WILLIAM HAWS. 
 
 William Haws, a retired farmer making his 
 home in Magnolia, where he owns and occupies 
 one of the fine homes of the village, is also a large 
 landowner, owning two hundred acres of land near 
 the village, which furnishes him with a good finan- 
 cial income, has through a long period been identi- 
 fied with the progress and development of Putnam 
 county. He is a native of Clinton county, Ohio, 
 his birth having occurred September 10, 1833. 
 The first man to locate in this district was Cap- 
 tain William Haws, the paternal uncle of our sub- 
 ject. His birth occurred in Orange county, Vir- 
 ginia, September 23, 1800, and in 1805 he was 
 taken by his parents to Ohio, where he remained 
 until he attained his majority, when, on the 27th 
 of August, 1821, he located in Sangamon county, 
 this state, where he conducted a tannery for a 
 time, and in 1826 came to Magnolia township, 
 Putnam county, where he settled on a farm on 
 section 26. He built a log cabin and there made 
 his permanent home. His wife bore the maiden 
 name of Lucinda Southwick, who was a native of 
 New York and was a typical frontier woman, 
 brave and fearless, and shared with her husband 
 all the trials and privations of a frontier existence. 
 Indians at that time were far more numerous than 
 the white settlers and wild animals were heard 
 howling around their little cabin. The Captain se- 
 cured his title as commander of a volunteer com- 
 pany in the Black Hawk war. When he first lo- 
 cated here this district was included in Tazewell 
 county, but in 1831 a meeting was held at his 
 house, at which time Putnam county was organ- 
 ized. He was identified with much of the progress 
 and improvement of this portion of the state and 
 served in various ways in public affairs, and dur- 
 
 ing the first term of court which convened in an 
 old traveling house near Hennepin, Mr. Haws 
 served on the grand jury, Governor Ford then 
 acting as prosecuting attorney for this district. 
 After the death of his first wife Captain Haws was 
 again married, his second union being with Mrs. 
 Louisa Moffitt nee Defenbaugh, by whom he had 
 five children, of whom two still survive Clifford, 
 who resides in Henry, Marshall county; and Joel 
 of Varna, Illinois. Both Captain and Mrs. Haws 
 are now deceased, the former having passed away 
 in March, 1885. 
 
 In 1845 a second member of the Haws family 
 located here, this being Mrs. Kelley, a sister of 
 Captain Haws, who spent the succeeding three 
 years in Magnolia township, subsequent to which 
 time she removed to La Salle county, and about 
 1860 removed to the state of Missouri. Another 
 sister came in 1838 and made her home here until 
 her death, at the very advanced age of ninety-two 
 years, after which her remains were interred in the 
 Magnolia cemetery. 
 
 Joel Haws, the father of our subject, was born 
 in Madison county, Virginia, August 15, 1796, a 
 son of Conrad and Susan Haws, who emigrated in 
 1805 to Clinton county, Ohio, where both passed 
 away. Conrad Haws and two of his brothers 
 served in the Revolutionary war, aiding the col- 
 onies in their struggle for independence. Joel 
 Haws was one of a family of eight children, the 
 oth'prs being Elizabeth, William, Mrs. Fanjnie 
 Johnson, John, Mrs. Nancy Kelley, Susan and 
 Tandy, all of whom are now deceased. Joel Haws 
 remained with his parents during his boyhood and 
 youth and accompanied them on their removal to 
 Clinton county, Ohio, where he was united in mar- 
 riage to Miss Elizabeth Gibson, their marriage 
 being celebrated on the 27th of April, 1824. She 
 was a daughter of John Gibson and was born in 
 1805. The young coiiple took up their abode in 
 Ohio, where they remained until their removal to 
 Putnam county in 1838, at which time they took 
 up their abode on the farm belonging to his 
 brother, Captain William Haws, where they made 
 their home until 1845, in which year the father 
 purchased the farm which is now owned by Gus- 
 tave Otto. This he improved and cultivated until 
 his death, which occurred on the 24th of June, 
 1883, when, he had reached the very advanced age 
 of eighty-seven years. His wife was a devoted 
 member of the Presbyterian church, and her death
 
 PAST AM) I'KKSKVf OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COrXTIKS. 
 
 197 
 
 occurred in January, 1876. Their family num- 
 bered ten children, namely : Mrs. Mary Ann Hub- 
 bard, deceased; Thomas G., a resident of Mag- 
 nolia; Mrs. Elizabeth McCullum, deceased; Wil- 
 liam, whose name introduces this record; John, 
 who died in 1904, at Ottawa, Illinois; one who 
 died in infancy ; Mrs. Sarah J. McCombs, of Cali- 
 fornia ; Eunice L., the wife of Gustave Otto, whose 
 sketch appears on another page of this work; 
 George W. of La Salle, this state; and James A., 
 who resides at York, Nebraska. The father served 
 in the war of 1812, as a member of the Second 
 Ohio Volunteers under command of Captain Wil- 
 liam Fordyce in Colonel Smith's regiment and 
 General Denoe's division, and he received an hon- 
 orable discharge in 1814. In politics he was a 
 Jacksonian democrat, and in his community was 
 known as an honorable citizen and a faithful 
 friend. 
 
 William Haws, whose name introduces this rec- 
 ord, was a little lad of only five years when he 
 was brought by his parents to Putnam county, and 
 here he became familiar with all the duties that 
 fall to the lot of the pioneer settler, for during 
 his youth he assisted his father in the develop- 
 ment and improvement of his farm, thus gaining 
 practical knowledge of farm work in all its de- 
 partments. During the winter months, when his 
 services were not needed on the farm, he pursued 
 his studies in the district schools, but his advan- 
 tages in that direction were limited, owing to the 
 unsettled condition of the country and the primi- 
 tive manner in which the schools were conducted 
 at that early day. He remained under the patvntal 
 roof until he attained his majority, and then 
 starting out upon an independent career, secured 
 employment with his uncle, Captain Haws, with 
 whom he remained for seventeen years. He was 
 early trained to habits of industry and economy, 
 and, saving his earnings, he was in due course of 
 time enabled to purchase land and engage in 
 farming on his own account. As he prospered in 
 his undertakings he added more and more largely 
 to his possessions until he is now the owner of a 
 fine farm of two hundred acres situated near the 
 village of Magnolia, and on this place he was 
 for many years engaged in general agricultural 
 pursuits and stock-raising, but is now living re- 
 tired in a beautiful home in the village of Mag- 
 nolia, where he and his wife are enjoying the 
 fruits of their former toil, for they have acquired 
 
 a property and a competence that enables them 
 to enjoy all the comforts and many of the luxu- 
 ries of life, and in this home they expect to spend 
 their declining years. 
 
 Mr. Haws has been twice married. His first 
 wife bore the maiden name of Helen Clisbee, who 
 was born in Marshall county, April 11, 1842. 
 She was reared from her early childhood by Cap- 
 tain Haws, with whom she remained until her 
 marriage, and her death occurred February 3, 
 
 1864. She was the mother of two daughters, of 
 whom the younger, Helen, is deceased. The elder 
 daughter, Minnie L., was married on the 26th of 
 June, 1876, to Eiley B. Roberts, who was born on 
 the old Roberts homestead in Roberts township, 
 Marshall county, October 26, 1854, a son of Liv- 
 ingston Roberts, who is now deceased. Mrs. Rob- 
 erts was born in Magnolia township, February 17, 
 1859, and was reared and educated in this town- 
 ship, and by her marriage has become the mother 
 of five children, Burl William, Helen Haws, Mar- 
 garet Livingston, Ollie Marie and Irene. Fol- 
 lowing their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Roberts lo- 
 cated upon the farm which continued to be their 
 home through many years, and here he engaged 
 in general farming and stock-raising, raising high 
 grades of horses and Jersey cattle. He belongs to 
 the lodge of Masons, No. 103, at Magnolia and is 
 also a Modern Woodman, filling some of the ehai>? 
 in that organization, while his political affiliations 
 are with the republican party, and he takes an 
 active interest in local affairs, having served for 
 many years as road commissioner and as school 
 director. They now live in the village of Mag- 
 nolia. 
 
 After the death of his first wife Mr. Hav., u is 
 married again, his second union being with Miss 
 Mary Jane Trone, whom he wedded March 2, 
 
 1865. She was born in York county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, January 7, 1845, a daughter of David and 
 Christian (Philby) Trone, likewise natives of 
 York county, the former born January 9, 1816, 
 while the latter was bom in 1820. In the spring 
 of 1847 her parents made their way westward, the 
 family home being established in Caledonia, Put- 
 nam county, where the father passed away in 
 June, 1863, while the mother survived until Jan- 
 uary, 1879. Both were devoted members of the 
 Methodist church and the father served a>- post- 
 master of Caledonia for several years. Their fam- 
 ily numbered four children: Mrs. Margaret
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Smith, deceased; Mary J., now Mrs. Haws; Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Kidd, deceased; and Jerry. 
 
 Mr. Haws is a worthy member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge at Mag- 
 nolia, in which he served as treasurer for a long 
 period, the chapter at Lacon and the commandery 
 at Peru. He has always given his political sup- 
 port and co-operation to the democratic party, and 
 has ever been interested in the progress and suc- 
 cess of his party. In former years he was quite 
 active in local affairs, and served as road commis- 
 sioner for one term, as supervisor for two terms, 
 was a member of the school board and of the vil- 
 lage board of Magnolia for a long period and like- 
 wise as president of the village for several terms. 
 Mr. Haws has always led an active and busy life, 
 and all that he has accumulated has been acquired 
 through his own well directed labors. At one 
 time he owned three hundred and sixty acres of 
 land, but has since disposed of a part of this and 
 now retains possession of two hundred acres, 
 which constitutes a valuable farm, also one hun- 
 dred acres of timber land in Marshal! county, and 
 thirty acres in Putnam county, besides a number 
 of town lots, from which property he derives an 
 income sufficient to enable him to spend the re- 
 mainder of his days in honorable retirement. He 
 and his wife both enjoy good health, and are 
 comfortably situated in a pleasant home in the 
 village of Magnolia, the hospitality of which is 
 enjoyed by a large circle of warm friends. 
 
 JOHN E. PASKELL. 
 
 John E. Paskell, engaged in the livery busi- 
 ness in Henry and one time mayor of the city, 
 was born in West Virginia near Eomney, on the 
 8th of January, 1867. His father, George Foun- 
 tain Paskell, was a native of Hagerstown, Mary- 
 land, and after the Civil war came to Illinois. He 
 settled in Henry and for some time was proprietor 
 of the Paskell House, a leading hotel of the city, 
 which he made a popular hostelry and one that 
 was liberally patronized by the traveling public. 
 In community affairs he took a deep and helpful 
 interest and gave to the city a public spirited 
 and progressive administration during the two 
 terms that he served as mayor. He was also presi- 
 dent of the bridge board and a member of the 
 school board and of the cemetery association. His 
 fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and abil- 
 
 ity and his loyalty to the best interests of the 
 community, thus called him to various offices, the 
 duties of which were discharged with promptness 
 and fidelity. When he was called from this life 
 on the 14th of April, 1898, his death was the 
 occasion of deep and widespread regret, for he 
 was prominent in political circles and in business 
 life as well, while those whom he met socially 
 entertained for him warm regard. His wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Marian Powell, died at 
 the age of thirty-five years. In their family were 
 two children. 
 
 John E. Paskell, the only one now living, was 
 a public-school student in Henry, being brought 
 to this city by his parents in his early boyhood 
 days. After putting aside his text-books he be- 
 came associated with his father in the manage- 
 ment and conduct of the hotel and later became 
 a dealer in horses. He is now engaged in the 
 livery business while his stables are stocked with a 
 number of good horses and a fine line of vehicles 
 which he rents out to patrons, the number of 
 whom is constantly increasing. 
 
 Like his father, John E, Paskell has also figured 
 prominently in political circles and in affairs re- 
 lating to the general upbuilding and improvement 
 of the community. In 1894 he was elected sheriff 
 on the democratic ticket and filled the office for 
 four years, discharging his duties without fear 
 or favor. During his incumbency in that posi- 
 tion he also acted for two years as mayor of 
 Henry. He belongs to Henry lodge, No. 180, 
 K. P., and is a member of the bridge board. He 
 supports the Episcopal church and he is recog- 
 nized as a man who stands for improvement at 
 all times. Henry has been his home from his 
 earliest boyhood and he has deep affection for 
 the town and its people, while his labors in its 
 behalf have been far-reaching and beneficial. 
 
 HON. DANIEL H. GEEGG. 
 Hon. Daniel H. Gregg, county judge of Mar- 
 shall county and recognized as one of the learned 
 and able members of the bar of this section of 
 Illinois, makes his home in Wenona, where he 
 is also engaged in the real-estate and insurance 
 business. He was born in Eodraan, Jefferson 
 county, New York, August 15, 1867, and is a son 
 of Joseph and Margaret (Irwin) Gregg, who were 
 cf Scotch and Irish descent. They were married
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 199 
 
 before coming to America and upon reaching the 
 United States settled in the state of New York. 
 The father, a farmer by occupation, came to Illi- 
 nois in 1872, locating in La Salle county, Illi- 
 nois, where he and his wife are now living. He 
 is retired from business cares, however, and they 
 make their home in the village of Harding. They 
 have seven living children, five sons and two 
 daughters: Mrs. Anna Goodman, a widow; 
 James, at home; Mary, the wife of Charles H. 
 Ostrand, superintendent of the Kelvyn Grove 
 school, of Chicago, which position he has occupied 
 for about fifteen years; Daniel H. ; Joseph W., 
 who is engaged in the hardware business in Earl- 
 ville; Eobert, an attorney at law of Denver, Colo- 
 rado, and a teacher in a law school of that city; 
 and William, a farmer. 
 
 Judge Gregg was educated in the country 
 schools and in the Northwestern Normal School 
 at Geneseo, from which he was graduated with 
 the class of 1887. He then engaged in teaching 
 for several years in the district schools and also 
 in the city schools of Chicago. He spent six terms 
 in one school and was a capable educator, impart- 
 ing clearly and readily to others the knowledge 
 that he had acquired. In April, 1898, he came 
 to Wenona and entered the law office of J. H. 
 Jackson, with whom he pursued his preliminary 
 reading. Subsequently he took a law course in 
 Kent College of Law at Chicago, from which he 
 was graduated in June, 1902. A month prior to 
 that time he successfully passed the examination 
 that secured his admission to the bar and after 
 entering upon the practice of law he soon secured 
 a good clientele and also obtained a good clientage 
 in the real-estate and insurance business. With 
 the exception of the first year of his residence in 
 Wenona he has continuously held office since lo- 
 cating here. When twenty-one years of age he 
 was elected town clerk and justice of the peace, 
 filling those offices in a republican township. 
 When he had been in Wenoaa for a year he was 
 elected police magistrate, from which office he re- 
 signed a year later. He was then elected mayor 
 of Wenona and gave to the city a public-spirited, 
 practical and progressive administration. In 1902 
 he was chosen county judge and is now a candi- 
 date for re-election. On the bench he has made 
 a most creditable record as one whose decisions 
 are strictly fair and impartial and are moreover 
 based upon a thoroiigh knowledge of the law and 
 
 precedent and a correct application of legal prin- 
 ciples to the points in issue. 
 
 Judge Gregg was married on the 3d of March, 
 1903, to Miss Martha Missal, a native of Wenona 
 and of German descent. They now have one son, 
 Neal Ellsworth, born May 7, 1905. The judge is 
 a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to 
 both the lodge and chapter. He has made many 
 warm friends in Wenona among both the repub- 
 cans and democrats, for he has a nature that 
 transcends partisan prejudice and recognizes char- 
 acter, nobility and worth. Community interests 
 elicit his deep attention and if he regards a move- 
 ment as beneficial he does not hesitate to give 
 it his hearty support and endorsement. His at- 
 tention is thus given to fraternal, social and muni- 
 cipal interests and yet his time is most largely 
 devoted to his profession and his business inter- 
 ests, and at the bar he has gained a leading place 
 that brought to him a large clientele and has now 
 gained for him judicial honors. 
 
 E. OLIVE COFFMAN. 
 
 E. Olive Coffman, who is conducting a photo- 
 graphic gallery in Henry and has attained supe- 
 rior skill in the line of her art, was born near 
 Rutland, Marshall county. Her father, the Rev. 
 J. P. Coffman, was formerly a teacher and Metho- 
 dist Episcopal minister, but is now giving his at- 
 tention to the occupation of farming. He is a 
 native of Ohio and when six years of age was 
 brought to Illinois by his father, John Coffman, 
 the family thus being established in this part of 
 the state at an early day. Having arrived at years 
 of maturity J. P. Coffman was married to Miss 
 Ellen P. Gray, a native of Marshall county, and 
 they now have nine children, six daughters and 
 three sons: E. Olive; John D., who is living on 
 a farm in Iowa; J. P., who is also engaged in 
 farming in Iowa ; Ethel and Elsie, both deceased ; 
 William G., living on the home farm ; Teresa A., 
 Mary S. and Grace E., all of whom are at home 
 and are attending school. 
 
 E. Olive Coffman was a student in the district 
 schools of Marshall county and continued her 
 studies in the South Lacon school. After putting 
 aside her text-books she carried the mail on the 
 route between Sparland and La Prairie Center, 
 but ambitious for further education she subse- 
 quently became a student in the Western Normal 
 School at Bushnell, Illinois. Later she engaged
 
 PAST AND I'K'KSKXT OF MARSHALL AM) 1MTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 in teaching for one year in Livingston county and 
 on the 28th of July, 1902, she purchased a photo- 
 graphic gallery at Lacon, where she conducted 
 business until the 1st of November, 1905, when 
 she came to Henry. Here she established her gal- 
 lery and has secured a liberal patronage because 
 of her skill and ability in the line of her chosen 
 art. She is a member of the National Photo- 
 graphic Association of America and she secured 
 at St. Louis a photographer's diploma from F. 
 W. Guerin. She is thoroughly informed concern- 
 ing the latest improved methods known to the 
 photographic art and has a splendidly equipped 
 studio. Socially in Henry she is prominent and 
 she belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 LOUIS E. PHILLIPS. 
 
 Louis R. Phillips, cashier of the Henry Na- 
 tional Bank, whose business capacity, executive 
 force and personal popularity are strong ele- 
 ments in the success of this institution, was born 
 in Columbus, Ohio, on the 10th of January, 
 1864. His father, John M. Phillips, was a 
 farmer by occupation and for many years car- 
 ried on the work of tilling the soil, but is now 
 living retired at Deer Creek, Illinois. His wife, 
 who bore the maiden name of Sarah Eeed, is a 
 native of Ohio and unto them have been born 
 eleven children, of whom tep are yet living. 
 
 Louis R. Phillips was only two years of age 
 when brought by his parents from the Buckeye 
 state to Illinois, the family home being established 
 in Woodford county, where he acquired his pre- 
 liminary education in the district schools. He 
 afterward profited by the advantages of a course 
 in Eureka College at Eureka, Illinois, and for 
 six years he engaged in teaching school, spending 
 one year of that time in Woodford county and 
 five years in Nebraska. Retiring from that pro- 
 fession, he turned his attention to general mer- 
 chandising, which he followed for six years, and 
 subsequently he became one of the organizers of 
 the First National Bank at Chillicothe, Illinois, 
 with which institution he was connected for five 
 years. On the expiration of that period he re- 
 moved to Henry in 1904 and became cashier of 
 the Henry National Bank, which is regarded as 
 one of the safe and reliable financial institutions 
 of this part of the state. His previous experience 
 had given him a thorough knowledae of general 
 
 banking business and he was thus well qualified 
 to take up the duties which now devolve upon 
 him in his present business connection. Always 
 courteous in his treatment of the patrons of the 
 institution and willing to grant a favor whenever 
 possible, he at the same time is never neglectful 
 of the interests of the bank and has contributed 
 in substantial measure to its success. 
 
 In 1890 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Phillips and Miss Mary M. Belsly, of Deer 
 Creek, Illinois. They now have four children, 
 all of whom are in school, namely: Clarence A., 
 Mary Magdalene, Helen G., and Louis B. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Phillips is an inde- 
 pendent republican, who while indorsing the 
 principles of the party frequently casts an inde- 
 pendent ballot at local elections. He is a mem- 
 ber of Henry lodge, No. 119, A. F. & A. M., 
 and is also connected with the Knights of Pyth- 
 ias lodge at Chillicothe, while his religious faith 
 is indicated by his membership in and co-opera- 
 tion with the work of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. He is a typical representative of that 
 class of alert, enterprising business men who 
 are pushing forward the wheels of progress and 
 accomplishing results through unfaltering dili- 
 gence and energy. 
 
 LOUIS BOGNER. 
 
 Louis Bogner, who is engaged in general farm- 
 ing on section 20, Whitefield township, was born 
 in Peoria county, Illinois, March 21, 1866, and is 
 a son of Louis and Gertrude (Weber) Bogner, 
 both of whom were natives of Germany. They 
 came to the United States, however, in early life 
 and were married in this country. The father de- 
 voted his attention and energies to general farm- 
 ing for many years but is now living retired, mak- 
 ing his home in Henry. 
 
 Louis Bogner accompanied his parents on their 
 removal from Peoria county to Marshall county 
 and his education was acquired in the district 
 schools of Whitefield township, where his father 
 carried on general farming. He was reared on 
 the old home place and there remained until his 
 marriage, which was celebrated seventeen years 
 ago, the lady of his choice being Miss Gertrude 
 Schwarz, also of Whitefield township. Four chil- 
 dren have been born unto them: Bertha and 
 Conrad, who are attending school; Leonard and
 
 PAST AXD PKESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Harold, at home. Mr. Bogner has served as a 
 school director and the cause of education finds 
 in him a warm friend, who does all in his power 
 to promote the interests of public education 
 through the employment of good teachers and the 
 raising of the standard of the schools. He votes 
 with the democracy and believes its principles 
 most conducive to good government. His religious 
 faith is that of the Catholic church, in which he 
 was reared. Throughout his business life he has 
 carried on general farming and now has one 
 hundred and sixty-five acres under cultivation. 
 He and his father own eighty acres of land in 
 another part of the county. Nowhere in all this 
 wide country is land more rich and productive 
 than are the farms of Marshall county and Mr. 
 Bogner annually harvests good crops as the re- 
 ward for the care and labor which he bestows upon 
 the fields. His place is neat and thrifty in ap- 
 pearance, indicating his careful supervision and 
 progressive methods. 
 
 JOSEPH CLAEK. 
 
 Joseph Clark dates his residence in Illinois 
 from 1854 and has lived in Saratoga township, 
 Marshall county, for fifty-one years. Few of its 
 residents have longer remained within its bor- 
 ders and none has made a more creditable record 
 as an honorable and upright farmer. He was born 
 in Berkeley county, West Virginia, about four 
 miles from Martinsburg, on the 25th of July, 
 1844, and was a lad of eleven years when he left 
 Ohio and came with his parents, William and 
 Jane (Harper) Clark, to Illinois. Seven years 
 before they had removed from West Virginia, to 
 Ohio, where they lived until they started for 
 Illinois, driving across the country. They resided 
 in Whitefield township, Marshall county, for a 
 year and in 1856 removed to Saratoga township, 
 settling upon a farm about three quarters of a 
 mile from the present home of Joseph Clark. 
 The father there secured forty acres of land, for 
 which lie paid fifty dollars down and went in 
 debt fifty dollars. Later he added another forty 
 acres to his farm and paid for that tract two 
 thousand dollars. He continued to make his home 
 thereon until his death, which occurred in 1878 
 when he was sixty-six years of age, while his wife 
 
 passed away on that farm in August, 1892, at the 
 advanced age of eighty-seven years. They had 
 four children : Mary, who is now living in Hen- 
 ry, Illinois ; Robert, a farmer of York county, Ne- 
 braska ; Joseph ; and Thomas, who was the bridge 
 tender at Henry, but is now deceased. 
 
 Joseph Clark was reared to farm life, spending 
 the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents' 
 home. -After reaching his majority he began 
 threshing but still remained a member of his 
 father's household. Ambitious to own a farm of 
 his own, he saved his earnings and at length made 
 purchase of eighty acres of land in the eastern 
 part of Saratoga township, whereon he resided for 
 seven years, when he removed to his present place 
 of residence, which was formerly the old home- 
 stead of his father-in-law, Thomas Doyle. He 
 now has one hundred and sixty acres of land, on 
 which he has made many valuable and useful im- 
 provements. In fact his is one of the best farms 
 of the locality, equipped with all modern acces- 
 sories and conveniences. 
 
 On the 29th of October, 1874, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Matilda Doyle, 
 who was born in Saratoga township on the first 
 farm owned by her father in Illinois and has spent 
 her entire life here. This marriage has been 
 blessed with a most interesting and beautiful little 
 daughter, who was born in Saratoga township 
 on the 31st of May, 1897, and to whom they gave 
 the name of Jennie Eliza Clark. The day of her 
 birth was a most bitterly cold one, memorable in 
 the history of the county as a day on which all 
 of the fruit was killed owing to the excessive frost. 
 The little daughter is a very bright, intelligent 
 girl, now in the fifth grade in the Doyle school. 
 She is the light and life of the household, of 
 cheerful, joyous disposition and obedient nature, 
 never having to be told the second time to do 
 anything. In addition to her school work she is 
 receiving instruction in piano music and she is 
 always among the best in her classes at school. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Clark occupy an enviable social 
 position and have a very large circle of friends. 
 Politically he is a stalwart republican but with- 
 out aspiration for office. Fraternally he is con- 
 nected with Sparland lodge, No. 441, A. F. & A. 
 M., and both he and his wife are members of the 
 Eastern Star. He takes great interest in the 
 work of the craft and is one of its exemplary rep- 
 resentatives.
 
 L'AST AM) I'HKSKXT OF MARSHALL AM) 1TT.NAM CO TNT I KS. 
 
 FRANK LAFAYETTE DAWSON. 
 
 Frank Lafayette Dawson, who is engaged in 
 general farming in Whitefield township, is one 
 of Marshall county's native sons, born on the 
 27th of November, 1876. His father, Clark Daw- 
 son, was a native of Pennsylvania and in early 
 life came to the middle west, settling in Putnam 
 county, Illinois, upon a farm. There he resided 
 up to the time of his death, which occurred in 
 April, 1903. He wedded Miss Mary Jane Ray- 
 mond, a native of Connecticut, who now survives 
 him and lives in Henry. In their family were 
 five children: Fred, a resident of Henry; Frank 
 L., of this review ; Mrs. Martha Schimmel, a wid- 
 ow, living in Henry; Ed Dawson, a farmer of 
 Henry township; and one who died in infancy. 
 At the usual age Frank Lafayette Dawson began 
 his education in the district schools of Henry 
 township and he was reared to farm life, early 
 becoming familiar with the duties and labors 
 that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He has 
 always carried on general agricultural pursuits 
 and is now engaged in cultivating one hundred 
 and sixty acres- of land which produces good 
 crops, owing to the care and labor that he be- 
 stows upon the fields. He keeps everything about 
 the place in neat and thrifty condition and a 
 glance serves to indicate to the passer by his care- 
 ful supervision and progressive methods. 
 
 In April, 1892, was celebrated the marriage of 
 Mr. Dawson and Miss Anna Smith, a native of 
 Whitefield township and a daughter of Elwood 
 Smith, who follows farming in that township. 
 This union has been blessed with five children: 
 Raymond, Clyde and Lafayette, all in school; 
 and Hattie and Myrtle. Mr. Dawson holds mem- 
 bership with the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 being affiliated with Whitefield camp, No. 1653. 
 He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 votes with the republican party, but he has no 
 aspiration for the honors nor emoluments of of- 
 fice, preferring to concentrate his energies upon 
 his business affairs, which are directed by sound 
 judgment, supplementing broad practical experi- 
 ence. 
 
 PRICE PURVIANCE. 
 
 Price Purviance resides on a farm of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres on section 33, Granville town- 
 ship, where he has made his home continuously for 
 sixty years. He was born in Jefferson county, 
 
 Ohio, June 5, 1830, his. parents being James and 
 Margaret (Tipton) Purviance, the former born 
 in Pennsylvania near Redstone, while the latter 
 was a native of Maryland. The ancestry of the 
 family is traced back to a remote period. They 
 came of French lineage, being descended from a 
 French count who was compelled to flee from 
 France for trying to overthrow the government. 
 He fled to Ireland and three of his descendants 
 emigrated to America and settled on Long Island 
 at a very early day, since which time represent- 
 tives of the name have become widely scattered 
 throughout the country. 
 
 James Purviance, the father, was reared as a 
 member of the Friends or Quakers church, but on 
 his marriage outside of the church lost his birth- 
 right, although he always adhered to that faith. 
 In 1846 Price Purviance and his brother made a 
 trip on horseback from Ohio to Putnam county, 
 each riding a horse and leading one, while the 
 father and other members of the family came 
 down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Illinois 
 rivers to Hall's Landing, whence they traveled 
 by team and wagons to the farm upon which our 
 subject now resides. The father was in excellent 
 financial circumstances for those days and pur- 
 chased one thousand acres of land. This he 
 afterward divided among his children, one hundred 
 and sixty acres of the old homestead and seventy- 
 three and forty-hundredths acres of timber land 
 falling to Price Purviance, who has always re- 
 mained upon the home farm. After living for a 
 number of years upon the farm the parents re- 
 moved to Hennepin, where the father died at the 
 age of severity-five years. The mother, however 
 died at the old home when living with our subject 
 at the age of eighty-six years. In the family 
 were twelve children, one of whom died in infancy 
 in Ohio. The others reached adult age and eight 
 are still living, but Price Purviance and his sister 
 Mrs. Eliza J. Forristall, who keeps house for him, 
 are the only ones in this county. A brother, Amos 
 T. Purviance, was for forty-one years clerk of Put- 
 nam county. The sister Eliza became the wife of 
 James Forristall and they lived for many years 
 in Bureau county, but later Mr. Forristall went 
 to the west and became interested in mining at 
 Leadville, Colorado, where he died about ten years 
 ago. Since that time Mrs. Forristall has lived 
 with her brother. She has three children, one of 
 whom, a daughter, is at home with the mother.

 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 209 
 
 The house in which Mr. Purviance lives is just 
 as it was when built sixty years ago. The timber was 
 gotten out and sawed near Washington, Tazewell 
 county, Illinois, and was hauled to the farm with 
 ox teams. The ceilings of the rooms were made of 
 pine lumber, which was hauled from Chicago 
 by team, loads of wheat being taken to the market 
 there, after which the lumber was hauled back. 
 The weather boarding is of black walnut and the 
 roof which now covers the structure is the third 
 one which Mr. Purviance has assisted in laying. 
 He has built a barn and corn crib which are 
 very substantial in construction, iron bolts being 
 used in joining the timbers. He also has upon 
 his place a blacksmith shop where he does all 
 kinds of iron work. The family, being in com- 
 fortable financial circumstances, did not have to 
 endure many of the hardships that fell to the lot 
 of other pioneers, yet he recalls many interesting 
 experiences of early days. Deer were plentiful 
 and wolves were very numerous, so much so that in 
 one night they had three hundred lambs killed 
 upon their farm, while at another time seventy 
 sheep were killed. On the trip of Mr. Purviance 
 and his brother westward through Ohio, Indiana 
 and Illinois they saw not a single railroad and on 
 all hands were evidences to indicate that this was 
 a frontier region. 
 
 Mr. Purviance gives his political allegiance to 
 the republican party and for eighteen consecutive 
 years was a school director. He attended the com- 
 mon schools at a time when little was taught save 
 the three "R's", but he has always been an advo- 
 cate of good schools. He was quite proficient ir.' 
 penmanship in early life and once received a 
 prize for his excellent work in that line. He 
 was also very proficient in arithmetic but gram- 
 mar was not taught. However, he has become a 
 well informed man, always reading broadly and 
 thinking deeply and he has kept informed on 
 questions of the day and the topics of current 
 interest. He has in his home many valuable relics 
 some of them being more than one hundred years 
 old. 
 
 WILLIAM D. WEBSTEE. 
 
 William D. Webster is a retired farmer of 
 Sparland, largely deriving his income from his 
 real-estate investments. He was born in Washing- 
 ton county, New York, September 3, 1830, and 
 
 is a son of William and Sarah Ann (Northup) 
 Webster. The father was born in Washington 
 county, New York, and was a cousin of the re- 
 nowned Daniel Webster. He followed farming as 
 a life work and died in Allegany county, New 
 York, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. 
 His political support was given to the republican 
 party. His wife, who was born in Hartford, 
 Washington county, New York, died at the very 
 advanced age of ninety-five years. In their fam- 
 ily were three children: Relief, who married 
 Alfred Chamberlin, who is living in Angelica. 
 New York, at the age of eighty years and is a 
 well preserved man ; Norman, a resident of Alle- 
 gany county, New York; and William D. 
 
 In the state of his nativity William D. Web- 
 ster spent the days of his boyhood and youth, 
 being reared upon his father's farm, while in the 
 public schools he obtained his education. He 
 continued a resident of the Empire state until 
 twenty-six years of age, when he removed west- 
 ward to Illinois, settling in Steuben township, 
 Marshall county, where he followed farming. He 
 has lived in this township for fifty-two years and 
 has prospered in his undertakings, carefully 
 conducting agricultural interests for a long period 
 but now living retired. As his financial resources 
 increased he made jtidicious investments in real 
 estate and derives therefrom a good income. He 
 owns now a house and three lots in Sparland and 
 one hundred and sixty acres of land in Rush 
 county, Kansas. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Webster was united in 'marriage 
 to Miss Ruth A. Fosdick, who was born in Belfast. 
 New York, February 17, 1837. She is a daugh- 
 ter of Aaron C. and Ollie B. (Moon) Fosdick, 
 both of whom were natives of Washington coun- 
 ty, New York, the former born in Hartford and 
 the latter near Hartford. On removing to Illi- 
 nois they settled first in Peoria county and after 
 residing there for five years removed to Marshall 
 county, taking up their abode about three and a 
 half miles- west of Sparland. Mr. Fosdick was the 
 owner of six hundred acres of valuable land and 
 was widely known as one of the leading and pros- 
 perous agriculturists of his community. Both he 
 and his wife were members of the Baptist church 
 and in politics- he was a stalwart republican. He 
 always acted as a drummer in the republican cam- 
 paigns and took great delight in political meet- 
 ings, which he greatly enjoyed. He won many
 
 210 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 friends wherever he went and was particularly 
 prominent in political circles. The old drum 
 which he carried in the campaigns is now in pos- 
 session of Mr. Webster. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
 Fosdick were born the following named : Delphia 
 E., now the wife of Le Roy Bolander, who is liv- 
 ing in La Prairie township ; Lillian B., the wife 
 of Frank Martin, a resident of Butte, Montana, 
 where he is bookkeeper in a copper mine; and 
 Louis E., who married Augustine Faltot, of New 
 York city, and lives in Sparland, where he is 
 weighman at the Sparland coal shaft. Mrs. 
 Webster, the other member of the family, ac- 
 quired a good public-school education and has 
 lived in this county for fifty-three years. Since 
 the age of fifteen years she has been a devoted 
 and faithful member of the Baptist church and 
 is an earnest Christian woman, whose religion is 
 manifest in her kindliness and generous qualities. 
 Mr. Webster is a member of Sparland lodge, No. 
 441, A. F. & A. M., of Sparland, and his wife 
 is connected with Eastern Star lodge, No. 227. 
 They have traveled life's journey together for 
 almost a half a century and both have been resi- 
 dents of this county for more than fifty years, 
 so that they are well known and are certainly- 
 deserving of mention in this volume among the 
 pioneer people. 
 
 BENJAMIN FOSTER. 
 
 Benjamin Foster, who, with the exception of a 
 brief period of two years, has resided continuous- 
 ly on his present farm on section 29, Evans town- 
 ship, since 1872, was born in Hopewell township, 
 Marshall county, Illinois, July 21, 1844. He is 
 a son of Joshua Foster, who was born near Colum- 
 bus, Ohio, March 21, 1821, and passed away on 
 the 3d of May, 1895, at the venerable age of sev- 
 enty-four years. He devoted his time and ener- 
 gies to farming through a busy and useful life 
 and in 1836 became a resident of Fulton county, 
 Illinois, the family home being established near 
 Fairview. At that early day he drove cattle across 
 the country to the markets with his father. In 
 the early '40s he came to Marshall county and cast 
 in his lot with its pioneer settlers, aiding in its 
 development from a wild prairie district into one 
 of the rich agricultural sections of this great state. 
 At the same time he prospered in his own business 
 affairs and became the owner of extensive and 
 
 valuable landed interests. He was married to 
 Miss Betsy Brumsey, a sister of Nathan Brumsey 
 and a native of North Carolina, born near Eliza- 
 beth City, August 8, 1825. They were married 
 April 23, 1843. Their old homestead is now owned 
 by Jacob Stoner. John Foster, an uncle of our 
 subject, lived at the end of the dyke that runs 
 through the bottom land from the Henry bridge 
 to the foothills in Hopewell township and this 
 place is now owned by Samuel Holmes. The name 
 of Foster became closely associated with the pio- 
 neer development and progress of the county and 
 Joshua Foster was one of the most respected and 
 honored as well as most prosperous citizens of his 
 community. His family numbered eight children, 
 of whom Benjamin is the eldest. Edward, born 
 August 13, 1846, was married July 10, 1873, to 
 Mary Rutan and died March 12, 1881 ; Lewis J., 
 born March 18, 1851, was married August 29, 
 1875, to Laura Malone and is now engaged in 
 farming in Iowa. Albert, born July 31, 1852, is 
 a retired farmer living at Saunemin, Livingston 
 county, Illinois. George, born June 9, 1855, and 
 now a retired farmer living in Evans township, 
 was married in 1882 to Martha Aljoe, who died 
 in 1888, and in March, 1906, he wedded Carrie 
 McLaughlin. James, born December 15, 1858, 
 is engaged in general agricultural pursuits in Rob- 
 erts township, Marshall county. Walter, born Oc- 
 tober 31, 1860, is also living in Roberts township. 
 Wilbur S., born July 23, 1862, and now living at 
 Saunemin, Livingston county, was married Oc- 
 tober 1, 1889, to Eva Malone. 
 
 Reared in his parents' home, Benjamin Foster 
 early became familiar with farm work. He be- 
 gan his education in the winter of 1854-5 in a 
 school which was supported by contribution from 
 residents of the neighborhood. He afterward at- 
 tended the Fairview school in Roberts township 
 and later was a student in the Wenona school in 
 1867. The occupation to which he was reared he 
 chose as a life work and began farming on his 
 own account in Evans township, Marshall county, 
 on section 29. There he lived for four years, 
 after which he removed to the place which is now 
 his home, taking \ip his abode here March 1, 
 1872. This has been his place of residence con- 
 tinuously since with the exception of two years, 
 from December 20, 1898, until February 26, 1901, 
 spent in Toluca, Illinois. He still owns proper- 
 ty in Toluca, while his farm comprises eighty
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 211 
 
 acres of rich and arable land. He is now care- 
 fully conducting the work of the fields and has 
 a good property, well developed. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1867, Mr. Foster was 
 united in marriage to Miss Adelaide Green, who 
 was born in England, May 3, 1849, and was 
 brought to America when only six months old by 
 her parents, Mathias and Mary Ann Green, who 
 settled upon a farm in Evans township, Marshall 
 county. Both passed away, however, in 1852, dy- 
 ing during the cholera epidemic of that year. Mrs. 
 Foster was thus early left an orphan. She was 
 reared in this county and attended the Center 
 school. In the family were thirteen children, 
 but only four are now living, the others being 
 George Roberts, who resides in Mitchell county, 
 Kansas, where he follows farming; Mathias 0. 
 Green, who is engaged in farming in Pettis coun- 
 ty, Missouri; and Mrs. Mahala Dovenspike, who 
 resides in Libertyville, Iowa. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Foster have been born a 
 son and daughter. Thomas, born January 15, 
 1870, is living with his father and operates the 
 home farm. He has also had charge of a thresh- 
 ing outfit each year since 1895. The daughter, 
 Minnie, born June 30, 1873, is the wife of Alex- 
 ander Kennedy, of Evans township, and they have 
 one child, Irene Bell, born March 26, 1895. Mr. 
 Foster has been a life-long resident of this county, 
 his connection therewith covering a period of more 
 than six decades, and his memory goes back to 
 the time when there were various evidences of 
 pioneer life still to be seen here, for the prairie 
 was largely uncultivated and covered with its na- 
 tive grasses. Rapid settlement, however, soon 
 wrought a transformation and the Foster family 
 have borne their full share in the work of agri- 
 cultural development, of which Benjamin Foster 
 is now a representative. 
 
 JOSEPH BOGNER. 
 
 Joseph Bogner resides on section 15, Whitefield 
 township, and is engaged in general farming, 
 owning one hundred acres of the tract of one 
 hundred and sixty acres which he now cultivates. 
 He was born in Peoria county, Illinois, on the 
 7th of February, 1861, and is of German line- 
 age. His father, Louis Bogner, was born in Baden 
 and when a young man came to the United 
 States. He settled first in the state of New 
 
 York, where he engaged in farming for some 
 time, and then came to Illinois, establishing his 
 home upon a farm in Peoria county. There 
 he lived in\ a time, after which he came to Mar- 
 shnll county, where he still resides. Here he was 
 also engaged in farming for a considerable period, 
 but is now living retired in Henry, having in for- 
 mer years gained a competence that is sufficient to 
 supply him with the necessities and comforts of 
 life. In early manhood he wedded Miss Gertrude 
 Weber, also a native of Germany, and they have 
 become ihe parents of eight children. 
 
 Joseph Bogner began his education in the dis- 
 trict, schools of Peoria county and while not busy 
 with his text-books his time was largely devoted to 
 farm labor, for he early took his place behind the 
 plow and became familiar with the work of the 
 fields from the time of early planting until crops 
 were harvested in the late autumn. He has lived 
 in Marshall county since he was thirteen years of 
 age and is now carrying on general agricultural 
 pursuits, cultivating a good farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, of which he owns one hundred 
 acres. This is rich and arable land and he an- 
 nually harvests good crops, while upon his farm 
 are al! of the modern equipments and accessories 
 that go to facilitate the farm work and render 
 the labors of the agriculturist of more avail in 
 the acquirement of success. 
 
 On the 30th of January, 1885, occurred the 
 marriage of Joseph Bogner and Miss Kittie 
 Slichter, a native of Saratoga township, Marshall 
 county, and a daughter of August Slichter. Unto 
 them have been born eight children : Edward, who 
 is living in Henry; Gertrude, who died at the 
 age of eighteen years ; Frank and Theodore, who 
 assist their father in the operation of the home 
 .farm; Joseph, at home; Bertha and Elmer, who 
 are attending school; and Leo, a little lad of six 
 year?, who completes the family. 
 
 Mr. Bogner has served continuously as school 
 director during his residence in Whitefield town- 
 ship and is deeply interested in the cause and ad- 
 vancement of education, believing the public- 
 school system to be one of the bulwarks of the na- 
 tion. His political allegiance is given to the de- 
 mocracy and he is a member of St. Mary's Cath- 
 olic church. In his life he exemplifies many of 
 the sterling traits of his German ancestry, pos- 
 sessing the spirit of industry and determination 
 which have always characterized that, race and
 
 212 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM ('(UNTIES. 
 
 which have enabled him in his business career 
 to make steady advancement on the high road to 
 success. 
 
 JOSEPH CREABIL. 
 
 Joseph Creabil is engaged in farming on sec- 
 tion 17, Richland township. His farm comprises 
 two hundred and ten acres, the greater part of 
 which is under a high state of cultivation, and its 
 equipments are of the best character, in keeping 
 with the spirit of modern progress that has been so 
 strongly manifest along agricultural lines in re- 
 cent years. He was born in Lorraine, Germany, 
 on the 14th of March, 1851. His father, John 
 Creabil, was a native of the same locality and 
 died while serving in the French army during 
 the early boyhood days of his son Joseph. He 
 was a miller by trade, following that pursuit 
 when not on military duty. His wife, who bore 
 the maiden name of Katrina Saltzma, died in 
 Marshall count}', Illinois, at the home of her son, 
 about seven years ago. 
 
 Joseph Creabil, the only son, spent the first 
 twenty years of his life in the land of his nativity 
 and acquired his education in the schools of Al- 
 sace. In May, 1870, he joined the French army, 
 with which he served until March, 1871. He 
 came to the United States in September, 1871, 
 landing at New York. A change is always in- 
 duced by the hope of bettering one's condition 
 and it was this which brought Mr. Creabil to the 
 new world. He made his way to Chicago and 
 was there during the great fire one of the most 
 memorable events in the history of the country. 
 After a week he came to Marshall county, Illi- 
 nois, and provided for his own support for two 
 years by working as a farm hand in this county. 
 He was then married and established a home of 
 his own, going in debt for eighty acres of timber 
 land in Richland township. He cleared away the 
 trees and prepared the fields for cultivation and 
 now has a model farm of two hundred and ten 
 acres, which is indicative of his life of enter- 
 prise and labor. Two years ago he erected a fine 
 residence and he has many other modern equip- 
 ments and accessories upon his farm, which is one 
 of the best properties in this portion of the county. 
 The entire place presents a well kept appearance 
 and indicates his careful supervision and progres- 
 sive methods. 
 
 In March, 1874, Mr. Creabil was married to 
 Miss Matilda High, a native of Sweden, and they 
 have four children. Leon, who is engaged in gen- 
 eral merchandising at La Rose, married Susie 
 Elright and has two sons, Joseph and Harry. 
 Stella is the wife of William Buck, a resident 
 farmer of Richland township, Marshall county, 
 and they have one child, Samuel. Emma and Ar- 
 thur are still at home. The wife and mother died 
 on the 5th of March, 1895, and was laid to rest 
 in New Salem cemetery. She was a lady of many 
 excellent traits of character, of kindly purpose, 
 and of marked devotion to her family. Her loss 
 was deeply regretted by many friends as well as 
 the members of her own household. 
 
 Mr. Creabil belongs to Lacon lodge, No. 78, of 
 the Independent Order of Mutual Aid, and is 
 also connected with the Mystic Workers of the 
 World. In politics he is what may be termed an 
 independent republican, usually voting for the 
 state and national candidates of the party, yet not 
 considering himself bound by party ties and often 
 casting an independent local ballot. He is now 
 serving as school director for his district. He 
 has never had occasion to regret his determination 
 to seek a home in the new world, for here his la- 
 bors have been attended with a measure of success 
 that is very gratifying. Starting out as a farm 
 hand, his diligence and perseverance constituted 
 the basis upon which he builded his prosperity. 
 He has every reason to be proud of his success and 
 his life of industry and enterprise find visible 
 evidence in his flue farm and attractive home. 
 
 LEWIS E. SKEEL. 
 
 The history of Putnam county would hardly be 
 complete without mention of Lewis Erastus Skeel, 
 who has celebrated the eighty-second anniversary 
 of his birth and yet he is a man of much vigor 
 and enterprise, who would hardly be accredited 
 with such a length of years by those who are not 
 familiar with his history. He is pleasantly located 
 upon a farm about a half mile east of Hennepin, 
 where he has long resided, and he belongs to one 
 of the honored pioneer families of this part of the 
 state. 
 
 His birth occurred at Xenia, Greene county, 
 Ohio, June 22, 1824, his parents being Nathan 
 and Olive (Bacon) Skeel, in whose family were 
 nine children, of whom he is the only one now
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 215 
 
 living. The father was a native of New York 
 and the mother of Vermont. The Skeel family is 
 of Welsh extraction, being descended from three 
 brothers who came from the little rock-ribbed 
 country of Wales to America at an early day. The 
 parents of our subject were married in the Empire 
 state, where the mother had gone when a child of 
 six years, and later they became residents of 
 Greene county, Ohio, removing thence to Cincin- 
 nati when their son Lewis was only three years 
 old. Three years later they started by team for 
 Illinois in the fall of 1830, and were accompanied 
 also by their eldest daughter, then Mrs. Peter 
 Ellis, and her child. A brother-in-law of Mr. 
 Skeel, Ezekiel Stacy, had come to Illinois four 
 years previously, locating near Springfield in San- 
 gamon county, where part of the family spent the 
 winter, while the remainder came to Ox Bow prai- 
 rie in the fall of that year. In the spring of 1831 
 they were accompanied by Mr. Stacy to Putnam 
 county. He located first on Ox Bow prairie and 
 later removed to the west side of the river, where 
 he laid out the little town of Webster, which at 
 one time became quite a village, but has now dis- 
 appeared. There Mr. Stacy died. 
 
 The summer of 1831 was spent by Mr. Skeel 
 and his family at Payne's Point and he made a 
 claim where his son Lewis now resides, erecting 
 a cabin near the site of the present residence. 
 There the family removed in the following fall, 
 their nearest neighbor being Samuel Patterson, 
 who was a half mile distant. In the fall the In- 
 dians began to gather and three or four hundred 
 camped on the river near the trading post, but in 
 the spring scattered again. They belonged to the 
 Pottawattamie tribe. In the following spring the 
 people became frightened because of the Indian 
 troubles and the Skeel family lived a part of the 
 time in Harzell's building, which had been re- 
 moved to the village of Hennepin, the women 
 largely spending their nights there. Some of the 
 time was passed at Fort Cribs, which stood at 
 Florid and was so named on account of being 
 constructed from two old corn cribs and sur- 
 rounded by a stockade. They also spent a portion 
 of the time at old Fort Caledonia. The Indians, 
 however, never molested them and that year more 
 settlers were added to the community. 
 
 The Skeel family were in limited circumstances 
 and during those pioneer days lived quite frugally. 
 In the first cabin erected upon his place the father 
 
 died June 1, 1841. He was an industrious, en- 
 ergetic man and had succeeded in placing eighty 
 acres of land under cultivation. Wild game was 
 found in abundance and furnished most of the 
 meat used by the frontier families. In the winter 
 of 1831 a man by the name of Gallagher started 
 an ox mill near Florid, which ground some corn 
 meal and even flour. At the time of the father's 
 death four of the children, three daughters and 
 one son, were married, while Lewis E., aged sev- 
 enteen, and Louise Jane, aged ten, were still at 
 home. The other son, Linus B. Skeel, married 
 Minerva Payne, who died at the age of twenty- 
 seven years, and he afterward wedded Miss Flora 
 Morrison, a native of Scotland. He entered one 
 hundred and sixty acres adjoining his father's 
 farm, where he lived until 1846 and then removed 
 to Payne's Point. He later returned to a farm 
 near Florid, where the following twenty years 
 were passed and then went to Gibson City, 
 Ford county, Illinois. He had served in 
 the Black Hawk war. The sister of our 
 subject, who was married on coming to 
 this state, located at Payne's Point. An- 
 other sister, Lucy Ann, was married in 1832 
 to Daniel Warren, of New York, who made a 
 claim on Big Indian creek in La Salle county and 
 there died. She later became the wife of Peter 
 H. Dick, who also lived in that county, and is 
 again a widow, making her home in Ottawa. In 
 May, 1832, with her first husband, she located 
 twelve miles north of Ottawa and was living there 
 when Black Hawk started on his campaign. The 
 old chief, Shabbona, who was friendly with the 
 family, notified them that some Sac and Fox In- 
 dians were on their way to that timber. When 
 Shabbona arrived at the house Mrs. Warren was 
 alone, but she called her husband and his brother, 
 who were at work at the mill and they at once 
 started for Ottawa, while Shabbona went on to 
 warn others. Two weeks later Mr. Warren and 
 his brother went back to see what damage had been 
 done and a captain and young soldier volunteered 
 to go with them. On reaching the cabin they 
 found that the Indians had disturbed nothing and 
 after resting they started back to Ottawa. When 
 half way, on reaching Buck creek, they stopped to 
 gather wild strawberries, which were plentiful at 
 that point, and let their horses graze. Mr. Warren 
 suggested that they start on, as they might be at- 
 tacked by Indians, but the captain scouted the
 
 216 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 idea and Mr. Warren and his brother started on 
 ahead. Hearing the report of guns they looked 
 back and saw that the young man had been shot 
 and his horse had escaped. The captain was also 
 shot, the ball passing through his leg into the 
 horse, which stood quite still for some time and 
 then started on a run until it reached the War- 
 rens, when it fell dead. After his father's death in 
 1841 Lewis E. Skeel assumed the management of 
 the home farm. He has hauled wheat to market 
 in Chicago, where he would receive from thirty- 
 eight to seventy-five cents per bushel and the trip 
 would require nine days. On his return he would 
 bring freight, often hauling lumber. He has ex- 
 tended the boundaries of his farm and throughout 
 his entire life has carried on agricultural pursuits. 
 
 On the 28th of October, 1847, Mr. Skeel was 
 united in marriage with Miss Nancy Jones, who 
 is also a native of Greene county, Ohio, and came 
 to Illinois in 1831, with her parents, Abram and 
 Mary (Hays) Jones, who were married in Greene 
 county, where they lived in the neighborhood of 
 the Skeel family. Her parents located at Evans 
 Point, Marshall county, but in 1833 removed to 
 Princeton, Bureau county, where the father died 
 in 1858. Their farm included that part of Prince- 
 ton where the depot now stands, and the brick 
 house, in which Mr. and Mrs. Skeel were married, 
 stands one-half mile west of the depot. The 
 mother died in 1885, at the age of eighty-three 
 years. Mrs. Skeel is the only one of the family 
 now living. Barton Jones died in Columbia City, 
 Iowa. One sister, Mrs. William S. Wilson, died 
 in Ohio, Bureau county, and James, Daniel and 
 John, all farmers, also spent their last days in 
 Bureau county. No children have been born to 
 our subject and his worthy wife, but from the 
 ,age of eleven years they reared Huron Warren, 
 a nephew, and have given homes to other children. 
 The mother of Mr. Skeel died at the old home, 
 September 30, 1879, being ninety years, three 
 months and eleven days old. 
 
 Formerly Mr. Skeel supported the republican 
 party, but his interest in the cause of temperance 
 has led him to ally his forces with the prohibition 
 party and he has frequently attended its state 
 conventions. Both he and his wife are devoted 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, be- 
 longing to a congregation which was organized in 
 1833, and of which his mother was one of the 
 original members. He and his wife attended the 
 
 general conference of the church held at Los An- 
 geles, California, in 1904, leaving Chicago on the 
 4th of May and spending two months in the west, 
 during which time they visited several cities on 
 the Pacific coast, going as far north as Seattle 
 and Spokane. For many years Mr. Skeel has been 
 an officer in the church. He continued the opera- 
 tion of his land until eight years ago, since which 
 time he has rented it and now practically lives 
 retired. He still lives, however, upon his place of 
 eighty acres where the log cabin was built in 1831. 
 He owns altogether, however, one hundred and 
 eighty acres, all of which he rents and which 
 brings to him a good return. He has long been 
 a most honored pioneer resident of Putnam county 
 and few men enjoy in as large measure the re- 
 spect and confidence of those who have known 
 them as this venerable pioneer, whose interest 
 in the county dates from pioneer times down to 
 the present period of progress and development. 
 
 HON. ARCHIBALD WILSON HOPKINS. 
 
 Hon. A. W. Hopkins, agriculturist and banker, 
 is a representative of extensive and important 
 business interests. He belonged to a family that 
 from pioneer times has figured prominently in 
 connection with the history of this portion of the 
 state. A son of Joel Willis and Eleanor Jane 
 (Harrison) Hopkins, he was born upon the farm 
 where he now resides, on January 4, 1845, and 
 this place has continuously been his home. He 
 was only four years of age when his mother died, 
 leaving him and his four sisters to the care of his 
 aunt, Martha Hopkins. When he was a youth 
 of seventeen his father married again. 
 
 In the days of his early boyhood Wilson, as he 
 was called, was a student in the district school and 
 afterward studied for a short time at Oberlin Col- 
 lege, in Oberlin, Ohio, subsequently entering the 
 college at Hillsdale, Michigan, from which he was 
 graduated with the class of 1870. He then re- 
 turned home to become actively associated in busi- 
 ness with his father, and this association was main- 
 tained until his father's death, in 1902. He owns 
 extensive tracts of land in Putnam county, in 
 Iowa, Wisconsin and Dakota. He is, moreover, a 
 director in the National Bank of Peru, Illinois, 
 of which his father was president, and since the 
 latter's death the son has been president of the 
 Putnam County Bank at Hennepin and of the
 
 'X*
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 219 
 
 Granville Bank. A man of resourceful business 
 ability, he displays keen discrimination and 
 marked sagacity in the management of all his 
 undertakings and he belongs to that class of repre- 
 sentative American citizens who, while promoting 
 individual interests, also advance the general pros- 
 perity. Beside his extensive farming and stock- 
 raising interests he has been closely associated with 
 the development of the village of Granville, plat- 
 ting and opening up new additions, erecting dwell- 
 ing houses and business blocks and carrying for- 
 ward the work of growth and progress until no 
 man has done more toward the advancement of the 
 town. From young 'manhood he has been active 
 in promoting the literary opportunities of Gran- 
 ville, and has also been a faithful member of the 
 Congregational church, serving in various official 
 capacities. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hopkins has always been a stal- 
 wart and unswerving republican, and is widely 
 recognized as one of the leaders of his party in 
 Putnam county. He was honored with election 
 to the state legislature, serving in the thirty- 
 seventh, thirty-eighth and forty-first general as- 
 semblies with credit to himself. In 1878 he made 
 a trip to Europe and in 1897 visited old Mexico, 
 while with various sections of his own country he 
 is familiar, having visited nearly every state in 
 the Union and attended all of the important ex- 
 positions. 
 
 Happy in his home life Mr. Hopkins was mar- 
 ried April 14, 1898, to Miss Cara L. McVay, of 
 Forrest, Illinois, and they have two children 
 Eleanor Jane and Joel Willis, who have done 
 much in changing a stately mansion into a chil- 
 dren's paradise. Mr. Hopkins is the owner of the 
 finest country home in Putnam county. It stands 
 on the ground which his grandfather, in 1835, 
 purchased from the government. Near the resi- 
 dence twenty-five acres has been fenced off into 
 parks, where he has buffalo, deer and other ani- 
 mals. Mr. Hopkins is one in whom nature and 
 culture have vied in making an interesting and 
 honorable gentleman. 
 
 Alert and enterprising, with ready recognition 
 of opportunities, he has so directed his labors and 
 utilized the forces at hand that success has crowned 
 his business ventures. His life proves that suc- 
 cess is not a matter of genius, as urged by many, 
 but rather the outcome of clear judgment and 
 experience. 
 
 JOHN GRIEVES. 
 
 The history of industrial and commercial prog- 
 ress in Lacon would be incomplete without men- 
 tion of John Grieves, who for many years fig- 
 ured as one of the most prominent representatives 
 of the business life of that city. His intense and 
 well directed activity constituted the basis of a 
 success which he justly merited and he belonged 
 to that class of representative American men who, 
 while promoting individual prosperity, also con- 
 tribute to the general welfare. His keen discern- 
 ment enabled him to readily recognize an oppor- 
 tunity and his energy prompted him to take ad- 
 vantage of it and thus as the years passed his 
 business outlook constantly broadened and his la- 
 bors increased, bringing with them the reward of 
 unfaltering and honorable activity. 
 
 Mr. Grieves was a native of Scotland, born in 
 Selkirk on the 9th of November, 1826. He passed 
 away in Lacon, July 3, 1904, at the advanced 
 age of seventy-eight years and thus was ended a 
 long life of usefulness and activity, which proved 
 a source of benefit to many with whom he came 
 in contact. At the age of ten years he entered a 
 woollen mill in his native city and learned the 
 trade in all its departments, remaining in that 
 employ for more than a decade. He had attained 
 his majority when in 1848 he crossed the Atlantic 
 to the new world, hoping to enjoy better business 
 opportunities in this country, for he' had heard 
 favorable reports concerning commercial and in- 
 dustrial conditions here and the opportunities that 
 were offered. Accordingly he made his way to 
 Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he secured a posi- 
 tion as a weaver of shawls, having become thor- 
 oughly conversant with that line of business in 
 his native country. After two years he was given 
 charge of a weaver's room in a mill near Boston, 
 where he remained for two and a half years, and 
 then went to New Edinburgh, where he became 
 superintendent of a cassimere mill. Returning to 
 Massachusetts, he was then in charge of a weav- 
 er's room at Andover for three years and later 
 spent another year in Canada. He was subse- 
 quently in North Andover, Massachusetts, and in 
 Utica, New York, as boss weaver. Leaving that 
 city, he resumed the management of the shawl 
 mill of the firm of James Roy & Company at 
 Troy, New York. He continued in that position 
 until 1866, when he came to Lacon and from that 
 time until his death was closely associated with
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 the manufacturing interests of the city and was 
 thereby a prominent promoter of its commercial 
 prosperity and upbuilding. In fact, he was the 
 pioneer in the manufacture of woolen goods in 
 this section of the country. A contemporary biog- 
 rapher has given the following account of the es- 
 tablishment of the business: "The woolen indus- 
 try in Lacon with the outgrowth of an article in 
 the Chicago Tribvme about the close of the war 
 from the pen of Spencer Ellsworth, which at- 
 tracted the attention of Samuel Saque and John 
 Grieves. Correspondence between these gentlemen 
 and Mr. Ellsworth led to a meeting of a few of 
 the representative citizens of Lacon and the ap- 
 pointment of William F. Fisher and Mr. Ells- 
 worth a committee to confer with Saque and 
 Grieves with reference to the establishment of a 
 manufactory at this point for the production of 
 woolen goods. A favorable report being made, a 
 company was organized with a capital of one 
 hundred thousand dollars, which was later in- 
 creased to one hundred and twenty- three thousand. 
 The first board of directors were Archibald Rid- 
 dell, John Grieves, William F. Fisher, Spencer 
 Ellsworth, Dr. Thomas, Alonzo Roberts and P. 
 Stevens. The company, known as the Lacon Wool- 
 en Manufacturing Company, after being duly in- 
 corporated, commenced operations, having elected 
 John Grieves as superintendent. It was in Jan- 
 uary, 1866, when Mr. Grieves first came to Lacon 
 to engage in the work. The mill, erected at a 
 cost of eighty-four thousand dollars, was built 
 under the supervision of Mr. Grieves, and all the 
 machinery bought by him. There were many dif- 
 ficulties to be overcome in the establishment of 
 such an enterprise in the west, and it required 
 boldness in any one to come in competition with 
 the old and well established houses of the east. 
 The company was fortunate in the selection of 
 Mr. Grieves as superintendent and general man- 
 ager. A thorough master of his trade, and with 
 good business instinct and tact, he took hold of 
 the enterprise with a determination to make it 
 win. The erection and equipment of the mill 
 with necessary machinery exhausted the capital 
 of the company, leaving it without a dollar with 
 which to purchase necessary supplies. Nothing 
 daunted, Mr. Grieves went to Chicago, and, stat- 
 ing his case to dealers, secured the dyes and other 
 material needed, and work was commenced. The 
 first output of the mill was fancy cassimeres. A 
 
 fine fabric was made, comparing favorably with 
 those of any eastern mill. The product was put 
 with the commission houses of Chicago, but with 
 ill success. Mr. Grieves then went to that city, 
 and with samples of cloth visited the trade and 
 after many disappointments succeeded in selling 
 the goods. After a trial Mr. Grieves and the di- 
 rectors of the company were convinced that a 
 change v/ould have to be made in the manufac- 
 ture of the goods, as- such prices for cassimeres 
 and ftannelc could not be obtained as could justify 
 the making. It was then agreed to engage in the 
 manufacture of shawls, being the first mill in the 
 vest to engage in that line. For five years Mr. 
 Grieves continued in charge of the mill, when he 
 resigned his position and removed to Beloit, Wis- 
 consin, where he rented and operated a mill for a 
 year, then to Peoria, where he also engaged in 
 woolen manufacture. During the succeeding five 
 years the Lacon woolen mill made no progress, 
 and Mr. Grieves was persuaded to return and oc- 
 cupy his old position as superintendent and man- 
 ager. From 1876 until 1894 he filled those posi- 
 tions and during that time dividends on the stock 
 were made and paid, save for the years 1892 and 
 1893. In the spring of 1894 the directors of the 
 mill took charge and employed John Hanley as 
 superintendent for a year, when the firm went into 
 liquidation, and until November of that year they 
 were engaged in cleaning out all stock on hand. 
 In the spring of 1895 the mill was rented to John 
 Grieves & Sons, who are still operating it with 
 success, turning out about one hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars' worth of products annually. 
 Employment is given about seventy-five hands. In 
 1883 Grieves, Halsey & Company erected the Ett- 
 rick mill at Lacon at a cost of thirty-four thou- 
 sand dollars. It first engaged in the manufacture 
 of hosiery yarn and continued in that line until it 
 became unprofitable in consequence of the low 
 prices prevailing. The looms were then changed 
 and the manufacture of shawls was commenced, 
 and later another change was made to dress goods. 
 John W. Grieves, the son of our subject, suc- 
 ceeded Mr. Halsey, and the present firm was start- 
 ed, that of John Grieves & Sons. This mill, which 
 is run night and day, also gives employment to 
 about seventy persons, and the combined pay roll 
 is about four thousand five hundred dollars per 
 month. The products of these mills are mainly 
 disposed of in Chicago, though selling in all of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 the principal cities." The above was written in 
 1896. The business continued to grow and ex- 
 pand until 1901, when the plant was destroyed 
 by fire. Previous to this, however, Mr. Grieves 
 had resigned in 1893 as manager of the mill, 
 but after a year he returned to the business and 
 in connection with his two sons purchased the 
 plant, which they operated successfully under the 
 firm style of John Grieves & Sons until the fire. 
 A year later business was resumed in a new plant, 
 which was erected after plans approved by Mr. 
 Grieves, the building being specially designed for 
 the purpose used. The product is high grade 
 woolens and men's wear and Melton thibets. John 
 Grieves continued an active factor in the business 
 until his demise, and his sons, George H. and 
 John W., now remain sole proprietors. 
 
 On the 17th of April, 1841, Mr. Grieves was 
 united in marriage to Miss Isabelle Hart, and unto 
 them were born two daughters : Elizabeth, now the 
 wife of I. R. Luedke ; and Mary Jane, who died at 
 the age of eighteen years. After the death of his 
 wife, Mr. Grieves married her sister, Miss Eliza- 
 beth Hart, who died in March, 1881, leaving two 
 sons and four daughters: Isabelle, Jessie, Olive, 
 Christine, John W. and George H., the former be- 
 ing sales manager and buyer, while George H. be- 
 came superintendent of the Ettrick mill. The wife 
 and mother passed away in March, 1881, and Mr. 
 Grieves survived for more than two decades, pass- 
 ing away on the 3d of July, 1904. During his 
 residence in Lacon he served as a member of the 
 school board and was ever interested in all mat- 
 ters relating to the general welfare and to the 
 substantial upbuilding of the city. In his political 
 views he was a republican and in religious faith 
 was a Baptist. His was a life of activity crowned 
 with a justly merited and gratifying measure of 
 success which was by no means the result of fortu- 
 nate circumstances. His prosperity came to him 
 through energy, labor and perseverance directed by 
 an evenly balanced mind and by honorable busi- 
 ness principles. From early life it was his plan 
 to spend less than his income and he made the 
 most of his opportunities. In manner he was 
 quiet and straightforward and all who knew him 
 respected him. Truly such a life is worthy having 
 lived and such lives deserve permanent record on 
 the pages of their country's history that others, 
 seeing their good works, may be stimulated to fol- 
 low in their footsteps. 
 
 George H. Grieves, the senior partner of the 
 present firm, was born in Ottawa, Canada, March 
 22, 1856, was educated in the public schools, and 
 received his business training under his father, 
 becoming familiar with the business in principle 
 and detail. He was married in 1879 to Miss Ame- 
 lia Miller, of Lacon, and unto them have been 
 born six children : Roy, who at the age of twenty- 
 four years is now connected with the business; 
 Olive, a graduate of the Lacon high school ; Harry, 
 who is connected with the Standard Oil Company 
 at Whiting, Indiana ; Millard, in the mill with his 
 father: Lowell, a graduate of the Lacon schools; 
 and Wallace, who is still a student. 
 
 John W. Grieves, the younger son, was born 
 May 18, 1862, and supplemented his public-school 
 education by practical training received in his 
 fathers mill. He was married in 1886 to Miss 
 Blanche Blackstone, of Lacon, and they have two 
 sons, John P. and Blake B., aged, respectively, 
 seventeen and twelve years. The former is now 
 in the mill and the latter in school. 
 
 Both George H. and John W. Grieves are mem- 
 bers of Lacon camp, No. 96, M. W. A., while the 
 former is a member of the Masonic lodge at La- 
 con and both give their political allegiance to the 
 republican party. Both were well equipped in 
 early life for the conduct of a business which has 
 devolved solely upon them since the death of the 
 father. They are men of enterprise who keep in 
 touch with the trend of modern thought and action 
 in the business world and they are now controlling 
 an important industrial concern with large out- 
 pat, which finds a ready sale on the market. 
 
 FREDERICK E. DAWSON. 
 Frederick E. Dawson, who figures in business 
 circles of Henry as a dealer in builder's supplies, 
 was born in Putnam county on the 3d of Septem- 
 ber, 1865, and is the eldest of a family of four 
 children whose parents are Clark M. and Mary 
 J. (Raymond) Dawson, the former a native of 
 Pennsylvania and the latter of Connecticut. The 
 father was a farmer by occupation and after com- 
 ing to Illinois settled about two and a half miles 
 from Henry, where he owned and improved one 
 hundred acres of land, bringing his fields under 
 a high state of cultivation. He filled the office of 
 school director but was never very active in po- 
 litical circles. He held membership in the Metho-
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 dist church and died in that faith in 1904 at the 
 age of sixty-seven years. His widow still survives 
 him and is now living in Henry. Their four chil- 
 dren were as follows: Frederick E. ; Frank, a 
 farmer living southwest of Henry in Marshall 
 county; Mrs. Martha Schimmel, who is a widow 
 and lives in Henry; and Edward, who follows 
 farming on the old homestead. 
 
 Frederick E. Dawson, whose name introduces 
 this record, began his education at the usual age 
 in the district schools and thus pursued his studies 
 until he reached the age of twenty. The periods 
 of vacation were largely devoted to farm labor 
 and after working with his father on the home 
 place for a tune he afterward began farming on 
 his own account by renting land in Whitefield 
 township. There he lived for two years, after 
 which he spent one year upon a rented farm 
 in Henry township, Marshall county, and five 
 years in Putnam county. He has been engaged 
 in his present business in Henry for seven years, 
 conducting here a feed store and also dealing 
 in building materials, including lime and cement. 
 Since establishing his present enterprise he has 
 prospered and a constantly growing trade has 
 made him one of the substantial merchants of 
 the town. 
 
 In 1893 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Dawson and Miss Hattie Mateer of Henry. They 
 are members of the Methodist church and Mr. 
 Dawson gives his political allegiance to the re- 
 publican party. He is a typical citizen of the 
 middle west, possessing the alert, enterprising 
 spirit which has been the dominant factor in the 
 development and upbuilding of this section of 
 the country, leading to its rapid and substantial 
 
 WILLIAM ZILM. 
 
 It would be difficult to name few, if any, resi- 
 dents who have been held in higher regard or 
 more genuine friendship than was William Zilm, 
 a man whom to know was to respect and honor, 
 and whose many good qualities won for him a 
 feeling of admiration that was akin to love. He 
 was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, March 6, 
 1834, and for many years occupied a beautiful 
 home at the outskirts of La Rose. When a youth 
 of nineteen years he left his native country, at- 
 tracted by the opportunities of the new world. 
 
 This was in the year 1853, and after crossing the 
 Atlantic he took up his abode in Henry, Illinois. 
 While there he formed the acquaintance or Miss 
 Minnie Einkenberger, who was born in Wurtem- 
 berg, Germany, June 14, 1839. She came to 
 America in February, 1853, crossing the L-riny 
 deep on a sailing vessel, which was seventy-eight 
 days in making that voyage. She landed at New 
 Orleans and after spending a year in Chicago 
 became a resident of Henry, Illinois. She had 
 acquired her education in Germany while spend- 
 ing her girlhood days in the home of her parents, 
 George and Barbara (Hausenhouer) Rinkenber- 
 ger. Her father was employed in a warehouse 
 and died in 1866, while her mother passed away 
 in 1868. 
 
 In 1857 William Zilm went to La Rose and 
 was employed on the farm of Abijah Sherwood. 
 His sweetheart came soon afterward to La Rose 
 and on the 30th of April, 1857, they were mar- 
 ried. For many years they traveled life's journey 
 together, sharing with each other its joys and 
 sorrows, adversity and prosperity. This was 
 largely an ideal married relation, their mutual 
 love and confidence increasing as the years 
 passed by. With nothing but their two pairs of 
 hands and their stout young hearts, coupled with 
 their determination and earnest purpose, they 
 started out to make a home and in a few years 
 were able to buy the farm of their former em- 
 ployer, while as the years passed they added to 
 it many acres and placed thereon fine modern 
 buildings and many substantial improvements. 
 In all of his business undertakings Mr. Zilm 
 prospered, for he formed his plans readily and 
 was determined in their execution. Moreover, he 
 was thoroughly reliable and straightforward in all 
 of his dealings and his business integrity as well 
 as his enterprise proved an important factor in 
 his success. The accumulation of wealth was not 
 the sole end and aim of his life, however, for 
 he was a most free hearted and generous man 
 and it is safe to say that he and his good wife 
 gave away as much as they kept for themselves. 
 They were always generous to the poor and needy 
 and no one sought their assistance in vain. 
 
 Unto this worthy couple were born nine chil- 
 dren, all of whom are living with the exception 
 of William, who died in Streator in early man- 
 hood and whose loss came as an almost irrepara- 
 ble blow to the parents. The surviving children
 
 WILLIAM ZILM.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 225 
 
 are as follows: Mrs. Ellen Stuebing, of La Rose; 
 Mrs. Alvina Kopf, of Streator; Fred, who is liv- 
 ing in Lostant ; Charles, also of La Rose ; Martin, 
 of La Rose; Mrs. Anna Meredith, of the same 
 town; Edward, living in Streator; and Mrs. Jo- 
 sie Iliff, of La Rose. At his death Mr. Zilm 
 also left thirteen grandchildren and three great- 
 grandchildren. 
 
 For about three years prior to his demise Mr. 
 Zilm was in ill health and, hoping that he might 
 be benefited thereby, spent some time at the fa- 
 mous springs at West Baden, Indiana, but all to 
 no avail. His health gradually grew worse and 
 though everything that medical aid could do was 
 done for him he gradually sank and passed away 
 on the 22d of May, 1906. He was a devoted and 
 faithful member of the German Lutheran church 
 and assisted most liberally in its building. The 
 funeral services were there held, the Rev. Rudolph 
 addressing the people both in German and Eng- 
 lish. Fully one thousand people were gathered 
 at the church and upon the lawn to pay their last 
 tribute of respect to one whom they had known 
 and honored. His prominence in the community 
 is indicated by the fact that school was closed for 
 the day and business practically suspended dur- 
 ing the hour of the funeral. Mr. Zilm from his 
 boyhood days was a great lover of flowers and 
 plants, which he always had about him in pro- 
 fusion, and there were many floral evidences of 
 love and friendship from those who knew him 
 at his funeral. Knowing that the end was draw- 
 ing near, Mr. Zilm made arrangements for his 
 interment and at his request six of his old-time 
 friends, Carl Winkel, C. K. Schumacher, Casper 
 Preis, Charles Winkel, Sr., August Schoof and 
 Charles Schoof acted as his pallbearers. The 
 name of William Zilm will long be honored and 
 his memory cherished in the community where 
 he resided. It is said that there is not a home in 
 La Rose or the surrounding district that has not 
 received gifts from his garden and orchard as an 
 expression of his friendship, and the poor and 
 needy always found in him a friend. He was a 
 gentleman of genial manner, ever ready with a 
 cordial greeting and word of encouragement. His 
 life was crowned with a measure of success and 
 prosperity that made him one of the substantial 
 residents of the county, but, more than that, his 
 life was the exemplification of true and honorable 
 manhood and of Christian faith and purpose. 
 
 FRED A. VAUGHN. 
 
 One of the most energetic, enterprising and suc- 
 cessful business men of Wenona and of Marshall 
 county is Fred A. Vaughn, secretary and treas- 
 urer of the A. H. Hill Lumber Company, and 
 although he is yet a young man the financial and 
 commercial history of this locality would be in- 
 complete and unsatisfactory without a personal 
 and somewhat extended mention of him, for he 
 is a typical representative of the spirit of mod- 
 ern progress and belongs to that class of repre- 
 sentative American citizens who, while advancing 
 individual interests, also promote the general wel- 
 fare. Born in Wenona, March 17, 1876, he is a 
 son of Isaac and Maria J. (Willis) Vaughn, the 
 former a native of Ohio and the latter of New 
 Jersey. The father came to the west prior to 
 the Civil war, arriving at Magnolia, Illinois, about 
 1855. He afterward removed to Wenona and was 
 here living at the time of the outbreak of hostili- 
 ties between the north and the south. Believing 
 in the justice of the Union cause, he offered his 
 services to the government, enlisting as a member 
 of Company H, One Hundred and Fourth Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served 
 until the close of the war. His company was 
 largely made up of men from Wenona and Osage 
 and the command was with Sherman on the cele- 
 brated march to the sea and in various important 
 battles which led up to the final victorious re- 
 sult, in all of which Mr. Vaughn participated. He 
 was captured with his regiment at the battle of 
 Hartsville, but was afterward exchanged. He 
 served as a first lieutenant of his company and 
 when Captain Southwell, his superior officer, was 
 wounded he was made acting captain, having 
 charge of the company until Captain Southwell 
 was again able to resume command. After the 
 close of the war Mr. Vaughn returned to Wenona 
 and during the political campaign that followed 
 he was nominated and elected county treasurer 
 of Marshall county, in which office he served for 
 two terms, making a creditable record. He was 
 the first mayor of Wenona and did much toward 
 organizing the city and placing its interests upon 
 a safe, substantial basis. He was also engaged 
 in the drug business with his old captain, Mr. 
 Southwell, for a number of years and figured very 
 prominently in the public life and business inter- 
 ests of the town. He died in 1904 and is still 
 survived by his widow. In their family were two
 
 226 
 
 PAST AND I'HKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 sons and two daughters : Cora, the wife of L. M. 
 Bayne, of Ottawa, Illinois; Alice, the wife of A. 
 H. Hill; Ealph, a druggist of Wenona; and 
 Fred A. 
 
 The last named, at the usual age, entered the 
 public schools and passed through successive 
 grades until he had completed the high school 
 course. He then attended the Wesleyan College 
 at Bloomington, Illinois, and after the completion 
 of his education became connected with the lumber 
 trade at Lostant, Illinois, in 1899. Subsequently 
 he was at Ottawa in the same line of business and 
 on the 1st of July, 1904, he was made secretary 
 and treasurer of the A. H. Hill Lumber Company 
 at Wenona. This company is now controlling one 
 of the largest lumber enterprises in this section of 
 the state and the business is constantly growing. 
 Mr. Vaughn is a factor in its success, being a 
 young man of marked enterprise, keen business 
 discrimination and unfaltering industry. Already 
 he has gained a notable place in commercial cir- 
 cles and one does not need the gift of prophecy to 
 predict a still more successful future, because his 
 qualifications are such as insure success in the 
 world. 
 
 LUTHER DICKINSON GUNN. 
 No history of Putnam county would be com- 
 plete without mention of Luther Dickinson Gunn, 
 who is the most venerable citizen residing within 
 its borders. His life record began in Pittsfield, 
 Massachusetts, July 28, 1814. His father, Luther 
 Gunn, was born in Montague, Massachusetts, in 
 September, 1782, and died when his son Luther 
 was but a week old. The mother, who bore the 
 maiden name of Delia Dickinson, was born in 
 Whately, Massachusetts, December 6, 1792, and 
 died in Greenfield, Massachusetts, February 7, 
 1881. The paternal grandparents were Nathaniel 
 and Hannah (Montague) Gunn and the maternal 
 grandparents were Jehu and Eleanor (Pomeroy) 
 Dickinson. Luther Gunn, Sr., was a physician by 
 profession and was practicing at the time of his 
 death. His wife was then taken to the home of 
 her parents and later she married Levi Gunn, a 
 second cousin of her first husband, and made her 
 home at Conway, Massachusetts. By her first 
 marriage she had two children : Sarah, born Au- 
 gust 26, 1812; and Luther, born July 28, 1814. 
 By the second marriage there were eight children. 
 
 Luther Dickinson Gunn spent his boyhood days 
 in Conway, Massachusetts, to the age of sixteen 
 years, living with his mother and step-father. In 
 the meantime he acquired a good common school 
 education and when a youth of sixteen he began 
 learning the trade of a carpenter and joiner under 
 John Howland, remaining in his service until 
 twenty-one years of age, at which time his em- 
 ployer gave him a set of bench tools, consisting of 
 three planes and a hammer, all of which were 
 made by Mr. Gunn while he was working for Mr. 
 Howland. The employer also took him to a store 
 to be fitted out with a suit of clothes. There were 
 two grades of cloth on display and Mr. Gunn was 
 told that if he would go back and work another 
 month he would receive wages for his services and 
 a suit made of the better material. This he did. 
 He was in very limited financial circumstances, so 
 much so that when on his twenty-first birthday, 
 wishing to treat the boys to root beer, he had to 
 borrow twenty-five cents of his mother in order 
 to make the purchase. He worked for three 
 months at twenty dollars per month in order to 
 secure money enough to bring him to Illinois. 
 
 Hearing that Colonel Ware, a merchant of Hen- 
 nepin, was going to New York to buy goods, Mr. 
 Gunn arranged to meet him in the metropolis and 
 with him returned to Hennepin. They traveled 
 down the Ohio and up the Missisisppi and Illinois 
 rivers to Hennepin. While on the trip the ship lost 
 a rudder and was disabled. A carpenter was asked 
 for among the passengers and Mr. Gunn, having 
 his tools with him, volunteered to make the re- 
 pairs and did so. On arriving at Hennepin he 
 was first employed to build a kitchen for Mr. 
 Ware, with whom he had made the trip. He then 
 began work at the carpenter's trade, which he 
 followed for several years. Even after he began 
 farming he still did considerable building, and 
 was thus closely associated with industrial in- 
 terests in the county at an early day. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1839, Mr. Gunn was 
 united in marriage to Miss Emirancy Collins, who 
 was born in Granville, Washington county, New 
 York, October 15, 1822. She was a daughter of 
 Joel S. and Sally (Sprague) Collins. The father 
 was born in Massachusetts and removed to Ches- 
 tertown, New York, when Mrs. Gunn was but six 
 years of age. There he died three years later. His 
 wife was born in Stratton, Vermont, and died at 
 the age of forty-seven years. After losing her first

 
 f ' 
 
 ^-X^x^ CJ?
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 2:51 
 
 husband she became the wife of Amos Dewey, of 
 Hartford, New York. When Mrs. Gunn was a 
 maiden of fourteen summers she came to Putnam 
 county with her mother and step-father, who lo- 
 cated on a farm southwest of Granville. When 
 her father died she was left an inheritance of 
 about three hundred dollars, and with this she and 
 her husband purchased eighty acres of land south- 
 west of Granville. Not a furrow had been turned 
 or an improvement made upon the farm. Mr. 
 Gunn bought trees, chopped them down, hewed out 
 the timber and had the lumber sawed at a horse- 
 power sawmill north of Granville, and from this 
 he built his house. The young couple moved into 
 it before the doors were hung or the windows put 
 in, and they lived in that primitive home uutil 
 after all of their children but one were born. In 
 1866 they sold the property and purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and seventy acres of land east of 
 Granville, where they resided until about fourteen 
 years ago, when, retiring permanently from the 
 farm, they took up their abode in the village. Mr. 
 Gunn, however, still owns that property in addi- 
 tion to a comfortable residence in town. Starting 
 out in life as he did, without capital save his 
 willing hands and strong determination, the suc- 
 cess that he has achieved is due entirely to his 
 own labors. He was ever an industrious, energetic 
 man and worked hard in order to gain a start. 
 Now he is in possession of a comfortable compe- 
 tence which enables him to live retired and to 
 provide himself and his wife with many of those 
 things which add to the comfort of life. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gunn have been born fifteen 
 children. Joel C., who was born December 1, 
 1840, was married and removed to Iowa, where 
 he died about two years ago. Francis E., born 
 November 30, 1842, died in infancy. Amos D., 
 born March 14, 1843, is married and has a fam- 
 ily and follows carpentering at Index, Washing- 
 ton. Levi P. died at the age of thirteen months. 
 Fannie Ellen, born January 27, 1846, is the wife 
 of Baxter A. Dickinson, a resident of Chicago. 
 Lucy Caroline, born June 28, 1847, is the wife of 
 Charles Ware, a resident of Downs, Kansas. Mary 
 A., born December 1, 1849, became the wife of 
 Beecher Newport, a resident of Granville town- 
 ship, and died February 22, 1883. Luther H., 
 who was born November 24, 1851, died January 
 24, 1852. Esther Eveline, born October 31, 1853, 
 is the wife of C. H. Tan Wormer. of California. 
 
 Sarah E., born April 1, 1856, is the wife of Lyman 
 Parmalee, of Osborne City, Kansas. Ellen T. is 
 the wife of James Packingham, of Granville. 
 Delia M. died in infancy. Henry D., born April 1, 
 1863, is now living at Startup, Washington. Nellie 
 Louise is at home. Clara P. is the wife of George 
 Sucher, an attorney at law of Peoria. 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Gunn have been church 
 members from early life. They assisted in organ- 
 izing the Presbyterian church at Union Grove in 
 1839 and attended services there when rough 
 planks were used as seats. All the work for that 
 church was donated and the brick was made on 
 the ground. At length there occurred a division 
 in the church and Mr. and Mrs. Gunn joined the 
 Wesleyan Methodist church, but are now members 
 and regular attendants at the Congregational 
 church and Sunday-school in Granville, while their 
 daughter Nellie has been leader of the choir for 
 several years. Mr. Gunn has been a republican 
 since the formation of the party, and has also 
 frequently voted the prohibition ticket. He has 
 served as school director, but otherwise has held 
 no office, nor lias he desired political preferment. 
 He is the oldest man in Putnam county, while his 
 wife, who is eighty-four years of age, is the second 
 oldest lady so far as known. Both are well pre- 
 served mentally and physically, enjoying fair 
 health, while both have good memories. They can 
 relate many interesting incidents of the early 
 pioneer times, and, like most of the other settlers 
 of the period, they came to the middle west empty 
 handed and had a hard struggle to establish a 
 home and gain a start, in life here. They were 
 cut off from the advantages of the older east, 
 owing to the lack of railroad facilities, and they 
 experienced all the privations and hardships in- 
 cident to the settlement of the frontier; but they 
 possessed the courageous spirit characteristic of 
 those who founded this great commonwealth, and 
 in Putnam county they soon became widely and 
 favorably known and are justly deserving of prom- 
 inent mention in this volume. 
 
 TOBIAS WHITMER. 
 
 Tobias Whitmer lives on section 26, Whitefield 
 township, where he is engaged in farming and 
 also in the manufacture of brick. He is, moreover, 
 entitled to representation in this volume from 
 the fact that he was one of the veterans of the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Civil war. His birth occurred in Niagara county, 
 New York, April 5, 1842, his parents being Ab- 
 raham and Elizabeth (Hare) Whitmer. The 
 father was a native of Langston, Pennsylvania, 
 and in early life learned and followed the milling 
 business. He also engaged in farming for many 
 years. In 1853 he removed from New York to 
 Illinois, settling in Will county, Illinois, and his 
 remaining days were devoted to general agricul- 
 tural pursuits. He died about twenty years ago. 
 His wife, who was also a native of Pennsylvania, 
 died twenty-two years ago. In their family were 
 eleven children, but only five now survive, name- 
 ly : Mrs. Sarah Shaw, a resident of Canada ; Sam- 
 uel, who follows farming in Iowa; Abraham, who 
 is living retired in Steuben county, Illinois, and 
 Jacob, who is located in Pueblo, Colorado. The 
 other living member of the family is Tobias Whit- 
 mer of this review, who was a young lad of about 
 eleven years when he accompanied his parents on 
 their removal from the east to Illinois. He pur- 
 sued his education in the public schools of Joliet 
 and in early manhood, his patriotic spirit being 
 aroused, he offered his services to the government 
 in defense of the Union and enlisted as a private 
 of Company I, Forty-seventh Illinois infantry. 
 He enrolled at Henry, having come to this city 
 during the war times. With his command he 
 went to the front and' participated in a number 
 of important engagements. Throughout the great- 
 er part of his life Mr. Whitmer has engaged in 
 general agricultural pursuits and is now a farmer 
 of Whitefield township, living on section 26, 
 where he rents forty acres of land from Timothy 
 Hunt. He is also engaged in the manufacture 
 of brick, having a plant for this purpose upon the 
 farm. 
 
 Mr. Whitmer was married in 1868 to Miss Sarah 
 Porch, of Illinois, and unto them have been 
 born eight children: Mrs. Ida Dwyer, living in 
 Whitefield township; Mrs. Delia Nightsonger, a 
 resident of Sparland; Mrs. Lulu Dwyer, whose 
 home is in Bureau county; Mrs. Clara Niles, a 
 resident of Sparland; Mrs. Pearl Steele; Floyd, 
 Harold and Homer, all at home. 
 
 Mr. Whitmer votes with the prohibition party 
 and is a stanch advocate of the cause of temper- 
 ance. He believes this to be one of the most im- 
 portant questions before the people of the country 
 today and he does everything in his power to in- 
 culcate among those with whom he comes in con- 
 
 tact an opposition to the liquor traffic. He and 
 his family are members of the United Brethren 
 in Christ and he is one of the ministers of the 
 church giving much of his life to Christian work. 
 He has led an active and useful life, upright and 
 honorable, and his influence has ever been for 
 good, being strongly exerted in behalf of justice 
 and truth and also for the best development and 
 progress of the county. 
 
 JOSEPH ZIEGLER. 
 
 Joseph Ziegler, deceased, was at one time promi- 
 nently identified with farming interests in Mar- 
 shall county and his record was one worthy of 
 emulation and commendation, showing what 
 could be accomplished by determination and hon- 
 orable purpose. He was born in Baden, Germany, 
 February 17, 1840, and spent the first seventeen 
 years of his life in the land of his nativity, there 
 acquiring a good education. Investigation into 
 business conditions and careful consideration of 
 the outlook before him in his native land led 
 him to seek a home in the new world and in 
 1857 he crossed the Atlantic. He did not tarry 
 on the seaboard, but made his way at once into 
 the interior of the country and settled in Mar- 
 shall county, Illinois, where he was first employed 
 at farm labor, but he was ambitious to engage in 
 farming on his own account and as soon as his 
 work had brought him a little capital he rented a 
 farm in Putnam county. He afterward removed 
 to High Prairie and secured four hundred acres 
 of land in Saratoga township. This extensive 
 farm was the visible proof of his life of industry 
 and enterprise and for many years he successfully 
 carried on general agricultural pursuits, carefully 
 tilling the soil and bringing his fields under a high 
 state of cultivation, so that he annually harvested 
 rich crops. He also added good buildings to the 
 place and supplied it with all modern equipments 
 and accessories. 
 
 On the 13th of February, 1865, Mr. Ziegler was 
 united in marriage to Miss Catherine Thomas, a 
 native of Prussia, Germany, who was eight years 
 of age when she was brought to America by her 
 parents, Peter and Eva (Bocoh) Thomas. Her 
 father was a farmer by occupation and both her 
 parents are now deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ziegler were born fourteen children, thirteen of 
 whom arc yet living: Peter, who resides in Mis-
 
 PAST AND 1'KF.SKXT OF MARSHALL AND R'TXAM COLXTIES. 
 
 233 
 
 soiiri ; Michael, who follows farming in Saratoga 
 township; Kate, the wife of Peter Swartz, of 
 Oklahoma; Charles, Joseph and William, who are 
 operating the home farm; Elizabeth, now Mrs. 
 Barney Swartz ; George, who is living at McNabb, 
 Illinois ; Frank, who is farming in Saratoga town- 
 ship; John, who resides in Henry; Louis, upon 
 the home farm; Amelia, at home; Matilda, who 
 is a clerk in the Watercott store in Henry; and 
 one who died when sixteen months old. 
 
 In his political affiliation Mr. Ziegler was a 
 stalwart democrat, thoroughly in sympathy with 
 the principles and policy of the party. He filled 
 the office of school director for sixteen years and 
 was road commissioner for twelve years. He held 
 membership in the Catholic church and was ever 
 faithful to its teachings. After many years of 
 active and successful connection with farming 
 operations he at length put aside business cares 
 and removed to Henry, but scarcely had settled 
 down in his new home when he was called from 
 this life on January 8, 1903. He had become 
 widely known in the county and many friends 
 mourned his loss. He was a self-made man, 
 whose prosperity came as the direct reward of 
 diligence, enterprise and laudable ambition and 
 his history may well serve as a source of inspira- 
 tion and encouragement to others. 
 
 CHAUNCEY CURTIS BARNES. 
 Chauncey Curtis Barnes, whose life record cov- 
 ered fifty-eight years, the entire period of which 
 was spent in Marshall county, left at his death 
 an untarnished name and a memory that is still 
 cherished by all who knew him. He was born on 
 the old homestead farm on section 27, Whitefield 
 township, April 17, 1847, a fact which indicates 
 that the family was established here in pioneer 
 times. His father, Chauncey W. Barnes, was a 
 native of Massachusetts and was reared to the 
 occupation of farming, which he made his life 
 work. He came to the state in 1836 and made 
 purchase of the farm now owned by Mrs. Chaun- 
 cey C. Barnes and son, thereon spending his re- 
 maining days. He lived there with his son and 
 daughter-in-law for thirty years following the 
 death of his wife. Mrs. Barnes bore the maiden 
 name of Sally B. Martin and was a native of 
 Connecticut. Unto them were born four children 
 hut only two are now living: George M., whose 
 
 home is in Webb City, Missouri; and Charles L., 
 who resides in Pattonsburg, Missouri. The mother 
 died in 1872 and the father survived her for 
 three decades, during which time he made his 
 home with his son Chauncey and his wife until 
 his demise, which occurred in March, 1902. He 
 performed the arduous task of developing a new 
 place in the early years of his residence here, con- 
 verting wild prairie land into richly cultivated 
 fields. His life was one of untiring activity and 
 enterprise and his success was well merited. 
 When he passed away the county lost one of its 
 venerable citizens and worthy pioneer residents. 
 Both he and his wife were members of the Chris- 
 tian church and their lives exemplified their re- 
 ligious faith. 
 
 Chauncey Curtis Barnes at the usual age began 
 his education in the district schools of Whitefield 
 township and therein mastered the branches of 
 learning usually taught in such institutions. Af- 
 ter leaving school he gave his entire attention to 
 the work of the home farm, with which he had 
 previously become familiar during the periods of 
 vacation, and when some years had passed he 
 relieved his father of the management and care 
 of the property and remained an enterprising 
 and progressive agriculturist of the community 
 up to the time of his death. Many substantial 
 improvements were made upon the farm, includ- 
 ing the erection of good buildings, while modern 
 farm machinery was secured to facilitate the work 
 of the fields. Neatness and thrift characterize the 
 entire place and give evidence of the care and 
 supervision of the former owners. 
 
 On the 6th of January, 1870, Mr. Barnes was 
 united in marriage in Lacon to Miss Mary C. 
 Kirk, a native of Peoria county, Illinois, the 
 wedding ceremony being performed by Rev. J. 
 Curtis of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Barnes 
 is a daughter of Henry and Sarah (Erwin) Kirk, 
 both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. In 
 their family were four children, all of whom are 
 yet living, namely: James Madison, who is a 
 contractor and builder residing in Montezuma, 
 Iowa; Matilda Ann, the wife of A. A. Earl, of 
 Chicago; Mary C., now Mrs. Barnes; and Mrs. 
 Ella K. Hackett, who is living with her sister 
 Mary. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barnes were born a daugh- 
 ter and two sons, but Netta Belle Barnes, born in 
 1871, died in 1872. Charles Curtis, who married
 
 234 
 
 PAST AND I'HKSKNT OK MARSHALL AM) JTTXAM COfXTIKS. 
 
 Edith Hadley, of Chicago, died in June, 1905, 
 at the age of thirty-two years. He was a druggist 
 of Chicago, having graduated from the Chicago 
 College of Pharmacy. James Madison, who 
 wedded Jessie Tanner, of Sparland, Illinois, is 
 now living with his mother upon the home place 
 and operates the farm. 
 
 Just after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Barnes 
 located on his father's farm adjoining the pres- 
 ent place, but in 1871 took up their abode upon 
 the farm on section 27, Whitefield township, which 
 is now the home of the widow and son. Here 
 for thirty-four years Mr. Barnes gave his time 
 and energies to agricultural pursuits, carefully 
 cultivating and superintending his place and 
 manifesting in his labors the progressive spirit 
 of the times. He always kept in touch with mod- 
 ern agricultural progress and his labors were 
 therefore the source of a gratifying success. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Barnes resided in Henry for fifteen 
 years, and during that time he was engaged in 
 the dairy business. He was a member of the 
 Whitefield Baptist church and was a republican in 
 his political views but was never ambitious for 
 office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon 
 his business affairs. He was ill throughout his 
 last year and he passed away in Chicago, Decem- 
 ber 1, 1905, after which his remains were brought 
 back to Marshall county and laid to rest in Hen- 
 ry cemetery. Having always lived in this county 
 he had a wide acquaintance in Whitefield town- 
 ship and other localities and his many sterling 
 traits of character were recognized and honored 
 by his fellow men. He had a kindly manner and 
 cordial disposition that gained him many friends 
 and he was known a. a straightforward, reliable 
 business man. He loft his family well provided 
 for, for his farm was a valuable tract of one hun- 
 dred and ninety acres. This is now in posses- 
 sion of the widow and son, the latter operating 
 the farm, which is one of the well improved prop- 
 erties of Whitefield township. 
 
 HENRY L. WHITE. 
 
 Henry L. White, for many years an honored 
 and respected representative of the farming in- 
 terests of Hennepin township, Putnam county, 
 now practically living retired, has passed the 
 eightieth milestone on life's journey. He was born 
 at Norton, Bristol county, Massachusetts, March 
 17, 1826, his parents being Hiram P. and- Mary 
 ( Carpenter) White. The family comes of English 
 ancestry and the line can be traced bac> *o Pere- 
 
 grine White, the first white child born in America. 
 The grandfather of our subject was a major of 
 the Revolutionary war and did valiant service in 
 behalf of the cause of independence. 
 
 Hiram P. White belonged to a family that for 
 many years was closely associated with the foundry 
 business and he was also thus engaged in the east 
 together with the work of manufacturing combs. 
 When a boy of seventeen years he desired to come 
 to Illinois with a friend, a Mr. Wiswall, but 
 parental authority intervened and the opportunity 
 of seeking a home in the Prairie state did not 
 again present itself until after his marriage, when 
 he brought his family to Illinois in 1833. He 
 shipped his goods from Providence, Rhode Island, 
 by way of New Orleans to Jacksonville, Illinois, 
 where Mr. Wiswall was then living, but the goods 
 did not arrive for a year and a half, having been 
 detained at" St. Louis, Missouri, from which place 
 they were forwarded to Hennepin. Mr. Wiswall 
 advised Mr. White to come to Putnam county, 
 where he had a friend, Mr. Leeper, living, so after 
 a brief stay in Jacksonville Mr. White visited Mr. 
 Leeper, who was residing in the vicinity of Hen- 
 nepin and within two miles of the present home 
 farm of Henry L. White. The village at that time 
 contained only two frame houses. A week previous 
 to Mr. White's arrival William Fairfield had come 
 to Putnam county from Massachusetts, and as his 
 wife was homesick, he sent for Mr. White and his 
 family. The two gentlemen took up claims to- 
 gether, buying land from Mr. Patterson, whose 
 home stood on the present site of the residence 
 of our subject. There had been four or five acres 
 broken on the place, which was said to be the first 
 plowing done in the county. A log cabin, which 
 had no floor during the entire winter of 1833-4, 
 was built, and as the household goods did not 
 arrive the White family were not very comfortably 
 situated through that first winter. Prairie chick- 
 ens constituted their principal meat and they dried 
 the breasts for summer use, while their bread was 
 largely made of corn. Mr. White's cash capital 
 on his arrival in this county consisted of but twelve 
 dollars, and during the first year the family en- 
 dured many privations and hardships incident to 
 life on the frontier. In the following year, how- 
 ever, a crop was raised and its sale enabled them 
 to do away with many of the difficulties of a fron- 
 tier existence. In later years the family were en- 
 abled to enjoy the comforts and many of the lux- 
 uries of life, Mr. White prospering in his under-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 237 
 
 takings. He passed away April 1, 1870, on the 
 anniversary of his birth, which occurred on the 1st 
 of April, 1800, while his wife survived for about 
 five years. They had traveled life's journey to- 
 gether for more than a half century, and they were 
 most hospitable people, never turning any one 
 away who asked for food or shelter. One night 
 sixteen persons were sleeping in their log cabin 
 when a man on horseback rode up and asked to 
 stay all night. He was made welcome and slept 
 on the floor with his saddle for a pillow. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. White were born but two 
 sons, the elder being Hiram W. White, who was 
 three years the senior of Henry L. and who died 
 in Streator, Illinois, about three years ago. The 
 parents were both active and prominent workers 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in their 
 cabin in 1834 a class was formed, consisting of 
 three other members Dr. Eichey and wife, who 
 lived at Florid, and Miss Betsy Carpenter, a half- 
 sister of Mrs. White, who lived with her and later 
 became the wife of John P. Hays. For about two 
 years services were held at the White cabin, at the 
 end of which time a church was erected in Henne- 
 pin, to which Mr. White was a liberal contributor, 
 and during his entire life he continued to serve as 
 class-leader and steward. His early political al- 
 legiance was given the whig party and he joined 
 the republican party on its organization and was 
 called upon to serve as school commissioner and 
 coroner. 
 
 Henry L. White was a lad of seven summers 
 when he accompanied his parents on their emi- 
 gration to what was then the far west. The 
 Black Hawk war had occurred only the year be- 
 fore and the Indians still lingered in some sections 
 of the state, while much of the land was still 
 unclaimed and uncultivated. The experiences of 
 the pioneer soon became familiar to him and he 
 remained upon the home farm after attaining his 
 majority, while his brother owned land in Gran- 
 ville township, but for twenty years they carried 
 on operations in partnership. In connection with 
 general farming they also engaged in threshing 
 and reaping, owning one of the first reapers 
 brought to the county. Later the brother sold 
 out and removed to Putnam, while subsequently 
 he became a resident of Streator. Mr. White 
 added eighty acres to the old homestead and now 
 owns a valuable tract of land of one hundred 
 and sixty-five acres, which is under a high state 
 
 of cultivation and is well improved with substan- 
 tial buildings. Upon this farm he still resides, 
 and his niece and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. F. P. 
 Hamm, reside with him, the former operating the 
 farm, while Mrs. Hamm acts as housekeeper. For 
 a quarter of a century Mr. White has been inter- 
 ested in the lumber and coal business at Hennepin, 
 becoming connected with George C. Reed in this 
 enterprise under the firm style of White & Reed, 
 the junior partner being the active manager of the 
 
 When about thirty years of age Mr. White was 
 married to Miss Fannie A. White, a cousin, and 
 a native of Norton, Massachusetts, who came to 
 Putnam county in 1849. Two daughters were 
 born to them, Cora and Carrie, but both died in 
 childhood, and Mrs. White passed away June 15, 
 1896. She was a member of the Congregational 
 church and was greatly interested in various 
 church activities, so that her death proved a great 
 loss to the church and the community as well as 
 to her husband, with whom she had so long trav- 
 eled life's journey happily. 
 
 Since the organization of the republican party 
 Mr. White has been one of its stanch champions 
 and has frequently attended its conventions. For 
 eight years he served as coroner and for three 
 years was supervisor in his township. He, too, 
 belongs to the Congregational church of Henne- 
 pin, in which he served for twenty-five years as 
 treasurer. His life has indeed been an exem- 
 plification of the Christian spirit, and there is 
 probably not a more temperate man in every way 
 in the county. He has never used liquor nor 
 tobacco and for many years has used neither tea 
 nor coffee. As a man he has endeavored to follow 
 the golden rule, being thoroughly reliable in his 
 business affairs and often tempering the attitude 
 of justice with that of mercy. Those qualities 
 which work for righteous living and for the de- 
 velopment of upright character have long been 
 manifest in his career, and now, in the evening 
 of his days, he can look back over the past without 
 regret, being one of the most respected and ven- 
 erable citizens of Putnam county. 
 
 CHARLES MOTTER. 
 
 Charles Motter is engaged in the livery business 
 in Henry, his native city, where his birth oc- 
 curred in 1864. His father, George Motter, was 
 born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1829 and died in
 
 238 
 
 PAST AM) I'RKSL'XT OK MARSHALL AND ITTNAM COl'ViMES. 
 
 1892 at the age of sixty-two years. He came to 
 Illinois in 1858, settling in Henry. He was a 
 man of broad and liberal education and before 
 his removal to this city engaged in the practice of 
 dentistry. Here he established an office and for 
 years was the only dentist of Henry. He became 
 very prominent in his profession and had an ex- 
 tensive patronage. His political allegiance was 
 given to the democracy. He married Martha Dun- 
 lap, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, who is now 
 living at McNabb, Putnam county, Illinois, at the 
 age of eighty-one years and is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. In their family 
 were the following named : Gertrude, the wife of 
 George B. Hewitt, a carpenter of Henry; Edgar, 
 who died, leaving a widow and three children; 
 George Arthur, a practicing dentist of Henry; 
 Stella, the wife of Thomas Wabel, who follows 
 farming near McNabb, Illinois; and Charles. 
 
 The last named pursued his education in the 
 public schools of Henry and in the periods of va- 
 cation devoted his attention to farm labor. For 
 several years after leaving school he was engaged 
 in general agricultural pursuits and then embarked 
 in the livery business in Henry, in which he still 
 continues. He has well appointed stables, keeping 
 a number of good horses and a fine line of vehicles, 
 and his earnest desire to please his patrons has 
 secured to him a large and growing trade. 
 
 In 1899 was celebrated the marriage of Charles 
 Hotter and Miss Katherine Culligan, of Henry. 
 She is a member of St. Joseph's Catholic church. 
 Mr. Motter holds membership with the Mystic 
 Workers and is a stalwart democrat, recognized as 
 a leader in the local ranks of his party. He has 
 served as constable, as city marshal, as road com- 
 missioner and as deputy sheriff and in these vari- 
 ous offices has discharged his duties with a prompt- 
 ness and fidelity that have won him uniform re- 
 spect and commendation. 
 
 JAMES SMITH. 
 
 James Smith is one of the venerable citizens 
 of Marshall county, having attained the age of 
 eighty-one years. He is, moreover, one of the 
 most extensive landowners of the county, his 
 possessions aggregating sixteen hundred acres. 
 His extensive holdings are the visible evidence of 
 a life of thrift and enterprise, for all that he 
 possesses has come to him as the reward of his 
 energy and perseverance. He was born in Dum- 
 
 friesshire, Scotland, May 9, 1825. His father, 
 William Smith, was likewise a native of Dum- 
 friesshire, and wa.s married in that country to 
 Miss Wilmina Scott, who was also born there. 
 He came to the United States in 1840 and estab- 
 lished a home in Steuben township, Marshall 
 county, but afterward removed to Peoria county, 
 where Mr. Smith carried on general farming. 
 He voted with the republican party, and died in 
 1843. His widow survived, and died in 1882 
 at the home of her son Andrew when she was 
 eighty years of age. In the family were three 
 sons and one daughter: William, now a retired 
 farmer living in Sparland; James, of this re- 
 view ; Andrew, who was born in 1827 and died 
 at the home of his brother James in 1891 ; and 
 Mary, who married Eobert Turnbull, whose sketch 
 is found elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Mr. Smith, whose name introduces this record, 
 spent the days of his youth in the land of hills 
 and heather. He attended school there and in 
 1840, when a youth of fifteen years, accompanied 
 his parents on their emigration to the new world, 
 his first home in this country being in Steuben 
 township. He began farming on his own account 
 in 1848, and throughout his entire life has car- 
 ried on agricultural pursuits. The record of his 
 business is one of ceaseless toil, carefully directed 
 labor and of unfaltering enterprise. He started 
 out empty-handed, having no capital nor in- 
 fluential friends to aid him, but he carefully 
 saved his earnings and in due course of time 
 made investment in property. He has since 
 added to his holdings, until he is now the owner 
 of eight hundred acres in Marshall county and 
 over eight hundred acres in Vermilion county, 
 thus gaining a place among the wealthy resi- 
 dents of this part of the state. He is now the 
 only living original stockholder of the Lacon First 
 National Bank, and is also a stockholder in sev- 
 eral banks in different parts of the state. 
 
 In 1856 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Smith and Miss Lucy Canterberry, who was born 
 in the town of Rathdrum, in the county of Wick- 
 low, Ireland, and who departed this life in 1878, 
 leaving five children : Fannie, who is now the wife 
 of Louis Kelter, a farmer of La Prairie town- 
 ship; Wilhelmina, the wife of Charlie Monier, 
 who is- also farming in La Prairie township; 
 Mary B.. at home: Sarah, the wife of Charles 
 Collins, a farmer of La Prairie; Lucy, at home;
 
 * 
 
 I
 
 PAST AND PHKSKXT OK MARSHALL AND 1TTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Hettie and Alda, both deceased; and Willie, who 
 died in infancy. Mrs. Smith is a member of the 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 Mr. Smith is a republican who has given in- 
 flexible support to the principles of the party 
 since its organization. He acted as supervisor 
 during the war and several other times was 
 elected to that office until he finally refused to 
 serve any longer. He has also been road commis- 
 sioner and school director for a number of terms. 
 His life record may well serve as a source of in- 
 spiration and encouragement to others, showing 
 what may be accomplished by determined pur- 
 pose and unfaltering energy. It proves that suc- 
 cess is not a matter of genius as held by many, 
 nor does it depend upon fortunate circum- 
 stances and environments. It may be achieved 
 through close application and unfaltering dili- 
 gence and it has been upon that foundation that 
 Mr. Smith has builded his prosperity until he 
 is now one of the wealthiest residents of the 
 entire county, his possessions being equalled by 
 few, if any, of the inhabitants of this district. 
 Moreover, in all his relations he has been honor- 
 able and upright and thus bears an untarnished 
 name. 
 
 FRED VINCENT. 
 
 Fred Vincent, who for many years conducted 
 the "village smithy" but since 1901 has lived 
 retired, was born in Somersetshire, England, June 
 16, 1831, his parents being Richard and Eliza- 
 beth Vincent, who were also natives of that coun- 
 try. The father was born in Devonshire and be- 
 came a successful farmer. He died in 1855 when 
 seventy-two years of age, while his wife passed 
 away in 1841. She was a member of the Episco- 
 palian church. In the family were five children : 
 Eliza, Henry and John, all of whom are residents 
 of England; and Edward and Fred, in the new 
 world. 
 
 Mr. Vincent of this review acquired his educa- 
 tion in the schools of his native country and at 
 the age of eighteen years came alone to the United 
 States, landing at New York. He worked at 
 various places in the southern part of New York 
 state as a blacksmith and came to Illinois on the 
 17th of March, 1856, locating at Sparland. Dur- 
 ing the first year he built a house and shop here 
 and he continued to follow his trade until 1901, 
 when he retired. He was accorded a liberal pat-^ 
 ronage because of his good workmanship and 
 
 was a leading representative of the industrial life 
 of the town, well known to all of its citizens as 
 a man of business activity and integrity. 
 
 Mr. Vincent was married February 1, 1855, to 
 Miss Sarah Adeline Edland, who was born March 
 17, 1840, at West Farms, now a part of New 
 York city, about sixteen miles from the city hall. 
 Her parents were Charles and Elizabeth Edland, 
 both of whom died in the Empire state. Unto 
 Mr. and Mrs. Vincent have been born the fol- 
 lowing named : Anna Louise, who was born in the 
 state of New York in a district now comprised 
 within the city limits of New York city and who 
 died in Sparland, February 17, 1880 ; Ed, who is 
 engaged in railroading and lives in Butte, Mon- 
 tana; Fred, who is employed in a wholesale gro- 
 cery store in Chicago ; Tom, who is in the- em- 
 ploy of a large contractor in Peru, Illinois, act- 
 ing as boss of the work; Florence Ida; Anna, who 
 was born February 4, 1856, and died February 
 17, 1880; Edwin F., born February 13, 1858; 
 Florence, who was born October 9, 1859, and died 
 November 18, 1883; Frederick Oliver, born Jan- 
 uary 13, 1862 ; and Thomas- Sherman, born May 
 28, 1865. 
 
 Mr. Vincent exercises his right of franchise in 
 support of the men and measures of the democ- 
 racy, and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his 
 worth and ability, have frequently called him tJ 
 office. He has served as town clerk for seven 
 years, has been collector and school treasurer. 
 He is now president of the town board and is 
 supervisor of Steuben fownship. In community 
 interests he takes a most helpful and active part 
 and his labors have been far-reaching and bene- 
 ficial. His wife is a member of the Episcopal 
 church and they are most highly esteemed people. 
 Mr. Vincent has now passed the seventy-fifth mile- 
 stone on life's journey but in spirit and interest 
 seems yet in his prime. The careful husbanding 
 of his resources in former years now enables him 
 to live retired from business cares and his time- 
 is largely occupied with his official duties, which 
 are discharged with promptness and fidelity. 
 
 ADDISON TANQUARY. 
 Addison Tanquary is one of the oldest residents 
 of Marshall county in years of continuous connec- 
 tion with its interests, for his birth occurred in 
 Steuben township, August 29, 1837, and since that 
 time he has lived within its borders, covering a
 
 348 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 period of almost three score years and ten. His 
 father, James Tanquary, was a native of Pick- 
 away county, Ohio, born in 1809 and in the fall of 
 1834 he came to Illinois, settling in Tazewell 
 county, whence he removed to Marshall county in 
 the spring of 1835. He located two miles north 
 of Sparland, where he engaged in farming until 
 the spring of 1848, when he removed to a farm 
 two miles west on the prairie, there devoting his 
 attention to general agricultural pursuits until his 
 death, which occurred January 21, 1849. In man- 
 ner he was quiet and reserved. He gave his pol- 
 itical support to the whig party and in religious 
 faith was a Methodist, serving as class leader in 
 his church. He married Mahala Bonham, who 
 was born in Bainbridge, Ohio, March 24, 1810. 
 They- were married in the Buckeye state in 1831 
 and thus came together to Illinois. Mrs. Tan- 
 quary, who was also a devoted member of the 
 Methodist church, long survived her husband, pass- 
 ing away on the 4th of March, 1883. In the fam- 
 ily of this worthy couple were eight children : Cor- 
 nelius, Rebecca B., Addison, Elizabeth, Willie, 
 Mary, Newton and James J. The eldest was born 
 in Pickaway county, Ohio, and was three years old 
 at the time of the removal of the family to Illinois. 
 
 Addison Tanquary was reared upon the old 
 home farm in Steuben township and attended the 
 Bethel country school through the winter months, 
 while in the summer seasons he aided in the work 
 of the farm. With the exception of a period of 
 eleven years he has always lived in Steuben town- 
 ship and is among its oldest residents. In 1862, 
 responding to the country's call for troops, he en- 
 listed for service in the Union army as a member 
 of Company E, Eighty-sixth Illinois Infantry, 
 with which he continued until the 8th of June, 
 1864, when he was discharged on account of a 
 wound which he had sustained in the arm. He 
 then returned to Marshall county and soon after- 
 ward settled upon a farm in Evans township near 
 Wenona. In 1880, however, he returned to Steu- 
 ben township, where he carried on general agri- 
 cultural pursuits for twenty years and then re- 
 tired in 1900, taking up his abode in Sparland. 
 He was one of the energetic, progressive and prac- 
 tical farmers of his township, placing his land un- 
 der a high state of cultivation and deriving a good 
 income from the care and labor he bestowed upon 
 the fields. 
 
 On the 16th of October, 1859, Mr. Tanquary 
 
 was married at Sparland to Miss Ellen Williams, 
 who was born in Clay county, Illinois, June 27, 
 1839, a daughter of Thomas G. and Sarah Will- 
 iams, who were natives of Ohio, whence they re- 
 moved to Clay county. In the fall of 1855 they 
 became residents of Sparland and the father fol- 
 lowed the occupation of farming as a life work. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Tanquary have been born seven 
 children : Cassius M., who married Eva Reed 
 and lives in Portland, Oregon; James, who died 
 in infancy; Minnie A., at home; Thomas E'., who 
 died in infancy ; George S., a resident of Portland, 
 Oregon ; Lawrence H., who wedded Minnie Pot- 
 ter, of Marseilles, Illinois, and lives in Peoria; and 
 Nellie M., who is with her parents in Sparland. 
 
 Mr. Tanquary has been honored with a number 
 of positions of public trust. He has twice served 
 as collector of Steuben township, and is now serv- 
 ing for the third term as assessor. His political 
 allegiance is given to the republican party, while 
 fraternally he is connected with Clayton lodge, No. 
 132, I. 0. 0. F., of Sparland, and with Lacon 
 post, No. 134, G. A. R. His wife is a member of 
 the Methodist church. His interest in community 
 affairs is manifest in many tangible ways and has 
 resulted in benefit to the county. Few men have 
 for a longer period witnessed the growth and de- 
 velopment of this part of the state. His memory 
 goes back to the pioneer times when many of the 
 homes were log cabins and when much of the land 
 was uncultivated, being covered with its native 
 prairie grasses. The streams were unbridged and 
 the timber was uncut. In fact the work of devel- 
 opment had been scarcely begun at that period, but 
 time and man have wrought many changes and 
 Marshall county has taken its place among the 
 leading counties of this great commonwealth. Mr. 
 Tanquary has aided largely in its agricultural de- 
 velopment and has always faithfully performed 
 his duties of citizenship. 
 
 HARRY SNELL. 
 
 Harry Snell, who is conducting a general store 
 at Whitefield Corners, was born in Peoria, Illi- 
 nois, on the 2d of December, 1878, and is a son of 
 George Washington and Hattie (McCurdy) Snell. 
 The father, a native of Indiana, removed to Illi- 
 nois at an early day. In 1846 he became a resi- 
 dent of Milo township, Bureau county, and he af- 
 terward owned and operated a farm of forty acres 
 between Sparland and Lacon and also one bun-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 dred and sixty acres of land a mile and a half 
 south of Sparland. He has thus been associated 
 with the agricultural development and progress of 
 this portion of the state and he now makes his 
 home in Sparland. He wedded Miss Hattie Mc- 
 Curdy, of Bushnell, Illinois, who is also living. 
 
 Harry Snell, their only child, was reared upon 
 the home farm in the usual manner of farm lads 
 and acquired a district school education. He is 
 now identified with mercantile interests, being 
 connected with the store at Whitefield Corners. 
 His fraternal relations are with Gem lodge, No. 
 572, 1. 0. 0. F., in which he is serving as treasurer, 
 and he has the warm regard and friendship of 
 many of his brethren in this organization. His 
 political views are shown by earnest and stalwart 
 support which he gives to the republican party. 
 His entire life has been passed in this portion 
 of the state and his strong and salient character- 
 istics are those which make him a popular citizen. 
 
 GEORGE M. KUNKLE. 
 
 George M. Kunkle, a respected and representa- 
 tive farmer of Richland township, Marshall 
 county, living on section 17, was born in Cum- 
 berland county, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1862, and is one of the five living children 
 of John and Elizabeth (Fosnaut) Kunkle. The 
 father, also a native of the Keystone state, died 
 about twenty-five years ago, passing away in 1881, 
 while the mother's death occurred nine years ago. 
 The members of their family are : John, a farmer 
 residing in Steuben township, Marshall county, 
 Illinois; William C., who married Miss Iliff, and 
 is a farmer of Richland township; Edward, who 
 is engaged in farming with his brother John ; 
 and Mary. 
 
 In the district schools of his native state George 
 M. Kunkle acquired his education and after start- 
 ing out in life for himself he was employed for 
 five years on a farm of his uncle in Richland 
 township, Marshall county, Illinois, remaining 
 there until eighteen years of age. He had had 
 broad and liberal experience in all departments of 
 farm work and at that time he rented his present 
 place, which he leased for five years. He then 
 purchased most of the property and his wife also 
 inherited a part of the tract. He now has one 
 hundred and sixty acres of the rich, alluvial soil 
 of Richland township and in addition to culti- 
 vating the fields, is extensively and successfully 
 
 raising hogs, cattle and other stock. He farms 
 altogether three hundred and fifteen acres of land 
 and has a most beautiful place, in which none of 
 the accessories of a model farm of the twentieth 
 century are lacking. He is an intelligent and 
 progressive agriculturist, who keeps informed con- 
 cerning the most modern methods of tilling the 
 soil and caring for the crops and has intimate 
 knowledge of the scientific principles which under- 
 lie the work. 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Kunkle was united in marriage 
 to Miss Nellie Kunkle, his cousin. They 
 have three children, Myrtle, Rowland and Eugene, 
 aged respectively seventeen, fifteen and thirteen 
 years. Mr. Kunkle is a member of Lacon lodge, 
 M. W. A., and is likewise connected with the 
 Knights of the Maccabees. He gives his politi- 
 cal support to the republican party and for six 
 years has served as school director, filling the 
 position at the present time. He is also one of the 
 trustees of the township. The family is a promi- 
 nent one in Richland township and Mr. Kunkle 
 has fully sustained the honorable record made 
 by the representatives of the name. Without spe- 
 cial advantages at the outset of his career he has 
 worked diligently and has achieved both char- 
 acter and success. There is no esoteric chapter 
 in his life history. On the contrary it is an open 
 book which all may read, finding therein lessons 
 of incentive, as it shows forth the power of in- 
 dustry and business probity in the active affairs 
 of life. . 
 
 HODGE BROTHERS. 
 
 Prominent among the business men of Wenona 
 are numbered Hodge Brothers, bankers, and the 
 enterprise which they are now conducting is re- 
 garded as one of the safest moneyed concerns of 
 this part of the state. It was organized in 1886 
 and conducted as the First National Bank of 
 Wenona. The stock of the First National Bank- 
 being purchased in 1902 by L. J. Hodge & Sons, 
 the bank was then conducted under the firm style 
 of L. J. Hodge & Sons, but another change in 
 the partnership occasioned the change in the name 
 to the present style of Hodge Brothers. The part- 
 ners are George 0. and John W. H. Hodge, who 
 are now successfully conducting a private institu- 
 tion, doing a general banking business. Back of 
 this they have four thousand acres of land ad- 
 joining the town of Wenona. which affords ample 
 security.
 
 244 
 
 PAST AM) 1'liKSKNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 .. The brothers are native sons of Wenona, and 
 are well known here, where they have a large and 
 favorable acquaintance. George 0. Hodge was 
 born July 7, 1867, and John W. H. Hodge on 
 the 1st of November, 1869. Both attended the 
 public schools and have always lived in Wenona, 
 where they are known as business men, alert, en- 
 terprising and progressive. They conduct a bank- 
 along modern lines, are watchful of opportunities 
 pointing to success and in utilizing the advan- 
 tages which have come to them have broadened 
 the scope of their activity and at the same time 
 have maintained a moneyed institution which is 
 a credit to the city. 
 
 Both brothers are married and have families. 
 George 0. Hodge in 1893 wedded Mary E. Sta- 
 teler, a daughter of A. H. Stateler, a prominent 
 resident of Marshall county, and unto them has 
 been born a daughter, Elvira Permelia. John W. 
 H. Hodge was married to .Virginia Law, of Henry, 
 Illinois, and they have three children : Lura Vir- 
 ginia. John Law and George Frederick. The rec- 
 ords of these brothers stand in contradistinction 
 to the old adage that a prophet is never without 
 honor save in his own country, for in the place 
 of their nativity they have so directed their labors 
 as to gain recognition as men of ability and to 
 win in their banking business a public patronage 
 which makes them" successful representatives of 
 the financial interests of the countv. 
 
 GEOEGE SPARLING. 
 
 On the list of honored dead of Putnam county 
 appears the name of George Sparling, who became 
 a resident of this part of the state when the work 
 of civilization had scarcely been begun here. In 
 fact, he was among those who opened up this 
 region, converting it from a wild and uninhabited 
 district to one of rich fertility and aiding in the 
 growth and progress that have wrought such a 
 wonderful transformation here in the last half 
 century. He was born in County Limerick, Ire- 
 land, November 29, 1819, his parents being James 
 and Mary (Atkins) Sparling. His forefathers in 
 Ireland were called Palatines, being German peo- 
 ple who came from Palatine on the Rhine. One 
 hundred and ten families from Germany started 
 to seek homes in the new world, but were ship- 
 wrecked on the coast of Ireland during the reign 
 of Queen Anne, who gave them homes at Pallas, 
 County Limerick. 
 
 The father of Mr. Sparling died in 1821 and 
 in 1832 his mother, sister and himself sailed for 
 America, landing at Quebec in May of that year. 
 Three weeks later his mother died of cholera, leav- 
 ing the orphaned boy to battle for life in a strange 
 land. He had but six sovereigns in his pocket. 
 For a short time he lived with relatives in Canada, 
 but as he grew older he learned the carpenter's 
 trade and started out on his own account. He 
 had the spirit of adventure, was self-reliant, given 
 to industry and was determined to make his way 
 in the world. Taking his chest of tools with him 
 he went here and there, following the carpenter's 
 trade at various places. He was employed on the 
 construction of a hotel and a barn at Niagara 
 Falls and thence followed the march of empire 
 westward on to Chicago, which at that time was 
 a small place. There he worked at his trade, 
 assisting in building operations in that embryonic 
 city. Money was very scarce and his employer 
 offered him for several months labor a lot of forty 
 acres in Chicago about where the city, hall now 
 stands. His reply was "He couldn't see it," as the 
 lots were only mud holes. Becoming acquainted 
 with a Mr. Harrison from Canada, he was pre- 
 vailed upon to go to Dixon, Illinois, for Mr. Har- 
 rison was greatly impressed with the country, 
 exclaiming, "You can take a plow and 
 turn over the wild prairie so that it looks 
 like weather boarding on a large scale." 
 Through the influence of Mr. Harrison, 
 Mr. Sparling and other carpenters started 
 on foot for Dixon, prevailing upon a farmer to 
 haul their chests of tools, which were too heavy 
 to be carried. They saw only four houses between 
 Chicago and their destination. The hotel at 
 Dixon was a log cabin which served also as a store 
 and a small distillery and ferry were the attrac- 
 tions of the place. Mr. Sparling secured a claim 
 near there, built a log cabin and planted ten 
 acres to corn the first year. In January, 1840, he 
 came to Senachwine township, Putnam county, to 
 assist John Harrison in building several houses 
 for which he had taken contracts. He aided Mr. 
 Harrison in building a log house upon the farm, 
 which afterward became the property of Mr. Spar- 
 ling, who purchased it from Josiah Hayes. He 
 also helped to build the Bradley store in Henry 
 in the fall of 1841 the first frame building con- 
 structed in that place. Not having the money to 
 pay Mr. Sparling for his summer's labor the
 
 GEOKGK SPAKLING.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 247 
 
 wage being two hundred dollars Harrison sold to 
 him the farm which became his future home, and 
 he disposed of his claim near Dixon. In the sum- 
 mer of 1842 he broke prairie for his neighbors 
 who had preceded him to this new country, these 
 being J. E. Taliaferro, S. C. Bacon, Phillip Read 
 and James Buchanan. He also improved his own 
 farm, turning the first furrows on the prairie and 
 converting wild land into productive fields. 
 
 As a further preparation for having a home of 
 his own Mr. Sparling was married January 12, 
 1843, to Miss Adeline Morgan, a daughter of 
 Alanson and Melinda Morgan, by whom he had 
 eight children : George E., who is living in Se- 
 nachwine township; James A., who died at the 
 age of fourteen years; Mary M., who is the 
 widow of V. H. Wheeler and resides upon a farm 
 near Putnam ; Helen, the deceased wife of Fred 
 Wood; William Henry, who is living in Iowa; 
 John S., who resides in Senachwine township ; and 
 Albert and Adeline, twins. The former is now 
 deceased, but the latter is the wife of John Mc- 
 Kenzie and lives in Henry. Mrs. Sparling died 
 April 13, 1857, when her youngest children were 
 but eight months old. On the 8th of April, 1858, 
 Mr. Sparling was again married, his second union 
 being with Sarah McClung, a daughter of Harvey 
 and Mary McClung. The children of this mar- 
 riage were: Martha Jane, Sarah, Eveline, Kate 
 B., Samuel M., Frederick L. and Emory H. The 
 mother died February 8, 1871, and for his third 
 wife Mr. Sparling chose Margaret McElroy, the 
 widow of his cousin, James Sparling, who still 
 survives him and is now living in Henry. They 
 became the parents of two children : Susan Mabel 
 Atkins and Homer Lewis. In 1844 Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sparling adopted a little daughter of Louis 
 Thompson. 
 
 Mr. Sparling's investment at Senachwine Lake 
 was a fortunate one, as it proved to be one of 
 the best fisheries in this part of the county. He 
 began with spear and hook and found a ready 
 market for all he could catch, customers coming 
 as far as twenty miles. The lake was filled with 
 fish. In the fall of 1843 Joseph Goodrich took a 
 seine to the lake and proposed to Mr. Sparling 
 that they should try using it. On the 3d of No- 
 vember they made a haul and caught twenty-five 
 hundred pounds of fish, averaging ten pounds 
 each. Mr. Sparling then bought up the land 
 about the lake, purchased a seine and found farm- 
 
 ing and fishing profitable. The lake proved the 
 more remunerative, as he often caught one hun- 
 dred and fifty barrels at a haul and the demand 
 was as great as the supply. In a single season he 
 iised on an average of forty-five teams a day for 
 three weeks to haul away the fish. He sold one 
 haul for two hundred and twenty-three dollars 
 and before the dam was built his income was about 
 three thousand dollars a year from this source. 
 He also carried on his farm work and brought his 
 land under a high state of cultivation. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Sparling became identified with the 
 Methodist Episcopal church of Putnam, of which 
 he remained a consistent member and zealous 
 worker until his death. He was a man of most 
 generous and benevolent spirit and the poor and 
 needy indeed found in him a friend. No one ever 
 appealed to him for assistance in vain and no one 
 was ever turned hungry away from his hospitable 
 door. Mr. Sparling was perhaps as widely known 
 as any resident of Crow Meadows and no man 
 of the community had more friends. He was gen- 
 erous to a fault and was most hospitable, giving 
 with an open hand. In his home was extended 
 a cordial welcome to all who chose to partake of 
 its hospitality. He was a very generous contrib- 
 utor to the support of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church at Putnam and to all of its various activ- 
 ities. He led a most useful life, performing each 
 day's duties as they came to him, and he left be- 
 hind a memory that is cherished by all who knew 
 him because of his probity and his faithfulness. 
 He was familiarly and lovingly called Uncle 
 George by all who knew him. Such a name is 
 only given as a token of the warmest esteem and 
 friendship and such was the case with Mr. Spar- 
 ling. That he had prospered in his business life 
 is indicated by the fact that he left an estate of 
 about sixteen hundred acres of land, yet he never 
 selfishly hoarded his means, but was most generous 
 in his donations to many worthy causes and ren- 
 dered assistance to the poor that is immeasurable, 
 for it was done unostentatiously, frequently none 
 knowing about it save the recipient. 
 
 ROBERT RIDDELL. 
 
 Robert Riddell, who for many years was a re- 
 spected and prominent farmer of Marshall county, 
 was born in the parish of Glassford, Lanark, Scot- 
 land, in 1819. The days of his boyhood and youth
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 were spent in his native country and, thinking to 
 enjoy better business opportunities in the new 
 world, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States 
 in the fall of 1842 and located at Chillicothe, Il- 
 linois. He afterward removed to St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri, where he worked at his trade of shoemaking, 
 which he had mastered in his native country, but 
 ambitious to own property, when his financial re- 
 sources permitted he made investment in land, be- 
 coming owner of a farm on section 11, La Prairie 
 township, Marshall county. He then turned his 
 attention to farming and was thus engaged until 
 1849, when he went to California, attracted by 
 the discovery of gold in the hope of rapidly ac- 
 quiring wealth that has been the doom of so 
 many. There he lost both health and wealth and 
 resolved to return to the farm. Fate was more 
 kind to him in the middle west and soon he re- 
 gained his health and was once more on the high- 
 road to success. As the years passed he prospered 
 in his undertakings, carefully conducting his farm- 
 ing interests until he became the owner of a very 
 valuable property of one hundred and sixty acres, 
 on which he erected a beautiful residence and made 
 other modern improvements. He was conservative 
 in business affairs, thoroughly reliable and mani- 
 fested as well the qualities of diligence and enter- 
 prise. Thus he accumulated a goodly competence 
 and was enabled to leave his family in comfortable 
 circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Riddell was married in 1863 to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Cameron and unto them were born four chil- 
 dren : John, who is now with the Northwestern 
 Railway Company; Harriet, Margaret and Flora 
 A., all with their mother. Mr. Riddell held mem- 
 bership in the United Presbyterian church, to 
 which his family also belong. He was a school 
 director and was interested in the educational prog- 
 ress of the community. In fact he was the friend 
 of all interests that promised to be of public bene- 
 fit and his co-operation could be counted upon to 
 further many progressive public movements. Fol- 
 lowing his return from California he continuously 
 engaged in farming up to the time of his death, 
 which occurred on the 5th of August, 1893, when 
 he was seventy-four years of age. All who knew 
 him respected him and therefore his loss was the 
 occasion of deep regret to many friends as well as 
 his immediate family. 
 
 Following her husband's death Mrs. Riddell re- 
 moved to Peoria, where she resided until about 
 
 five years ago. She now makes her home in Henry, 
 where she is living with her daughters, and she 
 has attained the age of seventy-three years. 
 
 JOHN BUCHANAN. 
 
 John Buchanan, a venerable citizen of eighty- 
 three years, whose life record has won him the 
 respect and admiration of his fellowmen, was born 
 in County Tyrone, Ireland, February 23, 1823. He 
 was reared in his native country, and having ar- 
 rived at years of maturity was married there to 
 Miss Ann Gallagher, a native of Ireland, who is 
 now eighty years of age. They have traveled life's 
 journey together for about six decades, sharing 
 with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity 
 and prosperity. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan came to America in 1849, and 
 here began work at the baker's trade in Phila- 
 delphia, where he remained until 1855, when he 
 removed to Putnam county, where he has now 
 made his home for over a half century. He first 
 purchased twenty acres of land on section 31, 
 Granville township, for which he paid fifteen dol- 
 lars per acre. About four acres of this was cleared, 
 while the remainder was covered with timber. He 
 cut the trees and his wife assisted in sawing them 
 with a cross-cut saw, after which he took the logs 
 to the old Fennel sawmill, where he had them 
 converted into boards. With these he built a board 
 shanty, the boards being placed up and down after 
 the most primitive methods of building. In this 
 home they lived for twelve years, at the end of 
 which time, having prospered in his undertakings, 
 Mr. Buchanan was enabled to erect a comfortable 
 frame residence on a tract of twenty acres adjoin- 
 ing his original purchase, and which he had added 
 to his farm in the meantime. The sills in this 
 house were hewed from trees cut on the farm and 
 the lumber was hauled from Hennepin. This 
 has been their home continuously since locating 
 here in the woods, and they are among the few 
 remaining pioneers of the township left to tell the 
 story of the early days when Putnam county was 
 a frontier district and the work of improvement 
 and progress had scarcely been begun here. They 
 have vivid recollections of the early times when 
 deer were frequently seen and wild turkeys could 
 be had in abundance. Not being accustomed to 
 hunting, Mr. Buchanan never did any, but could 
 have had ample opportunity to indulge in that 
 sport had he so desired. He has seen many
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 changes in the farms and the fields and has 
 witnessed the passing of nearly all the old settlers 
 who were here when he arrived. Squire Laughlin 
 of Granville is the only one now living who was 
 a resident of the village in 1855. 
 
 Since coming to the county Mr. and Mrs. 
 Buchanan have remained continuously upon the 
 farm where they first settled and which has there- 
 fore been their home for fifty-one years. Without 
 desire to become wealthy, they have lived a happy 
 life, prosecuting their labors so as to add to their 
 home the comforts of life, yet not bending every 
 energy to the acquirement of wealth, which so 
 often precludes the opportunity of enjoying the 
 blessings of the passing day. They now own 
 eighty acres of good land and have substantial 
 improvements upon it. The farm is in good 
 shape and brings to them a competence sufficient 
 to supply them with all of the necessities and some 
 of the luxuries of life. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan have been born 
 ten children. The two eldest were natives of Phil- 
 adelphia and the first born died in that city in 
 infancy, while James passed away at the age of 
 six years. They also lost their youngest child 
 in infancy, and Mrs. Isabella Sutcliffe, who was 
 the ninth in order of birth and lived in Lostant, 
 La Salle county, has also passed away. The sur- 
 viving members of the family, in order of birth, 
 are as follows: William John, who was born in 
 Putnam county and is now living in Hancock 
 county, Iowa; Joseph A., who resides in Wright 
 county, Iowa ; George W., at home ; James T., who 
 is also a resident of the Hawkeye state; Matilda 
 J., the wife of Frank Olmstead, of La Salle, Illi- 
 nois; and Margaret Ann, the wife of Richard 
 Shepherd, who is living in Iowa. 
 
 The son, George W. Buchanan, has always made 
 his home upon the old farm, of which he now has 
 the management. He was educated in the com- 
 mon schools and was trained to the work of the 
 fields. He is now caring for his aged parents and 
 manages the home property, thus repaying his 
 father and mother by his filial devotion for their 
 love and attention to him in his youth. He has 
 certainly followed the commandment given to the 
 world ages ago to "honor thy father and thy 
 mother." Moreover, he is a man of good business 
 ability and unfaltering industry and perseverance, 
 who in the management of the home property is 
 producing good crops, for which he finds a ready 
 
 sale upon the market. In community affairs he 
 is interested and the cause of education has found 
 in him a very warm friend. He is now serving as 
 school director, and this term constitutes his 
 twelfth year in that position, although his serv- 
 ice has not been consecutive. The present contro- 
 versy in the community and the attitude held by 
 George W. Buchanan in regard to the building of 
 a new schoolhouse speaks well for his devotion to 
 the general good and certainly convinces one of 
 the popularity and esteem in which he is held in 
 his district. His political allegiance is given to the 
 republican party and he is recognized as a leading 
 representative in its local ranks. In all life's re- 
 lations he commands the respect and confidence of 
 those with whom business or social relations have 
 brought him in contact. 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan are members of 
 the Congregational church. In earlier years they 
 joined the Presbyterian church, but have since 
 transferred their allegiance. In politics Mr. 
 Buchanan has always been a republican, but has 
 never aspired to office. Both he and his wife en- 
 joy good health for people of their age and theirs 
 has been a most interesting record. Coming to 
 the new world empty-handed but hopeful and 
 courageous, they started out to establish a home 
 here, and as the years have passed have been 
 enabled to enjoy the comforts of life and have 
 reared a family who are a credit and honor to 
 their name. No history of this community would 
 be complete without mention of this worthy couple 
 who have so long traveled life's journey together. 
 
 LUTHER D. WILLIAMS. 
 
 Luther D. Williams, who for fifty-two years 
 has been a resident of Steuben township and is 
 familiar with its history from pioneer times to 
 the present period of prosperity and progress, was 
 born in Marietta, Ohio, on the llth of January. 
 1836. Robert Williams, grandfather of Luther 
 D. Williams, was a native of Wales, and emi- 
 grated to America, settling in Pennsylvania in 
 1798. His son, Thomas Williams, was a native 
 of Pennsylvania, born north of Philadelphia on 
 the 17th of January, 1798. He was a farmer, 
 and in the year 1854 came with his family to 
 Illinois, being twenty-thr,ee days upon the road." 
 His son Luther drove one of the wagons on that 
 trip. They only passed one building between 
 Urbana and Paris, Illinois, and it was a kind
 
 254 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 of a tavern. Prior to this time Mr. Williams 
 of this review never saw a man with a cattle 
 whip, and he also saw his first prairie chickens 
 on this prairie. No regular roads had been laid 
 out and they drove on over the prairie, crossing 
 the sloughs and other depressions of the ground, 
 which made travel by wagon very hard. At length 
 the family home was established on section 29, 
 Steuben township, where Luther D. Williams yet 
 resides. The father was fifty-six years of age at 
 the time of his arrival, and was in poor health. 
 He purchased one hundred acres of land, but was 
 not long permitted to enjoy his now home, for his 
 death occurred in 1858, when he was sixty-one 
 years of age. He was a Jacksonian democrat, 
 and both he and his wife were members of the 
 Baptist Theological Seminary of Chicago, which 
 he called the Theological Baptist church tho 
 only one of the kind at that time. Mrs. Williams 
 bore the maiden name of Jane M. Guitto and 
 was born in Fearing township, Washington 
 county, Ohio, November 5, 1811, her father being 
 Benjamin Guitto. 
 
 Luther D. Williams was an only child and was 
 reared in the east to the age of eighteen years, 
 during which time he acquired a fair public 
 school education. He then accompanied his par- 
 ents on their removal to Illinois, and, as before 
 stated, drove a team across the country. He has 
 now lived in Steuben township for more than a 
 half century. He attended the Yankee street 
 school, which was. the second schoolhouse built in 
 the township, the lumber all being haxiled from 
 Chicago. He began farming on his own account 
 in the spring of 1859 and being the only child 
 he inherited the old homestead place from his 
 father, comprising one hundred acres of land. To 
 this he has since added, however, until he now has 
 a valuable property of three hundred and thirty- 
 seven acres which he has brought under a high 
 state of cultivation and which has become thereby 
 a valuable property. He has also added to it 
 many modern improvements and now has- one 
 of the most desirable farms of the county. In 
 1862 he began running a threshing machine, pur- 
 chasing the first machine of Dana Hull, of 
 Henry. He has owned four different machines 
 and he continued actively in threshing until 1887, 
 since which time his son has carried on the busi- 
 ness. He also owns three hundred and twenty 
 acres in Crawford coiinty, Michigan. 
 
 Mr. Williams was married December 29, 1860, 
 to Miss Harriet Carver, who was born in New- 
 port township, Washington county, Ohio. They 
 played together when children, but never met 
 again until the Carver family started for Iowa 
 in 1854. Passing through Illinois, they stopped 
 for a visit at the home of the Williams family and 
 concluded to remain in this state. The early 
 acquaintance of the young people was resumed and 
 the friendship ripened into love, being consum- 
 mated in marriage in 1860. The wedding was 
 celebrated in Steuben township about two miles 
 from Mr. Williams' present farm. The lady was 
 a daughter of James F. and Sarah (Toothacher) 
 Carver, the former a native of Newport township, 
 Washington county, Ohio, and the latter of Vir- 
 ginia. The father, who was a cooper by trade, 
 died in McLean county, Illinois, in 1892. Mrs. 
 Carver and the mother of our subject were school 
 children together. Mr. and Mrs. Luther D. 
 Williams traveled life's journey happily as- man 
 and wife for forty-three years and were then 
 separated through the death of Mrs. Williams on 
 the 29th of September, 1903. She had gained 
 many friends in the community, so that her loss 
 was deeply regretted throughout this part of the 
 county as well as by her immediate family. Unto 
 them had been born six children : Timothy J., 
 who wedded Mary Thomas, of Chillicothe, Illi- 
 nois, now follows farming on section 32, Steuben 
 township. J. Thomas, living on section 29, Steu- 
 ben township, married Amelia Hill, who died in 
 February, 1892, leaving one son. Eoscoe is 
 operating a threshing machine. Mary A. W. is 
 the wife of Joseph Hart, and they live with her 
 father, her husband conducting the home farm. 
 Charles D., born July 14, 1867, died in 1889. 
 James Howel died very suddenly in 1892. He 
 was planting corn on Wednesday, and on Friday 
 he passed away. 
 
 Mr. Williams served as collector of Steuben 
 township in 1865, and collected ten thousand 
 dollars, which was the largest collection ever made 
 in the township. He has also been road com- 
 missioner. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge 
 at Chillicothe, of which he has been a member for 
 a quarter of a century. His long residence in the 
 county has made him widely known, while his 
 many good qualities have gained for him the 
 favorable regard of those with whom business or 
 social relations have brought him in contact. He
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 >.-> 5 
 
 has worked diligently and perseveringly in the 
 conduct and improvement of his farm, which is 
 today a valuable property, making him one of the 
 leading agriculturists of the community. 
 
 JASPER NEWTON YOUNG. 
 
 Jasper Newton Young, who is engaged in gen- 
 eral farming on section 8, Whitefield township, 
 was born in Birchwood, Tennessee, on the 25th 
 of November, 1868, and is one of the eleven 
 children of John Rufus and Katherine (Bare) 
 Young, who were likewise natives of Tennessee. 
 The father has devoted his entire life to farm- 
 ing, and by following that occupation has pro- 
 vided for his family. He and his wife now re- 
 side at School, Missouri, and unto them have 
 been born eleven children, of whom nine are now 
 living: William Henry; Lodeamie, the wife of 
 Robert Estes; Mary Alice, the wife of William 
 Kemp; Charles Franklin; John Arthur; Annie, 
 the wife of Thomas Welch ; Frederick ; Lawrence ; 
 and Jasper Newton. 
 
 When Jasper N. Young, of this review, wa 
 only a year and a half old the parents started 
 for Missouri, traveling with ox teams and spend- 
 ing seven and a half weeks on the road between 
 their old home in Tennessee and Billings, Mis- 
 souri. On reaching their destination the father 
 purchased land and began farming, the boys work- 
 ing with him in the arduous task of developing 
 and cultivating a new farm. In citizenship he 
 has displayed many good qualities and he sup- 
 ports the republican party by his ballot, while 
 his religious faith is indicated by his membership 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 It was in the district schools of Stone county, 
 Missouri, that Jasper N. Young acquired his 
 education and after leaving school he began earn- 
 ing his own living by working as a farm hand 
 for others. He was thus employed for two years, 
 but ambitious to enjoy better educational privi- 
 leges he then resumed study in Chattanooga, Ten- 
 nessee. Subsequently he came to Illinois, set- 
 tling in Whitefield township, Marshall county, in 
 the spring of 1892. Here he has since made his 
 home and he is now cultivating a small but 
 good farm of thirty-one acres which he has brought 
 under a high state of cultivation. He is also 
 well known as a raiser of fine poultry and makes 
 a specialty of barred Plymouth Rocks. 
 
 In 1894 Mr. Young was united in marriage to 
 
 Miss Fannie Fountain, a daughter of Edward and 
 Elizabeth Fountain, of Whitefield. They now 
 have four children : Lola Arietta and Harry Glen, 
 who are in school ; and Clyde W. and Florence, 
 yet at home. 
 
 Mr. Young holds membership relations with 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, being identified 
 with Whitefield camp, No. 1653, of which he is 
 now serving as clerk. He also belongs to Gem 
 lodge, No. 572, I. 0. 0. F., and is a worthy ex- 
 emplar of the beneficent principles upon which 
 these organizations are based. He has served as 
 school treasurer for twelve years and has proved 
 a capable incumbent in the office of assessor for 
 a number of years, the duties devolving upon him 
 being promptly and faithfully performed. He 
 gives his political support to the republican party. 
 His life is characterized by high and honorable 
 principles and his actions are manly and sincere, 
 while in his business relations he has been found 
 straightforward and reliable as well as indus- 
 trious and enterprising. 
 
 WILLIAM W. DEWEY. 
 
 William W. Dewey, engaged in the grain trade, 
 has been a resident of Henry since 1901 and 
 operates at various points in this section of the 
 state. A native of Vermont, he was born in Essex 
 county on the 14th of July, 1851. His father, 
 Harry H. Dewey, was a native of the Green 
 Mountain state and died in the year 1900. Com- 
 ing to Illinois in 1863, he settled at Sheffield, 
 Bureau county, where he resided for a few years 
 and then removed to Van Buren county, Iowa. 
 There he engaged in farming until he had reached 
 the evening of life, when he returned to Sheffield, 
 where he passed away at the venerable age of 
 ninety years. He filled the office of justice of the 
 peace and his decisions were strictly fair and im- 
 partial. His religious faith was indicated by his 
 membership in the Congregational church and his 
 long life of usefulness and activity was crowned 
 with the honor and respect which should ever be 
 accorded so venerable a man. He wedded Mary 
 Louise Cummings, a native of Montpelier, Ver- 
 mont, and she, too, has passed away. In their 
 family were six children, of whom four sons and 
 a daughter are yet living. 
 
 William W. Dewey, leaving the Green Mountain 
 state, accompanied his parents on their removal to 
 Illinois when a youth of twelve years and after-
 
 256 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 ward went to Iowa. His early educational privi- 
 leges, such as were afforded by the public schools 
 of New England and of Bureau county, were sup- 
 plemented by study in Iowa College and in the 
 preparatory schools of that state. In early man- 
 hood he became connected with the coal trade, be- 
 ing employed on a salary by a coal company at 
 Sheffield. The grain business, however, has been 
 his principal life work and he has conducted opera- 
 tions in this line at Sheffield, Mineral and Henry, 
 removing to the last named city in 1901. Here he 
 has built up an excellent trade, his business prov- 
 ing a good market for the grain producers of the 
 surrounding country. His purchases and ship- 
 ments are now extensive and he is a leading repre- 
 sentative of this line of business activity in Mar- 
 shall county. 
 
 Mr. Dewey was married in 1876 to Miss May 
 Williams, of Sheffield, Illinois, the wedding being 
 celebrated in Sheffield. Unto them have been born 
 four children: Margaret L., now the wife of R. 
 R. Curtis, of Sheffield ; Charles B., who is assistant 
 in his father's office; Homer H., who was gradu- 
 ated from the University of Illinois in 190(5 ; and 
 William H., who is now a student in the high 
 school of Henry. The parents and family attend 
 and are members of the Unitarian church and in 
 Henry they have a wide circle of acquaintance in 
 those homes where true worth and intelligence are 
 received as the passports into good society. Mr. 
 Dewey gives his political allegiance to the repub- 
 lican party and has served as trustee of the schools 
 and as alderman of the Third ward. His inter- 
 est in community affairs has been manifest in the 
 tangible support which he has given to many bene- 
 ficial public measures and his position in trade 
 circles is indicated by the confidence reposed in 
 him by those who have had business dealings with 
 him. 
 
 MELCH1 GROVE. 
 
 Melchi Grove, deceased, was for many years 
 identified with farming interests in Marshall 
 county. He was born in Lewisburg, Pennsylva- 
 nia, in 1820 and when but six years of age ac- 
 companied his parents on their removal from the 
 Keystone state to Ohio, acquiring his education 
 in the schools of Portage county. At the same 
 time Amelia Clemmer was numbered among the 
 pupils of that school and the friendship which 
 they formed in early days afterward ripened into 
 
 love and was consummated in marriage in Ohio 
 in 1843. She was born in 1821 in Upper Canada 
 and was only six years of age when her parents 
 removed to the Buckeye state, locating about four 
 miles, from Canton, where she was reared and edu- 
 cated. Her ancestors were of Holland Dutch ex- 
 traction and came to America with William Penn, 
 settling in the colony of Pennsylvania. Her 
 father, Joseph Clemmer, was a native of the Key- 
 stone state and married Nina Swartz, who was 
 also born in that state. They spent their last days 
 in Ohio, the former passing away at the age of 
 seventy-four years and the latter at the advanced 
 age of eighty-eight years. In politics he was a 
 republican. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Grove began their domestic life 
 in Ohio, where they lived for six years after their 
 marriage, and then came to Illinois in the fall 
 of 1848, locating near Farmington. In the year 
 1850 they took up their abode upon the farm in 
 La Prairie township where Mrs. Grove has since 
 resided, Mr. Grove there carrying on general ag- 
 ricultural pursuits until his life's labors were 
 ended in death in the spring of 1881. He started 
 upon his business career empty handed, but pos- 
 sessed a resolute spirit and unfaltering determina- 
 tion and ; these qualities served him in place of cap- 
 ital and enabled him to work his way upward until 
 he was comfortably situated in life. He owned at 
 the time of his demise one hundred and fifty-four 
 acres of, land. At the outbreak of the Civil war 
 he joined the army, becoming a member of the 
 Eighty-sixth Illinois Regiment, but was discharged 
 on account of illness. He was always progressive 
 and public spirited in citizenship and for six 
 years lie held the' office of justice of the peace, 
 the duties of which he discharged with promptness 
 and fidelity, his decisions being strictly fair and 
 impartial. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Grove were born the follow- 
 ing named: John, who is engaged in the real- 
 estate business in Dixon ; Henry, a machinist, re- 
 siding in Moline, Illinois; Reuben, who was born 
 in 1847 and died in 1872; Montgomery, who was 
 a twin brother of Reuben and passed away in 
 1855; Clara, who was born September 15, 1851, 
 married David Lapsley and died in October, 1886 ; 
 Belle, who was born in 1856 and married Jerome 
 Willard, living in La Prairie township; Shirley, 
 who was born in 1858 and died in 1886; and 
 Sheridan, who married Elsie Stewart and is farm-
 
 '
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 259 
 
 ing in La Prairie township. Three of the sons 
 were soldiers of the Civil war, belonging to the 
 Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry. John served for 
 three years and four months and participated in 
 twenty-one battles. Both he and Reuben entered 
 the service as drummer boys, the latter being then 
 in his teens. 
 
 Mrs. Grove still survives her husband and has 
 always remained true to his memory, having never 
 married again. She lias long been a devoted and 
 faithful member of the Congregational church and 
 is a most highly esteemed Jady. She is now num- 
 bered among the pioneer residents of Marshall 
 county, where she has lived for more than half 
 a century, having made her home upon her pres- 
 ent farm since 1850. With the passing years she 
 has witnessed many changes and has noted with 
 interest the growth and development of the county. 
 
 WILLIAM MONIER, 
 
 It has been said that "biography is the only 
 true history" and the truth of this assertion is 
 verified in the life records of such men as William 
 Monier men who make the history of their re- 
 spective communities by reason of the extent and 
 prominence of their business interests and their 
 activity in promoting the welfare and prosperity 
 of the counties in which they live. William 
 Monier is certainly deserving of mention on the 
 pages of this volume, as he is one of the most 
 prominent and prosperous agriculturists of Mar- 
 shall county and one of its most extensive land 
 owners, his possessions aggregating fourteen hun- 
 dred acres. He is, moreover, entitled to praise by 
 reason of the fact that all that he possesses has 
 been acquired through his own labors and his life 
 record demonstrates that success is ambition's 
 answer. 
 
 A native of the Isle of Man, Mr. Monier was 
 born May 1, 1834, his father being William 
 Monier, Sr. The family is of French descent, the 
 great-great-grandfather of our subject having been 
 a native of France. William Monier, Sr., was 
 born on the Isle of Man in 1800 and was a miller 
 by trade but in his later years devoted his energies 
 to agricultural pursuits. In 1850 he crossed the 
 Atlantic to the new world with his family and set- 
 tled upon a farm twenty miles west of Peoria. He 
 started out in business life empty-handed but he 
 and his family all worked together and soon ac- 
 cumulated quite a little fortune. He crossed the 
 
 water on a sailing vessel called the Acma Aglasgo 
 and were twenty-one days on the voyage. It, how- 
 ever, required a longer time for them to come from 
 New York to Peoria, Illinois, than it did to cross 
 the ocean. They made the journey all the way by 
 water, going from New York city to Albany by 
 steamer, thence by way of the Erie canal to Buf- 
 falo, from Buffalo around the lakes to Chicago and 
 then by canal to La Salle county and by way of 
 the river to Peoria. They located at Brimfield, 
 Illinois, where they remained for six years and 
 then removed to Saratoga township, Marshall 
 county, in 1857, settling at a place called Camp 
 Grove. The wife and mother bore the maiden 
 name of Jane Quaile and their family numbered 
 five sons and three daughters : John, who died in 
 Saratoga township in June, 1890, at the age of 
 sixty-two years; Catherine, who became the wife 
 John Neil, and died in Marshall county, while Mr. 
 Neil passed away in Peoria county, leaving one 
 child who was named for his father and who died 
 at the age of twenty-four years ; Anna, who died in 
 1851 at the age of eighteen years ; Margaret, who 
 married Patrick Collins and died in February, 
 1895; Thomas, living in Henry, Illinois; James, 
 formerly a resident of Emerson, Nebraska, but 
 now in South Dakota; and Charles, living in 
 Bosworth, Carroll county, Missouri. Upon the 
 farm in Saratoga township the parents continued 
 to reside until they departed this life, the mother 
 passing away in May, 1884, while the father died 
 on the 4th of November of the same year, both 
 being more than ninety years of age. Their son 
 John also died on that farm. 
 
 William Monier, of this review, was a youth of 
 fifteen years when he accompanied his parents to 
 America and after the family home was estab- 
 lished in Peoria county he and his brother John 
 began working as farm hands in that locality and, 
 saving their money, purchased an eighty-acre 
 tract of partially improved land on which was a 
 small house. It was that house that was the 
 family home until the spring of 1857, when they 
 came to Marshall county, settling in Saratoga 
 township, where all worked together for a year. 
 William Monier, Jr., remained at home until he 
 was twenty-eight years of age, when he started out 
 in life on his own account, purchasing eighty acres 
 of land near that of his brother John in Sara- 
 toga township. From time to time he has added 
 to his possessions until he now owns about four-
 
 2(10 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 teen hundred acres of land, of which three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres lies in Bureau county about 
 two and a half miles from Broadmoor. His suc- 
 cess has been the result of almost ceaseless toil 
 and the accumulation of many years. In addition 
 to his farm lands he has about forty head of high- 
 bred Norman Percheron horses and he also owns 
 a fourth interest in a full-blood Percheron stallion. 
 He likewise has a fine herd of shorthorn cattle 
 and is today one of the most prominent farmers 
 and stock raisers of Marshall county. He has 
 made extensive improvements upon his farm, in- 
 cluding the erection of a beautiful and commodi- 
 ous residence, together with all necessary outbuild- 
 ings for the shelter of grain and stock. His land 
 is richly cultivated and his life has certainly been 
 a successful one, owing to his close application and 
 his unremitting diligence. He has won many prizes 
 on his exhibits of stock at the Wyoming fair, in 
 which he has been interested from its inception. 
 
 Mr. Monier was married on the 25th of Decem- 
 ber, 1860, to Miss Wilmina Doran, who was born 
 at Frederickton Junction, New Brunswick, July 5, 
 1841. Her father, James Doran, was a native of 
 Dublin, Ireland, and moved from the Emerald Isle 
 to the Isle of Man, after which he crossed the Atlan- 
 tic to Canada and thence came to Illinois in 1850. 
 At one time he was the owner of four hundred 
 and eighty acres of land, which he divided among 
 his children. In politics he was a stalwart repub- 
 lican. His birth occurred in 1813 and he passed 
 away in 1893 at the age of eighty years. His wife 
 bore the maiden name of Rebecca Maxwell and was 
 bom in County Tyrone, Ireland. Their marriage 
 was celebrated at Frederickton Junction. After 
 living for some years in Illinois they removed to 
 Chase, Rice county, Kansas, where the death of 
 the father occurred and the mother still makes her 
 home there. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Doran were born the follow- 
 ing named : Mary Jane, now living in Irwin 
 county, Iowa ; John, who died in Nodaway county, 
 Missouri; Edward, a resident of Topeka, Kansas; 
 William, of Oklahoma ; Margaret, of Nodaway 
 county, Missouri; Thomas, who is living in Isa- 
 belle, Barton county, Kansas ; Andrew, who was a 
 member of Company E, Eighty-sixth Illinois In- 
 fantry, and died from a wound at Chattanooga, 
 Tennessee ; Robert, a twin brother of Andrew, now 
 a resident of Henry, Illinois ; and Phebe, who is 
 living in Stafford county, Kansas. 
 
 Mrs. Monier came to Illinois with her parents 
 in 1850 when a little maiden of nine summers, 
 the family home being established in Marshall 
 county. They made the journey from Chicago by 
 canal to La Salle and thence to Lacon by way of 
 the river. After a short time, however, they re- 
 moved from Lacon to the farm which is now 
 owned by Mr. Monier on section 6, Steuben town- 
 ship. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Monier have been 
 born seven children: Charles, who married Mina 
 Smith and has three children ; Edward, who wed- 
 ded Clara Casey; Annaj Alice, Thomas, John and 
 Halsey, all at home. 
 
 In his political affiliation Mr. Monier is a stal- 
 wart republican, having given his support to the 
 party since casting his ballot for Lincoln in 1860. 
 He has been road commissioner for three years 
 and school director for thirty years, serving at the 
 present time. Both he and his wife are members 
 of the Methodist church and are most highly es- 
 teemed people. He has lived at peace with all men 
 and in his business life has never taken advantage 
 of the necessities of a fellowman in any business 
 transaction but has placed his dependence upon 
 the safe and substantial qualities of untiring labor 
 and careful management. It has been through his 
 judicious investment and his unceasing toil that 
 he has won a most gratifying measure of success 
 and become one of the large land owners of the 
 county. 
 
 REV. GUSTAF ERIKSON. 
 
 Rev. Gustaf Erikson, minister of the Bethany 
 Lutheran church at Wenona, was born at Stora 
 Tuna, Falulan, Sweden, June 12, 1867, his pa- 
 rents being Erick Hanson and Anna (Johnson) 
 Hanson, who were natives of Sweden. The father 
 was a farmer by occupation and both he and his 
 wife died in their native land. They had five 
 children, three daughters and two sons. 
 
 Rev. Gustaf Erikson was educated in the pub- 
 lic schools of Sweden and was reared to the work 
 of the farm. In 1888 he sailed for America, 
 landing at New York and there passing through 
 the famous Castle Garden. He went to Negaunee, 
 Michigan, where he worked in a sawmill for 
 several months and afterward removed to Repub- 
 lic, Michigan, where he was employed in the 
 ore mines for about a year. On the expiration of 
 that period he proceeded to Rock Island, Illinois, 
 having determined to enter the ministry, and in 
 that city he matriculated in Augustana College,
 
 (n^.
 
 TAST AND 1'HKSKNT OK M AUS1I A 1,1. AM) ITTXAM COT N'I'I F.S. 
 
 263 
 
 where ho pursued the regular theological course, 
 being ordained in Moline, Illinois, in June, 1897. 
 He immediately came to Wenona, Illinois, where 
 he lias since had charge of the Bethany Lutheran 
 church and here he has done a splendid work, 
 building up a large congregation, the member- 
 ship now numbering about three hundred and 
 fifty, this being a growth of two hundred during 
 his pastorate, for the church numbered only one 
 hundred and fifty at the time of his arrival. The 
 attendance at the Sunday-school has also largely 
 grown, there being now more than one hundred 
 children. Mr. Erikson has made many friends 
 in this section of the state. He has also conducted 
 a small church at Streator, one at Granville and 
 another at Utica, to all of which he gives his 
 personal care and supervision. His life is a very 
 busy one, devoted to the welfare of mankind and 
 the dissemination of the truths of the gospel. 
 In Wenona the congregation owns a good house 
 of worship and also a handsome parsonage. Mr. " 
 Erikson in connection with his other church work 
 publishes a small Swedish magazine, the Betania 
 H emmet, which has a circulation of about fifteen 
 hundred copies among his parishioners. It is pub- 
 lished in the Index office at Wenona, 
 
 On the 27th of April, 1898, was celebrated the 
 marriage of Rev. Erikson and Miss Marie Ede, 
 a native of Rock Island, ; Illinois. She is of 
 much assistance to him in the work of the church 
 and among his parishioners. Of firm purpose and 
 of unfaltering zeal, giving his life for the benefit 
 of his fellowmen. Rev. Erikson has accomplished 
 a great and good work in Wenona and in this 
 part of the state. 
 
 JOSEPH CALEY. 
 
 Joseph Caley is identified with the development 
 of the natural resources of Marshall county and is 
 now operating in the coal fields, being a well 
 known representative of the mining interests of 
 Whitefield township. His home is on section 22 
 of that township and in this locality he has spent 
 the greater part of his life. He was born in Staf- 
 fordshire, England, on the 22d of February, 1843, 
 and was a son of John Caley, also a native of Eng- 
 land, whence he came to America about seven years 
 prior to the arrival of his son Joseph. The year 
 of his emigration was 1851 and he made his way 
 into British America, where he accepted the 
 position of foreman for the London Coal Com- 
 pany. He afterward returned to the United States 
 
 and located midway between Lacon and Peoria, 
 where he opened coal mines. Subsequently he re- 
 moved to Marshall county and again was con- 
 nected with the development of the rich coal fields 
 of this part of the state. As soon as he took up 
 his abode in this country he took out naturaliza- 
 tion papers and was ever most loyal in his citizen- 
 ship, being a stalwart champion of the institutions 
 of our free republic. He was a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and in its 
 work took a most active and helpful part, while 
 his life was characterized by his faithful following 
 of its teachings. He died about twelve years ago 
 at the age of seventy, having long survived his 
 wife, who died when their son Joseph was only 
 two and a half years of age. 
 
 The subject of this review is a self-educated and 
 a self-made man and an understanding of his in- 
 tellectual progress and his advancement in the 
 material things of life awakens admiration and 
 respect. He has, by reading, observation and ex- 
 perience, continually broadened his knowledge and 
 is today a well informed man. Moreover, he has 
 prospered in his business undertakings and he cer- 
 tainly deserves much credit for what he has ac- 
 complished. He came to America in 1858 when a 
 youth of fifteen years and from that time to the 
 present has been dependent upon his own re- 
 sources. When the Civil war was in progress he 
 felt that his duty to his country was paramount to 
 all other interests and in 1862 he enlisted as a 
 private, becoming a member of Company K, One 
 Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, joining the regiment at Pontiac, although 
 his enrollment was at Moline, Illinois. He then 
 served until the close of the war and participated 
 in many hotly contested and sanguinary engage- 
 ments. He was wounded in the battle of Golds- 
 boro, South Carolina, and he faced the rebel fire 
 on many another battlefield, including Perryville, 
 Stone River, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge 
 and the siege of Atlanta. He had many narrow 
 escapes from injury and death and it was on the 
 16th of March, 1865, that he sustained a wound. 
 
 When the country no longer needed his military 
 aid Mr. Caley returned to the north and has since 
 been a factor in the business life of this portion 
 of the state. He now owns thirty-six acres of rich 
 coal lands on which he has opened mines that 
 are now being successfully operated and the out- 
 put finds a ready sale on the market, bringing to
 
 264 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 him a merited and gratifying financial income. 
 
 On the 25th of December, 1867, Mr. Caley was 
 united in marriage to Miss Augusta Owen, a lady 
 of German birth. The wedding was celebrated in 
 Rock Island county, Illinois, and unto them have 
 been born nine children : Elizabeth Ann, who was 
 born August 20, 1868, and is the wife of Dennis 
 Farlin, a fanner of Kansas ; John Frederick, who 
 was born March 9, 1871, and died March 9, 1885 ; 
 Augusta Owen, who was born July 7, 1872, and is 
 the wife of Hiram Monier, who lives near Brad- 
 ford, Illinois ; Tama Jane, who was born May 12, 
 1874, and is living in Kansas; Sarah Alice, born 
 October 1, 1876, and now deceased; Mary Joseph- 
 ine, who was born June 18, 1879, and now the wife 
 Clark C. Righthouse, a farmer residing near Brad- 
 ford, Marshall county; Mrs. Clara Belle Motell, 
 who was born March 9, 1881, and lives south of 
 Sparland ; Joseph Sherman, who was born January 
 23, 1885, and died on the 9th of March of the 
 same year ; and Rosa Emma, who was born Octo- 
 ber 27, 1888, and is now the wife of Roy Rowe, 
 living in Whitefield township. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Caley have reared a family of whom they have 
 every reason to be proud and have lived to see 
 them become comfortably situated in life. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Caley is independent and he has always 
 been so busy that he has had no time to take part 
 in political work. He is a member of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic and is as true and loyal in 
 his duties of citizenship as when he followed the 
 old flag upon southern battlefields. His is a most 
 creditable record and should serve a& a source of 
 emulation and encouragement to others, for start- 
 ing out in life empty-handed when a young lad 
 he soon came to a realization of the fact that suc- 
 cess is the reward of enterprise and diligence and 
 it has been along these lines that he has made ad- 
 vancement, from a humble financial position to 
 one of affluence. 
 
 JEROME HOWE. 
 
 Jerome Howe, banker and capitalist of Wenona, 
 is too well known in Marshall county and Illinois 
 to need special introduction to the readers of this 
 volume. His business interests are so important 
 and extensive as to make him a representative citi- 
 zen of the state and his strict conformity to a high 
 standard of business ethics stands as an unques- 
 tioned fact in his career. The secret of his suc- 
 cess lies in his ready recognition and utilization 
 
 of opportunities, his quick solution of intricate 
 business problems and his ready adaptability of 
 the means at hand toward the accomplishment of 
 desired ends. All this entitles Mr. Howe to prom- 
 inent mention in the history of his county and 
 moreover he is descended from an ancestry honor- 
 able and distinguished. 
 
 Born in Mount Palatine, Putnam county, Illi- 
 nois, August 1, 1848, he is a son of Peter and 
 Arvilla (Park) Howe, natives of Vermont and 
 Massachusetts, respectively, while the mother was 
 a sister of the well known George Park. Her par- 
 ents came to Illinois just a year prior to the Black 
 Hawk war and settled in Pekin, Tazewell county. 
 They were farming people and afterward took up 
 their abode upon a farm near Pekin. At that time 
 the country was full of Indians and it required 
 great personal courage to settle alone in the forest 
 and aid in the reclamation of the frontier for the 
 purposes of civilization. However, bravery has 
 ever been a distinguishing characteristic of the 
 family. Various representatives of the name served 
 as soldiers of the Revolutionary war and two were 
 ranking officers. George S. Park, brother of Mrs. 
 Arvilla Howe, served as state senator from Mis- 
 souri and was a very prominent man. He was a 
 soldier of the Mexican war and was the founder of 
 the town of Parkville, Missouri a few miles from 
 Kansas City, although the latter place had not yet 
 been established. He opened a trading post for 
 dealing with the Indians to whom he traded a con- 
 siderable amount of clothing (purchased from the 
 government) for land. He became the owner of 
 several thousand acres of land in various states 
 from Maine to Texas. He was in the latter state 
 at the time of the massacre in the Alamo, when he 
 and only one other soldier escaped the butchery of 
 the savage Mexican troops. He died at Magnolia, 
 Putnam county, Illinois, after a most eventful 
 career, distinguished by military service, political 
 prominence and business successes. 
 
 The Howe family was established in the middle 
 west about 1835 and Peter Howe, then a single 
 man, went to St. Louis, where he worked at the 
 mason's trade and also engaged in contracting 
 along that line. He remained for some time in 
 that city and was the builder of Shurtleff College 
 at Alton, Illinois, and also some of the first large 
 brick buildings in St. Louis. A singular coinci- 
 dence in his life was the fact that he and Asa L. 
 Hill started from Buffalo, New York, together and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 thus drove through to St. Louis. They made the 
 journey in a sled, but carried with them some 
 wagon wheels as a precaution lest the snow should 
 melt and they would be unable to continue on run- 
 ners. Atfer leaving St. Louis, Mr. Howe made 
 his way up the river and when he had accumulated 
 a little money he went to Magnolia, Putnam 
 county, Illinois, on a visit, and while there entered 
 land a quarter section at a time. He would chop 
 and split enough posts in the winter to fence a 
 quarter section in the summer. He finally settled 
 at Mount Palatine, Illinois, and in the fall of 
 1859 removed to Wenona, where he retained his 
 residence until called to his final home, November 
 11, 1888. His time was given to the supervision 
 of his landed interest, which had become quite 
 extensive, for as his financial resources increased 
 and favorable opportunity offered he made 
 investment in real estate. In antebellum days he 
 was a strong abolitionist, advocating the cause 
 when it was very .unpopular to do so. He was a 
 warn personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, David 
 Davis, Owen Lovejoy and other leaders in the 
 ' political movements of that period and his interest 
 in the negro question led him to found the Howe 
 Institute at Memphis, Tennessee, and also the one 
 at New Iberia, Louisiana, for the education of the 
 colored people both schools still in existence and 
 doing well. His was a work of philanthropy and 
 was thus of great benefit to the race. His wife 
 died on the same day of his death, both being mur- 
 dered. In the family were three daughters and 
 two sons : Mrs. M. A. Ervin, of Galesburg, Illi- 
 nois ; Mrs. L. J. Hodge, who died in 1889 ; Jerome ; 
 Charles ; and Ida E. 
 
 Educated in Knox College, at Galesburg, Illi- 
 nois, Jerome Howe afterward had the supervision 
 of his father's farms for a number of years. In 
 1883 he joined his father and brother in the bank- 
 ing business at Wenona and in 1889 he .purchased 
 his brother's interest and has since been alone in . 
 the ownership and conduct of the institution, 
 which is recognized as one of the strongest finan- 
 cial concerns in this state, having back of it val- 
 uable real estate interests. A general banking 
 business is carried on, of which his sons, Charles 
 R. and Walter V., largely have charge, while Mr. 
 Howe gives his attention principally to the super- 
 vision of his extensive landed interest in New Mex- 
 ico, Louisiana, Texas, Iowa, Illinois and other 
 states. His business interests and investments are 
 
 found in so many parts of the country that he 
 necessarily spends much of his time away from 
 Wenona, in the supervision of his extensive busi- 
 ness affairs. He is largely interested in the oil 
 fields of Kansas and the oil refinery in Kansas 
 City. 
 
 Mr. Howe's first introduction to the "negro 
 problem"' came when a small boy. His father, a 
 champion of abolition, kept a darkey over night. 
 Mr. Howe had never before seen a member of the 
 colored race and asked his mother why the man 
 did not wash his face. He was also very much 
 afraid of the man whose black would not wash off. 
 He was reared in the faith of the republican party, 
 formed to prevent the further extension of slavery, 
 and has usually supported its candidates, but has 
 never been active in political work, as his atten- 
 tion has been fully occupied with his extensive 
 business interests. 
 
 On the 5th of June, 1872, Mr. Howe was mar- 
 ried to Miss Fannie Hall, a native of Pike county, 
 Illinois, and they have two sons and two daugh- 
 ters: Cora, wife of C. H. Pingrey, of Blooming- 
 ton; Charles R., of Wenona; Walter V. and Char- 
 lotte A. The family are members of the Presby- 
 terian church and are welcome guests in the homes 
 where culture and refinement are supreme, while 
 their own home is the scene of many a delightful 
 social function. Mr. Howe has always resided in 
 the middle west and has ever been imbued with the 
 spirit of enterprise and progress which has led to 
 the rapid and substantial upbuilding of this sec- 
 tion of the country and while a man of wealth, he 
 has allowed the accumulation of a fortune to affect 
 in no degree his relations with his friends of 
 earlier years less forunate in the business world. 
 He measures a man by character, not by posses- 
 sions, and his own sterling worth has made him 
 one of the most respected citizens of Marshall 
 countv. 
 
 WILLIAM HORROCKS. 
 
 William Horrocks is a self-made man and as 
 the architect of his own fortunes he builded wisely 
 and well. For a considerable period he was close- 
 ly identified with agricultural and industrial in- 
 terests in Whitefield township and was accounted 
 one of its representative business men, but is now 
 practically living retired, having turned over his 
 business to his two youngest sons. 
 
 A native of England, Mr. Horrocks was born
 
 PAST AND PKESKXT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUXTIES. 
 
 in Lanarkshire on the 24th of November, 1830, 
 and is a son of William N. and Margaret (Tis^ 
 dell) Horrocks, who were likewise natives of Eng- 
 land, the mother having been born in Westmore- 
 land county. Both are now deceased. In their 
 family were eight children : John, James, George, 
 Benjamin, William, Elizabeth, Mary and Isabella. 
 
 The boyhood days of William Horrocks passed 
 without event of special importance to vary the 
 routine of life for him. He was trained to habits 
 of industry and economy and was educated in pri- 
 vate schools and also took a course in music. Af- 
 ter reaching manhood he gave careful considera- 
 tion to the business outlook, weighing the chances 
 for advancement in his native country with the 
 opportunities of the new world and, deciding that 
 the latter were more favorable, he came to the 
 United States in 1852, landing in October. He 
 had previously worked in his native country as a 
 coal miner and after reaching the new world, his 
 financial resources being so limited as to render 
 immediate employment a necessity, he secured 
 work in the coal mines and was thus engaged in 
 several states in the Union. He became a resi- 
 dent of Illinois in 1855 and took up his abode in 
 Marshall county in 1865. The years witnessed his 
 steady progress and he gradually advanced from a 
 humble financial position until he had acquired 
 capital sufficient to enable him to purchase land. 
 He became the owner of one hundred and ten 
 acres, constituting an excellent farm on section 6, 
 Whitefield township. Here in connection with the 
 tilling of the soil he also engaged extensively in 
 raising hogs, which proved a profitable branch of 
 his business. He likewise had good coal banks 
 upon his place and was engaged successfully in 
 mining, but now leaves the active management of 
 his business affairs to his sons. 
 
 Mr. Horrocks was married a few years after his 
 arrival in the new world, the lady of his choice be- 
 ing Miss Frances Clarke, a native of Suffolk, Eng- 
 land, whom he wedded on the 12th of November, 
 1856, in Peoria, Illinois. They became the par- 
 ents of six children, of whom four are yet living: 
 James, who is a mine overseer, residing at Farm- 
 ington, Illinois; John, who owns and operates a 
 farm in Bureau county ; and Benjamin and Will- 
 iam, who are living on the home place. They are 
 now conducting the farm which is the property of 
 their father and they also engage in raising hogs. 
 They operate the coal banks and their mining in- 
 
 terests constitute no unimportant branch of their 
 business. 
 
 Mr. Horrocks is a member of the New York In- 
 stitute of Science and of English lodge of Odd 
 Fellows. His political allegiance is given to the 
 democracy and his religious faith is indicated by 
 his membership in the Episcopal church, in which 
 he was reared. For many years his life was one 
 of continuous activity and he was not denied the 
 reward of labor. On the contrary he prospered as 
 the years went by and at the same time he won the 
 honored name which comes in recognition of a life 
 characterized by trustworthiness and fair dealing. 
 Mrs. Horrocks is a member of the Catholic 
 church and is a lady of many estimable qualities, 
 having a large circle of friends in Whitefield 
 township. 
 
 CHAELES DAVIS, M. D. 
 
 Dr. Charles Davis, who for many years was 
 engaged in the practice of medicine in Marshall 
 county as a representative of the homeopathic 
 school, and who died June 28, 1891, was born in 
 Columbia, Herkimer county, New York, June 
 1, 1814. The common schools of the Empire 
 state afforded him his early educational privileges. 
 He came to Illinois in 1836, and though the 
 Black Hawk war had occurred about four years 
 before, there were still some Indians who lin- 
 gered in the state and many evidences of pioneer 
 life were to be seen. He engaged first in farming 
 in Fulton and in Peoria counties, and in the 
 spring of 1850 he removed to Henry. He pur- 
 sued both an eclectic and homeopathic course of 
 medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from the 
 Eclectic Medical Institute, March 5, 1850. For 
 many years he practiced successfully in Henry, 
 and had a large business as a general practitioner, 
 his skill and capability being widely recognized by 
 the members of the profession and the general 
 public. Prior to coming to Henry he had prac- 
 ticed allopathy for five years. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1845, Dr. Davis was 
 united in marriage to Miss Aurelia Williams, a 
 native of Ohio, born August 8, 1822. There 
 were five children of this marriage, of whom two 
 are now living : Maria L., of Henry ; and 0. C. 
 Davis, of Racine, Wisconsin. The mother died 
 in Henry, January 25, 1857, and her death was 
 deeply regretted by many friends, for she dis- 
 played sterling traits of character, and her good
 
 DH. CIIAKLKS DAVIS.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 qualities of heart and mind endeared her to all 
 with whom she came in contact. He was again 
 married, November 18, 1857, his second union 
 being with Polly Ayles, by whom he had two 
 children, but both died before reaching the age 
 of one year. The wife and mother died May 9, 
 1899, at the age of eighty years. 
 
 Dr. Davis passed away on the 28th of June, 
 1891, at the age of seventy-seven years. He had 
 served as a school director and was otherwise 
 actively and helpfully interested in public affairs 
 whereby the county was benefited and its interests 
 materially advanced. His religious faith was "that 
 of the Swedenborgian church. Although fifteen 
 years have now come and gone since he departed 
 this life, he is yet held in grateful remembrance 
 in many a household where he was the beloved 
 family physician. He was a man of strong in- 
 tellectuality and marked individuality, and he 
 left behind an honored name. 
 
 LUKE GREGORY. 
 
 The old home farm of the Gregory family is 
 now owned and operated by Luke Gregory. It is 
 an excellent property of eighty acres situated on 
 section 10, Whitefield township, and is now under 
 a high state of cultivation, responding readily to 
 the care and labor that are bestowed upon it. It 
 was upon this farm that Luke Gregory was born 
 on the 3d of April, 1856. His father, Francis 
 Gregory, was a native of Ohio and came to Illi- 
 nois in the '40s, settling in Peoria county, where 
 he secured a tract of land and began farming. He 
 lived there but a few years, however, and in 1850 
 removed to Whitefield township, Marshall county, 
 where he spent his remaining days. He always 
 carried on general agricultural pursuits in order 
 to support his family and he gained a good living 
 through his unfaltering industry and perseverance. 
 He wedded Sarah Barrett, a native of Virginia, 
 and his death occurred on the llth of August, 
 1874, when he was fifty-eight years of age. His 
 widow still survives and now makes her home with 
 her son Ross in Adams county, Iowa. In the fam- 
 ily were five children, as follows : George, who 
 carries on general agricultural pursuits in Iowa; 
 Helen, also living in that state; Mary, who died 
 at the age of ten years ; Luke, of this review ; and 
 Ross, who is a stock farmer of Iowa. 
 
 Throughout his entire life Luke Gregory has 
 remained upon the old homestead farm and at an 
 
 early age began assisting in the work of field and 
 meadow. He also attended the schools through 
 the winter seasons and after completing his edu- 
 cation he concentrated his undivided attention up- 
 on the farm work, which he has since made his 
 life occupation. The place comprises eighty acres 
 of rich and arable land and the fields are now 
 highly cultivated, so that good crops are annually 
 harvested. The improvements, too, upon the place 
 are of a substantial and attractive character, and 
 the careful supervision of the owner is indicated 
 by the air of neatness and thrift which pervades 
 every department of the farm. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Gregory was united in marriage to 
 Miss Jennie Smith, of Whitefield, and they have 
 one son, Clyde Gregory, twenty-six years of age, 
 who is living in Whitefield township, where he 
 owns one hundred and sixty acres of land. He 
 married Edith Quinn and they have one son, Law- 
 rence. Mr. Gregory has served as school director 
 for three years and is interested in the cause of 
 education and its advancement. His political sup- 
 port is given to the republican party and he is re- 
 miss in no duty of citizenship, but is alert and 
 enterprising and endorses every movement that 
 promises to beenfit the community at large. A so- 
 cial, kindly nature has gained him many friends 
 and he has become widely known in the county 
 during a residence here of a half century, in 
 which time he has witnessed much of the growth 
 and development of this part of the state. He 
 has seen many changes made in the methods of 
 farming as the improved machinery of today has 
 supplanted the crude implements of earlier years. 
 He has also seen the pioneer homes replaced by 
 fine farm residences, while the work of cultivation 
 has gained for this district the reputation which 
 is borne in other sections of the state, making Il- 
 linois one of the greatest agricultural districts of 
 the Union. 
 
 FRANCIS FREDERICK THIERRY. 
 Francis Frederick Thierry, who owns and oper- 
 ates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on 
 section 19, Evans township, was born in Gallia 
 county, Ohio, in 1845. There are comparatively 
 few men of his years who" are numbered among 
 the veterans of the Civil war, but Mr. Thierry 
 was a soldier at the time when the Union was 
 imperiled. His father, Joseph X. Thierry, was 
 also a native of Gallia county, born in 1816, while
 
 270 
 
 PAST AND I'UKSKNT OF MAI.'SJIALL AM) ITTXA.M COUXTIES. 
 
 the grandfather of our subject was a Frenchman, 
 a native of Paris. Joseph N. Thierry followed 
 the occupation of farming as a life work and died 
 in Ohio at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. 
 He was a member of the United Brethren church, 
 as was his wife, who bore the maiden name of 
 Sarah Elizabeth Dillman. She was born in Brack- 
 en county, Kentucky, and died a year prior to the 
 death of her husband. Her father, Frederick Dill- 
 man, became a farmer of La Salle county, Illi- 
 nois, and passed away when eighty-four years of 
 age. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Thierry were born ten 
 children : Mary Frances, the wife of Silas Dickey, 
 of Gallia county, Ohio ; Narragansett Caroline, the 
 wife of Alvie Dickey, a resident of Illinois ; Fran- 
 cis, of this review ; Alvarado Lavega, now deceas- 
 ed; Lorena Georgiana, the deceased wife of Ansel 
 Kerns ; Daniel Webster, who married Ellen Gools- 
 by, a resident of Ohio ; Joseph Noble ; Zulika 
 Zimro, the wife of Charles Clark, a resident of 
 Mountain View, Oklahoma; Ansel Blake, who is 
 a brakeman on the Illinois Central Eailroad and 
 resides in Wenona ; and Harriett Content, the wife 
 of Jacob Kerns, a resident of Thayer county, Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 Francis F. Thierry acquired his education in the 
 schools of Ohio and when a youth of but seven- 
 teen years became a soldier of the Union army. 
 He first joined the One Hundred and Seventeenth 
 Ohio Volunteer Infantry at Camp Portsmouth, 
 Ohio, on the 15th of September, 1862, being mus- 
 tered in by S. Beall, U. S. A. He afterward be- 
 longed to Company G of the First Ohio Heavy 
 Artillery, serving under Lieutenant Francis Wal- 
 ter and Captain Jones. He was mustered out at 
 Knoxville, Tennessee, June 17, 1865, by Thomas 
 McDermott, captain of the United States Volun- 
 teers, First Cavalry Division of the District of 
 Columbia. He was thus only about twenty years 
 of age at the time he received his discharge and in 
 the meantime he had for about three years served 
 his country as a faithful defender of the Union 
 cause, his loyalty and bravery being equal to that 
 of many a veteran of twice his years. 
 
 Mr. Thierry has been a resident of Illinois since 
 1868, in which year he located in Evans town- 
 ship. He was married May 25, 1871, to .Miss 
 Mary Loretta Wilson, who was born in Belmont 
 county, Ohio, in 1851, a daughter of Joshua and 
 Eosanna Wilson, who were Quaker people and be- 
 came residents of Marshall county in her girl- 
 
 hood days, settling in Evans township. Mrs. 
 Thierry was therefore educated in the district 
 schools of Evans township. By her marriage she 
 has become the mother of three children : Flor- 
 ence Lorena, who was born June 2, 1878, and 
 died September 3, 1881; Wollard Cadet, who 
 married Wilma Luetta Griffin and is a farmer of 
 Eoberts township ; and Homer H., who is living 
 with his parents. 
 
 At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 Thierry began their domestic life upon a farm in 
 Evans township and although he was without cap- 
 ital at the time he has made steady progress in his 
 business career and is now the owner of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres of rich and valuable land, 
 from which he annually harvests good crops. His 
 political support is given to the republican party 
 and his wife in religious faith is a Presbyterian. 
 Mr. Thierry manifests the same spirit of loyalty in 
 matters relating to local advancement and national 
 welfare as he did when he followed the old flag 
 upon the battlefields of the south. Moreover, he 
 has made an excellent record in business, for his 
 advancement is the natural sequence of < nrnest, 
 persistent labor guided by practical comr i sense. 
 
 JONATHAN LONG. 
 
 Few men have more vivid recollecti' ~ of the 
 early days in Putnam c> unty than has . mathan 
 Long, an honored pioneer settler whose luemory 
 forms a connecting link between the primitive past 
 and the progressive present. He came to Illinois 
 when it was upon the frontier aud when wolves 
 and catamounts were numerous in the forest and 
 upon the prairie, while herds of deer could be 
 seen almost daily. Little change had been made 
 in the surface of the country, which largely re- 
 mained just as it came from the hand of nature. 
 The few homes of the settlers were scattered over 
 the prairie and there were no railroad facilities 
 to connect the district with the outside world. 
 The country was crossed and recrossed with 
 sloughs and in many places was swampy, it being 
 necessary to drain before much could be done in 
 the way of cultivation. Into such a district came 
 Mr. Long, casting in his lot with the early settlers 
 and sharing with them in the hardships and pri- 
 vations incident to pioneer life. At the same time 
 he bore his full share in the work of improvement 
 and progress, and thus deserves classification with 
 the founders and upbuilders of the county. He
 
 r< 
 
 JONATHAN
 
 
 MRS. JONATHAN LONG
 
 PAST AND 1MJKSKNT OF MAI5SHAM. AND ITTNAM ('Of N'l'l KS. 
 
 now resides on a farm on section 15, Senachwine 
 township, Putnam county, and has passed the 
 eighty-first milestone on life's journey, having 
 been born in West Virginia, February 26, 1825. 
 His father, Levi Long, was also a native of that 
 state, born August 9, 1779, while his death oc- 
 curred in Putnam county, May 12, 1851. His 
 wife, who in her maidenhood was Lydia Stiles, 
 was born in West Virginia, February 16, 1783, 
 and died Octobc- 0, 1833, in tht Old Dominion. 
 For his second wife Mr. Long chose Sua Dunn, 
 who was bom in Virginia, February 10, 1806, and 
 died in Putnam county. 
 
 Jonathan Long was the youngest of a family 
 of nine children, and as far as he knows is the 
 only one living. Lyle, born December 12, 1803, 
 passed away in Iowa. Elizabeth, born June 19, 
 1805, also died in the Hawkeye state. Mary, born 
 July 21, 1808, died in this county. Levi departed 
 this life in Ohio. Stephen died in infancy. Sarah 
 passed away in Indiana. Lucretia died in infancy, 
 and Lyda has not been heard from in some years, 
 so that it is not known whether or not she is 
 living. 
 
 It was in 1844 that Levi Long brought his fam- 
 ily to Illinois, settling on a tract of land of eighty 
 acres that is now the home of his son Jonathan. 
 All was timber, and in the midst of the forest 
 they built a little log cabin, in which they lived for 
 several years, when a more modern and commodi- 
 ous house was erected. The land was purchased 
 from the government, and, in consequence, was 
 in a raw condition, not a furrow having been 
 turned nor an improvemet been made. Mr. Long 
 continued to reside with his parents until they 
 passed away, after which he carried on the home 
 farm on his own account and has since resided 
 here. He was early trained to the arduous work 
 of developing a new farm at a time when much 
 of the labor was done by hand. The scythe and 
 sickle figured as important farm implements, and 
 all of the corn husking now done bv machinery 
 was done by hand. 
 
 On the 4th of August, 1850, Mr. Long was 
 united in marriage to Miss Helen Frazie, who was 
 born in New York, May 17, 1831, and has now 
 for more than a half century been to him a faith- 
 ful companion and helpmate on life's journey. 
 Their marriage was blessed with the following 
 children: Almedia, who was born August 2, 1852, 
 and is now deceased ; Mary, who was born Novem- 
 ber 26, 1855, and is the wife of Henry Linkier, a 
 
 resident of Baldwin, Montana; William, who was 
 born June 9, 1858, and is carrying on the work 
 of the home farm ; Kachel, who was born June 21, 
 1861, and is the wife of Elijah Montgomery, who 
 resides at Bureau Junction, Illinois; Viola, who 
 was born May 7, 1864, and is the wife of Perry 
 Kane, living in Bureau county; and Beldon, who 
 was born December 28, 1870, and wedded Mary 
 Williams. He, too, is living on the old home- 
 stead. 
 
 For many years Mr. Long continued actively in 
 the farm work and is now the owner of one hun- 
 dred and eighty acres of land in Bureau county. 
 He likewise has two hundred acres where he lives 
 on section 15, Senachwine township, and another 
 tract of one hundred and sixty acres a mile east 
 in the same township. His possessions are there- 
 fore extensive, and from his farm property he 
 derives an excellent income. His realty is the vis- 
 ible evidence of his life of industry, thrift and 
 capable management, for all that he possesses has 
 been acquired through his own labors. In the 
 early days he aided in cutting down the timber 
 and in breaking the prairie. He did not care to 
 indulge much in hunting, but it would have been 
 possible for him to obtain a deer any day. The 
 first log house built upon the farm was con- 
 structed of hewed timbers cut from his place, and 
 it was necessary to clear away the trees and 
 brush before the plowing could be done. Mr. 
 Long has witnessed remarkable changes in the 
 methods of farm life as modern machinery . has 
 been introduced and scientific investigation have 
 brought a broader knowledge of the needs of the 
 fields and the best methods of carrying on farm 
 work. He has also kept abreast with the work of 
 improvement and has long been accounted one of 
 the substantial and prominent agriculturists of his 
 community. In politics he has ever given his 
 support to the democracy, yet has always been 
 without desire for office. 
 
 HENRY MERDIAN. 
 
 Henry Merdian, who resides on section 9, White- 
 field township, owns and operates two good farms 
 in Marshall count} 7 , one comprising one hundred 
 and sixty acres and the other eighty acres. His 
 life has been given to general agricultural pur- 
 suits and his places are both under a high state of 
 cultivation, giving indication of the careful super- 
 vision of the owner. Mr. Merdian was born in 
 Henry township on the 2d of February, 1867, and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 is a son of Johann Joseph and Mary Ursula (Bur- 
 gen) Merdian. The father was born on the Rhine 
 in Bavaria, Germany, November 18, 1811, and in 
 that locality spent the days of his boyhood and 
 youth. At the age of sixteen he entered upon a 
 regular apprenticeship to the wagon maker's trade 
 and thoroughly mastered the business in principle 
 and detail. He was a young man of twenty-five 
 years when in 1836 he emigrated to the new world, 
 working at the wagon maker's trade in New York 
 until his removal to the middle west. While yet 
 residing in New York city he wedded Miss Bur- 
 gen on the 24th of January, 1838. She was born 
 in Lothringen, France, February 9, 1822, and five 
 years after their marriage they came to Marshall 
 county, Illinois, stopping at the old landing about 
 one mile below the present city of Henry. Two 
 children had been born to them in the east and 
 Mr. Merdian thought that in this new and rapidly 
 growing country he could better provide for his 
 family. However, he was greatly discouraged on 
 his arrival from the fact that he could find noth- 
 ing to do and had no capital with which to set 
 himself up in business. He therefore determined 
 to return to New York and work again at his 
 trade, but not having money sufficient to pay the 
 expenses of the family on a return trip, he left 
 his wife and children in Marshall county. A short 
 time after his arrival in New York he met his 
 wife's brother who after hearing his story, kindly 
 loaned him five hundred dollars. He then hastened 
 back to join his family and he invested a part of 
 the five hundred dollars in forty acres of land, 
 which became the nucleus of his large landed pos- 
 sessions which he owned at the time of his death. 
 He at once began the improvement of his place 
 and while carrying on the farm work he also con- 
 tinued to work at his trade, conducting a shop on 
 his farm. He was very diligent and his industry 
 and frugality enabled him in the course of years 
 to add to his possessions from time to time until 
 he had valuable farm property in several localities 
 in central Illinois. He raised both stock and 
 grain and his consecutive labor was the secret of 
 his success. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Merdian were born eleven 
 children of whom two died in early youth. The 
 parents lived to celebrate their golden wedding an- 
 niversary in 1888 and it was a most enjoyable oc- 
 casion to all present: They had spent forty-five of 
 the fifty years in Marshall county and were there- 
 
 fore widely known to the early settlers, who 
 joined with them on that happy occasion, where 
 many a tale was told of the early days and the ex- 
 periences which came in pioneer times. Political- 
 ly Mr. Merdian was a democrat and he and his 
 wife were devoted members of the Catholic church, 
 He contributed generously toward the building of 
 the German Catholic church at Henry and in that 
 faith he died March 8, 1893. He was respected 
 and honored by all who knew him and were fa- 
 miliar with his life history, and . he left to his 
 family not only a generous competence, but also 
 an untarnished name and an example that is in- 
 deed well worthy of emulation. 
 
 Henry Merdian, whose name introduces this 
 record, has been a life-long resident of Marshall 
 county. He was reared to the occupation of farm- 
 ing, which he has made his life work. He in- 
 herited from his father a goodly property, and in 
 its management and care he has displayed excellent 
 executive ability and business acumen. He now 
 owns two farms, one of one hundred and sixty 
 acres and the other of eighty acres, his home be- 
 ing on section 9, Whitefield township. He also 
 owns about thirty acres of timber land in this 
 township. Here are found substantial buildings 
 standing in the midst of well tilled fields. Am- 
 ple shelter is afforded for grain and stock and the 
 place is conveniently divided by well kept fences. 
 
 Mr. Merdian has been married twice. On the 
 21st of January, 1893, he wedded Miss Christina 
 Bogner, of Whitefield township, a daughter of 
 Louis Bogner. Unto them was born a daughter, 
 Mary Christina Columbia, now twelve years of 
 age. In 1902 Mr. Merdian was again married, his 
 second union being with Gertrude Bogner, by 
 whom lie has two children, Dorothy and Leonard L. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Merdian is a demo- 
 crat and has served as school trustee for eight 
 years, but has never sought or desired office. He 
 is a communicant of the Catholic church, in the 
 faith of which he was reared, and he has been a 
 champion of all movements and measures for the 
 material, intellectual and moral progress of the 
 
 JOHN J. HARTLEY. 
 
 John J. Hartley, proprietor of a meat market 
 in Henry, which business he has conducted suc- 
 cessfully since 1896, was born in this city in 1868, 
 his parents being James and Ellen (Fitzgibbons)
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 277 
 
 Hartley, both of whom were natives of Ireland. 
 The father came to the United States when a boy 
 with his parents, Philip and Mary Hartley, and 
 after arriving at years of maturity he was mar- 
 ried to Ellen Fitzgibbons, who left her native 
 country with her parents in her girlhood days and 
 became a resident of Chicago. Both were mem- 
 bers of the Catholic church. Mr. Hartley died in 
 1880, but the mother is still living at the age of 
 sixty-six years. In their family were seven chil- 
 dren. 
 
 John J. Hartley, the second in order of birth, 
 attended the public schools, was reared under the 
 parental roof and in early life learned and fol- 
 lowed the butchering business, establishing a mar- 
 ket of his own in 1896 and conducting it with 
 continuous and gratifying success since that time. 
 He now has a well equipped shop and enjoys a 
 liberal patronage, which is accorded him by reason 
 of his moderate prices, his straightforward deal- 
 ing and his earnest desire to please his customers. 
 
 Mr. Hartley was married in 1899 to Miss Julia 
 A. Kline, a daughter of Nicholas and Lizzie Kline. 
 She was born in Putnam county in 1874 and has 
 become the mother of two children : Helen Imelda 
 and Lillian Meryl. The parents hold membership 
 in St. Joseph's Catholic church and Mr. Hartley 
 is connected with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
 ica, while his political allegiance is given to the 
 democracy. His entire life has been passed in 
 Henry and that he has been worthy the respect 
 and esteem of his fellowmen is indicated by the 
 fact that many of his stanchest friends are those 
 who have known him from his boyhood days to 
 the present time. 
 
 LEWIS J. HODGE. 
 
 Lewis J. Hodge finds an appropriate place in 
 the history of those men of business and enter- 
 prise in the state of Illinois whose force of char- 
 acter, whose sterling integrity, whose fortitude 
 amid discouragements, whose good sense in the 
 management of complicated affairs and marked 
 success in establishing and bringing to comple- 
 tion schemes of trade and profit have contributed 
 in an eminent degree to the development of the 
 vast resources of this noble commonwealth. His 
 career has not been helped by accident or for- 
 tunate circumstances, by wealth or family or 
 powerful friends. He is, in the broadest sense 
 of the term, a self-made man who has been both 
 
 the architect and builder of his own fortunes, 
 and now, having retired from active life, is en- 
 joying the fruits of his former toil. 
 
 A native of Monroe county, Ohio, Mr. Hodge 
 was born January 1, 1841, and is a son of James 
 and Margaret A. (Wilson) Hodge. The father 
 was born near .Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 
 the mother's birth occurred on the ocean while 
 her parents were on the voyage from Nova Scotia 
 to this country. The grandfather, Samuel Hodge, 
 was a soldier of the war of 1812, and removed 
 from Pennsylvania to Ohio at an early day, where 
 he resided until called from this life. James 
 Hodge became a builder and contractor, and in 
 1853 removed to Illinois, settling in Magnolia. 
 Two years later, in 1855, he came to Wenona and 
 erected a planing mill here, carrying on the 
 business until his death, February 7, 1887. His 
 widow died November 30, 1900. They were the 
 parents of eight children, of whom three are now 
 living: Lewis J., of this review; George L., a 
 resident of La Salle, Illinois; and Mrs. Eva Mc- 
 Clanahan, of Chicago. 
 
 Lewis J. Hodge is indebted to the public school 
 system of Wenona for the educational privileges 
 he enjoyed, and after putting aside his text-books 
 he worked with his father in the planing mill 
 until after the Civil war broke out. He had 
 watched with interest the progress of events in 
 the south and noted the threatening attitude of 
 certain southern states, and on the 25th of July, 
 
 1861, unable to content himself longer at home 
 while the Union was imperiled, he enlisted in the 
 Forty-second Regimental Band and served with 
 the Department of the Missouri until honorably 
 discharged at St. Louis on the 24th of February, 
 
 1862. He went with Hunter to relieve Fremont 
 at Wilson's creek and was on active duty in the 
 southwest. 
 
 Following his discharge Mr. Hodge returned 
 home and was appointed assistant postmaster at 
 Wenona, serving under S. J. Taylor during the 
 years 1863 and 1864. He then formed a partner- 
 ship with his father in the planing mill and 
 lumber business, which connection was continued 
 until the fall of 1878, when he sold out. After 
 the failure of John A. McCall & Company, bank- 
 ers in 1878, he turned his attention to the bank- 
 ing business, establishing the Howe, Hodge & 
 Ralston bank. He was thus identified with the 
 financial interests of the county until 1881, when
 
 278 
 
 PAST AM) I'KKSKXT OF MAIJSHALI. AM) IMTNAM COVNTIKS. 
 
 again he sold out. About this time he became 
 interested in the development of the rich coal 
 resources of this part of the state and in the 
 sinking of the coal shaft and was associated with 
 the work until after the mine was opened up and 
 had been in operation for a period of about two 
 years. He then disposed of his interest in that 
 line and established the First National Bank of 
 Wenona, of which he was president for a number 
 of years, when it was transformed from a national 
 bank into a private concern under the name of 
 L. J. Hodge & Sons. He was then connected 
 with his sons in the business until he sold out 
 to them, and they are still conducting the bank 
 under the firm style of Hodge Brothers. The 
 father has since lived retired save that he has 
 operated to a considerable extent in land, and 
 now gives his supervision to his property inter- 
 ests, owning large tracts of land in Illinois and 
 Iowa. 
 
 On the 20th of December, 1864, was cele- 
 brated the marriage of Lewis J. Hodge and Miss 
 Harriet E. Howe, a daughter of Peter Howe, by 
 whom he had two sons, George 0. and John W. 
 H. Hodge, who constitute the banking firm of 
 Hodge Brothers. The wife and mother died De- 
 cember 3, 1889, and on the 25th of June, 1893, 
 Mr. Hodge was married to Susan A. Wright, by 
 whom he has one son, Paul L. He owns and 
 occupies a beautiful home in Wenona, in which 
 he is now living in comfort. He has helped to 
 build up this section to its present prosperity, 
 having taken an active interest in its business 
 development, whereon depends the welfare and 
 growth of any community. He stands today in 
 his mature years a strong man strong in the 
 consciousness of well spent years, strong to plan 
 and perform, strong in his credit and good name 
 and a worthy example for young men to pattern 
 after, as- showing what intelligence and perse- 
 verance may accomplish in the way of success in 
 life. 
 
 THOMAS G. HAWS. 
 
 For the long period of . sixty-eight years this 
 gentleman has been identified with the develop- 
 ment and advancement in Putnam county, but 
 now, after an active and well spent life, he is 
 living retired, enjoying a well earned rest, his 
 home being in the village of Magnolia. He was 
 born in Clinton county, Ohio. February 6, 1827, 
 
 and is a son of Joel and Elizabeth (Gibson) Haws, 
 who are mentioned elsewhere in this work in con- 
 nection with the sketch of William Haws. The 
 first eleven years of his life were spent in his na- 
 tive state, but in 1834 he accompanied his parents 
 on their removal to Illinois, the family locating in 
 Putnam county. Being the oldest son, it devolved 
 upon him to go to work when quite young to assist 
 in the support of the family, with the result that 
 his education was neglected. 
 
 Mr. Haws tells a very interesting story of how 
 he melj .the lady who afterward became his wife. 
 At that time there were but two buggies in the 
 neighborhood. On a certain day he and another 
 young man, accompanied by two young ladies, 
 drove thirty miles to attend a meeting on Otter 
 Creek, where Streator now stands. They spent 
 the night at a Mr. Brock's home, and while there 
 our subject met the young lady, who was working 
 for the family at the meager wage of seventy-five 
 cents per week. She had been left motherless at 
 the age of twelve, and was obliged to earn her 
 own living. Mr. Haws was very much impressed 
 by her appearance, and before returning home had 
 arranged to call on her at the end of two weeks. 
 He visited her a few times and then discontinued 
 his visits, but it was not long before he once over- 
 took her walking into the village of Magnolia, 
 where she was to work in the family of Mr. Cowen. 
 He was delighted to see her, and during the fol- 
 lowing winter called on her regularly. When he 
 finally asked her to marry him she refused, be- 
 cause she had not the clothes or the money with 
 which to get them. He, however, had saved some 
 gold and silver coin and this he gave her to buy a 
 dress, and on the 26th of April, 1848, at Fisher's 
 Hotel at Lacon, Illinois-, were married Thomas G. 
 Haws and Mary Jane Ewing and also Henry Coe 
 and Mary Ann Hunt, all of Magnolia, the cere- 
 mony being performed by Captain Springer, jus- 
 tice of the peace. Our subject brought his bride 
 to his father's home and they were all pleased with 
 their new daughter-in-law. 
 
 At the time of his marriage Mr. Haws' prop- 
 erty consisted mainly of four horses, a wagon, a 
 set of harness and thirty dollars in money, but as 
 the years passed he steadily prospered in his un- 
 dertakings and soon became a well-to-do man. 
 Locating in the village of Magnolia, he dealt in 
 horses for many years and later purchased one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land a mile and a half
 
 PAST AND PBBSENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 281 
 
 east of the village, turning his attention to agri- 
 cultural pursuits. He has always lived, however, 
 in the village, going back and forth to his work 
 each day. Since the Civil war he has lived at his 
 present residence. For his first eighty acres he 
 paid twenty-five dollars per acre, and for the sec- 
 ond eighty, forty-three hundred dollars. Being a 
 good, reliable business man, his credit has been 
 good and he has been able to borrow any amount 
 of money. 
 
 Mr. Haws has been called upon to mourn the 
 loss of his estimable wife, who passed away on the 
 5th of February, 1905, her death being regretted 
 by all who knew her. During the long years of 
 their happy married life she was never known to 
 utter a harsh word, and their relations were al- 
 ways of the most pleasant. She was the first to 
 be laid to rest in Magnolia cemetery, and he has 
 recently erected a four hundred dollar monument 
 to her memory. She was a life-long member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, to which Mr. 
 Haws also belonged in early life, and she was a 
 noble Christian woman, loved by all who knew 
 her. Her father and mother, belonged to the same 
 church. 
 
 Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Haws, 
 namely : Vivian, who lives on a farm in Magnolia 
 township; Eva, now the wife of Louis Simpson, 
 whose home is in Henry; Cyril, who resides on a 
 farm in Magnolia township ; Delia, wife of Ash 
 Judd, living in Wenona, Illinois; Clark, who is 
 single and lives upon his father's farm ; John, who 
 when last heard from was in a hospital at St. 
 Louis, Missouri; Wilbur, who is a clerk in the 
 office of the Pan-Handle Railroad at Chicago ; and 
 two children who died in infancy. 
 
 Since attaining his majority Mr. Haws has al- 
 ways affiliated with the democratic party, and for 
 three years he was a member of the village board, 
 but he has never cared for political honors nor has 
 he filled any other office. Since the death of his 
 wife his granddaughter has kept house for him, 
 and they have a nice home in Magnolia, surround- 
 ed by ten acres of land. He is today the oldest 
 Odd Fellow living in the village, and is highly 
 respected by all who know him. Having come to 
 the county in early pioneer days, he has witnessed 
 almost the entire changes that have been made in 
 transforming the wilderness into highly cultivated 
 farms and beautiful homes. He can relate many 
 interesting incidents of those early days when 
 
 the Indians still camped in the woods north of 
 town. He used to put a penny in the split end 
 of a stick and let the Indian boys shoot at it at a 
 distance of twenty-five steps. If they hit the mark 
 at the first shot the penny was theirs, but if they 
 failed they must give one to our subject. He says 
 he never won a penny from them in this way, as 
 they hit it every time. At that time the postage 
 on a letter was twenty-five cents, and money was 
 very scarce. Mr. Haws often hauled pork to Henry 
 and Lacon with a two-horse team, and made three 
 trips to Chicago with wheat, receiving only fifty 
 cents per bushel. But all this has long since been 
 changed, and now his products are conveyed to the 
 city market in a few hours by rail. 
 
 WILLIAM RIDDELL. 
 
 William Riddell, one of the most prominent 
 representatives of financial interests in Sparland, 
 where as president of the Sparland Bank he is 
 occupying a foremost position in business circles, 
 was born in Scotland, November 21, 1844. The 
 days of his boyhood and youth were passed in that 
 country and in 1866 he came to the United 
 States and made his way to Marshall county. In 
 early years of his residence here he engaged in 
 general agricultural pursuits for five or six years 
 and subsequently he turned his attention to ship- 
 ping stock. For thirty-two years the grain trade 
 figured as a prominent feature in his business and 
 in May, 1903, he became president of the Spar- 
 land Bank, with H. E. Westcott as its cashier. 
 This is a private bank, having back of it personal 
 resources to the amount of eight hundred thousand 
 dollars. Mr Riddell has also various other finan- 
 cial interests and his wise counsel and keen dis- 
 crimination are valued factors in the successful es- 
 tablishment and control of a number of important 
 business concerns of the county. He possesses 
 keen discrimination and marked sagacity and is a 
 man of enterprise, positive character, indomitable 
 energy, strict integrity and liberal views, and has 
 been fully identified with the growth and pros- 
 perity of the state of his adoption. 
 
 In 1881 Mr. Riddell was married to Miss Mary 
 Smith, of this county, and they became parents of 
 three children, of whom two are living. In his 
 political views Mr. Riddell is a stalwart republican, 
 having supported the party since he became a nat- 
 uralized American citizen. He holds member- 
 ship in the United Presbyterian church and stands
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 for all that is ennobling and uplifting in the so- 
 cial life of the community. He has always been 
 prominent in public affairs, yet without aspiration 
 for office, and no one has been more actively or 
 commendably interested in the welfare and devel- 
 opment of this part of the state. Viewed from a 
 business standpoint he has a most creditable rec- 
 ord, having persevered in the pursuit of a per- 
 sistent purpose and thus gained a most satisfac- 
 tory reward. His life is exemplary in many re- 
 spects and he has the esteem of his friends and the 
 confidence of those who have had business rela- 
 tions with him. 
 
 FREDERICK W. SUCHER. 
 
 Native and acquired ability have well qualified 
 Frederick W. Sucher to become a leader of public 
 thought and action and he exerts no inconsiderable 
 influence in community affairs, as has been mani- 
 fest in the fact that his fellow townsmen have 
 frequently called him to public office, thus giving 
 proof of their recognition of his worth and ability. 
 At the present writing he is serving as chairman 
 of the board of county supervisors as representa- 
 tive from Granville township and is proving a 
 most capable official. His business interests are 
 those of the farm and he now owns and operates 
 a good property of three hundred and twenty 
 acres on section 12, Granville township. 
 
 Mr. Sucher was born in Downers Grove, Du- 
 page county, Illinois, on the llth of March, 1852 
 and is a son of Jacob and Katherine (Krebs) 
 Sucher, mention of whom is made on another 
 page of this volume. They removed from Down- 
 ers Grove to Putnam county, Illinois, about 1858 
 and Frederick W. Sucher, then six years of age 
 became a student in the district schools here, 
 while later he completed his education in the 
 public school of Granville. He has always re- 
 mained upon the old homestead and at the age 
 of twenty-one years he began farming for himself 
 At length he purchased a half section of land 
 from his father, the north quarter of which was 
 his father's old homestead. On the south quarter 
 he erected buildings, including a fine residence 
 and other good substantial structures. Here he 
 has since made his home and his is one of the 
 well developed farm properties of the county 
 indicating in its neat and attractive appearance 
 a life of industry and close application. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1881, Mr. Sucher was 
 married to Miss Eleanor A. Bender, a native of 
 Granville and a daughter of Jacob Bender. Mr 
 and Mrs. Sucher now have three children : Victor 
 E., twenty-one years of age; Howard J., a young 
 man of twenty years; and Oliver W., a youth 
 of fifteen. All are still with their parents upon 
 the home farm. 
 
 Mr. Sucher carries on general agricultural pur- 
 suits and has recently platted a town which he 
 has named Standard. The Berry Coal Company 
 has at a late date opened up and is now operating 
 a shaft on the farm adjoining Mr. Sucher's place 
 and it was this that led him to plat six blocks in 
 the northwest corner of his farm. It has been 
 divided up into seventy-five lots, thirty-four of 
 which have already been sold. Wherever coal is 
 mined extensively a village is bound to spring up 
 and in a short time there will undoubtedly be a 
 thriving town in this locality. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Sucher has always 
 been a stalwart democrat, having firm faith in 
 the principles of that party. Upon its ticket he has 
 been elected to several local offices, serving now for 
 the second term as supervisor from Granville 
 township, whle at this writing, in 1906, he is act- 
 ing as chairman of the county board. He has also 
 been assessor for two terms and collector for one 
 term and is regarded as a most public-spirited 
 man, whose official record is above reproach, while 
 in his private life he has manifested those sterling 
 traits of character which in every land and clime 
 command esteem, confidence and good will. In 
 his business affairs he shows keen discernment and 
 capable management, utilizing modern methods 
 and the latest improved machinery. No man in 
 the community occupies a higher position in public 
 regard than Fred Sucher and as a representative 
 citizen we take pleasure in presenting him to our 
 readers. 
 
 ARTHUR McADAM. 
 
 Arthur McAdam is the owner of a fine stock 
 farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres on sec- 
 tions 10 and 11, Evans township. He was born 
 in the city of Wenona in 1868, and is a son of 
 G. G. McAdam, a native of Ohio, who came to 
 Illinois when a young man with his parents and 
 located in Evans township, where he worked at 
 the carpenter's trade. He built a great many 
 houses in this neighborhood, and afterward gave
 
 PAST AiS'D PRKSKNT OF U AKSIIALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 885 
 
 his attention to general agricultural pursuits, 
 which he followed up to the time of his death, 
 becoming owner of one hundred and sixty acres 
 of land, which he carefully tilled and improved. 
 He was called to various public offices, serving 
 as tax collector for a number of years, and was 
 also secretary of the County Fair Association for 
 sixteen years, in which connection he did much 
 to stimulate progress and improvement among 
 agricultural pursuits. He exercised his right of 
 franchise in support of the men and measures 
 of the republican party, and in his religious faith 
 was a Presbyterian. He died a devoted member 
 of that church in 1903 at the age of sixty years. 
 In early manhood he had wedded Mary Elizabeth 
 Moore, who was born in Kokomo, Indiana, a 
 daughter of David Moore, who was a farmer of 
 Evans township from the time of the Civil war 
 until his death, which occurred in 1902. His 
 wife, Mrs. Anna Moore, passed away in 1888. In 
 the family of Mr. and Mrs. McAdam were three 
 children : Ulysses Grant, a resident farmer living 
 in Evans township; William T., who also follows 
 farming in the same township; and Arthur. 
 
 In his early boyhood days Arthur McAdam ac- 
 companied his parents on their removal to a farm 
 in Evans township and his boyhood days were 
 spent under the parental roof and in attendance 
 at district school No. 5. He was early trained to 
 the work of field and meadow, and when twenty- 
 one years of age started out upon an independent 
 business career, at which time he possessed only 
 a team and farming machinery. With this to 
 serve as a nucleus around which to gather more 
 extensive possessions he has continually added to 
 his holdings, until he is now the owner of one 
 hundred and sixty-five acres of valuable land 
 situated in the edge of the timber and constitut- 
 ing a fine stock farm. He also owns property in 
 Wenona and in Streator, Illinois. He is a lover 
 of good road horses and always keeps a number of 
 fine head upon his place. All of his live stock 
 is of good grades and his farm is well improved 
 in accordance with modern methods of agricultural 
 development. 
 
 In 1893 Mr. McAdam was married to Miss 
 Martha Butcher, who was born in Wetzel county, 
 West Virginia, in 1869, and is a daughter of 
 Eobert J. and Harriett Butcher. Mr. McAdam is 
 a supporter of the republican party. His wife 
 belongs to the Christian church and both are 
 
 highly esteemed people, having a wide and favor- 
 able acquaintance in the county in which their 
 entire lives have been passed, both being repre- 
 sentatives of worthy pioneer families of this part 
 of the state. 
 
 LOUIS M. ELK. 
 
 Louis M. Elk, who for three years has resided 
 in Henry, prior to which time his life was de- 
 voted to general agricultural pursuits, was born in 
 the southern part of Sweden on the 24th of Octo- 
 ber, 1844. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morton 
 Larson, are both deceased. In the land of his 
 birth Louis M. Elk was reared and educated and 
 when a young man of twenty-four years he deter- 
 mined to seek his home in America, for the busi- 
 ness outlook in his native country was not as 
 favorable as that offered in the United States. 
 Accordingly he crossed the Atlantic and on the 
 20th of June, 1869, landed at Quebec, Canada. 
 He at once made his way to the middle Missis- 
 sippi valley and became a resident of Princeton, 
 Bureau county. Having but limited capital at the 
 time of his arrival, it was necessary that he secure 
 immediate employment and he found work as a 
 farm hand, being thus employed for several years 
 or until his labors had brought him sufficient cap- 
 ital to enable him to engage in farming on his 
 own account. He first rented land in Saratoga 
 township, Marshall county, in 1878 and resided 
 thereon for three years, after which he removed 
 to another farm, which was his place of residence 
 for sixteen years. He then removed to the north- 
 west, settling in Douglas county, South Dakota, 
 where he purchased two hundred and eighty acres 
 of land upon which he lived for eight years. His 
 entire life has been devoted to general agricultural 
 pursuits until in 1899 he retired from active busi- 
 ness cares and is now enjoying a rest which he has 
 truly earned and richly deserves. He has resided 
 in this part of the state continuously since 1869 
 with the exception of the eight years passed in 
 Dakota and is well known in agricultural circles. 
 
 Mr. Elk was married on the 24th of March. 
 1885, to Mrs. Ursula M. Tanquary, widow of Mil- 
 ton Tanquary, and a daughter of J. P. and Mary 
 (Foster) Swift. Her father was a farmer in Bu- 
 reau county, but both he and his wife are now 
 deceased. Mrs. Elk has two children by her first 
 marriage, Curtis and Ethel E., now the wife of
 
 886 
 
 PAST AND PHKSEXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIKS. 
 
 Andrew Kelly. Mr. Elk is independent in his 
 political views and affiliation. He belongs to the 
 Modern Woodmen camp at Henry, Illinois. Both 
 he and his wife are devoted members of the Metho- 
 dist church, in which he has served as steward. 
 Mr. Elk has no occasion to regret his determina- 
 tion to come to the new world, for here he has 
 found a good home and many warm friends, while 
 through the improvement of business conditions 
 he made substantial advancement and is now in 
 possession of a very desirable competence as the 
 reward of his industry and perseverance. 
 
 EICHAED E. HILLS. 
 
 The commercial history of Henry would be 
 incomplete without mention of Richard E. Hills, 
 who for many years figured prominently in busi- 
 ness circles here and his activity and enterprise 
 made him a leading merchant and gained him a 
 gratifying measure of success. He was born in 
 Waterloo, Seneca county, New York, January 24, 
 1825, and was a representative of an old New 
 England family, his parents being Elisha and 
 Elizabeth (Catlin) Hills. The father was born 
 in Connecticut and for forty years engaged in 
 merchandising in Waterloo, New York, where 
 his death occurred in 1856. His wife has also 
 passed away. In their family were eight children, 
 but only two are now living, the daughter being 
 Helen P. Hills, who resides in Chicago. 
 
 Eichard E. Hills, reared under the parental 
 roof, acquired his early education in the public 
 schools of Waterloo and afterward attended the 
 academy there. Throughout his active business 
 career he was identified with commercial inter- 
 ests and while still living in the east engaged 
 in the grocery and dry-goods business on his own 
 account. The west, however, attracted 'him and 
 in 1855 he became a resident of St. Charles, Illi- 
 nois, where he established a store which he con- 
 ducted for ten years. He then came to Henry, 
 where he purchased a business which he carried 
 on for thirty consecutive years and then sold oxit 
 to C. E. Smith, who still occupies the same loca- 
 tion. Thus the name of Eichard E. Hills is 
 inseparably interwoven with the commercial rec- 
 ords of the city. He always carried a well se- 
 lected and large line of goods and made every 
 effort to please his patrons. His business meth- 
 ods were such as would bear the closest investiga- 
 tion and scrutiny and his commercial integrity 
 
 and honor were unassailable. As the years passed 
 by he prospered and in the evening of life he 
 retired to enjoy throughout his remaining days a 
 well-earned rest. 
 
 Mr. Hills was married in 1849 to Miss Eliza- 
 beth F. Owens, of Geneva, New York, and for 
 many years they traveled life's journey together, 
 but were separated through the death of the wife 
 in 1883. Mr. Hills is a republican in his politi- 
 cal views, having supported the party since its 
 organization. For one term he served as alder- 
 man of the third ward in Henry. He has pre- 
 ferred that his public service, however, should be 
 done as a private citizen rather than an office 
 holder, and he has withheld his support from no 
 plan or purpose for the general good. He favors 
 the Presbyterian church, and a life of business 
 integrity and his probity in public and private 
 affairs have gained for him a foremost place as 
 a representative and honored resident of Henry. 
 
 BEENAED YAEGEE. 
 
 Bernard Yaeger, who is now living retired in 
 Henry, was born in what is now Alsace, Germany, 
 January 16, 1831, a son of France Antone and 
 Katherine Yaeger, who were likewise natives of 
 Alsace and were members of the Catholic church. 
 The father followed the occupation of farming. 
 In the family were six children, of whom Ber- 
 nard Yaeger is the youngest. He was educated in 
 the schools of his native place and there mastered 
 both the French and German languages, after 
 which he learned the trade of shoemaking. A 
 consideration of the business outlook of that coun- 
 try led him to the determination to try his for- 
 tune in America, and in April, 1853, he came to 
 the United States and settled in Chicago, whore 
 he remained until 1854, conducting a shoe shop 
 there. There was an epidemic of cholera in that 
 year and he removed to Henry, where he worked 
 at his trade for two years. On the expiration of 
 that period he established a saloon, which he con- 
 ducted until 1867, when he opened a shoe store, 
 which he carried on for two years. He then sold 
 his store and in 1884 he retired, turning over his 
 saloon to his son, since which time he has lived in 
 the enjoyment of a well earned rest. In 1904 he 
 bought out the Steam Soda Water Bottling Works 
 and placed his .son in charge. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Yaeger was united in marriage to 
 Miss Katherine Schick, who was born in Bavaria,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 287 
 
 Germany, in 1836 and came to the United States 
 in 1856 with her parents, Frederick and Kather- 
 ine Schick, who were pioneer farming people of 
 Putnam county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Yaeger were 
 born two children : Henry, who is now conducting 
 the. bottling works ; and Ella, the wife of Joseph 
 A. Schafer, who is a job printer of Peoria. The 
 parents are members of St. Mary's Catholic 
 church and Mr. Yeager is a stalwart democrat, 
 inflexible in his support of the party. He has 
 served as a member of the city council and also 
 as highway commissioner and he is a director of 
 the Henry bridge board. He is numbered among 
 the successful and enterprising business men of 
 Henry and is now living on a competence in hon- 
 orable retirement from further business cares. He 
 made no mistake in his determination to try his 
 fortimes in America, for in this country he has 
 prospered and as the years have gone by has accu- 
 mulated a goodly sum for the evening of life. 
 
 EDWARD TANQUARY. 
 
 Edward Tanquary, carrying on general farming 
 on section 8, Steuben township, was born in 1870 
 in the township which is still his place of resi- 
 dence. His father, Cornelius Tanquary, was born 
 in Pickaway county, Ohio, December 12, 1832, 
 and died September 2, 1904. He came to Illinois 
 in 1835 when this portion of the state was a fron- 
 tier district, its wild, uncultivated lands being still 
 covered with the native prairie grasses, while few 
 roads had been made across the country to indi- 
 cate that civilization was moving westward. He 
 located two mlies north of Sparland, where he 
 engaged in farming, and he was also well known 
 all over the county as an auctioneer. In public 
 affairs he bore his part, serving as assessor for 
 two years and as a member of the board of su- 
 pervisors for a number of terms. He held other 
 responsible local positions, the duties of which he 
 discharged with promptness and fidelity. He re- 
 mained a resident of Marshall county until his 
 death. In early manhood he wedded Sarah Huff 
 and they removed to a farm near his parents' 
 home. He always took an active interest in the 
 old settlers' picnics, finding much pleasure in re- 
 newing the acquaintances of earlier years and in 
 recalling the scenes and events of pioneer times. 
 He was also one of the singing masters of the 
 early days and frequently conducted as many as 
 three singing classes at a time in different locali- 
 
 ties. He was termed one of the "most honorable 
 and respected citizens of Steuben township." He 
 was a regular attendant at the services of Bethel 
 church, in Steuben township, and there the funeral 
 was held, on which occasion was assembled one 
 of the largest gatherings of people in the county, 
 showing the high esteem in which he was held. 
 He had resided in Marshall county for sixty- 
 seven years and by all who knew him, both young 
 and old, rich and poor, he was esteemed and hon- 
 ored. His wife, who was born in Ross county, 
 Ohio, April 9, 1839, died February 16, 1904. They 
 were members of the Methodist church. In their 
 family were the following named : Ada, who lives 
 about twenty miles from Wichita, Kansas ; Martha, 
 residing at Whitefield Corners, in this county ; 
 Eva, deceased; Olive, at Whitefield Corners; Eliz- 
 abeth, who has passed away; Harriet, also at 
 Whitefield Corners ; Edward, of Sparland ; Bertha, 
 a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska ; and Charles, who 
 is living in Los Angeles, California. 
 
 Edward Tanquary spent his boyhood days on 
 the home farm near Sparland and attended the 
 Drake school. Through the summer months he 
 aided in the work of the fields and thus became 
 familiar with all of the duties that fall to the lot 
 of the agriculturist. He started out in life on 
 his own account in 1892, renting a farm in White- 
 field township from C. C. Smith. He lived upon 
 the place for two years and afterward spent a 
 year upon the Henry Suft farm, in Steuben town- 
 ship. He then removed to the Ellis Thompson 
 place, in Steuben township, where he lived for a 
 year, and for ten years has resided upon the 
 Thomas Doran farm, which he is carefully culti- 
 vating, annually harvesting therefrom rich crops. 
 
 Mr. Tanquary was married on the 13th of Janu- 
 ary, 1892, in Bethel Methodist Episcopal church, 
 to Miss Delia T. Thompson, who was born Octo- 
 ber 15, 1870, and spent her girlhood days near 
 Sparland, during which time she was a student 
 in the Bethel school. Her father, Thornton 
 Thompson, was born near Sparland, September 10, 
 1839, and was a representative of one of the 
 pioneer families of the county. He followed farm- 
 ing for many years in Steuben township and died 
 February 27, 1889. At the time of the Civil war 
 he became a member of Company E, Eighty-sixth 
 regiment of Illinois volunteers, and participated 
 in several important battles. He lived a quiet, re- 
 tired life, but was respected by all who knew him.
 
 288 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 His political support was given the republican 
 party. His wife, who bore the maiden name of 
 Amelia Callen, was born near Loda, Illinois, Oc- 
 tober 7, 1843, and they were married in the Spar- 
 land Methodist church April 11, 1867. Mrs. 
 Thompson passed away November 12, 1884. Their 
 children were : Effa, now living in Chillicothe, 
 Illinois; Delia, of Sparland; Alice, deceased; Le- 
 ona, of San Diego, California; Leslie, at Los An- 
 geles, California ; William, of Osceola, Wisconsin ; 
 and Elsie, deceased. 
 
 The home of Mr. and Mrs. Tanquary has been 
 blessed by one daughter, Rena May, thirteen years 
 of age. The parents belong to the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church and he gives his political allegiance 
 to the republican party. He has been assessor for 
 one year and also school director and is a worthy 
 man of good business ability, wide awake, alert 
 and enterprising, who in public affairs and pri- 
 vate life accomplishes what he undertakes and 
 brings about desired results. 
 
 ENOCH GEORGE GREEN. 
 
 Enoch George Green, who for many years was 
 connected with agricultural pursuits in Whitefield 
 township and was one of the prominent and re- 
 spected residents of the county, was born in Sara- 
 toga county, New York, September 17, 1827. His 
 parents were Philip and Nancy (Addington) 
 Green, whose family numbered twelve children. 
 In 1837 they removed with their family to Illi- 
 nois, settling in Peoria county, where Enoch 
 George Green remained until 1849. He was edu- 
 cated in the public schools of New York and Illi- 
 nois, arriving in the latter state when a youth 
 of ten years. On leaving Peoria county in 1849 
 he removed to a farm in Henry township, Mar- 
 shall county, where he resided for several years 
 and then took up his residence in the city of 
 Henry, being engaged in the lumber business at 
 that place for some time. He afterward removed 
 to a farm in Whitefield township, where he owned 
 two hundred and forty acres of land, and success- 
 fully carried on general agricultural pursuits, 
 placing his land under a high state of cultivation, 
 so that it became very productive and profitable. 
 
 On the 20th of November, 1849, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. Green and Miss Harriet M. 
 Coykendall, who was born at Bakers Bridge in Alle- 
 gany county, New York, November 20, 1832. She 
 is a daughter of J. B. Coykendall, who was born in 
 
 New Jersey and was a blacksmith by trade. He 
 came to Illinois in 1836 and settled six miles 
 north of Canton, where he owned a large farm 
 and in connection with its cultivation conducted 
 a blacksmith shop upon his place. Later, how- 
 ever, he concentrated his energies upon his agri- 
 cultural interests. His political allegiance was 
 given to the democracy, of which he was a stanch 
 advocate. He married Miss Rhoda Roberts, a 
 native of Rhode Island. The Coykendall family 
 arrived here a year before the removal of the 
 Greens from New York and settled on a farm 
 about two miles from the Green home. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Coykendall were born nine 
 children, five sons and four daughters, of whom 
 one daughter died in infancy. Five of the eight 
 children who reached maturity became school 
 teachers and two were quite prominent. Eliza- 
 beth died at the age of thirty-eight years. Mrs. 
 Mary Catherine Grayson, who engaged in teaching 
 for twenty-five years, lives at Russell, Iowa. She 
 and her husband own a large farm and also good 
 town property and are now living retired. D. B. 
 and A. J. Coykendall followed the blacksmith's 
 trade and died near Canton, Illinois. Jonathan 
 Coykendall learned harnessmaking and saddlery 
 in his youth and went to St. Louis and New York 
 to perfect his trade. In 1849, during the gold 
 excitement on the Pacific slope, he paid one hun- 
 dred dollars to join a company and drove an ox 
 team across the plains and at length arrived at 
 Hangtown. For some time he engaged in mining 
 in the vicinity of Diamond Springs and from there 
 to Alamath and Salmon river, where he met with 
 an accident, his leg being broken twice by the 
 caving in of dirt. As there was no physician in 
 the locality he and his partner had to set it, but as 
 he said that not being in their line of business 
 they did not do a very good job. Returning east 
 he established a store at Farmington, Illinois, 
 where he dealt in clothing, boots and shoes and 
 took out a patent for a dirt excluder shoe, which 
 proved a success. He could not, however, forget 
 sunny California and finally returned to that state, 
 locating in San Jose, where he purchased a mar- 
 ket and engaged in the wholesale meat business, 
 dealing in hams, bacon and lard. At first he had 
 to go to Chicago for his meats. Later he erected 
 a magnificent brick market, which was mostly de- 
 stroyed by the recent earthquake. Besides his city 
 property he owned a fine fruit ranch and was al-
 
 EXOCH G. (iRKKX.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 ways proud of the fact that he a "forty-niner." 
 Being thrown from his carriage he had the same 
 leg broken again and never recovered from the 
 injury, dying ten weeks later. His funeral was 
 under the auspices of the Pioneer Society and the 
 Masons and his body was cremated and interred in 
 Cypress Lawn cemetery, San Francisco. John R. 
 and Horatio G. Coykendall were born and reared 
 on the home farm in this state and attended the 
 neighboring schools. When the Civil war broke 
 out they enlisted in the First Illinois Cavalry and 
 were captured by the Confederates. John R. was 
 made captain of Company G in the regiment com- 
 manded by Colonel Robert Ingersoll and remained 
 in the service until the close of the war. He now 
 lives in Piedmont, Oklahoma. Horatio G. also 
 won a captaincy for meritorious service in many 
 a hard fought battle. After the war he engaged in 
 railroad building on an extensive scale, building 
 more miles of railroad than any man living at 
 that time. His home life was exemplary. He 
 possessed a kind and sympathetic nature and was 
 a consistent Christian and worthy citizen. He was 
 a man of iron will and great energy a typical 
 man of the northwest, his home being at Merriam 
 Park, St. Paul, Minnesota. He died from the 
 effects of an operation for gallstones at Rochester, 
 that state. Socially he was a member of Minne- 
 sota Commandery of the Military Order of the 
 Loyal Legion of the United States. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Green became the parents of eight 
 children, but only two are now living, namely : 
 Charles A., who lives with his mother in White- 
 field township; and Minnie Hortense, the wife of 
 C. C. Smith, of Henry. Those deceased are Liz- 
 zie, who died at the age of ten years ; and Lula, 
 Lillie, Dolly, Phoebe and Ernest, who all died in 
 infancy. After a useful and well spent life Mr. 
 Green passed away on the 3d of June, 1895, when 
 he was sixty-eight years of age. He held a num- 
 ber of different offices and was very prominent 
 and influential in local affairs. His service as 
 justice of the peace won him the title of squire, 
 by which he was sometimes known. He gave his 
 political allegiance to the republican party and 
 bore a conspicuous and helpful part in matters 
 relating to the general welfare. He ever bore a 
 high reputation for -ability, loyalty and integrity 
 and wherever known he commanded the respect 
 and confidence of his fellow citizens and of all 
 with whom he had business or social relations. 
 
 Coming to Illinois at an early period in its devel- 
 opment, he was an interested witness of its growth 
 and progress for many years and was entirely 
 familiar with pioneer experiences and the history 
 of this portion of the state at an early day. 
 
 CHARLES BURGESS, SR. 
 
 Charles Burgess, Sr., secretary of the American 
 Shire Horse Association and at one time a most 
 prominent stockman of this portion of Illinois, is 
 now practically living retired, save for the super- 
 vision wihch he gives to his large landed interests, 
 tive of Devonshire, England, he was born 
 27, 1854. His parents were William 
 and Jane (Ellicott) Burgess, both natives of Eng- 
 land. The father was a farmer and the old home 
 farm is still in possession of the family. Charles 
 Burgess of this review was educated in that coun- 
 try. He was reared to farm life and left the old 
 homestead on the 15th of April, 1873, when eigh- 
 teen years of age, having determined to seek his 
 fortune in the new world. Accordingly he bade 
 adieu to home and friends and sailed on the steam- 
 ship City of Paris from Liverpool on the 17th of 
 April. He landed at New York city after a voyage 
 of eleven days and at once made his way to Ot- 
 tawa, Illinois, whither his brother, Robert, had 
 preceded him about one year. He remained in 
 Ottawa for about three years, working in a paper 
 factory and thus made his start in the business 
 world. He then removed to Lostant, La Salle 
 county, in 1876, and joined his brother Robert in 
 business, dealing in horses on a small scale. Even- 
 tually they removed to Wenona in 1880 and en- 
 larged the scope of their activities, becoming ex- 
 tensive dealers in horses. They also began im- 
 porting in July, 1882, and were associated in busi- 
 ness under the firm style of Burgess Brothers until 
 1897, when they dissolved partnership, both intend- 
 ing to give up the business entirely. They dealt in 
 English, Scotch and other horses. They imported 
 largely and became well known as breeders and 
 dealers in some of the finest stock that has been 
 brought to America or has been raised in this 
 country. Since 1897 Mr. Burgess has lived prac- 
 tically retired save that he looks after his large 
 landed interests. He owns five hundred and sixty 
 acres of land in the vicinity of Wenona and also 
 eight hundred acres of fine land in Emmet county, 
 Iowa.
 
 292 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Mr. Burgess was elected secretary of the Amer- 
 ican Shire Horse Association at its first' meeting 
 held at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Chicago, April 
 28, 1885, and has been elected at each biennial 
 election since that time and only twice has he had 
 any opposition for the office. This is the only 
 association of the kind in the United States and 
 was organized for the purpose of promoting the 
 interests of the breeders of shire horses. 
 
 On the 8th of February, 1883, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. Burgess and Miss Kate Eich. 
 They have lost two children, one of whom died 
 in infancy and Carrie, who died at the age of 
 nine months, and have two yet living, Lucy E. 
 and Amy Julia: Mr. Burgess is prominent in the 
 ranks of the republican party in his city and 
 county and has filled the office of city ^erk of 
 Wenona for four years. He also served for one 
 term as mayor and his official record is most com- 
 mendable, having been characterized by a business- 
 like dispatch of the duties of the office. The wel- 
 fare of both city and county have been promoted 
 by him in his co-operation in many movements for 
 the general good. He has a beautiful home just 
 outside the city limits of Wenona, where he now 
 resides. The years have witnessed his steady prog- 
 ress from the time when he came to the United 
 States. He has never had occasion to regret his 
 determination to seek a home in the new world, 
 for here he has prospered as the result of close 
 application, keen business discrimination and ju- 
 dicious investment and those who know him yield 
 their tribute of admiration and respect for what 
 he has accomplished. 
 
 SAMPSON T. EOWE. 
 
 One of Ihe most prominent representatives of 
 the agricultural interests of Marshall county is 
 Sampson T. Eowe, whose landholdings are very 
 extensive, embracing about one thousand acres. 
 He has displayed in an active business life excel- 
 lent executive force and unfaltering enterprise, 
 together with keen discernment and a ready recog- 
 nition of opportunities, and thus he has made 
 rapid and substantial advancement in his busi- 
 ness career, which will bear close investigation 
 and scrutiny, for his interests have been conducted 
 along most honorable lines. 
 
 He is one of the county's native sons, having 
 been born in Whitefield township on the 15th 
 of April, 1837. His father, William Howe, was 
 
 a native of Cornwall, England, and in that coun- 
 try was reared and educated. He was also mar- 
 ried there to Miss Harriet Peters-, likewise a na- 
 tive of that country, and in the year 1834 they 
 crossed the Atlantic to the new world. On ar- 
 riving at New York William Eowe with his 
 family proceeded directly to Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 A younger brother of his had some time previous- 
 ly emigrated to America and, visiting Illinois 
 with a view of locating, was well pleased with 
 the country and therefore advised William Eowe 
 not to tarry in Ohio but to proceed directly to 
 the Prairie state. Therefore, procuring teams at 
 Cincinnati, the brothers at once started for Illi- 
 nois and while en route they met Charles Knock, 
 who was also on his way to Marshall county and 
 in company they completed the journey. Only 
 two years before had the Black Hawk war been 
 fought and some Indians still lingered in the 
 neighborhood, while many evidences of pioneer 
 life were to be seen in the wild unbroken prairies 
 and the uncut timber. Only here and there had 
 a settler built his cabin and begun the work of 
 developing a farm. Following his arrival William 
 Eowe made selection of a tract of government land 
 on section 13, Whitefield township, but not being 
 accessible to market he "squatted" on a claim 
 near the present village of Henry. Mr. Knock 
 settled two miles below Henry on the present 
 line of the railroad, while the brother, Sampson 
 Eowe, first located where the village of Henry 
 is now situated, but subsequently removed to 
 Sugar Grove in Whitefield township. For twenty 
 years he lived on that farm and then, selling his 
 property, removed to Missouri, where he remained 
 until after the war, when he again returned to 
 Marshall county, where he died some years ago. 
 
 When William Rowe reached Illinois his finan- 
 cial possessions were quite limited, but he made 
 the journey with the hope that he might better 
 his condition in a free land where opportunities 
 were greater and results were more quickly at- 
 tained. He lived a life of industry, diligence and 
 frugality, was economical in his habits and pos- 
 sessed a steadfast determination to succeed. The 
 years came and went and he prospered, adding to 
 his landed possessions as his financial resources in- 
 creased until he was the owner of one thousand 
 and forty-five acres at the time of his death. In 
 early days timber land was thought to be more 
 valuable than the open prairie and he accordingly
 
 D 
 
 V
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 invested in such. His first home in Illinois was 
 a little log cabin such as was typical of the pio- 
 neer period and in that frontier home most of 
 his children were born. Later this place gave 
 way to a brick residence which still stands upon 
 the farm and in which William Rowe spent his 
 last days. The house was built in the latter part 
 of the '40s but is still in a good state of preser- 
 vation. Mr. Rowe not only assisted in the ma- 
 terial upbuilding and improvement of the county 
 through the development of his agricultural in- 
 terests but was also well known as a leader in 
 local political circles and was a stanch champion 
 of the republican party from the time of its or- 
 ganization. He served in various local offices, the 
 duties of which were discharged with promptness 
 and fidelity. In all life's relations he commanded 
 the confidence and respect of those with whom 
 he came in contact and the community deeply 
 mourned his loss when in August, 1863, he passed 
 away at the comparatively early age of fifty-four 
 years. His wife survived him for more than 
 twenty years, and passed away in 1885 at the 
 home of one of her daughters in Iowa, with whom 
 she had lived for several years. 
 
 In the family of William and Harriet Rowe 
 were ten children, of whom six are yet living: 
 Sampson T., of this review; Mary Ann, the wife 
 of William Manchester, of Clinton county, Iowa; 
 Ella Maria, the wife of Robert Ward, of Lamar, 
 Buchanan county, Iowa; John P., who follows 
 farming in Kansas; William A., who is living in 
 Henry; and Roger T., also a resident of Henry. 
 Those who have passed away are: Carolina, the 
 deceased wife of W T illiam Payne, of Lucas coun- 
 ty, Iowa ; Emma Harriet, who married George 
 Harris and died in Henry; Elizabeth Rebecca, 
 who married Jacob Manchester and removed to 
 Clinton county, Iowa, where she passed away; 
 and Joseph Henry, who died at the age of nine 
 years. 
 
 Sampson T. Rowe has spent his entire life in 
 Marshall county. He was reared amid pioneer 
 scenes and environments and shared with the 
 family in the hardships and privations of life 
 on the frontier, also enjoying its pleasures and 
 its opportunities. His memory forms a connect- 
 ing link between the primitive past and the pro- 
 gressive present and he justly deserves mention 
 among the leading early settlers of this part of 
 the state. His education was acquired in the 
 
 district schools, which he attended through the 
 winter months, while in the summer seasons he 
 worked upon the farm. He early became familiar 
 with farm work in every department and assisted 
 in the cultivation of the old homestead until the 
 death of his father, when he took entire charge 
 and for ten years operated the farm. The young- 
 est of the heirs having then attained majority, 
 the property was divided and Sampson Rowe re- 
 moved to his present residence, which is an ex- 
 cellent farm of three hundred and ninety acres 
 on section 24, Whitefield township. This was a 
 part of the old homestead which he inherited and 
 also the portion of a younger brother from whom 
 he purchased it. As the years passed by and he 
 saw opportunity for judicious investment he 
 extended the boundaries of his farm until it 
 now comprises over five hundred acres. He owns 
 altogether one thousand acres of land in Marshall 
 county and is therefore one of its most extensive 
 realty holders. For some years he gave much 
 attention to feeding cattle and hogs and has like- 
 wise been a breeder of horses. He is also en- 
 gaged in raising sheep and at all times fine grades 
 of stock have been found upon his place, while 
 his fields have been carefully tilled and have 
 brought forth rich crops. He has lived a life 
 of industry and enterprise and has displayed keen 
 biisiness discernment in the management of his 
 property and the further purchase of land. 
 
 Mr. Rowe was married on the 20th of March, 
 1872, to Miss Ellen S. Tidmarsh, who was born 
 in Wiltshire, England, and was brought to Amer- 
 ica when but six years of age by her parents, 
 Abel and Elizabeth (Wilts) Tidmarsh, who locat- 
 ed in the neighborhood of Rowes, Illinois, but 
 subsequently took \ip their abode near Varna in 
 Roberts township, Marshall county. Unto Mr. 
 and Mrs. Rowe have been born seven children : 
 William A., who married Bertha Leona Green 
 and follows farming on section 16, Whitefield 
 township; Edward Marshall, who married Aman- 
 da Miller, of Henry, and also follows farming 
 in the same neighborhood; Mrs. Ann Elizabeth 
 Coker, a resident of Henry, Illinois; Henry 
 Sampson, who follows farming on a place adjoin- 
 ing his father's home; Charles Garfield, who is 
 connected with business interests in Henry ; Fran- 
 cis Taylor and Eugene Lloyd, who are at home 
 with their father and assist him in the work of 
 the farm. There are now several grandchildren,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 William having six children, Edward three, Mrs. 
 Coker one and Henry two children. 
 
 Mr. Rowe saw the beginnings of the republican 
 party, became an endorser of its principles and 
 since attaining his majority has given to it his 
 strong and stalwart support but has never been a 
 politician in the sense of office seeking. He holds 
 membership in the Grange, and the family are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
 Henry. From a very early period in the history 
 of this county the name of Rowe has been an 
 honored one here and the life of Sampson T. 
 Rowe has added new luster to the record, because 
 in all life's relations he has been upright and 
 honorable and in business affairs has been 
 straightforward and trustworthy, never taking ad- 
 vantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in 
 any trade transaction but depending for his pros- 
 perity upon unfaltering perseverance, unabating 
 energy and careful investment. 
 
 EDGAR ALLEN HALL, M. D. 
 
 Dr. Edgar Allen Hall, engaged in the practice 
 of medicine in Henry with comprehensive knowl- 
 edge concerning the most modern methods known 
 to the members of the profession, has gained a 
 liberal and constantly growing patronage. He 
 was born in Winchester, Montgomery county, In- 
 diana, September 11, 1867. His father, Dr. John 
 Thomas Hall, was a native of the same state and 
 was also a physician and surgeon, practicing med- 
 icine in Indiana for several years. He died, how- 
 ever, at the comparatively early age of thirty-one 
 years, passing away in 1872. He had married 
 Jennie Britts, likewise a native of Indiana. She 
 is now living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and 
 is the widow of J. K. Belch. By her first mar- 
 riage she had a daughter, Minnie De Lacy, now 
 the wife of J. Snyder, of Berrien Springs, Michi- 
 gan. Dr. Hall also has a half-sister, Mrs. Henry 
 Eichel. 
 
 In the common schools of his native county 
 Dr. Hall began his education, which was con- 
 tinued as a student in the high school of Win- 
 chester. Subsequently he attended the Kansas 
 State Normal at Emporia, from which he was 
 graduated in the class of 1888. With broad lite- 
 rary knowledge to serve as the foundation upon 
 which to rear the superstructure of professional 
 learning he took up the study of medicine and 
 was graduated from the Gross Medical College of 
 
 Denver with the class of 1898. In August of the 
 same year he came to Henry, where he opened an 
 office and has since continued in practice, having 
 now a patronage which is indicative of the confi- 
 dence reposed in him by the public and his skill 
 and ability as manifest in the treatment of im- 
 portant and difficult cases. He is a member of 
 the American Medical Association, the State Med- 
 ical Society, and the Marshall County Medical 
 Society, and in this manner, as well as through 
 reading and investigation, he keeps in touch with 
 the trend of modern thought in his chosen calling. 
 In 1899 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. 
 Hall and Miss Anna Culter of Henry, a daughter 
 of Hardin Culter, a steamboat man and a pioneer 
 of the middle wast. The Doctor is a valued and 
 popular member of Henry lodge, No. 119, A. F. 
 & A. M., and also of the Modern Woodmen camp. 
 He votes with the democracy where state and na- 
 tional questions are involved, but at local elections 
 casts an independent ballot. He has never had 
 time nor desire for political office, but concen- 
 trates his energies upon his professional duties, 
 which he performs with a sense of conscientious 
 obligation and an ability that leaves no room for 
 criticism. He has the high regard of his brethren 
 of the medical fraternity by reason of his close 
 conformity to a high standard of professional 
 ethics and he has the trust and confidence of the 
 general public as well. 
 
 CLARK SWIFT. 
 
 Clark Swift has for twelve years resided upon 
 his farm on section 5, Whitefield township, where 
 he now owns and operates eighty acres. It is a 
 well tilled and well equipped place and in its 
 thrifty appearance gives evidence of the care and 
 supervision of a practical yet progressive owner. 
 Mr. Swift is a native of the Empire state,' his 
 birth having occurred in Angelica, New York, on 
 the llth of May, 1841. His father. Philander 
 Swift, was born in Rochester, New York, in 1800, 
 and came to Illinois at an. early period in the 
 history of this state, making the journey by wagon 
 before his son Clark was two years of age. Reach- 
 ing Marshall county he settled upon a farm in 
 Whitefield township. He had carried on mer- 
 chandising in the east but following his removal 
 to the west gave his attention to general agricul- 
 tural pursuits and spent seven years upon his 
 farm in Marshall county, after which he was
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND 1'VTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 297 
 
 called to his final rest in 1865 at the age of 
 sixty-five years. His political support was given 
 to the whig party. His wife, who Ibore the 
 maiden name of Arzilla Egbert, was also a native 
 of New York. In their family were eleven chil- 
 dren, of whom four are yet living, the others, in 
 addition to our subject, being Mrs. Sarah At- 
 wood, a resident of Nebraska; William, a retired 
 farmer residing in Livingston county, Illinois; 
 and N. I. Swift, of Chicago, who was formerly 
 engaged in merchandising but has also retired. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of Clark Swift 
 we present to our readers the life record of one 
 who is widely and favorably known in this part 
 of the state, having lived here from early pioneer 
 times. He acquired his education in the district 
 schools of Whitefield township and remained upon 
 the home farm through the period of his boyhood 
 and youth. He was, however, only nine years of 
 age at the time of his father's death. After reach- 
 ing his majority he purchased the old home place 
 and lived there for a considerable period but 
 about twelve years ago he bought eighty acres, 
 which is his present farm on section 5, Whitefield 
 township. To this he has since added until he 
 now lias two hundred acres constituting a model 
 farm property of his locality. The soil is rich 
 and productive and he makes of it the best pos- 
 sible use, so that good crops are annually gath- 
 ered. He uses the latest improved machinery in 
 the care of his fields and he has good buildings 
 upon his place. 
 
 Mr. Swift was married at the age of twenty-six 
 years to Miss Electa Fasdick, a daughter of Joel 
 Fosdick, of New York, who followed the occupa- 
 tion of farming. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Swift have 
 been born two children : Bertha, who is engaged 
 in teaching and resides at home ; and Merton, 
 who is living on the old home farm and who mar- 
 ried Jennie Wheeler of Putnam county, Illinois, 
 by whom he has two children, Percy and Clare. 
 
 Mrs. Clark Swift is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, in the work of which she takes 
 an active and helpful interest, while to its sup- 
 port they are liberal contributors. Mr. Swift votes 
 with the republican party and has served as school 
 director for many years. A residence of more 
 than six decades in Marshall county has made him 
 very familiar with its history and he is conver- 
 sant with many of the early experiences and events 
 which have left their impress upon the annals of 
 
 this part of 'the state. He can remember the time 
 when much of the land was wild and uncultivated 
 and the homes of the settlers were widely scat- 
 tered, but as the years have passed by he has seen 
 a marked change wrought by the labors of the 
 enterprising residents who have come to the 
 middle west and he has borne his full share in 
 the work of development, especially along agri- 
 cultural lines. 
 
 EGBERT BURGESS. 
 
 Robert Burgess, of Wenona, the most extensive 
 importer of registered draft horses in America, 
 his name well known throughout the country in 
 this connection, is a native of Devonshire, Eng- 
 land, born June 9, 1852. His parents, William 
 and Jane (Ellicott) Burgess, were farming people 
 of that country. The parents both died when 
 Robert was in his youth. He was reared to farm 
 life and received but limited educational privi- 
 leges. He worked at farm labor in his native 
 country imtil he was eighteen years of age. He 
 was about to be bound out to a blacksmith but 
 thinking that he would not like that pursuit he 
 entered upon an apprenticeship to the tailor's 
 trade. He did not find it congenial either so he 
 asked for the fifty dollars which was the sum of 
 his inheritance from his father and with that 
 limited capital started for America. He sailed 
 from Liverpool in 1870 and landed in New York 
 city, after which he proceeded on an emigration 
 train with about twelve hundred emigrants from 
 New York to Chicago. He did not like the 
 companionship, however, and wishing to get rid 
 of the party he was with, he looked upon the 
 map and there saw the town of Ottawa, to which 
 place he proceeded. He then at once began the 
 search for employment and in the vicinity of 
 Ottawa worked at farm labor for two years and 
 was afterward in a paper factory in the city for 
 about eighteen months. During that time he 
 saved up a few hundred dollars and with this 
 capital he purchased a half interest in a half 
 bred stallion sired by old Louis Napoleon, for 
 which he paid four hundred dollars. This was 
 his start as a breeder of horses, a business in 
 which he has continued with splendid success, 
 until he today stands foremost as an importer of 
 registered draft horses in America. The Farmers' 
 Mail and Breeze of Topeka, Kansas, has said: 
 "The great Wenona Stud has not only led in num-
 
 898 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNT IKS. 
 
 bers but in addition has carried off the highest 
 honors- at the great fairs and shows in competition 
 with the best horses in America. The Wenona 
 Stud since 1900 has won the following champion- 
 ships at the International Livestock Show which 
 is held at Chicago each year and is considered 
 the greatest horse and cattle show in America. 
 For four years since 1900 they have shown the 
 champion stallion, each year winning on a dif- 
 ferent horse. In 1900 Jim Corbett 4898, was 
 champion. In 1902 Southgate Marmion 6524 
 (15859) was champion. In 1904 Childwell Chor- 
 ister 7550 (20348) was champion, and took the 
 gold medal as the best imported stallion, and in 
 1905 the magnificent young stallion, Rolleston 
 Wonder 7931 (22730) carried off the champion- 
 ship. Burgess' victory was complete when in 
 1905 he not only showed the champion but carried 
 off the first prize on groiip of five stallions, win- 
 ning with Burston Pride, Magnum Bonum IV, 
 Rolleston Wonder, Bank Jack Tar and Conger. 
 Cottered Prince 7549 (19516) was the champion 
 Shire at the World's Fair, 1904 ; and at the Lewis 
 and Clark Exposition 1905, Redlynch Conquerer 
 6521 was champion Shire. Robert Burgess & Son 
 were also the only exhibitors that won three cham- 
 pions and three grand champions on stallions at 
 the St. T^n's "Fair. The success of the Wenona 
 
 Stud has not been accidental. It is the result of 
 a lifetime of work and careful study, close appli- 
 cation to strict, safe business methods and know- 
 ing what breed and type of horse was most suited 
 to the needs of a great, new and undeveloped 
 country. For upward of thirty years Robert Bur- 
 gess has devoted his entire time to building up 
 at Wenona the great business of which this article 
 treats. He has been a tireless worker, spending 
 months of each year, winter and summer, in 
 France, Belgium and England. Mr. Burgess puts 
 the value of his show herd at about eighty-five 
 thousand dollars, which is certainly a very con- 
 servative estimate." 
 
 When Mr. Burgess landed in New York he had 
 but fifteen dollars in his pocket. He embarked 
 in his present business connection with his brother 
 Charles-, with whom he was associated for twenty 
 years. The partnership was dissolved about twelve 
 years ago and seven years ago Robert Burgess ad- 
 mitted his- only son Charles into a partnership 
 under the firm style of Robert Burgess & Son. 
 Mr. Burgess probably owns the finest farm in the 
 
 state of Illinois. It isYknown as the Meadow 
 Lawn farm and adjoins Galesburg. He also has 
 other extensive real-estate \interests in Illinois, 
 Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota. 
 
 On the 2d of May, 1872, \Mr. Burgess was 
 united in marriage to Miss Ewalyn Wilcox, a 
 native of Massachusetts, and theyXhave three chil- 
 dren: Charles, Bertie and Mabel. \ The son wed- 
 ded Anna McEachem, of Marshall ccWty, Illinois, 
 and they have two children, Robert And Charles. 
 
 During his many trips abroad Mr. Burgess has 
 won many friends, not a few among the royalty. 
 He is an interesting and entertaining gentleman, 
 having greatly broadened his knowledge through 
 travel and the experiences- which it brings. \Com- 
 faft in America practically a penniless boy, luTis^ 
 nnw ipillionaire and his success stands as an 
 illustration of what may be accomplished by en- 
 ergy, close application and strength of character. 
 He has ever been watchful of opportunities and 
 has utilized the means at hand. Moreover he has 
 conducted his affairs along such strictly honorable 
 business principles that his name stands as a syn- 
 onym for business probity to all acquainted with 
 his history. Fortune has certainly dealt kindly 
 with him, for all the blessings that fall to man on 
 earth seem to be his. Yet he is a self-made man 
 in the fullest sense of that oft misused term, his 
 prosperity resulting from his industry and integ- 
 rity. It is to such men that the west owes its 
 prosperity, its rapid growth and its advancement. 
 In everything pertaining to the upbuilding of his 
 adopted county he takes an active part and is a 
 liberal contributor to the enterprises that insure 
 its progress. 
 
 EDWARD B. SMITH. 
 
 Edward B. Smith, filling the office of supervisor 
 of Henry township, is recognized as one of the 
 most prominent representatives of the republican 
 party in Marshall county. He is well fitted for 
 leadership and has exercised considerable influ- 
 ence over public thought and opinion, while his 
 progressive spirit and well known devotion to the 
 general good have made him well worthy of the 
 political honors which have been conferred upon 
 him. He is one of Henry township's native sons, 
 his birth having occurred about a mile and a half 
 from the city of Henry on the 19th of November, 
 I860. His father was a native of New York city, 
 born November 16, 1824, and became one of the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 early residents of Illinois, arriving in this part 
 of the state about 1836 or 1838. There were 
 many evidences of pioneer life here and he shared 
 in the hardships and privations incident to the 
 establishment of a home on the frontier. He was 
 a farmer by occupation and became the owner of 
 a large tract of land. Of this he cultivated one 
 hundred and sixty acres on his home farm deriv- 
 ing therefrom a substantial income, and he owned 
 considerable land elsewhere. He married Miss 
 Roby A. Taber, who was born in 1818 and who 
 died May 8, 1896, at the age of seventy-eight 
 years. Mr. Smith is also deceased. In their fam- 
 ily were three children: Amer A., who follows 
 farming on Western avenue near Henry; Mrs. 
 Emma J. Forbes, of Nebraska; and Edward B., 
 of this review. 
 
 On the old homestead farm Mr. Smith, whose 
 name introduces this record, spent the days of 
 his boyhood and youth and early became familiar 
 with the work of the fields. He now owns the 
 home farm of one hundred and sixty acres where 
 he carries on general agricultural pursuits. His 
 preliminary education was* acquired in the district 
 schools and he afterward attended Henry Semi- 
 nary. From early manhood he has been deeply 
 interested in the political questions and issues 
 and has taken a very active and helpful part in 
 the work of the republican party. He was ap- 
 pointed to the office of supervisor as the successor 
 of H. J. Gregory and four years ago was elected 
 by the largest majority ever given to any candi- 
 date for that position. For ten years he lias been 
 a member and chairman of the town central com- 
 mittee and for six years has been a member of 
 the county central committee. He filled the office 
 of road commissioner for six years and his duties 
 have ever been promptly and faithfully performed, 
 lie i> well qualified for political leadership, being 
 able to marshal his forces with almost military 
 precision, while his executive ability and persona! 
 popularity enable him to get out the full party 
 strength. In addition to his activity and interests 
 ulong other lines he has served for seven years as 
 a director of the Henry Cemetery. 
 
 On March C, 1897, Mr. Smith was united in 
 marriage to Miss Grace M. Thompson, of Henry, 
 a daughter of M. A. and Marguerite R. (Sharp) 
 Thompson, the former of Henry, Illinois, and the 
 latter of Indiana. The father is now deceased 
 but the mother is still living. He was for many 
 
 years a farmer and hotel proprietor and was 
 widely known in Marshall county. Both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Smith hold membership in the Presbyterian 
 church, in which he is serving as trustee and in 
 the work of which he takes an active and helpful 
 interest. Indeed activity is one of his marked 
 and sterling characteristics. It is manifest in 
 everything that he undertakes. Whatever claims 
 his attention receives from him his best service 
 and he is a man who accomplishes results. 
 
 PATRICK POWERS. 
 
 Patrick Powers, engaged in farming on section 
 5, Saratoga township and also finding stock rais- 
 ing a profitable source of income, was born in 
 Peoria county, Illinois, near the city of Peoria, 
 on the 3d of November, 18.">8. His parents, 
 Thomas and Mary (Phalen) Powers, were both 
 natives of Ireland and the former died in the 
 year 1895. The mother is still living and is a 
 devout member of the Catholic church. In the 
 family were the following named : Mrs. Maggie 
 Driscoll, who is living upon a farm in Bureau 
 county, Illinois; James, Hannah, Alice, Ellen, 
 Mary Ann and Julia, all now deceased; and Pat- 
 rick of this review. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of Patrick 
 Powers we present to our readers the life record 
 of one who is widely and favorably known in this 
 part of the state. The removal of his parents to 
 Marshall county enabled him to become a student 
 in what is known as the Wilson school in Saratoga 
 township, and there he mastered the branches of 
 learning which well qualified him for life's prac- 
 tical and responsible duties. At the age of thirty 
 years he began farming for himself on the old 
 homestead, comprising three hundred and twenty 
 acres of good land, and he now has a splendidly 
 developed property with rich and productive fields-, 
 from which are annually garnered large harvests. 
 He also feeds cattle and hogs and his live stock 
 interests are an important branch of his business. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Powers was united in marriage to 
 Miss Nellie Mahoney. who was born in Stark coun- 
 ty, Illinois, and their union has been blessed with 
 two sons and two daughters: James L., born in 
 1891; Mary Eva, in 1896; Nora B., in 1899; 
 and Patrick Francis, August 17, 1906. Mr. Pow- 
 ers votes independently. He is not an aspirant 
 for office, preferring to give his time and energies 
 to his business affairs. In his religious faith he
 
 :ioo 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 is a Catholic, having always adhered to the church 
 in which he was reared. Almost his entire life 
 has been passed in Marshall county and the years 
 have brought him a wide acquaintance, while his 
 sterling traits of character have gained for him 
 the warm regard of many friends. 
 
 JAMES M. WINSHIP. 
 
 The life record of Mr. Winship is interesting 
 because of its varied experience and by reason of 
 the fact that his was a most honorable and upright 
 career. He came to this section of Illinois in early 
 pioneer times, and he was one of those who sought 
 a fortune in California during the early days of 
 the mining excitement there. Born in Lewis 
 county, New York, on the 2d of October, 1825, he 
 was a son of Ralph and Lucetta (Cooley) Winship, 
 who went to Bureau county, Illinois, in 1832. The 
 family trace their ancestry in America back to 
 Timothy Winship, who was born in Westminster, 
 England, May 31, 1713, and who emigrated to the 
 United States in early life. In 1731 he married 
 Margaret Merret, who was born in Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts, in 1708. 
 
 James M. Winship was a youth of only seven 
 years when brought by his parents to Illinois, and 
 upon the home farm in Bureau county, amid 
 pioneer conditions and environments, he was 
 reared. He acquired only a common-school edu- 
 cation, but after he had attained manhood he al- 
 ways read broadly and became a well informed 
 man, keeping in touch with current events and 
 with the trend of modern thought. In 1850 he 
 was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Read, 
 who was born in Herkimer county, New York,. 
 June 24, 1831, and was a daughter of Phillip and 
 Tryphena (Davis) Read. The father's birth oc- 
 curred in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, while the 
 mother was a native of Fall River, Massachusetts. 
 Both passed away in Putnam county, the former 
 in 1843, while the mother long survived and de- 
 parted this life June 30, 1889. They came with 
 teams from Massachusetts to Illinois in 1836, lo- 
 cating first in Hennepin township, while later they 
 established their home in Senachwine township. 
 The log house built by Phillip Read is still stand- 
 ing, and is one of the oldest landmarks of the 
 vicinity, being a mute reminder of the changes 
 that have occurred and the progress that has been 
 made from pioneer times down to the present. In 
 the family were seven children, but only three are 
 
 now living: Mrs. J. M. Winship; Mrs. William 
 Wheeler; and Rosalia Read, who resides in the 
 village of Putnam. 
 
 In 1852 James M. Winship made a trip to Cali- 
 fornia, crossing the plains with ox teams. He 
 traveled over the long stretches of hot sand and 
 through the mountain passes until at length he 
 reached the mining regions of the Golden state. 
 He remained for about a year, returning in 1853, 
 and in the meantime his wife resided with her 
 mother. After his return they began housekeeping 
 again and in 1868 removed to Senachwine town- 
 ship, where Mr. Winship purchased the farm upon 
 which he resided continuously until his death. He 
 passed away May 9, 1903, leaving an estate of 
 over three hundred acres of very rich and valuable 
 land. All of the improvements upon the prop- 
 erty had been made by him and he well deserved 
 classification with the representative agriculturists 
 of the community, for his place was kept in ex- 
 cellent condition. In 1876 he made an extended 
 trip east, visiting the Centennial Exposition at 
 Philadelphia, also New York city, Washington 
 and Mount Vernon, after which he visited old 
 friends in Oneida county, New York. Later he 
 and his wife also visited relatives and friends in 
 the east. He thus traveled from ocean to ocean 
 and gained quite intimate knowledge of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Winship were born six 
 children, of whom four are now living: J. 0., 
 who resides in Senachwine township and is men- 
 tioned elsewhere in this volume ; Cora Eva, the 
 wife of Martin L. Condit, who resides upon a 
 farm in Senachwine township; 0. W., who is liv- 
 ing in Tiskilwa, Illinois ; Walter E., who married 
 Etta White, and was a resident farmer of Senach- 
 wine township until his death ; Jessie M., the wife 
 of Charles A. Prutsman, living in Princeton; and 
 Buena Elspeth, who died in childhood. 
 
 For many years Mr. Winship was a devoted and 
 faithful member of the Christian church, exem- 
 plifying in his life its teachings and principles. 
 He was a man of thorough reliability and trust- 
 worthiness and his word was as good as any bond 
 ever solemnized by signature or seal. He was 
 greatly interested in the sciences of astronomy and 
 geology, which he studied after reaching manhood, 
 becoming well versed in those branches of knowl- 
 edge. His political allegiance was given to the re- 
 publican party and he served as supervisor for two
 
 MRS. JAMES M. WIXSHIP.
 
 JAMES M. WINSH1P.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 305 
 
 terms, while for twenty years he was a school di- 
 rector. The cause of education found in him a 
 stalwart friend, and he did everything in his 
 power to advance the interests of public instruc- 
 tion. To his family he was a devoted husband and 
 father, and his memory is cherished by all who 
 knew him. For many years he was an active 
 farmer, representative citizen and honored man of 
 Putnam county, and the example which he left is 
 one well worthy of emulation. Mrs. Winship still 
 resides upon the home farm and is in remarkably 
 good health for one of her years. She is one of 
 the oldest residents of the township, having for 
 seventy-four years lived in this county, so that she 
 has witnessed its growth from the earliest period 
 of its development down to this day of modern 
 progress. 
 
 JAMES PARRETT. 
 
 James Parrett, conducting a successful business 
 as a photographer at Wenona, where he has a 
 well equipped art gallery, was born in Magnolia, 
 Putnam county, Illinois, on the 7th of May, 1857. 
 He is a son of William E. and Emily J. (Dent) 
 Parrett, natives of Virginia. The mother in writ- 
 ing of early reminiscences said in part: "My 
 grandfather was Captain John Dent, a captain 
 in the Revolutionary war, and his father was John 
 Dent of England, who, with his brother Frederick, 
 came from Yorkshire, England, to Maryland, in 
 the early days of the colony. My mother's father 
 was William Berkshire. My mother was born at 
 Cumberland, on the Potomac, and moved to West 
 Virginia when quite young, living then near the 
 Dent home. Both of my grandfathers owned 
 beautiful homes and large plantations in West 
 Virginia, where the family lived in the customary 
 style of the prosperous planter. It was on the 
 morning of October 5, 1834, that we (Mrs. Par- 
 rett, her parents, brothers and sisters) started 
 overland from West Virginia to Illinois with one 
 large covered wagon called a prairie schooner, 
 drawn by four fine horses." The party traveled 
 after the primitive manner of the times, stopping 
 at night at some tavern in a town or engaging 
 lodgings from a farmer. The mother prepared all 
 the meals while en route, the family enjoying a 
 hot meal in the morning and evening, while din- 
 ing off of cold victuals at noon. Prior to this 
 time John and Enoch Dent, the father's brothers, 
 had come to Illinois and eventually the party of 
 
 travelers reached the home of Enoch Dent on the 
 8th of November, 1834. The family lived in true 
 pioneer style in a log cabin. They had two chairs 
 which they brought with them and the father 
 made three three-legged stools. It was a life of 
 privation and hardships in many ways, but after 
 all a happy life, and thus the Dent family was 
 established in Illinois, becoming pioneer residents 
 and taking their part in the development of their 
 portion of the state. 
 
 William E. Parrett, father of our subject, was 
 also an early resident of this state and made the 
 first reaper in Illinois. He had a shop at Mag- 
 nolia and his old sign, bearing date 1848, is still 
 hanging above the shop. He likewise established 
 a foundry at Pontiac, Illinois, which he conducted 
 for some time and subsequently settled in Wenona, 
 where he was engaged in the agricultural imple- 
 ment business. He thus figured in the industrial 
 and commercial interests of central Illinois and 
 was also prominent in public affairs, serving at 
 one time as county judge of Putnam county. In 
 the family were eight children, of whom one died 
 in infancy, while seven are still living, namely: 
 Orange, who resides at Priscilla, Illinois ; Mrs. 
 Belle Gray, of Rutland, this state; WiUiam, a 
 locomotive engineer; Emma, the wife of Frank 
 Mitchell, of Michigan City, Indiana; Mary, the 
 wife of Charles A. Whitney, of Lostant, Illinois; 
 James; and Hattie, the wife of T. L. Taylor, of 
 Streator, Illinois. 
 
 James Parrett was educated in the public schools 
 and accompanied his parents on their various re- 
 movals, arriving with them in Wenona in 1867 
 when he was ten years of age. He learned pho- 
 tography in Streator and on the 1st of December, 
 1884, established himself in business in Wenona, 
 where he has since conducted a gallery. His stu- 
 dio is well arranged and well equipped for the 
 successful conduct of the business and he does 
 most artistic and satisfactory work, keeping in 
 touch with the advanced ideas and most modern 
 inventions known to the representatives of the art. 
 He is a member of the state and national associa- 
 tion of photographers and thus keeps in touch 
 with what is being done by the profession through- 
 out the country. 
 
 On the 31st of December, 1885, Mr. Parrett 
 was united in marriage to Miss May Stoner, of 
 Wenona, and they have two sons, Dent and Henry 
 Tullis. The mother is a member of the Presby-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 terian church. Mr. Parrett belongs to the Wood- 
 men camp and the Yeomen Society. He has been 
 a member of the school board for several years 
 and also its secretary for a considerable time, and 
 he served for one term as city alderman. He is 
 interested in municipal affairs to the extent of 
 giving hearty aid to many movements for the 
 general good. At the same time he carefully 
 conducts his business interests and is a leading 
 photographer of this part of Illinois. 
 
 JOHN E. BARRY. 
 
 John E. Barry, who carries on general agricul- 
 tural pursuits in Henry township, is a native of 
 St. Louis, Missouri, born on the 17th of April, 
 1861. He was one of the five children whose par- 
 ents are Michael and Marguerite Barry. The 
 father is a native of Ireland and came to the 
 United States in early life. He was for many 
 years a resident farmer of Whitefield township, 
 Marshall county, but is now living retired in Hen- 
 ry, having gained through his close attention and 
 unuremitting diligence in his agricultural inter- 
 ests the competence that now enables him to live 
 retired. Unto him and his wife have been born 
 five children : James H., a resident farmer of Sara- 
 toga township ; Anna, at home ; Ella, the wife of 
 James Wallace, a farmer of Whitefield township ; 
 John E., of this review; and Charles, a mechan- 
 ical engineer living in Chicago. 
 
 John E. Barry was a little lad when his par- 
 ents removed from St. Louis to Whitefield town- 
 ship and there under the parental roof he spent 
 his boyhood and youth, while in the district schools 
 near his father's home he acquired his education. 
 Early becoming familiar with the duties and la- 
 bors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist, he has 
 always carried on farming as a life work and is 
 now renting from Mrs. Guyer a farm of one thou- 
 sand acres, of which he operates five hundred and 
 sixty acres. He is thus conducting his farming 
 interests on an extensive scale and has his fields 
 under a very high state of cultivation, so that 
 he annually harvests rich crops. In his work he 
 manifests the most progressive methods and a 
 thorough understanding of his business in every 
 detail, and thus he is meeting with well merited 
 success. 
 
 Mr. Barry was married in 1884 to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Longman, a native of Canada, and unto them 
 
 were born four children: Ida, who is twenty 
 years of age and was graduated from the high 
 school of Henry in the class of 1905 ; Ivan, seven- 
 teen years of age; Alvin, fourteen years of age; 
 and Maud, who is now thirteen years old. The 
 three younger children are all in school. Mr. 
 Barry is connected with the Modern Woodmen 
 of America, His political allegiance is given to 
 the democracy and he has served as a member of 
 the school board in his district. His religious 
 faith is indicated by his connection with the Cath- 
 olic church. Almost his entire life has been spent 
 in this county and those who have known him 
 from his boyhood days are numbered among his 
 stanchest friends. He is accounted one of the 
 representative agriculturists of Henry township, 
 where he is now extensively and successfully car- 
 rying on general farming. 
 
 ROBERT BRUCE FOUNTAIN. 
 The name of Fountain has long been closely 
 and honorably associated with agricultural inter- 
 ests in Marshall county and central Illinois. The 
 paternal grandparents of our subject were William 
 and Jane (McGinnis) Fountain, who were early 
 settlers of Peoria county. The former was born 
 in New Jersey and the latter in Ohio and their 
 marriage was celebrated in the Buckeye state, but 
 soon afterward they came westward to Illinois 
 and made their home in the vicinity of Yates 
 City, in Peoria county. About 1851 they removed 
 to Marshall county, settling in the northwestern 
 part of Whitefield township, where they spent their 
 remaining days, being worthy and respected repre- 
 sentatives of the farming interests of the locality. 
 The grandfather died November 3, 1891, at the 
 age of eighty-three years, while his wife's death 
 occurred December 17, 1891, when she was seven- 
 ty-nine years of age. His home farm, consisting 
 of four hundred and eighty acres, was kept under 
 a high state of cultivation and many modern equip- 
 ments were added to the place. He also invested 
 in lands in Dakota and in Kansas and at his 
 death was enabled to leave a goodly patrimony to 
 each of his children. His political allegiance was 
 given to the republican party from its organiza- 
 tion until he passed from the scene of earthly ac- 
 tivities. He practically lived retired from 1876 
 and during his last years was an intense sufferer.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 301 
 
 In their family were seven children, which num- 
 ber included Edward Walter Fountain. 
 
 He was horn near Yates City, Peoria county, 
 Illinois, November 7, 1849, and was therefore less 
 than two years of age when brought by his parents 
 to Marshall county, where he resided until his 
 death. The lessons of industry and enterprise 
 which were instilled into his mind in his early 
 youth bore rich fruit in later years and he succeed- 
 ed in acquiring a handsome property. 
 
 Edward Walter Fountain was reared to farm 
 life and was married January #1, 1869, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Shurts, a native of Hunterdon county, 
 New Jersey, who at the age of eighteen months 
 was brought by her parents, Peter and Effie 
 (Tiger) Shurts, to Bureau county, Illinois. They 
 made a settlement about a mile northwest of 
 Whitefield, where they continued to reside until 
 death, the mother passing away February 6, 1881, 
 and the father November 29, 1888. On the 9th 
 of March, 1869, Mr. and Mrs. Fountain settled 
 on what became the homestead farm and there 
 he carried on agricultural pursuits until his death 
 on the 8th day of May, 1890. He was greatly es- 
 teemed by all who knew him and had many warm 
 friends. In politics he was a stanch republican 
 and served as road commissioner and as school 
 director, yet was never a politician in the sense 
 of office seeking. He belonged to the Modern 
 Woodmen of America and to Telegraph Grange. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Fountain were 
 born seven children : William, Georgie, Florence, 
 Fannie, Robert Bruce, Harry and Orlando. Fan- 
 nie is now the wife of Jasper Newton Young. The 
 mother and nearly all of the children are mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 Robert Bruce Fountain acquired his education 
 in the district school at Whitefield Corners and 
 in his youth worked as a farm hand for others. 
 He also spent much time in aiding in the further 
 development and improvement of the old home- 
 stead farm, where he now resides. The place com- 
 prises ninety-two and a half acres which he has 
 cultivated and the land is under a high state of 
 development, owing to the care and labor which he 
 bestows upon it. He is practical in all that he 
 does and in his business is meeting with excellent 
 
 pie of this county. There has been two sons born 
 of this union, Cecil, whose birth occurred Febru- 
 ary 1, 1902, and a son, who was born May 15, 
 1906, and died June 6, 1906. The young couple 
 have the warm regard of many friends and are 
 highly esteemed throughout the community. Mr. 
 Fountain is a member of Whitefield camp, No. 
 1652, M. W. A., and he holds membership in the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. In his political views 
 he is a stalwart republican, having supported the 
 party since age conferred upon him the right of 
 franchise. He has always lived in Whitefield 
 township and is known as one of its representa- 
 tive young farmers. 
 
 In 1900 Mr. Fountain was married to Miss 
 Mary Jennings, a native of Indiana and a daugh- 
 ter of Thomas and Martha Jennings, farming peo- 
 
 HON. HARRISON T. IRELAND. 
 
 Hon. Harrison T. Ireland, whose position in 
 public regard and whose prominence in political 
 circles is indicated by the fact that he is the 
 present representative of his district in the 
 state legislature of Illinois, is, notwithstanding 
 the honors that have been conferred upon him, a 
 man of rather diffident nature who shuns ostenta- 
 tion and display. His election, therefore, was 
 even a greater compliment to his personal worth 
 and his fidelity in citizenship. He is perhaps 
 equally well known because of his extensive agri- 
 cultural interests in Marshall county, where he 
 owns seven hundred acres of fine farming land' 
 and is engaged extensively in raising, buying and 
 shipping live stock. His home is on section 35, 
 Richland township, and he is a native son of the 
 middle west, his birth having occurred in La Porte 
 county, Indiana, October 2, 1848. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, James Ireland, was 
 for some years a resident of Ohio, but spent his 
 last days in Indiana. His son, Pleasant Ireland, 
 was born in Preble county, Ohio, January 23, 
 1813, and was reared upon the home farm in that 
 state, while his educational advantages were such 
 as were afforded by the pioneer schools of the lo- 
 cality. He accompanied his parents on their re- 
 moval to Indiana and was there married to Miss 
 Matilda B. Newell, who was born in Kentucky, 
 December 11, 1811, and was a daughter of John 
 Newell, who after some years' residence in the 
 Hoosier state removed to Lacon, Illinois, about 
 1856, but subsequently returned to La Porte, In- 
 diana, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Pleasant 
 Ireland began their domestic life in La Porte 
 county, where he devoted his energies to farming
 
 308 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 until 1855, when he came to Marshall county 
 and for two years was a resident of Lacon. He 
 then took up his abode on a farm on section 35, 
 Richland township, where he continued to engage 
 actively in agricultural pursuits until he put 
 aside the more arduous duties of a business ca- 
 reer. He retained his residence in Richland 
 township, however, up to the time of his demise, 
 which occurred September 1, 1892, when he was 
 seventy-nine years of age. He had for almost two 
 years survived his wife, who died in 1890, at the 
 age of seventy-nine years. They were the parents 
 of five children, of whom two died in infancy, the 
 others being Frank N., a banker and farmer of 
 Washburn, Illinois ; Harriet, the wife of Isaac 
 Wikoff, a retired druggist living at Winfield, Kan- 
 sas; and Harrison T. The elder son was a mem- 
 ber of the Seventynseventh Illinois .Volunteer In- 
 fantry during the Civil war. The parents were 
 members of the Christian church, with which they 
 united at an early day. Mr. Pleasant Ireland 
 was a very close student of the bible and was al- 
 ways able to uphold his side of an argument con- 
 cerning religious questions. For some years he 
 served as deacon in his church and his political 
 support was unfalteringly given to the republican 
 party, for he believed that its principles best con- 
 served good government. 
 
 Harrison T. Ireland spent the first seven years 
 of his life in the state of his nativity, after which 
 he accompanied his parents on their removal to 
 Marshall county. He was a student at different 
 times in the public schools of Lacon and of Wash- 
 burn and in the district schools near his father's 
 farm. When not occupied with his text-books his 
 time and energies were largely given to the work 
 of the farm, so that he became thoroughly familiar 
 with the best methods of tilling the soil. He has 
 never sought to change his vocation, but has con- 
 tinued actively in farm work, adding to his prop- 
 erty as opportunity has offered, until his landed 
 possessions are now extensive, comprising seven 
 hundred acres in Marshall county. He raises the 
 crops best adapted to climatic conditions and to 
 the soil and is also extensively engaged in raising, 
 buying and shipping live stock. 
 
 On the 28th of October, 1869, Mr. Ireland was 
 united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth M. Owen, a 
 native of Richland township, Marshall county, 
 and a daughter of Walter Owen, one of the early 
 settlers of this locality. They became the par- 
 
 ents of four children, three of whom are now 
 living. Dr. Frank B. Ireland, the elder son, is 
 successfully engaged in the practice of medicine 
 at Washburn, Illinois. He married a Miss Stu- 
 bert and they have one son, Harrison B., now six 
 years of age. Walter 0., who married Miss Anna 
 Lutz, is a traveling salesman with headquarters at 
 Washburn. Ludell is a graduate of the Washburn 
 high school and is at home. 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Ireland hold membership 
 in the Christian church, in the work of which 
 they take an active part, while contributing gen- 
 erously to its support. Mr. Ireland also belongs 
 to Washburn lodge, No. 421, A. F. & A. M., and 
 to Lacon chapter, R. A. M. His position is never 
 an equivocal one upon any question. He stands 
 firm in support of his honest convictions and over 
 his private life and public career there falls no 
 shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. Recognized 
 as one of the leaders in the ranks of the republican 
 party in Marshall county, he has filled various 
 local offices, acting as school treasurer for eighteen 
 years, as supervisor of Richland township for four 
 years, and as chairman of the board for two years. 
 In 1904 he was the choice of the republican party 
 for the state legislature and received the en- 
 dorsement of the public at the polls. On Novem- 
 ber, 1906, he was re-elected as a member of the 
 Forty-fifth general assembly, so that he is now 
 representing his district in the state legislature, 
 where he has made such a creditable record. Fault- 
 less in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in 
 reputation, Mr. Ireland commands the respect of 
 his political adherents and opponents alike, while 
 personally he is popular, winning friends wher- 
 ever he goes. His life has been actuated by high 
 and honorable principles and characterized by the 
 utmost integrity as well as activity in his business 
 affairs. 
 
 EDSON LUTES. 
 
 Edson Lutes, who since 1894 has resided in 
 Marshall county and is now engaged in general 
 farming on section 8, Whitefield township, was 
 born in Henderson county, New Jersey, May 7, 
 1870. His parents are Jacob and Malissa (Sut- 
 ton) Lutes, also natives of New Jersey, in which 
 state they yet reside. The father has followed 
 various business pursuits, including farming and 
 carpentering and he now resides in Fairmount, 
 New Jersey. In the family were the following
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 named: S. B., who carries on farming in Mis- 
 souri; George, who is a farmer in Illinois; Wil- 
 lard P., who is living retired in Mexico ; Edson, of 
 this review; Mrs. Anna Jaquish, whose husband 
 is a farmer of New Jersey; I. H., who carries on 
 agricultural pursuits in Oklahoma ; Albert E., a 
 mason of New Jersey; Johnson, who is with his 
 brother in Whitefield township; and Stewart K., 
 also a farmer. 
 
 Edson Lutes is indebted to the public-school 
 system of his native state for the educational 
 privileges he enjoyed. He was reared to farm 
 life, being early instructed by his father in the 
 best methods of tilling the soil and caring for 
 stock, so that when he began farming on his own 
 account he had practical knowledge to assist him 
 in his work. He came to Illinois in 1894 when 
 a young man of twenty-four years and took up 
 his abode in Marshall county. He is now oper- 
 ating the Thomas Monier farm, comprising one 
 hundred and sixty acres and in its control displays 
 good business ability, so that he annually gathers 
 good crops. He is quite prominent in fraternal 
 circles, belonging to Eialto lodge, No. 116, I. 0. 0. 
 F., at High Bridge, New Jersey, the Masonic 
 lodge at Henry, Illinois, the Knights of the Golden 
 Eagles at Califon, New Jersey, and the Order of 
 Junior American Mechanics at the same place. 
 He votes with the republican party and is con- 
 nected with the Methodist Episcopal church in 
 the faith of which he was reared. He has become 
 widely known during the years of his residence in 
 Marshall county and has many warm friends in 
 this part of the state. 
 
 WILLIAM H. GEEMAN.. 
 William H. German is a retired farmer, who 
 since 1899 has made his home in Henry. He was 
 born in Putnam county, Illinois, March 12., 1840, 
 and is one of the eight children of John and 
 Cassandra (Smith) German. The father was 
 born in Pennsylvania and was of German descent. 
 He came to Illinois in 1832 the year of the Black 
 Hawk war and located near Magnolia. An uncle 
 entered for him a tract of land and he devoted 
 his remaining years to farming, meeting the 
 usual experiences, privations, pleasures and op- 
 portunities of pioneer life in the early days and 
 subsequently enjoying the advantages which came 
 through an advanced civilization. He held mem- 
 bership in the Methodist Episcopal church, took 
 
 an active interest in its work and served as class 
 leader. His political allegiance was given to the 
 democracy. He died in 1863 at the age of sixty- 
 six years, while his wife, who was a native of Ohio, 
 passed away in 1840. She, too, was a devoted 
 member of the Methodist church. Of their eight 
 children Samuel is now deceased; Moses died in 
 1902 at the age of eighty years; Maria has also 
 passed away ; Eachel is the wife of Calvin Shields 
 of Putnam county, Illinois ; Susan H. is the widow 
 of Henry Hannum; Elizabeth is the widow of 
 Young Glenn, who is-in Oxbow, Putnam county; 
 Malinda was the wife of Dan Harney and both 
 are now deceased. 
 
 William H. German, the youngest member of 
 the family, was reared to farm life and has always 
 carried on general agricultural pursuits. He pros- 
 pered in his undertakings and is now the owner 
 of a valuable property of three hundred and twen- 
 ty acres lying in Hopewell township. There he 
 engaged in tilling of the soil for a number of 
 years and improved an excellent property, add- 
 ing many modern equipments to his farm, where- 
 on he resided until 1899, when he retired from 
 active business cares and took up his abode in 
 Henry. The only interruption to his business ea- 
 re'er had been his service in the Civil war, for he 
 had enlisted in defense of the Union cause, be- 
 coming a member of Company B, Seventy-seventh 
 Illinois Infantry, with which he remained for al- 
 most two years, when he was honorably discharged 
 on account of disability. He then returned to 
 his farm and continuously carried on agricultural 
 pursuits until his labors had brought to him a 
 handsome competence sufficient to supply him with 
 the comforts- and many of the luxuries of life 
 throughout his remaining days. 
 
 Mr. German was married November 12, 1863, 
 to Miss Ada E. Stewart, who was born in Hen- 
 nepin, Illinois, January 15, 1844, a daughter of 
 John E. and Sophia Stewart. Her father was 
 a farmer by occupation and on coming to Illinois 
 settled in Putnam county in 1835. Mr. and 
 Mrs. German have had eight children : Cassandra 
 S., John H., Nancy E., Gillie M. and William 
 C., all now deceased; Charles S., an optician and 
 jeweler ; Moses S., who follows farming ; and Ed- 
 win S., of Henry, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. German is a member of Henry post, G. A. 
 R., and thus maintains pleasant relations with 
 his old army comrades. He has been as loyal to
 
 310 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 his country in days of peace as when he wore the 
 blue uniform of the nation and followed the old 
 flag upon southern battlefields. He is a public 
 spirited man and local advancement and national 
 progress are both causes dear to his heart. In 
 business affairs he has a most creditable record as 
 one who is ever straightforward and honorable in 
 his dealings, his succesful accomplishment re- 
 sulting from his diligence and enterprise. Mrs. 
 German is a member of the Women's Relief Corps. 
 
 PATRICK DORE. 
 
 Patrick Dore, deceased, was for many years a 
 prominent business man of Putnam county, iden- 
 tified with both its commercial and agricultural 
 interests, and his life record demonstrated what 
 can be accomplished through firm and determined 
 purpose and unfaltering energy. A native of 
 County Kerry, Ireland, he was born on the 17th 
 of March, 1831, and acquired his education in the 
 schools of the Emerald isle, remaining in his 
 native land until the fall of 1850, when he came 
 to the United States to try his fortune in the new 
 world, having heard favorable reports of the op- 
 portunities here extended to ambitious, energetic 
 young men. He had no capital, but he possessed 
 determination and enterprise, and upon those qual- 
 ities as a foundation he builded the superstructure 
 of his success. For a short period he was em- 
 ployed near Chicago, and on the 9th of December, 
 1850, arrived at Hennepin. It was his intention 
 to go further south, but, spending the night at a 
 hotel here, he entered upon arrangements to work 
 for the landlord of the hotel, first receiving a sal- 
 ary of only eight dollars per month, but later the 
 wage was increased to ten dollars and subsequently 
 to thirteen and to fifteen dollars per month. Ap- 
 parently trivial incidents often prove decisive fac- 
 tors in a life record, and such was the case of 
 Mr. Dore, for, stopping for the night at Henne- 
 pin, he continued to make his home here through- 
 out his remaining days. 
 
 On leaving the hotel he entered the employ of 
 the firm of Minehan, Simpson & Company, dealers 
 in lumber and grain, being employed in their 
 warehouse, yards and office. The firm conducted 
 an extensive business, making shipments to St. 
 Louis and Chicago. Mr. Dore had a friend in 
 St. Louis, a grain dealer, who often came to Hen- 
 nepin, and finally an arrangement was made 
 whereby Mr. Dore bought and shipped grain for 
 
 this friend, Thomas Ryan. After working for 
 some years in this way his friend, who was also a 
 wholesale grocer, proposed that he should go into 
 the grocery business, and furnished him with a 
 stock of goods on long time. His trade gradually 
 increased and became very profitable, and he re- 
 mained a merchant of Hennepin up to the time 
 of his death. A man of resourceful business abil- 
 ity, he also extended his efforts into other fields 
 of activity by purchasing grain and hogs, which 
 he shipped to Mr. Ryan, partially in payment for 
 goods. His business increasing, in a few years he 
 was enabled to pay cash for such goods as he pur- 
 chased. All days were not equally bright. At 
 times the storm clouds gathered and threatened 
 disaster to the young merchant, but he perse- 
 vered and turned seeming defeats into victories. 
 At one time he lost heavily in the sinking of a 
 steamer on which he had seven thousand bushels 
 of potatoes, which were then worth seventy-five 
 cents per bushel. This was a total loss, as he had 
 no insurance on it. About five years ago, in com- 
 pany with a nephew, he established a store at 
 Spring Valley, in which he lost three thousand 
 dollars. He then put his son, Michael Dore, in 
 charge, and the business from that time proved 
 profitable. 
 
 As soon as he was enabled to do so Mr. Dore 
 invested means in Iowa land, buying at three dol- 
 lars and a half per acre at first and afterward 
 paying as high as ten dollars per acre. As his 
 financial resources increased he began purchasing 
 land in Putnam county and other places, and 
 eventually had extensive holdings in this state, in 
 Iowa, Colorado, Omaha, Nebraska, and South Da- 
 kota. He . gave his personal supervision to his 
 Putnam county farms and thereon raised and fed 
 horses and cattle quite extensively. For some years 
 he bred many Norman horses, owning a fine stal- 
 lion. He was also interested in race horses, and 
 has been the owner of some fine specimens of the 
 noble steed that have made excellent records on 
 the track. In his cattle raising interests he made 
 a specialty of the Herefords, and won success in 
 this branch of his business. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Dore was united in marriage to 
 Miss Margaret Rooney, of Hennepin, and unto 
 them were born six children: John, who is now 
 manager of his father's estate and lives in Henne- 
 pin : James, who died at the age of nineteen years ; 
 William, who died in infancy; Thomas, who
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 313 
 
 is living retired in Hennepin and who married 
 Jennie Simington, by whom he has three children 
 Margery, John and Thomas; Michael, who is 
 manager of the store in Spring Valley and who 
 wedded Edith Smith, of Hennepin, by whom he 
 has three children; and Cora Ellen, the wife of 
 James G. Fay. They reside in a beautiful home 
 in Hennepin, which was built a few years ago, 
 and they have one daughter, Margaret, who was 
 nine years of age on the 27th of June, 1906. They 
 also lost a daughter, Eileen, at the age of eleven 
 months. Mr. Fay is employed in the Patrick Dore 
 store in Hennepin. The death of the father oc- 
 curred in 1901, and the mother, who had been an 
 invalid for many years, passed away at the old 
 home in Hennepin in April, 1905. 
 
 Mr. Dore gave his political allegiance to the de- 
 mocracy where national questions were involved, 
 but at local elections cast an independent ballot. 
 He did not seek or desire office, preferring to de- 
 vote bis entire time and attention to his business 
 affairs. He was an honest, upright man and a 
 public-spirited citizen, dealing fairly in his busi- 
 ness relations and supporting many progressive 
 measures that proved of benefit to his community. 
 He had but twenty-five cents when he reached 
 Chicago on his way from Ireland. His educational 
 privileges were limited, but he was quick to learn, 
 and he had more than ordinary ability as a busi- 
 ness man. Gradually he worked his way upward, 
 utilizing the means at hand to the best possible 
 advantage, and his energy and enterprise proved 
 the strong elements in a successful business career 
 which was well worthy of emulation. Since his 
 death his widow and children have built a new 
 Catholic church in his honor, which is called St. 
 Patrick's church, and thus is perpetuated the mem- 
 ory of one of Putnam county's prominent and 
 prosperous business men. 
 
 WILLIAM HUFNAGEL. 
 
 William Hufnagel is the owner of a valuable 
 farming property comprising a tract of one hun- 
 dred and nine acres and another of one hundred 
 and nineteen acres in Whitefield township, Mar- 
 shall county, while in Bureau county he owns one 
 hundred and five acres. He is a progressive and 
 energetic business man and is now very pleasant- 
 ly located on section 6, Whitefield township. He 
 was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 
 29, 1854, his parents being John and Mary 
 
 (Draubert) Hufnagel, both of whom were na- 
 tives of Germany. The father was born in Wur- 
 temberg and on leaving the land of his nativity 
 and crossing the Atlantic to the new world in his 
 boyhood days he became a resident of Pennsyl- 
 vania. There he was reared and in Philadelphia 
 he wedded Miss Mary Draubert. While in the 
 east he followed the carpenter's trade and also 
 engaged in merchandising, conducting a store for 
 the purchase and sale of butter, eggs and other 
 commodities. Hoping to enjoy still better oppor- 
 tunities in the middle west, however, and think- 
 ing that he would here obtain superior advantages 
 whereby to provide for his family, he came to Illi- 
 nois in 1860 and turned his attention to farming, 
 settling upon a tract of land in Whitefield town- 
 ship. For long years thereafter he was actively 
 and successfully connected with farming pursuits, 
 but is now living retired in Bradford. His wife 
 has passed away. In their family were five chil- 
 dren : Aaron, who is a farmer living in Stark 
 county, Illinois, not far from Bradford; Charles, 
 who is engaged in farming and gardening in Bu- 
 reau county, Illinois ; William, of this review ; 
 Joseph, who is raising farm and garden produce in 
 Bureau county; and Daniel, who is engaged in 
 carpentering in Bradford. 
 
 In the days of his boyhood and youth William 
 Hufnagel was a pupil in the district school at 
 Whitefield Corners and when not busy with his 
 text-books he was occupied with the labors of the 
 field, working on the home farm from early boy- 
 hood days. He was a lad of only six years when 
 he accompanied his parents to Illinois and he was 
 therefore reared upon the old family homestead 
 in Whitefield township. He has never sought to 
 change his occupation, being content to devote 
 his time and energies to agricultural pursuits, 
 finding therein ample opportunity for the exercise 
 of his native talents and for the acquirement of 
 success. His holdings now comprise three hun- 
 dred and thirty-three acres of rich and productive 
 land, of which one hundred and five acres is sit- 
 uated in Bureau county and the remainder in 
 Whitefield township, Marshall county, although it 
 is divided into two tracts. The home place is on 
 section 6 and is a well improved farm, lacking in 
 none of the accessories and conveniences of a 
 model farm property of the twentieth century. 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Hufnagel was married to Miss 
 Louisa Kopp, of Henry county, Illinois, whose
 
 314: 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 father, Christopher Kopp, was a merchant there. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hufnagel now have four children : 
 Albert, who at the age of twenty-one years is en- 
 gaged in farming; Annie, seventeen years of age; 
 Henry, fifteen years of age, now assisting in the 
 work of the home farm ; and Laura, a little maiden 
 of four summers. 
 
 Mr. Hufnagel votes with the democracy, but 
 does not consider himself bound by party ties 
 and at local elections frequently casts an inde- 
 pendent ballot. He has served as path master, 
 but is not a politician in the sense of office seek- 
 ing, as he prefers to give undivided attention to 
 his business affairs, which have been carefully 
 conducted, so that in the long years of his resi- 
 dence in this county he has gained .the confidence 
 and good will of his fellowmen and won many 
 friendships in the circle of his acquaintance. 
 
 ELLISON G. WOOD. 
 
 Ellison G. Wood, proprietor of the Maple 
 Lawn farm, situated on section 36, Whitefield 
 township, is one of the progressive and represent- 
 ative agriculturists of Marshall county. He was 
 born in Fulton county, Illinois, on the 7th of 
 March, 1850. His father, Thomas Wood, was a 
 native of Virginia and became one of the pioneer 
 settlers of this state, journeying westward to Illi- 
 nois with an ox team in 1830. He settled upon a 
 farm in Fulton county, casting in his lot with 
 the early residents of that portion of the state and 
 aiding in reclaiming it from the domain of the 
 red man and converting it into the uses of civiliza- 
 tion. He devoted the remainder of his life to 
 farming in that locality and died at the age of 
 forty-eight years. His wife, Rachel Flowers 
 Wood, passed away about twenty-six years ago. In 
 their family were thirteen children, but only four 
 are now living, namely: F. B., a resident farmer 
 of Fulton county, Illinois ; Laura V., who is the 
 widow of George W. Emerick and resides in Hen- 
 ry ; Casper, who is living a retired life in Henry ; 
 and Ellison G. 
 
 In the district schools of the county of his na- 
 tivity Ellison G. Wood mastered the common 
 branches of English learning and through the 
 summer months he worked upon the home farm, 
 early becoming thoroughly conversant with the 
 best methods of tilling the soil and raising the 
 crops adapted to the climate. After leaving the 
 
 old home farm he removed to Chillicothe, Illinois, 
 where he established and conducted a livery busi- 
 ness for nine years. On the expiration of that 
 period he removed to a farm in Whitefield town- 
 ship, where he lived for four years, and six years 
 ago he came to his present place on section 36, 
 Whitefield township, known as the Maple Lawn 
 farm. Here he is carefully conducting general 
 agricultural pursuits and he has eighty-four acres 
 of rich and productive land, which is now well 
 cultivated and brings forth good crops. There 
 are many modern equipments and improvements 
 upon the farm and the neat and thrifty appear- 
 ance of the place is indicative of the careful su- 
 pervision of the owner. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Wood was married to Miss Belle 
 Maxwell, a native of Fulton county, Illinois, born 
 near Canton. Her father was George Maxwell, a 
 farmer of that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have 
 become the parents of a son and two daughters : 
 Grace, who is now nineteen years of age, and will 
 graduate in 1907; Clyde, eighteen years of age, 
 who assists in the operation of the home farm ; 
 and Hazel, thirteen years of age, now attending 
 school. Mr. Wood is an advocate of the principles 
 of democracy, but at local elections where no is- 
 sue is involved he regards only the capability of 
 the candidate for the faithful discharge of the 
 business of town or county and casts an independ- 
 ent ballot. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
 church and is a man well worthy the esteem 
 which is uniformly tendered him. He also merits 
 the success which has come to him, for it is the 
 direct reward of his earnest labor guided by sound 
 judgment and characterized by unswerving busi- 
 ness integrity. 
 
 JAMES H. TAGGART. 
 James H. Taggart, who has been a prominent 
 factor in agricultural and commercial circles in 
 central Illinois, has resided in Wenona since the 
 spring of 1895 and was formerly connected with 
 the grain trade. He was born in St. Clairsville, 
 Belmont county, Ohio, September 9, 1839, his 
 parents being John and Nancy (Roberts) Taggart, 
 the former also a native of Belmont county, while 
 the latter was born in Canada and was reared in 
 the faith of the Society of Friends or Quakers. 
 The paternal grandfather, James Taggart, was a 
 soldier of the Revolutionary war and the family
 
 PAST AM) PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 315 
 
 was established in Ohio at an early day. The an- 
 cestors in America came originally from Ireland. 
 The great-grandfather, John Taggart, was born in 
 the north of Ireland and became the founder of 
 the family in the new world. Eev. William Tag- 
 gart was a minister of the United Presbyterian 
 church and for sixty-two years engaged in preach- 
 ing the gospel. He attended a theological semi- 
 nary in New York, journeying from St. Clairs- 
 ville, Ohio, to the Empire state on horseback in 
 order to pursue his studies there. He was a most 
 highly educated man for his day, a deep thinker, 
 logical reasoner, and he lived to be eighty-four 
 years of age. He was one of a family of four 
 brothers, the others being James, Joseph and Isaac 
 Taggart, all of whom followed the occupation of 
 farming. 
 
 In the maternal line Mr. Taggart of this re- 
 view is descended from Welch ancestry, tracing 
 the line back to Ezekiel Roberts, who was born 
 in Wales and came to this country when a boy. 
 He was a farmer by occupation and for a few years 
 lived in Canada, but afterward settled in Ohio, 
 and his son John came to Henry about 1847. 
 
 John Taggart, father of our subject, was a 
 farmer by occupation and spent his entire life in 
 Belmont county, Ohio, where his wife also lived 
 from the time of the emigration from Canada 
 until her demise. They were the parents of four 
 sons and three daughters, namely : Joseph R., 
 who for forty-five years was a resident of Mar- 
 shall county, but now lives in Petersburg, Florida ; 
 Atwell M., deceased; James H., of this review; 
 Mary A., the wife of Hugh Morrison, of St. Clairs- 
 ville, Ohio; Lydia A., the wife of James Darrow, 
 of Bellaire, Ohio ; Wilson S., who resides at Long 
 Beach, California; and Agnes D., who died in 
 Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of James H. 
 Taggart we present to our readers the life record 
 of one who is widely and favorably known in this 
 portion of Illinois. He was reared in Belmont 
 county, Ohio, and was educated in the district 
 schools. In January, 1864, accompanied by his 
 wife, he journeyed westward, thinking to enjoy 
 better business opportunities in this portion of 
 the country, and located in Lacon, Illinois, where 
 he conducted a woodyard until the fall of 1868. 
 He then settled on a farm three miles west of We- 
 nona, where he remained for three years, and on 
 the expiration of that period he removed to Put- 
 
 nam county, Illinois, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing until 1882. He then became a resident of 
 Long Point, Livingston county, Illinois, where he 
 engaged in the grain, lumber and live stock busi- 
 ness, continuing therein until 1893. During the 
 two succeeding years he was not connected with 
 any business enterprise, but in the spring of 1895 
 again engaged in the grain trade, this time at 
 Wenona, where he has since resided. He rebuilt 
 the elevator which is now owned by his son, H. 
 M. Taggart, and is equipped with all modern con- 
 veniences. Mr. Taggart owns a half section of 
 land two. miles from Wenona and his has been a 
 most active business life, in which his close appli- 
 cation and keen discernment have been salient 
 features. 
 
 On the 3d of December, 1863, was celebrated 
 the marriage of James H. Taggart and Miss Jose- 
 phine L. Murdaugh, a native of Ohio, by whom 
 he has four children: Luella, the wife of T. C. 
 Colehour, a resident of Toluca, Illinois ; Maud R., 
 the wife of Oscar Wheeler, who resides at Long 
 Point, Illinois ; Harry M. ; and Fred L. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Taggart are members of the Presbyterian 
 church and he has been active in the upbuilding of 
 this section of the country, endorsing and co-oper- 
 ating in many measures which have had direct 
 bearing upon the welfare and improvement of 
 this part of the state. Moreover, his business 
 interests have largely been of a character that 
 have contributed to general progress and he be- 
 longs to that class of representative American 
 men who, while advancing individual interests, 
 also promote the public prosperity. Wherever 
 known his name is a synonym for business probity 
 and energy and for progressive citizenship. 
 
 ANTON GRESSER. 
 
 Anton Gresser, deceased, who at different times 
 was connected with agricultural and commercial 
 interests in Marshall county and in Henry, was 
 born in Bavaria, Germany, on the 10th of March, 
 1835, and died January 31, 1901. He came to 
 the United States in 1855, when a young man of 
 twenty years and located near Mount Palatine, 
 Illinois, where he began working as a farm hand 
 by the month. Subsequently he returned to his 
 native country, where he spent the succeeding 
 year, and then again came to America, taking up 
 his abode in Henry. Here he was engaged in busi- 
 ness until about fifteen years prior to his death
 
 PAST AM) I'HKSKNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COTNTIKS. 
 
 a was an enterprising, energetic man. He was 
 also tlie owner of a farm of one hundred and 
 seventy-five acres near the corporation line of 
 ^- Henry and this returned to him a good annual 
 
 income. 
 
 / On January 3, 1864, Mr. Gresser was married 
 
 to Apolona Umbs, who was born in Prussia, June 
 ' 22, 1847. When she was only nine weeks old 
 her parents, Nicholas and Margaret Umbs, emi- 
 grated to the United States and settled upon a 
 farm in Wisconsin, where they spent their remain- 
 ing days, the father becoming a well-to-do citizen 
 of that locality. In their family were four chil- 
 dren : Louis, who now resides in Wisconsin ; John, 
 who is a resident of Idaho; Agnes, the wife of 
 John Wisner, also of Wisconsin; and Apolona, 
 who became the wife of our subject. Unto Mr. 
 and Mrs. Gresser were born four children : Katie, 
 now the wife of John Peterman, who is living re- 
 tired in Henry; Abbie, who died at the age of 
 three and a half years; Henry, who is also living 
 in the city of Henry; and Joseph, who makes his 
 home there. 
 
 Mr. Gresser was a member of St. Mary's Cath- 
 olic church and his political allegiance was given 
 to the democracy, but he never sought or desired 
 public office, preferring to concentrate his ener- 
 gies upon his business affairs, which, being capa- 
 bly conducted, brought to him a goodly measure 
 of success and enabled him to leave his family in 
 comfortable financial circumstances when he was 
 called to his final rest. He never had occasion^ 
 to regret his determination to seek a home in 
 America, for here he found favorable business 
 conditions, which he improved, and he also gained 
 many warm friends in the locality where he re- 
 sided. He passed away when about sixty-six years 
 of age. Since that time Mrs. Gresser has sold 
 the farm which he owned and she makes her 
 home in Henry. She, too, is a member of the 
 Catholic church. 
 
 ARTHUR L. TURNER. 
 
 Arthur L. Turner is serving for the second term 
 as president of the school board. Activity and 
 enterprise in former years have enabled him to 
 live retired now from active business cares and his 
 time and energies are largely given to the public 
 service, the community recognizing in him a val- 
 ued citizen. He was born in Hopetown, La Salle 
 county, Illinois, March 22, 1856, and is a son of 
 
 Benjamin P. and Hannah L. (Miller) Turner. 
 The former was born on the 24th of July, 1826, 
 near Zanesville, Muskingum county, Ohio, and his 
 parents were Clem and Dorcas (Snyder) Turner, 
 the former a native of Delaware and the latter of 
 West Virginia. They were among the early set- 
 tlers of Muskingum county, where the father en- 
 gaged in farming and there both died. 
 
 In his early boyhood days Benjamin F. Turner 
 lost his mother and was reared in the family of 
 Judge Thomas Ijms, a prominent man of his 
 time and judge of the county court of Muskingum 
 county. In the district schools of Ohio Mr. 
 Turner secured his education and was reared to 
 farm work. He came to Illinois in 1845, arriving 
 in Magnolia township, Putnam county, on the 
 4th of March, accompanying the late George Dent, 
 and was there employed at farm labor until 1850. 
 In that year he married Miss Hannah L. Miller, 
 who was born at Steubenville, Ohio, January 16, 
 1830, and was a daughter of Abram and Jane 
 (Porter) Miller, who in 1846 located on a farm 
 two miles east of Magnolia. There they made 
 their home for ten years, when they removed to 
 Wcnona, where they were numbered among the 
 first settlers, and there spent their remaining days. 
 Her father, who was a carpenter by trade, helped 
 to erect many of the buildings in the village. 
 
 Six children came to bless the union of B. F. 
 Turner and his worthy wife, namely: William 
 E., born September 1, 1851 ; Martin M., December 
 8, 1853 ; Arthur L., March 22, 1856 ; Charles M., 
 October 37, 1860; Hulda J., July 6, 1863; and 
 Estella M., May 17, 1870. William Emery, who 
 died December 15, 1881, had married Nellie Moon 
 and they had two children, Guy Franklin, who 
 graduated at the Abilene (Kansas) high school in 
 1895; and Harry. Abraham Martin married Ida 
 Snider, by whom he has two children : Nellie and 
 Cecil. Arthur Lee, who lives in Evans township, 
 Marshall township, wedded Mary Work, of Weno- 
 na, by whom he has three children : Benjamin F., 
 Mary Maurine and Arthur Lynn Turner. He is 
 now serving as supervisor of Evans township. 
 Charles Marion, also of Evans township, married 
 Lou Carrithers, and they have five children. Jen- 
 nie is the wife of Clarence Axline, of Evans 
 township, by whom she has seven children. Es- 
 tella May, who completes the family, died April 
 14, 1883. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Turner rented land in
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 317 
 
 Putnam county for six years, but in 1857 removed 
 to a farm which he purchased on section 21, 
 Evans township, three miles west of Wenona, and 
 as it was all raw prairie land he at once began its 
 improvement and development. He there con- 
 tinued to make his home until 1884, when he laid 
 aside active business cares and removed to Wenona, 
 where his wife died on the 13th of November, 
 1892, and her remains were interred in the 
 Wenona cemetery. She was a consistent member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, and took an 
 active part in church work. On the 18th of 
 March, 1896, Mr. Turner married Mrs. Hannah 
 E. Seebree, nee Hendricks, of Bloomington. Mr. 
 Turner was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church and had served as trustee and steward of 
 the same. His death occurred September 24, 1901. 
 For many years he was an active member of the 
 Good Templars society, and took a prominent part 
 in promoting the temperance cause. He was an 
 influential member of the republican party, and 
 frequently served as delegate to its' conventions, 
 and was called upon by his fellow citizens to serve 
 in several official positions of honor and trust. 
 He was road commissioner in Evans township, was 
 a member of the city council of Wenona from the 
 third ward and served for many years as justice 
 of the peace. 
 
 Arthur L. Turner, whose name introduces this 
 record, was brought to Marshall county when only 
 a year old and was reared on the old homestead 
 farm on section 21, Evans township. When he 
 had mastered the branches of learning taught in 
 the district schools he continued his studies in 
 the high school at Wenona and was afterward a 
 student in Eureka college, where he completed his 
 literary training in '1877. Subsequently he en- 
 gaged in teaching for eight years and then, de- 
 voting his entire time and attention to farming, 
 he successfully carried on agricultural pursuits for 
 about two decades. It was in 1883 that he located 
 upon a farm on section 22, Evans township, com- 
 prising one hundred and twenty acres of valuable 
 land. He added many substantial improvements 
 to the place and brought his fields under a high 
 state of cultivation, so that he annually harvested 
 good crops. As the years have passed by he has 
 also added to his property until he now owns a 
 half section of fine land pleasantly and conven- 
 iently located about two and a half miles from 
 Wenona. He remained upon the farm until Sep- 
 
 tember, 1902, when he removed to Wenona, where 
 he now resides. 
 
 On the 26th of December, 1882, Mr. Turner 
 was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary T. Work, who 
 was born in Osage township, La Salle county, 
 April 7, 1856, and is a daughter of James B. and 
 Sarah A. (Miller) Work, both natives of Penn- 
 sylvania, but who were married in Whiteside 
 county, Illinois. Her father came to Marshall 
 county in 1836, which was his home until the fall 
 of 1855, when he moved to Osage township, La 
 Salle county, locating upon a farm which he 
 greatly improved. He had previously been mar- 
 ried, having by the first union three sons : Albert, 
 deceased; William, of the state of Washington; 
 and James, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Al- 
 bert and William aided their country in the 
 preservation of the Union during the Civil war. 
 The father, who was a life-long member of the 
 Presbyterian church, in which he served as elder 
 for twenty-five years, died on the 7th of Septem- 
 ber, 1880. He was deeply imbued with the doc- 
 trines of abolitionism ; his home became a station 
 on the underground railroad, and was one of 
 three who formed the republican party in the 
 locality where he made his home. He was quite 
 an unassuming man, but took a very active part 
 in matters pertaining to his party, and served as 
 census enumerator in his township. 
 
 Mrs. Turner is the oldest in the family of six 
 children, the others being Grace G., Maggie, Liz- 
 zie, Edward and Hattie P. She was educated in 
 the Wenoiia high school and is a cultured, refined 
 lady, who extends a hearty hospitality to their 
 many friends. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Turner were 
 born two sons and a daughter: Benjamin F., 
 Mary Maurine and Arthur Lynn, but their eldest 
 son was drowned on the 5th of June, 1905. 
 
 In politics Mr. Turner is a stalwart republican, 
 who has taken an active interest in the work of 
 the party and has frequently served as a delegate 
 to the county, senatorial, congressional and state 
 conventions. He has served as a member of the 
 county central committee, has filled the office of 
 township supervisor for fourteen years and has 
 been chairman of the board. H'e is now serving 
 for the second term as president of the Wenona 
 school board and is a stalwart champion of the 
 caiise of public education, while his efforts in its 
 behalf are of a practical and far-reaching nature. 
 He is the secretary of the Farmers' Insurance
 
 318 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Company, which office he has filled for twenty- 
 three years and he is identified with several fra- 
 ternal organizations. He has been counsel of the 
 Modern Woodmen camp at Wenona for several 
 years and is president of the Yeomen. He takes 
 an active interest in the growth and progress of 
 the city and is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, in which he is serving as steward. 
 His wife is an earnest worker in the Presbyterian 
 church and they are prominent socially, occupy- 
 ing an enviable position in the circles where true 
 worth and intelligence are received as the pass- 
 ports into good society. 
 
 WILLIAM H. CASSON. 
 William H. Casson at one time an active and 
 leading member of the Putnam county bar but 
 now living retired in Hennepin, was born in 
 Brownsville, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1838, a 
 son of Henry and Mary (Cock) Casson, both of 
 whom were natives of England, the former born in 
 1807 and the latter in 1806. The father was a 
 tailor by trade and after coming to the United 
 States first located in Albany, New York. Sub- 
 sequently, however, he removed to Pennsylvania 
 and in 1848, when his son, William, was a youth 
 of ten years, came to Hennepin, making the jour- 
 ney in accord with the slow stages of water travel. 
 They sailed down the Monongahela river to Pitts- 
 burg and on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the 
 mouth of the Illinois, proceeding then up stream 
 to Hennepin. Henry Casson worked at his trade 
 here for a few years, after which he became post- 
 master, acting in that capacity for a long period. 
 About thirty years prior to his death, however, he 
 retired from active life and made his home with 
 his son, William, until he passed away at the ven- 
 erable age of ninety-one years. His wife died in 
 Hennepin in 1872. They were members of the 
 Episcopalian church and Mr. Casson in ante bel- 
 lum days was a stanch advocate of abolition prin- 
 ciples, so that when the republican party was 
 formed to prevent the further extension of slavery 
 lie joined its ranks and remained one of its stal- 
 wart champions until his demise. His educa- 
 tional privileges- in youth were limited to those of 
 the common schools, but he became a well in- 
 formed man, reading broadly and thinking deeply. 
 He was once a candidate for the state legislature. 
 His family numbered eight children, but William 
 and his brother, Henry, are the only ones now liv- 
 
 ing. One child, who was born in England, died 
 soon after coming to America. John R., deceased, 
 was at one time circuit clerk of Vernon county, 
 Wisconsin. Elizabeth B. became the wife of Wil- 
 liam Eddy and lived in Hennepin. Both are now 
 deceased. Henry Casson, the surviving brother, 
 is now sergeant-at-arms of the lower house of con- 
 gress. His home was in Madison, Wisconsin, 
 where he served as secretary to several governors 
 and was recognized as a prominent factor in polit- 
 ical circles. 
 
 William H. U'.sson acquired a comiuon-scliool 
 education in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and in 
 Hennepin, Illinois, subsequent to the removal of 
 the family to i,Ms state when he was a youth of 
 ten years. At the age of fourteen years he be- 
 gan working as a farm hand and a year later 
 secured employment in a store, where he remained 
 for a few years. He became an influential factor 
 in local politics and at the age of twenty-four 
 years was elected circuit clerk of the county, act- 
 ing in that capacity for eight years, his duties 
 being discharged with marked promptness and 
 fidelity. While iu that office hj took up the study 
 of law under the late Judge T. M. Shaw and was 
 admitted to the bar in 1868. For many years he 
 was one of the prominent representatives of the 
 legal fraternity in Putnam county and served 
 for sixteen years in the office of state's attorney. 
 In 1867 he was chosen master in chancery and 
 continued to fill that position until about a year 
 ago. He is now living retired, his investments 
 being sufficient to bring to him a good income. 
 
 In 18C3 Mr. Casson was married to Miss Mary 
 McMahon, who was born in Putnam county in 
 1842 and died February 19, 1904. She was a 
 daughter of Owen and Margaret (Smith) Mc- 
 Mahon, the former a native of Ireland and the 
 latter of England. In the '30s they came to this 
 country and for some years resided in Putnam 
 county, Illinois. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Casson were 
 born three children, but the youngest died in in- 
 fancy. The daughter, Margaret Louise, is now 
 the wife of Bmjamin Robinson, professor of bo- 
 tany in Harvard University, and the son, Robert 
 Owen, is engaged in the poultry business at Alexis, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Casson is- a stalwart republican and for 
 many years has been prominent in politics in this 
 county, wielding a wide influence in the councils 
 of his party, his opinions often proving a decisive
 
 MR. AXD MRS. \V. H. CASSOX. 

 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF M AH SHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 321 
 
 factor in the settlement of some contested ques- 
 tion. His residence in Hennepin compasses the 
 period of early pioneer development and of later 
 progress. He can remember when people thought 
 Chicago was so close to Hennepin that it would 
 never amount to anything. Time and man have 
 wrought many changes in the county and state 
 during the six decades in which he has lived in 
 Hennepin and Mr. Casson has performed his full 
 share in the work of development and improve- 
 ment. He was gifted by nature with strong men- 
 tality and keen discrimination, and the develop- 
 ment of these latent powers and energies gained 
 him place among the brilliant and able members 
 of the bar of this part of the state. Now, how- 
 ever, he is living retired, owning and occupying 
 one of the best homes in the city of Hennepin, 
 while his realty possessions also include two hun- 
 dred and fifty' acres of good farming land in Put- 
 nam county, from which he derives a substantial 
 annual income. 
 
 EDMUND WEIS. 
 
 Edmund Weis was an enterprising farmer who 
 resided on section 36, Whitefield township, where 
 he was extensively engaged in general agricultural 
 pursuits and stock-raising. In his death the 
 community lost a worthy and prominent repre- 
 sentative of its farming interests. He was born 
 in Bavaria, Germany, in 1828, spent the days of 
 his boyhood and youth in the land of his nativity 
 and when twenty-two years of age came to the 
 United States to test the truth of the favorable 
 reports which he had heard concerning oppor- 
 tunities and advantages in the new world. He 
 joined an uncle in Marshall county and worked for 
 him on a farm in Whitefield township for some 
 time, after which he took charge of a farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres which had been purchased 
 by his father. He made good use of his oppor- 
 tunities and as the years passed was enabled to 
 make investment in land for himself and eventu- 
 ally became the owner of four hundred and eighty- 
 five acres, constituting a very valuable property. 
 He was thus extensively engaged in general farm- 
 ing and he also made a specialty of the raising of 
 cattle, which branch of his business likewise 
 proved profitable. 
 
 Mr. Weis was married on April 5, 1861, to Miss 
 Johanna Lindsey, of Prussia, Germany, and unto 
 them were born eight children, of whom six are 
 
 now living : Michael, a resident farmer of Wood- 
 ford county, Illinois ; Alexander, at home ; Ida, 
 the wife of Otto Noll, a farmer residing east of 
 Chillicothe, in Woodf ord county ; Conrad, at home ; 
 Edmund, who also follows farming in Woodford 
 county ; and Emma, who completes the family. 
 Alexander and Conrad still reside on the old home- 
 stead and carry on the business of the farm, giving 
 their time and energies to the further development 
 and improvement of the place of four hundred 
 and eighty-five acres. They are well known cattle 
 raisers, always keeping a good grade of stock, and 
 in the control of their interests they display 
 marked enterprise and keen business ability and 
 discernment. The family are communicants of 
 the Catholic church and the sons are supporters 
 of the democratic party. Conrad has served' as 
 tax collector for a number of terms, but their 
 attention is largely concentrated upon their busi- 
 ness interests, in which they are now meeting with 
 signal success. The father, Edmund Weis, contin- 
 ued actively in farm work until his death, which 
 pccurred when he was fifty-six years of age. His 
 was a notable and exemplary record. He came to 
 the United States without capital and without 
 acquaintance with the English language, but he 
 soon mastered the latter and gained a goodly por- 
 tion of the former. He worked diligently and 
 persistently year after year and it was his earnest 
 toil that gained him a start in life and brought him 
 gratifying success in later years. All who knew 
 him respected and admired him for what he ac- 
 complished and for the methods of his business 
 life. ' , , 
 
 HENRY EUGENE WHITMAN. 
 
 The farming interests of Henry township find 
 a worthy representative in Henry Eugene Whit- 
 man, who is successfully engaged in the tilling of 
 the soil, raising the cereals best adapted to soil 
 and climate. He is a native son of Illinois, his birth 
 having occurred in Bureau county, September 
 15, 1869. His paternal grandfather was George 
 Whitman, a Methodist minister, who devoted 
 many years of his life to gospel work and became 
 a pioneer preacher of Illinois, where he aided 
 largely in planting the seeds of moral develop- 
 ment at an early day. His son, George Henry 
 Whitman, was born in the state of New York. 
 He is a carpenter by trade and in connection with 
 building operations he has followed the occupation 
 of farming and is now engaged in the implement
 
 322 
 
 .PAST AM.) PKKSK.NT OF MARSHALL AM) IM'TXA.M COUNTIES. 
 
 business at Cherryvale, Kansas. He wedded Mary 
 Jane Pettitt and unto them have been born seven 
 children who are yet living and one deceased, 
 namely : Mrs. Eudora Uletha Blue, a resident of 
 Kansas; Clarissa Lucina, now Mrs. Grady, of 
 Whitefield Corners, whose husband is a painter; 
 Ira, deceased ; Henry, of this review ; Frances 
 Emily, at home; Clinton Addington, who is en- 
 gaged in the implement business in Kansas ; New- 
 ton Ernest, who is in partnership with his father 
 at Cherryvale; Luther Eads, who is a commercial 
 traveler. 
 
 Henry E. Whitman accompanied his parents on 
 their removal from Illinois to Kansas and largely 
 acquired his education in the schools of Independ- 
 ence. He returned to Illinois and became a resi- 
 dent of Henry township. He is now engaged in 
 farming and is raising excellent crops, having 
 fifty acres planted to corn and thirty-eight acres 
 to oats. He is a very practical man and carries 
 forward to successful completion whatever he 
 undertakes. His work therefore is proving a 
 source of good income to him and he is now ac- 
 counted one of the representative farmers of his 
 community. 
 
 In October, 1902, was celebrated the marriage 
 of Mr. Whitman and Miss Harriet Ketcham, a 
 daughter of Daniel Ketcham. This union has 
 been blessed with one son, Harry Daniel, now 
 three years old. Mr. Whitman belongs to White- 
 field Gem lodge, No. 572, I. 0. 0. P., in which 
 he has passed all of the chairs, and he is like- 
 wise connected with the Fraternal Eeserves. He 
 also holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
 church and he gives his political support to the 
 republican party, but is without aspiration for 
 office, preferring to devote his time and energies 
 to his business affairs which he is now capably 
 conducting. 
 
 WILLIAM NELSON OSBOENE. 
 William Nelson Osborne, who carries on gen- 
 eral farming on section 36, Whitefield township, 
 was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, on 
 the 5th of May, 1845, and is a son of Milton and 
 Margaret (Hamilton) Osborne. They, too, were 
 natives of the Keystone state. The father became 
 a carpenter and builder and continued his resi- 
 dence in the east until 1854, when he came to 
 Illinois, settling at Sparland, Marshall county. 
 
 For some time thereafter he was employed by the 
 Chicago, Eock Island & Pacific Eailroad at Spar- 
 land and subsequently at Lacon. He then 
 turned his attention to general agricultural pur- 
 suits, which he followed in Whitefield township, 
 Marshall county, and in Livingston county. He 
 was a man of enterprise and perseverance and 
 worked diligently to achieve the measure of suc- 
 cess which he enjoyed. He died about sixteen 
 years ago, while his wife passed away twelve years 
 ago. In their family of six' children two are 
 now living, the brother of our subject being Scott 
 Osborne, who resides at Lacon. 
 
 William Nelson Osborne began his education 
 in the public schools of Pennsylvania and contin- 
 ued his studies after the removal of the family 
 to Illinois, which event occurred when he was 
 about nine years of age. He was then a student 
 in Livingston county until he permanently put 
 aside his text-books and gave his father the benefit 
 of his services in the operation of the home farm. 
 He afterward worked at farm labor for others 
 and throughout his entire life he has carried on 
 general agricultural pursuits. He came to his 
 present place of residence about seven years ago 
 and here has two hundred and ten acres of land 
 which he rents and which he is now tilling. His 
 fields indicate thorough care and his farm is per- 
 vaded by an air of neatness and thrift that is 
 indicative of the business characteristics of Mr. 
 Osborne. 
 
 Few men of Mr. Osborne's years can claim a 
 military record of service in the Civil war. In 
 his sixteenth year he enlisted in the Twentieth 
 Illinois Infantry and he served for three months 
 in the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Eegiment 
 of Illinois Infantry, being too young to enter 
 the army prior to that time. His years, however, 
 were no bar to his valor and loyalty, which were 
 equal to that of many a man of twice his age. 
 
 On the 6th of July, 1873, Mr. Osborne was 
 married to Miss Clara Bonham, a daughter of 
 William and Amanda Bonham,, both now de- 
 ceased. Her parents were early settlers of this 
 part of the state and her father was a farmer 
 and merchant of Sparland. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
 Osborne have been born five children : Edna, the 
 wife of John Eiddell, of Sparland ; Louis, also of 
 Sparland ; Scott, at home ; Mary, who is engaged 
 in teaching school in Sparland ; and Flora, who is 
 yet under the parental roof.
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 323 
 
 Mr. Osborne is an Odd Fellow, belonging to 
 Sparland lodge, No. 212, in which he has filled 
 all of the chairs. He exercises his right of fran- 
 chise in support of the men and measures of the 
 republican party. These associations indicate 
 much of the character of the man, who is true 
 to the teachings of the fraternity. It is no unus- 
 ual thing for the American citizen to work his 
 way upward from a humble financial position to 
 one of affluence but the record is none the less 
 worthy, for it indicates a force of character that 
 at all times merits admiration and respect. Such 
 has been the history of William Nelson Osborne. 
 
 FRANK LAUF. 
 
 Frank Lauf, engaged in the insurance business 
 in Wenona, was born in La Salle county, Illi- 
 nois, about eight miles from Wenona, on the 19th 
 of August, 1867, his parents being William and 
 Catharine (Herkenreth) Lauf, both of whom 
 were natives of Coin, Germany. The father came 
 to this country when fourteen years of age and 
 the mother when a maiden of twelve summers. 
 They met and were married in Peru, Illinois, and 
 Mr. Lauf was an insurance man, connected with 
 the German Insurance Company of Freeport, Illi- 
 nois, for thirty-seven years. He entered the serv- 
 ice of that company when they employed but three 
 men and advanced with the growth of the com- 
 pany, which is now a very large concern repre- 
 sented by large policies and with a constantly in- 
 creasing business. During the first fourteen years 
 of his connection with the insurance company of 
 Freeport he did not have a loss in his district. 
 He also represented the North German Lloyd 
 *tr;miship Company for thirty-seven years and 
 sold more passages at one time for this company 
 than all other companies combined. He owned 
 a farm in Richland township and nineteen lots 
 in Peoria. At one time he conducted the Clifton 
 Hotel at Wenona, removing to this place in 1887. 
 He thus led an active and useful life, character- 
 ized by enterprise and successful accomplishment. 
 He died May 8, 1903, while the mother of our 
 subject passed away twenty-six years before. The 
 father was afterward again married. The living 
 children of his first marriage are Frank, William, 
 Lena, Anna, Charles and Belle. By his second 
 marriage there are two children, Mamie and Le 
 Roy. He served as supervisor while living in 
 
 Richland township, La Salle county, for a period 
 of twenty-one years-, was also school director, 
 deputy sheriff and constable. He held other offices 
 and in these various positions discharged his 
 duties with promptness and fidelity. 
 
 Frank Lauf was reared upon a farm and edu- 
 cated in the public schools of what was known as 
 the Swamp college. He remained on the farm 
 until he came with his father to Wenona in 1887 
 and for some time was in the hotel here. How- 
 ever, he has practically been in the insurance 
 business since twelve years of age, having been 
 trained in the detail work of the business by his 
 father. He represents the German Insurance 
 Company of Freeport, the German National Com- 
 pany of Chicago, the Security of New Haven, 
 Connecticut, the American of Newark, New Jer- 
 sey, the Germania of New York, the Concordia 
 and the Connecticut North American Accident In- 
 surance companies, likewise the Phoenix of Hart- 
 ford. He also represents the North German Lloyd 
 Steamship Company. HLs thorough knowledge 
 of the insurance business in principle and detail 
 and his energy and unflagging industry have been 
 the leading concomitants in his success, making 
 him one of the most prominent representatives 
 of the insurance business in this part of the state. 
 
 Mr. Lauf was married on the 9th of January, 
 1900, to Miss Veronica Eirich, a native of Mount 
 Palatine, Illinois. They are members of the 
 Catholic church and Mr. Lauf holds membership 
 with the Knights of Columbus. He is now serv- 
 ing his second term as alderman of the city and 
 was formerly water commissioner. A resident of 
 Wenona for almost twenty years, he is deeply in- 
 terested in local progress as well as national ad- 
 vancement and is a public spirited man, who 
 stands for all matters pertaining to general im- 
 provement and who is the champion of the varied 
 interests of civic virtue and of civic pride. 
 
 HIRAM HUNTER. 
 
 Hiram Hunter, prominent among the energetic, 
 far. seeing and successful business men of central 
 Illinois, is the subject of this sketch. His life 
 history most happily illustrates what may be at- 
 tained by faithful and continued effort in car- 
 rying out an honest purpose. Integrity, activity 
 and energy have been the crowning points of his 
 career and his connection with business- enterprises
 
 324 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 has been of decided advantage to Henry and this 
 part of the state, promoting its commercial and 
 material welfare in no uncertain manner. He 
 is the senior member of the firm of H. and E. F. 
 Hunter, dealers in lumber, coal, lime and build- 
 ing materials. The firm operates extensively 
 throughout this portion of Illinois, maintaining 
 business houses in various places and also dealing 
 in farm lands. 
 
 Mr. Hunter is a native of the state of New 
 York, born in 1837. The family is of Scotch 
 lineage and was established in America at an 
 early epoch in the history of the new world. The 
 father, Andrew Hunter, was born in Vermont 
 and upon his removal to Illinois in 1846 settled 
 upon a farm in Bureau county, becoming one of 
 the prosperous agriculturists of this portion of the 
 state. There he remained until called froom this 
 life by death. He was a member of the Congre- 
 gational church, in the work of which he took an 
 active and helpful interest, and in politics he was 
 an old-line whig until the dissolution of the 
 party, when he joined the ranks of the new repub- 
 lican party. In early manhood he wedded Hulda 
 Haskins, also a native of the Green Mountain 
 state, and she died in Milo, Bureau county, in 
 the faith of the Congregational church, of which 
 she was a consistent member. Her father was of 
 Irish lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hunter 
 became the parents of seven children, of whom 
 Hiram is the youngest. Three of the number are 
 now living. His sister Mary is the wife of H. H. 
 Allen, a retired farmer living in Henry, while 
 Robert is a retired farmer of Tiskilwa, Illinois. 
 
 Hiram Hunter was reared to farm life, no 
 event of special importance occurring to vary the 
 routine of such work for him in his boyhood 
 days. He acquired his education in the district 
 schools and also in the public schools of Henry 
 and for seven years following his marriage he en- 
 gaged in farming in Bureau county. It was in 
 1858 that he was joined in wedlock to Miss Adelia 
 C. Stevens, who was born in the Empire state 
 in 1838, a daughter of S. K. and Katherine (Ma- 
 ricle) Stevens, who came from New York. and 
 located on a farm in Bureau county in 1856. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were born two sons: 
 Elmer P., who is- a member of the lumber firm of 
 H. & E. F. Hunter, and who is stationed at Chilli-' 
 cothe, having charge of several branches of the 
 business; and Clarence, who died in infancy. 
 
 For his second wife Mr. Hunter chose Philenu 
 Stevens, who was born in Bureau county in 1862. 
 This marriage was blessed with five children: 
 Harold S.; Alden; Lloyd H.; Newell, who died 
 in infancy; and Esther L. 
 
 After carrying on general farming for a num- 
 ber of years in Bureau county Hiram Hunter 
 removed from his farm to Wyanet, Illinois, where 
 he was engaged in the hardware business for seven 
 years and also conducted a drug store there for 
 a similar period. He came to Henry in 1881 and 
 here engaged in the lumber business under the 
 firm name of Hunter & Houghton, his partners 
 being E. W. and E. F. Houghton of Wyanet. 
 After two years they sold out the business and 
 Mr. Hunter then became connected with the Han- 
 na Wagon Company and was in Peoria for two 
 years. On the expiration of that period he again 
 purchased the lumber yard and admitted his son, 
 Elmer F., to a partnership in the business under 
 the firm style of H. & E. F. Hunter. From time 
 to time they have enlarged and extended the scope 
 of their activities and are now owners of various 
 lumber yards in different points in central Illi- 
 nois. Their business embraces the yards at Henry, 
 Chillicothe, Sparland, Edelston, Winchester, La- 
 con, Chapin, Bluffs, Meredosia, South Wilming- 
 ton, Chebanse, La Salle, Varna, Magnolia, Ur- 
 bana and Marseilles. They handle lumber, coal, 
 lime, cement, sash, doors, blinds, mouldings and 
 other building materials and the firm are also 
 interested in farm lands in Scott county. Their 
 business has thus constantly increased in volume 
 and importance until it has reached considerable 
 magnhVude, making the firm one of the most prom- 
 inent in commercial circles in central Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Hunter holds membership in the Presby- 
 terian church and is one of its trustees, taking 
 an active part in its work, contributing generously 
 to its support and doing all in his power to ad- 
 vance its interests. He is likewise an exemplary 
 member of the Masonic fraternity and his polit- 
 ical allegiance is given to the republican party. 
 His business ability has been by no means limited 
 to one line of undertaking and he has demon- 
 strated his powers as a successful financier in the 
 enlargement and capable management of the en- 
 terprise of which he is now the head. He has 
 made an untarnished record and unspotted repu- 
 tation as a business man. In all places and under 
 all circumstances he is loyal to truth, honor and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 325 
 
 right, justly valuing his own self respect as in- 
 finitely more preferable than wealth, fame or po- 
 sition. In those finer traits of character which 
 combine to form that which we term friendship, 
 \\-hic-h endear and attach man to man in bonds 
 which nothing but the stain of dishonor can 
 sever, which triumph and shine brightest in the 
 hour of adversity in those qualities he is royally 
 endowed. 
 
 PETER ZIMMERMAN. 
 
 Peter Zimmerman,, a prominent representative 
 of business interests in Wenona, where he is en- 
 gaged in merchandising and ako deals in cattle, 
 is one of the men of foreign birth who, adapting 
 themselves to altered conditions and the different 
 customs of their adopted country, have made 
 steady and substantial advancement in the world 
 of trade. He was born on the Rhine in Germany, 
 October 4, 1852, and is a son of Henry and Eliza- 
 beth (Altenhafen) Zimmerman, who were like- 
 wise born on the Rhine in Germany. The father 
 was a cattle dealer and butcher and died in the 
 town of Essen. His wife has also passed away. 
 In their family were nine children, of whom eight 
 are now living: Englebird, Henry, William, Pe- 
 ter, August, John, Marguerite and Louisa. Mar- 
 guerite resides in Bonn on the Rhine and Louisa 
 is living in Chicago. All of the sons excepting 
 Peter are still in Germany and all of them are 
 living on the Rhine and are engaged in the stock 
 and commission business in the same town in 
 which the father carried on business. 
 
 Peter Zimmerman was educated in the public 
 schools and early became familiar with the cattle 
 trade through the assistance which he rendered 
 his father. In 1872, at the age of nineteen years, 
 he sailed from Antwerp with his sister Louisa 
 and landed in New York city, whence he went 
 to Sterling, Illinois, where he engaged in the 
 butchering business. He followed his trade in a 
 number of places before locating in Wenona, tak- 
 ing up his abode here in 1881, since which time 
 he has been a resident of this city. He has here 
 engaged extensively in dealing in cattle and in 
 the butchering business and has been very pros- 
 perous in his undertaking. On the 1st of March, 
 1905, he opened a mercantile store in Tonica, 
 where he has done an excellent business. He 
 was engaged in merchandising in Wenona for 
 four years under the firm name of Zimmerman 
 & Hoge and is now engaged in buying and selling 
 
 cattle. In all of his business affairs he has dis- 
 played an aptitude for successful management 
 combined with a keen discernment and unfalter- 
 ing energy whereby he has attained a large meas- 
 ure of success. Whatever he undertakes he carries 
 forward to completion and his business record is 
 most creditable and commendable. 
 
 Air. Zimmerman was married in 1886 to Miss 
 Anna Wiesbach, a native of Germany, who came 
 to this country when only three years old. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Zimmerman now have four living chil- 
 dren : John, Arthur, Esther and Peter J. Mr. 
 Zimmerman has made several trips back to his 
 native land, finding pleasure in revisiting the 
 scenes of his youth and renewing the acquain- 
 tances of his earlier years, but while he has a 
 strong love for his native country he has a still 
 deeper attachment for the land of his adoption. 
 His wife is a member of the Presbyterian church 
 and they are highly esteemed residents of Wenona. 
 where their circle of friends is large and con- 
 stantly growing. His business interests too have 
 constantly developed during his residence in the 
 new world and he has worked his way upward 
 from a humble position, making a business rec- 
 ord which any man might be proud to 
 
 ALLEN A. ROUSE. 
 
 Allen A. Rouse devotes his time and energies 
 to general agricultural pursuits in Henry town- 
 ship, where he rents a tract of land of two hun- 
 dred and eighty-nine acres, of which he is culti- 
 vating one hundred and seventy-five acres. His, 
 life record began in Stark county, Illinois, on 
 the 18th of December, 1860. His father, William 
 Rouse, was a native of the Empire state and a 
 farmer by occupation. During his infancy, how- 
 ever, he was brought from New York to Illinois 
 by his father and a settlement was made by the 
 family in Valley township, Stark county. There 
 he was reared to the occupation of farming, which 
 he made his life work after attaining his majority, 
 but he is now living retired from active business. 
 He married Cynthia Rate! iff, a native of Ohio, 
 and their home is in Stark county, Illinois. In 
 their family were nine children, of whom five 
 are still living. 
 
 No event of special importance occurred to vary 
 for Allen A. Rouse the routine of farm life when 
 he was in his boyhood davs. He attended the di?-
 
 326 
 
 PAST AND PRKSLNT OF MARSHALL AND PI TNAM COl "NT IKS. 
 
 trict schools in the winter months and in the 
 summer seasons aided in the labors of the fields 
 and after starting out in life on his own account 
 he continued in the agricultural work and is now 
 renting a farm from Holmes Morrison, comprising 
 two hundred and eighty-nine acres of very rich 
 and productive land, of which he has one hundred 
 and seventy-five acres planted to crops. He thus 
 annually gathers good harvests and his energy 
 and business ability constitute the secret of his 
 success. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. House was united in marriage to 
 Miss Maggie McMullen, also a native of Stark 
 county, this state. They now have four daugh- 
 ters: Mrs. Ada Cox, who is living in Stark 
 county; Nora, who married Frank Curry, and 
 lives in Whitefield township; and Maud and 
 Aura, both of whom are attending school and 
 still make their home with their parents. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Rouse hold membership in the Methodist 
 church and are interested in its work and growth. 
 His political allegiance is given to the republican 
 party and he keeps well informed on the questions 
 and issues of the day, so that he is able to sup- 
 port his position by intelligent argument, yet 
 the honors and emoluments of public office have 
 no attraction for him. He prefers to depend upon 
 business interests for an income and is accounted 
 one of the wide-awake, alert and enterprising 
 farmers of his community. 
 
 DES. 0. F. & F. C. TAYLOE. 
 
 The firm name which heads this article is one 
 well known in Granville and Putnam county and 
 the gentlemen who constitute the firm are widely 
 recognized as leading members of the medical 
 fraternity in this part of the state, having broad 
 and comprehensive knowledge of the principles of 
 the medical science, while in the application of 
 their knowledge they are correct and accurate, 
 thus securing good results in their professional 
 labors. 
 
 0. F. Taylor, born in Champaign county, Ohio, 
 on the 21st of May, 1843, is a son of E. 0. and 
 Elizabeth (Guerny) Taylor, also natives of Ohio. 
 The father was born in Champaign county about 
 1828 and in early life learned the mason's trade, 
 which he followed during the greater part of his 
 business career. In 1849, when his son, Dr. 0. 
 F. Taylor, was but six years of age, he brought 
 
 his family to Putnam county, Illinois, and for 
 three years lived in Hennepin, where he worked 
 at the mason's trade. He afterward spent two 
 years in Magnolia and subsequently resided at 
 Paxton, Ford county, Illinois, About twenty-two 
 years ago he and his wife removed to California, 
 where the mother passed away about 1896, the 
 father surviving until 1900. In their family were 
 five children, of whom three are now living, but 
 Dr. Taylor is the only one in Putnam county, the 
 other two being residents of the Golden state. 
 
 Dr. Taylor, a youth of but six years when 
 brought to Illinois, largely spent the days of his 
 boyhood and youth in Putnam and Ford counties. 
 He attended the common schools and for a short 
 time was a student in a preparatory school in 
 Peoria. He was thus well qualified for further 
 prosecuting his studies along more scientific lines 
 and the years 1867 and 1868 were spent as a 
 student in Eush Medical College at Chicago. He 
 received his diploma from that institution in the 
 class of 1868 and immediately afterward located 
 for practice at what was then called Pellsville, in 
 Vermilion county, where he practiced for seven- 
 teen years. On the expiration of that period he 
 went to Omaha, where he remained but a short 
 time, after which he returned to Putnam county, 
 Illinois, and for a quarter of a century practiced 
 his profession in Magnolia. In May, 1906, he lo- 
 cated in Granville, where he is now associated 
 with his son in the active practice of medicine. 
 
 On the 31st of December, 1867, Dr. 0. F. Tay- 
 lar was married to Miss Nellie Clark, a native of 
 Bennington, Vermont, and a daughter of Decius 
 Clark, who at the time of her marriage lived in 
 Peoria. There were two children born of this 
 
 Fred C. Taylor, the only surviving child, is now 
 his father's partner in business. He is an alum- 
 nus of the State Medical College of Indiana of the 
 class of 1894 and after completing his collegiate 
 course engaged in practice in Granville for four 
 years. He was afterward in the village of Florid 
 for some time and subsequently returned to Gran- 
 ville, where he is now associated with his father 
 in the active practice of medicine and surgery. 
 They are practically the only physicians of this 
 place and have an excellent patronage. 
 
 Dr. F. C. Taylor was married to Miss Cora 
 Bliss, a daughter of the Eev. Bliss, who is now 
 preaching in Peoria. He has erected a very at- 
 tractive cottage on Hopkins avenue and his father
 
 DR. F. C. TAYLOR.
 
 DR. 0. F. TAYLOR.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 331 
 
 is building a home on an adjoining lot. On the 
 opposite side of the street they have a new office 
 building, which was erected in the spring of 1906. 
 Dr. 0. F. Taylor has a creditable military rec- 
 ord, having been a soldier of the Civil war. He 
 enlisted in the Fourth Illinois Cavalry in 1863 
 and served for nearly three years, being on ac- 
 tive duty on a hospital boat. He was also engaged 
 in a little skirmish at Pittsburg Landing, but 
 aside from that was in no field service. Being 
 not continuously busy while at the front, he had 
 a chance to see some of the country and was in 
 New Orleans, Mobile and other places and went 
 as far as Cuba. Both father and son are repub- 
 licans in political views. The father served for 
 six years as president of the village board of Mag- 
 nolia and for eight years has been county coroner 
 of Putnam county, filling the position ten years 
 when his present term expires. The son has also 
 served as coroner for four years. They are both 
 men of good business ability and in the line of 
 their profession have attained a degree of profi- 
 ciency which is indicated by the liberal patronage 
 that is accorded them, while their comprehensive 
 knowledge is attested by the excellent results that 
 have attended their labors. 
 
 RUDOLPH BOURDETTE. 
 
 Rudolph Bourdette, deceased, at one time ac- 
 tively engaged in farming in Marshall county, 
 where he resided throughout his entire life, was 
 born in Henry, Illinois, April 22, 1853, and died 
 on the 19th of May, 1902. He was one of a 
 family of seven children and his educational priv- 
 ileges were those afforded by the public schools 
 of his native city. Throughout his business career 
 he engaged in farming in Whitefield township and 
 brought to his work a spirit of determination, en- 
 terprise and laudable ambition that enabled him 
 to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his 
 path and make steady advancement on the high- 
 road to success. He carefully tilled hie fields, 
 utilizing the most practical methods in his work, 
 and as the years went by his annual income in- 
 creased and he was thus enabled to leave his fam- 
 ily in comfortable circumstances. 
 
 On the 19th of March, 1879, Mr. Bourdette was 
 united in marriage to Miss Lura Culver, a daugh- 
 ter of Orsemus and Adelia (Chapman) Culver, 
 both of whom are now deceased. Her father was 
 a native of Vermont and on emigrating westward 
 
 in 1836 settled upon a farm near Henry, casting 
 in his lot with the pioneer residents of this sec- 
 tion of the state who, following in the wake of 
 the red men, reclaimed the region for the purposes 
 of civilization and converted the wild prairie and 
 timber tracts into rich and productive farms. He 
 led a life of industry and activity and his many 
 good qualities gained for him the respect of all 
 with whom he was associated either in business 
 or social relations. He died in. 1873. His politi- 
 cal allegiance was given to the republican party, 
 of which he was a most stalwart champion. His 
 wife was a daughter of Joseph and Electa (Al- 
 len) Chapman and both parents were descended 
 from ancestors who served in the Revolutionary 
 war, the respective families having been estab- 
 lished in America in colonial days. In the fam- 
 ily of this worthy couple were seven children, of 
 whom two are living, Gilbert and Mrs. Bourdette. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bourdette were born three 
 children, Ella, Charles and Edward. Ella is now 
 the wife of Elmer Davis Higgins, a farmer of 
 Eagle Grove, Iowa, and they have one daughter, 
 who was born July 3, 1906. Charles, twenty-three 
 years of age, is on the home farm with his 
 mother and carries on the work of the fields. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Bourdette was a re- 
 publican, voting for presidential candidates of the 
 party and remaining loyal in its support when 
 state and national questions were at issue, but at 
 local elections he cast an independent ballot. He 
 continued actively in business until October, 1901, 
 when he became ill and his health remained im- 
 paired until the following May, when he was called 
 from this life, his remains being interred in Henry 
 cemetery. He was a man of many good traits 
 of character, was- loyal in citizenship, faithful 
 in friendship and devoted to the welfare and hap- 
 piness of his wife and children. Mr. Bourdette 
 left to his family a farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land which is now carried on by his widow 
 and her son Charles. The fields are under a high 
 state of cultivation and a large number of cattle 
 are raised and sold annually. Mrs. Bourdette 
 also gives considerable attention to poultry, hav- 
 ing about three hundred chickens, and she sells 
 eggs and butter. A most earnest worker in the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, she has served as 
 organist, has been a teacher in the Sunday-school 
 and for three years has been president of the 
 Ladies' Aid Society. In fact she is one of the
 
 PAST AM) I'RKSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) ITTXAM COl'NTIKS. 
 
 most earnest and helpful workers in the church 
 and her labors are far-reaching and beneficial. 
 Her son Charles is secretary of the Sunday-school, 
 while fraternally he is connected with the Henry 
 lodge of Odd Fellows. The family is one of 
 prominence in the community, well meriting men- 
 tion among the representative residents of the 
 county. 
 
 OWEX W. ALLEX. 
 
 Owen W. Allen, although now living in Henry, 
 is still the owner of valuable farming property 
 comprising three hundred and ninety acres in 
 Putnam county. He was born in Putnam county, 
 Illinois, in 1851 and is a son of James and Eo- 
 sanna (Cassell) Allen, both of whom were natives 
 of Pennsylvania. The father was of Irish lineage 
 and came to Illinois about 1845, settling in Put- 
 nam county upon a farm. He was accompanied 
 by his family, consisting of wife and three chil- 
 dren, and he carried on general agricultural pur- 
 suits, becoming a prosperous farmer and stock- 
 raiser of that community. An earnest Christian 
 gentleman, he held membership in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, was one of its officers and one 
 of its most active and influential workers. His 
 political views were in accord with the principles 
 of the republican party. By his friends and neigh- 
 bors he was usually known by the term of uncle, 
 which indicates the love and esteem which were 
 entertained for him by all who knew him. He 
 died in 1886 at the age of seventy-one years and 
 left his family a most honored name. His wife 
 survived him until 1890 and passed away at the 
 age of seventy-four years. She was of German 
 lineage and was a daughter of William Cassell, 
 one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war. Her 
 Christian faith was manifest in her membership 
 in the Wesleyan Methodist church. She became 
 the mother of eight children. Margaret, who 
 married William Eeynolds, a school teacher and 
 grain merchant, died in 1861. William has also 
 passed away. Jane is the wife of Joseph Umbar- 
 ger, a retired farmer living in Melvin, Ford 
 county, Illinois. Eliza is the wife of George 
 Forney, also a retired , farmer of Ford county. 
 Angeline is deceased. Owen W. is the next of 
 the family. Nellie became the wife of Anthony 
 Chance and has passed away. Cora married Sam- 
 uel Eberly, a music teacher, who is also deceased. 
 
 Owen W. Allen was reared to farm life and 
 
 attended the district schools, supplementing his 
 early educational privileges by later study in the 
 schools of Hennepin. Throughout his active busi- 
 ness career he was always a farmer and he is 
 still the owner of a valuable tract of land of 
 three hundred and ninety acres in Magnolia and 
 Hennepin townships in Putnam county. There 
 he was engaged extensively in raising thorough- 
 bred stock, making a specialty of hogs and 
 cattle, conducting a large business in that line, 
 which brought to him a goodly measure of pros- 
 perity and at length, content with the competence 
 that he had secured, he retired from the farm, 
 took up his abode in Henry, where he is now 
 living in a beautiful home, enjoying life and its 
 comforts. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Allen was married to Miss Mary 
 J. Edwards, who was born in Putnam county, 
 Illinois, in 1853, a daughter of William and Mary 
 Edwards and pioneer settlers of Putnam county, 
 where they took up their abode about the time 
 of the Black Hawk war, entering land from the 
 government. Mr. Edwards added to his posses- 
 sions from time to time until he owned four hun- 
 dred acres and he was regarded as one of the 
 men of affluence of his day and stood very high 
 in the esteem of his friends and neighbors. He 
 was of a Quaker family and his political faith 
 was that of the whig party until its dissolution, 
 when he joined the ranks of the new republican 
 party. He died in 1872 at the age of sixty-seven 
 years. His wife was Mary Wiley and they had 
 seven children, of whom they reared six to adult 
 age. George, born in Putnam county, April 22, 
 1838, removed to Tama county, Iowa, in 1869 
 and served there as clerk of the district court 
 for two terms. He died March 7, 1896. Harri- 
 son, a resident farmer of Putnam county, Illi- 
 nois, is highly esteemed by all who know him, and 
 deals very extensively in thoroughbred hogs. Jos- 
 eph A., who was born in Putnam county, Sep- 
 tember 1, 1845, and died in 1898, was reared 
 to farm life and in 1864 enlisted in the Union 
 army as a member of Company B, One Hundred 
 and Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, with which 
 he served until the close of. the war. He was 
 graduated from the law department of the Iowa 
 State University in 1873 and practiced law in 
 Iowa City, Iowa, being very successful in his pro- 
 fession. He also became a lecturer in the law de- 
 partment of his alma mater. Prominent in po-
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OP .MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 333 
 
 litical circles, lie was chairman of the republican 
 county central committee, was city solicitor and 
 one of the compilers of the city ordinances. In 
 1897 he was elected to the upper house of the 
 Iowa legislature and was therefore a member at 
 the time of his demise. Anna Edwards, the fourth 
 member of the family, married Hiram Dunbar 
 and they had two daughters, Mrs. Mattie Alle- 
 man of Putnam county, and Mrs. Rena Foster 
 of De Pue, Illinois. Her second husband is Wil- 
 liam Cassell, of Putnam county, and they have 
 three children Peoria Rowe, Bessie and Harry 
 Cassell. Luella Edwards became the wife of Wil- 
 liam Eisenhouer, a farmer, and died in Novem- 
 ber, 1903, at the age of fifty-six years. The next 
 member of the family is Mrs. Allen, and the 
 other died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Allen have had no children of 
 their own but have been very generous in pro- 
 viding for the support of others. They hold mem- 
 bership in the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 exemplify their faith in their daily works and 
 in their relations with their fellowmen. Mr. 
 Allen is a republican with firm faith in the prin- 
 ciples of the party, and in matters of citizenship 
 he is public spirited and loyal. He has found 
 in an active and honorable business career that 
 ambition's answer. 
 
 AMBROSE DUDLEY KEEDY. 
 Ambrose Dudley Keedy is now practically re- 
 tired from active farm work, but for ten years 
 has engaged in threshing during the season and 
 still follows that business. His home is on sec- 
 tion 10, Richland township, Marshall county, and' 
 his birth occurred on section 16 of the same town- 
 ship, October 30, 1842. His father, John A. Kee- 
 dy, was a native of Orange county, Indiana, born 
 April 25, 1820, and in 1834 he accompanied his 
 parents on their removal to Illinois, the family 
 home being established in Marshall county. In 
 1841, having attained his majority, he was united 
 in marriage to Miss Caroline M. Poster, who was 
 born in Kentucky, October 10, 1820. Their only 
 living child is Ambrose D. Keedy of this review 
 and they lost one child. Mr. Keedy was the 
 owner of a fine farm of three hundred acres of 
 valuable land, which is indicative of his life of 
 well directed energy and thrift. Both he and 
 his wife were faithful members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, in the work of which they took 
 
 an active interest and in -which he served as 
 steward and trustee. He also filled nearly all of 
 the local political offices of his township, was 
 called upon to settle large estates and in various 
 ways served the public. The trusts which were 
 thus reposed in him were never betrayed. On the 
 contrary, he was a most honorable and reliable 
 man, whose good qualities gained him the confi- 
 dence and high regard of all with whom he was 
 associated. He died June 16, 1897, while his wife 
 passed away April 23, 1894. 
 
 Ambrose D. Keedy in his boyhood days was a 
 student in what is known as the Hull school. He 
 worked for his father in the blacksmith shop 
 until twenty-seven years of age and was then 
 married in 1870 to Miss Mima Ramsey, a daugh- 
 ter of Andrew and Martha Ramsey, who were 
 farming people of Hopewell township, Marshall 
 county. Mrs. Keedy departed this life December 
 28, 1877, in the faith of the Cumberland Pres- 
 byterian church, of which she was a most devoted 
 and loyal member. She left two daughters, Mar- 
 tha Luella and Margaret Caroline. 
 
 At the time of his wife's death Mr. Keedy left 
 his daughters with his mother and father, who 
 reared them, and he went to the west, locating in 
 Harper county, Kansas, where he worked on a 
 ranch through the first winter. He then fed cat- 
 tle for a year and afterward removed to south- 
 western Kansas, where he worked on the Bell 
 ranch, while later he joined his cousin, John 
 Jones, and entered a piece of land in Meade 
 county, Kansas. In the meantime he worked on 
 the Crooked L ranch in order to secure money 
 that might be used in improving his claim. He 
 was in the west altogether for five years and had 
 varied experiences with the cowboys. He was 
 employed to watch the Indians at a salary of 
 thirty dollars per month, during which time he 
 had little to do and plenty of wild game to shoot. 
 He has always been very fond of hunting and 
 trapping and may yet be seen carrying his old 
 shotgun to the timber when he goes to look after 
 his stock. He has killed many a deer upon the 
 frontier and he became quite an expert with the 
 gun. Following his return to this county Mr. 
 Keedy resumed farming, which he carried on suc- 
 cessfully for a number of years, but is now re- 
 tired from the active work of the fields. He still 
 operates a threshing machine, however, having car- 
 ried on this business during the greater part of
 
 334 
 
 PAST AM) PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 his life, and the thresher which he now owns he 
 has operated for about ten seasons. 
 
 Mr. Keedy has been called to various local 
 offices by his fellow townsmen, who recognize his 
 worth and ability. He has served as assessor for 
 twelve years, has been school trustee and school 
 director and was road commissioner for three 
 years. During that time he was elected justice 
 of the peace and is now serving for the second 
 term in that office, wherein his decisions are 
 strictly fair and impartial. Since 1862 he has 
 been a member of the Masonic lodge at Lacon. 
 His daughters are now keeping house for him 
 and they are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. Mr. Keedy's father was very much in- 
 terested in the history of the country, and his son, 
 like him, has a well filled library of old books, 
 being particularly fond of history, so that he is 
 well informed concerning the events which have 
 molded the policy of the country and shaped its 
 
 progress. . . 
 
 HENRY E. ZILM. 
 
 Henry E. Zilm, one of the most successful and 
 prosperous agriculturists of Marshall county, is 
 today the largest taxpayer in Belle Plain town- 
 ship. He is a native of Germany, born in Meck- 
 lenburg-Schwerin on the 9th of April, 1842, and 
 is a son of Daniel and Minnie (Mevis) Zilm, who 
 were also natives of Mecklenburg, the former bom 
 in 1804 and the latter in 1809. It was in 1857 
 that the father crossed the Atlantic and became 
 a resident of the new world. Locating in Henry, 
 Marshall county, Illinois, he purchased a farm 
 near that place and turned his attention to agri- 
 cultural pursuits. He subsequently lived on the 
 Rolland place for a time and from there removed 
 to Belle Plain township, where he continued to 
 make his home until his death, which occurred 
 in 1896. He was a supporter of the republican 
 party and religiously was identified with the Ger- 
 man Lutheran church, to which his wife also be- 
 longed. She died in 1888. In the family of 
 this worthy couple were seven children, namely: 
 William, now deceased; Charles, a resident of 
 State Center, Iowa; Louis, of Benson, Illinois; 
 Henry E., of this review; Frederick, a resident of 
 La Rose ; Mrs. Alwina Speck, of Lacon ; and Mrs. 
 Minnie Cook, of La Rose. 
 
 Henry E. Zilm spent the first fourteen years of 
 his life in his native land and there acquired a 
 good education prior to the emigration of the 
 
 family to America. It was in 1856 that he and 
 his brother Louis took passage on the sailing ves- 
 sel Rhine and after a stormy voyage of forty-nine 
 days landed in New York on the 1st of November. 
 Locating in Henry, Illinois, he began to learn the 
 wagonmaker's trade with William Hanna, with 
 whom he remained for seven months, and for the 
 following year worked on the farm of Steven 
 Eckley, on the west side of the river. At the end 
 of that period he returned to the parental roof 
 and was employed on his father's farm for the 
 greater part of the time until he started out in 
 life for himself as a farmer. During his minority 
 he gave the money that he earned to his parents 
 and in return received only his board and clothes, 
 but at the age of twenty-one his father gave him 
 an old team and, renting a farm in Belle Plain 
 township, he engaged in its operation for two 
 years prior to his marriage, in the meantime 
 boarding with his brother. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Zilm was united in marriage to 
 Miss Johanna Van Hove, who was born in New 
 Amsterdam, Holland, in April, 1845, and died in 
 this county in 1881. Four children were born of 
 this union, namely: Lena, who married John 
 Phillips and lives in Elgin, Illinois; Anna, de- 
 ceased; Matilda, the wife of William Harrin, a 
 resident of Chicago ; and Oscar, who married Car- 
 rie Maddox and lives in La Rose. For his second 
 wife Mr. Zilm married Miss Theresa Eringer, 
 March. 15, 1883. She was born in Hanover, Ger- 
 many, May 15, 1859, and was twenty-three years 
 of age when she came to the United States. Unto 
 Mr. and Mrs. Zilm were born three children, 
 Carrie, Adolph and Ernest, all at home. 
 
 For two years after his marriage Mr. Zilm lived 
 on the William Spangler farm and engaged in its 
 operation. He then made his first purchase of 
 land, consisting of one hundred and. sixty acres 
 on the southeast quarter of section 9, Belle Plain 
 township, belonging to Nicholson and Stevenson. 
 As time has passed he has steadily prospered in 
 his undertakings and has added to his landed 
 possessions until today he is the owner of twelve 
 Inmdred acres of rich and valuable land under a 
 high state of cultivation and improved with ex- 
 cellent buildings. He has worked persistently and 
 energetically and the success that has come to 
 him is due entirely to his own indefatigable la- 
 bors, good judgment and careful management. He 
 is a man of excellent business and executive abil-
 
 PAST AND PEESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 335 
 
 ity and usually carries forward to successful com- 
 pletion whatever he undertakes. His political 
 support is given to the republican party and re- 
 ligiously he affiliates with the German Lutheran 
 church, to which his family also belong. His life 
 has been one of earnest, persistent endeavor and 
 he well merits the success that has come to him 
 and also the esteem in which he is uniformly 
 held. 
 
 SAMUEL KING. 
 
 Samuel King, at one time identified with agri- 
 cultural interests in Marshall county and now 
 conducting a drug store at Camp Grove, the en- 
 terprising little village which has had an exist- 
 ence of only about four or five years, was born 
 near Glasgow, Scotland, on the 12th of Decem- 
 ber, 1857, and was one of a family of eleven 
 children, of whom ten are now living. The par- 
 ents were John and Marguerite (Malone) King. 
 The father was born in County Down, Ireland, 
 and was a miner by occupation. Coming to the 
 United States in 1864, he settled upon a farm in 
 La Prairie township, Marshall county, Illinois, 
 in 1867 and for many years was connected with 
 agricultural pursuits, but is now living retired. 
 His wife, also a native of the Emerald isle, passed 
 away in 1878. 
 
 Samuel King was a youth of six years when 
 brought by his parents to the new world. His 
 education was largely acquired in the district 
 schools of La Prairie township, where he also be- 
 came familiar with the work of field and meadow, 
 remaining upon the home farm until his twenty- 
 seventh year. He then purchased a fine farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres on section 30, Sara- 
 toga township, which now adjoins the corporation 
 limits of Camp Grove, and there he actively and 
 successfully carried on general agricultural pur- 
 suits until October, 1904, when he took up his 
 abode in the town and is now manager of the 
 drug store owned by C. S. Liggett of Wyoming, 
 Illinois. He still owns his home farm, as well as 
 other farming properties in this county, and is a 
 wide-awake and enterprising business man. He 
 is alert and energetic at all times, watchful of 
 opportunities for judicious investment and suc- 
 cessful management, and his labor has brought to 
 hint a gratifying measure of prosperity. 
 
 In 1889 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 King and Miss Delia Thomas, of Sparland, Illi- 
 
 nois, and in the best homes of the locality cordial 
 hospitality is extended to them. Mr. King is a 
 democrat in his political views. He has served 
 as school trustee in Saratoga township, was road 
 commissioner for twelve years and township treas- 
 urer for eight years, discharging the various du- 
 ties connected with these offices in prompt and 
 capable manner. He is likewise connected with 
 Camp Grove lodge, No. 3350, M. W. A., in which 
 he has filled all of the chairs. Almost his entire 
 life has been passed in this county and while 
 possessing the strong and sterling characteristics 
 of his Scotch ancestry, he is also imbued with the 
 spirit of modern progress that has been the dom- 
 inant factor in the substantial growth and rapid 
 development of the middle west. Of a friendly, 
 genial disposition, he has gained a host of warm 
 friends and is well liked bv all who know him. 
 
 H. A. STOTLEE. 
 
 H. A. Stotler, proprietor of the grain elevator 
 at Evans station and a resident of Wenona, came 
 to this city in August, 1905, but for some years 
 has been closely associated with business inter- 
 ests in this county. He was born in Hudson, Mc- 
 Lean county, Illinois, October 13, 1876, and is a 
 son of John and Mary (Burtis) Stotler, the for- 
 mer a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, 
 and the latter of Illinois. The father is a farmer 
 by occupation and H. A. Stotler was reared to 
 agricultural pursuits. He acquired his early 
 education in the schools of his native town and 
 afterward attended the Gem City Business Col- 
 lege at Quincy, Illinois, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in the class of 1894. He is also a graduate 
 of the normal university of the class of 1904, 
 wherein he pursued a four years' course, teach- 
 ing school in the meantime. He taught in the 
 country schools for two years and then became 
 principal of the Secor school, where he remained 
 for two years. He was also principal of the 
 schools of Metamora for one year and superin- 
 tendent of the Chillicothe schools for one year. 
 He gave excellent satisfaction there and was re- 
 elected for a second year but resigned. Since that 
 time he has been solicited several times to return 
 there but, retiring from the field of educational 
 labor, he has become a factor in commercial circles 
 and is now engaged in the grain trade. On com- 
 ing to Wenona he purchased the elevator which
 
 PAST AND PKKSKXT OK MARSHALL AM) Pl'TXAM COTXTIKS. 
 
 he now conducts from J. H. Taggart & Son and 
 he annually handles a large amount of grain and 
 deals in coal. He owns a nice residence property 
 in Wenona and he and his brothers own a half 
 section of land in the Eed Eiver valley in North 
 Dakota and thus his interests are varied and im- 
 portant. 
 
 On the 10th of August, 1904, Mr. Stotler was 
 married to Miss Susie Wagner, of Metamora, Illi- 
 nois. They are members of the Christian church 
 and are well known socially, having gained many 
 friends in Wenona during the brief period of their 
 residence here. A man of native intelligence and 
 enterprise, he has developed his latent powers and 
 made good use of his opportunities and thus has 
 made steady progress in his business life. 
 
 JAMES N. ANDERSON. 
 
 James N. Anderson is now living retired in 
 Hennepin, but for many years has been closely 
 associated with agricultural interests in Putnam 
 county. He has long since passed the Psalmist's 
 span of three score years and ten, having reached 
 the age of seventy-eight years, his birth having oc- 
 curred in Philadelphia on the 2d of May, 1828. 
 His parents were Eobert and Ann (Crosby) An- 
 derson, the former a native of Scotland, whence he 
 came to America in 1801, being at that time about 
 twenty-one years of age. For twenty-one years he 
 worked for a man by the name of Israel Lobb 
 upon a farm in Pennsylvania, and while thus en- 
 gaged he was married. Subsequently he removed 
 to Montgomery county, Ohio, where he bought a 
 farm of one hundred acres, nearly all of which 
 was wild land. This he cleared and developed into 
 productive fields, making his home thereon until 
 his death, which occurred when he had reached the 
 very venerable age of eighty-five years. His wife, 
 who was born in Philadelphia, died in Montgom- 
 ery county, Ohio, at the age of sixty-eight years. 
 In their family were four children, of whom James 
 N. was the second in order of birth and the only 
 one now living. The others were Margaret, who 
 became Mrs. Addison and died in Montgomery 
 county, Ohio; Elizabeth, who died in her father's 
 home; and Robert, who passed away in Emmet 
 county, Iowa, about two years ago. 
 
 James N. Anderson, reared under the parental 
 roof, attended the common schools, and at the age 
 of twenty years began earning his own living. He 
 worked at carpentering and at farm labor, and 
 
 soon afterward he engaged in farming on his own 
 account and lived at home. However, he made 
 further arrangements for having a home of his 
 own by his marriage on the 3d of June, 1852, to 
 Miss Mary B. McCabe, who was born in Hights- 
 town, New Jersey, January 4, 1826, a daughter 
 of Isaac and Eachel J. (Brown) McCabe, the 
 former a native of Ireland and the latter of New 
 Jersey. At an early day they removed to Ohio, 
 and the father worked at the carpenter's trade, 
 which he made his life occupation. 
 
 Following his marriage Mr. Anderson purchased 
 a farm of one hundred and five acres in the coun- 
 ty of his nativity and there lived until 1867, when 
 he came to Putnam county, Illinois, and purchased 
 a farm of one hundred and eighty acres in Gran- 
 ville township, near Mount Palatine. This farm 
 was considered an improved property in those 
 days. Upon it was a small frame house, a log 
 stable with thatched roof and a fence built of 
 poles and posts. The farm, however, had been 
 rented and had grown up in weeds. Mr. Anderson 
 at once began its further development and culti- 
 vation and made his home thereon until 1889, 
 during which time he transformed the place into 
 rich and productive fields and made many sub- 
 stantial modern improvements thereon. In 1889 
 he retired from active business and removed to 
 Hennepin. He had, however, in the meantime 
 built a new house and barns upon his place and 
 had added eighty acres to his land. He had also 
 invested about fifteen hundred dollars in tile and 
 had drained his place until it was one of the best 
 farms of the county. He retained the ownership 
 of this property until about two years ago, when 
 he sold out. In the meantime he had purchased 
 land in Missouri, and has given to each of his 
 children one hundred and fifty-seven and a half 
 acres. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were born a 
 daughter and three sons : Annie, now the wife of 
 Fred Stansell, a resident of Knox county, Mis- 
 souri, by whom she has three children; William 
 J., who died at the age of twenty-three months; 
 Isaac, who died at the age of four years; and 
 Phillip B., who wedded Martha Stansell and is 
 living upon a farm in Knox county, Missouri. 
 They have two children. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson 
 have recently returned from a visit to their chil- 
 dren in Missouri, whither they go every year. In 
 1902 they celebrated their golden wedding, their
 
 MR. AXD MRS. J. N. ANDERSON.
 
 PAST AND PHESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 339 
 
 children being at home, and over fifty invited 
 guests were present, making the day a most mem- 
 orable and enjoyable one. 
 
 For more than a half century Mr. Anderson 
 has been an Odd Fellow. His political support is 
 given to the democracy, and his first presidential 
 vote was cast for Franklin Pierce. He delights 
 to tell of the pioneer days, and recalls many in- 
 teresting experiences of the times when ox teams 
 were used in breaking the land and tilling the 
 fields, and when nearly all of the work was done 
 by hand. He has watched with interest the prog- 
 ress of events that have occurred, bringing about a 
 wonderful transformation in the county, and 
 though he retains pleasant recollections of the early 
 tunes when almost every home was noted for its 
 hospitality, he yet rejoices in what has been accom- 
 plished as the work of improvement has been 
 carried forward. He and his wife now have a nice 
 home in the city of Hennepin, and he takes great 
 delight in the well kept appearance of the place. 
 His rest is well merited, being the fitting reward 
 of many years of earnest toil. 
 
 FERDINAND KLINGEE. 
 
 The business and community interests of To- 
 luca find a worthy and prominent representative 
 in Ferdinand Klinger, who is closely associated 
 with the material and public affairs of the town. 
 He was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1864 and 
 is a son of Ferdinand and Catherine (Weileder) 
 Klinger. The parents were likewise natives of 
 Germany, born in Bavaria, the former in 1815 
 and the latter in 1826. The mother still lives at 
 the old home place in Germany with her son, but 
 the father, who followed farming as a life work, 
 passed away in 1901. In the family were six 
 children. John, born in 1862, is now living in 
 Toluca. Ferdinand is the second of the family. 
 Mary Schoenhull, now living in Germany, was 
 born in 1866. She came to America in company 
 with her sister Catherine in 1896, remaining 
 until 1901, when they returned to Germany on 
 receiving word that their father was ill. He lived 
 but a short time after their arrival. Catherine is 
 at home with her mother in Germany, having re- 
 turned with her sister Mary to their native land. 
 Father Max Klinger, the fifth member of the 
 family, was born in 1872 and died in April, 1905. 
 He studied in Passau, Germany, for twelve years 
 in preparation for the priesthood and died at 
 
 Altoetting, where he was in charge of a fine par- 
 ish. His early death was probably due to study 
 and overwork, as he was very industrious. He 
 was a young man of strong intellectual force and 
 marked ability, who at an early age prepared for 
 the priesthood and became one of the able repre- 
 sentatives of the church. His mother made her 
 home with him until his death. Sebastian, the 
 next member of the family, is living on the old 
 homestead in Germany. He was born in 1886, 
 was married in 1904, and his mother now lives 
 with him. 
 
 Ferdinand Klinger, whose name introduces this 
 review, was reared and educated in his native 
 country and according to its laws rendered two 
 years of military service, after which an attempt 
 was made to have him work for a year for noth- 
 ing. Not desiring such a condition, he hastily 
 left for the new world, and after coming to this 
 country he was married in Peoria, Illinois, in 
 July, 1887, to Miss Annie Myer, who was born 
 in Bavaria, Germany, and had come to the United 
 States about two years before Mr. Klinger. On 
 the 1st of January, 1888, the young couple re- 
 moved to Washburn, Illinois, in Woodford coun- 
 ty, where Mr. Klinger established a harness shop, 
 having learned the trade in his native country. 
 He remained there for eleven years and in the 
 meantime opened a branch shop in Toluca, Illi- 
 nois, conducting both shops for two years. In 
 1897, however, he removed to Toluca, having the 
 first harness shop in this town. He is now con- 
 ducting an extensive and profitable business and 
 in the rear of his harness shop he has a carriage 
 and buggy department. Above the store rooms 
 is a nice opera house. In front and back of the 
 stage are large rooms where different lodges meet. 
 Mr. Klinger lost quite heavily in the failure of 
 the First National Bank of Toluca, about a year 
 and a half ago, but is working hard to retrieve 
 his lost possessions and has a good business, his 
 trade constantly growing in volume and import- 
 ance. 
 
 In community affairs Mr. Klinger takes an ac- 
 tive and helpful interest and is a most public- 
 spirited and progressive citizen. He has served 
 on the school board for three years and has al- 
 ways been a promoter of good schools, spending 
 considerable money in educating his own chil- 
 dren and in giving them musical advan- 
 tages. Joseph, his eldest son, is a fine
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 performer on the violin, taking 
 Streator each week, while Max is being instructed 
 on the piano and Oswald is playing the cornet. 
 There are also twin sons, Alvin and Walter, and 
 Mr. Klinger says lie expects soon to give them 
 music lessons, so that he can have a band in his 
 own family. The other three boys are frequent- 
 ly engaged to play music for dances and other 
 public functions. The record of the family is 
 as follows: Joseph was graduated at the sisters' 
 school in Toluca and is now assisting his father 
 in the shop, learning the harnessmaking trade 
 and also acting as bookkeeper. Max is a student 
 in Magnolia school. Oswald is attending the 
 sisters' school in Toluca. Alvin and Walter, 
 twins, born in 1897, are also students in the sis- 
 ters' school and are most interesting boys, who 
 have the greatest attachment for each other. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Klinger is a stalwart 
 democrat and has filled a number of offices, serv- 
 ing for six years as alderman of Toluca, while 
 from 1903 until 1905 he filled the position of 
 mayor, giving to the city a public-spirited and 
 business-like administration, characterized by re- 
 form, progress and improvement. He belongs to 
 the Woodmen lodge and also holds membership 
 relations with the Foresters and the Knights of 
 Pythias. His religious faith is indicated by his 
 membership in the Catholic church, while his wife 
 is a member of the German Lutheran church. 
 Mr. Klinger deserves much credit for what he 
 has accomplished in the new world. Coming to 
 America with little capital, he has worked his 
 way upward through strong purpose, close appli- 
 cation and unremitting energy and is not only 
 controlling a successful business, but has also 
 won a place among the representative citizens of 
 his community, exercising an influence in local 
 affairs that is far-reaching and beneficial. 
 
 EDMOND E. WONSER. 
 
 Edmond E. Wonser, a prosperous hardware 
 merchant of Hennepin, conducting his interests 
 along modern business lines, was born near Ober- 
 lin, Ohio, August 21, 1860. His father, Elanson 
 E. Wonser, was born in New York and when 
 quite young removed to Ohio. He was a cooper 
 by trade and followed that pursuit until his re- 
 moval to Kansas, where he engaged in farming. 
 In early life he wedded Agnes Louise Brannan, 
 who was born in Ohio and died in Michigan at 
 
 the age of thirty years. He afterward married 
 again and by his first union he had two sons and 
 two daughters, of whom the daughters and one 
 son died in early life, while by the second mar- 
 riage there were three children, all now deceased. 
 The father's death occurred in Kansas when he 
 was sixty-four years of age. 
 
 Edmond E. Wonser was only a year old when 
 his parents removed from Ohio to Michigan, 
 where they lived for about eight years, and then 
 went to Kansas. He acquired his education in 
 the common schools and has made his own way 
 in the world from the age of fifteen. When a 
 youth of fourteen he left home, after which he 
 engaged in farming and cattle-raising in Kansas, 
 Iowa and Nebraska. For three years he was with 
 the firm of Wiggins Brothers, at Burlington, Kan- 
 sas, working on the ranch for one year and after- 
 ward buying and shipping cattle. Subsequently 
 he was for seven years foreman of a large ranch in 
 Holt county, Nebraska, and in 1889 he went to 
 Valparaiso, Indiana, where he pursued a commer- 
 cial course in a business college there, realizing 
 the value of such a training as a preparation for 
 life's responsible duties. He afterward spent three 
 years in the United States car shops at Chicago 
 and in 1896 he came to Putnam county, Illinois, 
 where for eleven months he was, employed as 
 driver of a team. For a year and a half he was 
 employed in the elevator office of H. H. Leech 
 and next entered the employ of W. H. Lucas in a 
 hardware store. In April, 1901, he formed a 
 partnership with Mr. Ham and bought the busi- 
 ness, which was conducted under the firm style 
 of Wonser & Ham for eighteen months. Mr. Ham 
 then wishing to retire, Mr. Wonser purchased the 
 entire stock. He now carries a large line of hard- 
 ware, stoves, tinware, furnaces, roofing and farm 
 tools, and does all kinds of tin and metal work. 
 He has a liberal and constantly growing patron- 
 age and he owns -a two-story building at the cor- 
 ner of Front and High streets, where he conducts 
 the business. He has a much larger stock than 
 is usually found in a town of this size and thus 
 he gives his customer the benefit of an extensive 
 assortment of goods. 
 
 On the 28th of June, 1899, Mr. Wonser was 
 united in marriage to Miss Clara I. Ham, a na- 
 tive of this county and a daughter of Philip Ham, 
 now deceased, who was one of the early settlers of 
 Putnam countv. Her mother survives and is now
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MABSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 living with Mr. and Mrs. Wonser. Unto our sub- 
 ject and his wife has been born a daughter, Doris 
 Catherine, now four years of age. Mrs. Wonser 
 is a member of the Congregational church and a 
 most estimable lady. Mr. Wonser supports the 
 republican party and has served as village treas- 
 urer for three years. He is somewhat prominent 
 in local political circles and is a genial gentle- 
 man, of kindly manner and cordial disposition, 
 who stands well in the cpmmunity, where his busi- 
 ness integrity is above reproach. 
 
 SAMUEL W. McCULLOCH. 
 
 Among the men whose depth of character and 
 fidelity to duty, combined with business ability 
 and enterprise, have commanded for them the 
 respect of their fellowmen and won for them 
 prominence and success in business circles, is 
 numbered Samuel W. McCulloch, president of the 
 Marshall County Bank at Varna. His life record 
 began in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on 
 the 29th of August, 1846. His father, Eobert C. 
 McCulloch, was a native of the Keystone state 
 and a farmer by occupation. He lived to the ven- 
 erable age of eighty-four years, passing away in 
 1905, while his wife, who bore the maiden name 
 of Eebecca Woodburn and was also a native of 
 Pennsylvania, died in 1900. In their family were 
 two sons and two daughters: Samuel W.; John 
 C., who is engaged in the furniture business in 
 West Plains, Missouri; Mary E., the wife of J. 
 E. Barnes, of Washburn, Woodford county; and 
 Laura, who is living in Washburn. 
 
 Samuel W. McCulloch spent the first ten years 
 of his life in the county of his nativity, during 
 which time he 'began his education in the district 
 schools there. He then accompanied his parents 
 on their removal to Illinois, the family home being 
 established in Eichland township, Marshall coun- 
 ty, near Washburn, where the father purchased 
 land and improved a farm. Samuel W. McCul- 
 loch continued his education in the schools of 
 Washburn, from which he was graduated, and 
 then entered Monmouth College at the age of six- 
 teen years. He left that institution to enlist in 
 the Union army in 1864, when but seventeen years 
 of .age, joining the boys in blue of Company C, 
 Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry. His company 
 went through Kentucky and did duty at Vicks- 
 burg and in Louisiana and Alabama. He was in 
 active service continuously from the time when he 
 
 joined the army until mustered out at the close 
 of the war, and displayed valor equal to many 
 a veteran of twice his years. 
 
 Following his return home Mr. McCulloch was 
 engaged in teaching school in Washburn for sev- 
 eral years, after which he became connected with 
 the grain business at that place for six or seven 
 years. In connection with his father he built a 
 large elevator at Washburn, and subsequent to 
 his connection with the grain trade spent a few 
 years in a bank at Washburn. In 1885 he re- 
 moved to Varna and established the Marshall 
 County Bank, a private institution, of which he 
 is the president, while his son Balph is the cashier. 
 This enterprise has proven of value to the com- 
 munity, facilitating the transaction of business 
 and at the same time has been a source of grati- 
 fying revenue to the owners. 
 
 In 1867 Mr. McCulloch was married to Miss 
 Alice Clark, a daughter of William Clark, a resi- 
 dent farmer of Marshall county. She was born 
 in Pennsylvania, and by her marriage has become 
 the mother of four children. William C., who is 
 engaged in the dry goods business in Eureka, Illi- 
 nois, married Hattie Spangler and has two daugh- 
 ters. Eobert W., a railroad official, who died at 
 Varna, Illinois, October 17, 1906, lived in south- 
 ern California, wedded Ella Holstrom and had one 
 daughter. Frank C., who was engaged in the 
 lumber business in California, and married Gail 
 Broaddus. Ealph married Mary L. Lord, at Var- 
 na, October 14, 1906, and is the cashier of the 
 bank in Varna. This is one of the old financial 
 institutions of the county, having been founded 
 by Louis Linebarger in 1883, becoming the prop- 
 erty of Mr. McCulloch in 1885. He is also en- 
 gaged in the insurance business and has valuable 
 real estate and farming interests. A man of re- 
 sourceful business ability, he is never taken by 
 surprise, but is always alert and enterprising, care- 
 fully controlling the interests which are under 
 his supervision and enlarging the scope of his 
 activities from time to time. 
 
 Mr. McCulloch holds membership in Highland 
 lodge, No. 324, K. P., of Varna, of which he is 
 now past chancellor, and he belongs to Varna 
 camp, No. 155, M. W. A., in which he has filled 
 all of the chairs. He is likewise a member of the 
 Grand Army of the Eepublic and of the Methodist 
 church, in the work of which he takes a very 
 active and helpful part, serving at the present
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTJKS. 
 
 time as a trustee of the church and as superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school. His political al- 
 legiance is given to the republican party and the 
 cause of education has found in him a warm 
 friend, doing active service in its behalf as school 
 trustee and director both in Washburn and Varna. 
 He is a representative citizen of business enter- 
 prise and discernment, who is watchful of oppor- 
 tunities and utilizes the means at hand to the best 
 advantage, so that he seems to have compassed 
 at any one point in his career the possibility for 
 success at that point. Business integrity and en- 
 terprise are both synonymous with his name and 
 he is justly accounted one of the leading men of 
 his community, having wielded a wide influence 
 in public affairs in the line of material, intel- 
 lectual and moral progress. 
 
 NEWTON H. COLBY. 
 
 Newton H. Colby, a capitalist deriving consid- 
 erable of his income from real estate as well as 
 from agricultural interests, is a typical repre- 
 sentative of the spirit that is dominant in the 
 business world today the spirit which recognizes 
 and utilizes opportunities, bringing the utmost 
 measure of accomplishment possible at any given 
 point in a period of progress. Without special ad- 
 vantages at the outset of his career save for the 
 gift of sixty acres of land received from his 
 father, he started out, and by judicious manage- 
 ment, keen sagacity and unfaltering diligence has 
 arisen to a prominent place in business circles in 
 Putnam county. 
 
 He was born December 20, 1852, in New York, 
 a son of Hiram and Sophia E. (Clark) Colby. 
 The parents were both natives of the Empire 
 state, the former born June 23, 1825, and the 
 latter on the 15th of October, 1834. Mr. Colby 
 was a carpenter and millwright, and followed 
 those trades in New York until 1852, when he 
 sought a home in the middle west, locating in 
 Granville after making a prospecting tour in the 
 west and southern states. He realized the nat- 
 ural resources of this part of the country, and, 
 bringing with him to his new home a considerable 
 capital, he found it profitable to loan money, 
 for which he received twenty-five per cent interest. 
 He later bought land and became actively con- 
 nected with farming operations in this part of 
 the state, though he made his home in the village. 
 In 1885 he removed to Chicago and a few years 
 
 later took up his abode at Covert, Michigan, 
 where his death occurred. Following the demise 
 of his first wife he had married again and is yet 
 survived by his second wife. Mrs. Sophia Colby 
 passed away in Granville, March 27, 1877, while 
 the death of Hiram Colby occurred at Covert, 
 Michigan, August 12, 1905. He was a member 
 of the Presbyterian church, and in his political 
 affiliations was a republican, on which ticket he 
 was elected to various township offices, including 
 that of supervisor, in which capacity he served 
 for several years. The only surviving members 
 of the family are : Newton H., of this review ; 
 a brother, Archie L., living in Detroit, Mich- 
 igan; and a half-brother, Arthur. 
 
 Newton H. Colby attended the common schools 
 in his youth, but his educational privileges were 
 somewhat limited, but he is qualified for the re- 
 sponsible duties of a business career through 
 study in a correspondence school and by experi- 
 ence. When twenty-six years of age his father 
 gave him sixty acres of land and he began farm- 
 ing on his own account. He had previously be- 
 come familiar with the work of field and meadow 
 through the assistance which he had rendered in 
 the operation of his father's farms. In the same 
 year he was married and began the improvement 
 of his property. He built his present residence 
 and other buildings on the place, all of which 
 are large and substantial, while everything about 
 the farm is in first-class condition. Utilizing the 
 opportunity for judicious investment, he has added 
 to his landed possessions until he now owns three 
 hundred and fifty acres in Granville township. 
 Though still living on his farm, his agricultural 
 pursuits are now only a side issue with him, for 
 in company with A. W. Hopkins he is extensively 
 engaged in handling real estate. They located 
 land near Granville, upon which coal mines have 
 since been developed, and they have platted and 
 sold lots in various parts of the village, contrib- 
 uting more largely perhaps to the substantial de- 
 velopment and progress of the growing town of 
 Granville than any other two men in Putnam 
 county. Mr. Colby is also engaged in prospecting 
 and in locating coal lands for the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul Railroad. For seven or eight 
 years he conducted a semi-portable sawmill, get- 
 ting out hardwood timber for the coal mines. He 
 bought up pieces of timber in Putnam and La 
 Salle counties, coin inning in the work until the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 coal company began using steel in construction 
 work. Mr. Colby found that business very prof- 
 itable, and, in fact, has prospered in all of his 
 undertakings. 
 
 At the age of twenty-six years Newton H. Colby 
 was married to Miss Mary Whedon who was born 
 in Ohio but was living in Madison, Wisconsin, at 
 the time of her marriage. Unto them have been 
 born two children: Irving N., who was edu- 
 cated in the Granville schools and later at Brad- 
 ley Polytechnic School at Peoria, Illinois, and who 
 is now conducting a machine shop in Granville; 
 and Jessie M., at home, who was also a student in 
 Bradley Polytechnic School in Peoria. 
 
 Mr. Colby exercises his right of franchise in 
 support of the men and measures of the repub- 
 lican party. He served for four terms as super- 
 visor and has been school director, but is holding 
 no office 'at the present time, as his business 
 interests require his undivided attention. He is a 
 member of the Congregational church and con- 
 tributes generously to its support. While he takes 
 no active part in public affairs as an office seeker, 
 he is nevertheless interested in the welfare of the 
 community, and his labors have largely been of a 
 character that have contributed to general pros- 
 perity and progress as well as to individual suc- 
 cess. He is a typical business man, alert and en- 
 terprising, and possesses in large measure that 
 quality which has been termed commercial sense. 
 Seldom, if ever, at -error in matters of judgment, 
 he has keen insight into business situations and 
 their possibilities and seems to have accomplished 
 at any one point in his career the possibility for 
 successful accomplishment at that point. 
 
 RICHARD WAUGHOP. 
 
 Richard Waughop, who in former years was 
 identified with general agricultural pursuits and 
 now lives in Henry, was born in Portsmouth, Vir- 
 ginia, October 8 { 1830. His father, Richard 
 Waughop, ST., was also a native of the Old Do- 
 minion, and was a ship carpenter by trade. In 
 1825 he married Miss Eliza Willis, of New York. 
 To them were born five children : James, Rebecca, 
 Richard, Amos and Eliza. The two oldest and the 
 youngest of these children died during childhood, 
 and Amos in 1892 at Decatur, Illinois, at the age 
 of fifty-nine years. Thinking to enjoy better busi- 
 ness opportunities in the middle west, Mr. Waug- 
 op came to Illinois in 1834 and settled in Tazewell 
 
 county, where he followed the occupation of farm- 
 ing. His wife died in 1835, at the age of twenty- 
 eight. Mr. Waughop was married again in 1837 
 to Miss Mary Bowman, and to them were born 
 eight children : Mrs. Lizzie Wilmot, of California ; 
 Dr. J. W. Waughop, who was superintendent of 
 the hospital for the insane at Steilacoom, Wash- 
 ington, for sixteen years and died on shipboard 
 en route from Honolulu to the United States in 
 1903; William, a retired farmer of Bloomfield, 
 Iowa, who died in October, 1906; Virginia, who 
 died in 1877; Franklin, of Manchester, Iowa; 
 George, professor of ancient language in Mt. 
 Union (Ohio) College, who died in 1876 ; Amanda, 
 who died in childhood ; and Mrs. Caroline Van 
 Petten, a missionary in Japan since 1881. Mr. 
 Waughop, Sr., lived in Tazewell county for forty 
 years, his death occurring in December, 1874, at 
 the age of sixty-nine years. 
 
 Richard Waughop, of this review, was only four 
 years of age when brought by his parents from 
 Virginia to Illinois. He acquired his education in 
 the early schools of Tazewell county and worked 
 upon his father's farm until twenty-three years of 
 age, when he left home and came to Marshall coun- 
 ty, settling in La Prairie township, where he en- 
 gaged in farming on his own account. He at first 
 bought eighty acres of land, which he increased to 
 one hundred and sixty. This he sold when he re- 
 moved to Whitefield township in 1865. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Waughop married Miss Mary C. 
 Bondurant, daughter of Isaac and Marcy Hay 
 Bondurant, of Kentucky. She came with her 
 parents to Washington, Illinois, when a child. 
 Mrs. Waughop is a lady of superior intelligence 
 and culture, and in early life engaged in teaching. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Waughop were born four chil- 
 dren: Clara Belle, at home, who taught school 
 several years, attended Eureka College and is 
 prominent in church work. Isaac Willis, a fanner, 
 married Miss Susie Jacobs in 1880 and has two 
 children, George and Effie, and one grandchild, 
 Opal Sale. Marcie, a graduate of Eureka College 
 and a special student of Wellesley College (Mas- 
 sachusetts), taught in the public schools a few 
 years, was principal in the Eureka (Illinois) high 
 school four years, and also occupied the chair of 
 English literature in Eureka College. In 1899, 
 during the second year in this last position, she 
 passed away at the age of thirty-one years, deeply 
 mourned by a large circle of friends. Richard
 
 344 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Leslie, who follows farming and stock-raising on 
 the old homestead, was married to Miss Estella 
 Deck in 1896. They have two children, Irma and 
 Vada. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Waughop is a stalwart 
 republican, who has continuously voted for the 
 party since casting his ballot for Abraham Lin- 
 coln. He has served as school director and was 
 collector in La Prairie township, but has never 
 been active as a politician in the sense of office 
 seeking, preferring to concentrate his energies 
 upon his business affairs or other interests. 
 He holds membership in the Christian church 
 and has been elder therein for over thirty years 
 a fact which indicates his prominent position in 
 the church and his active and helpful interest in 
 its work. His life has been a busy, useful and 
 honorable one, and now, in the evening of his 
 days, he is able to enjoy a rest which has been 
 justly won and is therefore well merited. He is 
 now the owner of two good farms, one of one 
 hundred and sixty acres and the other of two hun- 
 dred acres, besides a tract of timber land. 
 
 EGBERT R. McCULLOUGH. 
 Robert R. McCullough, whose farming interests 
 comprise three hundred and twenty acres of val- 
 uable laud on section 15, La Prairie township, 
 was born in Winsted, Connecticut, February 17, 
 1831, and there resided until three years of age, 
 when he was taken by his parents to New York, 
 where he remained until after he attained his 
 majority. He comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry. 
 His father, Samuel McCullough, was a native of 
 County Down, Ireland, and well remembered the 
 revolutionary war of that country, when so many 
 people were massacred. After seeking a home 
 in the new world he acted as foreman in large 
 manufactories in different parts of Connecticut. 
 His political views' were in accord with the prin- 
 ciples of democracy, and he died at Caroline, 
 Tompkins county, New York, in 1846. He mar- 
 ried Nancy Robinson, also a native of Ireland, 
 whence she came to the new world at the age of 
 ten years, making the voyage on a sailing vessel 
 with her uncle. She belonged to the Presbyterian 
 church and was an earnest, sincere Christian 
 woman. Her death occurred in Henry county, 
 Illinois, in 1865, and she was laid to rest in 
 Boyd's Grove. The members of the family were 
 
 Samuel, James and David, all now deceased; 
 Adelia; Jane; Robert, of this review; and John 
 L., who was supervisor in Bureau county for 
 twenty-eight years and was one of the best known 
 citizens of this part of the state. He died in 
 April, 1904, at the age of seventy-three years. 
 
 Robert McCullough spent his childhood in New 
 York, and when twenty-two years of age started 
 out to face the hardships, difficulties and oppor- 
 tunities of the world. He had no capital and he 
 worked by the month as a farm hand. He spent 
 four and a half years in Minnesota, and was well 
 acquainted with the majority of the people who 
 were massacred there by the Indians at the fork 
 of the Yellow Medicine river. He realized the 
 possibility of an attack, and, thoroughly under- 
 standing the frontier conditions, he prepared a 
 plan by which to escape in case of the approach 
 of the savages. Those that followed his advice 
 managed to escape unharmed, but the others were 
 killed. Mr. McCullough certainly deserves much 
 credit for his plan, but modestly disclaims all 
 credit. Throughout his entire life he has carried 
 on general farming, and is now the owner of 
 three hundred and twenty acres of rich and 
 productive land in La Prairie township, where 
 he is successfully carrying on general agricul- 
 tural pursuits, having brought his fields under 
 a high state of cultivation. He has also added 
 many modern improvements to the property, and 
 it is now one of the excellent farms of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 On the 22d of December, 1864, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. MeCullough and Miss An- 
 gelins Jones, who was born in Chillicothe, Illi- 
 nois, February 3, 1834. Her father, Edwin S. 
 Jones, who was always known by the title of 
 squire, assisted in laying out Peoria county, and 
 was one of the honored and prominent pioneer 
 residents of this portion of the state. He lived 
 here during the Black Hawk war and took part 
 in the Civil war, while two of his sons were also 
 loyal defenders of the Union cause. He married 
 Emily Root, who was born in Roxbury, New 
 York, in 1807. Her father, Jerel Root, was at 
 one time a resident of Chillicothe, Ohio, and in 
 1829 was elected treasurer of Hancock county, 
 that state. In 1831 he came to Illinois and 
 served in the Black Hawk war during the follow- 
 ing year. In 1832 he was elected county com-
 
 ME AND MRS. B. R. McCULLOUGH.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTESS. 
 
 847 
 
 missioner of Peoria, and, with the assistance of 
 Mr. Wrenn and John Coyle, they platted the 
 land whereon Peoria now stands. He was like- 
 wise a soldier in the Civil war. His wife, Mrs. 
 Jones, was a devoted member of the Christian 
 church, and died in 1892. The members of the 
 Jones family are as follows: Mrs. Isabella Wood, 
 the eldest, was a resident of Chillicothe, Illinois, 
 and died in San Antonio, Texas, March 12, 1906. 
 Albert W. Jones was a lieutenant of the Union' 
 army in the Civil war and later served on the 
 staff of the governor of Colorado with the title 
 of colonel. He is now retired from business in 
 Greeley, Colorado, but takes a very active part in 
 politics. Mrs. McCullough is the next of the 
 family. Mrs. Harriet Foster, a resident of Brad- 
 ford, Illinois, died in 1875. Julius E., who was 
 also a soldier, is deceased. Julia married How- 
 ard Edminster, and died April 30, 1895. 
 
 Mrs. McCullough attended school in Henry, 
 Illinios, and at the age of sixteen years began 
 teaching, which profession she successfully fol- 
 lowed. In 1864 she gave her hand in marriage 
 to Mr. McCullough, and unto them have been 
 born the following named : Albert J., who mar- 
 ried Anna B. Madison, of Fort Scott, Kansas, is 
 now living in La Prairie township, farming his 
 own land and also his father's farm. He com- 
 pleted his education at Quincy Commercial Col- 
 lege. Anna B., who engaged in teaching school 
 in Chillicothe and in the State Normal, is now 
 the wife of A. B. Stickney, a prominent railroad 
 man and train dispatcher, living at Chillicothe, 
 Illinois. Louis E. is a student in the high school 
 at Chillicothe. Edwin, who for seven years was a 
 student in a college at Galesburg, Illinios, was 
 graduated with both a Bachelor and Master of 
 Arts degrees. He is also a graduate of the State 
 Normal of North Dakota and was formerly prin- 
 cipal of the high school at Valley City, while at 
 the present writing he is a professor in the high 
 school at Anamoose, North Dakota. Mrs. Mc- 
 Cullough is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 Mr. McCullough is rather inclined, politically, 
 to the democracy, yet is independent of all party 
 ties. He has .10 w passed the seventy-fifth mile- 
 stone on life's journey, and in a review of his 
 record it will be seen that he has been most en- 
 ergetic and capable in his business affairs. What 
 
 he possesses he has acquired through his own 
 labor, and his is a valuable farm of three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres, equipped with all the 
 accessories and conveniences of a model farm 
 property of the twentieth century. 
 
 W. P. JENSEN. 
 
 W. P. Jensen, owning and conducting a black- 
 smith shop in Toluca, where he also owns a nice 
 home, is a native of Denmark, his natal year being 
 1871. His parents, John J. and Mary (Anderson) 
 Jorgensen, were also born in that country, the 
 former in 1841 and the latter in 1839. The father 
 is also a blacksmith, and has always made his home 
 in that country. His wife, however, is now de- 
 ceased, her death having occurred in 1881. She 
 was a member of the Luthern church. In their 
 family were the following named: Jorgen, who 
 eight years ago started on a trip to the north 
 pole and has not been heard from since that time; 
 Katherine, the wife of John Hempel, who lives 
 in Streator, Illinois; Caroline, the wife of James 
 Fort, a fanner residing near Dwight, in Living- 
 ston county, this state ; and W. P., of this review. 
 
 Mr. Jensen was reared and educated in his 
 native country, and during his youth he learned 
 the blacksmith's trade, which he followed ere he 
 emigrated to the new world. When he had at- 
 tained his majority he decided to try his fortune 
 in the new world, for he had heard of the ad- 
 vantages which might be enjoyed in this country, 
 and accordingly on crossing the Atlantic and 
 reaching the United States, he made his way at 
 once to the home of his sister in Livingston coun- 
 ty, where he was employed for six months on her 
 farm, which is located near Dwight. He then went 
 to Streator, where he resumed his operations as a 
 blacksmith, being employed in a shop there for 
 two years, and in 1895 he came to Toluca, where 
 he opened a shop of his own and has since con- 
 tinued in business. He is an expert in this line 
 and therefore enjoys a large and growing patron- 
 age. He has been very successful in his business 
 affairs and is ever known to be reliable and trust- 
 worthy in all trade transactions. He owns a nice 
 home in this city and is accounted one of the 
 enterprising business men of this part of the 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Jensen was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
 Mathis, who was born in Marshall county, in 1867, 
 a daughter of Jesse and Eliza Mathis, who were
 
 ;MS 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 farming people of Bennington township, but the 
 former is now deceased, having passed away in 
 1905. Mrs. Jensen was reared and educated in 
 this county, and in 1897 gave her hand in mar- 
 riage to Mr. Jensen. She is a devoted member 
 of the Christian church, and by her marriage has 
 become the mother of two children : Le Roy 
 Dewey, who was born in 1898, and died in 1904; 
 and Irene, who was born in 1900. 
 
 Mr. Jensen gives his political allegiance to the 
 republican party and is interested in every move- 
 ment which tends toward the advancement of his 
 town or community. His fraternal relations are 
 with the Modern Woodmen of America, while in 
 religious faith he is a member of the Lutheran 
 church. He is well known not only in Toluca 
 but throughout many of the surrounding districts, 
 for his trade is drawn from many portions of 
 Marshall county, and he and his wife enjoy the 
 esteem of a large circle of friends. 
 
 A. J. CARLSON. 
 
 A. J. Carlson, who was accounted one of the 
 foremost representatives of agricultural life in 
 Richland township, was born in Sweden in 1850. 
 When a young man of eighteen years he came to 
 the United States, making his way at once to 
 Illinois, and through unremitting labor and frugal 
 habits he saved a sufficient sum to enable him to 
 purchase a farm of eighty acres, which is now a 
 very valuable property in Richland township. Ex- 
 cellent improvements have been made thereon, in- 
 cluding the erection of good barns and outbuild- 
 ings, while the latest improved machinery is used 
 in facilitating the work of the fields and the gath- 
 ering of the harvests. He bought the farm about 
 seven years ago, previous to which time he had 
 been employed at farm labor or had operated 
 rented land in various parts of the county. He 
 never had occasion to regret his determination to 
 seek a home in the new world, for the years wit- 
 nessed his progress and advancement, resulting in 
 success. His father had died in Sweden, but the 
 mother came to the United States and made her 
 home with her two sons, A. J. and Charles Carl- 
 son. Both are now deceased, however, and the 
 mother passed away about sixteen years ago. 
 
 In the year 1877, in Varna, Illinois, A. J. Carl- 
 son was married to Miss Amanda Palm, a daugh- 
 ter of John and Christine Palm, who were early 
 
 settlers of Roberts township. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
 Carlson were born the following named : Edward, 
 twenty-seven years of age, who works on a farm 
 near the home place; Charles August, who is op- 
 erating the home farm ; Minnie and Elsie, who are 
 also with their mother. The death of the husband 
 and father occurred September 26, 1905. He was 
 building a new corn crib, and met his death 
 through accident, -timbers falling upon him. He 
 was a man of excellent traits of character, widely 
 known as a devoted husband and father, a faithful 
 friend and a loyal citizen. Wherever known he 
 was respected and his life was characterized by 
 unfaltering fidelity to a high standard of conduct. 
 His political allegiance was given to the repub- 
 lican party and for years he acted as a school di- 
 rector. His religious faith was that of the Swedish 
 Lutheran church. Men who knew him respected 
 him and had the utmost confidence in his business 
 integrity. His diligence was one of the salient 
 features of his success, and his life record proved 
 that industry is the key which will unlock the 
 portals of prosperity. Although he came to Amer- 
 ica empty handed, he gradually made advance- 
 ment, and at his death was the owner of a valuable 
 farm property. Mrs. Carlson has since carried on 
 the farm with the assistance of her son, Charles 
 August, who, though now only twenty-five years 
 of age, is recognized as a most enterprising, prac- 
 tical and progressive young farmer. The family 
 are all members of the Swedish Lutheran church 
 and have many warm friends in this community. 
 
 ADDISON PORTER WEBBER. 
 Addison Porter Webber, deceased, who was 
 spoken of by his friends as "one of the best men 
 that ever lived," became a pioneer resident of 
 Marshall count}' and for more than a half century 
 lived within its borders respected and honored by 
 all who knew him. His birth occurred in Gay- 
 head, New York, October 9, 1829. His parents 
 were Dr. Robert and Harriet (Pitts) Webber, who 
 came to Illinois in 1852, settling near Lawn Ridge, 
 where the Doctor engaged in the practice of medi- 
 cine until his death, being one of the prominent 
 early physicians of the county. He was the young- 
 est of a family of five sons and was the last sur- 
 vivor of that family. The Webbers are descend- 
 ants of one of the first Dutch settlers of New 
 York, the ancestry being traced back to Henry 
 Webber, who was born in the Empire state in 1727.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 3-49 
 
 Reared in the state of his nativity, A. Porter 
 Webber acquired there a common-school educa- 
 tion and remained in New York until twenty- 
 three years of age, when, at the time of his parents' 
 removal to Illinois, he also became a resident of 
 Marshall county and settled with them upon a 
 farm near Lawn Ridge. Coming to this county 
 in early manhood, while it was nearly all raw 
 prairie, he endured many hardships and priva- 
 tions such as are incident to frontier life. He also 
 worked for many of the early settlers and bought 
 and sold different tracts of land, but did not en- 
 gage in farming on his own account until his mar- 
 riage, in 1858, when he settled in Valley township, 
 Stark county. It was in December of that year 
 that he wedded Miss Rachel Naomi Calder, also 
 of Lawn Ridge and a daughter of Joseph Calder, 
 one of the early settlers of that locality. Follow- 
 ing their marriage the young couple began their 
 domestic life in Stark county, where they lived 
 until 1867, when Mr. Webber purchased a farm in 
 La Prairie township, whereon he resided until his 
 death, covering a period of almost four decades. 
 Throughout his entire life he carried on general 
 agricultural pursuits and placed his land under a 
 high state of cultivation, adding thereto many 
 modern improvements as time wrought changes in 
 the methods of farming, while iuventive genius 
 introduced new machinery to facilitate the work of 
 the fields. His life was one of industry, perse- 
 verance and enterprise qualities v/hich are essen- 
 tial elements in success, and as the years passed 
 he won a goodly measure of prosperity. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Webber were born six chil- 
 dren: Alice, now the wife of Lewis T. Wood, a 
 real-estate and insurance agent at Lacon; Alma, 
 the wife of J. W. Green, an extensive farmer and 
 stock-raiser of La Prairie township: Lulu, who 
 died at the age of thirteen years ; Maud, the wife 
 of Linus Root, a farmer living near Blue Ridge ; 
 Mabel La Veta, who remained at home to care for 
 her aged parents until their death, and is still a 
 resident of this county; and Herman, who is the 
 fourth child and only son. He was married Sep- 
 tember 24, 1895, to Miss Anna Collins, and now 
 resides just across the road from the old home- 
 stead, which he has managed for several years in 
 connection with the work of his own farm. His 
 wife was a daughter of Patrick Collins, a well 
 known and prominent pioneer resident of this part 
 of the state. Herman Webber attended the Spar- 
 
 land high school, the Northern Illinois Normal 
 School at Dixon, Illinois, and was thus well fitted 
 for life's practical and responsible duties. He is 
 now numbered among the enterprising and suc- 
 cessful farmers of La Prairie township and owns 
 four hundred acres of valuable and productive 
 land, which he has brought under a high state of 
 cultivation. In politics he is independent, and 
 has served as justice of the peace. His religious 
 views are indicated by his membership in the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. Unto him and his 
 wife have been born five children, namely : Mar- 
 garet, Robert, Lawrence, Wilfred and Florence. 
 
 During the time of the Civil war and for many 
 years thereafter Mr. Webber was a stalwart re- 
 publican, but as the issues which brought about 
 that rebellion passed away he saw that the next 
 great battle of the American people must be fought 
 at the ballot box, and so arrayed himself with the 
 prohibition party and voted as he prayed as long 
 as he was able to attend the elections. He was 
 never connected with any secret organizations, but 
 in early life united with the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and until the time of his death was a faith- 
 ful and devout member and one of its most active 
 and helpful workers. He held the office of trus- 
 tee, steward and Sunday-school superintendent and 
 teacher and for many years was regarded as one 
 of the most valued representatives of the congre- 
 gation, his labors being far reaching and bene- 
 ficial for the upbuilding of the church. Mrs. Web- 
 ber was also equally faithful to the church and 
 was a most estimable Christian woman. Together 
 they traveled life's journey for forty-seven years, 
 sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its 
 adversity and prosperity, but on the 27th of 
 February, 1905, they were separated through the 
 death of the wife, who passed away at the age of 
 sixty-five years. Not long afterward the health 
 of Mr. Webber began to fail, and his strength grad- 
 ually declined until on the 27th of July, 1906, at 
 his home in La Prairie township, where he had 
 resided for nearly forty years, he passed away. One 
 of the local publications said of him : "He was 
 quiet and reserved in his manne.- but firm in his 
 belief of what was right. When quite young he 
 united with the Methodist church and lived a 
 conscientious Christian life. He hatrd shams or 
 pretense in everything and lived only lor what 
 was grand, noble and uplifting. In the com- 
 munity in which he resided he was considered a
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 pillar on which all might lean. He never mingled 
 in politics or public affairs, but was ever ready 
 to give freely of his advice, which was much sought 
 for. His noble character was shown to best advan- 
 tage in his own home. He was a kind and loving 
 husband, a devoted father. He was never more 
 happy than when surrounded by his children, their 
 husbands and wives and his grandchildren. In his 
 parents' home he was one of five brothers, and in 
 later years when they moved to Marshall county 
 the affection of the Webber brothers for each other 
 was always noticeable. He was the last survivor 
 of the family. The funeral was held Sunday at 
 three o'clock at the Methodist Episcopal church in 
 La Prairie and was very largely attended. Rev. 
 Dille, pastor of the church, assisted by Rev. Thom- 
 as Martin, conducted the services. Both were per- 
 sonal friends of the deceased and spoke comforting 
 words to the bereaved children. They held his life 
 as an example for the rising generation and 
 touched on the beautiful character of the man 
 who had spent a full half century in the neighbor- 
 hood and departed without leaving an enemy or a 
 stain on his character." 
 
 CHARLES A. BROWN. 
 
 Charles A. Brown, secretary and treasurer of the 
 Toluca Lumber Company at Toluca, is a native 
 son of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Prince- 
 ton, Bureau county, in 1871. His parents were 
 C. E. and Frances (Pelton) Brown. The father, 
 a native of Massachusetts, was born in 1838, and 
 is a contractor and builder now living in Prince- 
 ton. His wife, born in 1846, is a daughter of C. 
 Pelton. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and both Mr. and Mrs. Brown are widely 
 and favorably known in Princeton, where for many 
 years they have resided. 
 
 Charles A. Brown, an only child, was educated 
 in the public schools of his native city and began 
 work for himself in 1889, clerking in Kansas, 
 Princeton, Illinois, and different places until 1899, 
 when he engaged in business for himself. He is 
 now conducting a lumber yard at Toluca, being the 
 active manager of the business and also secretary 
 and treasurer of the company, of which J. E. 
 Porterfield is president. Mr. Brown is a young 
 man of good business ability and executive force, 
 who has carefully directed his energies along well 
 
 defined lines of labor, keeping in touch with the 
 spirit of modern progress and improvement. 
 
 In 1892 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Edna 
 Porterfield, who was born in Spring Valley, Illi- 
 nois, in 1873, a daughter of J. E. Porterfield. 
 They now have an interesting little son, James E. 
 Brown. Mrs. Brown belongs to the Congregational 
 church. Mr. Brown is identified with the Wood- 
 men, Knights of Pythias and Masonic lodges. He 
 is very fond of hunting, which he makes his chief 
 source of recreation, and he displays no mean skill 
 with the rifle. He is popular, being a genial gen- 
 tleman, considerate of the opinions of others and 
 possessing a jovial, kindly nature that has gained 
 him many warm friends. 
 
 EDWARD A. LENZ. 
 
 Edward A. Lenz, who follows farming in Rob- 
 erts township, was born within its borders May 8, 
 1872. His parents were Jacob and Augusta (Kem- 
 nitz) Lenz, who are still residing in Roberts town- 
 ship. The father was born in Schoenlanke, Posen, 
 Germany, and when eighteen years of age crossed 
 the Atlantic to America, making his way first to 
 Canada, thence to Chicago and afterward to Mar- 
 shall county. He took up one hundred and sixty 
 acres of land on section 35, Roberts township, and 
 is now residing upon a farm of one hundred and 
 fifty-nine acres on section 25 of the same town- 
 ship. Throughout the period of his residence here 
 he has been identified with agricultural interests, 
 and his diligence has proven the foundation upon 
 which he has builded his success. His wife, also 
 a native of Posen, Germany, came to the United 
 States when fourteen years of age with her father, 
 Michael Kemnitz, who settled upon a farm in 
 Roberts township. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lenz were born seven chil- 
 dren, of whom six are yet living: Louis, who is 
 engaged in the furniture and undertaking business 
 in Lacon, has been very prominent in community 
 affairs, serving as mayor of his city, sheriff of the 
 county and in other offices. Edward A. is the 
 second of the family. Frederick is deceased. Mrs. 
 Ida Schwanke resides upon a farm near Varna. 
 Emma is the wife of John Albert Vosberg, who 
 resides upon one of the Lenz farms. Julia is the 
 wife of Fred Arndt, living upon the Downey farm, 
 about three miles east of Varna. Theresa is with 
 her parents and completes the family.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 351 
 
 Edward A. Lenz was educated in the district 
 and German schools of Roberts township and was 
 reared to the occupation of farming. This pursuit 
 has always claimed his time and energies and he 
 is now operating about three hundred and twenty 
 acres of rich and productive land. His father 
 owns about two thousand acres of land in Roberts 
 township, being one of its most wealthy farmers, 
 and has recently returned from an extended trip 
 in Europe. Edward A. Lenz is now erecting a 
 fine new residence of stone and concrete upon his 
 father's old homestead. His father still owns 
 this farm and is most comfortably situated in life. 
 His land brings forth rich harvests, owing to the 
 care and labor bestowed upon the fields, and every- 
 thing about the place, in its neat and thrifty ap- 
 pearance, indicates the careful supervision of our 
 subject. 
 
 In 1901 was celebrated the marriage of Edward 
 A. Lenz and Miss Louisa Kaatz, of Roberts town- 
 ship, a daughter of Fred Kaatz, who is engaged 
 in the implement business in Varna. Two chil- 
 dren have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Lenz : 
 Gerhardt and Ernest, aged respectively four and 
 a half and three years. The young couple are 
 prominent socially and enjoy the hospitality of 
 the best homes of this part of the county. In 
 politics Mr. Lenz is an independent democrat 
 without aspiration for office, though well informed 
 on the questions and issues of the day. He and 
 his wife are members of the German Lutheran 
 church, and they occupy an enviable social posi- 
 tion. From pioneer times the name of Lenz has 
 figured prominently in connection with the his- 
 tory of the county, especially along agricultural 
 lines, and Edward A. Lenz is a worthy scion of 
 the race. 
 
 ALBERT G. HUMPHREY. 
 
 Albert G. Humphrey, one of the prominent and 
 representative residents of Henry, has been an 
 active factor in public life and in office has ren- 
 dered signal service to the city along lines of 
 progress and improvement. He is now manager 
 at this point for the Turner Hudnut Company, 
 grain merchants at Pekin, Illinois, and is ac- 
 counted one of the enterprising business men here. 
 
 He was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, 
 July 9, 1857, and is one of the six children of 
 Elias F. and Eliza S. (Jack) Humphrey. The 
 father was born in Indiana and is now living in 
 
 Peoria, Illinois, at the advanced age of seventy- 
 five years. He followed the occupation of farm- 
 ing in Indiana and for some time was a distiller 
 in Chillicothe, Illinois. In 1864 he removed to 
 Peoria, where he was engaged in the real-estate 
 business, in which he continued actively until 
 1871, when he retired from business life and has 
 since enjoyed a well earned rest. Fraternally he 
 is connected with the Masons. In politics he is a 
 democrat, and held minor offices while in Chilli- 
 cothe. His wife, who was born in Kentucky, died 
 in 1896 at the age of sixty-eight years. She was 
 a member of the Universalist church and a lady 
 of many excellent traits of character. In the fam- 
 ily were six children: Edward S., who is private 
 secretary for Edward H. Jack, a capitalist of 
 Peoria and an uncle of our subject in the ma- 
 ternal line; Katie, who died at the age of two 
 years; Albert G.; Arthur, who died in infancy; 
 Robert, who died at the age of four years; and 
 Harry J., who is in New York city. He is one 
 of the foremost managers of the Smith Typewriter 
 Company, being formerly in charge of its branch 
 offices at St. Paul and Chicago. He drew the 
 plans for the company's office at No. 311 Broad- 
 way, New York, and was placed in charge of the 
 Chicago branch in 1900, from which place he 
 was changed to the New York office. The plans, 
 furnishings and finishings of this office are all the 
 embodiment of suggestions made by him. 
 
 Albert G. Humphrey attended the public 
 schools of Chillicothe and is a graduate of the 
 high school of the class of 1875. He was after- 
 ward a student in a business college in Peoria, 
 Illinois, and after learning telegraphy he became 
 an operator for the Western Union and the Rock 
 Island Railroad and was also United States Ex- 
 press agent at Chillicothe for six years. He came 
 to Henry in 1882 and accepted a position as book- 
 keeper in the grain office of Nicholson, Gilbert & 
 Company, with whom he remained for a year. 
 They then sold out to G. C. Griswold & Com- 
 pany, with whom he continued until 1895, when 
 Mr. Griswold died, after which Mr. Humphrey 
 conducted the business for A. K. Knapp for a 
 year and a half, or until it was sold. In 1899 he 
 became manager for the Turner Hudnut Com- 
 pany, grain merchants, with headquarters at Pe- 
 kin, Illinois, and is still acting in that capacity. 
 He also has an interest in the coal firm of Green- 
 lee & Humphrey, of Henry, which firm was or-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 ganized in 1894, and he is likewise interested in 
 insurance. He is a stockholder and director of 
 the Henry National Bank, and is thus associated 
 with various business interests of the city, being a 
 man of keen enterprise and resourceful ability. 
 
 In 1885 was celebrated the marriage of Albert 
 G. Humphrey and Miss Anna M. Orr, a daughter 
 of N. W. and Lydia Orr. She was born in Troy, 
 Ohio, in 1855, and her father was one of the 
 pioneer merchants of Henry. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
 Humphrey have been born two children : Lila A. 
 and Alta May. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Humphrey is connected with 
 the Knights of Pythias and with the Modern 
 Woodmen of America. His political allegiance is 
 given to the democracy and he is prominent in 
 the local ranks of his party. He has been mayor, 
 alderman, city clerk and city treasurer of Henry, 
 and the duties of each office have been faithfully 
 and promptly performed. He has also been a 
 member of the board of education for twelve 
 years, and the public-school system of the city 
 finds in him a stalwart champion. The water 
 works of Henry were built in 1902 under his 
 administration, and he has always stood for prog- 
 ress and improvement in municipal affairs and 
 champions every interest which is a matter of civic 
 virtue and of civic pride. 
 
 MRS. MIRANDA DOYLE. 
 Mrs. Miranda Doyle is 'the owner of a valuable 
 farm of four hundred acres situated on section 27, 
 Saratoga township, in the midst of which stands 
 a beautiful residence that is surrounded by well 
 tilled fields that annually return to her a good 
 income. Mrs. Doyle is one of Marshall county's 
 native daughters, having been born in La Prairie 
 township, March 1.2, 1856. Her father, Major 
 Alanson P. Webber, was born in Gayhead, Greene 
 county, New York, March 16, 1828, and was mar- 
 ried on the 13th of February, 1850, to Marion J. 
 Calder, who was borne in Greene county, New 
 York, June 22, 1831, the marriage being cele- 
 brated when she was nineteen years of age. A 
 few months later they removed to Illinois and lo- 
 cated in La Prairie township, where they lived 
 for five years. On the expiration of that period 
 Mr. Webber purchased a quarter section of land in 
 Saratoga township, upon which he resided until 
 nib death. He passed away, however, at the home 
 of Owen Doyle, June 27, 1902, having for about 
 
 three years survived his wife, who died on the old 
 home farm in Saratoga township, August 31, 
 1899. A lovely daughter, Orie B. Kelley, had also 
 preceded him to the better land. Two sons and 
 two daughters survive : Newton, who is living in 
 Chicago; Allie, of Saratoga; Miranda, now Mrs. 
 Doyle; and Myra, the "wife of Clarence H. Watt, 
 of Chicago. When the Civil war broke out Mr. 
 Webber volunteered and enlisted in Company C, 
 Eighty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 chosen fife major of the regiment. During the 
 battles in which the regiment participated he 
 served as a sharpshooter and for extraordinary 
 gallantry and bravery at Kenesaw Mountain the 
 congress of the United States awarded him a 
 medal of honor. He afterward served with great 
 credit as a member of the Illinois legislature. He 
 and his wife were faithful and devoted members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church for about fifty 
 years and in their lives they stood for temperance 
 and for all ennobling virtues. The richest legacy 
 they left their children was their good name a 
 most blessed memory. 
 
 Mrs. Doyle of this review spent her girlhood 
 days upon the old home farm in Saratoga town- 
 ship and supplemented her early educational privi- 
 leges in the district school by study in Hedding 
 College at Abingdon, Il'inois. On the 18th of 
 September, 1881, she gave her hand in marriage 
 to Owen Doyle, who was born in Peoria county, 
 Illinois, March 1, 1850, and was a son of Thomas 
 Doyle, a native of Pennsylvania, who for many 
 years lived in Illinois and removed from Peoria 
 county to Saratoga township, Marshall county. 
 Owen Doyle was for a long period identified with 
 the agricultural interests of this county and 
 prospered in his undertakings. He lived a life of 
 thrift and industry characterized by strong pur- 
 pose and unfaltering fidelity to manly principles, 
 and in his business undertakings he prospered, so 
 that he became the owner of a valuable farm of 
 four hundred acres of fine land, which he left to 
 his widow and children. He erected thereon a 
 beautiful residence, which was built about the 
 time of their marriage and which is most taste- 
 fully furnished. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Doyle were born four chil- 
 dren: Carl, who is living with his mother at the 
 age of twenty-four years and operates the home 
 farm for her ; Herbert, sixteen years of age ; Belle, 
 fourteen years of age; and Marion, who is ten
 
 ALANSON P. WEBBER.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 355 
 
 years of age and completes the family. The death 
 of the husband and father occurred May 19, 1904, 
 after a very brief illness and was the occasion of 
 deep and widespread regret. He had served as 
 school director and as road commissioner and 
 was treasurer in the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 with which he long held membership. His life 
 was characterized by unfaltering industry and in 
 all relations he was found true to manly prin- 
 ciples and a high standard of conduct, so that he 
 commanded the esteem and good will of all with 
 whom he was associated. 
 
 JOHN D. BALL. 
 
 John D. Ball, one of the prosperous and prom- 
 inent residents of Marshall county, is living on 
 section 12, Belle Plain township, where he owns 
 and occupies a beautiful residence about a mile 
 west of Toluca. He has wielded a wide influence 
 over public life in this community, manifesting a 
 public spirited devotion to the general good, and 
 in his business interests has displayed a spirit of 
 progress and enterprise that have enabled him to 
 overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path 
 and make steady advancement on the highroad of 
 prosperity. He was born in Lacon, Illinois, in 
 1855. His father, Jonas L. Ball, a native of Mas- 
 sachusetts, came from Hamilton, Ohio, to Marshall 
 county, Illinois, making the journey on horseback. 
 He settled here at a pioneer epoch in the history 
 of the county, taking up his abode just west of 
 Toluca, where G. W. Thomas now resides on a 
 part of the old homestead. Mr. Ball became a very 
 extensive land owner, having at one time fifteen 
 hundred acres, but he divided his property among 
 his children, giving to each two hundred acres 
 when they attained their majority. He ever 
 utilized his opportunities to the best advantage, 
 was quick to recognize a chance for good invest- 
 ment, and, moreover, in his daily life displayed a 
 spirit of industry and capable management that 
 constituted the strongest elements in his success. 
 His political views were in accord with the prin- 
 ciples of democracy and he was one of the founders 
 of the Antioch Christian church, which was after- 
 ward removed to Toluca. His land lay just west 
 of Toluca about a half mile and extended into 
 Belle Plain township. For four years he served 
 as supervisor, and his devotion to the public good 
 stood as an unquestioned fact in his life. He con- 
 tributed to the material, intellectual and moral 
 
 progress of the community through his co-opera- 
 tion in affairs that had direct bearing upon the 
 welfare of the county along those lines, and he 
 passed away in 1888, respected and honored by all 
 who knew him. His wife, who bore the maiden 
 name of Elizabeth C. Fetter, was born in Pennsyl- 
 vania in 1823, and was a daughter of Dr. Fetter. 
 She too held membership in the Christian church 
 and was a most estimable lady. In the family of 
 this worthy couple were seven children: Alice, 
 who died in infancy; William L., also deceased; 
 Charles, who died at the age of two years; Jonas 
 T., living west of Toluca; John D., of this review; 
 Gertrude, the wife of Sain Welty, a lawyer of 
 Bloomington; and George L., who was drowned 
 in Senachwine lake while in bathing on a pleasure 
 trip at the age of thirty-three years. He left a 
 wife and four children, the wife being now Mrs. 
 Maria E. Ball, who is educating her children in 
 Eureka. 
 
 John D. Ball was provided with liberal educa- 
 tional privileges. He supplemented his early 
 training by study in Eureka College at Eureka, 
 Illinois, and he began farming on his own account 
 in 1875. He first followed that occupation just 
 west of the old home place on a farm given him 
 by his father. He now has extensive property 
 holdings, including three hundred and forty-five 
 acres of the old homestead, three hundred and 
 twenty acres in Oklahoma and one hundred and 
 seventy acres in southwestern Kansas. His prop- 
 erty holdings are therefore extensive, and return to 
 him a very gratifying income. For the past fifteen 
 years he has lived retired from active business life. 
 While at La Rose, Illinois, he was engaged in the 
 grain business and also dealt in coal, lumber, lime, 
 salt, cement and other similar commodities. He 
 established his store in 1888 and sold out in 1893. 
 He removed to the town in order to give his chil- 
 dren good educational privileges, and while re- 
 siding there became connected with its commercial 
 interests. 
 
 Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Anna 
 M. Griffin, who was born in Pennsylvania, near 
 Pittsburg, in 1853, and is a daughter of Hamilton 
 and Nancy Griffin, both of whom are now de- 
 ceased. They were members of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Ball 
 have been born the following named: Charles, 
 who died at the age of two years ; L. Eleta, living 
 at home; Ellen G., at home; Josie Fayetta and
 
 356 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Jonas H., twins. The former is attending the 
 Woman's College at Jacksonville, Illinois, and the 
 latter is studying scientific farming in the uni- 
 versity at Champaign. 
 
 Mr. Ball is deeply interested in the cause of 
 education and is giving to his children excellent 
 opportunities in this direction. The local schools 
 have found in him a stalwart champion, and for 
 twenty-one years he has served as school director 
 and as school trustee. He has also been assessor 
 of Belle Plain township for four years and was 
 supervisor for three years. While living in La 
 Eose he was a member of the village board for 
 three years and was president at the time of his 
 removal to the farm. In 1904 he was the candi- 
 date of his party, the democratic, for state sena- 
 tor, but was defeated. Fraternally he is identified 
 with the Knights of Pythias lodge, No. 291, at 
 Lacon, and the Modern Woodmen camp and the 
 Eoyal Neighbors of Toluca. He belongs to the 
 Christian church, of which he is serving as trus- 
 tee, and his interest in various phases which con- 
 stitute the general life of the individual is man- 
 ifest by the hearty co-operation which he gives to 
 many movements for the public good. He lives 
 in a beautiful home about a mile west of To- 
 luca, facing the main public road. His business 
 interests have been carefully managed, and though 
 he received from his father a good farm he has 
 enlarged his holdings and brought his land under 
 a high state of cultivation. He is seldom if ever 
 at error in matters of business judgment, and his 
 carefully directed labors have brought to him a 
 gratifying measure of prosperity. He has never 
 concentrated his energies, howeve 1 ' upon business 
 affairs to the exclusion of other interests, and, in 
 fact, in all matters of citizenship has displayed a 
 most worthy and generous support. Viewed from 
 a personal standpoint he is a strong man strong 
 in his honor and his good name, strong in his 
 ability to plan and to perform and in his power 
 to achieve that which he imdertakes. 
 
 ORANGE A. AVERILL. 
 
 A life of continuous and well directed activity 
 has brought to Orange A. Averill a well merited 
 measure of success and he is now owner of a well 
 appointed hardware store in Hennepin, from 
 which he derives a good income, owing to his 
 honorable methods and his earnest desire to please 
 his patrons. He was bom August 3, 1843, in an 
 
 old house that formerly stood upon the site of the 
 present home of 0. B. Davis. His father, Na- 
 thaniel Averill, familiarly known all over this 
 part of the state as Uncle Nat, was born at Alfred, 
 Maine, June 1, 1819, and died in Princeton, No- 
 vember 29, 1905. He came to Hennepin in 1836, 
 casting in his lot with the early settlers who were 
 reclaiming the region from the influences of the 
 rule of the Indians and converting it into uses of 
 civilization. Locating in Hennepin he followed 
 the trade of wagon and carriage making, which he 
 had previously learned, devoting his energies to 
 that pursuit until 1848, when he removed to a 
 farm across the line in Bureau county. He also 
 made trunks and coffins in those early days, and 
 was regarded as the best woodworker in this part 
 of the state. He would go into the forest and get 
 out his own timber, bring it home, dry it out and 
 work it up into wagons and buggies. Some of the 
 vehicles which he built were in use forty years, 
 being splendidly made. He also made the blinds 
 for the windows of the Union Grove church in 
 1840 and today those blinds are still doing service. 
 They were made of butternut wood, and have been 
 utilized for two-thirds of a century. He was close- 
 ly associated with many interesting events con- 
 nected with the pioneer history of the county. At 
 one time, in company with Isaac Cecil, father of 
 Jasper Cecil, whose sketch appears elsewhere in 
 this work, he found a nest of wild goose eggs in a 
 tree. He climbed the tree, put the six eggs in 
 his shirt, climbed down, took the eggs home and 
 put them under a setting hen. They were hatched 
 and grew to be large geese, but one day wandered 
 away with some wild geese that came flying past, 
 their native instincts thus being asserted. In 
 early manhood Nathaniel Averill was married in 
 Granville, Illinois, to Miss Nancy Rice, a native 
 of Maine, who died in Hennepin when her son 
 Orange was but a year and a half old. The father 
 afterward wedded Amelia Nickerson, who came 
 with her parents to Putnam county, Illinois, at a 
 very early day. She is still living in Princeton, 
 one of the honored pioneer women of this part 
 of the state, and she can remember when there 
 were five hundred Indians encamped just across 
 the river from Hennepin. It was in 1848 that 
 Nathaniel Averill removed with his family to a 
 farm of two hundred acres in Bureau county. Of 
 this about two acres had been cleared, while the 
 remainder was covered with heavy timber. Upon
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 357 
 
 the place was a large log house with a double fire 
 place, built by a man of the name of Nevis, one 
 of the early settlers of the county. The house was 
 a story and a half in height and was considered a 
 mansion for those times. A house today as large 
 as that and built of the same kind of timber 
 would cost ten thousand dollars. Nathaniel Aver- 
 ill, with the assistance of his son Orange, cleared 
 and developed that farm and the father there 
 made his home until 1888, when he left the farm 
 and retired to Princeton, where he passed away 
 November 29, 1905. His widow still owns the 
 farm, the estate having never yet been divided. 
 Mr. Averill belonged to what is known today as 
 the Christian church. In politics he was a whig 
 until the dissolution of the party, and later he be- 
 came a stanch republican. For many years he was 
 regarded as the most popular man in Leepertown 
 township, and held office there for over twenty 
 years, acting as supervisor, assessor, township clerk 
 and school treasurer all at one lime. He was 
 greatly interested in everything pertaining to the 
 progress and development of his community, and 
 he was instrumental in forcing the Chicago, Rock 
 Island & Pacific Railroad Company to pay its 
 taxes, and forced the company, while he was asses- 
 sor, to pay as it does today sixty per cent of the 
 taxes of Leepertown township. He was a man of 
 marked individuality and of strong and sterling 
 characteristics, of unquestioned honesty of pur- 
 pose and most faithful in his friendships. 
 
 Orange A. Averill was the only child born of 
 his father's first marriage. By the second mar- 
 riage there were five children : Mrs. Helen Howe, 
 who with her two children lives in Princeton ; 
 Caroline, the wife of James Reeves, of Waco, Ne- 
 braska: Lucy, who is living in Peoria, Illinois; 
 Marcella, who was injured in a runaway accident 
 and died soon afterward; and Charles 0., who 
 is living on the old home farm. 
 
 Orange A. Averill remained at home until Au- 
 gust 7, 1861, when at the age of eighteen years 
 he left the parental roof and began earning his 
 own living by working as a farm hand by the 
 month. In 1862 he went to Chicago, intending to 
 enlist in the army, but on account of his youth 
 his father prevented this. He was not only too 
 young but was also under size. However, in 1863 
 he enlisted for three months' service as a member 
 of Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and on the expiration 
 
 of that term he re-enlisted in the same regiment 
 for another three months' service. In 1864 he 
 became a member of Company E, One Hundred 
 and Forty-eighth Illinois Infantry, for one year's 
 service or until the close of the war, and was mus- 
 tered out October 28, 1865. He went as far south 
 as Chattanooga, Tennessee, but was never in any 
 pitched battles, although he participated in sev- 
 eral skirmishes. He enlisted as a private, but be- 
 came corporal before his term expired, and while 
 at Springfield, Illinois, had entire charge of the 
 company, being the only member who had seen 
 service or knew anything about drilling. He was 
 a faithful soldier, and the government now grants 
 him a pension of twelve dollars per month. He 
 belongs to Hennepin post, No. 231, G. A. R., 
 in which he has held all of the offices. 
 
 At the time he joined the army Mr. Averill was 
 learning the blacksmith's trade, which he com- 
 pleted after his return from the war. He then 
 followed the business for thirty-seven and a half 
 years. Ten years ago he secured a small stock of 
 hardware, investing a capital not over eighty dol- 
 lars. Today he carries a complete line of hard- 
 ware, tools and tinware, his stock being worth at 
 least three thousand dollars. He has enlarged his 
 store room from time to time but now finds it 
 hardly adequate for the increased line of goods 
 which he carries. His trade has constantly grown 
 and his business is today very profitable. He is 
 now treasurer and one of the stockholders of the 
 Mutual Telephone Company and is collector and 
 agent for the National Co-operative Burial Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Averill was married to Miss 
 Helena Deck, a native of Pennsylvania and a 
 daughter of Adam Deck, deceased, who came to 
 Hennepin in 1848. Mr. and Mrs. Averill now 
 have one daughter, Nancy Florence, who was ed- 
 ucated in the Hennepin schools and for four years 
 held a position in the office of the Toledo, Peoria 
 & Warsaw Railroad at Peoria. She is now at 
 home with her parents and gives music lessons, 
 being a fine musician. She is also a seamstress 
 of acknowledged ability. 
 
 Mr. Averill, since age conferred upon him the 
 right of franchise, has been a supporter of the 
 republican party and has served as city alderman 
 and as city clerk. Few men in this part of the 
 state have a wider acquaintance or are more 
 favorably known than Orange A. Averill, who was
 
 358 
 
 PAST AND PEESBNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 born in the city which is yet his home and which 
 has been his place of residence throughout the 
 greater part of his life. He relates many inter- 
 esting reminiscences of pioneer times. He tells 
 that on one occasion, when the family were living 
 upon the farm in Bureau county, the year 1849 
 being memorable for the highest water ever known, 
 a man running a mill one of the oldest in the 
 county saw something coming down stream. He 
 called the settlers together and with pike poles 
 they succeeded in landing a Mississippi catfish 
 that had come down from above and was making 
 its way to the Illinois river. They took it ashore, 
 two men over six feet tall carrying it on their 
 shoulders with a pole through the gills, and the 
 tail of the fish dragged on the ground. It weighed 
 about one hundred and forty pounds. Mr. Aver- 
 ill's memory compasses the period when the great 
 majority of the homes were log cabins and when 
 the work of clearing and developing the land had 
 scarcely been begun. The years have wrought 
 many changes, and he rejoices in what has been 
 accomplished and at all times has borne his full 
 share in the work of progress in his community. 
 
 ORRIN FRISBEY. 
 
 When the tocsin of war sounded and men from 
 all walks of life responded to the country's call 
 in order to aid in the preservation of the Union 
 Mr. Frisbey was among the number and is there- 
 fore now classed with the honored veterans of the 
 Civil war. He is, moreover, one who has made 
 steady progress in the business world and al- 
 though he started out in life empty-handed he is 
 now the owner of two hundred and eighty acres 
 of excellent farming land in Steuben township. 
 He was born on the canal about twenty-four miles 
 south of Cleveland, Ohio, May 4, 1840, and is 
 one of the three children of Russell M. and Rosa- 
 linda (Johnson) Frisbey. The father was born 
 in Middletown, Vermont, in 1812, and the moth- 
 er's birth occurred there on the 4th of June of 
 the same year. They were married in 1831 and 
 in 1843 came to Illinois. Mr. Frisbey was a far- 
 mer and prospered in his undertakings, owning at 
 the time of his death three hundred and twenty 
 acres of rich and valuable land. He also operated 
 a coal drift for about fifteen years and thus added 
 materially to his income. He voted with the re- 
 publican party and was unfaltering in his support 
 of its principles. He died in 1898, while his wife 
 
 passed away in 1887. She was a very devout 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of 
 their children Edwin married Rachel J. Osborne 
 and lives in this township, while Louis died at the 
 age of fourteen years. 
 
 Orrin Frisbey, the other member of the family, 
 was only about three years old when brought by 
 his parents to Marshall county. His childhood 
 days were accordingly passed in Steuben township 
 and he attended the Central district school. In 
 his youth he aided in the work of the home farm 
 and in 1861, on attaining his majority, he started 
 out in life on his own account, having but one 
 horse. His patriotic spirit was aroused by the 
 continued attempt of the south to overthrow the 
 Union and on the 14th of August, 1862, he joined 
 the boys in blue of Company E, Eighty-sixth Illi- 
 nois Infantry, with which he served continuously 
 until honorably discharged in Washington, D. C., 
 June 6, 1865. He participated in about thirty 
 battles but was never wounded, although he was 
 often in the thickest of the fight and displayed 
 marked bravery on many a battle-field. Since his 
 return from the war he has given his attention to 
 general agricultural pursuits and he spent the 
 years 1877-79 farming on contract for Mr. Greno 
 in Ellsworth county, Kansas. He has made steady 
 progress in his business life, being now the owner 
 of two hundred and eighty acres of rich and prod- 
 uctive land on sections 15, 16 and 18, Steuben 
 township. 
 
 Mr. Frisbey was married to Miss Mary Stephen- 
 son, who was born in Dunnville, Canada, March 
 10, 1846. In her early girlhood, however, she 
 was brought to Illinois and was reared in Wood- 
 ford county until the removal of the family to 
 Steuben township, Marshall county, where she 
 has since lived. After her marriage her parents 
 moved to New Jersey, where her father died. Her 
 father, James Stephenson, was born near New 
 Castle, England, November 4, 1812, and was an 
 engineer and a school teacher, following the lat- 
 ter profession for several years. He was married 
 in 1841 in Chippewa, Canada, to Miss Maria Mer- 
 riam, who was born in Otsego county, New York,i 
 in 1817, and was four years old when her people 
 removed to Canada. In 1850 Mr. and Mrs. Ste- 
 phenson came to Illinois, settling in Woociiord 
 county, and in March, 1864, removed to Marshall 
 county. In 1866 they became residents of New 
 Jersey, where Mr. Stephenson died in 1869. His
 
 PAST AND PltKSKNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 widow and her younger children then returned 
 to Steuben township, Marshall county, Illinois. 
 In politics Mr. Stephenson was a stalwart re- 
 publican, giving unfaltering support to the party. 
 His wife was a member of the Methodist church. 
 Their children were: Mrs. Clara Tarbell, who 
 lived in Chicago and died August 28, 1905, at 
 the age of sixty-one years; Mary, now Mrs. 
 Frisbey ; Joe, a carpenter by trade, living in Des 
 Moines, Iowa ; Mrs. Ellen Kiddle, who is living on 
 a farm in La Prairie township, Marshall county; 
 Andrew, who wedded Julia Root and is professor 
 of history in De Pauw College in Green Castle, 
 Indiana; Mrs. Caroline Dunlap, residing in Spar- 
 land; Maria, the wife of Edwin Eoot, of Des 
 Moines, Iowa ; and Alice, who died in infancy. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Frisbey have been born five 
 children : W. S., who was drowned while in bath- 
 ing in Wisconsin, at which time he was in the 
 employ of G. A. Ogle, a publisher of Chicago; 
 James, who died when about six years old and 
 who had a twin brother who lived but a short 
 time; E. M., who married Jessie Dunn and is en- 
 gaged in the drug business in Mattoon, Illinois; 
 and Clara L., the wife of Vernie Ketchum, a 
 farmer of Whitefield township, Marshall county. 
 
 Mr. Frisbey has been an unfaltering advocate 
 of the republican party since age conferred upon 
 him the right of franchise and he keeps well in- 
 formed on questions and issues of the day, yet 
 has never been an office seeker, preferring to con- 
 centrate his energies upon his business affairs, 
 in which he has met with gratifying success. 
 
 OTTO WEBER. 
 
 Otto Weber, who is successfully operating the 
 Hegeler farm on section 19, Hennepin township, 
 consisting of two hundred and forty acres, is a 
 native of Hesse, Germany, born on the 13th of 
 March, 1853, and was nineteen years of age when 
 he crossed the Atlantic to become a resident of the 
 new world. Locating in Putnam county, Illinois, 
 he went to work by the month on a farm north of 
 Granville, where he was in the employ of John 
 Brenneman for three years. On the expiration of 
 that period he rented a farm and has engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits on his own account ever 
 since. He has lived upon his present place for 
 about twenty years and has met with excellent suc- 
 cess- in his farming operations. He recently pur- 
 
 chased a large farm in Missouri but does not ex- 
 pect to remove to that state, being satisfied with 
 Illinois as a place of residence. 
 
 In the family of Mr. Weber are four children, 
 namely: Walter, Blanch, Max and Butt. Mr. 
 Weber was reared in the Catholic faith, but is 
 not connected with any church at the present 
 time. Politically he is independent, supporting 
 the men and measures that he believes calculated 
 to promote the best interests of the country. He 
 takes a commendable interest in public affairs 
 and is a man highly respected and esteemed by all 
 who know him. 
 
 MRS. ALVINA SCHUMACHER. 
 
 Mrs. Alvina Schumacher owns and occupies an 
 excellent farm on section 2, Richland township, 
 Marshall county. She was born in Germany, in 
 1863, and her parents were likewise natives of 
 Germany.- The father, who was born in 1826, 
 died in that country in 1897, and the mother is 
 still living there at the age of seventy-one years. 
 In the family were seven daughters, two of whom 
 are yet residents of the fatherland, while all are 
 still living. 
 
 Mrs. Schumacher spent her girlhood days in her 
 parents' home and was there trained to the duties 
 of the household, so that she was well qualified 
 to take charge of a home of her own at the time 
 of her marriage' to Ernest Schumacher. Her hus- 
 band was also a native of Germany, born in 1847, 
 and came to America when ten years of age. 
 Their wedding was celebrated in 1885 and they 
 removed to the farm on section 2, Richland town- 
 ship, where the widow now resides. Their entire 
 married life was spent upon this farm and Mr. 
 Schumacher continuously engaged in its cultiva- 
 tion and development, his labors making his fields 
 very productive, while his progressive spirit 
 prompted him to place many valuable improve- 
 ments upon the farm in the way of substantial 
 buildings and good machinery. He continued 
 actively in farm work until 1901, when he was 
 called to his final rest. 
 
 Mr. Schumacher was twice married, his first 
 wife being Julia Clark, by whom he had two 
 children, Adolph and Ernest, both of whom were 
 reared by his second wife. Unto the second mar- 
 riage have been born five children: Walter, who 
 is living in Wenona, Illinois, where he is en- 
 gaged in the grain business ; Gerhardt, who is
 
 360 
 
 PAST AND PBE'SENT OP MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 living at home and operates the farm in connec- 
 tion with his brother George, who is the third 
 member of the family; and Alma and Irvin, who 
 are also under the parental roof. Mr. Schu- 
 macher -was a faithful member of the German 
 Lutheran church, to which Mrs. Schumacher also 
 belongs. He left to his family a good property of 
 one hundred and seventy acres and this is one of 
 the attractive farms of the community, lacking in 
 none of the equipments and accessories of a model 
 farm property of the twentieth century. Mrs. 
 Schumacher has lived here continuously since her 
 marriage in 1885 and is well known in the neigh- 
 borhood as a lady worthy of the highest regard 
 of friends and neighbors. 
 
 HENEY M. STOUPFEE. 
 
 Henry M. Stouffer is one of the most venerable 
 and one of the most respected citizens of Henne- 
 pin and Putnam county. He is still an active 
 man, and although he has passed the eighty-fourth 
 anniversary of his birth, in spirit and interest 
 seems yet in his prime. He was born in Juniata 
 county, Pennsylvania, September 29, 1822, and 
 many a man of but half his years has not his 
 sprightliness nor energy. His parents were John 
 and Nancy (Markley) Stouffer, and the father 
 was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, about 
 the year 1800, and died in Juniata county in 186o> 
 when sixty-five years of age. He was a carpenter 
 by trade and followed that pursuit throughout his 
 entire business life. His wife, also a native of the 
 Keystone state, died about a year after her hus- 
 band's death, when sixty-four years of age. In 
 their family were eleven children, of whom three 
 died in infancy, while eight reached adult age. For 
 over fifty years there was not a death in the fam- 
 ily. Six of the number are yet living. 
 
 Henry M. Stouffer is the eldest of the surviving 
 members of the family. His educational privileges 
 were very meager, for when he was only twelve 
 years of age he began earning his own living, 
 learning the printer's trade, at which he worked 
 for four years. He walked from Lebanon, Penn- 
 sylvania, to Beading, that state, and obtained em- 
 ployment in one of the largest printing offices in 
 Philadelphia, but when he had worked there for 
 only ten days he became disgusted and returned 
 home, telling his father that he must either teach 
 him the carpenter's trade or give him an educa- 
 tion. Not being able to afford his son the school 
 
 advantages desired, nor wishing him to learn the 
 carpenter's trade, the father advised him to master 
 some other pursuit, and for the next four years 
 he devoted his energies to the silversmith's trade 
 and became an adept at making and repairing 
 clocks and watches. He also learned to make 
 levels and all kinds of delicate instruments used 
 by surgeons. Deciding to become a teacher, he 
 took up the study of arithmetic and 'grammar, 
 passed a creditable examination and then began 
 teaching. 
 
 While thus engaged Mr. Stouffer was married, 
 and after teaching for about four years he decided 
 to study medicine. Accordingly he entered the 
 Physio-Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
 1850, but soon his funds were exhausted and he 
 had to return to teaching in order to get money to 
 complete his medical course. While again busy 
 in the schoolroom he came to the conclusion that 
 the medical profession was overcrowded, there 
 being four physicians in his little town of four or 
 five hundred people. He continued to study and 
 teach, however, until 1870, when he came to Hen- 
 nepin. His uncle, David Markley, had engaged in 
 the hardware business in Hennepin, having the 
 first store of the kind in the town, and a brother 
 of our subject was employed in the tinner's de- 
 partment of this store. The uncle died, and at 
 the solicitation of his brother Mr. Stouffer came 
 to Hennepin and took charge of the business in 
 1870. The next year the family came, and he 
 has since made his home in this town. He con- 
 tinued in idle hardware business for about seven 
 years and then sold out, after which he again 
 engaged in teaching school for several years in 
 Putnam county. He has always been an indus- 
 trious man and has accumulated a goodly compe- 
 tence. He owns a nice home and four lots in 
 Hennepin, also a good farm of eighty acres two 
 miles north of the town. Until three years ago 
 he did a great deal of work on his piece of ground 
 in the city and had fine gardens, but he now rents 
 this property. He works, however, from five until 
 eight o'clock each morning, and by no means 
 leads an idle or useless life. 
 
 Mr. Stouffer was converted and became a Chris- 
 tian in 1840, at that time identifying himself with 
 the United Brethren church. He soon afterward 
 left the church, however, and has not joined any 
 other denomination, yet has always been a great 
 student of the Bible, and often puzzles able min-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 363 
 
 isters and teachers in the churches through his 
 comprehensive understanding of the Scriptures. 
 He attends the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 teaches a class in the Sunday-school. He prefers 
 to be judged by his life, not by any professions 
 that he may make, and at all times he has walked 
 in the way of uprightness and of peace. 
 
 Mr. Stouffer was married in 1846 to Miss Susan 
 Moltz, who was born in Pennsylvania and was six 
 months her husband's senior. She lived to be 
 seventy-two years of age and passed away at their 
 home in Hennepin. They were the parents of six 
 children : Ann, now the wife of Henry Maxwell, 
 a resident of Sparland, Illinois; John W., who 
 married a daughter of William Allen, and lives in 
 Hennepin ; Marion, the wife of Jason Ranch, who 
 is living near Lincoln, Nebraska; Sadie J., at 
 home; Mrs. Emma Hoffman, who died at Boulder 
 Colorado ; and George W., who married Edith 
 Johnson and lives at Princeton, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Stouffer certainly deserves great credit for 
 what he has accomplished in life. He is now a 
 man of broad general information and strong 
 mentality. His knowledge has been acquired 
 solely through his study in his leisure hours, 
 through observation and experience. He is also 
 a fine penman and once gained a first prize in a 
 penmanship contest in Pennsylvania. For three 
 years he preached for the Protestant Methodist 
 congregation at Spring Valley, often going to 
 that place on skates on the ice. Few theologians 
 are better informed concerning the Bible, and 
 many of them have much less knowledge of the 
 subject than Mr. Stouffer. In his life he ex- 
 emplifies his faith and belief, being upright and 
 honorable at all times and straightforward in all 
 of his relations with his fellowmen. In politics 
 he has always been a republican, and he twice 
 served as justice of the peace. In his business 
 affairs he has manifested the diligence and per- 
 severance which are always essential elements to 
 prosperity. 
 
 HENRY C. CROOKS. 
 
 Henry C. Crooks and owns and operates a farm 
 of one hundred and sixty-seven acres which is 
 pleasantly located on section 24, Lacon township, 
 .ilxuit ;i mile and a half north of Lacon. A native 
 of Maryland, he was born in 1845, and is a son 
 of Richard and Maria (Sowers) Crooks, who are 
 also natives of that state, the father having been 
 
 born in 1816 and the mother in 1820. Mr. Crooks 
 was a blacksmith by trade and devoted his time 
 and attention to that work during the greater 
 part of his life. He died in 1892, having long 
 survived his wife, who passed away in 1866. They 
 were the parents of nine children, the brothers 
 and sisters of our subject being Mrs. Catherine 
 Musgrove, who is living in Maryland; George, who 
 was born in 1849 and died in 1886 ; Winfield, who 
 was born in 1852; Amanda, a resident of How- 
 ard county, Maryland ; Anna, who is living in the 
 same county; Susanna, who died in 1891; Robert, 
 who died in infancy; and Mrs. Sarah Yater, liv- 
 ing in Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 Henry C. Crooks spent his childhood and youth 
 in the state of his nativity and was twenty-four 
 years of age when he came to Illinois, first lo- 
 cating in Marshall county. He has always fol- 
 lowed fanning and worked by the month as a 
 farm hand for two years, when he resolved that 
 his labors should more directly benefit himself 
 and began farming on his own account. He 
 started out with nothing, but instead of capital 
 he possessed energy, determination and resolute 
 purpose and as the result of his careful conduct of 
 his business interests and his unfaltering dili- 
 gence he is today the owner of one hundred and 
 sixty-seven acres of good land about a mile and 
 a half north of Lacon. His farm is well culti- 
 vated and has upon it good buildings and other 
 substantial improvements. 
 
 In 1871, in Hopewell township, Marshall 
 county, Mr. Crooks was married to Miss Delia 
 Westbrook, who was born near Rome, in Adams 
 county, Ohio, in 1851, a daughter of J. R. and 
 Elizabeth Westbrook. The other members of her 
 parents' family were Albert, who married Sadie 
 Cole and is now engaged in farming in Gentry 
 county, Missouri ; Lina, the wife of William Hall, 
 a resident farmer of the same county; Joseph, 
 who married Rose Collier and lives in Lincoln- 
 ville, Marion county, Kansas ; Jennie, the wife of 
 James Jordan, a real-estate dealer at Los Angeles, 
 California; and William, who married Benena 
 Cox and is farming at Rush Springs, Indian Ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 Mrs. Crooks acquired her education in the 
 schools of Ohio and came with her parents to 
 Illinois in 1865, the family home being estab- 
 lished in Woodford county, whence they removed 
 to Marshall county in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Crooks
 
 364 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 have no children of their own, but have an adopted 
 son, Perry, now sixteen years of age. Mrs. Crooks 
 belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 Mr. Crooks is fraternally connected with the Odd 
 Fellows. Since coming to Illinois he has made 
 steady progress in his business career and each for- 
 ward step has been carefully and thoughtfully 
 made. There have been few mistakes in his busi- 
 ness life and on the contrary he has displayed a 
 keen discernment and ready recognition of op- 
 portunity whereby he has won a gratifying meas- 
 ure of success. 
 
 AUGUSTUS GAERETT. 
 
 Augustus Garrett has been an active factor in 
 public life in Steuben township and for a num- 
 ber of years was actively engaged in general 
 farming there on section 17, but in the fall of 
 1906 removed to Lacon, where he is now living 
 a retired life. He was born in Steuben township 
 in 1859. His father, Amasa Garrett, was one 
 of the best known, most honored and most pop- 
 ular residents of this portion of the state and 
 his long service as justice of the peace led him 
 to be always known by the title of squire. His 
 birth occurred in Washington county, Ohio, 
 April 14, 1818, and his father, who was of 
 French ancestry, was a pioneer of that state. In 
 1836 the family removed to Bureau county, lo- 
 cating in that section which was then a part of 
 Putnam county and subsequently the father took 
 up his abode at Bulbona Grove near the present 
 village of Wyanet in Bureau county. 
 
 In early life Amasa Garrett began trading in 
 furs and continued in that business for a num- 
 ber of years, but later engaged in buying and 
 shipping cattle, which were largely sent to the 
 Chicago markets. He also became an agent for 
 the location and sale of land lying in the mili- 
 tary tract of Illinois and, making the subject 
 of titles a study, became a recognized authority 
 on this subject. His operations extended over a 
 radius of forty miles and within that distance 
 he invested in military lands, owning at one time 
 about one thousand acres. When these lands 
 were mostly disposed of by the government he 
 turned his attention to his farming interests and 
 confined his attention to the cultivation of the 
 soil and raising stock. He raised cattle and hogs 
 of high grades and became one of the most ex- 
 tensive farmers of Steuben township and Mar- 
 
 shall county. Although he started out in life 
 without capital, dependent entirely upon his own 
 resources and business ability, he owned at the 
 time of his death about one thousand acres. He 
 drove cattle across the country to Chicago and 
 shipped to St. Louis by way of the river. His 
 political support was given to the democracy and 
 for many years he served as justice of the peace, 
 while for sixteen years he was supervisor from 
 Steuben township, his long continued sendee be- 
 ing indicative of the confidence and trust re- 
 posed in him by his fellow townsmen. A great 
 admirer of Stephen A. Douglas, he followed the 
 fortunes of that statesman until his death and 
 served as a delegate in the Baltimore convention 
 which nominated Douglas for the presidency. He 
 was usually a delegate to the district, county 
 and state conventions and his opinions carried 
 weight and influence, often proving a decisive 
 factor in the setttlement of political questions. 
 
 Amasa Garrett was married at Lacon, Feb- 
 ruary 20, 1848, to Miss Sarah A. Orr, who was 
 born in Maryland, a daughter of James and 
 Sarah (Ramsey) Orr, both natives of Maryland, 
 whence they removed to Marshall county, Illi- 
 nois, when their daughter was eight years of age. 
 Mr. Orr, who was a farmer, entered land a mile 
 and a half from the village of Lacon in Lacon 
 township and proceeded to improve the farm, 
 which in course of time became one of the best 
 cultivated tracts of land in the county. Mrs. 
 Garrett was one of the younger members of a 
 family of six children and as a bride she went 
 with her husband to a farm in the Bethel neigh- 
 borhood of Marshall county, which he had pur- 
 chased. There they resided for twelve years, 
 after which they removed to Steuben township, 
 where they reared their family of five chil- 
 dren. James 0., the oldest, who for some time 
 was in the government employ and was one of 
 the famous "101" in the Springfield legislature, 
 is now living in Peoria, Illinois ; Josephine be- 
 came the wife of Samuel McFarland and both 
 died, leaving two children. Augustus is the 
 next of the family. Clara is deceased, and Alli- 
 son is a retired farmer living in Sparland. 
 
 Augustus Garrett spent his childhood days in 
 Steuben township and attended the Senachwine 
 district school prior to entering the Sparland 
 high school, where he remained as a student for 
 three years. His education completed, he turned
 
 PAST AND I'K'KSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) I'LTNAM < 'OLNTI KS. 
 
 365 
 
 hjs attention to general agricultural pursuits, 
 which he continuously followed until the fall of 
 1906, when he retired from active business life 
 and took up his abode in Lacon. He still owns 
 two hundred and twenty acres of land in Steuben 
 township, which is valuable property and yields 
 to him a gratifying income. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1893, Mr. Garrett was 
 married to Miss Electa Sargent and unto them 
 have been born four children: Millie, Marie, 
 Ella and Amasa, all at home. In his political 
 views Mr. Garrett is a stalwart democrat and has 
 served as supervisor of Steuben township for the 
 past six years, but on account of ill health has 
 resigned. He has held a number of other local 
 offices and he belongs to the Masonic lodge of 
 Sparland and to the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 The Garrett family has long been a prominent, 
 influential and prosperous one in this part of the 
 county and the life record of Augustus Garrett 
 is in harmony with that of other members of the 
 family, who are accounted leading and valued 
 
 GEOEGE EITHMILLER. 
 
 George Eithmiller is the owner of seven hun- 
 dred acres of valuable land, from which he de- 
 rives an excellent income that now enables him 
 to live retired. Few men can show a more cred- 
 itable record. A man's success is not measured 
 by his possessions, but is determined by the abil- 
 ity and energy that he shows in working his way 
 from a lowly position to one of prominence and 
 affluence. In the early years of his residence in 
 America. Mr. Rithmiller encountered many diffi- 
 culties and obstacles. Having come to the United 
 States empty-handed, the language and customs 
 of the people being unfamiliar to him, he never- 
 theless by determined and unfaltering purpose 
 worked his way upward, making a business rec- 
 ord which any man might be proud to possess. 
 
 Born in Wurtemberg, Germany, March 15, 1833, 
 he was a son of George and Christina (Frey) 
 Eithmiller, who were likewise natives of that coun- 
 try. The father, who was born, in 1796, engaged 
 in farming in Germany on a small farm and 
 passed away there in 1866, when about seventy 
 years of age. In the family were four children 
 of whom Jacob and Gotfried are both now de- 
 ceased, while the daughter, Mrs. Anna Maria 
 Feazle, has also passed away. 
 
 George Eithmiller is thus the only surviving 
 me*"aDer of the family. He spent the period of 
 his I'oyhood and youth in his native country and 
 in 1854 came to America, hoping that he might 
 have better business opportunities in the new 
 world. Accordingly he crossed the Atlantic, land- 
 ing at New York on the 26th of July from the 
 sailing vessel Sir Eobert Peel, which was seven 
 weeks in crossing the Atlantic at that time. Mr. 
 Eithmiller did not remain long in the eastern 
 metropolis, but continued on his journey to Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, in company with a friend by the 
 name of Gampler. His friend was a baker anl 
 soon obtained a situation, but Mr. Eithmiller was 
 less fortunate and during the first year after his 
 arrival in America he found it very difficult to 
 secure work. He was employed in a hotel when 
 a certain man wanted to know if there was a raw 
 Dutchman there who desired a position, saying 
 that he had heard they were good workers. Mr. 
 Rithmiller desired the job and wanted to know 
 what was expected of him. He was told that he 
 must wheel mud to make eight thousand bricks per 
 day and that the pay would be a dollar and a half 
 per day, which was considered good wages at that 
 time, but there was considerable danger attached 
 to the work and Mr. Eithmiller's friend objected 
 to him accepting the position. About eight miles 
 from Cincinnati he secured work in a starch fac- 
 tory for fifty cents per day and boarded himself. 
 Later he was employed at Cottage Hill at ten 
 dollars per month with board, and while thus en- 
 gaged he managed to save about seventy dollars. 
 He was then told by a friend that he could obtain 
 a good situation in Cincinnati and he went to the 
 city, where all of his funds became exhausted 
 while he was seeking employment there. He then 
 borrowed money in order to go to Indiana and 
 from that state later came to Illinois, making his 
 way to Bennington township, Marshall county. 
 This proved to be the turning in the tide of his 
 affairs and during his residence in this county 
 he has continuously prospered. At length when 
 his labors had brought him some capital he in- 
 vested in land and began farming on his own ac- 
 count. He placed his fields under cultivation and 
 his crops brought him a good financial return. 
 He did the first tiling in Bennington township in 
 1877. As the years passed by he kept adding to 
 his land until he has accumulated a goodly for- 
 tune in Marshall county, being now the owner of
 
 VAST AM) I'KKSKVF OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 seven hundred acres of the rich farming land of 
 Illinois, which is equal to any in this great land 
 of ours for the production of crops. In 1901 he 
 went to Oklahoma and purchased three hundred 
 and twenty acres of land, which has since dou- 
 bled in value. 
 
 In 1858 Mr. Kithmiller was married to Miss 
 Sarah Shilling, who was born in New Jersey and 
 in her early girlhood became a resident of Ohio, 
 while later she went to Indiana. They were mar- 
 ried at Clarksburg, Indiana, and remained in that 
 state for about nine years, after which they came 
 to Illinois, locating about four miles south of 
 Toluca in Bennington township. For many years 
 thereafter Mr. Eithmiller was continuously en- 
 gaged in general farming, but is now practically 
 living retired, merely giving his supervision to 
 his landed interests. He makes his home in the 
 village of Toluca and derives an excellent income 
 from his property, which comprises seven hun- 
 dred acres. He is the oldest representative of the 
 Masonic fraternity in this locality, having joined 
 the order in 1856, and throughout his life he has 
 exemplified its beneficent spirit. The success 
 which Mr. Eithmiller has achieved seems mar- 
 velous when we remember how he started in life 
 in America. Working at fifty cents per day and 
 boarding himself, he eagerly watched for oppor- 
 tunities for advancement and for the improve- 
 ment of his condition and made good use of the 
 advantages that came to him. His success is due, 
 however, not to any fortunate combination of cir- 
 cumstances, but to his own earnest and persistent 
 labor and his careful, judicious investments. Dili- 
 gence was the basis of his prosperity and his life 
 record should serve as a source of inspiration and 
 encouragement to others, showing what may be 
 accomplished through unfaltering industry when 
 supplemented by sound judgment and business in- 
 tegrity. 
 
 HARLEY B. ZENOB. 
 
 Harley B. Zenor, a prosperous farmer owning 
 eight hundred and fifty acres of land in Putnam 
 county, his home being just outside the city limits 
 of Hennepin, was born upon this place December 
 31, 1855, and was one of the ten children of 
 Housen K. and Flora (Patterson) Zenor. The 
 father was born in Kentucky in January, 1810, 
 and died upon his farm southeast of Hennepin in 
 February, 1870. He was a son of William and 
 
 Sarah (Seaton) Zenor, the former a native .of 
 Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia, while 
 her mother was the first nurse that George Wash- 
 ington ever had. William Zenor was reared in 
 the state of his nativity, whence he removed to 
 Kentucky, while his last days were spent at the 
 home of his son, Housen K. Zenor, where he died 
 at the age of eighty-nine years. His wife passed 
 away in Hennepin township at the age of sixty 
 years. 
 
 Housen K. Zenor accompanied his parents on 
 their removal from Kentucky to Indiana in 1830 
 and in 1832 came with his brother Jacob to Put- 
 nam county, Illinois, where he took up govern- 
 ment land. He then returned to Indiana and 
 brought the family to this state. His father pur- 
 chased a farm in Hennepin township and lived 
 thereon until his wife's death, after which he 
 made his home with his son Housen. The latter 
 was married May 7, 1835, to Miss Flora Patter- 
 son, who was born in Indiana, October 29, 1815. 
 They began their domestic life upon a farm and 
 Mr. Zenor continued to carry on agricultural 
 pursuits throughout his active business career. He 
 took up land before it was placed upon the market 
 by the government. It is probable that he served 
 in the Black Hawk war. He was one of the ear- 
 liest settlers of this part of the state and contrib- 
 uted in substantial measure to the task of reclaim- 
 ing and developing the land. As the years passed 
 he prospered in his undertakings and at his death 
 left an estate of eleven hundred acres. He was 
 a devoted member of the Methodist church, in the 
 work of which he was actively interested, and his 
 political support was given to the republican 
 party at the polls. He served as supervisor for 
 several terms and held other minor offices, the 
 duties of which he discharged in prompt and 
 capable manner. As stated, he died in February, 
 1870, and was long survived by his wife, who 
 passed away November 4, 1902. Of their ten 
 children only three are now living, the sister being 
 in Kansas, while Henry makes his home with his 
 brother Harley. 
 
 The latter was educated in the district schools 
 and spent his boyhood days on the home farm, 
 early becoming familiar with the duties of field 
 and meadow. After the death of his father he 
 continued upon the old homestead and carried on 
 the place until his mother's death. He then pur- 
 chased the interest of the other heirs in the prop-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAKSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 36 1 ; 
 
 ert\ and has since resided thereon. His home is a 
 beautiful residence which was erected by his father, 
 and the farm presents a well kept appearance, 
 being neat and thrifty in every department, while 
 the fields return golden harvests for the care and 
 labor bestowed upon them. Mr. Zenor is one of 
 the extensive landowners of the county and in 
 his business interests shows a most practical and 
 progressive spirit. 
 
 In December, 1896, Mr. Zenor was united in 
 marriage to Miss Lottie Greiner, who was born 
 in Hennepin, a daughter of Charles B. Greiner 
 and a sister of C. C. Greiner, who is county clerk 
 of Putnam county. Mr. and Mrs. Zenor have 
 three children Flora, Helen and Irene. The 
 parents attend the Methodist church, of which 
 Mrs. Zenor is a member. Mr. Zenor gives his 
 political allegiance to the republican party and 
 has served as highway commissioner for two terms 
 and as assessor for two terms. He has been a 
 member of the Odd Fellows society since 1877. 
 Wherever known he is esteemed and is justly ac- 
 counted one of the leading and representative 
 agriculturists of Putnam county, his business be- 
 ing of such extent and importance and so capably 
 managed as to class him with the prominent agri- 
 culturists of this part of the state. 
 
 FRANK FARLING. 
 
 Frank Farling, who for eight years has resided 
 in Marshall county, his home being on section 26, 
 Whitefield township, is however, a typical resident 
 of the middle west, being a native son of Illinois, 
 while in his life he has been imbued with the 
 spirit of enterprise that has been the important 
 factor in the substantial upbuilding of the central 
 Mississippi valley. His birth occurred in Men- 
 dota, La Salle county, on the 21st of May, 1865, 
 his parents being Thomas B. and Elvina (Eby) 
 Farling, both of whom were natives of Pennsyl- 
 vania. When a young man the father came to 
 Illinois and, having learned the trade of a car- 
 penter and builder in the east, he began working in 
 that way in Mendota, where for many years he 
 was closely associated with building operations. 
 He there died in 1904 and his widow is still living 
 in that city. Six of their children yet survive: 
 Emma, the wife of a Mr. Feathergeau, who is con- 
 nected with an engraving house of Chicago; 
 William, who is with his brother Frank ; John, a 
 carpenter of Chicago; Frank, of this review; Ed- 
 
 ward, who is engaged in the engraving business 
 in Chicago; and Carrie, who is with her mother 
 in Mendota. 
 
 Mr. Farling, whose name introduces this record, 
 is indebted to the public school system of Meudota 
 for the educational privileges which he enjoyed 
 and which prepared him for life's practical duties. 
 After putting aside his text-books he entered upon 
 his business career as a farm hand in La Salle 
 county, and for eighteen years he was connected 
 with agricultural interests in Putnam county. 
 Eight years ago he came to Marshall county and 
 his time and energies are now given to the further 
 development and improvement of a farm of eighty- 
 one and a half acres situated on section 26, 
 Whitefield township. This property is the vis- 
 ible evidence of his life of thrift and enterprise 
 and from his fields he annually gathers good har- 
 vests as the reward of his persistent and energetic 
 labors. - 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Farling was united in marriage to 
 Miss Harriet Long, a native of Bureau county, 
 Illinois, and they became the parents of four 
 children, of whom three are living, Thomas, Al- 
 bert and Blanche, all of whom are in school. In 
 1902 Mr. Farling was again married, his second 
 union being with Miss Henrietta Lyons, a native 
 of England. There is one son by this marriage, 
 William I., born July 3, 1906. 
 
 Mr. Farling is connected through membership 
 relations with Putnam camp, No. 2107, M. W. A., 
 while in his political views he is an earnest repub- 
 lican. No special family or pecuniary advantages 
 assisted him at the outset of his career in the busi- 
 ness world, but he recognized the fact that earnest 
 labor is a safe foundation upon which to build 
 success and as the years have passed his diligence 
 has been manifest until his work is now crowned 
 with a goodly measure of prosperity and he is ac- 
 counted one of the substantial farmers of White- 
 field township. 
 
 ARTHUR P. OWENS. 
 
 Arthur P. Owens, cashier of the recently organ- 
 ized bank at Camp Grove, was born in Saratoga 
 township, about two miles from this village, on the 
 10th of July, 1875. His father, John Owens, 
 was a native of Ireland, born in County Cork in 
 1838. He came to America in 1855 and made his 
 way to Henry, Illinois, where he worked for the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 meager wage of seven dollars per month. In 
 the early days he once walked from Henry, Illi- 
 nois, to the farm of John Roof, near Camp Grove, 
 a distance of sixteen miles, in order to secure a 
 half day's work at shocking wheat, and then 
 walked back the entire distance. He labored 
 earnestly and persistently in order to gain a start, 
 and at length purchased eighty acres of land in 
 Stark county in 1870, for which he paid eight 
 hundred dollars. Later he sold this property, and 
 at different times has bought and sold farms and 
 made further investments in real estate until he 
 now owns six hundred acres of valuable land ad- 
 joining Bradford. Illinois, and is one of the pros- 
 perous property holders, his possessions being ex- 
 tensive and valuable. He certainly deserves much 
 credit for what he has accomplished, as he started 
 out in life empty-handed and was forced to work 
 for a very meager wage during the early days of 
 his residence in this country. He holds member- 
 ship in the Catholic church and fraternally is con- 
 nected with the Knights of Father Mathew. He 
 married Miss Maria Dillon, who was born in Ire- 
 land, their wedding being celebrated in Lacon in 
 1870. They traveled life's journey together for 
 more than a quarter of a century, and were then 
 separated through the death of the wife on the 
 18th of December, 1898. She too was a devout 
 Catholic. Her father was Patrick Dillon and she 
 was a sister of Mrs. Thomas O'Brien and Mrs. 
 Anna Donavan. of Wyoming. Unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Owens were born the following: Daniel J., 
 Charles P.. J. Thomas. Arthur P. and Hannah M. 
 Arthur P. Owens acquired the greater part of 
 his education in the schools of Bradford. Illinois, 
 and was also for one year a student in St. Mary's 
 College, St. Mary's. Kansas. He was reared to 
 farm life until 1900, at which time, thinking that 
 he would find other pursuits more congenial, he 
 turned his attention to the banking business as an 
 employe in the Phcenix bank at Bradford. There 
 he remained until February 17, 1902, when the 
 bank at Camp Grove was opened and Mr. Owens 
 was placed in charge as cashier. He has since 
 been in control of this institution, which, under 
 his capable management, has grown and developed 
 and has become one of the valued moneyed con- 
 cerns of the county a great convenience to the 
 residents of this locality as well as a source of in- 
 come to the stockholders. Mr. Owens belongs to 
 the Catholic church and is identified with the 
 
 Knights of Father Mathew. A young man, he has 
 displayed many traits of character which have ren- 
 dered him popular both in social and business 
 circles. 
 
 THOMAS WARE. 
 
 Thomas Ware was one whose life record con- 
 stituted an important element in the pioneer 
 history of Putnam count)-. He is now numbered 
 among the honored dead, but the influence of his 
 life and labor still remains. A native of Massa- 
 chusetts, he was born in Conway on the 6th of 
 January, 1806. and his early years were spent in 
 the state of his nativity, where after entering the 
 field of business he was engaged in the manufac- 
 ture of combs until his removal to the west. 
 While still living in the Bay state Mr. Ware was 
 married at Worcester. Massachusetts. March 19, 
 1833, to Miss Nancy Lauretta Shepherd, and the 
 following summer, accompanied by his brother 
 Ralph, he came to Putnam county and entered 
 a large tract of government land in the vicinity of 
 Granville, where he continued to make his home 
 until his death. They were among the earliest 
 settlers of the township. The Black Hawk war 
 had occurred only the year previous and some 
 Indians still lingered in Illinois. Great tracts of 
 land were still unclaimed and uncultivated, being 
 covered with the native prairie grasses and crossed 
 with many sloughs, which made travel across the 
 prairie somewhat difficult. Deer were still seen 
 and lesser wild game could be had in abundance. 
 The homes of the early settlers were widely scat- 
 tered, the nearest neighbor being frequently miles 
 away. Most of the pioneer dwellings were built 
 of logs and the cooking was done over the fire- 
 place, while the work of the fields was largely 
 performed by hand. The usual experiences of 
 frontier life confronted Mr. Ware and his bride 
 when they came to Putnam county-, but he reso- 
 lutely set to work to establish a home and develop 
 a farm. 
 
 On the 9th of October. 1846, he was called 
 npon to mourn the loss of his wife. There had 
 been five children born by that marriage, namely: 
 Thomas S., a resident of Manhattan. Kansas: 
 Cynthia McEowen and Nancy Farwell, both de- 
 ceased : Charles K., of Downs. Kansas : and Henry 
 M., who died in infancy. On the 6th of May. 
 1847, Mr. Ware was again married, near Florid. 
 Illinois, his second union being with Miss Man-
 
 THOMAS WATiE.
 
 MRS. THOMAS WAKE.
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Ann Stewart, who was born in Bond county, Illi- 
 nois, November 6, 1819, and still lives at the old 
 home. She is one of the oldest native residents 
 of the state and one of the earliest pioneers of 
 Putnam county. There is not a resident of Gran- 
 ville who was here at the time of her arrival. 
 She is a daughter of William and Elizabeth 
 (Willis) Stewart. Her father, who was born in 
 Pennsylvania in 1793, and reared in Ohio, died 
 near Florid at the age of fifty-seven years, while 
 the mother, whose birth occurred in North Caro- 
 lina, passed away when Mrs. Ware was only seven 
 years of age. William Stewart and his family 
 removed from Ohio to Bond county, Illinois, in 
 1818 the year in which the state was admitted 
 to the Union and in May, 1832, they arrived in 
 Putnam county, settling on government land near 
 Florid. His first home here was a log cabin, and 
 he later built another joining it, it being the first 
 "double log cabin" in the locality. In 1840 he 
 erected a brick house, which is still standing, the 
 brick being made upon the place. It is one of 
 the old landmarks of the county and a mute wit- 
 ness of the many changes that have occurred, 
 bringing about a wonderful transformation. 
 James Willis, an uncle of Mrs. Ware, built the 
 corn cribs which were used as a protection against 
 the Indians and won for the locality the name of 
 Fort Cribs. 
 
 Unto the second marriage of Mr. Ware there 
 were born eight children, namely : William S., 
 who is carrying on the home farm in connection 
 with his brother James ; Mary A., who for several 
 years engaged in teaching and is now with her 
 mother ; Sarah, the wife of G. A. Whitney, a resi- 
 dent of Pasadena, California; Henry M., who is 
 living near Blairsburg, Iowa; James W., at home; 
 Joseph E., who died at the age of twenty-five 
 years ; Lucy Hullinger, living in Granville ; and 
 Justin P., who is living in Weaubleau, Missouri. 
 The family home is one of the finest residences 
 in Granville, and was built by Mr. Ware. He 
 also left to his family an excellent farm of three 
 hundred and ninety acres. 
 
 Throughout the greater part of his life Mr. 
 Ware devoted his time and energies to general 
 agricultural pursuits and he transformed his tract 
 of raw land which he secured from the govern- 
 ment into fields of rich fertility and added many 
 modern equipments to his farm in the way of good 
 buildings and improved machinery. He was a 
 
 man of diligence and enterprise and brooked no 
 obstacles that barred his path to success when 
 they could be overcome by persistent and honor- 
 able effort. Moreover, he was prominently iden- 
 tified with the establishment of schools and 
 churches and was an active and cheerful worker 
 in providing suitable accommodations for those 
 indispensable adjuncts of civilization. For years 
 he was a member of the Presbyterian church, but 
 in later life joined the Congregational church and 
 at all times was an earnest, consistent Christian 
 gentleman. His political allegiance was given to 
 the republican party but he never aspired to office, 
 although for some years he filled the position of 
 justice of the peace. His life was at all times 
 actuated by high principles and characterized by 
 manly conduct and his record forms an integral 
 chapter in the pioneer history of the county. He 
 passed away December 6, 1886, honored and re- 
 spected by all who knew him. Mrs. Ware is an 
 exceptionally well preserved woman for one of her 
 years and recalls and relates in interesting man- 
 ner many incidents of early pioneer life. She 
 has now passed the eighty-seventh milestone on 
 life's journey and is therefore one of the oldest 
 citizens of Putnam county, while the years of her 
 residence in Illinois are scarcely surpassed by 
 that of anv native citizen. 
 
 ALBERT D. FISHES, 
 
 Albert D. Fisher has practically retired from 
 active business life and yet makes his home upon 
 his farm a mile west of Granville. His former 
 activity, enterprise and carefully directed labor 
 brought to him a goodly measure of success and 
 the competence which he acquired is sufficient to 
 now supply him with the comforts and some of 
 the luxuries of life. 
 
 A native of Indiana, he was born in the town 
 of Richmond in Wayne county, January 24, 1835, 
 his parents being Thomas and Elizabeth (Wig- 
 gins) Fisher. The father's birth occurred in Ohio, 
 April 8, 1809, and he reached the venerable age of 
 eighty-four years, passing away in Huntington 
 county, Indiana. His wife, who was born in Clin- 
 ton county, Ohio, in 1810, died in Indiana in 
 1844, when her son Albert was a little lad of nine 
 years. Thomas Fisher was a nurseryman and 
 farmer and for more than sixty years lived upon 
 one farm, on which he took up his abode in~1834, 
 when Huntington county was a frontier region.
 
 374 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 His political allegiance was first given to the whig 
 party and later he became a freesoiler, while iipon 
 the organization of the republican party to pre- 
 vent the further extension of slavery of whicri 
 he was a strong opponent he joined its ranks 
 and followed its banners until his death. His wife 
 was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends or 
 Quakers, but in later years she and her husband 
 became members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. They were people of the highest respect- 
 ability, their good qualities of heart and mind 
 gaining for them warm friendships and high re- 
 gard. In their family were seven children, all 
 of whom reached years of maturity, but only three 
 are now living, one, Nancy E. Fisher, still re- 
 maining upon the old homestead in Indiana, while 
 Daniel D. Fisher has for several years been cir- 
 cuit judge of St. Louis and is still upon the bench 
 He studied law in Ottawa, Illinois, and practiced 
 for several years in St. Louis, Missouri, before 
 his election to the office which he is now filling. 
 
 Albert D. Fisher spent his boyhood days upon 
 the home farm and attended the country schools. 
 No event of special importance occurred to vary 
 the routine of farm life for him in his youth. 
 When he had largely mastered the branches of 
 learning taught in the district schools he entered 
 upon a scientific course at Wheaton (Illinois) 
 College. He had no other thought nor desire 
 than to become an agriculturist, being well con- 
 tent to devote his energies to the occupation to 
 which he had been reared, and in this department 
 of labor he has found ample opportunity for the 
 exercise of his industry and enterprise his domi- 
 nant characteristics. In 1861 he came to Putnam 
 county and for a year, in partnership with Joseph 
 B. Albert, leased land near Florid and engaged 
 in farming. On the expiration of that period he 
 purchased a farm of eighty acres in Granville 
 township, to which he afterward added forty 
 acres. With characteristic determiation and en- 
 ergy he improved this farm, built a house thereon 
 and made it his home for twenty years. In 1884 
 he purchased the farm upon which he now resides, 
 comprising two hundred and forty acres of rich 
 and productive land adjoining the village of Gran- 
 ville. He has built a commodious residence here 
 and other good buildings. He no longer works 
 the land, but rents it to a family who live upon 
 the place and the income from his property is 
 sufficient to bring him the comforts of life. For 
 
 many years he successfully conducted a dairy 
 business, milking cows and making butter, and he 
 found it a profitable source of income. 
 
 On the 19th of -March, 1863, Mr. Fisher wedded 
 Miss Mary E. Skeel, a daughter of Linus 
 B. Skeel, who was one of the early set- 
 tlers of Putnam county. Further mention is 
 made of the Skeel family in connection with the 
 history of Lewis E. Skeel of Hennepin on another 
 page of this work. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fisher 
 have been born five children, four of whom are 
 yet living, but they lost their first born in infancy. 
 The others are : Arthur L., Theresa V., at home ; 
 Elmer A., who is in Britt, Iowa ; and Estella M., 
 the wife of Dr. E. L. Fulton, a resident of Wich- 
 ita, Kansas. 
 
 Mr. Fisher and his family are members of the 
 Congregational church and take an active and 
 helpful interest in its work, while to its support 
 they are generous contributors. In 1904 Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fisher attended the fourth world's Sunday 
 school convention held at Jerusalem and while 
 abroad visited the Madeira Islands, Egypt, Rome, 
 Athens, Gibraltar and many other places of in- 
 terest. While on the trip Mr. Fisher wrote letters 
 to the Granville Echo, which were probably read 
 by more people than anything ever published in 
 that paper. He is a man of more than ordinary 
 intelligence and education, has always been a 
 broad reader and has kept in touch with the trend 
 of modern thought. 
 
 In his political views he is a stalwart repub- 
 lican and, keeping well informed on the issues of 
 the day, is always ready to support his position by 
 intelligent argument. He has served as road com- 
 missioner and assessor and three times has been 
 a delegate to the state convention of his party. 
 In the summer of 1906 he was a delegate to the 
 senatorial and representative convention and is 
 recognized as one of the strong political workers 
 of his district, desiring rather to secure political 
 honors for others than to obtain office himself. 
 His interest is that of a public-spirited citizen, 
 who recognizes that it is the duty as well as the 
 privilege of every American to thus uphold the 
 principles in which he believes. He cast his first 
 presidential ballot for John C. Fremont and has 
 voted for each republican nominee at the head 
 of the ticket since that time. Viewed in a per- 
 sonal light Mr. Fisher has made an excellent rec- 
 ord as a man and citizen. In all of his business
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 dealings he has been found thoroughly honorable 
 and reliable, his probity standing as an unques- 
 tioned fact in his career. He has never know- 
 ingly wronged any man nor taken advantage of 
 the necessities of another in a business transac- 
 tion. His support has been given to many pro- 
 gressive public movements and the community 
 recognizes in him a man of worth and value, whose 
 influence is ever found on the side of right, truth, 
 justice and improvement. Mr. Fisher is also 
 a great temperance worker and is in hopes of the 
 work coming to a completion some day soon. 
 
 GEORGE E. SPARLING. 
 
 George E. Sparling, who follows farming on 
 section 21, Senachwine township, and who is 
 proprietor of the Undercliff hotel, was bom within 
 a half mile of his present residence, November 
 1, 1843, and with the exception of three years and 
 seven months spent in the army his home has al- 
 ways been in this locality. He attended the coun- 
 try schools and also had the benefit of a short 
 course of instruction in the seminary at Henry, 
 Illinois. When quite young he began work upon 
 his father's farm and made a hand at plowing or 
 driving a horse when eight years old. Since that 
 time he has been more or less closely connected 
 with agricultural interests and at the age of 
 eighteen years he enlisted as a member of Com- 
 pany C, One Hundred and Thirteenth Illinois 
 Infantry, known as the Board of Trade regiment. 
 He was promoted to the rank of sergeant and after 
 serving his term with that command he re-enlisted 
 for one hundred days' service as a member of 
 Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Illi- 
 nois Infantry. He was mustered into the United 
 States service with the latter regiment, October 
 1, 1862, and his enlistment papers bore the sig- 
 nature of Abraham Lincoln, and are therefore 
 highly prized. He proved a faithful soldier, al- 
 ways loyal to the cause which he espoused and 
 displayed valor upon many a southern battle- 
 field. 
 
 After his return from the army Mr. Sparling 
 worked upon the home farm until twenty-three 
 years of age, when, desiring that his labors should 
 more directly benefit himself, he rented land and 
 engaged in fanning on his own account for seven 
 or eight years. He then purchased two hundred 
 acres of land, where he still lives, known as the 
 Silas Lock farm. It had been settled in a very 
 
 early day, and the old house, which was built by 
 Mr. Lock, still stood on the place at that time, 
 and in fact remained the residence of Mr. Spar- 
 ling for ten years. He then erected a beautiful 
 frame house, one of the finest in the township, 
 and in this home is now pleasantly located. In 
 1882 he erected a hotel on the bank of Senach- 
 wine lake, and for eleven years was proprietor 
 of and conducted the Undercliff hotel. People 
 came from long distances to enjoy an outing 
 here and to engage in hunting and fishing in the 
 district. At the present time Mr. Sparling leases 
 the hotel and occupies his beautiful country 
 home. That he has prospered in his undertakings 
 is indicated by the fact that he is now the owner 
 of eight hundred and twenty acres of land, all in 
 one body. There is no richer or more productive 
 soil for agricultural purposes than is to be found 
 in this part of Illinois, and the farm of Mr. 
 Sparling is therefore a very desirable one, re- 
 sponding readily to the care and labor which is 
 bestowed upon it. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1866,, was celebrated 
 the marriage of George E. Sparling and Miss 
 Carrie I. Baglcy, who was born in Fulton county, 
 Illinois, September 3, 1848. Her father, Nelson 
 Bagley, was born at Crown Point, New York, in 
 1807, and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. 
 Sparling, when eighty-seven years of age. His 
 wife bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Moran, 
 and was born in Baltimore, in 1817, while her 
 death occurred in Springfield, South Dakota, in 
 1889. They were married in Fulton county, Illi- 
 nois, in 1837, and there resided until 1864, when 
 they removed to Putnam county, Illinois, where 
 they made their home until 1872. In that year 
 they removed to Springfield, South Dakota, where 
 the mother passed away, after which the father 
 came to make his home with Mrs. Sparling. There 
 are also four other children living : Eveline, who 
 likewise resides with Mrs. Sparling; Mrs. J. C. 
 Houtton, of Illinois ; J. M. Bagley, of South 
 Dakota; and Mrs. M. G. Cotney, of Oklahoma, 
 whose husband was an old settler of Marshall 
 county. When a boy of seven years Mrs. Spar- 
 ling's father witnessed the sinking of the ships 
 on Lake Champlain that were captured by the 
 British in the war of 1812. 
 
 Mrs. Sparling has in her possession many in- 
 teresting old relics, including a fine collection of 
 Indian relics, of geological specimens and rare
 
 376 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 coins. These have not only been secured from 
 this district, but have been sought in various 
 parts of the United States. Both she and her 
 husband are well versed in geology, and have in 
 their possession many valuable and rare stones 
 which many people would pass by without notice. 
 Mrs. Sparling is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. 
 
 For twenty years Mr. Sparling has been iden- 
 tified with the Masonic fraternity, and he also 
 belongs to the Grand Army post at Henry. In 
 politics he is a republican, and for twenty-four 
 years has filled the office of constable, while for 
 eighteen years he has been road commissioner and 
 is now township treasurer. He never misses at- 
 tending a term of court, yet he has never had a 
 lawsuit. In manner he is genial and jovial, and 
 has gained many friends during the long years of 
 his residence in this county and among those 
 whom he has entertained as guests at the Under- 
 cliff Hotel. 
 
 CLIFFORD HAWS. 
 
 Clifford Haws, a capitalist who has figured 
 prominently in the business circles of Henry 
 and of Marshall county, was born in Magnolia, 
 Putnam county, Illinois, August 8, 1874. He 
 is a son of Captain William Haws, who was born 
 in Orange county, Virginia, September 23, 1800, 
 and who in 1805 was taken by his parents to 
 Ohio, where he remained until he attained his 
 majority. On the 27th of August, 1821, he 
 became a pioneer of Sangamon county, Illinois, 
 where he conducted a tannery for a time, and in 
 1826 he went to Putnam county, settling on 
 section 26, Magnolia township, which was at that 
 time, however, a part of Tazewell county. He 
 built the first log cabin between Ottawa and 
 Washington in 1826 and was one of the first 
 residents in this part of the country. His life 
 was devoted to fanning and he became the owner 
 of a number of farms, embracing several thousand 
 acres of land. He also contributed in substantial 
 measure to the reclamation of his part of the 
 state from the dominion of the red race, and aided 
 materially in converting it into uses of civiliza- 
 tion. He was a man of benevolent and charitable 
 spirit, and built a church in Magnolia and paid 
 its pastor out of his own funds. His political 
 allegiance was given to the democracy. He won 
 his title as commander of a volunteer company 
 
 in the Black Hawk war, and thus he aided in 
 the subjugation of the Indians who resented the 
 encroachments of the white man upon their hunt- 
 ing grounds. At his house, in 1831, Putnam 
 county was organized, and he served on the first 
 grand jury that here convened, the first term of 
 court being held at the old traveling house near 
 Hennepin. Governor Ford was then prosecuting 
 attorney of the district. 
 
 Captain Haws was twice married. He first 
 wedded Lucinda Southwick, a native of New- 
 York, who was a typical frontier woman, brave 
 and fearless, and shared with hei husband in all 
 the trials and privations of pioneer life at a 
 time when Indians were more numerous than the 
 white settlers and many wild animals were to 
 be seen in the forest or on the prairies. Her 
 death occurred July 4, 1867, and Captain Haws 
 afterward wedded Mrs. Louisa Moffitt (nee Defen- 
 baugh), a native of Illinois. There were five 
 children by this marriage, of whom two are liv- 
 ing : Clifford, of this review ; and Joel, who is 
 now living retired. He is quite active in local 
 political circles and is serving as supervisor. The 
 father died in December, 1884, and the mother's 
 death occurred in 1882. 
 
 Clifford Haws, whose name introduces this rec- 
 ord, acquired his early education in the public 
 schools of Magnolia, Illinois, and afterward went 
 to the east, continuing his education in Boston 
 and in Tufts College at Medford, Massachusetts. 
 He afterward spent two years and a half in the 
 employ of the Smith-Premier Typewriter Com- 
 pany of Boston, Massachusetts, and then came to 
 Illinois to supervise his property interests, hav- 
 ing inherited a goodly estate from his father. For 
 five years he resided upon a stock farm near Mag- 
 nolia, where he was engaged in the breeding and 
 raising of pure bred cattle, and he is still the 
 owner of that property and business. He is now 
 engaged in the sale of automobiles in Henry and 
 has a fine garage here. Personally he owns a 
 machine, the Rambler, of forty-five horse power, 
 and touring over the country is to him a chief 
 source of delight and recreation. In the man- 
 agement of his business affairs he has ever dis- 
 played keen discernment and ready sagacity, and 
 his investments, being judiciously placed, have 
 brought to him a very gratifying annual return, 
 while his holdings number him with the cap- 
 italists of Henrv.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES: 
 
 377 
 
 Mr. Haws was married in 1895 to Miss Roberta 
 Chapin, of Boston, Massachusetts, and they have 
 four children, Una Louise, Barbara Vicher, Ger- 
 trude and Roberta. In politics Mr. Haws is an 
 independent democrat. He belongs to the Peoria 
 Auto Club and is prominent socially. He has 
 had time and opportunity to cultivate the social 
 and intellectual graces of life which, owing to 
 the stress of circumstances, were denied the pio- 
 neer settlers on the frontier, and is one in whom 
 learning and culture have vied to make an in- 
 teresting and entertaining gentleman. 
 
 HENRY HARRISON EDWARDS. 
 Henry Harrison Edwards, successfully engaged 
 in general agricultural pursuits in Hennepin 
 township, is one of the native sons of Putnam 
 county, having been born in Magnolia township 
 on the 12th of March, 1842. He is a son of Wil- 
 liam and Mary (Wiley) Edwards, both of whom 
 were native's of Ohio. The father, who was born 
 in 1800, died in Putnam county, Illinois, at the 
 age of seventy-four years, while his wife passed 
 away July 20, 1870, at the age of fifty-seven 
 years. Their marriage was celebrated in the Buck- 
 eye state. William Edwards was a carpenter by 
 trade in the days when the representatives of the 
 occupation went into the woods and hewed out 
 the timbers which they used for building pur- 
 poses. Many structures in Ohio are still standing 
 which were erected by him long years ago a 
 fact which indicates his excellent workmanship 
 and the splendid quality of the timber which he 
 used. In 1841, thinking to better his financial 
 condition in the middle west, he brought his 
 family to Putnam county, Illinois, and purchased 
 three hundred and fifty acres of land in Magnolia 
 township. This land was unimproved, and he 
 erected thereon the first dwelling. He then began 
 to clear and cultivate the fields, and continued to 
 reside upon the farm until his death, while his 
 wife also passed away there. In early days he 
 walked five miles to Palatine and worked at his 
 trade, and after his return home at night he built 
 a barn upon his own place. He often went with- 
 out his dinner, but said that he never suffered 
 any inconvenience on this account. He was a 
 most industrious, energetic man, and allowed no 
 obstacle to brook his path as he advanced toward 
 the goal of prosperity. His political support was 
 given to the republican party, but he was without 
 
 aspiration for office. His wife was identified with 
 the Society of Friends or Quakers in early life. 
 In the family of this worthy couple were six chil- 
 dren: George, who for many years was county 
 clerk of Tama county, Iowa, where he followed 
 farming, but is now deceased; Henry Harrison; 
 Joseph, who was born September 1, 1845, and 
 was a prominent attorney of Iowa City; Anna, 
 who was born April 20, 1848, and is the wife 
 of William Castle, a resident of Magnolia town- 
 ship; Luella, who was born October 4, 1850, and 
 is the deceased wife of William Eisenhour; and 
 Mary J., the wife of 0. W. Allen, a resident of 
 Henry, Illinois. 
 
 Henry Harrison Edwards spent his boyhood 
 days on his father's farm, amid the wild scenes 
 and environments of pioneer life, and pursued his 
 education in a district school, where the pupils 
 sat upon slab seats and wrote their copies upon 
 a desk made by placing a board upon pins driven 
 into the wall. He afterward had the advantage 
 of attending Wheaton College for a short time. 
 His training at farm labor was not meager, and 
 through practical experience he early became fa- 
 miliar with the work incident to the cultivation of 
 the crops. He remained at home until twenty- 
 seven years of age, when he came into possession 
 of a part of his father's farm and began business 
 on his own account. He lived upon that place 
 until about eleven years ago, when he purchased 
 the farm upon which he now resides. It was at 
 that time an improved tract of land, and he has 
 since added to it many more modern improve- 
 ments. His buildings are all nicely painted and 
 the farm presents a well kept appearance in every 
 department. The dwelling is a large frame resi- 
 dence, richly and tastefully furnished, and the 
 fields cover one hundred and ninety acres of rich 
 land under a high state of cultivation. Here Mr. 
 Edwards carries on general agricultural pursuits, 
 raising both stock and grain, and each branch of 
 his business is proving profitable to him. 
 
 In 1869, when twenty-seven years of age, Mr. 
 Edwards was married to Miss Elizabeth Studyvin, 
 who was born in Putnam county and died about 
 fifteen years after her marriage. They had one 
 child, a daughter, Alice, who is now the wife of 
 William Kays, a resident of Tonica, La Salle 
 county. On the 15th of August, 1883, Mr. Ed- 
 wards wedded Alice Kays, a daughter of William 
 A. Kays, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work.
 
 :i7S 
 
 PAS']' AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have been born three 
 children. Jennie V., born May 7, 1884, is a 
 graduate of the Granville high school of the class 
 of 1902 and has taught in the district schools for 
 four years. She is now devoting her attention to 
 music. Helen, born November 1, 1888, was grad- 
 uated from the Granville high school with the 
 class of 1906. Joseph, born March 11, 1894, is 
 at home. 
 
 Mr. Edwards and his family are members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church and take a helpful 
 interest in its various activities. In politics he is 
 a republican, without aspiration for office, and 
 fraternally he is connected with the Modern Wood- 
 men of America. He and his family are most 
 pleasant and genial people and the family is one 
 of prominence in the community, while the hos- 
 pitality of their home is greatly enjoyed by their 
 many friends. The name of Edwards has figured 
 upon the pages of history in Putnam county 
 through almost two-thirds of a century, and for 
 sixty-four years Henry Harrison Edwards has 
 resided within its borders, so that his memory 
 compasses the period of pioneer development as 
 well as of later progress and improvement. He 
 can remember the days when many of the homes 
 were log cabins, when much of the land was still 
 uncultivated and when the work of the farm was 
 done with very crude machinery as compared with 
 the agricultural implements of the present day. 
 He has kept in touch with the trend of modern 
 progress and is now a prominent representative 
 of agricultural life in Putnam county. 
 
 ROBERT F. DOWNEY. 
 
 Robert F. Downey, a retired farmer and an hon- 
 ored veteran of the Civil war, now residing in the 
 village of Magnolia, is a native of Illinois, his 
 birth having occurred in the northwestern corner 
 of Livingston county, near the present site of 
 Streator, on the 14th of February, 1840. His 
 father, Elzy Downey, was born in Greenbrier 
 county, West Virginia, while his mother, who bore 
 the maiden name of Mary Bethuren, was a native 
 of Ohio and died in Livingston county, Illinois, 
 when our subject was only two years old. The 
 father subsequently wedded Nancy Johnson, who 
 passed away in Magnolia two years after her hus- 
 band's death. On leaving his native state Elzy 
 Downey removed to Ohio and located in Logan 
 countv, but in 1832 he came farther west and 
 
 settled in Livingston county, Illinois, on the 
 banks of the Vermilion river, where he took up a 
 tract of government land and erected thereon a log 
 house. At that time the Indians were still very 
 numerous in the locality and there were only six 
 or seven families living along the river. He con- 
 tinued to make his home there until 1842, when 
 he removed to Magnolia, where he resided until 
 his death, which occurred about 1895, when he 
 was eighty-four years of age. By his first mar- 
 riage he had one child, a daughter. By his second 
 marriage he had three children : Sarah Jane, who 
 died in 1864; Robert F., whose name introduces 
 this sketch; and William J., who died at the age 
 of one year. 
 
 Robert F. Downey passed the days of his boy- 
 hood and youth in Magnolia and attended the 
 common schools, pursuing his studies in an old 
 schoolhouse where the seats were made of slabs. 
 At the early age of ten years he began earning 
 his own livelihood and for a time covered corn 
 with a hoe at twenty-five cents per day. At that 
 time nearly all the farm work was done by hand, 
 hay was mowed with a scythe and then raked. In 
 a barn which stood just south of town and was 
 recently burned our subject helped thresh wheat, 
 driving horses over the grain laid on the floor. It 
 was tramped in this way for a while and then 
 turned and tramped again. Later the grain was 
 gathered and on a windy day it was winnowed in 
 the wind. 
 
 Mr. Downey continued under the parental roof 
 until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when 
 in 1861 he enlisted at Bloomington in the First 
 Illinois cavalry. At the battle of Lexington, 
 Missouri, he was captured with Mulligan's men. 
 At that time the Confederate states had not been 
 recognized as a belligerent power and no one 
 knew or thought that the war would last long and 
 no prisons were ready for the captives, so that 
 they took the oath of allegiance and were sent 
 home. Later our subject tried to re-enlist, but 
 was not allowed to enter the service. After the 
 war he worked on a farm by the month for a 
 year or two and then purchased a tract of one 
 hundred and fifty-six acres of land on section 3, 
 Roberts township, Marshall county, a part of 
 which was covered with timber, but the remainder 
 was improved. To the cultivation of that place 
 he devoted his energies for many years and is 
 still its owner, the farm now comprising one hun-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 381 
 
 dred and sixty-four acres, and besides this prop- 
 erty he has a nice home in the village of Mag- 
 nolia, where he now resides. For several years 
 past he has rented the farm and has practically 
 lived retired, enjoying a well earned rest. 
 
 Mr. Downey was married in 1867 to Miss Luella 
 Parker, who was born in Hancock county, Illi- 
 nois, on the loth of February, 1852, and is a 
 daughter of William L. and Rhoda Parker, both 
 of whom are now deceased. Her parents came 
 originally from Virginia, but located in Illinois 
 at quite an early day. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Downey 
 were born eleven children, but the second died at 
 the age of one year. The others are as follows: 
 William E., a merchant of West Point, Adams 
 county, Illinois; Minnie L., the wife of Charles 
 Danielson, living near Granvillc, Illinois; Lilly 
 M., wife of Allen Coe, who now lives on our sub- 
 ject's farm in Marshall county ; Mary S., wife of 
 Jacob Piper, living in Magnolia; Elzy, who is a 
 graduate of the state normal and now principal 
 of the schools at Clyde; Laura, wife of J. B. 
 Thornton, living at Long Beach, California; 
 Luella F., wife of George Ramsey, whose home is 
 in Clyde, Illinois; Joseph M., who is a graduate 
 of the Northwestern Dental College of Chicago 
 and is now engaged in practice of his profession 
 at Magnolia; and Alva Isabelle, wife of Frank 
 Peterson, of Seneca, Illinois. This is a family 
 of which the parents have every reason to be 
 proud, as they stand high in the various com- 
 munities in which they reside. Five of the chil- 
 dren are college graduates and every one was 
 valedictorian of his or her class. 
 
 By his ballot Mr. Downey supports the men 
 and measures of the republican party, but has 
 never been a politician in the sense of office seek- 
 ing, though he takes a commendable interest in 
 public affairs. He is a member of Magnolia post, 
 G. A. R., which is still in existence, although the 
 organization holds no meetings, as only six or 
 seven of the members are now left, the others hav- 
 ing gone to join the silent majority. Mr. Downey 
 has quite a number of interesting souvenirs that 
 he has picked up at various places, including a 
 shell that was fired at the battle of Yorktown in 
 1862 and never exploded. It was dug up in the 
 field by a negro, the load taken out and brought 
 to Magnolia by B. F. Baker, an old soldier, and 
 given to the Grand Army post. When the society 
 dissolved the property was divided and it fell 
 
 into the hands of Mr. Downey, who was for some 
 time commander of the post. He also has a 
 piece of granite from the monument erected to 
 the soldiers who fought at Yorktown during the 
 Revolutionary war. During his long residence in 
 Putnam county he has become widely and favor- 
 ably known, and as an. old soldier and honored 
 pioneer he well deserves mention in this volume. 
 
 WILLIAM BICKEL. 
 
 The neighboring state of Indiana has furnished 
 to Marshall county this worthy citizen, for Wil- 
 liam Bickel was born in Tippecanoe county of 
 the Hoosier state in 1847. His parents were 
 Samuel and Elizabeth (Smith) Bickel, whose 
 family numbered ten children. The father was 
 born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, April 
 10, 1811, and died in the year 1880. His son 
 William remembers often hearing his father speak 
 of making trips across the mountains on foot, for 
 that was prior to the era of railroad travel, when 
 all this section of the country was a wild frontier 
 region. He came to Marshall county on the 1st of 
 October, 1856, locating first about five miles east 
 of Lacon, where he lived for twelve years. He 
 then removed to McLean county, Illinois, where 
 he resided continuously from 1868 until his de- 
 mise. While his political views were in harmony 
 with the principles of democracy he did not con- 
 sider himself bound by party ties and frequently 
 cast an independent ballot. Both he and his wife 
 were consistent and faithful members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Bickel was 
 born in Ohio in 1817 and died in Belle Plain 
 township, Marshall county, on the 8th of May, 
 1887. Their children were Rebecca Ann, Barbara 
 Ann, Susie Ann, Elizabeth, Henry, Samuel, Wil- 
 liam, Mary, David and George. Of these Rebecca 
 Ann and Elizabeth are now deceased. 
 
 William Bickel spent the first ten years of his 
 life in the state of his nativity and began his edu- 
 cation there, but largely received his schooling in 
 Illinois. He attended the Strawn school for three 
 years and subsequently was a student in the Belle 
 Plain school. When not busy with his text-books 
 he aided in the work of the fields and remained 
 upon the home farm until the time of his mar- 
 riage. On the 30th of December, 1873, he wedded 
 Miss Diora J. Jones, who was born in Beaver 
 county, Pennsylvania, near Freedom, February 1, 
 1852, her parents being Milo and Eleanor Jones.
 
 382 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNT IKS. 
 
 Her father, who was a farmer by occupation and 
 followed that pursuit in Marshall county for some 
 years, died in 1904. His wife, who bore the 
 maiden name of Eleanor Hamilton, was born in 
 1831 and died April 19, 1902. She was a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bickel have but one. child, Earl, who married 
 Agnes Eickelbarner and lives just across the road 
 from his father's home. They farm together, 
 sharing equally with each other in all things. 
 
 At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 William Bickel located in Belle Plain township 
 and their entire married life has been spent 
 within four miles of their present home. In ad- 
 dition to general farming he handles large num- 
 bers of cattle and hogs each year and his place is 
 an ideal stock farm, located in the edge of the 
 timber. Mr. Bickel took up his abode upon this 
 place in 1887 and the years have since been de- 
 voted to its further improvement and development 
 until now it is a splendid property. He started 
 out in life with no capital save a practical knowl- 
 edge of farming, and he determined to win and 
 he now owns one hundred and eighty-seven acres 
 of excellent land. He first purchased fifty acres 
 in Belle Plain township of John Cox, whom he 
 claims gave him his first start, for which he paid 
 forty dollars per acre. After selling this he 
 bought his present farm. As the years have gone 
 by his labors have brought him a goodly measure 
 of prosperity. In politics Mr. Bickel is a demo- 
 crat and takes an active interest in the growth 
 and success of his party. He has been elected 
 and served as assessor of Belle Plain township for 
 six consecutive years and for a long period has 
 been school trustee. The greater part of his life 
 has been passed in this county and in a review of 
 his history there will be found much that is com- 
 mendable, his strong characteristics being in har- 
 mony with the requirements of good citizenship 
 and of honorable manhood. 
 
 JAMES P. HICKEY. 
 
 In financial circles in Marshall county and this 
 part of the state James P. Hickey is widely and 
 favorably known, being the present popular and 
 capable cashier of the Exchange Bank at Camp 
 Grove. He was born in the village which is yet 
 his home, his natal day being March 4, 1878. His 
 father, David Hickey, a native of County Clare, 
 Ireland, was reared and educated in that country 
 
 and came to the United States about 1858. He 
 traveled extensively before makmg permanent set- 
 tlement upon a farm in Marshall county, Illinois, 
 in 18(S2. He secured one hundred acres of land in 
 Saratoga township, spending his remaining days 
 thereon, and during that period converting his 
 land into one of the best improved and productive 
 tracts of this part of the state. He was a devout 
 Catholic and a stalwart supporter of the democ- 
 racy. For thirty years he served as school di- 
 rector and the cause of public instruction benefited 
 by his efforts in its behalf. He was numbered 
 among the most respected pioneers of Saratoga 
 township and his efforts along many lines were of 
 direct evidence in the work of improvement and 
 upbuilding. He passed away July 5, 1903, and 
 is now numbered among Marshall county's hon- 
 ored dead. His wife, who bore the maiden name 
 of Mary Day, was also a native of Ireland and a 
 daughter of Jeremiah and Johanna Day, resident 
 farmers of Saratoga township. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hickey were married in this country and the 
 latter departed this life April 18, 1884. In their 
 family were eight children, of whom six are now 
 living: Katherine; Minnie; John, a fanner of 
 Saratoga township, who wedded Mary Long of 
 the same township; Nellie, the wife of Owen 
 Sharkey, who follows agricultural pursuits in 
 Milo township, Bureau county, Illinois ; James P., 
 of this review; and Nora, the wife of Robert 
 Breen, who is publisher of a paper at Kewanee, 
 Illinois. The two who passed away are James, 
 who died at the age of sixteen months, and 
 Thomas, who died when but three months old. 
 
 James P. Hickey pursued his preliminary edu- 
 cation in the district schools of Saratoga town- 
 ship, Marshall count}', and for one year was a stu- 
 dent in Dixon (Illinois) Business College, 
 whereby he was well qualified for the practical 
 duties of life. He also studied at home, devoting 
 many leisure hours to the mastery of branches of 
 learning which have been of benefit to him, not 
 only in general mental development but also in 
 his business career. He worked upon the home 
 farm until he had attained his majority, after 
 which he was employed for a short time as a sales- 
 man in a clothing store. He then entered the 
 Camp Grove Exchange Bank, which is controlled 
 by the owners of the Bradford Exchange Bank. 
 He became connected with this institution on its 
 establishment, February 3, 1902. This is a pri-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 :;s:S 
 
 vate bank, of which he is cashier and manager, 
 and under his direction a successful business has 
 been established. 
 
 On the 14th of October of the same year Mr. 
 Hickey was married to Miss Mary Herberger, a 
 daughter of Peter and Anna Herberger, who were 
 farming people of Stark county, Illinois. This 
 marriage has been blessed with two children, 
 Marie and Celestine, aged respectively three and 
 one years. The parents are prominent socially, 
 having a circle of friends almost co-extensive with 
 the circle of their acquaintance. Mr. Hickey is 
 a member of the Modern Woodmen camp at Camp 
 Grove, of which he has served as clerk for three 
 years. He is also president of the Fraternal Re- 
 serve and his political allegiance is given to the 
 democracy. The only political office he has ever 
 held is that of notary public and he belongs to 
 the Catholic church. It will thus be seen that 
 his interests cover a wide range, making him a 
 man of well rounded character. His efforts in 
 behalf of Camp Grove have been far-reaching and 
 beneficial. This is a new town, only four years 
 old, but already it contains good business houses, 
 two grain elevators, two banks, good churches and 
 schools and other modern facilities. Mr. Hickey 
 has done much for its upbuilding and progress 
 and is an active, popular and efficient young busi- 
 ness man with a host of friends. 
 
 THEODORE M. CROFT. 
 
 Theodore M. Croft, extensively engaged in buy- 
 ing and shipping cattle and hogs in Roberts 
 township, was born in this township, June 27, 
 1851. He acquired a district school education 
 and worked at farm labor on the home place 
 until nineteen years of age, after which he was 
 employed as a farm hand by others for several 
 years. He then purchased his present farm, com- 
 prising one hundred and sixty acres of land that 
 is ricli and arable, responding readily to the care 
 and cultivation bestowed upon if. The fields are 
 now well tilled and bring forth good crops. In 
 addition to the care of the grain Mr. Croft is also 
 extensively engaged in buying and shipping cattle 
 and hogs, and this branch of his business is now 
 very profitable. He is an excellent judge of stock 
 and therefore makes judicious purchases and prof- 
 itable sales. 
 
 His political support is given to the republican 
 party, and he \vas elected assessor of Roberts 
 
 township for 1905. He has also been a school 
 director for twenty years, and the cause of edu- 
 cation finds in him a warm friend. In his busi- 
 ness affairs he is strictly reliable, never taking 
 advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in 
 any trade transaction, and in the community he is 
 favorably known for his methods and his merited 
 
 MISS NANCY CLIFFORD. 
 
 Miss Nancy Clifford is the owner of valuable 
 farming property in Marshall county, her home 
 being 'on section 10, Evans township, where she 
 has lived since 1853. She was born at Cadiz, 
 Ohio, about four miles from New Athens, in 1833. 
 Her father was Edward Clifford, who was born 
 in Brook county, Virginia, in 1806, and was the 
 eldest of the family of twelve children, of whom 
 only one survives, Mrs. Margaret Thompson, who 
 is living in Columbus, Ohio. In 1811 Mr. Clifford 
 accompanied his parents on their removal to Har- 
 rison county, Ohio, where he was reared to man- 
 hood, and in 1831 married Rebecca Dunlap, whose 
 birth occurred in Harrison county in 1807. They 
 became the parents of six children : Mrs. Sarah 
 Phillips, who is living at Table Rock, Nebraska; 
 Nancy; Samuel, who died in 1896; Mrs. Jane 
 Dunlap, whose home is in Wenona, Illinois ; Mar- 
 garet, who died July 8, 1905; and Mrs. Susan 
 Hamilton, also living in Wenona. The parents 
 were regular attendants of the United Presby- 
 terian church and were earnest Christian people. 
 Mr. Clifford brought his family to Illinois about 
 1853, locating at the head of what is now called 
 Sandy creek, where all of the early pioneers 
 settled. In community affairs he took an active 
 and helpful interest and aided in the early de- 
 velopment and progress of the county. He carried 
 on farming for a long period and became the 
 owner of three hundred and twenty-seven acres of 
 valuable farming land, all of which he improved. 
 As the years passed, through his own exertions, he 
 reached a position of wealth and became the pos- 
 sessor of one of the finest farms in his township. 
 For six years he held the office of road commis- 
 sioner. 
 
 Miss Clifford, of this review, was but a little 
 girl when brought by her parents to Illinois, and 
 on the home farm she was reared. She now owns 
 a beautiful residence in the edge of the timber,
 
 384 
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 together with good fanning land, having three 
 hundred and forty-five acres in all. Her nephew 
 and his wife now live with her. Her people were 
 among the earliest settlers here and her father 
 was extensively engaged in raising cattle and 
 sheep, owning as high as eighty thoroughbreds at 
 a time. He was also one of the promoters of this 
 industry in the county, and in his farming opera- 
 tions he prospered, so that he was enabled to leave 
 his family in very comfortable circumstances 
 when, in August, 1881, he was called from this 
 life. He was not a member of any church, but 
 he gave freely and generously to the support of 
 different denominations and for the building of 
 various houses of worship in the county. In 
 politics he was a democrat, and while interested 
 in the success of his party, he never placed parti- 
 sanship before the general welfare. His wife sur- 
 vived him for about twenty years, and passed away 
 in 1901. 
 
 Their daughter, Nancy Clifford, was a student 
 in the public schools of Evans township. She re- 
 mained with her parents upon the home farm on 
 which they located in 1853, and eventually she 
 came into possession of this property, which is 
 now splendidly improved and very valuable, re- 
 turning her an excellent income. Miss Clifford 
 has intimate knowledge of the history of the 
 county through many years, witnessing its growth 
 and progress as it has developed from wild prairie, 
 swampy districts and timber land into richly im- 
 proved farms, while here and there in their midst 
 have been built thriving towns and cities, bringing 
 to the county all of the comforts and conveniences 
 of civilization known to the older east. 
 
 GUSTAV OTTO. 
 
 Among the venerable and worthy citizens who 
 in former years were actively connected with the 
 agricultural development of Putnam county but 
 are now living in honorable retirement is num- 
 bered Gustav Otto, who owns and occupies a 
 beautiful home in the village of Magnolia, en- 
 joying in well earned rest the fruits of his former 
 toil. His birth occurred in Prussia, Germany, 
 July 29, 1838. His parents were Michael and 
 Rose (Zeabel) Otto, who were likewise natives of 
 the fatherland, and the former died when our 
 subject was a little lad of but three years. The 
 mother was afterward married again, subsequent 
 to which time she came to the United States and 
 
 settled in Magnolia, where her death occurred in 
 1875. 
 
 Gustav Otto was reared in his native country to 
 the age of nineteen years and was there educated. 
 Having heard favorable reports of the United 
 States and the possibilities to be enjoyed by young 
 men of ambition and energy, Mr. Otto decided to 
 try his fortune in the new country, and accord- 
 ingly, in 1857, took passage on a sailing vessel 
 bound for the new world, which was six weeks in 
 making the voyage. When he boarded the vessel 
 at Hamburg, Germany, he had but thirty dollars 
 in money, so that when he landed in America 
 it was necessary that he at once secure employ- 
 ment. He had learned and followed the wagon- 
 maker's trade in the fatherland, but on coming 
 to this country never followed that pursuit. Upon 
 landing in New York he at once made his way 
 to Chicago, and remained in that city for six 
 weeks, subsequent to which time he went to Mar- 
 shall county, Illinois, where he was employed for 
 one month by Henry Weir. In the following 
 spring he entered the employ of John Meyers, for 
 whom he worked during that season and then came 
 to Putnam county, and was employed at farm 
 labor by Captain William Haws, who lived in 
 Magnolia township, receiving as compensation for 
 his services ten dollars per month. He continued 
 in the employ of Mr. Haws from 1858 until 1865, 
 when, having saved his earnings, he felt justified 
 in starting out in life upon an independent ven- 
 ture, and first located on a tract of land which 
 he rented from a Mr. Phillips, at British Lane, 
 La Salle county, this state. After a year he 
 leased a farm of George Hildebrandt, and once 
 more took up his abode in Magnolia township, 
 Putnam county. He operated that farm for two 
 years, and in the meantime, having saved a sum 
 sufficient to purchase land, in the spring of 1868 
 he came into possession of a tract of eighty acres, 
 which forms a part of the farm which he still 
 owns, and which was known as the Joel Haws 
 farm, and had been settled in 1838. With per- 
 sistent energy, so characteristic of the German 
 race, Mr. Otto at once began to develop and im- 
 prove his farm, following only the most practical 
 methods in the cultivation of his field and the 
 planting of his crops. As the years passed and he 
 prospered in his undertakings he added to his 
 land from time to time until he now owns two 
 hundred and sixty acres of finely improved land.
 
 PAST AND PltKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PIT NAM COUNTIES. 
 
 385 
 
 which is now operated by his son, Joel, and from 
 which he derives an income sufficient to enable 
 him to live in honorable retirement throughout 
 liis remaining days. He also owns forty-six acres 
 of timber land in Marshall county, so that his 
 landed possessions are of considerable extent. In 
 former years, in addition to his general fanning 
 pursuits, Mr. Otto also engaged quite extensively 
 in stock-raising, having at all times the best grades 
 of animals. He was actively engaged in farming 
 and stock-raising until eight years ago, when he 
 retired and took up his abode in the village of 
 Magnolia, where he bought five acres of land, 
 whereon he has a commodious residence, which is 
 one of the finest homes in the town, and here he 
 and his wife are spending the evening of their 
 days. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Otto was united in marriage to 
 Miss Eunice Haws, a daughter of Joel Haws, and 
 a native of Putnam county, born in 1840. Her 
 education was acquired in the public schools of 
 Magnolia township and she was early trained to 
 the duties of the household, so that she was well 
 qualified to take charge of a home of her own at 
 the time of her marriage to Mr. Otto, to whom 
 she has indeed proved a faithful and able assist- 
 ant. Unto our subject and his wife have been 
 born seven children, and the family circle yet re- 
 mains unbroken by the hand of death. The rec- 
 ord is as follows: James A., who wedded Miss 
 Philbrook and resides at Independence, Kansas; 
 Helen M., the wife of I. D. Glenn, a resident 
 farmer of this township; Joel W., who wedded 
 Nellie Simpson, of Hennepin, and is operating 
 the old homestead farm; Maud M., the wife of 
 Lawrence Dugan, and a resident of Camp Grove, 
 Illinois ; Bessie, the wife of Rev. Schacht, a resi- 
 dent of London Mills, Illinois; Alice, the wife of 
 George Boyestede ; and Lulu, who is at home. 
 
 In politics Mr. Otto has always been a democrat 
 and has taken a deep and active interest in the 
 work of his party. Recognizing his ability and 
 worth he has frequently been called upon to fill 
 positions of public honor and trust, having served 
 for twenty-four years as school director, one year 
 as collector, three years as highway commissioner, 
 and for eight years was supervisor, and for three 
 years of the time acted as chairman of the board. 
 Although Magnolia township is a republican 
 stronghold Mr. Otto has never been defeated for 
 any office, thus showing his popularity and prom- 
 
 inence in this community. He was reared in the 
 faith of the Lutheran church, and has always been 
 identified with the church of that denomination, 
 while fraternally he holds membership with the 
 blue lodge of Masons at Magnolia, acting as treas- 
 urer of the organization for many years, and he 
 also served in a number of other offices in the 
 lodge. 
 
 When Mr. Otto arrived in America he was in 
 debt to the amount of seventy-five dollars, but 
 he immediately secured employment, and in a 
 short time earned money sufficient to liquidate 
 this indebtedness, after which he saved his earn- 
 ings, which he judiciously invested in land, and 
 through his close application and capable manage- 
 ment prospered in his undertakings, thus adding 
 to his possessions from time to time until he is 
 now one of the wealthy land-owners of Putnam 
 county, and is Known as a reliable and trustworthy 
 citizen who has acquired his property through hon- 
 est and straightforward methods. L'pon the death 
 of Captain William Haws, many years ago, our 
 subject was appointed one of the administrators 
 of the estate, the duties of which he discharged 
 with the same loyalty that has ever been mani- 
 fest in the conduct of his own personal interests. 
 He has been a trustee of the Mutual Fire Insur- 
 ance Company for about twenty years. He and 
 his wife are highly esteemed in the community in 
 which they have so long lived and labored, and 
 their own beautiful home is a favorite resort for 
 their numerous friends and acquaintances. 
 
 WILLIAM W. T\VIST. 
 
 William W. Twist is one of the oldest native 
 sons of Marshall county, having been born in 
 Roberts township in 1842, so that he has been a 
 resident of the county for more than six decades. 
 He now resides in Toluca, his home being the 
 most beautiful residence of the town, and he 
 derives his income from real estate, which is the 
 safest of all investments, having four hundred 
 and fifty acres of valuable land in this county. 
 He was born in Roberts township, April 2, 1842. 
 His father, John W. Twist, was born in London, 
 England, and came to New York in 1832. He 
 was a cabinet maker by trade and after residing 
 in the east for several years took up his abode in 
 Roberts township, Marshall county, Illinois, in 
 1841. The present county division, however, was 
 then unknown and the district formed a part of
 
 386 
 
 PAST AM) PKKSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) PVTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Putnam county. After coming to the new world 
 Mr. Twist followed the occupation of farming 
 and was numbered among the substantial agricul- 
 turists of Roberts township. He wedded Mary 
 Davidson, who was born in New York city, and 
 is still living at the advanced age of eighty-four 
 years. She makes her home with her son William 
 and spends the summer seasons with her sister 
 in Kansas. She is a member of the Christian 
 church and is a most estimable lady, whose life 
 in its various phases has won her the respect and 
 confidence of those with whom she has been 
 brought in contact. In the family were three 
 children: William W. ; James P., who was born 
 in 1846 and died in 1894; and Mary, the wife of 
 Leander Burns, who follows farming near Osage 
 City, Kansas. The second son, James Twist, 
 served as sheriff of Marshall county for four 
 years and was also county treasurer for four years. 
 He proved a most capable and reliable official and 
 the trust reposed in him was well merited. He 
 was also a man of excellent business capacity and 
 in his death the community lost one of its valued 
 citizens. 
 
 William W. Twist in his boyhood days attended 
 the old Shaw school and acquired a fair English 
 education. He started out in life for himself in 
 1866 when a young man of twenty-four years, 
 having up to this time aided in the work of the 
 home farm. On leaving the old homestead he en- 
 gaged in farming where the town of Toluca now 
 stands, but eventually sold his land to the coal 
 company. The discovery of the rich coal veins 
 of this district greatly enhanced the value of his 
 property and he disposed of it at a high figure. 
 
 Mr. Twist has been married twice. He first 
 wedded Louisa Palmer, who was born in 1843 and 
 died in 1886. In 1896 he wedded Mrs. Mae Mof- 
 fett, who was born in the state of New York. 
 They have one child, Erma Mae Twist, now 
 eight years of age. Their beautiful home is cele- 
 brated for its gracioiis and warm hearted hospi- 
 tality and is the scene of many a delightful so- 
 cial function. Mr. Twist is now living retired, 
 his possessions being sufficient to supply him with 
 a good income without further recourse to labor 
 save for the supervision of his landed interests. 
 He has filled various offices, including those of 
 assessor, collector and school treasurer, and could 
 undoubtedly have had other political honors had 
 he so desired. Spending his entire life in Mar- 
 
 shall county, he is largely familiar with its his- 
 tory, having been a witness of its development 
 from an early day, and the fact that many of his 
 stanchest friends are those who have known him 
 from his boyhood is an indication that his has 
 been an honorable and upright career. 
 
 EGBERT TURNBULL. 
 
 The home farm of Robert Turnbull is pleas- 
 antly and conveniently located on section 28, La 
 Prairie township, not far from the village of 
 Speer, and for many years the owner of this 
 valuable property has been accorded recognition 
 as one of the leading farmers and stock-raisers 
 of this part of the state. He was born in Rox- 
 burghshire, S.cotland, on the 10th of December, 
 1827. His parents were John and Beatrice 
 (Scoon) Turnbull, who were likewise natives of 
 the same country. The father, who was born 
 April 30, 1782, came to the United States with 
 his family in 1851, landing at New York city, 
 after which he located at Geneva., New York, 
 where he remained for three years. In 1854 he 
 came to Illinois, settling on the southeast part of 
 La Prairie township. For a long period he was 
 engaged in farming here and passed away on the 
 3d of February, 1870, at the venerable age of 
 eighty-eight years. In the old cemetery in Scot- 
 land where the ancestors of the family lie buried 
 there are gravestones bearing date back to 1622. 
 In the family of John and Beatrice Turnbull 
 were three children : John, who died in Scot- 
 land at the age of sixteen or seventeen years; 
 Robert, of this review ; and Jeanette, the wife of 
 Robert Pringle, who is the oldest man in the town- 
 ship, and whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 work. 
 
 Robert Turnbull was reared to manhood in his 
 native country, his* education being acquired in 
 the common schools prior to his sixteenth year, 
 at which time he entered upon an apprenticeship 
 to the carpenter's trade. His term of indenture 
 extended to the time when he attained his ma- 
 jority^ during which period he was given his 
 board and at the end of that time was paid five 
 pounds sterling or about twenty-five dollnrs. In 
 addition to house carpentering he learned the 
 trade of cabinet-making, everything in that day 
 being done by hand. After serving his term he 
 continued with his old employer as a journey- 
 man and acted in that capacity for two years
 
 EGBERT TURNBULL.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 389 
 
 at a salary of four dollars per week. He did his 
 duty faithfully and cheerfully and was thus in 
 the line of promotion, but the new world witli 
 its business opportunities and advantages seemed 
 to him to offer a better field of labor and in com- 
 pany with his parents and his sister he crossed 
 the Atlantic to New York city. 
 
 For three years he worked at the carpenter's 
 trade in Geneva, New York, save for a brief 
 period of five months spent in Canada. His pref- 
 erence, however, was for the United States and, 
 believing his chances to be much better in the 
 republic, he returned. In 1854 the family came 
 to Illinois, settling in the southeast part of La 
 Prairie township, where Mr. Turnbull purchased a 
 tract of land as a home for his father and mother. 
 They removed to that farm but for three years 
 thereafter he continued to work at his trade. He 
 determined, however, to make general farming 
 his life occupation and took up the task of im- 
 proving and clearing his land. When he began 
 his farm work he had but a single horse. Soon, 
 however, he purchased a yoke of oven with which 
 he broke the prairie. He had about one hundred 
 dollars when he came to the new world, which was 
 increased to six hundred dollars by the time he 
 reached Illinois. This sum he invested in land 
 and upon the farm he lived for ten years, en- 
 gaged in its ciiltivation and also making some 
 improvements there. 
 
 It was while living upon his father's farm 
 that Mr. Turnbull was married to Miss Mary 
 Smith, whom he wedded February 26, 1858. They 
 became the parents of six children : Minnie is now 
 the wife of R. W. Hall, of Chicago. John, who is 
 represented on another page of this volume, is 
 living on his farm adjoining his father's. Wil- 
 liam, who was born September 4, 1862, and died 
 July 12, 1866; Robert, who was born July 18, 
 1864, and has carried on farming on the old 
 home place, where he lives with his wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Mary E. Scott and to 
 whom he was married in 1896. She is a daughter 
 of William Scott, a well known resident of the 
 county. Robert Turnbull, Jr., is a breeder of 
 full blooded Hereford cattle. Beatrice died Feb- 
 ruary 10, 1905. William is in the live stock com- 
 mission business in Chicago. Mrs. Turnbull 
 passed away September 1, 1877, and was laid to 
 rest in the United Presbyterian cemetery in La 
 Prairie township. She was devoted to the welfare 
 
 and happiness of her family and counted no per- 
 sonal sacrifice on her part too great if it would 
 promote the interests of her husband and chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Mr. Turnbull has always been an industrious, 
 energetic man and in his farming and stock-rais- 
 ing operations he has become well known. He 
 has made very judicious purchases, buying land 
 which has increased in value, owing to the 
 rapid settlement of the county as well as to the 
 improvements which have been placed upon it. 
 His home farm is splendidly improved with all 
 modern accessories and conveniences and every- 
 thing about the farm is indicative of the careful 
 supervision and enterprising spirit of the owner. 
 For many years he has engaged in raising and 
 breeding thoroughbred Hereford cattle and has 
 owned some very fine animals. He has also fed 
 large numbers of cattle. Whatever he has under- 
 taken he has carried forward to successful com- 
 pletion, manifesting a keen business discernment 
 that has enabled him to readily determine the 
 outcome of any business proposition. He is now 
 to a large extent leaving the active work of the 
 farm to others, for he has passed the seventy- 
 eighth milestone on life's journey and well 
 merits rest from further toil. 
 
 In polities Mr. Turnbull is a republican, having 
 supported the party since becoming a naturalized 
 citizen. He has frequently attended its conven- 
 tions and has held a number of local offices, to 
 which he has been called by the vote of his fellow 
 townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability. 
 He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian 
 church but is now a member of the Congregational 
 church and has been an active worker in its 
 behalf. He is also an advocate of the cause of 
 temperance and in fact is a champion of all those 
 interests which tend to uplift humanity and bene- 
 fit the race. His name is honored by all because 
 of his upright life and his good qualities far over- 
 balance the mistakes which all men make, gain- 
 ing for him the respect and good will of all with 
 whom he has come in contact during the years- of 
 his residence in this county. 
 
 RANSOM E. GREGORY. 
 Ransom E. Gregory is a retired farmer residing 
 in Henry, but for many years he was closely, 
 actively and honorably associated with agricul- 
 tural interests, thus making for himself a cred-
 
 390 
 
 PAST AND PKKSKNT <>K MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNT IKS. 
 
 itable place in business circles in Marshall county. 
 Moreover, he is entitled to representation in this 
 volume as one of the honored veterans of the Civil 
 war, who loyally defended the Union cause 
 through the darkest hour in our country's his- 
 tory. He was born in Auglaize county, Ohio, 
 August 16, 1839. His father, Harrison Gregory, 
 was a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio, born May 
 25, 1813. He was both a farmer and merchant. 
 About 1837 he removed with his family to Au- 
 glaize county, Ohio, where he remained for six 
 years and thence drove across the country to Illi- 
 nois, settling upon a farm in Kickapoo township, 
 Peoria county, in 1843. This place was about 
 twelve miles west of the city of Peoria. As he 
 had little capital at the time of his arrival he had 
 to incur indebtedness in order to make the pur- 
 chase, but he soon discharged his financial obli- 
 gation and devoted ten years to the improvement 
 and cultivation of the farm, after which he re- 
 moved to Henry, where he spent the succeeding 
 three years. He next took up his abode in White- 
 field township, seven miles west of Henry, where 
 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, 
 this farm being his home throughout his remain- 
 ing days. In his earlier manhood he had also 
 engaged in teaching school through the winter 
 months for many years, and thus added to his in- 
 come. Becoming ill in 1882 he went to California 
 for the benefit of his health, but died in Los 
 Angeles, four weeks after his arrival, on the 3d 
 of October, 1882, at the age of sixty-nine years. 
 His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary 
 Sivers, was a native of Maryland, born October 
 29, 1812, and her death occurred July 28, 1876. 
 In the family were ten children, of whom four 
 are now living: Ransom E., of this review; Fan- 
 nie, who was born August 3, 1841, and is now 
 the wife of Cyrus Hutchins, of Los Angeles, Cali- 
 fornia ; Laura, who was born February 25, 1854, 
 and is the wife of Charles Jenkins, of Prospect 
 Park, California ; and Harry, who was born Febru- 
 ary 9, 1857, and is proprietor of a department 
 store at Vincennes, Indiana. One brother, Mark 
 G., who for many years was identified with agri- 
 cultural interests in this county, has now passed 
 away. 
 
 Ransom E. Gregory acquired his early education 
 in the schools of Kickapoo and in the district 
 schools near Henry. He enlisted in the Union 
 army on the 16th of August, 1861 his twenty- 
 
 second birthday as a member of Company D, 
 Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under 
 Captain John C. Townsend and Colonel John 
 Bryner. He joined the army for three years and 
 was mustered out on the 16th of August, 1864, 
 while on duty as chief clerk to Colonel A. J. 
 Meyer, chief signal officer of the United States 
 Army and chief of staff to General E. R. S. Canby, 
 then stationed at New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. 
 Gregory participated in the siege of Vicksburg and 
 was afterward transferred to the signal corps, act- 
 ing as orderly sergeant of the company and rank- 
 ing as first sergeant in the signal corps. There 
 were multitudinous delicate and hazardous duties 
 to be performed in that connection, and Mr. Greg- 
 ory was always found faithfully at his post. He 
 was detailed at General Sherman's headquarters 
 and was on duty all night previous to the battle 
 of Mission Ridge, receiving and sending messages 
 for "Uncle Billy." He was in the battle of Cor- 
 inth on the 3d and 4th of October, 1862; in the 
 battle of luka, Mississippi, in September, 1862; 
 and also in the engagement of Jackson prior to 
 the siege of Vicksburg, besides many other minor 
 engagements. He thus saw considerable arduous 
 field service. 
 
 Following his return home Mr. Gregory was 
 married on the 1st of January, 1866, to Miss 
 Ellen Maria White; of Whitefield township, Mar- 
 shall county, a daughter of John B. White, in 
 whose honor the township was named, being elect- 
 ed its first supervisor. He was one of the prom- 
 inent pioneer residents of the county and aided 
 largely in its upbuilding and development at an 
 early day. His birth occurred in Vermont and 
 his last years were spent in Henry, where he was 
 engaged in the lumber business at the time of his 
 demise. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gregory have been 
 born three children, of whom two are living: 
 Carrie B., now the wife 'of F. G. Smith, of Chi- 
 cago, by whom she has one child, Fay Gregory 
 Smith; and Elmer B., who is living in Los An- 
 geles, California. The deceased child was Marion 
 Bradshaw, who passed away at the age of nine 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Gregory was at one time identified with 
 farming interests in Marshall county, and in the 
 fall of 1866, at the age of twenty-six years, he 
 was elected sheriff of the county and removed to 
 the county seat, filling the office for one term. 
 His election occurred the same year of his mar-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 riage, and the young couple did their first house- 
 keeping in the old jail. In 1884 Mr. Gregory re- 
 moved from Illinois to Pierre, South Dakota, 
 where he was engaged in the real-estate business, 
 handling considerable property there. He was 
 also very prominent and influential in public af- 
 fairs, spending fourteen years in the state, during 
 which time he did effective service in behalf of 
 general progress and improvement. He served as 
 a member of the board of education, and the cause 
 of the schools found in him a stalwart champion 
 and supporter. He was also deputy county treas- 
 urer, city assessor and chief of the fire department 
 of Pierre. He likewise acted as postmaster under 
 President Harrison there, and over the record of 
 his public career there falls no shadow of wrong 
 or suspicion of evil, his duties being discharged 
 with the utmost fidelity and promptness. In 1887 
 Mr. Gregory removed to Chicago, where he lived 
 three years, being employed as collector for the 
 firm of Rittenhouse & Embree Company, one of 
 the largest lumber firms in the city. 
 
 In 1900 Mr. Gregory returned to Marshall coun- 
 ty and is now living retired in Henry, enjoying 
 in well earned ease the fruits of his former toil. 
 He holds membersip with the Grand Army post at 
 Pierre and in politics he is a republican where 
 national issues are involved but casts an inde- 
 pendent local ballot. All who know him respect 
 him for his genuine worth and many good traits 
 of character, for in all life's relations, whether in 
 business, in public office or upon the field of battle, 
 he has made a creditable and commendable record. 
 
 FRANK LEO KLINE. 
 
 Frank Leo Kline is now practically living re- 
 tired upon a farm in Saratoga township, where 
 he has made his home since 1889. He was in 
 former years actively associated with the work of 
 tilling the soil and raising crops, and the measure 
 of his success is proof of his life of activity and 
 diligence. One of Marshall county's native sons, 
 he was born in AVhitefield township, October 10, 
 1864, his parents being Peter Paul and Mary Ann 
 (Bryer) Kline, both of whom were natives of 
 Germany. The father's birth occurred in Prussia, 
 and on coming to the United States he settled 
 first in Chicago, where he worked at his trade 
 of blacksmithing. He also owned many houses 
 and lots in that city in earlier years and he is 
 now living retired in Henry, for his labor at a 
 
 previous date brought to him a handsome com- 
 petence that now enables him to rest from further 
 labor and yet enjoy the comforts and some of the 
 luxuries of life. He has reached the age of eighty- 
 two years, while his wife is now seventy-five years 
 of age. In their family were ten children, of 
 whom seven are living: John B., a resident 
 farmer of Whitefield township, who is cultivating 
 one hundred and sixty acres of land; Mrs. Fran- 
 ces Kneip, of Henry, Illinois; Maggie, who is 
 with her parents in Henry ; Mrs. Katherine Hofer, 
 whose husband is a farmer of Whitefield town- 
 ship; Frank L., of this review; Joseph, who is 
 living in Pekin, Illinois ; Mary Matilda, a trained 
 nurse in a Chicago hospital. 
 
 Frank Leo Kline, educated in the district 
 schools near his father's farm and in the public 
 schools of Henry, devoted the periods of vacation 
 to the work of the fields and early became fa- 
 miliar with agricultural life in every detail. He 
 continued with his father until twenty-three years 
 of age. Desiring that his labors should more di- 
 rectly benefit himself, he began farming on his 
 own account on the Betz farm in Whitefield town- 
 ship, Marshall county, where he remained for a 
 year. He then removed to his present farm, which 
 he purchased in 1889. It is a valuable and pro- 
 ductive tract of land of one hundred and sixty 
 acres on section 27, Saratoga township, and Mr. 
 Kline gave his personal attention to its super- 
 vision and cultivation for a number of years, but 
 on account of ill health during the past three 
 years has rented his land. In the fall of 1906 he 
 expects to remove to Henry, and will there live 
 retired, for his property and other interests are 
 sufficient to provide him with a good annual in- 
 come. 
 
 Mr. Kline was married in 1889 tc Miss Emily 
 R. Darby, of Saratoga township, who died in 
 1892, while their only child died in infancy. In 
 1894 Mr. Kline was again married, his second 
 union being with Bertha Irene Baker, of La Prai- 
 rie township, a daughter of William and Louisa 
 (Scruggs) Baker, the former a farmer of Henry. 
 They now have two interesting children : Lou F., 
 born March 16, 1898; and Ora May, born Au- 
 gust 4, 1900. 
 
 Mr. Kline is a republican and is a communicant 
 of the Catholic church. He has ever been a broa,l 
 reader and is thoroughly posted on matters of 
 general interest. He represents a prominent and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 honored pioneer family and is one of the worthy 
 native sons, whose life record reflects credit upon 
 the county of his birth, for he is classed with those 
 who uphold the legal and political status of the 
 community and stand for intellectual and moral 
 progress. 
 
 NEWTON J. MATHIS. 
 
 The farming interests of Putnam county have 
 a worthy representative in Newton J. Mathis, who 
 is successfully carrying on operations in his chosen 
 field of labor on section 30, Magnolia township. 
 His early home was in Ohio, for he was born in 
 Champaign county, that state, on the 22d of 
 November, 1837, and is a son of Caleb and Mar- 
 garet (Home) Mathis, both of whom were natives 
 of New Jersey, the former bom March 3, 1793, 
 and the latter July 15, 1795. The parents were 
 reared and married in their native state and from 
 there removed to Champaign county, Ohio, soon 
 afterward. In 1843 they came to Champaign 
 county, Illinois, and one year later took up their 
 residence in Putnam county, settling on a farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres, which at that time 
 was but slightly improved. It was partially cov- 
 ered with timber, while the rest was prairie land. 
 Upon his place the father erected a good brick 
 residence, which is still standing, and made many 
 other useful and valued improvements which 
 added to the attractive appearance of the place. 
 On the old homestead he died in 1875 and his wife 
 passed away at the age of seventy-nine years. She 
 was an earnest and consistent member of the 
 Methodist church, while he was connected with 
 the Society of Friends. His political support 
 was given to the republican party, but he took 
 no active part in public affairs. In his family 
 were twelve children, but only our subject and 
 his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Jane Hoyt, of Lacon, 
 Illinois, are now living. 
 
 Being the youngest son in his father's family, 
 Newton J. Mathis remained under the parental 
 roof during his boyhood and youth and acquired 
 a good practical education in the common schools 
 of the neighborhood. After reaching man's estate 
 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the 
 old homestead, upon which he still resides. All 
 of the buildings and improvements found thereon 
 are first class and have been put there by our 
 subject. As time has passed he has added to his 
 property and is now the owner of an excellent 
 
 farm of two hundred acres where he resides, and 
 also has eighty acres one mile north, one hundred 
 and sixty acres near Magnolia, and one hundred 
 and sixty acres in South Dakota. For twenty 
 years he has devoted considerable attention to the 
 feeding of cattle, but not on a very extensive 
 scale. In all his undertakings he has met with 
 marked success and is accounted one of the most 
 enterprising and progressive farmers of his com- 
 munity. 
 
 It was on the 23d of September, 1858, that Mr. 
 Mathis was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
 Jane Seybold, a native of Knox county, Illinois, 
 and five children bless their union, namely: Wil- 
 liam Leslie, who married Ora Norris and died 
 November 23, 1906; George E., who died at the 
 age of two years; Edward A., who wedded Mary 
 Hiltebrand and resides in Magnolia; James N., 
 who died at the age of twelve years; and Vernon, 
 who is still at home with his parents. He is a 
 graduate of the Magnolia schools and now aids 
 his father in the operation of the home farm. 
 
 Mr. Mathis and his wife hold membership in 
 the Methodist Episcopal church and stand high in 
 public regard. He votes with the republican party, 
 and for the long period of thirty years has effi- 
 ciently served as school director, but has never 
 sought or desired to hold other office. His wife 
 is well known as a splendid cook and excellent 
 housekeeper, and the many friends of the family 
 are always sure to find a hearty welcome at their 
 hospitable door. 
 
 WILLIAM LEMUEL BALL. 
 
 Throughout life this gentleman was identified 
 with the agricultural interests of Marshall county 
 and won a place among the prosperous and well- 
 to-do farmers of the community in which he made 
 his home. He was born in Lacon on the 19th of 
 November, 1848, and was a son of Jonas L. and 
 Elizabeth C. (Fetter) Ball. For many years the 
 father was engaged in general merchandising in 
 Lacon, but when our subject was twelve years of 
 age removed to a farm in Belle Plain township, 
 on which he engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 throughout the greater part of his life. He died 
 on the 7th of April, 1888, honored and respected 
 by all who knew him. 
 
 During his boyhood and youth William L. Ball 
 pursued his studies in the public schools of Mar- 
 shall county, being a student in the schools of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 393 
 
 Wenona for a time, but he completed his education 
 at Eureka College, which he attended for several 
 years. On starting out upon his business career 
 he engaged in clerking in a drug store in Lacon 
 and afterward read medicine, but at the end of a 
 year decided to abandon that profession and 
 turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
 After his marriage he located on a farm of two 
 hundred acres given him by his father, which at 
 that time was improved, but to its cultivation 
 and further development he turned his attention, 
 finally transforming it into one of the finest farms 
 of Bennington township. 
 
 Mr. Ball was married February 22, 1871, to 
 Miss Euth A. Stratton, a native of Vanderburg 
 county, Indiana, born August 10, 1848, and a 
 daughter of James and Marcia (Chalcraft) Strat- 
 ton. Four children blessed the union of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ball, who in order of birth were as follows : 
 Gertrude, born on the home farm January 3, 1872, 
 was married on the 21st of November, 1894, to 
 Roscoe Bayne, D. D., at Henry. Cora E., born 
 September" 13, 1873, is now the wife of H. H. 
 Beckwith, who is operating the old home farm, 
 and they have one child, Harold, born September 
 26, 1903. Frank D., born November 5, 1875, 
 now conducting a livery stable in Toluca, married 
 Miss Nellie Mathis, daughter of the postmaster at 
 that place, and they have three children, Ruth 
 Irene, James William and Floyd Raymond. Wi l 
 Ham J., born August 24, 1881, died on the 20th 
 of April, 1902. The children were given good 
 educational privileges, Cora having attended the 
 normal college and also Eureka College, while 
 Frank was for two years a student in Eureka Col- 
 lege and afterward pursued his studies for one 
 year at Galesburg. 
 
 Mr. Ball was recognized as one of the most en- 
 terprising and progressive men of his community, 
 and was called upon to take an active part in 
 public affairs. At the time of his death, which 
 occurred on his farm in Bennington township, 
 August 12, 1884, he was filling the position of 
 vice president of the Wenona Union Fair Asso- 
 ciation and had for several years been actively 
 identified with its prosperity. At an early age he 
 united with the Christian church, to which his 
 wife and family also belong, and throughout life 
 gave a liberal support to all -measures which he 
 believed would prove of public benefit or would 
 advance the moral and material welfare of his 
 
 native county. By his ballot he always supported 
 the men and measures of the democratic party, 
 and was honored with several local offices, serving 
 many years as supervisor of Bennington township, 
 and was chairman of the board for four years, 
 being one of the leading members of the board at 
 the time of his death. He was several times 
 spoken of as a candidate for the legislature, and 
 had he lived would undoubtedly have been nom- 
 inated and elected. After a useful and well spent 
 life of forty years he passed away, honored and 
 respected by all who knew him, and in his death 
 the community realized that it had lost a valued 
 citizen. 
 
 CLEMENT W. RANSOM. 
 
 Clement W. Ransom is a young man of good 
 business ability, who is now successfully conduct- 
 ing general agricultural pursuits upon a farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres in Henry township. 
 His birth occurred on Christmas day of 1876 in 
 Magnolia township, Putnam county, Illinois, and 
 he is a son of Benjamin F. and Augusta (Shields) 
 Ransom. Both are representatives of old families 
 of the state, having been born in Putnam county, 
 the father on the 29th of January, 1857, and the 
 mother on the 27th of February, 1857, and there 
 they still reside. The father devotes his time and 
 energies to general farming and the live-stock 
 business. Fraternally he is a member of Marshall 
 lodge, No. 63, I. 0. 0. F. In his family were 
 ten children, and with one exception all are yet 
 living. The record is as follows : Clement W. is 
 the oldest. James C., born December 30, 1878, 
 follows farming on the Peter Schmitt farm in 
 Henry township, Marshall county, and is also a 
 member of Marshall lodge, No. 63, I. 0. 0. F. 
 He wedded Miss Myrtle Smith, by whom he has 
 one son, Eugene. Roy F., born December 13, 
 1880, is carrying on agricultural pursuits upon 
 the farm generally known as the Dry Hollow 
 farm, in Putnam county. He married Miss Min- 
 nie Smith and they have one child, Lawrence. 
 Edna B., born February 12, 1883, is the wife 
 of Chauncey Peters, of Whitefield township, by 
 whom she has two children, Benjamin and Nellie. 
 Mabel S., born March 3, 1885, Bertha M., born 
 February 22, 1889, and Irl B., born May 1, 189, 
 are all at home. Myrtle is deceased. Henry W., 
 born May 15, 1896, and Guy C., born September 
 7, 1901, are also at home with their parents. 
 
 Clement W. Ransom acquired his education in
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND P1TXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 the district schools of La Salle county and was 
 reared to the work of the farm, assisting his father 
 through the period of his boyhood and youth. He 
 has desired no other occupation and is now giving 
 his time and energies to the operation of a farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres belonging to Mrs. 
 James Giltner. The entire place is under cultiva- 
 tion and responds readily to the care and labor 
 he bestows upon the fields, so that he is now 
 conducting a prosperous business, meeting with a 
 measure of success that many an older man might 
 well envy. 
 
 In 1899 Mr. Ransom was united in marriage 
 to Miss Grace MeBride, a daughter of Michael 
 McBride, of Henry. This union was blessed with 
 three children: Marjorie, who died in infancy; 
 Mildred, three and a half years of age ; and Clara, 
 deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ransom hold membership 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in the 
 community where they reside they have a large 
 circle of warm friends. Mr. Ransom belongs to 
 Marshall lodge, No. 63, I. 0. 0. F., and he gives 
 his political support to the democracy, having ad- 
 vocated its cause since age conferred upon him 
 the right of franchise. 
 
 JASPER CECIL. 
 
 Jasper Cecil, the present efficient sheriff of Put- 
 nam county, and a representative of the industrial 
 interests of Hennepin, where for many years he 
 has engaged in blacksmi thing, was born here on 
 the 22d of October, 1843. His father, Isaac Cecil 
 was a native of Pennsylvania, born April 16, 1807, 
 and in 1835 he came to Hennepin, where he estab- 
 lished a shop and engaged in blacksmithing. He 
 was an expert workman at any kind of iron work 
 and for years was the leading blacksmith of this 
 part of the county. He was also a crack shot with 
 the rifle and could hit a turkey in the head at 
 each shot, though he often missed one intention- 
 ally in order to prevent him from being barred 
 from the shooting contests. He was a very tem- 
 perate man in all his habits, never using liquor 
 nor tobacco in any form nor using profane lan- 
 guage. Well developed both physically and men- 
 tally, there was not an ounce of superfluous flesh 
 on him, though he weighed two hundred and ten 
 pounds. His great strength made him alwayc 
 captain of a gang at log rollings in the early day? 
 and it is said that he could shoulder a log twelve 
 feet long and a foot thick. In his later years, how- 
 
 ever, the effects of the hard work which he did in 
 earlier life were evident. He resided almost con- 
 tinuously in Hennepin from the time of his ar- 
 rival in Illinois until his death, save for the period 
 between the years 184!* and 1862, which he spent 
 in Peru, Illinois, where he was engaged in black- 
 smithing. In the latter year he returned to Henne- 
 pin, where he continued to reside until called 
 to his final rest on the loth of July, 1871. His 
 political allegiance was given to the democracy 
 but he never aspired to nor held office. 
 
 Isaac Cecil was twice married, his first wife 
 being killed by lightning in Hennepin. On the 
 20th of November, 1842, he wedded Amanda 
 Zenor, who was born February 27, 1823, and 
 passed away February 10, 1895. They became the 
 parents of eight children, of whom four died in 
 infancy, the others being Jasper Stephen, who 
 was born September 21, 1854, and is now working 
 in the car shops at Plattsmouth, Nebraska ; Isaac, 
 who was born September 17, 1857, and is a boiler- 
 maker at Plattsmouth; and Anna, who was born 
 October 15, 1864, and is now the wife of Virgil 
 Mullis, of Plattsmouth. 
 
 Jasper Cecil, reared under the parental roof, 
 spent his early life in Hennepin and in Peru, re- 
 turning to the latter city in 1862 when in his 
 eighteenth year. He has since made his home 
 here. His education was acquired in the public 
 schools and he learned the blacksmith's trade un- 
 der the direction of his father, since which time 
 he has followed that pursuit, becoming an expert 
 workman. He has lived a life of industry and 
 enterprise and whatever success he has achieved is 
 attributable entirely to his own efforts. Never 
 ambitious to attain wealth he has, however, pro- 
 vided a comfortable living for his family and has 
 taken time to enjoy life and its social relations. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Cecil was married to Miss Jennie 
 Mullin, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Joseph 
 Mullin, one of the early settlers of Putnam county. 
 They now have a beautiful home in the southern 
 part of the city which was erected by Mr. Cecil 
 and is always kept in a state of good repair, be- 
 ing one of the attractive residences here. Two 
 children have been born of this marriage: Mar- 
 zella, who is the widow of F. B. Neal and lived 
 in Peoria until her husband's death, May 19, 
 1906, but is now making her home in Hennepin : 
 and Florence, now the wife of John P. Church, 
 proprietor of the Cecil Hotel of Hennepin, by
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 397 
 
 whom she has two interesting children, Cecil and 
 Jennie. 
 
 Mr. Cecil is regarded as one of the prominent 
 representatives of the republican party in Henne- 
 pin. He served for several years on the village 
 board and always worked faithfully and inde- 
 fatigably for improvements which have benefited 
 the city. He was a member of the board at the 
 time the artesian well was dug and was termed 
 the father of the project, so zealously did he labor 
 for its adoption. He served for the second year 
 as president of the board, a place which he filled 
 with credit to himself and satisfaction to his con- 
 stituents. In the fall of 1906 he was the candi- 
 date for county sheriff on the republican ticket 
 and was elected by a large majority. He deserves 
 this honor at the hands of his fellow citizens, 
 for he has always been most loyal to the public 
 good and has contributed in substantial measure 
 to the improvement and progress of the county. 
 
 JAMES N. BENNINGTON. 
 In pioneer times a resident of this portion of 
 Illinois, James N. Bennington has been an inter- 
 ested witness of the progress that has been carried 
 forward by the pioneer settlers and the later resi- 
 dents of the county and at all times has borne his 
 full share in the work of general improvement and 
 advancement. He has intimate knowledge of events 
 which have shaped the history of the county, and 
 his memory constitutes a connecting link between 
 the primitive past and the progressive present. 
 His life record therefore cannot fail to prove a 
 source of interest to our readers, many of whom 
 he claims among his friends. Born in what is 
 now Peoria county, between Peoria and Washing- 
 ton, Illinois, his natal day was September 22, 
 1831. His father, Thomas Bennington, was born 
 August 22, 1803, in Boone county, Kentucky, near 
 Big Bone lake. He became a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, and, removing to Illinois in pioneer times, he 
 lived for a period in Peoria county and afterward 
 took up his abode in a pioneer cabin which stood 
 upon the farm which is now the home and prop- 
 erty of his son James. Here he owned two hun- 
 dred and forty acres of good land, which he con- 
 verted into productive fields through methods 
 which showed him to be one of the progressive 
 farmers of his day. His political support was 
 given to the republican party at the polls, but he 
 was not an active politician as regards office seek- 
 
 ing. His religious faith was indicated by his 
 membership in the Christian church. In early 
 manhood he wedded Cynthia Mason, who was born 
 December 11, 1807. She too was a member of the 
 Christian church. Their marriage, which was cel- 
 ebrated March 5, 1829, was blessed with ten chil- 
 dren. Parthena B., who was born February 6, 
 1830, and is now deceased; James, of this review; 
 Nancy Jane, who was born March 22, 1834, and 
 has passed away; Margaret, who was born June 
 22, 1836, and is deceased; John F., who was born 
 December 27, 1834, and has departed this life, 
 William, born November 7, 1840; Cynthia Ann, 
 born May 2, 1842, and is now deceased; Louisa; 
 Mary, who died in Portland, Oregon ; and Martha, 
 who completed the family. 
 
 James N. Bennington spent his childhood days 
 upon a farm in the same locality in which he now 
 lives, having been brought by his parents to Put- 
 nam county in his early childhood days. He pur- 
 sued his education in the Belle Plain district 
 school, conning his lessons while seated upon a slab 
 bench in a log schoolhouse. He now has in his pos- 
 session one of the slabs which was used in the stick 
 chimney and which is a mute reminder of the 
 early days and the methods of instruction whicn 
 were followed in that early schoolroom. In his 
 youth he broke many acres of wild prairie and 
 performed other arduous work in connection with 
 the development of a new farm. There were many 
 deer in the county and wolves were quite numerous 
 in his boyhood days. He remained under the 
 parental roof up to the time of his marriage. Dur- 
 ing the Civil war he was drafted for service and 
 went to Peoria in 1862, but it was not necessary 
 that he should go to the front. Throughout his 
 entire business career he has carried on general 
 agricultural pursuits, and is now the owner of 
 two hundred and eighty acres in Bennington and 
 Belle Plain townships. His home is a beautiful 
 residence situated at the western boundary ol a 
 little village called Belle Plain. 
 
 On the 6th of May, 1858, occurred the mar- 
 riage of James N. Bennington and Miss Amanda 
 Hollenback, who was born in Ohio, June 13, 1838, 
 a daughter of Harrison and Margaret Hollenback. 
 Her father lost his life at the hand of an as- 
 sassin in 1847. Her mother, who was born in 
 Perry county, Ohio, November 26, 1815, died at 
 Dana, Illinois, July 10, 1895. She became the 
 wife, of Harrison Hollenback March 31, 1835,
 
 PAST AND 1'KKSKXT OF MARSHALL AXD PCTXAM COrXTIKS. 
 
 and removing to Illinois, located in Woodf ord 
 county near the town of Belle Plain. In the 
 family were five children: Mrs. Mary Weaver, 
 who died in 1864; Mrs. Amanda Bennington; 
 Daniel; Samuel, who died in 1878; and Mrs. 
 Rebecca Rickey. The mother, Mrs. Hollenback, 
 spent the last twenty years of her life in Roanoke, 
 Illinois. She was for many years a devoted mem- 
 ber of the Methodist church and an earnest Chris- 
 tion woman, while her good traits of heart and 
 mind endeared her to all with whom she came 
 in contact. 
 
 The home of Mr. and Mrs. Bennington has been 
 blessed with two sons and three daughters. Sam- 
 uel F., the eldest, born March 22, 1859, is now 
 engaged in farming in Bennington township. He 
 wedded Maggie Nelson and they have five chil- 
 dren, two sons and three daughters. Flora E. 
 Benson, born August 29, 1861, is the wife of C. 
 M. McChesney, who is living near Packwood, 
 Iowa. Mary S., born December 6, 1865, is the 
 wife of Arthur Hayden, a resident of Jacksonville, 
 Illinois. James F., born May 7, 1868, died No- 
 vember 23, 1871. Ida, born April 20, 1870, is 
 the wife of C. A. Burnham, living in Ashton, Lee 
 county, Illinois. The parents are a most estimable 
 couple, having the warm regard and admiration 
 of all who know them. They are members of the 
 Christian church and their lives are in harmony 
 with its teachings. Considerate of the rights and 
 privileges of others, of kindly spirit and generous 
 disposition, they have gained the confidence and 
 good will of all with whom they have been asso- 
 ciated. Mr. Bennington is a republican in his 
 political views but has never been an office seeker, 
 preferring to concentrate his energies upon his 
 business affairs, which have been well directed 
 and have brought him a goodly measure of use- 
 cess. 
 
 JOHN TURNBULL. 
 
 John Turnbull, a representative of the agricul- 
 tural interests of La Prairie township, his farm 
 comprising two hundred and ninety-three acres of 
 well improved land on section 21, was born in 
 this township in 1861 and is a son of Robert and 
 Mary (Smith) Turnbull, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this volume. Upon the old home 
 farm John Turnbull was reared and the district 
 schools afforded him his early education, which 
 was supplemented by a course of study in Brown's 
 
 College at Peoria. Ho entered business 
 life on his own account in 1884 and has always 
 engaged in general agricultural pursuits and stock- 
 raising. That he has prospered is indicated by 
 the fact that he is now the owner of two hundred 
 and ninety-three acres of well improved land. 
 Upon his place are good buildings that in turn 
 are surrounded by richly tilled fields, and every- 
 thing about the farm is indicative of the spirit of 
 thrift and enterprise displayed by the owner, who 
 not only carefully cultivates his fields, but is also 
 a successful breeder of full blooded Hereford cat- 
 tle, having at the head of his herd a fine bull, 
 Soldier Boy, which he purchased of Gudgell & 
 Simpson, of Independence, Missouri, and which 
 bears the register number 228527. Mr. Turnbull 
 makes a specialty of the business of feeding cattle 
 and hogs, and always has fine stock upon his place, 
 for which he secured a ready sale on the market. 
 He is likewise president of the Mutual Fire In- 
 surance Company of La Prairie township. 
 
 On September 9, 1886, in Lacon, Illinois, oc- 
 curred the marriage of Mr. Turnbull and Miss 
 Clara Noel, who was born in Ogle county, Illinois, 
 July 21, 1863, and was educated in Mount Morris 
 College. She is a daughter of M. F. Noel, whose 
 birth occurred in Adams county, Pennsylvania, 
 in 1834. He was a shoemaker by trade and in 
 1855, when a young man of twenty-one years, 
 came to Illinois. In his political views he was 
 a democrat. He married Margaret Householder, 
 who was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 
 1837, and who came to Illinois in 1845,- her edu- 
 cation being largely acquired in Ogle county. In 
 1856 she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Noel 
 and in 1881 they removed to Marshall county, 
 settling at Lacon, where he engaged in the shoe 
 business. In their family were four children: 
 Mrs. M. M. Mallery, of Pontiac, Illinois; Mrs. 
 Nettie Cleveland, who is living in Aurora, Illi- 
 nois; John, a resident of Lacon; and Mrs. Turn- 
 bull. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull began their domestic 
 life upon a farm and have always been interested 
 in general agricultural pursuits. Their home has 
 been blessed with three children : Robert N., An- 
 drew and Lawrence, all of whom are under the 
 parental roof. Mrs. Turnbull is a member of the 
 United Presbyterian church and is a most estima- 
 ble lady, possessing many good traits of heart and 
 mind. Mr. Turnbull votes with the republican
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 party and has served as assessor for two years and 
 filled other local offices. He, too, is a member of 
 the United Presbyterian church and his influence 
 is ever given on the side of right, progress and 
 improvement. Having always lived in this part 
 of the state, he is widely known and his salient 
 characteristics are such as have gained him rank 
 with the worthy, influential and prosperous resi- 
 dents of La Prairie township. 
 
 JOHN E. MONAHAN. 
 
 John E. Monahan, who throughout his entire 
 life has followed the occupation of farming and 
 now owns and operates the old family homestead 
 comprising two hundred and ninety-two and a half 
 acres of land in Belle Plain township, Marshall 
 county, was born in 1870. His father, Edward 
 Monahan, was a native of Ireland and when a 
 young man crossed the Atlantic to the new world, 
 hoping that he might provide a better home in 
 this country than he could secure on the Emerald 
 isle. He came alone and worked first for John 
 Wire, while later he took up his abode in Belle 
 Plain township and eventually became the owner 
 of four hundred and twenty-seven acres of valu- 
 able land, on which he carried on general farm- 
 ing and stock-raising. His political allegiance 
 was given to the democracy and he was a com- 
 municant of the Catholic church. His wife, Mrs. 
 Bridget Monahan, was also a native of the Em- 
 erald isle and came to America with her parents, 
 who settled in Lacon, Illinois, and soon afterward 
 located on Crow creek, Riehland township. She 
 too was a communicant of the Catholic church. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Monahan were born eleven 
 children: Mary, who is now the wife of James 
 Donley and resides in Bureau county; Anna, who 
 is acting as housekeeper for her brother John; 
 Charles, who wedded Mary Welsh and is living 
 at Minonk ; Katie, who married John Schaell ; 
 John E., of this review; Martin, who has passed 
 away; Ella, the wife of William Manley of Min- 
 onk; Lizzie, the wife of John Mertall, who is liv- 
 ing in Bureau county; Tressie, the wife of Ed 
 Harney, of Bradford, Illinois; Rosa, who is a 
 school teacher and makes her home with her 
 brother John; and Veronica, who is a milliner. 
 
 John E. Monahan spent his childhood days 
 where he now resides and aided more and more 
 largely in the work of the fields as his age and 
 strength permitted. He attended the Sulphur 
 
 Springs school through the winter months when 
 the work of the farm was practically over for the 
 year and in the summer seasons aided in the task 
 of plowing, planting and harvesting. He has 
 always continued upon the old homestead, which 
 he yet owns and which comprises two hundred and 
 ninety-two and a half acres of land. His political 
 allegiance is given to the democracy and he keeps 
 well informed on the questions and issues of the 
 day, although he never seeks or desires office. He 
 is a very devout member of the Catholic church, 
 contributes generously to its support and rejoices 
 in its growth and progress. In his business affairs 
 he shows keen discrimination and thorough un- 
 derstanding of the work to which he gives his 
 time and energies and has a well improved farm 
 property which shows in its splendid appearance 
 the care and labor which has been bestowed upon 
 it for many years. 
 
 PETER WEST. 
 
 Peter West, who owns a half interest in valu- 
 able land holdings aggregating six hundred and 
 fifty-eight acres, is located on section 11, Lacon 
 township, and is there carefully conducting his 
 farming interests. He was born near Spring Bay, 
 Woodford county, Illinois, in 1885. His father, 
 James West, was born in Illinois in 1868 and 
 made his home on the farm now owned and occu- 
 pied by our subject and which was formerly the 
 property of Nicholas Snyder, the maternal grand- 
 father of Peter West. The father and mother 
 of the latter both died prior to the death of Nich- 
 olas Snyder and when the grandfather passed 
 away he left his farm to his two grandsons, Peter 
 and Willie West, the latter being a minor. Mr. 
 Snyder was born in 1837 and died in 1900. He 
 was a very active, enterprising and prosperous man 
 and at his death he owned nineteen hundred acres 
 of valuable land beside property in Spring Bay, 
 Illinois, comprising several lots and houses. He 
 had two children: Mrs. Anna West and Emma 
 Snyder. The elder was born at Spring Bay in 
 1869 and died on the 28th of May, 1895, leaving 
 three children : Mrs. Emma Thompson, whose 
 husband is engaged in farming in Lacon town- 
 ship, Marshall county ; Peter ; and Willie. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of Peter West 
 we present to our readers the life record of one 
 of the most enterprising young farmers of the
 
 400 
 
 PAST AND TRKSFAT OF MARSHALL AND PUTXAM COUXTlKri. 
 
 county. He acquired his education at the South 
 Lacon school and in 1901 began farming on his 
 own account, operating the land which was left 
 to him and his brother by their grandfather. 
 The place comprises six hundred and fifty-eight 
 acres and is very valuable and productive, so that 
 Mr. West is very comfortably situated in life. 
 On the 5th of May, 1901, he wedded Miss Stella 
 Dalrymple, who was born in Marshall county, Illi- 
 nois, in 1884, a daughter of Charles Dalrymple, 
 a farmer of Hopewell township. Their children 
 are Pearley and Howard. Mr. West votes with 
 the democracy, but does not seek nor desire pub- 
 lic office, preferring to concentrate his energies 
 upon his business affairs, which he is now capably 
 conducting and which claim his entire time and 
 attention. 
 
 DAVID E. BLACKWELL. 
 The farming interests, which are the chief 
 source of revenue in Marshall county, as "well as 
 in other districts in Illinois, find a worthy repre- 
 sentative in David B. Blackwell, who owns and 
 operates an excellent tract of land on section 16, 
 Steuben township. He is one of the native sons 
 of Illinois and is imbued with the spirit of enter- 
 prise and progress which have been the dominant 
 factors in the substantial and rapid upbuilding 
 of the state. His birth occurred in Mount Ver- 
 non on the 3d of July, 1848. His father, the 
 Kev. David Blackwell, was born in Kentucky and 
 for many years devoted his life to the work of the 
 ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
 became a member of the Illinois conference and 
 at one time was pastor of the Methodist church 
 at Lacon. He died near Mount Vernon when 
 forty years of age, his son and namesake being 
 then but two weeks old. His wife bore the maiden 
 name of Lucinda Watkins and was born in Ohio. 
 Following her husband's death she and her two 
 children went to live with his brother's family 
 near Mount Vernon. Her elder son is William 
 B. Blackwell, now a minister of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. Mrs. Blackwell and her chil- 
 dren made their home with her husband's broth- 
 er's family for about four and a half years and 
 then removed to Marshall county, where she had 
 formerly resided. She afterward became the wife 
 of James Tanquary, who gave a home to the two 
 fatherless boys and bestowed upon them a father's 
 care and attention. The elder, William E, Black- 
 
 well, was graduated from Wesleyan University at 
 Bloomington, Illinois, and at the age of twenty- 
 eight began teaching the gospel as a minister of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, since which time 
 he has become well known in connection with 
 Christian work in northern Illinois. 
 
 David E. Blackwell was reared to manhood upon 
 the farm of his stepfather and attended school at 
 Bethel, completing his education, however, at 
 Sparland. He remained with Mr. Tanquary un- 
 til twenty-one years of age, when he began farm- 
 ing on his own account, spending one year near 
 Wenona. He then rented a farm near Pontiac, 
 Livingston county, where he resided for one year, 
 after which he went to Adair county, Iowa, but 
 on account of failing health returned to Illinois 
 and located in Steuben township upon his father- 
 in-law's place. He later purchased the property 
 and resided thereon for fourteen years, when he 
 sold out and bought the farm which is now his 
 place of residence on section 16, Steuben township. 
 Here he has one hundred and sixty acres of ex- 
 cellent farm land which yields to him large har- 
 vests in return for the care and labor he bestows 
 upon the fields. 
 
 On the llth of August, 1872, Mr. Blackwell was 
 united in marriage to Miss Eebecca Hoskins, who 
 was born in Steuben township, January 10, 1853, 
 and is a daughter of John and Eliza (Bonham) 
 Hoskins. Her father was a native of Pickaway 
 county, Ohio, and following his marriage, which 
 was celebrated there, he started for Illinois in 
 company with his wife's parents, Warford and 
 Eebecca (Mason) Bonham. The Bonhams settled 
 in Whitefield township, three miles north of Spar- 
 land, while Mr. Hoskins took up his abode in the 
 bottom land and later removed to the prairie. 
 He died in 1879, while his widow removed to 
 Iowa to be with her children and later to Ne- 
 braska, where her death occurred August 21, 1904, 
 at the advanced age of ninety-one years. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell have been born 
 eight children: William, born in 1873, who at- 
 tended the Western Normal College at Bushnell, 
 Illinois, in 1896 and for two years was a student 
 in the University of Wisconsin in the summer 
 sessions, afterward became a student in Morning- 
 side College at Sioux City, Iowa, graduated with 
 the degree of bachelor of philosophy in 1905. He 
 is at this writing, in 1906, a professor in the col- 
 lege at Lemars, Iowa. Edson, born in 1876, is
 
 PAST AND PKESBNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 401 
 
 now engaged in farming in Steuben township and 
 married Stella Suft. Lillian, born in 1878, is the 
 wife of Arthur Kehelenbach, a resident farmer of 
 Steuben township. Lucinda is the wife of Christie 
 Reynolds, of Denver, Colorado. Leslie, born in 
 1883, died in 1900. Holland, born in 1885, James 
 Quinn, in 1887, and Fred, in 1890, are all at 
 home. The family are members of the Bethel 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Black- 
 well has held office, while his political views are 
 in accord with the principles of the republican 
 party. Almost his entire life has been spent in 
 this portion of the state and he is one who, through 
 the natural advantages offered by Illinois and 
 through the utilization of its business opportuni- 
 ties, has worked his way upward and is now a 
 prosperous farmer with one hundred and sixty 
 acres of valuable land to show as proof of his life 
 of industry and thrift. 
 
 MATTHEW VAN PETTEN. 
 
 Matthew Van Petten is the owner of a beautiful 
 home in Washburn, together with fine farming 
 property situated on the boundary line between 
 Woodford and Marshall counties. For many years 
 he was actively associated with general agricultural 
 pursuits, but now, leaving the work of the farm 
 to others, is living retired, surrounded by many of 
 the comforts and luxuries that go to make life 
 worth living. His birth occurred in Cayuga 
 county, New York, August 5, 1846. His father, 
 Peter Van Petten, was also a native of the Em- 
 pire state and was a cabinet-maker and contractor. 
 Thinking to enjoy better business opportunities 
 in the middle west, he came to Illinois and in 
 1850 settled at Lawn Ridge, purchasing land in 
 Marshall county. He was for some years there- 
 after actively engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 but at length retired from active life and removed 
 to Kansas, spending his last days with his son 
 Solomon in Peabody, that state. His wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Naomi Rosette Van 
 Petten, died when her son Matthew was only six 
 months old. The father afterward wedded Martha 
 Van Auken, who died in Marshall county, Illinois. 
 There were eight children by the second marriage, 
 five sons and three daughters, namely: Solomon, 
 Veder, Robert, Seward, Floyd, Eleanor, Naomi 
 and Ruby. 
 
 Matthew Van Petten acquired his preliminary 
 education in the district schools and was after- 
 
 ward a student in the high schools of Toulon 
 and Lacon. He devoted twenty years of his life 
 to teaching and became widely recognized as a 
 most capable and successful educator, doing much 
 to promote the interests of public instruction in 
 this part of the state. He taught in Peoria, 
 Stark, Marshall and La Salle counties and also 
 in Kansas, imparting with clearness and readiness 
 to others the knowledge that he had acquired and 
 stimulating his pupils to put forth strong and 
 effective effort in mastering those branches of 
 learning which constitute a most excellent prepa- 
 ration for life's practical and responsible duties. 
 In 1876 he settled upon a farm in La Prairie 
 township, but has spent most of his life in Belle 
 Plain township. In 1880 he purchased an excel- 
 lent tract of land in the latter township and con- 
 tinued to engage' actively in farming thereon un- 
 til March, 1905, when he retired to his beautiful 
 home in Washburn, Illinois. He still owns two 
 excellent farms, comprising two hundred and 
 sixty-five acres of land in Belle Plain township, 
 lying on the boundary line between Woodford and 
 Marshall counties. He employs a man to take 
 charge of and operate these farms and he derives 
 therefrom a good income. 
 
 Mr. Van Petten was married on the 22d of 
 June, 1876, to Miss Lucy Remley, of Marshall 
 county, Illinois. They were married in Woodford 
 county, however, and they now occupy a most 
 beautiful residence in Washburn. It is the center 
 of a cultured society circle, as well as being one 
 of the most attractive homes of this part of the 
 county. Washburn is a most beautiful little town 
 of one thousand inhabitants, celebrated for its 
 lovely homes and its air of culture, and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Van Petten are accorded a leading social 
 position here. 
 
 Mr. Van Petten belongs to the Masonic fra- 
 ternity, having been initiated into the lodge at 
 Rutland, while he now affiliates with Washburn 
 lodge. His political allegiance is given to the re- 
 publican party and he keeps well informed on the 
 great questions which divide the two leading politi- 
 cal organizations. He has served as road commis- 
 sioner and assessor of Belle Plain township and 
 is now assessor of Richland township. He was 
 elected to this office on the republican ticket, al- 
 though the democracy is the stronger party in 
 this locality. This fact is certainly indicative of 
 his personal popularity and the confidence reposed
 
 4<V> 
 
 PAST AM) I'HKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 in him by his fellow townsmen. A gentleman of 
 strong mentality and broad general information, 
 he stands as a representative of a high type of 
 American manhood, continually broadening his 
 knowledge through reading and investigation and 
 looking at life from a humanitarian standpoint, 
 which tolerates not the sordidness of wealth and 
 yet delights in the culture and refining influences 
 which a competence may secure. Nature and 
 learning have vied in making him a genial, cul- 
 tured gentleman, who has a host of warm friends. 
 
 OTTO HALBLEIB. 
 
 Otto Halbleib, owning a farm of two hundred 
 and forty-two acres, situated on section 11, Henne- 
 pin township, was born in Bavaria, Germany, 
 October 11, 1828. His parents, Casper and Ann 
 Elizabeth (Kemp) Halbleib, emigrated from Ger- 
 many to the United States in 1837. Landing in 
 New York they made their way at once to Illinois, 
 going to Dorchester on the first steamer Pioneer 
 that plied on the Illinois river. From there they 
 drove across the country to Peru, this being previ- 
 ous to the era of railroad transportation. The 
 father entered a tract of land near Peru, and in 
 order to secure ready money with which to provide 
 for his family, he split rails during the winter, 
 and the year following their arrival in this state 
 he went to La Salle, where he secured work on the 
 construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal. 
 Returning to his home he passed away in August, 
 1838, so that he was not long permitted to enjoy 
 his new home in the United States. After the 
 father's death the mother was again married, her 
 second union being with Joseph Reginold, who 
 owned the farm which is the present home of our 
 subject. Here the mother passed away March 12, 
 1849. 
 
 After the death of his father Otto Halbleib re- 
 mained with his mother until after her marriage 
 to Mr. Reginold, when he went to work on a farm, 
 being employed by the month, and during the win- 
 ter seasons he attended the district schools, being 
 thus engaged until after he had attained his ma- 
 jority. Starting out in life on his own account he 
 first purchased a tract of forty acres of land, which 
 belonged to his step-father, and which is a part of 
 his present possessions. He engaged in general 
 agricultural pursuits, and, meeting with success 
 in his undertakings, was from time to time enabled 
 
 to add to his original purchase until he now owns 
 two hundred and forty-two acres. He has also 
 aided his sons in purchasing farms or establishing 
 themselves in business. In addition to his farm- 
 ing interests, Mr. Halbleib was also at one time 
 the owner of quite an extensive apiary but at the 
 present time has only fifty hives and soon expects 
 to abandon that pursuit. He has found this a 
 profitable source of income, for the products of his 
 apiary always find a ready sale on the market, 
 owing to the excellent quality. He has frequently 
 made exhibits of his honey at the various fairs, 
 where he has been awarded many premiums. He 
 has also grown apples to quite an extent and has 
 been instrumental in grafting and propagating 
 several fine varieties, and he has exhibited the 
 products of his orchard at different fairs where 
 he has received many premiums. His various pur- 
 suits have been carefully managed, so that his 
 labors have brought the best possible results, and 
 he is today numbered among the well-to-do citizens 
 of- Putnam county. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1852, Mr. Halbleib was 
 united in marriage to Miss Catherine Har- 
 tenbower, also a native of Germany, where her 
 birth occurred October 2, 1834. Her parents, 
 Christian and Catherine (Snyder) Hartenbower, 
 emigrated to the new world in 1838. The father 
 was a shoemaker by trade following that business 
 in his native land, and he continued his operations 
 along that line after his removal to this country. 
 The family remained in New York for a time and 
 later made their way to Putnam county, Illinois, 
 where both the father and mother passed away. 
 Unto our subject and his wife have been born 
 nine children, of whom one is now deceased : 
 Victoria, the eldest, has acted as housekeeper for 
 R. E. Hills, at Henry, for many years ; Adam, who 
 is a farmer of Magnolia township ; John, a farmer 
 of Hennepin township ; George, a resident of 
 Henry; Frank, who was drowned in the Illinois 
 river when he was twenty-three years of age ; Clara, 
 the wife of Eli Wright, a barber of Henry; Cas- 
 per, also of Henry; Annie, the wife of George 
 Theil, of Hennepin township; and William, who 
 is at home. 
 
 Mr. Halbleib was raised in the Catholic faith 
 but is not now identified with any denomination, 
 but is independent in his belief. He is independ- 
 ent in politics with democratic tendencies, but usu- 
 ally casts his vote for the men whom he thinks
 
 OTTO HALBLEIB.
 
 MRS. OTTO HALBLEIB.
 
 PAST AND PKESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 407 
 
 best qualified for office without regard to party 
 affiliation. He has served as school director for 
 many years but aside from this has never been 
 active in public office. He is one of the oldest 
 settlers in Putnam county and is thoroughly famil- 
 iar with the pioneer conditions which existed when 
 he first came to the state. He has aided in many 
 movements for the progress and upbuilding of his 
 county and has been especially interested in the 
 agricultural development of this section of the 
 state. He and his wife are' hale and hearty old 
 people and are duly classed with the highly re- 
 spected German citizens of this community. 
 
 JOHN MALONE. 
 
 The history of John Malone should find a place 
 upon the pages of the annals of Marshall county, 
 for his life record was at all times creditable and 
 honorable and proved that energy and diligence 
 may win success in this land where labor is not 
 hampered by caste or class. He was born in 
 County Down, Ireland, about fifty-four years ago 
 and lived on the Emerald isle until his eighth 
 year, when he went to Scotland. He acquired 
 his education in that country and continued a 
 resident of the land of hills and heather until 
 twenty-one years of age, when thinking that he 
 might have more advantageous opportunities in 
 the new world he sailed for the United States, go- 
 ing first to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where for 
 some time he worked in the mines. After a few 
 years, however, he came to Illinois and was em- 
 ployed in the mines on Spoon river. Later, in con- 
 nection with his brother Samuel, he purchased a 
 farm on section 30, Saratoga township, just north- 
 west of the present town of Camp Grove. His pa- 
 rents were Owen and Jane Malone. The father 
 continued a resident of Scotland until called to his 
 final home, and the mother afterward came to the 
 Unted States and had made her home with our 
 subject, but died at her daughter's, Mrs. John 
 King, in La Prairie. John Malone, with a clear 
 conception of the opportunities offered by the 
 new world, came to the United States and here 
 made steady progress in business life. 
 
 On the 3d of July, 1858, in Peoria, Mr. Malone 
 was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Mar- 
 shall, a native of Northumberland, England, and 
 a sister of Henry and Frank Marshall. In 1839 
 she came to America with her parents, Francis 
 and Jane (Wilson) Marshall, also natives of Eng- 
 
 land. The young couple began their domestic life 
 upon a farm which had been purchased by Mr. 
 Malone and his brother, but afterward sold that 
 property and purchased the present home place 
 on section 31, Saratoga township, comprising one 
 hundred and sixty acres, constituting a fine farm 
 about a mile from Camp Grove. The farm is now 
 being operated by two unmarried sons and the 
 mother makes her home with them, the property 
 being owned by her. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Malone 
 were born eleven children: Jane Elizabeth, the 
 eldest, is now the wife of G. A. Wolfe, a farmer 
 and stock-raiser of Page county, Iowa, who owns 
 several fine farms in that state. They have four 
 children : John, Leona, Eldon and Harry. Henry 
 Malone, who died about three years ago, left a 
 widow, who bore the maiden name of Willetta 
 King, and four children, Glenn, John, Harry and 
 Vera. William Francis, who married Ada Bocock, 
 is living upon his own farm in Saratoga township. 
 John is now operating the home farm and is joint 
 owner with Samuel Malone, Mrs. Eiel and Mrs. 
 Seley, his brother and sisters, of a sixty-six acre 
 farm near the old homestead. James, who is en- 
 gaged in farming west of Wyoming, Illinois, and 
 also practices veterinary surgery, married Sally 
 Hochstrasser and has one child, Vivian. Mary 
 Ann is the wife of John Doran of Peoria, and 
 has two children, Mary Celestine and Ellen Edna. 
 Samuel is also living on the old homestead. 
 Joseph, who follows farming four miles north of 
 the home place in Saratoga township, wedded 
 Mary Faulkner and has two children, John Farrel 
 and Addaline Elizabeth. Thomas, who is a me- 
 chanic and lives at Wyoming, Illinois, married 
 Carrie Faulkner and has two children, Irma and" 
 Pauline. Marguerite is the wife of a Mr. Seley, 
 a resident farmer of Saratoga township, and they 
 have one son, Kenneth. Lavina Isabelle is the 
 wife of Theodore Eiel of Wyoming, Illinois, and 
 they have two children, Frank and Vorris. 
 
 Mr. Malone was a man of prominence in Sara- 
 toga township. He possessed a kindly nature and 
 a friendly and genial disposition, which made him 
 popular and gained him many warm friends. He 
 was an enterprising farmer, a good husband and 
 father and his devotion to his family was so 
 marked that he considered no personal sacrifice 
 on his part too great if it would enhance the wel- 
 fare or happiness of his wife and children. He 
 held friendship inviolable and was ever faithful
 
 408 
 
 PAST AN' I.) PUKSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) Pl'TNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 to the trust that was reposed in him. His political 
 support was given to the democracy and lie was 
 a devoted and consistent member of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal church, in the faith of which he 
 passed away, his remains being interred in the 
 cemetery at Wyoming, Illinois. Mrs. Malone still 
 survives her husband and is a most intelligent 
 lady, who has done a mother's full part by her 
 family. She, too, has a large circle of warm 
 friends in this county and is much esteemed 
 wherever known. 
 
 OSCAE BKENNEMANN. 
 
 The world is largely indebted to the Teutonic 
 race, which has sent its sons into all parts of the 
 world, carrying with them the civilizing influences 
 which have been important elements for good citi- 
 zenship wherever found. Oscar Brennemann is a 
 representative of the fatherland, having been born 
 in Hesse-Darmstadt on the 6th of December, 1848. 
 He is now numbered among the energetic and 
 successful farmers of Hennepin township, his 
 home being on section 25. His parents were 
 Joseph and Elizabeth (Unsiker) Brennemann, 
 also natives of Germany. The father was born 
 in Hesse-Darmstadt, December 4, 1807, and died 
 in Putnam county, Illinois, in April, 1890, while 
 his wife was born August 4, 1816, and passed 
 away in the same county October 29, 1853. The 
 ancestry of the family, however, can be traced 
 back to a still more remote period, for Jacob 
 Brennemann, the grandfather of our subject, was 
 born in Germany in 1788. His father was one 
 of four brothers who were born in Switzerland. 
 One of them died when young, another settled in 
 Germany and the other was never heard from 
 afterward. 
 
 Joseph Brennemann, father of our subject, fol- 
 lowed the occupation of farming in his native 
 country, renting land which belonged to the gov- 
 ernment. About 1852 he came to America with 
 his family. Oscar Brennemann, who was then but 
 four years of age, remembers only one incident 
 about the voyage and that was seeing some large 
 fish, presumably porpoises, that followed the ship. 
 The voyage was made on a sailing vessel and con- 
 sumed thirty-two days. After landing at New 
 York the family went by rail to Chicago, thence 
 by canal and the Illinois river to Peoria and up 
 the river to Hennepin. Joseph Brennemann lo- 
 cated on a farm in Granville township, Putnam 
 
 county, north of the village of Granville, and al- 
 though he was in limited financial circumstances 
 at the time of his arrival, within three years he 
 had purchased three hundred acres of land. This 
 was nearly all covered with timber, although some 
 small buildings had been erected thereon. In later 
 years he replaced these by more modern, com- 
 modious and substantial buildings and he made his 
 home there until his death. As the years passed 
 he met with gratifying success through his per- 
 sistency of purpose and well directed labor and 
 at his death left an estate of more than six hun- 
 dred acres. He was frugal and honest, extremely 
 industrious, and was esteemed by all for his many 
 good qualities. Both he and his wife were Men- 
 nonites in religious faith. In his political views 
 he was a stalwart republican and voted for Abra- 
 ham Lincoln, and upon the assassination of Lin- 
 coln declared that he would never vote again and 
 never did. Unto him and his wife were born six 
 'children, of whom one died in infancy in Ger- 
 many. The others were : Eliza, the deceased wife 
 of Charles Buttefwick, a farmer residing in Hen- 
 nepin township, Putnam county; Bertha, the wife 
 of Theodore Holly, living near St. Paul, Minne- 
 sota ; Oscar, of this review ; Julius, who married 
 Emma Keinhart and is a stock dealer in Peru, 
 Illinois, while in Granville township he owns the 
 old home farm ; and an infant who was born and 
 died in this county. 
 
 Oscar Brennemann, brought to Illinois when 
 only about four years of age, spent his life on the 
 old home farm until he reached the age of twenty- 
 seven years, after which he was connected with 
 business interests in Peru for six years. He then 
 resumed agricultural pursuits and purchased one 
 hundred and eighty acres of land,, upon which he 
 now resides. He has since added to his property 
 until his holdings comprise three hundred and 
 twenty acres. He has upon the place first-class 
 buildings and his is one of the best farms in the 
 county. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Brennemann was married to Miss 
 Elizabeth Holly, who was born in Putnam county, 
 March 27, 1850, and is a daughter of Daniel Holly, 
 who was born in Germany in 1816 and came to 
 America in 1832, settling in Putnam county in 
 1848. He married Miss Helen Bender, also a 
 native of Germany, whence she came to the United 
 States on the same vessel with her husband. 
 Daniel Holly located on a farm in Granville town-
 
 PAST AM) 1MJKSKNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 409 
 
 ship, Putnam county, Illinois, and after some years 
 retired from business life, making his home in 
 Peru for two years. He passed away, however, at 
 the home of his daughter in La Salle county, 
 Illinois, when seventy years of age, and his wife 
 died in the same county at the age of eighty-six 
 years. Daniel Holly was a self-made man, his 
 prosperity being attributable entirely to his earn- 
 est labor and capable management. He "left an 
 estate embracing five hundred acres of valuable 
 farming land. His son, William Holly, is presi- 
 dent of the Peru Plow & Wheel Company at 
 Peru, Illinois, while the other members of the 
 Holly family are John, also a resident of Peru; 
 Theodore, a farmer of Minnesota; Gustaf, a 
 farmer of Nebraska ; Mary, the wife of Chris 
 Brennemann, of La Salle county ; and Elizabeth, 
 the wife of our subject. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Brennemann have 
 been born six children: Paul; George, at home; 
 Lillian, who is a graduate of the Knox Conserva- 
 tory of Music at Galesburg, Illinois; Erna, who 
 is a graduate of the De Kalb (Illinois) normal 
 school and is now teaching in Chicago Heights; 
 Daniel, at home; and Elsie, who is a student in 
 De Kalb normal. George and Daniel attended 
 school in Princeton for one year. There was one 
 child that died in infancy while living in Peru. 
 
 Oscar Brennemann has throughout the period 
 of his manhood carried on general farming and 
 is engaged quite extensively in feeding cattle. 
 He is now one of the more prosperous representa- 
 tives of agricultural life in Hennepin township 
 and his business interests have been most capably 
 conducted, showing his keen discernment and 
 judgment, which is rarely, if ever, at fault in 
 matters relating to agriculture. He has always 
 been a republican, but without aspiration for 
 office. He comes of a family which has a cred- 
 itable record and his lines of life have been cast 
 in harmony therewith. All who know him esteem 
 him and he has a wide acquaintance. 
 
 II. I. LITCHFIELD. 
 
 U. I. Litchfield, who follows farming in Ben- 
 nington township, is a native son of Marshall 
 county, his birth having occurred in that town- 
 ship May 24, 1864. His father, John Litchfield, 
 was born in Ciiinbridgi'sliire, England, in 1821 
 and was a son of Richard L. and Sarah Litchfield, 
 also natives of that count rv. In 1847 tin- .trraixl- 
 
 fathcr came to America at the age of eighty-seven 
 years, there being ten in the party, and located 
 on a farm in Indiana, where he spent his remain- 
 ing days. His wife, who was an earnest and con- 
 sistent member of the Baptist church, died at the 
 age of sixty-seven years. In his family were nine 
 children, all of whom came to America, with the 
 exception of the eldest daughter who spent her 
 entire life in England. 
 
 In the schools of his native country John Litch- 
 field acquired a limited education and at the age 
 of fifteen years came to the new world, being 
 thirteen weeks upon the water and landing on 
 New Year's day of 1837. The voyage was made 
 in a sailing vessel, the St. Lawrence, of an Ameri- 
 can line belonging to a company at Richmond, 
 Virginia. Mr. Litchfield first set foot on Ameri- 
 can soil at New Orleans and, proceeding up the 
 Mississippi river, settled in Indiana, where he 
 made his home until 1849, when he removed to 
 Macomb, McDonough county, Illinois, where for 
 two years he was engaged in teaming. It was in 
 1851 that he took up his residence in Bennington 
 township, Marshall county, where the year pre- 
 vious he had entered one hundred and sixty acres 
 of land. As time passed he prospered in his farm- 
 ing operations and became the owner of over three 
 hundred acres of land, two hundred acres of which 
 constitutes the old homestead. For the past six 
 years, however, he has made his home in Toluca, 
 where he is now practically living retired, enjoy- 
 ing a well earned rest. His political support is 
 given the men and measures of the democracy. 
 Near Evansville, Indiana, he was married in 1853 
 to Miss Emily Palmer, who was born in England 
 in 1832 and is still living. This worthy couple 
 are now the parents of ten children, 
 
 In early life R. I. Litchfield pursued his studies 
 in the Palmer school, which was named for his 
 maternal grandfather, and he early became fa- 
 miliar with all the duties that fall to the lot of 
 the agriculturist. In 1882 he commenced farming 
 on his own account on the old home place and 
 has since met with excellent success in his chosen 
 field of operation. For the past six years he has 
 operated the home farm, but in the meantime he 
 lived just across the road for some time, having 
 lived for five years upon a farm belonging to his 
 mother, which is now a part of the village of 
 Toluca. He next removed to Belle Plain town- 
 ship, where he lived on a place belonging to his
 
 410 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 father for six years and then returned to the old 
 homestead in Bennington township. In connec- 
 tion with farming he devoted considerable atten- 
 tion to stock-raising, making a specialty of polled 
 Durham cattle for the past ten years and has a 
 fine registered bull at the head of his herd. 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Litchfield married Miss Naomi 
 Stratton, who was born in Bennington township, 
 Marshall county, in 1868 and is a daughter of 
 James and Marcia Stratton, farming people of 
 that township. The parents were both born in 
 England and are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Litchfield have become the parents of six children, 
 namely: Emily M., who was born in 1889 and 
 is now attending normal school; Ray B., born in 
 1892; Ruth I., in 1894; Orville L., in 1896; 
 Esther, in 1900; and Mildred, in 1904. Mr. 
 Litchfield takes quite an active and influential 
 part in local politics and has been called upon to 
 serve as road commissioner for two years in Ben- 
 nington township and also two years in Belle Plain 
 township. He is an enterprising, wide-awake 
 business man of known reliability, and as a citizen 
 stands high in public regard. 
 
 ADAM W. SHRIVER. 
 
 Each community has its citizens who stand as 
 leaders in business life and in the upbuilding of 
 the community, and in Bradford Adam W. 
 Shriver is so classed. He was born in Greene 
 county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1866, and is 
 one of the four children of Adam B. and Malinda 
 (Dawson) Shriver, both of whom were natives of 
 the Keystone state, the mother's birth having oc- 
 curred in Greene county. The father, a farmer 
 by occupation, died when his son Adam was only 
 three months of age and was laid to rest in Greene 
 county, Pennsylvania. The mother, however, still 
 survives and is now living in Milo, Illinois. Of the 
 children three are living, Francis Marion, the 
 second member of the family, having died when 
 twelve years of age. The sisters of Mr. Shriver 
 are Mrs. Emma Johnson; and Mrs. Catherine 
 Hay, of Milo, with whom the mother is now re- 
 siding. 
 
 Adam W. Shriver was only one year old when 
 brought by his mother to Illinois and he com- 
 pleted his education by study in the schools of 
 Milo. When a youth of eighteen years he went 
 to Iowa and pursued a commercial course in the 
 
 C. H. Pierce business college of Keokuk. Fol- 
 lowing his graduation from that institution, 
 whereby he was well fitted for life's practical and 
 responsible duties, he returned to Milo, where 
 he conducted a general mercantile store for thir- 
 teen years, meeting with good success in the un- 
 dertaking. In 1902 he removed to Broadmoor, a 
 little place on the Chicago & Northwestern Rail- 
 road and the center of a fine farming district 
 and also a shipping point for grain and cattle. 
 He bought a tract of land here and erected a 
 splendid store building, two stories in height and 
 twenty-four by sixty feet. In it he carries a very 
 complete line of groceries and general merchan- 
 dise such as is in demand by the rural trade. He 
 also built a large store room in the rear of the 
 original block and he has a very large stock and 
 is enjoying a constantly increasing patronage. 
 His business methods are such as neither seek 
 nor require disguise and his straightforward 
 dealing and reasonable prices, combined with his 
 efforts to please his customers, constitute the 
 strong elements in his growing prosperity. Mr. 
 Shriver is also a lover of the horse and is one 
 of the stockholders and directors of the Bradford 
 Trotting Park Association, which owns a fine track 
 and grounds at Bradford and holds various suc- 
 cessful meets there. 
 
 Mr. Shriver was married October 19, 1891, to 
 Miss Sylvia Ada Sutherland, a daughter of Joseph 
 and Matilda Sutherland, now of Milo, Illinois, her 
 father being a prominent farmer of that locality. 
 Mr. Shriver votes with the democracy and has 
 been honored with a number of local offices. He 
 acted as town clerk in Milo for eleven years, was 
 school treasurer there for three years and has been 
 assessor of Saratoga township for two terms. He 
 also belongs to the Christian church. He is a man 
 of influence and standing in the community and 
 liis wife is an accomplished and popular lady, 
 while in social circles they occupy a very enviable 
 position. 
 
 HERMAN J. BASSLER. 
 Herman J. Bassler, superintendent of the public 
 schools of Wenona, is a native of Forsyth, Illinois, 
 born July 2, 1876, and is a son of John G. and 
 Emma J. (Cox) Bassler. The father was a native 
 of Stuttgart, of the province of Wurtemberg, Ger- 
 many, and came to the United States when fifteen 
 years of age. He was a farmer by occupation
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 411 
 
 and became a resident of Forsyth, Illinois, where 
 his last years were passed. His widow still sur- 
 vives him. In their family were seven children: 
 Louis D., Albert, Bessie, Ada, Herman J., and 
 Edgar and Edna, twins. 
 
 Herman J. Bassler was afforded liberal educa- 
 tional advantages, which he improved, manifesting 
 special aptitude in his studies. Subsequent to at- 
 tending the public schools he attended the Normal 
 University, from which he was graduated in the 
 class of 1902. Prior to this time he had engaged 
 in teaching for several terms in the country 
 schools and had demonstrated his ability to impart 
 readily, clearly and concisely to others the knowl- 
 edge that he had acquired. In September, 1902, 
 he came to Wenona to accept the principalship of 
 the high school, in which capacity he served for 
 two years, when he was elected superintendent of 
 the city schools, including the primary, grammar 
 and high schools. There are twelve grades in all. 
 including a four years' high school course, where- 
 by pupils are prepared for the university. There 
 are seven teachers and about two hundred and 
 twenty-five pupils. Professor Bassler is well fitted 
 for the responsible position which he fills and is 
 generally liked by the public, while his ability is 
 widely acknowledged in educational circles. He is 
 yet a young man and has attained a position which 
 is indeed creditable for one of his years. 
 
 On the 30th of November, 1905, Professor Bass- 
 ler was married to Miss Anna M. Hoge. They 
 are members of the Methodist church and ave 
 very prominent and popular socially in the circles 
 of society where true worth and intelligence are 
 accepted as passports. 
 
 LEWIS V. SMITH. 
 
 Lewis V. Smith, residing in Henry, was born 
 in Peoria county, Illinois, March 14, 1851, and 
 is a son of John T. and Anne (Bates) Smith. 
 The father was born in Frenchtown, New Jersey, 
 May 11, 1819, and in his youth accompanied his 
 parents on their removal to Bucks county, Penn- 
 sylvania, where he met and married Miss Bates, 
 who was born at Bristol, Bucks county, July 15, 
 1818. The wedding was celebrated October 9, 
 1838, and eight years later they removed with 
 their family to Brimfield, Peoria county, Illinois, 
 where they spent a decade and then came to Mar- 
 shall county. For twenty-one years Mr. Smith 
 
 owned and occupied a large farm on section 9, 
 Whitefield township, save that for a few years 
 he lived in Henry for the purpose of affording his 
 children better educational privileges. He was a 
 prosperous farmer, giving personal attention to 
 every detail of his work. In 1877 he sold his 
 place to his son-in-law, Thomas Monier, and re- 
 moved to Henry, where he practically lived re- 
 tired. In later years, however, he again invested 
 a portion of his means in farm lands and gave 
 his attention to the supervision of his property. 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith were long devoted and 
 faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, assisting earnestly in its work and doing 
 everything in their power to promote its growth 
 and upbuilding. 
 
 In their family were nine children : William 
 N., who is now living retired in Topeka, Kansas ; 
 Elwood, who was a prosperous farmer of White- 
 field township and is now deceased; Charles C., 
 who is living retired in Henry; Angeline, who 
 died at the age of eleven years; Arabella G., the 
 wife of John H. Clift, of Fairbury, Illinois; 
 Lewis, of this review ; Brooks, deceased ; Charlotta 
 S., the wife of Thomas Monier, of Henry; and 
 Jennie, the wife of Luke Gregory, of High Prai- 
 rie, Whitefield township. The death of the father 
 occurred December 3, 1893, while his wife sur- 
 vived until April 17, 1895, and thus passed away 
 two most worthy people who made the world better 
 by their having lived because of their Christian 
 influence and their good works. 
 
 Lewis V. Smith, of this review, pursued his 
 education in the schools of Marshall county, at- 
 tending first in Whitefield township and after- 
 ward in Henry. For twenty years he devoted his 
 life to general agricultural pursuits, purchasing a 
 farm in McLean county of one hundred acres 
 which he improved, bringing it under a high state 
 of cultivation. Removing to Henry in 1881, he 
 is now engaged in dealing in live stock and is a 
 prosperous business man of the town. 
 
 In 1873 occurred the marriage of Mr. Smith 
 and Miss Lizzie Duffield, formerly of Fulton 
 county, Illinois. Unto them have been born four 
 children: William T., who at the age of thirty- 
 two years is engaged in fanning in Henry town- 
 ship; Lea L., twenty-eight years of age, who is a 
 traveling salesman living in Peoria; and Pearl 
 V. and Ivan, aged respectively twenty-four and 
 eighteen years and both now at home.
 
 11-.' 
 
 PAST AM) I'RKSKXT OF MAUSFLU.L AND IMTXA.U COUNTIES. 
 
 Mr. Smith belongs to Henry lodge, No. 119, A. 
 P. & A. M., and has attained high rank in Ma- 
 sonry, being now connected with the Mystic 
 Shrine. He is a republican and for twelve years 
 has served as assessor of Henry. He has held va- 
 rious official positions in the township and county 
 and over the record of his public career and pri- 
 vate life there falls no shadow of wrong or sus- 
 picion of evil. He and his family are connected 
 with the Christian church and in Henry and 
 throughout the county wherever they are known 
 they have warm friends who hold them in the 
 highest regard. 
 
 CHARLES E. BARNARD. 
 
 Charles E. Barnard, who is meeting with suc- 
 cess in his undertakings as a farmer, his home 
 being a beautiful and commodious residence which 
 stands in the midst of a finely cultivated tract of 
 land of one hundred and sixty acres in Granville 
 township about two miles east of the village of 
 Granville, was born on a farm near Peru, Ver- 
 mont, September 28, 1822. He has therefore long 
 since passed the Psalmist's span of three score 
 years and ten, but posssesses the vigor and energy 
 of a man of much younger years and in spirit 
 and interest seems yet in his prime. His parents 
 were Benjamin and Hepson (Filbrook) Barnard 
 natives of Massachusetts. After their marriage 
 they removed to the Green Mountain state, where 
 the father purchased a farm, upon which he and 
 his wife spent their remaining days, the former 
 passing away at the age of eighty-one years, while 
 Mrs. Barnard died at the advanced age of ninety 
 years. 
 
 Charles E. Barnard of this review is the only 
 survivor of a family of nine children and is the 
 only one who ever came to Illinois. In his youth 
 he remained upon the old homestead and later he 
 cared for his parents until their deafh, operating 
 the old homestead farm in Vermont. He was mar- 
 ried in that state to Miss Harriet Holton, -who was 
 born in Vermont in October, 1824, and thus for 
 many years they have traveled life's journey to- 
 gether, sharing with each other its joys and sor- 
 rows, its adversity and prosperity. 
 
 Eight children had been born unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Barnard when in 1865 they left their old 
 home in New England and came to Putnam 
 county, Illinois, where Mr. Barnard purchased a 
 tract of land north of Granville. He there lived 
 
 for two years, after which he sold that property 
 and purchased one hundred and sixty acres, where 
 he now resides about two miles east of Granville. 
 This was an improved farm but he has since made 
 many changes and it is now equipped with all the 
 accessories and evidences of progress along agri- 
 cultural lines. In addition to the large and beau- 
 tiful residence which is standing in its midst there 
 are good barns and outbuildings for the shelter 
 of grain and stock, together with the latest im- 
 proved machinery to facilitate the work of the 
 fields. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barnard have been born nine 
 children, of whom seven are living: Mary, now 
 the wife of George Dunn, of Nebraska; Anna, the 
 wife of William Bowers, of Kentucky; Ella, the 
 wife of A. J. Robson, of Granville; Fred, who died 
 at the age of twenty-one years; Frank, who is 
 living upon a farm adjoining his father's place; 
 Hattie, the wife of E. B. Coulter, a resident of 
 Iowa; John, of Omaha, Nebraska; James, of 
 Hennepin township ; and Harriet, who died at the 
 age of four years. Mr. Barnard has given his 
 children excellent educational privileges and has 
 assisted his sons in piirchasing farms. 
 
 From the age of fourteen years he has been a 
 church member and is now identified with the 
 Congregational church in Granville. He is an in- 
 dependent republican, voting for the men whom 
 he thinks best qualified for office at local elections 
 nor has he ever aspired to political honors or 
 emoluments for himself. He has lived an upright 
 life characterized by activity and diligence in 
 business, by honor in his relations with his fel- 
 lowmen and by fidelity to a high standard of 
 conduct, and now in the evening of life he re- 
 ceives the respect and veneration of all with whom 
 he has been brought in contact. 
 
 DAVID D. OWEN. 
 
 No* history of Marshall county would be com- 
 ptete without mention of the various representa- 
 tives of the Owen family, for they have been 
 most closely associated with its development and 
 have been helpful factors in its upbuilding and 
 progress. David D. Owen was born April 26, 
 1837, on the farm which he still owns on section 
 9, Richland township, his parents being Timothy 
 and Jane (Dever) Owen. He was reared to farm 
 life and pursued a district school education. Hav-
 
 PAST AND I'ltHSKNT OF MARSHALL AND 1TTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 415 
 
 ing reached adult age he was married November 
 18, 1868, to Miss Emma L. Bequeaith, a native of 
 Tazewell county, Illinois, and a daughter of John 
 and Elizabeth (King) Bequeaith, both of whom 
 were natives of Ohio, the former born November 
 1, 1820, and the latter January 7, 1821. Her 
 parents removed from Ohio to Indiana at a very 
 early day and in 1832 came to Illinois, establish- 
 ing their home about four miles southwest of 
 Pekin, in Tazewell county, where they continued 
 to reside until 1881, when, retiring from the work 
 of the farm, the father purchased a home in Pekin, 
 where he resided until his death, on the 29th of 
 September, 1893. 
 
 Mrs. Owen was born March 11, 1851, and was 
 educated in the public schools of Pekin. At the 
 time of her marriage she went with her husband 
 to the farm upon which they resided until 1901, 
 when they removed to Lacon, where they now live. 
 Mr. Owen still owns the farm, which comprises 
 three hundred and twenty acres of rich and arable 
 land, constituting one of the best farm properties 
 of the locality. Mr. Owen also owns city real 
 estate in Chicago, while his wife has a beautiful 
 residence property on Buena Vista avenue in 
 Pekin and a farm of one hundred and twenty acres 
 about three and a half miles from that city. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. David D. Owen have been 
 born five children: Louis R., Jay J., Walter D. 
 and James K., all yet living, while Timothy D. 
 died in childhood. 
 
 Mr. Owen votes with the republican party, which 
 he supported in 1860 when Lincoln was first can- 
 didate for president, while in 1858 he also voted 
 for republican candidates for state and local offices. 
 He has held some local positions of political pre- 
 ferment and yet cannot be said to be a politician 
 in the sense of office seeking, preferring always to 
 concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, 
 wherein he has prospered as the years have 
 gone by. 
 
 WILLIAM SCHWARTZ. 
 
 William Schwartz, a prosperous and enterpris- 
 ing citizen of Belle Plain township, Marshall 
 county, where he owns a fine farm of two hundred 
 and twenty-five acres, is a native son of Illinois, 
 his birth having occurred in Peoria, Peoria county, 
 in 1854, and, as the name indicates, is of German 
 ancestry. His father, Henry Schwartz, was born 
 
 in the fatherland in 1824, being there reared and 
 educated. In 1845, when a young man of twenty- 
 one years, he crossed the Atlantic in a sailing 
 vessel bound for the United States, and at once 
 made his way to Peoria county, where he followed 
 farming for about ten years, after which he re- 
 moved to a farm west of Washburn, in Woodford 
 county, this state. He had formed the acquaint- 
 ance of Caroline Sandmyers in the old country, 
 where her birth occurred in 1826, and she likewise 
 made her way to the United States, locating in 
 Peoria county, where their acquaintance was re- 
 newed, and they were afterward married. They 
 were worthy pioneer people of that part of the 
 state, but both are now deceased, both dying in 
 1898, only three days apart, the father passing 
 away during the hour of the funeral service of 
 his wife. Their family numbered five sons and 
 one daughter, as follows: William, whose name 
 introduces this record; George, deceased; Mary, 
 the wife of John Kanive, living in Belle Plain 
 township; John, who makes his home with his 
 sister, Mrs. Kanive; Henry, a real-estate dealer 
 of Peoria ; and August, a resident of Williams- 
 field, Knox county, Illinois. The father was a 
 democrat in his- political views and both he and 
 his wife were devoted members of the German Re- 
 formed church, in the faith of which they died. 
 
 William Schwartz was reared in Peoria and 
 Woodford counties, and acquired his education 
 in the Garrison district school in the latter county. 
 He was early trained to the duties of the farm, 
 which fitted him to carry on business on his own 
 account, when he began life on his own respon- 
 sibility. He took up his abode in Marshall 
 county in the fall of 1890, at which time he lo- 
 cated in Belle Plain township, since which time 
 he has carried on general farming. That he has 
 prospered in his undertakings is indicated by the 
 fine farm of two hundred and twenty-five acres 
 which came into his possession three years ago, 
 and on which he has since made his home. 
 He has here made many valuable improvements 
 in the way of buildings and his farm is one of 
 the best country homes of Belle Plain township. 
 On his place are found all the equipments and 
 accessories necessary for the successful conduct 
 of farming interests, and Mr. Schwartz follows 
 only the most practical and modern methods in 
 the prosecution of his labors. 
 
 Mr. Schwartz chose as a companion and help-
 
 416 
 
 PAST AM) 1'KESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 mate for life's journey Miss Amelia Wagner, who 
 was born in Richland township, this county, a 
 daughter of John V. Wagner, and by her mar- 
 riage she has become the mother of five children, 
 all of whom are still under the parental roof, 
 namelv : John H., Dora Elizabeth, George 
 Walter, Raymond William and Ida Amelia. In 
 his political views Mr. Schwartz is a democrat 
 and has served as road commissioner of Richland 
 township, but aside from this has not been active 
 in public afiairs, preferring rather to give his 
 time and energies to his own private interests, 
 which claim his entire attention. He holds mem- 
 bership with the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 belonging to the camp at Washburn, and both 
 he and his wife are members of the German Re- 
 formed church. Mr. Schwartz gives hearty sup- 
 port to any movement or measure which he deems 
 will prove of benefit to his community and by his 
 careful management and well directed labors in 
 his business affairs he has accumulated, through 
 the able assistance of his estimable wife, a fine 
 farm property, and both are highly esteemed in 
 this part of Marshall county, where they enjoy 
 the hospitality of the best homes. 
 
 LEWIS R. OWEN. 
 
 Lewis R. Owen, a prominent representative of 
 the business interests of Lacon, was bom in this 
 county, October 2, 1869, a son of David D. Owen, 
 whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. 
 His early education was acquired in the public 
 schools of Dixon, Illinois, and he afterward at- 
 tended the Northwestern College there, in which 
 he studied music and harmony and also pursued 
 the commercial and literary courses. In early life 
 he engaged in farming south of Pekin, Illinois, 
 and subsequently removed to Moravia, Iowa, 
 where he remained for three years. On the ex- 
 piration of that period he returned to Marshall 
 county and settled in Lacon, where he purchased 
 a half interest in a grocery and hardware busi- 
 ness. In January, 1905, he became sole proprietor 
 and has since had entire charge, successfully 
 conducting the store, in which he carries a well 
 selected line of goods, meeting with a very de- 
 sirable patronage. 
 
 On the 27th of January, 1898, Lewis R. Owen 
 was married to Miss Dora Johnston, a daughter 
 of James H. and Sarah J. (Bott) Johnston, the 
 
 former a native of Woodford county, Kentucky, 
 and the latter of Salem, Roanoke county, Vir- 
 ginia. Mr. and Mrs. Owen now have two chil- 
 dren: Mildred M., born May 21, 1899; and Dale 
 D., December 7, 1901. 
 
 Mr. Owen is a republican in politics and frater- 
 nally is connected with Lacon lodge, No. 61, A. 
 F. & A. M. His wife belongs to the Methodist 
 church and is a member of its ladies' aid society, 
 while in other departments of the church activity 
 she takes a helpful interest. Both are highly 
 esteemed people, enjoying in large measure the 
 friendship of those with whom they have been 
 brought in contact. 
 
 JONAS T. BALL. 
 
 Jonas T. Ball, whose sterling worth of char- 
 acter has won him political honors, while his 
 business discernment and keen sagacity have 
 gained him a goodly measure of success in his 
 farming operations, is a native son of Marshall 
 county. He was born at JLacon, February 6, 1853. 
 "HTsTatherTJonas L. Ball, a "native "of Massachu- 
 setts, came from Hamilton, Ohio, to Marshall 
 county, Illinois, making the journey on horse- 
 back. He settled here at a pioneer epoch in the 
 history of the county, taking up his abode just 
 west of Toluca, where G. W. Thomas now resides 
 on a part of the old homestead. Mr. Ball be- 
 came a very extensive land owner, having at one 
 time fifteen hundred acres, bnt he divided his 
 property among his children, giving to each two 
 hundred acres when they attained their majority. 
 He ever utilized his opportunities to the best 
 advantage, was quick to recognize a chance for 
 good investment and moreover in his daily life 
 displayed a spirit of industry and capable man- 
 agement that constituted the strongest elements 
 in his success. His political views were in accord 
 with the principles of democracy and he was 
 one of the founders of the Antioch Christian 
 church, which was afterward removed to Toluca. 
 His land lay just west of Toluca about a half mile 
 and extended into Belle Plain township. For 
 four years he served as supervisor and his devo- 
 tion to the public good stood as an unques- 
 tioned fact in his life. He contributed to the ma- 
 terial, intellectual and moral progress of the com- 
 munity through his cooperation in affairs that had 
 direct bearing upon the welfare of the county
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 417 
 
 along those lines, and he passed away in 1888, re- 
 spected and honored by all who knew him. His 
 wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth C. 
 Fetter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1823 and 
 was a daughter of Dr. Fetter. She too held mem- 
 bership in the Christian church and was a most 
 estimable lady. In the family of this worthy 
 couple were seven children: Alice, who died in 
 infancy; William L., also deceased; Charles, who 
 died at the age of two years; Jonas T., of this re- 
 view ; John D. ; Gertrude, the wife of Sain Welty, 
 a lawyer of Bloom ington ; and George L., who was 
 drowned in Senachwine lake while in bathing on 
 a pleasure trip at the age of thirty-three years. 
 He left a wife and four children, the wife being 
 now Mrs. Maria E. Ball, who is educating her 
 children in Eureka. 
 
 /T5o~ T event of special importance occurred to 
 vary the routine of farm life for Jonas T. Ball 
 in his boyhood days. He acquired his early edu- 
 cation in the public schools and afterward had the 
 privilege of attending Eureka College at Eureka, 
 Illinois. He early became familiar with the task 
 of tilling the soil and cultivating the crops and 
 he began farming for himself in 1874 upon the 
 place where he yet resides. He has extensive land 
 interests and the fields are rich and productive, 
 owing to the care and labor which he bestows 
 upon them, his generous use of fertilizers and the 
 rotation of crops. He has upon his place the 
 latest improved farm machinery, together with 
 good buildings and other modern accessories and 
 equipments. 
 
 Mr. Ball was married in 1874 to Miss Mary E. 
 Beckwith, who was born in Magnolia, Illinois, in 
 1853, a daughter of Zera P. and Mary Ann 
 (Gay lord) Beckwith, who lived upon a farm near 
 Magnolia and afterward removed to Wenona, Illi- 
 nois, where their last days were passed. Mrs. 
 Ball is a member of the Christian church and is a 
 lady of many excellent traits of heart and mind. 
 The children of the household are: Edna G., 
 now the wife of Snow Van Netta, living at Chi- 
 cago Heights ; Gaylord, who has recently returned 
 from a trip to Europe; Chauncey P., at home; 
 Ralph T., who is attending school in Eureka, Illi- 
 nois: and Rollo D., who is a student in the schools 
 ill Chicago Heights. 
 
 Mr. Ball votes with the democracy and is recog- 
 nised as one of its local leaders, his opinions fre- 
 quently proving decisive factors in the councils 
 
 of the party. He has been assessor and super- 
 visor and has also represented his district in the 
 state legislature. Proving an able member of the 
 house, he took an active part in constructive legis- 
 lation and gave to each question which came up 
 for settlement his earnest and thoughtful con- 
 sideration. In the Masonic fraternity he has at- 
 tained the Knight Templar degree and he is also 
 connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. 
 In manner Mr. Ball is entirely free from ostenta- 
 tion and display, but his fellow townsmen recog- 
 nize his genuine worth and have delighted to 
 honor him with political office, while in private 
 life they entertain for him warm friendship. 
 
 GEORGE HENRY SHAW. 
 George Henry Shaw resides upon a fafm in 
 Roberts township but largely leaves the active 
 work of the fields to others, while he is enjoying 
 a well merited rest. He was born April 3, 1840, 
 in a log cabin which occupied the site 'of his 
 present fine brick residence on his farm in the 
 southwestern corner of the township. Hie father, 
 George Henry Shaw, was a native of Kentucky, 
 born about 1798. He there grew to manhood 
 and acquired a liberal education for that day, 
 being a fellow student of Buchanan. About 1828 
 he came to Illinois, making the journey on horse- 
 back to Marshall county, where he selected the 
 present farm of his son George. He then taught 
 school at Washington, Illinois, for a few terms, 
 after which he returned to his Kentucky home. 
 In 1831, however, he brought his family to Mar- 
 shall county and took up his residence upon the 
 farm which he had selected on first coming to 
 Illinois and which is now the home of George H. 
 Shaw of this review. He continued to carry on 
 farming throughout his active business career and 
 died in 1877, at the age of eighty years. On the 
 5th of August, 1828, he wedded Penelope R. Ed- 
 wards, also a native of Kentucky, in which state 
 the marriage was celebrated. Their first home in 
 this county was what was known as an open faced 
 tent, in which they lived for a short time, or until 
 the erection of a very substantial log cabin, which 
 was the family home until 1844, when Mr. Shaw 
 erected a brick residence. His wife died in May, 
 1840, during the infancy of their son George H., 
 and the father afterward married Emma Edwards, 
 who departed this life in 1871. By his first mar- 
 riage he had seven children : Stoughton, who was
 
 418 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 killed by falling from a tree in early manhood; 
 Elizabeth Ann, who is the widow of Dr. Henry 
 Tesmer and resides in Sparland, Illinois; Pene- 
 lope R., the deceased wife of Fielding Miles, of 
 Kansas; Thomas M. r who was judge of the cir- 
 cuit court of this district, but is now deceased; 
 Mary, the wife of H. D. Whitcomb, a resident of 
 Bloomington, Illinois; Almira, who died in in- 
 fancy; and George H., of this review. 
 
 During the first decade of the history of Mar- 
 shall county George Henry Shaw, the father, was 
 a prominent figure. He served as a private soldier 
 in the Black Hawk war and in the establishment 
 of the present school system he took a lively in- 
 terest and assisted in organizing many of the 
 school districts of the county. Politically he was 
 a democrat, with firm belief in the principles of 
 the party. For several years he served as su- 
 pervisor and also as collector of Roberts town- 
 ship. In religious belief he was a Universalist, 
 though never a member of the church. His house 
 was one of the early landmarks of the county and 
 was the temporary home of many of the early 
 settlers of this locality. Before coming to the 
 county he had learned surveying and his services 
 in this direction were often in demand. As a 
 pioneer settler he took a most active and helpful 
 part in laying the foundation for the present 
 progress and prosperity of the county and in 
 promoting the material, intellectual and moral 
 welfare of the community. 
 
 George H. Shaw, whose name introduces this 
 record, spent the days of his boyhood and youth 
 upon the old home farm which is still his home, 
 and he supplemented his preliminary education, 
 acquired in the district schools, by a year's study 
 in Lacon and as a pupil in Lombard College at 
 Galesburg, Illinois. He afterward engaged in 
 teaching in the district school near his home and 
 also in the district north and was a capable edu- 
 cator, imparting clearly and readily to others the 
 knowledge that he had acquired. After the out- 
 break of the Civil war, however, he put aside all 
 business and personal considerations and in 
 August, 1861, offered his services to the govern- 
 ment, enlisting as a member of Company I, Elev- 
 enth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain 
 Fort. He was appointed sergeant of the company, 
 which was raised in this locality and which joined 
 the regiment at Bird's Point, serving under Gen- 
 eral Grant and taking part in the battles of Fort 
 
 Donelson and of Shiloh. On the 10th of May, 
 1863, Mr. Shaw was promoted to the rank of sec- 
 ond lieutenant of his company and shortly after- 
 ward was in the battle of Champion Hills and 
 later in the siege of Vicksburg. The regiment was 
 then: sen-t to- the Yazoo river and Liverpool 
 Heights and Yazoo City encountered the enemy 
 in battle. The command also participated in va- 
 rious expeditions out from Vicksburg and was in 
 the Jackson, Mississippi, campaign, which in- 
 cluded several fights. Lieutenant Shaw was in 
 command of a force protecting a transport of two 
 boats in tow going to Duvall's Bluff. They 
 landed at night and were fired upon, but came 
 off without severe loss. Mr. Shaw was slightly 
 wounded at Fort Donelson by a minie ball, which 
 first struck his musket and glanced, hitting him 
 in the arm. He saw much active service in Mis- 
 sissippi and Tennessee and he is greatly interested 
 in reunions of the Grand Army of this district. 
 
 Mr. Shaw now has a valuable farm of two 
 hundred and eighty acres, but has rented his land 
 for the past sixteen years. He still lives upon the 
 old home place, which belonged to his father, the 
 property having never been divided among the 
 heirs, and derives therefrom an excellent income. 
 In his political affiliation he is an independent 
 republican without aspiration for office, and in 
 religious faith is a Universalist. He has a wide 
 acquaintance in the community where his entire 
 life has been passed and where he has so directed 
 his labors and controlled his interests that he 
 may be said with single consistency to be one of 
 the foremost representatives of the community. 
 
 J. W. WATKINS. 
 
 J. W. Watkins, who owns and operates a good 
 farm in Steuben township, where he has spent 
 his entire life, first opened his eyes to the light 
 of day on the old family homestead in this county. 
 He is a son of David Watkins, who was born in 
 Athens county, Ohio, February 18, 1817. His 
 parents were Isaiah and Mary (Douglas) Wat- 
 kins, both of whom were natives of Virginia, the 
 former being of Welsh descent and the latter 
 of Scotch lineage. Isaiah Watkins was born in 
 Williamsburg, Virginia, and his grandfather 
 came from Wales, establishing his home in Amer- 
 ica, in early colonial days. He served during 
 the Revolutionary war under General W T ashing- 
 ton for seven vears. His mother bore the maiden
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 419 
 
 name of Douglas and her father was a descend- 
 ant of the famous Douglas family that owned 
 and occupied the Douglas castle of Scotland. He 
 too was a Revolutionary soldier under Washing- 
 ton and served at the same time as Isaiah Wat- 
 kins, with whom he became acquainted during 
 the days of their military experience. The ma- 
 ternal grandmother of Mr. Watkins was Mary 
 Jane Addington, who was of English descent. It 
 was after the war that Isaiah Watkins married 
 the daughter of Mr. Douglas. They were mar- 
 ried in Ohio, where they resided until the death 
 of the husband and father, when, in 1834, the 
 widow with three children, emigrated to Illinois, 
 locating in Marshall county. One son, Jehiel, 
 preceded the family and had made a home here, 
 and through his advice the remainder of the fam- 
 ily came out. Jehiel, after remaining here 
 twenty-five years, removed to Taylor county, Iowa. 
 The family located within one mile of where Da- 
 vid Watkins lived, taking up a claim and im- 
 proving a farm. Here the widow lived until 
 called to her reward at the age of about eighty 
 years. The three children coming with their 
 mother were David, father of our subject; Mary 
 J., who wedded Isaac Tanquary, and removed 
 with him to Livingston county, where both died; 
 and Lucinda, who married James Tanquary, of 
 Steuben township, and both are now deceased. 
 
 On coming to this country the Watkins' were 
 in very limited circumstances, and on the death 
 of the mother David kept the family together un- 
 til the marriage of his sisters. He commenced 
 life for himself, working for ten dollars per 
 month, using the wages obtained in payment of 
 the home farm. He was twenty-eight years old 
 before he felt that he could safely wed. He was 
 then united in marriage with Eliza Jane Hoskins, 
 a daughter of Josiah Hoskins, a pioneer of Steu- 
 ben township. Immediately after the wed- 
 ding ceremony he removed with his young bride 
 to a farm adjoining that of J. W. Watkins, and 
 which was the first one opened on the prairie. 
 An industrious, hard working man, he settled 
 right down to business, and from time to time 
 added to his original purchase until he became the 
 possessor of about eight hundred acres of as fine 
 land as lies within the borders of Marshall county. 
 While carrying on general fanning, if it can be 
 said that he made a specialty of any one line, it 
 was that of a cattle grower, having at all times 
 
 upon his place from one hundred to one hundred 
 and fifty head of fine cattle. He was not what is 
 usually termed a feeder of cattle, but raised a 
 high grade of animals. Attending strictly to his 
 business he made a success in life. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Watkins was bereft of his wife, she 
 dying leaving two children Lucinda, who died at 
 the age of sixteen; and J. Wesley. Mr. Watkins 
 subsequently married Eliza Jane Brewster, of Mc- 
 Donough county, Illinois, who also died leaving 
 two children Albert W. ; and Eliza Jane, who 
 was educated in music and elocution at Eureka 
 College, and is a lady of rare attainments, a mem- 
 ber of the order of the Eastern Star, well known 
 and universally esteemed. 
 
 David Watkins was in all respects a self-made 
 man. His education, obtained in the old pioneer 
 log school houses, was necessarily limited, but he 
 was a silent though a close observer of men and 
 events, and therefore became a well-posted man. 
 He was an attendant but not a member of any 
 church. In his younger days he was quite a 
 sportsman with gun and rod. He was always an 
 admirer and lover of a good horse, and even at 
 the age of eighty years loved to be astride of that 
 noble animal. He enjoyed fair health almost to 
 the very last and lived at peace with all mankind. 
 In politics he was a democrat, but never an office 
 seeker: His death occurred in 1900 and thus 
 passed away one of the honored pioneer settlers 
 of the county. 
 
 Albert Watkins, a brother of J. W. Watkins, 
 married Mary Eva Van Antwerp, by whom he has 
 four children : Mary Ethel, Albert Leslie, David 
 Timothy and Eliza Mabel. Albert Watkins is the 
 owner of three hundred and twenty acres of good 
 farming land across the road from his brother's 
 home and is one of the enterprising agriculturists 
 of Steuben township. He belongs to the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal church and votes with the de- 
 mocracy. 
 
 J. Wesley Watkins is one of the oldest settlers 
 of Steuben township, having spent his entire life 
 within its borders. He was reared to the occupa- 
 tion of farming and has always followed that pur- 
 suit. As the years have passed, he has prospered, 
 owing to his earnest labor and capability in man- 
 aging his affairs, so that today he is the owner of 
 six hundred and forty acres of valuable land in 
 Steuben township, together with land in Iowa. 
 Here he carries on general farming in connection
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COTXT1ES. 
 
 with the raising of stock and both branches of his 
 business are proving profitable. 
 
 Like his father, Mr. Watkins has given his po- 
 litical support to the democracy, having been 
 reared in the faith of that party and seeing no 
 occasion to change his views since attaining his 
 majority. He has been called to several local of- 
 fices. He was first appointed supervisor to fill out 
 the unexpired term of John Hayden, deceased, 
 and has several times been re-elected to that office. 
 For thirty-six consecutive years he has acted as 
 school director and he has frequently been a dele- 
 gate to county conventions of his party and has 
 served as a member of the democratic central 
 committee. His fraternal relations are with the 
 Masonic fraternity and he belongs to Sparland 
 lodge, No. 441, A. F. & A. M., and to Sparland 
 chapter of the order of the Eastern Star. He 
 represents a family that has long been prominent 
 in connection with the agricultural interests of 
 the county and his own record entitles him to 
 mention with the prominent representatives of 
 agricultural life in Marshall county. 
 
 WILLIAM B. SILL. 
 
 William B. Sill is now living retired in Gran- 
 ville, but for many years was connected with farm- 
 ing interests in Putnam county and the strong 
 purpose and resolute will which he displayed in 
 carrying on his business pursuits brought him a 
 measure of success that now supplies him with 
 the comforts that go to make life worth living. 
 He was born in Senecaville, Guernsey county, 
 Ohio, July 10, 1838, and is a son of John and 
 Mary Ann (Dilley) Sill, the former a native of 
 Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They were 
 married in Ohio, where they resided until 1851, 
 when they came to Illinois, settling south of Mag- 
 nolia in Marshall county. The father was a car- 
 penter and wheelwright by trade and was thus 
 engaged during the period of his residence in the 
 Buckeye state. He also worked in the same way 
 for some time after coming to Illinois. When 
 he had spent a few years in Marshall county he 
 removed to Hennepin, where he was engaged in 
 wagonmaking for several years. After the death 
 of his wife, which occurred in 1867, he continued 
 to make his home in Ilennepin and in old age 
 resided with his son William B., at whose home 
 he passed away in April, 1900, at the advanced 
 age of eighty-seven years. 
 
 William B. Sill was the eighth in order. of birth 
 in a family of nine children, five of whom are yet 
 living, but he is the only one in Putnam county. 
 He was a youth of thirteen years when he came 
 with his parents to Illinois. They were very poor 
 and as a result William B. Sill had to begin work 
 at the age of thirteen years in order to provide 
 for his own support. He had but limited educa- 
 tional privileges but was early trained to habits 
 of industry and economy and these proved of 
 value to him in his later life. He had been trained 
 to but one kind of work and therefore when he 
 began to earn his living it was as a farm hand. 
 He first worked for eight dollars per month and 
 was thus employed until about twenty-three years 
 of age. He then rented land in Hennepin town- 
 ship and engaged in farming on his own account. 
 In 1863 he had the misfortue to break one of 
 his legs and this, combined with his poor health, 
 almost completely discouraged him. He thought 
 that perhaps he might be benefited by going to 
 the west and therefore made his way to Montana, 
 where he purchased a two-thousand foot claim 
 and engaged in mining. The venture proved 
 profitable at first, but later he lost much that he 
 had made through another investment and suc- 
 cess in that enterprise was so uncertain that he 
 decided to try farming. He therefore homesteaded 
 three eighty-acre tracts of land, upon which he 
 carried on general agricultural pursuits and stock- 
 raising. He lived in Montana during the pioneer 
 epoch in the history of that state, his home being 
 a little cabin with a dirt floor and dirt roof. He 
 experienced all the hardships and trials incident 
 to frontier life, but continued in his farm work 
 there until 1877, when he sold out and returned 
 to Putnam county. Here he invested his capital 
 in one hundred and forty acres of land, which 
 was already improved to some extent. He had to 
 incur some indebtedness in order to make the pur- 
 chase, but has since been quite successful in his 
 farming operations and is now the owner of four 
 hundred acres of very valuable and productive 
 land, constituting one of the good farms of the 
 county, the rental from which is sufficient to sup- 
 ply him with all the necessities and many of the 
 comforts and luxuries of life. Five years ago he 
 retired from active business cares and built a 
 commodious residence in Granville, where he has 
 since made his home. 
 
 On the 4th of May, 1874, Mr. Sill was married
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 483 
 
 to Miss Martha A. Harper, who was born in Put- 
 nam county, a daughter of James Harper, one 
 of the early settlers of this part of Illinois. Mrs. 
 Sill died upon the home farm in Granville town- 
 ship in 1879, leaving a daughter, Minnie, who is 
 now living with her mother's sister on the Harper 
 homestead. She went to live with her grandpar- 
 ents at the time of her mother's death and has 
 since been with that family. Nine years after the 
 death of his first wife Mr. Sill was again married, 
 his second union being with Ann E. Drennen, a 
 native of this county and a daughter of James and 
 Nancy (Wyatt) Drennen. She is still living and 
 by this marriage there are four children, three of 
 whom survive, the youngest having died in in- 
 fancy. The others are Ethel, Roy D. and Jessie. 
 When upon the farm Mr. Sill engaged in gen- 
 eral agricultural pursuits. All that he possesses 
 has been acquired through hard and unremitting 
 labor and careful management. At times fate has 
 seemed to him very unkind, owing to his ill health 
 and to disastrous consequences which have at- 
 tended his business interests through no fault of 
 his own, yet he has never given up and as the 
 result of his resolute spirit and strong determina- 
 tion he has worked his way upward. Each diffi- 
 culty and obstacle in his path has seemed to serve 
 as an impetus for renewed effort and he has 
 learned the lesson from each mistake, and pressed 
 forward to the goal of prosperity, being now one 
 of the substantial residents of Granville. In poli- 
 tics he has always been a democrat and at this 
 writing, in 1906, is serving as commissioner of 
 highways, which position he has filled for twelve 
 years. He is also serving for the second term as 
 a member of the village board of aldermen and 
 exercises his official prerogatives in support of 
 every movement for the general good. He has 
 been an Odd Fellow since 1863 and is most loyal 
 to the teachings of that organization, which is 
 based upon the brotherhood relations of mankind. 
 
 JEREMIAH FEAZEL. 
 
 Jeremiah Feazel, deceased, who in former years 
 was a respected and worthy farmer of Marshall 
 county, and who spent his last years in honorable 
 retirement from business cares in Lacon, was 
 born in Brown county, Ohio, July 4, 1832, a son 
 of Jeremiah and Hannah (Murphy) Feazel. The 
 father engaged in school teaching and in farming 
 
 and thus provided for his family, which numbered 
 six sons and six daughters. 
 
 Jeremiah Feazel was reared in the county of 
 his nativity to the age of fourteen years, when he 
 accompanied his parents on their removal to Illi- 
 nois. His early education, acquired in the public 
 schools of his native state, was continued in the 
 old Broaddus schoolhouse in Lacon township, 
 three miles east of Lacon, and when his education 
 was completed he became the active assistant of 
 his father in the work of the home farm and 
 was there engaged in tilling the soil and in rais- 
 ing stock. He resided upon the old homestead 
 until 1855, when he was married and began fann- 
 ing on his own account, settling on a tract of land 
 of one hundred and twenty acres in Hopewell 
 township, Marshall county. There he lived for 
 fourteen years, when he sold that property and 
 bought the John Harris farm, in Hopewell town- 
 ship, which remained his home throughout the re- 
 mainder of his active business life. He was en- 
 gaged in general farming and stock-raising and 
 both branches of his business proved profitable, 
 owing to his careful direction and able manage- 
 ment, so that in 1884, with a comfortable compe- 
 tence, acquired through years of earnest toil, he 
 retired from agricultural pursuits and took up 
 his abode in Lacon, where he spent his remaining 
 days in the enjoyment of a rest which he had 
 truly earned and richly deserved. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1855, at the home of 
 the bride in Roberts township, Marshall county, 
 Mr. Feazel was married to Miss Anna Eliza 
 Wright, a daughter of James and Lockey Meade 
 (Bell) Wright, both of whom were natives of 
 Ohio. Her father was a farmer by occupation 
 and died in the year 1849, his remains being in- 
 terred in the Salem cemetery. His wife had 
 passed away in 1847 and was laid to rest in a 
 cemetery in Roberts township. They were devoted 
 and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. Their daughter, Mrs. Feazel, was born 
 in Madison county, Ohio, July 16, 1838, and was 
 brought to this county in 1844. As stated, at the 
 time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Feazel began 
 housekeeping upon a farm and so lived until 1884, 
 when they became residents of Lacon. Mr. Fea- 
 zel died in that city June 8, 1899, and was laid 
 to rest in Lacon cemetery. He had attained the 
 age of sixty-seven years and had lived a life 
 worthy of the esteem and confidence of his fellow-
 
 r.M 
 
 PAST AM) VUKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND ITTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 men. He attended the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, served as one of its trustees, and contrib- 
 uted liberally to the same, although he was not a 
 member, and in politics was a Bryan democrat, 
 advocating the principles supported by the Ne- 
 braska statesman. In his business affairs he had 
 been straightforward and reliable, in citizenship 
 was progressive and public spirited, and in rela- 
 tions of home and of friendship he was ever loyal 
 and true. Mrs. Feazel still survives her hus- 
 band and yet resides in Lacon, where she is well 
 known. She has many friends there and is a 
 devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 ISAAC ALLEN GLENN. 
 
 Years of activity and enterprise have brought 
 to Isaac Allen Glenn a measure of success that 
 classes him with the substantial farmers of Mag- 
 nolia township, where he owns and operates a 
 valuable farm of four hundred and eighty acres. 
 This has been in possession of the family for 
 many years, having once been the property of the 
 grandfather of our subject, who came from Taze- 
 well county to Putnam county when Indians were 
 still inhabitants of this part of the state. He 
 entered the land from the government and in the 
 midst of a frontier district began the develop- 
 ment of a farm. 
 
 His son Isaac D. Glenn, was born and reared in 
 Kentucky and there married Sarah Allen, who 
 was also a native of that state and was a daughter 
 of Archibald Allen, who also became a pioneer 
 settler of Magnolia township, Putnam county, 
 where he died at the venerable age of ninety-four 
 years. On leaving Kentucky Isaac Glenn, Sr., 
 and his wife removed to Indiana and in 1832 be- 
 came residents of Illinois, but it was not until 
 three years later that they took up their abode on 
 section 31, Magnolia township, the father secur- 
 ing the land from the government. The year of 
 their arrival in this state was the one in which 
 the Black Hawk war occurred and the family 
 shared in the hardships and trials of pioneer life, 
 when an unsettled district, with its lack of ad- 
 vantages and opportunities, brings many discom- 
 forts and trials. The father, however, resolutely 
 undertook the task of developing a new farm, con- 
 tinuing its improvement until his death, which 
 occurred July 7, 1850. He was long survived by 
 his wife, who passed away August 17, 1876. 
 
 Both were members of the old school Baptist 
 church, in which he served as deacon for many 
 years. They were the parents of six children who 
 reached adult age : Mrs. Nancy H. Young, of Iowa ; 
 Samuel, of Varna, Illinois ; Mrs. Elizabeth Lar- 
 kins and Mrs. Margaret Haley, now deceased; 
 Young A., living in Magnolia township ; and 
 Isaac A. 
 
 The youngest of the family, Isaac Allen Glenn, 
 was born on the old family homestead on section 
 31, Magnolia township, August 24, 1837, and was 
 given his father's Christian name and his mother's 
 surname. No event of special importance oc- 
 curred to vary the routine of farm life for him 
 in his boyhood days. As his years and strength 
 increased he aided more and more largely in the 
 work of the farm and when winter came and 
 brought a respite from the arduous labor of the 
 fields he spent about three months in attendance 
 at the district school, which was about a mile and 
 a half from his home. He was married in De- 
 cember 20, 1855, when not yet nineteen years of 
 age, to Miss Mary Jane Stewart, sister of Mrs. 
 W. M. German, of Hopewell township, Marshall 
 county. She was born in Hennepin December 30, 
 1838, and was the eldest member of the Stewart 
 family. Her father, who was born January 7, 
 1817, died January 30, 1896. 
 
 The first home of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn was a 
 log cabin on the farm which is still their place of 
 residence, but the pioneer dwelling has long since 
 been replaced by a more modern and commodious 
 dwelling. As the years passed he brought his 
 land under a high state of cultivation, annually 
 harvesting good crops, produced through the care 
 he has bestowed upon the seed and the soil, the 
 latter being naturally very rich and productive 
 for there is no finer farming land in all this 
 great country than can be found in central Illi- 
 nois. For some years Mr. Glenn has also engaged 
 quite extensively and successfully in the breeding 
 and raising of fine horses and cattle, as well as 
 other stock, and has worked diligently and per- 
 sistently in bringing his farm up to a high state 
 of improvement. From 1861 to 1873 he and his 
 brother, Young A. Glenn, were engaged ex- 
 tensively in buying and shipping stock. 
 
 As the years passed Mr. and Mrs. Glenn became 
 the parents of eight children : John E., who was 
 born October 23, 1856, died October 13, 1857; 
 Samuel M., born August 29, 1858. died February
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 425 
 
 15, 1862; Sarah Sophia, born August 30, I860, is 
 the wife of W. H. Burr; Eliza Hall, bom August 
 31, 18(52, is the wife of Randolph Disosway of 
 Iroquois county, Illinois ; Nancy J., born Septem- 
 ber 18, 1864, died February 23, 1889; Isaac A., 
 born May 9, 1867, died August 15, 1871; Jessie 
 Elizabeth, born February 19, 1873, is the wife of 
 D. W. Dunlap, of Evans township, Marshall 
 count}' ; and Robert Edwin, born November 4, 
 1875, died June 11, 1894. 
 
 Mr. Glenn votes with the democracy and has 
 been honored with some local offices, the duties 
 of which he has discharged with promptness and 
 fidelity. Fraternally he is connected with Mag- 
 nolia lodge, A. F. & A. M., and. he also belongs 
 to the Magnolia Grange. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
 Glenn are members of the 0. E. S. lodge, No. 
 189, of Magnolia, of which Mrs. Glenn is a char- 
 ter member. His entire life has been spent in 
 Putnam county and one of the first farms claimed 
 and developed is his property. The work of im- 
 provement instituted by his grandfather and car- 
 ried on by his father is now being continued by 
 him, and thus the name of Glenn has ever stood 
 as a synonym for progress here. 
 
 JOHN DAUB. 
 
 John Daub is the owner of a beautiful and ex- 
 cellent farm which lies in a basin of bottom land 
 surrounded on all sides by high bluffs. Its unique 
 situation adds to its beauty and attractiveness and 
 the land is rich and arable, producing good crops. 
 It is situated on section 32, Richland township. 
 The owner was born in New Orleans, March 24, 
 1850, and is of German lineage. His father, John 
 Daub, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and after 
 coming to America espoused the ' cause of his 
 adopted country, enlisting for service in the Civil 
 war. He gave up his life in defense of the Union, 
 being killed in battle in 1865. His wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Castler, was 
 twice married, her first husband being John Daub, 
 and to them were born three children : John ; 
 Alec; and one who died in infancy. By her mar- 
 riage to Hubert Adami she had four children: 
 Hubert; Victor; August; and one who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 Mr. Daub, whose name introduces this review, 
 became a resident of Mai-shall county in 1856. 
 He acquired his education partly in the schools 
 <>f this rouniv and also attended school to some 
 
 extent in St. Louis, Missouri. He was reared to 
 farm life and remained at home until his mar- 
 riage, after which he took up his abode upon a 
 farm in Woodford county, Illinois, where he re- 
 sided until the 13th of February, 1896. He ' 
 started out in life with very little assistance and 
 that he has always been busy and energetic and 
 capably controlled his business interests is indi- 
 cated by the fact that he is now owner of a val- 
 uable property of two hundred and sixty-eight 
 acres of land on sections 29, 32, and 33, Rich- 
 land township. The soil is very productive and 
 in addition to raising the cereals best adapted 
 to the climate he also raises good stock of all 
 kinds, including some high bred Percheron horses. 
 As a companion and helpmate on life's journey 
 Mr. Daub chose Miss Anna M. Sneider, who was 
 born in Tazewell county, Illinois, March 16, 1856, 
 and there remained until eight years of age, when 
 she accompanied her parents, Lawrence and 
 Catharine (Simon) Sneider, on their removal to 
 Woodford county, Illinois, where her girlhood days 
 were passed and her education was acquired. Her 
 parents were born and reared in Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, and were schoolmates during their youth. 
 The mother was but seventeen years of age when 
 she came to the United States with her parents 
 and was married on landing in this country. Mr. 
 Sneider was then about twenty-five years old. For 
 about five years he made his home in Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, and then removed to Tazewell county, Illi- 
 nois, where he followed farming and gardening 
 for twelve years. He next purchased a farm in 
 Woodford county, this state, and to its cultiva- 
 tion and improvement he devoted his energies 
 until called to his final rest. He was fairly suc- 
 cessful in his business affairs and was a truly 
 self-made man. After his death his wife operated 
 the farm for about fifteen years, but now makes 
 her home with her son Frank in Woodford county 
 at the age of seventy-two years. In the family 
 were eleven children, namely: John, a farmer 
 of Woodford county ; Anna M., wife of our sub- 
 ject; Catharine, wife of Alec Daub, a farmer of 
 Fairfield, Iowa; Lena, wife of Hubert Adami, a 
 farmer of Marshall county, Illinois; Adam C., a 
 farmer of Woodford county ; Joseph H., also a 
 farmer of that county ; Louisa, wife of John Greb- 
 ner, of Woodford county; Frank and Peter, who 
 are both engaged in agricultural pursuits in 
 Woodford county; Angeline, the wife of Frank
 
 426 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Grebner, a farmer of Woodford county; and one 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Daub was cele- 
 brated September 9, 1873, and unto them have 
 been born ten children : John, born December 15, 
 1875, aids in the operation of the home farm. 
 He has held a number of offices, has been town 
 clerk and school director and is now filling the 
 position of constable. Aloysius, born August 7, 
 
 1877, died in infancy. Joseph A., born July 12. 
 
 1878, died September 14, 1880. Seraphina Eliza- 
 beth, born September 9, 1880, is the wife of John 
 A. Yunker, of Fargo, North Dakota. Catherine, 
 born July 8, 1882, is living with her sister in 
 North Dakota. Mary Rosa, born June 3, 1884, 
 George Christopher, born July 24, 1886, Anna 
 Angelina, born November 17, 1889, Isidor 
 Francis, born September 18, 1892, and Lawrence 
 Eugene, born July 28, 1896, are all at home. 
 
 The parents and children are communicants of 
 the Catholic church, and Mr. Daub exercises his 
 right of franchise in support of the men and 
 measures of the democracy, having adhered to the 
 party since attaining his majority. In his life 
 he has displayed many of the sterling character- 
 istics of his German ancestry and his good quali- 
 ties constitute the secret of the high regard in 
 which he is uniformly held, while the reason for 
 his success is found in his earnest, persistent 
 labor. 
 
 WILLIAM SCOON. 
 
 William Scoon, a representative of the farming- 
 interests of La Prairie township, his home being 
 on section 12, was born in Roxburghshire, Scot- 
 land, May 6, 1846. His father, Robert Scoon, 
 also a native of that district, was born in 1812 
 and came to the United States in 1853. He lived 
 for one year in New York and then removed to 
 Michigan, where he resided for five years. In 
 1859 he brought his family to Marshall county, 
 Illinois, and for many years after was identified 
 with its agricultural interests, continuing to make 
 his home here until his death, which occurred in 
 December, 1886, when he was seventy-four years 
 of age. He was married in 1837 to Miss Mary 
 Nichol, who was also a native of Roxburghshire, 
 Scotland, and who died March 20, 1880. They 
 were both devoted members of the United Pres- 
 byterian church. The family numbered ten chil- 
 dren : Margaret, Jane, John, Jessie, James, Wil- 
 
 liam, Charlie, Minnie, Elizabeth and Robert. The 
 last named, born in Scotland in 1848, was married 
 in January, 1875, to Jennie Mennock, who was 
 born in Peoria county, Illinois, in 1856, a daughter 
 of Jesse and Nancy (Snyder) Mennock, who were 
 natives of Pennsylvania. Robert Scoon resides 
 upon a farm adjoining his brother William's 
 place, and, like him, is one of the enterprising and 
 well known agriculturists of the community. Both 
 he and his wife are members of the United Pres- 
 byterian church and are highly esteemed people. 
 His political support is given the republican party, 
 and for five years he has served as township as- 
 sessor. 
 
 William Scoon, whose name introduces this re- 
 view, was a lad of seven years when he left his 
 native country and accompanied his parents on 
 their emigration to America. He was with them 
 on their various removals and became a student 
 in the Smith school in La Prairie township. Like 
 his brothers, he assisted in the work of the home 
 farm until about 1870, when he started out in 
 life on his own account, then having one hundred 
 acres of good land in La Prairie township, to 
 which he has since added until he now owns two 
 hundred and eighty acres of valuable farming land 
 in that township, together with one hundred and 
 sixty acres near Winnipeg. His life has always 
 been devoted to farm work, and his present ex- 
 tensive possessions are an indication of the thrift 
 and enterprise which he has always displayed in 
 his business interests. 
 
 In 1881 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Scoon and Miss Jennie W. Hall, a daughter of 
 William Hall, who is now living in Scotland at 
 the venerable age of eighty-four years. He has 
 crossed the Atlantic ten different times, being a 
 great traveler. His daughter, Mrs. Scoon, was 
 born in 1853 in Scotland and was there reared, 
 coming to the United States when twenty-five 
 years of age.. In 19.05 our subject and his wife 
 returned on a visit to the land of hills and 
 heather, spending many pleasant hours in look- 
 ing again upon the scenes amid which their early 
 childhood was passed and in renewing the ac- 
 quaintances of former years. They have four 
 children : Charles R., who was a student in 
 Sparland high school and is now attending 
 Brown's Business College at Peoria; Mary and 
 Willie, twins, now nineteen years of age, who are 
 students in the Sparland high school ; and Alice,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 427 
 
 who is attending the high school at Lacon. Mr. 
 Scoon is a stalwart republican and has frequently 
 been solicited to accept office but has always re- 
 fused. He and his wife hold membership in the 
 United Presbyterian church and are interested 
 in its work and upbuilding. In his life he has 
 displayed many of the sterling characteristics 
 which mark the Scottish race, including the in- 
 dustry and perseverance which have made the 
 Scotchman successful wherever he has gone, to- 
 gether with the unfaltering honesty which is one 
 of the dominant traits of the sons of "bonnie 
 Scotland." 
 
 HENRY ALBERT HARRISON. 
 
 Henry Albert Harrison was born August 3, 
 1865, in Saratoga township, within the borders 
 of which he still makes his home, being num- 
 bered among the practical, progressive and re- 
 spected agriculturists of Marshall county. His 
 father, Robert Harrison, was born near Winches- 
 ter, Virginia, September 20, 1820, and came to 
 Illinois from the Old Dominion in 1849. For 
 several years he was employed at farm labor in 
 Bureau county, after which he removed to Sara- 
 toga township, Marshall county, and took up a 
 farm of eighty acres, which is now a part of the 
 old home place that today covers a quarter sec- 
 tion. He acted in various official capacities, to 
 which he was called by his fellow townsmen, who 
 recognized his worth and ability, and his po- 
 litical support was given to the republican party, 
 having firm faith in its principles. He came of 
 an old Virginian family and was a representative 
 of the best type of southern citizenship. His death 
 occurred June 7, 190G, and the community 
 mourned the loss of one of its leading men. His 
 wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth 
 Kline, was a native of Pennsylvania, and they 
 were married in Saratoga township. She passed 
 away October 28, 1905, and they were laid to 
 rest in Saratoga cemetery. In the family were 
 five children : John Robert, who is now engaged 
 in the real-estate business in Spencer, Iowa; 
 Ellen, who is keeping house for her brother Henry 
 Albert ; George, who is living at Castleton, Stark 
 county, Illinois ; Elizabeth, also on the home 
 place; and Henry A., of this review. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of Mr. Harri- 
 son, whose name introduces this record, we pre- 
 sent to our readers an account of one who is widely 
 
 known in Saratoga township, where he has spent 
 his entire life, never leaving the old homestead 
 farm. He was educated in the district schools, 
 and when not occupied with his text-books his 
 time and energies were largely devoted to the 
 tilling of the soil. After completing his educa- 
 tion he concentrated his efforts upon the work of 
 developing the home place, and is regarded as 
 one of the practical and progressive agriculturists 
 of this community. His fields return to him 
 golden harvests as a reward for the care and labor 
 he bestows upon them, and he has made many 
 modern improvements on the place. 
 
 Politically a republican, he is without aspira- 
 tion for office. Socially he is connected with the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, belonging to Brad- 
 ford camp. His neighbors and friends speak of 
 him in terms of praise and friendship and he is 
 justly regarded as a man of strong character and 
 high principles. The family was established in 
 this part of Illinois at an early epoch in its his- 
 tory, and the name of Harrison has since been 
 synonymous here with agricultural progress and 
 with honesty in business life. 
 
 CARMI SWARTZ. 
 
 Carmi Swartz, the concentration of whose en- 
 ergies and powers upon the work of the home 
 farm has resulted in the development and im- 
 provement of an excellent property, was born in 
 Marshall county and is a son of William and 
 Elizabeth (Paget) Swartz. The father was born 
 in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1814, and be- 
 came a resident of Illinois in 1835, settling on 
 what was called Sandy creek, in Evans township 
 Marshall county, where he developed a good farm, 
 experiencing in the early days the hardships and 
 privations of pioneer life. He afterward became 
 the owner of three hundred and forty-five acres 
 of land and also owned a tract of twenty-seven 
 acres belonging to home farm, a quarter section 
 in Osage township, La Salle county, Illinois, and 
 a section of land in Morris county, Kansas, his 
 entire life being devoted to farming. His political 
 allegiance was given to the democracy, and his 
 religious faith was indicated by his membership 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church. He passed 
 away in 1897, having for three years survived his 
 wife, who died in 1894. She was born in Bour- 
 bon county, Kentucky, in 1821, and their mar-
 
 428 
 
 PAST AND I'liKSKNT <>! MARSHALL AND PUTXAM COUNTIHS. 
 
 riage was celebrated in Evans township, Marshall 
 county, Illinois. Their children are : Zephaniah, 
 a farmer living near Wymore, Nebraska ; Daniel 
 W., a resident of Wenona; Albert, who resides in 
 WelMngford, Emmet county, Iowa; Charles and 
 Sarah, both residents of Wenona; Artemesia, de- 
 ceased ; Artemis, of Wenona ; James, deceased ; 
 Carmi; and Arthur; and also Mary Jane by a 
 former marriage. 
 
 Upon the old homestead farm which came into 
 possession of the father in pioneer days Carmi 
 Swartz was reared and attended what is now called 
 the Hamilton school. He early assisted in the 
 arduous labor of developing the home place, and 
 when twenty-one years of age began farming for 
 himself on the old homestead. He today owns 
 one hundred and eighty-six acres of valuable land, 
 which is a part of the old home property, and 
 here he has spent his entire life, so that the farm 
 is endeared to him through the recollections of 
 his boyhood as well as through the associations 
 of later years. In connection with the raising of 
 cereals best adapted to climatic conditions here 
 found, he also raises some stock. 
 
 Mr. Swartz was married in 1887 to Miss Anna 
 Anthony, who was born in Evans township, Mar- 
 shall county, in 1869, and is a daughter of Charles 
 and Lena Anthony. Her father is now deceased, 
 but her mother is living in Wenona. This union 
 has been blessed with three children: Clifton, 
 Charles and Louise, all at home. The parents are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 Mr. Swartz is a republican. He and his wife are 
 prominent socially, the hospitality of many of the 
 best homes in this locality being cordially extended 
 to them in recognition of their genuine personal 
 worth. 
 
 JAMES JENKINS. 
 
 James Jenkins is a retired farmer, living in 
 Varna, and has passed the eighty-third milestone 
 on life's journey. He was born in Hamilton, 
 Ohio, April 3, 1823. His father, John Jenkins, 
 a native of Virginia, was a blacksmith by trade 
 and was about fifty years of age when his life's 
 labors were ended in death in Ohio. He had 
 married Elizabeth Vinage, a native of that state, 
 who also passed away in Ohio when about fifty 
 years of age. She was a devoted member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and in her family 
 were six children: John and William, both de- 
 
 ceased; Margaret and Kosana, who have passed 
 away; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; and 
 George, the youngest, who lives in Lacon. 
 
 James Jenkins of this family acquired his early 
 education in the schools of Ohio, and was about 
 twenty years of age when he removed to Cam- 
 bridge, Indiana. He was there married to Miss 
 Elizabeth Reeves, who was born in Cleveland, 
 Ohio, July 14, 1828, a daughter of William and 
 Mary Beeves, in whose family were three daugh- 
 ters, the sisters of Mrs. Jenkins, being Mary and 
 Caroline, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Jen- 
 kins were married April 15, 1847, and afterward 
 returned to Ohio, where they remained for two 
 years. In 1855 they became residents of Lacon, 
 Illinois, and Mr. Jenkins was employed by Jabez 
 Fisher in the packing business, working for him 
 for about fifteen years. He then farmed in the 
 vicinity of Lacon for about five years, operating 
 the Fisher place in the summer and working in 
 a packing house during the winter. At that early 
 day he found it very difficult to rent a house in 
 Lacon, but finally secured a small frame dwell- 
 ing. He afterward bought a farm in Evans 
 township, about three and a half miles west of 
 Varna, in 1865, going in debt for the' property. 
 He had to pay a big interest on the money, and 
 as the farm was not at first self-sustaining he 
 had to hunt work outside in order to provide a 
 livelihood for his family. He would leave his 
 wife and children to carry on the farm work 
 while he would go to Lacon and work for Mr. 
 Fisher. He always covered the distance between 
 his home and Lacon fourteen miles on foot, 
 visiting his home about every two or three weeks. 
 He would make the trip on Saturday and return 
 Sunday evening in order to be ready for work 
 Monday morning. He started out in life empty- 
 handed and is now in possession of a very com- 
 fortable competence. For many years he carried 
 on general agricultural pursuits, owning a farm 
 of two hundred and six acres, and he brought his 
 fields under a high state of cultivation, but is now- 
 retired, living with his wife in the village of 
 Varna. They are a most highly esteemed and 
 venerable couple, who for almost sixty years have 
 traveled life's journey together as man and wife, 
 sharing with each other in the joys and sorrows, 
 the adversity and prosperity which has come to 
 them.
 
 ME. AND MKS. JAMES JENKINS.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 431 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins have been born the 
 following children: Alice C., who died at the 
 age of sixteen months; Albert W., who is farm- 
 ing in Evans township; Mrs. Clara Belle Yocum, 
 who is living in Lenexa, Kansas; Mrs. Lillie May 
 Rush, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri; Rosa- 
 lind Leslie, who is living near Varna; Frank E., 
 a resident of Columbus, Ohio; Eugene 0., who 
 is upon the old home farm in Evans township; 
 Emma Grace, who died at the age of eighteen 
 months ; and Eugene Edgar, who died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins made no mistake when he deter- 
 mined to try his fortune in Marshall county, 
 for though the early years were fraught with 
 hard and unremitting toil and he had to face 
 many difficulties and trials he has nevertheless 
 worked his way upward here and his life record 
 proves that labor can overcome all difficulties and 
 obstacles. He is now comfortably situated in 
 life and is enabled in the evening of his days to 
 live in honorable retirement from business cares. 
 Moreover, he has never been known to take ad- 
 vantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in any 
 business transaction, and is therefore honored and 
 esteemed by all with whom he has been brought 
 in contact. 
 
 FREDERICK KOCH. 
 
 Frederick Koch, whose well appointed farm in 
 the southwest corner of Richland township is not 
 excelled by any and equaled by few in this part 
 of Marshall county, has through an active life 
 demonstrated the fact that labor is an excellent 
 foundation upon which to build the superstruc- 
 ture of success. He was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
 many, July 18, 1852, and was a youth of sixteen 
 years when he came to America. His father, Louis 
 Koch, was also a native of Bavaria and crossed 
 the Atlantic with his family in 1868, landing at 
 New York. He made his way to Peoria, Illinois, 
 and during the first year thereafter Frederick 
 Koch of this review was employed at Washington, 
 in Will county, Illinois. In 1869 he turned his 
 attention to farming in Lacon township, Marshall 
 county, about a mile west of his present place, 
 beginning the development and improvement of a 
 tract of land of one hundred and twenty acres. 
 Both of his parents died at Washington and were 
 laid to rest in the cemetery there. 
 
 Frederick Koch, concentrating his attention 
 
 upon his farming interests, has developed a prop- 
 erty which in its equipments and accessories is 
 second to none in Richland township. He is prac- 
 tical in all that he does, and yet works toward the 
 ideal in his farming pursuits. The fields are rich- 
 ly tilled and the buildings are substantial and 
 commodious. He also keeps good grades of stock 
 upon his place and annually harvests rich crops 
 which find a ready sale on the market. 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Koch was united in marriage to 
 Miss Elizabeth Wagner, a native of Illinois and 
 a daughter of John Wagner. Unto them have 
 been born eight children : Mary, Lena, Katherine, 
 Elizabeth, Annie, Louis, Louisa and Emma. The 
 second daughter, Lena, is now the wife of Phillip 
 Beckhardt, a farmer residing near Washington, 
 Illinois, and they have one son, Roy Francis. 
 Katherine, the third daughter, is the wife of Louis 
 Kamp, a farmer residing near Lacon. 
 
 Mr. Koch is identified fraternally with the Loyal 
 Americans of the Republic and his religious faith 
 is indicated by his membership in the German 
 Reformed church. In politics he is an indepen- 
 dent democrat, desiring the triumph of the lead- 
 ing principles of the party, yet at local elections 
 casting his ballot without regard to party affilia- 
 tions, for at such elections no issues are involved 
 and only the capability of the candidate should be 
 considered. He has served as school director for 
 fifteen years and as constable for nine years. 
 Coming to America when a youth of sixteen, he 
 readily mastered the language of the people and 
 familiarized himself with customs and methods 
 which hitherto were unknown to him. Through 
 the passing years he has made good use of his 
 opportunities, and reasoning back from effect to 
 cause, we see in his success the elements of in- 
 dustry and perseverance which brought about the 
 excellent result that he is now enjoying. 
 
 R. L. WATSON, M. D. 
 
 Dr. R. L. Watson, the only physician in the 
 village of Florid, was born in Joliet, Illinois, 
 April 9, 1880, and is a son of Joseph L. and 
 Caroline M. Watson. The father, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, died in Joliet on the 9th of April, 
 1905. He followed the occupation of farming 
 until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he 
 located in Joliet, where for years he was captain 
 of the night watch, while subsequently he became
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 a guard at the penitentiary. A few years ago he 
 retired from business cares and duties, and he 
 passed away at the age of seventy, being still 
 survived by his widow, who yet resides in Joliet. 
 In their family were eight children. The second 
 brother of our subject, Robert Louis Watson, was 
 a master mechanic employed in the steel mills at 
 Clairton, Pennsylvania, where he was killed in an 
 explosion in March, 1906. Five of the children 
 are still living, namely: Belle W., William and 
 Elizabeth, all of whom are at home in Joliet; 
 and Ralph, who is employed in the steel mills in 
 Clairton, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Dr. Watson, who is the youngest of the family, 
 entered the public schools of Joliet at the usual 
 age and passed through successive grades until he 
 was graduated from the high school with the 
 class of 1899. He afterward did three years' 
 preparatory work in the University of Michigan, 
 and then, having determined upon the practice 
 of medicine and surgery as a life work, he matric- 
 ulated in Rush Medical College of Chicago, from 
 which he was graduated in 1904. In December 
 of the same year he located in Florid, and has 
 secured an excellent practice, which is constantly 
 growing. Although a young man, he is consid- 
 ered an able physician, and his practice extends 
 over a large territory. He is continually .reading 
 and studying along the line of his profession, thus 
 broadening his knowledge and promoting his effi- 
 ciency, and he has today a business which many 
 an older practitioner might well envy. 
 
 Dr. Watson was married .October 18, 1905, to 
 Miss Clara M. Case, who was born in Manistee, 
 Michigan, and they now have a beautiful home in 
 Florid. 
 
 WILLIAM WHEELER. 
 
 William Wheeler is one of the largest land- 
 owners and wealthiest citizens of Putnam county, 
 and yet the time was when his financial resources 
 were extremely limited. His advancement from 
 a very humble financial position to one of afflu- 
 ence is due not to any fortunate combination of 
 circumstances or to any inheritance, but to his 
 own earnest, persistent labor, and his life exem- 
 plifies the truth of the old maxim that honesty is 
 the best policy. He now resides on section 18, 
 Senachwine township, and within the borders of 
 this township he holds seven hundred and fifty 
 
 acres of land which is very productive and val- 
 uable. 
 
 Born in Licking county, Ohio, February 24, 
 1842, he is a son of Ira and Susan (Lee) Wheeler. 
 The father was born in Vermont in 1805, while 
 the mother's birth occurred in New York in 1802. 
 They were married in Ohio, where they began their 
 domestic life upon a farm, making their home in 
 that state until 1848, when they came to Illinois. 
 They settled first in Fulton county, at which time 
 the father's cash capital consisted of only ten 
 cents. He had a family of nine children depen- 
 dent upon him for support, and although he took 
 up a claim in Fulton county he was unable to 
 make the payments upon it and thereby hold it. 
 The family, however, continued to reside in that 
 county until 1863, when they removed to Senach- 
 wine township, Putnam county, where the death 
 of the father occurred when he was sixty-five years 
 of age. The mother afterward went to live with a 
 son in Madison, Wisconsin, where she passed away 
 in 1890. She was a witness of the naval battle on 
 Lake Erie, in the war of 1812, her uncle, William 
 Lee, being captain of a vessel under Commodore 
 Perry. She had one son who served for five years 
 in the Civil war, enlisting with a Wisconsin regi- 
 ment. 
 
 William Wheeler remained with his parents in 
 Fulton county until twenty-two years of age. HQ 
 was a lad of only six summers at the time of the 
 removal from Ohio, and his educational priv- 
 ileges upon the frontier were very limited. He 
 was, however, a student for a brief period in an 
 old log schoolhouse where the methods of instruc- 
 tion, were very primitive. When quite young he 
 had to provide for his own support, and his youth 
 was largely a period of earnest and unremitting 
 toil. In 1863, when twenty-one years of age, he 
 came to Putnam county and purchased fifty-three 
 acres of land on High prairie, in Senachwine 
 township. He was able to pay but eighty dollars 
 on the farm, going in debt for the remainder, but 
 he worked hard and persistently, lived economical- 
 ly and frugally and by these methods was soon 
 enabled to discharge his indebtedness and also pur- 
 chase fifty-three acres more. He resided upon his 
 original farm until 1874, when he sold that prop- 
 erty and purchased three hundred and twenty 
 acres, whereon he now resides. The purchase price 
 was thirteen thousand two hundred dollars, on 
 which he was able to make a payment of six thou-
 
 1'AST AND 1'K'KSKXT OF MARSHALL AND 1TTNAM I'Ol'NTIKS. 
 
 433 
 
 sand dollars. He resolutely set to work to meet 
 the linancial obligation he incurred, and long since 
 lie has done this and more, for as the years have 
 passed he has added to his property until he now 
 owns seven hundred and fifty acres in Senach- 
 wine township and three hundred and twenty acres 
 in Minnesota. His investments have been very 
 carefully made, and in his business judgment con- 
 cerning the value of land and the possibility of its 
 appreciation he has been most wise. Upon his 
 home farm he has excellent buildings, all of which 
 he has erected or remodeled, and the farm is now 
 lacking in none of the accessories and equipments 
 of a model property of the twentieth century. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1864, was celebrated 
 the marriage of William Wheeler and Miss Mel- 
 vina Tryphena Bead, a native of Senachwine town- 
 ship and a daughter of Phillip and Tryphena 
 (Davis) Eead, who came to this county at an early 
 day. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have been born 
 five children, and the family circle yet remains 
 unbroken by the hand of death. Charles E., the 
 eldest, married Fannie Terry, of Wenona, and 
 they reside upon the father's farm. Chettie is 
 the wife of George Crawford, a resident of Liv- 
 ingston county, Illinois. Ulissa is the wife of W. 
 S. Murphy, a merchant in the village of Putnam. 
 Olio is the wife of Adam Smith, of Livingston 
 county; and Atha is the wife of John Wherry, of 
 Senachwine township. 
 
 For many years Mr. Wheeler has been a mem- 
 ber of the Christian church, and in politics he has 
 always been a republican. His career seems al- 
 most phenomenal when we think of the condi- 
 tions with which he was surrounded in his boy- 
 hood days. His parents were very poor when the 
 family came to Illinois, and they not only had 
 few of the comforts of life, but oftentimes lacked 
 its necessities. It is a noticeable fact, however, 
 in the history of the world that it is under the 
 pressure of. adversity that the best and strongest 
 in men are brought out and developed, and the 
 needs of Mr. -Wheeler called forth his latent pow- 
 ers and energies. He demonstrated in his work 
 his willingness to perform arduous labor, com- 
 liincd with ability and energy, and he never found 
 it difficult therefore to obtain employment. He 
 was ambitions, too, to secure a farm of his own, 
 and always worked with that end in view. After 
 coming to Putnam county he took care of his 
 parents, willingly assuming the burden, which he 
 
 discharged with filial devotion. All that he has 
 today has been made through his own efforts and 
 the assistance of his estimable wife, who has in- 
 deed been a faithful companion and helpmate to 
 him on life's journey. He has been a good man- 
 ager, conservative in his dealings and careful in 
 his investments. Today he is in possession of 
 extensive property interests as the result of his 
 thrift and diligence, and he certainly deserves the 
 prosperity that has come to him. He now rents 
 his land, owing to his health, which is somewhat 
 impaired, and the property brings to him an in- 
 come more than sufficient for his needs and wants. 
 
 JOHN B. WILSON. 
 
 John B. Wilson, owner of a well appointed 
 farm, whereon he is engaged in the breeding and 
 raising of fine Norman horses as well as in culti- 
 vating the cereals best adapted to the soil and the 
 climatic conditions, was born in Rising Sun, In- 
 diana, March 19, 1847. His father, James Wil- 
 son, was likewise a native of that state and was a 
 carpenter and builder by trade. Eemoving to Illi- 
 nois in 1851, he settled at Henry, where his father, 
 John Wilson, had located one year before, or in 
 1850. John Wilson followed farming- on Crow 
 Meadow, in Henry township, but has now departed 
 this life. James Wilson, however, still survives 
 and is now living with his son John on a farm in 
 Saratoga township. Although he has reached the 
 advanced age of eighty years, he is Still quite an 
 active and well preserved man. His wife, who 
 bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Stewart, was 
 a native of Indiana, and died about 1851 in Henry. 
 
 John B. Wilson, their only child, was educated 
 in the Crow Meadow district school of Henry 
 township, that was located on the old farm that 
 belonged to his grandfather, and in Henry Sem- 
 inary. He was thus provided with good advan- 
 tages, and when not busy with his text-books he 
 was trained to the work of field and meadow. 
 Farming has been his sole occupation, and public 
 opinion grants him prominence as the leading 
 farmer of Saratoga township. His father was the 
 owner of a tract of land in Whitefield township, 
 and there John B. Wilson engaged in general agri- 
 cultural pursuits for a number of years. His farm 
 in Saratoga township comprises three hundred and 
 twenty acres of land and is a model property, 
 equipped with all of the improved machinery and 
 accessories which facilitate the work of the fields
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 and promote the success of the agriculturist. He 
 annually harvests good crops and also takes great 
 interest in fine horses, owning and breeding some 
 very fine Norman stock. The farm is pleasantly 
 located on section 8, and the owner is an expert in 
 the development of property, to which he devotes 
 his labors. His home is a very commodious and 
 attractive residence, built in modern style of ar- 
 chitecture, and tarns and other buildings are in 
 keeping with the spirit -of progress which dom- 
 inates him in all of his work. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Wilson was iinited in marriage to 
 Miss Mary Elizabeth Merrill, a daughter of Gil- 
 man Merrill, of Boston, Massachusetts. They now 
 have five children : Herbert B., who is farming in 
 Saratoga township, on one of his farms, and who 
 married Miss Myrtle Mallory, by whom he has 
 four children; Oscar, who is a bookkeeper in Min- 
 neapolis, Minnesota; Jennie, the wife of Alfred 
 Holmes, a resident farmer of Saratoga township; 
 Arthur, who married Miss Combs and is farming 
 in Iowa ; and Clarence, a youth of sixteen, now in 
 school. 
 
 John B. Wilson is a stanch republican, unfalter- 
 ing in his allegiance to the party, for he believes 
 its principles are most conducive to good govern- 
 ment. He has been a school director for twenty- 
 seven years, and the cause of education has found 
 in him a stalwart champion. He has also been 
 road commissioner at various times and has done 
 much to improve the public highways. Thorough- 
 ly posted on matters of general interest, political 
 and otherwise, upon the improved methods of 
 farming and the topics of the day, he stands as a 
 high type of progressive American manhood and is 
 a co-operant factor in many measures which have 
 been of signal service to the county. Almost his 
 entire life has been passed within the borders of 
 this county, so that his life history is well known, 
 and the position to which he is accorded by the 
 consensus of public opinion is proof of his many 
 sterling traits of character. 
 
 GEORGE A. FORD. 
 
 George A. Ford, manager of the elevator of the 
 United Grain Company, at Granville, was born in 
 Hennepin township, January 11, 1863. His father, 
 John Ford, was a native of Ohio, born December 
 5, 1835. He lost his father when quite young and 
 afterward came to Putnam county with his mother, 
 who later married Mahlon Newburn. Thus John 
 
 Ford was reared in this county, and, having ar- 
 rived at years of maturity, he was married, on the 
 8th of December, 1859, to Miss Catherine New- 
 burn, who was born in Washington county, Penn- 
 sylvania, July 12, 1835, a daughter of George and 
 Lydia (Van Scoyoe) Newburn, who arrived in 
 Putnam county in 1852, settling near McNabb 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ford began their domestic life upon 
 a farm, and he purchased the property upon which 
 his widow now resides when there was no improve- 
 ment save a log house on the place. He made it 
 his home until his death, and in the intervening 
 years erected a comfortable residence and made 
 many good and substantial improvements. He 
 died January 17, 1897, and the old home is now 
 the property of their youngest daughter, Mary, 
 who has never married and is living with her 
 mother. There were two other children born unto 
 Mr. and Mrs. John Ford, namely : Milton E. and 
 George A. The former resides on a part of the 
 home farm that lies in Granville township. 
 
 George A. Ford of this review spent his boyhood 
 days under the parental roof and mastered the 
 common branches of English learning in the dis- 
 trict schools near his father's home. After put- 
 ting aside his text-books he continued to aid in the 
 labors of field and meadow until twenty-seven years 
 of age, when he was married and established a 
 home of his own. He wedded Miss Martha J. 
 Peterson, who was born in Putnam county, a 
 daughter of Daniel Peterson, now living in Gran- 
 ville. Mr. Ford then engaged in general agri- 
 cultural pursuits and purchased and operated a 
 farm in Magnolia township, but after a few years 
 he disposed of that property and bought land in 
 Granville township, which he cultivated for some 
 time. Five years ago, however, he sold that farm 
 and took up his abode in the village of Granville, 
 where he engaged in buying and shipping stock. 
 For the past two years he has been in the employ 
 of the Churchill & White Grain Company, now 
 the United Grain Company. He is a very com- 
 petent business man, carefully conducting the 
 grain trade at this town, and in addition to his 
 duties therewith he manages his own property in- 
 terests, and is also engaged in the tile business. 
 He has recently purchased one hundred and twen- 
 ty acres of land in Hennepin township, known as 
 the E. B. Culter farm, and he also owns thirty 
 acres of timber land beside his residence in the 
 old town of Granville.
 
 PAST AND I'HKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND 1TTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 435 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ford have one son, W. J. Ford. 
 The parents became members of the old Presby- 
 terian church at Florid, but the organization has 
 ceased to exist. In politics Mr. Ford is a demo- 
 crat, and while living in Magnolia served as road 
 commissioner. He is now filling the position of 
 school director of Granville township, and he 
 keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought 
 and progress in the county, becoming a repre- 
 sentative citizen by reason of the aid and co-opera- 
 tion which he has given to many movements for 
 the general good as well as by reason of his activ- 
 ity and enterprise. 
 
 SAXTON T. KELLOGG. 
 
 Saxton T. Kellogg, who is practically living re- 
 tired, but still owns and occupies his farm of one 
 hundred and eighty acres on sections 18 and 7, 
 La Prairie township, was born near Trivoli, Peoria 
 county, Illinois, March 19, 1838, and is the sixth 
 in order of birth in a family of eight children, 
 whose parents were Ammi and Susan (Bosworth) 
 Kellogg, the former born in Vermont, December 
 19, 1799, and the latter in the state of New York, 
 November 4, 1804. They were married in the 
 Empire state and in 1836 came to Illinois, where 
 they spent their remaining days. The father, how- 
 ever, passed away July 24, 1854, but the mother 
 long survived and died January 24, 1896, at the 
 advanced age of ninety-one years. The members 
 of their family were: Liddie K., who was born 
 January 9, 1826, and died in infancy; Henry M., 
 who was born February 19, 1827, and is deceased; 
 Sarah F., who was born February 24, 1829, and 
 has departed this life; Sidney B., who was born 
 January 7, 1832, and died March 11, 1885; Fuller 
 A., who was born September 16, 1834, and died 
 September 2, 1884; Saxton T., of this review; 
 Emily 0., who was born September 2, 1840, and 
 is now living in Princeton; and Percy, who was 
 born December 3, 1842, and died October 27, 1844. 
 
 Saxton T. Kellogg has spent his entire life in 
 Illinois, and early became imbued with the spirit 
 of enterprise and progress which have been man- 
 ifest in the upbuilding of the middle west. His 
 childhood days were largely passed in La Prairie 
 township, Marshall county, where he attended the 
 Kellogg school and when not busy with his text- 
 books worked in the fields. At the age of sixteen 
 he started out in life on his own account, working 
 as a farm hand bv the month. When he was 
 
 eighteen years of age he and his mother established 
 a home (the father having died many years be- 
 fore), keeping house together. In 1857 he bought 
 ten acres and later he purchased eighty acres of 
 land, which came into his possession in 1872, and 
 that he has prospered in the meantime is indicated 
 by the fact that he has extended the boundaries of 
 his farm until it now comprises one hundred and 
 eighty acres of good land on sections 18 and 7, 
 La Prairie township. He has engaged quite ex- 
 tensively in the raising of hogs, but is now prac- 
 tically living retired, leaving the active work of the 
 farm to others, although he still gives his super- 
 vision to the work. The only interruption to his 
 life as an agriculturist came through his service 
 as a soldier of the Civil war. In 1864 he respond- 
 ed to the country's call and joined the One Hun- 
 dred and Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, serving 
 under Captain Virden and Colonel Peter Davis. 
 
 On the 2d of September, 1866, Mr. Kellogg was 
 united in marriage to Miss Ann Honor Peistor, 
 who was born in Albany county, New York, Janu- 
 ary 15, 1848, and came with her parents to La 
 Prairie township, Marshall county, Illinois, in her 
 early girlhood days. She was a student in the Kel- 
 logg school, and they were married in the Bond 
 schoolhouse by the Rev. Shafer, a minister of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, holding there a big 
 reception. Mrs. Kellogg is a daughter of Tabol- 
 ster and Betsy Peistor, who were farming people. 
 Her father died in 1854 at the comparatively early 
 age of thirty years, but her mother is still living, 
 making her home in Iowa with a daughter. She 
 is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 In the family were five children besides Mrs. Kel- 
 logg, namely: Peter and Homer, twins; David; 
 Martha ; and Jennie. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg 
 have been born five children : Sidney, who died in 
 infancy; Lucy B., who is the wife of Alexander 
 Kussel, a farmer residing in Stark county, Illinois ; 
 Shirley, who married Hattie Wilson and is en- 
 gaged in farming in La Prairie township; Sarah 
 Ann, who died in infancy ; and Charlie, at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Kellogg is a republican, and he 
 and his family are members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, in the work of which they are inter- 
 ested, while to its support they contribute liberally. 
 Almost his entire life has been passed in this 
 county, so that he is numbered among its pioneer 
 settlers and has been a witness of its growth and 
 development from the period of its early advance-
 
 430 
 
 PAST AM) I'K'KSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUXTIKS. 
 
 ment to the present time. Great have been the 
 changes which have occurred, and he has shared 
 in the work of improvement, especially along ag- 
 ricultural lines. 
 
 CHRISTIAN GEORGE OPPER. 
 
 It is not the province of biography to give a 
 man's modest estimate of himself, but to establish 
 his standing by the opinion of the community in 
 which he dwells, and in Putnam county, where he 
 is best known, Christian George Opper is ever 
 spoken of as "a good man, worthy of all respect." 
 He was born in the village of Wohra, Hesse-Cassel, 
 Germany, November 23, 1838, and is a son of 
 George and Mary Opper, who were likewise natives 
 of Germany. The father was a shoemaker by 
 trade, and during the later years of his life was a 
 government revenue inspector. He died in his 
 native country, and the mother passed away while 
 on the ocean on her way to America. 
 
 Christian G. Opper was a studant in the pub- 
 lic schools of his native country until he reached 
 the age of thirteen and a half years, and later he 
 profited by the advantages afforded in a night 
 school, thus acquiring a fair education. Attracted 
 by the opportunities of the new world, of which 
 he had heard very favorable reports, Mr. Opper, 
 at the age of sixteen years, came to the United 
 States, making his way at once to Granville, Illi- 
 nois, where lived his aunt, Mrs. Christian Bruder. 
 He reached his destination on the 16th of May, 
 1855, and was then employed upon a farm until 
 September. He began working for his uncle, Mr. 
 Bruder, in the fall, learning the blacksmith's 
 trade, and when he had mastered the business he 
 established a smithy of his own, and for over fort} 7 
 years was thus identified with the industrial in- 
 terests of Granville, carefully and successfully con- 
 ducting his shop. 
 
 On the llth of July, 1858, Mr. Opper was 
 married to Miss Anna Schneider, who was born in 
 a neighboring village of Germany, April 8, 1833, 
 and who came to the United States a year after 
 the arrival of her future husband. She lived in 
 Baltimore until coming to the west, but the greater 
 part of her life was passed in Putnam county. 
 For almost forty-seven years this worthy couple 
 traveled life's journey together, and were then 
 separated through the death of the wife on the 
 19th of May, 1905. They were the parents of six 
 children, of whom five are yet living : Helen, the 
 
 wife of \\~. A. Stansbury, who resides at Normal, 
 Illinois; Elizabeth, who died at the age of three 
 months; Mrs. W. E. Hawthorne, of Granville; 
 Henry W., who is manager of the Toluca Lumber 
 & Hardware Company of Granville ; Mary A., who 
 is at home, and has been clerking for eight years; 
 and Bertha, who for nine years has been postmis- 
 tress of Granville. 
 
 Mr. Opper has always been a most industrious, 
 energetic man. Without desire to be wealthy he 
 has nevertheless acquired enough to allow him to 
 spend his declining years without recourse to fur- 
 ther labor, having made judicious investment in 
 real estate, from which he derives a comfortable 
 income. He has a nice home in the old town of 
 Granville and yet lives in the house a part of 
 which he built in the summer of 1858. His has 
 been a most honorable and upright life. He was 
 converted when eighteen years of age and joined 
 the Evangelical church. He assisted in organizing 
 the German church and building its house of wor- 
 ship five miles east of Granville and for several 
 years was a regular attendant on its services, but 
 with advancing years he felt the necessity of at- 
 tending a church nearer his home, and withdrew 
 from the organization which he had aided in 
 founding and placed his membership with the 
 Congregational church in Granville, with which 
 he is now identified. 
 
 Mr. Opper started out in life a poor boy, and 
 for many years he found it a difficult task to pro- 
 vide the necessities of life, but he never became 
 discouraged. His nature is rather that of the 
 optimist, and he has never permitted difficulties 
 to deter him in his onward march. He always 
 worked with the stimulus of the fact that a loving 
 wife and children awaited his return home, and it 
 was for them that he labored so industriously and 
 energetically. His companions from his youth 
 were always among the best, and his own genuine 
 worth has caused his friendship to be sought by 
 those who have true regard for the value of char- 
 acter. His home has ever been noted for its hos- 
 pitality and good cheer, and was ever open for the 
 entertainment of strangers before there was any 
 hotel in Granville. All who sought it could find 
 food and shelter with him, and these were freely 
 offered whether the recipient had the money to pay 
 for it or not. His influence has ever been exerted 
 in behalf of goodness, truth and justice, and many 
 times a word spoken in season has been of the ut-
 
 S. ('. (i. OPPEK.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 441 
 
 most help in turning one toward the path of 
 righteousness. By precept and example he has 
 taught the better way of life and is honored and 
 respected by all who know him. The world is cer- 
 tainly better for his having lived, and Granville 
 has profited by his labors and his influence. 
 
 JAMES NATHAN OWEN. 
 
 James Nathan Owen, a leading representative 
 of one of the most prominent pioneer families of 
 Marshall county, was born in Richland township, 
 north of Wilburn, on the 13th of February, 1852. 
 His father, Walter Owen, was a native of Ken- 
 tucky and came to Illinois with his father, Nathan 
 Owen, the family home being established west of 
 Wilburn in Richland township in the early '50s. 
 The grandfather had served as a soldier of the 
 war of 1812. Walter Owen is still living, his 
 home being in Chenoa, McLean county, Illinois, 
 while his wife, who bore the maiden name of 
 Mary Glass, died at the age of twenty-eight years. 
 She was a native of Virginia and they were 
 married in this state. In their family were three 
 children who are yet living, the daughters being 
 Elizabeth Mildred, now Mrs. Harrison Ireland ; 
 and Cora, who is living with her father. 
 
 In his early boyhood days James Nathan Owen 
 accompanied his father on his removal to Kan- 
 kakee, Illinois, where he acquired his education in 
 the public schools. After he had attained his 
 majority he returned to Richland township and 
 worked upon the home farm. In the spring of 
 1882 he Came to his present place of residence 
 and has since resided here, covering a period of 
 almost a quarter of a century. He has a well de- 
 veloped farm property, equipped with all modern 
 conveniences and accessories and supplied with 
 substantial and commodious buildings for the 
 shelter of grain and stock. He has one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land, of which one hundred 
 acres is under a high state of cultivation, while in 
 addition to tilling the fields he is engaged quite 
 extensively and successfully in the raising of sheep, 
 hogs and cattle. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Owen was united in marriage to 
 Miss Alice Louisa York, a daughter of John 
 York, who follows farming near Wenona, Illinois. 
 Unto them were born two children: Harry, who 
 was born in 1881 and died at the age of nine 
 years; and Frank Eugene, who was born Febru- 
 ary 12, 1886, and is now upon the home place. 
 
 Mr. Owen is connected with the Modern Wood- 
 men of America, his membership being in Wash- 
 burn camp, No. 1821. He votes with the repm> 
 lican party and for many years has served as 
 school director, the cause of education finding in 
 him a warm and stalwart friend. He belongs to 
 the Christian chur-ch and has lived a life in har- 
 mony with the family record, which has ever been 
 most creditable. No name is more closely asso- 
 ciated with the history of Marshall couaty and its 
 development from pioneer conditions than the 
 name of Owen, and later generations have been 
 equally loyal to public interests and have con- 
 tinued the work of improvement and progress that 
 was begun by ancestors in an early epoch in the 
 history of this county. 
 
 GEORGE E. PACE. 
 
 George E. Pace, a resident of Henry, Illinois, 
 was for many years identified with general agri- 
 cultural pursuits and live-stock interests in Mar- 
 shall county, whereby he accumulated a comfort- 
 able competence. He was born in Morris county, 
 New Jersey, on the 15th 1 of November, 1864, and 
 is a son of John and Sarah (Perry) Pace, both of 
 whom were natives of New Jersey. The father 
 died about seven years ago, having long survived 
 his wife, who passed away on the 15th of No- 
 vember, 1873. 
 
 George E. Pace was reared under the parental 
 roof and acquired his educati6n in the public 
 schools of his native county. He early became fa- 
 miliar with farm work and about 1885 made his 
 way westward to Illinois, settling in Marshall 
 county, where he turned his attention to general 
 farming. He became well known as a cattle 
 dealer and is now doing a good business as a cattle 
 buyer and seller, being an excellent judge of live 
 stock, so that he has been enabled to make ju- 
 dicious purchases and profitable sales. 
 
 Mr. Pace married Miss Emily Olmsted, of Mar- 
 shall county, and unto them have been born two 
 children, Kittie Amanda and Herbert Austin, both 
 attending school. Mr. Pace is a member of Henry 
 lodge, No. 119, A. F. & A. M., and also of the 
 Modern Woodmen camp, of Henry, in which he 
 has served as consul for two years and adviser for 
 five years. He has made many friends in these 
 organizations by reason of qualities which in every 
 land and clime command confidence and regard.
 
 442 
 
 PAST AND IM.'KSKXT OF MARSHALL AND Pl'TXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 He does not feel that he made a mistake in seeking 
 a home in the middle west, for here he has en- 
 joyed and benefited by good business opportunities 
 and has made substantial financial progress. 
 
 EDO DUDEN. 
 
 Edo Duden is the owner of a valuable farming 
 property of two hundred acres in Bennington 
 township, which he has placed under a high state 
 of cultivation. He has other valuable farm prop- 
 erty in Iowa, and his holdings are so extensive 
 as to render further active labor on his part no 
 longer a necessity, for his income from the land 
 is sufficient to supply him with all of the comforts 
 and many of the luxuries of life. A native of Ger- 
 many, he was born in Oldenburg on the 29th of 
 January, 1832. His father, John G. Duden, also 
 a native of Germany, was born in 1808, and in that 
 country he engaged in farming a small tract of 
 land of twenty-four acres. There he continued to 
 reside until called to his final rest in 1884, when 
 he was about seventy-six years of age. His wife, 
 Mrs. Anna Elizabeth Duden, was born in 1808 and 
 passed away in 1882. They were the parents of 
 six children : Mary, who is living in Minonk, Illi- 
 nois ; Kate, a resident of Iowa ; Anna, who is lo- 
 cated in Nebraska ; Olmet, living in Germany ; and 
 Margaret, deceased. 
 
 In the schools of his native land Mr. Duden of 
 this review acquired his education. He spent his 
 minority in the fatherland and in 1853 crossed the 
 Atlantic to America on a sailing vessel named the 
 Columbus. After a voyage of nine weeks he 
 landed at New Orleans, whence he proceeded 
 northward to Missouri, where he secured employ- 
 ment at a wage of ten dollars per month. Among 
 his duties was the milking of forty-five cows. He 
 remained with his first employer for about six 
 months, after which he went to Peoria, Illinois, 
 and worked on the canal. He also did other labor, 
 scorning no work that would yield him an honest 
 living. About five years were passed in Peoria, 
 on the expiration of which period he removed to 
 Nebraska township, Livingston county, Illinois, 
 and invested the money which he had saved from 
 his earnings in forty acres of land. He was mar- 
 ried at that time and later he purchased the place 
 upon which he now resides, first becoming owner 
 of eighty acres, but from time to time he has ex- 
 tended the boundaries of his farm until it now 
 
 comprises two hundred acres of richly productive 
 land in Bennington township. The soil is very al- 
 luvial and the farm responds readily to the care 
 and cultivation which he bestows upon the fields. 
 In addition to this he has made extensive invest- 
 ment in real estate in Iowa, where he now owns 
 ten hundred and forty acres. He has given to each 
 of his children a farm and yet retains valuable 
 holdings which supply him with an income suffi- 
 cient to obviate any necessity for further active 
 work. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Duden was united in marriage to 
 Miss Johanna Siefkes, who was born in Germany 
 in 1845 and was three years of age when brought 
 to the United States by her parents. Their chil- 
 dren are : Fannie, who is now living ii 
 Illinois; Bertha, living in Iowa; Anna, 
 Johanna, at home ; Betty, who is living in Nebras- 
 ka ; Henrietta, who resides in Lee county, Illinois ; 
 Mary, who is living in Benson, Illinois; Kate, at 
 home ; and John, who is operating the home farm. 
 
 Mr. Duden gives his political allegiance to the 
 democracy. His wife is a member of the German 
 Lutheran church. He has never had occasion to 
 regret his determination to seek a home in the new 
 world, for in this country he found the opportuni- 
 ties he sought, which, by the way, are always open 
 to ambitious, energetic young men. As the years 
 passed he made good use of his advantages, early 
 realizing that in America "labor is king," and in 
 the face of difficulties and obstacles he has worked 
 his way steadily upward, his position today, how- 
 ever, being an enviable one, proving, ag it does, 
 the possibilities for successful accomplishment to 
 those who are forced to start out in life empty- 
 handed. 
 
 THOMAS PAXSON. 
 
 Thomas Paxson, elected three times to county 
 offices on the democratic ticket in a strongly re- 
 publican county, is now filling the office of treas- 
 urer, and his elections have come as a testimonial 
 of his personal popularity and the confidence re- 
 posed in him by his fellow townsmen a confi- 
 dence that is well placed, as is shown by his 
 fidelity and capability in office qualities which 
 have led to his re-election. Hennepin and Put- 
 nam county number him as a representative 
 citizen. 
 
 Mr. Paxson was born in Belmont county, Ohio,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNT IKS. 
 
 443 
 
 February 25, 1854. His father, Thomas Paxson, 
 Sr., was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, De- 
 cember 14, 1801, and in early life learned and 
 followed the shoemaker's trade, while later he 
 worked in a paper mill at Wheeling, West Vir- 
 ginia. Subsequently he removed to Ohio, where 
 he carried on farming until his death. He was 
 married to Miss Sarah McCormick, who was 
 born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 
 1814. He was born and reared in the Quaker 
 church, but in later years belonged to no denom- 
 ination. His wife, however, was a member of the 
 Methodist church. She was his second wife, his 
 first wife having been a Miss Morgan, of Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio. They had two children, both of 
 whom died in infancy, and following the death of 
 the mother, Thomas Paxson, Sr., wedded Miss 
 McCormick, by whom he had ten children, four 
 of whom are now living: William, who resides 
 with his brother . Thomas ; Amos, who is living 
 near Magnolia, Putnam county; and Parven, a 
 resident of Kansas. 
 
 Thomas Paxson of this review lived with his 
 parents through the period of his minority, spend- 
 ing his youth on the home farm and acquiring a 
 common-school education. When twenty-five 
 years of age he left his parents' home and came 
 to Illinois, working by the month as a farm hand 
 in Marshall county. He later removed to Mag- 
 nolia, Putnam county, and secured a clerkship in 
 a store, where he was employed for about one 
 year, and then resumed farming. While thus 
 engaged he was elected to the office of sheriff of 
 the county, and entered upon the duties of the 
 position December 1, 1890. He served for four 
 years and then conducted a hotel in Hennepin 
 until 1898, when he was again elected county 
 sheriff. Four years later he was chosen by pop- 
 ular suffrage to the position of county treasurer. 
 It is a law that no man shall serve for two 
 consecutive terms in the office of either treasurer 
 or sheriff, and thus Mr. Paxson could not be nom- 
 inated without a lapse of time, but in 190f> he 
 was nominated for the third term for sheriff, and 
 his popularity and ability as an officer leave little 
 doubt as to the outcome of the election. He was 
 reared in the faith of the democracy, and his 
 mature judgment has sanctioned its policy and 
 platform, and his elections therefore are all the 
 greater compliment from the fact that Putnam 
 is regarded as a republican county. He has also 
 
 served as township clerk of Magnolia township, 
 filling the office for two years before elected 
 sheriff the first time. 'He was collector of Hen- 
 nepin township for three years while in the sher- 
 iff's office and one year in the hotel. Later he 
 served for four years, so that his incumbency in 
 that position covered altogether eight years. No 
 official is free from mistakes, but any that Mr. 
 Paxson may have made have been errors of judg- 
 ment rather than an indication of incapability 
 or infidelity. On the contrary, people of the op- 
 position party endorse his work and give him 
 support at the ballot box, and his official record 
 is altogether creditable. 
 
 Mr. Paxson was married in 1884 to Miss Alice 
 Horton, a native of Magnolia and a daughter of 
 N. C. Horton, an early settler of Putnam county. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Paxson now have five children : 
 Edwin G., Sallie, Thomas, Milton and Florence, 
 all yet at home, the eldest being in his twenty- 
 first year. Mr. Paxson is a valued member of the 
 Woodmen, Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, and 
 he has in the county a wide acquaintance and 
 qualities which render him very popular in po- 
 litical circles and private life. He regards a 
 public office as a public trust and no trust 
 reposed in him was ever betrayed in the slightest 
 
 WILLIAM M. LAUGHLIN. 
 
 William M. Laughlin, justice of the peace at 
 Granville and one of the respected and leading 
 citizens of the village, has been closely identified 
 with its material progress and its community in- 
 terests. He was born in Bond county, Illinois, 
 July 29, 1826, and is a representative of one of 
 the early families of the new world. During a 
 pioneer epoch in the history of the United States 
 three brothers of the name came from Scotland 
 and two of them settled in Pennsylvania, while 
 one took up his abode in South Carolina. 
 
 A grandson of the latter was S. D. Laughlin, 
 father of our subject. He was born in South 
 Carolina and was married in Ohio, after which 
 he came to Illinois, settling in Bond county in the 
 early '20s. His wife bore the maiden name of 
 Rebecca Dunlavy and was a native of the Buck- 
 eye state. After living for some years in Bond 
 county the parents came to Putnam county in 
 1830 and remained in the log cabin of Nelson
 
 444 
 
 PAST AND PUKSKNT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUXT1KS. 
 
 Shepherd, south of Florid, until they could build 
 a cabin, on their own land. Mr. Laughlin pre- 
 empted between three and four hundred acres of 
 land, which he secured from the government, but 
 it was not in the market until 1835. When it 
 came into his possession not a furrow had been 
 turned or an improvement made upon the place, 
 the entire tract being just as it was when it came 
 from the hand of nature. He cut the trees, 
 hewed the timber and sawed the lumber in a 
 steam sawmill at Florid, after which he built a 
 frame house. He performed much of the ardu- 
 ous labor incident to the development and im- 
 provement of a new farm, and as the years 
 passed by, carefully conducted 'his business inter- 
 ests up to the time of his death, which was oc- 
 casioned by pneumonia when he was fifty-two 
 years of age. His wife died when about fifty 
 years of age. In their family were eight chil- 
 dren, four sons and four daughters, and the 
 daughters are now deceased. A brother of our 
 subject, James G. Laughlin, is living in Prince- 
 ton, Illinois. The eldest brother died in Kansas, 
 while the youngest brother, Addison Laughlin, is 
 now living in Kewanee, Wisconsin. 
 
 William M. Laughlin was only four years of age 
 when brought by his parents to Putnam county, 
 and he began work in the fields when he was so 
 young that he was only able to do one-half of 
 the amount of the men employed. In early days 
 he would frequently make trips to Chicago with 
 wheat, doing this about twice each fall, for the 
 winter wheat was sown and much of the farm 
 work for the year was done. A team of horses 
 would be hitched to the wagon and in that he 
 would convey the wheat to market, it usually re- 
 quiring about ten days to make the trip. His 
 father owned five head of horses, which he brought 
 with him from Bond county, but there were no 
 fences and all of the horses strayed away with 
 the exception of one, which, however, was gone 
 for some time. Thus amid pioneer conditions 
 and environments the days of his boyhood and 
 youth were passed by Mr. Laughlin, who con- 
 tinued to make his home upon the old farm until 
 his parents died. 
 
 The following year he was married to Miss 
 Elizabeth J. Thatcher, who was born in Vermont, 
 October 25, 1830, a daughter of Benjamin 
 Thatcher, who settled in this county in 1845 near 
 Union Grove church. For a year after their mar- 
 
 riage they lived upon the old homestead and Mr. 
 Laughlin then purchased an improved farm of 
 eighty acres, where he lived three years. He 
 afterward developed and improved a farm south 
 of Granville, and he continued to engage actively 
 in agricultural pursuits until after the outbreak 
 of the Civil war. In 1864, prompted by a spirit 
 nf [till riotism, he offered his services to the gov- 
 ernment and joined Company B, One Hundred 
 and Thirty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, un- 
 der Captain Jefferson Durley. He was in one 
 hundred days' service and went as far south as 
 Cairo, Illinois, being mustered out after five 
 months. In order to go to the war he left his 
 home and wife with four small children, the oldest 
 not over ten years of age. Though his service 
 was comparatively short, yet he did not know 
 where he would be sent or what he would en- 
 counter before he returned home, and it certainly 
 required a great personal sacrifice on his part to 
 leave his wife with the care of their little ones 
 when fate held for him nothing but uncertainty. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin were born six chil- 
 dren, of whom five are yet living: Ella C., now 
 the wife of Eobert M. Pr.itchett, a druggist living 
 at Dana, Illinois; Mrs. C. C. Watts, of Rutland, 
 Illinois ; Hattie, the wife of Allen Ramsey, who 
 is living at Wheaton, Minnesota; Cassius, who 
 died at the age of a year and a half; Maggie A., 
 the wife of William A. Lake, a resident of La 
 Salle county ; and Bessie, the wife 'of H. E. Raley, 
 sheriff of Putnam county. 
 
 After the war Mr. Laughlin removed to Gran- 
 ville, where he engaged in carpenter work until a 
 few years ago, and many buildings in the town 
 and vicinity were partly erected by him. He has 
 lived a life of industry, working resolutely to pro- 
 vide for his family, and a fair measure of suc- 
 cess has been accorded him. In 1905 he was called 
 upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on 
 the 15th of May of that year. After her death 
 he no longer cared to live in the old home and 
 sold that property, since which time he has erected 
 a new cottage in the east part of the town. He 
 has served as justice of the peace for thirty 
 years, but has held no other public office. In the 
 justice court, however, he has proved a most 
 capable official, and his decisions have been strictly 
 fair and impartial, so that he has "won golden 
 opinions from all sorts of people." When a young 
 boy he united with the Presbyterian church and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 445 
 
 has always led an earnest Christian life. In 1848 
 he voted for Martin Van Buren, candidate for 
 president on the free soil ticket, and since the 
 organization of the republican party has been one 
 of its stalwart champions. 
 
 Probably no resident of the county has resided 
 so long within its borders, and the years of his 
 continuous connection with this part of the state 
 well entitle Mr. Laughlin to prominent mention 
 in this work. He has a most retentive memory, 
 and is considered authority on all matters relating 
 to the early history of the community. He recalls 
 many interesting incidents, in some of which he 
 was an active participant. He remembers well the 
 controversy and division in the Union Grove 
 Presbyterian church, the Ramsey hanging and the 
 attempt to return a runaway negro by the name 
 of Prank. All of these were important events in 
 the early days. His memory forms a connecting 
 link between the primitive past and the pro- 
 gressive present, and to present in detail his ex- 
 periences in this county would be to give a cor- 
 rect picture of pioneer life and later progress 
 here. Long since has the stage coach and the 
 "prairie schooner" given way before the railroad 
 train, the log cabin has been replaced by the 
 commodious and substantial frame, brick or stone 
 dwelling, crude farm machinery has been sup- 
 planted by the reaper, the mower, the harvester 
 and the thresher, and today there is little evidence 
 to show that hardly more than a half century 
 ago the county was still but very sparsely settled 
 and the work of improvement had scarcely begun. 
 
 GEORGE A. McCORMICK, M. D. 
 
 Dr. George A. McCormick, the only physician 
 of Hennepin and proprietor of a drug store there, 
 is one of the best known and most popular resi- 
 dents of Putnam county, and although other phy- 
 sicians have located in Hennepin they find that 
 Dr. McCormick is so strongly entrenched in the 
 affections and confidence of the public at large 
 that they must, of necessity, seek locations else- 
 where. For forty years he has made his home 
 in this county, and with the exception of the first 
 year has continuously resided in the town. 
 
 A native of Knox county, Indiana, he was born 
 October 28, 1846, and is a son of Robinson and 
 Sarah B. (Smith) McCormick, both of whom 
 were natives of Virginia, the former born in 1804 
 and the latter in 1812. When a young man Rob- 
 
 inson McCormick became a resident of Indiana, 
 where he followed farming and stock-raising, pur- 
 chasing and owning a tract of land, which he op- 
 erated until his death. He attempted to join 
 the Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 
 but was rejected. Later he got an appointment as 
 wagonmaker with the same regiment, and in 
 February, 1862, contracted a cold, which resulted 
 in his death soon afterward. He was married 
 twice, the mother of our subject being his second 
 wife. He had seven children by his first wife and 
 five by the second wife, who died during his ab- 
 sence in the army in 1861. Both were members 
 of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and Mr. 
 McCormick gave his early political support to the 
 whig party, while on its dissolution he joined the 
 ranks of the new republican party. Of the twelve 
 children only two are living, the sister being Mrs. 
 Steele, of Eleanor, Indiana. 
 
 Dr. McCormick was a youth of fifteen when his 
 mother died, and the year following, his father's 
 death occurred. He had been reared to farm work 
 and was familiar with no other line of activity, 
 so about the close of the war he rented land and 
 engaged in farming on his own account, but the 
 inflated prices brought about by the war had col- 
 lapsed and farm products brought little money. 
 At the end of a year he had barely enough to pay 
 his debts, and he resolved to seek his fortune else- 
 where. Accordingly he came to Hennepin in Sep- 
 tember, 1866, and for a year worked on a farm, 
 after which he found employment in a drug store 
 in Hennepin. He served an apprenticeship, 
 learned the business and in 1876 became pro- 
 prietor of a drug store, which he has since con- 
 ducted. He also owns an interest in a store in 
 Granville, Putnam county. After three years in 
 Bennett Medical College, of Chicago, he was 
 graduated therefrom in 1883 and has since been 
 practicing in Hennepin, where he has a good busi- 
 ness. His skill and ability are widely acknowl- 
 edged and have been demonstrated in the manner 
 in which he has handled intricate cases with good 
 results. 
 
 Dr. McCormick has been married twice. In 
 1871 he wedded Angenetta Simpson, who died in 
 1876, leaving three small children, two of whom 
 are now living Mrs. Ida B. Shepherd and Mrs. 
 Ira Windersheidt, both living in Hennepin. In 
 1877 Dr. McCormick was married to Miss Mary 
 Fitzpatrick, a native of Hennepin, and they have
 
 I 111 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 one son, George A., who is a graduate of the Chi- 
 cago College of Pharmacy and works in his 
 father's store. 
 
 Dr. McCormick has always given his political 
 support to the republican party, and for years has 
 filled the office of village trustee. Community af- 
 fairs are of deep interest to him and his co-opera- 
 tion can always be counted upon to further move- 
 ments for the general good. He is an Odd Fel- 
 low, a Mystic Worker and Woodman and exem- 
 plifies in his life the beneficent spirit of these 
 organizations. He has a nice home in Hennepin, 
 together with a good business block, and has 
 become well-to-do through the conduct of his 
 commercial and professional interests. He is pop- 
 ular with a large circle of friends, being a man of 
 genial disposition and kindly spirit, so that wher- 
 ever he is known he wins friends. 
 
 Z. E. PERRY. 
 
 For over seventy years the name of Perry has 
 been prominently identified with the upbuilding 
 and development of Marshall county, for as early 
 as 1834 Elijah L. Perry, father of our subject, 
 became a resident of this county and took an ac- 
 tive part in reclaiming the land for the purpose 
 of civilization. He was born in Kentucky in 
 1820 and on coming to this state located in Bell 
 Plain township, Marshall county, where he fol- 
 lowed farming throughout the remainder of his 
 life, dying here in August, 1870. He was an 
 active and consistent member of the Christian 
 church and was a stanch supporter of the demo- 
 cratic party. On the 29th of October, 1847, he 
 married Miss Nancy A. Hatton, who was born in 
 Virginia on the 17th of September, 1825, and is 
 still living, making her home with her children. 
 She, too, is an earnest member of the Christian 
 church and is a lady highly esteemed by all who 
 know her. She was five years of age when she 
 accompanied her father, Forsythe Hatton, on his 
 removal from Rockbridge county, Virginia, to 
 Ohio, and in that state she began her education, 
 pursuing her studies in a little old log schoolhouse 
 near her childhood home. This was a primitive 
 structure, one log being left out for a window 
 and the aperture covered with greased paper. 
 The seats were made of split logs with pegs driven 
 in them for legs and the building was heated 
 with a huge fireplace. At the age of nine years 
 
 she accompanied her parents on the removal to 
 Illinois. Eleven children were born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Perry, namely: Malinda, W. J., Sophia, 
 Anna, Z. E., Nettie, Forsythe, Maggie, E. F., A. 
 E., and Cora. 
 
 Z. E. Perry was born in Bell Plain township, 
 Marshall county, on the 18th of September, 1855, 
 and was reared and educated in much the usual 
 manner of farmer hoys. He and his brother A. 
 E. still live on the old home farm with their 
 mother, which has been their place of residence, 
 for twenty-seven years. The 'mother was left a 
 widow at an early age and had a large family to 
 rear, but the sons have been of great assistance 
 to her in the care of the farm and the manage- 
 ment of her business affairs. They today own 
 and operate a fine farm of three hundred acres, 
 seventy acres of which is covered with timber, 
 while the remainder is under a high state of cul- 
 tivation and supplied with a good set of farm 
 buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. All 
 of the family are members of the Christian 
 church and they occupy an enviable position in 
 the esteem of the community. The sons support 
 the democratic party by their ballots and F. E. 
 and Z. E. have served on the school board. Fra- 
 ternally they are members of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America. 
 
 E. J. TOWNLEY. 
 
 In retrospect E. J. Townley can see Putnam 
 county when it was but sparsely settled, when its 
 homes were mostly log cabins and when only here 
 and there had a farm been made, showing that the 
 work of development had been begun in this re- 
 gion. He is now one of the oldest citizens of 
 Senachwine township, not only in years, but also 
 in the length of his residence in this locality. He 
 was born in Essex county, New Jersey, February 
 21, 1828, and his father, Clark Townley, was born 
 in the same county, March 1, 1797. He married 
 Rachel Gildersleeve, who was born in the village 
 of Jefferson, New Jersey, on the llth of June, 
 1803, and their children were six in number, four 
 of whom died in New Jersey. The other two, 
 E. J. and George W. Townley, the latter now a 
 resident of Nebraska, came with their parents to 
 Illinois in 1854, and the winter was spent at the 
 home of Elder Gill, at Toulon, Stark county, Illi- 
 nois. In March, 1855, they located on the farm 
 upon which the subject of this review now resides.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 The father was a shoemaker by trade and the fam- 
 ily were poor, but they managed to purchase forty 
 acres of land. There was a little cabin on the 
 place, but it had no chimney, and a stovepipe was 
 put through a hole in the roof. About ten acres 
 of the land had been broken and fenced, and the 
 father and sons took up the work of further de- 
 veloping and cultivating the farm. There they 
 lived for fifteen years and then the mother died, 
 passing away February 8, 1869. The father after- 
 ward removed to the village of Henry, Marshall 
 county, where he passed away October 19, 1884, 
 at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. 
 
 E. J. Townley was a young man of twenty-six 
 years at the time of the removal of the family to 
 Illinois, and he assisted in the work of the home 
 farm, and when the father removed to Henry he 
 and his brother took charge of the farm, which 
 they operated together for many years. Later, 
 however, the brother sold out and went to Ne- 
 braska, while MB. Townley has continued his farm- 
 ing operations in this county, and although he is 
 not now actively engaged in the work of the fields, 
 he still owns valuable farming land in Putnam 
 county. 
 
 He was married in 1857 to Miss Julia Baur, 
 who was born in Wall street, New York, August 
 7, 1829. For some time she has been in poor 
 health. Two sons and a daughter were born unto 
 them, all yet living : John C., who is married and 
 has a family, lives in Texas; Rachel is at home; 
 and Arthur is in Texas. 
 
 Mr. Townley remembers well the trials and 
 hardships of pioneer life in Putnam county, when 
 all labor was performed by hand and when the 
 farmer worked hard and long to till his fields and 
 harvest his crops. His day's labor extended from 
 sunrise to sunset, and even after that the chores 
 had to be done. Although he has been successful 
 in business he has always regretted that he had no 
 better educational privileges in youth. He attend- 
 ed only the subscription schools, and because his 
 father had little money his school opportunities 
 were very limited. He has, however, practical 
 common sense, the lack of which has caused many 
 a man to fail in business, while Mr. Townley has 
 prospered, becoming the owner of over seven hun- 
 dred acres of valuable land in Scnachwine town- 
 ship. He now rents his land, so that he is prac- 
 tically living retired -and his rest is well earned. 
 In politics he has been a republican since the or- 
 
 ganization of the party, but has never wanted or 
 held office. About a year ago he united with the 
 Christian church. Earnest, unremitting toil was 
 for many years his portion, and he certainly merits 
 the rest which has come to him in the evening of 
 life. 
 
 C. W. DYSART.' 
 
 C. W. Dysart, a prosperous farmer of Granville 
 township, was born January 22, 1847, on the farm 
 which is yet his home. His parents were A. P. 
 and Hannah J. (Hawthorne) Dysart. The father 
 was born in Pennsylvania in September, 1808, 
 and the mother's birth occurred in Ohio. The 
 Dysart family is of Scotch descent, and early rec- 
 ords give an account of the emigration to America 
 of the first representatives of the name in the new 
 world about 1684. 
 
 In 1838 A. P. Dysart, coming by way of the 
 lakes, arrived at Chicago, where he purchased a 
 horse and saddle and thence journeyed to Peru, Il- 
 linois. There his horse and saddle were stolen from 
 him and he walked the remaining distance to Gran- 
 ville. He purchased fifty acres of land just south 
 of the village, after which he went to Hennepin 
 and then down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers 
 and up the Ohio river to Pittsburg, whence he 
 journeyed to his old home in Pennsylvania. He 
 afterward made the trip across the country with 
 teams to Illinois, driving four horses to a wagon 
 and carrying with him tools and other effects. He 
 then began farming on his own land and per- 
 formed the arduous task of developing new fields. 
 In those days it was customary to ride the near 
 horse of the rear team and to drive all with a 
 single line, and it was in this way that Mr. Dysart 
 traveled across the country to his new home. The 
 land which he purchased had been partially broken 
 but there were no buildings upon it. He erected 
 a log house and barn and made a home there until 
 1845, when he sold the property and purchased 
 eighty acres on section 15, Granville township 
 the farm now occupied by his son, C. W. Dysart. 
 Upon this place the father continued to reside 
 until 1874, when he removed to Virginia, where 
 his death occurred. His first wife died in 1854, at 
 the age of twenty-nine years, and he afterward 
 wedded Miss Hannah Orr, a native of Ireland, 
 who died in Kansas about six years ago. A. P. 
 Dysart had only a common-school education, but 
 was a great reader, a ready accountant and a well
 
 450 
 
 PAST AND PHUSENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 informed maa on events of local and national 
 importance. In his religious belief he was a Pres- 
 byterian. His political support was given to the 
 whig party and later he became a republican. He 
 took a prominent part in the affairs of the town- 
 ship and county and served as highway commis- 
 sioner for twenty years. 
 
 In the family were ten children, of whom nine 
 are now living: Margaret, the wife of A. E. 
 Baird, a resident of Missouri; Susan, the wife of 
 B. W. Cook, who is living in California; C. W., of 
 this review; Hannah, the wife of J. H. Salisbury, 
 of Tonica, Illinois; and Jennie, the wife of John 
 Hawthorne, of Kansas. The above were all born 
 of the father's first marriage. The children of 
 the second marriage were Belle, the wife of James 
 Elkins, of Kansas; Jessie, who died at the age of 
 twenty-two years; Helen, the wife of John Croxen, 
 of Arkansas ; Amanda, the wife of William Jones, 
 a minister of the Presbyterian church in Cali- 
 fornia; and Olive, the wife of J. C. Jones, of 
 Kansas. 
 
 C. W. Dysart made his home on the farm with 
 his parents in the days of his boyhood and youth 
 and acquiring his education in the schools of Gran- 
 ville, devoting his time and energies to the work 
 of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground 
 and the tasks which were assigned him in connec- 
 tion with the cultivation of his father's farm. At 
 the age of twenty-three years he was married to 
 Miss Mary E. Heywood, a native of Maine and a 
 daughter of John and Sarah (Folsom) Heywood. 
 She survived until 1899 and died at the age of 
 fifty years lacking one month. Unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Dysart have been born nine children, all of 
 whom are yet living: Hannah, the wife of E. F. 
 Foley, of Iowa; A. H., who wedded Mary Crick 
 and is a groceryman of Granville; Lucy, the wife 
 of A. M. McCormick, a resident of Iowa; J. W., 
 who married Myrtle McClary and is also of Iowa; 
 John, who completed a four years' course at the 
 Champaign university and is at home; L. C., 
 Charles, H. L. and Benjamin, who are also with 
 their father. In 1902 Mr. Dysart was again mar- 
 ried, his second union being with Miss Nira Burn- 
 ham, a native of Putnam county. 
 
 After his first marriage Mr. Dysart engaged in 
 farming on his father's land. He was the only 
 son and has always remained upon the old home- 
 stead. At the death of his father he came into 
 possession of the farm, which comprises two hun- 
 
 dred acres of rich land. He has carried on im- 
 provements inaugurated by his father and has a 
 nice country home and good farm, the fields re- 
 turning to him golden harvests as a reward for 
 the care and labor he bestows upon them. For 
 many years several thousand rails were used in 
 fencing the farm, and only a few years ago Mr. 
 Dysart burned the last one. Large cottonwood 
 trees are abundant on the place, having been 
 planted by his father. The railroad has cut off 
 twelve and a half acres of his land, leaving the 
 farm a tract of one hundred and eighty-seven and 
 a half acres. Throughout his entire life Mr. Dy- 
 sart has carried on general agricultural pursuits, 
 and his labors have been attended with a measure 
 of success that shows that he has kept in touch 
 with the spirit of modern progress as manifest 
 along agricultural lines. 
 
 For years he has been a member of the Con- 
 gregational church at Granville. In politics he 
 has always been a republican, casting his first vote 
 for U. S. Grant. He served for three years as 
 supervisor of his township and for nine years as 
 assessor, and is recognized as one of the leading 
 representatives of the party in this locality, his 
 opinions frequently proving a decisive factor in its 
 councils. He is now a member of the county 
 central committee and does all in his power to 
 secure legitimate republican successes. A pleas- 
 ant, genial gentleman, he makes friends wherever 
 he goes and is recognized as a public-spirited cit- 
 izen whose labors in behalf of the county have been 
 far-reaching and beneficial. 
 
 WILLIS B. MILLS. 
 
 This well known citizen of Magnolia town- 
 ship, who is now serving as supervisor, was born 
 on the farm where he now lives, November 15, 
 1852, and is a son of Pusey Mills, whose birth 
 occurred in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on 
 the 17th of February, 1824. The father was about 
 sixteen years of age when in 1840 he came with 
 his parents to this state and settled on a farm near 
 the village of Magnolia, in Putnam county.' Here 
 he grew to manhood and was married and later 
 purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres, for which he paid seven dollars per acre. 
 At that time it was all wild prairie, but year 
 after year he made many improvements thereon 
 and converted the tract into a well cultivated and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 451 
 
 attractive farm. Upon that place he died April 
 18, 1882. His wife, who bore the maiden name 
 of Lydia Hartley, was born in Pennsylvania, De- 
 cember 2, 1827, and died in this county on the 
 5th of October, 1894. In the family of this 
 worthy couple were the following children: 
 Joshua, who is now' a resident of Springfield, Illi- 
 nois ; Rebecca, who is living with the family of 
 Dr. Barber, in Peoria, Illinois; Willis B., of this 
 review; Jonathan, a resident of California; one 
 who died in infancy; and Oliver M., a resident 
 of McNabb. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of Willis B. Mills was 
 spent upon his father's farm in Magnolia town- 
 ship and his early education was obtained in the 
 public schools of the neighborhood. Later he en- 
 tered the State University at Champaign and had 
 just completed his third year in the agricultural 
 course when called home on account of his father's 
 sickness. He remained upon the farm for some 
 time and was there engaged in the manufacture 
 of tile for about ten years. On the expiration of 
 that period he entered the employ of the Churchill 
 & White Grain Company, having charge of their 
 business at McNabb for one year, and later had 
 charge of the lumber business of the Toluca Lum- 
 ber Company at that place for a time. After the 
 death of his father he came into possession of the 
 old homestead, purchasing the interest of the other 
 heirs, and has since added to the place another 
 tract of one hundred and twenty acres, so that he 
 now has a fine farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres well improved and highly cultivated. He is 
 an enterprising and progressive agriculturist, thor- 
 oughly up to date in his methods of carrying on 
 his work, and he is meeting with well deserved 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Mills was united in marriage to 
 Miss Mattie E. Benjamin, whose birth occurred 
 in McLean county, Illinois, August 8, 1854, and 
 they have become the parents of four sons, all of 
 whom are still living. Ernest, born in 1880, at- 
 tended school at Champaign, but did not complete 
 the regular course and is now operating a part of 
 his father's farm. He married Miss Lulu Koehler. 
 Floyd, born in 1883, graduated in the civil en- 
 gineering course at the State University and now 
 holds an important position with a railroad com- 
 pany on the Pacific coast. Clifford, born in 1889, 
 is pursuing the agricultural course at the uni- 
 versity at Champaign. John Turner, born in 
 
 1893, is at home and is attending the district 
 school. 
 
 Upon our subject's farm stands the Friends or 
 Quakers church, to which he and his family be- 
 long. They are people of the highest respecta- 
 bility and have a host of friends throughout the 
 county. As a republican Mr. Mills takes quite 
 an active and prominent part in local politics and 
 is serving his third term as supervisor of Mag- 
 nolia township. He has also filled the offices of as- 
 sessor, collector and school director and his official 
 duties have always been most promptly and faith- 
 fully performed. He was one of the promoters of 
 the consolidation of schools, which is being 
 watched with great interest throughout the coun- 
 try. He is a practical farmer, making a thorough 
 study of improved methods, and has been called 
 upon to lecture before farmers' institutes. Fra- 
 ternally he is a member of the Masonic order, 
 Modern Woodmen of America, the Yeomen and 
 the Grange. 
 
 JAMES C. PACKINGHAM. 
 
 Granville has a considerable population of re- 
 tired farmers, men whose business activity and 
 enterprise in former years have resulted in bring- 
 ing to them a measure of success that now enables 
 them to live comfortably without recourse to fur- 
 ther effort in the field of business activity. A 
 representative of this class is found in James C. 
 Packingham, who now makes his home in the vil- 
 lage of Granville and who is one of the native sons 
 of Granville township, where he was born on the 
 19th of December, 1848. 
 
 His parents were James and Elizabeth (Dysart) 
 Packingham, natives of Massachusetts and of 
 Pennsylvania, respectively. In 1832 the father 
 came to Putnam county and worked in Hennepin 
 at his trade of carpentering and milling, being 
 thus closely associated with the early industrial 
 development of this part of the state. Later he 
 took up his abode upon a farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres in Granville township. It was a 
 tract of wild land when it came into his posses- 
 sion, but he turned the furrows in the fields, 
 planted his seed and in due course of time was 
 gathering rich crops. Eventually he placed the 
 entire farm under a high state of cultivation and 
 made his home thereon until his death, which oc- 
 curred when he was seventy-seven years of age. 
 His wife died at the age of sixty years. They
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 were Presbyterians in religious faith and Mr. 
 Packingham was a republican in his political ad- 
 herence, but was without aspiration for office. 
 Their family numbered nine children, of whom 
 James C. was the fourth in order of birth. The 
 record is as follows : Julia, now the wife of James 
 Carton, a resident of Idaho; Susan, the wife of 
 Calvin Henderson, who is living in Eankin, Illi- 
 nois; Achsah, the wife of B. Coulter, a resident 
 of Iowa; James C. ; David L., who is now presi- 
 dent of the village board of Granville; George, a 
 resident of Oregon ; Archie, who is located in Ford 
 county, Illinois; Hannah, who became the wife of 
 Frank French and was living in Wisconsin at the 
 time of her death ; and Fannie, who died when but 
 nine months old. 
 
 James C. Packingham remained on his father's 
 farm until twenty-two years of age, and his edu- 
 cational privileges were those afforded by the com- 
 mon schools. When not busy with his text-books 
 he worked in the fields, and after attaining his 
 majority he purchased eighty acres of unimproved 
 land near the old home place, on which he en- 
 gaged in general farming and stock-raising. He 
 at once began to work the fields and soon the track 
 of the shining plow was seen across the prairie. 
 He continued the work of improvement and added 
 to his farm from time to time until he now owns 
 two hundred and seventy-five acres in one body, 
 constituting one of the best farms in the county, 
 lacking in none of the modern accessories and con- 
 veniences which go to make up a model farm of 
 the twentieth century. He also owns forty acres 
 of timber land northwest of Granville, and his 
 property interests are conclusive proof of his life 
 of industry, for he received no pecuniary assist- 
 ance nor inheritance from family or friends. 
 Eight years ago he retired from business life and 
 built a beautiful home in Granville, where he now 
 resides. He has always possessed considerable 
 mechanical ingenuity, is known for his ability as 
 a machinist, and for twenty-five years he owned 
 and operated a steam-threshing and corn-shelling 
 outfit. 
 
 Mr. Packingham has been married twice. His 
 first wife, Grace Penneman, was born in Vermont, 
 and died after traveling life's journey with him 
 for a quarter of a century. They had two chil- 
 dren: Frank, who is a farmer near Neponset, 
 Bureau county, Illinois, where he owns two hun- 
 dred and twenty acres of land ; and Lucy, the wife 
 
 of Emory Sherman, who follows farming in Gran- 
 ville township. Five years ago Mr. Packingham 
 wedded Mrs. Martin, who was formerly Miss Ella 
 Gunn, a daughter of L. D. Gunn, whose sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this work. By her former 
 marriage Mrs: Packingham has two children 
 Helen and Joe. 
 
 Politically a republican, Mr. Packingham keeps 
 well informed on the questions and issues of the 
 day and for twelves years has served as highway 
 commissioner. He belongs to no church, but 
 has always been an upright, honest citizen, reli- 
 able in his business relations and in all walks of 
 life. A life-long residence in this county has 
 made his history familiar to all and the sterling 
 qualities which he has manifested have gained 
 for him the friendly regard of the great majority 
 of those with whom he has been brought in con- 
 tact. 
 
 CHAELES E. RICKEY. 
 
 Charles E. Rickey, who is engaged in farming 
 and stock-raising on section 1, Lacon township, 
 Marshall county, making a specialty of the rais- 
 ing of hogs, was born in the township where he 
 still resides August 5, 1844, and is the sixth in 
 order of birth in a family of eight children, whose 
 parents are Samuel R. and Sarah (Hall) Rickey, 
 both of whom were natives of New Jersey. The 
 father was born in Somerset county, that state, 
 and came to Marshall county at an early period 
 in its development, casting in his lot with its 
 pioneer settlers. He turned his attention to 
 fanning, entering land from the government and 
 transforming the wild prairies into richly pro- 
 ductive fields. His wife is a member of the Pres- 
 byterian church and both are highly esteemed in 
 the community where they reside. Their chil- 
 dren are: William M., now living in Henry; 
 Mrs. Catherine Hawkins, who resides at Houston, 
 Texas; Robert, a resident of Montgomery county, 
 Kansas; Eliza M., deceased; Adolphus A., living 
 in Missouri ; Charles E. ; Mrs. Louisa Owens, a 
 resident of Montgomery county, Kansas, and 
 Walter, who is living in Henry, Illinois. 
 
 Charles .E. Rickey was a student in the Lacon 
 school at a time when the little "temple of learn- 
 ing" was built of logs and seated with benches 
 made of slabs. The desk was formed by laying 
 a slab upon wooden pegs driven into the wall and 
 upon this the older children wrote their exercises.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 453 
 
 Although his educational privileges were some- 
 what meager, Mr. Rickey has learned many valu- 
 able lessons in the school of experience and has 
 constantly broadened his knowledge through read- 
 ing and observation. His training at farm labor 
 was not meager and he early became familiar 
 with the work of the fields. In 1874 he sought 
 a companion and helpmate for life's journey and 
 on the 4th of November of that year was mar- 
 ried to a Miss Smith, who was bom in Ohio in 
 IS.'):!, a daughter of Frederick and Martina Smith, 
 the latter now a resident of Lacon. Mrs. Rickey 
 was educated in Lacon and by her marriage has 
 become the mother of eight children. Nellie May, 
 born upon the farm where her father now resides, 
 is the wife of a Mr. Moritz, who is engaged in 
 farming in Richland township, Marshall county. 
 Fred is a carpenter by trade and lives at home. 
 Mabel, Samuel, Carrie, Willie, Eunice and Lena 
 are all yet at home. 
 
 Since his marriage Mr. Rickey has engaged in 
 farming on his own account and lives upon land 
 which he rents from his father. In addition to 
 its cultivation and improvement he annually feeds 
 a large number of hogs and his stock-raising in- 
 terests are an important branch of his business. 
 His political views are in accord with the princi- 
 ples of the republican party and he exercises his 
 right of franchise in support of its men and meas- 
 
 I. H. COOK. 
 
 I. H. Cook, editor of the Putnam Record, pub- 
 lished at Hennepin, was born in Madison county, 
 Indiana, January 20, 1836. His parents were 
 Francis and Lucy (Tillson) Cook, both natives 
 of Vermont. The father died when the subject 
 of this review was only two years of age and the 
 mother was twice married after that. She died 
 several years ago in Huntsville, Indiana. 
 
 The boyhood days of I. H. Cook were largely 
 passed in the state of his nativity and after he 
 had attained the age of six years he lived most 
 of the time in Huntsville. He early became fa- 
 miliar with farm labor and in his youth attended 
 the common schools, acquiring a fair English 
 education. When twenty years of age he visited 
 an older brother in Anderson, Indiana, who was 
 conducting a printing office and publishing a little 
 paper. This was Mr. Cook's initiation into the 
 
 printing business and he decided to make it his 
 life occupation. He entered his brother's employ, 
 working with him for about a year, after which 
 he became a partner and continued in the office 
 for three or four years. On the expiration of that 
 period they disposed of the little journal and 
 started for southwestern Missouri, a party of six 
 driving across the country with teams, being 
 thirty-one days on the road. Their wives and 
 families came by railroad and were met at the 
 terminus of the road, about one hundred and 
 fifty miles from where they located. In the mean- 
 time Mr. Cook had learned the trade of shoe- 
 making and followed that business in connection 
 with the sale of shoes. He continued to live in 
 Missouri until January, 1861, when, anticipating 
 the trouble between the north and the south, he 
 left that district, which was already the scene of 
 considerable hostility, and went back to Indiana, 
 and in 1823 moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, where 
 he engaged in various enterprises, working in a 
 printing office and also at shoemaking. 
 
 In 1865 he came to Hennepin, where for a time 
 he worked at painting and paper-hanging. There 
 was no paper nor press of any kind in Hennepin, 
 all the work being done at Henry or in Princeton, 
 and, believing this was an advantageous opening, 
 Mr. Cook went to Peoria and purchased a little 
 army press. He then began doing job printing 
 in the city hall building and after the establish- 
 ment of that business his fellow townsmen solic- 
 ited him to publish a paper. On the 25th of June, 
 1868, the first number of the Putnam County- 
 Record appeared, a little leaflet nine by twelve 
 inches, which he printed for one year. He still 
 has every copy of that first volume on file. After 
 a year he enlarged the paper to a six column folio, 
 and in 1877 he made it a seven-column folio, 
 then in 1882 it was enlarged to its present size 
 a five column quarto, and took the name of the 
 Putnam Record. He has a Prouty power press 
 with all attachments for power, but has never put 
 in an engine, all of the work being done by hand 
 power. The paper is neutral in politics and is a 
 clean, newsy sheet. Mr. Cook and his son are 
 experts at printing and few, if any, typographical 
 errors appear in their paper, which is published 
 each Wednesday and has a wide circulation. 
 
 Mr. Cook was married April 4, 1857, in An- 
 derson, Indiana, to Miss Sophia Hengstler, who 
 was born in Pennsylvania, and with her parents
 
 I .VI 
 
 PAST AM) 1'RKSENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 removed to the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
 her early girlhood. When sixteen years of age 
 she went with an uncle to Indiana and worked 
 in Anderson. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cook have 
 been born four children, of whom two are living. 
 Mary B. is now the wife of John P. Towle, a 
 resident of Henncpin. Edwin F. died at the age 
 of four years. Charles W., who is in the office 
 with his father, has grown up in the printing 
 business and with the exception of a few years 
 spent in Michigan has been continuously con- 
 nected with his father in the printing trade. Ar- 
 thur, deceased, completed the family. 
 
 At general elections Mr. Cook votes the demo- 
 cratic ticket, but in local matters is independent. 
 He has been identified with the Odd Fellows since 
 1875 and is heartily in sympathy with the teach- 
 ings of the organization and its beneficent pur- 
 poses. He has resided continuously in Hennepin 
 for a period of forty years or more and the in- 
 terests of the village are greatly promoted through 
 his efforts and enterprise. 
 
 CHAELES TEERWILER. 
 In pioneer times Charles Trerwiler came to 
 Putnam county, and for many years figured 
 prominently as a leading representative of the 
 German-American element in its citizenship. He 
 was born in Prussia, Germany, January 27, 1824. 
 and in 1847, when a young man of twenty-three 
 years, came to America. He landed at Buffalo. 
 New York, with fifteen cents as his entire cash 
 capital and spent a brief period in that city. He 
 had learned the blacksmith's trade in his native 
 country and followed that pursuit in Buffalo to 
 get enough money to take him on to St. Louis. 
 He then boarded a boat that stopped at Henne- 
 pin, and while it was laying at anchor here Mr. 
 Trerwiler went ashore. He was watching some 
 men attempt to shoe a wild horse, and being a 
 big, strong young man and liking to show what 
 he could do, he took hold of the job and succeed- 
 ed in shoeing the animal. This awakened the 
 admiration of the bystanders, who induced him 
 to remain and go to work. After being employed 
 by others for a time he then bought a shop of 
 his own and continued in the blacksmithing 
 business and also built wagons and buggies for 
 many years, being a skilled workman in that line. 
 The excellence of his product secured him a con- 
 stantly growing patronage and he became quite 
 
 wealthy, owing to his success at his trade and his 
 judicious investment in property. As his finan- 
 cial resources increased he acquired considerable 
 real estate and might have obtained much more 
 had he not been of such a generous disposition 
 that he gave away much of his means. Embark- 
 ing in the implement business he continued the 
 sale of machinery for several years and never 
 hesitated to let any one have what they needed 
 whether they had the money to pay or not. The 
 result was that he retired from business with a 
 large amount of worthless notes, which, could 
 they have been collected, would have brought him 
 in several thousand dollars. However, many 
 greatly benefited by his generous and benevolent 
 disposition and in time repaid him for his kind- 
 ness by meeting their financial obligations. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1853, Mr. Trerwiler 
 was married to Miss Susannah Kneip, who was 
 born in Luxemburg, Germany, March 25, 1834, 
 a daughter of Phillip and Elizabeth (Schammel) 
 Kneip, who emigrated to the United States in 
 1847. They located at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 
 but not liking the forest region Mr. Kneip, hav- 
 ing done much chopping and clearing in his own 
 country, they decided to locate on the prairie and 
 took up their abode in La Salle county, Illinois, 
 near Troy Grove, having heard that the land was 
 very rich in that locality and that good crops 
 were being raised. Accordingly they located there 
 in 1847. Mrs. Trerwiler was then a maiden of 
 fourteen years and yet remembers the wild con- 
 ditions that confronted them when they came to 
 Illinois. Mendota had not yet been heard of and 
 the Illinois and Michigan canal was under con- 
 struction. It was thought that this waterway 
 would furnish a means of steady communication 
 with the outside world, and in fact it was used 
 for many years to convey the products of the 
 country to the city markets, while deer were nu- 
 merous and in fact could be seen in great herds 
 wandering over the prairie. Eattlesnakes were 
 also very plentiful and one could hardly step out 
 of doors without seeing a reptile of that charac- 
 ter. Mrs. Trerwiler has lived in the same house 
 for over a half century except for a brief period 
 spent in Chicago and near Henry. She lost her 
 husband September 7, 1902, when they were at 
 the home of their son-in-law, Adolph Klein, near 
 Henry, Marshall county. Their daughter died 
 eight years ago, leaving eleven children.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MABSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 457 
 
 After the death of Mr. Trerweiler his widow 
 returned to Hennepin. By her marriage she had 
 become the mother of eleven children, of whom 
 five died in infancy. The other six were : Eliza- 
 beth, the deceased wife of Adolph Klein; Mar- 
 garet, at home; Louis, who died at the age of 
 fifteen years; Anna, who was the wife of Prank 
 Eeavy, and died six years ago; Charles, who is 
 living in Chicago; and Mary, the wife of James 
 McCutcheon, of Hennepin. 
 
 Mr. Trerwiler was a devout communicant of 
 the Catholic church, to which his family also be- 
 longed. In politics he was a democrat but with- 
 out aspiration for office. He lived a life of un- 
 remitting industry and perseverance. He was a 
 good neighbor and a faithful friend, being most 
 kind hearted .and true and ever ready to help 
 any one in need. In fact his generosity and 
 benevolence were among his most salient charac- 
 teristics and won for him a large measure of re- 
 spect and admiration. 
 
 BENJAMIN SUTCLIFFE. 
 Benjamin Sutcliffe is well known in Hennepin 
 and Putnam county, where in former years he was 
 closely associated with agricultural and with mer- 
 cantile interests. A life of business activity has 
 been crowned with a measure of success that en- 
 ables him to enjoy well earned rest. He was born 
 in London, England, April 7, 1835. His father, 
 John Sutcliffe, whose birth occurred in that 
 country in 1815, was a finisher of silk hats and 
 worked in a factory for a few years. A well edu- 
 cated man, he became a local preacher in the Wes- 
 leyan Methodist church and wielded a wide influ- 
 ence in its behalf. He was always a great student 
 and often arose at three o'clock in the morning 
 in order to study. At length he became inter- 
 ested in an emigration aid society and in 1849 
 came to America to lecture for that society. He 
 landed at New York, where he began lecturing, 
 but in the same year he passed away in Pennsyl- 
 vania, being then about forty-nine years of age. 
 His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah 
 Finder, was born in England and lived to be 
 seventy-seven years of age, her death occurring 
 in Hennepin. Benjamin Sutcliffe's older sister, 
 Mrs. James Bradbury, was living in this county 
 at the time of her father's death. The widow of 
 John Sutcliffe and her family afterward came here 
 and located on land in Hennepin township. It 
 
 was nearly all forest land, but in the midst of 
 the woods a small house had been built. At a 
 later date Mrs. Sutcliffe became the wife of J. 
 D. McCarty, at one time county judge of Putnam 
 county and since known by that title. At the 
 time of her mother's arrival her children, Samuel 
 Sutcliffe and a daughter, also came to Illinois. 
 
 The family numbered altogether eight chil- 
 dren, as follows : Sarah, who became the wife of 
 James Bradbury and lived in this county; James, 
 who died in infancy ; John, a tailor, who remained 
 in England; Mary Ann, who became the wife of 
 William Patterson and settled in La Salle county, 
 Illinois, where he became wealthy; Thomas Eben- 
 ezer, who crossed the Atlantic to America but 
 afterward returned to England, where he died; 
 Jane, who departed this life in England ; Samuel, 
 who came to the United States with his mother 
 in 1852 and died in Putnam county in May, 1901 ; 
 and Benjamin, of this review. 
 
 Benjamin Sutcliffe, now living retired in Hen- 
 nepin, spent his boyhood days at Staly bridge near 
 Manchester in Lancastershire, England. In his 
 youth he learned the plumber's trade and he made 
 his home with his parents until in his eighteenth 
 year. He then went to Liverpool and joined the 
 army, with which he started for Malta in 1854. 
 The troops proceeded to Turkey, sailed on the 
 Black sea and took part in the Crimean war. Mr. 
 Sutcliffe received a badge at Sebastopol for merit- 
 orious service, the badge being handed to him by 
 Queen Victoria. He served for four years and 
 one hundred and ninety-four days in the English 
 army and took part in all of the battles of the 
 Crimean war, including the siege of Sebastopol. 
 For a time he was head butler for the officers' 
 mess. 
 
 Mr. Sutcliffe afterward returned to England 
 and in 1857 volunteered to go to Delhi, India, 
 with the army. He was on a furlough of thirty 
 days, during which time he received a letter from 
 his mother telling him that his services were 
 needed in Putnam county, Illinois. Mr. Sutcliffe 
 had a good friend in a major of his regiment and 
 through his kindly offices was granted a discharge 
 by Prince Albert. In 1858 he came to America, 
 making his way at once to Putnam county, and 
 assisted his brother Samuel in clearing up and 
 working the home farm, where the mother and 
 brother had previously located. In 1862, when 
 this country called for volunteers, Mr. Sutcliffe
 
 458 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 enlisted at Ottawa as a member of Company K, 
 One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry. He served until June, 1863, and was then 
 taken ill, after which he was transierred and later 
 discharged. Subsequently he returned to Putnam 
 county, where he engaged in farming. On the 
 death of his mother the farm was divided and he 
 received eighty acres as his share of the home 
 place. His time and energies were then devoted 
 to farming for a long period and he continued to 
 cultivate his land until 1890, when he removed 
 to Hennepin and engaged in the butchering busi- 
 ness with John Weeks. After two years he sold 
 out and then for a short time was engaged in the 
 implement business, but was not successful in 
 that venture. Not' being able to work his farm, 
 he retired from business, sold his land and has 
 since made his home in Hennepin, where he is 
 now comfortably situated. He disposed of his 
 farm about four years ago, but he still owns a 
 good dwelling in Hennepin and a large garden. 
 He suffers from rheumatism and other ailments 
 incurred by his service in the Civil war and the 
 hardships and exposures of army life, and the 
 government grants him a pension of twelve dol- 
 lars per month. 
 
 Mr. Sutcliffe was married on the 15th of March, 
 1864, to Miss Harriette L. Osborn, who was born 
 in Hennepin, September 15, 1837, a daughter of 
 John E. Osborn, now deceased, who came to Put- 
 nam county in 1835. For many years he fol- 
 lowed farming and later engaged in the drug 
 business. Mrs. Sutcliffe is the only surviving 
 member of her father's family. By her marriage 
 she became the mother of eight children: Ar- 
 thur E., who was born February 15, 1865, and 
 died on the 3d of August of that year; Lewis C., 
 who was born July 21, 1866, and died on the 17th 
 of August following; Charles E. who was born 
 November 6, 1867, and married Ella Smith, their 
 home being now in Missouri; Margaret P., who 
 was born April 5, 1870, and died on the 25th of 
 July of the same year; Alice M., who was born 
 January 30, 1872, and died September 16, 1872; 
 Lucy Jane, who was born March 30, 1873, and 
 died September 23, 1873; John F., who was born 
 August 26, 1875, and is at home; and H. Edna, 
 who was born February 14, 1882, and is also at 
 home. 
 
 Mr. Sutcliffe and his family are members of 
 the Congregational church and are interested and 
 
 active in its work. He is a public-spirited citi- 
 zen, aiding in many matters of general interest 
 as far as his means will allow. In politics he 
 has always been a republican since casting his 
 first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, yet 
 he has never been an aspirant for office nor held 
 any position of political preferment save that of 
 school director. He has always been as loyal to 
 his country in days of peace as in days of war 
 and has lived an honest, upright life, winning him 
 the respect and good will of all with whom he has 
 been associated. 
 
 FRANCIS L. GILMER. 
 
 Francis L. Gilmer, assistant postmaster at 
 Henry, was born near Wenona, Illinois, in 1870. 
 His father, Albert Gilmer, was born in Ohio and 
 on coming to Illinois settled near Florid, making 
 the journey hither with his parents. He became 
 a well-to-do citizen and here died in the forty- 
 sixth year of his age. His political support was 
 given the republican party. His wife, who bore 
 the maiden name of Sarah E. Kinder, was also 
 born in Ohio and is now living in Henry at the 
 age of fifty-six years. In their family were three 
 children: Francis L. ; Roy M., a bookkeeper in 
 Chicago; and Orrel, who is connected with a book 
 store in Henry. 
 
 Francis L. Gilmer acquired his education in 
 the public schools of Wenona and of Henry. He 
 was reared to farm life and to some extent worked 
 at farm labor, but on abandoning agricultural 
 pursuits came to Henry. For five years he was 
 connected with his father in the conduct of a 
 livery business in Streator, but following the 
 father's death he sold out the business there and 
 came to Henry. Subsequently he was employed 
 at farm labor for three years and then returned 
 to Henry, where he entered a grocery, remaining 
 there for a year. On the expiration of that period 
 he secured the position of janitor of a school and 
 worked in that capacity for three years. He then 
 again went back to the grocery, but after sixteen 
 months he accepted a position with J. Watercott 
 & Company, with whom he remained for several 
 months. The position of assistant postmaster 
 was then tendered him by John Kline -in 1900 
 and he has since acted in that capacity with credit 
 to himself and satisfaction to all concerned, prov- 
 ing a most capable, prompt and efficient officer.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MAES 1 1 ALT, AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 On the 15th of September, 1903, Mr. Gilmer 
 was married to Miss Edna Goddard, who was 
 born in 1876 and is a daughter of Joseph and 
 Sarah Goddard. Her father was a harnessmaker 
 and a veteran of the Civil war. Unto Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gilmer have been born one daughter, Mar- 
 jory Pearl, born October 8, 1904. Mrs. Gilmer 
 is a member of the Episcopal church and Mr. 
 Gilmer is an Odd Fellow, while his political sup- 
 port is given to the republican party. He has a 
 wide acquaintance in this locality, where his entire 
 life has been passed, and he is one of the most 
 popular and efficient officers ever connected with 
 the Henry postoffice. 
 
 WILLIAM HARTMAN. 
 
 William Hartman, who owns and operates a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 
 3, Granville township, and whose property inter- 
 ests comprise five hundred acres of valuable land 
 all in this township, together with a quarter sec- 
 tion in Iowa, has manifested in his business career 
 those sterling traits of perseverance and industry 
 which enable the individual to overcome difficul- 
 ties and obstacles and advance far on the high 
 road to success. Born in Nassau, Germany, on the 
 23d of March, 1835, he was a son of William and 
 Mary (Haylor) Hartman, both of whom were also 
 natives of that country. The father, who was 
 born in 1809, passed away in 1896, while the 
 mother, whose birth occurred in 1810, died when 
 about sixty-two years of age. William Hartman, 
 Sr., was a farmer by occupation and, as was the 
 custom in those days in his native country, he 
 lived in a village and worked land just out- 
 side the town. His family numbered eight chil- 
 dren, four of whom came to this country, namely : 
 Jacob, who died in Nebraska about a year ago; 
 Mrs. John Miller, who is living in Iowa; Chris- 
 tian, a resident of Granville township, Putnam 
 county ; and William. 
 
 The last named in the days of his youth entered 
 upon an apprenticeship of three and a half years 
 to the cabinet-makers' trade and worked altogether 
 at his trade for five years in the fatherland, when, 
 thinking that he might have broader opportuni- 
 ties in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to 
 America in 1857, arriving in Peru, Illinois, with 
 a cash capital of only fifteen dollars. He im- 
 mediately sought employment and engaged to go 
 
 to work at his trade. He spent fourteen dollars 
 for a set of tools and after a brief period the shop 
 in which he worked was burned and his tools were 
 destroyed. On Sunday morning on a hot day in 
 June, after walking thirteen miles, he might have 
 been discovered sitting on a pile of new lumber 
 by the roadside, out of money and without friends, 
 in a strange country where the language and cus- 
 toms of the people were largely unfamiliar to 
 him. He was not disheartened, however, for he 
 possessed good health and strength and an abund- 
 ance of ambition. These qualities in after years 
 brought him a gratifying measure of success. 
 About this time he managed to secure work at 
 the carpenter's trade and for two years was thus 
 employed in Granville. He then rented land and 
 with one horse and a few tools began farming. In 
 order to do his breaking he would borrow a horse 
 and thus with his own make a team. As soon 
 as his own crops were in and needed his atten- 
 tion no further he would work by the day for his 
 neighbors, and thus he gained a little ready money. 
 He often husked corn for seventy-five cents per 
 day. His first purchase of land comprised twenty- 
 four acres near the village of Granville, for which 
 he paid two thousand dollars. In 1869 he sold 
 that property and purchased eighty acres two miles 
 south of Granville, on which he made a cash pay- 
 ment of fifty dollars. Things now began to look 
 brighter for him, yet during the first two or three 
 years his crops were poor. He possessed, how- 
 ever, a resolute, determined spirit, carefully tilled 
 his fields and garnered his crops and raised corn 
 where other people had met with total failure in 
 that work. The eighty acres adjoining his place 
 was soon put on sale and he was anxious to get 
 it but he had no capital. His honesty and indus- 
 try, however, had won him a friend in Peter 
 Kuhne, from whom he borrowed money upon 
 which he paid ten per cent interest. Thus he 
 purchased the eighty acres adjoining and in so 
 doing manifested that good judgment and fore- 
 sight which have always characterized him in his 
 business life. He has always improved every op- 
 portunity where a good bargain could be made 
 and has ever kept his credit good, meeting his ob- 
 ligations promptly. Thus he made for himself 
 an unassailable reputation for reliability and busi- 
 ness integrity. He is now the owner of five hun- 
 dred acres of very valuable land in Granville town- 
 ship, together with a quarter section in Iowa. The
 
 4(JO 
 
 PAST AND 1'KKSKXT OF MARSHALL AM) IM'TNAM COrXTIKS. 
 
 one hundred and sixty acres whereon he now resides 
 lies one mile east of Granville and was purchased 
 by him seven years ago for ninety-one dollars 
 per acre. He bought one hundred and eighty acres 
 on section 28 for twenty-seven thousand dollars 
 
 Mr. Hartman was married in November, 1859, 
 to Miss Katie Miller, who died in 1867. They 
 had four children, of whom Charles died at the 
 age of twenty-five and the others in infancy. In 
 1868 Mr. Hartman wedded Katie Ochse, who was 
 bora in Germany, May 9, 1843, and is still living. 
 They have three living children: Lizzie, now the 
 wife of William F. Henshaw; Lena, the wife of 
 Olaf Matson, residing upon the farm with her 
 father ; and Victor C., who lives on one of his 
 father's farms. 
 
 Mr. Hartman was reared in the Keformed Lu- 
 theran church and until a short time ago was a 
 member of the Congregational church in Gran- 
 ville. He has always been a stalwart republican 
 since casting his first vote in this country for 
 Abraham Lincoln. With only a common-school 
 education, but with much natural ability, he 
 started in life in America empty handed and in 
 the control of his business interests has manifested 
 sound judgment and keen discrimination, care- 
 fully controlling his interests until he is now one 
 of the prosperous farmers of the county. He 
 has always been a broad reader, keeping well in- 
 formed on all matters of current interest through 
 the daily papers and magazines, and his life rec- 
 ord displays traits of character that are most 
 commendable. 
 
 LOUIS HENKELL. 
 
 Louis Henkell, who for thirty years has engaged 
 in the practice of veterinary surgery at Granville, 
 was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, 
 January 13, 1843. His father, John C. Henkell, 
 was a native of Germany, born November 28, 
 1807, and it was subsequent to his emigration to 
 America, when he was twenty-eight years of age, 
 that he was married to Miss Catherine Elizabeth 
 Shaffer, who was born in Germany, May 8, 1814, 
 and came to the new world with her parents, 
 who settled in Pennsylvania not far from Balti- 
 more. Mr. Henkell had taken up his abode in 
 that city and was employed in a packing house, 
 where he won promotion until he became foreman. 
 He afterwards went to St. Louis, Missouri, and to 
 
 other places in charge of work for the firm. In 
 his early life he worked at the millwright's trade. 
 In 1862 he arrived in Putnam county, Illinois, 
 and engaged in th butchering business in Gran- 
 ville. The present home of his son Louis was 
 purchased by him from G. R. Henderson. He 
 continued actively in the butchering business until 
 he had acquired a comfortable competence and 
 then retired permanently from commercial pur- 
 suits. He was reared in the faith of the German 
 Lutheran church. His political views were in har- 
 mony with the principles of democracy, but he 
 took no active part in politics. He died in Gran- 
 ville in November, 1873, and was long survived 
 by his wife, who passed away here June 3, 1892. 
 In their family were seven children, all but two 
 of whom were born in Baltimore, while four are 
 now living: Henry, who is in the employ of the 
 Big Four Railroad company and resides in Ohio; 
 Louis, of this review ; Helen and Elizabeth, who 
 are living with Dr. Henkell. 
 
 The Doctor was a youth of thirteen years when 
 his parents removed from Baltimore to a farm in 
 Pennsylvania and he was thus engaged in the 
 work of field and meadow until the family came 
 to Illinois. In this state he was employed at farm 
 labor at a wage of thirteen dollars a month. Later 
 he learned the shoemaker's trade and when the 
 war was inaugurated he bought a shoe shop from 
 an old man who went into the army. He, how- 
 ever, sold this when the former owner returned 
 and later Dr. Henkell gave his attention to farm 
 labor and to the butchering business. Having 
 obtained a good knowledge of anatomy through 
 his experience in the butchering business, he be- 
 came quite proficient in caring for sick animals 
 and through the advice of Dr. Holsburg he pur- 
 chased books and read extensively upon the subject 
 of veterinary surgery. Subsequently he began de- 
 voting his entire attention to this work, which 
 he has since followed with good success. His ex- 
 perience has given him superiority in the treat- 
 ment of many cases and his practice extends over 
 a wide area. He is often called as far as Depue 
 and his business is of a most profitable nature. 
 
 Where state and national issues are involved 
 Dr. Henkell gives his political allegiance to the 
 democracy, but at local elections always votes for 
 the man who in his judgment is the most com- 
 petent candidate and will prove most acceptable 
 in office. He has been prominently identified with
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 public affairs in Granville and has been a mem- 
 ber of the village board for a number of years, 
 while in 1903 and 1904 he served as its president. 
 He has also been justice of the peace for eight 
 years and notary public for two years and is act- 
 ing in the latter capacity at the present time. 
 He takes a deep and abiding interest in the wel- 
 fare of the town and his advice is often sought 
 on matters relating to the general good. He is 
 far-sighted and his judgment is sound and relia- 
 ble, while his devotion to the welfare of the com- 
 munity is above question. 
 
 A. J. ROBINSON. 
 
 A. J. Robinson, who follows farming on sec- 
 tion 3, Granville township, was born in La Salle 
 county near the Putnam county line, March 12, 
 1850. His boyhood days were spent on the home 
 farm and in the district schools. His parents 
 were James and Sophia (Richey) Robinson, both 
 of whom were natives of Ohio. In 1833 they be- 
 came residents of La Salle county, Illinois, being 
 among the earliest families of that part of the 
 state. They located upon a farm where they spent 
 their subsequent years and through a long period 
 were prominent in the community where they 
 resided. Mr. Robinson was among those who 
 aided in laying broad and deep the foundations 
 for the present development and progress of the 
 county and co-operated in many of the events 
 which have left their impress upon the pioneer 
 history of his portion of the state. His wife died 
 at the comparatively early age of forty-four years 
 and Mr. Robinson long survived, passing away at 
 the age of eighty-three. In their family were nine 
 children, eight of whom are yet living. 
 
 After attending the district schools A. J. Rob- 
 inson profited by three years' instruction in the 
 state normal, after which he engaged in teaching 
 in Putnam county, following that profession for 
 five years. He was then married on the 27th of 
 December, 1882, to Miss Ellen Barnard, who was 
 born in Vermont, a daughter of Charles E. Bar- 
 nard, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this 
 volume. Following his marriage Mr. Robinson 
 rented a farm in La Salle county and a year later 
 purchased a tract of land of sixty acres in that 
 county, cultivating it for three years, when he 
 invested in three hundred and twenty acres on 
 section 3, Granville township, Putnam county. 
 
 This was an improved farm and he at once took 
 up the task of further cultivating the fields. Sub- 
 sequently he sold one hundred and sixty acres of 
 the land. He has erected upon the place a sub- 
 stantial residence and good farm buildings and 
 in addition to this property he now owns one 
 hundred and sixty-five acres in Hennepin town- 
 ship. He is engaged in general farming and stock- 
 raising, also feeding cattle and hogs, and for five 
 years he has put up ice, which he supplies to the 
 trade in Granville. This year, owing to the mild 
 winter of 1905-6 and to the excessive heat of the 
 past summer, which has made the demand so much 
 greater, his supply of ice has been completely ex- 
 hausted and he has therefore made shipments 
 from Wisconsin. Recently he has erected a com- 
 modious modern residence upon his farm, which 
 is a splendidly equipped property and indicates 
 his careful supervision and progressive methods. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Robinson have been born 
 four children: Candace, who was graduated in 
 1906 from the state university and is now en- 
 gaged in teaching ; Anna, who is a graduate of the 
 Granville high school of the class of 1906 and is 
 now a student in the Northwestern University, 
 and Earl and Charles, both at home. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Robinson is connected with the 
 Modern Woodmen of America and his family be- 
 long to the Congregational church. He has al- 
 ways been a republican, but has aspired to no 
 office, nor has he held positions of official prefer- 
 ment save that of school director. His deep in- 
 terest in the cause of education has prompted him 
 to undertake the duties of that position, which 
 are most important, for the establishment and 
 maintenance of good schools and the employ- 
 ment of competent teachers is something which 
 cannot be over-estimated in its value as a prep- 
 aration for good citizenship. In fact, Mr. Rob- 
 inson stands for progress along all those lines 
 which work for the development of the individual 
 and the community in ways that are beneficial 
 and far-reaching. 
 
 SIDNEY WHITAKER. 
 Sidney Whitaker is an enterprising farmer re- 
 siding two miles east of Granville on section 
 11, Granville township. He was born in Eden 
 township, La Salle county, December 20, 1859. 
 His father, John Ireland Whitaker, was born in 
 Bridgeton, New Jersey, June 2, 1822, and in
 
 462 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 1843, when a young man of twenty-one years, 
 came west to Putnam county, which was then 
 largely a frontier district, the evidences of im- 
 provement and progress being comparatively few. 
 Only here and there had a settlement been made 
 and much of the land was still unclaimed and 
 uncultivated. He lived upon a farm near Gran- 
 ville until 1855, when he removed to Eden town- 
 ship, La Salle county, where he resided until his 
 death, which occurred December 12, 1904, when 
 he was eighty-two years of age. His wife, who 
 in her maidenhood was Wilhelmina Scheottler, 
 was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and was a 
 maiden of fourteen years when she came to 
 America. She, too, died upon the homestead 
 farm in La Salle county, where she passed away 
 in 1898 at the age of sixty-seven years. In the 
 family were six children, all of whom are living: 
 Effie, the wife of E. H. Whitaker, living in Eden 
 township, La Salle county; Clara, who is living 
 upon the old homestead in La Salle county; Sid- 
 ney; Linna, the wife of E. T. James, a resident 
 of Madison, North Dakota ; Eugenie, at home ; and 
 Charles L., who is living at Zearing, Story county, 
 Iowa. 
 
 Sidney Whitaker largely acquired his educa- 
 tion in the district schools of Eden township 
 and later completed the course in Peru high 
 school, although he did not graduate. His life 
 work has been that of the farm and while yet at 
 home he purchased and operated land in La Salle 
 county. In 1898 he came to Putnam county and 
 was here married to Miss Martha B. Hopkins, a 
 daughter of Joel W. Hopkins, deceased, of whom 
 mention is made on another page of this work. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker have been born 
 six children: Sidney, John H., Joel H., Sarah 
 Hyde, Wilhelmina Scheottler and Eichard H. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker has one hundred and sixty acres 
 of land in the home farm, whereon he resides. 
 It is improved with a beautiful residence and good 
 buildings and he and his wife own other land in 
 the county, together with some in La Salle county 
 and also in Iowa. Mr. Whitaker is now renting 
 most of his farm, retaining only a small piece 
 of farm land and some pasture, whereon his stock 
 can feed. Pleasantly situated in life, he and his 
 family are enabled to enjoy all of the comforts 
 and many of the luxuries which go to make life 
 worth living, their property affording them a 
 gratifying income. In politics Mr. Whitaker is a 
 
 republican where national issues are involved, but 
 at local elections votes independently. He and 
 his wife are members of the Congregational church 
 at Granville, in which they take an active and 
 helpful interest, Mr. Whitaker having served as 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school, while at the 
 present writing he is its secretary. Both he and 
 his wife have spent their entire lives in this part 
 of the state and have a wide acquaintance, the 
 hospitality of the best homes being cordially ex- 
 tended them. 
 
 WALTEE FOSTEE. 
 
 Walter Foster is an intelligent and respected 
 agriculturist of Eoberts township, Marshall coun- 
 ty, living on section 25, and it was in this town- 
 ship that his birth occurred, October 31, 1860. 
 His father was Joshua Foster, who was born in 
 Ohio near New London on the 21st of March, 
 1821. He came to Marshall county in 1841, then 
 a young man of twenty years, and cast in his lot 
 with the early settlers of this portion of the 
 state. He drove cattle through with his father in 
 1835. In the early days of his residence here he 
 shared in the hardships and privations of pioneer 
 life and aided in reclaiming the district for the 
 purposes of civilization. As the years went by 
 success crowned his labors and he was at one 
 time the owner of eight hundred acres of valua- 
 ble land, which he shared with his children. His 
 political views were in accord with the principles 
 of Jacksonian democracy. He passed away May 
 3, 1895, and thus was ended a useful and hon- 
 orable life, which covered a period of seventy- 
 four years. The members of his family were : 
 Benjamin, who was born in 1844 and is now a 
 retired farmer living in Evans township, Mar- 
 shall county; Thomas Edwin, who was born in 
 1846 and died in 1881; John Lewis, who follows 
 farming in Iowa; Albert, who is living retired 
 in Illinois; George E., a retired farmer of Evans 
 township; James, a retired farmer of Eoberts 
 township; Walter, of this review; and Wilbur, 
 who is living retired in Tazewell county, Illinois. 
 
 Beared under the parental roof in the county 
 of his nativity, Walter Foster attended the Fair- 
 view district school and began work for himself 
 at the age of twenty-one years, previous to which 
 time he had received ample training in the work 
 of the farm through the assistance which he had
 
 -JOSHTA FOSTER.
 
 PAST AND PEESEXT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 465 
 
 rendered his father in the care and cultivation 
 of the fields upon the old home place. He now 
 owns the old homestead, which comprises one hun- 
 dred and seventy-four acres of land that is very 
 rich and productive and responds readily to the 
 care and labor bestowed upon the fields by yield- 
 ing golden harvests. 
 
 On the 5th of March, 1891, Mr. Foster was 
 united in marriage to Miss Sylvia Traver and 
 unto them have been born six children : Emory, 
 Holland, Nellie, Edith, Jessie and May, all yet 
 at home. Mr. Foster votes the prohibition ticket 
 and attends the Christian church, and these asso- 
 ciations are indicative of the character of the 
 man and the high principles which govern his 
 life and are manifest in his conduct. 
 
 HENRY W. TIDMARSH. 
 
 Henry W. Tidmarsh owns and occupies a beau- 
 tiful home that stands in the midst of a fine farm 
 of two hundred and forty acres on section 30, 
 Roberts township, Marshall county, in addition 
 to which he has one hundred and sixty acres in 
 Richland township, so that his landed possessions 
 aggregate four hundred acres, all in this county. 
 He was born in 1863 in a log cabin which stood 
 on the Jesse Bane farm in Roberts township and 
 has spent his entire life in this locality. 
 
 He is a son of Abel Tidmarsh, who was born 
 in Wiltshire, England, December 27, 1821, and 
 who died October 25, 1898. The father was one 
 of seven children of Richard and Sarah (Wood- 
 ham) Tidmarsh, who spent their entire lives in 
 England. In the land of his nativity Abel Tid- 
 marsh was reared and from an early age his life 
 was one of toil. When but seven years of age 
 he began working to help his mother and sub- 
 sequently followed teaming for many years and 
 also worked at other occupations that would yield 
 him an honest living. He was married January 
 12, 1845, to Miss Elizabeth Witts, a native of 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, born January 31, 
 1822. Her parents, Seth and Barbara (Howell) 
 Witts, also spent their entire lives in England. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Tidmarsh were born four 
 children: Sarah Ellen, the wife of Sampson 
 Rowe, of Whitefield township, Marshall county; 
 Emma W., the wife of John Wetzel, of Roberts 
 township; Clara, the wife of John B. Martin of 
 the same l<>\vnslii|> ; and Henry, of this review. 
 
 The year 1855 witnessed the emigration of 
 
 Abel Tidmarsh and his family to America, at 
 which time he became a resident of Whitefield 
 township, Marshall county, Illinois. After being 
 employed for one season in a brickyard he pur- 
 chased the plant, which he operated for four years, 
 and in 1860 he rented a farm from Jesse Bane 
 in Roberts township. Six years later he purchased 
 a farm in the same township and in 1879 he re- 
 placed his log house by a commodious frame resi- 
 dence. He also made excellent improvements 
 upon his land and added to the property until 
 he became owner of four hundred and four acres, 
 constituting a valuable farm. When he arrived 
 in this country he had a cash capital of only 
 seventy-five cents and at the time of his death he 
 was numbered among the men of affluence in 
 Marshall county. He voted with the democracy 
 and filled the office of school director. He sur- 
 vived his wife for about two years, her death oc- 
 curring June 13, 1896. She was a member of 
 the Church of England. 
 
 Henry W. Tidmarsh, reared under the parental 
 roof, early became familiar with the work of 
 field and meadow and his boyhood days were 
 largely devoted to earnest and unremitting work. 
 He continued to engage in farming upon his 
 fathers place until 1897. In the meantime he 
 attended school at Shaw's Point and at Varna, 
 and thus acquired his education. As the years 
 passed he has prospered in his undertakings and 
 his landed holdings now embrace four hundred 
 acres in Marshall county, of which two hundred 
 and forty acres is comprised in the home farm 
 on section 30, Roberts township. He also has 
 one hundred and sixty acres in Richland town- 
 ship. His home .place is splendidly improved 
 and in its midst stands a beautiful and commo- 
 dious modern residence, together with large and 
 substantial barns an outbuildings for the shelter 
 of grain and stock. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Tidmarsh was united in marriage 
 to Miss Elizabeth Miller, who was born in Lacon 
 in 1868 and is a daughter of Robert and Anna 
 Miller, who are now deceased. She was edu- 
 cated in the schools of Lacon, of Roanoke and of 
 Washburn, Illinois, and by her marriage has be- 
 come the mother of five children: Robert, born 
 September 20, 1889; Edwin M., March 10, 1892; 
 Ellen Marie, July 18, 1894; Irlene May, August 
 21, 1899 ; and Virgil Ray, March 19, 1904. All 
 are still under the parental roof. Mr. Tidmarsh
 
 466 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OP MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 is well known in the county where his entire life 
 has been passed and where he has so directed his 
 labors as to win a place among the farmers 01 
 affluence, also gaining recognition among those 
 whose lives of business integrity command the 
 highest respect. 
 
 MILTON E. NEWBURN. 
 
 Milton E. Newburn, living upon a farm within 
 the city limits of Hennepin, is one of the native 
 sons of Hennepin township, born on the 28th of 
 September, 1843. His parents, Mahlon and Mary 
 (Ford) Newburn, were natives of Ohio and prior 
 to their removal to Illinois made their home near 
 Dayton, that state, whence they came by team to 
 Putnam county at an early period in the pioneer 
 development of this part of Illinois. There were 
 no facilities for railroad travel at that time and 
 there had been little advance made in reclaiming 
 this district for the uses of civilization. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Newburn located on government land east 
 of Florid and with characteristic energy the 
 father began the development of a farm, which 
 hitherto was entirely wild and uncultivated. 
 After some years he disposed of that property 
 and for four years was a resident of Granville 
 township, subsequent to which time he resided 
 upon the farm now owned by his son Milton. His 
 death occurred in Peoria, February 14, 1895, at 
 the age of seventy-eight years, having survived 
 his wife for about eight years. He deserved all 
 the credit implied in the term "a self-made man" 
 for his close application, persistency of purpose 
 and unremitting diligence were the strong feat- 
 ures in his success, whereby he advanced from a 
 humble financial position to one of affluence. He 
 was almost penniless when he arrived in this 
 county and at his death was the owner of a valu- 
 able farm property of one hundred and sixty 
 acres. He had in the meantime disposed of much 
 of his land, for he had formerly been the owner 
 of three hundred and forty acres. His father, 
 John Newburn, also came to Putnam county, lo- 
 cating upon a farm near Florid, where he died 
 during the boyhood of Milton E. Newburn and 
 his wife also passed away at that place. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Newburn were the 
 parents of five children: Alfred, who lived at 
 home and died at the age of twenty years; Milton 
 E. ; Stephen, who owns and occupies a fruit farm 
 
 in California; Sarah, the wife of George Baxen- 
 dale, of Peoria, Illinois; and Aaron, who inherit- 
 ed a part of the old estate and died thereon at 
 the age of twenty-three years after a short mar- 
 ried life of two years. 
 
 The boyhood days of Milton E. Newburn were 
 spent in the usual manner of farm lads of the 
 period. He assisted his father in the operation 
 of the farm and in the winter months when there 
 was considerable respite from farm duties he at- 
 tended the public schools. On attaining his ma- 
 jority he began the cultivation of his own farm 
 in the vicinity of the old home place, but contin- 
 ued to live with his parents. Later he disposed 
 of that property and secured another farm near 
 Hennepin. He became owner of his present farm 
 in 1885 and continued actively in its cultivation 
 and improvement until 1892. In the meantime 
 he had devoted considerable attention to the 
 breeding of Chester White hogs and for thirty 
 years he has engaged in this business, making ex- 
 hibits of the stock at state fairs in Illinois, Iowa, 
 Nebraska, at St. Louis and at the World's Colum- 
 bian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. At the last 
 named he carried off premiums amounting to six- 
 teen hundred dollars on a herd of nineteen ani- 
 mals, at which time he had to compete with the 
 whole world. He has always given his attention 
 to the Chester White breed and has been most 
 successful in raising high grade hogs. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1894, Mr. Newburn was 
 married to Miss May Turner, of Hennepin, a 
 daughter of Oakes and Rebecca (Butler) Turner, 
 who came to Illinois in the J 30s and settled at 
 Wyoming, Stark county. Their subsequent days 
 were passed at Hennepin, where the mother died 
 in 1884 and the father in 1888. Mrs. Newburn 
 was born in Hennepin, May 16, 1850, and after 
 the death of her parents acted as housekeeper for 
 her brother until her marriage. She has now 
 passed away and Mr. Newburn has since wedded 
 Miss Prudence M. Huron, a native of this county. 
 He lives upon a farm within the city limits and 
 rents his other land, which brings to him a good 
 income. 
 
 The democratic party receives his political sup- 
 port at the polls and he was elected assessor of 
 his township, which office he held for nine years, 
 and for the past twelve years has continuously 
 held the office of supervisor in a township which 
 gives a normal republican majority a fact which
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 467 
 
 is indicative of his personal popularity and the 
 confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. 
 He keeps in touch with the political issues of the 
 day and is frequently a delegate to the conven- 
 tions of his party. No trust reposed in him has 
 ever been betrayed and his service in political 
 office is indeed commendable. He represents one 
 of the old pioneer families of the county, where 
 the name of Newburn has ever been a synonym' 
 for good citizenship and progressiveness in busi- 
 
 PETERSON P. DAHL. 
 
 Peterson P. Dahl, an apiarist of Granville, 
 now devoting his entire attention to bee culture 
 and the production of honey, has become well 
 known in connection with this industry and his 
 opinions throughout this part of the state are 
 largely regarded as authority upon the business 
 which claims his energies and attention. Mr. 
 Dahl is a native of Denmark, having been born 
 in Bornholm, August 5, 1838. His father, Hans 
 P. Dahl, likewise born in that country, was a 
 ship carpenter by trade and died of typhoid fever 
 at the age of forty-five years, when his son Peter- 
 son was but two and a half years old. The moth- 
 er, Mrs. Bertha Dahl, lived to be seventy years of 
 age and died in Denmark, her native country. 
 After losing her first husband she married again. 
 
 Peterson P. Dahl acquired his education in 
 the schools of Denmark and was confirmed in the 
 Lutheran church at the age of fifteen years. His 
 school life was considered ended at that time and 
 he was bound out for a term of five years to learn 
 the shoemaker's trade. On the completion of his 
 apprenticeship he worked at that vocation as a 
 journeyman until 1861, when his attention was 
 called to the new world and the opportunities of- 
 fered in this country. A fellow countryman, who 
 had been in Granville, Putnam county, Illinois, 
 -was at that time making a visit to his old home 
 in Denmark and gave such glowing descriptions 
 of the new world and the possibilities here of- 
 fered that a party of young people decided to 
 come to America. Accordingly they sailed from 
 Hamburg on a westward bound steamer and after 
 fourteen days landed at Castle Garden, New 
 York, whence they proceeded westward to Gran- 
 ville. Mr. Dahl at once sought and secured work 
 
 at his trade of shoemaking and was thus em- 
 ployed until 1878, save for the period of his mili- 
 tary service. 
 
 On the llth of August, 1862, in response to his 
 country's need, Mr. Dahl joined the army as a 
 private in Company B, One Hundred and Fourth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He served with that 
 command for seven months, going as far south as 
 Nashville, Tennessee, and at Hartsville he was 
 taken prisoner. Owing to the rigors and hard- 
 ships of war he was ill much of the time and was 
 discharged for disability at Camp Douglas, but 
 in the meantime he had manifested his loyalty to 
 his adopted land and given substantial proof that 
 he desired the perpetuation of the Union. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Dahl was married to Miss Mary 
 Blake, who was born in Putnam county and is a 
 daughter of John P. and Zilpah (Atwood) Blake, 
 both of whom are now deceased. The father, a 
 native of Massachusetts, came to Putnam county 
 in 1831 when the evidences of civilization here 
 consisted of but a few scattered huts and little 
 clearings, the greater part of the land being still 
 in its primitive condition. He was a surveyor and 
 followed that profession for some years. In com- 
 munity affairs he took an active and helpful in- 
 terest, served as a trustee of the school lands of 
 Putnam county and acted as a trustee of the 
 Granville school funds from 1833 until 1877. In 
 the former year he was also commissioned judge 
 of the probate court, being the second judge the 
 county ever had, and in 1836 he was appointed 
 deputy surveyor, acting either as deputy or as 
 surveyor for over thirty years. His official career 
 is blameless, as it was characterized by the most 
 conscientious purpose and unfaltering fidelity to 
 the trust reposed in him. He was prominent in 
 church and school work for many years and was 
 actively connected with the Sabbath-school 
 throughout his entire life. Thus his influence 
 was a potent force in the material, political, in- 
 tellectual and moral progress of his community 
 and his name is honored in Putnam county, 
 where for many years he made his home. His 
 memory compassed the period of early pioneer 
 development and of modern progress as well, for 
 a good old age was accorded him. He passed 
 away in Union Grove. His first wife, Zilpah 
 Atwood, was born in Massachusetts and died in 
 1845, leaving a family of seven children. His 
 second wife was Mary Smith, who was born in
 
 468 
 
 PAST AND PKKSEXT OF MARSHALL AND 1TTNAM COTXTIES. 
 
 Pennsylvania and is now deceased. She left a 
 family of five children. 
 
 Following his return from the war and after 
 his marriage Mr. Dahl continued to work at the 
 shoemaker's trade until 1877, when he traded his 
 store building for the place where he now lives. 
 He has two and a half acres in the western part 
 of the village of Granville, whereon is a com- 
 fortable residence. He also has a large garden. 
 good orchard and numerous shade trees and the 
 place in its well kept appearance is most attract- 
 ive. For thirty-five years he has been engaged in 
 bee culture and at present has about one hundred 
 and forty-five swarms, although at different times 
 he has had as high as three hundred hives. One 
 year three hundred hives produced seven thousand 
 pounds of honey. His broad experience and his 
 study of the methods of the bees, combined with 
 care in housing them, makes him authority upon 
 the subject. He is thoroughly posted in every 
 detail of the business, including the making of 
 the comb foundation, a process which requires 
 special machinery and also the separating of the 
 honey, which is done by an interesting piece of 
 mechanism and requires much care and skill. 
 When the honey is extracted from the comb it is 
 placed in pint cans and put upon the market and 
 nothing excels the pure strained honey which 
 bears the stamp of Peter Dahl, apiarist, Gran- 
 ville, Illinois. It is to this work that Mr. Dahl 
 is now giving his time and attention and he de- 
 rives therefrom a good income. 
 
 Unto our subject and his wife have been born 
 three children: Nettie T., now the wife of 
 Charles Conklin, resides near Kempton, Illinois. 
 She is a graduate of the state normal school and 
 for ten years engaged in teaching in Putnam 
 county, at one time being principal ,of the schools 
 of Granville. She now has three children. Lo- 
 rena, the second member of the Dahl family, is 
 acting as housekeeper for her brother, Percy E., 
 in Missouri. She pursued a two and a half years' 
 course in the state normal school of Illinois and 
 she, too, has taught school in Putnam county. 
 The only son, Percy E. Dahl, went to Missouri 
 in the spring of 1905 and there purchased and is 
 improving a farm of ninety-nine acres. 
 
 Since 1861 Mr. Dahl has been a member of the 
 Baptist church but during the past few years has 
 attended the Congregational church, of which his 
 wife is a member. He is a strictly temperate man 
 
 and his views upon this question are indicated 
 through the stalwart support which he gives to 
 the prohibition party. He has served as a mem- 
 ber of the village board for a number of years 
 and community interests find in him a stalwart 
 champion, who does all in his power to promote 
 reform, progress and improvement. He belongs 
 to Hennepin post, G. A. E., and since becoming a 
 naturalized American citizen has manifested a 
 loyalty to this country and her institutions un- 
 surpassed by her native-born sons. 
 
 CHAELES A. FEOMMEL. 
 
 Charles A. Frommel, who is engaged in the 
 manufacture of cigars in Henry and is prominent 
 in community affairs, was born in Canton, Ful- 
 ton county, Illinois, December 31, 1862. His 
 father, Albert C. Frommel, was a native of Ham- 
 burg, Germany, and in 1849 came to the United 
 States, settling first in Utica, New York, where 
 he engaged in business as a cigar manufacturer. 
 He became the first representative of that line 
 in Canton, Illinois, where he carried on his en- 
 terprise for many years.' He died in Troy, New 
 York, in 1901, since which time his widow, who 
 bore the maiden name of Anna E. Eowley, has 
 become the wife of T. A. Schipper, of Henry, 
 and is again a widow. By her first marriage she 
 had three children: Charles A.; Ernest, a cigar 
 manufacturer of Peoria ; and Mrs. W. B. Miller, 
 who is also living in that city. 
 
 Charles A. Frommel pursued his education in 
 the public schools of Canton, Illinois, of Inde- 
 pendence, Kansas, and of Henry, as his parents 
 removed to the different places. He learned the 
 trade of manufacturing cigars under the direction 
 of his father and began business for himself on 
 the 31st of July, 1886, when he came to Henry. 
 He has conducted his present cigar manufactory 
 since 1893 and is now carrying on a good business 
 in this line. His leading brands are the Eose 
 Queen, a first class domestic five cent cigar, and 
 My Best, which is a ten cent domestic cigar. The 
 excellence of his goods enables him to secure a 
 ready sale for his output and his trade is growing 
 in substantial manner. 
 
 In 1886 Mr. Frommel was married to Miss 
 Nellie C. Miller, of Henry county, Illinois, and 
 unto them has been born a daughter, Anna Jean- 
 ette, now five years of age. Mr. Frommel is prom-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 469 
 
 inent in fraternal circles, belonging to the Knights 
 of Pythias lodge at Henry and to the Eagles of 
 Peoria. In the former he has filled all of the 
 chairs and has been master of finance for four 
 terms. In politics he is a democrat and has been 
 alderman of the second ward for two terms. He 
 was elected the first foreman of the Chemical 
 Engine company and was a member of the com- 
 mittee to draft the constitution and by-laws in 
 1891. He has several times been chairman of the 
 democratic county central committee with head- 
 quarters located on Second street opposite Central 
 park. He is likewise a member of the bridge 
 board and is recognized as one of the leaders in 
 the local ranks of the democracy, and, earnestly 
 desiring the success of his party, labors along 
 practical and effective lines for its upbuilding. 
 
 ADAM BROWN HENK1NS. 
 
 The life record of Adam Brown Henkins can- 
 not fail to prove of interest to many of our read- 
 ers, for he is a venerable citizen of Senachwine 
 township, living upon section 26, and for more 
 than a half century he has resided in this part 
 of the state. Today he is one of its most exten- 
 sive land owners, his possessions aggregating ten 
 hundred and fifteen acres in Putnam and Bureau 
 counties. 
 
 He was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, 
 near the Virginia line, September 24, 1824, his 
 parents being Elijah and Elizabeth (Brown) Hen- 
 kins. The father was born in West Virginia, 
 September 29, 1792, and died in Putnam county, 
 Illinois, September 6, 1887, while his wife, whose 
 birth occurred July 1, 1797, in West Virginia, 
 passed away in this county, August 12, 1875. In 
 their family were the following named: Rawley, 
 who died February 11, 1900; Christina, who be- 
 came the wife of Robert Worley and died May 2, 
 1863 ; Catherine, who married John Roberts and 
 died September 3, 1900; Margaret, who died Oc- 
 tober 12, 1887; Adam, of this review; Susan, 
 who died April 21, 1824; Mary Elizabeth, who 
 became the wife of Jacob Syphers and died Jan- 
 uary 17, 1875; Andrew P., who departed this 
 life .September 16, 1872 ; Elijah, who is living in 
 Senachwine township, Putnam county; Elizabeth, 
 who married Stace Stevens and passed away April 
 2, 1901; Martha Jane, who died April 3, 1854; 
 
 and Amanda, who is living with her brother 
 Elijah. 
 
 The educational privileges which Adam B. 
 Henkins received in his boyhood were somewhat 
 limited but in the school of experience he has 
 learned many valuable and useful lessons. Under 
 the parental roof, however, he was trained to hab- 
 its of industry, perseverance and economy. In 
 1850, with a party of sixteen people, one of whom 
 was his uncle, Colonel Levi Anderson, Mr. Hen- 
 kins drove across the country from Pennsylvania. 
 The party were upon the road twenty-six days, 
 proceeding by slow stages after the manner of 
 travel at that time, which was long before the era 
 of the railroad. Beaching Illinois Mr. Henkins 
 worked at the carpenter's trade in Princeton and 
 afterward rented land in Bureau county, where he 
 carried on farming for two years. His father and 
 the other members of the family then came to 
 Illinois, settling in Senachwine township, Put- 
 nam county, and his father gave him eighty- 
 acres of land in payment for two years' work. On 
 receiving this Mr. Henkins engaged in farming 
 for himself, placed the land under cultivation and 
 has continued the work of improving the farm, 
 making his home thereon to the present time. 
 
 In 1860, desiring a companion and helpmate for 
 life's journey he married Sarah Jane Dawson, 
 who was born in Pennsylvania, June 18, 1832, 
 and died in Putnam county, November 17, 1897, 
 when about sixty-five years of age. They had be- 
 come the parents of seven children. Jehu, who 
 was born February 11, 1860, married Lorena 
 Hall and lives in Senachwine township. Commo- 
 dore, who was born March 21, 1862, married El- 
 mira Smith and was killed November 3, 1905. 
 while sawing wood. Dowdy D., born May 11. 
 1864, died April 24, 1865. Susan L., born April 
 29, 1866, is the wife of Dwight M. Ball and they 
 reside with her father. Jacob S;, born August 
 1, 1868, died March 6, 1895, while studying med- 
 icine in Chicago. Adam, born June 12, 1874, 
 wedded Alice Putcamp and is living in Bureau 
 county. Miles W., born June 15, 1877, married 
 Miss Ball and lives in Senachwine township. 
 
 Throughout almost his entire life Mr. Henkins 
 has followed general agricultural pursuits and is 
 thoroiighly familiar with the best methods of till- 
 ing the soil and caring for the crops. He now 
 has a nice home and his landed possessions are 
 extensive, for from time to time he has added to
 
 470 
 
 PAST AND 1'RKSKXT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 his property through careful investment until he 
 now has ten hundred and fifteen acres in Putnam 
 and Bureau counties. He started in life a poor 
 man and all that he possesses has been acquired 
 through his own labor. He early realized the fact 
 that persistent effort is the basis of all success 
 and his perseverance and energy have enabled 
 him to overcome many obstacles and difficulties 
 in his path. His property is one which any man 
 might be glad to possess. There is no better in- 
 vestment to be made than by placing money in 
 the rich farm lands of Illinois, for the soil is so 
 productive that it makes a splendid return and 
 the equable climate with liberal rainfalls and 
 warm sunshine always insures good crops. Thus 
 farming is profitably carried on by all who have 
 industry and energy enough to till the soil ac- 
 cording to modern methods and the life record 
 of Mr. Henkins demonstrates the possibilities for 
 success in this particular. For fifty-four years 
 he has been a devoted member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church and his political support has 
 been given to the republican party for almost an 
 equal length of time, as he joined its ranks on its 
 organization. He has served as road commis- 
 sioner and as school director and was also town- 
 ship school trustee for years. His has been a 
 long and useful life, crowned with prosperity and 
 also with the respect of his fellowmen. 
 
 CHRISTIAN J. HARTMAN. 
 
 Christian J. Hartman, a substantial farmer of 
 Putnam county, owning and operating a valua- 
 ble and well improved farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, which is located on section 21, Gran- 
 ville township, which stands as a monument to 
 his own thrift and energy, is one of the worthy 
 citizens that Germany has furnished to this state, 
 his birth having occurred in Hesse Nassau, April 
 12, 1850. He has a brother, William Hartman, 
 who also resides in this county, mention of whom 
 is made on another page of this work. 
 
 Mr. Hartman was reared and educated in his 
 native land to the age of eighteen years, when, 
 in 1868, hoping to better his financial condition 
 in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic on a 
 sailing vessel, and after landing in this country 
 at once made his way to Granville, this county, 
 where his brother William had previously located 
 on his emigration to the United States, the date 
 of the arrival of our subject being May 18, of that 
 
 year. He had no capital when he arrived at his 
 destination but possessed energy and determina- 
 tion, and was employed by his brother William, 
 working at farm labor for two years. On the 
 expiration of that period, having saved a sum of 
 money, he purchased a few implements, rented a 
 piece of land, and began farming on his own ac- 
 count, retaining his home with his brother. For 
 three years he used a double shovel plow. He 
 was successful in his new venture and as time 
 passed he added to his financial resources, and, 
 having acquired a capital sufficient to establish a 
 home of his own, he further completed his ar- 
 rangements by his marriage, February 12, 1874, 
 to Miss Lena Weesbach, who was born in Prus- 
 sia, July 25, 1852. She was a daughter of Henry 
 William Weesbach who, in 1867, removed with 
 his family from the fatherland to La Salle county,, 
 where he engaged in farming. He was killed by 
 a train near Wenona, while on his way for mail, 
 and his wife died in Wenona about four years 
 ago. 
 
 Following his marriage Mr. Hartman removed 
 to Iroquois county, this state, where he engaged 
 in farming but not meeting with success there, 
 again returned to Putnam county, where, in 
 1884, he purchased eighty acres of land known 
 as the Gunn farm. The land was partially im- 
 proved and a small house and barn stood on the 
 place. He further developed and cultivated his 
 land, carrying on general farming and stock- 
 raising along the most progressive and practical 
 lines and as his financial resources increased he 
 was enabled to make further purchase of property 
 by adding a tract of eighty acres to his original 
 purchase, thus making altogether one hundred 
 and sixty acres, which is today one of the best 
 improved and most valuable farms of Putnam 
 county. In 1905 Mr. Hartman replaced his first 
 home by a large modern residence supplied with 
 all conveniences and accessories, and he likewise 
 erected a good barn, thus furnishing ample shel- 
 ter for grain and stock. He keeps everything in 
 an excellent state of repair and his place presents 
 a neat and thrifty appearance. 
 
 Unto our subject and his wife have been born 
 six children, all of whom are living, namely: 
 Minnie, the wife of Henry Wendt, residing in 
 Granville; William H., who is unmarried and re- 
 sides on the farm of his uncle, William Hart- 
 man, in Granville township; Annie, now the wife
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AXD PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 473 
 
 of Phillip Hoffman, residing on the Harper farm 
 in Granville township; Carrie, the wife of John 
 Hoffman, also residing on the Harper farm; 
 Charles, at home; and Maggie, who is acting as 
 housekeeper for her brother William. 
 
 Mr. Hartman was reared in the faith of the 
 Reformed Lutheran church. He gives stanch sup- 
 port to the republican party, and cast his first 
 presidential vote for James A. Garfield. He is a 
 broad reader, thus keeping well informed on the 
 questions and issues of the day, so that he is able 
 to give an intelligent argument in support of the 
 principles in which he so firmly believes. Al- 
 though Mr. Hartman came to America a poor 
 boy, ignorant of the language and customs of the 
 new world, he has adapted himself to the changed 
 conditions and has worked his way steadily up- 
 ward from a humble financial position until at 
 the present time his fine farm gives evidence of 
 the success which he has gained through his well 
 directed efforts and careful management. He 
 takes just pride in what he has accomplished 
 through the assistance of his estimable wife, and 
 he is one of those kind-hearted German- American 
 citizens, highly esteemed by all with whom he 
 comes in contact. 
 
 JOHN FORCHT. 
 
 John Forcht, living on section 34, Granville 
 township, has been a resident of Putnam county 
 and this part of the state for almost six decades 
 and therefore events which are to others matters 
 of history are largely matters of experience to 
 him, for he has witnessed many of the changes 
 which have occurred and has participated in the 
 onward march of progress as Putnam county has 
 advanced from its primitive condition into a well 
 developed region. 
 
 Born in Butler county, Ohio, on the 15th of 
 February, 1842, he is a son of Frederick and 
 Marie (Holly) Forcht. The father was born in 
 Germany in 1810. The mother, also a native of 
 that country, was a daughter of Daniel Holly, 
 who emigrated from the fatherland and settled 
 in Butler county, Ohio, in 1832, both he and his 
 wife dying in that state. Frederick Forcht re- 
 mained a resident of Germany until twenty years 
 of age, when as a young man he came to the new 
 world and settled in Ohio. There he was married 
 and in 1847 came with his family to Putnam 
 
 county, Illinois, settling upon a farm of eighty 
 acres of land in Granville township. It was 
 nearly all covered with timber, but he cleared 
 away the trees and brush and continued the ardu- 
 ous task of developing the fields until his life's 
 labors were ended in death. In the year in which 
 they located upon the Granville township farm 
 Mrs. Foreht died and in 1849 the father married 
 Miss Lena Ackerman. Both parents of our sub- 
 ject were members of the Mennonite church in 
 Granville. There were four children of their 
 marriage, of whom three brothers are yet living : 
 Frederick, now a resident of Kansas; John, of 
 this review; and William, who is living in Ar- 
 kansas. 
 
 John Forcht was five years of age when brought 
 to Putnam county by his parents. When he was 
 eleven years of age his father died and the fam- 
 ily was then broken up. The father was in lim- 
 ited circumstances and was vigorously carrying 
 on the work of clearing up the land and develop- 
 ing a farm, but his tract was still in such a con- 
 dition that the land as yet had little value and 
 the children were thus left penniless. John 
 Forcht went to live with an uncle, Michael 
 Hirschy, in Granville township, where he re- 
 mained until sixteen years of age, during which 
 time he had liberal training at farm labor. On 
 the expiration of that period he began farming 
 by the month as a farm hand for others and was 
 thus employed until 1862. In that year his patri- 
 otic spirit was aroused in behalf of the Union 
 cause and he offered his services to the govern- 
 ment, enlisting in Company D, One Hundred and 
 Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was with 
 the command at Hartsville, in the Tullahoma 
 campaign, the Chickamauga campaign, and in 
 various battles and skirmishes, including the en- 
 gagements at Davis Crossroads, Lookout Moun- 
 tain and Missionary Ridge. He was likewise in 
 the Atlanta campaign, participating in the battle 
 of Buzzard's Roost, Rocky Face, Resaca, Kenesaw 
 Mountain and Peach Tree Creek. He was with 
 Sherman on the march to the sea, to Savannah, 
 and through the Carolinas to Washington D. C. 
 While at the front he became stricken with what 
 is known as night blindness and was not able to 
 see after sundown. He was then detailed to act 
 as nurse in the hospital, and there served until 
 mustered out, after the close o the war, on 
 the 6th of June, 1865. He had proven his valor
 
 47-4 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 on the field of battle and throughout the period 
 of his service his loyalty was ever above question. 
 Both of his brothers were also in the army, Fred 
 being a member of the Sixty-fourth Illinois In- 
 fantry and William, a member of the Forty-sec- 
 ond Missouri Regiment. 
 
 When the war was over Mr. Forcht returned to 
 La Salle county and for a number of years oper- 
 ated a threshing machine and corn-shelling out- 
 fit. Going to Livingston county, he bought a tract 
 of land, upon which he resided for two years, 
 and in 1874 he returned to Putnam county, where 
 he purchased a farm of forty-seven and a "half 
 acres, upon which he now resides. Here he owns 
 one hundred and six acres of land. The soil is 
 rich in those qualities that produce good crops of 
 grain and is kept in excellent condition through 
 crop rotation. Mr. Forcht now no longer does 
 any of the work of the fields but is. taking life 
 easy, having a man and his wife employed upon 
 the farm in order to raise the crops and care for 
 the house. 
 
 In his political views he is an earnest repub- 
 lican and has served as highway commissioner. 
 He is now school director and practically does all 
 of the work pertaining to the district. His fra- 
 ternal relations are with the Grand Army post at 
 Hennepin. He is as true and loyal to his coun- 
 try in days of peace as when he followed the old 
 flag on southern battle-fields and in all the walks 
 of life in which he has been found he has made 
 a creditable record, while his business interests 
 have been crowned with a gratifying measure of 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY SIMONTON. 
 With the industrial interests of Magnolia Wil- 
 liam Henry Simonton has long been prominently 
 identified, having for several years successfully 
 engaged in blacksmithing at that place. A native 
 of Illinois, he was born in Livingston county on 
 the 24th of September, 1854, and is a son of Wil- 
 liam K. and Jane (Bazore) Simonton, the for- 
 mer a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. 
 On leaving the Buckeye state the father removed 
 with his parents to Indiana, where he grew to 
 manhood and was married. There he followed 
 the cooper's trade until his removal to Reading, 
 Livingston county, Illinois, where he purchased 
 land of the Illinois Central Railroad Company 
 
 and turned his attention to farming. In 1859 
 he removed to Marshall county and settled on the 
 Kester place not far from Magnolia, but the fol- 
 lowing year removed to the village, where he con- 
 tinued to make his home until called to his final 
 rest in 1892. In 1864, during the dark days of 
 the Civil war, he was drafted and served for lit- 
 tle over a year as a private of Company D, Eighth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry under Captain J. B. 
 Jones and Colonel J. A. Sheets. He was mus- 
 tered into the United States service October 4, 
 1864, and honorably discharged October 3, 1865. 
 The regiment was assigned to the Third Brigade, 
 Logan's Division, Seventeenth Corps, Army of 
 the Tennessee, and participated in the following 
 engagements: Charleston, Missouri, Fort Don- 
 elson, Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, Port Gibson, 
 Raymond, Champion Hills, Milliken's Bend, siege 
 of Vicksburg, Jackson, Brownsville, Meridian, 
 and siege of Mobile, including Spanish Fort and 
 Fort Blakeley, this regiment being the first to 
 plant its colors on the earthworks. Later it was 
 in Texas on guard duty. May future generations 
 never forget the debt of gratitude they owe to the 
 brave boys in blue who on land and on sea volun- 
 teered their services during the dark days of the 
 Rebellion from 1861 to 1865, and may our motto 
 always be "Liberty and Union, Now and For- 
 ever, One and Inseparable." 
 
 The mother of our subject died in 1902. Wil- 
 liam H. is the oldest of their three children, the 
 others being Sylvia, now the wife of William Gar- 
 ver, living at Dubuque, Iowa, and Abraham, whose 
 home is in Michigan City, Indiana. 
 
 William H. Simonton spent his early life in 
 Magnolia and at the age of twelve years started 
 out to make his own way in the world, being em- 
 ployed by the month on a farm until August 13, 
 1876, when he entered the service of Frank Olm- 
 sted, a blacksmith of La Salle, Illinois, with 
 whom he learned the trade of blacksmithing and 
 carriage-repairing. Returning to Magnolia in 
 1880, he worked at his trade with his father and 
 in connection with blacksmithing also engaged in 
 fence building. On the 12th of October of that 
 year, however, he purchased the shop which he 
 now carries on and has since engaged in black- 
 smithing, horseshoeing and carriage-repairing on 
 his own account. He has a gasoline engine which 
 furnishes power for grinding plows and disc har- 
 rows. He also has what is called a Schau cold
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 475 
 
 tire setter, which enables him to set tires without 
 removing them or taking off the wheel, being able 
 to set the tires on the four wheels of a buggy in 
 forty minutes, and his record for single tire is 
 seven minutes. He is an expert workman and has 
 built up an excellent trade. 
 
 On the 12th of October, 1881, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. Simonton and Miss Laura 
 Johnson, a native of Putnam county, and they 
 have become the parents of four children, namely : 
 Willetta, the wife of Dawson Judd, who is living 
 on a farm in Marshall county; and Burl, Carl 
 and Goldie, all at home. 
 
 The republican party finds in Mr. Simonton a 
 stanch supporter of its principles and he takes a 
 very active and prominent part in local politics, 
 having served on the village board continuously 
 with the exception of one year since 1886. He 
 is also serving his second term as a member of 
 the school board and does all in his power to pro- 
 mote the moral, intellectual or material welfare 
 of his town and county. Socially he is a charter 
 member of the Modern Woodmen of America at 
 Magnolia and also belongs to the Mystic Workers, 
 while his wife is a member of the Royal Neigh- 
 bors. They stand high in public regard and have 
 a host of friends throughout the community. 
 From 1892 until 1894 Mr. Simonton served as 
 administrator of his father's estate. He is a 
 skilled workman and as a blacksmith has met with 
 most excellent success, having accumulated some 
 property, including a nice home in the south part 
 of the village and also two other residences there. 
 
 ROBERT McSMITH. 
 
 At the time of the Civil war Robert McLanahan 
 Smith, upon his enlistment for service in the 
 Union army, was given the name and recorded as 
 Robert McSmith, to distinguish him from the 
 numerous Smiths who were in the army, and thus 
 the subject of this review came into possession of 
 the name by which he has since been known. His 
 life record began in Brown county, Ohio, June 2, 
 1824, and he is a representative of an old South- 
 ern family. His father, Affney Smith, was born 
 in Virginia and, removing to Ohio, there engaged 
 in the operation of a mill given him by his father. 
 While in that state he was married to Miss Susan 
 McLanahan, who was born in Ohio and there 
 
 lived until 1834, when she accompanied her hus- 
 band and her family upon the removal from the 
 Buckeye state to Putnam county, Illinois. This 
 was prior to the era of railroad travel, and the 
 party proceeded down the Ohio river upon a 
 keelboat drawn by mules and up the Mississippi 
 and Illinois rivers to Hennepin. Having arrived 
 in Putnam county, Affney Smith purchased eighty 
 acres of government land near the village of Gran- 
 ville. Not a furrow had been turned or an im- 
 provement made upon the place, but with reso- 
 lute spirit he undertook the task of evolving a 
 farm from the tract of wild prairie. There^ he 
 carried on general agricultural pursuits until his 
 death, which occurred when he was sixty-seven 
 years of age. He was one of the early pioneers 
 of the county and was closely associated with 
 the task of improvement and development in 
 pioneer times. He helped to build the first acad- 
 emy in Granville and also assisted in the erection 
 of the old Union church. In the early days he 
 would make trips to Chicago with wheat and 
 bring back a small amount of salt and leather. 
 The only cook stove which he and his wife ever 
 owned was purchased by him in Chicago. The 
 metropolis, whose growth has been one of the 
 miracles of the age, was then but a small town, 
 but it was the nearest market, and to be reached 
 necessitated a journey over roads; which were 
 often almost impassable, for the soil of Illinois, 
 although most rich and fertile for farming pur- 
 poses, does not make goodjiighways in the spring 
 time when left in its natural condition. Mr. 
 Smith became deeply interested in the agitation 
 consequent upon the slavery conditions of the 
 south and was a strong abolitionist. In his fam- 
 ily were ten children, eight sons and two daugh- 
 ters : Isabelle, who is now a widow, was formerly 
 a resident of La Salle county and at this writing 
 lives in Kansas. Levi, who served for four and a 
 half years in the Civil war with the Fourth Iowa 
 Cavalry, died about four years ago at Atlanta, 
 Georgia. Jane is the deceased wife of Joseph Mc- 
 Clellan, a resident of Kansas. Robert, is the 
 next of the family. Hugh M. is living in 
 Buchanan, Michigan. Samuel D., who served 
 with the Kansas state militia in the Civil war, is 
 living in Atchison, Kansas. Rufus D., who was 
 a member of the Twentieth Illinois Infantry dur- 
 ing the hostilities between the north and the 
 south, is now a resident of Colorado. Henry T.,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MABSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 who served in the Twentieth Illinois Kegiment, 
 is in San Francisco, California. William left 
 home at the age of sixteen years and was not 
 heard from for a long period, but is now in Mex- 
 ico. George C., who completes the family, is liv- 
 ing in Wisconsin. 
 
 Until eighteen years of age Robert McSmith re- 
 mained upon the home farm with his parents, 
 working in field and meadow as his age and 
 strength increased. He then learned the black- 
 smith's trade, after which he engaged in business 
 on his own account at La Moille, but when the 
 Civl war broke out he offered his services to the 
 government, enlisting as a member of Company 
 K, Eleventh Illinois Infantry, under Colonel 
 William Wallace, with whom he served for three 
 months. He then returned home, disposed of 
 his business and afterwards re-enlisted at Men- 
 dota in 1862 as a member of Company C, One 
 Hundred and Fourth Illinois Infantry. With that 
 command he remained until July, 1865. He was 
 detailed for provost duty and had a varied expe- 
 rience. Although he was never in any battle, he 
 suffered a wound and numerous hardships inci- 
 dent to a life on the tented field. 
 
 After his return from the war Mr. McSmith 
 started on a trip to Ohio to visit his mother's 
 people. At New Albany, Indiana, he met an 
 officer of the state penitentiary, whom he had 
 known in the army, and who gave him a position 
 as guard at that state institution. He remained 
 there from September, -1865, until March, 1867, 
 receiving a salary of eighty dollars per month. 
 He afterward engaged in blacksmithing at Mount 
 Palatine for five years, on the expiration of which 
 period he purchased a small farm in Iroquois 
 county, Illinois, whereon he resided for three 
 years. On the expiration of that period he came 
 to Granville township, Putnam county, and for 
 seventeen years engaged in blacksmithing, after 
 which he retired to the little farm upon which 
 he now resides. 
 
 At Mount Palatine, Illinois, Mr. McSmith was 
 married to Miss Isalva H. Ring, who was born 
 in Mississippi, September 3, 1848, and is a daugh- 
 ter of Alfred G. Ring, who, removing to La Salle 
 county, Illinois, eettled near Mount Palatine, 
 when his daughter was but sixteen years of age. 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. McSmith have been born two 
 children: Charles G., born at Mount Palatine, 
 March 6, 1869, wedded Myra Pletch, a native of 
 
 Putnam county, and they have three children. 
 Kenneth Paul, Marvin Robert and Veda Elmina. 
 The father of these children owns one hundred 
 and ten acres of rich and productive land in Gran- 
 ville township which adjoins his father's place. 
 Mame Belle, the only daughter, died at the age 
 of nineteen years. 
 
 Mr. McSmith has always been a stalwart repub- 
 lican since casting his. first presidential ballot for 
 John C. Fremont. He has, however, never as- 
 pired to office, preferring to devote his time and 
 energies to his business interests, though for five 
 years he served as school director. He now owns 
 and occupies a good tract of land of thirty acres 
 about three-quarters of a mile north of Gran- 
 ville, where he has erected a neat cottage near that 
 of his son's. He belongs to the Grand Army 
 post at Hennepin antJ takes great delight in meet- 
 ing with his old army comrades. He has always 
 been a great reader, has been a deep thinker and 
 has kept well informed on the questions of the 
 day, both current and political. He came to this 
 country in pioneer times, and the story of his 
 experiences here in early days would present a 
 very complete picture of conditions that at that 
 time existed. He has noted with interest the 
 progress that has been wrought and has withheld 
 his co-operation from no movement calculated to 
 benefit the community. He has now passed the 
 seventy-second milestone on life's journey and his 
 has been an honorable career, characterized by 
 many good qualities that have won for him the 
 friendly regard of those with whom he has been 
 associated. 
 
 NORTON THOMPSON. 
 
 Norton Thompson, a retired farmer residing 
 in Lacon, was for some years connected with the 
 agricultural interests of Marshall county and his 
 business discernment, enterprise and capable man- 
 agement were the factors in a success which now 
 enables him to rest without further recourse to 
 the active labor of the fields. He was born on the 
 3d of February, 1836, and his parents were Asa 
 and Nancy Thompson. The father, who was born 
 in Ohio, devoted his entire life to farming and 
 died in the year 1885. 
 
 Norton Thompson, the only son, was reared un- 
 der the parental roof and acquired in his youth a 
 good English education in the public schools. 
 Throughout his entire business career he followed
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 477 
 
 the occupation to which he was reared, having one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land, which he brought 
 under a high state of cultivation. He carried on 
 his farming interests in accordance with the most 
 modern and progressive methods, utilized thf> lat- 
 est improved machinery in the care of the fields 
 and in course of time was enabled through his 
 diligence and enterprise to win a place among 
 the substantial residents of the county, having 
 a capital sufficient to now supply him with all 
 of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life 
 as he spends the evening of his days in a pleasant 
 home in Lacon. 
 
 Mr. Thompson married Miss Elizabeth Hos- 
 kins and unto them were born two sons : Graham 
 La Rose and Otis, both of whom are following 
 farming. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson traveled life's 
 journey happily together for many years, sharing 
 with each other in the joys and sorrows, the ad- 
 versity and prosperity which checker the lives 
 of all, but about four years ago they were sep- 
 arated through the death of Mrs. Thompson, a 
 most estimable lady who enjoyed in large meas- 
 ure the esteem and kindly regard of all with 
 whom she was brought in contact. She was a 
 devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church and shaped her life by its teachings. 
 
 Mr. Thompson was for five years a member 
 of an Illinois regiment of infantry during the 
 Civil war. His political views are in accord with 
 the principles of the republican party and he has 
 always kept well informed on questions and issues 
 of the day, so that he has been enabled to sup- 
 port his political position by intelligent argu- 
 ment. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and his life has been honorable and up- 
 right, characterized by the utmost fidelity to the 
 teachings of the denomination. His probity in 
 business, his fidelity in friendship and his loyalty 
 in citizenship combine to make him one of the 
 prominent and representative men of Lacon. 
 
 JOSEPH ETSCHEID. 
 
 Joseph Etscheid has departed this life, leaving 
 behind a record of an honorable, industrious and 
 upright career. All who knew him respected 
 him for his fidelity to honorable, manly princi- 
 ples, and he left to his family the priceless heri- 
 tage of an untarnished name as well as a goodly 
 estate. Born in Germany on the 27th of Feb- 
 
 ruary, 1831, he came to America in 1856, when 
 about twenty-five years of age, and made his 
 way at once to Peru, Illinois, and later to Henne- 
 pin, where he began earning his own living as a 
 laborer. He carried brick and mortar for masons 
 and thus earned his first wages in the new world. 
 After a few months he came to Hennepin, where 
 he was employed at different times in distilleries, 
 on boats and at the mason's trade. He assisted 
 in the building of the corner brick store and the 
 brick schoolhouse, both of which are still stand- 
 ing. After a few years residence in Hennepin, 
 however, he and his wife hired out to work on 
 what was then called the Fillinger farm, Mr. 
 Etscheid being employed in the fields, while his 
 wife did the housework. They there remained 
 for two or three years, at the end of which time 
 his employer assisted Mr. Etscheid in obtaining a 
 team and tools, after which he rented a farm near 
 Hennepin, where he lived for seven years. Dur- 
 ing that time he suffered greatly through fire, los- 
 ing all of his household goods, but, undiscour- 
 aged by this disaster, he resolutely set to work to 
 retrieve his lost possessions. In 1866 he pur- 
 chased a farm of one hundred and eighty acres, 
 upfco which he afterward made his home. At that 
 time there was upon the place a log stable and a 
 small frame dwelling. A little clearing had been 
 made, but the work of cultivation and improvement 
 had scarcely been begun. He cleared up much 
 of the land, built thereon a large frame house 
 and good barns and outbuildings and continued 
 the work of improvement and development as 
 the years went by until his was one of the valu- 
 able and desirable farm properties of the local- 
 ity. All this represented a life of untiring in- 
 dustry and perseverance qualities which were 
 salient features in the record of Mr. Etscheid. 
 
 In 1855, before leaving the fatherland, Mr. 
 Etscheid was married to Miss Helen Katrine Cof- 
 fee, who proved to him a faithful companion and 
 helpmate on life's journey for about eleven years, 
 but who died July 3, 1866, soon after they located 
 on their own farm. He afterward wedded Mary 
 Appel, who is still living with her son Peter on 
 the old homestead. By his first marriage there 
 were two children : Margaret, who was born in 
 1864, became the wife of Valentine Bogner and 
 lived upon a farm in Whitefield township, Mar- 
 shall county, up to the time of her death, which 
 occurred in December, 1903. She left five chil-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 dren. The other member of the family was Pe- 
 ter Etscheid, who is still living upon the old 
 homestead and of whom further mention will be 
 made later. 
 
 The father was always a most industrious work- 
 er and thus he advanced from a humble position 
 to one of wealth and affluence. A few years prior 
 to his demise he removed to Henry, Illinois, where 
 he died on the 19th of October, 1900. He had 
 been in failing health for about a year, but was 
 thought to be improving, and his death came as 
 a great surprise to all, and was the occasion of 
 widespread regret, for he had many friends in 
 this part of the state. His remains were laid to 
 rest in the family cemetery in Hennepin. He was 
 a man of rather retiring disposition, entirely 
 free from ostentation or display. He was, how- 
 ever, always courteous and wa* respected and 
 liked by all who know him. He was a lifelong 
 communicant of the Catholic church and he gave 
 his political allegiance to the democratic party. 
 For nineteen years he filled the office of road 
 commissioner and held other local positions, al- 
 though he was not a politician in the sense of 
 office seeking. The offices came to him unsought, 
 but when his fellow townsmen thus manifested 
 their desire that he should serve them in some 
 public position he always discharged his duties 
 witli promptness and fidelitv. At the time of his 
 death his estate consisted of sevp.u hundred and 
 eight acres of good land and his residence in 
 Henry, all of which was a monument to his life 
 of industry and thrift. He certainly deserves 
 great credit for what he accomplished, for he 
 came to America empty handed, possessing only 
 strong determination and enterprise to aid him 
 in his struggle to secure a good home and coi^ 
 fortable living for his family. In this country, 
 where labor is unhampered by caste or class, he 
 succeeded beyond his expectations and his life 
 record should serve as a source of inspiration and 
 encouragement to others, showing what may be 
 accomplished. 
 
 Peter Etscheid, the surviving son of the fam- 
 ily, was born February 14, 1866, and still occu- 
 pies the old homestead. He was reared upon the 
 farm and was educated in the country schools 
 and in Hennepin. At the age of twenty 
 years he engaged in farming on his own account 
 near Hennepin, where he lived for about three 
 years. On the expiration of that period he went 
 
 to Missouri, where he followed farming for two 
 years, after which he returned to Putnam county 
 and located on the old homestead farm, where he 
 has since resided. After his father's death he 
 came into possession of this property and has 
 since carried on the work of improvement and de- 
 velopment instituted by Joseph Etscheid. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1899, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Peter Etscheid and Miss Lizzie 
 Colby, who was born in Putnam county, Illinois, 
 August 22, 1877, a daughter of August and Min- 
 nie Colby. She died of typhoid fever in Decem- 
 ber, 1904. One child had passed away prior to 
 the mother's death and a son, Joseph, aged five 
 years, and Frank, who is a son by a former mar- 
 riage, survive and are at home with their father. 
 
 Peter Etscheid is one of the prosperous young 
 farmers of the county and in addition to carry- 
 ing on the work of tilling the soil he deals ex- 
 tensively in cattle, buying and shipping through- 
 out the year. He is a member of the Catholic 
 church of Hennepin and he gives his political alle- 
 giance to the democracy. For nine years he has 
 served as road commissioner and is the present 
 incumbent in that office. He has also acted as 
 school director and school treasurer for several 
 years and he manifests a public-spirited interest 
 in everything pertaining to the welfare and im- 
 provement of the county. Like his father, he is 
 regarded as one of the leading agriculturists of 
 the community and has made a creditable record 
 in the management of his farming interests. 
 
 TIMOTHY WOOD. 
 
 Timothy Wood, who died on his farm on section 
 32, Senachwine township, December 20, 1905, was 
 one of the old and honored pioneer residents of 
 Putnam county and prospered in his undertakings 
 as the years went by. He was largely engaged 
 in trapping, hunting and fishing in an early day 
 and found therein a profitable source of income 
 which enabled him to make judicious investments 
 in property, so that he left an estate of about 
 eleven forty-acre tracts of land, much of it lying 
 in the districts surrounding Lake Senachwine. 
 
 His life history began September 22, 1817, in 
 the town of Ellisburg, Jefferson county, New York, 
 he being the second son of James and Barbara 
 Wood, whose family numbered thirteen children, 
 six of whom are yet living. His father having
 
 TIMOTHY WOOD.
 
 MHS. TIMOTHY WOOD.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 483 
 
 given him his time, he started out in life on his 
 own account at an early age and entered the em- 
 ploy of John Fish, his duty being to hoe, to ride 
 the horse used in plowing the corn and to do 
 chores and other work on the farm, receiving in 
 compensation for his services a wage of six dol- 
 lars per month. In the fall he took his wages in 
 sheep at one dollar per head for the old ones 
 and seventy-five cents for the lambs. In early 
 manhood he also spent considerable time in hunt- 
 ing, as had his father before him, for New York 
 was then a comparatively new state and there was 
 considerable game there. He had often gone on 
 trips with his father to his traps and to shoot 
 ducks, and after leaving the employ of Mr. Fish 
 Timothy Wood began trapping in the fall and 
 winter for himself. 
 
 The following spring, on the General Houston, 
 he secured a position as cook at a salary of four- 
 teen dollars per month and late in the summer he 
 bought a little vessel or sloop called the Dolphin 
 and carried on the business of buying and selling 
 fruit. Subsequently he sailed for six or seven 
 years on different vessels and about the expiration 
 of that period, in connection with his brother, 
 Epenateus Wood, he bought the schooner, H. 
 Emery, of Sandy Creek, New York. They did a 
 general traffic with that boat, but sold it in the 
 succeeding fall and Timothy Wood then went on 
 the Troy and Erie canal for one season as bows- 
 man at fifteen dollars per month. Later he spent 
 considerable time at Elli&burg, his old home. 
 
 While there Mr. Wood was married to Fannie 
 Garrett, January 19, 1839, and for four years 
 they resided on a farm which they purchased in 
 Jefferson county. There the wife died July 17, 
 1843, and their two children, a son and daughter, 
 both died in early youth. 
 
 Mr. Wood then sold his farm to his father and 
 on the 10th of September, 1843, started from 
 Oswego, New York, on a propeller around the 
 Great Lakes, arriving at Chicago about September 
 25, 1843, co\ tring the entire distance over four- 
 teen hundred miles by water. The present me- 
 tropolis was then a small hamlet with a few log 
 houses and an old fort, and there was a corduroy 
 bridge over the Chicago river. The succeeding 
 morning he arranged to ride with a teamster to 
 Belvidere on the Kiswaukee river and on reaching 
 his destination he began trapping, in which he did 
 well. Later he and his cousin, John Bruce, went 
 
 to Pictakee lake by wagon and spent the night in 
 an incompleted log cabin. About two inches of 
 snow fell that night and in the morning Mr. Wood 
 told his companion that if he would get breakfast 
 he (Wood) would look around to see if he could 
 find some deer tracks. He soon discovered a 
 couple and, following them up, at length shot and 
 killed the deer. The shot startled another lying 
 near by and Mr. Wood also killed that. After 
 about a month his companion, Mr. Bruce, returned 
 to Belvidere but Mr. Wood remained, trapping and 
 hunting in that district, taking his furs to Chi- 
 cago to sell. He made four or five trips with furs 
 and deer skins and after having met a fair meas- 
 ure of success in this he started on a return trip 
 to his old home in New York, April 15, 1844, 
 again making the journey by water. In the suc- 
 ceeding fall he and an old friend and partner, 
 Nelson Gilbert, fitted out for another trip to the 
 west, starting on the 1st of September, 1844. It 
 was a rough passage but at length they landed 
 at Little Fort about the last of September, after 
 which they hired a team to take them and their 
 boats and outfit to Fox river in Lake county, Illi- 
 nois. They encamped between Pistakee lake and 
 Big Rice lake and hunted and trapped through- 
 out this lake region, and they spent the winter 
 on the claim of the Powell brothers, and in Janu- 
 ary Mr. Wood and his partner took their furs 
 to Chicago. They again returned by water to 
 New York, where Mr. Wood spent the summer 
 and once more in the fall started for Illinois, 
 reaching Chicago September 10, 1845. 
 
 As time passed and the country became settled 
 the greater part of the land was being taken up for 
 homesteads and the timber was being cleared off. 
 He continued the work of trapping and hunting, 
 building a cabin on the banks of Fox river, and 
 again he succeeded in getting a large number of 
 furs, although at different times his traps were 
 stolen by Indians, who were numerous around 
 the lakes. He also carried his effects into the 
 southern part of Wisconsin, which at that time 
 was not very largely inhabited by the white peo- 
 ple. He trapped and bought fur from the In- 
 dians, remaining in that locality until the spring, 
 when he again sold his furs in Chicago and once 
 more started for New York. 
 
 After remaining a part of the summer in his old 
 home Mr. Wood met and married Lois A. Blan- 
 chard, the eldest daughter of Salma and Belinda
 
 484 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Blanchard, of Vermont, who had removed to 
 New York at an early day. Mr. Wood had been 
 acquainted with his wife from her early girlhood. 
 Eight children were born of this marriage: Mrs. 
 Emily Horner, who is now a widow and resides in 
 Henry, Illinois; James T., who died when four 
 years old ; Alice, who became the wife of Emory 
 Smith, who resided near Henry, while her death 
 occurred in 1905; Frank, who is proprietor of a 
 club house on the lake and owns a third interest 
 in the Wood estate; Bert, who died at the age of 
 three years : Timothy, who is living in Oklahoma, 
 where he owns a large farm ; Clara, who died at 
 the age of twenty months; and Charles, who is now 
 living on the old family homestead, and owns 
 a one-third interest in the Wood estate. 
 
 After his second marriage Mr. Wood started 
 with his bride for the west on the 2d of Septem- 
 ber, 1848, on the propeller New York. On the 
 way the vessel stopped at Freeport, Ohio, where Mr. 
 Wood purchased twelve barrels of apples at sev- 
 enty-five cents per barrel, which he sold in Mil- 
 waukee for three dollars per barrel. They landed 
 at Little Fort, September 25, 1848, and they 
 made their way to the home of Ting Potters, a 
 a friend of Mrs. Wood. Having his wife here. 
 Mr. Wood made a permanent settlement in Illi- 
 nois, locating in the lake region. There were 
 many geese and wild ducks around the lake. In 
 fact they made so much noise that Mr. Wood and 
 his wife could hardly sleep. After living in the 
 lake country for two years, during which time 
 lie was engaged in hunting and trapping, they 
 removed to a place on the Fox river and again 
 engaged in trapping and buying furs. The quan- 
 tity of game to be had at that time is indicated 
 by the fact that during the winter and spring he 
 caught two thousand nine hundred and ninety-six 
 muskrats and three hundred minks and coons, 
 also buying a good many, and once more he sold 
 kis furs in the spring. For some time he con- 
 tinued the work of hunting and trapping in the 
 winter time and in the spring and summer hunted 
 ducks, geese, prairie chickens and quails, which 
 were sent to the Chicago market. As the supply 
 of game became somewhat exhausted in one lo- 
 cality he would remove to another and for about 
 four years he lived in Aurora. On the expira- 
 tion of that period he bought a house and seventy 
 acres of land at Piano, Illinois, where he resided 
 for two years and during that period Mr. AVood 
 
 came south into Putnam county, where he arrived 
 in October, 1852. There was still plenty of game 
 in this locality. Hardly had be arrived before 
 Mr. Wood sighted a deer which he killed. He 
 and his companion hunted and trapped, selling 
 their game to the steamboats which were then com- 
 ing down the river. In the winter he returned 
 to Piano, where again he shot game which he 
 shipped by stage to Chicago. In the fall of 1853, 
 however, he again came south to Putnam county 
 with his brother-in-law, Thomas Blanchard, and 
 a Mr. Beecher, and the winter was spent in trap- 
 ping and hunting, again selling their game to the 
 steamboats. The next day after their arrival Mr. 
 Wood and his brother-in-law concluded to visit 
 the lakes on the west side of the river and rowed 
 down the stream to Senachwine creek and up the 
 creek, coming to Swan lake and to Mud lake. In 
 this part of the county they found ample oppor- 
 tunity to carry on business and thus the summer 
 and winter passed. In the succeeding spring, sell- 
 ing his farm at Piano, Mr. Wood moved his fam- 
 ily to Putnam count}'. The railroad had just been 
 completed to Peoria and they traveled by train 
 to Henry, which at that time contained only a few 
 houses, a hotel and several stores. He was now 
 at home among the deer and wild turkeys and 
 furs were also to be had in abundance, so that 
 he did well in hunting and trapping until the 
 river and lakes froze over. He was then induced 
 by Mr. Sparling, also a pioneer resident, to join 
 him in fishing business, and he and his family, 
 in the fall of 1857, took possession of a little 
 cabin on the bluff overlooking what is now the 
 pleasure resort called Walnut Grove. Mr. Wood 
 took charge of the fishing business for Mr. Spar- 
 ling and at the same time improved the advan- 
 tageous opportunities for buying up land around 
 the lakes. After living on Mr. Sparling's place for 
 four years he bought a farm about mile south, on 
 which he built a house and barn, the family taking 
 up their abode there in the fall of 1861, although 
 he continued with Mr. Sparling in the fishing busi- 
 ness for about thirty years. From time to time 
 he purchased more land in the vicinity of Senach- 
 wine and adjacent lakes, owning in addition to 
 his homestead about six hundred and forty acres. 
 About this time the dam was put in at Henry by 
 the government, which raised the water and 
 flooded six hundred and forty acres of land be- 
 longing to Mr. Wood and also other land around
 
 PAST AND 1'UKSKXT <>[ MAKS1IAI.I. AND 1TT.NAM COC XTI KS. 
 
 485 
 
 the lakes. A law suit was instituted with the 
 result that the government sent two members of 
 the house and three from the senate to investigate 
 the amount of damage done and appraised Mr. 
 Wood's damage at six thousand six hundred and 
 seventy dollars, but the lawyer who had the mat- 
 ter in charge died about that time and the one 
 who then took up the claim compromised for 
 eight hundred and eighty dollars. Mr. Wood, 
 however, continued owner of all of his land and 
 carried on his hunting and trapping. In time 
 this region, rich with game, began to attract 
 sportsmen to it and in July, 1885, two gentlemen 
 of Chicago negotiated with Mr. Wood for a site 
 to build a club house and boat house for a shoot- 
 ing club known as the Swan Lake Club. Mr. 
 Wood leased them one hundred and twenty-five 
 feet back from the face of the bluff and between 
 two roads, also a place for boat and ice houses. 
 From this there has been derived a good income 
 continuously since. Mr. Wood was paid two shares 
 in the club and was to have all the hay, pasture, 
 fur-bearing animals and fishing over all the lands 
 owned, leased or controlled by the club for the 
 term of ninety-nine years. In addition to this 
 property Mr. Wood continued owner of four hun- 
 dred and forty-five acres of land which he leased 
 for fishing purposes, receiving therefrom three 
 hundred dollars per year. He still continuel to 
 buy fur and had men trapping for him, and in 
 the winter of 1896 he handled about ten thousand 
 furs. No man has been more closely connected 
 with the business of trapping and hunting in 
 Illinois than Mr. Wood, who continued therein 
 throughout his life. He started out for himself 
 when but a mere boy, taking up his first small 
 wages in sheep and letting them out to double in 
 four years, showing business qualities which have 
 constantly been developed, bringing him a meas- 
 ure of success until he became owner or was in- 
 terested in nearly six thousand acres of fishing 
 and hunting property. At the time of his de- 
 mise he owned eleven tracts of land of five thou- 
 sand acres surrounding Lake Senachwine and 
 this brought to him and still yields to his family 
 a splendid income. No man was more closely 
 associated with Illinois in pioneer times than 
 Timothy Wood, who has hunted and trapped all 
 over the central and northern sections of the 
 state in its lake regions when scarcely a cabin had 
 been built in the district and when the Indians 
 
 were still numerous. As the larger game was 
 no longer found in the district he concentrated 
 his attention upon hunting and trapping those 
 animals which are valuable on account of the 
 fur and later he found great profit in leasing his 
 land for hunting and fishing purposes to those 
 who delight in those sports. 
 
 Charles A. Wood, now residing upon the old 
 homestead, was here born November 5, 1857. He 
 pursued his education in the district schools and 
 also in the German school at Henry and through- 
 out his entire life has resided upon the home 
 farm. On the 22d of December, 1894, Mr. Wood 
 was married to Miss Mary M. Anderson, of 
 Whitefield township, Marshall county, and they 
 have five children. 
 
 Charles A. Wood is a most energetic, enter- 
 prising farmer and he was appointed administra- 
 tor of his father's estate. His father's land was 
 leased to the Swan Lake Chib for a period of 
 years and beside the yearly rental the family have 
 the use of about four thousand acres of land be- 
 longing to the club. They use it for pasture and 
 hay land and Charles A. Wood, in partnership 
 with George E. Sparling, owns a ferry on the 
 lake, connecting the island and land on the east 
 side with the main land. From this he derives 
 a goodly income. Like his father, he is a demo- 
 crat in his political views and affiliation and has 
 served as school director but has never aspired to 
 other offices. 
 
 KOBEllT McDONOUGH. 
 
 Bobert McDonough, deceased, who for many 
 years devoted his life to general agricultural pur- 
 suits, was a native of Washington county, Penn- 
 . sylvania, born in 1832. His father, Henry Mc- 
 Donough, was likewise born in Pennsylvania and 
 was a Scotch lineage. The grandfather of our 
 subject was a soldier of the Eevolutionary war, 
 valiantly aiding the colonists in their struggle 
 for independence. Henry McDonough became a 
 farmer by occupation and was a good" bxisiness 
 man. His wife, Margaret, was also a native of 
 Pennsylvania and they became the parents of 
 nine children, of whom two sisters are now living 
 in Iowa, but the others have passed away. 
 
 Eobert McDonough acquired his education in 
 the common schools of his native county, was 
 reared to farm life and always carried on general 
 agricultural pursuits. Leaving the east in 1856,
 
 486 
 
 PAST AND PBESENT OF MAESHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 when a young man of twenty-four years, he locat- 
 ed in Saratoga township, Marshall county, and 
 became a prosperous farmer. As the years passed 
 he added to his possessions, and at his death left 
 two valuable quarter sections of land in Saratoga 
 township. He had retired from the active work of 
 the farm in 1878 and had removed to Henry, 
 where he lived until his death, which occurred on 
 the 4th of June, 1906. He was then seventy-four 
 years of age and his had been an honorable and 
 active career, in which prosperity had been gained 
 through diligence, perseverance and business in- 
 tegrity. He was very conscientious in all his 
 dealings and was never known to take advantage 
 of the necessities of his fellowmen in any trade 
 transaction. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. McDonough was married to Miss 
 Mary D. Jones, who was born in Washington 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1842, a daughter of 
 William and Margaret Jones, who came to Illi- 
 nois and located in Saratoga township, Marshall 
 county, in 1854. They were valuable pioneer 
 residents of that locality and there they reared 
 their family of three children: Emma J., who 
 became the wife of David McDonough, and after 
 his death married Charles Beardsley; Mrs. Rob- 
 ert McDonough; and James T., who is a ranch- 
 man in Nebraska. 
 
 Unto our subject and his wife was born a 
 daughter, Jennie, who died in 1881 in her nine- 
 teenth year, her loss being the occasion of deep 
 and widespread regret to her many friends as 
 well as to her parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
 Donough held membership in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church and were . interested in its work 
 and growth. In politics he was an unfaltering 
 republican and he held several township offices, 
 while in Henry he served as a member of the city 
 council. His interest in public affairs was often 
 manifest in tangible ways and his influence in be- 
 half of general improvement was far-reaching and 
 beneficial. He stood very high in the esteem of 
 his neighbors and friends, and left behind him an 
 untarnished name. 
 
 JACOB SUCHER. 
 
 Nature seems to have intended that man should 
 enjoy a period of rest in the evening of life. In 
 early years he possesses strong hope, laudable am- 
 bition and almost limitless energy. In later 
 years his labors are guided with the strength that 
 
 comes through experience and superior judgment, 
 and if he follows a course which the world recog- 
 nizes as leading to honorable success he can 
 achieve a measure of prosperity which will in his 
 declining days permit him to put aside the ardu- 
 ous cares and responsibilities of a business life. 
 Such a course has Jacob Sucher followed and is 
 now living retired in the village of Granville. His 
 birth ocurred on the 6th of March, 1829, in the 
 village of Lopsann, Alsace, France, now a part of 
 Germany, and in 1845, when a youth of sixteen 
 years, he came to America in company with his 
 parents, George B. and Margaret (Knopf) Sucher, 
 who already had two sons and a daughter in the 
 new world. The former had located in Dupage 
 county, Illinois, about eighteen miles from Chi- 
 cago, and there the parents also settled, the father 
 purchasing a farm on which he resided until his 
 death. 
 
 In his native country Jacob Sucher had ac- 
 quired a fair education, and in the new world he 
 assisted his father in the operation of the home 
 farm until about ten years prior to the father's 
 death, when he took charge of the farm, continu- 
 ing its operation until after the father's demise, 
 when in 1855 he sold the property and removed 
 to Putnam country, where his wife's parents were 
 living. He had been married on the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, 1850, to Miss Catherine Krebs, who at 
 that time was visiting in Dupage county. She, 
 too, was born in the fatherland, her parents being 
 Jacob and Sophia (Bender) Krebs, who lived upon 
 a farm near the Rhine, in Alsace, and who crossed 
 the Atlantic in 1847, at which time they estab- 
 lished their home upon a farm in Putnam county 
 about a half mile southeast of Granville, on sec- 
 tion 10, Granville township. There they re- 
 mained for a long period, and when well advanced 
 in years took up their abode in Tonica, where the 
 father died August 26, 1875, the mother surviving 
 him for six months. Their family numbered 
 three daughters : Mrs. Sucher ; Salome, the wife 
 of Henry Kammermeyer, of Peru, Illinois; and 
 Caroline, the widow of Fred Knopf, and a resi- 
 dent of Pontiac, this state. On coming to the 
 United States Mr. Krebs brought with him five 
 thousand francs in his trunk in the hold of the 
 vessel, and he paid for his land in five franc 
 pieces, carrying the money in a sack on his back 
 to the courthouse in Hennepin. 
 
 Removing to this county, Mr. Sucher purchased
 
 PAST AND PKESENT OF MABSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 487 
 
 an eighty-acre farm and subsequently bought one 
 hundred and sixty acres. His property lies in 
 Granville township, where for more than two de- 
 cades he actively and successfuly carried on general 
 farming, but since 1878 he has lived retired, hav- 
 ing purchased a house and seven acres of land in 
 the village of Granville, while his sons carry on 
 the work of the farm. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sucher 
 have been born seven children, of whom six are 
 living: Mary, who is the widow of Fred Bender, 
 a resident of Earlville, Illinois ; Frederick W., 
 who is upon the home farm; Jacob, who was for- 
 merly a farmer in Granville township and after- 
 ward lived in Peoria, Illinois, but is now located 
 in California; Anna, the wife of William Hen- 
 shaw, of Peru, Illinois ; Lewis, who died in child- 
 hood; George, who is assistant city attorney at 
 Peoria, Illinois, and is a graduate of Knox college, 
 at Galesburg, after which he taught for two years 
 in Auburn, Illinois, before being admitted to the 
 bar; and Caroline, who is the wife of Dr. Joyn- 
 son and is living in Granville. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sucher were reared in the Lu- 
 theran church, but are quite liberal in religious 
 belief. Both have many friends in the county 
 and the hospitality of the best homes is always 
 accorded them. Mr. Sucher votes with the democ- 
 racy, yet has ever been without political aspira- 
 tion. He preferred during his active business life 
 to concentrate his energies upon his farming in- 
 terests, which, being carefully managed, brought 
 to him a measure of prosperity that has made him 
 one of the substantial citizens of Granville. His 
 life should serve as a source of inspiration and 
 encouragement to others, showing what may be 
 accomplished by determined and earnest purpose. 
 
 J. 0. WINSHIP. 
 
 J. 0. Winship has devoted his entire life to 
 farming, the occupation to which he was reared, 
 and has found in this work ample opportunity for 
 the exercise of industry and perseverence his sal- 
 ient characteristics. He resides on section 23, 
 Senachwine township, and it was here, at the home 
 of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Beat?, 
 that he was born, his mother staying with her 
 parents while her husband, James M. Winship. 
 was absent on a trip to California. Further men- 
 tion of the parents is made upon another page 
 of this work. 
 
 The natal day of our subject was July 21, 1852. 
 
 He spent his boyhood upon a farm in Bureau 
 county until he reached the age of sixteen years, 
 and his education was acquired in the district 
 schools near his home, and by one year's attend- 
 ance at the high school at Princton. He early 
 became familiar with the work of plowing, plant- 
 ing and harvesting, and continued to aid in the 
 operation of the home farm until twenty-six years 
 of age, when he purchased two hundred acres of 
 land, where he now resides. It was then known 
 as the Ike Wilson farm and the place was in a 
 run-down condition. The fences were in a poor 
 state of repair and the house was unfit to live in, 
 but Mr. Winship's discernment was keen enough 
 to know that the farm could be made a good one 
 and he resolutely undertook the task of bringing 
 it up to its present high state of cultivation and 
 improvement. He has placed many hundred dol- 
 lars' worth of tile upon it and the drainage has 
 greatly enhanced its productiveness. He has also 
 erected a large frame residence and commodious 
 and substantial outbuildings that furnish ample 
 shelter for grain and stock. He has one of the 
 best farms in the township, lacking in none of 
 the equipments and accessories of farm life in 
 the twentieth century. He gives special attention 
 to the raising of grain and the improvement of 
 seed corn, and in this follows the methods brought 
 about by scientific investigation and practical ex- 
 perience. There is no better corn country in all 
 America than is found in this section of Illinos. 
 Soil and climatic conditions are everything that 
 is needed and with proper rain and warm sun- 
 shine the corn has ample opportunity to ripen be- 
 fore the frosts. Statistics show that no better 
 corn is produced in all of the world than is raised 
 in this section of Illinois. By careful selection of 
 the best ears of corn from strong stalks, Mr. Win- 
 ship has improved his corn to a great extent and 
 last year his crop yielded eighty-five bushels per 
 acre. 
 
 Mr. Winship was married in 1878 to Miss Mary 
 Frances Downey, a native of Peoria county. They 
 have six children, all of whom are living: Walter 
 W., who married Miss Minnie Putcamp, of Prince- 
 ton, and lives in Senachwine township ; Grace E., 
 who is the wife of George Hughes and resides at 
 Park Eapids, Minnesota; Ina Gertrude, who is 
 now completing the four years' course in music at 
 Oberlin, Ohio ; J. Ivan F., at home ; Amelia ; and 
 Hazel Ethel.
 
 488 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 Mr. Wiiiship and his family are members of the 
 Christian church, in the work of which they take 
 an active and helpful part, contributing generous- 
 ly to the support of the church and doing every- 
 thing in their power to promote its growth and 
 extend its influence. His political allegiance is 
 given to the republican party and for fifteen years 
 he has served as road commissioner and for a sim- 
 ilar period has been township school treasurer. 
 Those things which constitute public life in the 
 community are of interest to him, and his labors 
 have been Affective and far-reaching in promoting 
 the general welfare along material, intellectual 
 and moral lines. He has a fine collection of In- 
 dian relics and is greatly interested in the study 
 of ethnology as represented by the Indian race. 
 In his business life he has been found thoroughly 
 reliable as well as industrious, he never being 
 known to take advantage of another in any busi- 
 ness transaction. 
 
 CHARLES N. NASH. 
 
 Charles N. Nash, a prosperous and worthy 
 farmer residing on section 35, Hennepin town- 
 ship, was born November 17, 1859, on the old 
 family homestead about a mile east of where he 
 now lives. The Nash family trace their geneal- 
 ogy back to a very early date and have in book 
 form, the ancestral record through many genera- 
 tions. The subject of this review is the eldest 
 child of Martin Nash, who was born in Morgan 
 county, Illinois, in 1830, and who in 1835 was 
 brought to Putnam county by his father, Stephen 
 Nash, so that the family became identified with 
 the interests of this portion of the state in early 
 pioneer times. Martin Nash was reared amid the 
 wild scenes and environments of frontier life, 
 spending his youth upon his father's farm. His 
 educational privileges were little superior to those 
 afforded by the ordinary common school of the 
 early day, but by reading and observation, he 
 greatly broadened his knowledge, becoming a well 
 informed man. He devoted his life to farming 
 and for many years lived in a log house, but the 
 years chronicled his progress in a business way, 
 owing to his untiring industry and capable man- 
 agement. He left an estate of over three hundred 
 acres of valuable land, all of which had been ac- 
 quired through his own efforts. When seventeen 
 years of age he became a member of the Union 
 Grove Presbyterian church in Granvillc and in 
 
 1874 he aided in organizing and became one ov 
 the charter members of the Congregational church 
 in Hennepin. His political allegiance was given 
 to the republican party, and he took an active in- 
 terest in politics, always keeping well informed 
 on questions and issues of the day. For about 
 thirty-five years he served as school director and 
 the cause of education had in him a stalwart cham- 
 pion, whose labors in its behalf were far-reaching 
 and beneficial. In his later years he retired from 
 active business cares and removed to Hennepin, 
 where he died in 1896, suffering during the last 
 three years from a stroke of paralysis. 
 
 Martin Nash was married twice. In 1859 he 
 wedded Miss Charlotte Noble, a native of Ohio, 
 who died in 1872, leaving four children: Charles 
 N., of this review ; Leonard W., who is living on 
 a part of the old homestead ; Harriet B., who is the 
 widow of Enos Colvin; and Mrs. Nellie Winter- 
 sheid, a resident of Tinley, Iowa. In 1874 Mr. 
 Nash was again married, his second union being 
 with Sarah J. Mead, a native of New York, whose 
 parents came to this county in her girlhood days. 
 She now lives in Hennepin. 
 
 Charles N. Nash pursued his education by at- 
 tending the district schools for a short time and 
 also spent a brief period in the schools of Henne- 
 pin. Prior to his marriage he went to Dakota 
 ,and pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of 
 land, but at the end of about twelve/years he had 
 to sell the property in order to raise money to 
 secure medical aid for his wife. Her health was 
 very poor and in spite of the best medical assist- 
 ance that could be secured and the loving care of 
 husband and family she passed away after a mar- 
 ried life of nine years. In her maidenhood she 
 was Miss Anna J. Sutcliffe, a daugher of Samuel 
 Sutcliffe, also deceased. She was born in this 
 county and by her marriage became the mother 
 of one child, Charlotte E., a bright little maiden 
 of eleven summers. Subsequently Mr. Nash mar- 
 ried Miss Jessie Sutcliffe, a sister of his first 
 wife, and they have one child, Samuel S., who was 
 two years of age in March, 1906. 
 
 The home farm of the family comprises ninety- 
 seven and a half acres of good land on section 35, 
 Hennepin township, on which are substantial 
 buildings for the shelter of grain and stock, to- 
 gether with a comfortable residence. This farm 
 was left to Mr. Nash by his father, and he has 
 made many modern improvements upon it, while
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AXD ITTXAM COFXTIES. 
 
 the work of the fields is facilitated through the 
 use of modern farm machinery. He carries on 
 general agricultural pursuits and fears not that 
 laborious attention to business which is so neces- 
 sary an element in success. He belongs to the 
 Congregational church of Hennepin and for nine 
 years has been identified with the Old Fellows 
 society. He is now serving for his second year 
 as school director and in his political views is a 
 republican, but lias little aspiration for office, as 
 the claims made upon his time and attention by 
 his farm work are numerous and he prefers to 
 capably manage those interests rather than to dis- 
 sipate his energies over a broad field of activity. 
 
 CHARLES M. CHASE. 
 
 Charles M. Chase owns and operates a good 
 farm of one hundred and sixty-four acres, which 
 is pleasantly located about a quarter of a mile 
 east of the village of Granville. He was born in 
 New Hampshire, May 21, 1849, and is a son of 
 J. P. and Suah B. (Brown) Chase, both of whom 
 were natives of New Hampshire. When their son 
 Charles was a little lad of six years they came 
 from New England to Illinois and settled upon a 
 farm in Bureau county, near Arlington. Three 
 years later the father sold that property and for 
 several years cultivated rented land in La Salle 
 county. In 1860, however, he removed to Liv- 
 ingston county, where he purchased a farm near 
 Dwight, there residing until his death. His wife 
 died upon the old homestead there in 1896, while 
 Mr. Chase passed away in the fall of 1905, at the 
 ripe old age of eighty-eight years. In the family 
 of this worthy couple there were thirteen children, 
 four of whom are yet living, as follows: J. K., who 
 resides on the old homestead farm in Livingston 
 county ; George, who is located near the old home- 
 stead ; Josiah, who makes his home in Oshkosh, 
 Wisconsin ; and Charles M., of this review. 
 
 In taking up the personal history of Charles M. 
 Chase we present to our readers the record of one 
 who is widely known in this part of Putnam 
 county. As stated, he was but six years of age 
 when his parents left the old Granite state and 
 came to Illinois. He was reared under the pa- 
 rental roof, being early trained to habits of in- 
 dustry and economy, as he assisted his father in 
 the work of the fields. When there was a respite 
 from the active duties of the farm he attended the 
 district schools, acquiring there a fair English 
 
 education. At the age of twenty-five he left home 
 and was married to Miss Isa Weymouth, a native 
 of Vermont, who at the time of her marriage was 
 making her home with an uncle, Charles E. Bar- 
 nard, of Putnam county, who is mentioned on 
 another page of this volume. 
 
 Throughout his entire life Mr. Chase has car- 
 ried on general agricultural pursuits. His first 
 purchase of land made him owner of a tract of 
 sixty-five acres located in La Salle county on the 
 meridian line. He there resided until 1895, when 
 he purchased and removed to his present farm in 
 Granville township, Putnam county, comprising 
 one hundred and sixty-four acres of good land 
 which is under a high state of cultivation. It is 
 known as the French farm and is pleasantly lo- 
 cated about a quarter of a mile east of the village 
 of Granville. Everything about the place pre- 
 sents a well kept appearance and the fields are care- 
 fully tilled, bringing forth good harvests. In ad- 
 dition to this work, Mr. Chase deals quite exten- 
 sively in cattle, buying, feeding and selling as 
 high as four carloads per year. This is therefore 
 an important branch of his business and brings 
 to him a good income. He is an excellent judge 
 of stock and therefore makes judicious purchases 
 and profitable sales. He also owns land in Wis- 
 consin near Oshkosh and has recently returned 
 from that locality, where he visited his brother. 
 
 Unto Mr. and Mrs. Chase have been born three 
 sons: Warren W., Frank W. and Joe W., all of 
 whom are at home and assist their father in the 
 work of the farm and the care of the stock. Mr. 
 Chase and his family hold membership in the Con- 
 gregational church at Granville, and he is in poli- 
 tics a republican, with prohibition tendencies, 
 sometimes voting for the prohibition candidates. 
 He is a large man, of genial disposition, affable 
 manner and kindly nature, who wins friends 
 wherever he goes and is quite popular with those 
 with whom he has come in contact. His business 
 interests have been carefully conducted and have 
 made him a prosperous farmer. 
 
 JOHN HIRSCHY. 
 
 John Hirschy is the owner of a farming prop- 
 erty of one hundred and forty acres on section 36, 
 Granville township, and his entire life has been 
 devoted to general agricultural pursuits, while in 
 his work he has displayed those sterling traits 
 which are essential to a successful business career
 
 490 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 and which win the confidence and respect of one's 
 feilowmen. A native son of Granville towship, 
 he was born November 11, 1853. 
 
 His father, Michael Hirschy, was born in Lor- 
 raine, France, November 27, 1815, and came to 
 America with his parents in early life, settling 
 in the state of New York. After reaching man- 
 hood he made his way westward to Chicago, 
 where he engaged in carpentering and contract- 
 ing. He was married in 1850 to Miss Jacobine 
 Holly, who was born in Germany, December 23, 
 1829. In the year of their marriage they re- 
 moved to Putnam county, and Mr. Hirschy's first 
 purchase of land was a tract of forty acres, on 
 which a log house had been built. Soon after- 
 ward he erected a frame dwelling there, and as 
 the years passed became a successful farmer, add- 
 ing to his original holdings until at his death he 
 left an estate of three hundred acres. He was 
 a member of the Mennonite church of Granville, 
 which he assisted in organizing, and was deeply 
 interested in the moral development of the com- 
 munity as well as in intellectual and material 
 progress. He died upon his farm in Granville 
 township in 1888. His wife survived until 1893, 
 when she, too, passed away. In their family were 
 five children, three sons and two daughters, of 
 whom John is the' eldest. The others are as fol- 
 lows: Emma E., who is now living in Indiana; 
 Helen, the wife of Oscar Wonder, living in In- 
 diana; William M., who for a number of years 
 was a grain merchant at Spring Valley, Illinois, 
 and is now a commercial traveler for the Chicago 
 Board of Trade ; and Ernest, who is conducting 
 a prosperous business as a druggist at Kewanee, 
 Illinois. 
 
 John Hirschy, whose name introduces this rec- 
 ord, lived at home until twenty-one years of age 
 and was educated in the common schools, while 
 under his father's direction he received ample 
 training in the work of plowing, planting and 
 harvesting. On attaining his majority he began 
 operating his father's land on the shares and later 
 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of 
 land, where he now lives, on section 36, Granville 
 township. He has since further extended the 
 boundaries of his farm, which today comprises 
 me hundred and forty acres. The buildings upon 
 the place stand as monuments to his thrift and 
 enterprising spirit, having been erected by him. 
 He has here a fine dwelling and good barns and 
 
 sheds, thus affording ample shelter to grain and 
 stock. 
 
 In 1887 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hirschy 
 and Miss Bertha Nafzinger, a native of Ger- 
 many. They have one son, Walter, who is now 
 living at home. The family are members of the 
 Congregational church in Granville and Mr. 
 Hirschy's political affiliation is with the republi- 
 can party. He has served as school director and 
 for the past eight years has been school treasurer. 
 He is an enterprising agriculturist, active and 
 diligent in his work and conservative in his busi- 
 ness management. He possesses the strong will 
 and resolute purpose that enables him to overcome 
 the difficulties and obstacles that one always meets 
 on the highroad to success, and as the years have 
 gone by he has gained for himself a place among 
 the substantial agriculturists of his native town- 
 ship. 
 
 ISRAEL KOEHLER. 
 
 Israel Koehler is one of the most extensive 
 landowners of Marshall county. His possessions, 
 however, largely lie outside of the state, and in 
 Henry he has been best known in connection with 
 industrial interests, having for a long period en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of carriages here. At 
 the present writing lu> is practically living re- 
 tired, merely giving his supervision to his in- 
 vested interests. 
 
 Mr. Koehler was born in Northampton county, 
 Pennsylvania, July 6, 1830. His father, John 
 Koehler, was likewise a native of the Keystone 
 state and was of German lineage. He became a 
 prosperous farmer, devoting his life to general 
 agricultural interests, and he died in 1871 at 
 the age of seventy-one years. He held member- 
 ship in the Lutheran church, and his political 
 allegiance was given to the whig party until the 
 organization of the new republican party, when 
 he joined its ranks and supported its men and 
 measures. His wife, who in her maidenhood was 
 Sarah Seip, was also born in Northampton coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, and was of Dutch descent. She 
 held membership in the Lutheran church, and 
 died in 1856 when about fifty-four years of age. 
 Their family numbered eight children, of whom 
 Israel is the fourth in order of birth. Five are 
 yet living, although four of this number are still 
 residents of Pennsylvania.
 
 MR. AND MBS. ISRAEL KOEHLER.
 
 i'AST AND 1MJKSKNT OF MAKS11 AM. AM) ITTNAM COCXTl KS. 
 
 493 
 
 Israel Koehler was reared upon a farm in the 
 state of his nativity and acquired his education 
 in the schools near his father's home. He came 
 to Illinois in the spring of 1855, when a young 
 man of twenty-five years and settled at Annawan, 
 in Henry county, where he was employed as a 
 cabinet-maker, remaining there for three years. 
 In the fall of 1858 he came to Henry and em- 
 barked in business on his own account as a man- 
 ufacturer of carriages. He remained in business 
 until 1890, or for a period of almost a third of a 
 century, and for many years this was one of the 
 leading industrial concerns of the city, its output 
 finding a ready sale on the market because of the 
 excellence of the product and the unsullied rep- 
 utation of the house for business integrity. At 
 length Mr. Koehler retired from manufacturing 
 interests, and in the meantime he had invested 
 largely in land and has since added to his realty 
 holdings, until he has today between two and 
 three thousand acres in Nebraska, Texas, Kan- 
 sas, Iowa and South Dakota, of which two-thirds 
 is under cultivation. This land has increased 
 five-fold in value since he bought it, and Mr. 
 Koehler's wealth is thus constantly growing, his 
 capital being much more than sufficient to sup- 
 ply him with the comforts and luxuries of life. 
 
 In 1853 occurred the marriage of Israel Koeh- 
 ler and Miss Augusta C. Smith, who was born 
 in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, a daugh- 
 ter of George and Sally (Beck) Smith. Unto 
 Mr. and Mrs. Koehler have been born three chil- 
 dren, but Richard and James are both deceased. 
 The daughter Luella married William H. Steber, 
 and unto them have been born three children : 
 Latha A., Milton Pearl and Augusta S. 
 
 Mr. Koehler is a Lutheran in religious faith, 
 while his wife holds membership in the Moravian 
 church. He was formerly a republican in poli- 
 tics and cast a vote for John C. Fremont and 
 for Lincoln at each election. He also voted 
 twice for Grant, but he is now independent in 
 politics. He has served as a member of the city 
 council, and his aid has been a valued factor in 
 promoting the material progress and prosperity 
 of the city in which he makes his home. The 
 growth of every community depends upon its 
 commercial and industrial activity, and in this 
 connection Mr. Koehler has done important serv- 
 ice for Henry. Moreover, he deserves much 
 
 credit for what he has accomplished, for his suc- 
 cess is attributable entirely to his own labors. 
 Without special pecuniary or family advantages 
 or educational privileges at the outset of his 
 career, he has steadily worked his way upward, 
 and his diligence has constituted the key which 
 has unlocked for him the portals of success. 
 
 MARTIN KING. 
 
 Among the citizens of Putnam county who in 
 former years were actively identified with agricul* 
 tural interests, but who are now living retired, is 
 classed Martin King, who owns a well improved 
 and valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres, 
 a part of which is situated in Magnolia township 
 and a portion in Roberts township, which is now 
 being operated by his son, although the owner 
 still continues his residence thereon. 
 
 Mr. King was born upon his present farm April 
 15, 1835, the farm being purchased by his paternal 
 grandfather, James Shields, in 1833, from a man 
 who had entered it from the government. His 
 father, Silas King, was born in Kentucky, in 1805, 
 a son of Peter King. He accompanied his father's 
 family on their removal from the Blue Grass 
 state to Indiana, where he remained for a time, 
 and later made his way to Galena, Illinois, where 
 he worked in the lead mines. He later returned to 
 Indiana, where he was united in marriage to Miss 
 Eveline Shields, and the young couple then took 
 up their abode in Morgan county, that state, where 
 they made their home for a time, and then made 
 their way to a farm in Roberts township, Marshall 
 county, which at that time was included in the 
 district which now forms Putnam county, the fam- 
 ily being one of the first to locate in that town- 
 ship. They lived in the same house with James 
 Shields for a time. Mr. King was a valued factor 
 in the pioneer development of this portion of the 
 state, making his home on different farms in the 
 two counties during a long period. His wife 
 died in 1838, leaving three children: Martin, of 
 this review; James C., who wedded Mrs. Rebecca 
 Knickerbocker, and both are now deceased; and 
 Sarah, the widow of Henry Bagby, by 'whom she 
 has four children, Samuel P., James, Ida and Liz- 
 zie. The father was married a second time to Mrs. 
 Cundiff, who is now deceased, and by this mar- 
 riage there were three children, but all of the 
 number have been called to their final rest: Eve- 
 line, who was the wife of Selathial Hallam, bv
 
 PAST AM) I'UKSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) PFTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 whom she had two children ; Emma Hotalling and 
 Eva Dial; Matilda, who was the wife of James 
 Brown ; and William. Two of the sons, James C. 
 and William, were loyal defenders of the Union 
 cause during the Civil war. The father was a 
 member of the Methodist church and took consid- 
 erable interest in the educational affairs of his 
 community, and at one time donated a log house 
 which was used for a school building. His death 
 occurred in February, 1898, and thus passed away 
 one of the highly esteemed and worthy pioneers of 
 this part of the state. 
 
 Martin King was reared in Marshall county, 
 where he received his education in the district 
 schools near his father's home. He early became 
 familiar with all the duties which fall to the lot 
 of the agriculturist, assisting his father in the 
 operation of the home place until the latter's 
 dea^h. Upon starting out in life on his own re- 
 sponsibility he operated rented land for two years, 
 after which he purchased a small farm-, which was 
 in a wild state, and which he developed and culti- 
 vated for a time. He then took up his abode on 
 his father's old farm property in Evans township, 
 which he operated for the succeeding two years. 
 About that time the Civil war broke out and Mr. 
 King, being drafted for service therein, was com- 
 pelled to dispose of his farm in order to pay his 
 conscription. His next purchase of land consisted 
 of a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, lying 
 east of the village of Varna, for which he assumed 
 an indebtedness. It was wild and unimproved, but 
 Mr. King at once took up his abode thereon and 
 began to clear his land, after which he planted 
 his crops, and in due course of time gathered rich 
 harvests. He further improved his farm by the 
 erection of substantial buildings and in course of 
 years replaced his original home, which was a log 
 shanty, by a more commodious frame residence, 
 and on this place he continued to make his home 
 for twenty-four years, having in the meantime 
 made it a valuable property, owing to the improve- 
 ments which he had made. He disposed of this 
 property to Jacob Lenz and in 1889 removed to 
 his present farm, where he has since continued to 
 make his home, although he is now living in well 
 earned ease, his farm being operated by his son. 
 Mr. King was for many years engaged in general 
 agricultural pursuits and stock-raising and as he 
 prospered in his work and his financial resources 
 were thereby increased, he added to h 
 
 sions from time to time until he was at one time 
 the owner of three hundred and eighty-six acres, 
 but he has since disposed of a part of this, retain- 
 ing possession of two hundred and forty acres, sit- 
 uated on section 32^ Magnolia township, and in 
 addition to which he owns another tract in this 
 township, and a farm of sixty-six acres in Roberts 
 township, Marshall county, so that through his 
 own well directed labors and careful management 
 of his business affairs he is now enabled to lay 
 aside the arduous duties of life and enjoy a well 
 merited rest. 
 
 On the 6th of October, 1859, Mr. King chose as 
 a companion and helpma'te for life's journey Miss 
 Ellen A. Smith, who was born on section 33, Mag- 
 nolia township, and was here reared, white her ed- 
 ucation was acquired in the Caledonia school. Her 
 father, Ephraim Smith, was a native of North 
 Carolina, born in 1805, being a son of Philip and 
 Elizabeth Smith, who were among the early pio- 
 neer settlers of Sangamori county, Illinois, where 
 they both spent their remaining days. Ephraim 
 Smith remained under the parental roof until he 
 attained his majority, when he went to Spring- 
 field, from which city he made his way with ox 
 teams to Galena, where he worked in the lead 
 mines. In 1830 he became a resident of Putnam 
 county, settling on a farm on section 33, Magnolia 
 township, being numbered among the first settlers 
 of this township, where he made his home until 
 his death, on the 10th of February, 1885, after 
 which his remains were laid to rest in Magnolia 
 cemetery. He served as a ranger in the Black 
 Hawk war. He was first married to Harriet Ange- 
 line Truman, who was born in New York in 1817, 
 and her death occurred in July, 1857, when she 
 was forty years of age. By that union there were 
 nine children : Ervin 0., who wedded Annie John- 
 son, by whom he has two children ; Ellen A., who 
 became the wife of our subject; Franklin, who 
 wedded Hattie Weir; Esther, deceased; Laura, the 
 wife of Casper Weber; Hattie, the wife of Gilbert 
 Hiltabrand; Addie and Artilissa, both deceased; 
 and James C. For his second wife Mr. Smith 
 chose Jemima Kays, now deceased, by whom he 
 had three children, of whom the eldest died in in- 
 fancy, while the others are: Katie E., the wife 
 of Vivian Haws ; and Eva, the wife of Cyril Haws. 
 
 The family of our subject and his wife num- 
 bered eleven children, of whom eight are still liv- 
 ing : Silas, a resident of Virginia ; Frank, a resi-
 
 PAST AND LMlKSEVr OF MAIJSIIALL AND ITTXAM COUNTIES. 
 
 dent farmer of Magnolia township; Henry and 
 Benjamin, likewise residing in this township ; 
 Laura E., the wife of Grant Trone ; Robert E., re- 
 siding in North Dakota; Edith, the wife of Ed 
 Defanbaugh, residing in Magnolia; Kate E., the 
 wife of Oscar Hiatt, residing in Toluca, Illinois ; 
 Hat tic, the deceased wife of George Lippert; and 
 two who died in infancy. The wife and mother 
 passed away January 26, 1898. She was devoted 
 to the interests of her home and family and dur- 
 ing the forty-eight years which she and her hus- 
 band traveled life's journey together she proved to 
 him a worthy companion and helpmate. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. King is a demo- 
 crat, giving stanch support to the principles in 
 which he so firmly believes. He has taken an ac- 
 tive part in local politics, having served as road 
 commissioner and as school director for a number 
 of years, the cause of education finding in him a 
 warm and helpful friend. Fraternally he is iden- 
 tified with the Masonic order at Varna and is pop- 
 ular among the brethren of the craft. Mr. King 
 has now passed the seventy-first milestone on life's 
 journey, and, having spent his entire life in Put- 
 nam and Marshall counties, is well known and en- 
 joys the friendship of a large circle of acquaint- 
 ances. He has ever been known for his reliable 
 and straightforward dealing in all trade transac- 
 tions and is today accounted one of the venerable 
 and well-to-do citizens of Putnam county. 
 
 0. A. LUNDQUIST. 
 
 The commercial interests of Granville find an 
 active and worthy representative in 0. A. Lund- 
 quist, a clothing merchant, who in ihe conduct of 
 his business displays the spirit of enterprise and 
 progress which have been the dominant factors in 
 the upbuilding of the middle west He was born 
 in Skone, Sweden, July 28, 1866, and when only 
 eight years of age lost his father. Being left in 
 limited financial circumstances, it was necessary 
 that he earn his own living, and at that tender 
 age he went to work in a tile factory, carrying 
 tile all through the summer, while in the winter 
 months he attended school and thus became better 
 qualified for life's practical and responsible duties. 
 When fifteen years of age he went upon a farm, 
 where he was employed for two years, and at the 
 age of seventeen he began learning the black- 
 smith's trade, which he followed for about three 
 years, becoming master of that occupation. 
 
 Hoping to better his financial condition through 
 the broader business opportunities of the new 
 world, Mr. Lundquist sought a home in America 
 when a young man of twenty years. Landing on 
 the shores of the new world, he came at once to 
 Putnam county and began work at once upon a 
 farm near Florid. After seven weeks he secured 
 employment in a blacksmith shop in Florid in the 
 employ of William Stehl, for whom he worked at 
 ten dollars per month. Subsequently he spent two 
 years in the plow factory at Peru, and saving his 
 earnings during that period, he was at length en- 
 abled to purchase a shop in Florid, where for six 
 and a half years he engaged in blacksmithing on 
 his own account. On the expiration of that pe- 
 riod he came to Granville, purchased a shop and 
 engaged in the same line of business here. He 
 made steady progress, and five years ago he opened 
 a clothing store, which today is the largest estab- 
 lishment of this kind in the village. He carries 
 an extensive and well selected stock of clothing, 
 men's furnishing goods and shoes, and has a very 
 liberal and constantly growing patronage. 
 
 About sixteen years ago Mr. Lundquist was 
 married to Miss Clara Morine, who was born in 
 Sweden, October 16, 1865, and died May 9, 1903, 
 leaving five children : Edwin, who was born April 
 3, 1891; Olga, born July 14, 1892; Edith, April 
 16, 1898; Callie, June 19, 1900; and Hilda, Sep- 
 tember 22, 1901. The children are all living at 
 home with their father, who has never married 
 again. 
 
 Mr. Lundquist was reared in the faith of the 
 Lutheran church, but is not a member of any de- 
 nomination at the present time. His political sup- 
 port is given the democracy in national politics, 
 but in town and county affairs he votes for the 
 candidate whom he thinks best qualified for office, 
 regardless of party affiliation. He has served as 
 a member of the village board and in office and 
 out of it has taken an active part in the upbuild- 
 ing and substantial development of Granville. His 
 store occupies a part of the first block put up in 
 that part of the town. He was instrumental in 
 soliciting farmers to donate work with teams to 
 grade and gravel Main street in the village, and 
 his co-operation can always be counted upon to 
 support any plan or measure for the public good. 
 Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows 
 and with the Modern Woodmen and in the camp 
 of the latter is now secretary. Mr. Lundquist is a
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 self-made man in the truest and best sense of the 
 term and that he has prospered is indicated by 
 the fact that he is now the owner of a nice home 
 as well as the store building which he occupies and 
 the large stock of goods which he carries. Each 
 step in his career has been carefully and thought- 
 fully made. He has utilized his opportunities to 
 the best advantage and with a full realization of 
 the fact that labor is the basis of all success he has 
 put forth unremitting effort and is today carrying 
 on a prosperous business. 
 
 CHRISTIAN GEORGE BRUDER. 
 
 Christian George Bruder, deceased, was born in 
 Bavaria, Germany, December 14, 1828, and was 
 one of a family of three sons, of whom one re- 
 mained in his native land and died there several 
 years ago. In 1852 Christian G. Bruder and his 
 brother, John, the former a blacksmith and the 
 latter a shoemaker by trade, emigrated to America 
 to seek their fortunes in the new world. John 
 found employment and settled first at New York 
 and later at Memphis, Tennessee. He has long 
 since passed away and is survived by only one 
 daughter, Mrs. Charles Eberhart, who resides with 
 her husband in Memphis, Tennessee, but has often 
 been a visitor in Granville. 
 
 Mr. Bruder of this review on coming to the 
 United States took up his abode at Granville, and 
 after working as a journeyman blacksmith for a 
 time opened a shop on his own account in 1854. 
 On the 3d of September, of that year, he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Anna Gertrude Opper, an aunt of 
 Christian G. Opper, whose sketch appears else- 
 where in this work. The first child of this mar- 
 riage was a daughter, Mary, now the wife of John 
 Lantz, who resides at McCool Junction, Nebraska. 
 The second, a son,. J. T. Bruder, resides with his 
 family at Burnside, a suburb of Chicago, and is 
 a foreman in the Pullman car shops. On the 3d 
 of May, 1870, the wife and mother was called to 
 her final rest, and on the 24th of May, 1871, Mr. 
 Bruder was again married, his second union be- 
 ing with Magdaline Barbara May, a native of 
 Bavaria, Germany. The children of this marriage 
 are three in number : Leonard G., who is a book- 
 keeper for the Davis Coal Company, at Chicago; 
 Carrie M., at home ; and Fred V., who is employed 
 in the electrical department of the Pullman car 
 shops at Chicago. 
 
 By the characteristic German energy, thrift and 
 
 frugality, Mr. Bruder in his business affairs 
 gained a competence sufficient to warrant a life of 
 comparative ease and rest during his declining 
 years and about thirteen years prior to his death 
 he sold his shop and retired from the exhaustive 
 labors of blacksmithing, after which he devoted 
 his time to the supervision of his property inter- 
 ests that he had acquired, and to the care of his 
 home and garden. He was a man to whom indo- 
 lence and idleness were utterly foreign, therefore, 
 after he left the shop he always busied himself 
 with the interests of the home or his property. In 
 1873 he made a trip to the fatherland with his 
 wife and their children, spending the greater por- 
 tion of the years 1873 and 1874 in Germany. In 
 1894 he once more visited his native country, 
 where he remained for about three months. He 
 remained a most vigorous man until within a 
 short time prior to his death, when it was notice- 
 able that time and disease were making inroads 
 upon his health, and on the 25th of October, 1903, 
 he passed away. In his death the community lost 
 a good man. He was quiet and unassuming in 
 manner, but thoroughly reliable and honorable 
 at all times and had a kind word for everyone, 
 while many a good deed was attributed to him and 
 the poor and needy frequently found in him a 
 stanch and helpful friend. He is remembered as 
 one of Granville's best citizens and one whose life 
 record is indeed worthy of emulation. His widow, 
 a bright and intelligent German lady, still resides 
 upon her old home purchased by her husband 
 many years ago, and in addition to this and a 
 while block of village property he left two hundred 
 and forty acres of good land in Livingston county. 
 Mrs. Bruder and her daughter now make their 
 home in Granville, but spend their winters in the 
 south. 
 
 JAMES E. BARNARD. 
 
 James E. Barnard, whose home is on section 10, 
 Hennepin township, was born March 25, 1868, on 
 a farm in Granville township, where still resides 
 his father, Charles E. Barnard, who is mentioned 
 on another page of this work. J. C. Barnard, an 
 attorney of Omaha, Nebraska, and a brother of 
 our subject, went to Boston a few years ago to 
 look up the history of the' family and secured a 
 genealogical record, dating back to the early part 
 of the seventeenth century. 
 
 James E. Barnard acquired his early education
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 in the country schools and in the village schools 
 of Granville. He also attended the state normal 
 and university at Champaign and taught school 
 for three years, but throughout the greater part of 
 his life has followed the vocation of farming. In 
 his youth he worked with his father and after- 
 ward operated his father's land until about three 
 years ago, when he made investment in property, 
 purchasing two hundred and twenty acres north of 
 Granville. He has erected all of the buildings 
 upon this place and they are modern and substan- 
 tial structures, furnishing good shelter for grain 
 and stock, while his home is an attractive frame 
 residence. He is cutting props for coal shafts in 
 the vicinity of Granville, getting out from fifty 
 thousand to one hundred thousand per year. It is 
 therefore an important branch of his business and 
 brings him a good financial reward. This land he 
 also uses for pasturage and he is largely engaged 
 in stock-raising, feeding cattle on an extensive 
 scale and expecting to increase his business in this 
 department each year. He is a man of excellent 
 business ability and bears a splendid reputation 
 in commercial and agricultural circles. 
 
 On the 28th of May, 1901, was celebrated the 
 marriage of Mr. Barnard and Miss Addie K. Dur- 
 ley, who was born in Hennepin and attended the 
 Iowa College at Des Moines, Iowa. She is a 
 daughter of Preston Durley, and a granddaughter 
 of Williamson Durley, one of the earliest settlers 
 of the county, who in pioneer times established 
 his home here and took an active, part in laying 
 the foundation for the present progress and pros- 
 perity of the county. Three children grace the 
 marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Barnard: Elizabeth, 
 Ruth and John. 
 
 In his political affiliation Mr. Barnard is a dem- 
 ocrat, though he often votes independently. He 
 has served as township assessor for two terms. He 
 belongs to the Congregational church at Hennepin 
 and takes an active interest therein and is serving 
 as superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is in- 
 terested in the material, intellectual, political and 
 moral progress of the community and stands for 
 advancement and improvement in all walks of life. 
 
 GEORGE W. FRANCEWAY. 
 George W. Franceway is a native son of Gran- 
 ville township, where he yet resides, his home be- 
 ing on section 21. His natal day was August 31, 
 1852, and his parents were Bushrod and Maria 
 
 (Ham) Franceway, both of whom are now de- 
 ceased. The former was born near Harper's 
 Ferry, Virginia, in 1822 and came to Putnam 
 county in 1844. He was here engaged in farm- 
 ing and subsequently removed to Grundy county, 
 Illinois, where he lived for twenty-three years, 
 when he took up his abode in Iowa, his death 
 occurring at Seymour, Wayne county, that state, 
 when he was seventy-two years of age. His wife 
 passed away in Grundy county when fifty-two 
 years of age. In their family were four children, 
 of whom three are now living, while one died in 
 infancy. James Franceway, a brother of our 
 subject, lives with him and is interested with him 
 in his farming operations. They have a sister 
 who is a resident of Streator. 
 
 No event of special importance occurred to vary 
 the routine of farm life for George W. France- 
 way in his boyhood days. He worked in field and 
 meadow from the time of early spring planting 
 until crops were harvested in the late autumn 
 and in the district schools acquired his educa- 
 tion. He remained with his parents until twenty- 
 one years of age and then began work on the farm 
 by the month. Saving his earnings, he later felt 
 justified in beginning farming on his own ac- 
 count, his first purchase of land making him part 
 owner of one hundred and twenty acres where he 
 now resides. He and his brother James pur- 
 chased this together and since then have been car- 
 rying on farming operations conjointly. Their 
 place is well improved, having many modern 
 equipments and accessories upon it, while the resi- 
 dence is a good frame structure and there are 
 substantial barns and outbuildings, all of which 
 have been erected since the brothers took posses- 
 sion of the farm thirty years ago, at which time 
 there was a log cabin upon the place and but poor 
 outbuildings. The brothers have since carried 
 on general farming and have raised good crops, 
 from which they have derived a very gratifying 
 annual income. 
 
 On the 10th of March, 1880, George W. France- 
 way was married to Miss Catherine Child, who 
 was born in Granville township, a daughter of 
 David L. and Margaret L. (Dysart) Child, early 
 residents of Putnam county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
 Franceway have been born four children: Mar- 
 garet, who was graduated in 1905 from the Uni- 
 versity of Illinois; Alice, at home; and Elsie and 
 Clarence, who are attending school.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 The family attend the Congregational church, 
 of which the parents are members, and Mrs. 
 Franceway, who is a very intelligent lady, belongs 
 to the Ladies' Aid Society of the church and has 
 recently been active in soliciting assistance to im- 
 prove the cemetery. Mr. Franceway is a man of 
 strictly temperate habits and principles, using 
 neither liquor nor tobacco, and his influence is 
 ever given for those measures which are for the 
 betterment of mankind. In politics he is a re- 
 publican and for eighteen years has served as 
 school director. He and his family are very 
 pleasant and hospitable people, taking an active 
 and helpful part in church work and being allied 
 with all those movements which work for the im- 
 provement of the county along material, intel- 
 lectual and moral lines. 
 
 JAMES HENNING. 
 
 James Henning, living upon a farm on section 
 22, Granville township, has reached the age of 
 four score years, having been born in County An- 
 trim, Ireland, September 15, 1826. He comes 
 of Scotch-Irish ancestry, possessing the strong and 
 sturdy qualities which have ever marked the peo- 
 ple of that race. His parents were William and 
 Catherine (Nickolls) Henning, the former a na- 
 tive of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and the latter of 
 'County Antrim. For twelve years his father 
 served in the British army, being with Welling- 
 ton at the battle of Waterloo, when Napoleon met 
 the defeat that practically terminated his brilliant 
 career. After leaving the army Mr. Henning 
 rented land belonging to an Irish officer. In fact, 
 he secured a life lease, which, however, he sold 
 on coming to America. 
 
 Upon a farm in his native land James Henning 
 spent the days of his boyhood and youth to the 
 age of nineteen years, when he accompanied his 
 parents on their emigration to America. He at 
 once proceeded to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 
 where his brother William was working in a mill, 
 and the succeeding five years he was employed in 
 the same establishment, during which time he 
 mastered the business in all its departments and 
 was paid from two and a half to three dollars per 
 day for his services a very good wage for that 
 time. The mill, however, was closed down on ac- 
 count of the lack of business and thus in 1849, 
 with the little capital which he had saved from 
 
 his earnings, Mr. Henning left Pennsylvania and 
 came to Illinois. 
 
 After two years he located at Cherming, Henry 
 count}', where he was employed as a teamster, and 
 in the gristmill and general store for a gentleman 
 who was extensive^ engaged in business at that 
 place. He afterward again spent two years as an 
 employe in the mill at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 
 but his residence in Illinois has been continuous 
 since 1874, covering a period of more than a half 
 century. His brother William also came to this 
 state and for ten years was connected with the 
 grain trade at Lostant, where his death occurred. 
 Another brother, Robert, lives at Hennepin, while 
 Samuel has always lived with our subject, and 
 John lives in Hennepin. 
 
 While Mr. Henning was living in McHenry 
 county his parents came to Putnam county, set- 
 tling in Granville township, where his father 
 died, and subsequently returning to this state 
 Mr. Henning joined his mother who made her 
 home with him up to the time of her death. He 
 began farming on rented land, first leasing land 
 from Ealph Ware for three years. On the death 
 of Mr. Ware, the farm, comprising three hundred 
 and twenty acres, was divided mto three parts, 
 two .of which Mr. Henning secured, thus becom- 
 ing owner of two hundred and ten acres, for 
 which he paid forty dollars per acre. Since that 
 time he has greatly extended his landed posses- 
 sions and he now owns four hundred and fifty- 
 five acres in Putnam county beside a good tract 
 in South Dakota. Although eighty years of age 
 he still has active management of this property 
 but he has now placed it on the market for sale 
 and when he disposes of it expects to retire from 
 business life. 
 
 Mr. Henning has given considerable attention 
 to the raising of cattle and horses, feeding about 
 a carload of the latter each year. He finds the 
 breeding of heavy draft horses a profitable source 
 of income, making a specialty of Clydesdale and 
 Shire horses, and at different times making ex- 
 hibits of his fine thoroughbreds at the various 
 fairs. Corn is one of his principal crops and a 
 glance at his place indicates to the passerby why 
 this district has won its fame as a portion of the 
 corn belt of the country. The soil and climate 
 are principally adapted to this cereal and Mr. 
 Henning has found in the raising of this crop 
 one of his chief sources of income. Upon his
 
 PAST AND PKESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 499 
 
 place he sunk a well thirteen hundred and fifty 
 feet deep, when he reached artesian water that is 
 brought to the surface by a wind pump. He has 
 a tank of three hundred barrels capacity, which 
 he keeps full, and in this manner his stock is 
 always well supplied. Mr. Henning has added to 
 his place all of the modern equipments and ac- 
 cessories of a model farm of the twentieth century 
 and has kept in touch with modern progress along 
 agricultural lines and his advancement in the 
 business world is certainly creditable. He has 
 been both the architect and builder of his own 
 fortunes and in all of his business affairs has dis- 
 played an aptitude for successful management. 
 His political allegiance is given to the republican 
 party, and while never an office seeker he has kept 
 informed on the questions of the day and has 
 loyal attachment for the land of his adoption, 
 while here h'e has found a home and gained a 
 competence, enjoying its advantages and its pro- 
 tection. 
 
 WILLIAM J. COULTER. 
 
 William J. Coulter, who was one of the early 
 residents and for many years a leading and rep- 
 .resentative farmer of Marshall county, began his 
 life record in County Antrim, Ireland, on the 1st 
 of April, 1827. His father was John Coulter, 
 also a native of Ireland, and in that country the 
 subject of this review was reared and educated, 
 his youth being unmarked by any event of special 
 importance. After arriving at adult age, how- 
 ever, the business opportunities of the new world 
 attracted him, for he had heard favorable reports 
 concerning conditions in America. Accordingly 
 in 1854 he crossed the Atlantic and, making his 
 way into the interior of the country, settled in 
 Peoria county, Illinois, where he was employed 
 for nine months, but desirous that his labors 
 should more directly benefit himself he rented 
 land and began farming on his own account. In 
 1865 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of 
 land in Saratoga township, Marshall count}', and 
 for many years thereafter was actively engaged 
 in the further development and improvement of 
 that property, which he brought under a high 
 state of cultivation. As new and improved farm 
 machinery was introduced he iised it to facilitate 
 the work of the fields and his labors were attend- 
 ed with a measure of success that made him one 
 of the men of affluence in his community. About 
 
 eleven years ago he retired from active farm life, 
 renting his place to his eldest son, and he is now 
 spending the evening of his life in Henry in the 
 enjoyment of a well earned rest. 
 
 In January, 1850, Mr. Coulter was united in 
 marriage to Miss Harna Patterson, who was born 
 in Ireland in 1829. They became the parents of 
 nine children, four of whom yet survive: Mrs. 
 Jennie Endsley, who is a widow and is now con- 
 ducting a millinery store in Peoria, Illinois; Mrs. 
 Ella Smith, living in St. Paul, Minnesota; Wil- 
 liam, who is upon the home farm; and Curtis C., 
 who is a traveling salesman representing the Wil- 
 son Company. 
 
 Mr. Coulter, while living in Saratoga township, 
 served as school director and was interested in 
 having good schools and in employing competent 
 teachers. His political support is given to the 
 republican party and his religious faith is indi- 
 cated by his membership in the Methodist church, 
 which finds in him a worthy exemplar, loyal to 
 its teachings and instructions. He is now one 
 of the venerable citizens of Henry, having almost 
 reached the eightieth milestone on life's journey. 
 He has long enjo} r ed the esteem and good will of 
 young and old, rich and poor, and well merits 
 mention in this volume, having so long resided in 
 Marshall county. 
 
 TOM W. ENDSLEY. 
 
 Tom W. Endsley, proprietor of the Camp House 
 at Henry, was born in Magnolia township, Mar- 
 shall county, November 6, 1878, and is a son of 
 Frank M. and Jennie May (Coulter) Endsley. 
 The father was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and 
 died in the year 1903. He was a grain broker 
 and carried on business on an extensive scale. He 
 was also a great lover of horses and usually owned 
 some fine specimens of the noble steed. His po- 
 litical allegiance was given to the republican party 
 and all who knew him respected him for his gen- 
 uine worth. He held friendship inviolable and 
 was ever loyal to the interests which he espoused 
 and the cause which he represented. Unto him 
 and his wife were born four children : Tom W. ; 
 Earl, who is train dispatcher for the Iowa Cen- 
 tral Railroad at Peoria; Edna, who died at the 
 age of four years; and Frank. 
 
 Tom W. Endsley, whose name introduces this 
 record, acquired his early education in the public 
 school of Honrv, and for four vears was a student
 
 500 
 
 .PAST AND PK'KSKN'T OF MARSHALL AND 1MT.XAM COI.'NTIKS. 
 
 in the Peoria night schools. Whatever success 
 he has achieved in life is due entirely to his own 
 efforts. During the greater part of his business 
 career he has been connected with hotel interests. 
 He spent four and a half years in the Grand Hotel 
 at Jacksonville, Illinois, and on the 22d of May, 
 1906, came to the Camp House at Henry, of 
 which he is now the popular proprietor. In man- 
 ner ever courteous and genial, he is well qualified 
 for the duties which devolve upon him in this 
 connection and he always makes friends wherever 
 he goes. He belongs to the Fraternal Order of 
 Eagles, holding membership in Jacksonville lodge, 
 No. 509, and in his political affiliation is inde- 
 pendent, voting for men and measures rather than 
 for party. 
 
 MONS OLSON. 
 
 Mons Olson, who is successfully engaged in 
 farming in La Salle county on the line between 
 that and Putnam county, was born in Denmark, 
 December 3, 1839, and there spent the days of his 
 boyhood and youth, his time and attention being 
 devoted to agricultural pursuits. Ambitious to 
 try his fortune in America, he crossed the Atlantic 
 in 1857 on a sailing vessel and after a voyage of 
 eight weeks landed on the shores of the new 
 world. He came directly to Illinois and located 
 in the vicinity of Granville, where he had rela- 
 tives living, and in this locality he has since made 
 his home. 
 
 He was employed on a farm until President 
 Lincoln's call for volunteers at the outbreak of 
 the Civil war and on the llth of August, 1862, 
 he offered his services to his adopted country, be- 
 coming a member of Company B, One Hundred 
 and Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a pri- 
 vate. He participated in all of the engagements 
 in which his company and regiment took part and 
 was with Sherman on the march to the sea. Dur* 
 ing the siege of Atlanta he was wounded, but still 
 able to remain on duty, but at Bentonville, North 
 Carolina, he received a gunshot wound in the 
 thigh March 19, 1865, and on board a vessel was 
 taken to New York city, being later transferred 
 to the hospital at Davis Island, where he remained 
 for some time. While there he learned that the 
 war had ended and on the 8th of June he was 
 honorably discharged, returning to Granville, Illi- 
 nois, but for four years he suffered from his 
 wound, which never healed, but continued a run- 
 
 ning sore. When the bullet was removed, thir- 
 teen years afterward, another bullet was also 
 taken from his thigh. Whether he was wounded 
 in two places or that was a part of the same bul- 
 let is unknown. He has now wholly recovered and 
 suffers no inconvenience from his wound, though 
 he receives a pension of twelve dollars per month. 
 
 Throughout his active business life Mr. Olson 
 has carried on farming and his first purchase of 
 land consisted of eighty-three acres three miles 
 east of Granville, just over the line in La Salle 
 county. He lived upon that place until 1895, 
 when he purchased sixty-five acres adjoining which 
 had been improved by C. M. Chase, and here he 
 has a good home surrounded by substantial out- 
 buildings and well cultivated fields. His farm 
 now comprises one hundred and forty-eight acres, 
 which is all under a high state of cultivation with 
 the exception of about six acres, which is now 
 crossed by the Granville & Oglesby branch of the 
 St. Paul Kailroad. 
 
 On the llth of May, 1871, Mr. Olson was. 
 united in marriage to Miss Mary Leech, a na- 
 tive of Putnam county, and to them have been 
 born five children, all of whom are still living, 
 as follows : Jennie Z., now the wife of J. 0. Tay- 
 lor, living in Springfield, Illinois; Harry L., liv- ' 
 ing on a farm near Earlham, Iowa; Joseph N., 
 who is with his brother in Iowa ; and Edwin J. 
 and Anna May, both at home. 
 
 Mr. Olson and his family are members of the 
 Granville Congregational church and the family 
 is one of prominence in the community where 
 they reside. He is now building a nice residence 
 in Granville, where in the near future he ex- 
 pects to remove and live retired from active labor. 
 He is one of the ten Danes who enlisted from the 
 vicinity of Granville during the dark days of the 
 Civil war and only five of the number returned 
 when hostilities had ceased. He is patriotic and 
 loyal to the interests of his adopted country and 
 is honored wherever known. 
 
 LAES MATSOX. 
 
 Lars Matson carries on farming on a tract of 
 choice land of three hundred acres just outside 
 the corporation limits of Granville. His life 
 record began in Sweden on the 12th of June, 1862. 
 His father, Mathias Olson, was a farmer in 
 Sweden and died when his son Lars was but 
 fourteen years of age. The mother. Mrs. Carrie
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 503 
 
 Olson, died when the son was twenty years of age, 
 and in the meantime he had come to America. 
 Following has father's death, however, he re- 
 mained at home for some time and took care of 
 his mother until 1880, when he resolved to seek 
 a fortune in the new world and crossed the At- 
 lantic to the United States. Like the majority of 
 the emigrants from Europe, he was in limited 
 financial circumstances, having barely enough to 
 pay his passage to America. He journeyed into 
 the interior of the country, his destination being 
 Putnam county, and. here he began work on the 
 farm of A. W. Hopkins at a wage of ten dollars 
 per month. He could not speak a word of English 
 at the time and in order to familiarize himself 
 with the language spoken in this country he at- 
 tended the country school one winter. For four 
 years he remained in the employ of Mr. Hopkins 
 and his wages were increased after he had ac- 
 quainted himself with the English tongue and the 
 methods of work in this country. Saving his earn- 
 ings, he at length was enabled to purchase teams 
 and tools and through the succeeding foiirteen 
 years he was engaged actively in the operation of 
 rented land in Granville township. He worked al- 
 most incessantly, managed his interests with ability 
 and owing to the careful direction of his labors and 
 his unfaltering perseverance he prospered in his 
 undertakings. Seven years ago he purchased two 
 hundred acres of land where he now resides, for 
 which he paid seventy dollars per acre. Later he 
 bought one hundred acres more, an improved farm 
 which has comfortable buildings upon it, and here 
 he is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and 
 stock-raising. The land is well adapted for the 
 latter purpose and he makes the raising of hogs 
 his principal source of income, his specialty being 
 the Poland China breed. In this work he has 
 been quite successful and is now one of the more 
 prosperous farmers of Granville township. 
 
 About nineteen years ago Mr. Matson was 
 united in marriage to Miss Mary Johnson, who 
 was born in the same neighborhood in Sweden in 
 which her husband's birth occurred, and they were 
 schoolmates there in childhood days. She came to 
 America about three years prior to her marriage 
 and has become the mother of nine children : 
 Nelson J., Arthur W., Anna K., John A., Oscar 
 L., Edna M., Lawrence D. and George W., who 
 are still living; and one deceased. 
 
 Although reared in the faith of the Swedish 
 
 Evangelical Lutheran church, Mr. Matson is a 
 zealous and devoted member of the Congregational 
 church in Granville. He has voted the prohibi- 
 tion ticket for years and is strictly temperate, liv- 
 ing a life in harmony with high principles and 
 ethks. He follows closely those lines of conduct 
 which work for upright character and honorable 
 manhood and his wife is in hearty sympathy with 
 him in all this and is likewise a member of the 
 church. Mr. Matson is now serving for the third 
 year as school director and has the keenest appre- 
 ciation for the value of education. Since coming 
 to America he has learned to read and write the 
 English language and in conversation displays a 
 mastery of the tongue which is surprising for one 
 uneducated in the English language. He keeps 
 well informed on the questions and issues of the 
 day, political and otherwise. Such a life record 
 should serve as a source of inspiration and en- 
 couragement to others, showing what may be ac- 
 complished when one has determination, energy 
 and laudable ambition. 
 
 JAMES FOSTER. 
 
 Among the native sons of Marshall county who 
 have had no reason to change their place of resi- 
 dence, but have found here ample opportunity for 
 the exercise of business ability and enterprise, is 
 numbered James Foster, whose birth occurred in 
 Roberts township, December 15, 1858, and now 
 resides on section 24 of the same township. He 
 represents one of the old pioneer families here, 
 his father, Joshua Foster, having come to Mar- 
 shall county, Illinois, in 1841. He was born near 
 New London, Ohio, March 21, 1821, and in 1836 
 became a resident of Fulton county, Illinois, the 
 family home being established near Fairview. At 
 an early day he drove cattle across the country to 
 the markets with his father and he shared in the 
 hardships and privations of pioneer life. In busi- 
 ness affairs he prospered and became the 'owner of 
 eight hundred acres of valuable land, which he 
 shared with his children. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1843, Joshua Foster was 
 united in marriage to Miss Betsy Brumsey, who 
 was born near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, 
 August 8, 1825, and they became the parents of 
 eight children, namely : Benjamin, who is repre- 
 sented on another page of this volume; Edward, 
 who died March 12, 1881; Lewis J., who is en-
 
 PAST AXD PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND 1TTXAM COUXTIKS. 
 
 gaged in farming in Iowa ; Albert, a retired farm- 
 er living at Saunemin, Livingston county, Illinois ; 
 George, a retired farmer of Evans township ; 
 James, of this review; Walter, who is also repre- 
 sented elsewhere in this work ; and Wilbur S., a 
 resident of Saunemin. After a useful and well 
 spent life the father died May 3, 1895, honored 
 and respected by all who knew him. In politics 
 he was a Jacksonian democrat. 
 
 At the usual age James Foster entered the Fair- 
 view school in Roberts township, where he pur- 
 sued his education, and in 1880, when a young 
 man of twenty-two years, lie started out in life on 
 his own account. He has prospered in his work 
 and has so carefully conducted his farming inter- 
 ests that his labors have brought to him a measure 
 of success now enabling him to live retired. He 
 owns one hundred and sixty acres of good land in 
 Roberts township and the farm annually returns 
 to him a gratifying income. 
 
 JOHX NAIJMANN. 
 
 John Naumann, one of the largest landowners 
 of Putnam county, is living upon a finely im- 
 proved farm on section 23, Granville township. 
 He started in business life here as a farm hand, 
 working by the month for the usual wage that was 
 paid at that time.. Gradually he has advanced in 
 his business career, and through his frugality, in- 
 dustry and careful investment he has become one 
 of the prosperous men of the county, with exten- 
 sive realty holdings. 
 
 Mr. Naumann was bom in Hesse-Cassel, Ger- 
 many, July 7, 1848. His parents were Henry and 
 Margaret (Ott) Naumann, both of whom passed 
 away in Germany several years ago. The father 
 was owner of a farm, but, as was the custom in 
 that country, lived in the village. His son, John, 
 spent his boyhood days under the parental roof 
 and attended the village schools until fifteen years 
 of age, when in 1863 he emigrated to America, 
 taking passage at Bremen on a sailing vessel which 
 was six weeks in completing that voyage. Mr. 
 Naumann was influenced to come to America by 
 the fact that his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Henry Brontz, both now deceased, were then 
 living in Putnam county. On the journey to the 
 new world he was accompanied by his brother, 
 Tobias, now living in Mount Palatine, Illinois, 
 and a sister, who has since departed this life. 
 
 Mr. Naumann began work on the farm belong- 
 ing to his brother-in-law and for two years was 
 employed by Joseph Rhinhart, an early settler of 
 the county. He also spent one season in the em- 
 ploy of John Whitaker and for three years worked 
 for Joel Hopkins. All during this time he lived 
 economically and thus saved enough money to pur- 
 chase teams, after which he rented land from Mr. 
 Hopkins and farmed thereon for seven years. 
 Again he practiced economy and industry in order 
 to make further advancement in his business life, 
 and in 1879 he purchased one hundred and twenty 
 acres of land, whereon he has since resided. Upon 
 the place were poor improvements, including an 
 old house and barn, both were in rather dilap- 
 idated condition. He now has a good frame resi- 
 dence, a substantial barn, granaries and corn cribs 
 and, in fact, none of the accessories of a model 
 farm property are lacking. He has been very suc- 
 cessful in his work of tilling the soil and has added 
 to his possessions until he now owns five eighty- 
 acre tracts of land in Granville township and 
 three hundred and twenty-four acres in La Salle 
 county. The secret of his success lies not in an ; 
 fortunate combination of circumstances, but 
 due to the fact that he has worked persistently 
 and earnestly and his unremitting toil has 
 brought to him his prosperity. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Naumann was married to Miss 
 Katie E. Pletch, a native of Germany, who came 
 to America with her brothers in early woman- 
 hood. Six children have been born of this mar- 
 riage, of whom two died in infancy, while four 
 are still living: Fred, who resides on one of his 
 father's farms in Granville township ; Theodore, 
 who is upon his father's farm in La Salle county ; 
 and Henry and John, both at home. 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Naumann were reared in 
 the Lutheran church and they hold membership 
 in the church of that denomination on the county 
 line. In politics he is a republican, but has never 
 aspired to office. He served, however, as school 
 director for several years. In manner he is plain 
 and unassuming, entirely free from pride and os- 
 tentation, yet a degree of pride would be pardon- 
 able in consideration of his successful business 
 career. Although a man of nearly sixty years, 
 he looks ten or fifteen years younger and gives 
 little indication of the hard work that he has 
 done. All who know of his record, however,' rec- 
 ognize that lie has been a most energetic, hard
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 505 
 
 working man and that to this is due his present 
 
 prosperity. 
 
 JAMES McCUTCHEON. 
 
 James McCutcheon, of Hennepin, was born in 
 Ireland, December 27, 1859. He was reared and 
 educated by an uncle, attending school until eigh- 
 teen years of age, when he became an active assist- 
 ant to his uncle, who was engaged in merchan- 
 dising. Mr. McCutcheon was thus employed until 
 he attained his majority, when he emigrated to 
 America the first of April, 1881, and secured 
 employment as clerk in the office of the Lake 
 Shore Railroad, where he remained for five years. 
 He was afterward for eleven years with the firm 
 of Harrington & King, working in iron and per- 
 forating metals. As a representative of that firm 
 he acted as shipping clerk and won promotion 
 until he became assistant superintendent. Four 
 and a half years ago he came to Hennepin with 
 the intention of remaining but a year, but since 
 his arrival he has been an active factor in the 
 material improvement of the village. He has re- 
 modeled the residence of his mother-in-law, Mrs. 
 Trerwiler, and has erected the brick building 
 wherein he carries on business at the present time. 
 
 It was seventeen years ago that James Mc- 
 Cutcheon was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
 Trerwiler and they have one child. 
 
 The tiire and energies of Mr. McCutcheon are 
 now largely given to the development of what 
 promises to be one of the most important indus- 
 trial enterprises of this part of the state. On the 
 6th of July, 1906, he began working on plans 
 for the organization of a company to build a 
 factory for the manufacture of brick and at a 
 recent date this company has been incorporated 
 under the state laws for the manufacture of 
 building brick, the firm name being the Sand, 
 Lime & Brick Company. In this enterprise James 
 McCutcheon is associated with Charles Rembe and 
 Meyer Greisheim, both of Lincoln, Illinois, as in- 
 corporators. The business has been capitalized 
 for twenty-five thousand dollars and the stock is 
 all subscribed. A meeting will soon be held in 
 Peoria, where the main office is to be located, and 
 the election of officers will then take place. At 
 present they have three sites in view for a loca- 
 tion. Mr. McCutcheon had an expert from Chi- 
 cago inspect a location four and a half miles 
 
 northwest of Hennepin and he claimed that they 
 had an unlimited supply of sand of just the right 
 quality for making brick. Samples have been 
 made of three different grades of brick and the 
 result has been a fine, smooth quality of building 
 brick which stands every form of test that can 
 be made. It can be thrown into a furnace and 
 when red hot put into cold water with no bad ef- 
 fects and will stand equally well freezing and 
 thawing. The plant is to be built after the pat- 
 tern cf one which is being successfully operated 
 in Savannah, Georgia, and is to be put up, 
 equipped and furnished by the American Sand 
 Lime Brick Company, of Chicago. The sand will 
 be taken from a high embankment and when 
 screened passed to a rotary drier. The fine gravel 
 left over after the screening process will find 
 ready market for gravel roofing. The lime used 
 is to be shipped from Quincy, Illinois, and is to 
 be hydrated in cylinders used for hardening the 
 brick. This lime after hydrating can be stored 
 and kept for twenty years and it will find market 
 where lime is needed for any purpose. The 
 sand and lime when mixed passes to a four-mold 
 brick press with a capacity of twenty thousand 
 brick daily. From the presses the brick are con- 
 veyed on steel cars to a hardening cylinder, each 
 car holding one thousand brick. This cylinder is 
 seventy-eight inches in diameter and sixty-six and 
 a half feet in length. From the cylinder the 
 brick will be placed on cars ready for shipment. 
 A plant of this nature is in operation at Anderson, 
 Indiana, but none in this state. Mr. McCutcheon 
 has every reason to be highly elated over the pros- 
 pects for the new industry and it is due to his 
 efforts that the present progress has been made in 
 the business. He is a man of much push and 
 energy, who forms his plans readily and is de- 
 termined in their execution, and these qualities 
 promise well for a successful future to the new 
 enterprise. 
 
 JOHN STANLEY SPARLING. 
 On the old homestead of the Sparling family 
 which was settled in pioneer days John Stanley 
 Sparling was born December 10, 1853, his birth- 
 place being the third house which was built upon 
 that farm. He was a son of George Sparling and 
 a brother of George E. Sparling, who are men- 
 tioned elsewhere in this work, in which connec-
 
 I'AST AM) I'l.'KSBNT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 tion the family history is given. With the ex- 
 ception of two years spent in Iowa he has always 
 made his home in this county and he owns a farm 
 of one hundred and forty acres, of which he pur- 
 chased one hundred acres from his father, who 
 gave him the remaining forty. He was educated 
 in the country schools and in early life mastered 
 the work of plowing, planting and harvesting in 
 the fields upon the old homestead, so that prac- 
 tical experience well qualified him to engage in 
 farming on his own account after he had arrived 
 at man's estate. 
 
 Mr. Sparling was married in 1875 to Miss 
 Charlotte Sparling, a daughter of James Spar- 
 ling and a distant relative of the family. Her 
 mother became the third wife of our subject's 
 father and now lives in Henry. Mr. and Mrs. 
 John S. Sparling have two sons, James A. and 
 George J. The former, who married Miss Nellie 
 Martin, is living in Putnam and is a rural mail 
 carrier. George J. resides in Kewanee, Illinois, 
 and is a boiler-maker. He married a daughter of 
 0. P. Carroll, of Putnam. 
 
 Mr. Sparling has a good farm and a portion 
 of his land is leased to fishing parties, from which 
 source he derives a good income. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sparling have held membership in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church for many years. For thirteen 
 years he has been connected with the Modern 
 Woodmen and is a director of Putnam camp. 
 He is also a member of the Yeomen of Amer- 
 ica, of Henry. He belongs to one of the old and 
 prominent pioneer families of the county and has 
 spent almost his entire life within its borders, so 
 that he has a wide acquaintance here. 
 
 ANDREW L. ANDERSON. 
 
 Andrew L. Anderson, a prosperous and enter- 
 prising farmer on section 20, Granville township, 
 is a native of Abbekos, Sweden, born October 7, 
 1854. His father, who bore the same name, was 
 a fisherman of that town but is now deceased. 
 The mother, however, still lives at the old home 
 in Sweden. 
 
 Andrew Anderson spent his boyhood days in 
 his native village and went with his father on his 
 fishing trips-, not for pastime but for the pur- 
 pose of earning a living. He was a young man 
 in his twentieth vear when he came to America. 
 
 He felt that advancement in his native country 
 would be slow and desired to enjoy the broader 
 business opportunities of the new world. Making 
 his way into the interior of the country he se- 
 cured employment as a farm hand in Putnam 
 county upon the farm of A. D. Fisher, who now 
 lives near Granville. For three and a half years 
 he remained and then returned to his old home 
 in Sweden, when he again took up his abode in 
 Putnam county and he worked for two and a hall 
 years more at farm labor, and then in company 
 with his brother-in-law, rented land and engaged 
 in farming on his own account. A year subse- 
 quent he removed to La Salle county and rented 
 a farm of Joel Hopkins just over the Putnam 
 county line, continuing to operate that tract of 
 land for ten years, in which period he saved his 
 earnings, thus accumulating a competence that 
 enabled him to purchase a farm for himself. In 
 1895 he bought the place that is now known as 
 the John Foley farm, comprising one hundred 
 and eighty-seven and a half acres of land. It was 
 an improved farm, thus the farm was under cul- 
 tivation and it had some buildings upon it but 
 they -were old and the house was burned down 
 three years before. Mr. Anderson built a new 
 residence, has built a new barn and has laid many 
 rods of tiling to the value of several hundred dol- 
 lars, thus draining and enriching his land. In 
 other ways he has improved the farm until it is 
 today a valuable property and brings forth rich 
 crops of the cereals best adapted to soil and cli- 
 mate. All that he has has been won through his 
 own persistency of purpose and careful manage- 
 ment and he is now successfully carrying on gen- 
 eral farming, raising both stock and grain. 
 
 Mr. Anderson has found a most able assistant 
 and helpmate in his wife, to whom he was mar- 
 ried December 7, 1880. She bore the maiden 
 name of Ingrid Matson, a native of Sweden. She 
 is a sister of Lars Matson, who is living near 
 Granville, and of whom mention is made else- 
 where in this volume. She came to this country 
 with her husband in 1877, after he had made a 
 trip to the old world. Eleven children have been 
 born of their marriage, of whom three died in 
 infancy, while the eldest son, Anton, died at the 
 age of twenty-one years. Those still living are: 
 Elmer, who married Edith Nelson and is living 
 on the Harper farm in Granville township; Her- 
 man, who is clerking in the Hopkins Bank in
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 507 
 
 Granville; Nelson, Mildred, Carl, Bertha and Or- 
 ville, all at home. 
 
 Mr. Anderson was reared in the faith of the 
 Lutheran church but is now a member of the Con- 
 gregational church at Granville. He votes with 
 the republican party and is well informed on the 
 great political questions, thus being able to sup- 
 port his position by intelligent argument. For 
 two terms he served as school director but public 
 office has had no attraction for him. He is a 
 stanch advocate of the cause of temperance, which 
 he supports both by precept and example, and his 
 life is an honorable and upright one in harmony 
 with his professions, being characterized by un- 
 faltering fidelity to the principles which work for 
 righteousness and for the good of the community. 
 
 SIMON BECK. 
 
 Simon Beck, an influential citizen and well-to- 
 do farmer, owning and operating one hundred and 
 thirty-eight acres of land, which lies on section 
 31, Hennepin township, is a native of Lebanon 
 county, Pennsylvania, his natal year being 1854. 
 His father, Andrew Beck, was likewise born in 
 Lebanon county, October 8, 1819, and he was 
 there married in April, 1848, to Miss Elizabeth 
 Clemens, also a native of that county, born Oc- 
 tober 30, 1825. They remained in their native 
 place, where the father engaged in farming, until 
 1865, when they made their way westward, com- 
 ing to Putnam county, making the journey from 
 the east by rail to Bureau Junction, from which 
 place they continued their journey to Hennepin, 
 this county. The family home was established on 
 Hennepin prairie, where the father rented a tract 
 of land and continued his operations as an agri- 
 ciilturist. Mrs. Beck was very lonely after coin- 
 ing to this county and often longed and cried for 
 her old home in : Pennsylvania. Her husband 
 would try to console her by telling her of the suc- 
 cess which they would enjoy later on in their new 
 home, although he, too, was equally as lonely, and 
 he would then go to the barn and resort to tears. 
 They, however, worked on earnestly and per- 
 sislcntly until they acquired a competence that 
 after a few years enabled them to purchase land, 
 this being a part of the property which is now 
 operated by the son, Simon. There the father 
 continued his operations and made his home until 
 his death, which occurred Aiigust 27, 1892, being 
 
 found dead in his bed. He had been in poor 
 health for several years, but upon retiring the 
 night previous to his death was feeling as well 
 as usual, but was found dead in the morning, his 
 death supposed to have resulted from heart fail- 
 ure. Both he and his wife were reared in the 
 faith of the Lutheran church, but after their re- 
 moval to Illinois they became identified with the 
 Methodist denomination. The father was a dem- 
 ocrat in his political affiliation, but was never ac- 
 tive as an office seeker, preferring rather to con- 
 centrate his time and energies upon his private 
 business interests. After his death the property 
 was divided among his heirs, and his widow still 
 survives, now making her home in the village of 
 Florid with a- sister of her husband. Although 
 Mrs. Beck is in her eighty-first year she retains 
 her mental faculties to a remarkable degree and 
 is still an intelligent and interesting old lady. 
 In the family of this worthy couple were four 
 children, of whom our subject was the third in 
 order of birth and he is the only one surviving 
 at the present time, a son and daughter having 
 died in Pennsylvania previous to the removal of 
 the family to this state, while a brother, Jerry, 
 died in Granville in August, 1906. 
 
 Simon Beck was reared and educated in the 
 Keystone state to the age of twelve years, when 
 he accompanied his parents on their removal to 
 Putnam county, where he continued his educa- 
 tion in the country schools df this county and as- 
 sisted his father in the operation of the old home- 
 stead farm until he attained his majority. He 
 then made arrangements for having a home of 
 his own, by his marriage to Miss Sarah Clemens, 
 who was born in Virginia. Her father, Jerry 
 Clemens, removed to Putnam county about 1865, 
 but later took up his abode in Carroll county, Mis- 
 souri, where he died in the spring of 1906, having 
 reached the venerable age of eighty-four years, 
 while his wife was called to her final rest several 
 years previous. 
 
 Following his marriage Mr. Beck located on the 
 old homestead, operating his father's land until 
 the latter's death, when, upon the division of the 
 estate, our subject came into possession of a tract 
 of eighty acres of land which was unimproved, 
 save that a small frame house had been erected 
 thereon. He took up his abode on his newly in- 
 herited property and at once began to develop and 
 improve the land, and in due course of time he
 
 508 
 
 PAST AND 1'HKSKXT OF MARSHALL AM) PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 placed his fields under a high state of cultivation, 
 from which he annually harvests abundant crops. 
 He has since enlarged and remodeled his house 
 and now has a modern and commodious country 
 residence, supplied with all conveniences and 
 equipments. In 1895 he erected a barn, using oak 
 timber in its construction, and which cost eigh- 
 teen hundred dollars, this being one of the finest 
 barns in this part of the county. He has also 
 erected a windmill and has a reservoir tank from 
 which the water is piped to the house and barn, 
 thus furnishing an ample supply of water for 
 domestic use as well as for watering the stock. 
 He has added a tract of fifty-eight and a half 
 acres to his original holdings, thus making a valu- 
 able and well improved farm of one hundred and 
 thirty-eight acres, in addition to which he owns 
 twenty-two acres of timber land. He is a man of 
 sound judgment and displays excellent business 
 ability in the management of his farming and 
 stock-raising interests. 
 
 Unto our subject and his wife have been born 
 four children, but only one is now living : The 
 eldest died unnamed in infancy. Mary E. died 
 when one month old. William F. died at the age 
 of two years, six months and nine days. John 
 Henry, who was twenty-eight years of age on the 
 20th of July, 1906, is residing with his parents. 
 Mr. Beck has always given his political support 
 to the democracy, but has never been active in 
 public affairs. He and his family belong to the 
 Presbyterian church at Florid and are highly es- 
 teemed in the community in which they reside. 
 
 JAMES ELLSWORTH TAYLOR. 
 
 James E. Taylor, state's attorney of Putnam 
 county since 1888 and a resident of Hennepin, 
 was born in Ross township, Jefferson county, 
 Ohio, April 28, 1862. The family is of Irish 
 lineage, his great-grandfather having come from 
 Ireland to the new world. The grandfather, 
 John Taylor, was born in Pennsylvania, August 
 8, 1804, and died in Jefferson county, Ohio, Feb- 
 ruary 28, 1891. He married Jane Henderson, 
 whose birth occurred in Ohio, May 8, 1818, and 
 her death in 1899. Their son, Richard W. Tay- 
 lor, was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, January 
 30, 1838, and is now living near Martin's Ferry, 
 in Belmont county, Ohio. He married Harriet 
 J. McCutcheon, who was born in Steubenville, 
 
 Ohio, May 17, 1839, and died in Jefferson county, 
 February 4, 1906. Richard W. Taylor is one of 
 eleven children of the grandfather's family who 
 are still living in Jefferson county, Ohio, and 
 those of the household who have passed away were 
 also residents of that county. For many years 
 the grandfather lived upon the farm where his 
 death occurred and Richard W. Taylor has always 
 followed the occupation of farming. In his fam- 
 ily were eight children but only three are now liv- 
 ing: William W., who resides at Martin's Ferry, 
 was engaged in teaching school for twenty-two 
 years but on account of his health has accepted a 
 position as mail-carrier. Robert M. Taylor is in 
 the employ of the superintendent of the lighting 
 system of the Panhandle Railroad from Colum- 
 bus, Ohio, to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 James E. Taylor remained upon a farm in Jef- 
 ferson county, Ohio, to the age of fifteen years, 
 when he accompanied his parents on their re- 
 moval to Belmont county, that state. He attend- 
 ed the public schools until he had attained the 
 age of nineteen, after which he pursued a prepara- 
 tory teacher's course at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, 
 and was graduated January 14, 1884. He after- 
 ward engaged in teaching for a year in Belmont 
 county and in the spring of 1885 he came to Illi- 
 nois, where for four months he worked on a farm 
 near Mount Palatine, Putnam county. In the 
 fall of that year he accepted the position of teacher 
 at Mount Palatine, where he remained for three 
 years, and when his time was not taken up with 
 the duties of the schoolroom, he studied law under 
 W. H. Casson, then state's attorney, being ad- 
 mitted to the bar September 18, 1888. In No- 
 vember of the same year lie was elected state's at- 
 torney for the county and has continuously filled 
 the position to the present time proof incontro- 
 vertible of his ability and fidelity. He has also 
 been a member of the village board and of the 
 school board and has acted as secretary of the lat- 
 ter since December 29, 1894. In April, 1906, he 
 was appointed master in chancery, so that he is 
 now filling the three different positions. 
 
 On the 4th of April, 1889, Mr. Taylor was mar- 
 ried to Miss Josephine Henning, a native of Put- 
 nam county and a daughter of John Henning, 
 who is living in the village of Hennepin. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Taylor have two children: George 
 Harold, fifteen years of age; and James Ells- 
 worth, a youth of four years.
 
 PAST AM) I'liKSKNT OF MARSHALL AM) PUTNAM COUNTIES. 
 
 509 
 
 Mr. Taylor has always been a stalwart support- 
 er of republican principles. Although not a mem- 
 ber he regularly attends the services and is a 
 trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
 has been a member of the Odd Fellows since 
 1888 and has taken the encampment and military 
 degrees, while in 1899 he was elected grand con- 
 ductor of the grand lodge of Illinois. 
 
 L. F. BOYLE. 
 
 L. F. Boyle, who carries on general agricultural 
 pursuits on section 2, Hennepin township, was 
 born in Putnam county, Illinois, and a life of in- 
 tense and well directed activity has resulted in 
 making him one of the wealthy agriculturists 
 of this part of the state. His father, Albert B. 
 Boyle, was born on Hennepin prairie and died in 
 1888 at the age of forty- one years, while his wife, 
 who bore the maiden name of Frances C. Harten- 
 bower, was born in Putnam county and is now liv- 
 ing in Galesburg, Illinois, with two unmarried 
 daughters. The paternal grandfather Buenos 
 Ayres Boyle, was a native of Pennsylvania and 
 came to Putnam county, Illinois, at a very early 
 epoch in its settlement and development. He 
 aided in planting the seeds of civilization here, 
 but died when his son Albert was a small boy. 
 The latter became a well-to-do farmer and left 
 quite a valuable estate. In his family were six 
 children, of whom L. F. Boyle of this- review is 
 the eldest. The others are: Erma, now the wife 
 of G. W. Griener, who resides near Tonica, La 
 Salle county, Illinois; Nora, the wife of W. E. 
 Hiltabrand, who is also living near Tonica; W. 
 A., who makes his home with his brother; and 
 Maye and Minnie, who are with their mother in 
 Galesburg. 
 
 L. F. Boyle, reared under the paternal roof, be- 
 gan his education in the district schools and af- 
 terward continued his studies in the Hennepin 
 schools. He lived upon the farm with his father 
 until twenty-one years of age and through the 
 periods of vacation aided in the work of the 
 fields. After attaining his majority he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Lelia Rousseau, who was born in 
 
 Hennepin, a daughter of L. C. Eousseau, now liv- 
 ing in Texas. Following thedr marriage the 
 young couple located upon a farm of one hundred 
 and ninety acres of land which Mr. Boyle owned 
 about a half mile north of Hennepin. Five years 
 ago he and his brother, W. A., purchased what 
 is known as the Eeavy estate five and a half miles 
 south of Hennepin, and he is now one of the 
 most extensive land owners of the county, his 
 possessions aggregating one thousand acres. He 
 carries on general farming and his fields present 
 a splendid appearance, giving promise of golden 
 harvests. He also makes a specialty of the breed- 
 ing and raising of Percheron and Shire horses and 
 has six imported studs in his barn at the present 
 time, together with about twenty head of full 
 blooded registered horses. He also owns a herd 
 of registered shorthorn cattle and at the present 
 writing is feeding about two hundred head. He 
 likewise has a fine drove of registered Berkshire 
 hogs and his stock-raising interests class him with 
 the leading representatives of this line of business 
 in the county. He is a man of unflagging indus- 
 try in whom diligence and perseverance are rec- 
 ognized as strong and salient characteristics. He 
 is never idle in fact, indolence is entirely for- 
 eign to his nature. His attention is unremit- 
 tingly given to his business interests and he is a 
 man of sound judgment and keen sagacity, the 
 capable control of his affairs being manifest in the 
 very gratifying success which has rewarded him. 
 The home of Mr. and Mrs. Boyle has been 
 blessed with five children: Violet, Esther, Louis 
 A., Marshall and Frances E., all of whom are yet 
 under the parental roof. Mr. Boyle votes rather 
 independently, yet his views are largely in har- 
 mony with democratic principles. He has no de- 
 sire for office, however, preferring to give his time 
 and attention to his business affairs. He repre- 
 sents one of the old families of the county and 
 the work begun by his grandfather and carried 
 on by his father is continued by him, with the 
 result that he is one of the leading and prosper- 
 ous farmers of Putnam county, having extensive 
 land holdings, while his farms are improved with 
 all modern equipments and accessories.
 
 INDEX 
 
 HISTORICAL 
 
 HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 CHAPTER 
 
 CHAPTER 
 CHAPTER 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 CMU-M..K 
 
 ClI M'll-K 
 
 it 
 
 IV. 
 V. 
 VI. 
 VII. 
 VIII. 
 
 Introductory 
 Discovery of 'North America... 
 Occupation by the French 
 Early Settlements 
 Black Hawk War 
 Division of Putnam County.... 
 Organization of Marshall Count 
 Township Organization 
 Lacon Township 
 
 "!!"!!! 7 
 8 
 11 CHAPTER 
 
 .'.'.".'..'.'. 16 CHAPTER 
 y 18 CHAPTER 
 
 '.'.'.'.'.*'.'. 21 CHAPTER 
 
 HISTORY OF PUTNAM COUNTY. 
 I. Introductory 
 II. Topography 
 III. Settlement 
 IV. Villages 
 V. Early Records 
 'VI. ' Tust Befo' the Wa' 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 X." 
 
 Hopewell Township 
 Henry Township ' 
 
 29 CHAPTER 
 
 ffe 
 
 Putnam County Newspapers 
 
 
 
 Whitefield Township 
 
 38 CHAPTER 
 
 IX.' 
 
 Educational Interests 
 
 CHAPTER 
 CHAPTER 
 
 2S 
 
 lf ; 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Saratoga Township 
 La Prairie Township 
 Steuben Township 
 Richland Township 
 
 42. CHAPTER 
 43 CHAPTEK 
 46 CHAPTER 
 49 CHAPTER 
 
 X. 
 XI. 
 
 Churches 
 Buel Institute 
 
 
 
 Belle Plain Township 
 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Railroads .............'. .\.\\. 
 
 
 
 Roberts Township 
 
 
 xvi. 
 
 Coal Industry 
 Incidents 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 212 
 
 363 
 
 Allen, Owen W 
 
 332 
 
 Clifford, Nancy 
 
 Anderson, A. L 
 
 506 
 
 Coffman, E. Olive 
 
 Anderson, James N 
 Aukland J H 
 
 336 
 176 
 
 Colby, N. H 
 
 Averill, 0. A 
 
 , 356 
 
 Coulter, W. J 
 
 Bacon, J. C 
 
 168 
 
 Creabil, Joseph 
 
 Ball, John D.. 
 Ball, Jonas T 
 
 355 
 416 
 
 Croft, T. M 
 Crooks, H. C 
 
 Ball, W. L 
 
 392 
 
 Dahl, Peterson P 
 
 Barnard, C. E 
 
 412 
 
 Daub, John 
 
 Barnard, J. E 
 
 496 
 
 Davis, Dr. Charles 
 
 Barnes, C. C 
 
 238 
 
 Dawson, Frank L 
 
 Barr, Frank A 
 Barry John E 
 
 137 
 
 Dawson, F. E. 
 
 Bassler, H. J 
 
 410. 
 
 Doran, C. C 
 
 Beck Simon 
 
 507 
 
 
 Bell, William. H 
 
 ........ . 130 
 
 Dore, Patrick 
 
 Belsly, John R 
 
 175 
 
 Downey, Robert F 
 
 Bennington, J. N 
 
 397 
 
 Doyle, Mrs. Miranda 
 
 Betts, A. W 
 
 171 
 
 Duden, Edo 
 
 Bickel, William 
 
 381 
 
 Dysart, C. W 
 
 Blackwell, D. R 
 
 400 
 
 
 Boal, Dr. Robert 
 
 121 
 
 Edwards, H. H 
 
 Bogner, Joseph :... 
 
 211 
 
 Elk, L. M 
 
 Bogner, Louis 
 
 200 
 
 Endsley, Tom W 
 
 Bourdette, Rudolph 
 
 331 
 
 Erikson, Gustaf 
 
 Boyle, L. F 
 
 609 
 
 Etscheid, Joseph 
 
 
 408 
 
 
 Brown, C. A 
 Bruder, C. G 
 
 Burgess, Charles, Sr 
 Burgess, Robert 
 
 350 
 496 
 248 
 291 
 297 
 
 Farling, Frank 
 Feazel, Jeremiah 
 Fisher, A. D 
 Forcht, John 
 Ford, George A 
 
 Burt, J. S 
 
 153 
 
 Fort, Robert B 
 
 Caley, Joseph 
 
 263 
 
 Foster, Benjamin 
 
 Camp, C. A 
 
 129 
 
 Foster, James 
 
 Carlson, A. J 
 
 348 
 
 Foster, Walter 
 
 Casson, W. H 
 
 318 
 
 Fountain, R. B 
 
 Cecil, Jasper 
 
 394 
 
 Franceway, G. W 
 
 Chase, C. M 
 
 489 
 
 Frisbey, Orrin 
 
 Clark, Joseph 
 
 203 
 
 Frommel, C. A 
 
 Gapen, T. E 
 
 Garrett, Augustus . . . 
 
 German, W. H 
 
 Gilmer, Francis L. . . . 
 
 Glenn, I. A 
 
 Green, E. G 
 
 Gregg, D. H 
 
 Gregory, Luke 
 
 Gregory, R. E 
 
 Gresser, Anton 
 
 Grove, Melchi 
 
 Gunn, L. D 
 
 Halbleib, Otto 
 
 Hall, Dr. E. A 
 
 Harrison, H. A 
 
 Hartley, John J..... 
 Hartman, C. J 
 
 Haws, Clifford 
 
 Haws, T. G 
 
 Haws, William 
 
 Hawthorne, W. E.... 
 
 Henkell, Louis 
 
 Henkins, Adam B... 
 
 Henning, James 
 
 Hickey. James P 
 
 Hills, R. E 
 
 Hirschy, John 
 
 Hodge Brothers .... 
 
 Hodge, L. J 
 
 Holton, J. W 
 Hopkins, Archibald W 
 
 Hopkins, Joel W 
 
 Horrocks, William ... 
 
 Hu'fnagel, William . . . 
 
 Humphrey, A. G 
 
 Hunt, George W 
 
 Hunter, Hiram 
 
 376 
 
 243 
 
 158 
 
 511
 
 INDEX BIOGRAPHICAL -continued. 
 
 Ireland, H. T 
 
 Jenkins, James 
 
 Jensen, W. P 
 
 Judd, Benjamin 
 
 Kays, John A 
 
 Kays, W. A 
 
 Keedy, A. D 
 
 Kellogg, Saxton T.... 
 
 King, Martin 
 
 King, Samuel 
 
 Klein, C. L 
 
 Kline, Frank L 
 
 Klinger, Ferdinand . . . 
 
 Koch, Frederick 
 
 Koehler, Israel 
 
 Kunkle, G. M 
 
 Lauf, Frank 
 
 Laughlin, W. M 
 
 Lenz, Edward A 
 
 Litchfield, R. I 
 
 Long, Jonathan 
 
 Lundquist, O. A 
 
 Lutes, Edson 
 
 McAdam, Arthur 
 
 McCormick, Dr. G. A. 
 McCullough, R. R.... 
 McCulloch, Samuel W. 
 McCutcheon, James .. 
 McDonough, Robert .. 
 McSmith, Robert ...... 
 
 Malone, John 
 
 Marshall, Henry 
 
 Mathis, N. J 
 
 Matson, Lars 
 
 Merdian, Henry 
 
 Mills, W. B 
 
 Monahan, J. E 
 
 Monier, William 
 
 Montgomery, Otis 
 
 Moore, D. B 
 
 Motter, Charles 
 
 Nash, Charles N 
 
 Naumann, John 
 
 Newburn, M. E 
 
 Newman, A. S 
 
 Olson, Mons 
 
 Opper, C. G. 
 
 Osborne, W. N 
 
 Otto, Gustav 
 
 Owen, D. D 
 
 Owen, J. N 
 
 Owen, Lewis R. . . . 
 Owens, A. P 
 
 Pace, G. E 
 
 Packingham, J. C. .. 
 
 Parrett, James 
 
 Paskell, J. R 
 
 Paxson, Thomas . . . 
 
 Perry, Z. E 
 
 Phillips, L. R 
 
 Powers, Patrick 
 
 Pringle, Robert .... 
 Purviance, Price ... 
 
 C. W 
 
 Raymond, F. A 
 
 Rickey, Charles E. . . 
 
 Riddell, Robert 
 
 Riddell, William 
 
 Rithmiller, George ... 
 
 Robinson, A. J 
 
 Rouse, Allen A 
 
 Rowe, Sampson T. . . 
 
 Salisbury, William .. 
 Schumacher, Mrs. Alv 
 Schwartz, William .. 
 
 Seelye, T. A 
 
 Shaw, George H. . . . 
 
 Shaw, T. M 
 
 Shriver, A. W 
 
 Sill, W. B 
 
 Simonton, W. H. ... 
 
 Skeel, L. E 
 
 Smith, C. E 
 
 Smith, Edward B. . . , 
 
 Smith, James 
 
 Smith, L. V 
 
 Snell, Harry 
 
 Sparling, George . . . 
 Sparling, George E. . 
 Sparling, John S. . . . 
 St. Mary's Church .. 
 
 Stotler, H. A 
 
 Stouffer, H. M 
 
 Sucher, F. W 
 
 Sucher, Jacob 
 
 Sutcliffe, Benjamin . 
 
 Swaney, John 
 
 Swartz, Carmi 
 
 Swift, Clark 
 
 Taggart, James H 
 
 Tanquary, Addison . . . 
 
 Tanquary, Edward 
 
 Taylor, J. E 
 
 Taylor, O. F. & F. C. 
 
 Thierry, F. F 
 
 Thompson, John I 
 
 Thompson, Norton 
 
 Tidmarsh, H. W 
 
 Townley, E. J 
 
 Trerwiler, Charles 
 
 Turnbull, John 
 
 Turnbull, Robert . 
 
 Turner, A. L. .... 
 
 Twist, w. w :. 
 
 Van Petten, Matthew. . . 
 
 Vaughn, F. A 
 
 Vincent, Fred 
 
 Wabel, G. L. ......... 
 
 Ware, Thomas 
 
 Watkins, J. W 
 
 Watson, Dr. R. L. ..... 
 
 Waughop, Richard 
 
 Webber, A. P 
 
 Weber, Otto 
 
 Webster, W. D 
 
 Weis, Edmund 
 
 West, Peter 
 
 Wheeler, William 
 
 Whitaker, Sidney 
 
 White, H. L 
 
 Whitman, H. E 
 
 Whitmer, Tobias 
 
 Williams, J. H 
 
 Williams, L. D 
 
 Williams, W. H 
 
 Wilson, J. B 
 
 Winship, James M. . . . 
 
 Winship, J. O 
 
 Wonser, E. E 
 
 Wood, Ellison G 
 
 Wood, Timothy 
 
 Yaeger, Bernard 
 
 Young, J. N 
 
 Zenor, H. B 
 
 Ziegler, Joseph 
 
 Zilm, Henry E 
 
 Zilm, William 
 
 Zumbuehl, Leonz ... 
 
 512